Presidents Rouhani and Obama.
I wonder what the Obama administration is thinking. Conventional wisdom warns obsession with peace can be fatal in diplomacy. The White House today does not seem to care. It has had its own folly to love.
A couple of years back, (remember the initial days of the so-called Arab Spring?), rulers in Washington were somewhat aggressive about cultivating ultra reactionary forces, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, possibly under the assumption that such a course would lead to peace and stability in the Middle East. Now the administration seems to have a similar approach towards the fanatic Khomeinist regime in Iran. The White House is hell-bent on executing its recent nuclear deal with Tehran. It does not care there is a near consensus across the American strategic community against this deal.
The consensus reasons that like the Wahhabi regime in Riyadh, the ultra-conservative Khomenist regime in Tehran constitutes a serious threat to the entire civilized world today. It denies human rights at home and spreads terror-related activities abroad. Since the fall of the authoritarian Shah regime in Iran, Tehran has been seeking to spread its hegemony over the entire Middle East. It has done so through terror militias such as Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis and others. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force has played a crucial role in this aggressive enterprise.
Given this background, the consensus counsels Washington must not go ahead with the kind of nuclear deal it has recently concluded with Tehran. This deal would not but lead to an advancement in Iran’s nuclear and conventional armament program and its age-old designs against the United States and allies.
Pertinently, one hundred and ninety former senior U.S. military officers reportedly wrote to the Senate and the House of Representatives recently that the final deal poses a threat to U.S. national security and fails to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapons. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action of July 14 last is not verifiable. Iran’s nuclear infrastructure will remain intact, instead of being dismantled. The ultimate enforcement mechanism—re-imposition of sanctions—is not credible. Lawmakers must not grant sanctions relief to Iran. Iran is the world’s largest state-sponsor of terror. The JCPOA, “far from being an alternative to war…makes it likely that the war the Iranian regime has waged against us since 1979 will continue, with far higher risks to our national security interests.”
Knowledgeable sources say the administration does not care even for the American voters and parliamentarians. Recent polls by The Israel Project, the Pew Research Center, and Secure America Now/McLaughlin show that more voters oppose the deal than support it. Over 58% of voters believe the deal has not been “ tough enough” in nuclear negotiations with Iran. Besides, there has been a lot of bipartisan opposition to the deal in the American Congress. Yet the White House is adamant about implementing the deal. Administration officials have ganged up with some Congressmen to engineer a filibuster of the vote to disapprove of the deal.
The administration officials do not seem to be listening to what the Ayatollahs have been shouting from their rooftops since the fall of the Shah. One of their recurrent, essential foreign policy goals has been the annihilation of the Jewish state of Israel, the only genuine democracy in the entire Middle East. Tehran has been seeking to accomplish this goal by funding and arming terrorist groups such as Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas in Gaza and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has just declared on his Twitter account Israel – or the “Zionist regime” – will be gone in 25 years. He has said, “God willing there will be nothing of Zionist regime by 25 years… Until then, struggling, heroic and Jihadi morale will leave no moment of serenity for Zionists.”
Earlier, he said that Tehran would “take all possible means to support anyone who fights Israel, is against the Zionist regime and supports resistance.” Khamenei tweeted out an image depicting President Barack Obama with a gun to his head.
Does the administration think such fanatic outbursts have little to do with the security of the United States and it is for some other states to worry about ? I would suggest the present occupants of the White House go in for some crash course on the doctrine of Khomeneism and its implications. Well, if it is running short of time, it may just care for Khamenei’s latest blitz of anti-American tweets.
Advancing further the traditional Khomeinist theme of ‘ America the great Satan,’ Khamenei has accused herein Washington of “global arrogance.” He has said “Zionist companies” and “economic cartels” are behind it… “Enemy and global arrogance is not an illusion; it’s a reality, and its utmost epitome is U.S. government and Zionist and economic cartels backing it.” He has warned the “short-term” cooperation with the United States should “not deceive us… We must always be aware of the enemy’s plots.” Over to President Obama & Company.
About the Author: Jagdish N. Singh is an Indian journalist based in New Delhi.
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