Any easing by Washington of sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran taking steps to scale back its nuclear program is likely to be fleeting and symbolic, with any moves for bigger concessions likely to be blocked by Congress.
At talks in Geneva on the nuclear program with six world powers on Tuesday, Iran’s negotiators presented a proposal on defusing a decade-old standoff. But both sides said it was too early to talk of a breakthrough.
Even if Iran promises to take serious steps, it is unlikely to satisfy key members of the U.S. Congress, which generally takes a harder line on Iran than President Barack Obama’s administration.
Lawmakers including Robert Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, have signaled they want Tehran to stop even low-level enrichment of uranium used in generating power before they would take steps to wind down existing sanctions, or even agree not to put through tougher ones.
“Sanctions relief is easier said than done,” said Ali Vaez, an Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group, an organization that seeks to prevent and resolve conflict.
“Without a fundamental reorientation of Iran’s approach, a significant relaxation in sanctions is not in the cards.”
The sanctions Washington would likely wind down first are morsels such as easing restrictions on medical supplies, travel and the sale of spare airplane parts and service for U.S.-built aircraft in Iran.
“Many of these are low impact, they are not going to turn Iran’s economy around,” said Greg Theilmann, a fellow at the Arms Control Association, and a former top intelligence official at the State Department.
“But it’s important to at least know there are a number of things that can be done to show U.S. bona fides if the Iranians show that they are willing to take significant steps in the direction of what the U.S. and other parties say they have to do,” he said.
Deadly crashes of aging aircraft owned by Iranian airlines have become common and Iranian officials say their inability to buy new Western-built planes and parts have led to more than 1,700 deaths since those sanctions began in 1995.
Allowing access to U.S. aircraft parts could help improve relations between the two countries as negotiators work on more difficult sanctions that are crippling Iran’s economy.
reuters
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