I think it’s fair to say that the Islamic Republic Iran is a serious enemy of the United States. The powers that be in Iran regularly proclaim their ardent desire for the death of the United States, and they take action aimed at bringing it about in one way or another.
With the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, President Obama has teamed up with the mullahs to finance their nuclear program and delay its fruition for a modest period of years if everything works out as indicated. Iran takes the money and dissolution of the sanctions regime up front. It can pull the plug on the deal at any time it sees fit.
Moreover, the deal holds no promise of appeasing Iran; the regime’s goals remain unaffected in every material respect. For a recent example, see the FARS report “Iran working to increase penetration power of military warheads” and the related IBD editorial “Under nuclear deal Iran can have nuclear detonators.”
Disparagement of the deal as appeasement would be off-base. It is something more misguided, something weirder and worse than that. Even Obama administration spokesmen are reluctant to proclaim the administration’s concessions to Iran and the efforts to benefit Iran in connection with the deal. It is the deal that dares not speak its name.
Obama administration officials and spokesmen have demonstrated their willingness to say anything to support the deal. They nevertheless seem to understand that some shame attaches, perhaps as a result of the numerous misrepresentations made to Congress on its behalf.
The Washington Free Beacon’s Jenna Lifhits reports that the Obama administration is now advising foreign banks how to bypass existing U.S. sanctions when dealing with Iran, according to the State Department, which disclosed that officials are offering guidance on how the regime can secure access to billions of dollars in frozen assets. In the video below, AP diplomatic correspondent Matt Lee presses State Department spokesman Mark Toner.
Quotable quote: “It is incumbent on us to live up to our end of this deal. Part of that is to, you know, is to advise these banks and governments.”
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