Putin v. Obama and Netanyahu on Iran's Nuclear Program

by Stephen Lendman

Iran's nuclear program is entirely peaceful. No evidence suggests a military component. False accusations persist anyway.

Proposed congressional legislation imposes more sanctions if Tehran fails to agree to outrageous US demands.

Ones no nation should accept. Intended to subvert its legitimate program. Multiple P5+1 negotiating rounds haven't resolved things.

Nor are they likely to as long as Washington remains hardline. On Sunday, John Kerry gave Tehran an ultimatum.

Saying "the only chance I can see of an extension at this point in time would be that you really have the outlines of the agreement but if we're not able to make the fundamental decisions that have to be made over the course of the next weeks, literally, I think it would be impossible to extend."

"I don't think we would want to extend at that point. Either you make the decisions to prove your program is a peaceful one, or if you're unable to do that, it may tell a story that none of us want to hear."

In other words, either accept outrageous US demands or face tougher sanctions and perhaps war.

Since the early 1980s, Washington aggressively intervened against Tehran's legitimate nuclear program.

No different from what dozens of other countries pursue. Fabricated documents claimed a nonexistent nuclear weapons component.

The Big Lie persists. Washington, other Western governments and Israel proliferate deception.

According to investigative journalist Gareth Porter:

"The political convenience of the accepted narrative of the Iran nuclear issue has continued to suppress any active interest in learning the truth."

Nothing suggests change going forward. Israeli Lobby power exerts enormous influence on US foreign policy.

It showed in Defense Secretary nominee Ashton Carter's Senate Armed Services Committee hearings.

He lied saying a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an "exceptionally grave" threat to Washington and Israel. Knowing no such program exists or that Tehran intends one.

He repeated the Big Lie about Iran "hav(ing) the ambition to wipe off the map other states in the region, namely Israel."

More lies claiming Tehran "ha(s) a long history of behaving in a disruptive way, of supporting terrorism, of trying to undermine other governments (and) of operating around the world."

"I think they give abundance evidence that they're not the kind of people you want to have having nuclear weapons."

No nations do more to "undermine other governments" as well as threaten world peace and stability than America and Israel. Don't expect Western officials or MSM media sources to explain.

The Big Lie about Iran persists. More on this below. On February 9, Putin told Egypt's Al-Ahram:

"I can say with no exaggeration that Russia makes a significant contribution to the settlement of the situation around the Iranian nuclear programme."

"Our position is based on a belief that Iran has a right to peaceful nuclear activity including uranium enrichment, naturally under control of the IAEA."

"It was not an easy task to convince our partners from the P5+1 to agree with this approach."

"At first, we continuously asked all the parties involved to sit down at the negotiating table and start a serious discussion of the ways to resolve this problem."

"We tried to convince them that there was no alternative to the political and diplomatic settlement."

"Then, we proposed a conceptual framework to advance along this way - the principles of the stage-by-stage movement and reciprocity. And such an approach was supported by all the participants in the process."

"The negotiations are well under way now. Substantial progress has been made."

"However, we have not managed yet to produce a final comprehensive solution either regarding the Iranian nuclear programme itself or the prospects of lifting the sanctions."

"We expect the efforts in this field to be continued. The crucial point is that nobody should try to derive unilateral benefit from the situation or to bargain out more than what is needed for a balanced and just resolution of this complicated issue."

Earlier Putin said "(w)e have always supported the Iranian people's right to have modern technology, including the peaceful use of nuclear energy."

"(W)e know…the position of the entire Iranian leadership (is that) Iran is not working on creating nuclear weapons. We proceed from this very position."

Russia believes Western sanctions on Iran undermine resolving things equitably. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed opposition to anti-Iranian "coercive measures."

Israel wants Iran's legitimate nuclear program entirely compromised. Specifically its essential enrichment capability. Netanyahu vowed to go all-out to prevent an agreement.

At his weekly Sunday cabinet meeting, he lied saying P5+1 "powers and Iran are racing forward with an agreement that will allow Iran to arm with nuclear weapons, something that will threaten the existence of the State of Israel."

"At the end of the week, Kerry and (Iranian Foreign Minister) Zarif announced their intention to complete the framework agreement by the end of March, and that is what gives rise to the urgency in our efforts to try and halt this bad and dangerous agreement."

"We will continue to act and to lead the international efforts against the arming of Iran with nuclear weapons and we will act in every way to foil the bad and dangerous agreement that would cast a heavy cloud over the future of Israel."

It bears repeating. No Iranian nuclear weapons program exists. None is planned. Netanyahu knows it. He lied claiming otherwise.

Israel is the region's only nuclear armed and dangerous state. Its WMD arsenal threatens world peace.

Iran threatens no one. It values cooperative relations with all nations. It hasn't waged war against another country in over two centuries.

Washington wages permanent wars against humanity. Israel launches them at its discretion.

Both countries are outlaw states. Iran pursues regional peace and stability.

A previous article called Netanyahu a symbol of rogue governance. Israel's worst ever prime minister. A menace to his people and  regional peace.

His planned early March congressional address intends boldly influencing US foreign policy by intimidation, Big Lies, pressure on US lawmakers, and directly appealing to Americans to believe a nonexistent Iranian threat.

At Munich's just concluded Security Conference, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif stressed Tehran's legitimate "right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes."

Justifiably saying he wants "all the restrictions…imposed on Iran through sanctions, which we consider unacceptable, to be lifted."

Tehran continues "tak(ing) steps to reassure the international community that its program remains peaceful…"

"(T)he reason I use the word 'reassure' is that over the last 10 years or more, Iran has been the subject of more IAEA inspections than probably any other country on the face of the earth, and the IAEA has yet to find a single evidence that Iran's program is anything but peaceful."

"I believe that the most important obstacle to reaching an agreement is the need for realization that the only way to reach an agreement is through negotiations and through disagreement."

"(T)he only way to deal with Iran is through respect and negotiations and meeting on a non-zero-sum game."

"(I)it is in our interest to show the world that our nuclear program is exclusively peaceful."

"Sanctions are a liability. You need to get rid of them if you want a solution. (Otherwise) we will not have a solution."

"(T)hat's the single most important issue…Iran did not talk to the United States for 35 years."

"And now we are talking. And I believe these talks are useful. But they haven't produced the intended results."

"We have not seen an end to the hostility that has been exhibited in the United States against Iran."

Zarif said all sides could have reached agreement months ago. He doesn't believe extending talks serves anyone's interests.

Nothing will be different a year from now, he said. It behoves everyone to resolve things as soon as possible.

Zarif intends using talks planned over the next six weeks to "concentrat(e) on a solution, not…on failure."

"(W)e do not have a (nuclear) weapons program," he stressed. "We will never have" one. Israel is nuclear armed and dangerous.

It "cannot…hide (its) atrocities against the Palestinian people…continued violations of Palestinian human rights…continued acts of aggression against Palestinian, Lebanese, Jordanian and Syrian people under the guise of a (nonexistent) Iranian threat."

On Sunday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he'll "go along with (a nuclear) agreement in the making" as long as it doesn't compromise Iran's legitimate rights.

Tehran is committed for regional peace and security. Washington, Israel and its Lobby threaten it worldwide.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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