Secretary Kerry reveals the worst if nuclear agreement with Iran will not push through
Amid strong opposition for the recent nuclear agreement with Iran last week, the Obama Administration still made a strong stand that the deal makes the United States of America and its allies safer.
In his testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs
in Washington DC, US Secretary of State John Kerry asserted that the Obama administration and the six countries who led the negotiations in Vienna believe the nuclear agreement with Iran deal makes USA and its allies safer.
In addition, the administration says the deal will guarantee that Iran’s program is under intense scrutiny and it will ensure that the world community is unified in backing this up.
And most of all, they say, the deal will guarantee Iran’s program has to be peaceful.
“Therefore it is a good deal for the world, a good deal for America, a good deal for our allies and our friends, and we believe it richly deserves your support.” – Secretary Kerry
What’s In The Agreement With Iran?
According to Secretary Kerry, Iran agreed to remove 98 percent of its stockpile of enriched uranium, dismantle two-thirds of its installed centrifuges, and destroy – by filling it with concrete – the existing core of its heavy water plutonium reactor.
In addition, Iran agreed to refrain from producing or acquiring highly enriched uranium and weapons-grade plutonium for nuclear weapons forever.
What If Iran Fails To Comply?
Secretary Kerry then underscored that if Iran fails to comply with the terms of the agreement, the intel community, the US Energy Department which is responsible for nuclear weaponry, are absolutely clear that they will quickly know it and will be able to respond accordingly with every option available today.
No Sunset For Monitoring Iran
Secretary Kerry pointed out that when it comes to verification and monitoring, there is absolutely no sunset in the agreement.
In addition, the IAEA will be continuously monitoring their centrifuge production, as centrifuge – so centrifuges cannot be diverted to a covert facility. It is then expected that for the next 25 years, the IAEA will be continuously monitoring uranium from the point that it’s produced all the way through production so that it cannot be diverted to another facility. With this, there’s no reason that Iran will breech the agreement for the monitoring is 24/7.
What Will Happen If The Deal Is Rejected?
Secretary Kerry pointed out there are two options: Either they move ahead with the agreement to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program is limited, rigorously scrutinized, and wholly peaceful; or no agreement at all, no inspections, no restraints, no sanctions, no knowledge of what they’re doing, and they start to enrich.
And one more thing, he says, if Congress rejects what was agreed to in Vienna, it will not only be rejecting every one of the restrictions that they put in place, but Iran will be back to their ability to move down that road. With this instance, it will not only be giving Iran a free pass to double the pace of its uranium enrichment, to build a heavy water reactor, to install new and more efficient centrifuges, but they will do it all without the unprecedented inspection and transparency measures that were secured.
“Everything that we have tried to prevent will [then] happen.” – Secretary Kerry
So What’s Worse?
If the US walks away, Secretary Kerry said US will walk away alone. And the worst thing, US allies are not going to be with the US. Instead, they’ll walk away from the tough multilateral sanctions that brought Iran to the negotiating table in the first place If this happens, it will have squandered the best chance that they have to solve this problem through peaceful means.
World Powers and Iran Strike Historic Deal
Last week and after 18 days of the intense negotiation, the diplomats declared that world powers which consist of the United States, France, Britain, China, France, Russia and Iran had struck a landmark deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program. But most importantly, the agreement will stop to the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.
The agreement entails Iran will not continue to enrich uranium under the agreement. Iran in exchange of the agreement will reap benefit of the relief of the international sanctions. UN, EU, and US sanctions will be terminated on implementation day when the IAEA certifies Iran has complied with specified commitments in the agreement.
On Pressuring Iran
The United States and the international community stand shoulder to shoulder in maintaining pressure on the Iranian regime until it fully addresses concerns about its nuclear program.
A total of 20 countries and economies have continued to significantly reduce the volume of their crude oil purchases from Iran or have completely eliminated such purchases.
According to the latest U.S. Energy Information Administration report to Congress, Iran’s oil production fell by one million barrels per day in September and October 2012, compared to the same period in 2011.
US and EU Efforts
In June 2011, the United States of America imposed several sanctions on Iran. The United States imposed sanctions on Tidewater Middle East Company, an operator of Iranian ports owned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that has links to Iranian proliferation activities.
The United States has also imposed sanctions against Iran Air, which was designated for providing material support and services to the IRGC and Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL), and also has facilitated proliferation-related activities.
The European Union also imposed sanctions against Iran. The EU bans imports of Iranian crude oil and petroleum products, freeze the assets of the Iranian central bank, and takes additional action against Iran’s energy, financial, and transport sectors.
