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Iran's Khamenei Changes the Terms of the Nuclear Deal

(Wall Street Journal) Bret Stephens - The Iran nuclear deal, officially adopted on Oct. 18, is already a dead letter. Earlier this month Iran test-fired a new-generation ballistic missile, called Emad, whose only practical military use is to deliver a nuclear warhead. The test was a bald violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, adopted unanimously in July, in which "Iran is called upon not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons" for at least eight years. Then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei weighed in on the nuclear deal by way of a public letter to President Hassan Rouhani. In it Khamenei demands that the U.S. and Europe completely lift, rather than temporarily suspend, their economic sanctions, putting an end to any possibility that penalties could "snap back" in the event of Iran's noncompliance. Khamenei also demands that sanctions against Iran for its support of terrorism and its human-rights abuses must also go. Khamenei changes the timetable for Iran to ship out its enriched uranium and modify its plutonium reactor in Arak until the International Atomic Energy Agency gives Iran a pass on all "past and future issues (including the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program)." So much for the UN nuclear watchdog even pretending to monitor Iran's compliance with the deal.
2015-10-27 00:00:00
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