Talks Resume on Nuclear Deal With Iran
Please cheer the good news: U.S. and Iran Agree to Resume Talks on Nuclear Deal
The United States and Iran will take part in talks next week in Vienna aimed at reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, the most extensive effort to shore up the agreement since President Biden took office in January, diplomats said Friday.
Senior officials from all participants in the accord—Iran, France, Germany, the U.K., Russia, China and the European Union, as well as top U.S. officials—will gather in the Austrian capital starting Tuesday.
A face-to-face meeting between officials from the two countries over the nuclear agreement would be the first since late 2017, months before the Trump administration withdrew from the deal in May 2018.
President Biden has said he wants the U.S. to return to the deal, which placed strict but temporary limits on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for a suspension of international sanctions on Tehran.
First Step
https://twitter.com/USEnvoyIran/status/1378015750171062273
Single Best Accomplishment of Obama
The nuclear deal with Iran was the single best and arguably only major accomplishment of Obama in 8 full years.
Trump undid that accomplishment with sanctions and warmongering.
Nuclear Accord Agreement
- Iran will give up about 14,000 of its 20,000 centrifuges
- Iran will give up all but its most rudimentary, outdated centrifuges: its first-generation IR-1s, knockoffs of 1970s European models, are all it gets to keep. It will not be allowed to build or develop newer models.
- Iran will give up 97 percent of its enriched uranium; it will hold on to only 300 kilograms of its 10,000-kilogram stockpile in its current form.
- Iran will destroy or export the core of its plutonium plant at Arak, and replace it with a new core that cannot produce weapons-grade plutonium. It will ship out all spent nuclear fuel.
- Inspectors will have access to all parts of Iran’s nuclear supply chain, including its uranium mines and the mills where it processes uranium ore. Inspectors will also not just monitor but be required to pre-approve all sales to Iran of nuclear-related equipment. This provision also applies to something called ‘dual-use’ materials, which means any equipment that could be used toward a nuclear program.
Trump’s Top General Says Iran Honoring Nuke Deal
Flashback, September 26, 2017: ForeignPolicy reports Trump’s Top General Says Iran Honoring Nuke Deal
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Tuesday joined other members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet in confirming that Iran is complying with the 2015 nuclear deal that has put a temporary halt to its nuclear weapons program.
“The briefings I have received indicate that Iran is adhering to its JCPOA obligations,” Gen. Joseph Dunford wrote in answers to questions in advance of his hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, using an acronym for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
IAEA Says Iran Abiding by Nuclear Deal
April 19, 2019: IAEA Says Iran Abiding by Nuclear Deal
“Iran is implementing its nuclear commitments,” said Yukiya Amano, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The agency has had access to “all the sites and locations in Iran which it needed to visit.”
Iran Honoring the Deal?
- US State Department: Iran honoring the terms.
- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Iran honoring the terms.
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA): Iran honoring the terms.
- Arms Control Association: Iran honoring the terms.
- All US European allies: Iran honoring the terms.
- Every other signee of the accord: Iran honoring the terms.
Had Trump made the same deal with Iran, most of his supporters would have cheered it. But Trump always thinks he can negotiate a better deal.
Trump’s Track Record On Deals
- China: Zero – But lots of pain from sanctions
- The Wall: Zero – Schumer offered Trump $20 billion for a wall for some amnesty for Dreamers. That just bit the dust with nothing to show for it.
- NAFTA Replacement: USMCA was mostly a wash but arguably a bit worse
- Russia Pipeline to EU: Zero – Trump wanted the EU to buy US Liquid Natural Gas and put sanctions on companies building the Gazprom pipeline. The pipeline will soon be completed. The jobs for building the pipeline were Russian jobs, not EU jobs because of sanctions.
Trump’s track record on deals is among the worst in history.
It will take a concerted effort by Biden to undo the damage Trump to the accord with Iran.
I don’t expect Biden will give us much to cheer about in the next four years, but if he can undo the damage Trump did on the Iran accord, it will be a significant accomplishment.
Mish
Addendum
Iran Honoring the Deal?
- US State Department: Iran honoring the terms.
- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Iran honoring the terms.
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA): Iran honoring the terms.
- Arms Control Association: Iran honoring the terms.
- All US European allies: Iran honoring the terms.
- Every other signee of the accord: Iran honoring the terms.
- Trump’s top general Gen. Joseph Dunford: Iran honoring the terms.
- Trump’s Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis: Iran was complying with the terms of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal
Point 8 from AI Chrome
AI on Chrome: Yes, during his first term, President Trump’s Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis, stated that Iran was complying with the terms of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA), despite President Trump’s strong opposition to it. Reuters
+1
Key Details on Mattis’ Statement and Context:
- Testimony (October 2017): Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Mattis said, “I believe that [Iran] fundamentally [are] in compliance with its nuclear deal”.
- Contradicting Trump: Mattis, a career hawk, advised that staying in the deal was in the U.S. national security interest, putting him at odds with President Trump’s public criticism of the agreement as an “embarrassment”.
Iran only began stepping back from JCPOA limits (e.g., higher uranium enrichment levels, reduced IAEA access) after Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018 and reimposed sanctions—not before.
This sequence is well-documented in IAEA reports and international statements that include Trump’s top general and Secretary of Defence.
Although I want to see Iran normalized in the world but in realistically, I am waiting to see how this is going to erupt into a war. Israel will do anything to drag us into a war with Iran and they hold the keys to CONgress. Don’t be surprised when you see some stunt pulled to drag us into that war.
Agree 100%, Mish was great 15 years ago. We need a strong leader, the Iran deal was a disaster, should have let Israel whack them.
Only a moron would trust Iran. Should have whacked their nuke plants before they were running. Then we wouldn’t be dealing with this now. Whiny liberals are too weak minded.
Congress and the citizens are too divided and close to war with each other to have an effective president. Or maybe the quality of the person who wins these close elections is the problem.
Things have been a lot less rioty around the country, now that you mention it. That will probably change if Officer SquatNChoke is aquitted.
It is definitely the quality of the people running for President. Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton are examples of skilled politicians who were able to get things done by working with the other party, even when there was a huge difference in political philosophy.
IIRC the main problem with Obama’s agreement with Iran is that he never even tried to get it ratified by the Senate. Because he knew he didn’t have the skills and/or desire to persuade the Senate or the American people (who could then persuade their elected representatives) of its importance, he just took the easy path and claimed that it was not a treaty (which is ludicrous). The problem with not getting Senate ratification is that the next President can just reverse the policy, which is what happened. Same thing with the Paris accord on climate change. This is not a partisan issue; Trump did a lot of things by Executive Order as well, and Biden has reversed many of those. An effective President finds a way to get Congress to agree on important matters, in order to ensure lasting change. Too bad it has been so long since we have had an effective President.
They are going to need a bigger helicopter to drop this even bigger pallet of cash.
The nature of arms agreements is there is always a loophole. Iran can find a partner country who will rent them lab and warehouse facilities. Iranian scientists can study in another country’s nuclear facilities. A nuclear agreement can be used as a decoy if such actions are already being done. If Iran declines an arms deal, then it looks aggressive or has established nuclear facilities elsewhere.
Why would anyone make any agreement with the US at this point? We’ve shown we’re just a whackjob election away from breaking any and every agreement.
Especially the Kurds. How many times have we offered to back them, got everybody in the region pissed off at them, and left them to die. Note to Kurds: Do NOT trust the USA!
Yeah yeah, the nuclear deal with Iran was Obama’s legacy, while at the same time messing up Libya,Syria,Yemen and defying Russia with a CIA orchestrated coup in Ukraine , the Black Messiah’s contribution to a better world was fckn 0 ! …. Get your fat asses out of the Middle East(and other less mentioned regions) altogether…..THAT would be great….but you won’t …
…when giving the matter some more thought ,I think that your orange clown did not even have a clue about ‘The Iran Deal’, but the Jews controlled Deep State somehow armtwisted or bribed him into reversing it….in my humble opinion that is…
The only acceptable deal would be : Iran stops the development of nuclear weapons if the US do the same.
“How about they agree (or pretend) to stop their nuclear program and we let them vote in our elections?”
-Biden
“Trump undid that accomplishment with sanctions and warmongering.”
And peace in the middle east ensued…
Jared fixed it, daddy!
Of course it did, ISIS crossed the line and got wiped out, the message was sent. No woosie liberal is in charge. Trump didn’t wipe out countries like the last 4 jags before him did. Some of this talk makes me sick how weak minded Americans have become.
Biden will be the worst POS president ever!
Either a test or Biden is about to have his first foreign policy crisis
Your comments today is one more reason you should not make a fool of yourself Talking about international affairs and stick to economics that you are very good at. I echo the comment above. Maybe they will be good boys if we put a few billion $ in the infrastructure bill for the Mullah’s
Mish is right on this one. I disagreed with Trump wrecking this agreeement stared with Obama and his billions of bribe money. Why wreck something that’s working? Trump, I voted for him twice, suffered from some ADD problems and had to undo everyrthing from Obama. Whatever. I hope he doesn’t run again and focuses on his businesses. This is a positive from Biden, but only one so far.
Maybe if we send them another 3-4 billion in cash things will work out. You could put that in the infrastructure bill and we would never know it.
This had better not be a reference to the oft-debunked “pallets of cash” fantasy peddled elsewhere. We gave Iran THEIR money which had been frozen since 1979.
We stole their money and gave it back
We also stole their democracy it’s a shame we can’t give that back too. I think we may still owe them.
“Never offend an enemy in a small way”
Gore Vidal
I find it curious that Israel isn’t participating in this conference/deal.
They are the ones most threatened by Iran getting a nuke and they are also the ones most likely to launch a military strike against Iran’s reactors.
If they are not on board with this I don’t see how it’s going to make much difference when there could still be a major blowup between Israel and Iran.
We want peace in the world
Would be great to resurrect the JCPOA deal but I’m not holding my breath. Biden could have done this right away if he’d wanted but chose not to. It would have been politically easy, saying he was undoing Trump’s actions and going back to an Obama era agreement.
There is still hope for this deal but we’re dragging our feet. Also Biden has been far chummier with MbS and the Saudis than his rhetoric on the campaign trail, another ominous sign.
I was not a fan of the Iran deal when it was signed. Felt it left out too many important issues. That said we were better off with it than without it. Trump had no alternative. So it’s flawed. It should not be judged by what it doesn’t accomplish but on what it does and on the alternatives.
It was the U.S. that imposed the Shah on Iran against their will that led the the ’79 crisis.
It’s right that we end the resulting decades of escalating hatred….we started it.
I know the history and the missteps. U.S. and the U.K. werectge bad guys for decades. That said the Iranian leadership are bad actors. Lot of decades have passed since the revolution
If it was flawed, why then many other nations co signed this agreement ?
No it was not flawed, on the contrary it was a very good agreement except for Israel , nothing is good enough for them but Trump painted this picture that its flawed and you believed in this trick.
Russia and the Ukraine are about to go to war with (surely) the blessing of Creepy Joe and you think getting back into the fake “accord” with IRAN is news to cheer about? You liberals are a sick bunch.
Why do the Trumpies not get this abysmal record of failure into their thick skulls? Are they really THAT partisan?
Trump’s policies supported America first, unlike dementia Joe’s America last policies so far. I’m sorry Trump hurt your feelings, but I could look past his presentation and looked toward his effectiveness as our great leader at the time.
Effective rhetoric
Trump is a demagogue. His brand is all about creating enemies
Some people will only stop seeing what they want to see when it becomes desperate, thankfully that isn’t most people.
I listen to Biden speak, he’s boring, verbally flat, predictable, stable & reassuring.
Thank God.
I don’t know who you’ve been listening to, but Joe is braindead. “…end quote…” He actually says end quote when reading the teleprompter. He’s NOT running the country anyway. It’s the other fascist liberals yanking on his strings. It’s so obvious and disturbing. The contrast between a real leader – Trump and this bag of crap that has been a politician for 47 years and done nothing except get rich is immense. The whole political system is a mess. Covid fulfilled it’s destiny, it was no coincidence when it was released.
It’s a cult.