MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : Top of the Agenda – Iran Takes Another Step Away From Nuclear Deal

Daily News Brief
September 05, 2019
Iran will no longer restrict (Al Jazeera) its development of centrifuges for uranium enrichment, President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised address. The announcement marks Tehran’s third major step away from the terms of the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Rouhani called the latest move peaceful and reversible (Reuters) if other signatories to the deal make firm commitments to provide economic relief for Tehran within two months. France proposed a $15 billion credit line (BBC) for Iran, even as U.S. envoy Brian Hook said Washington will continue its pressure campaign against the country. Hook announced a $15 million reward (State Dept.) for information to help disrupt the operations of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well as sanctions on an oil network linked to the Revolutionary Guards.
Analysis
“A negotiated solution is still possible. Leaders of countries such as Japan and France are working toward finding one. But Iran cannot simply trust their promises,” Seyed Hossein Mousavian writes for Foreign Affairs.

“Question remains whether the US will screw up European efforts such that Iran feels obliged to escalate its [nuclear] program further,” tweeted the Atlantic Council’s Barbara Slavin.

This CFR Backgrounder lays out the terms of the Iran nuclear agreement