Ayatollah Khamenei’s Fateful Choice
The Editorial Board – The New York Times
The latest comments by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final word on whether Iran finally accepts a deal to curb the nuclear program in exchange for a lifting of international sanctions, appeared to stiffen his hard line against concessions.
He said on Tuesday that he would not abide any long-term freeze on Iran’s sensitive nuclear work and again ruled out foreign inspections of Iranian military sites. He also insisted that all economic sanctions be lifted immediately once a deal is signed…
His statements are at odds with a framework agreement reached on April 2 in which Iran agreed it would sharply constrain the enrichment of uranium for at least 10 years…
If Ayatollah Khamenei’s intention is to maneuver for advantage, his public demands in reopening settled commitments will undercut rather than strengthen the hands of his negotiators. Of course, it’s also possible that he now has no intention of accepting any nuclear agreement with the West.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks at the New York University in New York on April 29, 2015. (Reuters)
Be Ready to Say No to Iran Deal
Trudy Rubin – The Philadephia Inquirer
The June 30 deadline is fast approaching for a final agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear program, and it’s hard to see how the negotiators can meet it.
That may not be a bad thing….
on Tuesday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei demanded that most sanctions on Iran be lifted as soon as a deal is inked, before Iran dismantles any nuclear infrastructure, and before international inspectors can verify Tehran’s behavior. Khamenei also ruled out inspections of military sites, where suspect work may have, and may yet, happen….
If Iran won’t sign before the deadline, keep talking. I believe the ayatollahs want this accord as much or more than does Obama, and will make concessions only if Obama plays hardball. So if Khamenei keeps setting outrageous red lines, it’s time for Obama to call his bluff and just say no.
A Dilemma of a Deal
James S. Robbins – U.S. News and World Report
The core of the problem is that it is exceedingly difficult to parse which sanctions apply only to Tehran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, and which apply to other aspects of its rogue behavior.
A recent Congressional Research Service study noted that the “U.S. sanctions to be suspended are mostly those imposed since 2010,” such as the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010. But that act was imposed because of the threat posed by “the illicit nuclear activities of the Government of Iran, combined with its development of unconventional weapons and ballistic missiles and its support for international terrorism.” … Section 102 of the act, for example, deals with mandatory sanctions levied on financial institutions that engage in activity that supports terrorism – a sanction that there is no plausible reason to lift under a strictly nuclear deal.