Iran struck an historic agreement today with the United States and five other major nuclear powers: namely, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the UK – all represented by their respective foreign ministers. It calls for Iran to temporarily suspend developing its nuclear program in exchange for these powers (specifically the United States) temporarily suspending (only some of) the sanctions that have been crippling Iran’s economy for decades.
This six-month agreement is intended to provide both sides the good-faith basis to negotiate a permanent agreement to dismantle and destroy Iran’s capacity to ever develop nuclear weapons. If the parties fail to reach such an agreement, the United States vows not only to impose more onerous sanctions than ever before, but also to hold the Damoclean sword of military strikes over Iran to prevent it from taking steps towards undeniable “breakout nuclear capacity.”
Significantly, Iran has agreed for the first time to allow intrusive and comprehensive inspections – as much to prove its good faith as to enable U.S.-led negotiators to assert that, far more than trusting, they are verifying Iran’s compliance.
Still, here is the cautious way President Obama hailed this agreement on behalf of the overwhelming majority of world leaders who would like to see Iran de-nuked by peaceful means:
While today’s announcement is just a first step, it achieves a great deal: for the first time in nearly a decade, we have halted the progress of the Iranian nuclear program, and key parts of the program will be rolled back…
As President and Commander-in-Chief, I will do what is necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But I have a profound responsibility to try to resolve our differences peacefully, rather than rush towards conflict.
(Whitehouse.org, November 23, 2013)
By contrast, here is the hysterical way Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decried it on behalf of the few leaders (most notably the king of Saudi Arabia) who seem hell-bent on trying to get Obama to lead a march of folly into Iran the way they got Bush to do in Iraq:
What was reached last night in Geneva is not a historic agreement, it is a historic mistake. Today the world became a much more dangerous place because the most dangerous regime in the world made a significant step in obtaining the most dangerous weapons in the world.
(Associated Press, November 24, 2013)
The irony, of course, is that Netanyahu now seems every bit as unhinged and isolated as former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad always did. What’s more, it seems completely lost on him that he is striking an untenable alliance with Arab leaders who hate Israel as much as they fear Iran (pursuant to the Muslim world’s Sunni-Shia schism that dates back to the year 632).
It’s an indication of how far he’s leading Israel astray that France is hailing this as a “solid” agreement. After all, just weeks ago, Netanyahu was publicly thanking France for refusing to participate in what its foreign minister dismissed a “con game.” Not to mention how foolish France signing on today makes Israel-can-do-no-wrong U.S. politicians, like Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, look for joining Netanyahu back then by shouting all over TV, “Vive la France [and] thank God for France.”
Meanwhile, I have repeatedly praised Obama for pursuing any means necessary to de-nuke Iran peacefully, despite Netanyahu’s open and notorious attempts to goad him into war. By the same token, I have repeatedly criticized Netanyahu for presuming to dictate how Obama should pursue America’s national interest with respect to Iran. Not least because Obama has never hesitated to call his bluff by stating publicly that nobody is stopping Netanyahu from going to war with Iran if he thinks that would be in Israel’s national interest.
But bear in mind that, notwithstanding Netanyahu’s reckless protestations about American appeasement, no American president has done more to halt Iran’s march towards acquiring nuclear weapons than Obama has with this (temporary) agreement.
Not to mention that George W. Bush had more credibility when he was warmongering about Iraq’s WMDs than Netanyahu’s has with his warmongering about Iran’s nuclear weapons. After all, Netanyahu has been beating this drum for decades. What’s more, he has been trying every step of the way to get the United States to do his dirty work.
Here, for example, is how the Jerusalem Post reported his dire warning about Iran’s nuclear program way back on January 12, 1995:
A SERIOUS (sic) threat of nuclear war hangs over Israel, Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu told the Knesset plenum yesterday…
‘Within three to five years, we can assume that Iran will become autonomous in its ability to develop and produce a nuclear bomb, without having to import either the technology or the material,’ Netanyahu said. ‘[The nuclear threat] must be uprooted by an international front headed by the US.’
This is why I am constrained to reiterate that Netanyahu has given Obama just cause to be far more wary of him than the new Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani.
Apropos of which, I refer you to my related commentary, “Netanyahu, Obama’s Iago; Iran, His Desdemona,” The iPINIONS Journal, October 2, 2013, for proper context and perspective on this issue. On the other hand, Iran might just fall for what is turning out to be their pretty convincing good-cop/bad-cop ploy….
For now, though, I urge my Israeli friends to consider this: How would you feel if Israel were surrounded by 40 or more Iranian military bases, the way Iran is by U.S. bases? Wouldn’t you want your country to develop nuclear weapons to serve as the ultimate deterrent against a military invasion? Oh, right, it’s probably hard to relate to such existential insecurity because Israel already possesses nuclear weapons….
Related commentaries:
Netanyahu, Obama’s Iago…
* This commentary was originally published yesterday, Sunday, at 1:59 pm