No matter what GOP says, Iran N-accord is a done deal

By J. Zel Lurie

J. Zel Lurie
J. Zel Lurie

DELRAY BEACH, Florida — The agreement reached by Iran and six world powers, most of whom have stockpiles of nuclear bombs, which will prevent Iran from joining the nuclear club for at least ten years,  is a done deal.

The Republican dominated Congress will fulminate in end-of-the-world language for 60 days, but there is no way that they can stop it.

Russia and China are particularly anxious for the deal to be implemented. Russia is suffering economically from sanctions and needs to sell arms to Iran. China needs Iranian oil. I am told that there are two large tankers loaded with thousands of tons of Iranian crude, waiting in Iranian ports to sail to China.

According to Avishay Gordis, an Israeli think-tanker, Iran is a month and a half away from accumulating enough enriched uranium to make a bomb. By this agreement, the centrifuges in two underground factories will slow down and will take a year to accumulate sufficient fuel for a bomb.  It will then hold this fuel for at least ten years under close international supervision (The New York Times diagram puts it  at 15 years).

During this decade or decade and a half, Israel, which has never announced its nuclear facilities and has never threatened to use it as Iran has threatened Israel, will continue to manufacture nukes unhindered. No one knows for sure how many Israel has, but the last figure I heard was 120. If Iran eventually manufactures a bomb or a few of them and has an accurate missile to carry it past the Iron Dome protection, it could destroy Tel Aviv. Israel’s “second strike” of over a hundred bombs, some of them coming from Israeli nuclear submarines stationed in the Persian Gulf, would destroy the entire country of Iran, not just one city.

I have a broker who is a staunch Republican. He believes that the above scenario is realistic. He says that the religious fanatics who rule Iran have no regard for human life.  “They will go underground,” he says, “and order an attack on Israel despite the consequences.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who calls the nuclear agreement an “historic mistake,” wants to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities before a single bomb is built. He, and his American-Jewish supporters, have lobbied in Washington for several years for American support for an Israeli airstrike in Iran. Obama, and the majority of Americans, including American-Jews led by J Street, have supported diplomacy to prevent war.

My feeling is that MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction) will work just as well with the terrorist state of Iran as it did with Communist Russia for decades. But the fact remains that Iran is a terrorist state of Shiites supporting their fellow Shiites in Damascus and Beirut. Lifting the Iranian sanctions will free over a $100 billion belonging to Iran which had been frozen in American banks. The leader of Hezbollah, which has been spending its money and its fighters to support the el-Asad government in Damascus, said recently that he expects a portion of Iranian money when it is free to flow his way.

Secretary of State Kerry has reiterated to interviewers that he has made a deal with Iran to stop the construction of the nuclear bomb. It does not deal with terror.

Iran’s terrorist activities are carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) which has tentacles in many countries.

They are responsible for the bombing of the Jewish community in Argentina many years ago.  The IRGC is currently operating in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Syria.  They are closely watched by the CIA and other American institutions.

America and the majority of American Jews rarely see eye to eye with Israeli politicians.  Usually AIPAC and other mainstream Jewish organizations support the Israeli government, while the majority of American Jews are opposed to it.  This time is no exception.  Polls show that 59% of American Jews support the nuclear agreement.  J Street is the only important organization that is supporting the agreement.

In the end, it will turn out that the nuclear agreement was a wonderful achievement by the Obama administration that improved the security of Israel, the United States, and the entire world.

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Lurie, a centenarian with a long history in Israel’s peace movement, resides in Delray Beach, Florida.  He may be contacted via jzel.lurie@sdjewishworld.com.  Comments also may be posted on this website provided that the comments are civil and that you identify yourself by full name and your city and state of residence.

1 thought on “No matter what GOP says, Iran N-accord is a done deal”

  1. MAD may work and Iran may very well get the bomb with or without any agreement. So why should we give our blessing to a nation whose leader openly wishes death upon us and Israel? If the agreement is so wonderful why has it created allies of Israel and the Saudis of all people? Steven Kalka. East Rockaway, NY

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