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.
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PARIS-Secretary of State John Kerry said the Iran nuclear agreement “has lived up to its expectations”, marking the first anniversary of the landmark accord reached previous year between six world powers and Iran to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
Most recently, Boeing announced a tentative multibillion-dollar plane deal it reached with the Iranian government, the first potential major US deal with Tehran since the nuclear accord eased up sanctions previous year.
The deal’s one-year anniversary comes on the heels of a report by Germany’s intelligence agency that, even as the deal was being negotiated, Iran sought “a quantitatively high level” of nuclear technology and equipment from German companies.
When the nuclear deal was implemented in January, the United Nations lifted all nuclear-related sanctions against Iran and the European Union lifted many bilateral sanctions on Iran’s banking and energy sectors in short order.
US Secretary of State John Kerry echoed the president’s remarks, saying, despite the pessimism that existed at first, JCPOA “has, in fact, made the world safer”.
And despite all the far-right apoplexy, and the dire warnings about the agreement creating a security crisis, the editorial board of the New York Times noted the other day what is plainly true: the nuclear deal “is working” and has “made the world safer”.
He said the new legislation would enable the United States “to push back against all of the other nefarious activities that we know Iran is involved in in the region”.
Under the landmark nuclear agreement sealed by the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany, Tehran has to significantly reduce its stockpiles of heavy water.
While the reporting isn’t entirely consistent on the matter, it appears that after signing the deal in Vienna last July, Iran continued to try to procure materials for its restricted nuclear program. Altogether, the components of the JCPOA add up to increase Iran’s breakout time from just two-to-three months before the deal to at least one year today.
Critics of the deal say that the agreement will allow Iran to continue developing atomic bombs after a decade.
Representative Eliot Engel, the committee’s senior Democrat, also opposed the nuclear deal and said he agreed the United States shouldn’t be buying Iran’s heavy water.
They argued that Obama was so eager to bolster his foreign policy legacy that he agreed to sanctions relief Iran did not deserve because it lied about its nuclear program, supported militant groups that attack USA allies and perpetrated human rights abuses.
Iranian officials have accused the USA of deliberately discouraging business dealings with Iran, an allegation the Obama administration has denied.
Tehran has complained that the continued USA sanctions related to charges it supports terror activities are still locking it out of the worldwide banking system and hampering its ability to make major purchases, like aircraft.
The White House issued a threat on Monday to veto the bill, and two others the House is due to consider later this week.
But Lew said that Washington would continue to use sanctions to pressure Tehran on the terror and ballistic missile issues.
What he did say was that they have no indication of procurement, i.e., that Iranian agents succeeded in their clandestine efforts.
The US and its partners – Britain, China, France, Germany and Russian Federation – say that is enough time to discover the effort and intervene.
Last week, the committee held a hearing on Boeing’s sale where a couple of witnesses suggested that Iran take a five-year cooling off period before purchasing the airplanes.
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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who proactively pushed for the nuclear deal, promised Tehran will take matters to court.
