Wait. What?
A year after Iran's nuclear deal with the West, hardliners are gaining authority in a backlash against pragmatic President Hasan Rouhani that his allies say could leave him sidelined or push him out of power in an election next year.
Even aside from my view that "moderates" in Iran are simply those willing not to shout "Death to America!" in public forums, can anyone really be surprised that once the need to showcase "moderates" was over that the nutball mullahs would pocket all the advantages they got from that horrible nuclear deal and then reassert full control over the system the nutball mullahs set up to perpetuate nutball mullah governance?
Have a super sparkly day.
UPDATE: Oh good grief, we had to pass the nuclear deal to find out was in it--and we're still finding out what's in the deal:
A confidential document from the Iran nuclear deal, which was recently leaked to the Associated Press, allows Iran to expand its uranium enrichment program after the first 10 years of the deal, even though the overall agreement lasts 15 years. ...
This document clears up some of that uncertainty: In 2027, 11 years after the deal was made, Iran can replace the old centrifuges with new ones that are five times as efficient, effectively boosting Iran’s uranium enrichment capacity. The AP says that means Iran could have enough enriched uranium to make a nuclear bomb in six months.
Do remember that even without this revelation, the deal says that the enforcement mechanism--the UN Security Council--loses the authority to enforce nuclear issues in 10 years:
Page 5 says that 10 years after "adoption day" the UN Security Council terminates consideration of the Iran nuclear issue. So from that point on, Russia and China--because of their veto--can block any new consideration by the Security Council of Iran's nuclear status.
I'm still waiting for the release of the document that says Iran will verifiably end their nuclear weapons program in exchange for American decommissioned Minuteman III nuclear missiles.
UPDATE: Strategypage discusses Iranian smuggling efforts. Iran sure is busy trying to get things for weapons it says it doesn't want.
