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Iran
France blocked a disastrous nuclear-arms deal sought by Obama. Now Congress has a chance to say merci.
By
MARK DUBOWITZ and
AND REUEL MARC GERECHT
WSJ
Nov. 10, 2013
Was the deal that Iran came close to negotiating with six world powers in Geneva over the weekend likely to keep Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon? Not according to French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who said that the proposed agreement—to relax economic sanctions while reining in only parts of Iran’s nuclear program—was a “sucker’s deal.” All indications are that it was Mr. Fabius and the French government whose skepticism blocked the bargain intensely sought by the Obama administration and the mullahs in Tehran.
Over the past two decades, no country has been more consistent than France in recognizing Iran’s unrelenting mendacity about its nuclear ambitions. The White House now will undoubtedly try to pressure French President François Hollande to relent.
…The perplexing thing about the Obama administration’s recent diplomacy regarding Iran: Messrs. Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry don’t seem to recognize that they will likely never again have as much economic leverage over Tehran as they do right now.
