- The Strategist - https://www.aspistrategist.org.au -
No to backburner, yes to a two-track strategy
Posted By Glen Falkenstein on October 21, 2014 @ 12:30
The Islamic State’s flamboyant barbarism has been consuming the oxygen, making it easy to forget that Iran has long been, according to the US State Department, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.
It (ISIS) can destabilise neighbouring states, including Jordan and even Saudi Arabia, drawing on networks of sympathisers in these countries. This could lead to an even greater threat to regional stability... and encourage Iran and other states to seek (and possibly use) nuclear weapons.
A significant concern is that the critical efforts to stop an Iranian bomb will be sidelined—or, worse still, Iran and its proxies will be empowered as a result... There is reportedly little progress on the two key issues essential for any nuclear deal... greatly reducing the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges... and stopping construction of the Arak heavy-water nuclear reactor, which will produce easily-weaponised plutonium.
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URL to article: https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/no-to-backburner-yes-to-a-two-track-strategy/
[1] Image: http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Rouhani-at-the-UN.jpg
[2] recent post: http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/iran-bigger-and-badder-than-isil/
[3] President Rouhani indicating: http://www.newsweek.com/iran-says-its-willing-fight-isis-price-273939
[4] reports: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/03/us-iraq-security-iran-insight-idUSKBN0G30GE20140803
[5] as noted by Gary Samore: http://www.cfr.org/arms-control-disarmament-and-nonproliferation/can-iran-united-states-make-meaningful-deal/p33588
[6] Susan Rice insisting: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/10/13/the_obama_administration_has_a_kiss_and_tell_problem_terrorism_Turkey_ISIS_Kurdish_Slovenia_Coalition?wp_login_redirect=0
[7] to seek assistance in combating ISIS: http://www.businessinsider.com/kerry-iran-could-lead-fight-against-isis-if-us-fails-miserably-2014-9?IR=T
[8] As noted by Clifford D. May: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/sep/30/may-iran-takes-advantage-of-the-focus-on-isis/?page=all
[9] James Jeffrey pointed out: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/what-we-need-to-know-about-the-menace-and-how-to-counter-it-of-the-islamic-state/story-e6frg6zo-1227049513466
[10] writing in The Australian: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/nucleararmed-iran-would-pose-a-far-bigger-threat-than-islamic-state/story-e6frg6zo-1227076956835
[11] China: http://english.cntv.cn/2014/09/28/ARTI1411861424560478.shtml
[12] Russia: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/10/01/uk-northkorea-russia-talks-idUKKCN0HQ3L420141001
[13] United Nations: http://www.unmultimedia.org/s/photo/detail/603/0603425.html