The White House asserted on Aug. 20 that the U.S. was still a “JCPOA participant state” under Resolution 2231, and thus had standing to invoke snapback. Of course, when Trump left the deal, he directed the State Department to “take all appropriate steps to cease the participation of the United States in the JCPOA.”…
By asserting that the U.S. has any rights in even one aspect of the deal, Trump opens the possibility for creative diplomats to find other rights — and therefore responsibilities — arising under Resolution 2231 and other provisions of the agreement. This would give legitimacy to any Biden administration effort to fully re-enter the JCPOA.
The better logic is this: America is either in the deal or out of it. This reasoning is simple, straightforward and, most important, reflects reality. The argument that we are “participants” for some purposes but not others should worry U.S. policy makers; it is far more likely to be used against the U.S. by foreign nations when it tries to extricate itself from other international agreements that no longer advance national interests. When we get out, we should be out, period. Such longer-term strategizing, however, is alien to Trump’s approach to foreign policy, and much else.
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