After Israel’s strikes, which killed Ali Shamkhani, a top aide to Supreme Leader Khamenei, Iran suspended already-tenuous negotiations in Oman.
Parts of Tehran under Israeli attack at dawn on Friday. (Mehr News Agency/Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY 4.0)
Israel’s large-scale military attack on Iran early Friday targeted and killed an official who was leading a committee on nuclear talks with the United States, a decision that observers and Iranian officials said was clearly designed to undercut progress toward a diplomatic agreement.
Ali Shamkhani, whose home was among those attacked by Israel on Friday, was a top aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and had expressed optimism in recent weeks about the prospect of improved relations with the U.S. as President Donald Trump signaled he was open to a deal.
“If the Americans act as they say, for sure we can have better relations,” Shamkhani told NBC News last month. “It can lead to a better situation in the near future.”
[Shamkhani was among several Iranian officials killed Friday. The list, according to The New York Times, includes Gen. Gholamali Rashid, a senior commander; physicist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranji and nuclear scientist Fereydoun Abbasi.]
Ali Shamkhani in 2016. (Tasnim News Agency/Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY 4.0)
The next round of nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran was scheduled for Sunday but Iran has reportedly suspended them.
Trump, in a social media response to the unfolding disaster, did not sound a diplomatic note, accusing Iran of missing “chance after chance to make a deal” and threatening that the situation “will only get worse.”
“Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left,” added the president, who during his first White House term withdrew the U.S. from a previous nuclear agreement with Iran.
The Trump administration claimed the U.S. was not directly involved in Friday’s attacks, but Israel notified Washington in advance. Israel is heavily dependent on U.S. arms, and observers said it was inconceivable that the attack went forward without at least tacit approval from the Trump administration.
New York Times journalist Farnaz Fassihi reported that Iranian officials viewed the assassination of Shamkhani as “Israel targeting and killing nuclear diplomacy with the U.S.”
Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, on right, meeting with commanders on April 14, amid nuclear talks with the U.S. (Mehr News Agency/ Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY 4.0)
Others, including foreign policy analysts and Democratic lawmakers in the U.S., echoed that assessment.
“This action ordered by Prime Minister Netanyahu appears to deliberately undermine ongoing American diplomatic negotiations about Iran’s nuclear program, with the latest talks scheduled for this weekend,” said U.S. Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) in a statement. “Conflict should always be a last resort, especially when diplomacy is ongoing.”
Dylan Williams, vice president for government affairs at the Center for International Policy, observed that “the overwhelming consensus among Democratic lawmakers commenting on Israeli attacks on Iran tonight is that Netanyahu is sabotaging diplomacy and recklessly risking a war.”
“The next step should be to make clear: No U.S. help, no U.S. forces, and no U.S. taxpayer funding for Bibi’s war,” Williams wrote.
[Reuters reports that the United Nations Security Council will meet later on Friday over Israel’s strikes on Iran.
In a statement on social media, Iran’s Foreign Ministry called for immediate Security Council action on “Israel’s attack a blatant aggression” and a “violation of Article 2(4) of the U.N. Charter.”
The Ministry said:
“As a founding member of the United Nations – an organization whose very purpose is to prevent aggression, breaches of peace, and threats to peace – the Islamic Republic of Iran underscores the Security Council’s obligation to take immediate action against this violation of international peace and security, stemming from the Zionist regime’s blatant aggression. We call upon the President and members of the Council to act without delay in this regard.”]
The chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), warned Trump that he “must not violate the Constitution by involving American troops in Netanyahu’s war without coming to Congress.”
“Netanyahu’s reckless strike risks provoking a wider war and pulling in the United States,” said Casar. “Trump must oppose Netanyahu’s escalation and pursue a diplomatic path to deal with Iran’s nuclear program.”
Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.
This article is from Common Dreams.