“Iran, Qatar sign major agreements on Raisi’s Doha trip,” Maziar Motamedi, Al Jazeera, February 23, 2022.
“Iran nuclear deal: ‘Agreement or collapse next week’,” The Jerusalem Post, February 23, 2022.
“American Military Diffidence Handed Iran the Bomb,” Wall Street Journal (WSJ), February 23, 2022.
One of the major ways, perhaps the most important, that Iran terrorizes is the use of its military, the IRGC. Certainly as part of a reborn JCPOA the U.S. Administration wouldn’t empower Iran by de-classifying Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization! See “The lessons for Israel from a new Iran nuclear deal – analysis,” Herb Keinon, Jerusalem Post, February 22, 2022. I paste below the following comments on 2-24-22 from the Counter Extremism Project, and fully concur. “Concern Mounting That U.S. Will Lift Terror Designation Against IRGC For Nuclear Deal” — “Speculation is increasing that the United States could agree to Iran’s demand to remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations as a condition of a nuclear agreement. Senior officials in Israel including Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid are warning that Iran is “now asking to let the biggest terror organization on earth off the hook.” The IRGC is Iran’s main link to its terrorist proxies and is responsible for plotting or executing attacks on military personnel, diplomats, and civilians around the globe. In October 2017, the U.S. government labeled the IRGC as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, citing support for its Quds Force as well as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Taliban. This action was followed by an April 2019 decision by the U.S. Department of State to add the IRGC to its list of U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations. In so doing, the United States opened the possibility of levying additional sanctions on IRGC-related businesses, which reportedly dominate the Iranian economy. Outside its borders, Iran utilizes front companies to facilitate the flow of money to the IRGC, which then provides financing to Iran’s terror proxies. In January 2020, a U.S. airstrike in Iraq killed Major General Qasem Soleimani, then the commander of IRGC-Quds Force. At the time of his death, Soleimani was accused by the United States of commanding militants responsible for the deaths of more than 500 U.S. service members in Iraq between 2005 and 2011. Soleimani was also reportedly linked by U.S. intelligence to a 2011 assassination attempt of Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States in Washington. Following Soleimani’s death, Iran appointed Ismail Ghaani as the new head of the Quds Force. However, Ghaani has allegedly been unable to exert the same influence over Iran’s proxies as Soleimani, creating opportunities for other parts of Iran’s proxy network—for example, Hezbollah—to assume larger roles in managing Iran-backed militant groups in the region.”
This is the unjust and illogical and mismanaged sort of decision that Iran’s Regime regularly presents for its people. They turned away good meds. “State media reports Tehran sent AstraZeneca doses back to Poland due to 2020 decree by supreme leader to not allow any American- or British-made vaccines into the country.” See “Iran spurns over 800,000 donated COVID shots because they are made in US,” AP, February 22, 2022.
“Gantz claims Iran giving Venezuela attack drone know-how,” Emanuel Fabian, Times of Israel, February 22, 2022. “Defense Minister tells US Jewish leadership group that Tehran also gave South American nation precision-guided missiles to be used with Mohajer-6 drone.”
“Iran is squeezing Christians and other minorities out of the Middle East, researcher says,” Jonah McKeown, CAN, February 22, 2022.
“To Stop Iran’s Proxy Terrorists, Stop Iran,” Bradley Bowman, Joe Truzman, and Ryan Brobst, DefenseOne, February 22, 2022.
Quote of the Day. “The fact that a deal cannot go anywhere without crippling sanctions and the credible military threat is something I said over and over again to then-president Obama,” Netanyahu said. “Unless you have this combination… you cannot stop these rogue regimes by agreements.” See “Netanyahu urges US Jews to fight Iran deal or risk nuke threat on NY, LA,” Carrie Keller-Lynn, Times of Israel, February 22, 2022.
“Back to the Future,” and back to disaster. Kicking the can down the road does not keep Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. “The terms of a restored deal would be almost identical to the 2015 pact, Iran’s “breakout time”—the duration needed to amass enough nuclear fuel for a bomb—could fall to as low as six months, down from about a year in the original deal.” See “U.S. Nears Return to Iran Nuclear Deal,” Laurence Norman, Wall Street Journal, February 21, 2022.
“Iran’s president meets Qatar emir in Doha ahead of gas forum,” AP, February 21, 2022.
“Advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) has also called on Princeton “to dismiss him from any association or affiliation with the university without delay”, noting that “Mousavian’s affiliation with Princeton is a stain on the university’s reputation and credibility”.” “Iran Court Sentences Princeton’s Mousavian In Corruption Case,” Iran International, February 21, 2022.
A major enabler. “Iran, Qatar to sign major agreements on Raisi’s Doha visit,” Maziar Motamedi, Al Jazeera, February 21, 2022.
“What the US is saying about Iranian drone threats in Iraq and Syria,” Seth Frantzman, Jerusalem Post, February 21, 2022.
A headline capturing large corruption at the top of Iran’s decision-making pyramid. “Cargo Ship Reportedly Owned By Iran Security Chief Impounded In India,” Iran International, February 19, 2022. “A cargo ship reportedly belonging to the sons of Iran’s top security official Ali Shamkhani has been impounded in one of India’s ports. The container vessel, named Kabul, belongs to the Admiral Shipping Company that Iranian media said is owned by Hassan and Hossein Shamkhani, the sons of the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. ILNA news agency reported on Friday that an Indian court has ordered the seizure of the ship and cargos originating or destined to Iran about 10 days ago. The container ship is impounded on charges of possessing false documents.”
“Israel said readying for signing of ‘spectacularly bad’ Iran deal next week,” Times of Israel, February 18, 2022. “TV network cites Israeli security officials warning that revived agreement won’t take into account the nuclear gains Tehran has made since Trump withdrew from the accord in 2018.”… “Referring to a leaked draft of the imminent accord, the source said Iran will not be required to destroy its advanced centrifuges under the revived agreement. Tehran will have to reduce its uranium enrichment levels, but it has already developed the capability to enrich at high levels. It will also be required to cease producing uranium metal, a crucial component of the bomb-making process. However, the source noted that Iran now has the knowledge to be able to manufacture such materials in the future. In essence, it is an agreement that leaves Iran as a nuclear threshold state,” the network said, citing the security source. “[T]he Biden administration has told Israel that Trump enabled Iran to become a “nuclear threshold state” in terms of uranium production and that a failure to revive the old agreement — as Jerusalem is hoping — would leave Tehran weeks away from accumulating enough nuclear material needed for a bomb, rather than months away from the bomb under the terms of the deal.”
The Supreme Ayatollah has spoken. “Iran Not Seeking Nuclear Weapons, Needs Atomic Energy, Says Khamenei,” Reuters, Algemeiner, February 17, 2022.
“U.S. Firm’s Tanker Illicitly Traded Iran Oil, Advocacy Group Says,” Jon Gambrell, AP, Bloomberg, February 17, 2022.
“S.Korea, Iran hold talks on resuming oil trade, unfreezing funds,” Reuters, Jerusalem Post, February 16, 2022.
“Unprecedented migration of female nurses from Iran,” NCRI, February 16, 2022.
Quote of the Day. “It is not a question of weeks, it is a question of days,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. “They [Iran] have a very clear choice, either they unleash a serious crisis in the next days… or they accept an agreement that respects the interests of all the parties.” See “France warns Iran must accept nuclear deal within days or face ‘serious crisis’,” AFP, Times of Israel, February 16, 2022.
The new Natantz underground facility. “Why is no one talking about Iran digging a new unbombable nuke facility? – analysis,” Yonah Jeremy Bob, Jerusalem Post, February 16, 2022.
“Iranians Slam Russian Envoy For Honoring A Controversial Predecessor,” Iran International, February 15, 2022. Allies in the purest sense, no.
“Pakistan, Iran to form joint working group on border issues,” Asad Hashim, Al Jazeera, February 15, 2022.
“The traders alleged that the Iranians flooded the Indian markets with their apples since the Gulf country cannot import to several European markets due to the sanctions by the United States.” See “Kashmir fumes as Iranian apple eats into ‘Little Iran’s’ fruit market,” La Prensa Latina, February 15, 2022.
The status of the Yemen (Iran-backed) war. “Challenging Iran’s struggle for power in Yemen,” Neville Teller, Jerusalem Post, February 15, 2022.
It is so rare that Iran gives up hostages that it is hard for us/me to be hopeful. “Iran Says Talks Over A Prisoner Swap ‘On The Agenda In Vienna’,” Iran International, February 14, 2022. “Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman [Saeed Khatibzadeh] said on Monday that a prisoner swap with the United States was on the agenda in parallel with the nuclear talks in Vienna. … This is the first time that an Iranian official says official talks over foreigners and dual nationals detained in Iran with the United States have been on the agenda in Vienna. … Iran is holding several Western prisoners in what human rights organizations have dubbed hostage diplomacy.”
“Iran’s 25-year pact with China sparks controversy in Tehran,” Mohammed Al-Sulami, Arab News, February 14, 2022. Beyond the general informative nature of this article, I’m including it here because the Iranian Parliament insists the 25-year Iran-China Strategic Cooperation Agreement treaty with China must be ratified, and that for now is nothing more than a memorandum of understanding. But we know the Supreme Leader could say otherwise.
“Leaked Audio File Renews Allegations Of Massive IRGC Corruption,” Maryam Sinaee, Iran International, February 13, 2022.
The statement is also significant because of who said it. “Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), made the remarks in a tweet a day after millions of Iranians celebrated the 43rd anniversary of the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.” See “Iran says peaceful nuke, defense capabilities irremovable options,” Xinhua, February 13, 2022.
