It does no good to expect the best from Iran

On Monday, July 18, the United Nations released a report assessing the Islamic Republic of Iran’s compliance with the nuclear agreement concluded by Iran and six world powers last July. While the report found that Iran has been upholding its most basic requirements under the deal – limiting its number of operational enrichment centrifuges and the size of its stockpile of low enriched uranium – the report also noted that the Iranian regime had failed to meet the higher standards of compliance. Through its repeated test-firings of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, its provision of weapons to foreign conflict zones, and its general antagonism toward Western powers and the world community, the Islamic Republic has clearly been violating the “spirit” of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

This is very much in keeping with what we already understand about the Iranian regime. Full-fledged compliance with international accords was always a pipe-dream, pursued only by the most naïve actors such as the Obama administration, which sold the deal to lawmakers and the American public in part by claiming that it was made possible by the 2013 election of “moderate” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.........http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/289836-it-does-no-good-to-expect-the-best-from-iran