The Nuclear Deal Has Not 'Opened' Iran

New York Times: Backlash Against U.S. in Iran Seems to Gather Force After Nuclear Deal

TEHRAN — Anyone who hoped that Iran’s nuclear agreement with the United States and other powers portended a new era of openness with the West has been jolted with a series of increasingly rude awakenings over the past few weeks.

On Tuesday, the eve of the 36th anniversary of the student takeover of the American Embassy in Tehran, state television announced the arrest of a Lebanese-American missing for weeks — after he had been invited here by the government. He has been accused of spying.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, said the “Death to America” slogan is eternal. New anti-American billboards in Tehran include a mockery of the Iwo Jima flag-raising photograph that symbolized Marine sacrifice in World War II. And an Iranian knockoff version of K.F.C., the chicken chain widely associated with the United States, was summarily closed after two days.

WNU Editor: As predicted .... the nuclear deal has not moderated the Iranian government. If anything .... it has embolden them. And with wars now gripping much of the Middle East .... and Iran is involved in all of them .... their "hard-line" stance against the West and to Sunni backed governments will only intensify.