Kerry Says No Automatic Return Of Sanctions If Iran Breaks Arms Embargo, Missile Restrictions

1970: John Kerry met with
North Vietnamese Communists
violating U.S. law [ref. source]

Who's side is John Kerry on anyway in the Iran Nuke Deal? The photo included with this report may suggest a precursor for the present answer to this question?

Seemingly every day another report about the Obama administration’s Iran deal surfaces that making the accord look ever more questionable.

Last night, Reuters reported, “Violations of an arms embargo by Iran or restrictions on its missile program would not force an automatic reinstatement or ‘snapback’ of United Nations sanctions under a landmark nuclear deal, although other options would be available, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday.

“‘The arms embargo is not tied to snapback,’ Kerry said. ‘It is tied to a separate set of obligations. So they are not in material breach of the nuclear agreement for violating the arms piece of it.’”

Under the terms of the agreement, getting nuclear sanctions snapped back if Iran violates the terms already appears to be a heavy lift, made more so because other countries are likely to be reluctant to sever new business relationships in Iran.

Now the Secretary of State is telling Americans that the arms embargo, imposed due to Iran’s long history of support for terrorism, and sanctions against its dangerous ballistic missile program, neither of which should have been on the table as extra concessions to Tehran, are not going to be able to be snapped back at all once lifted.

Kerry tried to mitigate this disclosure by pointing to other tools he says are available to thwart Iran’s arms shipments and development of ballistic missiles. According to Reuters, “Even without a restoration of U.N. sanctions, Kerry said the United States and its allies would have ‘ample tools at our disposal’ if Iran violated the arms embargo and missile sanctions. ‘There is a specific U.N. resolution outside of this agreement that prohibits them from sending weapons to Hezbollah. There is a separate and specific U.N. resolution that prohibits them from sending weapons to the Shia militia in Iraq,’ he said. Kerry added that similar U.N. restrictions banned arms sales to the Houthis in Yemen, North Korea and other potential recipients of weapons from Iran.”

Of course, in the very next paragraph, Reuters points out, “Tehran has consistently violated the U.N. arms embargo and missile sanctions. Since 2010, those breaches have been documented by the U.N. panel of experts on Iran.” And for good measure, Reuters notes, “Iran's senior nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi made clear last month that Tehran had no intention of complying with the arms embargo and missile sanctions. ‘Whenever it’s needed to send arms to our allies in the region, we will do so,’ he said. ‘We are not ashamed of it.’”

As Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) explained in his statement announcing opposition to this deal, “For years, Iran has used military force and terrorism to expand its influence in the Middle East, actively supporting military or terrorist actions in Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, and Gaza. That is why the U.S. has labeled Iran as one of only three nations in the world who are ‘state sponsors of terrorism.’ Under this agreement, Iran would receive at least $50 billion dollars in the near future and would undoubtedly use some of that money to redouble its efforts to create even more trouble in the Middle East, and, perhaps, beyond.”

Further, Schumer said, “[T]he hardliners can use the freed-up funds to build an ICBM on their own as soon as sanctions are lifted (and then augment their ICBM capabilities in 8 years after the ban on importing ballistic weaponry is lifted), threatening the United States.”

He concluded, “When it comes to the non-nuclear aspects of the deal, I think there is a strong case that we are better off without an agreement than with one.”

We are getting not only what President Obama wanted but what the Senate approved for us when they confirmed former Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) as Secretary of State by a vote of 94-3. Only three senators (Republicans) voted no: Texas Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn and Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma.

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