President Obama on Sunday signed the Iran nuclear deal, officially putting the international agreement into effect.
The president’s signature opens the way for Iran to make major changes to an underground nuclear facility, a heavy water reactor and a site for enriching uranium…. more here.
President Obama signed an order Sunday directing his administration to begin issuing waivers to Iran nuclear sanctions — but the waivers will only go into effect once Iran meets its obligations under the agreement limiting its nuclear program. (USA Today)
The presidential memorandum marks what’s being called “adoption day” for the international agreement intended to roll back Iran’s nuclear program. The milestone, four administration officials said, is a mere formality, driven more by the calendar than by any action by Iran.
Iran Nuclear Deal Formally Adopted,” By Felicia Schwartz and
Jay Solomon, Wall Street Journal, October 19, 2015
U.S. plays down some concerns that Iran hasn’t done enough to answer IAEA questionsThe Obama administration began implementing its landmark nuclear agreement with Iran with an eye toward lifting expansive sanctions imposed on Tehran in the past decade.
Concerns from opponents of the deal continued to grow, however, as senior administration officials during the weekend played down the importance of a United Nations probe into whether Tehran has attempted to secretly develop the technologies needed to build atomic weapons.
The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, is committed under the deal to release a report by year-end about the status of Iran’s alleged weaponization work. U.S. officials over the weekend said the IAEA report would have no bearing on moves by the international community to lift sanctions.
“That final assessment, which the IAEA is aiming to complete by December 15th, is not a prerequisite for implementation day,” a senior U.S. official said Saturday. “We are not in a position to evaluate the quality…of the data. That is between Iran and the IAEA.”
Secretary of State John Kerry and other U.S. officials had previously said sanctions wouldn’t be lifted unless Iran substantively cooperated with the U.N. probe.
The shifting U.S. position is stoking criticism from Republicans, who say the White House is essentially agreeing to whitewash the weaponization issue. They also charged Iran with growing more belligerent since the July nuclear agreement, with Tehran testing a ballistic missile this month and convicting a Washington Post journalist of espionage.
“In a key test of its commitment to the nuclear agreement, Iran has given minimum cooperation to international inspectors attempting to determine the extent of Iran’s past bomb work,” said Rep. Ed Royce (R., Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “If this is what the last 90 days look like, the next few years look like a disaster.”
