That is precisely why the Obama administration opposes it: Iran considers this an effort to reimpose nuclear-related sanctions under a different name, and would likely treat such a move as a violation of the nuclear accord.
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Winner: The U.S., for nearly accidentally preserving much of its financial sanctions against Iran, but the ground may be shifting.
“Over the course of the second year of implementation, the JCPOA will undergo major tests as both the USA and Iran hold elections for the Presidencies of their respective countries”.
There were concerns that Iran wouldn’t keep its promises and that their compliance might be tricky to verify.
While the US and Iran still do not have formal diplomatic relations, Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif developed a close working relationship during the negotiations and remain in regular contact.
One year after agreement on the comprehensive nuclear deal between Iran and the six world powers and six months after its implementation, many Iranians are still not feeling the economic benefits of the lifting of sanctions.
The U.S. bragged after the deal was signed that it had secured two key last-minute concessions: Prolonging the United Nations ban on Iranian missile development by eight years and the ban on Iranian arms transfer by five years.
Iran may also change leadership, with moderate President Hassan Rouhani up for reelection next year.
“Yes, the Iranians have given up some nuclear technology and infrastructure – all of which they could easily reconstitute”, Mr. Dubowitz says.
However, the U.S. House of Representatives passed two measures last week that would block the sale. 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. The Obama administration has promised to veto any bill that undermines the nuclear agreement.
“The steps we’re seeing now could very well paralyze Iran policy in the next administration”, he says.
Speaking before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee earlier this year in Washington, D.C., Trump claimed his “No. 1” priority is to “dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran”. It sees Rouhani’s success as critical to the accord’s survival.
Restrictions on Financial Transactions: Codifies the prohibition on “U-turn” transactions involving Iran.
Obama’s Iran outreach is “a textbook example of the failure of appeasement”, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., wrote in a 23-page national security agenda published last month.
Ballistic missiles pose another test.
The Iran nuclear deal, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, is an agreement between the so-called P5+1 (the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, China and Russia) and Iran, that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The nuclear deal’s future is “highly uncertain”, said Ariel Levite at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
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“The clock is steadily ticking – one year down, seven more to go”, Levite said.
