Hassan Rouhani / AP
By Adam Kredo:
Iranian leaders are quietly expressing fear about the Republican takeover of Congress Tuesday night, with many conveying concerns that Tehran has lost a key bloc of U.S. Democrats who wanted to roll back economic sanctions and hand Iran a favorable nuclear deal, according to an internal CIA analysis and Farsi language reports.
Fears about the Republican takeover of Congress have plagued Iranian leaders for weeks, according to the CIA analysis obtained by theWashington Free Beacon that outlines internal commotion in Iran over the shifting political tides in the United States.
The eventual outcome of Tuesday’s elections prompted many Iranian commenters and officials to express concern that years of U.S. capitulation to Iranian demands might soon come to an end.
Republican gains in Congress appear to have motivated Iran to work harder toward inking a nuclear deal with the Obama administration before the lame duck legislative session concludes, according to an official analysis by the CIA’s Open Source Center authored ahead of the midterm elections.
Some Iranians are now betting that the White House will fully lift sanctions before the new Congress assembles and that it will also sign a deal that permits Tehran to continue enriching uranium, the key component in a nuclear weapon.
“Iranian media from across the political spectrum have cautioned that potential Republican gains in the upcoming U.S. congressional mid-term elections could disrupt the ongoing nuclear negotiations,” the CIA’s Open Source Center wrote in an Oct. 31 analysis marked unclassified but for official use only.
“Some commentary has focused on the possibility that political deadlock between President Obama and Republicans if the latter gain a majority in Congress would constrain the U.S. President’s ability to strike a deal with Iran by [the] 24 November [deadline], while other commentators have highlighted concerns that Republicans may be more reluctant to ease sanctions on Iran, which is a key point of contention for Iran in nuclear negotiations,” according to the CIA analysis.
Tehran’s fears came to fruition on Tuesday night and prompted Iranian commenters and even government officials to express a renewed sense of urgency about finalizing a nuclear deal with the White House.
The spokesman for the Iranian Parliament’s National Security Committee predicted negotiations with the Obama administration would continue, but added that Americans must now “drink the cup of poison” as a result of the elections, according to a Persian language report in Iran’s Fars News Agency.
“The change in the balance of power in Senate has no effect on the nuclear negotiations,” Seyyed Hussain Naqavi Husseini, spokesperson for Iran’s National Security Committee of its Parliament, was quoted as saying.
The “Islamic Republic knows that due to Zionists’ influence in U.S. domestic and foreign policy, it is difficult for U.S. politicians to make a decision but this time they should drink the cup of poison,” Hussaini said. “Americans should recognize Iran’s rights and if they do that we can reach to agreement.”
Continued talks with Iran hinge on Obama’s ability to lift sanctions, according to the CIA analysis.
“Hardline media in the past few months questioned the efficacy of nuclear talks if the U.S. president is unable to lift sanctions unilaterally,” the Open Source Center wrote. “They also have exploited disagreements on the nuclear negotiations in the domestic U.S. political arena as a means to warn President Hassan Rouhani to remember Iranian domestic political obligations when considering terms agreed to in any final deal.”
Conservative Iranian pundit Fuad Izadi admitted on Wednesday that the situation had just gotten “much worse” as a result of the elections since a Republican Congress is likely to try to block any nuclear deal that they view as too favorable to Tehran.
Other Iranian analysts labeled the next two months as critical for the Obama administration to reach a deal with Iran.
Read more at Washington Free Beacon
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