The Sounds of Silence

Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden do not have the same worldview. One of the most consequential and controversial questions for them is how the United States should treat the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

The Persian Kingdom existed before Christ. It became the Islamic Republic of Iran with the 1979 Revolution, which brought the mullahs to power. Theocratic Sharia Law governs Iran. Homosexuals are executed, women without headscarves are arrested, media is censored, journalists are imprisoned and tortured. Citizen executions are the second-highest in the world. Leaders of 22 international human rights organizations advocate the establishment of a committee at the United Nations to investigate the grave violations of human rights in Iran which is a savage regime using torture and killing to frighten people into submission. 

Presidents Clinton and Obama had nuclear weapons deals with Iran which culminated in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Parties to JCPOA were the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, and the European Union. Obama claimed this was a deal and not a treaty, which would have required ratification by the Senate. Treaties are legally binding upon a nation; deals are not, and future presidents can withdraw from them.  

Iran claims that its nuclear research and development is for peaceful atomic energy. The United Nations Atomic watchdog has never been able to conduct proper supervision to ensure compliance with JCPOA. According to The Institute for Science and International Security and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Iran maintains undeclared clandestine nuclear facilities. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the United Nations General Assembly in 2018 showing proof and detailed reports that Iran had a secret atomic weapons program. The Nuclear Deal had not stopped Iran from advancing its nuclear program. President Trump withdrew from JCPOA and instituted sanctions. 

The Iranian Regime is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism. It backs Hezbollah, Hamas, the regime of Bashar Assad, Houthi rebels in Yemen, and funds trained militants to wreak destruction throughout the region. Iran threatens Middle East nations such as Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, as well as international shipping waters.

A nuclear-armed Iran would force other nations to build their own nuclear bombs in defense. Eventually, Iranian intercontinental ballistic missiles will be able to reach anywhere in Europe and the United States. Even if adhered to, JCPOA did not eliminate Iran’s threats, it merely postponed them to a timeline. 

General Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, an ISIS terrorist leader, have become heroes/martyrs publicly mourned by thousands. On January 3, 2022, the second anniversary of their assassination, an animated video was shown on Sabreen television. Soleimani and Al-Muhandis are seen writing. Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah swears that America will be forced to leave the region humiliated, defeated, terrorized, and horrified. Rockets and explosive drones strike the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, American military facilities, defense systems, and airstrips. It ends with an injured American Soldier crawling on an airstrip with hundreds of American coffins.  

Iranian Ebrahim Raisi was targeted by sanctions in 2019, for his role in mass executions. Amnesty International wants him to face charges for crimes against humanity. He became President of Iran in 2021. Commemorating the Soleimani/al-Muhandis assassinations, Ebrahim Raisi ranted: “Trump must stand trial. Receive retribution, the hand of reverence will emerge from our sleeve. I say this to all American Statesmen, if a just tribunal deals with Trump and Pompeo for their terrible crime and they receive punishment – so be it.”   Thousands chanted: “Allah Akbar Allah Akbar! Death to America, Death to England, Death to the hypocrites and infidels! Death to Israel!”

President Biden has made reviving JCPOA a priority. Offering to lift all sanctions and offering that the U.S. make payment of $7 billion compensation in frozen assets, Biden made a commitment that the U.S. will not pull out of the deal in the future. That is a promise Joe cannot keep unless the JCPOA is ratified by the U.S. Senate as a Treaty. Iran has made no commitment to return to the Deal or to meet directly with U.S. Officials. Biden’s efforts to appease Iran have been fruitless.  

In Vienna talks between Iran and the remaining members of JCPOA ended in November 2021, when Iran abruptly left the meetings. Iran claims victory in the Vienna talks and demands that America accept Iran’s conditions. The U.S. does not attend these talks, because Iran refuses to negotiate directly with the United States. If demands are not met, Iran threatens to continue with its nuclear program, increase uranium enrichment to 90%, and become a global nuclear power.  

Iran’s aggressive behaviors have increased since Biden took office. Iran continues to advance its nuclear weapons capabilities and refuses to engage directly with the U.S. Biden announced at a press conference that it is Trump’s fault.  

A farce for international consumption, Iran plays the bully at the beach and America plays the weakling having sand kicked in its face.  

The world is watching. America's enemies and her allies are taking notice. Iran promises defeat to America, makes cage-rattling nuclear threats, supports international terrorism, and commits human rights abuses. We hear sounds of silence. Recall that Czechoslovakia listened to sounds of silence.