And The Race Is On!!!!!

 

Well, we now have a sanctioned nuclear powered Iran.  They needed this because they don’t have enough oil to generate electricity for their people …. or something. 

Iran has agreed not to pursue the knowledge as to how to make a nuclear weapon ….. wait, scratch that, they already know how, they just promised that they won’t make one.  (wink)

Oddly, the Sunni nations in the region don’t believe this is a good thing.  But, they already knew this madness was coming.  How have they been reacting?

Officials: Iran nuclear deal fuels Middle East arms race, boosts Russia’s influence

The newly announced Iran nuclear deal and the negotiations leading up to it already are fueling an all-but-declared nuclear arms race in the Middle East, according to current and former government officials who say the situation also creates an opening for Russia to exert more influence in the region. 

“We have given Iran the path it has been seeking for almost 35 years. The other states in the region are not going to sit idly by, which is why in effect the nuclear arms race is already underway,” former U.N. Ambassador and Fox News contributor John Bolton said, adding that Iran and other nations have used civilian nuclear energy programs as cover for covert enrichment programs. 

The Obama administration announced the deal along with other world powers early Tuesday morning. The terms call for suspending and curbing components of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for valuable sanctions relief. 

But in the last six months, Russia has struck three significant nuclear deals with long-time U.S. Middle East allies, effectively capitalizing on regional distrust of Iran. 

In February, a deal was sealed with the Egyptian government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to help Cairo build and operate its first nuclear reactor. A month later, in March, Jordan signed a $10 billion deal with Russia to build the kingdom’s first nuclear power plant, with two 1,000-megawatt reactors in the country’s north. And in June, Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to a deal, the terms of which are not public. But unnamed sources told the Al Arabiya TV network that the kingdom planned to build 16 nuclear reactors that Russia would play a significant role in operating.

“Every Sunni Arab nation is going to see [a nuclear Iran] as an inevitable outcome,” Republican presidential candidate and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said. “The worst possible outcome of the deal would be to create a nuclear arms race in the Mideast where Sunni Arabs feel threatened.” 

Republican Sen. Ben Sasse, of Nebraska, said in a statement, “Sadly, the Administration just lit the fuse for a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. We all know Iran’s neighbors will not sit idly as the world’s largest state-sponsor of terror becomes a nuclear-threshold state.” 

A seasoned intelligence official who recently returned from the region said private discussions revealed that allies, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, felt abandoned by the U.S. as the administration seemed to put securing a deal with Tehran ahead of the long-time alliances. 

“The race is on, and the U.S. has got to get in the driver’s seat,” the intelligence official said of a regional arms race. “The administration has created a major void, allowing an opening for Russia.” 

Putin, who analysts say stands to gain the most from a newly empowered Iran, hailed the deal as a tremendous accomplishment, and said in a statement, “We expect that all the parties concerned, primarily the six states involved in the negotiations, will comply with the deal in full. … Our bilateral relations with Iran will receive a new impetus and will no longer be influenced by external factors.” …..

If you wish, you can go to the link and read the White House’s opinion on all of this …. which is to deny the reality they created. 

You see, suddenly, the oil rich area sees a real need for nuclear generated electricity.  (wink)

The best part is that while we were babbling and dithering with the Iranians, (when the outcome had long been known), is that we allowed all of the sales and influence to move to Russia. 

There is no driver’s seat for us to get in.  We were in it, and moved out of the way.  That’s about right for a decidedly anti-American administration.