Tag Archive for: U.S. law

Iran Agreement Currently in Violation of Existing U.S. Law

A key passage in the nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers violates an existing America law – a law signed by U.S. President Barack Obama in 2012. This means that if the agreement is currently implemented, the U.S. will be in violation of its own federal law.

The revelation was made public by Fox News, quoting senior U.S. officials involved in the implementation of the nuclear agreement.

According to the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), if Iran complies with the terms of the agreement, the U.S. is obligated to “license non-U.S. entities that are owned or controlled by a U.S. person to engage in activities with Iran that are consistent with this [agreement].”

Simply put, this means foreign companies that are subsidiaries of U.S. companies will be allowed to do business with Iran.

However, according to an existing federal law, the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act (ITRA), these same foreign subsidiaries are specifically forbidden to do business with Iran until two conditions are met:

1. Iran must not be designated as a “State Sponsor of Terrorism” by the U.S. State Department (as it currently is).

2. Iran must cease pursing, acquiring and developing weapons of mass destruction.

The president of the U.S. must personally certify to Congress that these two conditions have been met before foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies are legally allowed to do business with Iran.

As for the first condition, Iran is has not been removed from the State Department’s list of “State Sponsors of Terrorism.”

As for the second condition, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported today on the successful test of a new long-range, Iranian surface-to-surface ballistic missile.

In light of this test, implementing the agreement would not only be in violation of current U.S. law, it would also be a flagrant violation on Iran’s part of the agreement itself.

One of the conditions of the nuclear deal is that current UN restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile program will remain in place for eight years. UN Security Council Resolution 1029 currently forbids Iran from developing ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear weapon. The resolution also forbids test launches of any missiles using ballistic technology.

“To follow our defense programs, we don’t ask permission from anyone,” said Iran’s Minister of Defense Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan.

Dehqan said it is Iran’s first long-range missile that can be precision guided until it reaches its target.

Less than two months after the deal was formalized, a senior figure in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh, announced, “Some wrongly think Iran has suspended its ballistic missile programs in the last two years and has made a deal on its missile program … We will have a new ballistic missile test in the near future that will be a thorn in the eyes of our enemies.”

A variation of Iran’s Shahab-3, this new long-range missile, dubbed the Emad (Pillar), has a range of 1,700 kilometers (1,056 miles) and is accurate within 500 meters (547 yards).

According to a report by Anthony Cordesman, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the missile is capable of carrying a 750 kg (1,653 pounds) payload.

RELATED ARTICLES:

ISIS Video Threatens to Behead Obama the ‘Dog of Rome’

75% of Foreign Jihadis in U.S. Nabbed Due to Informants: Report

Khamenei: No More Negotiations With U.S. After Nuclear Deal

Evangelicals Embrace Islamists at Maryland Interfaith Event

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is of U.S. Sec. of State John Kerry explains a point of the agreement to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif (Photo: © Reuters)