Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
... both the Russians and the Chinese don't fear Iran with a nuclear weapon as much as the United States does and values Iran as a potentially important commercial energy partner.
If Iran goes back to enrichment, then you have the rather nightmare prospect, even though the odds are poor of success, of an Israeli preemptive military strike or a conflict in which the United States could be involved
It did raise serious questions about the administration's competency and credibility and whether or not it could basically deliver on commitments that it had made to its allies. Getting out of lost wars is never an easy enterprise.
Experts discuss tipping points in Iran, the future of the regime and what a post-Islamic Republic Iran might look like, and patterns in the history of authoritarian regimes.
World attention has focused on the prospects of the United States and Iran finding terms that enable them to return to their 2015 nuclear deal. But there are still a lot of questions that need answering.
Prior to 1979, Saudi Arabia and Iran, two Muslim monarchies--one Sunni and one Shia--were allied with the US in the Cold War against Communism. The Iranian Revolution changed that, as did the Saudi response to the seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
The negotiations are confronting significant problems to begin with, a lack of trust, a profound political constraints on both sides and under some time pressure.
A recent cyber attack on Iran's Natanz nuclear facility, which Iran blames on Israel, has put further pressure on U.S.-Israeli relations. As the United States seeks to revive the JCPOA, Israel wants to stop the deal at all costs.
This is an arms control agreement. It is not a treaty of peace and friendship between Iran and the U.S.