One way you can tell the views of a newspaper is by how they cover a story or by the columns they run. Last week, three Jewish papers had the same column by Jonathan Tobin, titled “Trump’s Chaos and Incoherence Have Led to Failure on Iran.”
The column was printed on the front page of all three papers. In the very pro-Trumpian paper, the headline was “A Dicey Deal,” with a picture of Trump and the leader of Iran. The Queens Jewish Link used the title from the article with a picture of Trump in front of the American and Iranian flags. The third paper, which has a traditional Republican slant, had the headline “Trump to Israel: Drop Dead,” with Trump’s Georgia mug shot as the picture. The title of the column was changed to “Tobin: Betrayed by Trump, Defeated by Iran, We Must Not Be Silent.” A fourth paper, which is also pro-Trump, did not print a column but instead spent as much time attacking Obama as addressing Trump’s deal.
My fellow columnist, as well as some other Trumpians, in trying to justify comments made by Trump, state that you should not look at what Trump says but at what he does. Now Trump did something. He signed a memorandum of understanding.
Last week, before the exact language was revealed, I wrote a column condemning the Memorandum of Understanding, as well as Trump’s attacks on Netanyahu. The comments have continued not only by Trump but by Vance, who does not enjoy the support of the Jewish Trumpians as Trump does. Hezbollah, which takes its cues from Iran, attacks Israel, and then Israel responds. Iran blames Israel and threatens to walk away. The US, which wants the deal to go through, follows Iran’s lead and also blames Israel.
Now that I have seen the agreement, it is even worse than I expected. The agreement has fourteen paragraphs.
The first paragraph links the ending of hostilities between the US and Iran to the ending of hostilities in Lebanon. It also calls for ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon. In other words, Israel must immediately retreat from all territory that it currently holds in Lebanon. This is in addition to withholding force against Hezbollah. Iranian allies are also not to use force. According to the agreement, is Hezbollah an ally of Iran, while it is clear that Israel is an ally of America?
Paragraph 2 is the United States giving up its original goal of regime change.
Paragraph 3 has a sixty-day limit for achieving a final deal, which is illusory since it can be extended.
Paragraph 4 is the US agreeing to begin removal of its naval blockade within 30 days and to remove its forces from the proximity of Iran within 30 days after the final deal. There is no limitation on Iran’s buildup of force.
Paragraph 5 requires Iran to allow passage through the Strait of Hormuz for commercial vessels at no charge for only sixty days. After said period, there is no limitation as to what Iran can do except to the extent that Iran needs to have a dialogue with Oman. Thus, Iran could decide to charge a toll, a fee, or make other conditions in regard to passage.
Paragraph 6 promises Iran a minimum of $300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of Iran. The mechanism is to be finalized as part of a final deal.
Paragraph 7 requires the United States to terminate all types of sanctions against Iran, including unilateral US sanctions, primary and secondary sanctions, and international sanctions, on an agreed-upon schedule as part of a final deal. The removal of sanctions is critical.
Paragraph 8: Iran reaffirms that it will not procure or develop nuclear weapons. Iran has been saying that for years. The disposition of the stockpile of enriched material will be based on a mechanism to be agreed upon in a final deal.
Paragraph 9: The status quo, which includes the US not imposing any new sanctions or deploying any additional forces to the region. There is no limitation on Iran as to building up its military capabilities except as to the nuclear program.
Paragraph 10: The US Treasury Department, upon the signing of the agreement until the termination of sanctions, will issue waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products, and derivatives, and all associated services, including banking transactions, insurance, transportation, etc. This means that the current sanctions are being temporarily removed until an agreement is entered into to terminate sanctions. Thus, there are now no sanctions, which could continue for an indefinite period.
Paragraph 11: The US undertakes to make fully available the frozen funds or restricted funds and assets upon the implementation of this MOU (Memorandum of Understanding). The funds can be usable as payment to any beneficiary designated by the Central Bank of Iran. In other words, the money could theoretically go to a terrorist organization or a rogue state if designated by the Iranian central bank. The procedures for releasing funds will be decided mutually.
Paragraph 13 allows Iran not to start negotiations on nuclear material until it receives the money it is to receive and the removal of sanctions starts.
There is nothing in the agreement concerning ballistic weapons or Iran’s helping its proxies, which were also goals of the war. Trump said that he understood why Iran would want to keep the ballistic missiles.
Most of the country was against the Iran war. One would have expected that if there was a deal to end the war, a majority would support it. That is not the case. It is not because suddenly the country is turning back to support Israel. The country knows a bad deal when it sees it. None of the goals of the war were accomplished, and Iran is stronger than it was before the war. Iran is receiving benefits from the US that it did not receive before the war. Trump was right when he talked about conditional surrender. He just had the wrong country.
