Archive for the ‘Iran’ Category

Joe Bidens Iran plan is a total disaster – New York Post

Just when you thought it couldnt get any worse, it does. The Biden administration is working on a plan that would make the world a far more dangerous place.

Its a plot with three steps, all terrible and each arguably worse than the previous one.

Step One is the determination to make a new sweetheart nuclear deal with Iran. There is no good reason, only the fetish to undo everything Donald Trump did.

He wisely scuttled the first bad deal, so President Biden is hellbent on making a new one, and is close to the finish line, meaning Iran could escape sanctions and its oil could hit the world market.

Step Two in the budding disaster is that the White House is letting the butcher of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, broker the talks between America and Iran. As I noted last week, on one hand, Putin is a war criminal raining death and destruction on millions of civilians, and on the other hand, we trust him to make an ironclad deal that blocks the mad mullahs from getting the ultimate weapons of mass destruction.

Oh, and in consideration of Putins efforts for world peace, any construction work Russia does in Iran related to the nuke deal would be exempt from sanctions imposed over Ukraine. As Biden would say, no joke.

If this sounds absolutely insane, get a load of Step Three. The Biden bots are actively considering, as a bonus to the mullahs, removing the terrorist designation of their main military group, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Recall that Trump droned the longtime commander of the Guards elite Quds Force, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, who was responsible for killing and maiming thousands of American soldiers in Iraq. Soleimani had spread terror in the region for decades, yet Biden said during the 2020 campaign he would not have ordered the hit.

His objection is probably relevant to the fact that Iran added the demand about removing the terror label. They figured they were pushing on an open door with the appeaser in chief.

For Biden, hell likely say yes to the demand for the same reason he wants a whole new deal in the first place: Trump. The former president put the terror designation on the Revolutionary Guards in 2019, a year before he eliminated Soleimani.

Reports say all the group must do is pledge to make nice and stop killing Irans enemies across the Middle East and a separate agreement will lift the sanctions blocking its financing, travel, etc., as if its the Chamber of Commerce.

The whole notion is so far off the charts that the Jewish News Syndicate reports that Israeli leaders, already unhappy about the prospect of any deal with Iran, initially refused to believe the White House would even consider giving a free pass to the Revolutionary Guards.

Convinced the proposal is real, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid issued a furious statement denouncing the group as responsible for attacks on American civilians and American forces throughout the Middle East and said it was behind plans to assassinate senior American government officials.

Bennett and Lapid continued: The IRGC were involved in the murder of hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians; they destroyed Lebanon and they are brutally oppressing Iranian civilians. They kill Jews because they are Jews, Christians because they are Christians, and Muslims because they refuse to surrender to them.

Former American diplomats who have advised both Democrats and Republicans in the region agreed the idea stinks.

Dennis Ross tweeted that the concept makes us look naive and, citing the groups recent rocket attacks in Iraq that nearly struck an American consulate, added: For the IRGC, which admitted this week to firing rockets into Erbil, to promise to de-escalate regionally is about as credible as Putin saying Russia would not invade Ukraine.

Ambassador Martin Indyk tweeted that removing the Guards from the terror list would be seen as a betrayal by many US allies who suffered from their brutal terrorism.

Nonetheless, it looks as if Biden wants to give the terrorists a pass in exchange for a vague promise. The White House has said no decision has been reached, which probably means it has but officials wont defend it publicly until the agreement is signed.

There is one potential roadblock to all the madness, and that is the Senate. Because the entire package is new, Senate approval is required.

Many people believe it should be considered a formal treaty, which would require two-thirds support. Instead, Democrats are likely to try to use an end run similar to the one they used in 2015 to get the first deal through.

After a GOP-led filibuster effort failed, 58 to 42, the pact was deemed approved through what one critic called brilliant political subterfuge. That critic, Eric R. Mandel, director of the Middle East Political Information Network, writes in The Hill: So, lets recap: Forty-two senators were able to bind America to an agreement that should have required the votes of 66 senators for a treaty.

If the Senate lets anything like that happen again, it will prove that Bidens love of extremely bad ideas is contagious.

Crime-wise, New York was a tale of good and bad news last week.

Mayor Adams first anti-gun units hit the streets and one team made a big bust two hours into its first tour. A Bronx 20-year-old said to be a gang member was charged with carrying an illegal 9mm pistol after being searched.

Adams called suspect David Chevarria the poster child of the failing system because he previously was arrested three times for gun possession and attempted murder, yet was released on bail.

Its also good news that Gov. Hochul finally joined the fight against Albanys criminal coddlers, saying she will demand big changes, including in the porous bail laws. One item would give judges more discretion, which is a no-brainer.

The bad news came via NYPD statistics showing serious crime through March 13 was up 45% over last year. Remember, too, 2021 saw a dramatic increase over 2020, which saw a big jump over 2019.

So in the third year of a crime wave, the cavalry is coming. Lets hope its not too little, too late to save the city.

Readers spot various meanings from the Times belatedly calling Hunter Bidens e-mails authentic.

Mark Williams writes, The news here is that the Times is signaling they dont want Biden to run in 2024.

Mary Maillis hopes to use the momentum to end the silencing of conservatives, writing: The only way is to do what liberals do. Hold massive demonstrations outside Twitter and Facebook until they stop discriminating against conservatives.

And Thomas McFadden explains the Gray Ladys switch this way: It seems the science has changed!

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Joe Bidens Iran plan is a total disaster - New York Post

UK-US dual citizen returned to prison in Iran after furlough – ABC News

A dual British-U.S. national temporarily released from prison last week as part of a deal between Iran and the United Kingdom has been taken back into custody

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press

March 20, 2022, 11:15 AM

3 min read

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- A dual British-U.S. national temporarily released from prison last week as part of a deal between Iran and the United Kingdom was taken back into custody just two days later, his lawyer said on Sunday.

Iranian prison officials let the long-held 66-year-old environmentalist, Morad Tahbaz, leave jail on a furlough last Wednesday, the same day as two high-profile British citizens who had been detained in Iran for more than five years were freed and flown home to Britain.

The U.K. said it secured Tahbaz's furlough, along with the release and return of charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and retired civil engineer Anoosheh Ashoori, after settling a long-standing debt to Iran that had fueled tensions between the countries for decades.

But barely two days after Tahbaz left jail and headed to his family's home in Tehran, Iranian security forces forced him to return to Evin Prison, his Tehran-based lawyer said.

Unfortunately, we have no idea if or when he is going to be released, Hojjat Kermani told The Associated Press. He is back in Evin for the time being.

Iranian officials and state-run media did not acknowledge his return to prison. Irans mission to the United Nations also did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did officials in Iran's judiciary office.

The State Department said it was aware of reports that Tahbaz had been returned to prison allegedly to be fitted with an ankle tag.

However, Tahbaz's lawyer said he was not informed about any ankle tag and two days later remained behind bars without any update.

Iran made a commitment to the U.K. to furlough Morad Tahbaz, the State Department said. We are not a party to this arrangement, but would join the U.K. in considering anything short of Morads immediate furlough a violation of Irans commitment."

The statement added: "We are urgently consulting with the U.K. on appropriate responses.

Iranian security forces arrested Tahbaz in January 2018, as part of wide crackdown targeting environmental activists in the Islamic Republic.

A prominent conservationist and board member of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation that seeks to protect endangered species, Tahbaz was sentenced to 10 years in prison with his colleagues on vague charges of spying for America and undermining Iran's security.

United Nations human rights experts have pressed for Tahbazs release, decrying his detention as arbitrary and expressing concern over his life-threatening health problems and exposure to COVID-19 in his overcrowded jail cell.

Tahbaz's family and international rights groups reject the charges against him, accusing the Iranian government of using the dual national as a diplomatic pawn in its negotiations for money and influence with the West something Tehran denies.

His return to prison comes as world powers try to revive the agreement of 2015 that imposed limits on Irans nuclear program in exchange for easing sanctions.

Earlier this month, after almost a year of painstaking talks, negotiators in Vienna put their work on pause." They had nearly reached an agreement until Russia demanded that its trade with Iran be exempted from Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, threatening to derail the process.

We are close to a possible deal, but were not there yet, State Department spokesman Ned Price said last week.

He added: We continue to work night and day to secure the release of our wrongfully detained citizens, and that includes U.S.-U.K. citizen Morad Tahbaz.

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UK-US dual citizen returned to prison in Iran after furlough - ABC News

Iran Signs Deal With Russia To Import 20 Million Tons Of Basic Goods –

Iran has reportedly signed a deal with Russia to import 20 million tons of basic goods, including vegetable oil, wheat, barley and corn.

NourNews, which is affiliated with the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali Shamkhani, said on Saturday that Irans Agriculture Minister Javad Sadatinejad signed the agreement during a visit to Russia last week.

NourNews did not report the monetary value of the deal.

The report said the deal is to address concerns about shortages of basic goods and livestock feed in the next Iranian year, starting on March 21.

Iran eliminated a major subsidy for importing food and animal feed recently, raising fears of rising prices in the new year. According to a report by ISNA on Saturday, out of about $19 billion worth of basic goods imported in the past 12 months nearly $15 billion was subsidized with cheap dollars provided to importers.

Earlier in March, the parliament decided to scrap the multi-billion-dollar subsidy for essential food and medicines, despite warnings of more inflation and hardship.

The idea to eliminate the subsidy emerged after hardliner president Ebrahim Raisi (Raeesi) assumed office in August and could count on backing from conservatives and ultra-conservatives in control of Irans parliament.

The deputy head of Irans Customs Administration, Foroud Asgari, said about 30 million tons of basic goods have been cleared through customs and entered the country.

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Iran Signs Deal With Russia To Import 20 Million Tons Of Basic Goods -

Lifting sanctions on terrorists will not prevent Iran ‘from going nuclear’: Sen Ron Johnson – Fox News

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Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson joined Fox & Friends Weekend Sunday to voice his concerns over a possible Iranian nuclear deal, warning that President Biden's perceived weakness could have implications.

SENATOR RON JOHNSON: You know, we talked about...weakness earlier. I don't think very many Americans realize this because the news media, of course, won't report it, but as the Biden administration went crawling back to Iran to reengage in this horrible nuclear deal, the Iranians refused to meet with Americans; and so, guess who is negotiating the new Iran agreement on behalf of the United States with Iran? Russia and China. Do you think Russia and China view that as weakness? I certainly do.

What we are hearing of this agreement, it is awful. It is way worse than the previous agreement, billions of dollars and apparently delivered to free hostages, which is just going to spark the taking of more hostages worldwide, the lifting of sanctions on terroristsI mean, horrible, horrible people this will not prevent Iran from eventually going nuclear, not at all. I doubt that it really even would delay it because I simply don't believe that the type of inspections are going to ever be put in place that will prevent it. They continue to march toward the day when they will become a nuclear power with missile technology. This is...also an evil regime, an evil empire. We need to approach them with strength, not the grotesque weakness that the Biden administration is approaching Iran with right now.

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Lifting sanctions on terrorists will not prevent Iran 'from going nuclear': Sen Ron Johnson - Fox News

FMs of Iran and Oman discuss bilateral ties – AzerNews.Az

20 March 2022 15:38 (UTC+04:00)

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By Trend

In the phone call with his Iranian counterpart, Omani Foreign Minister bin Hamad Al-Busaidi expressed hope that the final stapes will be taken in the Vienna talks as soon as possible,Trendreports citingMehr.

Iran Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Omani counterpart Badr bin Hamad Al-Busaidi held a phone call on expansion of bilateral ties as well as the latest regional and international developments.

During the phone conversation which was held on Saturday evening, Amir-Abdollahian referred to the close ties between Tehran and Muscat, expressing hope that the relations will be further expanded.

The top Iranian diplomat also thanked the Sultanate of Oman for its constructive and appreciable efforts to settle some issues including the cases of security prisoners.

The Omani foreign minister also expressed pleasure at Amir-Abdollahians comments and thanked him over the issues under discussion.

Al-Busaidi underlined the continuation of ties and close contacts between the two countries and voiced hope that the final stapes will be taken in the Vienna talks as soon as possible.

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FMs of Iran and Oman discuss bilateral ties - AzerNews.Az