August 17, 2015
Israel Wanted Iran Talks to Deal with Nukes Only
Sheldon Richman
Opponents of the Iran deal -- the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action -- loudly complain that it deals only with the nuclear issue. Why, they ask, didn't the P5+1 talks also take up Iran's detention of Americans and its alleged machinations in the Middle East?
They should ask the Israelis.
- It was, after all, Israel’s leaders who insisted that the nuclear
file be addressed first and on its own, and who pushed back hard against
any attempt to forge a more comprehensive understanding or grand bargain
with Iran (an idea
explored over a decade ago in back-channel talks during the term of
President Mohammad Khatami). Last summer for instance, when Iran and the
West found themselves on the same side against Islamic State (also called
ISIS) in Iraq, senior Israeli Minister Yuval Steinitz, who was head of
the Iran file at the time, noted that Israel had pushed for and received
commitments from “the Americans and the British and the French and the
Germans
that a total separation will be enforced,” that is, the West would
not negotiate with Iran on regional issues until the nuclear question was
dealt with. Israel, in other words, demanded that the nuclear file be
treated as a standalone issuethe very thing that it now criticizes about
the deal.
Iran had offered a comprehensive grand bargain to the United States in 2003, in which all outstanding issues would be discussed, including Iran's support for the Palestinians. Indeed, as part of the proffered grand bargain, Iran accepted Saudi Arabia's previous Arab Peace Initiative (2002, renewed 2007), which would have included recognition of Israel in a two-state context. President George W. Bush gave Iran's overture the back of his hand, having branded Iran in 2002 as a member of the Axis of Evil along with Iraq and North Korea. (This was a fine thank-you for Iran's cooperation after the 9/11 attacks.)
http://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2015/08/israel-wanted-iran-talks-to-deal-with.html
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