What has Mr. Obama secured for America in his administration’s negotiations with Iran? Precious little. We did get a few hostages back, although it would appear we paid Iran handsomely for returning them. We also got a sort of a deal which purports to limit Iran’s nuclear capabilities, although that is in question. So Iran is no help to his search for a legacy.
It looks like Iran is putting some of that $1.7 billion Obama gave them to good use.
Iranian lawmakers approved plans on Monday to expand military spending to five percent of the budget, including developing the country’s long-range missile program which U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to halt.
The vote is a boost to Iran’s military establishment – the regular army, the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and defense ministry – which was allocated almost 2 percent of the 2015-16 budget.
And then Iran began testing ballistic missiles, so the UN got involved and equivocated as usual.
Iran has test-fired several ballistic missiles since the nuclear deal and the U.S. Treasury has imposed new sanctions on entities and individuals linked to the program.
Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said last year that the missile launches were “not consistent with the constructive spirit” of the nuclear deal, but did not say whether they actually violated the U.N. resolution.
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The Obama administration says Iran’s ballistic missile tests have not violated the nuclear agreement with Tehran, but Trump, who criticized the accord as “the worst deal ever negotiated”, has said he would stop Iran’s missile program.
“Those ballistic missiles, with a range of 1,250 miles, were designed to intimidate not only Israel … but also intended to frighten Europe and someday maybe hit even the United States,” he told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee AIPAC in March. “We’re not going to let that happen.”
Further support to the notion that Iran has only been emboldened by America’s weak policy and actions toward the Islamic Republic was demonstrated when some armed Iranian speed boats headed straight for a US destroyer.
A U.S. Navy destroyer fired three warning shots at four Iranian fast-attack vessels near the Strait of Hormuz after they closed in at high speed and disregarded repeated requests to slow down, U.S. officials said on Monday.
The incident, which occurred on Sunday and was first reported by Reuters, comes as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office on Jan. 20. In September, Trump vowed that any Iranian vessels that harassed the U.S. Navy in the Gulf would be “shot out of the water.”
“This was an unsafe and unprofessional interaction, and that is due to the fact that they were approaching at a high level of speed with weapons manned and disregarding repeated warnings,” Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a briefing.
The warning shots were fired at the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps boats by the USS Mahan after it established radio contact but failed to get them to slow down, Davis said, confirming earlier accounts of U.S. defense officials.
Note a couple of things here. First, the Iranians are not afraid to intimidate a US warship. Second, note that once Mr. Trump is president, the rules of engagement might well change. Instead of a US destroyer firing a couple of rounds near the the Iranian ships, those shells might be fired at the Iranian ships.
The Ayatollahs best enjoy the next week or so while then can. If they continue their provocations after that time, they might find that much of the hardware they bought with those funds from Obama is sitting on the bottom of the Persian Gulf.
Source: Reuters
Source: Reuters
That was his plan all along!!!!
I end it pronto, no more.
obama should never have given Iran the money that he did. He is a traitor and he has spent our money on Iran who will use it on us or Israel. You cannot say he is not for the muslims