Tuesday August 18, 2015

I've Been Thinking:

The guiding principle propelling the desire of the White house to go forward with the Iran nuclear deal is the conviction that, with the deal, the United States can exert influence over Iran. The argument the White house is supporting is that any deal, even a bad deal, allows for dialogue between the United States and Iran.

Here lies the problem: Iran already countered this argument when they said that they reject any economic or political influence or interference from the United States - and their Islamic leaders are issuing warnings and taking steps to prevent such influence.

On Monday Iran's Supreme Leader the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted on his web site. The excerpt was taken from a conversation the Supreme Leader had with members of Iran's state radio and state television networks.

This is what he said:

"They thought this deal - and it is not clear if it will be passed in Iran or in America - will open up Iran to their influence."

"We blocked this path and will definitely block it in the future. We won't allow American political, economic or cultural influence in Iran."

Note that the Supreme Leader is not yet certain that the deal will or will not pass the debate in the Iranian parliament. But whether ir clears or not, he is, in no uncertain terms, countering the US move to exert influence over Iran.

Move. Counter move. Now it's up to the United States. How will the US counter now?

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