Iran deploys missiles around its banned nuclear site – and the US is finally “concerned”

I’ve written again and again about the stupidity, the arrogance and the malice of the Obama Administration in their rush to close a deal, any deal, with Iran which would ostensibly limit the Iranians’ ability to produce nuclear weapons, but which in reality left the door wide open for them to continue with their nefarious plans.

Yet no matter how many times Israel and other allies warned the Americans about the dangers of the deal, the Administration ignored vital intelligence that the Iranians were buying nuclear materials and otherwise violating the terms of the deal.

We have now arrived at the stage where Iran has deployed an S-300 missile defense system around its Fordo underground uranium enrichment facility:

Iran has recently deployed advanced S-300 missiles around one of its key nuclear sites, Israel’s Army Radio reported Monday.

Russian S-300 missile defense system

According to Iranian state media, the Russian-made long-range defense system was deployed near the Fordo underground uranium enrichment facility.

Protecting nuclear facilities “is paramount under all circumstances. Today, Iran’s sky is one of the most secure in the region,” Agence France-Presse quoted Iranian Air Defenses Commander Gen. Farzad Esmaili as telling the country’s IRIB TV channel on Monday.

The channel aired a video showing S-300 missile batteries being trucked into Fordo. One battery was shown being placed into position, raising its missile launchers toward the sky next to other counter-strike weaponry.

The Tower argues that the deployment of the S-300 missiles is a potential violation of the 1992 anti-proliferation agreement:

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has claimed that the S-300 will be used for defensive purposes only. However, an analysis last year in The Daily Beast argued that the S-300 could also be used offensively to control the airspace of neighboring countries.

The delivery and deployment of the S-300 systems appear to be a violation of the 1992 Iran-Iraq Arms Non-Proliferation Act, which imposes sanctions on nations and individuals that, as law sponsor Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) explained at the time, “knowingly and materially contribute to the efforts of Iran or Iraq to acquire destabilizing advanced conventional weapons.”

Watch the video below from Iranian Press TV:

So how has the Obama Administration reacted to this outrageous violation of the deal? Why, they have expressed “concern“! (emphases are mine):

JTA – The Obama administration expressed “concern” over the deployment of powerful anti-aircraft missiles near an Iranian enrichment facility ostensibly shuttered under the Iran nuclear deal, but said it did not violate embargoes.

…

“We’re concerned about the provision of sale to Iran of sophisticated defense capabilities such as this S-300,” John Kirby, the State Department spokesman, said on Monday.

“As we get more information, obviously, we’re going to stay in close consultation with partners going forward,” he said. Russia, like the United States, is one of the six major powers that negotiated the sanctions relief for nuclear rollback deal reached last year.

Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser, speaking separately at the White House, also expressed concerns but said the sale did not violate arms embargoes on Iran.

“The arms embargo that had been in place under the previous regime would not have been applied to the S-300 system because it’s a defensive system,” Rhodes said. “That doesn’t mean we don’t have concerns with any increased Iranian military capability, and we’ve expressed those concerns.”

I’m sure all that concern is going to have the Iranians shaking in their boots…  Not.

Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., an architect of the sanctions regime, said in a statement he believed Russia may be subject to sanctions because of the sale. “The Administration is failing to enforce U.S. laws that mandate sanctions against countries that export destabilizing advanced conventional weapons to Iran,” he said.

There’s no point in sanctioning Russia. They are too big and powerful to feel the sting. The sanctions should be slapped on Iran forthwith, as per the JCPOA’s provisions.  But I expect zero action from the US and the allies, and in any event it’s probably much too late.

The Obama Administration has proven to be criminally irresponsible when it comes to its actions and non-actions in the Middle East.