(The Hill) Gabriel Scheinmann - The nuclear deal will do for Iran what the chemical weapons deal did for Syria. By making Iran indispensible to its own nuclear limitation, Iran has fulfilled its original nuclear objectives: the West's acquiescence - and even facilitation - of its regional hegemonic ambitions. In return for temporary enrichment restraints, the deal fuels Iran's conventional capabilities and greases Iran's path to power. Much like the Soviet bomb ensured Moscow's control over half of Europe, an Iranian bomb would remodel the Persian Gulf and its littoral sheikhdoms into Iranian tributaries, facilitating energy and transit shakedowns. Furthermore, an Iranian bomb would turbo-charge the Persian subversion of Gulf States through their Shiite populations, and embolden its existing proxies. Like the Syria deal, the Administration will be powerless to punish Iranian aggression, for it would doom Iranian nuclear compliance. Unlike the Syrian deal, no element of Iran's nuclear infrastructure will be dismantled and all substantive restrictions are time-limited. The writer is director of policy at the Jewish Policy Center.
2015-08-18 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive