“Iran’s Judiciary Hangs Mother in Front of Her Teenage Girl,” Sia Rajabi, Iran Focus, March 26, 2021.
Treasonous. “Mariam Taha Thompson, 63, who worked as a contract linguist for the U.S. military from 2006 to 2020, pleaded guilty to one count of delivering national defense information to aid a foreign government. She faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. Her sentencing is scheduled for June 23. Thompson, who was born in Lebanon and became a U.S. citizen in 1993, was arrested in February 2020 at a U.S. special operations base in Irbil, Iraq. Prosecutors say she used her top secret clearance to pass the names of U.S. intelligence assets to the Lebanese national in whom she had a romantic interest and and whom she believed would share the information with Hezbollah. Hezbollah was designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997. …The Lebanese national, her unindicted co-conspirator, asked Thompson to provide Hezbollah with information about the human assets who had helped the U.S. target Soleimani, according to prosecutors. Over a six-week period leading up her arrest in February 2020, Thompson provided the Lebanese national with the identities of at least 10 clandestine human assets; at least 20 U.S. targets; and multiple tactics, techniques and procedures, according to the Justice Department.” See “Former US Military Translator Pleads Guilty of Espionage,” Masood Farivar, VOA, March 26, 2021.
The Biden Administration blinks first. “It is absolutely not our position that Iran has to come into full compliance before we do anything.” Notice that it is an anonymous U.S. official who told Reuters. This also means that Reuters are running with this quote even though they don’t have a second voice/confirmation. It also means that Reuters has approved the use of an unnamed person as enough to run a story. Well, the main point again is that the U.S. under the new administration will not now require that Iran come into compliance before the U.S. talks about re-entering the JCPOA. See “US official: It doesn’t matter ‘who goes first’ in return to Iran nuclear deal,” Times of Israel, March 26, 2021.
Iraq may publicly be the number one in this category with Iran, but Iran is trying to send a message to several entities with this news. “Syria exchange 10 trade delegations in a year,” Tehran Times, March 26, 2021.
I am waiting to see the efficacy comparisons of the major vaccines—U.S. v. Russia v. China v. UK v. etc. Something tells me that Sputnik will not win this competition. But Iran will use it anyway. “Iran plans to start making Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine in April – RIA,” Thomson Reuters, March 26, 2021.
Here’s another story. “Iran: Unable to provide 1m doses of covid vaccines as promised,” Middle East Monitor, March 26, 2021.
“Iran’s online anti-government protests gain momentum,” Arab News, March 26, 2021.
“Iran unveils new e-government components as digital ID importance grows,” Biometric Update, March 26, 2021.
“Iran’s Forests at Risk of Complete Destruction,” Pooya Stone, Iran Focus, March 26, 2021.
“The Shia Fatemiyoun Brigade: Iran’s Prospective Proxy Militia in Afghanistan,” Sudha Ramachandran, Terrorism Monitor, March 26, 2021.
Iran approves of this—“Masked gunmen in a convoy of pick-ups drove through the Iraqi capital yesterday staging a show of force against Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi who has proposed a new dialogue with Washington.” See “Pro-Iran group stages armed Baghdad rally,” AFP, The Daily Star, March 26, 2021.
“Iran welcomes Afghan president’s remarks on Helmand water right,” Tehran Times, March 26, 2021.
See this headline and ask, which side are you going to believe? There is a 40-year track record of answering this question. “U.S. Seizes Iran-Backed Militia Websites Spreading COVID Disinformation,” David Brennan, Newsweek, March 26, 2021.