Sanctions on Iran could be lifted this weekend as Republicans again fail to scuttle nuclear deal

Iranian state television announced Thursday that the core of the Arak heavy-water reactor has been removed in compliance with the July 2015 agreement that curtails the nation’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. The almost completed reactor was configured in such a way that it would produce enough plutonium annually for a couple of nuclear bombs. 

If inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirm that Iran has removed the reactor core, it will pave the way for European Union and U.S. sanctions to be removed, and all U.N. sanctions relating to the nuclear program to be nullified. This could happen as early as Saturday. About $30 billion of Iran’s $100 billion or so in frozen assets are expected to be immediately released.

You could see the gleam in some Republicans’ eyes on January 12, after Iran took two U.S. riverine command boats and 10 sailors into custody. If this had turned into an international crisis, they saw it possibly undermining the nuclear agreement, and their saber-rattling was obviously designed to do just that. But quick diplomacy turned it into a non-event, and the detained sailors and their boats were released at dawn on the following day. 

House Republicans nonetheless proceeded once again, trying later in the day to wreck the agreement with a bill designed to delay implementation with a series of provisions. When 137 House members failed to show up, however, the vote was scuttled. The GOP leadership may try again on January 26, but by then the agreement will probably be implemented and any vote won’t matter.