Let's talk Iran - January 27, 2022
Iran’s state TV disrupted, airing footage of opposition leaders
Many TV and radio stations of Iran’s state broadcasting network were disrupted at 3 pm local time on Thursday, January 27, airing footage of Iranian Resistance leader Massoud Rajavi and Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). The disrupted sequence also aired visual and at times audio slogans of “Death to Khamenei!” in a reference to regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and “Viva Rajavi!” again referring to the Iranian opposition leaders.
"This is an extremely complex attack and only the owners of this technology could exploit and damage the backdoors and features that are installed on the systems."
“More than 400 TV and radio servers were offline and completely destroyed,” according to sources providing reports from inside Iran’s TV and radio networks.
“Footage related to the MEK were suddenly aired at 3 pm local time on 14 TV and 13 radio stations, and we were caught off guard,” according to reports from inside the regime.
Security forces associated with the regime’s state broadcasting networks prevented people from entering or leaving the state networks’ buildings. All IRIB employees and staff have been quarantined for questioning.
“Our colleagues are investigating the incident. This is an extremely complex attack and only the owners of this technology could exploit and damage the backdoors and features that are installed on the systems,” said Ali Dadi, deputy chief of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), told the state TV channel IRINN on Thursday.
The [disruption] represented a major breach of Iranian state television, long believed to be controlled and operated by members of the Islamic Republic’s intelligence branches, particularly its hard-line Revolutionary Guard. Such an incident hasn’t happened for years, according to the Associated Press.
UN urged to open query into Iran's 1988Massacre and Raisi role
Over 460 Prominent former U.N. judges and investigators have called on U.N. human rights boss Michelle Bachelet to investigate the 1988 "massacre" of political prisoners in Iran, including the alleged role of its current president, Ebrahim Raisi. LINK
As Iran Nears Uranium Breakout Capacity, US Mulls Bomb-Making Scenarios
U.S. physicist David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, says Iran also could develop a cruder nuclear weapon in a much shorter time once it achieves a breakout capacity.
"Iran could rush to its first nuclear explosive, in our estimate, in about three months," Albright said.
Georgetown University international relations professor Matthew Kroenig, who previously served as a U.S. Defense Department adviser on nuclear deterrence policy, says Iran could use that time to build a "gun-type" nuclear bomb.
"This is such a simple bomb design that the United States didn't even test it before dropping one on Hiroshima in 1945," Kroenig said.
Kroenig said Iran could deploy such a weapon by dropping it from a plane, driving it to a target in a truck, or putting it in a container on a ship that sails into a port. "There is a lot of mayhem that Iran could cause before it gets to a fully deliverable warhead on a ballistic missile," he said.
But hoping that a post-breakout Iran will decide not to weaponize, and assuming that countermeasures will work in case it does, is a strategy that could backfire on the U.S., warned Kroenig and Albright.
"Once Iran gets the first bomb's worth of weapons-grade uranium, we could try to negotiate with it for a year or two. But why would Iran invest billions of dollars and endure sanctions and threats of military strikes to get one screwdriver turn away from a nuclear weapon, and then voluntarily stop short in a negotiation?" Kroenig asked. "If Iran has a clear path to the nuclear-armed club, it eventually will build an arsenal like North Korea and Pakistan did." LINK
A clear sign that Biden is going to let Iran go nuclear
Iran's evil regime will probably go nuclear on Biden’s watch and all other of America's enemies recognize that US diplomacy is toothless.
Instead of “peace through strength,” this administration has embraced weakness that’s all too likely to encourage war. LINK
Biden has put national security at risk
GOP lawmaker slams president after three of his team negotiating with Iran on nuclear deal resign because US is being too soft and calls for him to revert to Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ policy LINK
Republican Rep. Michael Waltz praised the negotiators who have stepped back for 'recognizing when diplomacy is getting too desperate'
Waltz has had his own experience in the Middle East as an Army Green Beret
State Department official confirmed Tuesday that Richard Nephew stood down
He was U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for Iran and known as sanctions architect
Nephew, who wanted Biden to take a harder stance against Iran, has reportedly been avoiding the meetings in Vienna since December
At the same time, reports emerged that two other negotiators had left
It comes at a critical time in negotiations between the West and Tehran
Iran has rejected talk of an interim agreement and wants a legal guarantee that the U.S. will not walk away from the nuclear deal
It also won't negotiate directly with the US, with European intermediaries
'Hajj' Robert Malley
Reuters quoted the lead US nuclear negotiator, Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley, as saying that his country was unlikely to reach an agreement with Iran in Vienna, unless Tehran releases four US citizens it is holding as hostages.
Is it conceivable that “Hajj Malley” points to the four prisoners, while Sanaa, Beirut and Damascus are under the control of Iranian militias and Baghdad is fighting the Iranian blockade and Tehran’s proxies? LINK
Brett McGurk says US is 'very prepared' for no deal with Iran
“We're actually reaching that culmination point and we're going to know very soon whether or not it is possible for the Iranians to turn return to compliance with the nuclear deal on terms that we and the international community can accept,” Mr McGurk said at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“There's a chance for a deal and there's also a pretty good chance there's not going to be a deal. I will tell you we are prepared for either scenario.
“If there’s no deal, we're very prepared for that scenario.”
The US, in conjunction with its European allies, has discussed the option of imposing harsher snapback sanctions on Iran if the negotiations fail. LINK
Ebrahim Raisi’s recent trip to Russia was a sign of Iran's desperation
Khamenei, hastily sent Raisi to Moscow to deliver the message of the regime’s obedience to Putin, begging for his support in the ongoing nuclear talks in Vienna. LINK
Biden Admin: Former Trump Iran Envoy Facing ‘Serious and Credible’ Threats
State Dept informs Congress of persistent threat to Brian Hook amid death threats from Iranian officials
This is on Biden for adopting a dangerously weak appeasement policy vis-à-vis Iran's ayatollah, emboldening the regime to both demand more concessions during the nuclear talks in Vienna threatening to kill Americans.
The Biden administration should walk out of the talks right now. LINK
Despite Nuclear Crisis, Policy Focus Should Turn to Iran’s Other Malign Activities
The international community needs to vigorously tackle the regime's human rights violations, ongoing support for terrorist groups across the globe, and dangerous missile program. LINK
Yemen Has Become an Iranian Proxy War Against Israel
"... by transferring long-range capabilities to the Houthis, Iran has also established Houthi-controlled Yemen as a staging ground to pressure Israel."
Reminder: Biden's State Dept. lifted the terror designation off the Houthis in an incentive to Iran. LINK
Iran the only country to reject UN General Assembly resolution condemning Holocaust denial
The regime’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement statement containing a repetition of the regime’s controversial claims that “the Islamic Republic of Iran reiterates that the prevention of the recurrence of historical catastrophes requires historical research that must be done without political judgment and prejudice.” LINK
Iran denying medical care to political prisoner with COVID-19 symptoms
Political prisoner Payam Shakiba has been denied access to proper medical treatment despite contracting Covid-19 at Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. This graduate student of Tehran’s Allameh Tabataba’i University has been previously arrested and convicted for his peaceful activities. LINK