The Farmer and the Viper

Op-Ed

By Rep. Joe PItts

In Aesop's tale of the Farmer and the Viper, a farmer comes upon a snake freezing in the cold of winter. The farmer pities the animal and puts it in his coat to warm it back up. When the snake is warmed, it bites the farmer, killing him.

Reaching an agreement with your enemies is a tricky deal. It involves placing trust in someone who has betrayed that trust, time and time again. It certainly isn't impossible. Ronald Reagan reached arms agreements with the Soviet Union. Now, President Obama is attempting to reach an agreement with Iran on their nuclear program.

Is diplomacy possible when another nation has little to no regard for diplomatic norms? That's a question that needs to be answered in the coming months. Even during the darkest days of the Cold War, the U.S. and U.S.S.R. maintained diplomatic relations with embassies in both capitals.

Our relationship with Iran was completely broken in 1979 when Iranian students, prompted by the regime, took the American embassy in Tehran and held Americans hostage. Since that time, we have not had an official relationship with Iran. Since that time, Iran has supported Hezbollah and Hamas in their war against Israel. Iran has supported militias in Iraq that attacked American soldiers. Even today, Iran is funding rebels in Yemen that are fighting the elected government. The Iranian regime is the classic definition of a "bad actor."

For decades now, Iran has conducted a program to refine uranium. Despite claims that this is merely a civilian program, there is no reason to refine to such a high degree other than to build a nuclear weapon. Iran has centrifuges spinning day and night in bunkers across the country. It is only a matter of time before they have enough for a weapon.

This is why for many years now Iran has had tough sanctions imposed on them by the U.S. and Europe. Iran cannot sell oil to most nations and cannot access most international banks. Assets have been frozen and critical products have been barred from being sold to Iran. Over the past few years, the Iranian economy has shrunk because of these sanctions.

A nuclear agreement would mean either the immediate or gradual end of these sanctions. The President has publicly stated his hope that economic revival brought about by the removal of these sanctions could temper the regime. This belief seems more grounded in hope than reality.

Certainly there are many Iranians who have a favorable view of the west and the United States. There definitely appears to be popular support for a better relationship, at least on the streets of Tehran. However, the man on the street has little bearing on how the Ayatollahs who run Iran.

Democracy in Iran is non-existent. All candidates for election are approved by the regime. All final decisions are made the religious authorities. Freedom of the press and freedom of speech are non-existent. Despite the harsh rules of the regime and despite the deprivation of sanctions, the regime maintains an iron grip on power and popular support.

Twenty years ago when China began to open up economically, there was great hope that liberalization and democracy would follow close behind. While the average Chinese citizen is wealthier today, they are actually less free now than they were even five years ago. The Chinese Great Firewall controlling Internet access is stronger than ever. Basic speech tools like Gmail and Twitter are banned. The only way to communicate is through channels the government can monitor and shutdown at any moment.

The lifting of sanctions may indeed change Iran. Or, in 13 years time, we could have the same regime, only with a nuclear weapon. The administration's deal does not include a commitment from Iran to give up their nuclear ambitions.

President Obama says that a future Commander-in-Chief would always have the option to use military force to stop development of a weapon. However, in the coming decade Iran would be free to purchase whatever conventional weapons they feel necessary to prevent a future strike. They would have even more resources to construct bunkers and air defenses. We could very well be warming up a viper who will strike us down the road.

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