by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright April 2, 2015
All Rights Reserved.

                Missing the deadline of March 31 by only 36 hours, Secretary of State John Kerry and five other foreign minister from Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, pulled off the near impossible, getting a nuke deal with Iran that, through rigorous verifications with the International Atomic Energy Agency, prevents Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.  Calling the “framework” a “good deal” before the July 1 deadline for ratifying the final agreement, President Barack Obama hailed the plan as the best possible outcome.  “This is the best option,” said Obama, responding to critics in Israel and on Capitol Hill that say the deal doesn’t have enough teeth to prevent Iran from cheating its way to the bomb.  “Today, the United States, together with our allies and partners, has reached a historic understanding with Iran, which, if fully implemented, will prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” said Obama.

             Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu caused conniptions at the White House accepting House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) invite to speak to a joint session of Congress March 3.  While the White House accused Boehner and Netanyahu of interfering with what they considered delicate negotiations in Geneva and Lausanne, they heaped a whole lot of pressure on Tehran.  Recent marathon negotiations, started about 18 months ago, aimed at ending punitive economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for limiting uranium enrichment.  Western powers, especially Israel, worry about Iran’s “breakout time” to an A-bomb, since former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatened to “wipe Israel off the map” in 2005.  Since then, Israel took Iran’s nuclear enrichment program seriously, concerned that the Islamic Republic threatened the Jewish State.

             Netanyahu’s March 3 speech to Congress essentially warned of Iran’s propensity to cheat its way to a bomb.  Today’s framework subjects Iran’s nuclear program to unprecedented, intrusive IAEA inspections, something that hasn’t happened since Sept. 13, 2010.  Critics of the deal offer no better alternative to curtail Iran’s nuclear ambitions.  Instead of complaining, Netanyahu and his backers in the U.S. Congress should praise Kerry and other EU, Russian and Chinese foreign minister for pulling off a constructive deal.  “Simply demanding that Iran capitulate makes a nice sound bite, but it is no a policy, it is no a realistic plan,” said Kerry, insisting that there remained loose ends before the final deal in July.  Iran’s 55-year-old San Francisco State and University of Denver educated Mohammad Javad Zarif did a masterful job walking a razor’s edge completing the nuke framework.

             Getting Iran’s prostate cancer-stricken Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to submit to regular IAEA inspections, a prerequisite to a workable deal, spoke volumes about Zarif and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, both committed to better ties with the U.S. and European Union.  “We have take a major step but are still some way away from where we want to be,” said Zarif, hinting, like Kerry, that there’s more work to do before the July agreement.  Calling the framework a “win-win” for all parties, Zarif hoped the framework would begin easing suspicions on both sides, shredded during Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei’s Islamic Revolution when an angry mob sacked the U.S. Embassy in Tehran Nov. 4, 1979, holding 52 U.S. hostages 444 days until released Jan. 20, 1981—the late President Ronald Reagan’s Inauguration Day.  Today’s framework deal paves the way to improved relations with Washington.

             Home the world’s largest ex-pat community, the U.S. has a vested interest in reestablishing ties to Iran.  Nailing down a nuke deal helps open the door to improved relations, despite Iran’s hardliners calling the U.S. “The Great Satan.”  Criticized by Iran’s hardliners for overly cozy ties with Kerry, Zarif walked a tightrope pandering to hardliners back at home, and, at the same time, appearing like he was driving a hard bargain with Kerry.  Reports of screaming matches played well in Tehran, where hardliners wanted to make life difficult for Kerry.  Zarif attributed the breakthrough to several all-nighters with Kerry, when, it reality, it was carefully orchestrated theatrics proving he wasn’t caving in to the U.S.  Kerry also played up the drama, letting Capitol Hill Republicans and Netanyahu play bad cop, while convincing Zarif that he wasn’t going to get a better deal.

             Kerry and Zarif deserve high praise for both walking tightropes to pull off what many thought was impossible.  Whether Iran complies with intrusive IAEA inspections is anyone’s guess.  Judging by Tehran’s willingness to make a deal, they desperately want an end to punitive economic sanctions that have devalued Iran’s currency and driven the economy into recession.  “Iran will face strict limitations on its program, and Iran has also agreed to the most robust and intrusive inspections and transparency regime ever negotiated for any nuclear program in history.  So this deal is not based on trust.  It’s based on unprecedented verification,” said Obama, hailing the deal as making the world a safer place.  Skeptics in Congress and elsewhere need to bite their tongues and offer their blessings to what looks like an imperfect but practical piece of diplomacy that benefits all parties concerned.

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