Omer Dostri The Smiling Iranian Con Men
http://www.israelhayom.com/fb_share.php?ot=newsletter_opinion_eng&id=12865
Over the weekend, at an event marking the two-year anniversary of his election, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared that “we have achieved a big victory for the Iranian nation.” He was talking about the emerging nuclear deal between Iran and Western powers. Iran justifiably believes that it has managed to con the West, having gained the upper hand thanks to its “smile diplomacy” as led by its articulate lead negotiator, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Rouhani believes Zarif’s strong command of the English language and of European etiquette has charmed his counterparts and produced a favorable outcome.
Iran’s sense of accomplishment was clearly noticeable when Rouhani mentioned his opposition to intrusive inspections. He said Iran would deny International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors access to military installations, because Iran “is unwilling to share state secrets with foreigners.” Just two months ago, the U.S. boasted that it had managed to secure a tentative deal with Iran in Lausanne, Switzerland. The State Department insisted that Iran had agreed to allow unprecedented access to its nuclear sits. But this rhetoric was never matched by Iran, and the embarrassing outcome was that both sides provided their own interpretation to the agreement, with drastically different language over the terms for sanction relief, the amount of enriched uranium Iran would be allowed to possess and the inspections mechanism that would be set in place.
Iran is the world’s biggest sponsor of terrorism. Its tentacles have a hold on Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and the Gaza Strip. Its terrorist operations know no border and its proxies partake in mass killings and war crimes. But as it has been demonstrated time and time again, the West appears unperturbed by all that. It views Iran as a potentially constructive state actor, which, as long as it gets its way, could serve to stabilize the region.
Iran has seized on the West’s lack of resolve and has continued threatening to destroy Israel. It has also continued to violate international law. Under U.N. Security Council resolutions, Iran is prohibited from pursuing a ballistic missile program, but earlier this month a U.N. panel said Iran had defied the international community by developing more missiles (which could be fitted with nuclear warheads). The Lausanne framework makes no mention of that program. Conventional wisdom is that the final deal will not address it explicitly either.
The bad deal that is currently in the works will give Iran a clean slate, essentially ignoring its repeated violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions. It will be a stamp of approval that legitimizes its efforts to become a nuclear power. In the short term, a deal could threaten Western interests in the region and change the balance of power in Iran’s favor, but in the long run, a nuclear Iran would be able to realize its imperial objectives and lay its hands on strategic assets, particularly when it comes to the world’s supply of energy. The West could have projected strength and resolve to get a better deal, using the gains of the sanctions regime to extract more concessions. But U.S. President Barack Obama and the other world powers have opted for a compromising posture and for some inexplicable reason exuded weakness and inferiority. What’s worse is that they have repeatedly made concessions to the Iranians and ignored the reality on the ground.
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