After more than two years of negotiations led by Secretary of State John Kerry, an agreement has been reached to rein in Iran?s nuclear program, said President Obama.
On Tuesday, the president said that together with the international community something had been achieved ?that decades of animosity has not: a comprehensive long-term deal with Iran that will prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.?
?This deal is not built on trust,? Obama continued from the White House with Vice President Bided at his side.? ?It?s built on verification.?
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani expressed his feelings about the deal, stating to his nation that ?Negotiators have reached a good agreement and I announce to our people that our prayers have come true.?
It was a deal of give and take on the part of the two countries?the U.S. would get the caps and limits on Iran?s nuclear activities and Iran would get relief from the sanctions.? They will be allowed to continue its atomic program but for peaceful purposes only.
Reactions to the deal came from at home and abroad.? Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) voiced his objection to the deal during an appearance of ?Morning Joe? on MSNBC Tuesday.? ?The American people are going to repudiate the deal and I think Congress will kill the deal,” he predicted.? The president has promised to veto any legislation that attempts to block it.
His basic concern centered on his distrust of Iran and that it will keep its promise in allowing periodic checks of its nuclear activities.? The notice that the checks would occur ?when and wherever? did not satisfy.?
Even Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey voiced his reservations.? ?The deal doesn’t end Iran’s nuclear program; it preserves it,? he said. ?This does not guarantee that Iran will not achieve a nuclear weapon in the future.?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deal limiting Iran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions ?a bad mistake of historic proportions.?
On the other hand, Hillary Clinton said,?? ?All in all I think we have to look at this seriously, evaluate it carefully, but I believe based on what I know now this is an important step.?
If it?s an important first step, it?s merely that, Secretary Kerry said.? But the participants agreed that Iran will not produce or obtain either highly enriched uranium or weapons grade plutonium for at least 15 years.
The agreement also reduces the number of Iranian centrifuges by two-thirds.? Also, it places bans on enrichment at key facilities, and limits uranium research and development.
Iran must allow IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) inspectors access to the facilities whenever they demand it.? This monitoring process is in place for twenty years.
