Let's talk Iran - March 3, 2021
NUCLEAR
Iranian opposition reveals new details about Tehran’s illicit nuclear program
Iran opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) revealed information about a nuclear site that Tehran's regime has been hiding from the International Atomic Energy Agency. LINK
Amb. Joseph: The Iranian regime openly violates the limits of the JCPOA to coerce the U.S. administration back into the agreement
“Since the covert nuclear program was revealed, incidentally, by the NCRI and MEK in 2002, violations of the NPT, IAEA safeguards and other agreements have continued, and the JCPOA is no exception,” Ambassador Joseph said adding: “The regime openly violates the limits of the JCPOA today to coerce the administration back into the agreement.”
Inside the GOP Plan to Oppose Biden’s Iran Deal
Congressional Republicans are working on a range of measures to stop the Biden administration from reentering the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, an effort that includes a full-court press to block sanctions relief for Tehran until it fully dismantles its contested nuclear program, according to conversations with multiple GOP foreign policy leaders. LINK
Biden Risks Repeating Mistakes of the Past if He Ignores the Evidence on Iran
The regime in Tehran has a long track record of willfully concealing its nuclear activities in violation of its treaty obligations. Papering over Iran’s breach of its most fundamental nuclear obligations in favor of the empty reassurances provided by a flawed nuclear agreement would be an enormous strategic mistake—not just for the new administration’s Iran policy but for other regimes watching across the world. To reward Iran with sanctions relief for concealing undeclared nuclear material and activities poses a far greater threat to the global nonproliferation regime than withdrawal from flawed agreements. LINK
Any new nuclear deal with Iran should be 'dramatically improved': Israel
Steinitz, a close ally of Netanyahu, urged Biden to put “enormous pressure” on Iran to change its behavior and dismantle its nuclear program, which he said could affect not only the Middle East, but Europe and the U.S. LINK
HUMAN RIGHTS
Iranian political prisoner has been left to suffer after undergoing surgery
Political prisoner Akbar Bagheri was harassed and tortured after undergoing surgery in a hospital with handcuffs. Since being returned to the Greater Tehran Penitentiary, he has been kept in a filthy place called ‘quarantine’. LINK
TERRORISM
The West must act on Iranian terrorism now before it is too late
The UK and its allies need to treat the threat of Iranian terrorism seriously and acknowledge that terrorist operations run deeper than rogue individuals, argues Sir Alan Meale. In light of Iran's long history of using terrorism as a form of statecraft, it is a course of action that the international community should have initiated long ago. Do it now before it is too late. LINK
Israeli minister accuses Iran of link to oil spill off its shores
Israel’s investigation has focused on an unidentified ship that passed about 50 km (30 miles) off the coast on Feb. 11 as the likely source of what environmentalist groups are calling an ecological disaster that could take years to clean up. LINK
