Thursday, August 15, 2013

The Obama Administration’s Iran Delusions



by Majid Rafizadeh


Hassan-Rouhani 

While the Senate has recently urged the Obama administration to pass a new round of sanctions on the Islamic State of Iran as a result of Iran’s nuclear defiance and human rights abuses, the Obama administration is insisting on using dialogue, Track II diplomacy, and negotiations with Iran’s recently inaugurated president, Hassan Rouhani.  President Barack Obama and his advisors argue that Hassan Rouhani is a “moderate,” and as such, dialogue can now yield fruitful results. This move by the Obama administration is intriguing and it raises questions of whether the Islamist state of Iran is politically shrewd and Machiavellian enough to fool the United States or whether the Obama’s administration is suffering from political and ideological delusions about Iran.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has masterfully bought itself three decades of time since the revolution in 1979. These tactics have been utilized not only to pursue its nuclear enrichment program but also to maintain its grip on power, threaten the existence if Israel, assist global terror groups, including Hizballah and Hamas, execute political prisoners and human rights activists, and repress its population with backward, medieval-style, Islamic rule, and Muhammad-style of 1400 years ago.

Ideologically, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been using the Islamic strategy of taqyyia (where it is acceptable to lie and commit illegal acts) and it has also applied the Machiavellian tactic of exploiting these “civilized dialogues,” negotiations, US Track II diplomacy, in order to buy the time that it needs to get the nuclear bomb and nuclear arsenal. Recently the Senate wrote a letter to President Obama that stated that the time for diplomacy is over and that “Iran has used negotiations in the past to stall for time.” The letter continued: “Mr. President, we urge you to bring a renewed sense of urgency to the process. We need to understand quickly whether Tehran is at last ready to negotiate seriously. Iran needs to understand that the time for diplomacy is nearing its end.”  In addition, the overwhelming majority of the members of the House of Representatives voted (400 to 20) in favor of ratcheting up pressure on the Islamic state of Iran and its Ayatollahs. These sanctions are intended to target Tehran’s most significant source of income and most important economic lifeline — oil.

Nevertheless, the President and his advisors (some of Middle Eastern origin) have so far refrained from passing the bill, which has been endorsed by the overwhelming majority of the Senate and House of Representatives. This is the first bill that can potentially bring the Islamic Republic of Iran and its Ayatollah to the negotiating table. Iran has been capable of diverting all previous, internationally-endorsed sanctions through its sale of oil and the soaring prices of crude oil in the last few decades.

The Obama administration points out that Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s new president is a “moderate” who might be capable of making a breakthrough in the nuclear talks. Any person, who studies Iran’s political structure closely, would be cognizant of the fact that there is no such thing as a “moderate” in Iran’s cleric system. Rouhani’s recent statements and political activities are evidence of this claim. Hassan Rouhani was one of the closest companions of Khomeini, the founder of this theocratic regime. Hassan Rouhani has repeatedly stated in his books that Israel has no right to be a country and state. Hassan Rouhani has been the Supreme Leader’s main advisor in Iran’s Supreme National Security Council where almost every policy that passes through it gets approved. While Iran has been enriching its nuclear program for the past years, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator has been Hassan Rouhani. He even stated in one of his campaign interviews that he actually “completed the nuclear program.” He clearly said that he made the West and international community buy his argument that Tehran has halted its nuclear program for two years, while Iran continued spinning its centrifuges.  Rouhani climbed the political ladder with the help of the Supreme Leader who has publicly announced his hostility and antagonism towards not only the governments of Israel and the United States but also towards the Israeli and American people. In a sermon during Friday prayers in Tehran, Khamenei stated that “it is incorrect, irrational, pointless and nonsense to say that we are friends of Israeli people.”

It goes without saying that Hassan Rouhani is a regime insider. Everything about his political ideology, writings, political career speaks loudly for itself — that he is not a “reformist” or “moderate.” Upon analysis of Iran’s political structure since the Islamic revolution, it is not a stretch to argue there has been no such thing as “moderate” president in Iranian politics. All presidents have expressed antagonism towards Israel, repressed their own people (particularly minority Christians and Bahai’s) and continued Tehran’s nuclear program. It is fascinating to observe that US president Barack Obama and his advisors are hoping and waiting until Iran’s new president makes a “breakthrough” in nuclear talks. Iran is clearly buying time.

It is an intriguing dilemma to ponder whether the Iranian clerics are so masterful in deceiving the Obama administration, or whether the Obama’s administration is delusional about Iran — considering the perseverance of Tehran’s defiance, as well as the overwhelming support for increased sanctions on Tehran coming from both US houses.


Majid Rafizadeh

Source: http://frontpagemag.com/2013/majid-rafizadeh/the-obama-administrations-iran-delusions/

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

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