Forbes | Why Iran Tried To Assassinate Me -- And How I Survived Forbes As the new U.S. administration begins its work, a major challenge that looms on the horizon is how to deal with the theocracy ruling Iran. A key factor in articulating a sound policy on Iran is to understand the fundamentally violent and adversarial ... |
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Why Iran Tried To Assassinate Me -- And How I Survived - Forbes
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates The head of the United Nations' atomic agency said Tuesday the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has yet to be in touch with him or others about their criticism of the Iran nuclear deal.
Yukiya Amano, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told The Associated Press that his organization was "in constant touch" with the U.S., but had yet to hear from the new administration on their concerns.
"I'm expecting to have direct contact with the new administration very soon," Amano said.
Trump has signaled he wants to take a harder line on Iran than his predecessor Barack Obama, for whom the deal reached between Iran and world powers was a major foreign policy achievement.
Trump included Iran in his travel ban affecting seven Muslim-majority countries. During his campaign, Trump said he wanted to renegotiate the Iran deal, without elaborating.
The White House could not be immediately reached for comment.
Amano said the Iranian government also had yet to reach out on Trump's comments, though it remained in touch with U.N. atomic officials. He mentioned his trip in December to Tehran, in which he met President Hassan Rouhani and others.
"Why not meet again in the near future?" he added.
In response to the U.S. Congress extending some sanctions on Iran, the country announced in December it would draw up plans to build nuclear-powered ships . The nuclear deal allows Iran to conduct peaceful atomic research.
Iran's mission to the U.N. did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
The accord limits Iran's ability to enrich uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Western powers struck the deal in order to deny Iran the ability to quickly develop nuclear weapons. Iran insists it has never sought nuclear arms.
Amano, in Dubai as part of the annual World Government Summit, said Iran had yet to be in touch with him or any of his officials about their own concerns over the posture of Trump's administration.
Amano said the deal has held up despite a "number of events," like Iran slightly exceeding its heavy water allotment. "We have been monitoring," Amano said. "When there's a certain indication, we can detect it immediately."
Heavy water is a concern because it is used to cool reactors that can produce substantial amounts of plutonium, which can be used in the core of nuclear warheads.
In November, the AP obtained a confidential U.N. report showing Iran had slightly exceeded its heavy water allotment of 130 metric tons (143.3 tons) by 100 kilograms (220 pounds). Iran later transferred some of its excess heavy water in a sale to Oman, the sultanate on the Arabian Peninsula that has served as a go-between for Iran and the U.S.
On Tuesday, Amano stressed that Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium remained below the level required of the nuclear accord.
"The IAEA is functioning as the eyes and ears of the international community," Amano said.
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Trump yet to call UN atomic chief on Iran deal - Fox News
New York Times | Ahmadreza Djalali, Iranian Scientist, May Face Death Penalty, Family Says New York Times TEHRAN European governments are protesting Iran's treatment of an Iranian-born scientist, now a resident of Sweden, who was arrested last year in Iran and who could now face the death penalty. The scientist, Ahmadreza Djalali, a physician who ... Italy tells Iran of 'extreme concern' for scientist who could face death penalty |
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Ahmadreza Djalali, Iranian Scientist, May Face Death Penalty, Family Says - New York Times
STATE DEPARTMENT
As President Donald Trump prepares for his first meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since entering the White House, analysts say the Israeli leader hopes to forge common ground on Iran and regional issues.
Netanyahu will be the fourth foreign leader to meet with Trump face-to-face at the White House, after British Prime Minister Theresa May, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Middle East analysts say on Trump and Netanyahu want to set in motion a chain of events that could block Iran, redefine Israels relationship with the Arab world and create Israeli-Palestinian peace.
A senior Israeli Cabinet minister said Monday Netanyahu no longer supports a Palestinian state, but stopped short of confirming whether the prime minister will make his stance public during Wednesday's talks with Trump.
Netanyahu declined to elaborate on his position on the Israeli-Palestinian two-state solution as he departed for the United States.
Come with me, you will hear very clear answers, very clear answers, said Netanyahu, when asked by a reporter if he still stands by the two-state solution.
The Palestinians will be watching this very closely and will be looking for any hints that the U.S. policy has substantially changed, said retired Ambassador Richard Lebaron, who served as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv from 2001 to 2004.
Two questions
David Makovsky, director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy Project on the Middle East Peace Process, points to two big questions that will likely be the focal point of talks: How to work with Arab states? How to constrain Irans influence in the region?
Makovsky, who recently visited Israel, said the Iran nuclear deal and sanctions are among the main issues on the agenda for the Trump-Netanyahu meeting.
In July of 2015, Iran and six world powers reached a comprehensive agreement, the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which curbed Tehrans ability to produce nuclear weapons in exchange for lifting stringent economic sanctions.
Trump and Netanyahu are strong critics of this deal. They have also advocated for the termination of JCPOA, which was backed by the Obama administration.
But many see an evolving approach of the Trump administration, shifting from dismantling the deal to tightening its enforcement, while increasing pressure on Iran for its recent ballistic missile test.
I was reassured by what I heard in the meetings on the intention to stick to the full implementation of the agreement, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Friday, after talks at the White House and State Department.
FILE - European Union's chief diplomat Federica Mogherini reacts to question from the media as she meets with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Enforcement
I think the debate about ripping up the agreement has essentially been settled and there are very few prominent voices [advocating that]," said Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, The debate is within the how do you enforce the hell out of it."
Career diplomat Lebaron told VOA he does not sense "an immediate need on either side to dismantle the agreement per se.
Instead the former ambassador to Kuwait says he expects robust" discussion on how to continue the pressure on Iran over its behavior, including its actions in Syria, Lebanon and other countries in the region.
Keeping in mind also that this agreement involves several other major powers, Lebaron added.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said Tehran will strongly confront any war-mongering policies amid increased tensions with the United States following Trump's election.
Israel-Palestinian negotiation
President Trump has made promises that were viewed as veering sharply from longstanding U.S. policy regarding the Israel-Palestine dispute.
He has pledged to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, an approach that would break decades of U.S policy, which calls for the citys disputed status to be resolved through negotiations.
Trump has also signaled that he would take a much softer approach to the settlements.
Last December, he criticized the Obama administrations decision to abstain on a U.N. Security Council resolution that condemned Israels settlement construction in the West Bank.
I expect the president to find a way to implement and fulfill these promises," said Satloff.
He added those promises have a role to play in whether Netanyahu can return home with enough political gains to enable him to withstand the pressure from Israels right-wing.
But others said the meeting could be primarily symbolic.
There is no doubt that in a certain way theres a lower expectation because, indeed, President Trump doesnt have a team in place, said Washington Institute's Makovsky. Its easier for him to say, 'Im in a listening mode.
Though Trump has expressed an intention to facilitate peace between Israel and the Palestinians, he has not indicated much sympathy with the aspirations of the latter.
The Palestinians are already seeing that in the way the president refers to settlements and so there will be some apprehension about how this may unfold, said Ambassador Lebaron.
Before flying home Thursday, Netanyahu plans to meet U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Republican and Democratic Congressional leaders. Secretary Tillerson will host a working dinner with Netanyahu Tuesday at the State Department.
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Trump, Netanyahu Align on Tough Iran Stance Before Talks - Voice of America
Over the weekend, Prime MinisterStefan Lofven led a Swedish delegation to Iran. Lofven was received warmly by the Islamic Republic's political elite Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei tweeted positively about his meeting withLofven, adding that Sweden had a good reputation in Iran and the two countries agreed upon a number of trade-related deals.
Back home, however, coverage of the Swedish government delegation's trip to Tehran has focused on something else. As Sweden's media noted Monday, a number of female officials who joined the trip, including Trade Minister Ann Linde, chose to wear Islamic headscarves while in Iran.
According to Expressen newspaper, there were 11 women on the trip out of 15 total in the Swedish delegation. The women were photographed wearing headscarves almost all of the time they were in Iran, with the exception of a number of events that took place at the Swedish Embassy.
By law, women are required to cover theirhair and wear loose-fitting clothes when they appear in public in Iran, a country governed by a conservative Islamic elite. Many choose to wear loose-fitting hijabs, like the one worn by Linde in the picture above.
These rules require international visitors to dress modestly even if they are only in the country for a short time.
Lofven's Swedish government describes itself as a feminist government, and it has spoken of the need for a feminist foreign policy. Hillel Neuer, executive director of U.N. Watch, a human rights group and frequent critic of Iran ,noted this apparent contradiction in a tweet shared Sunday night.
Masih Alinejad, a journalist and activist who started a Facebook page that invited Iranian women to share photographs of themselves without a hijab, also criticized the Swedish delegation.
By actually complying with the directives of the Islamic Republic, Western women legitimize the compulsory hijab law, Alinejad wrote on Facebook. This is a discriminatory law and it's not an internal matter when the Islamic Republic forces all non-Iranian women to wear hijab as well.
Alinejad later shared to Facebook a recent image of Sweden's deputy prime ministerIsabella Lovin signing a document with an all-female staff behind her. That imagerecently went viral, as many viewed it as a criticism of President Trump's abortion policies. Trump's words on women are worthy of condemnation; so are the discriminatory laws in Iran,Alinejad wrote.
Speaking to Expressen,Linde said she had not wanted to wear a headscarf. But it is law in Iran that women must wear the veil. One can hardly come here and break the laws, she explained.
Other Swedish politicians were more critical.Jan Bjrklund, leader of the opposition Liberals party, told Aftonbladet newspaper that the headscarf is a symbol of oppression for women in Iran and that the Swedish government should have demanded that Linde and other female members of the delegation be exempted from wearing it.
Iran's rules on female attire often draw the ire of international visitors just last year, U.S. chess starNazi Paikidze made waves after refusing to travel to Iran to play inthe world championshipsbecause she would not wear a hijab. For female politicians, it represents a bigger challenge, however, as flouting the rules or refusing to travel to Iran could damage relations with the country.
Almost all female politicians who visit Iran cover their hair when they appear in public, but in some cases that has not stopped criticism. Marietje Schaake, a Dutch member of the European Parliament, was criticized by Iranian conservatives for wearing relatively tight clothes and a headscarf that did not cover her neck during a visit to the country in 2015.
The year before that, Italy's then foreign minister, Emma Bonino,was reported to have briefly not worn a headscarf after arriving in the country, which resulted in a back and forth with the conservative Iranian press.
Questions over Islamic attire on diplomatic visits are not limited to Iran. In 2015, first lady Michelle Obama was pictured without a headscarf in Saudi Arabia, where conservative religious dress is customary but not required by law for foreigners. While other female dignitaries visiting Saudi Arabia in the past had also chosen to not cover their hair, Obama's attire sparked criticism on social media from a small but vocal group of Saudi conservatives.
Linde toldAftonbladetthat she will of course not be wearing a veil when she visits Saudi Arabia next month.
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Sweden's 'feminist' government criticized for wearing headscarves in Iran - Washington Post