US: Toward a More Secure World

Washington — finally some success! U.S. President Barack Obama has had a long wait for good news about his politics, and he had been planning the Geneva agreement for a long time.

On Saturday evening, Washington time, the U.S. president was able to celebrate his first foreign policy win in many months. Obama stood before the cameras at the White House and announced to the American audience that the Geneva agreement concerning the Iranian nuclear program was a first step toward making the world a safer place. In all probability, the agreement will block Iran from building its own nuclear bomb.

Recently, Obama has had little reason to be happy. His reactions to the coup in Egypt and civil war in Syria did not come across as particularly confident. However, regarding Iran, which Obama’s predecessor George W. Bush had placed on the “axis of evil,” Obama’s plan appears to have succeeded. The Geneva agreement had been planned for a long time, even if only as a temporary solution.

As early as September, there were signs that Obama’s efforts to improve relations with Iran could succeed. An ice age had prevailed between the two nations since the Iranian Revolution in 1979. However, Obama clearly found a like-minded partner in Hassan Rouhani, the newly appointed Iranian president. The two presidents started to telephone one another — something that had never happened before. Then, Obama assigned Secretary of State John Kerry to resolve the nuclear issue with Iran once and for all. Secret talks between the negotiators allegedly followed.

Sanctions Will Be Relaxed, but Only Marginally

Obama was cautiously optimistic that the Geneva agreement would lead to a comprehensive solution within the first six months. Meanwhile, the sanctions against Tehran are being relaxed, but only to a limited extent. Obama’s main goal is still to prevent Iran from possessing a nuclear bomb.

However, Obama’s joy as a result of the agreement could soon pass if the U.S. Congress does not cooperate. Delegates in both parties are planning to tighten penalties against Tehran. Only on Thursday, a group of 15 senators announced that new sanctions would be the best way to discourage Iran from building nuclear bombs.

Obama immediately advised against a tightening of the penalties on Saturday. However, the hawks in the Senate have other ideas. They claim that the Geneva agreement will not end Iran’s nuclear program: On the contrary, they believe Tehran will arm itself with nuclear weapons and, therefore, it is imperative that new sanctions be agreed upon. Such sanctions would not even need to come into effect immediately; they could wait until Iran decides to defy the agreement.