August 7, 2015
The agreement between the P5+1 and Iran is cause for concern on several fronts, including the irreconcilability of the apparent hope that the deal will moderate Iran, and the fact that the deal will provide Iran more resources to ratchet up the toll of death and destruction in places like Yemen and Syria, and Israel, America’s closest ally in the Middle East.
Already classified by the U.S. State Department as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terror, Iran would gain access to up to $150 billion in currently frozen assets when the deal is completed.
Iran has already supplied nearly 100,000 rockets to its terror proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah; they reportedly stand ready to fire on Israeli population centers. According to Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the goal is to destroy Tel Aviv and Haifa.
Iran’s “Signing Bonus”
When Iran receives its $50 to $150 billion “signing bonus” as a result of this deal, an unfortunate consequence will be a substantial windfall for all of Iran’s terror proxies—Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, etc.—and for the Syrian butcher Bashar al-Assad.
Not only would these groups’ supply of rockets, missiles, and other weapons multiply, but many security experts predict that Iran will provide much more sophisticated weaponry, capable of overwhelming and penetrating Israel’s defensive measures, endangering millions of lives.
Why is it assured that Iran will funnel money to its proxies? Because regional hegemony has been a primary goal of the regime, even while suffering under sanctions. Even with its economy crippled, Iran has persisted in transporting tens of thousands of rockets, along with other weapons, into Gaza and Lebanon. During the 2014 Gaza War between Hamas, Iran’s proxy in Gaza, and Israel, more than 4,000 rockets were fired into Israel, many of them smuggled in by Iranian operatives through the Sinai or the sea. That represents only a tiny percentage of what the Iran-sponsored Hezbollah has stockpiled in Lebanon.
Some of Hamas’s rockets reached as far north as Tel Aviv and the outskirts of Haifa, putting most Israelis within their firing range. When Hezbollah’s firing range of 120 miles is also taken into consideration, it’s clear that no Israeli is safe from Iran’s terrorism.
