An Open Letter to Federica Mogherini and the European imperative to save the Iran nuclear deal

14.05.2018  

Open Letter to Ms.
Federica Mogherini,  

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign
Affairs and Security Policy,  

European Commission ,

Berlaymont 1049,

Brussels 

 We, the
undersigned, thank you for your speech on May 8, 2018, pledging the European
Union’s intention to remain steadfast in its commitment to the historic accord
concluded between Iran and the E3/EU+3, the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan
of Action (JCPOA). Too often, politicians have inclined to patronise and
admonish, but, instead, you opted for a “universal language” of respect and
dialogue. You proclaimed that “[t]his deal belongs to each and every one of
us”, and that it enjoins us not to “let anyone dismantle this agreement”. But
despite such salutary remarks, in the aftermath of the Trump administration’s
public announcement to withdraw from the JCPOA and re-impose sanctions on Iran,
the survival of the agreement is far from assured.   

The
majority of Iranians have demonstrated their heartfelt support for this
hard-won diplomatic accord. They have shown their support through their
two-time election of a president promising to initiate constructive dialogue
with the world, patiently awaiting the outcome of a long and arduous series of
negotiations despite the debilitating impact of sanctions on their everyday
lives, celebrating in the streets of major Iranian cities when the JCPOA was
successfully agreed upon, and finally, announcing their approbation of the
agreement in over 100 cities across the globe in the weeks and months that
followed.  

In your
speech you stated that “the European Union will remain committed to the
continued full and effective implementation of the Nuclear Deal”. We
wholeheartedly welcome this commitment, but as you are fully apprised, it is
crucial that Europe is able to discharge its international obligations and
ensure, despite U.S. sanctions, that Iran and its people enjoy the full
economic and political dividends promised according to not only the letter, but
also the spirit of the JCPOA. The IAEA has repeatedly verified Iran’s
compliance and honouring of its commitments under the agreement, and this ought
to be reciprocated in turn.   

In an
increasingly unstable global climate and ever-more precarious “age of
extremes”, it is essential that one of the great diplomatic successes of the
21st century not find itself carelessly squandered. By your own estimation it
took some 12 years for this agreement to be reached. If Europe in coordination
with its Russian and Chinese partners prove unable to salvage the JCPOA, the
likelihood of further instability in the region and even war increases
exponentially.  

While the
JCPOA showed that diplomacy is possible, in view of recent events and President
Trump’s reneging on the accord, the message to the world shouldn’t be that
peace is inevitably transient and short-lived. For every one of us who is
committed to fostering peace through reasonable dialogue and mutual
understanding, preserving the integrity and viability of the JCPOA is of
inestimable importance. Trust in the European Union, UN Security Council and
wider international community is at stake, as well as their credibility to
tackle many of the enormous challenges which lie ahead in the years to come.  

The
Iranian people backed peace and diplomacy. Now it is the responsibility of the
international community to demonstrate that they made the right decision and
that the promises that were made will be carried out and effectively realised.
Failure is not an option. The alternative path is simply too costly, not only
for the present generation, but for posterity as well.   …   

Judith
Butler, Maxine Elliot Professor of Comparative Literature, UC Berkeley 

Noam
Chomsky, Institute Professor & Professor of Linguistics Emeritus, MIT 

Slavoj
Žižek, International Director, Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, Birkbeck,
University of London  

Peter
Singer, Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human
Values, Princeton University

Charles
Taylor, Professor Emeritus in Philosophy, McGill University

Joan
Wallach Scott, Professor Emerita, School of Social Science, Institute for
Advanced Study, Princeton NJ

 Fredric
Jameson, Knut Schmidt Nielsen Professor of Comparative Literature, Duke
University

Mahmood
Mamdani, Herbert Lehman Professor of Government MESAAS, International Affairs,
and Anthropology, Columbia University  

Richard
Falk, Albert G. Milbank Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton
University 

Abdolkarim
Soroush, prominent Iranian intellectual and theologian

Cornel West, Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy,
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David Harvey, Distinguished Professor, The Graduate Centre,
CUNY

Nancy Fraser, Henry A. and Louise Loeb Professor, New School
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Asad, Distinguished Professor in Anthropology, The Graduate Centre, CUNY 

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Armbrust, Albert Hourani Fellow & Associate Professor in Modern Middle
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Banaji, Professorial Research Associate, SOAS, University of London 

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Rezakhani, Associate Research Scholar, Princeton University 

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Kamaly, Middle East Institute, Columbia University

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Sadri, Professor in Sociology, Texas Woman’s University  

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Eshghi, Lecturer in Computer Science, Heriot-Watt University  

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Sternfeld, Associate Professor in Iranian Studies, Ben Gurion University of the
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Riggs, Assistant Professor of World Religions, University of Bridgeport  

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Godlas, Associate Professor in the Department of Religion, University of
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Cancian, Research Associate, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London  

Robert
Buzzanco, Professor of History, University of Houston 

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Rizvi, Associate Professor of Islamic Intellectual History and Islamic Studies,
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Shams, Assistant Professor of Modern Persian Literature, University of
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Paul R.
Pillar, Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Center for Security Studies, Georgetown
University  

Ashk
Peter Dahlén, Associate Professor in Iranian Languages, Uppsala University,
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Olszewska, Associate Professor in the Social Anthropology of the Middle East,
University of Oxford. 

Rouzbeh
Parsi, Senior Lecturer in the Department of History and Human Rights, Lund
University 

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Associate Professor, Department of Media and Communication Studies, Catholic
University of America 

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Engelcke, Senior Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and
International Private Law 

Nahid
Siamdoust, Postdoctoral Associate & Lecturer in Iranian Studies, Yale
University

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Akbar Mahdi, Lecturer in Sociology, California State University, Northridge 

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Tamimi Arab, Assistant Professor, Religious Studies, Utrecht University 

Prashant
Keshavmurthy, Associate Professor, Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill
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Osanloo, Associate Professor, Department of Law, Societies, and Justice,
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Doostdar, Assistant Professor, Divinity School, University of Chicago 

Lucie
Ryzova Senior Lecturer in Middle East History, University of Birmingham 

Afshin
Shahi, Senior Lecturer in International Relations & Middle East Politics,
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Saade, Lecturer in Religion and Politics, University of Stirling 

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Rivetti, Assistant Professor, School of Law and Government, Dublin City
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Rezavi, Professor of History, AMU, India Rasmus

Christian
Elling, Associate Professor in the Department of Cross-Cultural & Regional
Studies, University of Copenhagen

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Postel, Assistant Director, Middle East and North African Studies Program,
Northwestern University  

Farhang
Rouhani, Associate Professor in Geography, University of Mary Washington 

Sussan
Siavoshi, Cox Professorship in Political Science, Trinity University, San
Antonio, Texas 

Sahar
Maranlou, Lecturer in Law, School of Law and Human Rights Centre, University of
Essex 

Shervin
Malekzadeh, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science,
Williams College

 Leyli
Behbahani, Research Associate at the Center for Gender Studies, SOAS,
University of London

 Otávio
Luiz Vieira Pinto, Assistant Lecturer, Universidade Estadual de Santa Catarina
(UDESC) 

Hani
Khafipour, Associate Professor of Iranian Studies, USC

 Marta
Bolognani Research Affiliate, Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and
Citizenship, University of Bristol 

Maziar
Behrooz, Associate Professor in History, San Francisco State University  

Navid
Yousefian, Founder of See You In Iran and Doctoral Candidate in Political
Science, University of California, Santa Barbara 

Farhad Dokhani,
PhD Candidate in History and Middle East Studies & Co-President, Harvard
Iranian Student Association, Harvard University

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Jorati, Expert Consultant, Library of Congress  

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Musthafa Mamalipurath, Doctoral Candidate in Sociology of Religion, Western
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Jokar, Visiting Lecturer, Middle East Geopolitics and Diplomacy, Normandy
Business School, France 

Fereshteh
Ahmadi, Professor in Sociology, University of Gävle, Sweden

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Hakimian, MBI Al Jaber Reader in Economics and Director of London Middle East
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Ghaffarzadegan, Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech, USA

Christopher
de Bellaigue, journalist and author

Aaron Hughes, Philip S. Bernstein Professor of Jewish
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Abdolreza Kahani, Iranian film director

Adnan Tabatabai, Co-founder and CEO of CARPO – Center for
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