The White House has confirmed Wednesday the existence of what some have called “side” deals, unbeknownst to the public, between Iran and the UN’s atomic watchdog as part of the comprehensive nuclear agreement reached between the Islamic Republic and world power in July, The Hill reported.
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Revolutionary guards and hardline politicians claim that it endangers Iranian security.
He also said he expects support for the deal from Saudi Arabia, Iran’s rival in the Middle East. Half a world away, by coincidence or not, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the agreement appears to have the provisions needed to curtail Iran’s ability to obtain a nuclear weapon. “Nor can we sanction that knowledge away”. But given Obama’s less than stellar track record for assurances, I think it’s fair to say that talk is especially cheap when it comes from this particular president.
The debate over the details largely reflects internal rivalries in Iran’s cumbersome dual system of clerical and republican rule, in which factions jostle to gain maximum benefit from the deal while deflecting blame. “You can choose to protect the health and safety of millions of Americans from a professed zealot who says he wants to murder us”, said Senator Cruz. “This is a question of what happens now, tomorrow, if we don’t accept this deal”.
“I hope the next president is somebody that will remove the national security waiver and re-impose the congressional sanctions passed by Congress, because this deal is fundamentally and irrevocably flawed”, said Rubio, a 2016 Republican presidential candidate. The hearing included testimony from Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew.
Zionist lawyer and commentator Alan Dershowitz, who defended Israeli war crimes in Lebanon in 2006 and has advocated bulldozing whole Palestinian villages in retaliation for attacks, said he was “opposing the deal as a liberal Democrat”.
Predictably, Democratic senators leaned in favor of the agreement, but made it clear that they expected Iran to live up to its letter and spirit.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said over the weekend that the nuclear deal would not change Tehran’s policy in supporting allies including in Lebanon, Syria and among the Palestinians.
Congress has 60 days to review the deal and decide whether it wants to try to stop it. Lawmakers will be on their summer recess through most of that period, which expires in late September. If this exact same deal had come from a Republican president, they would all be saying how great it is. Overriding such a veto would require a two-thirds majority in both houses, which means dozens of Obama’s fellow Democrats would have to reject his signature achievement to kill the deal, seen as an unlikely prospect.
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US President Barack Obama, who also faces domestic political opposition to the agreement, hailed the United Nations endorsement, saying it showed last week’s accord commanded broad worldwide support as the best way of ensuring Iran never gets nuclear weapons.
