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Trita Parsi @tparsi
, 4 tweets, 1 min read Read on Twitter
THREAD: 1.Recognize this language? For past 2 decades, Israel insisted Iran's nuclear program constituted "an existential threat." It was a rhetorical tool aimed at ensuring maximum American animosity towards Iran.

gulfnews.com/news/uae/gover…
2. Now that nuclear issue is resolved, Ryan claims "Iran" is an existential threat to Saudi & UAE. Same language. Same rhetorical tool to ensure maximum hostility. To ensure the US & Iran do not resolve their problems because US allies in the region benefit from US-Iran enmity.
3. Let's review it again. The nuclear issue was claimed to be an existential threat. Obama resolved it. Gets no thank you. Instead, Iran WITHOUT an unchecked nuclear program is now deemed an existential threat.
4. Isn't it clear that certain elements simply want a conflict - they want war - regardless of what pretext that war starts with; whether its a nuclear program, ballistic missiles or simply "Iran" period.
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1. Willful blindness is needed to bemoan America's lessened footprint in the MidEast and claim it'll "destabilize" the region. In reality, the US's policy of primacy has encouraged US "allies" to be even more reckless and destabilizing.
Consider the following:
>>
2. Would Saudi have started the reckless war in Yemen without the explicit or implicit green light from the US and Riyadh's (correct) belief that the US would assist them in the war? The planes are American, the bombs are American. EVEN THE MECHANICS ON THE GROUND ARE AMERICAN! >
3. The New York Times reports today that US military officials are in the flight operations room in Riyadh, providing intelligence and tactical advice to the Saudis as they ravage Yemen.

nytimes.com/2018/12/25/wor…
>>
Read 10 tweets
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A few thoughts on Trump's new Iran sanctions and massive escalation:

There is little doubt Trump’s sanctions will hurt the Iranian economy. But it is highly unlikely that they will succeed in forcing Iran to capitulate to Mike Pompeo’s 12 demands. >>
Obama tried the same with his sanctions -and failed. He only got Iran to show flexibility after he offered concessions, such as accepting enrichment on Iranian soil. Sanctions alone did not break the nuclear deadlock under Obama and it is even less likely to succeed under Trump>>
It is also clear that Trump has failed to push Iran’s oil exports down to zero. Iran will continue to export oil, making an Iranian capitulation even less likely. As usual, Trump’s policy has been heavy on bark, but not as heavy on bite.
>>
Read 8 tweets
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/THREAD/

Months ago I pointed out that if the EU didnt put down its foot and stop Trump from killing the #IranDeal, Trump would proceed to kill the next international agreement and then the next.

John Bolton's attack on ICC should be seen in that context.

>>
2. Trump seeks to destroy the entire international system to bring us back to the law of the jungle. In his primitive thinking, such an international (dis)order will be to the benefit of the US (and Israel) because of their military strength.
>>
3. That is utterly bizarre. Not only does this incentivize other countries to build up their militaries (making the world and the US less safe), but smart states use their strength today to establish rules that will protect them even when their relative strength wanes.
Read 4 tweets

Related threads

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What has @wikileaks has taught and shown us about ​#nuclear issues? A thread. Add info you've found to be in the public interest that whistleblowers have trusted to the​ global #WikiLeaks archive #WikiLeaksIsAPublisher​​ #Assange #SubstanceOverSmear
Western and Chinese companies expose workers in African uranium grab - WikiLeaks released a collection of documents that open up a corrupt multi-billion dollar war by Western and Chinese companies in the Central African Republic (CAR)​ wikileaks.org/car-mining/
Trident nuclear weapons submariner, Royal Navy Able Seaman William McNeilly, aged 25, stated, "Please make sure this information is released. I don't want to be in prison without anyone knowing the truth," about the detailed nuclear safety problems wikileaks.org/trident-safety/
Read 10 tweets
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Because THIS guy draws another false equivalence between the torrent of lies he spun selling the #IranDeal and Trump’s meetings that resulted in nothing similar, I’m compelled to call him out in vivid detail as I did in 2015 with this thread for the record 👇🏼
You can follow along with the article I wrote in @TimesofIsrael in 2015, "Framework Iran’ Sequel Leaves Audiences and Critics Confused" in which I demonstrate that at nearly every turn, #Iran's version of the deal was accurate and the White House lied.
blogs.timesofisrael.com/framework-iran…
We should recall that in 2015, there was a sizable disagreement between the garbage Ben Rhode's and his #EchoChamber were selling, what Europe was saying, and what #Iran said happened.
Read 16 tweets
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's(1)
@NYTimesCohen first sentence on the #IranNuclearDeal as a “deal that has worked” is entirely false.
Look at the destruction in Syria & Yemen brought about by #Iran’s proxies; the meddling in Lebanon by Hezbollah & in Iraq by Tehran’s Shiite militias.
nytimes.com/2018/05/08/opi…
(2)
 @NYTimesCohen claims Trump’s #IranDealWithdrawal decision will raise “risk of igniting the Middle East.”

Reminder: #Iran has already ignited the Middle East
Over 500,000 dead in Syria
Yemen in ruins due to Houthis’ adventurism
Iraq in mayhem due to Tehran’s Shiite militias
(3)
 @NYTimesCohen talks of the JCPOA weakening #Iran’s “hardliners.”

Reminder: #IranDeal actually green-lighted Tehran to press the gas pedal on domestic crackdown, foreign meddling, supporting terrorism & advancing ballistic missiles (& very possibly its nuclear weapons drive).
Read 14 tweets
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Two examples of how Team Obama has switched #IranDeal talking points to obfuscate yet again and save the deal. 1) Moniz says that the US knew all along what Netanyahu and #Israel exposed about their nuclear program.
2) Moniz says that not only do #Israel’s intel revelations add very little - just some new names of people and places where some nuclear work is being conducted - but it reinforces the need to keep the deal. We lose out by nixing the deal.
Several reasons why this line of logic is pure garbage: 1) The deal specifically DOES NOT deal with the weaponization aspect of #Iran’s nuclear program. If it did, then they would have demanded a full accounting (as they promised) of all previous weaponization progress.
Read 12 tweets
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1. There's another curious thing in @netanyahu's "#Iran archive" story and it has to do with how much material was acquired. Netanyahu claims to possess "55,000 pages, plus another 55,000 files on 183 CDs" amounting to "half a tonne" of material. But the figures don't make sense.
2. Firstly, let's set aside how implausible it is to suggest, as @nytimes reports, that "Mossad operatives broke into the building one night last January, removed the original documents and smuggled them back to Israel the same night."
balkanspost.com/article/552/de…
3. 55,000 is a lot of pages. At standard 80 GSM paper, that is around 2.5 kg per ream of 500 pages. Netanyahu claims to have the equivalent of 110 standard reams of paper which would weigh... just 275 kilograms.
Read 13 tweets
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#Iran sponsors terrorism and is continuing aggression in Middle East and around the world, says @POTUS.
“This radical regime has raided the wealth of one of the world’s oldest and most vibrant nations.”
“The Iranian dictatorship’s aggression continues to this very day."
Read 27 tweets

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