The Tehran Two Step continues

By Rob Janicki

With the Iranians, it’s one step forward and two steps backward for the West, as the West laughingly tries to negotiate with these carpet merchants and camel jockeys.  To be honest, I lived and worked in Iran for six months in the 1970's and never once saw a camel.  It wasn't until I was in India that I saw a camel.  Actually it was a camel train transporting freight, but I digress.

Here's the latest from Iran's Foreign Minister

World powers negotiating with Tehran over its disputed nuclear program must come up with new proposals before talks in Geneva on October 15-16, Iran's foreign minister said.

The United States wants Iran to respond to proposals by world powers in February as a starting point for talks. If the parties cannot agree on how to start the negotiations, it casts doubt on whether a resolution can be agreed within the six months in which Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says he wants a deal.

Meanwhile, Iran continues to enrich uranium to weapons grade levels and in quantities that Israel claims will be enough to build two substantial nuclear weapons.

The United States and the West need to understand that Iran's development of nuclear weapons is only half the equation.  The other half of the equation is Iran's development of ICBM's.  As Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu clearly indicated, Iran already has missiles capable of landing munitions on Israel.  The West must ask itself what Iran would do with ICBM's that could reach anywhere in the world?

Iran, according to various intelligence agencies, already has the capability to reach anywhere in Europe with an ICBM and they won't be sending love letters or conventional warheads on those missiles.  If Iran can reach Europe with an ICBM, they can reach the United States and that's their real goal.  Iran is determined to join the international rogue nuclear weapons community, like Pakistan and North Korea, as a means of extorting the West for whatever Iran wants.

One principle that guides Iran is a simple one.  Time; it's on their side and every day they obfuscate and prevaricate, in the supposed negotiation process, is a day closer to their ultimate goal of becoming a nuclear weapons state on the world stage.


 "The previous P5+1 plan given to Iran belongs to history and they must enter talks with a new point of view," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview with Iranian state television late on Saturday.

"The players must put away this illusion that they can impose anything on the Iranian people."

Here's the real illusion.

The election of Rouhani in June and his appointment of U.S.-educated Zarif as foreign minister and chief nuclear negotiator have raised hopes for a solution to the decade-old dispute over Iran's nuclear program.

The West must disabuse itself of the idea that the election of President Hassan Rouhani indicates a softening of Iran's determination to become a nuclear weapons player.  No one in Iran can win an election unless it is approved by the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.  It's as simple as that.  To believe otherwise is not only misguided and foolish, it's a deadly decision that will come back to haunt the liberal progressives of the West.

Meanwhile, the Iranians will raise one issue after another to buy time and the West, led by the likes of John Kerry, will fall for the Iranian deceit and deception until it's too late and Iran has achieved nuclear weapons and delivery capability.