The United States and its negotiating partners agreed "in secret" to allow Iran to evade some restrictions in last year's landmark nuclear agreement in order to meet the deadline for it to start getting relief from economic sanctions, according to a think tank report published on Thursday.
The report, which was released by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, is based on information provided by several officials of governments involved in the negotiations. The group's president David Albright, a former U.N. weapons inspector and co-author of the report, declined to identify the officials, and Reuters could not independently verify the report's assertions.
"The exemptions or loopholes are happening in secret, and it appears that they favor Iran," Albright said.
The report ignited a chorus of Republican
criticism, including from the campaign of presidential nominee Donald
Trump. His campaign sought to link the findings to Trump's Democratic
opponent, Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state when secret talks
were held with Iran but had left office before formal negotiations
began. "The deeply flawed nuclear
deal Hillary Clinton secretly spearheaded with Iran looks worse and
worse by the day," said a statement issued by retired Army General
Michael Flynn, a top Trump adviser. "It’s now clear President Obama gave
away the store to secure a weak agreement that is full of loopholes." The Clinton campaign did not immediately comment on the report. The
White House said it took "significant exception" to some of the
report's findings, saying that the easing of sanctions was always
dependent upon Iran's adherence to the agreement. "The
implementation date was driven by the ability of the (International
Atomic Energy Agency) to verify that Iran had completed the steps that
they promised to take," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told
reporters at a briefing on Thursday. "That is what precipitated implementation day. Since then Iran has been in compliance with the agreement," Earnest said. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-exemptions-exclusive-idUSKCN1173LA Since obama couldn't change Israel with bibi. and Bibi won the
election. Is this part of obama's revenge by giving Iran what they want
so that they can wipe out Israel with the bomb. I'm guessing that obama
could be this vindictive. I think at times there is a side of obama
that is totally black and vengefull. Some of his facial expressions give
that away. Hasn't anyone noticed.?