Phase out of Iran sanctions ‘still to be negotiated’

WASHINGTON: The White House said on Monday that details about when and how quickly to lift sanctions on Iran had to be worked out in upcoming negotiations and noted the Obama administration opposed lifting the penalties on the day a potential pact goes into force.
“Details of the phase out of the sanctions have not been agreed to,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters. “It is the strong view of the administration that it would not be wise ... to simply take away sanctions on day one.”
A senior Israeli government minister on Monday warned that taking military action against Iran’s nuclear program is still an option — despite last week’s framework deal between world powers and Iran. The comments by Yuval Steinitz, Israel’s minister for strategic affairs, reflected the alarm in Israel over last week’s deal.
Israeli leaders believe the framework leaves too much of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure intact and could still allow it to develop the means to produce a nuclear weapon.Steinitz, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s, said the government would spend the coming months lobbying the world powers negotiating with Iran to strengthen the language in the deal as they hammer out a final agreement.