July 15, 2015
counterpunch.org

Why They Hate the Deal With Iran

by Richard Lachmann, et al

Why is President Obama's deal to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon - a plan also supported by all the other major world powers - arousing such opposition in the United States and Israel? The reasons given by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and by the war hawks in the U.S. Senate are bogus, rejected even by U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies. This latest "great debate" is only nominally about nukes; it is really another chapter in the longstanding effort of the United States (and junior partner Israel) to establish dominance in the Middle East. This episode focuses on finding an effective strategy for removing or domesticating the Islamist regime in Iran, and on which of the countries in the region will be the on-site agent of U.S. hegemony.

Western media coverage uncritically reports the controversy as a reflection of honest differences of opinion (among countries, politicians, and diplomats) about how best to stop Iran's purported march toward nuclear weapons, and therefore prevent the purportedly inevitable aggression that would follow. To justify this portrait, the corporate media misinterpret the rhetoric of Iranian officials as evidence of their belligerent nuclear intentions. At the same time, they also misinterpret the overtly belligerent rhetoric of U.S. and Israeli officials as confirmation of Iranian bellicosity and of the earnest U.S.-Israeli wish to achieve regional peace.

But Iran is not militarily belligerent. Though the Islamic Republic has sought - like all its neighbors - to influence events in the region, it has never initiated military action anywhere (in stark contrast to both the United States and Israel). . . .

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The best way to help Israel deal with Iran's growing nuclear capability is to help the people of Syria overthrow the regime of Bashar Assad. . . . What Israeli military leaders really worry about - but cannot talk about - is losing their nuclear monopoly.--"NEW IRAN AND SYRIA 2.DOC," U.S. Dept of State, January 1, 2001 (WikiLeaks, November 30, 2015)

["This is a memo that describes how we're going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran."--Gen. Wesley Clark, "'Seven Countries in Five Years'," democracynow.org, March 2, 2007]

"War With Iran Neither Rational Nor Lawful, Could Ignite World War III," The Wisdom Fund, January 11, 2012

"The NPT, Iran, and Israel's Hypocrisy," The Wisdom Fund, October 16, 2013

"The Neocon Plan for War and More War," The Wisdom Fund, November 11, 2014

Robert Parry, "US/Israeli/Saudi 'Behavior' Problems," consortiumnews.com, July 15, 2015

[Barack Obama is the first American president to stand up to the Israel lobby since Dwight Eisenhower ordered Israel to withdraw from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula in 1956-57.--Eric Margolis, "Obama Acts for America's Interests," ericmargolis.com, July 18, 2015]

Sasan Fazyazmanesh, "Iran's Nuclear Deal With the P5+1: Winners and Losers," counterpunch.org, July 22, 2015

[ . . . any possible future attack on Iran threatened by the Pentagon (in conjunction with NATO) would essentially be an assault on the planning of an interlocking set of organizations - the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization), the EEU (Eurasian Economic Union), the AIIB (the new Chinese-founded Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank), and the NDB (the BRICS' New Development Bank)--Pepe Escobar, "The Pivot to Eurasia," tomdispatch.com, July 23, 2015]

Robert Parry, "Israel Clears the Bench in Iran Fight," consortiumnews.com, July 24, 2015

Glenn Greenwald, "Listen to WSJ's Bret Stephens Secretly Plot With 'Pro-Israel' Evangelical Group Against Iran Deal," firstlook.org, July 30, 2015

[Decommission 12,000 Iranian centrifuges, including all the advanced ones at Fordow, ship out of the country 98 percent of its enriched uranium, remove the core of its heavy-water reactor in Arak and fill it with concrete, and allow U.N. inspectors to crawl all over Iran's nuclear facilities for years to come.--Patrick J. Buchanan, "Is Iran Taking the China Road," antiwar.com, January 19, 2016]

[Many of Europe's largest banks won't do business with Iran for fear of breaching other US sanctions, which have nothing to do with the nuclear agreement--Robert Fisk, "Why our nuclear deal with Iran is turning to dust," independent.co.uk, June 16, 2016]

Teresa Welsh, "One year later, Iran obeying nuclear deal, despite early doubts," mcclatchydc.com, July 13, 2016

Rachael Revesz, "Colin Powell leaked emails: Israel has '200 nukes all pointed at Iran', former US secretary of state says," independent.co.uk, September 16, 2016

[a 2015 U.N. resolution "called upon" Iran not to test nuclear-capable missiles. It did not forbid Iran from testing conventional missile--Pat Buchanan, "The coming clash with Iran," wnd.com, February 3, 2017]

[The Trump administration's sudden escalation of tension against Iran is aimed primarily at reinforcing the anti-Iranian axis led by Israel and Saudi Arabia--Jonathan Steele, "Why Trump has Tehran in his crosshairs," middleeasteye.net, February 4, 2017]

[Tehran will soon drop the US dollar in its financial and foreign exchange reports. That will certainly imply more currency swap agreements, and Iran only accepting payment for oil and gas in euros or in a basket of currencies. . . .

Iran trades mostly with China, the EU and the UAE. Trump claimed during his campaign that Iran was handed a US $150 billion gift by the nuclear deal. Not true. The Central Bank's frozen oil funds repatriated since January 2016 from the UAE, Britain, India, Greece, Italy and Norway amount to less than US $10 billion. And only US $12 billion of blocked assets were released from Japan, South Korea and India, on installments.--Pepe Escobar, "'The time to invest in Iran is now'," atimes.com, March 8, 2017]

The Times Editorial Board: "Trump's incoherence on Iran doesn't serve U.S. interests," latimes.com, May 1, 2017

"UN report says Iran is complying with nuclear accord," timesofisrael.com, June 2, 2017

Ben Norton, "How Media Spread CIA's Sectarian, Anti-Iran 'Mideast Cold War' Narrative," fair.org, July 25, 2017

[This is a charade, a rerun of the machinations that resulted in the Iraq war.--Trita Parsi, "The Mask Is Off: Trump Is Seeking War with Iran," commondreams.org, July 29, 2017]

Stephen M Walt, "The Case Against the Iranian Nuclear Deal Is One Big Lie," foreignpolicy.com, September 11, 2017

"Iran nuclear deal: Global powers stand by pact despite Trump threat," bbc.com, October 14, 2017

"Iran implementing its commitments under nuclear deal, IAEA says," reuters.com, January 30, 2019