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TEHRAN The 2021 Global Health Security Index, which measures the capacities of 195 countries to prepare for epidemics and pandemics, has ranked Iran 90th in the world.

The GHS Index is the first comprehensive assessment and benchmarking of health security and related capabilities across the 195 countries across six categories and 37 indicators.

The Index is a project of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and was developed with Economist Impact, which aims to spur measurable changes in national health security and improve the international capability to address one of the worlds most omnipresent risks: infectious disease outbreaks that can lead to international epidemics and pandemic

Although many countries were able to quickly develop capacities to address COVID-19, all countries remain dangerously unprepared for meeting future epidemic and pandemic threats, potentially more devastating than COVID-19.

The results of the 2021 Index show that even as many countries proved they could ramp up new capacities during the emergencyincluding setting up labs and creating cohorts of contact tracers to follow the spread of COVID-19some responses were crippled by long-unaddressed weaknesses, such as lack of healthcare surge capacity and critical medical supplies.

Iran ranks 90th out of 195 countries with a score of 36.5 out of 100.

In this report, there are data and research-based on 6 categories of prevention, diagnosis, and reporting rapid response, health systems, commitments to improve financial capacity and global norms, and high-risk and risky environment.

In the Prevention index, Iran ranks 46th with a score of 28.4 out of 100 on the global average.

In the Health Systems index, the country gained a score of 39.4 and is ranked 70th among countries in the world with a score of 31.5.

In the Commitments to Improve Financial Capacity and Global Norms index, Iran is ranked 185 with a global average score of 47.8 and an overall score of 27.1.

In general, the first country in this index is the United States and the last is Somalia.

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GHS Index: Iran ranks 90th in dealing with pandemics - Tehran Times

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FIRSTON FOX: In an open letter to President Biden Wednesday, 46 retired U.S. generals and admirals voiced their opposition to the ongoing negotiations with Iran on striking a nuclear deal.

"In Ukraine, we are bearing witness to the horrors of a country ruthlessly attacking its neighbor and, by brandishing its nuclear weapons, forcing the rest of the world largely to stand on the sidelines," the letter, penned in coordination with the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), said. "The new Iran deal currently being negotiated, which Russia has played a central role in crafting, will enable the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism to cast its own nuclear shadow over the Middle East."

Top military officials expressed concern that the Biden administrations determination to re-enter a nuclear deal with Tehran could weaken the U.S.s position to hold Iran accountable.

A demonstrator carries a banner with a caricature of the President Joe Biden in Tehran, Iran, on Thursday. (AP/Vahid Salemi)

BIDEN WARNED BY IRANIAN AMERICAN SCIENTISTS, SCHOLARS OVER PERILS OF REMOVING TERROR STATUS

Despite warnings from member nations like the U.K., France and Germany, the U.S. abandoned the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018 under the Trump administration over what it regarded as weak points in the deal.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), did not report that Tehran had violated the JCPOA, but Irans continued deployment of ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead prompted the U.S. to withdraw from the agreement.

Retired Air Force Gen. Charles Wald, who also formerly served as deputy commander of U.S, European Command, said he supports finding a solution to the nuclear issue in the Middle East through diplomacy, but argued no deal is better than a bad deal.

"The idea of an agreement is a good idea. We agree with diplomacy," Wald told Fox News. "But we agreed with a fair agreement that would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon breakout and then have weapons delivery systems that would then change the dynamic in the Middle East particularly for Israel but all other countries too."

Wald said one of his chief concerns with the latest deal is that the Biden administration is not considering Irans role in fueling terrorism and backing rebel groups in the war in Yemen a war that has prompted one of the greatest humanitarian crises.

A huge mural of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, includes an inset of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, on March 8, 2020, in Tehran, Iran. (Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images)

DEMOCRATS BAND TOGETHER TO RAISE CONCERNS WITH IRAN NUKE DEAL REVIVAL: 'WE CAN'T STAY QUIET'

President Biden made re-entering a nuclear agreement with Iran a chief priority of his administration and indirect talks through European allies have been on and off for roughly a year.

But reports surfaced late last month suggesting the administration was considering a request from Iran to remove its top military branch, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),from the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations.

In exchange, the U.S. has called on Iran to end its support for terrorist organizations fueling unrest in the region but several groups from Iranian American scientists to retired military commanders have little faith Iran will live up to this commitment.

"Thats a red flag," Wald said in reference to removing the IRGC as a designated terrorist group. "That just doesn't sit well with us because the IRGC is the most malicious group in the region."

The retired general said the death of 600 U.S. military members could be attributed "directly" to IRGC, and noted they continue to attack U.S. and allied forces in the region.

Talks between western nations and Iran appeared to be stalled and officials involved in the negotiations remain tight-lipped on deal specifics.

President Hassan Rouhani visits the Bushehr nuclear power plant just outside of Bushehr, Iran, on Jan. 13, 2015. (AP Photo/Iranian Presidency Office, Mohammad Berno, File)

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Wald said he would need to see "unfettered access by the IAEA" and assurances that Iran will not continue with its ballistic missile system even if a nuclear agreement is reached, in order for him to support a deal with Iran.

"The Iranians will push up to the point where they know something bad is going happen to them," Wald continued. "So the more difficult we make for them to operate with impunity, the more they're going to take advantage of it."

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46 retired generals, admirals urge White House against Iran nuclear ...

President Ebrahim Raisi says Iran will continue nuclear development activities as talks to revive Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers remain stalled

ByThe Associated Press

April 9, 2022, 12:13 PM

3 min read

TEHRAN, Iran -- President Ebrahim Raisi said Saturday that Iran will continue nuclear development activities as talks to revive Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers remain stalled, state media reported.

Speaking in a ceremony marking Iran's national day of nuclear technology, the hard-line president said his administration will support an acceleration in research of peaceful nuclear technology.

Our knowledge and technology in the nuclear field is not reversible. Iran's (continuation of) research in peaceful nuclear fields will not depend on others' demands or viewpoints, said Raisi, who came to power in August.

Raisi's comments came as talks between Iran and world powers in Vienna to revive the 2015 nuclear deal have stalled. There is concern that Iran could be closer to being able to construct an atomic weapon if it chose to pursue one.

The nuclear deal collapsed four years ago when former President Donald Trump withdrew the United States and imposed crushing sanctions on Iran. In the meantime, Iran has vastly expanded its nuclear work.

Iran has long insisted that its nuclear program has had peaceful purposes like generating electric power and medical isotopes.

During Saturday's ceremony, Iran displayed its new civil nuclear achievements, including several medical isotopes, agricultural pesticides, detoxification equipment and nuclear fuel material. The report did not elaborate.

The head of Irans civilian Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, said Iran will soon pursue construction of a new nuclear power plant with 360-megawatt capacity. It is to be located near the town of Darkhovin in oil-rich Khuzestan province in the country's southwest.

The plant was supposed to be built before the 1979 Islamic Revolution with help from France but the project was halted in its initial phase. The site became a major battlefield in the 8-year war between Iran and Iraq that began in 1980.

Irans sole nuclear power plant, with 1,000-megawatt capacity, went online in 2011 with help from Russia in the southern port city of Bushehr.

Irans stockpile of enriched uranium continues to grow and it is currently enriching it at up to 60% purity. That's the highest level ever by Iran and is a short technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%. It is far greater than the nuclear deals 3.67% cap.

Meanwhile on Saturday, Iran imposed symbolic sanctions on more U.S. officials over their roles in harming Iran, the countrys Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The 16-person list included George William Casey, former commander of American forces in Iraq; CENTCOM former commander Joseph Votel; former commander of American forces in Afghanistan Austin Scott Miller; U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea and other U.S. officials from the former Trump administration.

From time to time, Iran adds to a long list of sanctioned Americans. In January, Iran sanctioned more than 50 Americans for their alleged roles in killing a top Iranian general in Iraq in 2020. In 2021 Iran imposed sanctions on Trump, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and eight others.

The sanctions ban the targeted persons from travel to Iran and possible confiscation of their assets in Iran. They are seen as symbolic as the Americans dont have any assets in Iran.

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Iran's president vows to continue nuclear activities - ABC News

A year ago, Tehran and Washington began diplomatic efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, which the Trump administration had sabotaged. The last 12 months of intense shuttle diplomacy by European governments have helped Tehran and the Biden White House agree on the technical steps needed to bring both sides back into compliance with the deal. Yet, Iran and the United States still find themselves in a standoff over political issues: the latest hot potato is what to do about the foreign terrorist organisation (FTO) designation of Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) imposed under Donald Trump.

I will spare readers the long list of reasons as to why the 2015 nuclear deal is the best one on offer the bottom line is that it provides a verifiable path to stop, and quickly react to, a potential Iranian march towards a nuclear bomb. This deal is not perfect, and there is no doubt that political decision-makers in both Iran and the US will face political heat for returning to it. But they are heading this way because its terms remain the best compromise on offer. And, in any case, behind the scenes those in charge in Tehran, Washington, and European capitals know their respective plan Bs look hideous.

Given this, it would be foolish for Washington to jeopardise the opportunity to contain Tehrans nuclear programme over the lifting of what is a largely symbolic designation of the IRGC. US officials have repeatedly outlined that the IRGC will remain on a long list of sanctions that make it highly unlikely that its economic operations would attract new business. And, with its latest sanctions against Irans ballistic missile programme, the Biden administration has demonstrated it can walk and chew gum at the same time. Moreover, the FTO decision has done little to secure US interests: in fact, US officials have admitted that, since the designation, attacks by Iranian-backed groups in the region have spiked by 400 per cent. If the diplomatic track fails now, the IRGC is likely to be even more assertive in the region with an expanding nuclear programme at its disposal.

It would be foolish for Washington to jeopardise the opportunity to contain Tehrans nuclear programme over the lifting of what is a largely symbolic designation of the IRGC.

Iran has long maintained that, as a matter of principle and national pride, it wants this designation against a crucial part of it armed forces removed before returning to the nuclear deal. This should not be a surprise to the US administration. The struggle has been over what Washington can get in return from Tehran and whether Joe Biden is prepared to take the ensuing criticism.

The US should not expect a big public gesture from Iran in return for lifting the FTO designation. For example, Iran is likely to reject proposals to state, publicly, that it will not take revenge for the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani during the Trump administration. The US remains concerned that Iran may carry out a counter-assassination against high-level former officials involved in the decision to kill Soleimani. Yet there is considerable worry in Iran that such a public pledge would set a dangerous precedent for the US and Israel to carry out future assassinations with no cost.

Tehran believes it has already conceded on some of its critical opening negotiating terms, such as seeking reparations from Washington for the billions of dollars worth of trade it lost as a result of the US walking out on a deal endorsed by the United Nations Security Council. Iran has also seemingly stepped back from pressing for written guarantees that a future American president would not withdraw from the agreement again.

The reality is that Biden will face opposition in Congress, and political backlash from Israel, no matter what kind of deal he reaches purely because he is doing a deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran. For the US president, the longer he delays a final call, the closer he gets to the midterm elections in November, when his appetite for upsetting hawkish Democrats in Congress will shrink even further. In the meantime, Irans nuclear programme and knowledge continues to expand. With the Ukraine conflict already a geopolitical hotspot for the West, this is no time to add more crises to the mix by opening a new nuclear front in the Middle East that is likely to be met with an Israeli military response.

For Iran, delaying the return to the nuclear deal comes with a high price tag in terms of opportunities lost for its economy. In Tehran, power is now largely concentrated in the hands of the conservative political faction, which is eager to show it can manage the economy better than what its members view as their naive pro-Western predecessors. But, after almost a year in office, President Ebrahim Raisis government has been unable to substantively improve the economic conditions of ordinary Iranians.

The Ukraine conflict has also ignited internal debate in Iran over how to best to protect its national interests. In sharp contrast to its competitors in the Arab world, the stalemate over the nuclear deal means that Iran cannot take full advantage of high energy prices following Western sanctions against Russia. China has continued to buy Iranian oil despite US sanctions but it has done so on the cheap. So long as Iran remains in the US sanctions box, it cannot find more buyers for its oil such as South Korea, India, and European countries looking to reduce their dependence on Russia energy. Nor can Iran get free access to payment for its oil so long as US secondary sanctions choke up global financial transactions with the country.

As part of a US return to the nuclear deal and the removal of the IRGCs FTO designation, a side-commitment can be publicly issued by all parties to the nuclear deal at the Security Council level stating that UNSC permanent members and Iran will de-escalate military tensions in the Middle East.

European parties to the nuclear deal need to double down on pushing both Tehran and Washington to clear the last political hurdle. A number of reasonable compromises are in circulation. One suggestion reportedly under review is to remove the IRGCs FTO designation but keep on the list its elite Quds force, which carries out operations in the Middle East. Another pathway could come at the UN Security Council, which endorses the JCPOA under resolution 2231. As part of a US return to the nuclear deal and the removal of the IRGCs FTO designation, a side-commitment can be publicly issued by all parties to the nuclear deal at the Security Council level stating that UNSC permanent members and Iran will de-escalate military tensions in the Middle East.

Such a commitment would help the US reduce its military footprint in the Middle East, while cooling tensions can open up greater space for regional talks. There is no way to guarantee this de-escalation will last the same way that there is no way to guarantee that this or a future American administration would not U-turn on the JCPOA as Trump did. In coming to a final deal, Iran and the US will need to accept these realities and exercise political will.

The core substantive differences on how to implement the nuclear deal have now been resolved. The parties even managed to keep the negotiations on track after Russia a key member of the deal almost brought the talks to a halt following the fallout with the West over sanctions linked to the Ukraine war. The longer Washington and Tehran wait, the more susceptible the process becomes to spoilers, and the more each side feels it cannot give an inch to save face domestically.

It is time to replace the JCPOA with JDIA: Just Do It Already.

The European Council on Foreign Relations does not take collective positions. ECFR publications only represent the views of its individual authors.

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Iran, the US, and the nuclear deal: Bidens chance to remove Trumps ...

DUBAI, April 12 (Reuters) - Iran's supreme leader said on Tuesday that his country's future should not be tied to the success or collapse of nuclear talks with world powers, Iranian state media reported, adding that the negotiations to revive a 2015 nuclear deal "are progressing well".

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on all state matters such as Iran's nuclear programme, made the comments about a month after almost a year of indirect talks between Iran and the United States stalled. Both countries blame each other for lack of "political will" to settle remaining issues.

"Absolutely do not wait for nuclear negotiations in planning for the country and move forward," Khamenei told a gathering of senior officials, state TV reported.

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"Do not let your work be disrupted whether the negotiations reach positive or semi-positive or negative results."

In 2018, then-U.S. President Donald Trump left the nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy. A year later, Iran started to violate the limits imposed on its nuclear programme by the 2015 agreement to make it harder to develop a bomb. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful use only.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting via video conference with people from East Azarbaijan in Tehran, Iran, February 17, 2022. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

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"The United States broke its promises (by exiting the deal) and now they have reached a dead end while Iran is not in such a situation," Khamenei said, while calling on Iran's nuclear negotiators to continue "resisting America's excessive demands".

One of the unresolved issues is whether Washington would remove Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) from the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list, as demanded by Tehran in order for the deal to be revived.

Critics of dropping the IRGC from the list, as well as those open to the idea, say doing so will have little economic effect because other U.S. sanctions force foreign actors to shun the group. read more

The IRGC, created by the Islamic Republic's late founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, is more than just a military force and has enormous political clout. It was placed under sanctions in 2017 and put on the FTO list in April of 2019.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, the IRGC was sanctioned as a "specially designated global terrorist" (SDGT) on a separate U.S. list.

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Writing by Parisa HafeziEditing by William Maclean and Grant McCool

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Khamenei says Iran's future should not be tied to nuclear talks with world powers - Reuters