A historic and shameful surrender

Iran Air was happy to announce on Sunday that it will purchase 14 new passenger planes by the end of the year. The headlines in the Islamic republic highlighted the story. One of the heads of Iran's aviation industry, Hamid Habibi, said his country intends to invest $20 billion in the new aircraft. He even paid a visit to the International Paris Air Show.

This story about the new planes fits like a glove alongside the nuclear deal between Iran and the global powers: a country under no embargo, as Iran is about to be after it signs the deal, free to operate in the world. And planes are an excellent means to that end. The Iranian economy, on the verge of reopening its doors, is enticing to all. The French, Germans, Russians (military equipment), Americans -- everyone wants to sell to Tehran. It's no surprise the nuclear negotiations have turned into a Persian bazaar.

And that's even before we've mentioned the Obama legacy, firmly grounded in Tehran. Was anyone in the least bit astonished that Iran dictated the pace of the talks? Only such a self-assured country could litigate with the Americans and burn the American flag at the same time.

On Sunday, we learned that the super powers and Iran will announce on Monday that a deal has been reached. We've been told it's as good as done. We're flabbergasted. What a magnificent diplomatic achievement. What a shame U.S. President Barack Obama already received a Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. Can't he get a second one? If and when they announce a finalized agreement, we will remember the previous performances, from November 2013 (the interim deal) and November 2015 (the framework deal). In both cases we heard a lot about all the obstacles in the way. In both cases the deadline was extended. Both cases produced agreements.

Ever since talks were renewed in Geneva in 2009, and once Washington began wishing the Iranians a happy new year, the direction was clear. The American administration's lack of intervention in the popular protests in Iran in 2009, following forged election results, was further proof of the U.S. government's objective -- a deal with Iran at all costs. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia, Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Moammar Gadhafi in Libya were ejected from power the moment their respective publics began to demonstrate, but Ayatollah Ali Khamenei didn't go anywhere because the American administration needed an achievement -- pardon me, an agreement. And agreements are made with enemies.

Journalists and commentators will perhaps cheer for Obama on Monday. Historians will put him in his place. Not long ago, Obama told Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic that he was too young and expected to live for many more years, and he wouldn't want to see the deal prove to be a failure by Iran becoming nuclear. This is where we must ask: Is anyone in the world today criticizing former President Bill Clinton for the nuclear deal he signed with North Korea (1994), or is he perceived as a wonderful president adored by all? Compared to historians, people have much shorter memories.

Perhaps the world powers delayed the bomb in Vienna. The original plan, at the onset of talks in 2003, was for the Iranian nuclear program to be dismantled. This deal cements Iran's status as a nuclear threshold state. In a few more years there will no longer be any oversight, as long as the ayatollahs are still around.

We can expect quite a few people on Monday to jump on this deal and say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed, because he promised to prevent a nuclear Iran and here we are with a bad deal on his watch. This is exactly like saying that Shimon Peres should have resigned from office because he failed to bring peace with the Palestinians. Unfortunately, just like peace, a nuclear Iran isn't dependent only us alone.

If and when the best show on the planet does produce this shameful deal, we will look to the U.S. Congress as it becomes the last hope of preventing it from passing. There were those who saw this coming. Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed that the deal will not pass easily. Let's hope. The U.S. Senate can save Israel from a nuclear Iran, but mostly it can save the West from one of the most disgraceful surrenders in history. And while the Obama administration can boast a legacy, it can also demand a copyright for its manual on "how not to conduct negotiations."

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