Iran's supreme leader is laughing, for good reason - Boaz Bismuth

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 | 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

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