Iran deal is step in the right direction

To the editor:

It's clear that the U.S. and Iran do not trust each other. The Iran Nuclear Agreement isn't based on trust between these nations; it's based on putting into place methods of verification.

This agreement is the work of China, Russia, France, U.S., Germany, the U.K. and the European Union. Intensive negotiations began with a Joint Plan of Action in 2013 and ended with the signing of the agreement in July. Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world, with this deal in place they will be under strict surveillance of 150 inspectors and without access to powerful weapons for at least 5 -15 years.

Without this deal, none of the stipulations will be in place and Iran will have no incentive, other than threat of war and more sanctions, not to procure those weapons.

If Congress votes down this deal, the global community has no incentive to include the U.S. in any further negotiations. It took almost two years of intensive negotiations between these countries to come to this agreement. They are not going back to the table, even if that is what Rod Blum, Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley would like to see.

It is not a perfect agreement by any means, but supporting this agreement would seem to be a step forward from where we stand using only sanctions and threats of war.

Mary Reinking

Oelwein