Senior U.S. Officials Claim Iran Nuclear Deal Violates Federal Law

Some senior U.S. officials involved with the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal are questioning the legality of the agreement after concluding it conflicts with existing federal statutes, according to Fox News.

Section 5.1.2 of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the formal name of the deal, effectively allows foreign subsidiaries of U.S. parent companies to do business with Iran, a direct violation of the Iran Threat Reduction And Syria Human Rights Act (ITRA), signed into law by President Obama in 2012. The concessions included within the JCPOA could potentially see billions of dollars in U.S. backed commerce with Iran, and cannot be implemented without violating ITRA.

Fox reports that ITRA specifies, in Section 218,

“… when it comes to doing business with Iran, foreign subsidiaries of U.S. parent firms shall in all cases be treated exactly the same as U.S. firms: namely, what is prohibited for U.S. parent firms has to be prohibited for foreign subsidiaries, and what is allowed for foreign subsidiaries has to be allowed for U.S. parent firms.

What’s more, ITRA contains language, in Section 605, requiring that the terms spelled out in Section 218 shall remain in effect until the president of the United States certifies two things to Congress: first, that Iran has been removed from the State Department’s list of nations that sponsor terrorism, and second, that Iran has ceased the pursuit, acquisition, and development of weapons of mass destruction”.

Recent executive orders signed by President Obama reaffirm “all prior federal statutes relating to sanctions on Iran shall remain in full effect”.

The Iran nuclear deal has proven a consistent source of contention among the public, with proponents claiming the deal will achieve peace while critics worry it could strengthen the Iranian economy. According to the deal, Iran must reduce its stockpile of uranium by 98%, redesign the Arak nuclear reactor so it cannot produce weapons-grade plutonium, and submit to outside inspections of its facilities.

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