SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Critics say that two years after the Iran nuclear deal, the U.S. has failed to hold up its end of trhe bargain. (Photo: U.S. Department of State/Flickr/cc)
Trump Is Endangering Nuclear Deal, Says Iranian Foreign Minister
The president has urged other leaders to end business ties with Iran, undermining the 2015 deal
Jul 16, 2017
As the United States and Iran mark two years since reaching their landmark deal on nuclear weapons, analysts say Iran has met its obligations stipulated by the agreement--while the U.S. has failed to do so.
The deal, forged in July 2015 by Iran and the Obama administration along with Germany and the four other members of the U.N. National Security Council, stipulated that sanctions on Iran would be lifted in exchange for its halting of nuclear development for the next decade and its compliance with continuous surveillance of its nuclear enrichment and storage sites, among other requirements.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was tasked with making sure Iran complied with the deal, and has reported that the country has done so. But with the introduction of a Senate bill that would impose new sanctions on Iran aimed at its ballistic missile program, the language of which the nonpartisan Arms Control Association calls "overly broad and imprecise," critics say the U.S. has not met the deal's terms, endangering the agreement.
In an interview on Sunday on "Fareed Zakaria GPS," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that President Donald Trump has failed to hold up the United States' end of the bargain by urging its allies to cut business ties with Iran, effectively enacting more sanctions.
"When...President Trump used his presence in the G20 meeting in Hamburg in order to dissuade leaders from other counties to engage in business with Iran, that is a violation of not the spirit but the letter of the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action], of the nuclear deal," Zarif said.
The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) also expressed dismay at the state of the deal, noting in a press release, "The JCPOA represented an opportunity for the U.S. and Iran to change course, broaden engagement, and end the policy of sanctions and antagonism. Unfortunately that opportunity has largely been squandered."
"Continued sanctions, calls from the White House for nations to refrain from investing in Iran, and an increase in military encounters between the US and Iran all threaten the deal," the NIAC added.
Meanwhile, the grassroots disarmament organization Peace Action wrote on Thursday that the Iran deal should be held up as a model for diplomacy, as the U.S. weighs its options in handling growing concerns over North Korea's nuclear capabilities--thus far, imposing sanctions and refusing to participate in talks with North Korea.
"One of the crucial features of negotiations with Iran was our willingness to negotiate without preconditions," the group wrote. "Yet when it comes to growing concerns over North Korea's nuclear weapons program, the administration has instead opted for more ineffective sanctions and dangerous threats of military force. It's time we apply the same diplomatic approach to North Korea that has proved successful with Iran."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
As the United States and Iran mark two years since reaching their landmark deal on nuclear weapons, analysts say Iran has met its obligations stipulated by the agreement--while the U.S. has failed to do so.
The deal, forged in July 2015 by Iran and the Obama administration along with Germany and the four other members of the U.N. National Security Council, stipulated that sanctions on Iran would be lifted in exchange for its halting of nuclear development for the next decade and its compliance with continuous surveillance of its nuclear enrichment and storage sites, among other requirements.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was tasked with making sure Iran complied with the deal, and has reported that the country has done so. But with the introduction of a Senate bill that would impose new sanctions on Iran aimed at its ballistic missile program, the language of which the nonpartisan Arms Control Association calls "overly broad and imprecise," critics say the U.S. has not met the deal's terms, endangering the agreement.
In an interview on Sunday on "Fareed Zakaria GPS," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that President Donald Trump has failed to hold up the United States' end of the bargain by urging its allies to cut business ties with Iran, effectively enacting more sanctions.
"When...President Trump used his presence in the G20 meeting in Hamburg in order to dissuade leaders from other counties to engage in business with Iran, that is a violation of not the spirit but the letter of the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action], of the nuclear deal," Zarif said.
The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) also expressed dismay at the state of the deal, noting in a press release, "The JCPOA represented an opportunity for the U.S. and Iran to change course, broaden engagement, and end the policy of sanctions and antagonism. Unfortunately that opportunity has largely been squandered."
"Continued sanctions, calls from the White House for nations to refrain from investing in Iran, and an increase in military encounters between the US and Iran all threaten the deal," the NIAC added.
Meanwhile, the grassroots disarmament organization Peace Action wrote on Thursday that the Iran deal should be held up as a model for diplomacy, as the U.S. weighs its options in handling growing concerns over North Korea's nuclear capabilities--thus far, imposing sanctions and refusing to participate in talks with North Korea.
"One of the crucial features of negotiations with Iran was our willingness to negotiate without preconditions," the group wrote. "Yet when it comes to growing concerns over North Korea's nuclear weapons program, the administration has instead opted for more ineffective sanctions and dangerous threats of military force. It's time we apply the same diplomatic approach to North Korea that has proved successful with Iran."
As the United States and Iran mark two years since reaching their landmark deal on nuclear weapons, analysts say Iran has met its obligations stipulated by the agreement--while the U.S. has failed to do so.
The deal, forged in July 2015 by Iran and the Obama administration along with Germany and the four other members of the U.N. National Security Council, stipulated that sanctions on Iran would be lifted in exchange for its halting of nuclear development for the next decade and its compliance with continuous surveillance of its nuclear enrichment and storage sites, among other requirements.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was tasked with making sure Iran complied with the deal, and has reported that the country has done so. But with the introduction of a Senate bill that would impose new sanctions on Iran aimed at its ballistic missile program, the language of which the nonpartisan Arms Control Association calls "overly broad and imprecise," critics say the U.S. has not met the deal's terms, endangering the agreement.
In an interview on Sunday on "Fareed Zakaria GPS," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that President Donald Trump has failed to hold up the United States' end of the bargain by urging its allies to cut business ties with Iran, effectively enacting more sanctions.
"When...President Trump used his presence in the G20 meeting in Hamburg in order to dissuade leaders from other counties to engage in business with Iran, that is a violation of not the spirit but the letter of the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action], of the nuclear deal," Zarif said.
The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) also expressed dismay at the state of the deal, noting in a press release, "The JCPOA represented an opportunity for the U.S. and Iran to change course, broaden engagement, and end the policy of sanctions and antagonism. Unfortunately that opportunity has largely been squandered."
"Continued sanctions, calls from the White House for nations to refrain from investing in Iran, and an increase in military encounters between the US and Iran all threaten the deal," the NIAC added.
Meanwhile, the grassroots disarmament organization Peace Action wrote on Thursday that the Iran deal should be held up as a model for diplomacy, as the U.S. weighs its options in handling growing concerns over North Korea's nuclear capabilities--thus far, imposing sanctions and refusing to participate in talks with North Korea.
"One of the crucial features of negotiations with Iran was our willingness to negotiate without preconditions," the group wrote. "Yet when it comes to growing concerns over North Korea's nuclear weapons program, the administration has instead opted for more ineffective sanctions and dangerous threats of military force. It's time we apply the same diplomatic approach to North Korea that has proved successful with Iran."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.