Atlantic’s Steve Clemons: Iran ‘Paralyzed’ and ‘Split’ P5+1 Negotiators

‘We’re all waiting to see the details’

Atlantic's Steve Clemons: How Iran "Paralyzed" And "Split" P5+1 Negotiators: "We Didn't Specify..." (RealClearPolitics)

STEVE CLEMONS, THE ATLANTIC MAGAZINE: It is interesting right now you have both the Russian and Chinese foreign ministers along with John Kerry in Vienna right now, they thought there was going to be a deal. And when they do get one it is going to be important that the world embraces it.

We've seen Iran, at the very last minute, brilliantly take advantage of something that was hidden in that deal in April, and use it to split our delegation, and they've used it to split the Russians and Chinese off, and that has paralyzed us at the very last moment...

We're all waiting to see the details, whether it is good for us and our perspective, or whether it gives Iran a lot more permissive room to run in directions that we not anticipated...

To be self critical, I think the U.S. didn't expect Iran's moves and we should have expected Iran's moves. There was language that that arms embargo deal was going to come off with the other UN embargo items.

The question is, we did put language in saying other restrictions would have to be made on Iran's ballistic missile and conventional weapons program, but we didn't specify that and we didn't build a circus of support around that among the other P5+1.

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