Much to the disappointment of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and conservatives on Capitol Hill, the International Atomic Energy Agency ended its 11-investigation into military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear program. Reaching an historic agreement with the P5+1 July 14, including the United States, U.K, France, Russian, China and Germany, Iran put its cards on the table, allowing the IAEA to continue its investigation into Iran’s military activities. Driven by the U.S. and Israel, the lengthy nuke negotiations cleared Iran’s path to ending punishing economic and travel sanctions, causing harm to its economy. If you listen to Netanyahu or the GOP’s last presidential debate last night, you’d believe that Iran was imminently close to a nuclear weapon. Despite the tough U.N. and U.S. sanctions over its nuke program, Iran denied any military component.
In the run up to the March 20, 2003 Iraq War, U.S. officials ignored IAEA Secretary-General Hans Blix, begging the Bush-43 administration to give him more time to determine if Iraq actually possessed weapons of mass destruction. Trillions of dollars later and thousands of deaths, the U.S. military also found no evidence of WMD. Accusing Iran for 11 years of a robust nuclear weapons program, Iran’s 55-year-old Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif insisted the IAEA proved Iran’s nuke program was always peaceful. “This resolution goes far beyond closing the issue of so-called PMD [Possible Military Dimensions] and cancels 12 resolutions of the council of governors of the IAEA which seriously restricted our country’s nuclear program,” said Zarif, declaring Iran clear of the West’s past allegations. Zarif spent two years negotiating the nuke deal.
GOP presidential candidates have railed against the P5+1 nuke deal, still insisting that Iran coverty worked on an A-bomb. If the Iraq War taught the U.S. anything, it was that it’s possible to get intel wrong. Even opponents of the Iraq War, like 69-year-old GOP front-runner real estate tycoon Donald Trump or Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) agree that the Iraq War was a disaster, especially because the intel of Saddam’s WMD proved wrong. You’d think that IAEA’s clearance of Iran’s bomb-making program also reminds the U.S., European Union and Israel that their intel about Iran’s nuke program was wrong. “As we close out this important chapter here today, we must remain mindful that we are not closing the agency’s ability to investigate potential concerns that arise,” said Henry Ensher, U.S. Chargé d’affairs in Vienna to the U.N’s IAEA.
After two years of tortuous investigations leading the July 14 P5+1 agreement, skeptics in the U.S. still can’t fathom that Iran had no significant military program. Had the Bush-43 White House listened to Blix in 2003, the Mideast would look a lot different today. While denied by most GOP candidates, especially 62-year-old presidential candidate Jeb Bush, Iraq would not have been flooded with Islamic extremists had Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein stayed in power. Toppling Saddam was a great victory for former President George W. Bush April, 10, 2003, but a nightmare for the rest of the Middle East—and the West. Saddam’s former Revolutionary Guards comprise the nucleus of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s [ISIS] military force. Toppling Saddam, as GOP candidate Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) pointed out last night, caused the chaos giving rise to ISIS and other Islamic terror groups.
Ending the Iran nuke probe, the IAEA confirmed that Iran has no credible military nuke program. U.S. and Israeli officials, just like Bush-43 officials before the Iraq War, guaranteed that Iran was dangerously close to an A-bomb. IEA Chief Yukiya Amano urged Iran to implement all IAEA recommendations to swiftly end U.N. and U.S. sanctions. Iran’s IAEA envoy, Reza Najafi, hoped all necessary compliance issues would be implemented “within two to three weeks, to accelerate implementation day as soon as possible,” referring to the end of U.N and U.S. sanctions. Iran’s lost nearly $200 billion on oil revenue over the last two years. Tehran can’t wait to get back in the market, despite the worldwide oil glut that’s driven prices under $35 a barrel. Ramping up production should continue to depress oil prices for sometime to come, unless China makes a sudden economic turnaround.
Clearing Iran’s military nuke program, the IAEA sends another loud message to the U.S. and Israel to stop getting its intel wrong. Before the historic July 14 P5+1 agreement, the U.S. and Israel warned Iran of possible air strikes to stop Iran’s “imminent” atomic bomb program. Clearing Iran today, the IAEA proved, once again, that it’s better to get the facts right than go to war. It wasn’t that long ago that Netanyahu spoke to a joint session of Congress March 3, putting Israel’s credibility on the line, opposing the P5+1 Iran nuke deal. Netanyahu insisted Iran was dangerously close to an A-bomb. Had Bush-43 heeded Blix in 2003, the Mideast—and whole world—would look different today. Before GOP presidential candidates and conservatives on Capitol Hill sling around more empty rhetoric, they should let the IAEA do their job to prevent another costly preemptive war.
