Wall Street Journal: The Obama administration is mounting an aggressive campaign to head off new congressional sanctions against Iran, arguing they would jeopardize the high-stakes deal sealed this past weekend to curb Tehran’s nuclear program.
White House launches push to sell its Iran nuclear deal
Congress wants tough conditions before any final deal with Iran
The Hill: Worried lawmakers are trying to set tough conditions for a final deal with Iran, fearful that President Obama’s interim agreement exposes the U.S. and Israel to danger. They’re readying a bipartisan bill that would redouble sanctions if Iran is not dismantling its nuclear program six months from now.
Wife of American pastor imprisoned in Iran fears for his life
Reuters: The Idaho wife of an Iranian-American Christian pastor imprisoned in Iran said on Monday she felt betrayed and feared for her husband’s life after the Obama administration failed to secure his release as a condition of an Iranian nuclear deal.
Eased sanctions only a small help to Iran’s economy: US
AFP: The partial easing of sanctions on Iran in the weekend nuclear deal will only have a small benefit for the Iranian economy, a senior US Treasury official said Monday. “It will not move the needle” in terms of the country’s economic performance.
Striking a nuclear deal with Iran is only the beginning
Washington Post: The plan of action signed this weekend in Geneva covers not just various confidence-building measures but also principles that will define the final agreement. Western powers are negotiating with a state that has demonstrated scant respect for international norms.
U.S. families of Camp Liberty residents join the worldwide hunger strike
PRNewswire: The U.S. families of thousands of Iranian dissidents, members of Iran’s principal opposition movement, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), who reside in Camp Liberty, Iraq, have volunteered to join an indefinite hunger strike outside the White House beginning today.
Canada vows to keep its Iran sanctions after deal
AFP: Canada vowed to keep its sanctions regime against Iran after a preliminary deal on the Islamic republic’s nuclear program, calling for a more conclusive accord. Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program for the next six months in exchange for limited sanctions relief.
Obama moves to prevent rift with allies over Iran deal
Bloomberg: President Barack Obama offered reassurances to Israeli leaders and some Democratic lawmakers critical of a nuclear deal with Iran as he sought to tamp down maneuvers in Congress that risk undercutting the accord.
Iran nuke deal could push oil prices lower
AP: World oil prices could be headed lower after the preliminary nuclear deal between Western nations and Iran, even though the deal does not loosen sanctions on Iran’s oil exports. In the short term, the deal may make it easier for Iran to sell the oil it is already allowed to sell under the sanctions.
John Bolton: Iran deal an ‘abject surrender’ for US
The Hill: President George W. Bush’s ambassador to the United Nations decried the new nuclear deal with Iran as “abject surrender by the United States.”“The inescapable conclusion is that…the White House actually did prefer a bad deal to the diplomatic process grinding to a halt,” Bolton wrote.
