The Security Council resolution, which is legally binding, lays out the steps required for the lifting of U.N. sanctions, not the sanctions imposed separately by the United States and the European Union.
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The Security Council will be able to re-impose UN sanctions during the next decade if Iran fails to meet its obligations under the deal. All past UN Security Council resolutions on the Iran nuclear issue will be revoked simultaneously with Iran’s compliance with its commitments at Fordo, Arak, its implementation of agreed-on transparency and honoring other responsibilities.
The agreement also faces opposition in some Middle East states, including Israel and Saudi Arabia.
“It’s pretty clear to me that a majority of the House and Senate, at a minimum, are opposed to this deal”, Boehner, an Ohio Republican, told reporters at the Capitol.
The UN passed a resolution endorsing the deal on Monday, and on Tuesday Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif submitted the agreement to his country’s parliament for review.
The agreement launches a progressive and conditional lifting of sanctions, in exchange for guarantees that the Islamic republic will not develop a nuclear bomb.
The US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, said the agreement would cut off all pathways for Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.
“The sanctions against Iran will be terminated after IAEA verification is finished”, McCully said.
And there’s a permanent prohibition on Iran ever having a nuclear weapon, the US President said.
US Defence Secretary Ash Carter said on a visit to Israel that the agreement did “nothing to prevent … the US military option”.
Washington and Israel are split over the Iranian nuclear deal, with President Barack Obama saying it makes the United States and its allies safer. Even among conservative Republicans, 33% are supportive of the deal.
But last week the six major powers – the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany – and the European Union sent a letter, seen by The Associated Press, informing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that they have agreed to extend the snap back mechanism for an additional five years.
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The deal must still be approved by Iran’s National Security Council and ultimately by Khamenei.
