Posted tagged ‘Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’

Khamenei: Israel won’t survive next 25 years

September 9, 2015

Khamenei: Israel won’t survive next 25 years Taking to Twitter, Iranian leader says Zionists won’t find serenity until destruction, calls US ‘Great Satan’ and rejects any talks with Washington beyond nuke deal By Times of Israel staff September 9, 2015, 12:20 pm

Source: Khamenei: Israel won’t survive next 25 years | The Times of Israel

In this picture released by official website of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's office on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015, he is seen speaking in a meeting with members of Iran's Experts Assembly in Tehran, Iran. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

In this picture released by official website of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s office on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015, he is seen speaking in a meeting with members of Iran’s Experts Assembly in Tehran, Iran. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

Israel will not survive the next 25 years, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday, making a series of threatening remarks published online.

In a quote posted to Twitter by Khamenei’s official account, Khamenei addresses Israel, saying, “You will not see next 25 years,” and adds that the Jewish state will be hounded until it is destroyed.

The quote comes against a backdrop of a photograph showing the Iranian leader walking on an Israeli flag painted on a sidewalk.

“After negotiations, in Zionist regime they said they had no more concern about Iran for next 25 years; I’d say: Firstly, you will not see next 25 years; God willing, there will be nothing as Zionist regime by next 25 years. Secondly, until then, struggling, heroic and jihadi morale will leave no moment of serenity for Zionists,” the quote from Iran’s top leader reads in broken English.

The quote was apparently taken from a speech given earlier in the day.

The remarks came as US lawmakers began to debate supporting a recent nuclear agreement between Tehran and six world powers. Critics of the deal have pointed to fiery anti-US and anti-Zionist rhetoric as proof that the regime should not be trusted.

The White House and other deal boosters argue that the pact, meant to keep Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, is based on verification, not trust.

Khamenei’s statements also reaffirmed his view that the US is a “Great Satan” and that there would be no detente with Washington beyond the nuclear talks.

“We approved talks with the United States about [the] nuclear issue specifically. We have not allowed talks with the US in other fields and we [do] not negotiate with them,” Khamenei said in statements published on his website.

Khamenei is quoted as saying any other talks would be “a tool for penetration and imposing their demands.”

On Twitter, Khamenei said talks with the US were a “means of infiltration and imposition of their wills.”

Quoting the founder of the Islamic Republic and his predecessor as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Khamenei tweeted: “@IRKhomeini stated “US is the Great Satan,” some insist on depicting this Great Satan as an angel.”

The Twitter handle @IRKhomeini is an Iranian government account dedicated to Khomeini’s statements.

Some have pointed to the nuclear deal as an opening for Iran to repair long-frayed ties with the West.

Several senior European officials have traveled to Iran since the nuclear deal was reached to boost economic and diplomatic ties, including Austrian President Heinz Fischer, who on Monday became the first European leader to visit Tehran in over a decade.

On Tuesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani signaled that Iran is ready to hold talks with world powers on ways to resolve Syria’s civil war — provided such negotiations could secure peace and democracy in the conflict-torn country, he said.

Iran, together with Russia, backs the embattled regime of Bashar Assad, who is opposed by much of the West.

Khamenei urges Islamic unity against real enemies: US and Israel

August 22, 2015

Khamenei urges Islamic unity against real enemies: US and Israel

Leader suggests Iranians use Mecca pilgrimage to spread truth about ‘bullying powers’ to Muslims worldwide

By Itamar Sharon August 22, 2015, 5:03 pm

via Khamenei urges Islamic unity against real enemies: US and Israel | The Times of Israel.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (photo credit: AP/Office of the Supreme Leader)

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (photo credit: AP/Office of the Supreme Leader)

Iran’s supreme leader claimed Saturday that Islamic nations were being manipulated into internal strife by the world’s “bullies” and urged Islamic unity in the face of what he identified as the Umma’s two greatest enemies: the US and Israel.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the US had long sought to incite “third-party” states against Iran but “such third parties are only deceived puppets,” the Islamic republic’s Fars news agency reported.

“The root cause of the problems returns to their real enemies, the US and Israel,” he said.

The bullying powers, as he called them, are conspiring “against the Quran and not Shiism and Iran, because they know that the Quran and Islam are the center of awakening nations.”

Iranians, he said, “have realized that their real stubborn enemy is the world arrogance and Zionism and that’s why they chant slogans against the US and Zionism.”

Khamenei was speaking to Iranian officials in charge of the Hajj — the annual pilgrimage to Mecca that Muslims from all over the world undertake.

He explained to them that the pilgrimage to Mecca was a prime opportunity for Iranians to convey their aforementioned insights to other Muslims and thus encourage Islamic unity against its true enemies.

“The world bullies are fully, seriously seeking to stir violence and discord under the name of Islam and are trying to disrepute the religion of Islam, foment internal fights among Islamic nations and even among the people of one nation to weaken the Muslim Ummah, and transferring the Iranian nation’s experience about unity and recognition of the enemy to other nations in the Hajj season can defuse these plots,” he said.

Since the signing of the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in July, Khamenei has repeatedly spoken out against Tehran’s main negotiating partners in Washington.

Earlier this week he strongly impugned the motives of the US in the talks, saying “their intention was to find a way to penetrate into the country.

Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters in Iran, has not publicly approved or disapproved the deal, though he repeatedly offered words of support for Iran’s nuclear negotiators during the course of the talks.

Last Saturday a prominent Iranian hard-liner, journalist Hossein Shariatmadari, said he believed Khamenei was in fact opposed to the accord. However, an editorial appearing Sunday in the Tasnim news agency, thought closely tied to the Iranian regime, derided Shariatmadari for claiming to speak for Khamenei.

Iran’s Khamenei Rules Out Freezing Sensitive Nuclear Work for Long Period

June 24, 2015

Iran’s Khamenei Rules Out Freezing Sensitive Nuclear Work for Long Period

BY:
via Iran’s Khamenei Rules Out Freezing Sensitive Nuclear Work for Long Period | Washington Free Beacon.

ANKARA (Reuters) – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday ruled out freezing sensitive nuclear work in the country for a long time and said sanctions imposed on it should be lifted as soon it reaches a final deal with major powers, state TV reported.

The six – Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and the United States – want Iran to commit to a verifiable halt of at least 10 years on sensitive nuclear development work as part of a landmark atomic deal they aim to reach by June 30.

They are offering in exchange relief from sanctions that have crippled the oil exporter’s economy.

“Freezing Iran’s research and development for a long time like 10 or 12 years is not acceptable,” Khamenei said in a speech broadcast live.

“All financial and economic sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council, the U.S. Congress or the U.S. government should be lifted immediately when we sign a nuclear agreement.”

The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been trying to investigate Western allegations that Iran has been working on designing a nuclear warhead. Iran says that its nuclear program is peaceful and that it is working with the IAEA to clear up any suspicions.

Khamenei, who has the final say for Iran on any deal, repeated his stance that Tehran would not give international bodies access to its military sites.

“Inspection of our military sites is out of the question and is one of our red lines,” he said.

U.N. inspectors regularly monitor Iran’s declared nuclear facilities, but the IAEA has complained for years of a lack of access to sites, equipment, documents and people relevant to its probe.

France and the United States say Iran must step up cooperation with the IAEA if it wants to reach a final deal.

Khamenei accused the United States of wanting to wipe out Iran’s nuclear industry.

“America is after destroying our nuclear industry altogether,” he said. “Our negotiators’ aim is to safeguard Iran’s integrity … and our nuclear achievements during the talks.”

Iran reached a tentative deal with the powers on April 2 to allow U.N. inspectors to carry out more intrusive, short-notice inspections under an “Additional Protocol” to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Andrew Roche/Hugh Lawson)

Ordered Liberty » Iran Celebrates ‘Great Victory’ Because ‘Americans Have Clearly Surrendered’

November 27, 2014

Iran Celebrates ‘Great Victory’ Because ‘Americans Have Clearly Surrendered’

November 26th, 2014 – 2:29 pm

by Andrew C. McCarthy

via Ordered Liberty » Iran Celebrates ‘Great Victory’ Because ‘Americans Have Clearly Surrendered’.

 


Fifth love letter’s the charm?

President Obama’s most recent capitulation in sham “negotiations” over Iran’s nuclear program is his agreement to a seven-month delay in the deadline for a final settlement, which was to have been this past Monday. As the president must know, this delay gives the revolutionary jihadist regime everything it needs: time; further preservation and legitimization of its nuclear program; continued sanctions relief, including $700 million per month from the United States; and no pressure to acknowledge, much less repudiate, its status as the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism (i.e., the reason why its acquisition of nuclear weapons is — or at least used to be — unacceptable).

Is it any wonder the mullahs and their regime are celebrating?

The delay was driven by the unwillingness of Obama and the rest of the P5+1 negotiators (the five permanent UN Security Council states plus Germany) to adhere to Obama’s fraudulent commitment to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. The transparent purpose of extending the time for reaching a final agreement is to enable the administration and other Western governments to spin as “progress” their eventual and apparently inevitable failure.

No surprise then that the Iranian regime, which enjoys nothing more than calling the West on its fecklessness, is in full celebration mode. As the Washington Free Beacon’s Adam Kredo reports, Iran’s “moderate” President Hassan Rouhani is aptly portraying the delay as a “victory”:

Today we have a victory much greater than what happened in the negotiation,” Rouhani said. “This victory is that our circumstances are not like previous years. Today we are at a point that nobody in the world [says] sanctions must be increased in order that Iran accept P5+1 demands…. No one says to reach agreement we must increase pressure on Iran…. But they say to reach an agreement more time and more discussion is needed. This is a great victory for what the Iranian nation started since last June 15.

Rouhani added, “Centrifuges have been running and I promise the Iranian nation that centrifuges will never stop.” He further bragged that Iran had never discontinued its enrichment of uranium, and predicted that the West would fold by lifting all economic sanctions while Iran preserves its nuclear program.

Even more giddy contempt for the West was exhibited by Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the regime’s top security force, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. (That’s the same IRGC found by a U.S. court to have coordinated the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing that killed 19 American Air Force personnel in Saudi Arabia.) He crowed, “The Americans have very clearly surrendered to Iran’s might, and this is obvious in their behavior in the region and in the negotiations.” General Jafari promised that if the United States ever tried to attack Iran militarily, “our war will end by conquering Palestine.”

The long extension of the deadline results from Obama’s delusion that abetting the jihadist regime will pave the way for a U.S.-Iran rapprochement. Iran’s refusal to play ball is a spurning of our president by the regime’s ruler.

Like a schoolboy with an unrequited crush, Obama has now written four pleading missives to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In the latest one (sent in mid-October and reported by the Wall Street Journal on November 6), the president tried to coax the “supreme leader” into meeting the November 24 deadline by stressing the purportedly common American and Iranian interest in fighting against Islamic State terrorists. This “common interest” rationale would be laugh-out-loud hilarious if it weren’t directed to the globe’s top terror sponsor from the putative leader of the free world.

The Islamic State is merely a renegade branch of al Qaeda. It was originally formed as al Qaeda in Iraq, at a time when Iran was harboring al Qaeda leaders while providing weapons and training to al Qaeda-affiliated jihadists who were fighting American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. That Shiite Iran colludes with Sunni al Qaeda against the Great Satan would be unsurprising to any informed person. Iran and al Qaeda have had a cooperative relationship since at least 1992. Indeed, the original indictment filed by the Clinton Justice Department against Osama bin Laden in 1998 alleges:

4. Al Qaeda … forged alliances … with the government of Iran and its associated terrorist group Hezballah for the purpose of working together against their perceived common enemies in the West, particularly the United States…

[Overt Act h.] At various times from in or about 1992 until the date of the filing of this Indictment, USAMA BIN LADEN and other ranking members of Al Qaeda stated privately to other members of Al Qaeda that Al Qaeda [which is a Sunni Muslim terrorist organization] should put aside its differences with Shiite Muslim terrorist organizations, including the Government of Iran and its affiliated terrorist group Hezballah, to cooperate against the perceived common enemy, the United States and its allies.

We’ve already mentioned the Khobar Towers atrocity. In addition, the Long War Journal’s Bill Roggio has recounted that the 9/11 Commission laid out elaborate details about cooperation between al Qaeda, Iran and Hezbollah; and very recently, LWJ’s Tom Joscelyn explained that a senior al Qaeda figure linked to the so-called Khorosan Group — the al Qaeda advisory board that the Obama administration has portrayed as responsible for planning anti-American terrorism from Syria — previously headed al Qaeda’s operation in Iran.

As Tom elaborates, al Qaeda’s longstanding presence in Iran is the result of an agreement between the terror network and the Iranian regime. In 2011, this arrangement prompted even the see-no-jihad Obama administration, through a Treasury Department spokesman, to acknowledge:

Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world today. By exposing Iran’s secret deal with al Qaeda allowing it to funnel funds and operatives through its territory, we are illuminating yet another aspect of Iran’s unmatched support for terrorism[.]… Today’s action also seeks to disrupt this key network and deny al Qaeda’s senior leadership much-needed support.

The official went on to assert that Iran is “a critical transit point for funding to support al Qaeda’s activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan.”

Despite all this, Obama keeps writing his love letters … and, just as predictably, Khamenei keeps laughing them off. More humiliatingly, there is never a direct response from the ayatollah — just public ridicule by the regime mouthpieces he controls.

A couple of weeks after Obama’s “common interest” opus, a Khamenei spokesman announced:

The evil Americans must not think that they can achieve honor with these [nuclear] talks. If our politicians are conducting dialogue with the Americans, it is our last ultimatum. The disciples of the Prophet await an Ashura command to destroy all of them, and Islamic Iran will not rest until it avenges the spilled blood of the world’s oppressed.

Ashura is the Shiite period of mourning over the killing in 680 of Hussein ibn Ali in the Battle of Karbala, an event that cemented the Shiite split from Sunni Islam. This year, the Middle East Media Research Institute relates, Ashura coincided with the anniversary of the 1979 siege against the American embassy in Tehran by the forces of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini — the launch of the modern Iranian regime, which persists to this day in defining itself by its hatred for the United States.

It was in that context that the aforementioned General Jafari’s IRGC put out an Ashura communiqué, providing Obama with the regime’s definitive answer to the president’s “common interest” plea — as if there were any doubt:

America is still the Great Satan and the No. 1 enemy of the Revolution and the regime of the Islamic Republic. Inspired by the great lesson of the Ashura rebellion, by the eternal will of the Imam [regime founder Ayatollah Khomeini], and by the wise instructions of the dear [Supreme] Leader Imam [Ayatollah] Khamenei, the Iranian nation will never allow the Islamic homeland’s honor and independence to be threatened and harmed by the enemy. [My italics.]

Due to its arrogance and its lust for power, America is the main center of fitna [i.e., strife] and corruption in the world, and will never [be ready] for true reconciliation and friendship with a popular and independent regime that embodies the powerful life of Islam. Under these circumstances, the courageous Iranian nation still demands the prosecution and punishment of the leaders of the White House for their crimes against the Islamic Iran over the past few decades. Furthermore, in the nuclear negotiations, Iran thinks only of comprehensive and total obedience to its undisputed rights, and a full lifting of the oppressive sanctions.

It was in the face of these rebukes that President Obama acceded on Monday to the seven-month delay. That, of course, is why the regime in Tehran is celebrating this capitulation as a clear American “surrender” and as its own “great victory.”

Obama desperate for a deal with Iran

November 14, 2014

Obama desperate for a deal with Iran, Israel Hayom, Isi Leibler, November 14, 2014

(Is Obama getting advice from Mr. Gruber on how to lie effectively to the “stupid” American public? Please see also To get a nuke deal with Iran Obama and the Islamist world demonize Israel.– DM)

[T]he administration continues to grovel in an effort to appease the Iranians. It is widely believed that the unprecedented hostility recently directed against Israel, especially the statement that Israel had lost the opportunity of exploiting the military option to prevent Iran becoming a nuclear power, was primarily for the benefit of Khamenei.

Under pressure, following the public release of his letter to Khamenei, Obama has stepped back, stating that there is still a big gap and that “we may not be able to get there.” He added, “Our number one priority with respect to Iran is making sure they don’t get a nuclear weapon.” Even Obama’s closest associates would question their president’s credibility when he voices such statements.

********************

Despite statements to the contrary, the Obama administration appears determined to achieve an “agreement” with Iran and seems willing to breach its repeated undertakings that it would never countenance Iran becoming a nuclear power. With the mullahs’ increased intransigence as they sense the desperation of the Americans to avoid a confrontation, the Nov. 24 deadline will probably be extended, enabling the centrifuges to continue spinning while the P5+1 countries engage in fruitless negotiations with the duplicitous Iranians.

The Iranians have mocked Secretary of State John Kerry’s overtures, including his secret appeals to them to coordinate with the U.S. in opposing the Islamic State group. Speaking from a podium bedecked with banners blazing “America cannot do a damn thing,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei boasted that the “Great Satan’s” efforts to bring Iran to its knees had failed, and that U.S. President Barack Obama lacked the courage for a military confrontation. Ali Younesi, senior adviser to “moderate” President Hassan Rouhani, referred to Obama as “the weakest of U.S. presidents,” whose six years in office were “humiliating.”

Nevertheless, the administration continues to grovel in an effort to appease the Iranians. It is widely believed that the unprecedented hostility recently directed against Israel, especially the statement that Israel had lost the opportunity of exploiting the military option to prevent Iran becoming a nuclear power, was primarily for the benefit of Khamenei.

The London Times claimed that American and Iranian officials have even been discussing the opening of a U.S. trade office in Tehran.

The frenzied, initially covert, efforts to engage the support of Iran in the struggle against Islamic State — despite Iran being designated by the U.S. as a terrorist state — has further undermined the little credibility the U.S. retains with the moderate Sunni states, considered until recently as staunch allies.

Obama’s deception of his allies was further exemplified when it was disclosed that he had written a secret letter to Khamenei pleading with him to reach an accommodation. This, the fourth letter he had written to the ayatollah — all of which were ignored — was an explicit breach of undertaking to his allies that any independent initiatives would be preceded by consultations.

Even one of Obama’s favorite in-house journalists, Jeffrey Goldberg, felt impelled to remark that the “most recent letter was delivered at an unfortunate moment in the run-up to the putatively climactic negotiations between Iran and the world powers” when the Obama administration had already conceded many of Iran’s demands. Goldberg concluded his column by stating: “The Iranians originally came to the negotiating table because U.S.-led sanctions were hurting them badly. I understand the need for give and take negotiations, but I’m getting worried that the U.S. is focused too much on the first half of that equation.”

The U.S. administration has already given approval to Iran to enrich uranium, effectively making it a nuclear threshold state. While the global powers agreed to enable the Iranians to have 1,000 centrifuges to process material required to create nuclear fuel, the Iranians have outrightly refused to dismantle any of the 19,000 centrifuges they have already accumulated. It is understood that Iran is already in the position to accrue sufficient enriched fissile material to become a nuclear power within a few months, if it so desires. The U.S. has indicated that it would be willing to sign off on a deal that would extend this breakout phase to one year, hardly reassuring to the region.

The Iranians also displayed utter contempt toward the U.S. by violating the interim accord and failing to disclose an enrichment facility in Qom and even denying access to inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to military sites and nuclear scientists engaged in research. Clearly, the duplicitous Islamist regime would continue to circumvent any agreement that is not rigorously monitored and enforced — a procedure that the Iranians have already made clear they will never accept.

While the outcome of this issue will have immense global implications, especially in the Middle East, Israel is the country most affected. The Iranian regime’s hatred of Israel is messianic. It openly proclaims its commitment to destroy the Jewish state. Coinciding with Obama’s groveling letter to him, Khamenei tweeted a message stating that the only way to stop the “Israeli crimes” was to “annihilate” the “barbaric, wolflike & infanticidal regime of #Israel.”

Israel cannot accept the prospect of such a fanatical terrorist regime becoming a nuclear threshold state.

Under pressure, following the public release of his letter to Khamenei, Obama has stepped back, stating that there is still a big gap and that “we may not be able to get there.” He added, “Our number one priority with respect to Iran is making sure they don’t get a nuclear weapon.” Even Obama’s closest associates would question their president’s credibility when he voices such statements.

The question is whether at this advanced stage, the P5+1 nations, desperate to appease and reach an accord with the terrorist state at any price, can still be deterred from capitulating.

The key rests with the United States. The extraordinary landslide victory by the Republicans at the midterm elections — clearly a vote of no confidence in Obama — provides some hope.

Yet it should be noted that within the American political system, the president has primary control of foreign relations.

The Republican-controlled Congress and Senate can certainly pass resolutions, but that will not necessarily limit the White House in this arena of foreign policy. In addition, realizing that on the domestic scene his hands will be restricted by Congress, Obama might even decide to intensify his foreign policy activities. The principal areas are likely to include the embrace of the Iranians and possibly trying to impose a settlement on the Israelis with the Palestinians.

However, in relation to Iran, the president must persuade Congress to rescind the sanctions it originally legislated. Obama may constitutionally override the congressional sanctions and unilaterally suspend enforcement, but that could lead to a major confrontation with Congress.

Needless to say, if a reasonable agreement is achieved, it will be endorsed by Congress. But all indications suggest that Obama is promoting an Alice-in-Wonderland deal with the Iranians, which Congress should reject.

The incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has already stated unequivocally that the Senate will review any deal with Iran and ensure that “any comprehensive agreement concerning the Iranian nuclear program, both protects the national security of the United States and recognizes Israel’s own defense as a security partner of our country.”

At this critical time, American Jews and friends of Israel should exert all their influence to convince the administration and a bipartisan Congress that appeasing the Iranian mullahs will have horrific long-term consequences and must be avoided. They should mount a powerful public campaign to demonstrate the extent of the catastrophe the government would cause should it appease this evil terrorist regime, which in the absence of becoming a nuclear state, is likely in time to implode because of the growing opposition from its own young people and the middle class.

If the current U.S. desperation to avoid a confrontation enables the Iranian terrorist state to achieve a nuclear threshold level, it is likely to have far worse long-term global repercussions than Chamberlain’s appeasement of the Nazis at Munich which led to World War ll.

Obama Again Sending Love Letters to Iran

November 7, 2014

In Obama’s latest love letter to Tehran, the U.S. leader allegedly offers to work together to defeat ISIS, but wants assurance on nuclear efforts.

By: Lori Lowenthal Marcus

Published: November 7th, 2014

via The Jewish Press » » Obama Again Sending Love Letters to Iran.

 

U.S. President barack Obama
Photo Credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

 

Iran’s leader the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shared the news that U.S. President Barack Obama wrote to him, ‘seeking dialogue and engagement between the two nations.’

According to reports, Obama secretly wrote Khamenei in October, describing a shared interest in fighting ISIS terrorists in Iraq and Syria, and tying that shared interest to a need to also work together to limit Tehran’s nuclear program.

Obama’s October letter is the fourth time the U.S. leader has written Iran’s religious leader since taking office in 2009.

Many understand the letter to reveal just how significant Obama considers Iran to be in his military and diplomatic efforts to derail ISIS from its successful conquests over the past several months.

Obama said on Wednesday that his administration has put forward a “framework” plan for a nuclear agreement with Iran. But he warned it was unclear if a deal would be struck by the November 24 deadline.

“We presented to them a framework that would allow them to meet their peaceful energy needs,” Obama said.

It was the first time the US has alluded to a completed framework being on the table, and came just days before John Kerry, US secretary of state, holds fresh negotiations with his Iranian counterpart.

But those on the other side of the political divide from Obama, the very people who are currently riding high on Tuesday’s thumbs up in their direction and thumbs down towards Obama, were not pleased with Obama’s outreach.

The huge Republican victory on Tuesday renewed that team’s belief that there are no deals to be made with the Iranians, and instead wish to simply increase the size of the stick (a/k/a sanctions) against Iran. Iran. Sens. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) and Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) have introduced legislation to intensify sanctions.

“The best way to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon is to quickly pass the bipartisan Menendez-Kirk legislation—not to give the Iranians more time to build a bomb,” Mr. Kirk said Wednesday.

House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) expressed concern when asked about the letter sent by Mr. Obama, flatly stating he does not trust the Iranians, and that he believes it is a mistake to partner with them in any way.

The White House did not even tell its Middle East allies about its latest diplomatic love letter to Iran. Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were kept in the dark. All three have recently expressed alarm over rumors that the U.S. is contemplating softening, rather than stiffening, sanctions against Iran.