Suzanne Maloney drags Samuels and his Ben Rhodes profile over the coals one more time:
Samuels writes that the underlying intent of the Iran nuclear deal was to “create the space for America to disentangle itself from its established system of alliances with countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel and Turkey” and “effectively begin the process of a large-scale disengagement from the Middle East.”
Iran has accused the United States of theft and is planning to sue after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that American terror victims should receive $2 billion from frozen Iranian funds. The Islamic Republic has been blamed for terrorist bombings in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. A 1983 attack on a Marine barracks in Beirut was attributed to Hezbollah, an Iranian affiliate group with popular local support, in revenge for Israeli atrocities in the war. Both Hezbollah and Iran deny the claim.
Russia has delivered the S-300 air defense system to Iran. Iran’s Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base is now equipped with the Russian made S-300 missile system. The Islamic Republic is planning to mass produce an indigenous version later in the year, according to Iran’s defense minister. Tansim News reports: The Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base has received the strategic S-300 air defense missile system, Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan said on the sidelines of a visit to an exhibition of the achievements of the Iranian Army’s air defense base.
Iran says it is planning to sue the United States at the International Court of Justice at The Hague to prevent the distribution of nearly $2 billion in frozen assets from Iran’s central bank to compensate American victims of terror. In April the supreme Court ruled that Iran must pay the sum to survivors and relatives of those killed in attacks that they blamed on the Islamic republic. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said preparations are underway to file a lawsuit against the US administration for its decision to confiscate Tehran’s assets.
Lee Jones explains why economic sanctions aren’t a very useful tool. Here he addresses whether sanctions helped produce the nuclear deal: