WH: Finishing deal with Iran could take weeks

The nuclear deal negotiated with Iran over the weekend won’t take effect for “several weeks” as details of enforcement are worked out, the White House said Monday.

“Technical details to implement the Joint Plan of Action must be finalized before the terms of the Plan begin,” a senior administration official said in an email. “We are working on the exact timeframe, but we expect it will be in the coming weeks. Reports that Iran has already received access to any financial relief are false.”

The revelation set off a flurry of recriminations among the deal’s critics on Capitol Hill.

“There is actually no deal yet,” a senior Republican aide told The Hill. “Apparently, they now need to negotiate an implementation agreement — the framework didn’t actually compel any action by any side. No idea how long that could take.”

The deal would loosen sanctions in exchange for Iran freezing its nuclear program for six months during negotiations toward a final agreement. The six month clock only starts ticking once the implementation framework is agreed to.

The White House says the deal was the heavy lift, while the details of how to make it work are a technicality. Not all such agreements have implementation agreements, but in this case Iran and its six negotiating partners — the United States, Russia, China, France, Great Britain and Germany — wanted to have arrangements in place regarding nuclear inspectors, the joint monitoring mechanism of Iran’s program and the details of sanctions relief for Iran.

The White House official said an Iranian press report that the United States had already raised $8 billion was “100 percent incorrect.”

The deal’s announcement however has already had an impact, however, with the Iran’s currency, the rial, jumping three percent on Sunday and oil markets sagging in expectation of increased supply.

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