“Peace in our time.” That phrase was coined by Britain’s prime minister upon signing a peace treaty with Hitler. At the time, the majority of the West believed Hitler had peaceful intentions. Today, we know Hitler was a bald-faced liar. Duplicity was one of his greatest weapons in the lead-up to the Second World War.
Today, Iran, like Germany prior to World War II, is using deceit as a weapon to gain what it wants from the international community. Consider.
Recent revelations confirm that Iran has long been lying about the nature and status of its nuclear program. In a speech to high-ranking Islamic clerics and academics, former Iranian nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani detailed how Iran worked to deceive European counterparts about the nature and status of its nuclear program in order to play for time to complete equipment installations at its Isfahan nuclear site.
According to Mohammad Mohaddessin of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, an opposition group that was first responsible for publishing details of Iran’s secret atomic program, “Rowhani’s remarks show that the mullahs wanted to deceive the international community from the onset of negotiations with EU3—and that the mullahs were fully aware that if they were transparent, the regime’s nuclear file would be referred to the UN immediately” (Telegraph, March 5).
Rowhani admitted to the ruse, boasting to his audience, “When we were negotiating with the Europeans in Tehran we were still installing some of the equipment at the Isfahan site. There was plenty of work to be done to complete the site and finish the work there. In reality, by creating a tame situation, we could finish Isfahan” (ibid.).
America was aware of Iran’s ploy. Washington even warned its European partners that the Iranians were being less than forthright about their atomic program. In Rowhani’s words, “From the outset, the Americans kept telling the Europeans, ‘The Iranians are lying and deceiving you and they have not told you everything.’ The Europeans used to respond, ‘We trust them’” (ibid.).
Only now, after repeated frustrations over Iran’s lies, is the West exploring punitive sanctions against Iran.
That is one case of Iran’s duplicity; here is another: In an intelligence brief dated March 1, Stratfor wrote that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been allowing moderate voices to speak out against the ultraconservatives in an effort to tame Tehran’s international image. In one instance, on March 1 the Iranian press published remarks made by former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami criticizing current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (though not mentioning him by name). The same day, the Shargh, a popular Iranian newspaper, also criticized the president for his anti-Jewish and anti-Israel comments.
By allowing open criticism of Ahmadinejad in Iranian dailies, Khamenei is seeking to manipulate the West’s perception of Iran to gain benefits for Tehran. The thinking goes something like: If we let the reformists speak out against the radicals, the West will think there is still a chance that Iran may reform itself, and that negotiations, if continued a little longer, may work—thereby making military attack less of an option. Stratfor calls this trick Iran’s “strategic moderation.”
Iran is going to great lengths to cloud Western understanding of its nuclear program. Middle East Newsline reported that Iran is even conducting nuclear research and development in some of its schools and universities. The article quoted Alireza Jafarzadeh, a leading member of Iran’s opposition. “Given Tehran’s record of lies and deceptions, using academic institutions to develop a nuclear bomb makes it even more difficult to stop Iran’s secret development of a nuclear weapon” (March 26).
In all this, Iran is telling a lot of masterful lies, and, to this point, the West appears to be buying many of them. If history be our guide, we can be assured that Iran’s lies will continue—and, for as long as the price of crossing Iran is considered greater than the benefits, the West will continue to go along with those lies.
America, which at this time appears to be taking the “tougher” approach, is actually in the most compromised position. As the Trumpet has detailed previously, America is vulnerable: Iran has power to inflame the already precarious situation in Iraq through the Iran-friendly Iraqi Shiite majority; Iran has the ability to manipulate world oil supply; Iran has terrorist minions around the world at its disposal. Put these cards Tehran holds together with America’s internal political division and lack of national will, and the U.S.’s freedom to act against Iran is severely diminished.
The reality is an emboldened Iran will continue to push at the West until it is checked by a greater force.
For a thorough expose on the weakness of the West that led to World War II, see our booklet Winston S. Churchill: The Watchman.