Linda Chavez: Obama should encourage freedom in Iran

The Obama administration's goal should be to encourage freedom for the Iranian people instead of reassuring the mullahs in Tehran by offering undue concessions in the Iran nuclear deal, former White House director of public liaison Linda Chavez has said.

Ms. Chavez on Friday wrote in TownHall.com: "The president has said that the United States will be safer because of the nuclear deal his administration and five other nations fashioned with Iran. 'Without a deal, we risk even more war in the Middle East,' he said in an hour-long press conference on Wednesday. It was an unfortunate historical reminder, one the president would rather we all ignore."

"In 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed a four-party pact with Adolf Hitler allowing Nazi Germany to seize a portion of Czechoslovakia. Chamberlain returned from the Munich Conference, claiming 'peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time.' But his Conservative Party rival Winston Churchill's words turned out to be more prophetic: 'You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor, and you will have war.' In less than a year, the Nazis invaded Poland, and the British declared war on Germany."

"It is too soon to know exactly how events will unfold in the Middle East, but certain things are clear. There will be more nuclear weapons in the region because of this deal, not fewer. It isn't a matter of whether there will be war -- there are already several wars ongoing in the region, wars in which Iran participates directly or through its proxies. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force is already on the ground in Iraq, our erstwhile ally in the fight against ISIS but, in the long run, a great threat to our interests. Iran is supporting the Assad regime in Syria and the rebels in Yemen and is the major sponsor of terrorism in the world. With the estimated $100 billion in unfrozen assets soon to be available as Iran sanctions are lifted, more money will flow into wars where Iran hopes to expand its influence and ultimately create hegemony in the Muslim world."

Ms. Chavez said the regime in Iran is not "dismantling their nuclear program; they are simply putting on hold some elements -- and even that cannot be assured."

"The verification regimen put in place by the agreement gives Iranians ample time to stall in order to move, hide or repurpose their weapons-creating capacity once notified that inspectors want to visit a site. The president promised 24/7 access to Iran's nuclear facilities in any deal his administration negotiated -- he accepted in its place a plan that will give Iran 24 days before it allows inspectors in and a bureaucratic maze to get there."

"The president has consistently maintained that he had only two choices: forge a deal with Iran or face war. It is a Hobson's choice, and the president knows it. Sanctions brought Iran to the bargaining table, but the administration's eagerness to reach a deal erases what leverage we had. Nor did the president even consider other options. The administration has never been willing to promote regime change in Iran, choosing to turn its back on protesters who took to the streets in 2009 against the regime. It has demonized the pro-democratic National Council of Resistance of Iran, which has tens of thousands of supporters both inside and outside Iran."

"The [US] administration's goal has been to reassure the mullahs in Tehran, not to encourage freedom for the Iranian people."

"In falsely portraying his options, the president brings us closer to a Middle East conflagration. It is not 'peace in our time,' but a near guarantee of more bloodshed."

Ms. Chavez on June 13 took part in the major annual Iran Freedom rally in Paris alongside 600 international lawmakers and personalities in support of Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi’s 10-point plan for a future free Iran. The gathering said that in order to stop nuclear proliferation in Iran and defeat Islamic fundamentalism there needs to be support for Iran’s Parliament-in-exile, the NCRI, to bring about regime change. Participants called for United Nations protection for thousands of members of Iran's main opposition group, the People's Mojahedin, PMOI (or Mujahedin-e Khalq, MEK), in Camp Liberty, Iraq.