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July 22, 2015
Where's the Coverage? Under Nuke Deal, US and West to Protect Iran from Israel
There has certainly been media coverage of the nuclear deal struck by the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China (P5+1) with Iran. The Obama administration has been saturating the airwaves and news pages with proponents of the deal including the President himself. Opponents of the deal have also appeared in the press and many elements of the deal have been publicized widely in the media.
However, one provision of the deal has received scant coverage. Blogs, specialized media outlets, the Israeli and some Jewish press have reported on a troubling section of the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA) that commits the signatories to help protect Iran from sabotage of its nuclear facilities. But the popular press has not widely covered this troubling element of the deal.
Arutz Sheva reports on Article 10 of the agreement:
In the deal the world powers obligate to "co-operation in the form of training courses and workshops to strengthen Iran's ability to prevent, protect and respond to nuclear security threats to nuclear facilities and systems as well as to enable effective and sustainable nuclear security and physical protection systems."Leaving no doubts about the intentions, the text then promises "co-operation through training and workshops to strengthen Iran’s ability to protect against, and respond to nuclear security threats, including sabotage."
Reports are that these clauses were not present in the interim JPOA signed in April. This was apparently a last minute concession to Iran.
Since the United States and its Western allies are signatories to this agreement, the “protection�? and “response�? would not be to any action undertaken by them. The same can be said for China and Russia who would be unlikely to sabotage Iran anyway. Therefore, the “nuclear security threats, including sabotage�? must refer to potential actions by Israel, believed to be party to previous acts of sabotage against Iran’s nuclear program.
In other words, the United States will be protecting Iran, whose leaders frequently chant “Death to America,�? from Israel, frequently described as “America’s best friend in the region.�?
This is extremely significant. And yet… Where’s the coverage?
Posted by SC at July 22, 2015 12:36 PM
Comments
Does this obligation on the part of P5+1 render the agreement a treaty, requiring an affirmative 2/3 vote?
Posted by: Mark Fishman at July 23, 2015 10:53 AM
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