History was made this week when the U.S. (along with five other nations) and Iran agreed on a nuclear accord in Vienna following what was 18 days of intense negotiations. The deal will essentially see Iran cease their nuclear deal in exchange for billions of dollars in relief from international sanctions, a kind of ‘I scratch your back and you scratch mine’ deal that is being heralded as Barack Obama’s biggest foreign policy achievement since taking office.

We’ll focus on three questions here; why has the deal taken so long to conclude, what does it entail and does this mean this deal is now set in stone?

Negotiations between the two countries with a history of name-calling began as far back as November 2013 with an interim agreement called the Geneva Accord and the Joint Plan of Action. Those negotiations saw America, France, Britain, China, Russia and Germany begin to put in place the framework for the deal, with leaders from the afore-mentioned countries present at today’s signing.

They were further bolstered by the election of Hassan Rohani, the leader having campaigned on promises of ‘constructive engagement with the international community aimed at lifting harsh economic sanctions and ending Iran’s international isolation’.

Negotiations on the current deal began in March of this year and Vienna today played host to the signing of the accord. Why is this something that Obama and others are so chuffed about:? We’re going to hand over to BusinessInsider here:

The accord will keep Iran from producing enough material for a nuclear weapon for at least 10 years and impose new provisions for inspections of Iranian facilities, including military sites. And it marks a dramatic break from decades of animosity between the US and Iran, countries that alternatively call each other the “leading state sponsor of terrorism” and the “the Great Satan”…

This below from TIME:

[The deal requires] Iran to remove two-thirds of its installed centrifuges, 98% of its current uranium stockpile, and require the International Atomic Energy Agency to verify Iran’s compliance within the frameworks of the deal.

Well that definitely sounds like a step in the right direction, surely no one would be opposed to regulations that reduced the chances of the U.S. and Iran going to war? You forget that everything a Democratic does a Republican must scorn, and Congress still has 60 days to review the deal and pass a resolution on whether to approve it. It’s somewhat more technical than that with this explanation from the Telegraph:

Republicans have majorities in both houses of Congress so they can pass a motion rejecting the deal, but Mr Obama will then veto that motion.

This is where the Congressional mathematics get very tough for opponents of an agreement. Republicans can override the President’s veto but only if they can rally two-thirds of the vote in both the Senate and the House.

In the Senate that means that at least 13 Democrats must vote against Mr Obama to derail the deal. Given that the deal is Obama’s defining foreign policy achievement, the informed consensus is that that is very unlikely to happen.

In short, there are Democrats who don’t like this deal but not enough to torpedo their president’s flagship foreign policy achievement.

You manage to keep up with all of that? Of course you did, sometimes you just to have to pay attention to those at the back of the class as well. Sure it is an overly simple account of a rather complicated situation but we made it through together.

It looks like Barack is going to be enjoying a very satisfying ice cold beverage of his choosing at the end of the day and, as far as his country’s well-being goes, he has earned every last drop.

[sources:businessinsider&time&telegraph]