President Barack Obama on Wednesday will have more to say about the historic Iran nuclear deal when he holds a news conference at the White House to continue promoting the agreement.

Many Republicans and some Democrats in Congress, as well as leaders such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, disagree with Obama’s assessment of the deal. He contends it will cut off all pathways Iran has to develop a nuclear weapon.

In an interview with the New York Times, Obama said the agreement achieves the basic goal that even critics agree with that Iran should not a nuclear weapon.

“This is our best option to make sure that not just for the first 10 years, but for years afterwards, we have a verifiable inspection regime that ensures they do not obtain a nuclear weapon,” Obama said.  “That is worth an enormous amount in terms of our national security, and Israel’s national security and our other allies’ national security in the region.  It also prevents the possibility of a nuclear arms race in the region.”

Obama said whoever is president 10 or 15 years from now will have the same ability to use military action or to impose new sanctions, but with the agreement they will also have more insight into Iran’s nuclear program and “international legitimacy” to act against any violations.

He also mentioned the need to work with Israel and Gulf allies to guard against the possibility of Iran using money unlocked by sanctions to sponsor terrorism.

On Tuesday, the president discussed the Iran deal with various allies in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates. The White House said Obama recalled a summit earlier this year with Persian Gulf nations, and reiterated that the U.S. remains committed to working with them to counter Iran’s destabilizing activities in the region.

The prospect of an increasingly assertive Iran has seen Gulf states build up their militaries, including with U.S. weaponry.

Carter Heading Abroad

Next week, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter will head to the Middle East to try to reassure allies that the Iran deal will not undermine America’s commitment to their security. As of late Tuesday, the White House had disclosed only one stop: Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already condemned the accord as “a stunning, historic mistake.”

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who spearheaded efforts by the so-called P5+1 group of the U.S., Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany, called the accord a “good deal.”

It will limit Iran’s potential development of nuclear weapons while allowing the country to maintain a civilian atomic program, scaling back the number of Tehran’s advanced centrifuges by two-thirds, according to senior U.S. administration officials.

Via Twitter, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif spoke of the deal as a new diplomatic beginning for the countries involved, calling it “not a ceiling but a solid foundation. We must now begin to build on it.”

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Wednesday that he will visit Iran, after being invited by Zarif at the close of the negotiations. Fabius did not say when the trip would take place.

 

Looking Forward

Under economically crippling economic sanctions, Iran’s strained diplomatic relations with the U.S. and the other Western countries involved in the talks — Britain, France, and Germany — and the demands by negotiators on both sides at times threatened to thwart the Vienna talks.

One contentious point — access by monitors to Iran’s nuclear sites — was ultimately addressed with the creation of a mechanism that will allow the U.N. to push for entry, but that gives Iran the right to challenge the request through arbitration.

The deal also addresses U.N. embargoes on conventional weapons, which Iran, backed by Russia, sought to remove. It upholds the arms ban for five more years and the missile ban for eight, but the bans could end earlier if the International Atomic Energy Agency determined that Iran had complied with the terms of the nuclear deal, which includes dismantling any current work toward nuclear weapons — a charge Tehran has repeatedly denied.

In exchange, P5+1 countries agreed to lift economic sanctions on the country, in part by unfreezing billions of dollars in assets abroad as soon as Iran complies with the requirements of the nuclear agreement.

In a televised address, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani praised the agreement as well, saying “a new chapter” had begun in the country’s foreign relations.

Last-minute Scramble

The Vienna talks began in late June, missing three deadlines and exhausting both the diplomats. The international press corps followed the talks so closely that reporters would shout questions up to Zarif as he took work breaks on the balcony of the Palais Coburg.

By last weekend, with the latest deadline looming, the mood swung depending on the answers from the terrace,  the cloud coverage in the city, and any snippets of information gleaned from the P5+1 diplomats as they arrived at and left from the hotel.

The last full day — the deadline of July 13 — began and ended with high-level meetings at the Coburg.

Senior administration officials described a late-night phone call from Kerry to Obama, and a moment in the talks when Zarif, EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini and Kerry asked all their staff to leave the negotiations table so that they could confer alone on the final details of the agreement.

By the end of the night, as the deal was largely finalized, negotiators were too exhausted for a “triumphant” celebration, a senior U.S. official said.

Obstacles Ahead

Tuesday’s agreement represents a historic compromise after a 12-year standoff that has, at times, threatened to provoke a new conflict in the Middle East. It will take effect only after it clears several hurdles in Washington as well as Tehran. Conservatives in both capitals have fought against making the compromises needed to reach the agreement.

The greatest hurdle will be the U.S. Congress, which will have 60 days to review the agreement. Republicans have a majority and are expected to vote against the deal; Obama is expected to veto any negative vote.

On Tuesday, Iran and the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog signed an agreement aimed at answering questions about possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program.

The IAEA has tried for years to get answers, including access to the Parchin military site, but has faced resistance from Iran. IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said the roadmap of expert meetings and items involving Parchin should allow him to issue a report with the agency’s final assessment by the middle of December.

“This is a significant step forward toward clarifying outstanding issues regarding Iran’s nuclear program,” he said.

U.S. military officials conceded, however, that unchaining Iran’s economy from crippling sanctions would most likely translate into more money for Iran’s military and its surrogates abroad.

Offering a hint of the message he’ll take to U.S. allies next week, Carter said in a statement about the Iran deal that the United States stood ready to “check Iranian malign influence.”

“We remain prepared and postured to bolster the security of our friends and allies in the region, including Israel,” the defense secretary said.

Some information for this report came from Reuters.
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