Hitting an Israeli tanker Mercer Street Oil in the Gulf of Oman today, Iran signaled that the new regime of 60-year-old Ebrahim Raisi will continue Iran’s aggression in the Persian Gulf, threatening international shippingthrough the strategic waterway where some 20% of the worlds oil flows. U.S. and Israeli intel officials confirmed that Iran was behind the attack, carrying on more intimidation and destruction in international waters. U.S. and Israeli officials have zero doubt that Iran was behind the attack that left two sailors dead. President Joe Biden, 78, and 58-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinker face tough choices with ongoing third-party negotiations in Geneva to reinstate the July 15, 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] AKA the “Iranian Nuke Deal.” Former President Donald Trump, 75, cancelled the JCPOA May 8, 2018, slapping Iran with draconic economic sanctions.
Biden used Trump’s cancellation of the JCPOA as a political foil, blaming Trump for setting Iran on a path to a nuclear bomb. In reality, the JCPOA did nothing to slow Iran’s uranium enrichment program because there was no provision for U.N. inspectors to verify Iran’s secret military enrichment facilities. Biden knew that Trump canceled the JCPOA because Iran would not stop its proxy war with Saudi Arabia and Israel, supplying ballistic missiles and predator drones to Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Hamas terrorists in Gaza. With 81-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei picking his successor with Raisi, Iran’s now on the warpath in the Persian Gulf and North Africa. Whatever talks in Geneva to cajole Iran back into the JCPOA, Ayatollah’s Mullah regime would never comply with any agreement with the P5+6, including the U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry responded to the U.S. and Israel charge that it hit Mercer Street tanker with a predator drone killing two sailors. Iran’s state TV said the Persian Nation would deal a “strong and crushing” blow to any nation trying to hold Iran accountable for its aggression. In case Biden hasn’t noticed, for whatever reason, he’s now commander-in-chief, no longer campaigning against Trump. Time to give Trump some credit for wise foreign policy decisions on Iran, Russia, China, North Korea and a host of other hot spots around the globe. Biden and Blinken must admit know that Trump was correct in isolating Iran for its proxy wars and aggression in the Persian Gulf. “There is no justification for this attack, which follows a pattern of attacks and other belligerent behavior,” Blinken said. During the 2020 campaign, Trump was demonized by Democrats and press, now he’s proving to be a genius.
Biden and Blinken must realize the U.S. national security is the top priority, not playing politics. When Biden asked 52-year-old Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to find out the origin of the deadly coronavirus May 26, it was the first sign that Biden was getting over the 2020 campaign. He demonized Trump for just about everything but now finds the former president was right when he tweeted April 30, 2020 that the deadly novel coronavirus was made in a Wuhan Institute of Virology lab, prompting Democrat and Media ridicule as a baseless conspiracy theory. Now the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC and other anti-Trump outlets are forced to stop playing politics and admit Trump was right about the virus and many other things. Instead of trying to placate Iran in Geneva, Biden and Blinker must deal with the biggest menace in the Middle East.
Blinken was blindsided by the latest Iranian aggression in the Gulf of Oman. “We are working with out partners to consider our next steps and consulting with governments inside the region and beyond on an appropriate response, which will be forthcoming.” Blinken said, very different from 56-year-old former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Blinker knows he’s been dealing with partners trying to reinstate the JCPOA, now realizing that Iran is not a trustworthy partner. “I say absolutely that Iran is the one that carried out the attack against the ship,” said Israel’s 49-year-old Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Biden and Blinken will find quickly that so-called global partners dither while decisive actions is necessary to preserve global peace. Waiting for the U.N. or EU to act is a tall order to fill. Trump showed he could act quickly as commander-in-chief without EU or U.N. approval.
Iran’s bluster and bravado now puts the reins into the hands of a known butcher who ordered mass executions of political prisoners in 1988. That’s the man the Ayatollah picked for a successor, no surprise there. But it tells Biden and Blinken that things have changed in Tehran, pursuing a more aggressive path to dominate the Mideast and North Africa. “Upon review of the available information, we are confident that Iran conducted this attack, which killed two innocent people, using one-way explosive UAVs, a lethal capability it is increasingly employing throughout the region,” a joint U.S.-U.K. statement. Whatever talks in Geneva about reinstating the JCPOA, they must be put on hold to deal to deal with more urgent matters regarding Iran’s unbridled aggression. “We have our ways of getting the message to Iran,” said Bennett, suggesting that Iran would hear from Israel soon.
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