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State Department: US issues stern warning to Iran if nuke deal not respected - INTERVIEW

Nuclear Program Materials 31 July 2015 15:22 (UTC +04:00)
U.S. State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs’ spokesperson Sam Werberg’s exclusive interview to AzerNews newspaper
State Department: US issues stern warning to Iran if nuke deal not respected - INTERVIEW

By Sara Rajabova, AZERNEWS

U.S. State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs' spokesperson Sam Werberg's exclusive interview to AzerNews newspaper

Question: How would the nuclear deal with Iran impact the Middle East's political scene?

Answer: We are not trying to predict the internal dynamics in Iran or the Middle East. Ideally, we would see a situation in which Iran, seeing sanctions reduced, would start focusing on its economy, on training its people, on reentering the world community, and to lessening its provocative activities in the region.

But our goal is to make sure that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon and thereby trigger a nuclear arms race in the most volatile part of the world. In fact, the deal is most important if indeed the regime stays hostile to the West and Israel because it constrains Iran's nuclear program for over a decade.

There are different trends inside of Iran. There are hard-liners that think it is right to oppose us, to seek to destroy Israel, to cause havoc in places like Syria or Yemen or Lebanon. And there are others inside Iran who think that this is counterproductive. And it is possible that if we sign this nuclear deal, we strengthen the hand of those more moderate forces inside of Iran.

But the key point is, the deal is not dependent on anticipating those changes. If they don't change at all, we're still better off having the deal.

Q.: Could Iran be a partner in combating terrorism? Is there any room for Washington's cooperation with Tehran in fight against ISIS?

A.: This agreement isn't about a change in the broader U.S. relationship with Iran. It's about the eliminating the biggest and most imminent threat - a nuclear-armed Iran. But, if Iran complies with its commitments in this deal, it could be a step in the right direction to begin addressing the other very serious concerns we have about Iran's behavior.

Q.: What about the trade ties with Iran? Are American companies allowed to launch talks with Iranian side or they should wait for complete removal of the sanctions on Tehran?

A.: U.S. companies will continue to be prohibited from participating in the majority of commercial activities with Iran. However, we have agreed to license certain activities with U.S. persons. These include the sale of U.S. origin aircraft, parts and services for civil aviation end uses to Iran as well as the import of Iranian carpets and other Iranian foodstuffs. Lastly, we have agreed to license the expansion of activities that can be conducted by foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies. Lastly, as has always been the case, there are exceptions for certain humanitarian exports of food, medicine, and medical devices.

Q.: What will be the consequences, if Iran deal is failed to be implemented?

A.: If the United States Congress says no to this, the sanctions are gone, our inspections are gone, our knowledge of what Iran is doing will be gone, our support from the international community for further sanctions will be gone, and we would have no recourse. If we wanted to take action, we will have lost the global community.

If Iran violates the deal, all of the sanctions will snap back into place. So there is a very clear incentive for Iran to follow through, and there are very real consequences for a violation.

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