NEWSLETTER

April 9, 2015

An Historic Farce

The invisible ink on the nuclear "framework agreement" reached last Thursday between Iran and the world powers was not yet dry when when the various sides — the U.S., the Iranians and the Europeans — started coming out with competing narratives and very different understandings of the deal (see below).

The White House celebrated reaching an "historic understanding" with Iran, as alarm bells went off in Jerusalem.

In the streets of Tehran, there were jubilant celebrations, although Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took to Twitter and started calling the Obama administration a bunch of liars and deceivers.

In a televised speech, Iran's President Rouhani said Iran "will not sign any agreements unless on the first day of the implementation of the deal all economic sanctions are totally lifted on the same day,” contrary to the phased relief announced by Obama.

And Iran's Defense Minister Hossein Dehgan rejected any inspection of military sites, while Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (who negotiated the deal!) said that Iran would immediately start using its most advanced centrifuges, contrary to claims that Iran would only use older generation centrifuges.

You can read the details below, but suffice it to say that this historic understanding is beginning to sound more and more, with each passing day, like an historic FARCE.

Legal Insurrection  |  April 9, 2015

Iran Supreme Ayatollah: White House Lying About Nuke Deal
It's official – there is no Iran nuclear framework deal, just wishful thinking.

By William A. Jacobson

Ayatollah Khamenei.jpg

Within hours of the White House celebrating a supposed Iran nuclear framework “deal,” it became apparent that the various sides — the U.S., the Iranians and the Europeans — had very different understandings of the deal.

Those competing narratives now have moved to the stage of open declarations by senior Iranian officials that the White House is lying and that key elements in a White House Fact Sheet never were agreed upon and are unacceptable.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has taken to Twitter to call the Obama administration a bunch of untrustworthy liars:

Iran-Khamenei tweet #1.jpg

Key elements of the supposed deal also are rejected, such as a gradual easing of sanctions and inspection of security installations:

Iran-Khamenei tweet #2.jpg

This is all consistent with what the Iranian President Rouhani has said publicly:

Iran’s president said on Thursday that Tehran would not sign a final nuclear deal with world powers unless all sanctions against the Islamic Republic were removed immediately

“We will not sign any agreements unless on the first day of the implementation of the deal all economic sanctions are totally lifted on the same day,” Rouhani said in a televised speech….

Western governments, which have imposed their own sanctions over and above those adopted by the United Nations, have been pushing for it to happen only gradually.

“In return for Iran’s future cooperation, we and our international partners will provide relief in phases from the sanctions that have impacted Iran’s economy,” US Secretary of State John Kerry said last week.

Defense Minister Hossein Dehgan rejects any inspection of military sites:

“No such agreement has been reached and basically, visiting military centers are among the red lines and no visit to these centers will be allowed,” Brigadier General Hossein Dehgan said, according to Iranian media reports quoting a Defense Ministry statement.

Dehgan said international media reports to the effect that the deal will allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts to inspect military centers across Iran were “lies” and “deceits.”

Further, Iran’s Foreign Minister, who negotiated the “deal” has promised that Iran immediately will start using its most advanced centrifuges, contrary to claims that Iran only would use older generation centrifuges:

Iran’s negotiator in the nuclear negotiations and its nuclear chief revealed on Tuesday that after a final deal is signed by a June 30 deadline on the framework reached last week, Iran will unleash its most advanced centrifuges for uranium enrichment, threatening a quick turnover in producing a nuclear weapon.

Iran’s semi-official FARS news agency reported on a closed meeting held Tuesday by Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) chief Ali Akbar Salehi, in which they briefed members of Iran’s parliament on the deal being finalized.

In their statements, they said Iran’s most advanced IR-8 centrifuges will be used as soon as the deal removing world sanctions against Iran begins.

Contrast these statements from Iranian officials with how President Obama characterized the “deal” just after it was announced:

Original article here.


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