title:  Iran Proves Republicans Are Full Of Crap As United Nations Says Nuclear Deal Has Been Honored
text: Iran is fulfilling their obligations under the nuclear deal reached with the Obama Administration, and Republicans can t handle being proven wrong by those they consider enemies.On Saturday morning, Iran released several Americans from jail. Among them included Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, pastor Saeed Abedini, and former marine Amir Hekmati. As you may recall, Republicans repeatedly used the imprisonment of these three men as a reason to oppose the nuclear deal and demanded that President Obama make their release a condition of the negotiations.But President Obama wisely refused to tangle the two issues, which kept the nuclear deal alive while preserving a future opportunity to bring the prisoners home.And on Saturday, President Obama s wisdom paid off, as all three men have been released just as the deal goes into effect. Not only that, but the United Nations has announced that Iran has honored the terms of the deal in a statement by International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano.Here is the full statement via the IAEA.Today, I released a report confirming that Iran has completed the necessary preparatory steps to start the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The report was submitted to the IAEA Board of Governors and to the United Nations Security Council.It was issued after Agency inspectors on the ground verified that Iran has carried out all measures required under the JCPOA to enable Implementation Day to occur.This paves the way for the IAEA to begin verifying and monitoring Iran s nuclear-related commitments under the agreement, as requested by the U.N. Security Council and authorised by the IAEA Board.Relations between Iran and the IAEA now enter a new phase. It is an important day for the international community. I congratulate all those who helped make it a reality, especially the group of countries known as the E3/EU+3, Iran and the IAEA Board.In line with its commitments, Iran will start to provisionally implement the Additional Protocol to its Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA. Together with other nuclear-related measures under the JCPOA, this increases the Agency s ability to monitor nuclear activities in Iran and to verify that they are peaceful.We have come a long way since the IAEA first started considering the Iran nuclear issue in 2003. A lot of work has gone into getting us here, and implementation of this agreement will require a similar effort. For our part, we are ready to get on with the job.In other words, Iran met their obligations and showed the world that Republicans were full of bullshit every time they demonized the deal or accused Iran of not cooperating.Even Secretary of State John Kerry took a victory lap around those who doubted the deal would succeed, calling the deal an  ambitious set of promises  that Iran is keeping, which makes the entire world safer. Iran has undertaken significant steps that many, and I do mean many, people doubted would ever come to pass. And that should be recognized, even though the full measure of this achievement can only be realized by assuring continued full compliance in the coming years. Today marks the moment that the Iran nuclear agreement transitions from an ambitious set of promises on paper to measurable action in progress. Today, as a result of the actions taken since last July, the United States, our friends and allies in the Middle East, and the entire world are safer because the threat of the nuclear weapon has been reduced. Clearly, the deal is working and Iran must continue to honor it since other sanctions won t be lifted for another ten years down the road. For now, however, Iran is working with the world and the world is rewarding them by lifting sanctions.This deal will go down in history as one of the greatest achievements of President Obama s time in office, and will go down as a humiliating defeat for Republicans. The GOP hoped to sabotage the deal in preference of war with Iran that would cost thousands of lives and add even more to our national debt. It s likely they are furious that they failed so badly, but they should really be embarrassed that they stood in the way of history and the diplomatic negotiations that brought the deal to fruition. They acted like little toddlers who didn t get their way while the Iranians and President Obama were the adults in the room. And the results make it absolutely clear that Republicans do not have what it takes to lead or make American foreign policy.Featured Image: Tumblr