How the U.S. Midterms Could Affect the Future of Iran Nuclear Talks
By Erin Banco
November 4, 2014
The premise of the bill is that Iranian sanctions can be averted only if the Obama administration provides specific certifications every 30 days and if Iran implements the terms of the so-called Joint Plan Of Action. The proposed legislation also expands the number of blacklisted sectors to include Iran’s mining, construction and engineering industries. In addition, it penalizes foreign financial institutions that conduct transactions with Iran’s blacklisted entities using foreign currencies and foreign individuals who conduct transactions with Iran’s Central Bank. It also expands the number of senior officials in Iran subject to sanctions.
Edward Levine, a former Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffer and a member of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation’s Advisory Board, recently wrote that if the bill is enacted in its original form, it would kill any prospect of a peaceful deal with Iran, because it would make sanctions relief impossible. “All parties to the negotiations will interpret (the bill) as barring the United States from implementing the sanctions relief proposed in any feasible agreement. Rather than buttressing the U.S. position in the negotiations, therefore, (it) will bring an end to those negotiations. Worse yet, (it)will create large fissures in the … coalition that has imposed international sanctions on Iran,” he wrote.
Read the Ed Levine’s analysis here or read the full article here.
