A Nuclear Arms Agreement is Signed Between Iran and the P5+1 Group of World Powers – the US, UK, France, China and Russia Plus Germany Ostensibly Limiting Iran’s Pathways to a Nuclear Weapon

The agreement requires Iran to voluntarily remove enriched uranium and reduce the number of centrifuges needed for making a bomb. The agreement is subject to approval votes by the Iranian parliament and the US Congress. Reaction in the US and across the world to the agreement is mixed. Virtually all political voices in Israel call the agreement a ‘historic mistake,’ while those who negotiate it, especially the Obama administration note that it was the best ‘deal possible.’ Republicans and some Democrats express vocal opposition to its contents. Core to the agreement is Iran’s willingness to have outside monitors verify its limited adherence to future restrictions placed on development of nuclear weapons. And in exchange, Tehran will receive sanctions relief through which it will have access to $150 billion of its frozen assets for previous misbehavior as imposed by Europe, the UN and the US. Profound fear among Middle Eastern Arab states and Israel centers on Iran’s past history of non-compliance of agreements, that it will cheat, use unfrozen assets and future oil revenues to augment Iranian hegemony across the region and the world.