Israel-US tensions on Iran prompt Palestinian strategy
Palestinians are adapting their strategy to the Iranian deal, proposing to use the same P5+1 model for negotiations on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and also an international supervision mechanism on the borders.
The losing party at the Iran framework agreement is perhaps the Palestinians. At least this is how they see it.
A senior Palestinian Authority official told Al-Monitor about the feelings prevailing in Ramallah regarding the Lausanne understandings. He said, "The Iranians outsmarted the Americans in the negotiations — they are manipulative and conniving. [US President Barack] Obama was determined to make a deal preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, as part of his legacy. A Palestinian state in the eyes of the Americans is less glorious than preventing nuclear armament of a Muslim country."
He added bitterly, "They made a deal with the godfather of Hamas but not with Fatah. We know the Iranians well — they will outsmart the Americans also in the implementation stage and, if it's in their interest, they will secretly advance to a nuclear weapon."
The official said the biggest disappointment for them with the deal is that the international community will be focusing from now on throughout 2015 almost solely on the finalization of the Iran agreement, on US and Iranian domestic efforts to respectively approve it and on the beginning of implementation.
