Iran must still be stopped; the treaty makes the military option inevitable. Daesh is a strategic ally of Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Submitted by MIchael S (United States), Aug 8, 2015 at 16:16

Hi, David

All I can make out from the tweets you cite, is that there is a politically-charged controversy about the Iran-G 5 +1 "deal".

At times such as these, it's good to put away the tweets and whistles, and just consider what we've known all along.

• Iran is a large oil exporter, and is not in need of nuclear energy for domestic purposes.
• Iran has been a strident enemy of both the United States and Israel since 1979, having a record of numerous attacks on both (primarily through its Hizbullah proxy).
• Iran's nuclear program includes enrichment of uranium to weapons grade, and it has been acquiring and developing technology to enable it to deliver nuclear weapons to Israel and beyond
• Iran has a solid record of cheating on its commitments to the Nuclear Nonproliferation treaty, and has been caught multiple times in the act of lying to the IAEC.

All of the above indicates that Iran has been pursuing a nuclear weapon program to be used against the US and Israel; making it imperative for those countries that Iran's production capabilities be neutralized. The recently agreed-upon accords go nowhere near doing this, making a military strike against Iran the only viable option. That strike, moreover, must now come from Turkey, Israel or Saudi Arabia -- it will no longer be under US control.

As for Daesh, it's a minor actor in regional politics. Without Daesh: Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel would all be confronted with a solid bloc of countries controlled by Iran and its proxies; so Daesh clearly is fighting in the interests of all three. By supporting Iran, the US is therefore working against the interests of all three; and our war against Daesh is in line with this policy. The Americans have strong allies in this effort, namely Russia and China, both of them allies of Iran and opponents of Daesh.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".