Iran Refuses to Confirm Conducting Missile Test New York Times TEHRAN, Iran Iran's foreign minister on Tuesday refused to confirm whether his country recently conducted a missile test, saying the Iranian missile program is not part of the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. The White House said on Monday that ... |
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Iran Refuses to Confirm Conducting Missile Test - New York Times
There are many things that could be said about Trumps travel ban, and most of them have already been said in multiple venues, including by TACsown Daniel Larison. I just want to highlight again one item: nearly half of those affected by the ban come from Iran, a country that is not experiencing Islamist violence, that is not producing large numbers of refugees, and from which we have no particular reason to suspect terrorists might be planning to sneak into America.
I can think of legitimate reasonswhy Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan were not included (all major regional allies whose cooperation we need), as well as Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK and Russia (at that point, you might as well ban the world), all of which have produced home-grown Islamist terrorists who might travel to America or already have. Those reasons do tend to undermine the argument that, even if it had been rolled out in a more prudentand less gratuitously-cruel manner, the ban was a sensible way to protect American security but letsgrant that being extra cautious about people coming from a war zone isnt obviously crazy, and that we should be able to argue like civilized people about how to balancehelping people facing death versus protecting ourselves from wolves who may be hiding among the sheep.
But it seems to me that anyone arguing with a straight face that the ban was about protecting America from terroristsshould be arguing among other things that Iran doesnt belong on the list. Yet this is the only mention of Iran in David Frenchs defense of Trumps order (which is probably the best defense Ive read so far):
[T]he order imposes a temporary, 90-day ban on people entering the U.S. from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. These are countries either torn apart by jihadist violence or under the control of hostile, jihadist governments.
Thats it. Iran is a hostile, jihadist government so we shouldpresume all Iranians are a security risk.
This is whyIm going to continue to assume that a primary reason for the ban in the first place was to provoke Iranian retaliation,with the ultimate goal that poisoned relations will eventually provide a pretext for war.
Regular readers know I was very clear in calling out the Democratic candidates enthusiasm for conflict with Iran. I have zero reason to trust that this administration is any less enthused, and I interpret their actions accordingly.
Originally posted here:
Why Is Iran Part of the Ban? - The American Conservative
Bloomberg | Netanyahu: Iran missile test must not go unanswered BBC News Israel's prime minister has accused Iran of carrying out a missile test in "flagrant violation" of a UN security council resolution. Benjamin Netanyahu said he would raise renewing sanctions when he meets US President Donald Trump in February. Iran has ... Iran will be a key topic when Netanyahu visits Trump Netanyahu to Discuss Renewed Sanctions on Iran With Trump Netanyahu, Trump to Meet February 15; PM to Urge New Iran Sanctions After Missile Test |
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Netanyahu: Iran missile test must not go unanswered - BBC News
The executive order Trump signed late Friday puts a temporary moratorium on travel from seven countries while encouraging an effort to tighten the countrys screening of potential terrorists.
An MIT mechanical engineering student from Iran was among those barred from the United States on Saturday by President Trumps travel ban, prompting an outcry from the MIT community and thrusting her into a fiery national debate in Washington.
Niki Mossafer Rahmati, a junior who has a multiple entry student visa, had been trying to return to MIT after winter break, but was blocked from boarding her connecting flight from Qatar, along with about 30 other Iranians, she wrote on Facebook.
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This will not secure the borders from terrorism and illegal immigrants. It will only increase racism in the American society, she wrote. The president is trying to make Islamophobia a norm and policy by which he wants to lead the country. There has not been a single terrorist activity from those 7 countries listed above, in the US.
A member of Sigma Kappa sorority, Rahmati is executive vice president of the MIT Panhellenic Association, and volunteers with Camp Kesem, an organization for children whose parents have cancer, according to a Facebook page launched by her supporters called Bring Niki Back. Her friends and sorority sisters held her up as an active member of the community and launched a phone bank to Congress and an online petition demanding that she be allowed to return. They also reached out to US Senator Elizabeth Warren, who cited Rahmatis story, among others, on the floor of the US Senate Monday night as she challenged the notion that the travel ban would make America safer.
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None of these people are criminals. None of these people are threats. Theyre students at some of the worlds top universities, Warren said. Most of them have already been vetted and granted the right to come to America.
The executive order Trump signed late Friday puts a temporary moratorium on travel from seven countries while encouraging an effort to tighten the countrys screening of potential terrorists. But confusion has reigned since the weekend, with contradictory messages from the administration about how people with valid green cards would be handled. And even after the travel ban was halted by a one-week stay in the courts on Saturday, some people are still being blocked from returning to the United States, news organizations have reported.
In speaking of Rahmati in the Senate, Warren said that she was denied travel to the United states a second time on Sunday even after a stay had been imposed by the court.
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An MIT spokesperson confirmed that Rahmati is a student affected by the travel ban. The universitys president had not previously mentioned her name but had told alumni and members of the school community in a Monday message that he was working to help two undergraduates who were barred from the United States because of the order.
MIT President L. Rafael Reif also noted that the university is broadly international, with more than 40 percent of the colleges faculty, 40 percent of graduate students, and 10 percent of undergraduates coming from outside the United States.
The Executive Order on Friday appeared to me a stunning violation of our deepest American values, the values of a nation of immigrants: fairness, equality, openness, generosity, courage, Reif wrote. The Statue of Liberty is the Mother of Exiles; how can we slam the door on desperate refugees? Religious liberty is a founding American value; how can our government discriminate against people of any religion?
He also encouraged people to work constructively to remedy the situation and to acknowledge that there are people of goodwill who see the measures in the Executive Order as a reasonable path to make the country safer, though he added, I am convinced that the Executive Order will make us less safe.
Link:
MIT engineering student from Iran barred entry into US - The Boston Globe
On Friday afternoon, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to bar refugees and virtually everyone else from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Libya from traveling to the United States. Beyond a violation of human rights that flies in the face of the Constitution, the move ultimately shuts down artistic conversations that musicians, filmmakers and other creatives have been holding across the continents for years.
Among those directly affected by Trump's ill-conceived executive order is Ashkan Kooshanejad, a 31-year-old producer who records wiry, crowded, and often quite beautiful electronic music as Ash Koosha. His most recent album, last year's I AKA I, released by art-dance stalwart Ninja Tune, was acclaimed by Pitchfork, The Wire, XLR8R and Resident Advisor among others. Rolling Stone named him an "Artist You Need to Know" last February, adding that his album was "uncompromising, dizzying and dense." He played esteemed electronic festival Mutek and did a "virtual reality" set for the Boiler Room. Still, Ash may be a lot better known in 2017 if he hadn't been put through the "extreme-vetting" ringer while attempting to promote his album's existence.
Rolling Stone caught up with Koosha, to talk about the morass the accomplished electronic artist now finds himself in.
Why are you so eager to talk about Donald Trump's seven-country ban on immigrants and visitors?Growing up in Iran, we spent our entire lives caught in the middle of a conflict. Everyone was discriminated against for no reason other than that we were Iranian. But this is time it's worse, because it affects refugees, who are in immediate danger, as well as scholars, technology executives and everyone else. It's not a new thing for us. The difference this time is that I'm really fed up. It's a straight-on slap in the face. I want to speak out because it's not just about me anymore; everyone is involved. People have to realize that the entire population of a country like Iran isn't involved with terrorism or radical Islam or whatever they're afraid of.
As an Iranian artist, you're already under siege in your home country. As one example, can you explain why were you arrested in 2007?We grew up in post-revolutionary Iran where, after nearly 40 years, there's still a clash of ideas about tradition versus modernizing, closed doors versus globalization, and so on. I grew up wanting to make things music, film, and technology but we were never allowed to express ourselves and were banned from performing. So our band, Font, decided to turn a wedding garden into a venue and perform peacefully in the suburbs. The government raided the gig, which was portrayed on TV as a "Satanist" concert, and arrested us. My grandma asked me if I was a Satanist and all I could say was, "No, no, no! We're just a bunch of punks trying to play guitar onstage!"
When did you know you had to leave Iran?We were serious people who wanted to create, but we were disconnected from the global culture industry. We made a film called No One Knows About Persian Cats as a way to seize the means of creation without censorship. But the film caused more problems for us, and that's how I ended up in the U.K. in 2010. They pushed me out of Iran and I was forced to start another life. I felt isolated in the U.K. because I wasn't part of the network of artists that develops in school and universities. We were total outsiders.
How did you keep going?A small group of us in London, Paris, and the U.S. started working together. But whenever I crossed the border between, say, England and France, I always had this feeling, even though my work was appreciated, that I was going to have trouble. That feeling was always there, and now it's been heightened. The U.S. says I'm probably a terrorist because I'm from Iran so I have to prove I'm not a terrorist.
What does it take to get a 01-B visa "for an Alien of Extraordinary Ability" to perform in the United States?I was accepted as a refugee in the U.K., and now I have permanent-resident status. The problem, however, is that you always carry your Iranian nationality with you. So even though the visa application process is the same for all U.K. artists, the Obama administration enacted an additional administrative process where they check deeply into your past. And it takes an additional two months, which caused my 2016 tour to be canceled even though we applied four months in advance. Bookers had to cancel our shows, which damaged my promotion for I AKA I. I wouldn't necessarily call myself a "victim," though, because I'm in a fucking great situation compared to all the refugees dying in Syria.
And your second 01-B visa application was approved?Yes, but I spent $3,000 that went right down the drain with the first application. The second one cost $1,500 for a fast-track visa. I wasn't checked at the border when I arrived in the US. Well, I wasn't questioned officially but the officer asked me, "How did you get this visa as an Iranian?" Which was kind of insulting. "Are you famous or something?"
"I don't know," I said. "Google me." You're automatically problematic if you're Iranian. Conservative Member of Parliament Nadhim Zahawi, who represents Stratford-upon-Avon, is now banned. A Syrian refugee is banned. And I'm banned. We're in deep trouble on a global scale.
I understand you're not even Muslim. How do you prove that to an American official?Please tell me how [laughs]. I'm an atheist, which is probably a bigger problem for me. I wouldn't even have a problem talking with someone about my past, because I like talking. The problem is that this goes way beyond that. This blanket order bans anyone who's remotely Iranian.
With the possible exception of "Shah" on I AKA I, your work doesn't seem particularly political. Do you see that changing?I don't directly put politics in my work. It's based on research and progress in the media. The social message is embedded in the work as expression rather than directly.
How do you see all this playing out?I think they'll sort it out within the next 90 days and U.K. citizens will be OK. And I'll be a U.K. citizen in two or three months. But agents have stopped booking me for shows in the U.S. They can't risk it. They'll stop booking everyone from Iran. I'm on hold now and can't say for sure what will happen. All I know is that it will cause a lot of problems for everyone, but especially businesses, universities and the cultural sector.
How frustrated are you?I'm frustrated but I'm not going to let this affect me. I'm probably going to do a holographic show where I can be present by augmented-reality tech. Either that or I'm going to have to start a Three Doors Down cover band [laughs].
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Ash Koosha: Acclaimed Iranian Musician on Being Newly Banned From US - RollingStone.com