Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer skewered the proposed deal to provide sanction relief for Iran Monday on Special Report.
Krauthammer recounted this weekend's developments in Geneva, Switzerland which ultimately culminated with France scuttling a deal with Iran that was embraced by other western nations. "It was the French who stopped it. The French foreign minister called it a 'sucker's deal' and the French have been at negotiations for several centuries, and they know one when they see one," Krauthammer said.
The FNC contributor explained the reason France considered it a "sucker's deal" is that it would disincline the Iranians to give up their nuclear program by removing pressure. Iran has only come to the table, Krauthammer said, and will only negotiate in the future if the regime itself feels threatened:
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: [..] The Israelis are not the ones who stopped this, the Israelis weren't even in Geneva. It was the French who stopped it. The French foreign minister called it a "sucker's deal" and the French have been at negotiations for several centuries. And they know one when they see one. The reason why this is a sucker's deal is this: it's quite simple. The only reason that the Iranians are at the table is that the economic sanctions are so strict and harsh right now that the regime's stability is threatened. The only way Iran would ever give up nukes, ever, is if the regime has a sense that it is threatened. That's the only thing that would stop them. And they are now beginning to worry about economic instability in the country. Here we are at a point of maximum leverage and what does this so-called deal offer? It relieves the Iranians. It changes, it weakens the infrastructure of the sanctions. It allows the Iranians to deal with oil and gold and gives them a doubling of their cash on hand which would relieve the pressure. And it does nothing about the infrastructure of their nuclear program. In other words, it takes away our leverage and it gives them a free ride. That's why the French walked away. And that's why if we conclude anything like this, it will be a disaster.