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Iran's atomic chief said Tuesday the Islamic Republic needs only five days to ramp up its uranium enrichment to 20 percent, a level at which the material could quickly be further enriched for use in a nuclear weapon.

The comments by Ali Akbar Salehi to Iranian state television come as U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly has threatened to renegotiate or walk away from the 2015 nuclear deal.

Salehi's warning, along with recent comments by President Hassan Rouhani, show Iran is willing to push back against Trump while still acknowledging it wants to keep the deal, which lifted crippling economic sanctions.

"If there is a plan for a reaction and a challenge, we will definitely surprise them," said Salehi, who also serves as one of Rouhani's vice presidents. "If we make the determination, we are able to resume 20 percent enrichment in at most five days."

He added: "Definitely, we are not interested in such a thing happening. We have not achieved the deal easily to let it go easily. We are committed to the deal and we are loyal to it."

Iran gave up the majority of its stockpile of 20-percent enriched uranium as part of the nuclear deal it struck with world powers, including Trump's predecessor, President Barack Obama. The accord currently caps Iran's uranium enrichment at under 5 percent.

While Iran long has maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, uranium enriched to 20 percent can be further enriched in a matter of weeks to the point where it can be used in nuclear weapons. Fears about that so-called "breakout time" were what led the U.S. and other countries to push for the agreement.

Iran processed its stockpile of near 20-percent uranium into a lower enrichment, turned some into fuel plates to power a research reactor and shipped the rest to Russia as part of the deal.

The Obama administration and most independent experts said at the time of the deal that Iran would need at least a year after abandoning the deal to have enough nuclear material to build a bomb. Before the deal was struck, they said the time-frame for Iran to "break out" toward a bomb was a couple of months.

While the economic benefits of the deal have yet to reach the average Iranian, airlines in the country have signed deals for billions of dollars of aircraft from Airbus and Boeing. Car manufacturers and others have swept into the Iranian market and the country has boosted its oil sales. Abandoning the deal would put those economic gains in jeopardy.

Rouhani, a moderate within Iran's clerically-overseen government, warned last week that it could ramp up its nuclear program and quickly achieve a more advanced level if the U.S. continues "threats and sanctions" against his country.

Rouhani's comments were sparked by Trump signing a sanctions bill imposing mandatory penalties on people involved in Iran's ballistic missile program and anyone who does business with them. The U.S. legislation also applies terrorism sanctions to Iran's Revolutionary Guard and enforces an existing arms embargo.

Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates contributed to this report.

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Iran says only 5 days needed to ramp up uranium enrichment ...

VIENNA -- U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley arrived at the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Wednesday to increase the Trump administration's understanding of Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal reached under President Obama, but also to try and ratchet up pressure on Iran after its recent ballistic missile tests.

Haley met IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano, and was also to meet some of the technical experts who monitor nuclear activities, including those in Iran governed by the nuclear pact signed by the U.S., a handful of its allies, Russia and Iran.

In a statement released after her meeting with Amano, the U.S. United Nations delegation said Haley had stressed U.S. "concerns about ensuring Iran strictly adheres to its obligations." One of her primary missions -- not just in Vienna but back at U.N. Headquarters -- is to persuade the international community that Iran is not adhering to those obligations, and to ensure that it does.

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The trip comes as the Trump administration's war of words with Iran is ramping up. Iran's nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, issued an ominous warning on Tuesday that his country could, "if we make the determination resume 20 percent-enrichment in, at most five days." Under the terms of the nuclear deal, Iran is banned from enriching uranium to that level, which can make it useable in nuclear weapons.

For now, Haley is focused on trying, along with Western partners, to make what President Trump has called the "worst deal," better, by pressing Iran to stop test launching ballistic missiles.

The U.S. has imposed new sanctions under Mr. Trump, pointing at the missile launches, Iran's human rights record and its support of terrorism abroad, but the 2015 nuclear deal -- officially the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) -- does not explicitly deal with any of those issues.

The issue is the interpretation of the nuclear agreement, and whether launching ballistic missiles is, in fact, a violation of it.

In an August 2nd letter sent to Italian Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi (who chairs the Iran sanctions committee) and to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Haley argued on behalf of France, Germany the U.K, and the U.S. that Iran had taken actions inconsistent with the nuclear deal by launching a Simorgh space launch vehicle that has the capacity to carry a nuclear weapon.

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The U.N. Security Council Resolution (UNSCR 2231) on the nuclear pact calls on Iran, "not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology."

In the letter she penned, Haley argued that, "Iran's longstanding program to develop ballistic missiles continues to be inconsistent with UNSCR 2231," and she called for the issue to be taken up at the Security Council.

While all four Western powers that signed onto that letter are in agreement that Iran's ballistic missile tests are a violation of the U.N. resolution, neither the U.K., France, nor Germany have followed the U.S. lead to impose new sanctions.

Asked about the letter, Italy's Cardi told CBS News that this week that he is consulting the other members of the committee to put together a unified response.

After the most recent launch by Iran, Haley laid down the gauntlet: "We will continue to impose consequences until Iran stops its provocations and complies fully with Security Council resolutions."

The issue that Haley confronts is that the IAEA is not mandated to deal with missile tests, and in its seven reports on Iran's adherence to the deal thus far the agency says Iran has completed the steps required under the JCPOA and the U.N. Resolution.

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U.S. law requires the White House to certify Iran's compliance with the deal every 90 days, which Mr. Trump, despite his professed reluctance, did for a second time in July in spite of pleas from several senators.

Haley's trip will have implications for the next round of certifications of the nuclear deal, by both the U.S. and the IAEA, in October. There have been, experts point out, a few technical breaches in by Iran of the terms of the nuclear deal, but the June report appeared to show that those had been corrected.

While Mr. Trump continues to lambast the deal, Haley continues to try and garner support in the international community for the position that Iran is violating more than just the spirit, but the letter of the deal by testing nuclear-capable missiles.

Gary Sick, a senior research scholar at Columbia University's Middle East Institute who served on the National Security Council under Presidents Ford, Carter, and Reagan, tells CBS News that the Western parties to the JCPOA are in agreement: "The other parties, together with the U.S., are anxious to put as much pressure on Iran as possible to at least modify or reduce its ballistic missile tests."

He says that is, at least in part, why Haley came to IAEA headquarters on Wednesday, and he agrees it necessary to keep the pressure on.

Despite the tough talk by Tehran and Washington, however, Sick doesn't think the deal is likely to be scuttled by the Trump administration.

He says the ambiguity on Iran's missile testing -- the ambiguity causing the U.S. angst and the current war of words -- was deliberately designed into the nuclear deal.

"It was a very specific set of words; an agreement to disagree," he says. "We knew that this was going to happen. It was written into the agreement that way."

Iran believes Mr. Trump wants to kill the agreement and has threatened to exit it as well. Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said in a series of tweets that Mr. Trump, "always wanted to kill JCPOA. To avoid isolation, he's trying to blame it on Iran."

Haley insists that is not the case. She told The Washington Post in an interview published on Tuesday that the Trump administration had made "no decision" yet on its policy regarding the nuclear deal.

The statement released by her office on Wednesday said Haley and Amano had discussed "the importance of preventing Iran from exploiting ambiguous language in the nuclear agreement."

But, "whatever the flaws of the existing nuclear deal, Trump will find that criticizing it is far, far easier than crafting an effective replacement to it," says Matthew C. Waxman, faculty chair of the program on Law and National Security at Columbia Law School.

As Gary Sick put it, more bluntly, if Mr. Trump choses to "destroy the JCPOA in the name of preventing missile tests," he could "end up in a situation where Iran actually is free to go ahead and build a nuclear weapon."

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Haley takes US "concerns" on Iran to the nuclear police - CBS News

Iran's new communications minister has said that negotiations are under way to stop blocking Twitter, which has been banned for years despite being used by the country's top leaders.

The microblogging platform was barred in 2009 after mass protests broke out against the reelection of former President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi told the state-owned Iran daily newspaper on August 22 that Twitter was ready to "negotiate to resolve problems."

"Twitter is not an immoral environment needing to be blocked," Jahromi, 36, was quoted as saying.

Jahromi, Iran's youngest-ever minister and the first to be born after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has been a critic of online censorship in Iran. Platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter remain officially banned even as millions use them daily through easily obtained software.

Iran's Supreme Council of Cyberspace, which is headed by President Hassan Rohani and overseen by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is in charge of blocking websites.

Even so, Rohani and Khamenei both have Twitter accounts administered on their behalf.

Jahromi told the newspaper that officials were also looking at ways to unblock YouTube while still censoring "immoral content." He said a pilot project would allow universities to access the site.

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Iran Reported To Be Negotiating With Twitter To Unblock Popular Website - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty (blog)

BY: Adam Kredo August 23, 2017 2:40 pm

New photographs obtained by congressional leaders show Iran shipping militant soldiers to Syria on commercial airline flights, a move that violates the landmark nuclear agreement and has sparked calls from U.S. lawmakers for a formal investigation by the Trump administration, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

Photographs published by a Washington, D.C., think-tank and provided to Congress show Iran using its flagship commercial carrier, Iran Air, to ferry militants to Syria, where they have joined the fight against U.S. forces in the region.

The new photographic evidence has roiled congressional leaders, who accuse Iran of violating the nuclear deal, which prohibits it from using commercial air carriers for military purposes. These lawmakers are demanding the Trump administration investigate the matter and consider imposing new sanctions on Iran.

The release of these photographs allegedly showing Iran Air's illegal activity comes as top U.S. air carrier manufacturer Boeing moves forward with a multi-billion dollar deal to sell Iran Air a new modern fleet. Many in Congress have opposed the deal due to Iran's longstanding use of commercial aircraft for military purposes, such as transporting weapons and troops to regional hotspots such as Syria and elsewhere. It remains unclear the extent to which the former Obama administration was aware of this activity, which came in part while it was promoting Western airline sales to Tehran.

Iran Air's central role in the illicit transportation of militant forces to Syria could complicate Boeing's efforts to move forward with the sale, which still requires approval from the Trump administration's Treasury Department.

Congressional leaders are now calling for a suspension of all licenses permitting these sales in light of the new evidence, according to a letter obtained by the Free Beacon.

"Iran's use of commercial aircraft for military purposes violates international agreements as well as Iranian commitments under the JCPOA," or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, according to the delegation of lawmakers pushing for an investigation. "We believe these photos mandate a thorough investigation of these practices and a comprehensive review of Iran's illicit use of commercial aircraft."

"During this investigation, the United States should suspend current and future licenses for aircraft sales to Iran," the letter goes on to say.

Those calling for an investigation include Reps. Peter Roskam (R., Ill.), Lee Zeldin (R., N.Y.), Andy Barr (R., Ken.), and David Reichert (R., Wash.).

"Iran Air has engaged in Iran's illicit transport of military goods and personnel to Syria since implementation of the" nuclear deal, the lawmakers write.

The Treasury Department has vowed in the past to consider and investigate any new evidence revealing Iran's illicit use of commercial aircraft. The lawmakers are urging the Trump administration to make good on this promise.

"In light of these assurances to both investigate evidence of Iranian wrongdoing and to re-designate Iranian airlines engaging in sanctionable activity, we strongly urge you to investigate the enclosed photos," the lawmakers write. "If as a result of your investigation, you find Iran Air guilty of conducting military transports with commercial aircraft, it should be re-designated."

The new photographs, reportedly taken in 2016 and 2017, show Iranian fighters aboard Iran Air planes on their way to Syria to pick up arms in support of embattled President Bashar al-Assad.

The militants are believed to be affiliated with the Fatemiyoun Brigade, an Afghan Shiite militia, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which first disclosed the photographs to Congress.

"These photos seem to display militiamen sitting on seats clearly labeled with the Iran Air logo," the lawmakers inform the Treasury Department. "These individuals are not Afghani civilians; they are believed to be members of an Iranian-backed militia, trained and funded by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), actively fighting for the Assad regime in the Syria."

Iran Air is guilty of "facilitating the ongoing atrocities committed against the Syrian people by the Assad regime and its allies," the lawmakers write.

The issue has become all the more pressing in light of recent attacks by Iranian-backed militias on U.S. forces operating in Syria.

"We strongly urge you to swiftly investigate and conduct a comprehensive review of Iran Air's role in supporting Iran and the Assad regime militarily, and hold accountable those found guilty of such activity," the lawmakers write.

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Iran Caught Shipping Soldiers to Syria on Commercial Flights in Violation of Nuclear Deal - Washington Free Beacon

Its a sad commentary on mainstream media bias that the tumult over what President Trump had to say about Charlottesville seems largely to have pushed aside the confrontation one with possible nuclear consequences between North Korea and the United States.

Just imagine the ginned-up concern over whether the president tried to coddle white supremacist and neo-Nazis has come to eclipse what, for very good and obvious reasons, had almost everyone on the edge of their seats. And its not just that things seem to have calmed down somewhat. The unpredictability of North Koreas Kim Il Jung means that its really not over until its over.

Some attribute the sudden lack of media focus on North Korea to a desire to embarrass Mr. Trump on the one hand and to deny him any credit for apparently defusing such an ominous situation on the other. Perhaps. Given how the president is treated by the media, that sounds plausible. But the North Korea situation brings to mind the significantly different approaches pursued by Presidents Obama andTrump on the issue of nuclear proliferation.

One can easily envision President Obama dispatching Secretary of State John Kerry with authorization to offer Kim Il Jung multiple millions of dollars if he would only rein in his nuclear aspirations. (President Clinton reportedly traded millions in aid money for such a promise from Kim Il Jungs father and predecessor in an aborted effort to get North Korea out of the nuclear weapons game.)

Of course, Mr.Obama turned over nearly $2 billion to Iran and granted the Iranians a sweetheart nuclear deal to induce them to delay their development of nuclear weapons. President Obama touted his negotiating tactic as an effective alternative to a military approach in dealing with Iranian nuclear proliferation. The bottom line, of course, is that Irans nuclear aspirations have only been delayed for at best 15 years.

Consider, though, that North Korea has assisted Iran with its nuclear program and is at this point far more advanced than Iran was at the time it cut its nuclear deal with President Obama and the West.

In fact, North Korea now actually possesses nuclear weapons and a delivery system to boot. Yet President Trump eschewed any compromise approach and declared in no uncertain terms what would happen to North Korea if it embarked on nuclear adventurism. Makes us wonder what would have happened had President Obama taken advantage of Irans weakness at the time and forced certain conditions rather than giving away the store.

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North Korea, Iran, And The Bomb - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com