Let's talk Iran - Feb 18, 2021
NUCLEAR
Iran is playing with fire, Germany warns
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas says talks “are being significantly complicated at the moment because #Iran obviously does not seek de-escalation but escalation - and this is playing with fire.” LINK
Iran nuclear deal hangs in balance as Tehran turns screw on US
-Biden shouldn't be seen as making an offer to Iran under perceived duress.
-He has to take into account the views of Congress, Israel & Saudi Arabia.
-Netanyahu reiterated his opposition to the US returning to the nuclear deal. LINK
Iran is biggest threat to international community, former Trump adviser Bolton says
Iran continues to pose a threat to the international community, and it would be a mistake for US President Joe Biden to ease sanctions on Tehran’s regime, says former National Security Adviser John Bolton. The veteran US diplomat cautioned Biden and his aides against repeating the Obama administration’s errors that Iran was the region’s great power. LINK
TERRORISM
British MPs could've been blown to bits by Iran bomb - yet still we fail to act
It is this indecision and these missteps in foreign policy that have emboldened Iran - which does not follow international norms - to act in the way that it does. Earlier this month, a court in Antwerp, Belgium, convicted Assadollah Assadi, a Vienna-based accredited Iranian diplomat, on charges of personally organizing a delivery of explosives to a couple who intended to attack a rally in Paris of the main Iranian opposition, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), in the summer of 2018. LINK
Iran Regime’s Network in Albania
New revelations of Iran's spy network in Europe, the regime’s efforts to influence Western media and the tactics used by the mullahs to demonize the opposition PMOI/MEK. LINK
More evidence that Iran’s embassies are a threat to peace and security
A bombshell report by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), published on February 18, provides further evidence of the Iranian regime’s diplomatic apparatus being illicitly engaged in propaganda, espionage, and terrorism against members of the Iranian Resistance. LINK
Former Iranian Intelligence Operative’s Letter Highlights Need for Proactive Western Policies
A former operative of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) details his former collaboration and sheds light into the regime's espionage campaign in Europe. LINK
Former Iranian Intelligence Operative’s Letter Highlights Need for Proactive Western Policies
A former operative of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) by the name of Hadi Sani-Khani recently wrote a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres detailing his former collaboration with the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security. The letter sheds light upon the likely operations of a network of operatives in Europe, the existence of which was exposed by the landmark court case involving the former third counsellor at the Iranian embassy in Vienna, Assadollah Assadi. It also confirms key facts behind longstanding warnings about the Iranian regime’s efforts to influence Western media and demonizing its main opposition group the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI-MEK). LINK
New Revelations Expose Iranian Propaganda After Terrorist-Diplomat’s Conviction
Earlier this month, a Belgian court convicted Iran's diplomat Assadollah Assadi of planning a deadly terrorist attack on European soil. The plot in question was thwarted in the summer of 2018, but the ensuing investigation and trial helped to expose a much larger underlying threat. When Assadi was arrested by German authorities, documents were recovered from his car which showed that he had been in contact with a network of operatives spanning at least 11 European countries. Many of those operatives received cash payments from Assadi while he was serving third counsellor at the Iranian embassy in Vienna. LINK
Former Iranian Intelligence Operative Reveals Details of Conspiracy Against Resistance
Opponents of Iran’s theocratic regime have long accused its institutions of running intelligence operations throughout the world with the express purpose of delegitimizing an organized opposition movement while also setting the stage for direct attacks on that same movement. These accusations were recently given a great deal of credibility when an Iranian expatriate by the name of Hadi Sani-Khani wrote a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in which he professed to have been a party to the regime’s intelligence operations for approximately four years. LINK
Iran’s Proxies Pounce as Biden Tries to Negotiate
Since President Joe Biden took office, Iran’s regional proxies have been busy. This month alone, Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed credit for a drone attack against Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport; one of the most prominent critics of Hezbollah, the journalist Lokman Slim, was found murdered in his car in Lebanon; and in Iraqi Kurdistan, a front group for one of the country’s most deadly Shiite militias claimed credit for a series of rocket attacks in and around Erbil.
It all feels like a chilling replay of U.S. foreign policy under former President Barack Obama. LINK
Arab coalition intercepts 3 Houthi drones targeting Saudi Arabia
Arab coalition forces early on Thursday intercepted and destroyed a drone launched by Yemen’s Houthi militia toward Khamis Mushait, in southern Saudi Arabia. Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen are escalating their attacks on Saudi Arabia. This is Tehran's response after the Houthis were taken off the the U.S. State Department's list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. LINK
HUMAN RIGHTS
Iran sentences one person to death for being in contact with opposition group
Iran’s Judiciary Spokesperson announced in a news conference on February 16 that death sentences were issued for three “offenders”. In remarks carried by the state-run IRIB News Agency, Gholamhossein Esmaeli stressed that the judiciary’s red line was to provide “security” for citizens, and referred to the offenders as “thugs”. LINK
MISSILES
In signal to Iran, Israel, US begin developing Arrow-4 missile defense system
The Arrow system serves as the upper layer of Israel’s multi-tier missile defense array and is aimed to protect Israel’s skies from long-range missiles.
DOMESTIC ISSUES
Earthquake in southwest Iran injures over 30, damages mountain villages
A 5.4 magnitude earthquake rocked southwestern Iran late Wednesday, injuring more than 30 people and causing widespread damage in mountain villages, Iranian media reported. The quake struck at 10:05 pm (1835 GMT) near the town of Sisakht, in a mountainous district of Kohgilouyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, the US Geological Survey said. LINK
