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President Barack Obama.

The impending agreement allows Iran to conduct R&D on advanced centrifuges. Tehran would be able to install them after the expiration of “the sunset clause” and the breakout period may shrink to zero. Iran could reestablish Fordow as a uranium enrichment centrifuge plant with a capacity far in excess of its current capacity. It is a fortified facility built into a mountainside impervious to military attack. The sunset clause has to be replaced to satisfy Iran’s program is strictly for peaceful purposes. After  10 years there should be a vote to see if restrictions should be extended for another 10 years so as not to leave the world with “an even more insecure and heightened situation… in terms of a greatly reduced Iranian breakout timeline, and more advanced centrifuges spinning and capable of creating weapon-grade uranium…within shorter periods of time.”

The sources suggest economic sanctions may continue. Last winter, Tehran was facing a balance of payments crisis, and its economy was on the brink. The sanctions may rather be increased to give Iran the choice: “Face the heat or dismantle your nuclear program.”

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Sources claim that with sanctions in place, Tehran has so far been ‘insensible. ’ Without them, it might be “insane.” The infusion of funds Tehran will receive from an emerging deal may bolster its support for terrorism in the region, particularly Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, and embolden it to crush human rights at home.  Iran would receive around $ 30-50 simply for signing an agreement. The subsequent release of frozen funds and increased oil sales would leave Iran with more than $100 billion over the next year. Iran spends approximately $ 200 million per year on Hezbollah and up to $ 15 billion per year to support the authoritarian Assad regime in Syria. With more funds at its disposal, the Khomeninist regime would invest more in such activities.

The impending deal is likely to embolden Tehran to ignore the plight also of the Americans jailed in Iran. Iran currently holds three Americans known to be alive: Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter, was imprisoned by Iran in 2014 and charged with espionage;, Saeed Abedini; and Amir Hekmati. The prisoners are held in Evin prison, one of Iran’s most notorious jails. Another American, retired FBI agent, Bob Levinson, went missing in Iran eight years ago. Levinson’s whereabouts remains unknown.

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Jagdish N. Singh is an Indian journalist based in New Delhi.