Time to Celebrate?

While the framework of the developing nuclear accord with Iran appears promising, there are still many gray areas that need to be worked out. Though there were celebrations last night in the streets of Tehran, not everyone in Iran is celebrating. For example, hardline Majlis MP Ahmad Tavakoli wrote a letter to President Rouhani demanding that this “historic” agreement be ratified by the Majlis. Meanwhile, Republicans in the U.S. are demanding a say on any final agreement. Fars News quoted Kayhan‘s Hossein Shariatmadari as saying: “we gave them a fully saddled horse and in return we got the horse back with only a piece of torn tether.” Many analysts and commentators in the U.S. and Iran, such as Fars News commentator Yasser Jebraeili, are wondering: “Which should we believe? Zarif’s press statement or the US State Department’s Media release on JCPA?” In fact, in one of Ayatollah Khamenei’s latest statements, the Supreme Leader maintained that these current negotiations are solely related to Iran’s nuclear program, and he insisted that Iran “would have no negotiations with the US over regional, domestic and armament issues because America’s policy in the region is to cause instability and insecurity and to affront the nations of the region and the Islamic awakening.” Though the tentative nuclear agreement with Iran will usher in some much-needed sanctions relief, such relief will likely be slow to affect the oil sector. While this new framework provides a solid foundation for a finalized nuclear agreement, negotiations will undoubtedly remain heated in the months ahead…