The whole thing is theatre.
There are the simple and inexorable facts, that Iran had halted its military uranium enrichment program in 2003, a fact long observed by both the IAEA and CIA. There has been nothing but agreement on that fact with two National Security Estimates, the first from 2007. From the New York Times, December 3, 2007:
‘A new assessment by American intelligence agencies made public Monday concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains on hold, contradicting an assessment two years ago that Tehran was working inexorably toward building a bomb.
The report seems likely to weaken international support for tougher sanctions against Iran and raise new questions about the credibility of the beleaguered American intelligence agencies, while reshaping the final year of the Bush administration, which has made halting Iran’s nuclear program a cornerstone of its foreign policy.
The assessment, a National Intelligence Estimate that represents the consensus view of all 16 American spy agencies, states that Tehran is most likely keeping its options open with respect to building a weapon, but that intelligence agencies “do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons.”’
What we have to understand is that there had been no subsequent report from anywhere, not the CIA, not the IAEA, nothing at all indicating that anything contained in the original 2007 report was wrong, quite to the contrary.
Every piece of evidence presented since then not only backed up this report but indicated increasing openness on the part of Iran to disclose more aspects of a nuclear program that had already been under a very high level of inspection for some time.
What does this mean about the current agreement? Well, for sure there are domestic political issues in the United States. The agreement with Iran to save the world from a nuclear attack by a nation with no nuclear program and no nuclear weapons is certainly quite an accomplishment, right up there with the American and British cleansing of Iraq of their non-existent weapons of mass destruction.
Obama can now ride into the sunset having saved the world from weapons that never existed and for killing Osama bin Laden, long exposed as a prime CIA asset who actually died in 2001 after unsuccessful treatments for kidney disease at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland, according to highest level sources.
What is the real aftermath likely to look like? First of all, if you are a hotel owner in Tehran, the already heavy influx of western business executives, Israeli’s included, that have taken Tehran by storm, will be dwarfed by what is to come.
You see, not only will sanctions open the door to oil trading, and in the process collapse world oil and gas markets, unless of course those markets have been rigged all along, but Iran has had assets frozen around the world. Billions will flow into Iran, money long owed to Iran. Being a friend of Iran will become much like being a friend of Saudi Arabia.
Toward this end, ISIS and those standing behind that organization, nominally Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Turkey, can expect major reverses.
The upcoming S300 air defense deliveries, putting Russia’s prestigious reputation behind securing Iran from Israeli and Saudi attack, should quell what have always been empty threats. Soon, Iran will have the air force it has not possessed since the days of the Shah.
With both Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states buying in on the F 35 or continuing to upgrade their F 15s, an export version of the Sukhoi T50, even “detuned,” would outperform anything in the region, a plane with range capable of dominating the region. Would Iran put an air umbrella or enforce a no fly zone over Yemen?
Another place to look is Hezbollah. Most experts agree that, were Turkey and Qatar, operating out of Hatay, to have secured a more durable foothold for their al Qaeda forces in Syria and were Saudi efforts to mount an offensive in both Bekaa, Lebanon and the Qalamoun –Zabadani region north of Damascus, Israel would have moved into Lebanon in attempt to avenge their 2006 defeat at the hands of Hezbollah.
With Hezbollah off terrorist lists and Iran capable of even more robust financial support for their chief ally, a number of steps can and likely will be taken that will alter the balance of power in the region. It has always been considered a major security risk for Israel were Hezbollah to have a robust air defense system. There is little question now that this will become a reality and that Israeli attempts to curtail installation of this purely defensive capability will be futile.
This will change everything, ending forever Israel’s “Nile to the Euphrates” dream of a “borderless state.”
Since that first report, back in 2007, 8 years have passed. With the potential power base of BRICs taking on Iran as a full partner and the Silk Road projects increasing economic focus on Iran, the Caspian Basin and the Caucasus regions, an inexorable power shift toward not just Tehran but the region as a whole is well in the works.
This will leave the next looming question the fate of the Kurdish people and how long Turkey as we know it, can continue to exist.
Gordon Duff is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War that has worked on veterans and POW issues for decades and consulted with governments challenged by security issues. He’s a senior editor and chairman of the board of Veterans Today, especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.
