Iranian Leaders Demand Immediate Sanctions Relief In Nuclear Deal

Editorial Cartoon by Michael Ramirez

USA Today reports, “Tehran will not sign a final nuclear deal unless world powers simultaneously lift economic sanctions imposed on Iran, the nation's president said Thursday. . . .

“In a televised address Thursday at a ceremony marking Iran's nuclear technology day, President Hassan Rouhani appeared to rule out a gradual removal of the sanctions, which have hit the nation's energy and financial sectors hard — and devastated its economy.

“‘We will not sign any agreement, unless all economic sanctions are totally lifted on the first day of the implementation of the deal,’ he said. ‘We want a win-win deal for all parties involved in the nuclear talks.’ ‘The Iranian nation has been and will be the victor in the negotiations,’ he added.”

This is in contrast to what President Obama has been saying about the agreement, as USA Today notes. “‘It has never been our position that all of the sanctions against Iran should be removed from Day One,’ White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday.”

But it’s not just Rouhani saying this. According to Reuters, “Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday demanded that all sanctions on Iran be lifted at the same time as any final agreement with world powers on curbing Tehran's nuclear program is concluded.

“Khamenei, the Islamic Republic's most powerful figure and who has the last say on all state matters, was making his first comments on the interim deal reached between Iran and the powers last week in the Swiss city of Lausanne. . . .

“His stand on the lifting of sanctions matched earlier comments by Rouhani, who said Iran would only sign a final nuclear accord if all measures imposed over its disputed atomic work are lifted on the same day. These include nuclear-related United Nations resolutions as well as U.S. and EU nuclear-related economic sanctions. ‘All sanctions should be removed when the deal is signed. If the sanctions removal depends on other processes, then why did we start the negotiations?’ Khamenei said.”

As The Washington Post editors said earlier this week, the gap between what the Obama administration about lifting sanctions and what the Iranian leaders are saying is a significant problem. “Worryingly, the fact sheets issued by the U.S. and Iranian governments differ sharply on this point: While the U.S. version says that “sanctions will be suspended after” the International Atomic Energy Agency ‘has verified that Iran has taken all of its key nuclear-related steps,’ Tehran’s account is that ‘at the same time as the start of Iran’s nuclear-related implementation work, all of the sanctions will be automatically annulled on a single specified day.’

“The gulf between those two scenarios is extremely important. Unless sanctions relief is conditioned on Iranian performance, the United States and its partners will lose their leverage.”

Gary L. Bauer, President of Campaign for Working Families, today noted, "The Obama Administration has got the "pedal to the metal" selling the Iran nuclear deal to a skeptical public and Congress. It may as well be trying to sell disappearing ink because in reality there is no deal. After two years of negotiations, there is only a "framework" to serve as the basis for three or six more months of negotiations.

While Obama does a hard sell, Iran is not dismantling its nukes but instead is taking apart the framework of the elusive deal. Last night Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said his country "will not sign any deal unless all sanctions are lifted on the same day" they sign it.

But once sanctions are lifted the U.S. will have little leverage. Once European, Russian and even U.S. companies invest in Iran, sanctions will never get through the U.N. again.

Rouhani also spiked the football, bragging that "The Iranian nation has been and will be the victor in the negotiations."

What about the "tough" and "unprecedented" inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities that Obama has trumpeted as a "win" in the talks for the U.S.? Brigadier General Hossein Dehgan, Iran's defense minister, asserted yesterday that no inspections will be allowed at military centers. Seems basic doesn't it? How can there be any assurance Iran is not developing a military nuclear program if inspections can only take place at "civilian" power plant sites?

Several weeks ago, an Iranian dissident group accused the regime of operating a secret nuclear facility at a military base in the Tehran suburbs. This group has considerable credibility as it exposed other secret sites in the past.

Obama said yesterday that "Iran will not get a nuclear weapon on my watch." But Obama's concessions will allow Iran to get nuclear weapons after he leaves office Jan. 20, 2017. (In fact, he even admits it.) At that point another U.S. president may have to take military action against a regime that will be more powerful.

Yesterday, former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George P. Shultz laid out all the seriously troubling aspects of the deal with Iran that  the president is touting.

---

Tags: Iran, Iranian leaders, demand, immediate relief, Nuclear deal,nuclear weapons, Obama administration, diplomacy,  To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!