https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21661/iran-nuclear-agreement
As talks between Washington and Tehran are underway to reach an agreement on Iran’s efforts to acquire nuclear weapons, even if a deal is reached, unless it features “anywhere, anytime” inspections, to which Iran has never agreed, Iran will secretly continue to develop nuclear weapons and cheat, cheat, cheat.
If such a deal is reached, Iran also is not going to stop its financial and military support for its terror proxies in the Middle East, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthi militia in Yemen. Iran, in short, is not going to abandon its declared goal of obliterating the “Zionist entity” (“the Little Satan”) or the United States (“the Great Satan”).
If Trump is serious about preventing war and bloodshed in the Middle East, he must insist that any agreement with Iran’s mullahs include no centrifuges or uranium enrichment of any kind, and no support for Tehran’s terror proxies.
If something could possibly go wrong, unfortunately it will — leaving Trump with the legacy of delivering yet another laughably fake peace deal and of his presidency being that of another failed Barack Obama.
Trump must also demand that Iran’s leaders stop calling for the annihilation of Israel.
The same is true for the leaders of Qatar, as well Qatar’s personal insults against Trump himself.
The Iranian regime is determined to continue supporting [terrorist leaders] to help them achieve their goal of murdering Jews and eliminating Israel.
“Iran’s openly stated goal is to destroy Israel, but the broader game is its perception of the United States as the ‘Great Satan.’ Iran’s strategy involves orchestrating various terrorist groups in the Middle East, with multifaceted objectives. Firstly, it seeks to dominate the Islamic world in the region, asserting its influence over other nations. Simultaneously, it aims to strike at the credibility of the United States, a long-standing adversary in Iranian foreign policy.” — Shishir Gupta, executive editor, Hindustan Times, April 27, 2023.
The Trump administration would do well to take these issues into consideration before signing any agreement with Iran. Such an agreement, if reached, unfortunately will not mean that the Iranian regime has become America’s friend. As long as the mullahs continue to wish for the destruction of Israel and America, and to back Islamist terror groups, they should be treated as dangerous enemies of both Israel and the US.
It is wrong and unrealistic to assume that Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his regime, if and when they sign a nuclear agreement with the Trump administration, would abandon their dream of destroying Israel and America. Pictured: Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian looks on as a ‘Qasem Soleimani’ missile is displayed during a military parade in Tehran, on September 21, 2024. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
As talks between Washington and Tehran are underway to reach an agreement on Iran’s efforts to acquire nuclear weapons, even if a deal is reached, unless it features “anywhere, anytime” inspections, to which Iran has never agreed, Iran will secretly continue to develop nuclear weapons and cheat, cheat, cheat.
If such a deal is reached, Iran also is not going to stop its financial and military support for its terror proxies in the Middle East, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthi militia in Yemen. Iran, in short, is not going to abandon its declared goal of obliterating the “Zionist entity” (“the Little Satan”) or the United States (“the Great Satan”).
US President Donald J. Trump said on May 28 that he believes his administration is “very close to a solution” with Iran on a nuclear agreement. “Right now, I think they want to make a deal,” Trump said. “And if we can make a deal, I’d save a lot of lives.”
These are the main reasons that address why an agreement regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions is not enough.
The Iranian regime’s ongoing effort to acquire nuclear weapons is a huge problem, as are its repeated demands to enrich uranium (whatever could go wrong?) and threats to destroy Israel – especially with Iran’s proxy terror groups that also seek to destroy Israel.
If Trump is serious about preventing war and bloodshed in the Middle East, he must insist that any agreement with Iran’s mullahs include no centrifuges or uranium enrichment of any kind, and no support for Tehran’s terror proxies.
If something could possibly go wrong, unfortunately it will — leaving Trump with the legacy of delivering yet another laughably fake peace deal and of his presidency being that of another failed Barack Obama.
Were it not for Iran’s financial and military support, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and the Houthis would not have been able to fire thousands of rockets, ballistic missiles and explosive drones at Israel over the past 20 months.
Halting or limiting Iran’s uranium enrichment may be a positive development, but what about the hundreds of millions of dollars and the weapons it sends to its terror proxies? The Trump administration must demand an immediate halt to the funding and arming of the Iran-backed Islamist terror groups. Furthermore, it must demand that Iran’s leaders stop calling for the annihilation of Israel.
The same is true for the leaders of Qatar (such as here and here), as well Qatar’s personal insults against Trump himself.
As Trump was voicing optimism regarding the prospects of reaching a nuclear deal with the Iranian regime, Ali Akbar Velayati, senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, received a delegation of Hamas and PIJ officials in Tehran and discussed with them “the latest developments in the region, especially the situation in Palestine and the Gaza Strip.”
Iranian and Palestinian media outlets quoted Velayati as “assuring” the Hamas and PIJ officials that “the Zionist entity is doomed to disappear.” Hamas and PIJ, the second largest Iran-backed terror group in the Gaza Strip, participated in the October 7, 2023 invasion of Israel. At least 1,200 Israelis were murdered and thousands wounded on that day. Another 251 Israelis and foreign nationals were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip, where 58 remain in captivity (only 20 are believed to be alive).
Velayati also “affirmed Iran’s solidarity with the [Palestinian] resistance groups and praised the victories of the Palestinian resistance [against Israel] as a rare achievement in the history of Islam,” according to media reports.
The meeting between Velayati and the Hamas and PIJ representatives shows that the Iranian regime has no intention to turn its back on its terror proxies, notwithstanding any possible future nuclear agreement with the US. The opposite is true. Velayati reassured the Palestinian terror leaders that the Iranian regime is determined to continue supporting them, to help them achieve their goal of murdering Jews and eliminating Israel. When the Iranian official talks about the “resistance,” he is referring to terrorism against Israel, including the October 7 massacre.
Velayati’s talk about the destruction of the “Zionist entity” shows that the Iranian regime does not intend to abandon its dream of wiping Israel off the map, and the US as well.
In the past few years, Khamenei has repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel and America. He was also quick to praise the October 7 massacre as a “logical and legal” action.
It is wrong and unrealistic to assume that Khamenei and his regime, if and when they sign a nuclear agreement with the Trump administration, would abandon their dream of destroying Israel and America. The previous nuclear agreement the Iranian regime signed with the Obama administration in 2015 did not stop the mullahs in Tehran from providing financial and military aid to the Islamist terror groups in the Middle East. That agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also did not see Iran’s leaders change their minds about destroying Israel.
Iran’s support for the Palestinian terror groups, Hezbollah and the Houthi militia has brought death and destruction on Palestinians, Lebanese and Yemenis. Iran’s regime is a threat not only to Israel, but also to the US.
“Iran’s openly stated goal is to destroy Israel, but the broader game is its perception of the United States as the ‘Great Satan,'” wrote Shishir Gupta, executive editor of the Hindustan Times, in April 2023.
“Iran’s strategy involves orchestrating various terrorist groups in the Middle East, with multifaceted objectives. Firstly, it seeks to dominate the Islamic world in the region, asserting its influence over other nations. Simultaneously, it aims to strike at the credibility of the United States, a long-standing adversary in Iranian foreign policy.”
The Trump administration would do well to take these issues into consideration before signing any agreement with Iran. Such an agreement, if reached, unfortunately will not mean that the Iranian regime has become America’s friend. As long as the mullahs continue to wish for the destruction of Israel and America, and to back Islamist terror groups, they should be treated as dangerous enemies of both Israel and the US.
Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
