Arms Control Association\KELSEY DAVENPORT


With an historic comprehensive nuclear deal in hand, the focus now shifts from Vienna to the domestic stage, where debates over the deal are taking place in Tehran and the capitals of the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States). In the United States the clock started on the sixty-day congressional review period after the Obama administration sent the deal and supporting certifications to Congress on Sunday.

Congress now has until Sept. 17 to decide if it will vote on a resolution to approve or disapprove the agreement. President Barack Obama will then have a maximum of 12 days to veto a resolution of disapproval, followed by a 10-day period in which Congress can attempt to override the veto. The latest the review process should be completed by is Oct. 9. The administration is giving the deal a full-court press. Secretary of State John Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will all be on the Hill this week to brief members of Congress on the details of the deal.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif briefed the Iranian parliament today, July 21. He submitted the text of the deal to that body for review on the same day. Zarif told members of the parliament that Iran achieved its main objectives under the deal and that the agreement respects Iran’s goal to develop a peaceful nuclear program.

The countdown to adoption day also began this week, with the UN Security Council unanimously passing a resolution endorsing the deal and laying the groundwork for relief from UN sanctions when implementation begins. According to the agreement, adoption day is 90 days from passage of the resolution, but can happen sooner by mutual consent of the all of the parties. According to the schedule, by Oct. 19, the agreement will be adopted and both Iran and the P5+1 will begin taking steps to implement the agreement.

In the meantime, Iran is packaging up information on the past military dimensions of its nuclear program for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). That information is due to the agency by Aug. 15.
—KELSEY DAVENPORT, director for nonproliferation policy