ID :
347570
Wed, 11/12/2014 - 13:06
Auther :

Daily reflects on Iran's N-deal, Republican victory

Tehran, Nov 12, IRNA - The victory of the American Republicans in the recent Congress elections has raised concerns about the fate of a possible nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers, wrote 'Iran Daily' on Wednesday. Analyzing the post-developments of the Nov 4 elections, the English-language paper noted that if the Republicans had succeeded in winning over two-thirds of Congress seats, they could have snatched president Barack Obama's authority of suspending sanctions against Iran. However, this did not happen and the Republicans have no authority to strip Obama of his legal powers to halt the sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear energy program, once Iran and the six powers reach the deal, added the paper in its Opinion column (pg 2). The US president has the right to halt sanctions, but their permanent removal needs a congressional ratification which, due to the Republican majority, would be tough, noted the daily. Elaborating on two main reasons for Obama to get a deal that he could defend, the paper stated that Obama, firstly, needs to convince the Congress. If the deal is defensible, the Republicans will be unable to oppose it. Americans are strongly opposed to the war. They consider the collapse of negotiations with Iran to be akin to launching a new war and the Republicans, who acknowledge this very well, do not want to be blamed for a war with Iran, explained the daily. Another reason is the next US presidential election. Under the present circumstances, the Democrats enjoy a better chance of winning the 2016 election because the Republicans have no prominent candidate to face off Hillary Clinton, the former US secretary of state. Therefore, a defensible nuclear deal will increase the chances of Democrats to win the election, it said, adding that reaching a nuclear deal and halting unilateral US sanctions against Iran by Obama will however entail two consequences. Firstly, Europe will also be able to remove all anti-Iran sanctions and secondly, Obama could be empowered to abolish the sanctions passed by the UN Security Council and the Republicans will have no power to oppose Obama’s decision. Moreover, the backbone of sanctions will be shattered because Europe, Russia and China do not agree with the Republican opposition to lifting sanctions, it said. Currently, both the Democrats and Republicans acknowledge the special situation of the region and the influence of Iran in the Middle East, highlighted the paper, noting that both consider the ISIL terrorist group a threat, although they have no long-term strategy to confront it. Both US parties are aware of Iran’s important role in the region and do not reject interaction with Iran, especially if Iran and P5+1 reach a win-win deal over Tehran’s nuclear energy program, added the daily. On the one hand, the victory of Republicans makes a final deal difficult because Obama needs a congressional ratification to remove all sanctions. On the other, the special and critical conditions of Middle East, Iran’s goodwill during the talks and full implementation of the Geneva interim deal by the Islamic Republic have convinced Europe, Russia and China that it’s time for a final deal and that the US should go ahead with it, underscored the paper. Currently, the Obama administration is eager to sign a final nuclear agreement with Iran, which should also make full efforts to reach the win-win accord, concluded the paper. *Seyyed Hossein Mousavian, an associate research scholar at the Program on Science and Global Security at Princeton University, is a former Iranian nuclear negotiator./end

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