Obama's Lone-Wolf Iran Deal Creates a Nuclear Threat Worldwide

The dust has settled on the initial wide-ranging reactions to the weekend preliminary agreement between western powers and Iran. If you want to tally the reactions, it's a very quick calculation. FAVORABLE - Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran President Rouhani, Iran Foreign Minister Zarif, Russian President Putin, President Obama. OPPOSED - The rest of the world. That includes the US Congress, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, the US military and diplomatic services, most European nations whose diplomats were more or less tricked into entering a 'negotiation' that was already over. ~~~~~ Because, as we learned yesterday from AP, Obama and Iran have been in discussions since Obama's first term. The meetings began while Amhadinejad was still Iranian president - after his vicious crackdown on Iranian democratic demonstrators and while he was sending arms and soldiers to aid al-Assad's and Hezbollah's attack on Syrian freedom fighters. The secret meetings, which included Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, Vice President Joe Biden's top foreign policy advisor, Jake Sullivan, National Security Council aide Puneet Talwar and four other officials, later joined by chief US nuclear negotiator Wendy Sherman. They met in Oman with an unnamed Iranian delegation that apparently changed after Rouhani's election early in 2013. According to AP's sources, the Americans understood that the Iranians had some authority to negotiate from Ayatollah Khamenei. Obama's team and the Iranians discussed nuclear issues, Iranian involvement in Syria, Teheran's threats to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz and the status of Robert Levinson, a missing former FBI agent who the US believes was abducted in Iran, as well as two other Americans detained in the country. They did not discuss Iran's threats to annihilate Israel, apparently. Hoping to keep the channel open, Kerry made an official visit to Oman in May, ostensibly to push a military deal with the sultanate, but actually focused on maintaining the key mediation role of the Sultan of Oman. Rouhani's election on a moderate platform of easing the crippling sanctions and a willingness to engage with the West gave Obama new hope, the AP sources said. Two secret meetings occurred immediately after Rouhani took office in August, with the specific goal of advancing the stalled nuclear talks with world powers. Another pair of meetings took place in October. It is these meetings that led to the key terms of the current accord agreed between Obama and Iran, which was made before Obama told congressional leaders or Israel or France or the UK. It was after Obama phoned Rouhani in September that the American President phoned Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to explain the deal. It was then that Netanyahu went public with his "wolf in sheep's clothing" UN speech and his opposition to any Iran deal that eased sanctions before a total dismantling of Iran's nuclear facilities. And it was after being informed of the secret deal that France balked, refusing to agree immediately to the US - Iran private accord. Saudi Arabia, Iran's regional rival and America's ally, was also told late and reacted negatively, according to the AP sources. Perhaps Saudi's sudden refusal to take its seat at the UN Security Council may have been prompted by the US secret deal with Iran. ~~~~~ But, undoubtedly knowing that they could do little to oppose or influence the Obama - Iran deal, Saudi Arabia cautiously welcomed the deal on Monday. "This agreement could be a first step towards a comprehensive solution for Iran's nuclear programme, if there are good intentions," a statement said. However, a London-based Saudi official earlier told the BBC his country had been lied to. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomed the Geneva accord, but said it was only a "first step." "We are right to test to the full Iran's readiness to act in good faith," he told the House of Commons. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told French radio today that 'nothing is settled.' Mr Fabius said, "Iran is committed to giving up the prospect of nuclear weapons. It's perfectly clear." However, Fabius insisted the temporary deal could be reversed if its terms were not adhered to. Asked when sanctions could start to be lifted, he said it could begin "in December." EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton's spokesman Michael Mann said the timing would be co-ordinated with Iran. "It could be in December, it could be in January, depending on how long the legislative process takes," he told reporters. This is because the entire EU must agree before any European sanctions are lifted. ~~~~~ Dear readers, we will have time to look in more detail at the Iran deal. But, what is now important to understand is that it is Obama's deal. He may see it as a foreign policy triumph. He arrived at its conclusion in his characteristically isolated, lone-wolf way of operating. Perhaps the Iranians saw this weakness in Obama's personality and used it to wheedle a deal extremely favorable to Iran and very dangerous for Israel, the Saudi-led sunni American allies and the rest of the world. Note that only the West's enemies agree with Obama. So, Barack Obama must from now on defend Iran all alone -- its aid to al-Assad's murderous regime, its arms shipments to Hezbollah, its support of Gulf State shiite rebellions aimed at overthrowing the Saudi sunni hegemony, its support for the Afghanistan Taliban, its support of al-Qaida, its wildly hate-filled attacks on Israel. And if, as the world believes, Obama has simply given Iran time in which to finish its nuclear weapons and intercontinental missile program, then Obama will also be responsible for any Iranian sale to North Korea of nuclear bombs that land in California or Hezbollah nuclear bombs that land in Turkey or Paris or Tel Aviv. As Israeli Economy Minister Naftali Bennett made the case in graphic terms. “If five years from now a nuclear suitcase explodes in Madrid and New York it will be because of the agreement signed this morning." ~~~~~ But perhaps Barack Obama made his goals clear years ago when he said : "I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear." ___Barack Obama, Cairo University, June 4, 2009.