Can We Continue the Iran Interim Agreement Indefinitely

May 29th, 2015 |  http://www.lobelog.com/can-we-continue-the-iran-interim-agreement-indefinitely/#more-29436 by Ali Gharib
Earlier this week, Yishai Schwartz, an associate editor at the legal blog Lawfare, put up a thoughtful post on the Iran nuclear negotiations proposing an alternative to making a nuclear deal with Iran. His proposal?  Briefly stated, it is to more or less permanently extend the interim deal struck in November 2013, known as the Joint Plan of Action, or JPOA.
The notion holds a certain appeal that other alternatives lack, mostly for the reason Schwartz states: basically, there are no other alternatives on the table. Many proponents of the negotiations rightly fear that in the absence of a deal, Iran would have a free hand to expand its nuclear program, resulting in some sort of confrontation down the line. Schwartz’s proposal has the benefit of offering something else: continuing the restrictions on Iran’s program imposed by the JPOA and only conceding the limited sanctions relief it offers.
Schwartz claims that few critics of a deal articulate any alternative, let alone propose something like his plan. But that’s not quite right. In April, just after the announcement of a framework for a final comprehensive deal, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of the most rapacious Iran hawks in Congress, told CBS News he wanted to do just that. “Here is what I think we should do: continue the sanctions under the interim agreement,” he said. “That’s worked pretty well for the world. It has controlled Iran’s nuclear ambitions.”http://www.lobelog.com/can-we-continue-the-iran-interim-agreement-indefinitely/#more-29436