The 15-member UN Security Council on July 20 unanimously endorsed the agreement with Iran that would reduce the country’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Given that the deal was struck between Iran and five permanent members of the UN Security Council (P5+1), the vote was not a surprise. The resolution will take effect in 90 days. Interestingly, July 20 is also the date the Security Council voted 28 years ago unanimously in favor of Resolution 598, which ended the Iran-Iraq War, one of the bloodiest and longest of the 20th century.

However, many hurdles remain. The International Atomic Energy Agency will file a report in December accounting for Iran’s past and present nuclear activities. President Barack Obama sent the US Congress the text of the nuclear deal for a 60-day review period. And Iranian commanders and hard-liners, while not responsible for signing the agreement, have the potential to play deal breaker.

In an interview with Tasnim News Agency, Mohammad Ali Jafari, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), expressed skepticism about certain aspects of the deal. In the interview July 20 just before the Security Council vote, Jafari said, “First, I have to state one more time there is not one official in the Islamic Republic that is opposed to a good deal in the negotiations. Therefore, the foreign media have tried to create untrue polarization on the issue of the nuclear negotiations in the country.”

He continued, “For me, as a military official, what is more important than anything else … is the protection and promotion of Iran’s defensive abilities.”