The worst was when Iran’s previous leader Ayatollah Khomeini and previous president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made statements that Israel “must be wiped out from the map.” Although some analysts are quick to say “it’s just rhetoric”, Israel is deeply anxious given the holocaust and its vows of “never again”. Let Netanyahu and the Saudi princes rant; the US aim should be peace, security, and social justice for the peoples of the region – not satisfaction of other states’ destructive ambitions.
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What Is the Iran Nuclear Deal? So what? Is it really a big deal? The agreement is 159 pages long, but 60 pages simply list frozen assets, including 12 pages of aircraft and ships. But whenever it expands its influence, it has usually been a source of relative stability, propping up its clients to bring a measure of order in otherwise failing states.
The documents from Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry illustrate a near obsession with Iran, with diplomats in Africa, Asia and Europe monitoring Iranian activities in minute detail and top government agencies plotting moves to limit the spread of Shiite Islam.
Iranian youth are now celebrating as if they have been liberated from their own regime and are consequently among the happiest group of people to emerge from the successful negotiations. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be negotiated with.
Of course, Iran’s neighbours have legitimate concerns about the impact the deal will have on the regional balance of power. While Iran’s nuclear weapons timetable is uncertain, former congressional EMP Commission chairman William Graham and former National Intelligence Council chairman Fritz Ermarth have warned Newsmax that Iran should be regarded as already having nuclear missiles capable of delivering EMP attacks.
Speaking of Pakistan, Pakistan is a good example for understanding why Iran’s potential acquisition of a nuke is no big deal. But as this analyst goes on to say, Syria “is the one [place] where the current US president is least likely to undertake any more assertive action to counter Iran”.
“It was the United States who inserted the issue of possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program in 2005 that scuttled the ‘Tehran Agreement, ‘” Ritter said. In fact, part of the deal does not remove sanctions on Iran to buy weapons that could be nuclearized.
And suggesting that Iran’s nuclear weapons could be a stabilizing factor in the Middle East is equally absurd.
Sen. Lindsey Graham R-S.C., a 2016 presidential candidate, said he is concerned that the deal will lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
The hard-line daily newspaper Kayhan also offered a muted response to the agreement, choosing to focus instead on what it saw as a sharp difference between what U.S. President Barack Obama and Rouhani said of the deal. It gives the United States more time to respond-including militarily-should Iran renege. The United States must lead the way in the nonproliferation and elimination of nuclear weapons, which will best be achieved through peaceful diplomacy.
What Will the Iran Nuclear Deal Do for Investors?
Like Pakistan, it would quickly come to terms with the limitations of such weapons.
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This is while the global community has praised the outcome of more than a decade diplomatic efforts aimed at closing the Iranian nuclear dossier, with many world leaders saying the historic conclusion of nuclear discussions could help promote peace and cooperation in the region. That suggests that we can also live with a nuclear Iran if that comes to pass in the future.
