by Boaz Bismuth
The U.S. and its partners are reportedly ready to provide the Iranians with advanced nuclear reactors and equipment, giving the impression that no matter how hard the ayatollah tries to torpedo nuclear talks with the world powers, they just won't let him.
Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
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Photo credit: AP  |
Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei feels confident
enough, only a few days before June 30 (the deadline for a final-status
nuclear deal with world powers), to thumb his nose at the international
community, including the American government, and declare Iran's three
noes: no to freezing its nuclear program, no to international oversight
at its nuclear facilities, no to a phased lifting of sanctions (as
proposed by the French). In other words, Khamenei is telling the world:
Dear superpowers -- bite me.
Meanwhile, almost simultaneously, we have
received an Associated Press report from Vienna that the U.S. and its
partners conducting the negotiations with Iran are prepared -- for the
sake of reaching a deal -- to even provide the Iranians with advanced
nuclear reactors and equipment. This isn't a joke.
It's possible, perhaps, to imagine Khamenei
rejecting this generous offer outright because the Americans aren't also
including ballistic missiles in the package. If you're going to be
generous, then you might as well go all the way.
Truth be told, this entire business to this
point seems quite like a joke. The problem is that it's coming at our
expense. And it's also not that funny.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius met on
Wednesday with his Saudi counterpart and promised him a "tough deal."
The Saudis are no less worried than we are about a bad deal. But who is
promising us a "tough deal?" The French, who ultimately always fall in
line with the Americans, whose help they need for more burning issues
closer to home (Ukraine)? Who? The Russians? The Chinese? The Americans?
The Germans? The British? The truth is, it would be best to trust the
Iranians to torpedo the deal on their own, but Khamenei's and even
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's promulgations from two weeks ago
aren't enough to scare anyone off.
In November 2013, as a reminder, we were just
several days before the interim agreement. I remember how the Iranian
and Western delegations leaked information about the many difficulties
in the negotiations, but that in the end, in the middle of the night,
the deal was born (how shocking). Eventually, we saw virtually the same
scenario unfold in Lausanne this past March -- the numerous problems
were made public, the deadline was extended by a few days, and finally
on April 2 we received the framework deal.
We can assume that in the coming days we will
get to see "the best show in town," at the end of which, in contrast to
the previous rounds, we can expect a final status deal with an Iran that
is not only slated to become a nuclear power but a stabilizing force in
our crumbling Middle East.
In Tehran on Tuesday, Khamenei spoke about his country's
"red lines." Red lines? Can someone maybe explain what those are to the
Obama administration?
Boaz Bismuth
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=26443
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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