Courtesy of Mish.
Hardline skeptics in Iran, the US, and Israel all want to scuttle President Obama’s mission to forge a deal with Iran over its nuclear program.
Critics in the Iran want all sanctions removed, critics in US Congress claim Iran will never live up to the commitment, and critics in Israel do not want Iran to have any nuclear capability period.
An Astonishingly Good Deal
My position is the same as that of Vox writer Max Fisher who says This is an Astonishingly Good Iran Deal.
- 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- Iran will give up all but its most rudimentary, outdated centrifuges: its first-generation IR-1s, knockoffs of 1970s European models, are all it gets to keep.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.
Deal Fact Sheet
The deal is even better than described above. Here is the Fact Sheet of the agreement.
Iran nearly walked out because the US would not agree to end all sanctions.
Nothing Much Left of Weapons Proposal
I see absolutely nothing in that package to dislike. There is not much left of Iran’s nuclear weapons program to be worried about although Iran does get to keep a research center.
Republicans Blast Deal
Unfortunately, it’s politics as usual in Congress as Republican hopefuls take turns criticizing Iran nuclear deal. …
