Founder and president of the Foundation of Defense of Democracies Cliff May discusses the peace deal with Iran after looking over the memorandum of understanding on “Jesse Watters Primetime.” May expresses hope for a robust and verifiable agreement, but warns against complacency. <\/p>\n
JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS: Cliff May, the founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Okay, Cliff, you read the deal. What do you think? CLIFF MAY, FOUNDATION FOR THE DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: Well, if it plays out the way you say it’s fine, it’s going to be fine. It’s not a final agreement, as you say, and the president has said very clearly, you’ve got one of his clips on that. If they don’t play ball, if they don’t do what they’re supposed to do, if they start to try to enrich again, all that, he’s going to bomb them again. We have to remember, the president achieved a lot through the 12-Day War, through Operation Epic Fury. They can’t enrich. That’s for the first time in 20 years. The HEU is buried. Their military-industrial complex is pretty much ruined. There’s a lot that’s come out good. But let me also say this, Jesse. I know these people. As you will remember, I was a reporter in Iran covering the revolution back in 1979. I followed them. They do not want – they see us as a great Satan, and that’s not like an insult word. It means they think we’re the devil, and it’s their mission to destroy us. They can talk sweet. They are great negotiators. If this negotiation works out to a great final deal, it will be the first time an American president has ever succeeded in a negotiation against this regime. So, you know, it’s not trust but verify. It’s distrust and verify. And as you say, it’s got to be performance-based, or they should get nothing. If they get any more money, they will use it to – you’ll excuse the expression – build back better. And so that’s sort of where I am. I’m skeptical, but I’m not without hope here. WATTERS: So we dropped the hammer, and no other president’s dropped the hammer. You think they’re willing to risk it all just for another Epic Fury, an economic fury? MAY: They have been at war with us since the very, very beginning. That’s what Death to America means. It is a policy. As they’ve said, it is an ambition. They want to – I find they’re going to find it difficult not to try to humiliate this president and to humiliate the U.S. These are not people who want to have the best damn health care plan in the Middle East or gas at under $ 4 a gallon so that people can go to the Caspian Sea for their summer vacation. Don’t forget they killed 40,000 people, according to the president, for the crime of not wanting to be an enemy of the United States and not wanting their money spent on terrorism. We just need to remember who these people are. WATTERS: I do. And I’m under no illusions these people are a bunch of animals and fanatics. How would they humiliate the president? They can’t enrich. They can’t get the uranium. It’s deep. They can’t get it. I mean, how are they going to rebuild their nuclear program? They can’t. MAY: Well, that’s what we’ve got to watch, for example, is Pickaxe Mountain. Do they start to dig again under Pickaxe Mountain to put nuclear enrichment facilities so deep that even a B-2 and a MOP can’t reach them? We’ll have to watch for that. They will cheat in any way they can, is what I’m saying. What I disagree with are people who say, you know what, this regime just wants an ordinary life. General Ahmad Vahidi, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, I guarantee you he believes he’s an Islamic revolutionary and he doesn’t want to give up. We’ve got to pause here and we’ll see. We can see how it goes. And the president has a prerogative of changing his mind. I’ve noticed he’s done that on occasion in the past. And if he sees that these guys are not serious and they’re not who they’re claiming to be, their negotiators are very good, they write books on negotiation. I wrote a column about this with the Washington Times this week. Then I think he may say, OK, then we have to do what we have to do, which is resume the bombing. WATTERS: Right. And he’ll do it. But these guys are also a cartel. They want money. They need money. Their wives need money, however many wives they have. And they’re not going to get any money unless they do what they’re told. So that’s what I like about the deal. And we’ll see if they behave. And that’s a big issue. MAY: You’re right. But keep in mind, I’ll just say this. They do want money, but they ain’t material girls. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n