Jerusalem Post: Analysis: What is Iran up to?
Tehran is busy undermining the United States on almost all fronts since signing of accord.
It sounds like a Persian fairy tale in which a Janus-like leader smiles and glowers at once, depending on the angle of viewing. This is the world inhabited by Iran observers since the signing of The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on July 14, 2015.
The deal, signed between Iran and six world powers, exists to prevent Iran from obtaining weapons-grade nuclear material at least for the next 15 years On the one hand, Iranian leaders are smiling on the America that facilitated the agreement, whereby the West has lifted crippling economic sanctions that paralyzed the economy of the Islamic Republic.
On the other hand, Iranian leaders are engaged in vituperative ad hominem attacks against the United Sates and have intensified their efforts at a cyber war against Washington institutions. Tehran always shows two sides, affirms Ali Ansari, a professor of Iranian Studies at St. Andrews University in Scotland. One side: President Rouhani’s moderate approach, where the country appears open to negotiations. The other side: Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s “more contentious” rhetoric.
WNU Editor: The Iranian government is primarily focused on the following .... (1) the wars in Syria and Iraq, (2) the Yemen war, (3) undercutting the power and influence of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf sheikdoms, (4) the economy and the elimination of all sanctions, (5) new markets for its oil, (6) build-up its military, (7) preserve the position and authority of the the mullahs. Israel, the U.S., the Iranian nuclear program .... it is a concern but it pales in comparison to what I have already listed.