WASHINGTON — US and international negotiators reached the “framework” for a breakthrough nuclear deal with Iran Thursday — but critics led by Israel immediately bashed it as a giveaway.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was furious with a pact that threatens “the survival of Israel.”
“It would increase the risks of nuclear proliferation and the risks of a horrific war,” he said, according to a series of tweets from his spokesman Mark Regev.
“Such a deal would not block Iran’s path to the bomb. It would pave it,” Netanhayu said.
“This deal would legitimize Iran’s nuclear program, bolster Iran’s economy & increase Iran’s aggression & terror.”
Netanyahu noted that, “Just 2 days ago, Iran said ‘the destruction of Israel is non-negotiable.’”
Negotiators who have been haggling for almost two years talked through the night Wednesday in Switzerland and produced an agreement that will restrict, but not eliminate, Iran’s ability to enrich uranium to make nuclear weapons.
In return, the US and UN agreed to lift punishing sanctions on the oil-rich nation once the deal is completed by June 30.
The Obama administration tried to sell the accord to staunch opponents like Israel, congressional Republicans, and even some pro-Israel Democrats who feared Iran was getting more than it was giving up.
Obama delayed a trip to Kentucky to address reporters in the White House Rose Garden, declaring the outcome a “good deal.”
“If Congress kills this deal not based on expert analysis and without offering any reasonable alternative, then it’s the United States that will be blamed for the failure of diplomacy,” he warned.
Obama insisted that strict safeguards will prevent the Islamic Republic from cheating.
“If Iran cheats, the world will know it,” he said.
But within an hour, Obama’s assurances were undercut by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who tweeted that the administration was spinning the details for its own purposes.
Zarif insisted that sanctions would be lifted as soon as a final deal is signed and would not be phased out.
“There is no need to spin using ‘fact sheets’ so early on,” he wrote.
The administration claimed the agreement means Iran can’t build a nuclear bomb for at least a year, ominously asserting that it’s just two to three months away from that goal now.
Some Congress members on both sides of the aisle were not satisifed.
“The details deserve and must get a vote by the US Congress. Until the full details are provided to Congress on June 30th, you can keep me in the ‘highly skeptical’ column,” said Rep. Steve Israel (D-LI).
“The Obama administration’s efforts to get a deal at any cost will have a greater cost than the world can bear,” vented Homeland Security Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas).
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, vowed to press ahead with legislation gaining bipartisan support to give Congress the ability to vote on any deal.
Several of the restrictions in the deal apply to Iran’s enrichment of uranium, a core concern because the material can be used in a nuclear warhead.
Under the agreement, Iran would slash its centrifuges by two-thirds, to about 6,000, convert a once-secret underground nuclear facility at Fordow to a “nuclear, physics, technology, research center” for 15 years, and “redesign” a heavy water reactor in Arak that can now process weapons-grade plutonium to “peaceful nuclear research.”
Iran would also ship spent fuel out of the country, reduce its uranium stockpile, and agree to numerous inspections meant to ensure it doesn’t cheat.
Zarif earlier lauded the deal at a press conference in Lausanne.
“None of those measures includes closing any of our [nuclear] facilities. The proud people of Iran would never accept that,” he said.
