Collapse: WH Caves on All Three 'Red Line' Demands of Iran

Western negotiators, led by the United States, offered two enormous concessions to the Iranian regime from earliest stages of talks: In spite of President Obama's tough rhetoric, an eventual deal would allow Tehran to keep virtually its entire nuclear infrastructure intact, with Western-imposed restrictions automatically beginning to sunset after one decade. These allowances alone would be sufficient to give observers pause over the wisdom and efficacy of an accord. But those were only the opening salvos of the US-quarterbacked giveaway. In June, as details and rumors about the progress of negotiations leaked into the press, a bipartisan group of respected foreign policy heavyweights wrote an open letter spelling out the tough limits on Iran's program that would be necessary in order to win their support for an agreement. This contingent included a number of former high-ranking Obama administration officials. Their concerns focused on three primary areas:

A group of influential U.S. foreign-policy strategists, including five former confidants of President Barack Obama, warned the White House Wednesday they would oppose a nuclear agreement with Iran if tough terms weren’t included in a final agreement. Among the requirements identified by the former diplomats, military officers and lawmakers wereintrusive snap inspections of Iran’s nuclear and military sites, a resolution of questions surrounding secretly developed nuclear-weapons technologies and a phased reduction of international sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

 

Eli LakeVerified account‏@EliLake

From "snap inspections” to “managed access” to “no access to military sites.” http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940429001105&utm_content=bufferaccd6&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer … #Irandeal

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12:50 PM - 26 Jul 2015

The experts:

The Obama administration’s claim that the Iran nuclear accord provides for airtight verification procedures is coming under challenge from nuclear experts with long experience in monitoring Tehran’s program...Olli Heinonen, a former deputy director of the [IAEA], said in an interview that while “it is clear that a facility of sizable scale cannot simply be erased in three weeks’ time without leaving traces,” the more likely risk is that the Iranians would pursue smaller-scale but still important nuclear work, such as manufacturing uranium components for a nuclear weapon. “A 24-day adjudicated timeline reduces detection probabilities exactly where the system is weakest: detecting undeclared facilities and materials,” he said...“If it is on a small scale, they may be able to clear it out in 24 days,” Mr. Albright said in a telephone interview. “They are practiced at cheating. You can’t count on them to make a mistake.”

(2) "A resolution of questions surrounding secretly developed nuclear weapons technologies:"

Via: Townhall

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Both Democrats and Republicans Skeptical of Iran Deal

Both sides of the political aisle expressed strong skepticism over the deal announced in Geneva early Sunday that dropped many sanctions against Iran in exchange for concessions in its nuclear program.

Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. Eliot Engel both of New York joined numerous Republicans in criticizing the deal on Sunday.

Engel expressed doubt on Sunday the plan will succeed without continued sanctions.

"I don't think you make them bargain in good faith by going squishy," Engel, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Relations Committee told CNN's "State of the Union."

"I think we could have played good cop, bad cop, and Congress really believes sanctions should happen," Engel said. "That's what brought Iran to the table in the first place."

Schumer said in a statement that he was disappointed in the interim deal reached in Geneva regarding Iran’s nuclear program, saying "it does not seem proportional" because "Iran simply freezes its nuclear capabilities while we reduce the sanctions."

Sen. Bob Menendez, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also criticized what he perceived as a more one-sided deal that benefits Iran. 

But the New Jersey Democrat also said that he expected any further sanctions legislation would adjust for the six-month window in the interim agreement, allowing for negotiators to work on a permanent deal.

“I expect that the forthcoming sanctions legislation to be considered by the Senate will provide for a six month window to reach a final agreement before imposing new sanctions on Iran, but will at the same time be immediately available should the talks falter or Iran fail to implement or breach the interim agreement,” Menendez said in a statement.

On Thursday, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said that he planned to move a sanctions measure when the Senate returns from a two-week Thanksgiving break on Dec. 9. Reid was noticeably quiet on Sunday in what some observers interpreted as resistance to the deal.

Via: Newsmax

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Report: Obama Already Eased Iran Sanctions Before Nuke Talks

The White House began easing economic sanctions that have crippled Iran for five years not long after its new president was elected in June — and months before Hassan Rouhani and President Barack Obama talked by telephone in September, State Department documents show.

The United States has done everything but stopped blacklisting individuals and companies that Iran evade international sanctions since Rouhani's election on June 14, The Daily Beast reports.

And the Obama administration has been doing less of that since the election, despite claims to the contrary, the website reports.

“In the months since the Iranian election we have continued to pursue our unwavering goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” a spokesman for the Treasury Department told the Daily Beast. “We have not let up on vigorous sanctions enforcement one iota.

"This includes new designations of sanctions evaders as well as other steps to address potential sanctions evasion,” the spokesman said.

Designating such violators has been crucial to the Obama administration's strategy to force Iran into abandoning its nuclear program — and they have been a factor in the current negotiations between Tehran, the U.S., and other world powers in Geneva this week.

Negotiations to curb Iran's nuclear efforts are in their third day on Saturday. Officials are optimistic, but said there still is no certainty of a deal.

"The negotiations taking place are about how Iran begins to meet its international obligations and provide assurances not just to us but to the entire world,” President Obama told NBC News on Thursday. They are “not about easing sanctions.”

But the administration on several occasions has indicted they are ready to lift sanctions. And Vice President Joe Biden last month urged that no new sanctions be imposed on Iran
Via: Newsmax

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