The Patriot Post® · A Stupid Deal With Iran

Barack Obama once claimed his foreign policy was based on the principle, “Don’t do stupid s—.” Well, here is one of the most egregiously stupid ideas in recent memory: The U.S. is reportedly considering accepting a deal with Iran that would simply kick the can down the road by a decade or so, allowing Iran to continue its nuclear developments in the meantime and even allowing for reduced restrictions toward the end of the agreement period. (John Kerry, of course, denies the report.) Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken, displaying a keen mastery of the obvious, said any such deal would require highly intrusive inspections to verify Iran was meeting the deal’s terms. Perhaps fellow State Department deep thinker Marie Harf could explain to him that we are in this mess precisely because Iran has refused to live up to its previous intrusive inspection requirements under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. After 12 years of lying, cheating, hiding facilities, hindering inspectors, etc., now we’re supposed to believe Iran will agree to a new deal’s inspection terms? Despite all the technical arguments and political dynamics, the problem is a very simple one. Iran is obligated under the Non-Proliferation Treaty to give the International Atomic Energy Agency full, unrestricted access to inspect and verify Iran’s peaceful use of nuclear energy. Iran has refused to do so for more than a decade, openly dismissing the IAEA’s authority and even more openly mocking the UN’s ability to force Iran to comply. Pretending the previous 12 years never happened and accepting Iran’s word that this time it really, truly means it when it pledges to accept intrusive inspections is the very definition of “doing stupid s—.”