28-Nov-13: The backtracking on the Iran nuclear "deal" might even be funny, were it not so deadly serious

Iranian headache pills [Image Source]

In "27-Nov-13: Out of its own mouth, little by little, Iran makes plain what a nuclear agreement is and is not", we ended on this note:

Those constitutionally inclined to be on the side of the optimists in this evolving nuclear-Iran saga had better equip themselves with some powerful headache pills.

Today, there's this from Associated Press, under the headline "US backs Iran claim that some work OK at Arak site":

The U.S. says Iran can undertake some construction work at a key nuclear facility as long as fuel isn't produced and advances aren't made on a planned heavy water reactor. The Arak site was among the thorniest issues negotiators sought to resolve in last weekend's nuclear agreement in Geneva. The White House said afterward Iran wouldn't advance its "activities" at Arak or progress toward plutonium production. It spelled out several more constraints. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Wednesday while his country was honoring the deal, construction on building projects would continue. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki says she isn't sure what work Zarif meant. She says road or building work might be allowable. But nuclear fuel production, reactor work, testing, control systems advances and other activities aren't permissible.

And this: "Deal or No Deal: White House: Iran Not On Clock Yet" by Adam Kredo in the Washington Free Beacon:

Geneva, last weekend [Image Source]

The final details of a nuclear agreement signed over the weekend between Iran and Western nations will not actually go into effect until further negotiations take place at a later date, according to a senior administration official and sources on Capitol Hill. Even as Iran and the P5+1 announced late Saturday night that they had reached a six-month interim deal that curbs Iran’s nuclear program while giving Tehran the ability to continue some uranium enrichment activities, it is now clear that the six-month freeze will not go into effect until the P5+1 negotiators and Iran agree to a final plan to implement the interim agreement... “There is no deal in place,” a senior congressional aide briefed on the deal told the Free Beacon. “The agreement signed this weekend was not an actual agreement—it was a list of ideas with no way to implement them.” The source said that all sides are in a holding pattern of sorts until final details can be worked out. “The White House told us that it could take weeks to negotiate another agreement to implement this framework—but until then, Iran’s nuclear program runs full steam ahead,” the source said.

We suspect there are more headaches to come. Even so, it's doubtful the professionals in the White House and at Foggy Bottom, or their political masters, are suffering excessively, or will. Over here on the other hand, living inside the firing radius of the ayatollah-powered Iranian arsenals (there are several), anxiety levels are visibly rising.