How Iran Reaches Nuclear Agreement with P5+1

July 15, 2015 – The United States and its partners have reached an agreement with Iran to eliminate or reduce various sanctions in exchange for concessions on their nuclear program. The agreement includes inspections, caps on the amount of nuclear material Iran can have and limits on the facilities that can work on enrichment and research. Iran will be allowed to continue to develop its nuclear capabilities for peaceful purposes.

“Under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or acquire nuclear weapons,” said EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, while promising to release full details of the agreement on Tuesday.

According to the reports, this puts the possibility of Iran achieving a nuclear bomb out past a year, versus two or three months from now. Various members and organizations of the world community have spoken out against this agreement, maintaining that the sanctions must continue in order to achieve a regime change.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has continued to voice its support of the sanctions to create a regime change. They point to Iran’s activities in the region as fueling fundamentalism, which in turn is perpetuating terrorism in both the region and other parts of the world.

President Obama has indicated that this agreement is built not on trust, but verification. The Republican Congress of the United States has indicated they will oppose the agreement. Congress has 60 days to review the agreement, allowing opponents plenty of time to pick the agreement apart. Israel has also voiced its opposition to these talks.

“From the initial reports, we can already conclude that this agreement is a historical mistake for the world,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday. “Far reaching concessions have been made in all areas that were supposed to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons capability.”

President Obama reportedly called the prime minister to indicate the United States commitment to Israel’s security.

NCRI President Elect Maryam Rajavi issued a statement on the announcement of this agreement. While she is encouraged that Iran gave up more than anyone expected, Rajavi noted that human rights were not addressed in the agreement. She questioned what the Iranian people were truly getting for allowing the regime to continue nuclear enrichment.

According to Rajavi, the “explosive social state” of Iran precipitated the regime’s willingness to back down on the redlines. However, the NCRI believes that if the P5+1 had acted “more decisively” the regime would have been forced to back down entirely from its nuclear ambitions.

As reports have indicated, Iran has been left with the ability to enrich nuclear material for peaceful purposes, but they will need to follow through with the inspections and other areas of the agreement to maintain the easing of sanctions and additional funding.