Articles

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Rep. Lloyd Doggett and Rep. David Price

Writing exclusively for Haaretz, three members of Congress explain why the nuclear deal with Iran is good for America – and Israel.
The relationship between the United States and Israel is built on a foundation of common interests and common values, and it has been strengthened over the decades by our resolve in the face of common threats — from Soviet interventionism in the Middle East during the Cold War to the spread of violent extremism today.
There is no question that Americans from across the political spectrum view Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon as a common threat of the highest order. Nor do we doubt that the special relationship between Americans and Israelis will withstand the current debate over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiated between the “P5+1” international partners and Iran, as it has withstood previous policy debates.

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By PHILIP GORDON

Of all the arguments President Barack Obama made last week in his defense of the Iran nuclear deal, the one that has provoked the most vigorous—and curious—reaction from his critics was the suggestion that the alternative to the deal could be war with Iran. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Obama’s comments went “way beyond civil discourse” and predicted Democratic critics would be “especially insulted” by them. Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain, not typically so sensitive to suggestions about the possible use of military force, quickly put out a statement insisting that the alternative to a deal was “never war” but greater pressure on Iran to get a better agreement. AIPAC spokesman Marshall Wittmann insists the alternative to this deal is “definitely not war,” Senator Bob Corker agrees “war is not the alternative” and Senator Joni Ernst rejects “the outright notion that we would go to war.” Among Democrats, Senator Chuck Schumer says the alternative “does not have to be war” and Senator Robert Menendez, confirming McConnell’s prediction, finds it “insulting” to suggest that it does.

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By WILLIAM J. BROADAUG.

Twenty-nine of the nation’s top scientists — including Nobel laureates, veteran makers of nuclear arms and former White House science advisers — wrote to President Obama on Saturday to praise the Iran deal, calling it innovative and stringent.

The letter, from some of the world’s most knowledgeable experts in the fields of nuclear weapons and arms control, arrives as Mr. Obama is lobbying Congress, the American public and the nation’s allies to supportthe agreement.

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The ink on the recent nuclear agreement has not even dried yet, and the Islamic Republic has already made its intentions clear that it will continue with its export of terrorism and regional instability. The foiled plot of against Bahrain by regime element is yet another example of the theocratic regime’s unabated policy to sow conflict and instability. This recent attempted terror attack designed to interfere in the internal affairs of Bahrain, is in line with the regime’s goal of imposing regional hegemony while exporting radicalism to Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia. The Iran National Council strongly condemns this policy, which can only lead to further regional instability and threaten peace.
The Obama Administration and the other P5+1 partners to the nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic have maintained unequivocally that the purpose of the agreement is to prevent the theocratic regime from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent war. We share these aims, but also believe that the lifting of sanctions and the release of billions of dollars of the Iranian people’s assets must not be allowed to be used by the regime in the furtherance of its export of terrorism and regional conflict.
The Islamic Republic’s leadership has stated that it intends to support the oppressed people of the region in Bahrain, Palestine and Yemen, yet the most oppressed of all are the very Iranian nation who have for the past 36 years suffered unspeakable hardship and tyranny under this very regime.
The nature and raison d’etre of the Islamic Republic is based on terror and conflict, and the only way that this can change is for the world powers to support, without equivocation, the aspirations of the Iranian people for democracy and Human Rights.

Reza Pahlavi

The president of the Iran National Council for Free Elections

While the attention inside the U.S. on the proposed Iran nuclear deal has been on its weapons capability, there is another story. As part of the deal, Tehran will get relief from international sanctions, which could lead to a resurgence in its economy.

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The revolution’s midlife crisis and the nuclear deal.
BY ROBIN WRIGHT

A tech entrepreneur: “Don’t judge Iran just by what the clerics say at Friday prayers.”

As the diplomacy on Iran’s nuclear program entered a final phase, in Europe, I visited the tomb of Ayatollah Khomeini, the ideologue of Iran’s 1979 revolution, in Tehran. One of the grandest mausoleums in the world—its shimmering dome is visible for miles—was under expansion. The Imam’s bare receiving room, in his home, was preserved after he died, in 1989, in tribute to his modesty, but renovations at his tomb featured vaulted ceilings, lined with intricate mosaics, that soared stories high, and epic arches adorned with tiles in many shades of blue. In death, Khomeini’s body is in surroundings grander than the palaces of Persian kings. Editorials compared the opulence to Hollywood sets and condemned the costs at a time of poverty among the living.

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Country hit hard by years of sanctions could see foreign investment flood in if historic Vienna agreement clears hurdles
European firms are racing to secure business opportunities in Iran after the UN security council adopted a landmark nuclear deal, paving the way for sanctions to be lifted later this year.

The 15-member body unanimously voted in favour of the Vienna agreement to lift restrictions on Iran in exchange for Tehran rolling back its nuclear programme. The vote on Monday marked the beginning of the end of the sanctions regime that has taken a heavy toll on the country’s economy.

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BY BOZORGMEHR SHARAFEDIN NOURI

Iran’s security hawks have begun sniping at their country’s historic nuclear deal, emboldened a day after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described some of the world powers that signed it as “untrustworthy”.

Khamenei’s remark will be understood by Iranians to refer largely to the United States and Britain, the “Great and Little Satans” long reviled by Iran’s revolutionary theocracy for their support of the Shah, overthrown in 1979.
The comment carries weight, because the conservative cleric is the ultimate arbiter of high state policy under Iran’s unwieldy dual system of clerical and republican rule.

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By: Graeme Wood

The Islamic State is no mere collection of psychopaths. It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs, among them that it is a key agent of the coming apocalypse. Here’s what that means for its strategy—and for how to stop it.

WHAT IS THE ISLAMIC STATE?
Where did it come from, and what are its intentions? The simplicity of these questions can be deceiving, and few Western leaders seem to know the answers. In December, The New York Times published confidential comments by Major General Michael K. Nagata, the Special Operations commander for the United States in the Middle East, admitting that he had hardly begun figuring out the Islamic State’s appeal. “We have not defeated the idea,” he said. “We do not even understand the idea.” In the past year, President Obama has referred to the Islamic State, variously, as “not Islamic” and as al-Qaeda’s “jayvee team,” statements that reflected confusion about the group, and may have contributed to significant strategic errors.

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Iranians dance in the streets and chant praises to Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, after negotiators reach an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.

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