EMBARRASSING: Europeans Realizing Trump Was Right About Iran
It must be murder for them to admit it, but suddenly Western European leaders are realizing President Trump was right about ditching the Iran nuclear treaty.
On Tuesday, diplomats from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and France expressed their concern because of an Iranian medium-range ballistic missile test on Saturday.
The U.S. government stated that the missile Iran tested could reach Europe and the Middle East. According to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the missile could carry multiple warheads and violated Security Council Resolution 2231, which instructed Iran to refrain from “any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.”
That Security Council resolution was the implementation of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). President Trump walked away from the deal last May, although China, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K. stayed with the deal.
But after the missile test, the U.K. and France called a closed-door meeting of the Security Council. The government of France stated, “France is concerned by the launch of a medium-range ballistic missile by Iran on Saturday. It condemns this provocative and destabilizing act. France reiterates that the Iranian ballistic missile program is not in compliance with UNSCR 2231 (2015). It calls on Iran to immediately cease any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be able to carry nuclear weapons, including launches using ballistic missile technology.”
As Fox News reports, the European ambassadors joined in expressing their concern:
U.K. Ambassador Karen Pierce called the actions "part and parcel of Iran's destabilizing activities in the region." Her comments echo U.K. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who said Saturday that he was “deeply concerned by Iran’s actions," even as he reiterated support for the nuclear deal. “Provocative, threatening and inconsistent with UNSCR 2231. Our support for JCPoA in no way lessens our concern at Iran’s destabilising missile programme and determination that it should cease,” he tweeted.
Dutch Ambassador Karel van Oosterom added, “This kind of ballistic missile activity is inconsistent with the JCPoA , especially Annex B which calls on Iran not to engage in these kinds of activities.” Even French Ambassador François Delattre avowed the test was "inconsistent" with the resolution, urging Iran to "immediately cease any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be able to carry nuclear weapons, including launches using ballistic missile technology."
Still, the group displayed its usual pusillanimous attitude when it came to Iran, with the resolution stating it only “calls upon” Iran to stop its ballistic tests instead of demanding a cessation.
On Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley, in her typically blunt manner, stated that the ballistic test was "dangerous and concerning, but not surprising" adding, “The United States has repeatedly warned the world about Iran’s deliberate efforts to destabilize the Middle East and defy international norms. The international community cannot keep turning a blind eye every time Iran blatantly ignores Security Council resolutions. If the Security Council is serious about holding Iran accountable and enforcing our resolutions, then at a minimum we should be able to deliver a unanimous condemnation of this provocative missile test."
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), echoed, “The United States has only begun to reverse the damage done by Obama's Iran nuclear deal, which gave the Ayatollahs the resources and diplomatic breathing room to build more and better ballistic missiles. The last round of sanctions, while important, clearly failed to deter Iran from advancing their missile program. It's time to totally cut off Iran from the global financial system and deny them the resources they're using to threaten us and our allies.”
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