WESTWOOD—On Sunday, July 26, hundreds of people gathered outside the Federal Building in Westwood to protest the Iran nuclear deal.
The nuclear deal was negotiated between Iran and a team of six nations, including the United States of America. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry spearheaded negotiations on behalf of the United States.
The final details of the deal involve tightening restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in return for more relaxed trade sanctions.
The Westwood protestors carried signs, either homemade or mass produced, denouncing the deal. One of the most common signs stated the crux of the opposition: “The World Cannot Afford a Nuclear Iran!”
Protestors echoed the concerns of many, including Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. On July 14, the final details of the deal were announced, Netanyahu made a statement criticizing the deal. “Iran is going to receive a sure path to nuclear weapons,” he said. “Iran will get a jackpot, a cash bonanza of hundreds of billion of dollars, which will enable it to continue to pursue its aggression and terror in the region and in the world. This is a bad mistake of historic proportions.”
According to reports, some believe that those who want a non-nuclear Iran should support the deal, rather than condemn it.
“I think this is a good deal,” Aaron Stein, a Middle East and nuclear proliferation expert for the Atlantic Council and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, told news commentary site Vox. “It exceeds or is directly in line with everything [the US hoped to achieve]. … It makes the possibility of Iran developing a nuclear weapon in the next 25 years extremely remote.”
Despite Stein’s assurances, Westwood protesters want to support Senate Republicans in their effort to block the deal.
