Obama Administration Warns of Consequences of Potential Withdrawal from Nuclear Agreement with Iran

The Barack Obama administration warned that if the next President of the United States takes action against the nuclear agreement with Iran, it would have dangerous consequences. The nuclear agreement between world powers and Iran has been a target of severe criticism from Republican candidates for the U.S. presidential election, with Senator Ted Cruz, one of these candidates, emphasizing that if he becomes President, he will tear up the agreement on his first day in office. A report from CNN states that on Tuesday, April 6, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State defended the nuclear agreement with Iran in the U.S. Senate, calling a potential rejection of this agreement by the next U.S. administration catastrophic for the Middle East. Thomas Shannon told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 'Any effort to discard this agreement would open Pandora's box in the region, which would be difficult to close.' According to him, the decision to cancel this agreement would lead Iran to resume its 'nuclear weapons' program, which many analysts believe would result in an arms race in the region. This U.S. State Department official also added that 'extremists in Iran' would use this issue as a good excuse to claim that the U.S. is not trustworthy for negotiations and dialogue. Previously, Donald Trump, the leading Republican candidate for the U.S. presidential election, had also stated that his main priority is to cancel the nuclear agreement with Iran. Mr. Trump has called this agreement disastrous for the U.S., Israel, and the entire Middle East. In contrast, Barack Obama has referred to the nuclear agreement with Iran as a model for future diplomacy and has repeatedly emphasized that this agreement has prevented another war in the region. Thomas Shannon also reiterated these positions in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, stating that Iran's nuclear program under this agreement would be purely peaceful, while canceling the agreement would give hardliners an excuse to resume Iran's previous nuclear program. According to him, discarding the nuclear agreement would also have repercussions for U.S. allies and send a message to countries that have been involved in negotiations with Iran alongside the U.S. that U.S. policies are unstable. These statements come as John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, emphasized on the same day that Iran has so far adhered to its commitments regarding the nuclear agreement and deserves to benefit from this agreement.