As you have no doubt heard, the United States has failed to reach a nuclear deal with Iran and talks are expected to resume next month. Reuters reports:
If the two sides reach a deal after a one-month adjournment, it would still be before the upcoming change in U.S. Congress, where hardline Republicans will dominate both houses in January. Hawkish U.S. lawmakers have threatened to push for new sanctions on Iran if there is no concrete progress in the talks.
At Russia Today, Hans Blix, one-time IAEA Director General and UN Chief Weapons Inspector in Iraq Hans Blix elaborates
The U.S. Congress is a lot more hawkish than the U.S. executive government. The executive government would like to have a new continuation of the START agreement, but the U.S. Congress is not willing at present time to even accept the comprehensive Test Ban treaty, the treaty that Russia, France and UK have accepted and China would accept. The Congress is very hawkish and I think they felt pleased with being the lone superpower that they became in the beginning of the 90s and they want to continue that – and they are.
He then speaks about those in the United States
… who are fanatically opposed to a strengthened Iran. Sometimes I wonder even whether the weapons of mass destruction issue is not an artificial one. I mean, we saw in the case of Iraq how the U.S. political circles in Bush administration said that the great problem was Iraqi nuclear weapons – well, there were no nuclear weapons, but there was an issue on which they could rally an opposition to Iraq. Now, here, again, we see the lots of focusing upon a possible Iranian intention to make nuclear weapons. Maybe, behind that or at the side of that there is an even stronger intention or wish to prevent Iran from becoming economically strong and, in fact, that is as important as the one they worry – about the weapons.
He is encouraged, though:
In particular, it has been recognized that Iran has a right and reason to go for nuclear power program. They want to sell their oil and use nuclear power to generate electricity, just the same way as Abu-Dhabi does, building 4 nuclear power plants. Now, with a big agreement with Russia to continue, to build further plants Bushehr and maybe further plants thereafter, with delivery of fuel for them, a new element has entered into the picture – an element that I think is favorable.