by Stephen Lendman

An end of March deadline approaches for reaching a draft agreement ahead of an end of June comprehensive final one.

Sticking points remain. Iran wants nothing interfering with its legitimate nuclear power rights.

It justifiably wants all lawless sanctions removed straightaway - or close to it.

Now may be Tehran's best chance for as much fairness as possible it won't likely see ahead for the foreseeable future.

Miss this opportunity and it may be lost. Whether Obama really wants a deal remains to be seen.

Friction with Iran has nothing to do with its nuclear program. The whole world knows it has no military component.

Suggesting otherwise now or ahead is red herring cover for Washington's longstanding regime change plans.

US policy tolerates no sovereign independent governments. It wants pro-Western stooge ones it controls.

At the same time, Obama's tenure so far reflects total failure, including:

• wrecking the economy;


• looting the Treasury for Wall Street;


• creating longterm Main Street Depression conditions;


• permanent wars;


• presiding over a homeland police state apparatus;


• spying on everyone illegally;


• waging war on organized labor;


• turning public education into another business profit center; and


• enriching healthcare providers at the expense of universal care for all.

Ending decades of anti-Iranian hostility would be something positive in his otherwise deplorable legacy.

Will or won't he go for it? Will he bite the bullet and do the right thing?

Or will he sabotage the best chance for rapprochement with Iran in decades - demanding what no responsible government would accept?

It's no secret Israel wants any possible deal blocked - under Netanyahu or anyone else.

It calls Iran's legitimate nuclear program threatening.

It perpetuates the myth about Tehran seeking Israel's destruction.

It wants regime change. It wants Iran eliminated as a regional rival. It may be willing to go to war to achieve its objective.

On March 23, the Wall Street Journal headlined "Israel Spied on Iran Nuclear Talks with US."

Saying Washington and other P5+1 nations learned Israel spied on their closed-door talks all along.

It was part of Netanyahu's scheme "to penetrate the negotiations and then help build a case against the emerging terms of the deal," the Journal cited current and former US officials saying.

Israel "eavesdropp(ed), acquired information from confidential US briefings, informants and diplomatic contacts in Europe."

Espionage is common practice. Everyone watches everyone else.

White House officials were angered because Israel "share(d) inside information with US lawmakers and others" to scuttle any prospective deal reached.

According to an unnamed senior US official:

"It is one thing for the US and Israel to spy on each other. It is another thing for Israel to steal (its) secrets and play them back to (congressional) legislators to undermine US diplomacy."

Netanyahu and Israel's US ambassador Ron Dermer "early this year saw a rapidly closing window to increase pressure on Mr. Obama before a key" end of March draft deal deadline, said the Journal.

They believed their best strategy was lobbying Congress to kill or reshape what Israel can't do on its own - even at the expense of harming relations with Washington.

Things haven't worked as planned. Netanyahu's congressional address and other tactics alienated many Democrats.

It's well known Israel spies on America more aggressively than any of its other allies. It's been caught red-handed numerous times.

An unnamed senior Netanyahu official lied saying:

"These allegations are utterly false. The state of Israel does not conduct espionage against the United States or Israel’s other allies."

"The false allegations are clearly intended to undermine the strong ties between the United States and Israel and the security and intelligence relationship we share."

As closed-door talks with Iran progressed into 2013, US intelligence agencies monitored Israeli communications to learn what it knew.

It pretty much knew everything going on. Its fear-mongering campaign followed.

Israel considers any deal bad short of unconditional Iranian capitulation to demands no sovereign government would accept.

It's unclear whether US demands are just as tough. In days we'll know if a new draft agreement was reached.

If not, whether talks continue toward a new deadline. Or if things fell apart altogether because gaps are too wide to close.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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