Complicating 78-year-old Joe Biden’s diplomacy with Iran, Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz reported today the Israeli ship MV Helios Ray was struck with two explosions tearing two holes in the hull in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s 81-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khaemnei has promised to retaliate against Israel for the targeted remote-controlled machine gun assassination Nov. 30, 2020 of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakrizadeh. Biden’s working on rejoining the July 15, 2015 P5+1 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA], a nuclear agreement designed to slow Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. Former 74-year-old President Donald Trump cancelled the former President Barack Obama’s Iranian Nuke Deal May 8, 2018, citing Iran’s proxy wars with Saudi Arabia and Israel. Trump said the Iranian Nuke Deal gave Iran resources to wage proxy wars in the Middle East and North Africa.
Since Biden took office, he’s been engaged in reversing all of Trump’s domestic and foreign policy accomplishments, regardless of whether it harms U.S. national security. Everything Trump did must be reversed by Biden’s domestic and foreign policy team. Biden accused Trump, like the rest of the Democrat Party, of colluding with Russia, a baseless claim made off of Hillary’s discredited opposition research AKA “the Steele Dossier,” a compendium of lies accusing Trump of having ties to the Kremlin. Biden said he won’t “roll over” for Russian President Vladimir Putin, something he accused Trump of doing. But instead of using common sense, Biden has made foreign policy a way to discredit Trump, regardless of how it harms U.S. national security. Threatening to sanction the Kremlin for the sentence of dissident Alexi Navalny, Biden turns back the clock on U.S.-Russian relations.
When former President Barack Obama entered into the JCPOA, it was over the objections of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu warned a joint session of Congress March 3, 2015 that Iran could not be trusted to enter into any nuclear agreement since it was unwilling to allow verification by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA]. Obama entered the JCPOA anyway July 15, 2015, forcing Trump to eventually back out of the deal. Biden’s already committing the same mistakes as Obama, putting a U.N.-approved agreement over Israel’s national security. Attempting to blow up an Israeli ship proves that Iran can’t be trusted in any nuclear agreement. “Iran is looking to hit Israeli infrastructure and Israeli citizens,” Benny Gantz told public broadcaster Kan. “The location of the ship in relative close proximity to Iran raisea the notion, the assessment, that it is the Iranians,”
When Biden considers rejoining the JCPOA, it must be with more at stake than joining an international agreement to score points at the U.N. or European Union [EU]. “Right now, at an initial assessment level, given the proximity and the context—that is my assessment,” Gantz said. Iran limpet mined two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz June 13, 2019, something Tehran denies, like other mischievous activities. Explosions in the hull of the Tel Aviv-owned supply ship shows the same damage as other Revolutionary Guard limpet-mined ships in the Gulf. Iran has its beef with Israel over its endless cat-and-mouse attacks on Israeli targets. While it’s true Israel most likely assassinated nuclear scientist Fakrizadeh, it’s also true that the Ayatollah has threatened to wipe Israel off the map for years. When Biden considers rejoining the JCPOA, it must be for more than global PR.
Fighting too many battles at once, Biden needs to stop making extra trouble for himself picking fights with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Putin and Bin Salman would be helpful in managing a growing Iranian nuclear threat, especially with the Ayatollah giving the green light to Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. While Iran denies that it has military applications to its nuke program, all indications point otherwise. Iran bought advance centrifuge technology from Pakistan’s A.Q. Khan, spinning uranium to eventual weapons grade material. If Biden really wants to contain Iran’s feverish path to an A-bomb, he needs not end current sanctions that forces Iran to make concessions. Once he ends Trump’s sanctions, Iran will have a clear path to a nuclear device. Today’s developments in Israel speak volumes about Iran.
When Defense Department officials weigh what happened in the Gulf with the Israeli supply ship, it’s obvious that Iran’s the culprit. As long a Iran continues its proxy wars in Saudi Arabia and Israel, Biden should resist calls to rejoin the JCPOA. Only recently, Iran cancelled any further involvement of IAEA inspections of Iran’s secret nuclear enrichment sites. Without verification, any agreement with Iran is worthless, knowing that Iran cannot be trusted to curtail uranium enrichment activity. If Biden moves ahead to sanction MBS for the Oct. 2, 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the U.S. won’t have Saudi Arabia as a hedge against Iran’s state-sponsored terrorism. Netanyahu can warn Biden about Iran’s deceit over its nuclear program but unless the U.S. sees things differently, history will repeat itself. Placating Iran has only increased threat to Israel and the Persian Gulf.
