Winston Churchill (some say it was Abba Eban) said, “Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing…after they have exhausted all other possibilities.” It is believed Churchill said or at the very least felt this way prior to the United States entering the Second World War.
It has been reported that the Biden administration is planning to make a so-called “mini-deal” with Iran, which will pay Iran in the tens of billions of dollars instead of President Obama’s JCPOA of 2015 that paid Iran 150 billion dollars. The latest deal, which Israeli officials call “imminent,” would attempt to freeze Iran’s enrichment of Uranium at 60%. As a sign that Israeli concerns are warranted, the United States issued a waiver last week allowing Iraq to pay 2.76 billion dollars in oil debts to Iran. Iran is also expecting seven billion dollars from South Korea for oil purchases.
Iran is not to be trusted. They learned from North Korea how to dupe and deceive the United States at every turn. The Iranians used the $150 billion given to them by President Obama to arm Hamas and Hezbollah to the teeth, send tens of thousands of troops to Syria, targeting American soldiers, sending thousands of drones and other equipment to help Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, and to increase its terrorist activities worldwide. It has also placed million-dollar bounties on a number of Americans, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former National Security Adviser John Bolton.
North Korea played this game even during President George W. Bush’s administration, ultimately producing multiple nuclear bombs and Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles that could be armed with nuclear warheads. It certainly feels like “Deja vu all over again.” Why the United States allowed North Korea to obtain nuclear weapons has never been explained to me by any American official. The world became very unsafe when this happened. Iran is trying to do exactly the same thing. The State Department’s spokesman, Matt Miller said, “Our Number One policy is ensuring that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon, so of course we’ve been watching Iran’s nuclear enrichment activities.” This is pure bluster. The only difference between what happened in North Korea and what seems to be happening in Iran is that Israel stands in the way. The only real deterrent is the threat that Israel will wipe out the Iranian nuclear reactors. When I spoke to now Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in 2019, he told me that Israel could “do the job” in two days. It may be somewhat harder now because Iran has continued to develop its nuclear program at a rapid pace with ever deeper and better-protected facilities. In May 2023, Defense Minister Gallant said, “If Iran enriches to the 90% weaponized level, it would be a great error and the price would be heavy.”
A military strike could have been averted had America capitalized on the Iranian Protest Movement after the murder by Iranian Police of Mahsa Amini and brought about regime change. Instead of taking advantage of the situation, the United States allowed a grand opportunity pass through its fingers. The protest movement was ruthlessly and barbarically squashed by Iran’s Ayatollahs. Making a deal with the Iranians now puts a nail on the coffin of the protesters. This so called “mini-deal” is a maximum mistake. The Biden administration should think twice before agreeing to this.
Joseph M. Frager is a physician and lifelong activist.
