Let's talk Iran - Feb 2, 2021
NUCLEAR
Iran's Ayatollahs Want a New Deal | Opinion
"... domestic indicators make clear that Iran's ayatollahs actually need a new deal (and the economic dividends that will flow from it) much more than their American counterparts do. That should be something for the Biden administration to keep in mind as it contemplates reengagement with the Iranian regime." LINK
Israel says Iran will take six months to produce single nuclear weapon
Israel’s energy minister says it would take Iran around six months to produce enough fissile material for a single nuclear weapon, a timeline almost twice as long as that anticipated by a senior member of the Biden administration. LINK
Iran increased enrichment capacity of centrifuges at Natanz: IAEA
Iran has begun enriching uranium with a second cascade of advanced IR-2m centrifuges in its underground plant at Natanz in breach of its deal with major powers, a UN nuclear watchdog report to member states obtained by Reuters on Tuesday showed. Iran was already enriching with one cascade, or cluster, of 174 IR-2m machines underground at Natanz. LINK
Iran deepens breach of nuclear deal at underground enrichment site
Iran has deepened a key breach of its 2015 nuclear deal, enriching uranium with a larger number of advanced centrifuge machines in an underground plant as it faces off with the new U.S. administration on salvaging the accord. “Iran has completed the installation of one of these three cascades, containing 174 IR-2m centrifuges, and, on 30 January 2021, Iran began feeding the cascade with UF6,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report obtained by Reuters on Tuesday, referring to uranium hexafluoride feedstock. LINK
Excessive Focus on Nuclear Deal Risks Letting Iran off the Hook for Terrorism
If Iran faces no consequences either for the 2018 terror plot or for systematic nuclear deal violations, the regime will surely concludes that it enjoys impunity in both of these areas & will resort to same tactics in the future. LINK
Iran Isn’t Just a Nuclear File
As President Joe Biden sets the course for a new U.S. policy toward Iran, he would do well to put human rights at the center of the American agenda. LINK
US voices concern on Iran satellite rocket launch
"The United States remains concerned with Iran's efforts to development space launch vehicles (SLVs), given these programs' ability to advance Iran's ballistic missile development," a State Department spokesperson said. LINK
Government, IDF working on budget for potential Iran strike plan - report
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi, the Finance and Defense ministers and financial and military officials took part in a large meeting at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday to discuss the budget required for a potential strike on Iran if it is deemed necessary, according to KAN news. LINK
Iran’s Sweet Dreams About a U.S. Return to JCPOA
The Iranian theocracy’s hopes for a favorable outcome in the U.S. elections and the revival of the appeasement policy have gone nowhere and have not solved any of its crises, Iran watchers say. LINK
Alan Dershowitz to Newsmax TV: Israel Will Never Allow Iran to Have Nuke
Alan Dershowitz says Iran will never develop a nuclear weapon because "Israel will do whatever it has to do to stop it." "After all, the head of Iran a few years ago said, 'If we develop a nuclear bomb and bomb Tel Aviv, that'll be the end of Israel, because it's a one-bomb state," Dershowitz told Newsmax TV's "American Agenda." LINK
TERRORISM
Iran: Forty Members of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Call for Revision of Iran Policy
On Thursday, February 4, the court in Belgium will announce its verdict about Iran’s diplomat-terrorist Assadollah Assadi who attempted to bomb the opposition rally in 2018 in France. A letter was written by 40 members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to PACE’s President, the Hon. Rik Daems regarding this case. LINK
Assadollah Assadi’s Verdict Could Serve as a Turning Point in Iran-EU Relations
On February 4, Iran’s incarcerated diplomat-terrorist Assadollah Assadi and his three co-conspirators will hear a Belgian court’s verdict for their attempt to bomb the Iranian opposition rally in 2018 in Paris. Assadi’s arrest and his trial alone marked a historic legal procedure in Europe and could be a starting point to counter the regime’s decades of terrorism. LINK
Accused Iranian diplomat’s European spy operations 'revealed in notebook'
An Iranian diplomat accused of plotting to blow up an opposition rally outside Paris left details of his pan-European spying network in a notebook in his car when he was arrested, according to documents seen by The National.
The 200-page green notebook, found on the back seat of Assadollah Assadi’s car, included references to hotels, restaurants, embassies and Islamic centres across 11 European countries, police investigators said. LINK
Iran: Why Did Tehran Risk Carrying Out a Terrorist Act in Europe by Its Diplomat?
In the summer of 2018, four Iranian terrorist operatives were arrested in Europe as they attempted to carry out a bomb plot. Two of those operatives were caught with 500 grams of the high-explosive TATP, which they were attempting to carry from Belgium into France, where the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) was holding its annual rally for the cause of Iranian democracy. Their handler, the third counselor at the Iranian embassy in Vienna, had reportedly handed off the material and a detonator to them after personally smuggling them into Europe while traveling on a diplomatic passport. LINK
U.S. nuclear scholar accused of being Iranian foreign agent insists his work was legitimate
Kaveh Afrasiabi, in a sworn statement to a federal judge, alleges the U.S. is faking emails to prove their case against him, yet is at the same time arguing he was certain U.S. government knew about his consulting gig for Iran's Mission at the UN. LINK
Iran’s Provocative Actions Must Stop and Until They Do, Pure Diplomacy Must Wait
Iran’s impulse toward malign behaviors must be the focus of Western policy, and until that impulse is truly gone, there must be no illusion that Western policies caused it. LINK
Iranian agents scouted Israeli, US, UAE embassies in East Africa for attack — TV
Several Iranian agents who scouted out the Israeli, American, and Emirati embassies in an unnamed East African country in preparation for a potential attack have been arrested, according to a Monday Israeli TV report.
The agents were sent by Iran to gather intelligence on the sites for a terror attack, Kan News reported, citing Western intelligence sources. LINK
Iran link emerges in Israel embassy attack probe despite false flags: Cops
Investigations by Indian security agencies into the improvised explosive device (IED) blast outside the Israeli Embassy on Friday evening are still not conclusive but the needle of suspicion is pointing towards Iran with local involvement. LINK
HUMAN RIGHTS
Iran hangs 27 people in January amid incessant use of death penalty
At least 27 prisoners were executed in #Iran in January 2021. This figure does not include prisoners who are secretly executed and whose identities cannot be registered due to the regime’s lack of transparency. LINK
IRAN APOLOGISTS/LOBBYISTS
Iranian spy arrested by FBI was wolf in sheep's clothing
Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi had spent the past 13 years proclaiming #Iran's virtues to U.S. lawmakers & media outlets. the FBI uncovered the fact that he had been paid more than $265,000. LINK
OTHER
Iran's hardline-led parliament rejects proposed Rouhani budget
Iran’s hardliner-dominated parliament on Tuesday rejected a draft state budget presented by pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani’s government as factional tensions rise ahead of presidential elections next year. LINK
Iran Regime’s Ominous Rule Has Brough Misery and Poverty for People
Despite Iran’s natural wealth, Iranians grapple with poverty due to the regime’s inhumane policies. Every day disturbing news comes from Iran of how poverty forces people to harm themselves or sell their body parts. LINK
Statistical Center of Iran: Over 9,000 10–14 year-old girls married in 3 months
In Iran, child marriages recorded in the summer of 2020 amounted to 9,061 cases. From these, three cases belonged to boys under the age of 15, and 9,058 cases belonged to girls between the ages of 10 to 14. LINK