As World Sweats Iran Deal, Some EU Leaders See $$

JERUSALEM, Israel -- While most world leaders fret over bombs and stockpiles in the Iranian nuclear deal, some Europeans are focused on lining their pockets, which could mean millions with the lifting of sanctions against Iran.

That's why the German economics minister and French foreign minister ran to the front of the line to visit Tehran.

"There is a huge venue for doing business between the West and Iran, and the economic factors will be dominant while the other aspects of the deal, which is Iran compliance, will be pushed aside I'm afraid," Lt. Col. (ret.) Mickey Segall, an expert on Iran and senior analyst with the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told CBN News.

Reports say European businesses are ready to compete for their share of the $77 million-strong Iranian market.

Sanction relief in the deal would pour between $50 and $150 billion into the Iranian economy, enabling it to become better at what it already does well: export terrorism.

"It's a huge amount of money that will help them recover their economy, to keep the regime in power, to use that money in order to finance those terrorist organizations in the region," Israeli Interior Minister Silvan Shalom said.
 
And though the U.S. won't initially lift sanctions on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard or related terror entities, Segall believes the extra funds will be used for terrorism.

"There will be enough money -- free money -- for Iran to export the revolution to Syria, to help Hezbollah, to send missiles and the know-how -- how to build missiles, rockets -- to Hamas and the PIJ, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in the Gaza Strip," Segall said.

President Barack Obama even admitted the terrorists would benefit from sanctions relief but said it was worth the tradeoff for Iran not to get a nuclear bomb.

"Now, this is not to say that sanctions relief will provide no benefit to Iran's military," Obama said. "Let's stipulate that some of that money will flow to activities that we object to."

Iran supports terrorist organizations and even groups that have killed American troops.

"The truth is that Iran has always found a way to fund these efforts, and whatever benefit Iran may claim from sanctions relief pales in comparison to the danger it could pose with a nuclear weapon," the president reasoned.

Segall says dangerous people will be taken off the sanctions list.

"For instance, there is a guy, most of the people probably didn't hear about him. His name is Fereydoon Abbasi Davani. He was the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Association, one of the most skillful nuclear scientists, and people like him will be moved out from the sanction list," he explained.

Earlier this week, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said if he were Israeli, he'd support the agreement because it's "an important tool to take an existential threat to Israel off the table."

In response, Israeli Minister Dr. Yuval Steinitz said if he were American, he'd oppose the agreement because in 10 years Iran will be capable of producing dozens of atomic bombs every month, which will likely lead to a regional nuclear arms race. It harms the national security of the U.S., Israel and every Western country.

All of this comes at a time when countries are threatening Israel with boycott, divestment and sanctions for defending itself in last summer's Gaza war.

Shalom told CBN News it doesn't make sense.

"It looks very strange and very weird," he said. "It's something that we cannot really understand."

Meanwhile, Segall says Iran sees the deal as the latest sign of divine intervention on its behalf.

"For instance they say the Taliban, which was an arch-enemy of Iran, is gone. Saddam Hussein, which [sic] fought Iran for eight years, is gone," Segall explained. "So they say Israel [was] forced to get out of Lebanon in May 2000. So they see we managed to suffer sanctions and to put ourselves together against the United States for more than 36 years of revolution. So they feel that something is helping them."

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei may soon press his advantage.

According to a New York Post report, Khamenei recently released a 416-page book called Palestine, laying out a plan to destroy Israel. In it he says Israel has no right to exist because of its loyalty to America, the "Great Satan."