Omri Ceren:
USA Today late on Wednesday sketched out the emerging details of an anticipated deal between Iran and the P5+1 global powers, with the outlet bluntly assessing that the agreement will fall far short of securing an “end [to] Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon.”
“The Iranians will have some kind of (uranium) enrichment capacity” at the end of negotiations, said Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who has advised the administration on Iran sanctions.
It also noted that top U.S. lawmakers from both parties – and from both chambers – have been unequivocal that leaving Tehran with such capabilities would be unacceptable. The dynamic may become problematic for the Obama administration, which will likely need congressional legislation to unwind sanctions against the Islamic republic.
There have been leaks suggesting that the White House could unilaterally suspend financial restrictions, but even Iranian lobbies have conceded that those scenarios are unlikely to prove diplomatically robust.
Meanwhile, Washington Institute Managing Director Michael Singh on Wednesdaypublished a piece worrying that Western negotiators have implicitly shifted to a position where “a ‘good deal’ these days is often framed more in terms of Rouhani’s capacity to deliver than our own requirements.”