Obama's Secret Negotiations With Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei

The Wall Street Journal's recent revelation that Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei sent a secret "respectful" but noncommittal letter to Obama in response to the American president's overtures seeking cooperation in the fight against ISIS should come as no surprise. In 2013, secret meetings were held in Oman between ranking Obama administration personnel and Iranian officials in an effort to jump-start the P5+1's negotiations with Tehran over the Iranian nuclear weapons development program. These stealthy communications and discussions are just further proof of Obama's willy-nilly determination to reach agreement with Khamenei no matter what the price.

The most recent communications between Obama and Khamenei come at a time when Iranian-backed Houthis have taken control over much of Yemen, a country which had been viewed by Obama as a successful cornerstone in his fight against ISIS.

Iranian-backed militias are indeed battling ISIS in Iraq; however, they do not want American bombing assistance. Moreover, these militias are also committing atrocities against Sunni Muslims in Iraq.

But most troublesome is Obama's insistence upon reaching agreement with a regime that stones to death women accused of adultery, hangs homosexuals, persecutes Baha'is, oppresses Kurds, abuses Sunni Muslims, and brutally quashes political opposition, while threatening to annihilate Israel. Is the Khamenei regime any better than ISIS? Answer: No.

We can only hope that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in his March 3 speech before Congress will expose Obama's furtive negotiating channels and obscene concessions, e.g., 6,500 centrifuges spinning enriched uranium, intended to facilitate detente with the Islamic Republic of Iran without consideration of the long-term consequences.