The Six Points of Kissinger and Schultz’s Refutation of the Iran Deal

[andreisdaman]

Israel does not want peace.  They want land and more land.  While I don't agree with suicide bombings and targeting civilians, if it weren't for Hamas and Hezbollah Israel would have all of Palestine, Lebanon and God knows what else.

I agree with this......people are too busy swallowing the Netanyahu Kool-Aid

[Dos Equis]

Iran launches ballistic missiles during military exercise
Published March 08, 2016 
FoxNews.com

Iran's Revolutionary Guard launched several ballistic missiles in recent days as part of a military exercise showing off the rogue nation's power, the official IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday.

The missiles launched today appeared to have a short range of 180-250 miles, not viewed as the same threat as the November launch of medium-range ballistic missiles, first reported by Fox News late last year.

Today’s launch would not violate Iran's nuclear deal signed with the U.S. but does breach a U.N. security council resolution, officials tell Fox News. That resolution bars Iran from working on any ballistic missiles.

Still, senior military commanders say they're concerned about Iran’s recent actions. "Some of the behavior that we've seen from Iran of late is certainly not the behavior that you would expect from a nation that wants to be taken seriously as a respected member of the international community," Gen. Lloyd Austin, outgoing commander of U.S. Central Command, told Senate lawmakers Tuesday.

IRNA said the missiles, launched from silos in several locations across the country, demonstrated Iran's "deterrence power" and its readiness to confront threats. State TV ran what it said was video footage of the operation, showing missiles in underground silos and flashes of light from nighttime launches.

State media said the exercise was in its final phase on Tuesday.

In October, Iran successfully test-fired a new guided long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile. It was the first such test since Iran and world powers reached the landmark nuclear deal last summer.

Iran says none of its missiles are designed to carry nuclear weapons.

Politico reported that culturally and socially, little has changed in Iran since the nuclear deal was signed. The report said that the country’s leader, Ali Khamenei, continues to talk about the U.S. influence in the world and backs “the aggressive use of Hezbollah and other Shiite militias in the region.

Iran claims to have surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 1,250 miles, capable of striking Israel and U.S. military bases in the region.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/03/08/iran-launches-ballistic-missiles-during-military-exercise-despite-nuke-deal.html?intcmp=hplnws

[Dos Equis]

Iran reportedly test-fires 2 long-range missiles while Biden visits Israel
Published March 09, 2016 
FoxNews.com

Iran reportedly test-fired two ballistic missiles Wednesday with the phrase "Israel must be wiped out" written in Hebrew on them, but authorities said that the tests do not violate the nuclear deal reached in January.

The tests came as Vice President Joe Biden visited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was strongly opposed to the nuke deal.

“I want to reiterate because I know people still doubt: If in fact they break the deal, we will act,” Biden said in Jerusalem.

The semiofficial Fars news agency offered pictures Wednesday it said were of the Qadr H missiles being fired. It said they were fired in Iran's eastern Alborz mountain range to hit a target some 870 miles away off Iran's coast into the Sea of Oman.

Hard-liners in Iran's military have fired rockets and missiles despite U.S. objections since the deal, as well as shown underground missile bases on state television.

“The missiles fired today are the results of sanctions,” Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, a deputy commander of the Guards told Fars news agency, according to the BBC. “The sanctions helped Iran develop its missile program.”

There was no immediate reaction from Jerusalem, where Biden was scheduled to speak to Netanyahu.

The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, which patrols that region, declined to comment on the test. Fars quoted Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard's aerospace division, saying the test was aimed at showing Israel that Iran could hit it.

Iranian state television showed one of the missiles being fired from an underground silo sometime overnight, Reuters reported.

"The 1,240-mile range of our missiles is to confront the Zionist regime," Hajizadeh said. "Israel is surrounded by Islamic countries and it will not last long in a war. It will collapse even before being hit by these missiles."

Israel's Foreign Ministry declined to immediately comment. Iran has threatened to destroy Israel in the past. Israel, which is believed to have the only nuclear weapons arsenal in the Mideast, repeatedly has threatened to take military action against Iran's nuclear facilities.

Hajizadeh stressed Iran would not fire the missiles in anger or start a war with Israel.

"We will not be the ones who start a war, but we will not be taken by surprise, so we put our facilities somewhere that our enemies cannot destroy them so that we could continue long war," he said.

The firing of the Qadr H missiles comes after a U.S. State Department spokesman on Tuesday criticized another missile launch that day, saying America planned to bring it before the United Nations Security Council.

A nuclear deal between Iran and world powers including the U.S. is now under way, negotiated by the administration of moderate President Hassan Rouhani. In the time since the deal, however, hard-liners in Iran's military have made several shows of strength.

In October, Iran successfully test-fired a new guided long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile. It was the first such test since Iran and world powers reached a landmark nuclear deal last summer.

U.N. experts said the launch used ballistic missile technology banned under a Security Council resolution. In January, the U.S. imposed new sanctions on individuals and entities linked to the ballistic missile program.

Iran also has fired rockets near U.S. warships and flown an unarmed drone over an American aircraft carrier in recent months.

In January, Iran seized 10 U.S. sailors in the Gulf when their two riverine command boats headed from Kuwait to Bahrain ended up in Iranian territorial waters after the crews "misnavigated," the U.S. military said. The sailors were taken to a small port facility on Farsi Island, held for about 15 hours and released after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke several times with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/03/09/iran-test-fires-2-long-range-missiles-possibly-capable-hitting-israel.html?intcmp=hpbt1

[Dos Equis]

Iran Blocking Congressional Access to Country, Nuke Sites
Lawmakers demand travel visas, to no avail

Bushehr Nuclear Power PlantAP
BY: Adam Kredo    
April 12, 2016

Leading members of Congress have petitioned Iranian officials to grant them entry to the country ahead of a major speech by a top Iranian diplomat scheduled to take place Friday in Washington, D.C., according to documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

Three members of Congress, including a member of the House intelligence committee, have been petitioning Iranian officials to grant them travel visas so they can meet with American hostages and inspect Iran’s nuclear sites to ensure compliance with the recently implemented nuclear deal.

Iranian officials have stalled these attempts for months and missed a self-imposed deadline to respond to the lawmakers’ request, according to correspondence obtained Tuesday afternoon by the Free Beacon.

The lack of reply by Iran has led to accusations of hypocrisy by these lawmakers, who noted that the Obama administration has repeatedly permitted Iranian officials to travel to America for meetings and events.

Valiollah Seif, the governor of Iran’s central bank, is scheduled to appear in D.C. on Friday at a high-profile event sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank.

Reps. Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.), Lee Zeldin (R., N.Y.), and Frank LoBiondo (R., N.J.) are now insisting that Iranian officials extend them the same courtesy already granted to the Islamic Republic by the Obama administration.

“It has now been more than two months since we applied, and we would appreciate a decision on our application,” the lawmakers wrote on Tuesday in a letter addressed to Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and obtained by the Free Beacon. “If you reject our visa applications, please provide an explanation.

“As the governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Valiollah Sief, visits Washington, D.C. this week, it is clear the American government is allowing Iranian leaders to visit the United States,” the lawmakers wrote. “Further, American and international business delegations are traveling to Iran and have obviously received visas. We trust the same courtesy will be extended to American leaders.”

The lawmakers travelled to the Iranian Interests Section of the Pakistani embassy in D.C. in early February to hand-deliver their visa applications to Iranian officials.

They also submitted a letter outlining the goals of their visit, which would include meetings with Americans incarcerated in Iran, briefings on the group of U.S. sailors who were temporarily detained by Iran earlier this year, and inspections of the country’s nuclear sites.

“When we submitted our applications, the deputy director of the interests section, Abolfazl Mehrabadi, informed us that we would receive a reply, though your staff missed their own self-imposed deadline for responding,” the lawmakers wrote. “We have followed up several times with them, but to no avail.”

The lawmakers also wanted to observe Iran’s recent elections to ensure transparency, but were unable due to the delay in processing the travel documents.

“With your claims that many moderates were elected, we imagine that there should be no problems now with our trip,” the lawmakers wrote. “However, our straightforward applications continue to be met with ridicule and delay from many Iranian leaders.”

One senior congressional source apprised of the situation called on the State Department to help the lawmakers to visit Iran.

“These three congressmen applied for their visas at the beginning of February and it is now April,” the source said. “Why the Iranian government has delayed so much, and why the U.S. State Department has not stepped in to help facilitate their applications is beyond me. If Iranian officials are allowed to travel to the United States, shouldn’t elected representatives of the American people be able to visit Iran?”

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/iran-blocking-congressional-access-country-nuke-sites/

[Dos Equis]

Ben Rhodes, Liar
Column: The man who creates the White House's own reality

Ben Rhodes with President ObamaBen Rhodes with President Obama / AP
BY: Aaron MacLean 
May 6, 2016

What is Ben Rhodes? With a 10,000 word profile, published Thursday, the New York Times Magazine certainly seems to indicate that his presence at the top of the Obama administration’s foreign policy operation bears some kind of special significance. He is, indeed, an unusual case. Only 38 years old and the holder of an MFA in creative writing from New York University, Rhodes went to work as a speechwriter for Lee Hamilton, worked on the Iraq Study Group, and joined the Obama campaign in 2007. Now, as the deputy national security adviser for strategic communication, he sits at the intersection of “policy, politics, and messaging,” as a colleague puts it in the piece. How did Rhodes, whose older brother is president of CBS News, and whose mother’s “closest friend growing up” (we learn) ran the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace when her son was trying to break into D.C.’s foreign policy community, pull it off?

To be fair, it wasn’t just his connections, but willpower, talent, and an unusual ability to “mind-meld” with his boss, the president of the United States. “I don’t know anymore where I begin and Obama ends,” Rhodes muses to the author of this illuminating profile, which is chock-full (as was a recent, similar profile of the president in the Atlantic) of boasts, indiscretions, and moments of an unflattering lack of self-awareness.

The author observes Rhodes complaining bitterly on the day of Obama’s final State of the Union address, during which 10 U.S. sailors were inconveniently seized by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, that the news can’t be kept secret from the American public so that the president can deliver his speech without distractions. Of the “average reporter” with whom the White House works to get out its message Rhodes provides the verdict, “they literally know nothing.” (You’re not wrong, Ben…) In the words of the author, Rhodes concluded during the Iraq war—not the one his White House is currently overseeing, but the previous one—that Washington foreign policy decision-makers from both parties, whom, along with their helpers in the press he calls “the Blob,” are “morons” for whom he maintains “a healthy contempt.”

This contempt is evidently shared by his boss: hence the mind-meld, or at least an important element of it. Senior ex-administration officials express frustration and perhaps some confusion about how they got railroaded repeatedly by Rhodes and his allies in Obama’s inner circle. Leon Panetta complains to the Times, clearly speaking of Rhodes: “There were staff people who put themselves in a position where they kind of assumed where the president’s head was on a particular issue, and they thought their job was not to go through this open process of having people present all these different options, but to try to force the process to where they thought the president wanted to be … And I’d say ‘[expletive], that’s not the way it works.’”

But that was the way it worked, on pulling out of Iraq, on staying out of Syria, on closing the deal with Iran. What Panetta (and Gates, and Hagel, and many others) failed to understand until much too late was that they, the members of the Blob, were the White House’s true adversaries—not the Mullahs or Putin or any of America’s dug-in opponents abroad. Their conventional thinking, their weakness in the face of popular emotions, their investment in alliances with traditional partners, had led to fiascoes like the Iraq war. To avoid “stupid shit” like that, the Blob had to be outmaneuvered: “We don’t have to kind of be in cycles of conflict if we can find other ways to resolve these issues,” Rhodes says in the piece. “We can do things that challenge the conventional thinking that, you know, ‘AIPAC doesn’t like this,’ or ‘the Israeli government doesn’t like this,’ or ‘the gulf countries don’t like it.’” You know, America’s friends.

And outmaneuvered the Blob was, most of the time, by a profoundly ideological, profoundly political operation, the apotheosis of which was the pursuit of the Iran deal. In the piece, Rhodes seems gleeful about how he deceived the American people to get the deal through, even as he bristles about being accused of deceit.

What the Times describes—I detect some sarcasm—as Rhodes’ “innovative” campaign to sell the agreement involved “largely manufacturing” a story in which Rouhani’s 2013 election alerted the administration to an opportunity for negotiations—despite the fact that informal negotiations had been opened in 2012, and despite the fact that the moderates-versus-hardliners taxonomy of the Iranian regime pushed by the White House was known to be nonsense. Or, as the Times puts it, the broad story Rhodes was conveying to friendly journalists and the public at large was “often misleading or false”:

By obtaining broad public currency for the thought that there was a significant split in the regime, and that the administration was reaching out to moderate-minded Iranians who wanted peaceful relations with their neighbors and with America, Obama was able to evade what might have otherwise been a divisive but clarifying debate over the actual policy choices that his administration was making … [and] to eliminate a source of structural tension between the two countries, which would create the space for America to disentangle itself from its established system of alliances with countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel and Turkey. With one bold move, the administration would effectively begin the process of a large-scale disengagement from the Middle East.

But explaining that this “disengagement” was the White House’s true goal to Congress or the Blob or the American people would have been unfeasible, because, you know, people just don’t get it like the president or Rhodes do. Rather than pitch an honest proposal and work to persuade other branches of the American government and the voters of its wisdom, Rhodes discloses to the Times that the thinking had been, “In the absence of rational discourse, we are going to discourse the [expletive] out of this. … We had test drives to know who was going to be able to carry our message effectively, and how to use outside groups like Ploughshares, the Iran Project and whomever else. So we knew the tactics that worked.” Of those opposed to the deal, Rhodes says, “We drove them crazy.”

Well, at least there’s that. I am struck by the extent to which Rhodes, a man who clearly believes the 2003 invasion of Iraq was the crystallization of everything that’s wrong with American policymaking—and America itself—seems to be so openly and, in a way, guilelessly driven by the sort of ends-justify-the-means, we-create-our-own-reality mindset that the left attributed to neoconservatives and Bush’s inner-circle during the last decade. I am also struck by the extent to which he appears to believe that things are going well for the administration’s foreign policy, something that does not seem to be borne out by events in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, the South China Sea… anywhere, really.

But then, my read of the situation is based on the conventional assumption that the success or failure of American policy is best judged by the state of our security, the strength of our allies, the health of the global order, and the containment or defeat of our enemies. If, instead, your principal aim is to defeat the Blob that believes this sort of thing and to “disengage” the country from its many roles abroad—to contain America, for its own good and that of the world—then I suppose this White House has had some limited success, likely to be rolled back the moment Obama leaves office.

So give that to Rhodes, along with some minor innovations in spinning during the age of social media. Beyond that, though, it seems hard to locate any special significance in the man’s career. He is, in many respects, a dime-a-dozen sort of guy for the nation’s capital, save for his lucky sympathy with the president. Ben Rhodes is a functionary. Ben Rhodes is a talented, willful man. Ben Rhodes is a braggart. Ben Rhodes is a true believer. Most of all—I’ll say here what the profile’s author so clearly wants to say plainly, but for whatever reason, can’t bring himself to do so—Ben Rhodes is a liar.

http://freebeacon.com/columns/ben-rhodes/

[Dos Equis]

Iranian commander warns there are 100,000 missiles ready to strike Israel
Published July 04, 2016  FoxNews.com

July 16, 2010: Hossein Salami, deputy head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. (Reuters)

The deputy commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard declared Friday that there are tens of thousands of missiles in Lebanon ready to strike Israel.

"Hezbollah has 100,000 missiles that are ready to hit Israel to liberate the occupied Palestinian territories if the Zionist regime repeats its past mistakes," Gen. Hossein Salami was quoted as saying by Tasnim, according to Reuters.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Salami warned that Israel’s occupied territories could come under attack if they make the “wrong move.”

“Today, the grounds for the annihilation and collapse of the Zionist regime are (present) more than ever,” he said.

Additionally, state TV reported Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani accused the West of trying to exploit differences between Shiite and Sunni Muslims to divert attention from the Palestinian-Israel conflict.

"The global arrogance (the United States and its allies) wants to create discord among Muslims ... Unity is the only way to restore stability in the region," Rouhani said. "We stand with the dispossessed Palestinian nation."

Rouhani spoke as tens of thousands of Iranians joined in an anti-Israel rally to express support for the Palestinians. The demonstrators shouted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" and while they burned an Israeli flag.

“The Zionist regime (Israel) is a regional base for America and the global arrogance ... Disunity and discord among Muslim and terrorist groups in the region ... have diverted us from the important issue of Palestine," Rouhani added.

Israeli opposition has been a policy of Tehran’s since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Shiite Muslim Iran has backed Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups who oppose peace with Israel.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/07/04/iranian-commander-warns-there-are-100000-missiles-ready-to-strike-israel.html?intcmp=hplnws

[Dos Equis]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-sent-cash-to-iran-as-americans-were-freed-1470181874


Sickening.   Arming our enemy. 

[Dos Equis]

US held $400M payment to Iran until detainees were released, report says
Published August 17, 2016
FoxNews.com
 
U.S. officials held a cargo plane carrying the equivalent of $400 million in cash for Iran until Tehran released three American detainees, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The report, which cited U.S. officials and others briefed on the operation, said an Iranian cargo plane was allowed to pick up the money in Geneva, Switzerland once a Swiss Air Force plane carrying the three detainees left Tehran last January.

The White House has claimed that the $400 million payment in euros and Swiss francs was the first installment in a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran to resolve a failed 1979 arms deal dating from just before the Iranian Revolution.

However, congressional Republicans have characterized the money transfer as ransom to secure the detainees' release, a claim President Obama denied earlier this month.

"This wasn’t some nefarious deal," Obama said during an August 4 press conference. "We do not pay ransom for hostages."

The Jounal also reported earlier this month that Justice Department officials objected to the timing of the money transfer, saying it would look like a ransom payment. Those concerns reportedly were dismissed by the State Department. 

The three detainees who were flown to Geneva were Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian; former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati; and Christian pastor Saeed Abedini.

Abedini has claimed that he and the other hostages were kept waiting at an Iranian airport for more than 20 hours before their departure. Abedini said he was told by a senior Iranian intelligence official that their departure was contingent on the movement of a second plane.

State Department officials denied Abedini's claims to the Journal, saying the delay was due to issues locating Rezaian's wife and mother, who accompanied him on the flight.

In response to the initial Journal report, Obama said it was necessary to transact the payment in foreign currency due to U.S. sanctions, which prohibit trading in dollars.

According to the Journal, GOP leaders say they plan to hold hearings on the payment next month, when Congress returns from its summer recess. Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., chair of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, last week sent letters to the Justice and Treasury Departments, as well as the Federal Reserve, requesting more information the transaction.

Click for more from The Wall Street Journal.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/08/17/us-held-400m-payment-to-iran-until-detainees-were-released-report-says.html

[AbrahamG]

this!

[Dos Equis]

Do it. 

Trump Expected to Decertify Iran Nuclear Deal
Thursday, 05 Oct 2017

President Donald Trump is expected to announce soon that he will decertify the landmark international deal to curb Iran's nuclear program, a senior administration official said on Thursday, in a step that could lead to renewed U.S. sanctions against Tehran.

The decision on the nuclear deal is expected to be only part of what Trump will announce, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official said Trump is also expected to roll out a broader U.S. strategy on Iran that would be more confrontational. The Trump administration has frequently criticized Iran's conduct in the Middle East.

If Trump declines to certify Iran's compliance with the accord, U.S. congressional leaders would have 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Tehran suspended under the agreement.

Trump has long criticized the Iran nuclear pact, a signature foreign policy achievement of his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama, and signed in 2015 by the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, the European Union and Iran.


In April, the administration said it would review whether the lifting of sanctions against Iran was in the U.S. national security interest. Trump is weighing a strategy that could allow more aggressive U.S. responses to Iran's forces, its Shi'ite Muslim proxies in Iraq and Syria and its support for militant groups.

An administration official previously said the administration was considering Oct. 12 for Trump to give a speech on Iran but no final decision had been made.

Supporters of the deal say its collapse could trigger a regional arms race and worsen Middle East tensions. Opponents say it went too far in easing sanctions without requiring that Iran end its nuclear program permanently.

http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/trump-expected-iran-nuclear/2017/10/05/id/817954/

[mazrim]

After being so adamant about it, he really needs to do it. And not just done for looks only where he tries to negotiate something (like in healthcare, etc.) in the future that is essentially the same. He is going against a lot of what those around him are advising him to do so I hope he does not do anything like that due to bad advice/pressure.

[Dos Equis]

*Applause*

Trump Strikes Blow at Iran Nuclear Deal in Major Policy Shift
Friday, 13 Oct 2017

President Donald Trump struck a blow against the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement on Friday in defiance of other world powers, choosing not to certify that Tehran is complying with the deal and warning he might ultimately terminate it.

Trump announced the major shift in U.S. policy in a speech in which he detailed a more aggressive approach to Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and its support for extremist groups in the Middle East.

He accused Iran of "not living up to the spirit" of the nuclear agreement and said his goal is to ensure Tehran never obtains a nuclear weapon, in effect throwing the fate of the deal to Congress.

He singled out Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for sanctions and delivered a blistering critique of Tehran, which he accused of destabilizing actions in Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

"We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the very real threat of Iran’s nuclear breakout," Trump said.

Trump's hardline remarks drew praise from Israel, Iran's arch-foe, but was criticized by European allies.

The move by Trump was part of his "America First" approach to international agreements which has led him to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord and the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.

His Iran strategy angered Tehran and put Washington at odds with other signatories of the accord - Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the European Union - some of which have benefited economically from renewed trade with Iran.

Responding to Trump, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Friday on television that Tehran was committed to the deal and accused Trump of making baseless accusations.

"The Iranian nation has not and will never bow to any foreign pressure," he said. "Iran and the deal are stronger than ever."

European allies have warned of a split with the United States over the nuclear agreement and say that putting it in limbo as Trump has done undermines U.S. credibility abroad, especially as international inspectors say Iran is in compliance with the accord.


The chief of the U.N. atomic watchdog reiterated that Iran was under the world's "most robust nuclear verification regime."

"The nuclear-related commitments undertaken by Iran under the JCPOA are being implemented," Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency said, referring to the deal by its formal name.

U.S. Democrats expressed skepticism at Trump's decision. Senator Ben Cardin said: “At a moment when the United States and its allies face a nuclear crisis with North Korea, the president has manufactured a new crisis that will isolate us from our allies and partners.”

CONGRESS DECIDES

While Trump did not pull the United States out of the agreement, he gave the U.S. Congress 60 days to decide whether to reimpose economic sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under the pact.

If Congress reimposes the sanctions, the United States would in effect be in violation of the terms of the nuclear deal and it would likely fall apart. If lawmakers do nothing, the deal remains in place.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker was working on amending the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act law to include "trigger points" that if crossed by Iran would automatically reimpose U.S. sanctions.

The trigger points would address strengthening nuclear inspections, Iran's ballistic missile program and eliminate the deal's "sunset clauses" under which some of the restrictions on Iran's nuclear program expire over time.

Trump directed U.S. intelligence agencies to probe whether Iran might be working with North Korea on its weapons programs.

The president, who took office in January, had reluctantly certified the agreement twice before but has repeatedly blasted it as "the worst deal ever." It was negotiated under his predecessor, former President Barack Obama.

Trump warned that if "we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated."

"We'll see what happens over the next short period of time and I can do that instantaneously," he told reporters when asked why he did not choose to scrap the deal now.

The Trump administration designated the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps under an executive order targeting terrorists. The administration stopped short of labeling the group a Foreign Terrorist Organization, a list maintained by the State Department.

The Revolutionary Guard is the single most dominant player in Iran’s security, political, and economic systems and wields enormous influence in Iran’s domestic and foreign policies.

It had already previously been sanctioned by the United States under other authorities, and the immediate impact of Friday’s measure is likely to be symbolic.

The U.S. military said on Friday it was identifying new areas where it could work with allies to put pressure on Iran in support of Trump's new strategy and was reviewing the positioning of U.S. forces.

But U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said no changes in force posture had been made yet, and Iran had not responded to Trump's announcement with any provocative acts so far.

http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/trump-iran-policy-change/2017/10/13/id/819619/

[Straw Man]

Glad he did it

Now Trump OWNS whatever happens with IRAN

same way that Trump now OWNS healthcare since he cut all the subsidies for Obamacare

Finally we'll see Republicans step up and take ownership of these issues

[Las Vegas]

How does Iran bank?  Can look later if no one knows.

[mazrim]

Glad he did it

Now Trump OWNS whatever happens with IRAN

Unfortunately, Obama allowed them to grow into what they are along with North Korea. He was a moron and a complete fool in all things having to do with our security, etc. Disgusting to see that you and he support such a regime.

Also disturbing that you support the illegal subsidies with all of your heart.

[Dos Equis]

Unfortunately, Obama allowed them to grow into what they are along with North Korea. He was a moron and a complete fool in all things having to do with our security, etc. Disgusting to see that you and he support such a regime.

Also disturbing that you support the illegal subsidies with all of your heart.

Tell me about it.  Obama gave the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism $400 million in cash.  He did a lot of reckless, irresponsible things during his presidency.  I'm not sure any were more reckless than that ransom payment and the entire Iran deal. 

[AbrahamG]

Iranian commander warns there are 100,000 missiles ready to strike Israel
Published July 04, 2016  FoxNews.com

July 16, 2010: Hossein Salami, deputy head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. (Reuters)

The deputy commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard declared Friday that there are tens of thousands of missiles in Lebanon ready to strike Israel.

"Hezbollah has 100,000 missiles that are ready to hit Israel to liberate the occupied Palestinian territories if the Zionist regime repeats its past mistakes," Gen. Hossein Salami was quoted as saying by Tasnim, according to Reuters.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Salami warned that Israel’s occupied territories could come under attack if they make the “wrong move.”

“Today, the grounds for the annihilation and collapse of the Zionist regime are (present) more than ever,” he said.

Additionally, state TV reported Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani accused the West of trying to exploit differences between Shiite and Sunni Muslims to divert attention from the Palestinian-Israel conflict.

"The global arrogance (the United States and its allies) wants to create discord among Muslims ... Unity is the only way to restore stability in the region," Rouhani said. "We stand with the dispossessed Palestinian nation."

Rouhani spoke as tens of thousands of Iranians joined in an anti-Israel rally to express support for the Palestinians. The demonstrators shouted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" and while they burned an Israeli flag.

“The Zionist regime (Israel) is a regional base for America and the global arrogance ... Disunity and discord among Muslim and terrorist groups in the region ... have diverted us from the important issue of Palestine," Rouhani added.

Israeli opposition has been a policy of Tehran’s since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Shiite Muslim Iran has backed Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups who oppose peace with Israel.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/07/04/iranian-commander-warns-there-are-100000-missiles-ready-to-strike-israel.html?intcmp=hplnws

praise GOD

[Dos Equis]

Trump answers Netanyahu bombshell on Iran: ‘Not an acceptable situation’
Alex Pappas By Alex Pappas   | Fox News

President Trump comments on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's presentation, says the U.S. 'got nothing' from the nuclear deal with Iran and signals openness to negotiating new agreement.

President Trump called the Iran nuclear deal a “horrible agreement for the United States” in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bombshell allegations about Tehran's covert activity – but stopped short of saying whether he'd abandon the deal ahead of a looming deadline.

The president addressed the claims during a Rose Garden press conference Monday afternoon, moments after Netanyahu held a dramatic presentation revealing intelligence he says shows Iran is lying about its nuclear weapons program.

“That is just not an acceptable situation,” Trump said.

Trump said Netanyahu’s claims show Iran is “not sitting back idly."

Israeli prime minister claims Iran had been hiding all of the elements of a secret nuclear weapons program.Video
Netanyahu on nuclear deal: Iran lied, big time

"They're setting off missiles which they say are for television purposes," Trump said. He added: "I don't think so.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders responded, “The United States is aware of the information just released by Israel and continues to examine it carefully. This information provides new and compelling details about Iran’s efforts to develop missile-deliverable nuclear weapons. These facts are consistent with what the United States has long known: Iran has a robust, clandestine nuclear weapons program that it has tried and failed to hide from the world and from its own people. The Iranian regime has shown it will use destructive weapons against its neighbors and others. Iran must never have nuclear weapons.”

Trump has repeatedly expressed a desire to exit the Iran deal, which was signed during the Obama administration. A crucial deadline for re-certifying the deal is on the horizon.

Netanyahu clearly intended for Trump to see his presentation, as he noted that Trump would soon make a key decision on the Iran deal.

“I’m sure he’ll do the right thing,” Netanyahu said.

On Monday, Trump suggested he could seek to negotiate a new agreement, something he discussed during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Washington last week.

“So we'll see what happens,” Trump said, when asked about the announcement. “I'm not telling you what I'm doing. [A lot] of people think they know. And on or before the 12th, we'll make a decision.”

The president made the comments during a joint press conference with visiting Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.

President Trump says meeting with the leader on North Korea has a chance to be a big event.
Trump said that overall, “what we've learned has really shown that I have been 100 percent right.”

Netanyahu said during his earlier presentation that new intelligence shows Iran lied about never having nuclear weapons and lied again by not coming clean under the terms of the 2015 deal. "The Iran deal ... is based on lies," he said.

The information was obtained within the past 10 days, Israeli officials told Fox News. Netanyahu said the files were moved to a "highly secret" location in Tehran, and contained materials spread over 55,000 pages and 55,000 files on 183 CD's.

"The nuclear deal gives Iran a clear path to producing an atomic arsenal," Netanyahu said Monday.

NETANYAHU SAYS IRAN ‘BRAZENLY LYING’ AFTER SIGNING NUCLEAR DEAL

Netanyahu's statement came on the heels of a missile attack in northern Syria that killed nearly 26-pro-government fighters, mostly Iranians, according to a Syria war monitoring group. Israel had no comment on the strike, but there was widespread speculation that Israel was behind it. Tehran has sent thousands of Iran-backed fighters to back Assad's forces in Syria's seven-year civil war.

Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon on Monday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the United States “had nothing to do with the strike last night.”

Mattis also said the evidence cited by Netanyahu on Monday did not come up during his discussions with the Israeli minister of defense last week. But he said parts of Iran nuclear deal “certainly need to be fixed.”

Mark Meadows
✔
@RepMarkMeadows
 The Iran Deal was and has always been a foreign policy debacle. But today’s stunning intel presentation from @netanyahu provides even more troubling context. All along it was built on a crumbling foundation of lies, deception, and naivete. This “deal” should be shredded.
9:19 AM - Apr 30, 2018
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“The Iran Deal was and has always been a foreign policy debacle. But today’s stunning intel presentation from @netanyahu provides even more troubling context. All along it was built on a crumbling foundation of lies, deception, and naivete. This 'deal' should be shredded,” House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., tweeted.

Israel and Iran are arch-enemies, and Israel has said repeatedly it would not allow Iran to establish a permanent military presence in Syria. Iran, which is backing the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad, has accused Israel of carrying out another airstrike in Syria this month that killed seven Iranian military advisers and vowed revenge.

“That is just not an acceptable situation."
- President Trump
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday ratcheted up the Trump administration's rhetoric against Iran and offered warm support to Israel and Saudi Arabia in their standoff with Tehran.

"The United States is with Israel in this fight," Pompeo said.

The 2015 deal gave Iran relief from crippling sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

Netanyahu has been a leading critic of the agreement, saying it fails to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons capability and welcoming Trump's pledges to withdraw from the deal if it is not changed.

Both Trump and Netanyahu say the deal should address Iranian support for militants across the region and Iran's development of long-range ballistic missiles, as well as eliminate provisions that expire over the next decade.

On Monday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the time when Iran's enemies can "hit and run" is over.

"They know if they enter military conflict with Iran, they will be hit multiple times," he said, according to his website. He did not specifically refer to the latest attack in Syria.

Trump on Monday also floated the idea of holding his planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the Koreas.

"There's something that I like about it because you are there, you are actually there," Trump said. "If things work out there's a great celebration to be had on the site, not in a third-party country."

A Trump-Kim meeting would be the first U.S.-North Korean leadership summit in more than six decades of hostility since the 1950-53 Korean War. Trump has previously said that five locations were being considered, but on Friday said the choice had been narrowed to two or three.

Monday was the first time he'd publicly specified potential locations for the meeting, slated for May or early June. He added that the Southeast Asian city state of Singapore was also in the running.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/04/30/trump-answers-netanyahu-bombshell-on-iran-not-acceptable-situation.html

[Dos Equis]

Another Obama disaster being fixed by a real leader.  Awesome.

Trump expected to withdraw from Iran nuclear deal
Fox News

Vice President Pence has told congressional leaders that President Trump plans to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal, Fox News has learned.

A source said that Trump has made the decision to withdraw – and his announcement Tuesday afternoon will start a 90-day countdown to the restoration of sanctions.

Once sanctions are re-imposed, the U.S. effectively would be out of the deal.

. . .

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/05/08/trump-expected-to-withdraw-from-iran-nuclear-deal.html

[Straw Man]

Another Obama disaster being fixed by a real leader.  Awesome.

Trump expected to withdraw from Iran nuclear deal
Fox News

Vice President Pence has told congressional leaders that President Trump plans to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal, Fox News has learned.

A source said that Trump has made the decision to withdraw – and his announcement Tuesday afternoon will start a 90-day countdown to the restoration of sanctions.

Once sanctions are re-imposed, the U.S. effectively would be out of the deal.

. . .

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/05/08/trump-expected-to-withdraw-from-iran-nuclear-deal.html

This will lead to Iran building a nuclear weapon more quickly or will it slow it down further than it was before?

What's the Trumptard perspective on this?

[Dos Equis]

Iran ‘society set to explode’ while Biden unfreezes $29 billion for regime
Social discontent in Iran has risen by 300 percent in the past year according to an IRGC document obtained from Edalat-e Ali.
By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
Updated: FEBRUARY 6, 2022
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-695612