{"id":15701,"date":"2026-06-17T14:01:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=15701"},"modified":"2026-06-17T14:01:40","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:01:40","slug":"interim-us-iran-deal-leaves-the-thorniest-issue-still-to-be-negotiated-tehrans-nuclear-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=15701","title":{"rendered":"Interim US-Iran deal leaves the thorniest issue still to be negotiated: Tehran\u2019s nuclear program"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By MATTHEW LEE, AP Diplomatic Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The interim deal between the U.S. and Iran is supposed to usher in a two-month period that would address the most divisive issue between the longtime adversaries \u2014 Tehran\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n

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Preventing Iran from attaining a nuclear bomb is a key reason that President Donald Trump said he launched the war alongside Israel in February, but the tentative agreement he has trumpeted leaves little runway to negotiate the long-running sticking point. The previous nuclear pact between Iran and world powers, which Trump pulled the U.S. from in his first term, took many months to negotiate.<\/p>\n

Few details have been publicly released about the initial deal, set to be officially signed Friday in Switzerland, but it generally calls for reopening the Strait of Hormuz to global oil shipments, financial incentives for Iran if it meets certain benchmarks, and a 60-day period for talks on ending the country\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n

There is deep skepticism among both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, pro-Israel advocates and Israel itself that the deal is realistic, workable or would have any effect on nuclear talks.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy skepticism is Iran itself. What would a good deal look like? No enrichment. And we\u2019ll see if we can get there,\u201d Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close Trump ally and longtime Iran hawk, said Tuesday. \u201cBut whether or not we can get phase two, I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

A nuclear deal takes commitment to the details<\/h4>\n

David Schenker, director of the Arab Politics Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that \u201cthis administration has proven that it has a hard time keeping its attention on these issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schenker, who served as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs in the first Trump administration, questioned whether the current administration would have the wherewithal to reach a nuclear deal even if the agreement is signed Friday.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThis is the kind of thing that requires dogged attention, attention to detail and numerous technical experts involved,\u201d he said. \u201cTrump loses his attention, moves on, and so does the administration. It\u2019s like they don\u2019t understand Iran\u2019s strategy. They didn\u2019t get it the first time, or the second.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has maintained its confidence. Vice President JD Vance said much of the technical detail must be negotiated but that the U.S. must see action for Iran to receive incentives like sanctions relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur plan under this deal is, again, the Iranians are getting a lot of benefits so long as they dismantle that nuclear weapons program,\u201d Vance told Megyn Kelly on her podcast Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople always ask me, \u2018Why do you believe it this time?\u2019 I don\u2019t believe them,\u201d he added. \u201cI don\u2019t trust anything that anybody says. I trust what people do. And the way this deal is structured is that as they do more, they receive more. As they do less, they receive less.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is peaceful.<\/p>\n

It took over a year and a half to get the previous nuclear deal<\/h4>\n

The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, took more than 18 months to negotiate, starting with secret talks between U.S. and Iranian officials in Oman at the end of then-President Barack Obama\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n

They required dozens of direct high-level interventions from Secretary of State John Kerry and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, not to mention a team of dozens of technical experts traveling to Europe and elsewhere before the conclusion of the negotiations in Vienna, Austria.<\/p>\n

Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 before most of its more contentious concessions had come into effect, and there is no indication now that Iran is willing to offer much more.<\/p>\n

The JCPOA relied on very technical language and understandings, including limits on uranium enrichment, advanced centrifuges and heavy water production. In exchange, Iran was granted significant sanctions relief, amounting to billions of dollars.<\/p>\n

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As unhappy as critics were about the JCPOA \u2014 Trump called it the \u201cworst deal ever negotiated,\u201d while all Republicans and a number of prominent Democrats voted against it \u2014 all sides acknowledge it took more than 18 months to get to an even imperfect agreement.<\/p>\n

Republicans say Congress must approve any deal<\/h4>\n

Republicans say any nuclear deal with Iran should be brought to Congress, as required by law. GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said he \u201cwould certainly anticipate that\u201d the Senate will get the final say.<\/p>\n

GOP Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said he had little confidence Iran would abide by any agreement.<\/p>\n

But Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., one of a handful of senators who has spoken to Vance about the agreement, said the shortened timeline could be an advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIran\u2019s modus operandi is to negotiate for the purpose of delaying, so they can rearm themselves,\u201d Marshall said. \u201cI think the president has to give them some type of a finite amount of time, or there\u2019s going to be consequences. So I think it can be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., noted that what could help Trump\u2019s negotiators to hammer out a nuclear agreement in such a truncated timeline is that there is \u201ca base\u201d to work from following the Obama-era talks.<\/p>\n

Still, the JCPOA \u201ctook years to put together. You had allies and even adversaries \u2014 China and Russia \u2014 around the table, you had the IAEA at the table, the Obama chief negotiator had a Nobel Prize in physics, Ernie Moniz,\u201d Kaine said. \u201cI don\u2019t know that either Jared Kushner or Steve Witkoff have a Nobel Prize. So it\u2019s going to be hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump envoys Witkoff and Kushner, neither of whom had any prior experience in nuclear negotiations, made numerous but ultimately unsuccessful attempts to reach an agreement under Omani mediation during the first months of Trump\u2019s second term.<\/p>\n

Those tapered off after the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025 \u2014 after which Pakistan emerged as the main facilitator.<\/p>\n

There also is uncertainty about other issues besides nuclear that have been of concern to Arab countries, Israel, Europe and the United States.<\/p>\n

It is not clear that any of those issues, including Iran\u2019s ballistic missile program, its support for militant proxies in the region or repression of its own people, will be addressed by either the interim or potential longer-term agreements.<\/p>\n

Without significant capitulations by Trump up-front, it is hard to imagine that nuclear negotiations with Iran will take only several months.<\/p>\n

\u201cA deal is better than more fighting, but the war America and Israel prosecuted against Iran has fallen short of achieving its stated objectives,\u201d said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. \u201cThis agreement is mostly about cleaning up an unnecessary mess and putting the best face on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim and Nathan Ellgren contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The interim deal between the U.S. and Iran is supposed to usher in a two-month period that would address Tehran’s nuclear program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nInterim US-Iran deal leaves the thorniest issue still to be negotiated: Tehran\u2019s nuclear program - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=15701\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Interim US-Iran deal leaves the thorniest issue still to be negotiated: Tehran\u2019s nuclear program - 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