Iran trade-off: Deal could leave Iran without a nuclear bomb, but stronger

At the heart of the sweeping nuclear deal sealed here Tuesday lies a trade-off: The U.S. and its allies will get much stronger leverage to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb for more than a decade, but Iran’s conventional power in the Middle East will almost certainly grow in ways that could make it more aggressive.

The deal, the product of almost two years of bargaining between Iran, the U.S. and five other world powers, tightens strictures on Iran’s nuclear program and gives international agencies broad monitoring powers designed to detect any secret nuclear activities.

But the deal loosens other limits on Iran in ways that may make selling the agreement harder in Washington. It releases billions of dollars in frozen assets, eventually will free Iran to start buying more conventional arms and ballistic missiles and reduces the U.N. blacklist of Iranian officials.

Read the full article at The Los Angeles Times.