The seemingly “on-again/off-again” attempts to revive the original 2015 J.C.P.O.A Iran nuclear and sanction relief agreement poses a dormant threat to both Israel and America. If accepted, Iran may likely view such, as an incentive to act on its apocalyptic pledge to takedown Israel. It may then go after the other nations who stood by the Jewish State; most assuredly the United States, whose very constitution runs counter to Iran’s raison d'être.
Fortunately, we have experienced representatives serving in the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations and U.S. House Foreign Affairs committees. By trial and error they learned right from wrong and will likely never yield to pressure to enable a dark foe, such as Iran. I trust they will keep in their sworn oaths of office to protect our great republic and its venerable constitution from all dangers: overt or covert; from all enemies, foreign or domestic.
These constraints are particularly necessary as our president has demonstrated a propensity to kowtow to Iran. It yields nothing but demands sanction relief that may amount to an initial outlay of approximately 90 billion dollars. Very risky as this carries no apparent oversight as to how this money may be distributed.
As such, I hope this and subsequent presidents keep in mind the particularly distressing and vehement threats stemming from within Iran; “Death to Israel’’ and “Death to America.”
This in conjunction with other menacing circumstances including a report dated March 21, 2021 alleging Iranian sourced threats against Fort McNair, in Washington, D.C., and its vice-chief of staff; as well as more recently alleged I.R.G.C threats towards President Trump appointees’ Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, as well as to the former president, himself.
These should have immediately disqualified Iran from its list of demands. Most especially it having unrestricted nuclear development, just because they deem it peaceful.
American leaders and diplomats have the obligation to learn from the past 2015 deal as to relevant areas of prior and current concern:
1) proxy based terrorism;
2) human rights abuses;
3) destabilizing militia and proxie sponsorships;
4) intercontinental ballistic missile development and launches;
5) sophisticated missiles stationed throughout Lebanon to Israel’s North; replenished rockets housed within Gaza to Israel’s South; and suspected military drone sites within Judea/Samari to Israel’s East;
6) oil and gas swap and other arrangements with Russia;
7) observation satellite launch, and
8) self-serving impediments to I.A.E.A. camera eyes on Iran’s nuclear sites, both acknowledged and surmised, as well as its enrichment nuclear materials as it gets closer to weapon quality.
All of this while operating within a Geo-political environment prone to radical destabilization.
It has been made crystal clear as to where Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi stands: no willingness to meet with President Biden; no openness to negotiate: Tehran’s ballistic missile programs, or its support for its regional proxies Hezbollah, Hamas, or its militias in Iraq, Syria; or suspected infrastructure development within Judea, Samaria, etc.
Meanwhile, America appears to operate in an environment with rifts of its own; including seemingly weak and ineffective opposition to its escalating antisemitism. It is abominable that American Jews are so easily targeted on campuses across the United States and subsequently within communities elsewhere.
Where is the presidential and administration leadership in the presence of such egregious hate against its Jews? In their absence Jews have become a vulnerable minority.
Can American Jews count on our Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches to come to their aid? America seems to conveniently forget that its Jews have fought in every war we have been engaged in and when necessary gave their lives in defense of our country. This in addition to their numerous contributions to life saving medical pursuits, education and business advancements that we continue to benefit from; makes them a valuable resource worthy of respect and protection.
At the very least America should provide them with adequate means to confront religious discrimination. Perhaps, it is time to codify such by amending Title Vl of the 1964 Civil Rights act to add acts of religious discrimination to the the other listed proscribed discriminations.
Other nations have historically looked up to America to set the bar of fairness and proper conduct to learn from. Therefore, we must ever be on guard to avoid diplomatic and closer to home missteps so as not to fuel other international incidents such as Afghanistan, or enable further baseless anti-Israel and by extension anti-Jewish narratives within our American borders and elsewhere. America is better than that!
Bruce Portnoy is author of the Geo-political thriller, First the ‘Saturday People’, and then the…, as well as Op-ed contributor to the Jerusalem Post; Miami Herald; Washington Examiner and other media resources