On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu grabbed the world's attention by revealing secret documents that exposed details of the Iranian nuclear weapons program. Netanyahu accused the regime of "brazenly" lying about its nuclear program after participating in an international agreement forged under the Obama administration to curtail its nuclear weapons program.
"The Iran deal, the nuclear deal, is based on lies," Netanyahu declared. He said Israeli intelligence has obtained 55,000 files on Iran's nuclear program, which includes development of missiles that can reach Tel Aviv, Moscow, and the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, and designs for nuclear warheads. Netanyahu said he has shared this information with the United States. The U.S. has reportedly verified its authenticity.
.@netanyahu: “These files conclusively prove that Iran is brazenly lying when it says it never had a nuclear weapon… https://t.co/lZRdyGqZgr— Fox News (@Fox News) 1525108958.0
.@netanyahu: “The Iran deal, the nuclear deal, is based on lies.” https://t.co/bPC4Sp9TRR https://t.co/8xJBnMrC8y— Fox News (@Fox News) 1525109487.0
.@netanyahu: “In a few days’ time, President Trump… will make a decision on what to do with the nuclear deal. I’m s… https://t.co/xCResu75G1— Fox News (@Fox News) 1525109790.0
Netanyahu's presentation ought to be damning. The evidence flies in the face of assurances from President Barack Obama, former members of his national security team, and international leaders that the Iran nuclear deal will safely keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of the Iranians. The oversight and inspection provisions of the Iran deal have clearly failed. The removal of economic sanctions on Iran did not work, and the rogue regime did not change its behavior. Instead, billions of Iranian financial assets were unfrozen so the regime could increase its support for terrorist groups while developing nuclear weapons.
“The nuclear deal is based on lies. 100,000 files right here prove that they lied … Iran continues to lie … The nuclear deal gives Iran a clear path to an atomic arsenal," Netanyahu said. This is the Obama legacy.
Now, proving that Iran lied and that the deal was based on lies, Netanyahu wants President Donald Trump to scrap the Iran deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran. But the pro-Iran deal lobby has a different idea. Amazingly, they are arguing that Iran's duplicity demonstrates the need to keep the Iran deal in place.
Netanyahu's presentation hurts Iran's credibility, European diplomat tells me, but adds: We made the nuclear deal w… https://t.co/1RsBHdZpLU— Raphael Ahren (@Raphael Ahren) 1525109958.0
Netanyahu is telling us something we already knew -- that Iran had a nuclear weapons program. If the JCPOA collapse… https://t.co/748O3LObKF— Jeffrey Lewis (@Jeffrey Lewis) 1525111992.0
Prime Minister Netanyahu is doing an amazing job making the case for an international agreement to provide unpreced… https://t.co/3xvf9fbPPw— J Street (@J Street) 1525109177.0
We sure hope President Trump watched, as Prime Minister Netanyahu just made it sound very irresponsible to do anyth… https://t.co/NZ9Dbz1FtM— J Street (@J Street) 1525109689.0
hasn’t US always known Iran lied which is why we and allies pursued Iran nuclear deal? https://t.co/4RyAEhgvha— John Harwood (@John Harwood) 1525110373.0
The argument seems to be "Yeah, we knew the Iranians were lying, and we made a deal with them anyway. So we need to keep the deal."
This is foolish. You cannot negotiate a deal when one side is lying to your face. What Iran has done goes beyond bad faith. They have openly expressed their contempt for America and for Israel and played the international community for fools.
President Trump says this situation is "not acceptable."
If President Trump pulls out of the nuke deal with Iran, it will send the right message to North Korea. "In 7 years… https://t.co/RwaN7ap58w— Nick Short 🇺🇸 (@Nick Short 🇺🇸) 1525112088.0
Speaking to reporters Monday, Trump touched on the possibility of ending the Iran deal in May. "We'll see what happens," he said.
What needs to happen is for Trump to end the deal, reimpose sanctions, and for the United States to begin creating the conditions for the Iranian people to instigate regime change and topple the evil, anti-American, anti-peace government in that country.