Iran accuses Obama of lying about the nuclear weapons deal

It is a sure sign you’ve failed when your political opponents and the people you are negotiating with accuse you of lying.

Yesterday, Obama lied to the American people in the boldest possible terms on what the nuclear negotiations deal meant. In simple terms, Iran gave up the ability to have a nuclear energy program and in return got permission from Obama to build a nuclear weapon.

These are the facts:

The EU/Iran joint statement says sanctions will be terminated “simultaneously” with Iran implementing its obligations: The EU will terminate the implementation of all nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions and the US will cease the application of all nuclear-related secondary economic and financial sanctions, simultaneously with the IAEA-verified implementation by Iran of its key nuclear commitments.

The White House factsheet says sanctions will be suspended “after” Iran has taken “all” of its nuclear-related steps: U.S. and E.U. nuclear-related sanctions will be suspended after the IAEA has verified that Iran has taken all of its key nuclear-related steps. If at any time Iran fails to fulfill its commitments, these sanctions will snap back into place.

As the deal was announced Iran was crowing about the way it stump-broke the Obama administration:

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif accused the Obama administration of misleading the American people and Congress in a fact sheet it released following the culmination of negotiations with the Islamic Republic.

Zarif bragged in an earlier press conference with reporters that the United States had tentatively agreed to let it continue the enrichment of uranium, the key component in a nuclear bomb, as well as key nuclear research.

Zarif additionally said Iran would have all nuclear-related sanctions lifted once a final deal is signed and that the country would not be forced to shut down any of its currently operating nuclear installations.

Scarcely had the deal been announced when Iran began claiming that the administration was lying about the parameters of the deal, especially as it applied to economic sanctions. Zarif, the foreign minister, took to trolling Obama via Twitter:

The solutions are good for all, as they stand. There is no need to spin using “fact sheets” so early on.

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) April 2, 2015

Iran/5+1 Statement: “US will cease the application of ALL nuclear-related secondary economic and financial sanctions.” Is this gradual? — Javad Zarif (@JZarif) April 2, 2015

Iran/P5+1 Statement: “The EU will TERMINATE the implementation of ALL nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions”. How about this?

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) April 2, 2015

This isn’t the first time that the Iranians have accused the Obama administration of lying about what was agreed to in negotiations. Let’s go back to November 2013 when the “right to enrich” was being negotiated:

Iranian officials say that the White House is misleading the public about the details of an interim nuclear agreement reached over the weekend in Geneva. Iran and Western nations including the United States came to an agreement on the framework for an interim deal late Saturday night in Geneva. The deal has yet to be implemented The White House released a multi-page fact sheet containing details of the draft agreement shortly after the deal was announced. However, Iranian foreign ministry official on Tuesday rejected the White House’s version of the deal as “invalid” and accused Washington of releasing a factually inaccurate primer that misleads the American public. “What has been released by the website of the White House as a fact sheet is a one-sided interpretation of the agreed text in Geneva and some of the explanations and words in the sheet contradict the text of the Joint Plan of Action, and this fact sheet has unfortunately been translated and released in the name of the Geneva agreement by certain media, which is not true,” Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham told the Iranian press on Tuesday. Afkham and officials said that the White House has “modified” key details of the deal and released their own version of the agreement in the fact sheet. Iran’s right to enrich uranium, the key component in a nuclear weapon, is fully recognized under the draft released by Tehran. “This comprehensive solution would enable Iran to fully enjoy its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes under the relevant articles of the NPT in conformity with its obligations therein,” the agreement reads, according to a copy released to Iranian state-run media.

And you know what? The Iranians were right and the administration was lying. Given what we know about the inability of the Obama administration to do anything other than lie and obfuscate and given the fact that the Iranians have been far more open and trustworthy about the negotiations than our own government, one is left with the inescapable conclusion that Obama has agreed to lift sanctions immediately but is lying the US public and to the Congress in order to prevent an uncontainable outrage that could very well scuttle what Obama hopes will be his legacy.