Potential Iran deal highlights rifts between imperialists, Israel

[ckaihatsu]

Potential Iran deal highlights rifts between imperialists, Israel

What's behind the diplomatic conflict over Iran nuclear negotiations?


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Netanyahu went on an all-out campaign against the agreement.


What is really behind the fierce diplomatic conflict that has erupted over the Iran nuclear negotiations? What are the motivations of the Israeli and French governments in opposing an interim agreement that would require significant concessions by Iran in exchange for some easing of harsh economic sanctions?

Several rounds of sanctions imposed by the U.S., the European Union and the UN Security Council have inflicted severe damage on Iran’s economy and widespread hardship on the Iranian people. The U.S. and its allies have tried to justify the sanctions by claiming that they are aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The Iranian government has repeatedly asserted that its nuclear program is for civilian use only and that it has no intention of building nuclear bombs.

On Nov. 9, it appeared that an interim agreement was about to be signed in Geneva, Switzerland between the “P5+1” and Iran. The “P5+1” are the Security Council permanent members—the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China—plus Germany. While the details of the agreement have not been made public, it reportedly called for Iran to limit or halt its uranium enrichment for six months in exchange for a “very limited” and “reversible” easing of sanctions. The plan called for negotiations over the following six months to reach a permanent agreement that would, among other conditions, subject Iran’s nuclear program to intensified international inspections. Such an agreement would make military uses of nuclear technology virtually impossible.

READ MORE (http://www2.pslweb.org/site/R?i=bW-3vD9cZPHf9-RBKjma8g)

[ckaihatsu]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXvT4uxSWGw


Fascinating geopolitics in the interview / statement by Rice -- there's now a contradiction in policy regarding Syria since the U.S. is committed to maintaining the Syrian state, yet the U.S. continues to fund the opposition *against* Syria -- (!)

[Hexen]

There's also this article I found about Israel's reaction to the aftermath of the signing of the agreement.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/25/world/middleeast/israeli-leaders-decry-iran-accord.html/#p9


JERUSALEM — Israeli leaders denounced the agreement reached Sunday in Geneva, saying they were not bound by it and reiterating the principle that Israel would be ready to defend itself without assistance against any threat.

After weeks of intense lobbying against any deal between the world powers and Iran that does not ensure the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel called the agreement “a historic mistake,” saying in remarks that were broadcast from the start of his weekly cabinet meeting, “Today the world has become a much more dangerous place because the most dangerous regime in the world has taken a significant step toward attaining the most dangerous weapon in the world.”

[...]

“Israel is not bound by this agreement,” he said. “As prime minister of Israel, I would like to make it clear: Israel will not allow Iran to develop a military nuclear capability.”

[...]

One Israeli minister even warned that the pact could result in a nuclear attack against the West. “If five years from now a nuclear suitcase explodes in New York or Madrid, it will be because of the deal that was signed this morning,” the economic minister, Naftali Bennett, said in a statement.

[Alonso Quijano]

There's also this article I found about Israel's reaction to the aftermath of the signing of the agreement.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/25/world/middleeast/israeli-leaders-decry-iran-accord.html/#p9
Netanyahu will call anything related to Iran a mistake, he beeds fear to keep powder.

Bennett is a capitalist idiot who just praised Marx in recent days, promoting Jewish exceptionalism. He has no clue.

[Hexen]

http://news.yahoo.com/israel-pm-send...151734084.html (http://news.yahoo.com/israel-pm-sends-security-advisor-us-iran-talks-151734084.html)


Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he will send his national security advisor to Washington for talks on a pending agreement with Iran on its nuclear programme.

"I spoke yesterday with President (Barack) Obama and we agreed that in the coming days an Israeli team led by National Security Advisor Yossi Cohen would leave for talks with the United States on the final deal with Iran," Netanyahu said in an address to the Israeli parliament.

http://news.yahoo.com/why-netanyahu-wrong-iran-nuclear-deal-175002119--politics.html


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns that this weekend’s nuclear deal with Iran (http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Iran) increases Iran’s chances of building nuclear weapons. He’s exactly wrong – so much so that nuclear weapons advocates in Tehran (http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Tehran) are probably hoping that Israel and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf succeed in sabotaging the agreement.

Why? Because with this deal in place, it will be much harder for them to make their case that Iran should tear up its agreements and build a nuclear bomb. If the parties manage to reach a larger final agreement next year, the obstacles facing Iran’s bomb advocates might become nearly insuperable.



Up to this point, many in Iran – including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Ayatollah+Ali+Khamenei), according to some of his statements – have believed the nuclear issue is just a pretext for US determination to overthrow Iran’s Islamic regime. The constant tightening of sanctions and repeated threats of military force, in this view, were meant to undermine the Iranian government itself, and would not end if Iran agreed to constrain its nuclear efforts.

As Ayatollah Khamenei put it, “they claim that if the Iranian nation ignores its nuclear energy, the sanctions will be lifted. They are telling a lie.” Indeed, in the view of some in Tehran, such unrelenting threats and sanctions are central reasons why Iran needs a nuclear bomb.

But this deal undermines the Iranian hardliners’ arguments and constrains their options. The deal would roll back one of their important victories – the buildup of a substantial stock of 20 percent enriched uranium that could cut the time needed for a race to the bomb – and stop Iran from edging closer to a bomb capability while the deal lasts. More important, politically, the advocates of compromise in Tehran have shown they can deliver, producing an agreement that includes real benefits.
The sanctions relief in the deal is only a modest mitigation of the pain, leaving the banking and oil sanctions in place for now – but the benefits it offers are real, and it explicitly holds out the promise of lifting all nuclear-related sanctions if a larger comprehensive deal can be reached. That would be a critical boost to Iran’s sagging economy.

With this initial agreement in place and a final agreement in prospect, it will be extraordinarily difficult for Tehran’s bomb advocates to make the case that now was the time to abandon the path of compromise and go for a nuclear bomb. The initial compromise shows that the possibility of a reinvigorated economy resulting from nuclear restraint was not just a lie. The sense of imminent threat will surely be greatly reduced – taking away a critical element of the bomb advocates’ argument. And they will have to make the case for reversing a policy decision just taken – always a long row to hoe in any government.

If Iran reneges, it would be ripping up a deal not just with the United States (http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/United+States) and the Europeans, but with Russia and China as well, its only protectors on the UN Security Council – and the risk of even tougher sanctions or military action in response would be high.

If a final deal next year offered broad sanctions relief, there would then be a flow of benefits that would make it even more difficult to make the case for violating the agreements and moving toward building the bomb. Powerful players in Iran’s system would be making money on the new trading opportunities, and would not want their interests jeopardized.
The structure of a final agreement would include restraints and verification measures that would make it very difficult – certainly harder than it would be now – for Iran to race to the bomb without being detected in enough time for the international community to act.
This first-stage deal lifts only the corner of the sanctions curtain, and poses only a modest risk of a broader unraveling of sanctions. With the United States, Russia, China, and the European Union all working together, it should be possible to maintain a sanctions regime strong enough to give Iran strong incentives to agree to an effective final deal.
Of course, there is always the possibility that by holding out, the US could have squeezed Iran to accept a deal that would constrain their nuclear program even more. But we would run the risk of weakening Iran’s pro-compromise faction, who need to show that they can deliver. They needed something they could plausibly convince Khamenei to say “yes” to – and that’s not likely to be something that includes everything the United States or Israel would like to have.
Fifty years after the death of John F. Kennedy (http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/John+F.+Kennedy), we should remember the key lesson he drew from the Cuban Missile Crisis: Always leave your adversary a face-saving way to back down. When states are driven to accept deals they see as punitive and humiliating, they usually do not abide by them.



In short, this first-stage nuclear agreement with Iran will change the politics of nuclear weapons in Tehran, strengthening the advocates of compromise and undermining the nuclear hardliners. That is why those hardliners are likely secretly hoping that Mr. Netanyahu will succeed in killing the deal.

Matthew Bunn, a professor of practice at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, is a former adviser on nonproliferation in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

[ckaihatsu]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u7XkmOr5kU

[Yet_Another_Boring_Marxist]

Any Communist worth his muster celebrates the removal of sanctions against Iran, not because they aid in the preservation of the Iranian state but because they represent a gain for the Iranian working class which has been left hungry by the actions of the imperialists, and as Marx said in the Manifesto, Communists have no interests separate from those of the working class. However it seems that in this thread there is a troubling level of tolerance for the Iranian state here, Iran, just like Israel, is a theocratic, neo-colonial entity which oppresses the Kurdistani and Baloch peoples. There is nothing worth defending in Iran other than it's peoples right to not be bombed by the Americans.

[ckaihatsu]

[EmergencyResponseforUSAttackonIranorSyria] on the Dec 31 demo against U.S. sanctions on Iran



A Report on the New Year’s Eve Demo Against U.S. Sanctions on Iran-- by Neal Resnikoff

There was a lively demonstration in freezing weather at noon on New Year’s Eve outside the federal buildings at Jackson and Dearborn to say no more U.S. sanctions against Iran.

The demonstration was part of the continuing effort to spread the word to the American working people that the U.S. government is not seeking a just solution to problems in the Middle East.

Since U.S. negotiations with Iran were started, the Obama Administration on December 12 put in new sanctions on Iran. And now Illinois Senator Kirk and others are pushing for further sanctions to force Iran to give up all of its rights to use nuclear power for economic development, a right the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty agrees belongs to all countries.

A basic issue is to oppose all U.S. interference in the sovereign rights of Iran, Syria, and all other countries, which have not attacked or issued threats against the U.S. This opposition was reflected in one of the slogans of the demonstration: "Bring All the Troops Home, Now!" Poll after poll shows that Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to war against Iran, and that the government's threats of aggression do not represent us

It was also brought out that sanctions are a form of warfare, economic warfare. And the sanctions of the U.S. against Iran, and the threats of even more sanctions, need to be opposed. They are part of the brutal economic sanctions and threats of outright military war against Iran, Syria, and other countries. They are designed to cripple economies and cause great suffering to working people, who have done no harm to the U.S.

The U.S. government wants control and power for U.S. banks and corporations--to extend the U.S. Empire.

We all need to say no to U.S. sanctions, all other forms of interference, and aggressive war against other countries, Not in Our Name! We need to stand with the working people in every country worldwide against the ruthlessness of U.S. corporations.

NO U.S. SANCTIONS! NO U.S. WARS AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD!
NO MORE WARS FOR U.S. EMPIRE!

WE NEED AN ANTI-WAR GOVERNMENT!

[ckaihatsu]

'US Senators pave way to Iran war by forging new sanctions'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq804tS10j0

[ckaihatsu]

Robert Gates - Imposing new sanctions on Iran would be 'a terrible mistake'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dXYI3aCYu4


What challenges lie ahead for a permanent fix in Iran

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVtyiaF6ydQ


Iran agrees to interim nuclear deal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLfcTXziWi4


Iran nuclear deal to take effect on January 20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-fH66rx7SU


Iran Deal Ordeal - 'Israel pressures US to back new sanctions'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTsZxpBY4Ro


Iran nuclear deal - Details released

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipODojnAKG8


Iran, 6 World Powers Agree to Nuclear Deal Terms

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xpl0KvtSvLQ

[ckaihatsu]

'For peaceful solution in Syria we need Iran at Gevena-2'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOUqQAxle9E


What challenges lie ahead for a permanent fix in Iran

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVtyiaF6ydQ

[ckaihatsu]

As Geneva talks approach, Syrian opposition undecided about attendance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWiRYLWO0HU


Russia, Syria criticize opposition, U.S. ahead of peace talks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdnKJzEcagQ


Syria doing its best to get rid of chemical weapons - Assad adviser to RT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSSpFjj2ac


Some Iranians hopeful for relief of sanctions' economic bite

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c18ooaQB9jY


Kerry to Syrian Opposition - 'Attend Conference'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmbXCbn3T1M


Geneva-2 to establish Syria's transitional governing body - Kerry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8N89Lwyh2s


'No indication Geneva 2 will be a meaningful decision'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_2DeScLQzc

[ckaihatsu]

'Those who want Assad out isolate Iran from talks' - Lavrov

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g0e8O5N7DM


Critics of Iran nuclear deal mull penalties for noncompliance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yj7OuXbNWI


World powers dispute on Iran attending Syrian peace talks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyOLT6d99eU


News Wrap - Iran unplugs centrifuges, U.S. begin nuclear deal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CihaXBfegw


UN Withdraws Iran Invite to Syria Peace Talks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isnP8l8WDrk


US Eases Sanctions As Iran Implements Nuke Deal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PLgGvZmovg


Iran must subscribe to full implementation of Geneva Communiqué - U.S. Ambassador

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nkp5HuV-GRA


Historic Iran nuclear deal comes into force

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLWguA0O6nI

[ckaihatsu]

Iran's president tells Davos his country is open for business

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29sBDyfWISU


The Top Story - Iranian President Rouhani Seeks Deeper Ties With Neighbors, EU & US

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBOaE_-AEm0