Posted 2:02 am Friday, May 25, 2012
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Don’t Believe Iran’s Latest ‘Agreement’
The problem isn’t that Iran is fiddling and the U.N.’s nuclear agencies is dancing to its tune again.
That’s just to be expected — given Iran’s propensities and the International Atomic Energy Agency’s long history of jaw-dropping gullibility.
The real problem is that the Obama administration is likely to jump on this new “development” as an excuse to badger Israel and even Americans who worry that Iran will soon become a rogue nuclear power.
“The chief of the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog agency said Tuesday he expects to sign a deal with Iran opening the way for fuller investigation of Tehran’s disputed nuclear program, in a potential sign of hope for world powers’ efforts to curb the Iranian efforts,” the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday.
“Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters in Vienna after returning from Iran that he expected an agreement to be signed ‘quite soon,’ and that he considered the deal to be ‘an important development.’”
That’s just to be expected — given Iran’s propensities and the International Atomic Energy Agency’s long history of jaw-dropping gullibility.
The real problem is that the Obama administration is likely to jump on this new “development” as an excuse to badger Israel and even Americans who worry that Iran will soon become a rogue nuclear power.
“The chief of the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog agency said Tuesday he expects to sign a deal with Iran opening the way for fuller investigation of Tehran’s disputed nuclear program, in a potential sign of hope for world powers’ efforts to curb the Iranian efforts,” the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday.
“Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters in Vienna after returning from Iran that he expected an agreement to be signed ‘quite soon,’ and that he considered the deal to be ‘an important development.’”
How important could it be? Could it possibly be as important as the 2009 agreement to trade highly enriched uranium for power-grade uranium? Oh, wait.
“Last October the Obama Administration thought it had an agreement with Tehran to exchange the bulk of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium for fuel for its research reactor, only to be left in the lurch when Iran suddenly reversed course and rejected the deal,” the Heritage Foundation pointed out in 2010. “It turned out that the administration had bought into an ‘agreement in principle’ with a regime that had no principles.”
That year, Heritage also issued a report summing up the Iranian nuclear program.
“Iran has relentlessly made steady progress on its nuclear weapons program and soon could acquire nuclear weapons. It continues to violate its IAEA safeguards agreement, refuses to comply with five U.N. Security Council Resolutions on the nuclear issue, and has repeatedly been caught red-handed building secret nuclear facilities and violating U.N. Security Council resolutions that prohibit supplying arms to Hezbollah, its terrorist client group in Lebanon,” the Foundation concluded. “Meanwhile, it has periodically tested missiles to trumpet its defiance, while systematically repressing and intimidating its own people after they objected to the fraudulent presidential elections in June.”
“Last October the Obama Administration thought it had an agreement with Tehran to exchange the bulk of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium for fuel for its research reactor, only to be left in the lurch when Iran suddenly reversed course and rejected the deal,” the Heritage Foundation pointed out in 2010. “It turned out that the administration had bought into an ‘agreement in principle’ with a regime that had no principles.”
That year, Heritage also issued a report summing up the Iranian nuclear program.
“Iran has relentlessly made steady progress on its nuclear weapons program and soon could acquire nuclear weapons. It continues to violate its IAEA safeguards agreement, refuses to comply with five U.N. Security Council Resolutions on the nuclear issue, and has repeatedly been caught red-handed building secret nuclear facilities and violating U.N. Security Council resolutions that prohibit supplying arms to Hezbollah, its terrorist client group in Lebanon,” the Foundation concluded. “Meanwhile, it has periodically tested missiles to trumpet its defiance, while systematically repressing and intimidating its own people after they objected to the fraudulent presidential elections in June.”
For years, IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei served as an apologist for Iran. While Amano has shows a bit more backbone, he has still proven amazingly optimistic and seemingly oblivious to Iran’s stratagems.
Some U.S. officials seem less so.
Robert A. Wood, the top American in the IAEA mission, said “we remain concerned by the urgent obligation for Iran to take concrete steps to cooperate fully with the verification efforts of the IAEA, based on IAEA verification practices.”
The problem is there’s political gain for the Obama administration to pretend to believe Iran. Otherwise, its strategy of sanctions (and of strong-arming Israel into delaying a military strike) will be shown to be wrong-headed.
Some U.S. officials seem less so.
Robert A. Wood, the top American in the IAEA mission, said “we remain concerned by the urgent obligation for Iran to take concrete steps to cooperate fully with the verification efforts of the IAEA, based on IAEA verification practices.”
The problem is there’s political gain for the Obama administration to pretend to believe Iran. Otherwise, its strategy of sanctions (and of strong-arming Israel into delaying a military strike) will be shown to be wrong-headed.
“Iran’s strategy remains clear: to hide and lie about its nuclear program, feign cooperation with the IAEA to delay any sanctions, depend on its Russian and Chinese friends to block any effective sanctions in the Security Council, and eventually present the world with a nuclear fait accompli,” that Heritage report concluded. “Regrettably, the Obama Administration remains wedded to its engagement policy, which unrealistically seeks to strike a deal with the implacably hostile regime whose self-defined ideological legitimacy is unceasing antagonism to the United States.”
That strategy will likely factor into any response the administration has to Iran’s new “willingness” to negotiate. U.S. officials would be better off looking to history, rather than hope, in dealing with Iran.
That strategy will likely factor into any response the administration has to Iran’s new “willingness” to negotiate. U.S. officials would be better off looking to history, rather than hope, in dealing with Iran.
