Iran Nuclear Deal: Binding Under International Law

by Stephen Lendman

On July 20, Security Council members unanimously approved Resolution 2231 - making the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreed to by seven nations (P5+1 and Iran) binding international law.

No country may unilaterally abrogate it. If Congress rejects it by a veto-proof margin, America will be a greater international pariah than already.

Obama signing into law the 2015 Iran Nuclear Agreement Act (INAA) giving Congress authority to accept or reject it is overridden by Security Council Resolution 2231.

Anti-Iranian deal House and Senate members intend ignoring what they’re mandated to observe - two leading Democrats among them, publicly declaring their opposition, risking a serious US breach of international law, their reasons given entirely baseless.

Senator Chuck Schumer (D. NY) (called by some the senator from AIPAC) lied claiming the deal will let Iran “escape detection of any illicit building and improving of possible military dimensions (PMD) - the tools that go into building a bomb but don’t emit radioactivity.”

“When it comes to the non-nuclear aspects of the deal, I think there is a strong case that we are better off without an agreement than with one.”

“(U)nder this agreement, (Iran) will be able to achieve its dual goals of eliminating sanctions while ultimately retaining its nuclear and non-nuclear power.”

Rep. Eliot Engel (D. NY) is the ranking Democrat House Foreign Affairs Committee member. Like Schumer, he’s notoriously hawkish on issues relating to Israel.

He turned truth on its head saying “Iran is a grave threat to international stability. It’s the largest state sponsor of terror in the world…15 years from now, (it’ll) be free…to spark a nuclear arms race across the region.”

Fact: None of the above comments are credible. Longstanding US and Israeli intelligence confirm no evidence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program or intent to have one.

Fact: Iran is a leading proponent of regional peace and stability. It doesn’t engage in or support terrorist activities. It seeks cooperative relations with all nations. It threatens none.

Fact: Washington’s longstanding aim is regime change in Iran - replacing its sovereign government with US-controlled despotic rule like a generation earlier under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

In his August 5 speech before a handpicked American University audience, Obama threatened lawless aggression on Iran saying “let’s not mince words. The choice we face is ultimately between diplomacy or some form of war. Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not three months from now, but soon.”

He signaled what perhaps is coming with or without the nuclear deal - easily breached by Washington, falsely blaming Tehran for its transgression, even if Congress fails to undermine it.

As long as regime change remains US policy, no amount of successful diplomacy will soften it. Iranian officials are under no illusion.

“The Great Satan” wages endless imperial wars against invented enemies. It maintains longstanding war plans targeting Iran. It could implement them any time for any contrived reason.

The risk of embroiling the entire region and beyond in conflict won’t lessen as long as hawkish lunatics run things in Washington.

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.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.