On Thursday afternoon, CNN's headline read, "President Trump plans to 'decertify' Iran nuclear deal next week." The article reads, "By decertifying the deal, Trump [will] kick the matter to Congress, which [will] then have 60 days to determine a path forward." This move represents the best foreign policy decision made by President Donald Trump thus far.
The Iran Deal, which Obama made without the necessary senatorial approval, was packed with concessions to the Ayatollah and his regime. It was demonstrative of the weakness of the Obama administration's foreign policy as a whole, but even worse, it put national security at risk.
Firstly, the deal gave Iran short-term aid and assistance, funds which were used to fund anti-Israel terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. According to Slate, "Hamas is an acronym for the Arab words for Islamic Resistance Movement; the word itself means 'zeal.' It was founded in 1987 at the time of the Palestinian uprising, the intifada, in Gaza and the West Bank ... Its goal is to destroy Israel and to put in place an Islamic Palestinian state." Also according to Slate, "Hezbollah, also spelled Hizballah, means "party of God." It is a Shiite Muslim organization headquartered in Lebanon whose goal is a fundamentalist Islamic state there and beyond and the obliteration of Israel."
On top of helping Iran finance anti-Israel zealots, the deal revoked anti-Tehran sanctions which were working. According to an editorial by Charles Krauthammer, “Tehran was reeling [before the deal] – the rial plunging, inflation skyrocketing, the economy contracting.” However, because the Iran deal loosened the sanctions against the country, its economy was not only opened to foreign investment. $100 billion in frozen oil revenue was opened up!
The deal has financially enabled Iran to continue its nuclear buildup if it so wishes. The United States should be aiming to drain the resources of our enemies and not the other way around, but obviously protecting American interests was not the goal of the Obama administration.
Even worse, on the day that the deal was officially implemented (when Iran released four Americans), a plane covertly delivered $400 million in cash to the Iranians.
The fundamental aspect of the deal, the U.S.’ ability to conduct inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities, is inhibited by the fact that Iran can deny the inspectors and schedule their visits as they please. As a result, the United States has no ability to make sure that Iran is holding up to their end of the deal. They can be certified as being “in compliance,” but these findings are not completely verifiable due to the lack of transparency on their part.
It is even believed that Iran is maintaining secret nuclear research sites to evade the inspectors' prying eyes. Unfortunately, the deal has financially enabled them to do this and their lack of transparency (spurred by the framework's structure) has allowed them to carry on.
Iran was empowered by the deal and they're becoming more provocative. They have not relented in expressing their hate for the United States and Israel, the former of which extended large concessions and the latter of which is the beacon of stability in the Middle East.
Iran continue to hold missile tests (even staging them), perhaps in an effort to frighten their Middle Eastern neighbors and the West. They have substantiated these publicized tests with harsh threats.
The head of the Iranian military, Abdolrahim Mousavi, said, "Israel should remain silent and count down the days to its death, because any minor mistake would lead to its demise as fast as lightning." When asked about U.S. planes, Iranian air defense chief Farzad Esmaili said, "Iran will never allow such hostile planes to approach its airspace and would not hesitate to bring them down if necessary."
Additionally, according to President Donald Trump, Iran is working in cohorts with North Korea. The Pentagon has closely eyed their relationship. According to Fox News, "When Iran attempted to launch a cruise missile from a “midget” submarine earlier this week, Pentagon officials saw more evidence of North Korean influence in the Islamic Republic – with intelligence reports saying the submarine was based on a Pyongyang design, the same type that sank a South Korean warship in 2010."
Based on Iran's stances on Israel and the West (and their alleged connections with North Korea), it is no secret that they are a major enemy to the American people. Any deal with them, especially the unconstitutional framework established by ex-president Obama, is an albatross around the United States' neck. The Obama administration should've sharply condemned Iran's hatred for the West and Israel, not accepted it as the new normal.
While Obama never did take a combative tone against Tehran, the Trump administration is -- and they are picking up a lot of slack. The president, who is personally opposed to the deal, is handing over authority to Congress to determine its fate. Obama should've done this in the first place, but he was well aware of the fact that the Senate would never consent to such a framework.
There are many gifted national policy and foreign policy wonks that currently serve in Congress, and they should be able to come to a consensus against the Iran Deal. This occurred when 47 Republican senators wrote a letter to Iranian leadership warning them not to sign off on the deal, informing them that it could be overturned by the next president. Once Congress pulls the United States of the Iran Deal, a new beginning for American policy will commence: one where we come in first in dealmaking, not last.
The dismantling of the deal would also signal to the world that we are not in the business of servicing our enemies (and state sponsors of terrorism) monetarily and otherwise. Hopefully, this will be telling for other threats to our national security, namely the rogue state in North Korea.
The Iran Deal, which Obama made without the necessary senatorial approval, was packed with concessions to the Ayatollah and his regime. It was demonstrative of the weakness of the Obama administration's foreign policy as a whole, but even worse, it put national security at risk.
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| President Donald Trump |
Firstly, the deal gave Iran short-term aid and assistance, funds which were used to fund anti-Israel terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. According to Slate, "Hamas is an acronym for the Arab words for Islamic Resistance Movement; the word itself means 'zeal.' It was founded in 1987 at the time of the Palestinian uprising, the intifada, in Gaza and the West Bank ... Its goal is to destroy Israel and to put in place an Islamic Palestinian state." Also according to Slate, "Hezbollah, also spelled Hizballah, means "party of God." It is a Shiite Muslim organization headquartered in Lebanon whose goal is a fundamentalist Islamic state there and beyond and the obliteration of Israel."
On top of helping Iran finance anti-Israel zealots, the deal revoked anti-Tehran sanctions which were working. According to an editorial by Charles Krauthammer, “Tehran was reeling [before the deal] – the rial plunging, inflation skyrocketing, the economy contracting.” However, because the Iran deal loosened the sanctions against the country, its economy was not only opened to foreign investment. $100 billion in frozen oil revenue was opened up!
The deal has financially enabled Iran to continue its nuclear buildup if it so wishes. The United States should be aiming to drain the resources of our enemies and not the other way around, but obviously protecting American interests was not the goal of the Obama administration.
Even worse, on the day that the deal was officially implemented (when Iran released four Americans), a plane covertly delivered $400 million in cash to the Iranians.
The fundamental aspect of the deal, the U.S.’ ability to conduct inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities, is inhibited by the fact that Iran can deny the inspectors and schedule their visits as they please. As a result, the United States has no ability to make sure that Iran is holding up to their end of the deal. They can be certified as being “in compliance,” but these findings are not completely verifiable due to the lack of transparency on their part.
It is even believed that Iran is maintaining secret nuclear research sites to evade the inspectors' prying eyes. Unfortunately, the deal has financially enabled them to do this and their lack of transparency (spurred by the framework's structure) has allowed them to carry on.
 |
| Iran has long stood against the State of Israel |
Iran was empowered by the deal and they're becoming more provocative. They have not relented in expressing their hate for the United States and Israel, the former of which extended large concessions and the latter of which is the beacon of stability in the Middle East.
Iran continue to hold missile tests (even staging them), perhaps in an effort to frighten their Middle Eastern neighbors and the West. They have substantiated these publicized tests with harsh threats.
The head of the Iranian military, Abdolrahim Mousavi, said, "Israel should remain silent and count down the days to its death, because any minor mistake would lead to its demise as fast as lightning." When asked about U.S. planes, Iranian air defense chief Farzad Esmaili said, "Iran will never allow such hostile planes to approach its airspace and would not hesitate to bring them down if necessary."
Additionally, according to President Donald Trump, Iran is working in cohorts with North Korea. The Pentagon has closely eyed their relationship. According to Fox News, "When Iran attempted to launch a cruise missile from a “midget” submarine earlier this week, Pentagon officials saw more evidence of North Korean influence in the Islamic Republic – with intelligence reports saying the submarine was based on a Pyongyang design, the same type that sank a South Korean warship in 2010."
Based on Iran's stances on Israel and the West (and their alleged connections with North Korea), it is no secret that they are a major enemy to the American people. Any deal with them, especially the unconstitutional framework established by ex-president Obama, is an albatross around the United States' neck. The Obama administration should've sharply condemned Iran's hatred for the West and Israel, not accepted it as the new normal.
 |
| Kim-Jong Un, thought to be in cohorts with Iran, is a major threat to our security |
While Obama never did take a combative tone against Tehran, the Trump administration is -- and they are picking up a lot of slack. The president, who is personally opposed to the deal, is handing over authority to Congress to determine its fate. Obama should've done this in the first place, but he was well aware of the fact that the Senate would never consent to such a framework.
There are many gifted national policy and foreign policy wonks that currently serve in Congress, and they should be able to come to a consensus against the Iran Deal. This occurred when 47 Republican senators wrote a letter to Iranian leadership warning them not to sign off on the deal, informing them that it could be overturned by the next president. Once Congress pulls the United States of the Iran Deal, a new beginning for American policy will commence: one where we come in first in dealmaking, not last.
The dismantling of the deal would also signal to the world that we are not in the business of servicing our enemies (and state sponsors of terrorism) monetarily and otherwise. Hopefully, this will be telling for other threats to our national security, namely the rogue state in North Korea.
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