An explosive report revealed today that former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s senior foreign policy negotiator met with the Iranians in Oman in late 2012, a meeting which ultimately led to the decision to allow Iran uranium enrichment capability.
At that time both Clinton and her then-boss, U.S. President Barack Obama, as well as the United Nations Security Council, were completely opposed to allowing Iran to enrich uranium at all as any part of a deal.
By the time Clinton left office, after months of meetings on this topic in Washington, she had concluded that the mullahs would be permitted to maintain at least some capacity to produce nuclear fuel, according to Sullivan, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Sullivan, who now serves as a senior Clinton campaign adviser, was sent by Clinton to Oman to negotiate with Iranian representatives. Sullivan was 35 years old at the time, which was a concern to the Iranians.
Without uranium enrichment rights, the mullahs would not give the “diplomatic track” any traction. So the U.S. caved on that most critical component.
“Mrs. Clinton hated the idea of allowing Iran that capacity, said her aides, but became open to a change in policy if Tehran agreed to serious restrictions on its nuclear program,” the Wall Street Journal reported, but “she hadn’t committed to the shift or to enrichment on a large scale, they said.”
The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty forbade Iran from having any operational centrifuges. Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ultimately negotiated by the U.S. and its P5+1 partners, Iran would be permitted to maintain 5,000 centrifuges. And once the deal sunsets, in ten years, Iran will be able to expand from this number to full industrial scale. Sullivan is credited with being one of the main architects of the deal.
Clinton has been largely circumspect about the Nuclear Iran Deal since leaving office. She publicly, but reservedly supported it, but the role her office played in the decision to allow enrichment was not made public until now.
During Clinton’s presidential campaign, she has met with many Jewish groups and donors. Her campaign officials are acutely aware that this issue is of great concern to Jewish supporters.They are simultaneously promoting her as responsible for this epical change in U.S. foreign policy, while portraying her as deeply concerned about the anxieties expressed by opponents of the deal.
Clinton will be giving an address on the Nuclear Iran Deal Wednesday evening, Sept. 9.