In Washington, Congressional Republicans passed three bills that would expand existing sanctions, hinder Iran’s global financial transactions, and prevent the USA from buying Iran’s heavy water.
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However, he said, Iran is “completely ready” and capable of quickly returning its nuclear capabilities to pre-agreement functionality if the deal is not honored, said AP.
“The problem could reappear in 15 years with Iran in a much better economic situation”, Frank told The Media Line.
In the past year, the IAEA has gained unprecedented access to Iran’s nuclear facilities and supply chain, and the agency can now use modern safeguards technologies in its monitoring and verification efforts, in order to block possible covert pathways to a nuclear weapon.
“Providing additional situational awareness of Iran’s nuclear program is vital for the long-term health of this agreement”, the letter read.
Within that year, Iran has conducted ballistic missile tests in violation of a UN Security Council resolution that the administration says are outside the scope of the nuclear agreement but UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said are “not consistent with the constructive spirit” of the agreement in a confidential report cited by Bloomberg. President Obama would likely veto the bill blocking the sale. This includes the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions.
There was a time when a meeting between Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif would be major worldwide news, but that’s not the case since last year’s landmark deal.
He underlined that the agreement caused great optimism in Iran on unrelated issues, but those expectations are fortunately being balanced and adjusted to reality. The achievement and implementation of the JCPOA demonstrates that when there is resolute political will, diplomacy can work – and can walk the world back from the brink of war. The Iranian central bank, the U.S. Treasury and worldwide banks were to meet in London on Tuesday to discuss stalled progress on banks resuming ties with Iran, Reuters quoted British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond as saying on Tuesday. True, Iran temporarily exceeded the agreed ceiling on heavy water but quickly rectified the infraction, which most observers attributed to the practical difficulty of ensuring that production overages are exported in a timely way rather than to an intention to circumvent the limit.
But developments outside the JCPOA, especially Iran’s regional behavior and its crackdown on dissent at home, could weaken support for the JCPOA within the United States and give proponents of deal-killing legislation a boost.
“Iran alone accounted for 82% of all executions recorded” in the Middle East and North Africa, the human rights group said.
That could affect next year’s elections and the future of President Hassan Rouhani, if voters are still not happy with their economic situation in the years following the deal he approved.
Without foreign investment and the support of worldwide banks, the Iranian people will begin to view the deal as one-sided.
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That windfall, estimated in the tens of billions of dollars, has been slow to come because although nuclear-related sanctions have been lifted under the deal, the majority of the US financial punishments remain in place.
