Santa’s Reindeer and The ObamaBomb Deal

I received a tweet this week from a friend of mine who works for an arms control think tank.  It read, “Merry X-Mas. Here’s to seeing Iran’s “breakout” time expand to >1 yr thru JCPOA in ’16.”

While my friend means well, like many on the left he is in denial about the dangers of the nuclear deal with Iran (the JCPOA),  an Obama administration initiative that is best described as the “ObamaBomb” deal.

This agreement has gotten worse and worse since it was announced last July.  I recently wrote in Newsmax how the U.S. voted with other states to close the file on Iran’s past nuclear weapons work even though a recent IAEA report found that this work continued until 2009.  The IAEA report also said the agency has no “credible indications” of nuclear-weapons-related activities in Iran after 2009. Although some media stories portrayed this as meaning the IAEA did not find “any” indications of Iranian nuclear weapons work after 2009, the IAEA’s choice of wording on this issue probably indicates it has unconfirmed reports that Iranian nuclear weapons activities continue today.

The ObamaBomb deal falls far short of the main requirement that Obama officials claim it will meet: reducing the “breakout” time of an Iranian nuclear bomb to a year or more.  Given Iran’s record of secret nuclear work in violation of its treaty obligations and Tehran’s insistence that it will not allow IAEA inspectors access to all suspect nuclear sites, it is very unlikely the international community will know a year in advance of an Iranian decision to make a “dash” toward a nuclear weapon.  I also believe leaving Iran one year away from making a nuclear weapon was an extremely unwise concession since this leaves Iran’s nuclear weapons infrastructure in place and will allow Tehran to build an industrial-scale nuclear program capable of making many nuclear bombs when the deal expires.

We have a tough road ahead on the Iran nuclear issue in 2016.  Obama officials are determined to ignore growing signs of Iran’s noncompliance with the agreement, including ballistic missile tests.  Five innocent U.S. citizens and one U.S. green card holder are being held prisoner by Iran with no prospects of being released.  The nuclear deal’s Implementation Day” — when most sanctions against an will be lifted — may come as soon as late January.  Iran has expanded its support to the Assad regime and is likely to use the $150 billion it will receive in sanctions relief to expand its efforts to destabilize the Middle East and fund terrorism.