OPINION:
Almost four years after President Obama tried to engage the radical leaders of Iran, it is too late to stop the Islamic regime from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Now we have a more immediate crisis to worry about: a biological attack on the United States, which Iran is preparing.
A highly credible source within the supreme leader’s office has said the regime is actively working on its nuclear bomb program from three secret sites besides those already known to the International Atomic Energy Agency, and it has enough weaponized-grade uranium and, through North Korea, plutonium, for three nuclear bombs. It also has produced several extremely dangerous viral and bacterial weapons.
As of several months ago, the regime was working on arming its missiles with nuclear warheads. It has armed 37 ballistic missiles and many cluster bombs with microbial weapons.
The Iranian government thinks the Obama administration’s efforts to reach a negotiated solution with Iran and normalize relations have bought it time to reach the nuclear capability it has today.
The Kuwaiti newspaper Alrai last week reported that Mr. Obama has stated his willingness to travel to Iran and meet with the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to open the doors of America and the West to Iran and recognize its role in the region if the Iranians would agree to a negotiated solution over their nuclear program.
While Mr. Obama pushed his agenda, Russia and North Korea helped the regime with its nuclear and biological programs. With more than 1,000 ballistic missiles in the nation’s inventory, the radicals ruling Iran are able to target not only Israel and all U.S. bases in the Middle East, but also capitals in Europe. Iran soon will have the capability, with North Korea’s help, to target any point on the planet as it completes its intercontinental ballistic missile program. That was underscored recently by North Korea’s successful test of a three-stage rocket, showing its ability to build an ICBM.
The lure of negotiations gave the Islamic regime exactly what it was looking for — time — something that still haunts the West as it pushes for further dialogue, knowing full well that Iran indeed has crossed the red line. Yet, weary of war, the West has allowed a much more dangerous situation to take place in which any confrontation now will be much more devastating than before.
The source also provided valuable information on terrorist teams that have infiltrated America, France and Germany, getting ready for attacks on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001, if not greater, should the West further increase sanctions or gear up for confrontation with Iran over its illicit nuclear program.
The information, which has been passed on to U.S. officials, is being taken seriously, and it is clear that there is a good understanding of the threat Iran poses to America and world stability.
What makes it worse is that Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and other terrorist proxies of the Iranian government have been armed with microbial weapons. Chemical and microbial weapons have been transferred to Iran’s proxies in the region. However, Iranian scientists, with the help of Russia, are working on 18 biological agents and already have developed several, including anthrax, encephalitis, SARS, Ebola, cholera, smallpox and the plague.
Most disturbing, though, is that with the help of North Korea, Iran has managed to genetically alter smallpox so Western vaccines will be worthless against it. Iran is working out of several sites on projects to make insects the carriers of diseases such as the plague, the “Black Death” that killed one-third of Europe’s population during the Middle Ages.
The regime also knows that once its medium-range ballistic missiles and ICBMs armed with nuclear warheads are operational, the U.S. deterrent umbrella in the region will be undermined, as America itself could become a target.
More important, Iran will become the domino player in the stability of the Strait of Hormuz, through which more than 20 percent of the world’s petroleum passes. Knowing quite well that a full-blown war and a nuclear exchange in the oil-rich region could collapse the global economy, sending the world into the greatest depression it has seen, the world will become hostage to the goals of the radicals ruling Iran, who already are threatening the existence of Israel and inciting rebellion against U.S.-friendly governments in the region. Moreover, Iran has terror cells on the world stage, with a big presence in Africa and Latin America, that threaten the stability of Western countries.
In recent days, the media of the Islamic regime have been celebrating the probable new appointees in Mr. Obama’s second term, calling John F. Kerry and Chuck Hagel Iran-friendly and stating that the president will continue his policy of dialogue rather than confrontation with Iran.
Washington must recognize that the lure of negotiations can no longer serve our national interests and that our security is on the line. It must act immediately with our European allies to drastically increase pressure on the regime politically and economically, while at the same time through various means help the Iranian people, the majority of whom resent their radical rulers, in their fight for change from within.
Mr. Obama must realize that negotiations and sanctions will not lead the Islamists to change course. It is not about the economy — it is the ideology. Now more than ever, the president must accept and act on this fact, as millions of lives are on the line.
Reza Kahlili is a pseudonym for a former CIA operative in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and author of the award-winning book “A Time to Betray” (Simon & Schuster, 2010).
Please read our comment policy before commenting.