Last July, amid much hyperbole from US media and triumphalism from The White House and Democrats in the US Congress, the United States concluded an agreement with Iran which lifted US and International sanctions in return for Islamic Shi'ite Republic agreeing to limit their nuclear ability. At a high level, the US would lead the way in lifting oil and financial sanctions imposed due to Iran’s nuclear programs; in return Iran would reduce their stockpile of enriched uranium, storage facilities and centrifuges. What was not negotiated, however, were sanctions on missile technologies and conventional weapons.
Per the White House:
But hey, any treaty that limits nuclear weapons is good right? So Kudos to The Rent - boy President for making the world a less dangerous place? And boo for political upstarts like that nasty bully Donald Trump for advocating giving more nations nukes?
Sorry about that interlude of insanity folk, back to reality. Anything that did reduce the proliferation of nukes would be good of course, but as long as the knowledge of how to make nuclear weapons exists they will pose a threat. And barring some global catastrophe like the one that wiped out the knowledge of how to build pyramids like the ones at Giza in Egypt, we can't unlearn what is known.
And another little dose of reality; Obama's treaty only covered Iran developing its own nuclear weapons, the Iranians can get all the nukes they want from their allies Russia and China. So where does that leave Obama's deal?
In March 2016, Iran launched a series of ballistic missile tests early in the month that got the world’s attention. In a testament to the "success" of Washington's foreign policy towards Iran, Iran's Brigadier General Hossein Salami, deputy commander of the IRGC said the following: "The missiles fired today are the results of sanctions. The sanctions helped Iran develop its missile program."
Furthermore, the rockets had a quite clear message written on their side:
رهبر انقلاب: امروز هم روزگار #موشک است و هم مذاکره.
مذاکره.
Which I'm informed translates as "Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth."
President Obama's response? He said Iran was "not following the spirit of the deal." According to The Hill:
“Iran so far has followed the letter of the agreement, but the spirit of the agreement involves Iran also sending signals to the world community and businesses that it is not going to be engaging in a range of provocative actions that are going to scare businesses off”The Ayatollahs probably didn't crap themselves at the simpering whinge from the White House,
The thought is that as the missiles become even more capable of hitting long range targets, they could eventually be equipped to carry nuclear warheads as well, immediately putting various neighboring countries in danger.
One this had sunk in among the clever boys and girls in Washington, the US Treasury then imosed fresh sanctions.
Fast forward to April 5, when Iranian Deputy Chief of Staff Brig-Gen Maassoud Jazzayeri was quoted by the Fars News Agency as saying:
"The White House should know that defense capacities and missile power, specially at the present juncture where plots and threats are galore, is among the Iranian nation's red lines and a backup for the country's national security and we don’t allow anyone to violate it"Clearly, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard was not particularly concerned how Obama evaluates the "spirit" of the deal as long as he remains utterly helpless to change it, something which Iran is absolutely convinced of at this moment.
And to emphasise their lack of concern the Iranians then gave Obama the finger by purloining Obama's infamous "red line" phrase... against him, when warning the US that any attempt to encroach on the Islamic Republic's ballistic missile program would constitute the crossing of a "red line."
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A highly critical look at the ongoing disaster of American Foreign Policy, in particular relating to the middle east, during the Obama administration. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria are the main catastrophes, there are plenty of others.
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