Obama Seeking to Buttress JCPOA before Leaving Office

The deal’s supporters touted it publicly as a way to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran.

“Given the broad range of issues that separate the US and Iran, I think it is fair to say that Tehran will continue to pose a national security challenge to the next American administration”, Ben Taleblu said.

Bolton, who served three different presidents in Washington, said Trump’s transition team is on pace, if not ahead, of past presidential transitions. All of them involve restoring an array of sanctions that targeted third parties that deal with Iran.

His public calm belies divisions within Iranian politics over the deal and the wisdom of negotiating anything with the United States, a longtime geopolitical foe.

“All that needs to happen for the deal to fall apart is for the Trump White House to do what the Obama administration has refused to do – enforce its provisions”, wrote Lee Smith, advancing a similar argument to Ceren’s in The Weekly Standard.

The first time, the Obama administration stepped in to purchase the excess heavy water from Iran.

Worse, German intelligence indicates that the Iranians are also seeking items – via front companies operating from the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and China – that could be used to make illegal chemical and biological weapons.

What really bothers them, of course, is the fact that their days of out-negotiating and out-maneuvering President Obama are almost over.

Traditional U.S. allies in the region, including Israel and Saudi Arabia, also opposed the deal.

The nuclear agreement is not a deal exclusively between the United States and Iran. Mr. Trump should stand against Iran’s aggressiveness as promised during his election campaign. Nobody knows, but it is the reality of Iran’s political life. Sick is better known for circulating a false story in 1980 that that the Reagan campaign persuaded the Iranian government to not free USA hostages until after the 1980 election to ensure President Carter’s defeat. Trump could easily reverse those policies and sign new, non-nuclear sanctions bills from Congress, like the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act.

Trump campaigned on his opposition to deal, and I hope he follows through on his promises.

The administration of US President Barack Obama is planning to take measures in its last months in office to “strengthen” a multi-lateral nuclear deal with Iran, amid the probability that an incoming American president and his hawkish possible appointees may act to undermine the global agreement and the US stature as a result, American officials say.

The 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, requires Iran’s storage of uranium enriched to up to 3.67 percent purity to stay below 300 kilograms, and Tehran has also agreed to keep its heavy water stockpile below 130 tons. But many Republicans in the U.S. Congress have been highly critical of it. Just days after Trump was elected, EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who led the group of countries in negotiations with Iran, said it is in European interest and United Nations interest to “guarantee that the agreement is implemented in full”. Since the January signing, Iran has returned to world oil markets, providing much needed income for Iran’s leaders, who also have gotten access to some of their frozen funds overseas.