Editor’s Note: A guest post by Bob Bell, USN, JAGC (Ret)  

As the international nuclear negotiators dealing with Iran’s Foreign Minister struggled to put together their Swiss sandwich of several layers of legal language to contain Iran’s atomic arms ambitions, tentative agreement “in principle” was finally announced. Iran’s Foreign Minister came to the press podium with the smirk of success.

He cleverly told the assembled media representatives not to worry about a translation of the original English version into Iran’s Farsi language as the Iranian Delegation to the Lausanne Switzerland Conference had already done this for them. This apparent accommodation was presented with a smirk and an air of politeness to the press. However, as could be expected, the Farsi version turned out to be different than the original English version, providing excuses for further arguments, delays and non-compliance by Iran. The Government of Iran’s subsequent media spin based on its altered Farsi version of the tentative “agreement” was a farce, but the joke was on the United States and the international community as the Iranian uranium enrichment centrifuges continued to spin. Iran bought time, its only objective, and it cost Iran nothing.

Negotiations lead to rogue nations acquiring nuclear weapons as happened with North Korea after over a decade of negotiations. Now we have also been attempting to negotiate with Iran for over a decade.

The Government of Iran has established a pattern of international criminal activity stretching over the past 35 years, starting with the invasion of our Embassy there in 1979 and holding our diplomatic personnel as hostages for a prolonged period of time. There has never been an apology by Iran or the payment of any compensation to the hostages or to our Government. These offenses remain unsettled. Then Iran through its proxies in Lebanon suicide truck bombed our Embassy in Lebanon in April, 1983 killing 64 of our diplomatic staff and visitors. In November of that year, its proxies struck again killing 242 of our Marines with another suicide truck bomb. This conventional explosion was so powerful that it produced a mushroom cloud similar to a small atomic bomb, hardly the work of amateurs improvising their own bomb.

The Government of Iran has continued to be the chief state sponsor of terrorism during the intervening years, instigating many more attacks. Iran is currently involved with Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Yemen, pursuing its territorial aspirations. Iran is still chanting death to America and Israel. The Government of Iran is also currently holding 4 Americans as prisoners in Iran with no charges or on bogus charges. The fate of these 4 Americans is apparently being sacrificed by our own Government for the sake of not disturbing these nebulas nuclear negotiations. We should demand the immediate release of all Americans being held as prisoners in Iran.

How can we try to take the word of such a rogue regime that has not been held accountable for its crimes? The Government of Iran continues to enjoy its evil endeavors with sly smirks of success.

There is no reason for Iran to enrich uranium. It has tremendous petroleum production. Iran could simply build its own refinery for gasoline and other petroleum products and enjoy tremendous domestic prosperity. Iran could purchase fuel rods for peaceful use of a nuclear reactor. There is no need to enrich uranium that serves only as a path to acquiring nuclear weapons. The Government of Iran must stop menacing other nations, instigating terrorist attacks, engaging in proxy wars and stirring up trouble. The Government of Iran’s ambitions are based upon an evil agenda fueled by hatred of others and a desire to expand its empire at the expense of others. The world must stop Iran’s rogue regime before it is too late.