Now you know why former Secretary of State Tillerson called Trump a moron.
3
I can’t necessary defend the motives of the Administration since EVERYTHING Trump does is suspect BUT whatever can be done to force the evil ayatollahs from power is a good thing and I support it 100%. Now if only we’d apply the same pressure on the Saudi dictators...
6
It’s getting so that I don’t want to go to sleep at night in fear of what news I might hear when I wake up the next morning. Right now, a U.S. carrier strike group is steaming towards Middle East waters and B52s are winging their way to the region. The Trump administration wants to flex some military muscle after their claim that they have learned of a threat against U.S. forces in the area. Does anyone doubt that Trump is capable of starting a shooting war if things get too hot for him in D.C.? I don’t. He has the monumental gall to believe that he can start something and then contain it. That’s kind of like getting someone a little bit pregnant. It doesn’t work like that. Do Pentagon officials really believe that is true? What happens if the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln suffers an attack similar or worse than the U.S.S. Cole? How would the nation respond if the carrier or one of its escorts is heavily damaged and American lives are lost? That would be almost impossible to contain and the arrival of the B52s on station would assure an escalation. At that point any thoughts of collusion would give way to far bigger problems. I will just put my head down on my pillow tonight and hope that Trump is not as crazy as I suspect he is.
2
How did the Democrats respond to Representative Omar?
1
Iran is an ancient place with an ancient history and an ancient culture and ancient accumulation of history. Rather than shouting at them, how about meeting them halfway and just listening to the their experience and views and attempting to understand.
trump may get us in another unnecessary war just to keep us distracted, he is that low.
4
Has there been any discussion by the Times or anyone about the game plan after the 15 year moratorium on Iran's nuclear ambition expires? Meanwhile, has Iran reduced its ambition to establish a world-wide caliphate? It's terrorism throughout the middle-east and the world belies that hope. So what are all you who support the nuclear deal counting on? That you'll get away with passing off a nuclear armed Iran to your children?
I generally despise Trump for his ignorance and dishonesty and I doubt he'd actually do what's necessary but that regime has had to go for a long time.
2
@Richard..."Has there been any discussion by the Times or anyone about the game plan after the 15 year moratorium on Iran's nuclear ambition expires?".....The thing is with the original nuclear agreement in place after 15 years you would be no worse off then you are right now. Sort of like having cancer and and declining to have it treated because the treatment will only effect 15 years of remission. There is a reason why Secretary of State Tillerson called Trump a moron.
2
If the US and Israel lead the world into war, then both will have to accept the consequences; condemnation at the United Nations, official sanctions and/or BDS movement, isolation, abandonment of the US banking system for world trade, a rise in anti-semitism, and increased danger to all US and Israeli citizens abroad.
This will be the legacies of Trump and Netanyahu.
8
It would be a shame, and shameful for the American global capitalist Empire, if the ending scene of “House of Sand and Fog” was to be repeated in the bombing of millions of Iranian children.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Sand_and_Fog_(film)
2
Remember George W. Bush's invasion of Irak under false pretenses ( non-existent WMD)? Well, now we see this Trump/Bolton/Pompeo pretense in seeking unilateral military confrontation to punish Iran's expansionist push in the Middle East (against our European Allies, never consulted on the matter)...while Iran was preserving the nuclear deal intact....until Trump's stupid unilateral withdrawal from the deal escalated tensions. Can't we see a whiff of hypocrisy here, since these United States are in moral debt with Iran since 1953, when the CIA deposed Iran's legitimate president, and placed it's puppet, the Shah, so to control the flow of oil? That that's why Iran cannot fully trust us? But then again, Trump is fully ignorant of history, full of dangerous bravado that may lead, for lack of basic diplomacy, to a fabricated war, with awful consequences. Has he forgotten how he criticized past presidents for seeking interference in other nation's internal affairs?
2
Iran has tried diplomacy; diplomacy has failed. The Zionists and American imperialists will accept nothing less than the complete and total eradication of Persian civilization. There is only one thing that make the Imperialists balk, and that is to speak to them in their own language. Iran needs nuclear weapons to defend Persian civilization against the aggressive settler colony entities, anathema to the indigenous and civilized people of the world. America cannot be reasoned with. Only nuclear weapons can ensure the safety and security of Persian civilization against this menace.
3
It is all right for the US to unilaterally pull out of the deal --- obviously at the behest of Israel, but not so for Iran. It is perfectly fine for Israel to possess an estimated 400 nuclear warheads. It is not fine for Iran to pursue her nuclear ambitions. Terrorism? Can there be worse blatantly terrorist nations than the US and Israel? The US alone have killed more innocents post-WWII in unprovoked, illegal wars of aggression than the rest of the world combined.
6
@Kwelinyingi I feel the designation of the US central command as a terrorist organization by Iran is far more appropriate and justified than the designation of the Iranian national guard.
4
With a "distinguished" resume as a billion dollar plus loser in the business world, now this Fake President is in charge of complex and consequential foreign policy for a leading nation of 330,000,000 people. The idiot has truly taken over the asylum. What could possibly go wrong.
3
While the administration would deny this, the question to ask is is Iran walking away BECAUSE of the US's actions, or despite it?
This is a difficult scenario with no right answer (and maybe no wrong one either.) Playing tough plays into Iran's hands of the US being the Great Satan and another war (or equivalent, and without Allies.) Play it soft and we get no respect and the Right wing/Republicans cry "weakness"
They're playing right into Bolton's hands. He wants to bomb them so bad and is looking for any excuse. Terrorizing people in the Middle East is what the U.S. does oh-so-well.
4
@Cindy America is an aggressive empire that will be content with nothing less than the total annihilation of Persian civilization. The Persians are well within their rights to do any and all necessary to preserve their ancient and beautiful civilization against the settler colonist savages who know nothing but war and barbarism.
2
Trump is setting the stage for a faux war or military scuffle with anyone. Just to save his skin in a re-election. It won’t work. We’re on to his and his cabinet’s PR stunts at the expense of human life.
2
Unfortunately the rest of the world is smarter than Trump.
1
Does anyone really think Iran was ever in compliance?
2
@Mark Shyres......It is hard to believe that there are so many people who are so totally uninformed about what is required to process nuclear material. Hello, It is not something you can hide in your basement. Hello, It leaves trace residues that are hard to get rid of. When you have on site inspections; yes, you can be sure about compliance.
1
The madmen in all parts of the world are going mad again.
Donald Trump - making the world safer through nuclear proliferation.
i would vote for Rouhani over the rogue Trump any day. so much smarter, diplomatic and capable.
7
Sure the Iraq War cost us $5 trillion dollars, the lives of thousands of US soldiers, the arms, legs, etc. of thousand more, the lives of ~150,000 innocent Iraqi men, women, and children, and it created a power vacuum that gave birth to ISIS, but, look what we got in return - George W. Bush got to feel like a real man. A "tough guy" in a flight suit.
And, if you can find a Republican who even remembers the Iraq War, they will tell you that "Benghazi was a thousand times worse then anything that happened there!"
So, with all the "winning" that occurred in Iraq, it's no wonder the GOP is ready to do it all over again in Iran.
3
“At some point, even the mullahs will get it.” Oh they get it all right. The problem is John Bolton and Trump don't.
5
The proper Democratic response should be to reinstitute the draft. No more college exemptions. No bore spur exemptions. Everyone in a democracy has to equally share the burden of electing war mongers to high office. Then this will stop immediately.
1
It’s clear that both the Trump administration and Israel want a war with Iran, and are doing everything they can to provoke it. It’s time for the USA to stop supporting Israel, and to deal fairly with Iran. Iran has done everything to live up the their part of the nuclear deal negotiated during the Obama administration. Israel is the big problem in the MIddle East, not Iran.
5
Well now it comes to light how irresponsible and damaging Trump’s attacks on all agreements made by Obama on the international stage are. The Iran deal was flawed (it was a deal not a surrender) but it did provide some certainty for a number of years. You cannot isolate and sanction a country and it’s trade partners forever without expecting repercussions.
But maybe that’s what he wants (although I don’t think he ever looks past the next bacon double cheeseburger).
Really, another war? Just to save himself? Hundreds, probably thousands will die. Arms companies will make billions.
Just to get re-elected and wait out the statute of limitations?
Shameless- an enemy of all things peaceful and progressive
3
I’ve been watching for indicia of an effort to throw tons and tons of money at defense department contractors . What a surprise! An escalated war “over there” could, yes, fatten the rewards for arms manufacturers. Such a deal!’
1
Should the US go to war, this potential crime against humanity, jawboned by the lunatic Bolton and aided and abetted by Pompeo and Mattis, should result in these three neo-con traitors brought up in the Hague and hung as war criminals.
We have already destroyed a large swath of Syria and haven't defeated the radical terrorists, ISIS, that we helped fund and create. We've turned Libya into a disaster of major proportions. We've left Iraq struggling as an ongoing cluster. Afghanistan is still the graveyard of empires - and we are still there.
And what are we threatening to go to war over? The same reason we are trying to oust Maduro in Venezuela. The same reason we have branded Cuba as part of the Troika of Evil - according to Bolton. Oil - that little three letter word that Dick Cheney drooled over…"Our oil, under their sand."
In the case of Cuba, their oil lies offshore. Venezuela has either the largest reserves of oil in the world or darn close to it. And Iran isn't far behind. And neither of these three countries will lick our boots, bow and scrape to the US oil corporations, and kowtow to our never-ending demands. So we create sanctions, lie about their governments, enact crippling economic policies to destroy them, try to overthrow their leaders with a US-backed and funded coup - and all the while harm millions of innocent people in the process.
None of these three countries pose a threat to us. And remember, neither did Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya nor Syria.
2
Very complex situation here-.I think it is a step into a way ?of thinking? by trump and the irrational mega hawk bolton to start a war with Iran. For a character like trump who gets his news from Fox and Frauds--and does not read breeding books, ignores input from people really in the know, and pays attention to super hawks and other assorted vastly under informed right wing characters-Like mr. Info Wars.
Do any intelligent people expect a good out come here??
I DO NOT. This is the wrong way to deal with Iran's bad exploits!!
1
So, our utterly deranged and isolated President may just get what he and his Bolton devoutly have fomented, their own private conflagration on behalf of Benjamin Netanyahu. This insanity would be the first purely partisan bloodshed since the American Civil War, which it will catastrophically resemble. I hope the Republicans this time never see office again.
3
There is nothing wrong with the Iran deal....It was put in place by persons much smarter than the trump cabal. Bolton an extreme war hawk, loves to invade countries and do regime change. Iran is a strong and rich country. They have one of the largest land armies in the world. The people are well educated. It would be a disaster to think you could put sanctions on them and they would change their government. trump & bolton are aching for a war...along with Pompeo. This is extremely dangerous. Another sign of this corrupt administration, unqualified and uninformed.
3
Why doesn't your report explain that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been vigorously pushing the U.S. toward attacking Iran for years, even though there is no evidence that Teheran in 2019 is any threat to American interests?
5
Seems like the Evil Empire is gearing up for another illegal, fabricated, fraudulent war in the Middle East. The Divided States can't even masquerade Its' intentions; It just essentially announces IOt is going to start a war, for which It will fabricate a fraudulent excuse, as IT did in Iraq and as It did in Viet Nam. But the masses in the Divided States are still very well fed and will certainly do little if anything to protest the Governments' potential atrocities.The whole scenario has just become "the usual business" of the Divided States on the global stage and frankly, it's pretty disgusting.
4
Follow the money. Who is buying war materiel? Future thank-yous from defense department contractors?
2
Now that the NYT has explained Trump's definition of smart business, I.e. lose so much money that no taxes are due, and besides it other people's money, thereby being the biggest loser in IRS history, it would be absurd to follow along with his notorious "gut" theory of international relations.
5
Trump et al. are busily recruiting for terrorists.
Destroy people's neighborhoods, and they will become your enemies.
We are also encouraging Saudi Arabia in its genocide in Yemen.
There are no good answers, but there are terrible ones, and Trump et al. have found most of them.
Making America small, mean, violent, and dangerous.
11
After World War II the U.S. and Great Britain forced the abdication of Reza Shah, who went into exile in South Africa. His son, Mohammad Reza Shah was placed on the throne.
In 1953 the CIA overthrew the democratically elected government of Iran under Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq, which threatened Mohammad Reza Shah, who went into exile. The CIA restored him to power.
In 1979 Iranians, having overthrown the Shah once more, were afraid that the United States would stage another coup and this fear precipitated the 444 day hostage crisis.
The united States signed the Algiers Accords to settle the hostage crisis, in which the United States pledged never to interfere with Iran's internal politics again.
Now John Bolton. Mike Pompeo, and the chicken hawks want to topple Iran's government once again, violating the Algiers Accords, and continuing a pattern where the U.S. swoops in and tries to topple the Iranian regime. Bolton seems to prefer the Mujaheddin-e Khalq (MEK) a terrorist organization that favors Marxist rule, and which is despised by the Iranian people.
Is it any wonder the Iranians are upset and alarmed? The United States has been doing this for 70 years. When will it stop?
We are on the brink of a stupid, needless war. We cannot let this happen. This is not a partisan matter.
14
There should be no war. War is non-productive, destructive and who wants to kill Iranians, not me. Neither do I wish to see them attempt to kill our service members.
Continue the sanctions on Iran. Sanctions work. No bombs.
2
why exactly do you want to sanction them, what have they done?
3
Does Trump have any children or grandchildren in uniform who will have to put their lives at risk to fight a war against Iran? Does Bolton? The Vice president? Any one of the cabinet members? Any Senators or Representatives? Any Supreme court justices?
Or do all their entire families suffer from a mysterious epidemic of bone spurs?
People who volunteer for military service in this day and age are fools. They put their lives in the hands of people who are unfit to even polish the shoes of true patriots, those who are willing to die for their country.
9
Everyone in Congress seems silent. Why?
6
Because sanctions have worked so well in Cuba...
3
Thanks to Pompeo, Bolton, and Trump (and McConnell et al.) the world is a more dangerous place today. Iran has observed considerable restraint, but the US seems eager to start a war, preferably nuclear.
Wisdom and knowledge, what's that?
6
Hey Pompeo, doesn't seem ambiguous to me. And if the US is sanctioning them, and is going to issue new sanctions, even if Iran continues the 2015 deal, why shouldn't they renege on as much of the deal as they want?
1
This is on Trump and his followers. Their complaint about Obama's agreement that Iran not refine uranium was a bogus one. The fact that the agreement did not contain everything and the kitchen sink did not negate the fact that Iran was not refining uranium according to international observers. Trump pulled out of the treaty because he is less than smart and edicated to rolling back everything Obama did. Now Iran threatens to again refine uranium and Trump gets to shake his fist and mover his carriers to prevent Iran from being a bad actor. The US may take decades to undo all the harm this president has brought upon us.
4
This is what Republicans and especially the B team has been wanting all this time. Its a shame that after the catastrophic Iraq war based on lies the US public is so intellectually challenged so as to not to understand another lies driven war. If this war breaks out it will make Iraq look like a walk in the Park, and the end will be out of US control. The current administration has wreaked untold damage to the diplomatic progress that was made under previous administration and is slowly bringing the world to another misery caused by untold destruction and carnage caused by ruining another Middle Eastern country. No wonder they hate US, but then again our low high school standards have rendered us paralyzed to understand international affairs, world history and geography. Unfortunately we cant get H1B's to fix this aspect.
3
Breaking the agreement was not a Trump´s good decision. He should have tried to modify it. Although it was not optimal, the agreement was used in Iran to modify part of its economic structure. Iran is the largest Islamic state and bring economic welfare to a large part of the Muslim Shiites was good.
In 2012 Ahmadinejad (he has not my sympathy) gave a great speech at the UN and among other things spoke of the arrival of Iman Mahdi, who would come with Jesus, to advise the world how to get out of the current stalemate. That moment, is close, very close. This being, is the Maitreya Buddha of the Buddhists, the Christ of the Christians, the Messiah of the Jews and the Iman Mahdi of the Muslims, all religions expect an avatar, which is part of the planetary spiritual hierarchy.
This moment is transcendental in the human history:
http://nuevaeconomiaycompartir.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/la-ayuda-de-maitreya-esta-muy-cerca.html
http://nuevaeconomiaycompartir.blogspot.com.ar/2014/02/el-reagrupamiento-del-pensamiento.html
World have many problems, but they have a solution: “Share the resources”: http://nuevaeconomiaycompartir.blogspot.com.ar/2016/03/resumen-del-blog-el-desafio-de-crear-un.html
Bolton has been desperate for a war to show the world what a great bully we are and Iran is ideal target for him especially with an ignorant president obsessed with his tough guy image hiding an insecure little boy inside.
8
A war provides trump with cover it’s that simple.
This is the work of dump and Bolton-the war monger. Obama tried to negotiate in good faith and out of sheer spite, dump blew and agreement up and has put troops in harm's way for lack of diplomacy by this administration.
7
AGAIN, the 'Weapons of Mass Distraction" are at work. For personal greed, fear of fraud charges, Trump + saber-rattlers-in-chief Pompeo + Bolton risk the safety of a whole region and of our own soldiers.
Remember Iraq?
Remember Sarajevo?
You are playing with fire + PUSHING Iran into war!
Of course Trump does not read history, how could wr expect him to learn from it.
8
@msf
Great points and just to add to Trump not reading history, Trump does not read period.
2
So Mr. Hunt,
what kind of consequences do you plan against the US, as they were the one that broke the deal...
Can someone explain how an openly terrorist state US, can be dealt with as if it were a bona fide party? Iran is saying, we are abiding by our side of the deal with regard to uranium enrichment, the US says let us spread terrorism all over the world like in Venezuela, Irak, Syria, Libya, Yemen as the latest one...
6
Don’t let us go to war with Iran, please, NYTimes. Redeem yourselves after the Iraq debacle. Provide context and push back the Bolton/Netanyahu/MBS axis. You absolutely must.
It scares the daylights out of me that we just might do it. We might attack the nation of Iran for no apparent reason other than to satisfy the belligerent states of Saudi Arabia, its gulf allies and Israel.
Why are we out to destroy Iran? Haven’t we done enough harm to its people, supporting Saddam as he blasted them with chemical weapons, ousting their first democratically elected leader Mossadegh in the service of BP, installing the brutal Shah in his place, sanctioning them even as they complied with all agreements, even while easing sanctions on nuclear armed, hostile North Korea, and looking the other way as their nuclear scientists were systematically assassinated.
There is a thriving Jewish community in Tehran, with a seat in parliament, and a major synagogue that just underwent state sponsored renovations. Women are doctors and lawyers and judges. Their society is technologically advanced, young and vibrant, and their youth loves America. Can we let them live, please?
14
So, major sanctions against Venezuela, and now Iran - both big oil producers. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia can fill in the gap for oil clients of those two countries, lining the pockets of the Saudi gov't.
Trump & Kushner are also huge Saudi fans, for various reasons (one of which is $$$). Coincidence?
11
Iran would last maybe 3-4 days against the US military.
Iraq would last maybe 3-4 days against the US military, too.
‘Course, that worked out great.
5
@Dr. John
And then what? Mass suffering, civilian deprivation, and a refugee crisis that makes Syria pale in comparison. All for what?
7
The price of that is you living in a third World country that thinks of itself as an advanced, civilized country. I would take no student loans, universal healthcare and High speed rail any day.
We should cut Iran some slack.
We should rejoin the international nuclear agreement with Iran.
We should impeach Trump if he attacks Iran.
12
When did they ever comply?
@Jackson
They have been in complete compliance from day one. Much to the dismay of our resident warmongers who were hoping they’d cheat.
7
The US has invaded, bombed, drone attacked, and conducted coups and covert operations in countless nations since the end of the Second World War. Iran is one of the nations which suffered a CIA instigated coup not so long ago. Iran in that same period of time, has fought exactly one war of national defense when it was invaded by Saddam Hussein, with the backing of the US and Saudi Arabia. Iran has also provided military, political and financial aid to governments and political movements with whom they sympathize, which is something all governments, including the US does routinely.
In spite of the out of control invading and indiscriminate world wide bombing conducted by the US military, there is one red line it has never dared to cross. That is to directly attack a nuclear armed adversary. The US military has never done that, not even once. So any country, including Iran, that has an adversarial relationship with the US government should follow the successful example set by North Korea and make the acquisition of nuclear weapons it's number one priority. After all, prosperity is worthless without security. And history proves that that the biggest threat to security and world peace is the US government.
13
@A Cynic
Sadly there is no more cogent geopolitical strategy than what you outlined. We leave the world no choice.
3
Is this the beginning of Trump's Iran War? Will this be a full military conflict with Iran by 2020 much as W. Bush's Iraq War in 2004 which caused many foolish Americans to vote for W's second 4 year term because they didn't want to "change presidents in the middle of a war". If Iran doesn't work, maybe Venezuela will do!
2
Iran has a choice and so does the USA. I consider the policies of the USA and UK to be those of bullies: do as we say or else!
Iran has its natural resource and what US wants is to control Iran's natural resources as an imperialist power, just like Brits did when they physically took control of countries. US is doing this by threat of destroying Iran.
Frankly, I think it would be in Iran's interest to build nuclear weapons and build them FAST. Israelis have them, and Iranians should also have them for mutually assured destruction. The first thing Iranians need to do, in case of any US attack, is to bombard Israel out of existence, and let the Israelis use a nuclear weapon on Tehran.
This bullying by the Americans has to stop. Iranians have never been aggressive towards the US. That attack on the US embassy was long in the making. Why did the US install that Shah? Why were US companies pillaging the Iranian national oil company? Most folks here would not know that but my roommate at a US university worked at the world's largest refining complex in Abadan, Iran prior to its destruction in that Iran/Iraq war that was supported by the USA.
I can only hope that the Iranians have the weaponry to fend off and really bloody the American noses if they attack Iran.
6
Trump needs a war with Iran to win the next election.
To back out of an agreement agreed to by previous President should be enough justification to impeach Trump for misuse of his authority.
3
No one in the world with any sense of decency would side with the US in its fanatic aggression against Iran - then bullying Europe India, China so they can’t make their choices to encourage a peaceful path for Iran. The US history of mercantilist meddling and barely veiled greed - Afghanistan, Vietnam, Korea, Libya, Cuba, Nicaragua etc etc is a litany of shame. It always surprises me that Americans who are such a fundamentally decent and fair and friendly people elect a political class this immoral.
5
Why should Iran comply with the deal? The US refuses to.
7
The destroyer. Unlike North Korea, a working nuclear arms deal scrapped leading the world back on the road to who knows where. And who will want to deal with the US is treaties mean nothing? Like TPP, NATO, Syria, and our own belief in ourselves, we stand in appalled disbelief as our undoing unfolds before our eyes. Pardoning thugs, "political correctness" standing in the way of cheating. Where dies it end?
In ten years we'll look around and wonder what happened.
2
Trump, the draft dodger, has been angling for war with Iran since the day he came in office.
I can't say I blame Iran for halting its compliance with this deal. If the deal's basic premise was we give up nukes program for sanctions relief, and the sanctions are back on, why would the Iranians continue with their end of the deal?
As to Iranian support of militias and Syria's government, this is true, but the Saudis do ten times worse. So why is the hostility limited to Iran? In what way are they worse than the thoroughly corrupt Saudis? I will tell you the way. Because they are not as corrupt and cannot be bought off as easily as the Saudi government.
I think the Iranians best hope now is to sprint towards developing a nuclear weapon. If they do, they will succeed or there will be war, and whichever happens, the fault will be on these neocons. War with Iran will not be easy. Iraq was a slog. Iran will be that much harder of a slog.
2
This administration has not explained to the American public why such a war is necessary or inevitable, when the evidence is to the contrary. By all accounts, Iran was complying with the JCPOA, despite the US reneging on it. The US has declared economic war against Iran and is now trying to start an actual hot war. It is hardly surprising that Iran is taking measures to prepare itself. It knows what is coming. Complete and utter chaos, just like Iraq. The same cast of characters behind that ill-fated decision is now in charge again in Washington.
Saudi Arabian citizens conducted actual terrorist operations on US soil, killing thousands of Americans, yet we did not declare war on them. To the contrary, we declared war on a country that had nothing to do with it, Iraq, another country that supposedly had a nuclear program. It was as if President Roosevelt had declared war on Mexico after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.
Any intelligence coming out of Israel is immediately suspect. Netanyahu is itching to draw us into conflict with Iran. Netanyahu testified before Congress about Iraq and encouraged us to go into that war. Where was the vaunted Israeli intelligence on the absence of Iraq's nuclear weapons program? For that matter, where was Israeli intelligence before 911, or on the location of bin Laden. Nowhere, completely silent and unhelpful.
Once again, America's chickenhawks, encouraged by Israel, are leading the way to more needless American deaths.
6
If Iran builds a Nuclear Bomb it is not breaking any law. It has as much right to build one as the U.S does and which the U.S has never and will never agree to stop making and stockpiling.
What's good for the goose must be for the gander. America can't break all the rules and take others to task for them doing exactly what the U.S does.
6
Gee, who could have predicted that a nation that had been complying with an agreement would get resentful and feel compliance wasn't too important after the biggest party on the other side unilaterally broke the deal?
9
What this is about is Iran trying to exert its influence and cut a much better deal for itself. Rouhani is making all sorts of noises about pulling out of what's left of the nuclear deal, and the Europeans don't want that, they'll kowtow to Iran. Trump pulled out of the deal but he'll do whatever feeds his ego, and I think that is to create another deal -- whether or not it is even different or better for the U.S. -- just so he can claim it's a Trump deal. Nobody is well-served by fighting, not Iran, who doesn't need to spend the money nor have any more pressure on its country. They bluster but in the end will come up with some deal that grants Iran more concessions while Trump claims he's been "tough on them."
The problem with being bilateral is nobody else is. Iran isn't being punished in a vacuum: its strengthening its bonds to China, Europe, and Russia.
3
Trump had a much better idea for a deal than the “disaster” that the Obama Administration came up with. WAR! (Potentially Nuclear) WAR!
Rex Tillerson had it right early on. The President is a moron.
16
War mongering fits right in with his 2020 bid -- historically, Americans haven't switched presidential horses (other than because of term limits) during a war, and certainly not at the beginning of a war. It might also turn into a ploy for trump and his enablers to make a bid not for endless war, but for an endless trump "presidency" (dictatorship) by suspending or eradicating term limits or instituting martial law.
Sounds crazy, but so did a trump presidency.
1
Iran’s timing couldn't be worse for noncompliance. Trump will be looking for any excuse he can to knock his name out of the news. Knocking out Iran over that would certainly do that.
@John Doe The "noncompliance" is coerced. The latest sanctions prevent Iran from shipping out excess nuclear materials as they otherwise would have ad the JCPOA still been in effect. Would would you suggest they do?
1
The US is becoming isolated. US blackmailing all countries for not doing their bidding is making countries join together to defend themselves from US aggression.
13
Exactly. People just will wait their time to ambush the bully. Fed up of this.
3
America controls world finances so it’s likely that Iran cannot save the deal. Trump and people who have ideas that the will to power is all that is necessary to have what they want think that if they ignore all other considerations but exerting power, they can never suffer bad results. Bolton is a typical representative of this mentality. It works most times but eventually it leads to big destructive wars that destroy small and great nations the same. Remember, no great imperial power survived the first and second World Wars. All their power produced the world losses in history.
@Casual Observer - They might not save the deal but remember, it was reached in the first place because it had the active participation of Russia, China, England, France and Germany. They were all on-board with the sanctions back then.
Now we have our guy who unilaterally pulled out of a deal that Iran had been complying with. We've got him surrounding himself with the likes of Bolton as you point out, and Pompeo. And recently he cancelled waivers that were allowing some of these nations buy oil from Iran (as the agreement permits).
So he's telling China to start buying more expensive oil, while at the same time threatening them with complete tariffs? And he wants our European allies to damage their own economies out of his personal pique?
We were the great imperial power the last few years. Trump's throwing that out with his charming ways.
1
I wonder if part of the administration "thinking" on this matter is what role Israel will play. I believe the Israelis will attack any installations they believe are being used to produce or even threaten to produce a nuclear weapon.
4
In the US Constitution "Congress has the power to ..........regulate commerce ...."
From this I would understand that it is the US Congress that decides on punishing foreign banks that do business with Iran.
I would further understand that this decision is greatly influenced by the pro-Israel lobby via its members contributions to the campaign funds of Congresspersons.
Ergo I suspect that the decision to threaten the foreign banks was largely made in Israel. The will of the American people is nowhere to be seen.
5
Iran is absolutely right to suspend the sale of surplus enriched uranium and heavy water of the JCPOA deal that Iran was fully adhering to if the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China refuse to fulfill their commitments under the deal because of the US pressure and blackmail.
Now, isn’t it ironic that Trump reneged on the deal because of the pressure from Netanyahu and the pro-Israel lawmakers and lobbyists despite the fact that the US had consulted with Netanyahu and Israel before signing it. In this context, Haaretz of Israel reported that in July of 2015, U.S. Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman told Israeli reporters that, “Israel influenced significant parts of the nuclear agreement inked with Iran,”
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-influenced-much-of-the-iran-nuke-deal-says-chief-u-s-negotiator-1.5306314
Finally, in 2013, former US Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that “Deception is a part of (Iranians’) DNA.”
Iran has shown to the world that it is the other way around.
5
Kicking the can down the road, that's exactly what the deal is about. Iran is Hezbollah. In Siria, Lebanon, Gaza, Irak, Venezuela etc., Iran is gaining influence. Now the ayatollahs are complaining that the lifting of the sanctions has not afforded them the financial means to increase and improve their terrorist activities as much as they want to.
They want the Europeans to compensate for the losses that they are incurring because of the US sanctions. Can someone explain how an openly terrorist state can be dealt with as if it were a bona fide party? Iran is saying, we are abiding by our side of the deal with regard to uranium enrichment but you have to abide by your side and let us spread terrorism all over the world. Appeasement did not work with Hitler and won't work with Iran. The solution has to come from inside Iran and strengthening Iran's economy works against that solution. Across the board economic sanctions and topical Israeli bombings will achieve more over five years than a bad deal that will result in a nuclear war in the span of two presidential mandates.
10
@Pol Well said. Iran has been at war with us since 1979 and it is high time we recognize that fact....
4
@Pol.... "Can someone explain how an openly terrorist state can be dealt with"...And the definition of an openly terrorist state is anyone the trump so designates, or can you provide some information that relates to how anything Iran has done that impacts a U.S. vital interest?
8
@Pol
Do you realize the arrogance and ignorance required to declare that the Iran Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is a "bad deal"?
The deal was negotiated over 5 years by professionals from 5 + 1 countries (the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany). And yet, the ignorant in the White House, who most likely has not even read the agreement and has no idea of its consequences, has the gall to pull out?
Sad and dangerous times we live under this fake president.
15
With a nuclear-armed Israel slavering over the possibility of either attacking Iran or convincing the US or Saudi Arabia to do so; with the vicious Saudi eager to attack the "Shia infidels" or to prod the US and or Israel to do so; with the US on the verge of assisting the Saudis to acquire nukes of their own; and with the US pressuring the world to join in crushing the Iranian economy . . .
Why would the Iranians *not* take the most hardline defensive posture possible? I would.
7
@Douglas
The Saudis are not eager to attack anyone, trust me. Their military is a joke. They could not even win a fight against the Houtis in Yemen, who are basically a bunch of illiterate tribesmen with AK 47s driving around in pickups. That is why they want American soldiers to do the fighting and dying for them.
It is amazing that America is going out of its way to antagonize Iran and put its soldiers in harms way for the sole purpose of supporting the nation of Osama bin Laden. The Saudis invented, promoted, bankrolled and exported Wahabism, Jihadism and Islamic extremism world wide. Iran is a more logical ally for America against Islamic terrorism than is Saudi Arabia. Iran probably contributed more towards the defeat of ISIS than America did.
2
Iran presents no real danger to the US but it is a great danger to Israel, and we get much of our intelligence concerning Iran from Israel. This is a recipe for disaster for the US.
7
@Hubert Nash...Iran does not represent a threat to Israel because they have no interest in Israel. You need to start by recognizing that the Shia and Sunni have been at war for 1300 year over who should control Islam. Now the Sunni are represented by the Saudis (you remember, the sponsors of Al Qaeda, Isis, the Taliban, and the murderers of Khashoggi). And the Shia are represented by Iran. And the only reason we are backing the Saudis is because Trump and is family have business interests there.
2
@Hubert Nash
Iranian leaders routinely lead chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel". What people in the west fail to realize is that these are not threats or calls for attacks. They are merely expressing a fond wish, which they have no intention of doing anything to realize. This is merely the Iranian version of being politically correct.
Yet another successful outcome for Trump’s Iran policy. Not.
8
It all started with Bush calling for a "Crusade" and proclaiming "you're either with us or against us".
3
@Greg...If that were really the case we would have invaded Saudi Arabia because it is the Sunnis and Saudi oil money that has funded Al Qaeda, Isis, and the Taliban. Iran is Shia. They hate the Sunni more than they hate us.
2
@W.A. Spitzer
They invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. Saudi Arabia was Bush family friends, therefore untouchable.
1
So. from the headline, you have certain knowledge that Iran was complying with these parts of the Nuclear Deal, based on the completely trustworthy (Death to America) Mr. Rouhani? Naïve doesn't begin to describe this level of gullibility.
1
@Lightspeed51
Iran has been pretty open and fully compliant with external, international inspectors. That's what the inspectors say.
Do you have evidence of Iran's non-compliance? Or that the inspectors have been misled? Or is it that you just wish that pesky Iran is at fault and thus, US aggression is justified?
Apart from the fact that you dislike Iran, do you have anything else?
I'm remembering all those WMDs that Saddam had, contrary to the findings of the inspectors.
5
Trump, the immorally bankrupt failed business man, liar, tax cheat, who tore up the Iran Nuclear agreement, in spite of the fact that our own military leaders and closest allies thought it was a good deterrent and way to keep an eye on Iranian nuclear activities, is doing exactly what he has planned all along: a war with Iran to distract Americans from his criminal activities and failure as a president! Make no mistake, if the congress doesn't stop this mad man, he and his war mongering puppet John Bolton are going to ignite WWIII. This is no joke. The Iranians have nuclear materials and if attacked, they will use them. We are back to Bush/Cheney and the threat of another 911!! The GOP can not afford to make peace-- war is what keeps them in power, in control. Create a crisis then tell everyone, "I told you so."
78
Anyone look at Iran on the map? Iraq and Syria are flat and easy to go in and out of by land or air. See how difficult it has been to have our way in those places. Iran is not flat, it’s mountainous and everything is spread out in not easy to access places. Getting into a war there is a guaranteed quagmire and decades long endeavor with no hope of a simple resolution.
Trump and Bolton are not being reasonable. Israel is not going to fight Iran in Iran. As numb to reality as is Netanyahu, he knows that that would be a step too far for Israel.
10
@sunburst68 They have what they said they did not have and were not working towards? Please explain how THAT happens without lying and cheating. Iran NEVER allowed unfettered access to monitor all of its facilities. Iran has vowed to destroy America. How many times do you have to hear it before you believe it?
We can deal with Iran now or we can deal with them later once they HAVE warheads (I believe they have untested versions built already or possibly tested them in North Korea which has been an ally through the process). Which would you prefer? Remember that the Iranian religious leadership BELIEVES that the end of days is close at hand and that THEY have been chosen to bring it about and will be rewarded for doing so.
@sunburst68
The paper quotes "Military leaders" who, historically. are correct about half the time at best, if not worst. For ever military projection, plan, battle, war victory, there are military leaders who get it right, lucky , or just close enough. (however one may define victory) . And leaders on the opposite side who did not. Most U.S. military leaders were sure that Japan would not invade Pearl Harbor (ironically, U.S. intelligence got it right). The Germans missed the major locations of the D-Day landings. Ike missed the German build up leading to the Battle of the Bulge. The German military leaders thought they would be in Moscow and Stalingrad in four weeks after invasion, leading the surrender of Russia. How many American military leaders claimed we were "winning hearts and minds" and the war in Viet Nam? Does anyone remember any major U.S. military leaders claiming we were not "winning" (whatever "winning" meant we still don't know).All this is a classic overstatement and elementary simplification of complex history, but I hope you get my point. By the way, there are many military leaders who saw that a Nuclear Deal" that did not allow inspections at Iranian Military Instillations was no deal at all. Our political leaders thought and acted otherwise. One might also note that historically the military and political leaders are often at odds. Remember how many military leaders overthrew their leaders. Some found success, some died trying.
Nothing could possibly go wrong by starting a shooting war with Iran, right? And Donnie's lapdogs in Congress will do nothing to stop him. The Republican Party has become a major threat to civilization.
10
@Jiles Trout
Sadly, the Democrats in Congress will likely do nothing to stop Trump either. Look at how many voted for the Iraq war, including Clinton. A pox on both their houses.
1
Remember Tom Lehrer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIoBrob3bjI
1
It's saddening to know that it is the religious extremists that are leading us into war; evangelical christians, zionist jews, and radical muslims. I thought religion had a different purpose.
10
We are ready to cancel all agreement!!!
2
As if Iran ever ‘complied’ to begin with. Not to mention the entire agreement is set to expire in a few years anyway.
What a deal...NOT!
2
@Michal.... The verification of compliance that involves on the ground monitoring of the production of nuclear material is pretty simple. And the very worst thing that could happen when the deal expires is that we would then be right where we are now. The people who have expressed opposition to the agreement are operating with a hidden agenda.
2
The US is actively engaged in economic warfare against Iran. Iran's move makes sense. To get European powers to repudiate Trump. This is one of the most disastrous and dangerous powers that Trump possesses, the US dominance of the world banking system. Countries, such as Italy, have given lucrative up business arrangements with Iran to satisfy Trump's threat of sanctions. As much as I did not support H. Clinton's candidacy in 2016 this is a place where Trump's crazy provocative actions could lead to disaster. This to keep in step with PM Netanyahu and Prince Mohamed's desire for the US to attack Iran.
4
Judging by the comments in the article China & Russia will not side with us, and neither will the rest of the world. Other than Israel & Saudi Arabia they will all line up against us.
5
Iran never intended to comply in the first place. Why should this a surprise? Its better the USA is out of it. By the way Iran should pay back the ransom Obama paid the nation to cut the deal. What a joke. That's why Donald J. Trump is the President of the United States, to make America great again, a great world power, so that nations like Iran don't try to mess with us. Thank you.
3
@Southern Boy
Yes. President Trump is certainly making America great again. I can't wait to see the end result of another 6 years of President Trump's non stop winning. All that great greatness coming your way!
@Southern Boy... "Its better the USA is out of it."...Why? So we no longer have on site monitoring?
Shades of the U.S. unjustified war on Iraq: We attacked Iraq. They didn't attack us. (The 9 / 11 attack on the U.S. came mostly from Saudi Arabian nationals who were Wahhibist-inspired and funded.) The U.S. promoted the fake news and the bogus pretext for war saying that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. Then came the 'super-patriotic' start of the war and the accompanying exhilaration associated with 'shock and awe' and an overwhelming American hubris over its military superiority. Then came the confidence-game propaganda that the war would wrap up in a matter of weeks. And then, of course, the seemingly self-evident idea was promoted that the war would be paid for by Iraq's oil revenues.
Is there any element of our past history with regard to the Iraq War that doesn't seem like a case of deja vu with Iran today?
6
And who will fight alongside us, The Coalition of the Coerced?
5
Thanks Sheldon Adelson!!! Nice work. Way to go!!!
4
Nations most imminently threatened by a nuclear Iran ALL back the US approach. A nuclear Iran would threaten the entire planet. It's about time we take this more seriously.
2
Anybody in the West Bank threatened by Iran...nope. Anybody in Gaza threatened by Iran...nope. Anybody on the Golan Heights threatened by Iran...nope. Anybody in Yemen threatened by Iran....nope. Kinda interesting who is left.
2
@Ken What's your point? The fact is that those most imminently threatened by Iran's nuclear ambitions are behind US' approach! A nuclear arms race in the Middle East is a threat to humanity.
@Uri Does that include nuclear technology to the country that produced most of the 9/11 terrorists?
Most Interesting what is left out
1. The position of Israel on the nuclear deal, of large
importance in US internal politics, as both parties gear
up for the 2020 election and compete for the Jewish
vote.
2. The position of China, the worlds largest importer
of oil, that imported 10 million barrels plus per day (!)
in April from Iran, and on May 1st was cut off
Israel, under Netenyahu consitently pposed the deal.
Israel has superior intelligence operations in the MidEast
and its claim that Iran is cheating on the deal needs to
be taken seriously
China has long opposed the sanction as "extension of US internal law" and unwanted interference in other countries
sovereignty.
3
Obama and the EU didn't have the stomach to confront Iran, so they took the easy way out and kicked the problem 15 years down the road. It would have been easy enough for Trump to let it slide, the agreement wouldn't have expired until he was out of office. He didn't because it was a bad deal and needed either to be fixed or be abandoned. Iran's pulling a play from the Kim Jung Un playbook. It's not working for Kim and it won't work for Iran.
10
They got the deal that stopped the greatest strategic threat in he Middle East, South Asia, and Eurasia for a decade. It did not save anyone from the influence Iran exerts by surrogates like Hezbollah. Israel figures that a nuclear attack would be catastrophic but would leave nobody to suffer the aftermath since their land is so small. Meanwhile, Iran and their surrogates continue to inflict suffering upon them. So just reducing a nuclear threat offered no real relief. Trump and Bolton think like 19th century imperial strategists. It makes them willing to risk Iran becoming a nuclear state like North Korea.
5
@Kurt Pickard
Since Trump took office, North Korea successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, married it to an intercontinental ballistic missile, tested the missile and put the missile and the bomb into production. As a result, we have cancelled our joint military maneuvers with the South Koreans, threatened to pull our troops out of Korea and afforded the North Korean dictatorship the legitimacy it has so badly craved for decades, and we are now contemplating obtaining international guarantees to perpetuate the murderous Kim Regime. Not to put too fine a point on it, but I think it's pretty much working for Kim.
24
@Kurt Pickard but pulling out of nuclear weapon agreements is clearly working.
fact is still that Iran followed up on their part of the deal, the ones who didn't was USA.
EU knows this, and so do the rest of the world.
One should not be pointing fingers unless first made sure the hands are clean
10
Difficult situation, because Iranians are not warm fuzzy types. Difficult situation because they play by different rules, i.e. what makes them tick is informed by tradition. Difficult situation because the US is liberal, and their not. MAYBE, JUST MAYBE WE'RE IN LUCK—the EU, with its vast array of time-tested Diplomatic traditions will be successful in achieving what the President of Iran wants, which is a path to positive (as in good) change for all.
Sorry,Trump. Eroding the constitution and setting the world on fire are not going to make your crimes go un noticed.
The only way for you to save yourself, and the rest of us, is to resign .
90
The accord from its inception merely kicked the nuclear can down the road, as Iran was free to resume its nuclear enrichment activities once the accord lapsed.
Now, Mr. Rouhani "gives Europe 60 days to choose." With this declaration Iran reveals to the world what this accord was, for Iran, all about in the first place: a tool with which to divide the US and its NATO allies. Rouhani makes plain that Iran does not need European businesses or trade to help bolster Iran's economy. Why else an Iranian ultimatum?
7
Our dear leader has done more to divide the US and NATO than any Iranian action.
38
@Frank J Haydn Rouhani is playing the cards he's been dealt by Trump, Pompeo and Bolton (and Putin, without whose help Trump arguably would have been free to keep bankrupting himself, instead of lining his pockets at the expense of America's -- and the world's -- future).
4
@Liz Gilliam
Rouhani has free will and can do whatever he wants. This is not about Mr. Trump.
4
I actually sympathize with Trump a little, for once.
The deal was way too lenient on Iran, and guaranteeing that there will be no sanctions as long as they don't move towards developing a nuclear weapon also serves to weaken your hand when trying to deal with Iran's other behavior.
9
@Mark....Are you referring to the murder of Khashoggi? Oh, I am sorry, that was Saudi Arabia not Iran. You know the Saudis who have sponsored and paid for Al Qaeda. Isis, and the Taliban. The Saudis are our ally.
1
Just because Obama, or any other (D), signed an international agreement with Iran that other countries also agreed to doesn't make it just; the same holds true with NAFTA.
Had a (R) agreed to the JCPOA, NAFTA, it is most likely the (D)s would be playing the same political gamesmanship and opposing the agreements, as well.
6
@Coffee Bean This is a baseless theory. Where are your facts?
9
@Robert Maier
This is politics. Theories and facts are bipartisan.
Much as I detest the mullahs, I detest the U.S. regime and its allies even more. Iran has more right to accept cancellation of the nuclear accord than the U.S. had to unilaterally cancel it in the first place.
The U.S. is acting in a cavalier and dangerous manner. Iran is reacting in a cautious, step by step manner. These are the facts, as acknowledged by objective sources.
However, the sad truth is that "who started what" under international law is no longer relevant, since the U.S. has thrown international law (including the Geneva Convention) to the wind. The U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia are intent on destroying Iran, mirroring Saddam Hussein's scorched earth policy of destroying Kuwait's oil fields before retreating: What you cannot own, you destroy.
Now, more than ever before, it is the duty of the New York Times to sound the alarm, something it failed to do in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. Iran, surrounded by 12 major U.S. military bases, and with Israeli nuclear bombs and Saudi missiles pointing at it, is a 'threat'? The only threat to world peace is the U.S.. Just ask the Yemenis, whatever is left of them, or the Afghans, Iraqis, Libyans and Syrians scarred forever by U.S. invasions, drones and bombings.
There is overwhelming evidence of a Neocon-Zionist conspiracy to destroy Iran. It is time for the NYT editorial board to shout Enough Is Enough!
140
@Rob Let's not forget the dubious role of Saudia Arabia in the middle-east and it's war with the west...
19
@Hamid Varzi, Very well said. What has Iran done that US, Saudi Arabia and Israel haven't done a million times worse?
29
@Hamid Varzi
I cannot condone Trump's abrogation of the nuclear deal. Nonetheless, Iran's mullahs are at war with the west and continue to contribute to destabilize the middle east, with more than just saber rattling. They should get out of Lebanon and Syria and stop its aggressive moves (to Israel and Saudi Arabia) via proxies. Their long vision is domination of the region, and as such, Iran remains a pariah state.
10
The New York Times was one of many media organizations that bungled the lead up to the Iraq War, allowing the Bush administration's false narratives to dominate, one lie at a time. It must avoid doing this again.
2
It’s funny how many Americans now tell a tale about how much they knew, unlike that dopey news media. One wonders how they achieved this.
2
Going exactly how Israel planned it. Now Israel can tell the USA to invade Iran.
2
The master deal-maker's solution to "the 15-year limit on Iran producing nuclear fuel simply kick[ing] the problems down the road" seems to be to kick the problem back up the road.
I feel much safer now.
3
Bolton and Netanyahu are leading 45 by the nose. This troika of hoodlums is about to turn the Middle East into a bloodbath. If the Saudi princes think the US is going to save their necks, they've got another thing coming. The Shia in the Eastern Province are itching for an uprising. What a show that's about to start.
1
Trump will get us into a war yet. Just leave him alone to be Trump as the GOP states and the Wars are coming. There is no end to the damage of the Trump presidency even though it is illegal and should have been questioned after the 2016 election.
2
Obama has been such an outstanding and successful negotiator precisely because he knew that in order to obtain a real political agreement, that changes the situation all while being solid enough to last for years (knowing that it will be attacked), you HAVE to build a COMMUNITY around it. So you have to engage many different parts of a conflict - including, obviously, our own enemies.
So if Iran still doesn't have any nuclear weapons today (contrary to what would have been the case by now if the Iran agreement wouldn't have existed, as at the time they were about one decade away from having them), it's thanks to the fact that he had the wisdom to engage both Iran and the EU, and China and Russia.
He knew that the GOP would hire warmongering Bolton again, sooner or later. And he knew that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard would want to destroy the agreement. So he wisely included the world's most powerful countries. Today, it's only thanks to that that Iran can't launch a nuclear war in the region. As expected, the incompetent GOP is already doing the exact opposite of what has been proven to work, once again.
I hope that in 2020, self-declared progressives will understand that MUCH more than the US's future alone is at stake during US elections, and that they'll massively go voting, even when their ideal candidate isn't on the ballot.
If not, Fox News' fake news will soon be ruling the world.
1
Is there any respect left for an America that rattles its sabre by moving an aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf? None.
November 2020 can not come soon enough.
3
The US has for 70 years been backing the wrong horse in Iran.
In reaction to the imperial oppression of Britain and the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. (now BP) Iran in 1951 nationalized all oil assets. With the election of Eisenhower, a CIA backed coup ousted the Iranian prime minister and installed a shah with increased powers and the use of the brutal secret police, the Savak.
The naivete of the the US showed in its surprise that the 1979 revolution was essentially a reaction to oppression under shah's regime that was supported without question by the US.
And since then the US, living of the resentment of 1979, has done everything it can to oppress Iran including, under Regan allying with Russia to support Iraq in the brutal Iran - Iraq war.
Instead of decending into another military action that is doomed to failure, the US should look back to the progress under the Obama administration that took steps to bring Iran into the family of nations.
But I forgot. That can only happen after Nov. 2020.
3
Perhaps when one stated last fall America would be in Iran in the spring of 2019, one had the season wrong....
Is America gearing up for the war in Iran?
Beginning to sound like it... again.
1
A perfect storm for these two notorious fools: Bolton gets to act out his paranoid fantasies on the international stage and Trump gets to change the subject:
Look for a war with Iran as the 2020 election draws nearer.
We tend to rally around the president when the country is "threatened" and Trump is counting on this.
A Republican with integrity needs to step up and run in the 2020 general election as a third-party classic conservative.
This could do more to insure a Democrat is elected in 2020 than anything.
Unfortunately "Republican with integrity" is an oxymoron these days.
"Oh what we once was; oh what we have become".
--Riddley Walker
2
So lets remember who stopped the years long non nuclear deal Iran one sided?
Who put endless sanctions on Iran.
Who called Iran’s national guard terrorist?
Who is sending a navy battle group to Iran, for some obscure reason, which sounds exactly like Iraq having nuclear weapons?
Why is pompous Pompeo in Iraq, Iran’s neighbor?
All of these resemble all other wars and conflicts America wanted to be involved in,
The Vietnam was a war that America started with fake reports of a staged incident by the American Navy and by endless phony accusations.
Same in Korea, same in Iraq, same in many South American countries where America wanted to overthrow elected social (not communist!) governments.
We are shamelessly committing deadly weaponry to Saudi Arabia to annihilate Yemen,
America has been guilty of starting wars all over the world and committing murder over and over again, while also killing and maming many young American soldiers.
And all of that by being guilty of full blown imperialism and corporate greed.
And now it is Iran’s turn to be ‘brought under control’ by our warmongers in the White House and the Pentagon.
Americans have created nonsensical fear of the rest of the world, that can only lead to self destruction.
Stop making America into an evil Empire.
2
More fallout from trumps idiocy by undoing what Obama was able to do to contain Iran. The whole world will be turning against trump and the U.S. as trump is about to be screwed. Of course trump will start a major war to try and get himself out of this mess and look like a hero while he really is a failure.
2
Seeds for war are in the works.SANCTIONS AND TARIFFS WILL NOT BE HONORED UNILATERLAYY BY MANY COUNTRIES.What will happen next by the powerful countries?A deep concern should be raised in UN immediately.
1
Iran plays its role in Bolton's game plan. The next episode will be more threatening to world peace.
2
Europe can still save the situation, if they break completely with the US, dismiss their sanctions, and continue to support the Iranians honoring the contract. I hope they understand this.
3
"“We don’t want anyone interfering in their country, certainly not by attacking another nation inside of Iraq, and there was complete agreement,” he said."
Well ... WE are interfering in their country on a daily basis. Somehow Pompeo prefers to forget that.
Iran has its most important enemy present at its own borders, and after the international nuclear agreement managed to calm down tensions, Trump did absolutely nothing to build on that achievement in order to try to obtain more.
Instead, he simply increased the hostilities between both countries again. And then he even started jailing Chinese businessmen for doing business with Iran, even though the Iran agreement fully allows China to do so. And now they put bombers at Iran's borders.
All this is happening while his closest national security adviser is Bolton, the very architect of the US-Iraq war in the first place. And the entire world, including candidate Trump in 2016, knows that Bolton is so fond of initiating horrible wars in the Middle East that he lied to the American people and the world in order to be able to go there.
Conclusion: Bolton is probably trying to provoke Iran in such a way that it SEEMS as if Iran is first to launch a military attack to then use that as an excuse do do what the GOP and Bibi want for years already: to annihilate the country. Would Putin prevent Trump from doing so? In a way, seeing the US starting yet another disastrous ME war might suit Putin's anti-US narrative very well...
"He complained that it was too narrow, and that the 15-year limit on Iran producing nuclear fuel simply kicked the problems down the road."
Indeed, Trump claimed that 15 years was not long enough.
Except that obviously, 15 years of denuclearization is a GIGANTIC and historic victory for the West. What Iran got in return was access to its own foreign money again, and the guarantee that the West, Russia and China would all together make sure that we keep our promises too.
And 15 years means that the NEXT US president had to immediately engage in a new round of talks, that would allow us to obtain 15 more years.
Thanks to his "art of the deal" suggestions, Trump made many GOP voters believe that he would be able to obtain this so easily, and without helping Iran to rebuild its economy.
Now we know that that promise too was false. He simply withdrew from the international agreement, then did nothing for two years. Then he hired Bolton, the architect of the based-on-lies Iraq war that Trump was the only primary candidate to have the guts to criticize. So now his promise to NOT give in to the typical GOP warmongering was false too.
And now he decided to increase the risk of a US-initiated war against Iran by putting bombers close to Iran's borders.
What the GOP doesn't get is that IF you increase threats on a country, that country will want to arm itself MORE, rather than less. The only solution to get an agreement about Israel, is to NEGOTIATE.
2
Obama's administration worked hard on this deal, and handed it off to Trump for an easy win. Trump, of course, had to back out because of, well...Obama.
It appears that as with his business "empire," DJT would have been better off letting someone else do his negotiating for him.
1
Some might say, that with the US out, there was no deal to adhere to. That Europe couldn’t hold what was left of the bag together as the US repudiated the deal and imposed sanctions.
A deal is like a tango, it requires two to do it.
9
Who can blame Iran. They have previous experience with Uncle Sam's duplicity. Aside from that, there are nuclear haves and have nots in this world. The haves bully the have nots. As our own government has shown countless times, better to be the bully than the bullied.
10
“Starting on Wednesday, he said, Iran would begin to build up its stockpiles of low enriched uranium and of heavy water, which is used in nuclear reactors”
Um, except until now, or until Trump supposed he “knew” better: Iran was allowed to sell heavy water and low enriched uranium, so it kept very little on hand. Whereas now, if Iran wants to continue producing such materials for research, which it’s allowed to do under the treaty, heavy water and low enriched uranium will accumulate beyond treaty allowed limits because of Trump.
So this NY Times reporting omitted a massively important piece of information here. Can’t imagine why.
Trump chose this.
Submitted May 8th 9:30 AM
4
There was a woman years ago who prophesized that the start of WW3 would come from the most unexpected country. I believe it will be the US who starts it under Trump.
5
Time for Europe to step up.
46
@Greg M
Correct. Europe needs to condemn US threats in the strongest terms. If the US sanctions European banks, then the EU should sanction American banks. Period.
13
@Greg M
Europe DID step up. They, along with the Obama administration, Russia, and China put together a deal that was working very well. Trump then reneged on America's commitments.
13
How can this be sane on Iran's part? They obviously know that Trump was hired by Shel Adelson and AIPAC for the specific purpose of having him launch a proxy war for Israel against Iran, just like the grotesque and idiotic neocon war for Israel Bush fought in Iraq. Surely, the smart move is to give America no excuse whatsoever to do Israel's bidding and kill a hundred thousand innocent Iranians on the road to making Iran "safe" for Israel under the bootjack of a new "Shah," who'll be Bibi's new best friend, like Israel's other favorite dictators, Sisi and MbS. It's too bad America has such a comatose public. Otherwise, we would all be gearing up for a national strike to forbid Trump and Bibi from sending lots and lots of American body bags home in order to install an Israeli-appointed dictator in Iran. Instead, we just lazily and distractedly drift into a war for Israel with a country three times Iraq's size.
5
>>> "How can this be sane on Iran's part?"
It may be risky, but it's perfectly sane. If the Trump administration is successful in pushing much of the rest of the world, especially Europe, into applying US-ordered sanctions, the Iranian economy will (again) be crushed. If much of the world refuses to go along, Iran may benefit from a fair amount of normal trade.
Also, with more nations opposing sanctions, there will be less chance of general acceptance of US-Israeli-KSA aggression against Iran.
1
Another smashing triumph for Trump-Netanyahu insanity, with scarcely a peep from the increasingly confused and disorganized political classes in the U.S. The darkness in America gets darker.
9
We have idiots running this country. They have no idea what they are doing on any front. The WH has no strategy, no intelligence and no conscience - it is an out-of-control reform school for damaged children with life issues.
Our once-revered country is becoming a pariah and our security has never been more threatened than by Trump and his moron cabal.
6
Saudi Arabia owns Donald Trump. Israel controls the US Congress. Saudi Arabia and Israel both want war with Iran.
The American people are the stooges.
13
@Greg
You forgot the part about Iran threatening Israel’s destruction...repeatedly...year after year. Not to mention Iran’s aiding Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah terrorists to advance that agenda.
Am I treasonous for hoping Europe aligns with Iran on this issue and buys its oil and supports intra-banking functions - and gives a big middle finger to Don the Con?
7
The moron will get us into a military conflict with Iran.
7
When this deal was made, Iran sent their nuclear fuel to Russia for safe keeping. If there is anyone out there that has confidence in Iran & Russia, I have a bridge to sell them.These two bandits were in collusion with Assad to murder 500,000 Syrians, including thousands of Children with poison gas.
As we speak Russia has developed nuclear weapons for Iran with the nuclear fuel they gave them.The whole thing was a farce from the beginning & Obama released billions of dollars to this crooked regime.
Their threat to start developing nuclear weapons will literally blow up in their face.
It’s too bad the Times will not publish my comment.
3
>>> "As we speak Russia has developed nuclear weapons for Iran with the nuclear fuel they gave them."
Nonsense. You either made this up or believed it when some right-wing, crackpot source promoted it.
>>> "Their threat to start developing nuclear weapons will literally blow up in their face."
Iran has *not* threatened to develop nuclear weapons. Facts matter.
1
Speaking as a European, this might be bad news for everyone around.
The core issue for European companies is that practically all international payments, as well as purchases of raw materials like iron, copper, oil, etc., is based on the USD.
This means that if a European company makes deals in Iran it will be blocked access to the international financial markets.
For that purpose, the EU has been working on a special purpose vehicle (INSTEX) to circumvent the US embargo.
While China and Russia are supportive this step will certainly enrage the US.
Short term it will undermine the strength if US' embargos. Long term it will undermine the USD unique position as a key international currency.
This unique position is the only thing which allows the US to have such a huge public debt without a significant economic backlash.
Needless to say, we're damned if we do finalize INSTEX and damned if we don't.
6
@Anton Lauridsen: It's not really clear that the developments you point to would "damn" Europe or Eurasia. It is pretty certain, of course, that they would gravely endanger US world dominance, but that's not necessarily bad for the world, or, perhaps, even for the US.
2
I'm certain that more bellicose rhetoric from Trump will save the day, just like it did with North Korea, which under the Trump Junta has limited the growth and development of its nuclear program so it can only destroy a dozen or so of our major population centers. Now that's progress -- well of a sort anyway. And, if Trump's rhetoric doesn't save us, then I'm certain our competent and grossly underpaid military will be able to conquer and subdue Iran, much like it did with Iraq and Afghanistan. Yes, well I know that didn't work out quite like we expected, but I'm absolutely pos that our boys in blue -- or brown or whatever the new color is -- will get the job done this time and put us on the high road to victory, like in Viet... um no, like in Kor.... no that's not right either. Well anyway, peace is a bit of bore.
5
The 6 Party Iran Deal was one of the most masterful pieces of diplomacy in the modern era. It will be studied by diplomats globally for generations
It denuclearized Iran, was bringing them back into the world as a non-threatening modernized nation with whom we could all do business. And it cost the USA literally nothing in order to achieve those massive accomplishments
Republicans threw that all away because President Obama did it, and none of his massively successful legacy can be left in place according to Republicans. The destruction, chaos, cruelty, and death from their horrible agenda It does not change his legacy, it becomes theirs.
126
with Trump at our helm, there may be no future generations of scholars to study anything.
2
@John: You're listening to lies from the wrong side. Consider the lies from the other side. Maybe then your opinion Weill be more balanced.
2
This is sheer fantasy. There is not a ‘smidgen’ of proof that Iran did anything to slow its nuclear power program, because Iran would not allow legitimate inspections. And Iran has not played nice in the Middle East since the Shah was overthrown; just ask Saudi Arabia. As to the ridiculous claim of no cost, how do you classify billions in currency shopped to the terrorist leaders, not to mention the international humiliation of the temporary seizure of our troops in 2016? The leaders of Iran respect that there is a new sheriff in town, and their bluffs will be called in spades, if they are ever stupid enough to repeat them.
3
Way to go Trump. We're already paying higher gas prices because you pulled out of the nuclear accord. Now what? Are you going to let Bolton and Pompeo start another war and bomb Iran into submission?
6
The Iranians have kept their end of the "deal," The United States has not. The United States has made ruins of the Muslim Middle East. Iraq x2, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Gaza.
Who is next? Iran? Whose democratically elected government our CIA deposed in 1953. Then it was for their oil. Now?
For Israel? For Saudi Arabia? For Turkey? For Russia?
How many Americans will sacrifice their lives and futures for another unnecessary war with a people who do not threaten our national security? Remember, Osama bin Laden was a Saudi, as were 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11. Saudi financed madrassas are responsible for the extreme intolerant Wahhabi version of Islam that spawns terrorists and suicide bombers around the world.
For those who clamor for more wars, let them put their own children and grandchildren in military uniforms and place them in harm's way. No deferrals for "bone spurs."
8
Dear Iran,
There is no need to leave the nuclear deal. The US is slowly destroying itself and its most important asset; its children. It allows them to be shot in schools, it allows them to rot with autism thanks to the increasingly toxic environment, it dulls their minds with their schooling system. Just keep your children healthy and educated and you will find, in a short time, the US will not even function as a society.
As its health care system is destroyed at a time of increasing requirements from children and adults, and as its deficit balloons as it stays part of the real Axis of Evil with Israel and Saudi Arabia, it will soon destroy itself from within.
Work with the Europeans, Russia, China, Africa, and others to find a way forward while at the same time marginalize the role US politicians have in the global economic system.
There are far smarter ways to defeat the pitiful US government in a manner that will work to your benefit over the mid and longer term.
Your respect for the agreement, and letting the US destroy itself over the next 10-20 years, will do more for your long term success than letting the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia (who the rest of the world increasingly despise) push you into a corner.
You are ahead on points at the moment. Don't throw that advantage away by allowing childish US behaviour to distract you from your long term goal of gaining more credibility on the back of US ignorance.
Respectfully,
An Admirer
4
Has anyone checked in with one of our ",shadow president's", ie, Mitch McConnell? He seems to pull everyones chain.
War is too juicy and lucrative business for anyone in Congress to turn down!
6
The cost in money and reputation for our close alliance w/ Israel (and our associated alliance w/ Egypt) has never been cheap. Perhaps soon we'll begin paying in blood as well. But think of all we get out of it.
1
If I were Iran I would make haste to acquire nuclear weapons. Trump is giving the saudis nuclear plans and assistance. Bolton and Pompeo are hawks who have neither the desire nor the ability to understand that past is prologue. Iran is in great danger.
4
Trump likely is listening to counsel that presidents who launch wars typically win a second term. Additionally, Bolton has been salivating to strike Iran since day 1, and we have the fundamentalist coalition like Pence who truly believes in a coming Christian Holy War. It's an ugly cocktail, and voters will either agree to plunge the US into another--a fourth!-- war on the Middle Eastern front, or Democrats and Independents will come together over whichever imperfect but sane candidate we have and avert WWIII.
This is a Trump administration self fulfilling prophesy. Abandon the nuclear agreement to which Iran had been complying, crush them economically with new sanctions, and then use any response as a justification for war. Trump wants a war for purely political reasons, and he has John Bolton to justify it. We simply cannot tolerate another irrational military commitment in the Middle East.
5
Bolton and Pompeo are the natural heirs of Cheney and Rumsfeld, except that they haven't even bothered to create a backstory ( they'd prefer not to tell us. They'd prefer not to tell Congress) OTOH, moving Navla carriers back to thePersian Guld area as actually so far just a return to what was present a couple of years back)
They -- withTrump's full approval -- are entirely too comfortable with the idea of a war - one more - to make their mark on US history. They don't care if it is seen as a black mark in the world of diplomacy - Bolton, like his boss, is invested in portraying himself as the tough outsider.
Trump will use this to increase his powers, avoid the controversies swirling around his attack on Congressional power, and he hopes, finesse the next Presidential election. After all, despite the missing WMDs, didn't Bush II get reelected? Let's hope that Iran doesn't take the bait.
1
Iran funds terror groups. Iran uses the funds unfrozen from the Obama deal to fund terror groups. Terror groups kill Americans.
The deal was TERRIBLE and needed to be undone.
Iran is behind Hamas in Palestine. Iran props up the Assad in Syria.
USA and Israel could easily wipe out any nuclear reactor Iran builds. Or continue with the covert operations.
Continue to choke off Iranian leaders until the people rise and replace them in Iran.
1
It is hardly said but easy to discern like the elephant in the room no one wants to talk about or rather is political scared to mention. Our policy and action their are driven by Israel’s likud party . Key US political actors - Bolton, Pompeo , Kushner , Trump have had been close to Adelson , Netanyahu and others . Even a famous ex - CIA officer , Valarie Plame said that Israel drives wars in the Middle East and was outed from the world peace organization Ploughshare international cause of such statements .
2
When are Democrats, liberals and progressives going to admit that the Iran nuclear deal was a one sided fiasco? The Iranians controlled the narrative, and Obama kowtowed to their demands for limiting the inspections of their nuclear sights, and the amount of advance notice that the inspection team had to provide when scheduling any visits. Obama was so anxious to make a deal that he gave away the store, and with it the security of the American people.
2
@paul*** so anxious ??? you mean after 2 1/2 years of hard negotiation. Please .. the rest of the world thought it was a good thing and it was. What's the alternative, WW3?
3
What's the plan after we topple the Iranian government. Make it into an Iraq style democracy?
There’s a US election coming in 2020. Does it not benefit Trump to be at war or on the verge of one to keep his minions obedient at the end of his leash as they enter the voting booths?
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@Ted David
I'm not yet convinced that people would flock to vote for Trump should we be staring into the abyss of another Middle East war.
The Republicans I know who are so far supporting Trump have no taste for sending their sons and daughters into another war, and would seriously consider either not voting or vote for some Green candidate in protest.
6
@Ted David
I've long suspected that Trump would start some military action as one of the tools for getting him re-elected. The fact that he is a narcissistic sociopath makes it likely that he will simply calculate such an action based on how it will affect himself and nothing else. With crimes that have not yet run out the statutes of limitations by 2020, he may well decide that war is worth it. Unfortunately, Americans have repeatedly proven their gullibility by supporting bad presidents during ill-conceived wars in the false assumption that it's the patriotic thing to do.
20
>>> "The Republicans I know who are so far supporting Trump have no taste for sending their sons and daughters into another war . . ."
But Americans don't have to worry about "sending their sons and daughters," because only volunteers go to war, now, and most Americans don't care much more about those volunteers than they do about the "strange people far away" who are killed, maimed and made homeless and destitute in our misadventures.
At least, they don't care enough to insist that we cease those misadventures.
7
As a European citizen of Iranian origin, and my parents living in Iran still, I have to wake up every morning to a new stressful piece of news on the escalations of tensions between Iran and the US. In this specific case, I can’t help feeling some resentment towards Trump for pushing the situation towards conflict. I feel he always seeks outside factors which would take the attention away from domestic issues and problems related to his shady past. Iran is a very convenient enemy and easy to demonize. After-all, it’s easy to demonize a country that chants “death to America” regularly. But I wish the American public knew that reality is much more subtle than appearances suggest. No nation in the middle-east (may be except Israel) is closer to the United States than Iran: in its ways, the aspirations of its youth, even its pragmatic approach to religion (as opposed to the rigid Sunni ideology which gave birth to ISIS which both Iran and the United States fought side by side). We had some historical misunderstandings in our past, but it’s time to put them aside. There are so many American-educated Iranians, living in the states or abroad. Many of them are helping turn the wheels of American industry in high postions in Silicon Valley or various universities. I still have to meet an American who doesn’t speak highly of a Persian friend or two they have met in their lives. These sad escalations in tensions demonstrate that governments on either side do not represent their people.
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@Farbod K
American foreign policy hates Iran because it is a nation that will not bend to their will. But please hold firm. History has shown that domineering nations will eventually collapse. You may have noticed that the election of Trump is a clear sign of this impending disintegration.
81
So well put. It boils down to the fact that Iran will not march to the unreasonable edicts of the American bully machine.
39
Very similar to Cuba - where we are so close on a personal level Thank you
for giving us an Iranian perspective. Regretfully U.S. foreign policy is in the hands of an ignorant president and a mad dog whose anger probably stems from a misplaced feeling of rejection by the elites as a child of the working class. Both should be institutionalized but unfortunately are running the world
40
When world peace is threatened by the Trump Administration it is time to get rid of the Trump Administration. The US Congress needs to act before it is too late. In addition, the EU needs to step up to the plate and condemn the policies and actions of the Trump Administration.
4
It now appears that the American banking system is the problem. It has been weaponized, to coerce allies to do Washington's biddings against Iran. Foreign banks in the US will be sanctioned by the US for doing business with Iran.
Clearly world peace requires a departure from world dependence on the US banking system.
45
@Greg china sees this, and is creating a parallel banking system - which will in time weaken the stranglehold of the $ on the world banking/ finance system.
4
@Greg
It's been weaponized since the "petrodollar" scheme that originated between the US and the Saudis in the 1970s. Nearly all worldwide oil trades are made in dollars, thus when a country wishes to buy oil it has to buy dollars to complete the transaction. THIS is what keeps the dollar the world's "reserve currency". In exchange, Saudi Arabia gets access to US military technology and our weapons market. Thus the silence from Obama and Trump regarding the situation in Yemen (or, dishonestly, blaming the situation on Iran).
The list of oil-producing countries that have broken away from the petrodollar system makes for interesting reading:
Iraq
Syria
Iran
Libya
Venezuela
Hmmm....
5
@david The four largest banks in the world are Chinese. Number five is HSBC--the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank--was started, as it's name indicates, in Hong Kong. The largest US bank , JP Morgan/Chase comes in at number 6. Number 7 and Number 10 are in Greg's country of residence.
France has as many top 10 banks as the US.
So the Chinese already dominate. And while their US business may impede their ability to do business with Iran, I doubt that they will allow themselves to be pushed around too long if China needs to oil.
1
King Donald the Reckless and his mentor, Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu are responsible for Iran's decision to cease complying with two important provisions of the Iran Nuclear Accord.
The President's petulance makes the world a more dangerous place than it already was when he was inaugurated. It may be more dangerous for Israel, too, even though that country is capable of obliterating Iran, a capability known to Iran's mullahs.
When 2020 rolls around, voters are likely to ignore foreign affairs, which kills quickly no matter what the stock market is doing. I urge the media to hold Democratic candidates feet to the fire, forcing them to articulate a foreign policy designed to make us safe again.
Not every foreign policy problem can be foreseen but this one was. Trump, Bolton et al ignored the predictable consequences of tearing up JCPOA.
2
Buyers beware! Is Trump not only warming us up for a second term but also a third? Again our Republic must be vigilant! Do we need a war? War means a military draft.
Two thoughts.
1) has anyone considered the idea that Iran May have been a near nuclear power for quite some time? I wonder if it would actually take them a year to create a weapon. What if the already had the components ready to go on short notice?
2) we could not really pacify Afghanistan and Iraq where there are competing tribes. Now we have a country that is a true nation (Persia). And the terrain is worse. And there is every reason for Russia and/or China to resupply them.
So, we have the prospect of a protracted war with a unified country that can be resupplied and has hostile terrain. Or, there could be an underground tremor. Either way, the US comes out impotent.
And for what? Trumps massive ego?
Right about now Benjamin Netanyahu is phoning President Trump to encourage him to attack Iran. Why tolerate this violation of an agreement that the U.S. has already violated?
2
It seems as though the entire world is intimidated by President Trump's erratic behavior. NOT.
Precisely what could have been expected. Iran responds first
by a few carefully chosen steps far short of a military one via
Straits of Hormuz and puts the squeeze on European signatories to behave in their interests or those of tweeter in chief. Those in power in Iran are careful and strategic in
their thinking, unlike what we are forced to live with here
24/7.
At some point soon, i.e., 60 days, the Europeans are going to
have decide if they will follow the path of lunacy and the big lie or of prudent diplomacy in the truest sense of the word.
Engaging in an economic tit for idiotic tat is going to have to be done it seems since the consequences re enrichment are in no one's interests except those deluded few who pine for a military conflict that they are just sure is the DC sequel "slam dunk 2". Since such delusional ones never learn from
their historical errors, due to a level of hubris that bought
down many a similar predecessor, it would not be
in European interests to play the passive party in the middle
part and wimp out by siding with the monomaniacal megalomaniacs in the West Wing.
Bearing the costs of sanctions will at some point boomerang upon all the American companies whose European trade partners will suffer, from which they will feel the effects too. This will have an intended effect upon an important component of trump's political alliance, slowly but
surely.
No pain no gain.
1
Looks like Iran is going to follow the North Korea "model" since it works so well with Trump. Once Iran can verify they have nuclear weapons then Trump will be eager to have a Summit with them.
Maybe it will be a three way Summit to save time and travel. North Korea, Iran and Trump all together. I recommend Mar-a- Lago and rounds of golf included.
1
One of the important components of the deal with Iran was the flow of drugs and migrants to EU which Iran helped stem the flow. But none of that is important to Trump whose only metric is how many dollars he can raise for his 2020 campaign.
Trump tosses friends away like yesterday's trash. One can only hope that the recent disclosure of how badly he managed his businesses will cause his supporters to wake up and see him for the fraudulent menace he truly is.
Planet Earth cannot afford another day of Trump. Four more years is simply horrific.
1
I lay all the blame at Trump’s feet. His unnecessary provocation has led to this turn of events. What would you expect Iran to do in this situation?
Of course they want to preserve their country’s economy and stave off a military threat by the US. What is amazing to me is our support of Saudi Arabia even though they are by far the largest exporter of Islamic extremism and terrorism in the world with their especially perverse brand of Wahhabism. Remember all those Saudi 9/11 attackers anyone?
I honestly hope that Iran IS able to develop nuclear weapons in order to shut up the constant threats they face from Israel, the US, and Saudi Arabia.
3
When this all goes to pieces, remember that it was America that reneged on the deal, not Iran.
Anything else at this point is smoke and mirrors.
4
War with Iran may be part of Trump's re-election strategy. A useless war certainly got George W Bush re-elected. Oh well, there goes the several $Trillion needed to rebuild America's crumbling infrastructure!
1
What will be the US response? It will be to up the stakes and put more military and economic pressure on Iran with the ultimate goal to provoke a military confrontation. This would benefit Trump and his friends Saudi Prince Salman and Vladimir Putin in several ways. For Trump it diverts attention from North Korea and the congressional stand off over the Mueller report. Trump becomes the commander and chief president demanding patriotic support just in time for the 2020 election. For the Saudis they get the US to attack and vanquish their main rival in the region. Also with war in the mid east and cutting off all Iranian oil supply the global oil prices will spike benefiting US producers, all friends of Trump, the Saudi government and his pal Putin since oil revenues are the principal source of funding for the Russian government.
17
Here is the other major reason we must move beyond non renewable energy. Iran has its' history going back to the Shah and his corrupt reign in the Carter administration years and the revolution that came on its' heels. It needs redirecting, not confrontation. And here we are with a presidency in climate change denial with no art of diplomacy and his group of violent religious fundamentalist evangelicals who cheer him on. This is not a good mix. The last thing we need is expanded war in the Middle East. We must not let this become a purely political move on the part of this president to use war to galvanize his base.
18
The Trump/Bolton Plan A was to end the nuclear agreement. That has been done. Now we see there is no Plan B. Trump's pal the prime minister of Israel would have the US engage Iran with military as the US seems ok with unending warfare. Trump's pal Putin would rather not see that happen as it might upset his building block in Turkey.
As Trump kneels over his board game of Monopoly with all the fake money, Americans are paying higher prices from his ability to raise their taxes at will (called tariffs on imported goods...the tariff revenue goes to the Treasury as income, same as taxes on income which we pay but Trump does not).
People who wanted to see things "shaken up" are victims of a shakedown, with costs in lives, treasure, and international stability being made more fragile daily by this gang who cannot shoot straight.
9
Iran is not Iraq. The Iranian people are loyal to their country even if they also hate their government.
They have 40 million citizens of fighting age and they produce 1 million new one's each year.
Even if the US deployed nuclear weapons in a war with Iran we wouldn't win.
It's time to stop playing mind games and deal with the facts.
9
This is like deja vu of Bush's preemptive invasion of Iraq. Let us not be deceived, Donald Trump - with Bolton and Pompeo at the helm and at the behest of Netanyahu - is inching us ever closer to war. Single handedly in but a few short years, this administration has turned the world order, what there was of one, on its ears. Its path leaves behind destruction both domestically and internationally. And it is a discouraging and, indeed, ominous reality that we have a Republican Senate that does nothing to protect its citizens. What say ye, Mitch McConnell? Is the power you greedily hold on to worth your soul and our lives?
17
your errors: Mitch McConnell has no soul. top Republicans do not care for anybody's lives but their own, and even their noisy support for the unborn is only a tactic to wrest undeserved votes for themselves.
Lots of concern here about a US-Iran "war." Here's a quick anecdote:
In January, the Iranians moved a somewhat advanced anti-aircraft weapons system to Damascus International airport. The system -- intended to limit Israeli air surveillance over Syria -- was comprised of several (perhaps 7 or 8) large crates. These crates were deployed to a single site adjacent to the airport.
Media reports of the incident (a simple Google search will bring up thousands of results) suggest that Israeli intelligence detected the arrival of the crates. The Israelis dispatched a jet airplane and destroyed the crates.
Anyone with any understanding of what is called "operational security" would know that one never, ever places all the components of a single weapon system in the same location, *especially* when one knows the enemy is watching and has the capability of rapidly destroying same.
I do not believe that the US and Iran will come to military blows. Iran's military is not the sharpest knife in the drawer (see above) and Tehran is not remotely a match for US military power. If the US engages Iran militarily, it will amount to a skirmish that will produce a rapid Iranian surrender.
3
>>> "If the US engages Iran militarily, it will amount to a skirmish that will produce a rapid Iranian surrender."
Right, after all, in every single significant military action since WWII the US has . . . oh, wait. Time for a reality check, Frank.
And while you check, be sure to investigate the likely consequences of either closure of the Strait of Hormuz or just a refusal by insurance carriers to write coverage for tankers sailing there.
1
I remember the skirmish and rapid surrender of North Vietnam. At least I think I do. They surrendered to our military might didn’t they? That war was over in no time. Just like how easy our nuclear war with Iran will be.
2
Even if you are correct, are you suggesting that precipitating such a war is the right way to go? And what if you are wrong? I remember a bunch of grandiose problems before Cheney invaded Iraq followed by his puppet's strutting Mission Accomplished charade. We are still waiting.
1
As expected from Iran
No doubt Netanyahu is pulling trump's leash into a willing conflict with Iran that will imperil US forces but no Israeli forces.
6
This is what Netanyahu demanded. Trump complied.
Now Netanyahu will demand the US attack Iran, as the "only way" to stop them from doing what they were not doing.
This path to war is deliberate. War is what they wand, it is the goal.
11
With the new Times reporting about Trump's finances, and all the obstruction, delaying and blocking going on to keep the extent of Trumps corruption from coming, the next act will be to start a war as the ultimate distraction. Please military say no. Iran is not weak and not worth the blood of how many more American soldiers. Saudi Arabia is the bigger problem yet because of money Trump looks the other way.
6
Wouldn't you know it. Iran sees now how much respect Korea is getting with Nukes in its pocket. And also sees how much respect the agreements with the US are worth.
6
The US abrogation of the Iran nuclear deal was all about Trumps egomania and a disastrous move that may well have lit the fuze for a major confrontation not unlike the debacle in 2003 with the US invasion of Iraq.
As though Wrecking Ball Trump were not dangerous enough the addition of Bolton and Pompeo into the mix make for certain catastrophe in the effort to bully and threaten Iran into subjugation.
Meanwhile Saudi Arabia and Bebe are cheering from the sidelines.
Not hard to imagine serious US escalation sometime prior to the 2020 Presidential elections with the almost certain look-the-other-way complicity of the GOP Senate. Such a move would almost certainly guarantee a Democratic presidential loss.
1
@G. Sears
You are correct!
It has been the strategy of this administration to force attention toward Iran and away from the disaster this presidency has wrought here and abroad thanks to Trumps bumbling "bull in the china shop" actions. America elected the only one of all the possible Republican candidates who was so thoroughly unprepared for the role he must play. 3,000,000. votes to the contrary and the help of Russia he assumed the most important position in the world. He will force a lethal conflict to allow the old "don't change horses in the middle of the stream" tactic which worked for W in 2004. Trump is a bounder and con man through and through.
Beware Americans. We have reached step four.
Step One
The US withdraws from the JCPOA and places severe economic sanctions on Iran. Later the US increases pressure by coercing other countries to stop buying Iranian oil. The US sanctions amount to collective punishment of Iranians, a crime against humanity.
Step Two
The US declares Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a “terrorist” organization. Iran responds by declaring the US military a terrorist organization.
Step Three
With the other parties to the JCPOA failing to meet their commitments, Iran reduces its commitments under JCPOA.
Step Four
The US increases its military forces in the Middle East.
Step Five
The US Administration announces that it will provide Saudi Arabia with nuclear technology, and possibly fissionable material. In combination with steps one to four, Iran is forced to abandon the JCPOA entirely.
Step Six
Iran's non-compliance with the JCPOA is reason for the US-Israel-Saudi alliance to push the EU into condemnation of Iran. Russia and China defend Iran's decision.
Step Seven
Israel gets US green light to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities. Iran gets bombed by Israel and Iran retaliates with defensive missile launches. War is declared.
Step Eight
US activates its air and sea forces in the Persian Gulf to provoke an Iranian attack. Iran attacks US forces inside Iranian territorial waters.
Step Nine
John Bolton declares "mission accomplished" and Americans find themselves in yet another Middle East war.
8
It's so easy to see how Donald Trump and various Iranian government factions all see manufacturing a crisis as to their advantage. Probably none of them really want war (but there may be certain Trump advisors who imagine that a quick war to "put Iran in its place" or even to overthrow the government there may be possible), but they may talk themselves into corners where fighting seems the only way out. Even then, they may imagine that they can keep the fighting "under control", but I don't trust the judgment of any of the people involved. The best hope may be that it appears that Donald Trump likes the idea of violence more than the real thing, and that the corrupt officials in the Iranian establishment want to be able to enjoy their ill-gotten gains without being inconvenienced seriously (indeed, from the point of view of the Iranian governing class, the biggest problem is precisely that their ability to live in the style to which they believe that they're entitled is being inconvenienced by sanctions).
3
@Stephen Merritt: Evidence that "Iranian government factions" are manufacturing a crisis? I would say that they are responding to a crisis unnecessarily-manufactured by the US.
5
The action by Iran was totally predictable. Their hand has been forced by the U.S., first by breaking the nuclear agreement and then by the threat of sanctions on anyone who buys oil from Iran. Iran has no choice but to try to use the nuclear option as a lever to preserve their economy. Just as a naval blockade is internationally considered an act of war so too is deliberate destruction of an economy. The action by the Trump Administration is not only unwise, but it is intentionally and unnecessarily provocative. This has warmonger Bolton's finger prints all over it. This is essentially a war being started by the Trump Administration. The Senate needs to step up and function appropriately, and they need to do it now. Otherwise we are headed for a big ugly mess that will have ramifications for decades to come.
54
The Israel/US coalition is itching for war with Iran. This war will be devastating for all 3 countries. The U. S. economy cannot endure a third Middle East war started by the U.S. And , there is the question of morality. The U.S. should be shunned by nations governed by concerns of justice and ethics if it enters into armed conflict with Iran. Look at what the U.S. did to Iraq, and at what cost in blood and money, and to what purpose. The US is regarded by the world community as the biggest threat to world peace, while Israel is regarded as the second biggest threat.
71
This is a replay of the run up to the disastrous war in Iraq. Bush made demands that he knew Iraq could never meet without surrendering its sovereignty.
He then pressured the UN to remove its inspectors. Once they were gone he began his lies and propaganda about WMD's.
Bolton is doing the same with Iran. Withdraw from the treaty, economically strangle the country challenging its sovereignty and move military assets to a forward striking position.
Are there no sane voices in Washington? Have we forgotten the almost 5,000 American's who died in Iraq? The tens of thousands wounded and the many tens of thousands suffering after that war?
Have we forgotten the Iraqi civilians who died? 500,000 children died under our sanctions regime, 300,000 civilians were confirmed dead from combat other estimates go over 500,000.
And for what? Regime change? Control of Iraqi oil?
We are being governed by psychopaths like Bolton and Pompeo. Trump isn't even intelligent enough to understand what he's doing. He's like a puppet on their string.
But America is once again marching to war. Rather than merely reporting, the press must sound the alarm and challenge Washington to tell the truth to the American people before it's too late.
Bolton plans to provoke a confrontation with Iran and use that as an excuse for war. We see it happening before our eyes.
The headlines should read "Americans do not want another Middle East War!!"
79
taking a page from the good ole GOP playbook, Trump is ginning up a war as an election tactic, knowing that running as a wartime President puts him in a stronger position. ask yourself: when confronted by a choice between upping the odds of his winnig the election and the death of thousands and trillions of dollars wasted, what would Trump pick?
2
@Drspock Agree. I don’t understand why these stories on sending Warships to threaten Iran are below the fold articles in the NYT.
As amusing as it is to read about the huckster who pretends to be the most savvy financial deal maker the wold has ever seen- in reality is businessman who lost the more money than any other in the entire country- making him by any definition, the stupidest businessman in the country - it’s NOT AS IMPORTANT FOR THE PUBLIC TO UNDERSTAND As the drumbeat occurring now to go to war with Iran.
Please NYT - make this the number one story
9
@Drspock
Well said. Thank you very much.
War with Iran or strikes against the Iranian facilities, institutions and infrastructure will be costly and disastrous. Not only that, it will harm the US interests in the region for decades.
Therefore, it is the responsibility of the US media and the talk show hosts to expose the lies of Bolton and Pompeo and their modus operandi.
9
Iranian government never represented the majority of Iranians. Now, the US government does not represent the majority of Americans. Iran always looks at foreign policy as a means to divert attention from internal corruption and mismanagement. Now, US is also looking for an scapegoat. To make Trump a war president and win an election. For Trump every is only about winning the next term and he does not shy away from spending tax dollars to win his second term. We have lived through a presidency in a continuous state of campaigning, every battle is about how it affects the ballot box. As a result, the federal bank may raise or lower the rate based on Trump's whim, there may be a war with Venezuela to win Florida. And Iran has always been an easy way to fire up the base. It is just about Trump winning more.
31
Yesterday, the Times surfaced Trumps tax returns from the 90s.showing that Trump is a con. Yes, the pen ultimate business tycoon, born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Man, he does TALK a good game. I'm guessing if he really was the master negotiator, he wouldn't have suffered all those financial losses, but preferred to amass a real fortune. So he brings his capabilities to "negotiations" with a hostile adversary. Add John Bolton and Pompeo to the recipe, and we are in trouble.
35
Another example of how allowing US mideast policy to be formulated by Israel and Saudi-Arabia is endangering world peace. We need a President who is concerned about US interests, not his own financial interests and his ego.
67
@Jack Robinson
Exactly. And POTUS acts more like a tyrannical egomaniac than a leader of our people for our people. He’s putting us all in danger by his unilateral decisions. I can’t recall any president in our country’s history who has acted without wise counsel in making decisions. Can you? It’s really not good.
1
What is this really about? I would love to know. Supposedly Iran is a "sponsor of terror" at the moment because they support the government of Assad in Syria. While I don't like the Assad government, isn't Russia doing the same thing by supporting them? Yet our president was just buddy buddy with Putin last week. As far as "terror" goes, what about Saudi Arabia? Nothing they do seems to ever bother us much. Just look at Yemen. And China has over a million of its citizens in concentration camps. Not a peep from the US. I'm not saying Iran has a great government. But it sure is a heck of a lot better for its people than North Korea, Saudi Arabia and others. All I see is a lot of smoke and mirrors and hidden agendas. That's why the Iran deal was shelved by the US. If Iran is using the only card it has left in its hand to avoid crippling economic sanctions pushed by the US, I think it's completely understandable. Any escalation in this scenario falls squarely on the shoulders of the US government.
34
@PK...."What is this really about? I would love to know."....It is about private financial agreements with the Saudi's and the international price of oil. Why else would we ignore the fact that the Saudi oil money provides the main support for Al Qaeda and Isis, ignore the murder of Khashoggi, and continue to supply military equipment for the Saudi war in Yemen?
3
@PK...re-election. Bolton right in the middle of this. He's got more blood on his hands than anyone on Earth. A bad time to be active duty right now.
1
I am unable to work myself into any sort of dudgeon, high or low, toward Iran over this new tack taken by Rouhani. Trump reneged on a deal. Whether the deal was particularly good or patently atrocious is of little relevance. Trump merely treated Iran as he did the small businessmen whose services and materials he routinely refused to pay for and then threatened them with lawsuits when they tried to collect.
Iran's actions, in view of the way Trump treated it, is understandable and pragmatic. The puzzling thing is that it took so long to happen. Some countries may be the political counterpart of a plumbing or electrical supplier/contractor, in Trumpian perspective, but Iran is not one of them.
This is Donald "Rosemary" Trump's baby.
73
@Glen
I completely agree with Glen's views. But I'd go further.
By bullying other countries into not buying Iranian oil, Trump has got the Iranian people by the throat. Maybe he hopes to create enough public unrest for a regime change, as attempted in Venezuela. The moderate Rouhani's response for over a year has indeed been 'understandable and pragmatic.' But what if Trump's hawkish tactics misfire, and the Ayatollahs replace a moderate PM with a hardliner? More war in the Middle East, led by a President who declared himself against involvement in all wars abroad?
Hostility against Iran would certainly benefit the hawkish Netanyahu regime. As involvement in S.Arabia's war in Yemen benefits Trump's friends, the Saudis. If Iran is a promoter of terrorism abroad, as seems to be Trump's view, is he at all aware of the extreme Wahabi form of Islam that S.Arabia allows its mullahs to promote in other countries? as recently was evidenced in Sri Lanka's Easter bombings? 11 of the World Trade Centre terrorists were Sunnis from S.Arabia. Not one Shia from Iran. Does Trump know history?
Finally, what would Trump do to the EU, if it flouts the U.S. embargo and continues to buy Iran's oil? Start a war there too?
4
When you make a very bad decision in business you lose money. When you make a very bad decision in politics you can lose lives!
41
What a surprise. Iran resumes its production of nuclear fuel, including some fuel that can be used for weapons, shortly after Trump provides nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia. And Iran's moves are legitimized by Trump's violation of the international agreement which limits Iran's nuclear developments, and by his demand for support of his violation of that agreement by threatening punitive actions against our allies. I doubt Trump really thinks his interference and bad faith will work to our benefit, but suspect that he sees some benefit to himself by supporting Saudi Arabia. But pushing nuclear armaments in the Middle East is actually not in our, their, or his, best interests. Who will rein him in? Not the Republicans in the Senate.
32
The "worst deal in history" is any deal where a bank lends Donald Trump money - at least when seen from the point-of-view of the bank.
And were a war to result from this insane American bellicosity, it would only be fair that chickenhawks Bolton and Trump be physically air-dropped into the area where the fighting is most intense.
48
@Matthew Carnicelli Iran itself has done enough to promote war in the area. Huge supporter of terrorism through Hezbollah, Hamas, the Taliban and Palestinian terrorism along with Assad. Never mind previous support of Al Qaeda and Osama. Much of what has happened to to the people of Syria can be laid at the feet of the feet of Iran. One only only has to listen to Iranian threats to Israel. This doesn't let Trump off the hook either.
1
@Matthew Carnicelli: Along with the whole Kushner family, plus Bibi!
@JDSept
In Iraq, the Iranian supported Shia militias fought against Al Quaeda of Iraq and and the Sunnis supporting it. ISIS is Sunni / Saudi supported; Iran along side the Syrian and Russian military fought to expel ISIS from Syria. Secondly, as noted by others, Putin has provided more military support to Assad than Iran, yet Putin is seen by Trump as a strong leader and confidant. Foreign policy in the Trump administration is arbitrary and inconsistent toward allies and antagonists, unless viewed through the lens of current and future financial gains to Trump subsidiaries
12
"that the 2015 agreement temporarily stopped." Your words. Temporarily is the operative word here. Iranians are still killing Americans and plotting to do more anti-American activity. Why should we do any "temporary" agreement with them?
3
@Tom Carlstrom -- "Why should we do any "temporary" agreement with them?"
So they don't make nuclear weapons.
That other stuff is a separate subject.
3
@Tom Carlstrom so are Saudi financed Sunni militias killing Americans. Don't forget that 19 of the 20 911 terrorists were Saudi citizens. Remember that ISIS is a Sunni jihadist group and the Saudis are Sunnis while the Iranians are Shi'te. Also a 15 year moratorium on the development of nuclear weapons is no temporary agreement and gave time to fashion a more permanent ban.
3
@Tom Carlstrom Would you rather have an enemy with or without nuclear weapons?
1
Honestly, Trump lets Bolton lead him around on a short leash..He is a neo-con itching for a new war. And this time, we are on the wrong side of the issues. I am not buying this "intel" game.....Gang of eight in Congress been briefed?? Have not seen them on camera supporting this new cage rattle.
Anyone else wondering how much influence the oil lobby has in this current mess?
Yet again, we lose good people fighting a ginned up war for corporate interests.
Land of the Brave is now apparently the land of the slow learner.
I frankly side with Iran on this. They have stuck to the nuclear deal and Mr. Trump has shown little respect for them or for those countries still working for a peaceful resolution.
America, I cannot understand how many more brave people have to be risked for profit and politics that are NOT part of a real legacy of honor. Wake up.
28
Obama dropped the ball. We had them on the ropes and he let them go. Trump in turn has turned back on the heat but it my be to late. Yes they have stopped harassing our Navy even though the great embarrassment of January 12 2016 still hurts. What at this point can we do? Nuclear arms are an ever growing danger. In the hands of a rogue nation it will be deadly. Fight fire with fire do as they do cut the hand off that holds the threat.
3
@J Clark First how many countries agree with the Obama deal, he didn't make it alone? Also how many were already were buying Iranian oil against supposed sanctions in place like France and Germany? Already European countries are already making plans to continue to buy oil back channel just GOOGLE it. Oil will be sold if its needed. China will respect no sanctions nor will Turkey or other countries needing it. Venezuela and Libya with its oil production a disaster will only drive US prices up and up with Iran having its hands attempted to be tied. We do business with Saudi Arabia a country causing a humanitarian crisis in Yemen and butchering people in it's embassies along with long support of terrorism and 2nd class citizenship of females. Iran has been a threat long before Obama.
1
The U.S. has never told Iran specifically what it needs to do to end sanctions. Yes, the U.S. made vague demands such as ending support for terrorism and for Asaad. But it never said specifically what the U.S. would do in return for each Iranian positive action. Trump said the Iranian deal negotiated by the previous administration was the worst deal ever. Fine. Then negotiate another deal. As things stand now, the only reasonable course for Iran is to develop nuclear weapons as fast as it can. And then the only reasonable course for the U.S. would be to destroy them. which may require an invasion. And then we'd be off and running again.
18
@LSR no the reasonable thing would be for them to cease all development of Nuclear weapons give inspectors full access to verify that its true/ then hold Democratic elections!
2
@There for the grace of A.I. goes I
That's the problem with these religion-dominated regimes. These true believes hate free and fair elections - as the GOP demonstrates each and every election season.
6
@There for the grace of A.I. goes I
Leaving aside the issue that it's not our business to tell other countries how to govern, the U.S. has never offered the deal you propose to Iran.
Trump’s mindless pursuit of a military confrontation with Iran must be met with fierce resistance from Congress. Inspectors from the EU and the IAEA have regularly asserted their findings that Iran is complying with the The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known commonly as the Iran nuclear deal.
If President Trump has evidence that Iran is not complying with the JCPA, he must present that evidence to Congress and the public. Absent such evidence, the only conclusion that can be drawn is that President Trump is not acting in the best interest of America, but rather in the interests of Iran’s enemies, primarily Israel and Saudi Arabia.
59
@David Eike
Trump never needs evidence. Lucky for him since there never is any. His loyal minions accept everything he says at face value and cheer him on. Most cult like behavior I have ever seen.
2
With Trump's unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and continued unprovoked hostilities toward the latter not only the whole rationale of the deal is lost already, but Iran too as a sovereign player in the international community is free to chart its course as it likes.
27
@Prof. Jai Prakash Sharma
you mean Iran will have less funds to "chart it's course" of terrorism in the world.
if the Iran nuclear deal falls apart with the other countries involved and it escalates to military action with US involvement, this will be very much on "individual one" and his administration. the Iran deal may have not been perfect, but wouldn't it have better since to let the time expire and then forge a better deal. since the deal did involve other countries in the pact, it seems we pulled out leaving them high and dry and it shows we are not to be trusted when we sign on the dotted line. then "individual one" has over the years his signature or word means very little. I learned over night like all of Americans that I have worked for about 50 years and paid my share of federal income taxes, while "individual one" in a 10 years span may have paid taxes in two of those years. I wonder if that's what "individual one" doesn't want us to know now, where does the money come from, one of these countries that seem to get favorite treatment, like Russia, Saudi Arabia. "Individual one's" son has even said that the family has borrowed money from Russian banks. The more reason "individual one's" tax returns from recent years need to be viewed, so we can see if "individual one" or his family might be compromised. Some one please tell Graham and McConnell that this look into the Mueller report and others areas of "individual one's" corrupt life is not over or is it case closed. Neither of those two bags of hot air speak for the majority of American citizens.
31
We don’t need another war. It seems to me that we have become a war monger. Trump is bound and determined to upset the status quo in as many ways as he can. Where is the Republican check and balance on this administration?
23
It’s not Europe’s problem that Trump is pathologically jealous of his predecessor.
49
Repetition of history limps hand in hand with our failure to own our past.
Until (my) America owns its part within the ruination of Iran from the 1950's until the Shah's overthrow, we can never hope to even the playing field or to have a relationship with a proud and educated people.
That we killed this nation over oil, is OUR stain and to merely own it could be the start of OUR redemption from an American past equal parts shame and folly.
Luckily, this truth makes us far less pariah than mostly human.
14
the state of the comments on here show mostly an inept understanding of the Geo political situation in the middle East, a complete uninformed opinion by most about what was actually in the deal and what Iran was actually complying to or not already. Most on here would rather sit on their political side of the fence and call names than truly do some research and see that the deal was nothing short or placating this horrible regime whilst it proliferates hate,terror and discord not only in the middle East but on countries like Venezuela etc. While we sit here mocking our country's governance they sit and watch is destroy ourselves while they make moves. Just as criminals loose rights criminal regimes need to loose them as well. Giving them billions and making up some arbitrary rules they can easily skirt is equivalent to giving money and an empty house to a drug user. You know eventually they will do it
4
@Andrea C Maietta the deal wasn’t perfect but Iran was complying. There was no go reason for Trump to back out on the US’s words. It underscores he answers to others and it’s not the US.
9
@Andrea C Maietta...Instead of claiming that people are uninformed, perhaps you could provide some facts to support your claims. Your statement..."Giving them billions and making up some arbitrary rules they can easily skirt..." is patently false. The money to which you refer, $1.7 billion, belonged to Iran and was being held by the U.S. as frozen Iranian assets. The nuclear agreement included on site inspection. Many people have wrongly claimed that the requirement of a two week notice to perform on site inspections at military facilities was a mistake, not understanding that to clean up a nuclear site so it wouldn't be detected would take more than two months if not two years. There are my facts, where are yours?
2
@Andrea C Maiettag. Good heavens! Words
matter. Do you mean loose or lose?
1
I often wonder who America thinks it is as it uses its power to bend other countries to its will. On one hand we say we do not want to be the world's policemen but on the other we want to be the world's governor. trump has been bulling and bad mouthing Iran for years and no matter how small you are at some point you stand up for yourself. I say good luck to the people of Iran as my country has been trying to deny them the means to live.
44
@Thomas Renner: The Iranians are far from small, and are guilty of far more bullying than the US.
2
A real risk is Bibi using this as an excuse to ratchet things up in the region.
33
@Sendero Caribe -- That is not just a risk. That is a certainty. That was the point of it. He never wanted to stop here, with Iran enriching uranium again.
The US never learns from past mistakes. It was a colossal mistake when the CIA helped overthrow Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister Mossadegh in 1953 which resulted in the Shah regime which in turn lead to the revolution under Chomeini. Now putting Iran against the wall and singlemindedly betting on the highly corrupt and undemocratic Saudi regime as key ally in the Near East is going to end badly for the US.
Trump has no clue and Bolton who considers himself an expert on international power democracy should rather go and get help from a psychiatrist rather than living out his super power phantasies.
76
What did trump and his dangerous advisers expect?
There are superpowers and there are rogue states. Since the trump inauguration, the United States has become a combination of both.
08:25 EDT, 5/08
36
Actions have consequences and the grand negotiator, the storied diplomat, our despot in chief, possibly believing he would prevail with his bully tactics may have backfired.
Given Trump's bully ultimatum to countries trading with Iran due to the agreement those countries may eject Trump from their thoughts and seek to keep the agreement in place and renew trading. Soon the United States may find itself isolated.
19
The Iranians are calculating that the Europeans are greatly fearful of military action by the U.S. and Israel and also of the economic fallout from continued implementation of the economic sanctions. In other words, that the Iranian regime will continue to export terrorism despite unrest and discontent at home. They are also counting on the U.S. to back down and cooler heads to prevail. So far everyone has miscalculated.
Recall that Israel destroyed a nuclear reactor in Syria. The Syrians, embarrassed and too weak militarily did not even talk about the Israeli attack. This is not Syria!
The Iranians are military trouble makers and make no bones about it. They are able to export terrorism. And they seek the destruction of Israel. They also believe that Trump and his administration is the same as the Obama admin. And they believe they have the support of Russia and China. Now they are maneuvering to gain the support of the European powers by escalating their threats.
The Israelis are calculating that the Trump administration will allow a strike to destroy the Iranian reactor. Trump is calculating that the Israelis will attack and let the U.S. off the hook for the action.
Everyone is miscalculating.
Donald Trump and his advisors need to sit down and take stock of all the potential risks and outcomes. They also need to bring down the tension on all sides.
Cooler heads need to prevail on all sides. Donald Trump must take his finger off the trigger and listen.
6
When the body bags are filled with the children of Trump's base will they still cheer him on? Maybe he can shoot "someone" on 5th Ave. and get away with it, but when his ego and vanity kills your son, will you be ok with it?
34
Bolton was paid thousands of dollars to deliver a speech to the MEK ( formerly designated as a terrioist group). He said hat " “The declared policy of the United States should be the overthrow of the mullahs’ regime in Tehran,” Bolton added. “The behavior and the objectives of the regime are not going to change and, therefore, the only solution is to change the regime itself.”
Concluded his remarks by declaring that the next convention would be " in Tehran in 2019".
We never learn.
22
Corporations are using our military and taxpayers are footing the bill. It doesn't do anyone any good here except people building corporate empires.
Bolton and Pompeo have no concept of what tax cuts have on their actions. To proceed with these foolhardy moves with only a credit card and an administration of minds filled with the 12 year old's Erik Prince is driving his money making enterprises to your door at tax time. The invoices to the U.S. taxpayer for these moves at a time when the weight of taxation falls in the laps of middle income citizens will break your back.
This administration is having a good 'ol time playing soldier on your dime. You will be paying until you die for these maneuvers that benefit only Citizens United.
15
Well I am sure the White House has spent a great deal of time studying these issues. I am sure Jared has this all under control he probably was assigned to this task.
However the world is Still waiting for the administration specifically Jared to hOld the press conference on his new Middle East plan which was to be released after the election.
13
Iran is reacting to our pressure and disrespect. First we walk away from the deal and then we also sanction them for it, AND we put the blame on them.
We act in the world as the hegemon that we are, with unilateral entitlement to apply sanctions on other peoples. And then we disparage them for being a mess.
Sanctions demolish economies. Look at Venezuela -- we've been doing it to them for years. We have been complicit in their destruction. When we claim sixty countries support our designated collaborator in Venezuela, Mr. Guaido, that's because we threatened sanctions on many of those sixty countries.
John Bolton and Mike Pompeo are on a path to more war. This sudden emergency with Iran reminds me of the Gulf of Tonkin incident decades ago that got us full-tilt into the Vientam War.
Mainstream media will go right along and amplify their message for the need of a new war.
Don't buy into it.
oz.
25
I am no fan of Iran but we are the one's who reneged on the deal.
28
Iran has every right to use atoms for peace or simply said using nuclear energy for civilian welfare. The beginning of the insertion of the Iranian revolution with "death to America" set in motion a complex relation with America filled with scandalous covert and overt relations.
Americans love Persian Americans and the ancient Persian culture and feel for the hardships of the Persian people that sanctions have caused. Trump has extended a readiness to talk with the Iranian regime and has clearly stated that the administration has no intention to accelerate a regime change. It is time for Iranian president Rouhani and Trump have an urgent summit to break the ice, end the cold war and establish full diplomatic relations with Iran which will this year mark the 40th anniversary of the revolution and hostage taking.
2
Trump's business style is very similar to The Godfather. What he offers in return for cooperation is protection from his ability to damage and destroy. His refusal to lift sanctions on North Korea in stages as that country denuclearized and his refusal to continue granting Iran concessions for its renunciation of nuclear weapons development are typical of his "negotiating" style.
7
I remember reading an article years ago that stated Iran was the only country in that region that the colonial powers did not capture. If this is true, the US is picking a fight it cannot win!
5
What do you expect Iran to do? Trump pulls out of a legit nuclear deal that the great majority of the world was for except him and Israel and then want regime change in Iran and it to become a satellite of Israel.
That is the definition of insanity from Iran's point of view and from the rest of the world too.
16
If Trump's relations with North Korea and the Saudis have taught Iran anything, it's that without nuclear weapons you're lost. In the years to come. the terrible fruits of Trump's foreign policy blunders could savage the world
9
To go where ?
Removing the U.S.A. from a deal that took years of negotiations to now pressure the European Union, China, India an Iran to do things our way under threat of economic sanctions & violence.
Is this the best the most powerful country in the world has to
offer ?.
General Mathis advise was " better to spend resources in diplomacy than weapons of war".
Is the United States alone against Iran a more "crushing force" than the U.S. , Europe & Asia pressuring diplomatically Iran to change its way ( something very much needed ).
Sad to be forced to walk the same road with help from the same people John Bolton, etc that in the past took us to a violent regime change in Irak with he pretext of W.M.D.
10
Iran’s move is born of necessity. After abruptly breaching the treaty, the U.S. slapped crippling sanctions on Iran. Their economy is in terrible shape, and they need to resume exporting oil.
The bad actor here is, incredibly, the United States. Our exit from the pact was in bad faith (since Iran was in compliance), and all because Trump hates and is blindingly jealous of President Obama, who negotiated the deal.
Just like everything else, America and the world are paying the price with having a truthless, ignorant, lazy, demagogue as “president”.
16
Give respect? To a regime that sponsors terrorism, to a regime that daily calls for our "death"?
@logodos -
you mean the U.S. and Bolton
@logodos
Which regime are you talking about? Iran or the USA?
The patten repeats
Create a problem where none existed
Bellow and whine about the problem to the point of actually becoming a problem
Be shocked ...yes shocked that ‘there is gambling going on’
And ‘ crack down’ on the problem you instigated
Classic trump
10
Another “gift” from the disastrous Trump administration.
7
I don’t make it a habit to agree with statements by either the Russian or Chinese foreign ministries, but in this case both are completely on the mark.
6
How to explain destroying a deal that prevents nuclear arm development by Iran, however flawed but 'working', while sending love messages to Kim Jong-un, with actual nuclear weapons, and willing to use them? Having a self-adoring brutus ignoramus at the helm, with warmonger Bolton and compliant Pompeo, we may be in serious trouble. Luckily, the Congress still holds the power of the purse to avoid an all out war; and let's hope Iran behaves and revises it's aggressive stance.
8
My 13 year old daughter has more foreign policy chops than Bolton.
8
It is the classic reversal of cause and effect used by the Demagogue, in this case Trump. First you CAUSE a problem, he by pulling out of a perfectly reasonable deal to corral Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Then, when those ambitions re-emerge, as anyone with any sense at all could easily predict, you point your finger and declare: look what THEY DID.
Shameful diplomacy.
18
Trump, Bolton and Pompeo need to understand that the days of US pushing other countries around is basically over. what the really big risk in their approach is pushing China, Russia, Iran closer together.
26
The last three that banded together, Russia, Japan & Italy... Didn't end well for them.
2
@Mr. K.
Isolationism was not a good policy in the 1930s and 1940s. I still believe in American exceptionalism and a role for our control in leading the world based on values.
Iranian mischief needs to be contained and thwarted, until the Iranian people have enough tools to overthrow the repressive religious fundamentals driving their policies.
1
@Cromwell Huh? When was that?
1
"China, a signatory to the accord, urged restraint on all sides but put the blame for the confrontation squarely on Washington, which it said had escalated tensions."
China is correct. Trump should have remained in this deal instead of allowing his war-mongering "adviser" John Bolton who never set foot on an actual field of battle to up the ante.
This administration wants a war. As if DC weren't already blowing up as an authoritarian tramples over the constitution, now we face nuclear danger just because Trump loves chaos at home and abroad.
There is no better distraction than a war, and no better way to declare a national emergency and claim extra-special powers, like cancelling elections. Vladimir Putin is teaching his puppet well. How to kill democracy, 101: create a false reality, solidify supporters with racism and resentment, amass power in your party, kill future investigations, and pursue conflicts all over the globe, just in case.
Anyone who doesn't see what's happening in this country is living a pipe dream.
48
The Trump, The Pomp, & The Bolt. Don’t think you could pick a team more likely to needlessly waste American lives and Treasure. It will be middle class kids dying not the elite’s kids. I predict an epidemic of Bone Spurs confined to elite class kids as soon as Trump’s re-election war ramps up.
18
I don't often agree with statements made by the Russian or Chinese governments, but here I have to say I do. trump will now be portraying this move by Iran as confirmation that they were violating the deal (which would be a blatant lie, par for the course for him). It is important to remember that the US pulled out of the deal at a time when Iran was fully in compliance with their obligations. Hopefully the EU and other countries will not let their foreign policy be dictated by the immature simpleton in the White House.
16
Trump Mr. Tough Guy has fantasized about this war since he withdrew from the agreement, again out of no particular useful strategy but to rip up anything Obama with no plan for what comes next. This is Who He Is. One note, one approach to EVERYTHING, ham fisted and chauvinistic. The base cheers. The world burns as he seeks to make us all in the image of one more failed casino in New Jersey. This manchild with a need to perpetually prove how superior he is has the nuclear codes and John Bolton eager to hand him the box. There is no Secretary of Defense because Trump is “smarter than all the generals”. Frankly we are about to see how bad it can get.
16
The geo-political reality is that Iran, a regional power, has and continuous to act against the US.
Iran is supporting Hezbollah in Syria, and Hamas in Gaza, and anti US groups in Yemen. Iran is developing long range ballistic missiles and is co-operating with North Korea in the developing those. The long rage missile program, seen by Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey as destabilising the region, is not covered in the nuclear agreement
In response to the increased activity of Iran in Syria , the US increased sanctions - with the support of Israel that opposed the Obama administration negotiated agreement.
As to likely future developments
The EU has been negotiating with Iran for over a year on ways to circumvent the US sanctions, that cost European firms millions. Total, Renault and Airbus were forced to withdraw from the Iranian market, as the US used the status of the dollar as the world's reserve currency to enforce the sanctions
The new announcement by Iran increases the likelihood that EU will find a way to bypass the US sanctions. In which case Iran would stick to the agreement
A more crucial aspect for US policy is how Israel reacts, as in the coming US presidential election both parties will try to obtain the support of Israel
....
https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-recording-netanyahu-boasts-israel-convinced-trump-to-quit-iran-nuclear-deal/
2
Looks like it's going to be the "war and investigations" option the Don spoke of in the state of the union....
1
Iran has every right to have nuclear energy, and for that matter, to have nuclear weapons. After all, American's accomplice in the region, Israel, has hundreds of such terrible weapons aimed straight at Iran's heart, and brags about that fact often.
As an atheist, I should be against the theocracy in Iran, but all in all, after watching my country engage in insane, but profitable wars, since Vietnam, I find I hate war more than Stone Age theocratic governments.
Iran isn't our enemy. Saudi Arabia isn't our friend.
If Trump made even one dollar in bribe-like business with the Saudis or the Israelis, he and his family should stand trial.
Hugh
21
@Matteo
America is a country on a war footing, at least it spends many billions preparing for, and indulging in, wars. Of course it is profitable, for some political families like the Bush family, and its funding is wildly profitable in the stock market.
That is one error some of America's enemies make, they think America hates war. Actually, if real peace were to fall from the skies, our economy would tank.
Hugh
Interesting that Iran has asked European nations to decide if they want to continue with a reasonable agreement or side with the lunatics who currently run US foreign policy (again!).
12
Iran should think very carefully prior to making the next step here, I would be very wary of infuriating the states with a nuclear aircraft carrier off the coast, if he thinks Trump is afraid to use it, he's vastly underestimating this man.
3
@There
Take your threats and eat them. The Iranians have already made their measure of this dotard; he cannot even handle a house committee or Honduras. And American wargames have proven that Iran will sink the entire carrier group in the first 24 hours of hostilities.
8
taking nuclair out of your equation makes it more possible but a lot less effective.
@There
American war games have proven that Iran will sink the entire carrier group within the first 24 hours of hostilities.
2
As much as I and many of us here are discontent with the regime, this move has popular support, despite fears of war.Public opinion believes that Pompeo and Bolton are seeking a violent foreign-imposed regime change, imposition of a puppet regime and ultimately the killing of Iranians in conflict provoked by US actions, starting with the unjust breaking of the nuclear agreement.Bolton's and Pompeo's flirting with the two opposition groups, the monarchists and Mojahedin and its political groups only increases anti-US sentiment, as does US-Israeli-Saudi attempts to stir-up ethnic conflict.
To comments that Iran is a destabilizing force I say there are no angels in geo-politics,and that includes the US and Israel.I oppose aspects of the Islamic Republic’s regional policy,but both Israel and Saudi are equally if not more destabilizing in this region.If Iran is nuked tomorrow, the Palestinian problem remains,Yemen's internal problems are not solved while Yemenis' dislike of long-standing Saudi interference in their affairs remains,Lebanon remains a fragile multi-confessional state, etc,etc.
Hopes in Washington that a small war with Iran will bring down the Islamic Republic are as silly and dangerous as the views that led to the human catastrophe created by the US in Iraq.For chicken-hawks Bolton, Pompeo,and Israel and its supporters the loss of US and non-US life in such a conflict is not important.We remain amazed at how US policy has made us supporters of a regime we dislike.
58
@Bijan. Thank you for your perspective. We do not have enough nuanced coverage of Iran here. We end up with a nation that believes "the mullahs" all think alike, denies that Iran has any legitimate strategic concerns in the region, and assumes the Iranian people would welcome our troops as liberators.
1
DIPLOMACY, DIPLOMACY, DIPLOMACY, but the US would rather go to war, rather than give respect.
30
Wow, the guy who reneges on almost every deal he makes expects everyone else to do the opposite. In reality this all started when the US installed puppets to do the US's bidding and allow the oil to go to the US. Once that ended, we were at their mercy. These places absolutely do not trust the US. They will do anything to fight back. Wouldn't you? If organized crime infiltrated your neighborhood and demanded money via a protection racket wouldn't you want to end that arrangement? The US engages, and has for decades, in economic imperialism. And any human being would not like to be treated that way. But Iran doesn't have fleets of B-52s and aircraft carriers to fight back with. Does this remind you of anything? Kind of like blaming American workers for demanding a living wage and benefits. American workers, people like Trump want you to believe, bought this on themselves. Just like the Iranian people have done over the years. Obama tried to give the Iranians a good reason to change their behavior and hope that over time the change would stick. Because the other approaches were only making things worse. Trump puts a gun to their head and thinks negative reinforcement is always the right approach. When you beat your children for misbehavior, all it does it make them abuse others. Problem is once you start the threats, you will get to the point where you have to have a military presence there long term or they will call your bluff. They have nothing to lose.
30
And after the bombing you have 10 of millions of refugees heading to Europe.
4
While this piece is generally excellent, it ends with the puzzling statement that "But European officials say they remain mystified why Mr. Trump did not take on the Iranians for their support of terrorist groups while remaining within the deal."
Really? Various European leaders may state they are "mystified" when asked by reporters only because they are too polite/diplomatic to state publicly what they all know and discuss privately. Despite those public disclaimers, European officials know exactly why Trump chose this particular course:
1) Trump is an idiot who knows absolute nothing about foreign policy.
2) It was a campaign promise.
3) He wants to undo everything Obama did.
4) Everything always has to be all about Trump.
Those are poor and dangerous reasons for pushing closer to a war and Iran toward nuclear proliferation, but that's the world we live in today.
160
With his back up against a wall on the domestic front, Trump is pushing his corrupt crony administration to distract the American people by threatening war abroad - for no good reason. Typical behavior of demagogue (or consummate cheater), when he's losing the game, he changes the rules.
38
He's still disliked by more than half the country, many more coalitions than just hardline Dems are calling for articles of impeachment, the House and the State of New York are both moving closer to access his taxes. Yes, the economy is doing very well (a trajectory it started on before he took office), outside of that what does he really have to rest on? A stolen Supreme Court nomination? Tax cuts that seemed to mostly benefit his economic peers?
2
@Jackson
Yes, up to a real high 42.8% Oops, that is more that 7% less that half - maybe its not so good.
Trump is least popular president at the same time in their terms, by about 20%. Sad.
@Michael. Back up against the wall? Where do you even get this stuff? Even you have to know his approval ratings are up.
2
Did Dick Cheney and Condi Rice join the Secretary of State on his trip to Iraq this week? They wrote the script on how to sell an unnecessary and endless war to the American Public as somehow patriotic. Trump needs to offset the upcoming Congressional testimony of Mueller and Mcghan. Attacking Iran might be his way to divert attention from his obstruction of justice and links to Putin’s team.
11
The Navy’s carrier strike group is actually not being “rerouted” to the Persian Gulf. That’s just a lie. Chief Admiral John Richardson said on Monday that, essentially, the Persian Gulf deployment was business as usual. "The Abraham Lincoln Strike Group was planned to deploy for some time now," he said.
Richardson also stated that the Lincoln’s being routed to the Gulf is an example of the Navy’s new tactic of “dynamic force employment”, a tactic intended to surprise potential adversaries by having US ships show up off their coastlines without warning.
One hilarious aspect of this admittedly frightening episode is that Bolton’s grandiose, chest-beating announcement has rather removed the whole element of surprise in this particular “dynamic force employment”.
Bolton is clearly a madman thirsting for the US to find an excuse to attack Iran, something he’s been obsessing about for quite some time, as evidenced by his Times op-Ed in 2015, “To Stop Iran’s Bomb, Bomb Iran”.
It’s absurd that Trump, who campaigned against senseless Middle Eastern wars, has allowed this man Bolton to inhabit the White House. But not inexplicable. There’s two reasons: 1 - hatred of Obama. 2 - benjamins from billionaire donors.
44
You forgot the third, Iran is an enemy and a rogue nation that will only get stronger over time if not dealt with now, yeah, you forgot that one.
3
@There
Iran is no enemy to the US whatsoever. As for rogue nations, there are a few mucking about, but Iran is not one of them.
2
Duh! By all accounts they were in compliance with the deal. A missed opportunity for tRump to negotiate with them about other bad behaviors. Oh right. Trump doesn't know how to negotiate anything.
1
"The national security adviser, John Bolton, a fierce opponent of the deal, has often said that Iran never intended to give up its nuclear ambitions — and he may cite Mr. Rouhani’s speech as further evidence."
So Bolton/Trump abrogate the deal, and then would fault the partner they jilted? For doing what anyone in that position would do — act as if the agreement no longer exists? Because it doesn't?
28
The blanket statement that Iran “has continued to fund terror groups” that is blithely stated in this article is the kind of propaganda that informed watchers of American-Iran reporting have grown wearily familiar with. Unfortunately, most Americans take these statements as the truth, particularly when stated in legitimate media like the NYT. However, who exactly are these terror groups? Is it the Houthis, who are fighting an entrenched oppressive Saudi backed regime in Yemen? Is it Hezzbollah, which has faithfully fought for the freedom of the Palestinian people? Is it militia groups, supported by Iran in Iraq in Syria who are largely responsible for the near eradication of ISIS in those regions? When we examine “terror activities” why don’t we include the US deployment of overwhelming military resources in the Persian Gulf, 6000 miles from its own shores? I am disgusted with the clear efforts by the US to create a “basis” for war. Expect a “Gulf of Tonkin” incident soon. Our military-industrial complex needs to burn off some of the weapons engendered by our annual $780 billion “defense” budget. Meanwhile, the lives of millions of people in that region lie in the balance. Amazing that Korea gets to negotiate while flaunting its nuclear weapons while we sanction Iran into the Stone Age. Meanwhile, Bibi just smiles and watched but in reality Israel could bear the highest cost of war with Iran, due to its proximity.
23
Obama's Iran deal was the greatest deproliferation agreement in modern history. Iran was less that 1 year from having nuclear weapons, and Obama's deal bought the world 10 years of breathing room, which could be used to improve diplomatic relations and create economic interdependence. Trump violated that agreement and endangered the world just to throw red meat to his indoctrinated base and control a few news cycles.
Trump has always been a con man. He gets his customer base to invest in an illusion (eg Trump University, fraudulent condo sales data, the Art of the Deal, etc) and eventually those investors learn their investments are now worthless, and they never get justice. As President, Trump continues making these illusions (eg that Obama's deal was bad), and just like before, his product is fundamentally irrational garbage (eg "let's antagonize Iran and also let them have nuclear weapons in less than a year").
The fallout from this will last an extremely long time. Literally.
28
The simple question remains: Can Iran be trusted? And the answer remains the same: No.
From the lies that Iran was not seeking a nuclear bomb, to the September 25, 2009 announcement from the US, UK, and French that revealed (another) secret Iranian uranium-enrichment facility, Iran has lied, cheated and delayed- all while continuing the work to build a nuclear bomb.
I didn't vote for Trump, but I certainly am not going to allow my feelings about him make me think that the Iranian leadership are the good guys here.
Or that they don't continue to seek a bomb- regardless of whatever "deal" they made because they have proven time and time again that they are not to be trusted.
Trump may be a child, but that does not make the Iranian leaders honest brokers.
5
Can America be trusted? The simple answer is no.
3
Trump's policy on Iran is the classic ploy of a weak autocrat - when the going gets tough, start a war. War with Iran, war with North Korea, war with congress... Anything to bring the base to heel and prop up his dwindling support.
Does anyone remember the movie 'Wag the Dog"?
11
Forgive my skepticism, but I see this as another distraction, albeit a far more dangerous one that past presidents have used -- think Reagan's invasion of Grenada. Given their hawkish, protect Israel and Saudi Arabia at-all-cost position,and that I don't trust them any farther than I can drool, I simply don't believe the threat's what our "intelligence" is purporting it to be. It's time to stop wasting trillions protecting the Middle East and spend the bucks on our own crises: infrastructure, health care, education, and climate change, just to name a few.
17
Thank you John Bolton et al for bringing us closer to a disastrous war with Iran - just in time for the 2020 election.
27
@There -- Just like in Iraq and Afghanistan and Syria and Libya and Somalia?
26
@There
.... said the people who launched the Iraq war.
30
@There....Just like there hasn't been much of a War either in Iraq or Afghanistan. Fighting the war is the easy part, ending it is an entirely different matter.
15
Iran is a de-stabilizing force throughout the middle east.
Israel's agenda is defensive - to protect itself from the incursion of Iran into Syria and Lebanon and to thwart its stated goals of eradicating Israel. Iran has used terrorist proxies, such as Hezbollah, to advance its aims.
The Iranian people, too, want the Iranian theocracy overthrown.
While I cannot condone Trump undoing a negotiated agreement, nonetheless in the larger scheme of things Iran needs to contained until its people overthrew the repressive regime in control.
3
Yes and create another Iraq and ISIS like situation, or Afghanistan/Pakistan Al-Qaida like situation. US doesn’t have the patience in nation building and has instead destabilized regions around the world. Let’s stop breaking countries and destabilizing regions.
Let Israel deal with it diplomatically.
3
@Paresh
It would be pretty hard to deal diplomatically with a regime avowed to your destruction which will not recognize your existence.
(Israel faces the same problem with Hamas in the West Bank. Hamas has no will to come to terms with an Israeli state. Hamas has no will for that matter to reach agreement with the P.A. in the West Bank).
Who wants the mullahs in charge, anyhow? Not the Iranian people.
2
@Rob
Israels agenda is certainly not defensive. Their aggressive settling of the West Bank and determination to exert hegemony over all of Palestine is textbook offensive.
If theres a repressive regime in need of overthrow, its the Israeli occupation that has been ongoing for 50 years.
4
We drove them there and may yet push it over the edge.
We won't have to worry about global warming after a nuclear war or two.
Where is the advantage in destroying the planet?
10
I wonder, what the administration wins with this situation? The Saudis already declared that if Iran starts a path to nuclear weapons, they will too. Is the ripple effect of no planning and no diplomacy. Bannon was all for the US to stop meddling in international affairs. Why meddle with an agreement that was keeping you off to meddle more in the region? This slow pace moving to a new cold war style era is scary and I hope people realizes that while we get closer to 2020 elections. Even the Chinese administration is more tempered then Trump’s. Whatever the US does in the world, comes to bite the US back. Why you think the high levels of immigration in the south border is happening if not because all of the 1980’s meddling in Central America?
1
We wait endlessly for the event that will test the POTUS in a global crisis. He seems always to slip out the back jack. Today, the world is treated to a tax reveal AND what appears to be an ultimatum from Iran. Now what?
5
The Iranians are more trustworthy negotiating partners than either Trump or our current GOP. They are actually more conservative (in the old sense) than our soi-dise "conservatives."
We'd be better off if Trump, his degenerate family, his grifting "administration," and our GOP take a plane and go to their paymasters in Moscow for permanent relocation before they dig our national grave any deeper.
27
The U.S. taxpayers are once again paying for a foreign policy which benefits Israel and Saudi Arabia, not the U.S. Warhawks Bolton and Pompeo along with Commander Bone Spurs want a war with Iran and are doing all they can to start one. The corporations will make money, U.S. soldiers will die for Israel and Saudia Arabia and middle-class U.S. taxpayers will pay for it.
69
How can you possibly know what the Iranian people want to, that's a very strong, and probably in accurate, comment
2
@June
Iran is a de-stabilizing force throughout the middle east.
Israel's agenda is defensive - to protect itself from the incursion of Iran into Syria and Lebanon and to thwart its stated goals of eradicating Israel.
The Iranian people, too, want the Iranian theocracy overthrown.
While I cannot condone Trump undoing a negotiated agreement, nonetheless in the larger scheme of things Iran needs to contained until its people overthrew the repressive regime in control.
2
Trump wants regime change in Iran and nothing less. He has surrounded himself with war hawks and strongly allied himself with the two nations that want Iran taken down, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
When the orders were given to send warships into the Persian Gulf a couple of days ago, the first thought that came to me was the Gulf of Tonkin incident which was a fake attack that we cooked up to escalate the Vietnam War. When the Trump administration cited "unspecified threats", that's all I needed to know. They are laying out the chess pieces for an altercation. The louder these people scream that this move is not a provocation for war, the more you should believe it is.
Add in Pompeo's sudden trip to Iraq, and we should start worrying. I'll bet he asked them about staging for an assault against Iran.
Trump has been pressuring Iran economically, not just to get rid of nuclear weapons, but to take down their government. That is his goal. This is all right out of the 2003 neocon Bush playbook that was used to start the Iraq war. Just wait for the explanation from some esteemed authority like Colin Powell. Their biggest problem Trump will have selling it is that his entire crew is comprised of liars and phoneys who have no integrity. That won't stop Trump and his followers will believe every word of it and the Republican Senate will go along with it.
48
This is what happens when a man/boy is dictating our foreign policy.
Vote Blue 2020 and put the adults back in charge.
78
@NewEnglandPatriot
There were just too many Democrats in Congress that voted for the Iraq war, Clinton included. I do not trust the Democrats either.
1
@e.s.
There are plenty of Democrats running who were against the war at the time. Any of them would be a massive improvement over not just Trump, but Clinton as well.
1
Trump show the same craftiness in foreign relations that he exhibits in his business dealings. which is to say none. His moves on the international stage mimic his business sense- morally, ethically and financially bankrupt.
126
Another development in the Trump-Netanyahu campaign to complete the self-fulfilling prophesy of "existential threat" justifying war with Iran.
Hence, 2003, tragedy, 2019, farce.
19
Iran is calling the bullies bluff and like most bullies Trump will back down. Americans have absolutely no appetite for another middle eastern war. Especially one fought on behalf of Israel and Saudi Arabia.
31
@Chris
What Americans have an appetite for doesn't matter. He can still start the war anyway, like always, without congressional approval. Even if we elect someone else, the next President will be handed the war and say "golly gee, I didn't support the war, but I will win it". Public approval never matters before a war when it's so easy for news media (including print publications) to manufacture consent. I don't think any major political bloc in the country actually wants a war without Iran and I'm pretty sure that's completely irrelevant to whether or not it happens.
10
War...
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing!
27
Iran has made the right decision, as anyone who is not a hypocrite can plainly see.
The Trump administration has been false, unfaithful, and malicious in its so-called "negotiations". It has reneged on a settled deal which every other party has honored. Pompeo has arrogantly demanded unconditional surrender by Iran as a pre-condition for talks.
Trump has deliberately undermined any part, present, or future attempts to reach an amenable settlement at the behest of the real villains in this story: Israel and Saudi Arabia, both of which are factories of human rights abuses.
What self-respecting people could possibly tolerate such behaviour?
Certainly not the noble people of Iran. Please undertake all means to defend yourself. Sad to say, you may be placed in a position where you will need them soon. I hope you win.
25
I still say follow the money, why is Trump so so in love with Saudi Arabia to the point of threatening war on their behalf with their arch enemy Iran. Much like Putin Trump is incapable of saying or doing anything that is not in their best interest. I want to know why? Trump might think a war with a Iran would be quick and easy, this is delusional and could spiral out of control into a quagmire that could make Afghanistan and Iraq look like child's play.
35
Maybe Mr Kim could offer the Iranians negotiating advice? He seems to have mastered the "art of the "deal.
11
What will Israel's government do about this? And what will be the reaction in each European goverment? What about the 28 countries in the EU? And what about NATO-countries that are not members og the EU - e.g. Norway and Turkey???
2
Of course Iran is doing this, the US is strangling its economy and seems to want to have, at any cost, oil controlling and Israel mollifying regime change
13
The Iranian dilemma is a creation of our oil industries and spooks. Iran was a democracy when the elected government tried to increase Iran's share of the profits from its oil, and the CIA engineered a coup that put the fraudulent "Shah" on the imaginary "Peacock Throne." That man was so brutal that the people revolted against him and turned to superstition as an alternative. The world would be a far better place if we imposed moral behavioral standards on our corporations and stopped our incessant adulation of Mammon. We cannot serve both God and Mammon. I think someone warned us about that, 2 millennia ago.
32
Selling burning more oil to burn only hastens the time when less than careful countries will choose nuclear out of necessity.
Maybe lack of Air conditioning and Chinese cars will bring about a revolution.
A previous plan for slow and steady engagement may still be the better choice. The nuclear genie is out of the bottle. A shared green revolution may bring us better results. The carriers in the gulf don’t build.
1
It is too bad but I don’t blame Iran. Bully diplomacy never works. There is no support for another war in the Middle East
12
All this and we have been without a Secretary of Defense for five months.
48
President's Trump's opening move was one that even a beginner in chess would not make if they actually looked at the whole board and though ahead, while President Rouhani's move was a classic chess gambit made by black. "Art of the Deal" really? This is not a chess game, this is real life and the costs of playing are so serious that the consequences have the potential to make the Second Iraq War look like a scrimmage. I mean no offense towards those who served and suffer, but there is no known end game when it comes to war. This can spin out of control so fast and I have absolutely no faith or trust in a single word that come out of our President's mouth. Anyone out there trust what our President is doing with Iran, anyone?
114
I’m by no means an expert on diplomacy, military strategy or international alliances but a few things come to mind: When your leader is a “bomb thrower” other world leaders act accordingly. When you have only yes men afraid for their jobs in key roles it’s hard to work different angles behind the scenes. When you treat friends with disregard, your enemies find new footholds. Our us first; bold crass bullying talk; and take it, leave it, or tear it up strategies are increasingly on shaky ground all around the world — even when upheld by our courts.
54
If the nuclear deal with Iran fails, Mr.Trump alone should take the blame. Obama Administration did not sign the deal just like that. It was only after many rounds of negotiations, the deal was inked. Even now, Trump administration has not demonstrated what is wrong with the deal. Till this date, Iran has not deviated from any of the clauses mentioned in the deal. Why unnecessarily scrap a well negotiated, well understood and well implemented deal just to satisfy one's ego? Let Trump administration concentrate on North Korea, which is taking the administration for a ride. Even after two direct meeting between the Heads, nothing substantial has come out. North Korea is continuing with its weapons testing.
As regards Europe, it should start thinking and acting on its own rather than toeing the American line blindly. They have to choose Iran this time, since Iran has not violated the agreement.
69
@T. Anand Raj...'why unnecessarily scrap a well negotiated, well understood and well implemented deal?...because the abhorrent current occupant of the Oval Office has as one of his goals - trash anything with President Obama's name/signature on it.
1
Listen up, GOP. If your guy starts a war with Iran, the blood is on your hands.
303
@Ann W. S.
The tragedy of war is that the blood might be on the hands of those who allow it to proceed, but it is the blood from the soldiers that is shed.
19
@Ann W. S.
Considering how the country now looks at George W. Bush, I'm pretty sure that blood washes off pretty quickly.
29
@Ann W. S. Sadly, Cons are fine with this. Far-right extremists like Bolton have been trying to start a war with Iran for decades. War is money for them, and they don't view Muslims as real people.
17
How was president Trump able to suspend the implementation of the Nuclear Agreement with Iran ? Is'nt that the prerogative of the Senate with whose " advice and consent " he must conduct the nation's foreign relations-presumably including the ratification of International Treaties among which this agreement must surely be numbered?
Surprising since the world is commemorating the centenary of the post WW I Versailles Treaty which was largely the creation of President Woodrow Wilson but failed to obtain Senate approval.
1
It was an executive agreement. There was no legislative ratification of it--it never would have passed Congress.
8
@Edward Hogan Obama's only choice was to do this by executive order, because by the time the details were worked out he was dealing with a GOP-run Congress that refused to do its job. (Note: Mitch McConnell has already threatened to block any bipartisan legislation if a Democrat is elected president in 2020 but the Senate stays in Republican hands.)
1
An honest evaluation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), cannot be made without considering President Obama’s goal of improving the relationship between the United States and Iran. Obama believed that it is possible to pull Iran back into the global community and that the JCPOA was a first-step in that direction.
President Trump’s increased sanctions, combined with his increasingly Saudi-centric policies in the Middle East, have solidified the position of the extremists in Iran. As evidenced by Iran’s continued efforts to support and radicalize the Shia population in the Middle East, both before and after the JCPOA, sanctions do not weaken Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Trump’s move to reinstate and broaden those sanctions will not help.
Obama believed (or at least hoped) that, over the course of the JCPOA, improvements in Iran’s economy would nourish secular forces in Iran, but that such change would be a long time coming. The IRGC is an institutionalized factor in Iranian politics and will never give up its power willingly. However, we need to remember that the clerical domination of Iran’s politics is not inevitable. U.S. actions will tip the scales in one direction or the other. President Trump’s hard-line moves toward military confrontation with Iran will only strengthen the worst aspects of Iranian society.
75
"Mystifying". Europeans remain "mystified".
The reasoning behind Trump's policy is now apparent: There is no reasoning.
US abrogation of the agreement ceded any moral high ground to the Iranians who continued to honor its terms with the other signatories. Iran is forced to exert pressure with the only measures open to it. Instead of trading sanctions for Iran's better behavior vis a vis terrorism, the world is now faced with proliferation of fissionable material.
Worse, in the short term Iran may have developed the technology to efficiently couple conventional weapons with partially enriched materials to produce a "dirty" bomb. This may be forming the basis for the recent threats which the Trump administration alludes to.
This is an extremely dangerous situation brought on by Trump's piquant actions. It could end with a nightmare scenario of many dead and a nuclear-contaminated landscape serving as an eternal memorial to Trump's uninformed policy decisions.
48
@Brian Barrett "Mystified" is diplomatic speech for "We have no idea with the fool hopes to accomplish with his idiotic actions."
If we're putting the pieces in place to strike another country, our leaders owe us a better explanation for why we might get into another deadly and costly conflict. What does "we're detecting threats against us and our allies" even mean? Show us the beef!
176
@Greg
How can anyone in the current Executive Branch prove their point using intelligence data from our own agencies & from the EU when said Executive Branch has spent the last 3 years denigrating & disparaging those very same intelligence agencies?
I suspect that the source of all "data" claimed to exist by members of the current Executive Branch is.....Mr. Trump's gut.
6
The temerity of the US and its foreign policy. It’s high time it stopped holding less powerful countries to stricter standards than itself. International sanctions have backed Iran into a corner—it is natural that it would want to continue developing what we in the West have long accepted as a valid form self-defence. Especially given Iran’s costly international malignment.
23
When the US pulled out of the agreement, what did we expect? We started the escalation with this bellicose administration's actions.
291
@Leslie
And ... with trump & co.'s bellicosity 'stocks' emptied on their 'churning' with Iran, their efforts to 'destroy' the oversight powers and rights of our Congress and the 'rule of law' in these (not-much) United States
(wherever 'it' means to limit the power of our evil and ignorant, wanna-be king) ... nothing of such 'stocks' is left to challenge putin & co. -- or to build defenses to putin & co.'s cyberwar against us in re our elections and more (much more).
( Are the terrorist groups supported by Iran 'worse' than Russia-by-Vlad? Are they even much distinct?)
5
@Leslie
The US has shown itself to be an international lying cheat. Just like its leader. Impeachment really cannot come soon enough.
3
The United States should replace Bolton and Pompeo and engage in dialogue not war to resolve these issues
Congress should step in and get Israel and Netanyahu to back off and the U S should negotiate with Iran in good faith and soften the sanctions as a first step
These are very dangerous times. There is no need for this confrontation as the Iranians kept their part of the nuclear agreement and is taking small steps to protect itself and keep the key components of the deal intact A war will benefit no one.
204
@Rose-I suspect Trump's threats are to mollify Israel and to raise oil prices as payment to the the Saudis. Like the companies he boasted he would buy (but didn't),Trump doesn't have to go through with it--to win.
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@Ann
After awhile Trump’s corporate takeover bluffs were called & he no longer won.
Past is prologue, perhaps.
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@Ann The problem is that Trump doesn't know how to win. He's spent his life losing money and lawsuits. Americans who were hoping he'd run the U.S. the way he ran the Trump organization are getting just that -- too bad the rest of us are suffering along with them.
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