Obama: 'Iran’s program has not advanced'
US allies puzzled by March deadline for consideration of Senate sanctions bill; Iran’s gesture to Saudi Arabia; Iran’s man in Beirut; Erdogan’s anti-Western pivot; Aleppo’s fuel shortage; Israel reconciling to Hamas?
Why the rush for sanctions?
While Julian Pecquet reported last week that the Obama administration may have won a tactical victory by delaying a vote on a Senate sanctions bill until March, Laura Rozen writes that others are questioning the rationale for a March vote.
“Some US administration allies are puzzled that what they consider a soft deadline for a framework agreement for a final Iran nuclear deal has seemingly become the de facto deadline, rather than the June 30 deadline that Iran and the six world powers agreed to in November. The US administration has 'bought two months, but sold three,' a Western diplomat, speaking not for attribution, told Al-Monitor.”
This column has previously questioned the wisdom of rushing to an artificial deadline given Iran’s general compliance with the Joint Plan of Action, signed in November 2013.
