AIPAC can’t derail Iran nuclear agreement: Gravel

Former US Democratic Senator Mike Gravel says the Israel lobby cannot torpedo the nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers, because the Islamic Republic will now offer lucrative investment opportunities to Western businesses.  

Gravel made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Saturday while commenting on a report which says the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the most powerful pro-Israel lobbying group in the US, has established a tax-exempt lobbying group to oppose the conclusion of nuclear talks reached this week with Iran.

According to AIPAC, the multi-million-dollar campaign, "Citizens for a Nuclear Free Iran", was launched with the sole mission of educating the Americans “about the dangers of the proposed Iran deal.”  

“It’s certainly not surprising that AIPAC is making a special effort to derail the Iran-P5+1 agreement,” said Gravel, who represented Alaska in the 1970s.

“It’s just further embarrassment that over the fact that AIPAC, which has set up this new organization, ‘Citizens for a Nuclear Free Iran’, and, of course, ‘Citizens for a Nuclear Free Iran’ is an oxymoron because under the Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations, Iran has every reason and right to secure a nuclear capacity,” he added.

“Now, this title doesn’t talk about Iran seeking a bomb, because Iran has never been seeking a bomb,” he continued.

The veteran Democrat said that AIPAC “embarrassingly controls the Congress”, but “I don’t think it will make a difference.”

“I think the White House has enough resources to explain this away. What they can do is that they can provide all of the politicians the various contributions they need when they run for reelection,” he pointed out.

Gravel said the AIPAC plan will not work because other countries, like Russia, China, Britain, “they are obviously independent of the Congress… They are independent of the influence of AIPAC in France, in Germany and other countries.”

“So, you are going to see a situation, where regardless of what the Congress does, there’s a desire within the international investment community to go into Iran and invest heartedly. Iran offers unbelievable opportunity in this regard. It has a size of Germany; it has sophistication and education of any country in the world,” he observed.

“So these economic interests are going to prevail. And that will add to the embarrassment in the United States, because eventually American business would want to participate in what they feel is a positive situation in Iran,” he stated.

“So you going to see these politicians, who receive money not only from AIPAC, but from other economic interest [groups] of the United States, that they these business interests in America will not be denied the investment opportunity that Iran offers under this new agreement,” Gravel pointed out.

“So, I wouldn’t be concerned about this. But I would be and I am embarrassed as an American that AIPAC, which is a group entirely controlled by Israel, determines the American policy,” he concluded.

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