by Prof. Avraham Ben-Zvi
Khamenei crushed the expectations built by the Obama administration in one fell swoop, undercutting the foundation of the deal reached last week. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will undoubtedly embark on a new charm offensive soon, in an attempt to mask his leader's statements.
Less than a week after
world powers and Iran announced they had reached a nuclear deal, the
fragile rationale guiding U.S. President Barack Obama's conciliatory
approach throughout the negotiations has been shattered.
Obama's decision to
offer Iran a substantial package of economic confidence-building
measures was based on the assumption that Tehran would be unable to
resist the temptation, and the regime would embark on a moderate path
with regards to its U.S. policies.
Removing the sanctions
crippling Iran's economy was seen by the White House as means to
facilitate and accelerate the process of rapprochement between
Washington and Tehran, with aim of making the latter a major strategic
partner in the Middle East.
So far, however,
reality has failed to live up to Obama's expectations. The harsh,
uncompromising statements made Saturday by Iran's Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying the deal would not alter Iran's policies
toward the U.S., should serve as a sobering wake-up call to the American
public, before the deal becomes a fait accompli.
Khamenei was crystal
clear: The deal does not represent a new beginning for Iran-U.S.
relations, based on a more reconciled approach to their diplomatic,
ideological, and economic ties. The deal focuses on one isolated tier in
these relations, the nuclear one, which has little impact on any of the
other dimensions comprising the ties between the two nations.
In other words, the
nuclear deal will not be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between
Iran and the West. The opposite is true: Iran has no intention of
changing its overall contrarian policies with regards to the West, nor
does it plan to rescind, or even scale down, its support of the
subversive and terrorist elements in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain, and
the Palestinian sphere.
The ayatollah's regime
has been, and remains, the sworn enemy of "American hubris," as Khamenei
put it, and it will continue to see the West as the enemy.
Khamenei crushed the
expectations built by the Obama administration in one fell swoop,
undercutting the foundation of the deal reached last week. Iranian
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will undoubtedly embark on a new
charm offensive soon, in an attempt to mask his leader's statements.
All we can do is wait
and see whether the attempt to downplay the agreement and introduce it
as another component in an otherwise difficult, ongoing diplomatic
effort, would breed skepticism in U.S. public opinion, and help shape
the result of the congressional review of the deal.
Prof. Avraham Ben-Zvi
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=13215
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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