But President Barack Obama threatened to veto the bill to block the Boeing sale.
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Salehi was one of Iran’s key negotiators in the nuclear deal with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States on July 14 a year ago. FILE – In this January 16, 2016 file-pool photo, Secretary of State John Kerry speaks in Vienna that sanctions will be lifted on Iran after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verified that Iran has met all co.
But throughout the past 12 months, officials on both sides, particularly from Iran and the USA, have spoken about the deal with comments that range from suspicion to outright rejection. It further said that no one had claimed that Iran’s enemies would retreat on every front, and indeed, some of the countries party to the nuclear deal are enemies of Iran, so sabotage is to be expected.
Iran is still subject to unilateral American sanctions and the country has struggled to attract big foreign investments, partly because it is having trouble accessing the global banking system.
The most significant element of the Iran deal to date, in my opinion, is how smoothly the agreement has been implemented.
The agency said there was “a further increase in the already considerable procurement efforts in connection with Iran’s ambitious missile technology program, which could, among other things, potentially serve to deliver nuclear weapons”.
The group maintains that the heavy water transaction helps Iran skirt restrictions on the amount of heavy water it can procure by allowing it to control and store excess amounts in Oman.
Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the US of creating “Iranophobia” to scare off worldwide businesses. Though related to the Iran deal, the Boeing legislation passed the House in a separate legislative push on Thursday and has yet to be taken up by the Senate.
They gave themselves until the middle of 2014 to come to a comprehensive deal, but like with much of the negotiation process, the talks hit roadblocks and blew past multiple deadlines. Another would bar the purchase from the Islamic Republic of “heavy water”, a non-radioactive byproduct of both the manufacturing of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. These facts lead to the argument articulated last week by veteran USA diplomat Dennis Ross who wrote: “It is fair to say that the immediate nuclear threat has indeed been reduced”. However, Iranian officials complain that six months after the economic sanctions were eased, the country has yet to witness the financial benefits many predicted.
But Iranian threats to renege on the deal have the Obama administration on the defensive. World powers lifted their sanctions, unlocking billions of dollars for Iran and paving the way for new business opportunities there. Many multinational banks and companies are fearful of USA prosecution or fines.
The White House issued the president’s veto threat on Monday night, charging that these bills, separately or collectively, “would impact the continued viability of the JCPOA, a diplomatic arrangement that peacefully and verifiably prevents Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon”.
Apart from investing tens of billions of Euros in Iranian oil fields, Germany hopes to secure its position as the leading supplier to Iran’s manufacturing sectors – elbowing out the established Chinese and Korean suppliers in the Iranian market.
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“The clock is steadily ticking – one year down, seven more to go”, Levite said.
