The Iran-E3+3 nuclear deal has the potential to be the next success story in international cooperation after the Montreal Protocol (“Iran deal spells good tidings for India,” April 10). It has the potential to repair frayed relations between Iran and the U.S.; at the same time, the political matrix in West Asia will undergo a dramatic change. With Iran’s possible reintegration into the world market, it can now play a major role in solving the Yemeni crisis. As far as India is concerned, it can repay its dues to Iran which have been kept in abeyance due to harsh economic sanctions. The short-term loss for India will be that it no longer makes oil payments to Iran in Indian rupees. At the same time, the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline has got a fresh lease of life. The perennial game spoiler could be the reimposition of sanctions should hardliners in the U.S. and Iran reject the deal.
Akshay Viswanathan,Thiruvananthapuram
There would have been a heavy toll in terms of millions of lives and billions of dollars following a military intervention in Iran had diplomacy not emerged victorious. But a closer look suggests the deal will merely delay the onset of ‘nuclear winters’. The lifting of sanctions will ensure a resurgent Iran; an economically stronger Iran will be perceived as a stronger threat to Sunni regimes and they will only find more reasons to accelerate their proxy wars. Iran’s economic health will boost its own proxies like the Houthis, pro-Assad fighters and the Hezbollah. In the heat of proxy battles, the salience of security will set off an arms race. For want of stronger deterrents, Israel’s doubtful nuclear status along with the Saudi’s financial power will leave Iran with no option but to covertly or overtly strive for a nuclear weapon. This is not to say that the deal is a problem. Instead, the deal is too little a solution. Anything short of declaring the whole region as ‘nuclear free’ itself, is merely deferring the inevitable. What the world needs is for the U.S. to play the honest broker.
Shashank Jain,New Delhi
