It turns out that the highly applauded Iranian nuclear agreement might have been totally worthless. In a boneheaded move, President Barack Obama did not require the Iranian leaders to sign the deal. To make matters worse, the deal was not even legally binding in the first place.
The Obama administration made these confessions in a letter that was sent to Republican United States House of Representatives member Mike Pompeo earlier this month. In the letter, State Department assistant secretary for legislative affairs Julia Frifield was responding to an inquiry that was made by Pompeo.
Originally, Pompeo sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, noting that the deal submitted to Congress by President Obama was not signed by Iranian officials. Frifield wrote her response to Pompeo on November 19.
Frifield wrote, “The success of the (the agreement) will depend not on whether it is legally binding or signed, but rather on the extensive verification measures we have put in place, as well as Iran’s understanding that we have the capacity to re-impose, and ramp up, our sanctions if Iran does not meet its commitments.”
Based on Frifield’s response, it can be stated that the nuclear agreement was more of a set of political commitments rather than a formal agreement. Because of this, it is very likely that Iran will violate the terms of the deal.
In August, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani discouraged the Iranian Parliament from voting in support of the deal. Rouhani wanted to avoid the legal burdens that would be placed on his regime.
Rouhani said, “If the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is sent to and passed by parliament, it will create an obligation for the government. It will mean the president, who has not signed it so far, will have to sign it. Why should we place an unnecessary legal restriction on the Iranian people?”
When Pompeo wrote his letter to Kerry, he still believed that it was a formal agreement. However, that turned out not to be the case at all. In essence this “formal agreement” was nothing more than a sham.
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