Iran Deal Helps Israel's National Security

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright November 24, 2013
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            Working for months in secret behind closed doors in Oman, U.S. and Iranian officials accelerated nuke talks once Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left office Aug. 4.  With the more educated U.S.-friendly 64-year-old Hassan Rouhani at the helm, the door opened small but important crack for improving diplomatic relations.  When Rouhani appointed 53-year-old U.S.-educated Mohammad Javad Zarif, it was just a matter of time before a deal was in the works, despite at times harsh rhetoric against Israel from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.  At the heart of the conflict with Iran was Ahmadinejad’s pride-and-joy:  Iran’s not-so-secret nuclear enrichment program.  Begun under the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the 1950s, Iran’s nuclear program only became a problem after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei’s Islamic Revolution seized the U.S. embassy in 1979.

             Breaking off diplomatic relations, Iran grew progressively more isolated in the world community, hitting a new low in 2005 when a newly elected Ahamadinejad promised to “wipe Israel off the map.”  When Ahamdinejad hosted a Holocaust deniers’ conference Dec. 11, 2006 in Tehran, Iran’s relations with the U.S. and the West hit rock bottom.  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used Ahmadinejad’s threats and hostile rhetoric to eventually call Iran May 18, 2009 an “existential threat” to Israel.  What makes Iran a threat to anyone is not its nuclear program but its isolation in the global community.  Announcing a deal in Geneva to begin containing Iran’s nuclear program Nov. 23, the P5+1, including the U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany, put the finishing touches on a deal to return Iran to a respectable place in the international community.

             Hammering out the framework of the deal behind closed doors in secrecy over the last eight months, Secretary of State John Kerry and his negotiating team of Deputy Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, VP Joe Biden’s top foreign policy advisor Jake Sullivan and Asst. Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs Puneet Talwar worked feverishly with Oman’s Sultan Qaboos to facilitate the rapprochement with Iran.  Of all the hard work, nothing was more fortuitous than Iran’s new President Hassan Rouhani picking University of Denver’s Zarif as his chief negotiator.  Getting a six-month moratorium on Iran’s nuclear enrich activities, neutralizing its 20% stockpile and agreeing to enrich only to 5% prevents Iran from getting weapons grade material.  Yesterday’s deal paves the way eventually for the U.S. and Iran to restore formal diplomatic relations.

             Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hasn’t caught up to the new reality in Iran.  Gone is hothead Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  In is the well-educated, thoughtful moderate Hassan Rouhani.  “Today the world became a much more dangerous place because the most dangerous regime in the world made a significant step in obtaining the most dangerous weapons in the world,” said Netanyahu, completely ignoring the real impact of the Geneva deal.  Agreeing to restrict its nuclear program to electricity and medical isotopes, Iran returns to the international community.  Whatever threat Israel claimed from Ahmadinejad’s hollow rhetoric, it’s now been vaporized by Iran’s expected return as a responsible global power.  Instead of calling the Geneva deal an “historic mistake,” Netanyahu should bite his tongue and thank his American and European friends for their hard work.

              Netanyahu wants to end completely Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, started in the 1950s with U.S. and French help.  Only after the Islamic Revolution did concerns arise about Iran fledgling nuclear power industry.  Under the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, all signers have the right to pursue nuclear power for peaceful purposes.  During the Geneva talks, Iran wanted the P5+1 to explicitly acknowledge Iran’s rights under the NPT to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.  While not explicitly stating Iran’s right to nuclear power, the agreement limits enrichment to 5%, something Netanyahu sees as prelude to bomb-making.  Rouhani and Zarif’s walked on a razor’s edge satisfying Khamenei’s “red line” on Iran’s right under the NPT to nuclear power, while, at the same time, placing limits on the enrichment process to prevent the development of atomic weapons.  

            Netanyahu needs to button his lips with all his negative rhetoric about Iran posing a worldwide threat.  Whether or not Iran’s sincere in returning to a respectable place in the global community, time will tell.  However Netanyahu plays Israeli politics, he needs to show only gratitude to Kerry and world leaders for winning a six-month moratorium on Iran’s uranium enrichment, agreement to neutralize Iran’s 20% stockpile and commitment to only enrich in the future to 5%.  Netanyahu’s fixation on former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s 2005 bogus threat to “wipe Israel off the map” shouldn’t lose sight of today’s new leadership in Iran.  Israel’s national security is far better off with Geneva deal than continuing to make idle threats to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities.  It’s time for Netanyahu to give the P5+1 credit, show gratitude and stop the counterproductive bluster.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.