WarSclerotic

Israel Hayom | At least the French put up a fight.

Boaz Bismuth

The big smiles on display from the Iranian delegation on Friday did not only alarm Jerusalem, but Paris as well. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius rushed to Geneva to stop the emerging deal orchestrated by the Americans.

In Geneva, who could have believed it, we have returned to the pre-1967 days. Even if France was only spurred into action by Saudi Arabia, officials in Jerusalem love the French again.

After U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry surprised everyone by jetting off to Geneva, pen in hand and ready to sign a deal, Fabius departed for Switzerland primarily to pour cold water over all the excitement. “There was progress,” Fabius told reporters, “but nothing is sealed.” Paris managed to foil the deal, but it may not be able to next time.

The French, like the Israelis, do not believe the Iranians. It is enough to speak with officials in the French foreign ministry to understand just how non-civilian they believe the ayatollahs’ nuclear program is. Fabius even spoke of “a sucker’s deal,” telling France-Inter Radio that his nation does not want to be part of a “con game.”

If Israel had to score, from its perspective, the performances of the six superpower delegations, France would undoubtedly receive a perfect 10. The Americans, based on their conduct over this past weekend, would perhaps finish with the same amount of points as the Russians and Chinese. Apparently the world truly has gone mad.

U.S. President Barack Obama continues to move closer to America’s rivals (the happy new recipient of American courtship being Cuba) while abandoning his country’s natural allies and friends. Obama is teaching us that these days, friendship might not be worth it.

One thing is clear: A deal with the Iranians cannot happen without America wanting it to happen. There should be no mistake; such a deal can only come after Iran and the U.S. have moved significantly closer. Moving closer in such a manner can only come at the expense of someone else. In this case, it is coming at the expense of the Saudis and Gulf States, and Israel of course. Fabius arrived in Geneva as the representative of those states, which justifiably do not trust the Iranians. The French have too many economic interests in the Gulf to abandon the partnership.

For France, there can be no deal with the Iranians if the following points are not crystallized: What will be the fate of Iran’s heavy-water reactor in Arak (used to produce plutonium); where will the stockpiles of uranium enriched to levels of 20 percent be stored (they are currently in Iranian hands and can be used to make a bomb); and is the idea of the ayatollah regime being allowed to enrich uranium even acceptable? These are important points indeed, which have seemingly escaped the minds of the enthusiastic Americans.

The foreign ministers of Germany, Great Britain, Russia and China were also called to Geneva, but it was only the French foreign minister who saw the glass as half empty in regards to the developing agreement. Members of the French delegation reminded others how in 2003 a deal was signed with Iran over its nuclear program, which proved to be a failure. Iran, with the relatively moderate Mohammad Khatami as president at the time, agreed to freeze its uranium enrichment activities, which it renewed a mere two years later.

“Seems as if the most difficult talks in Geneva are not with Iran but within the Western group. Not particularly good,” Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt posted to his Twitter account. In the meantime, the French daily Le Monde revealed that members of the American delegation were furious at the French after a month of hard work. And this is perhaps the saddest story from the latest round of talks in Geneva: The problem, from Jerusalem’s point of view, is not only Iran — it is also the United States.

This entry was posted on November 10, 2013 at 5:47 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.