The Snapback's Just Snake Oil

Iran Deal: The president claims that if Tehran cheats, "sanctions that have helped to cripple the Iranian economy will snap back into place." But he won't want them to, because then the deal would be dead.

Should Iran violate any aspect of this deal," the White House tells us, "the UN, U.S. and EU can snap the sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy back into place." 

Look into the circle and Repeat, Can means Will

But "can" doesn't mean "will."

"Snap back" is a cool term. It's what adjustable baseball caps worn backwards have long been called in hip-hop black urban culture.

The way the snapback mechanism works, if the U.S. or one of the other P5+1 believes that Iran is cheating, it can convene a United Nations Security Council vote on sanctions in which the U.S. or another permanent Security Council member could veto continued sanctions relief, thus reinstating sanctions on Iran in 30 days.

An unnamed U.S. official boasted that the U.S., not Russia or China, now has the veto: "We flipped the presumption so the veto works to our advantage."

But the process also requires going through an international "joint commission," then an international "advisory board," which would likely take more than two months. Moreover, within the agreement is a key passage: "Iran has stated that if sanctions are reinstated in whole or in part, Iran will treat that as grounds to cease performing its commitments" under the pact.

In other words, if Iran cheats and we do anything about it, the deal is dead. Is Barack Obama going to do that? Not on your legacy (or, rather, his). And the next president, even a Republican, might have reasons not to do it either.

Read the rest of this IBD editorial HERE.

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