Exactly as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned, Iranian leaders are ignoring the “red lines” drawn around the JCPOA nuclear deal with the six world leaders, signed in Vienna in July 2015.
The latest violation involves a travel ban imposed on top Iranian Qods Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, who was photographed while touring Aleppo in Syria this past weekend.
He’s the general who leads Iranian operatives around the world, and according to the Washington Free Beacon, is also “directly responsible for the deaths of … many hundreds of Americans.”
Soleimani heads the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, which has provided major military guidance, backup and support to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in addition to directly intervening in Iraq — and in Yemen.
Congressional and foreign policy sources told the Free Beacon that Obama Administration officials are working the back channels to prevent any new sanctions against Iran, “because they know that would force them to take action against Iran, and then Iran would walk away from the [nuclear] deal.
“Now they’re ignoring even old sanctions against the Iranians. They’ll do anything to keep the Iranians in the deal for just a couple more weeks, so they can blame the inevitable collapse on Trump,” the Free Beacon was told, according to a report posted Monday, Dec. 19.
At a briefing with journalists also Monday, State Department spokesperson John Kirby acknowledged Soleimani’s visit to Syria was a violation of the United Nations Security Council resolution that governs the nuclear deal. But he took refuge in simply reflecting the question, and thereby ducking the need to give any answer.
“We do intend to consult with our partners on the Security Council about how to address our concerns with this,” he said.
“We’ve long said that Iran needs to choose whether it’s going to play a positive role in helping peacefully resolve conflicts, such as in Syria, or whether it will choose to prolong them.
“And you’re absolutely right, his travel was a violation.”