“One of the most scenic railways in the world spans Iran,” National Geographic, March 24, 2022.
“Iran’s Secret System to Avoid Sanctions,” GIMLET, March 24, 2022.
“Iran will blackmail world using nuclear threat to Ukraine – analysis,” The Jerusalem Post, March 24, 2022.
Quote of the Day: “I’m appalled at the concessions this administration is considering to placate the Iranian regime. A deal that provides $90-$130 billion in sanctions relief, relieves sanctions against Iran’s worst terror and human rights offenders, and delists the [Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps] does not support our national security interests.” Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee. See “Dems start questioning Biden admin’s Iran nuclear talks,” Andrew Desiderio, Politico, March 22, 2022.
Uh oh, this means that Iran got what it wants. “Iran leader signals support for nuke talks at critical stage,” Amir Vahdat, AP, March 21, 2022.
This is terrible—the IRGC is a full military dedicated by the Regime to pursuing the Revolution. Terrorism is used and has always been used as a major part of the IRGC’s strategy. See “Iran Nuclear Deal’s Final Hurdle Is Lifting Terrorism Sanctions on Revolutionary Guards,” Laurence Norman, Wall Street Journal, March 21, 2022. “U.S. allies including Israel want the Iranian security force to remain on the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. … The effort to revive the 2015 nuclear deal agreement now hinges on perhaps the most politically sensitive issue in the negotiations: whether to remove the U.S. terrorism designation for Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, the country’s powerful security force, diplomats said. The issue is galvanizing opposition to the nuclear deal in Washington and among Middle East allies such as Israel, where the government issued stinging public criticism of any attempt to remove the terrorism designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Senior U.S. officials say a failure to find a compromise with Iran on the issue quickly could cause a breakdown in negotiations that—over almost a year—have resolved nearly every other disagreement. The U.S. has accused the Guard of killing hundreds of Americans, while its elite Quds Force has arranged weapons and support for proxy forces throughout the region and for pro-Iranian groups that fought in Syria. The Guard has long faced U.S. sanctions for its ballistic-missiles programs and alleged human-rights violations and was placed on the counterterror sanctions list in 2017. Those backing compromise argued that other sanctions on the Guard would still keep foreign companies away from dealing with Guard-linked Iranian firms, damping the economic benefits of any nuclear deal for Iran.”
“Iran to provide new answers to IAEA about Mossad-seized documents,” The Jerusalem Post, March 20, 2022.
“Iran Signs Deal With Russia To Import 20 Million Tons Of Basic Goods,” Iran International, March 20, 2022.
“’If Iran strives for normalcy it must exercise transparency’,” Israel Hayom, March 20, 2022.
“Fears grow over possible removal of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard from US terror list,” Arab News, March 19, 2022.
“New Video Leak Keeps Spotlight On Inhumane Prison Conditions In Iran,” RFE/RL Radio Farda, March 18, 2022.
Russia and China have helped each other to avoid some sanctions by hiding assets off-shore, and look like they are doing it for Iran, also. It is time for UN Sec. Gen. Guterres to call these countries out publicly. “Clandestine Finance System Helped Iran Withstand Sanctions Crush, Documents Show,” Ian Talley, Wall Street Journal, March 18, 2022.
“Iran has released two hostages, but others remain – and nuclear talks are on a knife edge,” Sanam Vakil, Guardian, March 18, 2022.
So the UK has to pay almost $500 million to get out two hostages. This is most likely a sign that a revised JCPOA has been agreed to. The huge amount of money is a sign that the West is giving in too much. See “Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ‘on way home’ to UK after 6 years’ detention in Iran, British lawmaker says,” Niamh Kennedy, Adam Pourahmadi, and Jack Guy, CNN, March 16, 2022.
It boggles the mind, but I’ll go a step further. If the U.S. is handing over millions and millions of sanctions relief, creating a short JCPOA time period, and allowing Russia and Iran to trade without sanctions penalty, I am flabbergasted. No terrorism relief, no regional meddling (which is so serious), what about drone attacks? What about missile attacks? And hostages? It appears the U.S. may be giving away the farm. Why is the U.S. afraid of Russia and Iran? And China? The rest of the world is in for a very rough decade. See “Russia says it has received US guarantees over Iran nuclear deal,” Maziar Motamedi, Al Jazeera, March 15, 2022.
Iran has been preparing an army (really, an air force) of drones, for itself to threaten and increasingly use, and to give to Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, and other bad groups. This is an important reason that Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and others are binding themselves for security purposes to Israel. They are applauding this move today, and most likely knew ahead of it. “Iran blames Israel for destroying hundreds of Iranian drones – report,” Yonah Jeremy Bob, Jerusalem Post, March 15, 2022.
Iran’s drone war (thousands being produced) made the mistake of having a number of its drones in one place at Kermanshah, and Israel took them out on behalf of several GCC countries and itself. The drone war is on, and Iran has responded with ballistic missiles against Erbil from where the Israel attack supposedly came. See “Israel decimated Iranian drone fleet in February airstrike inside Iran – report,” Times of Israel, March 15, 2022.
“Russia may do Biden a favor by killing the Iran deal,” Nahal Toosi and Stephanie Liechtenstein, Politico, March 14, 2022. “At least two members of the U.S. negotiating team have left in recent months over concerns about the talks’ direction. Ariane Tabatabai and Richard Nephew are political appointees, not career staffers, but are well-regarded experts on Iran. People familiar with the pair’s thinking said they thought the United States was leaning toward giving up too much in sanctions relief and that a restored deal would not be strong enough.”
Great article—both Russia and Iran are testing the U.S., seeing what they can get away with. “Did Russia empower Iran’s attack on Erbil? – analysis,” Seth Frantzman, Jerusalem Post,” March 13, 2022.
