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May 4, 2018


HERITAGE FLORIDA JEWISH NEWS, MAY 4, 2018 PAGE 5A By David Gerstman the United States has the eco- Security Council authoriza- the Trump administration has Iran has tried to develop FoundationfortheDefenseof nomic power to isolate Iran. tion." In January of this year, targeted the Iranian regime nuclear weapons in the past Democracies, reported that There's a famous quote 2. "What is important is a UN experts panel found that "for its appalling mistreat- and no matter what's written Iran had helped build Syria's attributed to Henry Wotton for the Europeans to bring Iran had violated a UN arms mentofitscitizens, including on a piece of paper (that Iran chemical weapons program. that "An ambassador is an theUnitedStatesintocompli- embargoontheHouthirebels those imprisoned solely for never signed), Iran can be Earlier thisyear, he reported honest gentleman sent to lie ance because Iran has been in Yemen. Though the panel exercising their right to free- expectedto dosointhe future, that German parts that had abroad for the good of his in compliance with the deal." was focused on a different dom of people assembly and 5. "Our judiciary is anbeen sold to Iran were used country." The fact is that Iran has not resolutiongoverningthecon- for censoring its own people independent organ." in Syrian chemical weapons If one takes this aphorism beenin compliance with the flictinYemen, thetermsofUN as they stand up in protest Thisanswerwasgivenwith attacks. to heart, it is not limited to deal. And it is by standards Security Council Resolution against their government." respect to the five Americans In addition only Syria, ambassadors, but to anyone that Zarif himself set out in 2231 are quite clear. In addition, the United States currently being held in Ira- which has a known stockpile in a nation's foreign policy 2015, that Iran can be seen Iran doesn't consider its under Trump has targeted nian prisons. Zarif's claim is of sarin, is likely to have used establishment, as violatingthedeal. Iranhas violations of UN Security Iran with sanctions for its bogus. ThreeAmerican hikers that toxic gas for attacks. Iran's Foreign Minister refusedtoallowInternational Resolutions to be significant. "ballisticmissileprogramand whohadbeenarrestedin2009 Furthermore, onlytheSyrian Mohammad Javad Zarif, who AtomicEnergyAgency(IAEA) InAugust 2015, SeyedAbbas destabilizing activities." werefreedaftertheOmanpaid regime, nottherebels, hasthe is not an honest gentleman, inspectors to enter military Araghchi, oneofIran'snuclear In another egregious lie, $1.5 million in bail to Iran. helicopters, whicharecapable has taken the art of lying for sites, so we don't really have negotiators and currently Zarif, in a talk at the Council Washington Post reporter of dropping barrel bombs his country to a new level, a complete picture of Iranian a deputy foreign minister, on Foreign Relations on Mon- Jason Rezaian was convicted filled with chlorine. He brazenly lies about easily compliance or non-compli- said, "JCPOA is attached to day said that"since President of espionage in October 2015 It's clear who has been verifiable facts. He claims ance with the deal. the resolution; its violation Trump came to office, not a but was released along with behind the chemical attacks that his nation that is cur- InCongressionaltestimony breachestheresolution;while singlelicensehasbeenissued, four other Americans inand there are strong indica- rentlyexportingitsrevolution last year, former weapons violation of the resolution not a single OFAC license, in January2016,aftertheUnited tions that, despite Zarif's in- across the Middle East is the inspector and head of the is not a breach of JCPOA." 16months."Infact, theUnited States released $1.7 billion in dignation, Iran helped Assad unfair victim of the United Institute for Science and In- (Iranian President Hassan State Treasury Department frozen Iranian assets as part build his chemical weapons States.AndheclaimsthatIran ternationalSecurity, DavidAl- Rouhani has made similar last month issued two OFAC of the nuclear deal. capacity. has never sought a nuclear bright, saidthattheIAEAhad comments. It appears that licenses to enable regular Ira- This money did not go to 7. "Israel has continued its weapon, never judged Iran to be fully Araghci's comment isn't the nians to access the Internet. the judiciary, it went to the violations with international Zarif'sserialdishonestywas compliant with the deal. He careless comment of a rogue 4. "We never wanted to regime. The judiciary targets law." ondisplaythisweekendwhen criticizedtheagencyforalack bureaucrat, but actual gov- produce a bomb." the hostages and puts them Thisstatementwasmadein he appeared on the CBS news of transparency in reporting ernment policy.) Later on Zarif reiterated through an opaque process, response to a question about show, "Face the Nation," and onIranianviolations.Albright Aside from the dubious this, saying, "Iran commits which leaves no room for ap- whether Iran's establish- answered the questions asked described the violations as logic, a party that intends to itself never to develop a peal, only payment for one's ment of bases in Syria was a by the show's moderator, "flirting with violations in keep its side of an agreement nuclear weapon." freedom. Or to put it in cruder provocation. Zarif deflected Margaret Brennan. several areas." These areas would not make a statement In fact, a 2007 National terms: ransom, the question by speaking of We donot meanthat Zarif include its development of like this. Essentially, Iran Intelligence Estimate as- 6. "Who used the chemical Israeli incursions into Syria. engaged in only seven decep- advanced centrifuges, twice has declared that it will only sessed that Iran had sought weapons?" In additiontopreventingIran, tions, but these appeared to exceeding its limits on heavy observethepartsoftheagree- to develop a nuclear weapon Zarif got self-righteous whose leaders threaten Israel's be the most egregious, water, suspiciousnuclearpro- ment that itagrees to. unti12003.TheIAEA, in2015, when he was asked why existence, from establishing I. "Well, first of all it will curementefforts, andseeking In order to believe, as Zarif priortoimplementationofthe Iran hadn't asked Bashar al- bases in neighboring Syria, lead to U.S. isolation in the to exceedthe allowable cap on asserted, that Iran is in com- nuclear deal in January 2016, Assad to stop using chemical Israel also has struck in Syria internationalcommunity." low enriched uranium, pliance with the nuclear deal, determined that Iran was at- weapons. He launched into to prevent Iran from giving This was Zarif's answer to In addition, Iran has con- requiresamassivesuspension tempting to design a nuclear a sermon about how IranHezbollah "game-changing" what the "unpleasant" con- tinued to develop ballistic of disbelief, weapon at least until 2009. opposes all use of chemical weapons. (It is thought that sequences would be to the missiles United Nations3. "Well, note President Iran also failed to answer all weapons because it was the one of the strikes was to keep United States forwithdrawing Security Council Resolution Trump has made it very clear of the questions asked of it victimofchemicalweaponsat illicitchemicalweaponsfrom fromthenucleardeal.Howev- 2231, which implemented the that it is trying to dissuade about its nuclear program thehandsofSaddamHussein, the Lebanese terror group.) er, assanctionsexpertRichard nuclear deal, explicitly called our economic partners from by the IAEA prompting The According to the U.S. De- But Zarif's self-righteous- Goldberg explained in Febru- on Iran to stop it. The United engagingwithlranandthat's New York Times to observe, partmentofDefense, Irannot ness here is misplaced. Iran ary, the nature of sanctions States, aswellasitsEuropean a clear violation of the deal." "Iran's refusal to cooperate only has a chemical weapons is forbidden from sending law would now mean that if allies, the United Kingdom, The United States was ob- on central points could set a program, but actually used arms to Hezbollah by UN the U.S. were to re-impose France, and Germany, all ligated to lift nuclear-related dangerous precedent as the the proscribed weapons in Security Council Resolution its toughest sanctions and considerthelaunchofasatel- sanctions on Iran due to the UnitedNationsagencytriesto 1987 against Iraqi troops. 1701. In the absence of any secondary sanctions, "banks lite last year to be a violation deal, but is free to impose convinceothercountrieswith German intelligence reported enforcement mechanism, around the world would im- of 2231. other sanctions targeting nuclear technology that they that Iran sought chemical Israel is forced to defend itself mediately be at risk of losing As Albright noted, Iranhas Iran's support for terror, must fully answer queries to weapon technology in 2015. from Iran's serial violations of theircorrespondentaccounts alsoviolated the provisions of destabilizingactions, andhu- determineiftheyhaveasecret A year ago, Benjamin Wein- in the United States." 2231governing"conventional man right abuses. President weapons program." thal, a research fellow at the Zarifon page 15A So if sanctions of any weapons sales and transfers Donald Trump has, until kind--nuclear or ballistic and against making procure- now, renewedthewaiversthat missile-related areimposed, ments for its military and allows the United States sanc- missile programs without UN tions to remain lifted. Still, @ By Ron Prosor (Israel Hayom)--The five days it took the U.S. adminis- tration to respond to a chemi- cal attack in Syria were vital in order to on one hand con- solidate a diplomatic coalition with two other U.N. Security Council member states and on the other hand define the military targets that would send a clear message the use of chemical weapons crosses a red line, while not serving to undermine the foundations of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, and as a result, change the rules of the game with Russia. From a military perspec- tive, the Americans did not need the British and the French to carry out the attack. But the cooperation between the three countries lent the airstrikes political legitimacy, including at the U.N. Security Council. The attack also sent anoth- er important message--and that is that in the year 2018 and in a world of competing narratives, facts still matter. Assad used chemical weap- ons against his own people last week, and it was not for the first time. Period. End of story. The odd claims by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lav- rov that the chemical attack on Doumawas"fabricated" by a foreign intelligence agency, along with Russia's sweeping denials that it was behind the poisoning of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England, are indicative of a deeper phenom- enon the world's democracies will need to address in future conflicts. U.S. President Donald Trump's actions are an echo of the words attrib- uted to the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, according to which: "You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time." While the U.S. airstrikes may well be behind us, the Syrian front continues to heat up. Israel must continue to carefully navigate this front, working to prevent Iran from establishing itself militarily on the northern border. It must also avoid pushing the limits so much that the Rus- sians position advanced S-300 or S-400 missile batteries in Syria, leaving Israel with little room to maneuver either there or in Lebanon. My greatest fear is that the U.S. airstrikes will be the final act in America's involvement in Syria. U.S. military action must not conclude with a limited tactical victory; that would only result in a long- term strategic loss for the United States. The United States must maintain and increase its presence in Syria in order to stand up to Russia and stand with its allies, including Israel, Saudi Arabia and the other Persian Gulf nations that real- ize that America's presence in Syria can prevent a Russian and Iranian takeover of the country. This is not just in Israel's interest, but in the interest of the Middle East and the entire world. Ron Prosor is head of the Abba Eban Chair of International Diplomacy at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and Israel's former ambassador to the United Nations. THE NATALIE PORTMAN AFFAIR