Iran and 'The Obama curse'

Las Vegas Review-Journal

President Barack Obama has the Midas touch in reverse when it comes to foreign relations and world peace.

The latest example of his gift -- or is it a curse? -- comes courtesy of Iran. You will remember that President Obama surprised allies in the region by reaching an agreement with the terrorist state of Iran ostensibly to stop the country from developing a nuclear bomb. In return for that promise, sanctions against the country would be immediately eased.

Some say that agreement tips at windmills since Iran is within a whisker of developing a nuclear bomb anyway.

Now comes an announcement from Iran that flat-out that gives credence to "The Obama Curse": In the midst of the president's so-called peace plan, Iran says it will develop a new generation of nuclear centrifuges.

“The new generation of centrifuges is being built. But all tests should be carried on it before mass production,” Iran's Ali Akbar Salehi said, without elaborating.

But a top Democratic ally of the president who is leading a charge for Congress to pass sanctions legislation against Iran had plenty to say.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Mendendez, D-N.J., told Fox News that the "Iranians are showing their true intentions. If you're talking about producing more advanced centrifuges that are only used to enrich uranium at a quicker rate ... the only purposes of that and the only reason you won't give us access to (a military research facility) is because you're really not thinking about nuclear power for domestic energy -- you're thinking about nuclear power for nuclear weapons."

That's a long way of saying Obama's getting suckered. The Iranians are using this deal to become a more powerful nuclear state, not a less powerful state.

If Sen. Mendendez is right, this surprise announcement out of Tehran is one more example of Obama's reverse Midas touch.