On the eve of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the United Nations General assembly focusing on the Iranian threat, The Wall Street Journal described Washington as failing to maintain its position regarding Tehran’s nuclear program.
An in-house opinion piece (via Google) from the WSJ suggested “Tehran holds firm while the U.S. keeps making nuclear concessions.”
… nuclear negotiations have gone nowhere after nearly a year—and after President Obama made a point of quashing a Congressional effort to revive sanctions if Iran fails to negotiate in good faith. Harder to explain is why the Administration is now seeking ever more creative ways to give the mullahs what they want.
The paper concedes the U.S. administration has other things on its mind such as the rise of ISIS and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions in Europe. However, it warns
…permitting Iran to get to the edge of nuclear capability would be the worst setback to U.S. and world security so far in the Obama era, which is saying something. Members of both parties on Capitol Hill need to start speaking up about the Administration’s dangerous concessions to Iran’s rules.
On the other hand, The New York Times published an editorial over the weekend making clear it apportions the blame for the lack of a nuclear deal on Iran.
…so far there has been no real sign of movement, much less a breakthrough, despite negotiations among Secretary of State John Kerry; Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif; and Catherine Ashton, the European negotiator. The fault lies mainly with Iran.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also continues to believe Iran is foot-dragging at best. In its most recent report, the IAEA pointed out that Tehran repeatedly failed to implement agreed-to practical measures to address its past nuclear research.
As far as Israel is concerned foot-dragging is the least of the worries for the West. Jerusalem maintains Iran is still heading towards a nuclear bomb. As Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman put it on September 28:
Iran must not be allowed to continue to pursue its nuclear program which is threatening the small measure of stability that still remains in the Middle East.
[Photo: U.S. State Department / Wiki Commons]