5+1 group must get out of shadow of AIPAC
(MNA) -- Iran’s negotiations with six world powers in Baghdad ended with a sad and shameful display of the 5+1 group’s subservience to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
It was expected that after the Istanbul II talks, Iran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) would be able to find some sort of common ground in Baghdad, but the Israeli lobby became a cloud hanging over the talks. Without the slightest authority to make any decisions in good faith, the six major powers followed the path Israel had paved for them.
It is ridiculous that after such a long time has passed since the beginning of the talks, the 5+1 group is still asking Iran to agree to zero uranium enrichment, to shut down some of its nuclear facilities, and to ship all of its stockpiles of enriched uranium out of the country. And the fact that Iran has again been offered almost nothing in return is even more unbearable.
Surely they were aware that Iran had repeatedly insisted on its right to enrich uranium and announced that it was a red line in the negotiations. So what happened that the six powers came to the first step in Baghdad with their eyes and ears fixed on the Israeli lobby, subserviently awaiting their commands?
Look at the Israeli prime minister’s stance just a day before the talks began in Baghdad. Addressing the 5+1 group, Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel would only be satisfied if Iran halted all uranium enrichment and shipped its stockpiles of enriched uranium out of the country. This is exactly the same position that AIPAC pressured the U.S. Congress to adopt.
This shows that the United States, which is the most influential member of the 5+1 group, is following the orders of AIPAC, and as long as this lobby opposes a policy toward Iran, all the efforts of Iran and the other members of the 5+1 group will bear no fruit. And U.S. President Barack Obama’s incompetence and inability to resolve the issue is even more shameful. He made it clear that he will only go as far as AIPAC will permit him to go.
Although Iran has always stated that it does not have a covert program to manufacture nuclear weapons and Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has even issued a fatwa (religious edict) declaring that the production, use, and stockpiling of nuclear weapons is haram, which means religiously prohibited in Islam, Israel is constantly falsely accusing Iran of hiding something. The Zionist regime has convinced almost 70 percent of the members of the U.S. Congress that this preposterous allegation is true and through them is putting intense pressure on Obama, the president of the United States of America, which now seems to be totally occupied by the Zionists.
In reality, to display the transparency of its nuclear program, Iran has cooperated with the International Atomic Energy Agency beyond the terms of international treaties and conventions. In addition, no conclusive evidence has ever been produced indicating that Iran is trying to manufacture a nuclear weapon, but many sanctions and embargos have been imposed on Iran, which are mostly having a negative impact on ordinary citizens.
The West’s assertion that Iran’s nuclear program is a threat to world peace and global security is just a pretext to attempt to take away Iran’s inalienable right to have a peaceful nuclear energy program. And this is the exact same plan that Israel is following. Clearly, if there is no strong will to counter the Zionist regime’s devious plot, all the efforts to find a way out of the impasse are doomed to fail.
No one should expect Obama to work for an honorable and sane solution since he has sold his soul to AIPAC and he is acting as their puppet out of fear that he might lose the presidential election in November.
However, it seems that the other members of the 5+1 group do not want to be Israel’s puppets, too. Thus, they should defend their own interests and make an independent and fair decision. Now, more than at any other time, it is obvious that Iran’s nuclear program has become a political issue rather than a technical or legal issue. And in this treacherous political game, the West should be aware that Iran will never back down.
Thus, the European Union countries, Russia, and China should make a firm and clear decision that is also fair and not influenced by the Zionist lobby AIPAC.