Let Dominic Raab Lead on Britain’s Iran Policy

In his short tenure as Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab has proven refreshingly clear-sighted on Iran.

He backed the U.S. decision to kill major general Soleimani, blasted Iran’s arrest of the British ambassador in Tehran, and greenlit the naval seizure of Iranian oil off Gibraltar. He even warned Iran that it was marching towards “pariah status” and this month vowed that the Mullahs must never be allowed a nuclear weapon. 

As the son of a Czech Jewish refugee who fled to England after Hitler was awarded the Sudetenland, Raab is personally well-aware that appeasing tyrants is unacceptable.

Together with his previous experience advising the UK government on counter-proliferation, counter-terrorism and maritime threats, Raab is the ideal candidate to lead Britain’s Iran policy.

Yet his ability to implement an effective Iran foreign policy is hobbled by Britain’s ongoing membership – and indeed staunch official support - of that paragon of appeasement: the Iran Nuclear Deal (a.k.a. the JCPOA).

With Germany and France, the UK fought hard against the U.S. withdrawal in May 2018.

Then it launched the INSTEX trade mechanism to keep Europe-Iran trade alive.

Iranian banks in London, sanctioned by the U.S. for their terrorist financing, continue trading, while the British-Iranian Chamber of Commerce still seeks opportunities to remain relevant.

And earlier this month, Britain issued new guidance continuing to “encourage UK businesses to take advantage of the commercial opportunities with the lifting of sanctions.”

So there is an obvious fissure at the heart of Whitehall: while official UK policy is all in on the JCPOA, Raab is plainly not.

Indeed, the Foreign Secretary has bluntly stated that the deal is in jeopardy due to Iran’s ‘acute’ non-compliance.

That is right. Iran continues to explicitly violate the deal at regular ‘calibrated’ intervals, breaching restrictions on centrifuges, enrichment, and uranium stockpile limits.

There is clearly no prospect for Iran to ‘come back into full compliance,’ as Raab has shrewdly framed it.

The deal is dead and will not be revived.

Nor will it be ‘renegotiated’ under a potential Joe Biden presidency, as Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif made abundantly clear to CNN’s Fareed Zakaria this week.

Britain is therefore faced with two alternatives.

It can continue its incoherent endorsement of a defunct deal that has at no stage brought any economic benefits to UK firms, even at its height; a deal that now merely provides comfort to a malign, anti-British regime bent on spreading terrorism; and a deal that forced Britain was, to its utter shame, into the position of rendering the lifting of Iran’s UN arms embargo more likely.

Or, it can implement a suspension of Iran banking, trade and economic incentives, until such time that Iran understands its present actions are unacceptable. And while Iran ponders, Britain can walk down the path of a complete disengagement from the JCPOA, reinstating its own sanctions until such a time as either the regime changes or there is a change of regime.

Under Dominic Raab’s careful stewardship, the choice is clear.