ANALYSIS: Is Iran’s intransigence whiplashing onto its population?
10/2/2017 1:46:11 PM

An Iranian woman after rubbing mud on her body during a ritual to mark the Ashura in Khorramabad on October 1, 2017.
By Heshmat Alavi
Al Arabiya, 2 October 2017 -Iran’s aggressions across the Middle East and its support for terrorist and fundamentalist organizations have raised strong remarks from senior regional officials and their American counterparts. And the impact is whiplashing back into Iran’s population.
Iran is ramping up its illicit activities across the Middle East, especially in Syria and Iraq, and threatens free navigation in international waters, according to the US military’s top officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, as he explained his concerns to the Senate Armed Forces Committee at a recent hearing.

Counter-Terror Chief: Hezbollah ‘Deploying Operatives’ to Peru ‘to Lay the Groundwork for Attacks’
10/2/2017 6:54:34 AM


Iran remains the foremost state sponsor of terrorism, providing financial aid, advanced weapons and tactics, and direction to militant and terrorist groups across the Middle East
Washington, D.C. BreitBart, 29 Sep 2017-- Iran’s narco-terrorist proxy Hezbollah is sending jihadists to Peru to prepare “for attacks,” warned the director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) during a Senate panel hearing on threats to the U.S. homeland.

Could Russia Stop Iran From Seizing Power in the Middle East?28 August 2017

Iran Focus
London, 28 Aug - Russia is going to take advantage of the “confusion” of Western Governments in order to gain a stronger influence over the Middle East, according to analysts.
Russia’s strategy in the Middle East is short-term and poses Russia as an alternative to the West, according to Rand, an American think-tank based in Washington, D.C, in a recent research paper.
Other political analysts have argued that Russia is not reacting to Western policies but rather protecting its own interests.

How to Challenge the Iranian Regime11 September 2017

Iran Focus
London, 11 Sep - If Donald Trump really wants to challenge the Iranian Regime, then he must support the Resistance, bring the Regime back to the negotiating table and end the destabilisation of the Middle East, according to a human rights activist.
Hamid Bahrami, a former political prisoner from Iran, wrote an op-ed for the American Thinker, in which he laid out how Trump and the US could challenge the Regime, rather than bow to their manipulations.

Iran-Backed Hezbollah Taking Iraqi Troops Into LebanonTerrorism 27 September 2017

Iran Focus
London, 27 Sep - Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terror group, recently angered the Iraqi government by arranging the safe transport of hundreds of ISIS fighters across Syria from the Lebanon border to the Iraqi one.
This was seen by Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi as an effort by Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah to undermine Iraq’s efforts to tackle both the ISIS threat and the Iranian one.
However, it was not the first time that something like this happened, nor would it be the last.
While the US is distracted by the North Korean threat, Hezbollah has begun training Iraqi militiamen in Lebanon to fight on behalf of the terror group.

Iran Regime's Misuse of Nuclear Deal Money to Fuel Terrorism Across the Region Tuesday, 26 September 2017 04:23


NCRI Staff
NCRI - The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Nuclear Deal with Iran, took center stage at the United Nations General Assembly last week.
The Obama administration, US allies and the international community, believed that after benefits of the Nuclear Deal were in place, a ‘different' Iran would emerge as a responsible member of the global community, and that the Middle East would be the first region to enjoy this outcome....MORE

US Must Provide Aid to Middle East Following Removal of ISIS to Prevent Iran Regime From Taking OverIraq 30 August 2017


Iran Focus
London, 30 Aug - The US must provide aid in the Middle East following the removal of ISIS to prevent Iran from seizing power and further destabilising the region, according to an ex-CIA operative.
Frank Archibald, who was Director of the National Clandestine Service an assignment in which he led all of CIA's operations worldwide, wrote an op-ed for the Cipher Daily, in which he assessed the liberation of Mosul presented the US with an opportunity to stabilise the region and challenge the Iranian Regime.
There is a tough fight ahead for peace in the Middle East, as acknowledged by Lt. General Stephen Townsend, the senior U.S. Commander in Iraq, as he congratulated the Iraqi government for their victory in Mosul.....MORE

What Happens If Trump Decertifies Iran Compliance With the Nuclear Deal?Nuclear 23 September 2017

Iran Focus
London, 23 Sep - When President Obama was negotiating the nuclear deal with Iran and other world powers, he assured critics that it was the only way to curb the nuclear threat from Iran. He said it was the only way to prevent Iran from pursuing its nuclear program.
He gave the Iranian regime numerous concessions and failed to address some peripheral issues such as the oppression of people at home and its spread of terrorism across the Middle East.
Obama’s years in office, with reference to this treatment of Iran, have been named by some as the “golden years”. The regime knew that it could get away with anything and the Obama administration would not dare to so much as comment......MORE

A U.S. President Is Finally Speaking Up for the People of Iran

US President speech at the UN Genral Assembly on Iran regime

• BY JOHN HANNAH

Foreign Policy, Sept. 22, 2017 - A note about the Iran section of President Donald Trump’s speech to the U.N. General Assembly. While his lambasting of the nuclear deal garnered the greatest attention, it would be a mistake to overlook his extended focus on the plight of the Iranian people. It’s almost certainly significant — an important indicator of the administration’s future direction when it comes to Iran policy.
By my count, in the speech’s several paragraphs devoted to Iran, at least 11 of 17 sentences served to highlight specific ways that the regime has failed the Iranian people. Thus, the regime “masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of democracy.” It “has turned a wealthy country with a rich history and culture into an economically depleted rogue state” whose “longest-suffering victims … are, in fact, its own people.” Rather than using Iran’s vast oil profits to “improve Iranian lives,” the regime wastes this wealth — “which rightly belongs to the Iranian people” — on foreign adventures, from “fund[ing] Hezbollah and other terrorists that kill innocent Muslims” to “shor[ing] up Bashar al-Assad’s criminal dictatorship, fuel[ing] Yemen’s civil war, and undermin[ing] peace throughout the Middle East.”

Defying Baghdad, Iraqi Kurds vote in independence referendum
9/25/2017 9:45:25 AM


An Iraqi Kurdish man shows his ink-stained finger after voting in the Kurdish independence referendum in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, on September 25, 2017.
Voting started on Monday in an independence referendum organized by the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, despite regional and international fears that it would stoke instability and violence across the Middle East.
France 24, 25 September 2017 - Polling stations opened their doors at 8:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) and should close at 6:00 p.m. The final results should be announced within 72 hours.
The vote, expected to deliver a comfortable “yes” for independence, is not binding and is meant to give Massoud Barzani’s KRG a mandate to negotiate secession of the oil-producing region with Baghdad and the neighboring states.
“We have been waiting 100 years for this day,” said Rizgar, standing in a queue of men waiting to cast a ballot in a school in Erbil, the KRG capital.
“We want to have a state, with God’s help. Today is a celebration for all Kurds. God willing, we will say yes, yes to dear Kurdistan.”
The vote, initiated by veteran leader Barzani, has angered not only the federal government but also neighboring Turkey and Iran, concerned it could stoke separatist aspirations among their own sizeable Kurdish minorities.

Iraqi Kurds celebrate while urging people to vote in the upcoming independence referendum in Arbil.
Polling stations are scattered across the three northern provinces of autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, Erbil, Sulaimaniyah, and Dohuk, as well as in disputed bordering zones such as the oil-rich province of Kirkuk.
As Barzani pledged on Sunday to go ahead with the historic referendum after having resisted a barrage of international pressure to call it off, Iraq's leader pledged to take all the 'necessary measures' to protect the country's unity and his government targeted the Kurds' oil sales.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that taking the Kurds' unilateral decision to stage a referendum affected both Iraqi and regional security, and was 'unconstitutional and against civil peace'.
'We will take the necessary measures to preserve the unity of the country,' he said, without elaborating.
Hours later, the Iraqi government at a meeting of its security cabinet called on all countries 'to deal only with it on matters of oil and borders'.
The Iraqi Kurds export an average 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) through a pipeline running through Turkey to Ceyhan on the Mediterranean.
Tehran also upped the pressure on Sunday, saying it had blocked all flights to and from Iraqi Kurdistan at Baghdad's request.


Iraqi Kurds fly Kurdish flags during an event to urge people to vote in the upcoming independence referendum in Arbil,
Washington and many Western states had opposed the vote, saying it would hamper the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group in which cooperation between Baghdad and the Kurds has been key.
But Barzani said the Kurds' 'partnership with Baghdad' since the ousted of dictator Saddam Hussein in the 2003 US-led invasion had failed and urged his people to turn out and vote.
'We expect reactions from one side or another but we are convinced that whatever the risk and the price, it's better than waiting for a dark outcome,' he said.
'The referendum is not for defining borders or imposing a fait accompli. We want a dialogue with Baghdad to resolve the problems, and the dialogue can last one or two years,' Barzani said of zones such as Kirkuk.


(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)

IRAN REGIME ECONOMIC EXPERT: FAILURE OF THE NUCLEAR AGREEMENT TO SOLVE ECONOMIC PROBLEMS

NCRI - An Iranian economist regarding the U.S. Congressional resolution to strengthen the sanctions against the Iranian regime, said: “One of the largest banking systems is in the United States, which is capable of sanctioning even the Iranian domestic banks under the new agreements such as the FATF.”According to the state-run Basij Rouz news agency on 18 August 2017, Ibrahim Razzaghi, an Iranian economist,

recalling the FATF contract and its consequences, referred to the regime's parliamentary bill as insignificant reaction in response to the recent U.S. sanctions and said: “American banks can exert pressure on Iran and impose sanctions on military institutions, including the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) through banks inside the country, as we saw a while ago, one of the banks created some problems for a military establishment in the country.”

Emphasizing on America's financial, banking and currency strength, he said: “At the moment, we see that although bank sanctions have been lifted, but in practice, due to the pressure exerted by the American banking system on the world's banks, most large banks have been able to exchange currency with Iran. Even in cases where contracts have been closed, there is no possibility of currency exchange for the the contract to become operational.”

Regarding lack of operational power of the parliament’s legislation, he said: “The parliament has knowingly or unknowingly passed a bill only to take a reciprocal action against the U.S., but in practice it has little operational capability, and even if it is operational, it will have very little effect in relation to U.S. sanctions.”

European banks implement the US directives, not the JCPOA!

Bijan Abdi, another economist, said on 17 August 2017, in a conversation with the state-run Young Journalists Club website about the effects of the intensification of U.S. sanctions on Iran regime, “The economic impact of new sanctions against our country is now heavier than before.”

He added that with these conditions, there is no longer a way to circumvent the sanctions, emphasizing that domestic production has not increased in these years.

Referring to negotiations with the P5 + 1, Abdi said: "As part of this group, whenever the U.S. issues a bill, those 5 other members will unconsciously execute the bill, because they are its subordinate and in fact do not have an independent role vis-a-vis this superpower. For example, because European banks have the greatest banking deals with the United States, they will inevitably pull back when the instructions are issued by the United States.”

He added that due to the missile activities, the circle of sanctions directly and indirectly has become larger.

WEAPONS' EXPERTS: IAEA NEEDS FULL ACCESS TO PARCHIN TO UNDERSTAND IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM

TheTower.org, August 21, 2017 - In order to understand Iran’s nuclear weapons program, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) needs full access to Iran’s Parchin military installation, two experts on nuclear weapons wrote in a report published Monday.David Albright, a former weapons inspector and current president of the Institute for Science and International Security, Olli Heinonen, former IAEA Deputy Director,

and three others wrote in a report that the IAEA has inadequate means to investigate possible Iranian violations of the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

According to the report, the problem is that the arrangement made for investigating Parchin, a military site where Iran is believed to have conducted nuclear weapons research, “established inadequate rules for on-the-ground investigation and environmental sampling about alleged nuclear weapons-related high explosive work at this Parchin site.”

The IAEA discovered two particles of uranium in its investigation of Parchin. The Obama administration later acknowledged this was likely an indication of an Iranian nuclear weapons program, which, according to the report “should have been a ‘red-flag’ necessitating further follow-up investigation.”

Because the IAEA was unable to follow-up on its investigation of Parchin, “the IAEA avoided drawing full conclusions about what occurred at the Parchin site, with the result being that the evidence of previous nuclear weapons research development and testing activity by Iran had effectively been swept under the rug, clearing the way for smooth passage of the JCPOA.” This meant that “Iran’s strategy of denial, site modification, refusal of access, and obfuscation successfully worked to prevent the IAEA from making a clear determination.”

However, a year and a half after implementation of the JCPOA began, it nevertheless remains essential that the IAEA gains unfettered access to Parchin. The paper explained:

“Understanding how far Iran went at Parchin is an important part of understanding Iran’s work on nuclear weapons. A comprehensive understanding of this work is critical to set a baseline for effective monitoring to ensure early detection if Iran resumes work on nuclear weapons. The issue of past activity at the Parchin site is also related to the IAEA reaching a credible broader conclusion under the Additional Protocol that all nuclear material has been accounted for and has remained in only peaceful activities. The past activities at Parchin stand as a roadblock to such a determination. Moreover, the JCPOA, in Section T, Annex 1, bans certain nuclear weapons development activities, some of which are suspected to have occurred at Parchin, and places control on associated dual-use equipment.3 Section T-controlled equipment was used at this Parchin site, as well as other locations at Parchin, and may still be used at Parchin or at other locations outside of required JCPOA controls.”

The P5+1 should require the IAEA to further investigate the Parchin case. The inspection effort should be facilitated by Iran allowing access to key individuals and additional sites, including those near the Parchin high explosive bunker and other associated locations, such as sites involved in multi-point detonator work and manufacturing facilities for explosive chambers. It may well find other important information. The lack of ongoing access to Parchin calls into question the adequacy of the verification of the JCPOA and the deal’s long-term utility to deter Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Like previous nuclear agreements with North Korea, where the downplaying of IAEA verification helped doom those agreements, the JCPOA currently risks the same fate. It should be noted that North Korea proceeded with undeclared plutonium metallurgy and other nuclear weapons-related work outside nuclear facilities subject to IAEA monitoring under the 1994 Agreed Framework, enabling North Korea to continue working on nuclear weapons and to build them more quickly after withdrawing from the Agreed Framework in late 2002.

Top Iranian political and military officials have consistently said that they will never allow inspections of military sites.

Iranian army officer killed in Syria's Aleppo

Iranian artillery officer Mehdi Joudi

ews agencies, July 13 2017 - Iranian artillery officer Mehdi Joudi was killed in Syria on Tuesday, according to Trend news agency.

Joudi was killed in Aleppo city while conducting military advisory mission, the reports said.

Iran earlier in March announced that the death toll of Iranian-backed forces in Syria had surpassed 2,100. Commentators say these forces are mainly tasked with protecting Assad and suppressing the Sunnis.

Following the outbreak of the Syrian crisis, Iran reportedly set up pro-Shiite militias to support Bashar al-Assad's government against armed opposition groups.

In addition, in 2016, Tehran dispatched a group of its military personnel, known as 'Green Beret Forces', on advisory mission to Syria to bolstered its military presence in the country.

Iran's support for Assad has come at a dear price as many of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) recruits and Afghan militiamen have been killed over the past weeks in many conflict zones in Syria. 

Iran is the biggest challenge to the Middle East; Kissinger says

Henry Kissinger warns destroying Isis could lead to ‘Iranian radical empire’

8/8/2017 3:26:26 PM

   

The enemy of your enemy is not always your friend

'Most non-Isis powers — including Shia Iran and the leading Sunni states — agree on the need to destroy it. But which entity is supposed to inherit its territory?'

By Shehab Khan
The Independent, 8 August 2017 - Henry Kissinger has warned that destroying Isis could lead to an “Iranian radical empire”.

The former diplomat has suggested that once Isis is defeated if Iran occupies the free territory, the result could lead to the emergence of a new empire.

The 94-year-old, who was the Secretary of State under President Richard Nixon, also spoke about the complications of taking sides in Middle Eastern conflicts.

“In these circumstances, the traditional adage that the enemy of your enemy can be regarded as your friend no longer applies. In the contemporary Middle East, the enemy of your enemy may also be your enemy. The Middle East affects the world by the volatility of its ideologies as much as by its specific actions,” he wrote in an article for CapX.

“The outside world’s war with Isis can serve as an illustration. Most non-Isis powers — including Shia Iran and the leading Sunni states — agree on the need to destroy it. But which entity is supposed to inherit its territory? A coalition of Sunnis? Or a sphere of influence dominated by Iran?

“The answer is elusive because Russia and the Nato countries support opposing factions. If the Isis territory is occupied by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards or Shia forces trained and directed by it, the result could be a territorial belt reaching from Tehran to Beirut, which could mark the emergence of an Iranian radical empire,” Mr. Kissinger added.
It is not the first time Mr. Kissinger has made such remarks. Last year, the former Harvard professor said the biggest challenge the Middle East faced was the “potential domination” by Iran, the Algemeiner reported.