The Donald Trump administration is allowing high-tech US exports to Iran that could boost international oversight of the 2015 nuclear deal.
US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan signed a waiver that allows a Maryland-based company to export broadband networks, satellite dishes and wireless equipment to Iran for stations that monitor nuclear explosions in real time. Under laws that came into force after the Iran-Iraq War, the United States restricts "dual-use" exports that could be used to develop nuclear weapons.
The State Department notified Congress of the move Jan. 5, according to correspondence viewed by Al-Monitor. It is not the first time the United States has allowed exports of digital technology to Iran: In 2010, the State Department also granted a waiver to allow US companies to export chat, email and social networking software to Iran, an effort to strengthen free speech rights.
The monitoring equipment was requested by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), which oversees a global ban on nuclear test explosions. Though the United States and Iran are among eight nuclear or atomic-aspiring nations that haven’t ratified the 1997 treaty, organization officials have nevertheless set up three sites in Iran to transmit explosion data back to Vienna, giving US and other policymakers a live, independent channel to watch the Islamic Republic’s nuclear activity.
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