President Obama’s criticism of handling Iran nuke deal receives a strong backing from a top US lawmaker

Following a move by a group of President Barack Obama’s former top Iran advisers expressing concern about the Administration’s Iran policy, Chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) on Thursday backed the letter by the group saying administration’s nuclear agreement with the Iran is too weak.
Eighteen senior former US officials, including five former top Obama administration officials, signed the open letter on Wednesday. Those senior advisers include former State Department official Robert Einhorn, former White House official Gary Samore, former State Department adviser Dennis Ross and retired Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James Cartwright.
“The Iran nuclear deal is not done. Negotiations continue. The target deadline is June 30. We know much about the emerging agreement. Most of us would have preferred a stronger agreement,” said the letter, whose signatories also include former CIA Director David Petraeus and former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).
The letter adds, “We fear that the current negotiations, unless concluded along the lines outlined in this paper and buttressed by a resolute regional strategy, may fall short of meeting the administration’s own standard of a ’good’ agreement.”
The letter comes just five days before US and international negotiators are due to conclude a final deal with the Iranian regime to roll back its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors must have timely and effective access to any sites in Iran they need to visit in order to verify Iran’s compliance with the agreement, including military and other sensitive facilities, they said.
Inspectors must also be able to take samples, interview scientists and government officials, and review and copy documents needed for their investigation of the Iranian regime’s past and any ongoing nuclear weaponization activities in a timely and effective manner.
“This work needs to be accomplished before any significant sanctions relief,” they added in regards to what is known as “possible military dimensions” of the program.
The agreement must also establish strict limits on advanced centrifuge research and development, testing, and deployment in the first 10 years, and preclude the “rapid technical upgrade and expansion of Iran’s enrichment capacity after the initial ten-year period.”
Sanctions relief must be based on the Iranian regime’s performance of its obligations under the deal. Suspension or lifting of the most significant sanctions must not occur until the IAEA confirms that Tehran has taken “the key steps” required under the agreement, they said.
“When your close associates are speaking out, you know you’re on the wrong track,” said Rep. Ed Royce of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“As Secretary Kerry gets set to travel to Europe to rejoin international talks on Iran’s nuclear program, he needs to carry the open letter from some of the President’s former top officials for Iran policy. Even those who helped set the stage for these negotiations are troubled at their direction. Among several concerns, these former officials are insisting that the Administration secure more robust inspections, get more clarity on Iran’s past bomb work, and crimp Iran’s ability to advance its centrifuge technology. So concerned about the Administration’s diplomacy, these respected individuals went public. When your close associates are speaking out, you know you’re on the wrong track. Secretary Kerry needs to take this letter to the negotiating table – and not come back with a bad deal,” Royce added.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) unveiled on Thursday a major report on the Iranian regime’s deceit tactics and strategies in nuclear negotiations with the world powers.
The report, unveiled by the NCRI’s US Representative Office in Washington, reviewed 12 years of negotiations between Tehran and the EU3 and P5+1. Alireza Jafarzadeh, the NCRI-US Deputy Director, conducted the online briefing.
The report’s key finding was that the mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has insisted on three red lines in the negotiations: barring inspectors from access to Iranian military sites and nuclear scientists and forbidding a halt to nuclear Research and Development (R&D).