Part II: Iran Responds to GOP Letter

United States Institue of Peace ^ | 3/10/2014 | staff

[holden]

Asked about the open letter of 47 US Senators to Iranian leaders, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Dr. Javad Zarif, responded that “in our view, this letter has no legal value and is mostly a propaganda ploy. It is very interesting that while negotiations are still in progress and while no agreement has been reached, some political pressure groups are so afraid even of the prospect of an agreement that they resort to unconventional methods, unprecedented in diplomatic history.
[snip]
Foreign Minister Zarif added that “I should bring one important point to the attention of the authors and that is, the world is not the United States, and the conduct of inter-state relations is governed by international law, and not by US domestic law. The authors may not fully understand that in international law, governments represent the entirety of their respective states, are responsible for the conduct of foreign affairs, are required to fulfil the obligations they undertake with other states and may not invoke their internal law as justification for failure to perform their international obligations.” [snip]

[holden]

Yup, that's the story.

HF

[Star Traveler]

The Bush Administration had the ability to act long before Obama got in there, but they didn’t. I wouldn’t expect the Obama Administration to be more stringent on Iran, so I don’t expect any meaningful action there. As far as the next administration, I don’t expect much either.

[holden]

While the [Bush] White House has long been obsessed with Iran's potential to develop nuclear capability, the president has become increasingly angry with Tehran because of the training, rockets and explosives it provides to Shiite extremists who are targeting U.S. troops and facilities in Iraq."

Bush froze several billion dollars of Iranian assets in Banks as well. I'm not trying to say his administration's actions were fully effective, but they were definitely going in the right direction, unlike with Barry, where not only are frozen assets likely to be unfrozen, but billions more in taxpayer dollars may be granted to them as part of his executive action.

Bush's stated goal was to attempt to prevent war. Unlike Barry, Bush was never acquiescent to Iran's getting the wherewithal to wipe us, let alone Israel, off the map. Surely Iran intends to make good on its promises to destroy the Great and Little Satans when only a button press separates them from world conflagration, which as a bonus, they see as being the event that will bring forth their long-awaited 12th imam.

HF

[Star Traveler]

Actually WAR is the only, thing that will take care of the problem with Iran getting nuclear weapons. So with Bush not wanting to go to war, that simply allows Iran to keep on progressing towards having these nuclear weapons. It doesn’t matter how much you throw at Iran in the way of sanctions, they’ll still get the nuclear weapons. There’s only one way to stop it, and that’s WAR.

SO ... this is how it’s going to turn out ... GUARANTEED! Either we go to war with Iran ... or ... they get their nuclear weapons. Nothing else matters.

[holden]

I'd be hopeful Israelis taking out Iranian nuclear capabilities as a two-day assault, like Operations Opera or Orchard, would put a ten-year dent in Iran's nuclear ambitions. The Israelis would have to fend off Hezbollah, Hamas, and Syria, etc. on the home front, but the reprieve would be worth the operation's costs, given the alternatives.

They could do this without Barry's interference if his pending Agreement were not in place. With it "in force", Barry could more easily take on the feigned outrage and actually defend Iran with our military.

HF

[holden]

You got that right, that it's not unprecedented! (H/T Twitchy)
Horseface and Harkin meeting Sandinista Daniel Ortega

HF

[Gritty]

I fail to see why the Mullahs should give any credence to the U.S. Constitution, our Separation of Powers, and our Rule of Law.

0bama doesn't.

[holden]

Obama doesn't, as you say, so his side's comments may have led the Iranians to think that way, too. But that shouldn't therefore be any kind of an appropriate standard.

The deal he and horseface have been cooking up with the Iranians doubtless is not on behalf of the American people, but rather, on behalf of his anti-American plans and handlers to weaken the US. That deal is to sell us down the river. It's not only that he doesn't want Congressional review and Senate ratification as required by the Constitution. He knows that no America-loving citizen would think it a good deal if they understood the particulars.

Obama has had in mind to ram his deal down American throats, in the Pelosi fashion, "pass it so we can see what's in it."

(H/T MrB) The only thing one should have to pass to see what's in it is a stool sample. He knows that's what his deal is.

HF

[jurroppi1]

There are several other examples of Kerry communicating with avowed enemies during wartime, the senate communicating with rogue regimes/dictators, etc during the Reagan admin and others that I can’t think of right now. There were several posts here on FR detailing these “heretofore unprecedented” Senate communications.