Barack Obama has rushed to the United Nations to get the six Security Council resolutions against Iran (2006-2010), four of which contain sanctions provisions, rescinded before Congress reviews the Iran deal.
Why?
He rushed to the UN because the July 14 Iran-deal violates those UN resolutions. It allows Tehran to do any number of things that have been expressly forbidden. As the administration proceeds with the Congressional review, the opponents could justifiably argue that the deal was in violation of a whole spate of UN resolutions. This in addition to the IAEA’s failure, since 2003, to certify that Iran has been in compliance with any part of any of them.
Obama’s dealing with Iran made plain that for him the deal supersedes the UN resolutions in importance, significance, and efficacy. But It is apparently not enough for Obama to obtain the UN rescinding of all six resolutions; his minions have been told to say that the deal is consonant with the UN resolutions anyway. For example,
UN Security Council Resolution 1929 (June 9, 2010) says:
“It shall review Iran’s actions in light of the report” and: (a) “it shall suspend the implementation of measures if Iran suspends all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, as verified by the IAEA,” (b) “it shall terminate the [sanction] measures” as soon as it determines” that Iran has fully complied with its obligations under the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and met the requirements of the IAEA Board of Governors.”
But according to the IAEA May 29, 2015, report, “Iran is conducting a number of activities which are in contravention of its obligations to suspend all enrichment related activities and heavy water related projects.”
On July 14, Secretary of State John Kerry assured reporters in Vienna, “United Nations Resolution 1929 says specifically that if Iran comes to negotiate – not even get a deal – but comes to negotiate, sanctions would be lifted.”
This is patently false: the resolution says no such thing. While with Kerry this could be another display of incompetence, this is an outright lie aimed at garnering support for the administration’s deal with Iran. It fits well with the spin the administration has put on the value of the Iran deal.
As soon as the six resolutions are rescinded, the administration will argue that this is the will of the the P5+1 and, therewith, the entire international community. Not surprisingly, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman has already said that the administration “was under pressure from the other six countries involved in the talks – the so called P5+1 – to go to the U.N. sooner rather than later.”
Asking the UN Security Council to rescind the sanctions, Obama not only put the international community ahead of the United States, but also blunted the impact of a probable Congressional rejection of the Iran deal.
Moreover, by taking away the international prohibitions and sanctions on Iran, there is little point in anything in what Congress does. And it’s actually worse than that: he’s making Congress’s wishes utterly irrelevant.
Obama, like any politician, likes to get his way. But in his dealing with Iran, Obama has been behaving much like Ayatollah Khamenei, who, when calling “Death to America” and Death to Israel” – says he represents the will of the people. Obama sidelining the representatives of the American people, rushing to the UN proclaiming, yet again, that he knows what’s good for them and all humanity proves otherwise.
After the signing of the deal, Khamenei announced in a rally in Tehran, “You heard ‘Death to Israel’, ‘Death to the US.’ You could hear it. The whole nation was shaken by these slogans. It wasn’t only confined to Tehran. The whole of the nation, you could hear, that was covered by this great movement. So we ask Almighty God to accept these prayers by the people of Iran.” Asked to comment, Obama attempted unsuccessfully to dismiss the Supreme Leader’s statement, saying: “It does not give me pause that Mr. Assad or others in Tehran may be trying to spin the deal in a way that they think is favorable to what their constituencies want to hear. That’s what politicians do.”
* This article was also published by the Algemeiner, on July 22, under the title: After Iran Deal, Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize is Even More Ludicrous