Khamenei: Zionist regime won't exist in 25 years - Yoni Hersch, Shlomo Cesana, Eli Leon, Gideon Allon, Israel Hayom Staff and Reuters

by Yoni Hersch, Shlomo Cesana, Eli Leon, Gideon Allon, Israel Hayom Staff and Reuters

Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei goes on new anti-Israel tirade • Nuclear deal "will give Iran the means to launch a nuclear attack on U.S. homeland," former Vice President Dick Cheney says • Number of U.S. senators backing deal now 42.

 

Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Photo credit: AP

Israel will not exist in 25 years, Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared in a Twitter tirade on Wednesday.

An image tweeted by Khamenei said, "After negotiations, in Zionist regime they said they had no more concern about Iran for next 25 years; I’d say: Firstly, you will not see 25 years. God willing, there will be nothing as Zionist regime by next 25 years. Secondly, until then, struggling, heroic and jihadi morale will leave no moment of serenity for Zionists."

In another tweet, Khamenei referred to the nuclear agreement reached between world powers and Iran in July, saying, "We allowed negotiation with U.S. only on nuclear issue for certain reasons, in other areas we did not and will not allow negotiations with U.S."

Khamenei went on to say, "U.S. officials seek negotiation with Iran; negotiation is means of infiltration and imposition of their wills. 

"Iranian nation did expel this Great Satan [the U.S.]. We barred their direct access and now we must not allow their indirect access and infiltration."

Meanwhile, in a speech delivered at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington on Tuesday, former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney ripped into President Barack Obama and the nuclear agreement.

With Congress set to vote on the agreement in the coming week, Cheney picked the deal and its proponents apart.

"Arming and funding Iran while simultaneously providing them a pathway to a nuclear arsenal is not an act of peace. It's not, as President Obama claims, the only alternative to war. It is madness," Cheney said. "With the removal of restrictions on Iran's ballistic missile program, this agreement will give Iran the means to launch a nuclear attack on the U.S. homeland. I know of no nation in history that has agreed to guarantee that the means of its own destruction will be in the hands of another nation, particularly one that is hostile. What President Obama is asking the United States Congress to do is unique -- historically and dangerously unique. The results may be catastrophic."

Cheney also took a swipe at Secretary of State John Kerry, saying, "If you're looking for a quick summary of Secretary Kerry's position on the need for Iran to completely disclose all its past nuclear activity, let's just say he was for it before he was against it," a whimsical reference to Kerry's flip-flopping a decade ago on the war in Iraq.

The number of senators who support the Iran deal rose to 42 on Tuesday, which means Obama will be able to keep Congress from passing a resolution disapproving of the deal.

Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal, Gary Peters, Ron Wyden and Maria Cantwell announced they would support the deal, just as lawmakers returned to Washington from their month-long summer recess.

Forty-two votes is one more than the minimum needed in the 100-member Senate to block a Republican-backed resolution of disapproval of the deal.

That would spare Obama the embarrassment of having to use his veto power to protect the deal, which is seen as a potential legacy foreign policy achievement for his administration.

Obama had been guaranteed enough votes to sustain a veto once he reached 34 "yes" votes in the Senate, but backers say avoiding the veto process will send an important message to Iran and the world.

"This agreement with the duplicitous and untrustworthy Iranian regime falls short of what I had envisioned," Wyden said in a statement explaining his support. "However, I have decided the alternatives are even more dangerous."

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the administration was "gratified" by the growing support for the deal.

The last hope of the Obama administration for bipartisan Senate support of the deal was dashed on Tuesday when Sen. Susan Collins, the chamber's last undecided Republican, announced her opposition.

All of the senators supporting the deal are Democrats or independents who caucus with them. Every supporter in the House of Representatives is a Democrat.

Sen. Joe Manchin on Tuesday became the fourth Senate Democrat to say he would oppose the deal. At least 17 House Democrats have also said they will vote with Republicans against it.

To block the resolution, deal supporters would need at least 41 senators to vote in favor of using the Senate's filibuster procedural rule to keep a disapproval resolution from advancing.

It was not immediately clear if any would break with Democratic party leaders and oppose a filibuster, but most said they would back the procedural measure.

"If the cloture [procedural] vote becomes in effect the opportunity to vote in support of the agreement, I will vote in favor of closing debate," Blumenthal said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been a vociferous opponent of the deal, calling it a threat to Israel's existence. On Tuesday, an Israeli diplomatic official said, "An overwhelming majority of the American public and Congress are against the deal with Iran. The American public agrees with the Israeli public's firm opposition to the deal."

Last weekend, Kerry called Netanyahu to discuss the Iran nuclear deal, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday. During the call, Kerry reaffirmed America's commitment to Israel's security.

"The secretary and the prime minister reiterated the need to continue pushing back on Iran's destabilizing activities in the region, and he agreed to continue to have these discussions in the coming weeks," State Department spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday. "The secretary reaffirmed the United States' commitment to Israel's security and continued military and security relationship."

It is expected that Kerry and Netanyahu will meet during the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York later this month.

Many opponents argue that the deal offers sanctions relief in exchange for too few nuclear concessions from Iran. They want negotiators to return to the table to push for tougher terms.

However, the five other world powers that reached the deal have made clear they have no intention of resuming talks. They will also ease sanctions, regardless of Congress' vote on the accord, if Iran fulfills its commitments.

Republicans, who have majorities in the Senate and House, have denounced the idea of using the procedural rule to keep a disapproval resolution from advancing.

They note that Congress voted overwhelmingly earlier this year for the legislation that lets Congress review the nuclear pact.

"I do hope that senators ... will allow us to actually have a vote on the substance of the bill," Sen. Bob Corker, the author of the Iran Nuclear Review Act, told reporters.

However, he added that it had always been expected that, under Senate rules, it would take 60 votes to pass a disapproval resolution.

If a resolution of disapproval passed, and Congress overrode Obama's promised veto, Obama would be barred from waiving many U.S. sanctions on Iran, a key component of the deal.

Under the Review Act, which Obama signed into law in May, Congress has until Sept. 17 to pass the resolution. Obama then has 12 days to veto and Congress has another 10 days to try to override his veto. The first congressional votes on the deal are expected this week.

A disapproval resolution is expected to receive the simple majority of votes it will need to pass the House, where Republicans hold 246 of the 435 seats.

House Democratic leaders have been working to marshal the 146 votes to sustain Obama's veto in that chamber, if necessary. By late Tuesday, they had more than 120, all Democrats.

On Wednesday, Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz will share a rally stage in the shadow of the Capitol building in Washington to voice their opposition to the Iran nuclear deal. Cruz, a senator from Texas, was originally slated to be the solo headliner. But he later invited rival Trump to join him.

Yoni Hersch, Shlomo Cesana, Eli Leon, Gideon Allon, Israel Hayom Staff and Reuters

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=28175

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