by Stephen Lendman

Bipartisan congressional hardliners, Israel and its Lobby intend going all-out to undermine a final deal on Iran's known peaceful nuclear program.

On April 6, AIPAC manufactured what it called "significant concerns" about framework terms agreed on.

It absurdly claimed "(t)he emerging deal could leave Iran as a nuclear threshold state and encourage a Mideast nuclear arms race."

It calls the best deal none at all - or one depriving Iran of its legitimate right to develop and use nuclear power the same as dozens of other nations not criticized.

AIPAC ludicrously claims "profound national security implications" are at stake. "Congress must have a role."

"Iran's leaders cannot be trusted. Iran is the world's largest state sponsor of terror, which it continues to promote on a global basis."

"It has lied and cheated under its Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) obligations for three decades…"

It's "buil(t) a whole nuclear infrstructure clandestinely. (It's) actively cheating."

It "refuse(s) to answer the IAEA's questions about its efforts to weaponize…"

It "refuse(s) access to IAEA inspectors…(It) continues its illicit activity of importing sensitive nuclear technology…Until Iran comes clean, (it) can't be trusted.

Fact: AIPAC's rant makes bad fiction look good.

Fact: It repeatedly and systematically lies about Iran's legitimate nuclear program.

Fact: It's totally silent about Israel's illicit one - a nuclear outlaw state maintaining a formidable thermonuclear arsenal.

Fact: Iran's legal nuclear program threatens no one.

Fact: Congress has no right to serve imperial Israeli interests at the expense of legitimate Iranian ones - or those of any other nation.

Fact: Nothing whatever suggests Iran can't be trusted.

Fact: Claims about Iranian sponsored terror are Big Lies.

Fact: So are bogus accusations of violating NPT provisions.

Fact: No Iranian clandestine nuclear infrastructure exists.

Fact: Its facilities are the world's most intensively monitored.

Fact: It fully cooperates with IAEA inspectors.

Fact: Israel refuses to come clean on its program. Inspections are strictly prohibited.

Fact: Iran absolutely can and should be trusted - not Israel or America, known nuclear outlaws threatening world peace.

Media reports indicate Israeli officials and many congressional members intend going all-out to undermine a final Iranian nuclear deal by June 30.

So-called concerns about Tehran's pathway to a bomb hold no water whatever. Malicious propaganda manufactures Big Lies.

Netanyahu absurdly claims Lausanne terms "threaten the survival of Israel" - increasing the risk of a "horrific war."

Only if Israel or America launches it. On Monday, Israeli strategic affairs minister Yuval Steinitz said the "military option" against Iran still exists.

"It was on the table. It's still on the table. It's going to remain on the stable," he stressed.

Despite no Iranian threat whatever (now, earlier or ahead), Steinitz blustered:

"Israel should be able to defend itself, by itself, against any threat. And it's our right and duty to decide how to defend ourselves, especially if our national security and even very existence is under threat."

Any deal with Iran "has to be made on the assumption that (it) may violate it."

Steinitz listed demands he and likeminded Israeli hardliners insist on, including:

• ending Iran's (nonexistent) nuclear weapons R&D activities


• greatly reducing numbers of centrifuges more than P5+1 countries and Iran agreed on;


• closing Fordow - located underground within a mountain for protection against possible US or Israel attacks


• complete disclosure of Iran's past nuclear work;


• removing Iran's entire enriched uranium stockpile from the country; and


• letting IAEA inspectors monitor any Iranian nuclear or other facilities any time at their discretion.

Obliging Israel would require entirely reworking terms agreed on - something P5+1 countries and Iran reject.

Steinitz claims Israeli military and intelligence officials identified what he called 10 "unanswered questions."

They include doubts about Iran observing what it agreed to, how quickly sanctions could be reinstated if backtracking occurs, and eventual more advanced centrifuges reducing breakout time to a bomb to three or four months.

"All of our experts are united in their opposition to this bad deal," Steinitz blustered.

Former IAEA deputy director-general/Zionist hardliner Olli Heinonen lied claiming Lausanne terms let Iran remain "a threshold breakout nuclear state for the next 10 years."

After that, things get worse, he added. The deal will encourage other regional countries to strengthen their own nuclear programs, he claimed.

Heinonen and likeminded Zionist zealots want Iran isolated, weakened and eliminated as an Israeli regional political rival.

They want its government toppled. They want Big Oil able to exploit Iranian resources freely.

Obama said military action remains an option he'll consider if Iran backtracks on nuclear deal terms reached.

Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes indicated the same thing, saying:

"Certainly, if Iran violates the agreement, all options are on the table related to Iran, including military options."

On Monday, senior Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer said he'll back legislation giving Congress vetting power over any final nuclear deal reached - what Obama strongly opposes.

His support appears to give the Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act (NWFI) a veto-proof Senate margin. House members overwhelmingly support it.

Enactment could be a deal-breaker. Congress won't support what Israel and its Lobby reject.

Whether a Security Council resolution supported by P5+1 countries can overcome their damage remains to be seen.

Resolving things responsibly with Iran (short-term at least) hangs in the balance.

Longer-term is an entirely different story given deep-rooted US anti-Iranian sentiment and America's notorious history of breaching virtually all treaties, conventions, deals and core international laws.

Don't expect this time to be different. Business as usual is longstanding US policy.

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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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