by Stephen Lendman

Washington's diplomatic history reflects longstanding double-dealing duplicity - an odious record of broken promises showing it can't be trusted.

US deals are made to be reinterpreted post facto and/or breached - blaming negotiating partners for its perfidy. Rogue states operate this way - by their own rules and standards, excluding all others, America most of all.

Longstanding irresponsible US hostility toward Iran remains unchanged - compounded by pressure from Israel, its Lobby and bipartisan, lunatic fringe elements, infesting Congress, the administration, and legions of area influence peddlers, reflecting a deeply malignant system too corrupted to fix.

Iran's Basij (volunteer) Force commander General Mohammad Reza Naqdi is right saying:

"Agreement is not the end of the road…(I)t is the start of evil excuses, and we will witness new US games and excuse-seeking after the agreement too. They will present their own interpretation at every stage and buyer's remorse in every issue, even after the deal" - if one is reached.

Concluding one remains uncertain. A fair and equitable deal sustainable longterm is virtually impossible given longstanding US anti-Iranian policy focused on regime change, not rapprochement.

Nuclear talks are a smoke screen - typical US duplicity masking its real objectives. It's hard seeing a good ending to this long-running saga.

Iranian officials know what they're up against. Betrayal will follow good faith negotiations with America.

Hardliners in Washington and Israel want war. US plans have been in place for decade or longer - including using atomic weapons against nuclear, military, civilian infrastructure, economic targets, government facilities and other strategic sites.

Hillary Clinton endorses use of nuclear weapons. She calls them "peacekeepers" - Orwellian and then some. She vows to "obliterate" Iran if it attacks Israel - meaning even in self-defense.

Bernie Sanders wants war with Tehran avoided, but repeats the canard about its nonexistent road to the bomb saying "(i)t is imperative that Iran not get a nuclear weapon" - the whole world knows it's not pursuing or wants.

Its top officials urge a nuclear free region and world - opposite of what US-dominated NATO and Israel want.

As this is written, nuclear talks remain deadlocked. Whether resolution is possible remains to be seen.

Whatever happens, Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the "fight (against) global arrogance is the core of our revolution and we cannot put it on hold."

"The US is the true embodiment of global arrogance…Fixing the arrogance is a revolutionary principle."

Washington's new Joint Chiefs chairman nominee General (Fighting Joe) Dunford perhaps ups the stakes for possible war on the Islamic Republic telling mostly likeminded Senate Armed Services Committee members:

"Iran is clearly a malign influence and the most destabilizing element in the Middle East today. They're providing support to the Houthis down in Yemen. They obviously support Hezbollah…a clear malign influence in Lebanon."

"There are indications they're involved in Syria. And certainly, they're involved in trying to expand their influence into Iraq. And they're…exacerbating…the Sunni-Shia sectarianism across the region."

Dunford absurdly and recklessly blamed Iran for the deaths of about 500 US "soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines" in Iraq.

He ludicrously warned of nonexistent Iranian ICBMs posing "a significant threat to our nation…(W)e can expect a proliferation of nuclear arms as a result of Iranian possession of nuclear weapons."

Lunatics like Dunford make policy in Washington. They make the unthinkable possible - potentially humanity destroying nuclear war.

-###-

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs