Today
in class we examined the recent Iran Nuclear Deal. Reminder you have a map quiz tomorrow and a current event on Iran due on Monday the 19th.
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Directions;
In three to five sentences
summarize each of the six points regarding the Iran Nuclear Deal.
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6 Things You Should Know About The Iran Nuclear Deal
The agreement that emerged after years of diplomacy and a
final, marathon negotiating session by top diplomats over the past three weeks
in Vienna is complex and highly technical.
We've been studying the
100-page-plus agreement, and we've pulled
out six tidbits that will help you understand the deal:
1. It Would Curb Iran's Nuclear Programs: As President Obama put it in a speech to
the nation, the highlight of this deal is that it aims to stop Iran from
acquiring a nuclear weapon. In practical terms, it puts limits on many of
Iran's nuclear programs. For example:
— Iran has agreed to turn its Fordow facility into a
research center where Iranian and world scientists will work side by side.
Fordow, if you remember, has been at the center of international worry, because
for years, experts have believed that Iran was enriching uranium in centrifuges
there.
Another worry: The facility is located underground, which
would make it less vulnerable to a military strike.
— Under the deal, Iran has also agreed to rebuild its Arak
heavy-water reactor, which is currently the only site in Iran capable of
starting production on weapons-grade plutonium. Under the deal, the site would
be rebuilt using a design approved by the international community. The design's
point would be to make the production of weapons-grade plutonium impossible.
— The agreement also calls for Iran to give up most of its
centrifuges. Under the deal, Iran would go from having 20,000 centrifuges,
which are used to enrich uranium, to having 6,104 for the next 10 years. Under
the deal, Iran also agrees to give up its most advanced centrifuges and use
only their oldest models.
2. But It Still Allows Iran To Continue Enrichment: This
part of the deal could be seen as a big win for Iran. The country has always
maintained that its nuclear program is being used for peaceful purposes and it
has always wanted the international community to acknowledge its right to
enrich uranium and use it for those purposes.
The deal allows Iran to continue doing just that at its
Natanz facility, but the country would only be allowed to enrich uranium to no
more than 3.67 percent, which is enough for civilian purposes such as power
plants but is much lower than what's needed for a weapon.
Another big part of the deal is that Iran has agreed to
reduce its stockpile of uranium by 98 percent.
As one U.S. administration official, who was briefing
reporters on background, put it, Iran currently has 10,000 kg of enriched
uranium. The country also has some additional uranium that is enriched at 20
percent.
Under this deal, Iran could keep 300 kg — enriched at no
more than 3.67 percent — for the next 15 years. More than likely, Iran will get
rid of what it couldn't keep by shipping it to Russia.
The bottom line: If it honors the deal, Iran would not have
the kind of fissile material it needs for a nuclear bomb, but at the same time
it does receive a nod from the international community that it can indeed keep
a non-military nuclear program going.
In a speech to the nation, President Obama said that while
that is true, this deal extends Iran's "breakout time" — or the time
it would take the country to make enough highly enriched material for a nuclear
bomb.
The White House estimates that at the moment, Iran's
breakout time is two to three months. The White House estimates that if the
deal were implemented and Iran were to someday walk away from it, the breakout
time would be a year or more.
Perhaps the biggest unknown is what happens to that breakout
time once some of the terms of this deal start to expire 10 and 15 years from
now.
In an interview with NPR after the framework of this agreement
was reached, President Obama conceded that "at that point the breakout
times would have shrunk almost down to zero."
But this deal, Obama argued at the time, buys the United
States at least a decade.
Ten or 15 years from now, Obama added, "we have much
better ideas about what it is that their program involves. We have much more
insight into their capabilities. And the option of a future president to take
action if in fact they try to obtain a nuclear weapon is undiminished."
4. If Iran Doesn't Comply, Sanctions Can Return: The diplomats have been dancing around the
language of this part of the deal. The Obama administration, for example, has
said this deal includes a "snap back" provision, which means United
Nations' sanctions — the most punishing of the bunch — would be slapped back on
Iran if it doesn't meet its obligations.
But just hours after the deal was announced, Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani
tweeted: "Upon
#IranDeal implementation all sanctions will be
lifted—not suspended. Otherwise,there was no need for 18-day round-the-clock
#IranTalks"
So, which is it?
It's semantics. Turns out they are both right. The deal lays
out a scheme in which if there is a dispute about Iran meeting its obligations,
the full U.N. Security Council would "vote on a resolution to continue the
sanctions lifting."
That's what the U.S. calls a snap back and what Iran calls
lifted — not suspended — sanctions.
5. It Sets Up A Comprehensive Inspections Regime: This is
a big part of this deal.
According to a White House fact sheet, the
deal would give inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency
"extraordinary and robust" access to Iranian facilities. Obama says
this would give inspectors access 24/7.
Another administration official briefing reporters on
background described the agreement as "a forever commitment to providing
enhanced transparency."
Here's how the White House fact sheet describes the
inspections:
"[The IAEA]
will not only be continuously monitoring every element of Iran's declared
nuclear program, but they will also be verifying that no fissile material is
covertly carted off to a secret location to build a bomb. And if IAEA
inspectors become aware of a suspicious location, Iran has agreed to implement
the Additional Protocol to their IAEA Safeguards Agreement, which will allow
inspectors to access and inspect any site they deem suspicious. Such suspicions
can be triggered by holes in the ground that could be uranium mines,
intelligence reports, unexplained purchases, or isotope alarms."
6. Congress Has To Approve The Deal: Finally, the deal has to be approved by
the U.S. Congress. Like most things in Washington, this is setting up to be
contentious. House Speaker Boehner has already issued a statement saying he
will "fight a bad deal that is wrong for our national security and wrong
for our country."
But,
as The New York Times reports, Obama may
ultimately come out victorious because of the law governing this particular
deal. The paper reports:
"Under the
terms of legislation passed in May, Congress has 60 days to scrutinize the
accord between Iran and the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and
Germany, and then to vote to accept or reject it — or to do nothing. The
president can veto any resolution of disapproval. Congress needs a two-thirds
majority in each house to override the veto, so to put the deal into force, Mr.
Obama only needs one-third of one of the houses to stand with him."
