Total-ly French

Iran supports terrorism and violent fundamentalism across the Middle East, Central Asia and elsewhere, and is actively pursuing nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities. However Iran’s nasty proclivities are not the issue here.

Total, SA, a French company, and Russia’s Gazprom (with a Malaysian partner) have signed a $2 billion natural gas deal with Iran, the profits of which will surely further Iran’s violent, anti-Western agenda. The first issue is the complicity of France, Russia and Malaysia in creating an Iran capable of threatening Western and Asian security.

Iran supports terrorism and violent fundamentalism across the Middle East, Central Asia and elsewhere, and is actively pursuing nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities. However Iran’s nasty proclivities are not the issue here.

Total, SA, a French company, and Russia’s Gazprom (with a Malaysian partner) have signed a $2 billion natural gas deal with Iran, the profits of which will surely further Iran’s violent, anti-Western agenda. The first issue is the complicity of France, Russia and Malaysia in creating an Iran capable of threatening Western and Asian security. The second issue is how far the U.S. should go in punishing those involved and protecting our own (and ultimately their) security interests. The Gulf War was an example of a dictator believing he could threaten others at least partially as a result of technology acquisitions from the West. We don’t need another example.

American law, The Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, requires that we apply sanctions against Total and Gazprom. In a burst of ingenuity, however, the French divested themselves of their direct American assets before signing the deal, leaving little in the U.S. upon which to apply the sanctions.They then claimed that U.S. law has no validity in France, so no sanctions could be applied there either. The European Union fell all over itself sniggering about the clever French. Too clever by half.

Just as they did with Iraq in the 1980s, the French are profiting by creating a military monster they cannot control. Don’t forget who sold that nuclear reactor at Osirak to Saddam Hussein. The Russians are selling a nuclear reactor to Iran and missile technology in blatant violation of the Missile Technology Control Regime. Just exactly who do they think is going to bail them out when the Iranians can hit Moscow or Paris with those missiles? Israel took care of Osirak and is still waiting for thanks from the countries that would otherwise have faced a nuclear Iraq in 1990.

The American sanctions must be applied where they can be, of course, as a matter of national honor. But the U.S. has to go farther to find ways to punish countries that play fast and loose with their and our security for profit. Since the violations of the MTCR are clear, the U.S. would be justified in halting aid to Russia until the violations are verifiably stopped. Since most French arms companies are at least partially government owned, the U.S. should consider French government complicity in Iranian projects when inviting French participation in any American government contracts.

If the administration still believes in its stated policy of “dual containment” – treating both Iran and Iraq as threats to U.S. interests – it must carefully consider its response to those who would create a nuclear, missile-capable Iran.