There’s another interesting post at The Diplomat on some of the items likely to be on Iran’s shopping list when the embargo on military equipment and supplies is lifted, as will all but certainly be the case sooner rather than later. The list includes modern ground combat vehicles, small naval vessels, new technology aircraft, and cruise missiles.
IMO, the UN weapon embargo should have remained off limits in this negotiation, as well as counterpoints dealing with ballistic missiles. The administration used the excuse, of not dealing with the release of hostages, as being it was not related to nuclear negotiations. So, how were these other extraneous giveaways related to solely nuclear-relevant talks?
Point 1. Tanks and rifles and armored vehicles and ships and missiles are fairly ordinary items in international commerce. We sell them right and left to all sorts of governments. Ditto for the Brits and the Russians and Chinese who have been enticed into cosigning and enforcing that anti-nuclear agreement. They’ll make some arms sales. It’s the tit for their tat, so to speak.
Point 2. Presumably, the more tanks and fighter aircraft and naval vessels the Iranians have, the less likely they are to feel that they must have nuclear weapons to provide their safety. Isn’t this of interest to the US?
Point 3. It also sends a message of sorts to the Iranians, indicating that despite the scrutiny of their nuclear weapons building capability, the US and Britain and Russia, etc., basically view Iran as just another country, rather than an international pariah. Which is probably a good thing for people to believe, and who knows, it might even be true someday.
“So, how were these other extraneous giveaways related to solely nuclear-relevant talks?”
Russia and China were only supporting sanctions because of the nuclear issue. They wanted the embargo lifted. How would you keep them supporting sanctions once a nuclear deal is complete?
Steve
They wanted the embargo lifted. How would you keep them supporting sanctions once a nuclear deal is complete?
It’s simple, the sanctions are gone, as are lots of other hindrances to Iran’s growth and dominance in the ME region.
Russia wanted the embargo lifted so they could openly sell arms to Iran. Wonderful! Also, Russia has already stated that once sanctions were lifted they would not support any snap-back measure should Iran cheat, by vetoing such should one be brought up later on in the UN. Consequently, it is looking more and more that the much trumpeted safeguard, the “snap-back” provision, was nothing more than a ploy to reassure people a remedy was in place should Iran renege on the terms of their agreement. However, it’s proving to be an utterly fake deterrence component of this cellophane “nonbinding” agreement which most see as a Treaty. Even CNN coyly has asked, “If it looks like a treaty, walks like a treaty and talks like a treaty, is it a treaty?” The answer is that it’s whatever the President says it is. Cool, huh!