Critics of Donald Trump’s deal with Iran have focused on its many shortcomings, but near the top of the list is an unavoidable flaw: To end the war, Iran simply didn’t have to make any meaningful concessions.

The White House has pushed back against this, arguing that officials in Tehran, as part of the agreement, reopened the Strait of Hormuz and agreed to never pursue nuclear weapons. But these hardly constituted real breakthroughs: The strait was open before the war, and Iran has reiterated its commitment not to pursue nuclear weapons for more than half a century.

In other words, what the Republican administration characterized as concessions were really just a return to the pre-combat status quo.

This week, however, according to the White House, a third element was added to the list. MS NOW reported, as part of the network’s live blog coverage:

Vice President JD Vance [announced Monday] in Switzerland that the Iranians have agreed to invite inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to the country “at the minimum of this week.” The IAEA would likely monitor Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Hours after the vice president’s announcement, Trump similarly declared by way of his social media platform that Iran “will agree” to have “major” weapons inspectors in the country, as part of the larger goal of ensuring “nuclear honesty.”

At first blush, this might seem like evidence of constructive progress, but the closer one looks, the less impressive it appears. There are four key elements to keep in mind.

Iran’s side of the story: The Republican administration characterized the developments as a done deal, but as MS NOW went on to report, Iran has not announced a commitment to nuclear inspections.

Uncertain details about the future of the policy: The fact that Trump used the future tense (Iran “will agree” to have weapons inspectors) was emblematic of the fact that the White House made this announcement before working out the specifics. At least for now, there are more questions than answers about when inspectors will be allowed into Iran, which sites they’ll be able to access, how the inspections will be conducted, etc.

Premature sanctions relief: Despite the uncertainty about the future of the inspections, the Republican administration went ahead and suspended U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil and derivatives until late August, creating a significant economic boost for Tehran.

In other words, Trump and his team are already allowing money to flow into Iranian pockets before working out the relevant details and ensuring compliance, which reinforces concerns about amateur hour at the White House.

We already had IAEA weapons inspectors in Iran: For all of Trump’s hysterics about the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, it ensured that weapons inspectors were able to conduct thorough reviews of Iranian facilities — an actual breakthrough the Democratic administration secured without firing a shot.

What Vance announced, in other words, was possible progress toward weapons inspections that were already happening before Trump abandoned the JCPOA for no good reason — hardly the stuff of celebration.

The post The problem(s) with the White House’s boasts about weapons inspectors in Iran appeared first on MS NOW.

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From MS Now.