“If we cannot verify that they (Iranians) are not going to obtain nuclear weapons, that there is a breakout period so that even if they cheated we would be able to have enough time to take action – if we don’t have that kind of deal, then we’re not going to take it.”
The Islamic Republic of Iran signed on to the United Nations (UN) Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) on July 1, 1968, then on May 15, 1974, signed the NPT’s Safeguard Agreement with the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that allowed inspections for the purpose of verifying that nuclear enrichment is used for peaceful nuclear energy and not diverted to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. Since the advent of the Islamic Republic, the Iranians have repeatedly cheated despite inspections by the IAEA.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran, (NCRI) an exiled opposition group revealed on August 15, 2002 that Iran was building two secret nuclear sites. A uranium enrichment plant at Natanz and a heavy water production plant in Arak.
The IAEA found Iran in noncompliance with the NPT Safeguards Agreement on September 24, 2005, and decided to refer Tehran to the UN Security Council for further action. The decision followed Iran’s repeated failure to fully report its nuclear activities. Iran then announced that it will suspend its voluntary implementation of the additional Protocol that allowed more intrusive and sudden inspections. In January, 2006, Iran broke open internationally monitored seals at the Natanz enrichment facility, and on February 4th, 2006, the IAEA voted to report Iran to the UN Security Council for its non-compliance with its NPT Safeguard Agreement obligations.
An IAEA report on February 22, 2008, concluded that Iran had not fully answered the international community’s questions about its nuclear program and testing of new centrifuges technology for faster uranium enrichment. The report was based on intelligence acquired by the Bush administration, and pointed to Iranian efforts to weaponize nuclear materials. The data was extracted from a laptop smuggled out of Iran in 2004.
Iran’s president Ahmadinejad announced on February 12, 2010, that Iran had produced 20% enriched uranium, up from 3.5%, a move that signaled a major increase in Iran’s capabilities. On February 25, 2011, the IAEA reported that it found new information that suggested that Iran may have worked on nuclear weapons research. On September 2, 2011, an IAEA report found that Iran had not suspended its uranium enrichment, and was not cooperating with the IAEA.
Another IAEA report on November 8, 2011, claimed that Iran had continued nuclear weaponization work since 2003, and that Iran had a secret project to enrich uranium. It also indicated that there were 8,000 centrifuges installed at Natanz, 6,200 of which were operating. Iran claimed that the US had fabricated the evidence.
IAEA inspectors left Iran on February 21, 2012, after being denied access to the Parchin military base. Three days later, the IAEA reported that it found that Iran has significantly increased its uranium enrichment program, and expressed “serious concern” about potential military uses. The IAEA further reported (May 25, 2012) that inspectors found traces of uranium enrichment to 27% at Fordow, and concluded that Iran is “unable to provide credible assurances about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran, and therefore to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is for peaceful activities.”
Iran refused to allow inspectors to investigate nuclear and military facilities in spite of allegations that they carried out tests on atomic weapons triggers. In May, 2013, the IAEA reported that Iran installed advanced IR-2m centrifuges that could significantly upgrade its enrichment capabilities.
The information above has been discovered and made known to the public. The vast unknown machinations of the Iranian regime are still unknown, however. The Iranians are masters in the art of deception, better known as Taqiah. Conversely, western negotiators are too eager to conclude an agreement now. Success for them means a signed agreement, and future consequences are to be left to others.
The Iranians have no need to cheat. The “Sunset clause” in the impending agreement between the P5+1 and Iran allows them the freedom to acquire and spin as many centrifuges as they wish, or build as many nuclear bombs as possible after a 10 year period. For a nation like Iran, waiting for a decade is “a piece of cake.” Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post (February 26, 2015) explained: “President Obama had accepted the Iranian demand that any restriction on its program be time-limited. After which, the mullahs can crank up their nuclear program at will and produce as much enriched uranium as they want. Sanctions lifted. Restrictions gone. Nuclear development legitimized.”
If the “Sunset clause” was not bad enough, the leaked information on the agreement includes no restriction on Iran’s Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) program. The Iranians announced last month the successful testing of an ICBM. Americans must know moreover, that Iran does not need ICBM’s to hit Tel Aviv, Dubai, or Riyadh. The ICBM’s are intended for the US and its western allies.
President Obama failed to explain in the above-mentioned interview the free reign the Ayatollahs would have in the development of ICBM’s, and possibly carrying nuclear payloads. He also did not explain why Iran would have the right to enrich and spin thousands of centrifuges, and continue to construct the Arak plutonium reactor. All the while, Iran is stonewalling the IAEA on the existence of additional secret facilities that are developing nuclear weapons.
The president did mention in the interview his concern over unleashing a nuclear arms race in the most volatile region in the world. Yet, given the nature of what we know about the deal with Iran, it very well means an end to non-proliferation. After all, if a rogue nation like Iran (another rouge nation, North Korea already did just that) can defy the world by continuing to enrich uranium, and gets a ‘green light’ from the P5+1 to keep thousands of centrifuges, eventually, the unrestricted ability to enrich uranium will lead to a bomb. Other regional powers including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt will then seek protection by going nuclear as well.
At a NCRI Washington DC press conference late last month, Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy Director of NCRI’s Washington DC office declared, “There is no way in the world you can assure Tehran is not developing nuclear weapons if you cannot inspect those sites, especially if you are talking about a regime that has over two decades of a track record of lying and cheating and deceiving the whole world.” NCRI had just revealed the existence of a vast complex outside of Tehran called Lavizan-3, deeply buried underground facilities and tunnels with “radiation proof doors,” to prevent leaks that could be detected by the IAEA inspectors.
One wonders what kind of verification President Obama thinks he can get, when decades of IAEA “intrusive” inspections did not stop the mullahs. Sanctions may constrain the mullahs of Iran but won’t stop them from reaching the bomb. President Obama committed to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb, and when Iran cheats, as it has all along, will he go to war against Iran?
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