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| US President Barack Obama (R) meets with President-elect Donald Trump to discuss transition plans in the White House Oval Office in Washington, Nov. 10, 2016. (photo by REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque) |
From: Al-Monitor
WASHINGTON — The Barack Obama administration and European allies are trying to buy time for the Iran nuclear deal, working to resolve any technical ambiguities in the accord and trying to make the case to the emerging Donald Trump team that the deal is working and renegotiating it is not a viable option.
The nuclear deal “is a decent deal … it works,” a European diplomat, speaking not for attribution, said Dec. 14, conveying the message European governments have conveyed to US interlocutors in recent weeks. “When issues come up” — technical ambiguities in the agreement, for instance — “we are able to resolve them. … As of today, the deal is implemented in the correct manner.”
“Why would we want to disregard something that can give peace a chance?” the diplomat said.
“If the US walks out, it may well be alone,” the diplomat added. “If the failure of the deal is because of the US, it should not expect the Europeans to do the same.”
While the Obama administration increasingly thinks it is unlikely, if not inconceivable, that the Trump administration comes in and rips up the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), it worries about other scenarios that could strain the year-old nuclear accord and derail years of effort to put US-Iran relations on a less confrontational footing. Paradoxically, trying to renegotiate the deal to strengthen it could cause the erosion of the international consensus that undergirds it.
In its final weeks, the outgoing Obama administration is trying to leave the Iran deal in healthy condition. It is working to resolve any technical ambiguities, mostly resulting from differing interpretations of the text of the landmark deal, a senior US official said. It has also sought to soothe Iranian anger over the renewal last week of the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA), which Obama pointedly did not sign when it passed into law Dec. 14 after the Senate voted 99 to 0 in favor of renewing the legislation. Secretary of State John Kerry also called Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Dec. 15 to say he had signed waivers of relevant sanctions under the ISA. Zarif still demanded the Joint Commission meet to discuss what Iran has publicly said they consider to be a violation of the JCPOA.
“I have communicated to Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif and to our P5+1 counterparts that while the existing waivers are unaffected by the extension of ISA's sunset and do not need to be renewed at this time, I have done so today to ensure maximum clarity and convey to all stakeholders that the United States will continue to uphold our commitments under the JCPOA,” Kerry said in a Dec. 15 statement.
The eight-nation Joint Commission overseeing implementation of the nuclear accord is due to meet Jan. 10 in Vienna, 10 days before Trump’s inauguration. Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano visited Iran last weekend, publicly expressing confidence that Iran is abiding by its JCPOA commitments, while privately conveying messages to ensure Iran does not test any limits on ambiguities in the deal as the new US administration comes in.
“We are satisfied with the implementation of the [agreement], and hope that this process will continue,” Amano told reporters in Iran on Dec. 18. “Iran has been committed to its engagement so far and this is important.”
Russia — with which Trump has said he wants to pursue better relations — has also weighed in forcefully in favor of preserving the landmark nuclear deal.
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