U.S. Policy
Secretary of State John Kerry defended the nuclear deal in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on July 23 and a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on July 28. Bob Corker (R-TN), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, accused Kerry of being “fleeced." But Kerry insisted…
After Iran and the world's six major powers reached a final nuclear deal on July 14, the White House launched a Twitter account, @TheIranDeal, dedicated to promoting and disseminating information on the agreement. The following are a sample of tweets from the account.Watch @POTUS lay out the facts…
A new Congressional Research Service report by Dianne Rennack lays out the legislative basis for sanctions on Iran, as well as the authority of Congress and the President to waive or lift sanctions. The ability to impose and remove sanctions with “some nimbleness and responsiveness to changing…
Iran is among the top four state actors who pose challenges to U.S. security, according to President Obama’s nominees for chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “I would put the threats to this nation in the following order: Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and all of the…
The following is a transcript of a press conference that President Obama held on July 15, focusing on the final nuclear deal with Iran. OBAMA: The comprehensive long-term deal that we achieved with our allies and partners to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon represents a powerful…
The announcement of a final nuclear deal on July 14 prompted mixed reactions from members of Congress. House Speaker John Boehnor (R-OH) said, "if in fact it’s as bad a deal as I think it is at this moment, we’ll do everything we can to stop it.” Senate minority whip Richard Durbin (D-IL), however…
On July 14, senior administration officials held a background conference call to discuss the final nuclear agreement with Iran. The following are excerpts from the transcript.SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I’m going to start and then turn it over to my colleague to sort of walk you through at…
On July 14, Secretary of State John Kerry said that parameters from the Lausanne framework “have been amplified in ways that make this [final] agreement even stronger.” The following is a transcript of his remarks in Vienna shortly after the final deal between Iran and the world’s six major powers…
On July 14, President Barack Obama welcomed the agreement on Iran’s nuclear program in a televised address. The following is a transcript. Today, after two years of negotiations, the United States, together with our international partners, has achieved something that decades of animosity has not…
On the day originally designated as the deadline for a nuclear deal, President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani both issued warnings about their red lines. Obama said he was willing to walk away from talks, after nearly two years of negotiations, if he was not satisfied with terms…