Monday, April 6, 2015

Ben Rhodes Contradicts Obama on Iranian Nuclear "Deal": Who Is Lying?

In a CNN interview yesterday, Jake Tapper asked US deputy national security adviser for strategic communication Ben Rhodes about the P5+1's "deal" with Iran, which was announced last week:

Tapper: So, the Israelis have put out this list of things that they think should be in the final deal with Iran, including allowing inspectors to go anywhere, anytime. That seems perfectly reasonable, no?

Rhodes: Well, Jake, first of all, under this deal, you will have anywhere, anytime 24/7 access as it relates to the nuclear facilities that Iran has. You will also have access to . . .

Tapper: What about the military facilities?

Rhodes: So what we'll have under this deal, Jake, is the strongest inspection regime that any country faces in the world. And what that means is, if we see a site that we need to inspect on a military facility, we can get access to that site and inspect it. So, if it's a suspicious site that we believe is related to its nuclear efforts, we can get access and inspect that site through the I.A.E.A.

But compare Rhodes's explanation with what President Obama told Thomas Friedman on Saturday concerning future inspection of Iranian nuclear facilities:

"Obviously, a request will have to be made. Iran could object, but what we have done is to try to design a mechanism whereby once those objections are heard, that it is not a final veto that Iran has, but in fact some sort of international mechanism will be in place that makes a fair assessment as to whether there should be an inspection, and if they determine it should be, that’s the tiebreaker, not Iran saying, 'No, you can’t come here.' So over all, what we’re seeing is not just the additional protocols that I.A.E.A. has imposed on countries that are suspected of in the past having had problematic nuclear programs, we’re going even beyond that, and Iran will be subject to the kinds of inspections and verification mechanisms that have never been put in place before."

Or in other words, Obama acknowledged that "anywhere, anytime 24/7 access" to Iranian nuclear facilities will not exist. Rather, inspections which Iran refuses to approve will be subject to adjudication.

Who is going to adjudicate disputes between the US and Iran concerning inspection of suspected nuclear facilities? The United Nations? By the time any such adjudication is finished, Iran will be in possession of an atomic bomb, thus rendering any such procedure nugatory.

And what does Iran say about such inspections under the so-called "deal"? The Iranians are claiming that their agreement to inspections is voluntary and temporary "for the sake of transparency and confidence building." Iran certainly has not agreed to "anywhere, anytime 24/7 access."

In short, as I observed on Saturday, there was no "historic understanding" in Lausanne.

1 comment:

  1. Iran will be able to legally challenge "violations" that would trigger the snapback of sanctions.

    Who is going to adjudicate whether the sanctions can indeed be 'snapped-back' during such a legal challenge?

    Almost feels like Obama wants to reverse the Cold War, in that he sees the world as a Marxist believing in the end of religion...

    k

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