Washington Post columnist David Ignatius said Monday that conceding an embargo on conventional arms sales to Iran as part of a nuclear deal would be seen as a "major capitulation" by U.S. allies in the Middle East.
"The question of the arms embargo being lifted is … particularly damaging," Ignatius said on Morning Joe. "Israel will see that as a direct threat, as it will arm the people Israel is fighting. The Sunni Arabs, as you said, will see this as a major capitulation by the U.S., so that is really important in terms of the politics of the deal."
Host Joe Scarborough also harshly criticized the idea, saying it sent a "horrific" message to U.S. allies and that it was more evidence the deal just keeps getting worse.
The United Nations embargo on conventional arms sales to Iran was imposed in 2007 because of the country’s serial violations of U.N. nuclear weapons resolutions.
Iran recently broached the topic of lifting the embargo as a sweetener to the deal. The concession was viewed by Western observers as a political "non-starter" as recently as last week, but reports out of Vienna suggest that the United States might yet accede to Iran’s final demand, as it has on others.
U.S. allies threatened by Iran’s nuclear ambitions and support for Islamist terror groups are speaking out about the nuclear deal, which might be completed Monday.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said the deal will force the Jewish state—which bears the brunt of Iran’s terrorist activities and hateful rhetoric—to "defend itself, by itself."
According to the Jerusalem Post, Yaalon said the deal as Israel understands it is "full of holes."
The Jerusalem Post reports:
"Even if there are some last-minute improvements, the agreement as we understand it is bad, allowing Iran to legitimately be a nuclear-threshold state, with all that implies," Ya’alon said.
The agreement could spark an arms race in the Middle East, the defense minister warned, saying that Saudi Arabian, Egyptian and Turkish officials have talked about the need to arm their countries.
"This agreement will not lead to the closing of nuclear site or to the destruction of one centrifuge," he said. "It somewhat limits the pace of uranium enrichment, but it leaves a lot of holes, like what the military can use and what kind of supervision there will be from now on."