GOP proposal triggers nuclear sanctions on Iran for missile work

Reimposing sanctions on Iran would effectively withdraw the US from the nuclear deal. But doing so for behavior not addressed in the deal itself may not break the deal entirely.

By MICHAEL WILNER
Updated: OCTOBER 21, 2017 23:53
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has decertified the Iran deal. (photo credit: REUTERS)
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has decertified the Iran deal.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
NEW YORK – Republican senators are preparing legislation that would automatically trigger the reimposition of nuclear sanctions back on Iran if it manufactures, deploys or tests warhead-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles, US media reported on Friday.
The legislative language – a draft of which was first seen by the Associated Press, and confirmed as authentic by The Jerusalem Post – effectively applies new terms onto the 2015 international nuclear pact. Its passage through Congress would unnerve US allies in Europe and test Iran, which says it will not allow the agreement to be renegotiated or reinterpreted.
Reimposing sanctions on Iran would effectively withdraw the US from the nuclear deal. But doing so for behavior not addressed in the deal itself may not break the accord entirely, as Iran and the five other parties to the agreement – Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany – say they plan on sticking with it unless the agreement as it was negotiated has been breached.
The nuclear agreement does not address Iran’s ICBM program, which Tehran successfully argued throughout two years of negotiations is a conventional weapons system. ICBMs are designed to carry nuclear payloads, and are the critical delivery system for atomic bombs.
North Korea, for example, has been a nuclear state for roughly a decade. But it is just now seeking to “complete” its nuclear program, according to its leadership, by perfecting its ICBM capability.
The UN Security Council has called on Iran to cease its ICBM program, but Tehran has vowed to accelerate it. The Republican legislation – opposed out of the gate by a united Democratic caucus – will force a debate on whether these two threats are indeed conflated.
The legislation would also “snap back” sanctions on the Islamic Republic if it works to “clandestinely acquire nuclear material” or to acquire equipment from outside of Iran” intended to produce nuclear material.
The nuclear deal strictly focused on Tehran’s domestic nuclear program and set up a “procurement channel” for Iran to acquire parts and equipment for civilian use. But the accord does not address in detail the potential of a satellite program hosted by or organized in tandem with other nations.
The legislation would technically amend the US Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, intended to give Congress powers to oversee implementation of the nuclear agreement. The new language was drafted by Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker of Tennessee and Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas in consultation with the White House.
US President Donald Trump supports the Corker-Cotton initiative, and has threatened to unilaterally terminate the nuclear deal if Congress fails to act. The president may withdraw the US from the agreement at any time, as it is not a treaty, which would have required ratification by a twothirds majority in the Senate to take effect.