Monthly Archives: October 2013

Ali Khamenei, Iran, nuclear Iran, U.S. Congress, US Foreign Policy

Mission Accomplished? the Ayatollah and the American Election Cycles……

      

 Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter      


“We support the movement in government’s diplomacy, including the New
York visit, since we hold trust in the … government and we are
optimistic about it, but some of what happened in the New York visit
were not proper because we believe the US administration is
untrustworthy, conceited, illogical and unfaithful to its pledges,” Ayatollah Khamenei said………”

Khamenei seems here to be eager for a nuclear deal, but he seems to be warning his people of the pitfalls of high expectations. Or perhaps he is also warning the American side of the pitfalls of declaring: “Mission Accomplished“.
No doubt Khamenei has been following the Iran “debate” in the United States. No doubt he knows that it is controlled by long-term forces as well as by short-term election cycles. No doubt he, a speaker and reader of at least three languages, is aware of the current U.S. election cycle of 2014 and how it overlaps the next election cycle of 2016. No doubt he knows there is a very narrow window for diplomacy in the middle of this continuous election posturing and white noise. No doubt he is aware of the jingoist strain in the U.S. Congress that has been revived in recent years. No doubt he has serious doubts and misgivings about the chances of a deal that is acceptable to “all” sides, and I mean “all” sides including those not present at the table.
On the other hand, most American leaders and politicians feel the same way, even worse, about their Iranian counterparts. A small world, no?


Cheers
mhg

[email protected]

Iran, nuclear Iran, U.S. Congress, US Foreign Policy

US Congress and Iran: Is it Only the Nuclear Issue? Sanctions and Flags……..

      

 Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter      

“However, the vast network of overlapping US sanctions, which have built up over three decades, cannot be easily unpicked by the Obama administration without the support of both houses of Congress. “If – and it is a big ‘if’ – the president needs to use an easing of sanctions to provide incentive to the Iranians, or to acknowledge a gesture on their part, our feeling is: it will be very difficult for the administration to deliver that,” one senior European diplomat said. Hawks in the House of Representatives in particular are in no mood to compromise. Two months ago, with bipartisan support, the House passed a bill to tighten the economic noose on Iran. The Guardian has obtained a copy of a second draft bill that goes further: approving the use of military force to deter Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The bill states that the US would be “wholly capable, willing and ready to use military force to prevent Iran from obtaining or developing a nuclear weapons capability” ……………”

It is also clear that both sides, in Tehran and Washington, have more than their fair share of crazies disguised as old-fashioned hawks. Right now the American crazies in Congress are making much more hostile noise and serious harm than their Iranian counterparts, mainly on behalf of their Likud allies in Israel. But there will be some fireworks in Tehran as well.
I have some strong doubts if many of the crazies in the US Congress would be content with a nuclear deal with Iran. I suspect, nay I know, that many of them want something beyond that complex nuclear deal, something that is probably not do-able.

On the other hand, the Iranian conservatives have their own extremist wackos who stupidly chant after every Friday prayers “Marg Bar Amrika = Death to America” and some of them occasionally desecrate Old Glory (no, they don’t call it that). They have been doing it for so many years, one would think it is second nature to the more extremists among the mullahs and their followers. Something I know most of their people disagree with.

Cheers
mhg

[email protected]