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U.S. May Backtrack on Suspending Only Nuclear-Related Sanctions in Iran Deal

(Weekly Standard) Stephen F. Hayes - The impending deal with Iran is not a good one. It legitimizes a rogue state, shifts regional power to the world's most aggressive state sponsor of terror, strengthens the mullahs' hold on power, and guides Iran to nuclear threshold status. Those are not our "core objectives." They are Iran's. Among the most disturbing new developments: the administration's decision to offer relief on sanctions not directly related to Iran's nuclear program and its abandonment of hard requirements that Iran disclose previous nuclear activity, without which the international community cannot establish a baseline for future inspections. From the beginning of the talks, the Obama administration has chosen to "decouple" negotiations on Iran's nuclear program from the many other troubling aspects of Tehran's behavior. The administration simply set aside Iran's targeting of Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan, its brutal repression of internal dissent, its provision of safe haven and operational freedom for al-Qaeda leadership, and its support for terrorists sowing discord throughout the region and beyond. Less than three months ago, the president declared that under the terms of any agreement, sanctions on Iran "for its support of terrorism, its human rights abuses, its ballistic missile program, will continue to be fully enforced." But the Associated Press reported earlier this month that "the Obama administration may have to backtrack on its promise that it will suspend only nuclear-related economic sanctions."
2015-06-30 00:00:00
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