Let's talk Iran - February 4, 2022
U.S. Sees Iran’s Nuclear Program as Too Advanced to Restore Key Goal of 2015 Pact
Terms of any new agreement are likely to leave Tehran in position to amass fuel for bomb in significantly less than a year, shorter than 2015 deal, officials say
The Biden administration expects a restored nuclear deal would leave Iran capable of amassing enough nuclear fuel for a bomb in significantly less than a year, a shorter time frame than the one that underpinned the 2015 agreement, U.S. officials familiar with the matter said.
Administration officials concluded late last year that Iran’s nuclear program had advanced too far to re-create the roughly 12-month so-called breakout period of the 2015 pact, the U.S. officials said. LINK
The US is negotiating a shorter, weaker Iran Deal - analysis
The American rhetoric surrounding the Iran Deal has gotten progressively less assertive since talks resumed in Vienna.
Every indication is that at this point, the Biden administration is negotiating a deal that is going to be shorter and weaker. And Iran's regime is taking full advantage. LINK
The path forward for negotiations with Iran
Through the course of 2021, the U.S. administration and European governments practiced considerable flexibility with hopes of grinding out an agreement with the Iranian regime over the latter’s controversial nuclear program. So much so that, according to the regime’s envoys, the United States was prepared to lift a large chunk of sanctions. The only outcome has been Tehran’s clerical establishment taking full advantage of the West’s appeasement approach. LINK
Ted Cruz Highlights 4 Ways That ‘Biden’s Weakness And Appeasement’ Has Enabled America’s Enemies
“As a result of President Biden’s weakness and appeasement, this administration is ramping up to give a nuclear arsenal to the Ayatollah in Iran. The very same Ayatollah who chants ‘Death to Israel’ and ‘Death to America,’ the Biden administration is preparing to facilitate that Ayatollah having the weapons of mass murder to carry out those pledges.” LINK
Iran Is Preparing Its Public, But Not (Yet) for Nuclear Compromise
The regime will be marking its forty-third anniversary this month, so one can expect its rhetoric to become even more aggressive and “revolutionary.” But if the tenor changes during the revolutionary commemorations—particularly on the February 8 anniversary of the so-called “Homafaran Allegiance,” which Khamenei has used before to speak on the JCPOA—it would be a significant indicator that Tehran is ready to compromise. At the moment, though, the system continues to signal that it is in no rush. LINK
Iran’s Regime Naval Terrorism Warrants More Sanctions
The latest revelations by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) about the Iranian regime’s dangerous attempts to disrupt international maritime activity should serve as a wake-up call for Western governments. Tehran has significantly expanded its maritime terrorism using foreign mercenaries from the Middle East and Africa, especially in Yemen.
This shouldn’t come as a complete surprise. The economy is tanking, and the regime is facing a multitude of irremediable social, political, and economic crises at home and is unable to stem the tide of expanding and continuing protests virtually by every sector of the Iranian society. Since December 2017, there have been eight major nationwide uprisings, the common theme of which has been the popular demand to overthrow the regime. LINK
Iran’s regime is escalating maritime terrorism, opposition sources reveal
The Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force is recruiting forces for its proxy terrorist groups in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and African countries and is sending them to Iran, where they receive training in specialized naval courses. These mercenaries then return to their home countries to carry out attacks based on orders from the Quds Force. LINK
U.S. Bipartisan effort to relabel Iran-backed Houthis as terrorists
Reps. SETH MOULTON (D-Mass.) and MIKE WALTZ (R-Fla.), both veterans serving on the House Armed Services Committee, will soon send a letter to Biden urging him to redesignate the Houthis in Yemen as a foreign terrorist organization — a move the president said is under consideration.
They cited the escalation in attacks by the Iran-backed group — namely drone and missile attacks on the United Arab Emirates where U.S. troops are stationed — for why the administration should put the Houthis back on the list after removing them last February.
Israel expresses interest in NATO-like Mideast alliance
The memorandum of understanding Defense Minister Benny Gantz signed yesterday with Bahrain, constitutes another step in Israel’s efforts to establish an anti-Iran regional alliance.
Iran uses the death penalty against dissidents to terrorize the public
Dozens of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience are currently on death row in Iran. These prisoners include dissidents, prisoners of conscience, as well as protesters arrested during anti-regime protests. Iran under the mullahs’ regime has the highest number of executions per capita. LINK
Farangis Mazloum pressured to serve jail sentence despite illness
Farangis Mazloum, mother of former political prisoner Soheil Arabi, has been pressured to serve her unjust prison sentence despite suffering from numerous illnesses. She had been previously arrested on July 22, 2019, and taken to solitary confinement in Ward 209 of Evin Prison. She went on hunger strike to protest the cancellation of her family visits. LINK
Unprecedented Call by 463 Human Rights Advocates Prosecuting Iran Regime’s Officials
At a press conference at Church House in London on Thursday, January 27, 2022, Tahar Boumedra (center), Director of the Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Iran Massacre (JVMI), accompanied by Struan Stevenson, Coordinator of the Campaign for Iran Change (CIC), and Baroness Verma, former UK government minister and Member of the House of Lords, explained the unprecedented international effort by 463 current and former UN officials and rapporteurs, as well as some prominent European political figures, international NGOs, academic institutions and human rights and legal experts to condemn the 1988 genocide and defend human rights in Iran. LINK
Human Rights in Iran Plummet to a New Low
Human rights activists and political analysts believe that by increasing the number of executions, Tehran is trying to intimidate the public and send a warning to the people that any opposition will be dealt with severely.
Under the circumstances, Western governments must put respect for human rights front and center in their policy towards the regime in Tehran. Any ties, commercial or otherwise, must be predicated on a halt to execution and torture as well as respect for the Iranian people’s fundamental freedoms. LINK
Environmental impacts of large dams in Iran
In the past decades, Iran has become the world’s third-largest dam builder after China and Japan. The majority of the large dams in Iran have been constructed by Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) owned corporations or corporations affiliated with state-run religious foundations under the Supreme Leader’s supervision. The result of these activities has been the drying of many rivers, land subsidence, and huge sinkholes in Iran, and have caused water shortage in its neighboring countries, serious conflicts that have created additional tension in an already turbulent region, and water-related conflicts. LINK
Finally, a little something different: