news

Tehran

Followers

Showing posts with label Tehran. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tehran. Show all posts

Did Tehran Care? US defense chief vows to counter Iran in visit to Bahrain

Did Tehran Care? US defense chief vows to counter Iran in visit to Bahrain

UAE — America’s top defense official vowed Saturday to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to counter its “dangerous use” of suicide drones in the wider Mideast, a pledge coming as negotiations remain stalled over Tehran’s tattered atomic deal with world powers.



Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s comments in Bahrain at the annual Manama Dialogue appeared aimed at reassuring America’s Arab allies in the Gulf as the Biden administration tries to revive the nuclear deal, which limited Iran’s enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.


His remarks also come after Gulf sheikhdoms saw the U.S.’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, raising concerns about America’s commitment to the region as defense officials say they want to pivot forces to counter perceived challenges from China and Russia.


“The United States remains committed to preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. And we remain committed to a diplomatic outcome of the nuclear issue,” Austin told attendees at an event put on by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “But if Iran isn’t willing to engage seriously, then we will look at all of the options necessary to keep the United States secure.”


Iran long has maintained its nuclear program is peaceful, though U.S. intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency say Tehran had an organized weapons program until 2003. Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.


Since then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, a series of escalating incidents have struck the wider Mideast. That includes drone and mine attacks targeting vessels at sea, as well as assaults blamed on Iran and its proxies in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. also killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad in early 2020, which saw Iran target American troops in Iraq with ballistic missiles.


Under Biden, U.S. military officials are looking at a wider reshuffling of forces from the Mideast to other areas, though it still maintains a large presence at bases across the region. Austin hinted at that in his remarks, saying: “Our potential punch includes what our friends can contribute and what we have prepositioned and what we can rapidly flow in.”


“Our friends and foes both know that the United States can deploy overwhelming force at the time and place of our choosing,” Austin said.


Austin’s comments also touched on the ongoing war in Yemen, for which the Biden administration halted its offensive support shortly after he came into office.


Saudi Arabia has led a military campaign since 2015 against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who hold Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. The Houthis have launched drone and ballistic missile attacks on the kingdom to retaliate for a punishing aerial bombing campaign that also has killed civilians.


But while the kingdom constantly refers to every drone and missile fired by the Houthis as successfully intercepted by its defenses, Austin put the rate instead at “nearly 90%.” The U.S. also withdrew its THAAD air defenses and Patriot missile batteries from Prince Sultan Air Base several months ago.


“We’ll work with them until it’s 100%,” he said.


The Manama Dialogue takes place each year in Bahrain, a small island kingdom off the coast of Saudi Arabia that’s home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. Bahrain also has engaged in a yearslong campaign crushing dissent. Activists wrote to Austin before his trip, urging him to raise the detention of prisoners on the island and Bahrain’s involvement in the Yemen war.


Did Tehran cares anymore about US threats and economic sanctions again?


Source: Yahoo

UAE — America’s top defense official vowed Saturday to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to counter its “dangerous use” of suicide drones in the wider Mideast, a pledge coming as negotiations remain stalled over Tehran’s tattered atomic deal with world powers.



Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s comments in Bahrain at the annual Manama Dialogue appeared aimed at reassuring America’s Arab allies in the Gulf as the Biden administration tries to revive the nuclear deal, which limited Iran’s enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.


His remarks also come after Gulf sheikhdoms saw the U.S.’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, raising concerns about America’s commitment to the region as defense officials say they want to pivot forces to counter perceived challenges from China and Russia.


“The United States remains committed to preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. And we remain committed to a diplomatic outcome of the nuclear issue,” Austin told attendees at an event put on by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “But if Iran isn’t willing to engage seriously, then we will look at all of the options necessary to keep the United States secure.”


Iran long has maintained its nuclear program is peaceful, though U.S. intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency say Tehran had an organized weapons program until 2003. Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.


Since then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, a series of escalating incidents have struck the wider Mideast. That includes drone and mine attacks targeting vessels at sea, as well as assaults blamed on Iran and its proxies in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. also killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad in early 2020, which saw Iran target American troops in Iraq with ballistic missiles.


Under Biden, U.S. military officials are looking at a wider reshuffling of forces from the Mideast to other areas, though it still maintains a large presence at bases across the region. Austin hinted at that in his remarks, saying: “Our potential punch includes what our friends can contribute and what we have prepositioned and what we can rapidly flow in.”


“Our friends and foes both know that the United States can deploy overwhelming force at the time and place of our choosing,” Austin said.


Austin’s comments also touched on the ongoing war in Yemen, for which the Biden administration halted its offensive support shortly after he came into office.


Saudi Arabia has led a military campaign since 2015 against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who hold Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. The Houthis have launched drone and ballistic missile attacks on the kingdom to retaliate for a punishing aerial bombing campaign that also has killed civilians.


But while the kingdom constantly refers to every drone and missile fired by the Houthis as successfully intercepted by its defenses, Austin put the rate instead at “nearly 90%.” The U.S. also withdrew its THAAD air defenses and Patriot missile batteries from Prince Sultan Air Base several months ago.


“We’ll work with them until it’s 100%,” he said.


The Manama Dialogue takes place each year in Bahrain, a small island kingdom off the coast of Saudi Arabia that’s home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. Bahrain also has engaged in a yearslong campaign crushing dissent. Activists wrote to Austin before his trip, urging him to raise the detention of prisoners on the island and Bahrain’s involvement in the Yemen war.


Did Tehran cares anymore about US threats and economic sanctions again?


Source: Yahoo

STRATEGIC LIES AND STRATEGIC DECEPTIONS: America Needs to Start Telling the Truth About Israel’s Nukes

STRATEGIC LIES AND STRATEGIC DECEPTIONS: America Needs to Start Telling the Truth About Israel’s Nukes


American politicians often warn that if Iran obtains a nuclear weapon, it will spark a nuclear stampede across the Middle East. Allowing Tehran to get the bomb, Senator Robert Menendez, the current chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, predicted in March 2020, could “set off a dangerous arms race in the region.” In an interview in December, President-elect Joe Biden cautioned that if Iran went nuclear, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt might too, “and the last goddamn thing we need in that part of the world is a buildup of nuclear capability.”

Such statements are so familiar that it’s easy to overlook their artifice. In warning that Iran could turn the Middle East nuclear, American politicians imply that the region is nuclear-free now. But it’s not. Israel already has nuclear weapons. You’d just never know it from America’s leaders, who have spent the last half-century feigning ignorance. This deceit undercuts America’s supposed commitment to nuclear nonproliferation, and it distorts the American debate over Iran. It’s time for the Biden administration to tell the truth.

American officials began hiding the truth about Israeli nuclear weapons after Israeli leaders hid the truth from them. In the early 1960s, writes Avner Cohen in his book “The Worst Kept Secret,” Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion repeatedly told President John F. Kennedy that the reactor Israel was building in the desert town of Dimona “was for peaceful purposes only.” When the United States sent inspectors to the site, the Israelis concocted an elaborate ruse, which included building fake walls to conceal the elevators that led to an underground reprocessing plant. By decade’s end, the die was cast. The C.I.A. concluded that Israel already possessed nuclear warheads.

So Richard Nixon and Prime Minister Golda Meir hatched a deal. Neither Israel nor the United States would acknowledge that Israel had nuclear weapons, and Washington would not pressure Israel to submit them to international oversight. For 50 years now, American presidents have abided by the bargain. Scholars believe that when Israel tested a nuclear weapon in the Indian Ocean in 1979, the Carter administration covered it up. In 2009, when a journalist asked Barack Obama if he knew of “any country in the Middle East that has nuclear weapons?” Mr. Obama responded, “I don’t want to speculate.”

Feigning ignorance about Israeli nuclear weapons makes a mockery of America’s efforts at nonproliferation. Mr. Obama vowed to pursue a nuclear-free world. Yet to prevent public discussion of Israel’s arsenal, his administration helped squelch a United Nations conference on a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East. The Biden administration continues to impose punishing sanctions on Iran in an attempt to force its government to accept inspections more stringent than those required by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Meanwhile, Israel, which has never signed the N.P.T., permits no inspections at all.

This hypocrisy leads many around the world to smirk when American diplomats claim to be defending the “rules-based order.” It also empowers those Iranians who claim Tehran has the right to match its regional rival.

Finally, the American government’s deceptive silence prevents a more honest debate at home about the dangers an Iranian nuclear weapon would pose. American politicians sometimes say an Iranian bomb would pose an “existential” threat to Israel. That’s a dubious claim, given that Israel possesses a nuclear deterrent it can deploy on air, land and sea. But many Americans find the claim plausible because, according to recent polling conducted by Shibley Telhami of the University of Maryland, barely 50 percent know Israel has nuclear weapons. A higher percentage thinks Tehran has the bomb.

Even if an Iranian bomb wouldn’t existentially threaten Israel, the United States should still work to forestall one diplomatically. With negotiations with Tehran at risk of collapse, the Biden administration should commit to lifting the sanctions that are crippling Iran’s economy in return for verifiable limits on Iran’s nuclear capacity. But if those efforts fail — and the Biden administration faces pressure to wage war rather than allow Iran to gain the capacity to build a nuclear weapon — it’s crucial that Americans make an informed decision about the risk a nuclear Iran poses to America’s closest ally in the Middle East. That’s harder when the American government never publicly admits that Israel has the means to deter a nuclear attack.

The Biden administration is not going to force Israel to give up its nuclear weapons. But that doesn’t mean it must undermine America’s global credibility and deceive its people by denying reality. Perhaps a more honest American discussion of Israel’s nuclear arsenal will breathe new life into the distant dream of a nuclear-free Middle East. Even if that doesn’t happen, it will be bracing, after a half-century of lying by omission, simply to hear America’s leaders tell the truth.

Peter Beinart (@PeterBeinart) is professor of journalism and political science at the Newmark School of Journalism at the City University of New York. He is also editor at large of Jewish Currents and writes The Beinart Notebook, a weekly newsletter."

American politicians often warn that if Iran obtains a nuclear weapon, it will spark a nuclear stampede across the Middle East. Allowing Tehran to get the bomb, Senator Robert Menendez, the current chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, predicted in March 2020, could “set off a dangerous arms race in the region.” In an interview in December, President-elect Joe Biden cautioned that if Iran went nuclear, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt might too, “and the last goddamn thing we need in that part of the world is a buildup of nuclear capability.”

Such statements are so familiar that it’s easy to overlook their artifice. In warning that Iran could turn the Middle East nuclear, American politicians imply that the region is nuclear-free now. But it’s not. Israel already has nuclear weapons. You’d just never know it from America’s leaders, who have spent the last half-century feigning ignorance. This deceit undercuts America’s supposed commitment to nuclear nonproliferation, and it distorts the American debate over Iran. It’s time for the Biden administration to tell the truth.

American officials began hiding the truth about Israeli nuclear weapons after Israeli leaders hid the truth from them. In the early 1960s, writes Avner Cohen in his book “The Worst Kept Secret,” Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion repeatedly told President John F. Kennedy that the reactor Israel was building in the desert town of Dimona “was for peaceful purposes only.” When the United States sent inspectors to the site, the Israelis concocted an elaborate ruse, which included building fake walls to conceal the elevators that led to an underground reprocessing plant. By decade’s end, the die was cast. The C.I.A. concluded that Israel already possessed nuclear warheads.

So Richard Nixon and Prime Minister Golda Meir hatched a deal. Neither Israel nor the United States would acknowledge that Israel had nuclear weapons, and Washington would not pressure Israel to submit them to international oversight. For 50 years now, American presidents have abided by the bargain. Scholars believe that when Israel tested a nuclear weapon in the Indian Ocean in 1979, the Carter administration covered it up. In 2009, when a journalist asked Barack Obama if he knew of “any country in the Middle East that has nuclear weapons?” Mr. Obama responded, “I don’t want to speculate.”

Feigning ignorance about Israeli nuclear weapons makes a mockery of America’s efforts at nonproliferation. Mr. Obama vowed to pursue a nuclear-free world. Yet to prevent public discussion of Israel’s arsenal, his administration helped squelch a United Nations conference on a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East. The Biden administration continues to impose punishing sanctions on Iran in an attempt to force its government to accept inspections more stringent than those required by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Meanwhile, Israel, which has never signed the N.P.T., permits no inspections at all.

This hypocrisy leads many around the world to smirk when American diplomats claim to be defending the “rules-based order.” It also empowers those Iranians who claim Tehran has the right to match its regional rival.

Finally, the American government’s deceptive silence prevents a more honest debate at home about the dangers an Iranian nuclear weapon would pose. American politicians sometimes say an Iranian bomb would pose an “existential” threat to Israel. That’s a dubious claim, given that Israel possesses a nuclear deterrent it can deploy on air, land and sea. But many Americans find the claim plausible because, according to recent polling conducted by Shibley Telhami of the University of Maryland, barely 50 percent know Israel has nuclear weapons. A higher percentage thinks Tehran has the bomb.

Even if an Iranian bomb wouldn’t existentially threaten Israel, the United States should still work to forestall one diplomatically. With negotiations with Tehran at risk of collapse, the Biden administration should commit to lifting the sanctions that are crippling Iran’s economy in return for verifiable limits on Iran’s nuclear capacity. But if those efforts fail — and the Biden administration faces pressure to wage war rather than allow Iran to gain the capacity to build a nuclear weapon — it’s crucial that Americans make an informed decision about the risk a nuclear Iran poses to America’s closest ally in the Middle East. That’s harder when the American government never publicly admits that Israel has the means to deter a nuclear attack.

The Biden administration is not going to force Israel to give up its nuclear weapons. But that doesn’t mean it must undermine America’s global credibility and deceive its people by denying reality. Perhaps a more honest American discussion of Israel’s nuclear arsenal will breathe new life into the distant dream of a nuclear-free Middle East. Even if that doesn’t happen, it will be bracing, after a half-century of lying by omission, simply to hear America’s leaders tell the truth.

Peter Beinart (@PeterBeinart) is professor of journalism and political science at the Newmark School of Journalism at the City University of New York. He is also editor at large of Jewish Currents and writes The Beinart Notebook, a weekly newsletter."

Iran's IRGC Navy reveals new ‘missile city’ with advanced capabilities

Iran's IRGC Navy reveals new ‘missile city’ with advanced capabilities


The Islamic Republic of Iran on Monday released images and film footage of what it said was a new Revolutionary Guards base armed with cruise and ballistic missiles and "electronic warfare" equipment.

Watch: IRGC Navy has unveiled a new "missile city". Location undisclosed.

According to a report by state TV which described the base as a "missile city" and showed rows of what looked like missiles in a depot with cement walls. It did not give any details on its location. Alireza Tangsiri, the head of the elite Revolutionary Guards' naval unit, told state TV the base had equipment to detect enemy signals.

According to the report, the base's "electronic warfare equipment" included radar, monitoring, simulation and disruption systems. "The new systems and equipment make IRGC Navy capable of launching precision missiles from underground, launching naval mines with different ranges, firing at 360-degree[s], confronting electronic warfare, and increasing the range and destruction power in operations," reported Mehr, a semi-official Iranian news agency.


What we see today is a small section of the great and expansive missile capability of Revolutionary Guards' naval forces," Guards Commander Major General Hossein Salami said in the broadcast. According to Mehrs, Salami also "noted that four decades of enemies’ unity against the Islamic Republic has only resulted in their defeat and disappointment," and referred specifically to the "imposition of sanctions and waging [of] an economic war."

Iran, which routinely boasts of technological advances in its armed forces, has one of the biggest missile programs in the Middle East.

Last July, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy chief said that Tehran has built underground "missile cities" along the Gulf coastline, warning of a "nightmare for Iran's enemies."

Iran has established underground onshore and offshore missile cities all along the coasts of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that would be a nightmare for Iran's enemies," Rear Admiral Ali Reza Tangsiri told the Sobh-e Sadeq weekly.

In late June, there was an explosion from an area in its eastern mountains that analysts believe hides an underground tunnel system and missile production sites. American and Israeli officials have denied sabotage of the missile site.

In 2019, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency said that Iran has the largest underground facility program in the Middle East.

According to an assessment by the agency that year, "Iran's size and sophistication of its missile force continues to grow despite decades of counterproliferation efforts aimed at curbing its advancement Iran considers missiles to be a strategic necessity due to the limitations of its air force."

The study also explained that since Iran considers missiles to be a strategic necessity due to the limitations of its air force. "Therefore, lacking a modern air force necessitated Tehran to embrace ballistic missiles as a long-range strike capability to dissuade its adversaries in the region – particularly the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia – from attacking Iran," the report said.


Source


The Islamic Republic of Iran on Monday released images and film footage of what it said was a new Revolutionary Guards base armed with cruise and ballistic missiles and "electronic warfare" equipment.

Watch: IRGC Navy has unveiled a new "missile city". Location undisclosed.

According to a report by state TV which described the base as a "missile city" and showed rows of what looked like missiles in a depot with cement walls. It did not give any details on its location. Alireza Tangsiri, the head of the elite Revolutionary Guards' naval unit, told state TV the base had equipment to detect enemy signals.

According to the report, the base's "electronic warfare equipment" included radar, monitoring, simulation and disruption systems. "The new systems and equipment make IRGC Navy capable of launching precision missiles from underground, launching naval mines with different ranges, firing at 360-degree[s], confronting electronic warfare, and increasing the range and destruction power in operations," reported Mehr, a semi-official Iranian news agency.


What we see today is a small section of the great and expansive missile capability of Revolutionary Guards' naval forces," Guards Commander Major General Hossein Salami said in the broadcast. According to Mehrs, Salami also "noted that four decades of enemies’ unity against the Islamic Republic has only resulted in their defeat and disappointment," and referred specifically to the "imposition of sanctions and waging [of] an economic war."

Iran, which routinely boasts of technological advances in its armed forces, has one of the biggest missile programs in the Middle East.

Last July, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy chief said that Tehran has built underground "missile cities" along the Gulf coastline, warning of a "nightmare for Iran's enemies."

Iran has established underground onshore and offshore missile cities all along the coasts of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that would be a nightmare for Iran's enemies," Rear Admiral Ali Reza Tangsiri told the Sobh-e Sadeq weekly.

In late June, there was an explosion from an area in its eastern mountains that analysts believe hides an underground tunnel system and missile production sites. American and Israeli officials have denied sabotage of the missile site.

In 2019, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency said that Iran has the largest underground facility program in the Middle East.

According to an assessment by the agency that year, "Iran's size and sophistication of its missile force continues to grow despite decades of counterproliferation efforts aimed at curbing its advancement Iran considers missiles to be a strategic necessity due to the limitations of its air force."

The study also explained that since Iran considers missiles to be a strategic necessity due to the limitations of its air force. "Therefore, lacking a modern air force necessitated Tehran to embrace ballistic missiles as a long-range strike capability to dissuade its adversaries in the region – particularly the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia – from attacking Iran," the report said.


Source

Iran tensions at heart of UN nuclear watchdog meeting as Zarif says western powers start on wrong note for supporting US

Iran tensions at heart of UN nuclear watchdog meeting as Zarif says western powers start on wrong note for supporting US


Tehran last week said it will  limit inspections by the UN's nuclear watchdog into it's nuclear programs.


According to AFP report, the iran's new decision will be at the heart of a meeting of UN's Nuclear Watchdog board of governors on Monday, with some members mulling a formal rebuke to Tehran.


The report indicated that Western countries will be trying to find a way of censuring Iran without jeopardising fragile efforts to revive the 2015 deal between Tehran and major powers on its nuclear programme.


The possibility of a resolution criticising Iran being passed at the board attracted sharp diplomatic comment in the run-up to the meeting.


Meanwhile Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday that  the Western powers have started again on a wrong note by supporting United state.


"The Europeans have started a wrong move by supporting the US in the board of governors," he said.


"We think this move will lead to the situation becoming disorganised," he said, according to the official Irna agency.


While President Joe Biden has said he is willing to bring the United States back to the 2015 deal, on Sunday Iran said the time was "not suitable" to hold an informal meeting with the US and the remaining parties to the accord -- France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia.


Diplomatic sources say that no decision has yet been taken by European states on whether or not to put forward a resolution as Iran will only be discussed later in the week at the meeting, being held via videoconference.


- 'Unfortunate miscalculation' -


Russia has made clear its opposition to the prospect of a resolution criticising Iran.


Russian ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov tweeted on Monday that such a move would be an "unfortunate miscalculation".


Earlier he had said that "the common responsibility of all 35 Governors is to ensure that the debates (even heated) do not negatively affect diplomatic efforts aimed at full restoration of #JCPOA," using the formal name for the 2015 deal.


Russia's deputy foreign minister also blasted Washington for US strikes on Iran-backed militias in eastern Syria last week, saying the move threatened to scupper talks.


"There is no doubt that influential forces in Washington have taken steps in order to derail this meeting," Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by Russian state news agency TASS as saying.


The JCPOA was sent into disarray when former US President Donald Trump dramatically withdrew from it in 2018 and went on to impose swingeing economic sanctions on Iran which Tehran called Economic Terrorism against the iranians.


"We are running against time," Ulyanov said.


Zarif said that Iran hoped "that reason will prevail" at this week's meeting.


"If it does not we do have solutions," he said, without specifying what these were.


In a document circulated to IAEA member states ahead of this week's meeting, the Iranian mission to the organisation said a critical resolution would be "counterproductive and destructive".


The document also said the introduction of such a resolution would mark the "end" of the agreement reached with the IAEA last month to mitigate the impact of reduced inspections.


Under that temporary three-month arrangement, Iran has pledged to keep recordings "of some activities and monitoring equipment" and hand them over to the IAEA when US sanctions are lifted.


If a resolution censuring Iran is passed, it would be the first such resolution since June, which was itself the first in eight years.


- 'Time bought' by deal -


Diplomatic sources say the Iranian attempt at "blackmail" over a possible resolution has gone down badly among European states.


The latest tensions come after weeks in which Iran has continued breaking the limits laid down in the 2015 deal, for example by enriching uranium to 20 percent and producing uranium metal.


Tehran insists it has the right to take these steps in retaliation for American sanctions, and that the measures can be reversed as soon as sanctions are lifted.


According to Kelsey Davenport, director for Nonproliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association think-tank, "the US would be foolish to waste the time bought" by the temporary agreement hammered out between Iran and the IAEA.


"It would be positive to have a concrete reciprocal action from the US acknowledging that Iran showed some restraint by negotiating this technical understanding," she said.


"It is manageable in the short term but if drags on too long, it will start impacting the future of the nuclear deal and it will erode confidence in the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme," Davenport told AFP.




Tehran last week said it will  limit inspections by the UN's nuclear watchdog into it's nuclear programs.


According to AFP report, the iran's new decision will be at the heart of a meeting of UN's Nuclear Watchdog board of governors on Monday, with some members mulling a formal rebuke to Tehran.


The report indicated that Western countries will be trying to find a way of censuring Iran without jeopardising fragile efforts to revive the 2015 deal between Tehran and major powers on its nuclear programme.


The possibility of a resolution criticising Iran being passed at the board attracted sharp diplomatic comment in the run-up to the meeting.


Meanwhile Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday that  the Western powers have started again on a wrong note by supporting United state.


"The Europeans have started a wrong move by supporting the US in the board of governors," he said.


"We think this move will lead to the situation becoming disorganised," he said, according to the official Irna agency.


While President Joe Biden has said he is willing to bring the United States back to the 2015 deal, on Sunday Iran said the time was "not suitable" to hold an informal meeting with the US and the remaining parties to the accord -- France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia.


Diplomatic sources say that no decision has yet been taken by European states on whether or not to put forward a resolution as Iran will only be discussed later in the week at the meeting, being held via videoconference.


- 'Unfortunate miscalculation' -


Russia has made clear its opposition to the prospect of a resolution criticising Iran.


Russian ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov tweeted on Monday that such a move would be an "unfortunate miscalculation".


Earlier he had said that "the common responsibility of all 35 Governors is to ensure that the debates (even heated) do not negatively affect diplomatic efforts aimed at full restoration of #JCPOA," using the formal name for the 2015 deal.


Russia's deputy foreign minister also blasted Washington for US strikes on Iran-backed militias in eastern Syria last week, saying the move threatened to scupper talks.


"There is no doubt that influential forces in Washington have taken steps in order to derail this meeting," Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by Russian state news agency TASS as saying.


The JCPOA was sent into disarray when former US President Donald Trump dramatically withdrew from it in 2018 and went on to impose swingeing economic sanctions on Iran which Tehran called Economic Terrorism against the iranians.


"We are running against time," Ulyanov said.


Zarif said that Iran hoped "that reason will prevail" at this week's meeting.


"If it does not we do have solutions," he said, without specifying what these were.


In a document circulated to IAEA member states ahead of this week's meeting, the Iranian mission to the organisation said a critical resolution would be "counterproductive and destructive".


The document also said the introduction of such a resolution would mark the "end" of the agreement reached with the IAEA last month to mitigate the impact of reduced inspections.


Under that temporary three-month arrangement, Iran has pledged to keep recordings "of some activities and monitoring equipment" and hand them over to the IAEA when US sanctions are lifted.


If a resolution censuring Iran is passed, it would be the first such resolution since June, which was itself the first in eight years.


- 'Time bought' by deal -


Diplomatic sources say the Iranian attempt at "blackmail" over a possible resolution has gone down badly among European states.


The latest tensions come after weeks in which Iran has continued breaking the limits laid down in the 2015 deal, for example by enriching uranium to 20 percent and producing uranium metal.


Tehran insists it has the right to take these steps in retaliation for American sanctions, and that the measures can be reversed as soon as sanctions are lifted.


According to Kelsey Davenport, director for Nonproliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association think-tank, "the US would be foolish to waste the time bought" by the temporary agreement hammered out between Iran and the IAEA.


"It would be positive to have a concrete reciprocal action from the US acknowledging that Iran showed some restraint by negotiating this technical understanding," she said.


"It is manageable in the short term but if drags on too long, it will start impacting the future of the nuclear deal and it will erode confidence in the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme," Davenport told AFP.



Israel's PM Netanyahu accuses Tehran of attacking an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman last week

Israel's PM Netanyahu accuses Tehran of attacking an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman last week


Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has on Monday accused Tehran of attacking an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman last week.


The attack seen as a mysterious explosion that has further spiked security concerns in the whole of Mideast region.


Netanyahu who without offering any evidence to his claim told Israeli public broadcaster Kan that “it was indeed an act by Iran, that’s clear.”


According to the PM, “Iran is the greatest enemy of Israel, I am determined to halt it. We are hitting it in the entire region.”


The blast struck the Israeli-owned MV Helios Ray, a Bahamian-flagged roll-on, roll-off vehicle cargo ship, as it was sailing out of the Middle East on its way to Singapore on Friday. The crew was unharmed, but the vessel sustained two holes on its port side and two on its starboard side just above the waterline, according to American defense officials.


The ship came to Dubai’s port for repairs on Sunday, days after the blast that revived security concerns in Mideast waterways amid heightened tensions with Iran. Iran has sought to pressure the U.S. to lift sanctions on Tehran as President Joe Biden's administration considers option for returning to negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.


It remains unclear what caused the blast. The Helios Ray had discharged cars at various ports in the Persian Gulf before the explosion forced it to reverse course.


In recent days, Israel’s defense minister and army chief had both indicated they held Iran responsible for what they said was an attack on the vessel.


Overnight, Syrian state media reported a series of alleged Israeli airstrikes near Damascus, saying air defense systems had intercepted most of the missiles. Israeli media reports said the alleged airstrikes were on Iranian targets in response to the ship attack.


Israel has struck hundreds of Iranian targets in neighboring Syria in recent years, and Netanyahu has repeatedly said Israel will not accept a permanent Syrian military presence there. Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah have provided military support to Syrian President Bashar Assad in the more than decade-long Syrian civil war.


The Israeli military declined comment. There was no immediate response from Iran to the Israeli allegations.


Iran also has blamed Israel for a recent series of attacks, including a mysterious explosion last summer that destroyed an advanced centrifuge assembly plant at its Natanz nuclear facility and the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a top Iranian scientist who founded the Islamic Republic’s military nuclear program two decades ago. Iran has repeatedly vowed to avenge Fakhrizadeh’s killing.


“It is most important that Iran doesn’t have nuclear weapons, with or without an agreement, this I also told to my friend Biden," Netanyahu said, referring to the U.S. president.


Iranian threats of retaliation have raised alarms in Israel since the signing of normalization deals with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in September.


Now that the Democrats are in the U.S white house again, it is expected that the Iranian Nuclear Deal with the world powers and Germany be re-perfected to ensuring ease of economy blockade against Tehran and peace in the Mideast region.


Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has on Monday accused Tehran of attacking an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman last week.


The attack seen as a mysterious explosion that has further spiked security concerns in the whole of Mideast region.


Netanyahu who without offering any evidence to his claim told Israeli public broadcaster Kan that “it was indeed an act by Iran, that’s clear.”


According to the PM, “Iran is the greatest enemy of Israel, I am determined to halt it. We are hitting it in the entire region.”


The blast struck the Israeli-owned MV Helios Ray, a Bahamian-flagged roll-on, roll-off vehicle cargo ship, as it was sailing out of the Middle East on its way to Singapore on Friday. The crew was unharmed, but the vessel sustained two holes on its port side and two on its starboard side just above the waterline, according to American defense officials.


The ship came to Dubai’s port for repairs on Sunday, days after the blast that revived security concerns in Mideast waterways amid heightened tensions with Iran. Iran has sought to pressure the U.S. to lift sanctions on Tehran as President Joe Biden's administration considers option for returning to negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.


It remains unclear what caused the blast. The Helios Ray had discharged cars at various ports in the Persian Gulf before the explosion forced it to reverse course.


In recent days, Israel’s defense minister and army chief had both indicated they held Iran responsible for what they said was an attack on the vessel.


Overnight, Syrian state media reported a series of alleged Israeli airstrikes near Damascus, saying air defense systems had intercepted most of the missiles. Israeli media reports said the alleged airstrikes were on Iranian targets in response to the ship attack.


Israel has struck hundreds of Iranian targets in neighboring Syria in recent years, and Netanyahu has repeatedly said Israel will not accept a permanent Syrian military presence there. Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah have provided military support to Syrian President Bashar Assad in the more than decade-long Syrian civil war.


The Israeli military declined comment. There was no immediate response from Iran to the Israeli allegations.


Iran also has blamed Israel for a recent series of attacks, including a mysterious explosion last summer that destroyed an advanced centrifuge assembly plant at its Natanz nuclear facility and the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a top Iranian scientist who founded the Islamic Republic’s military nuclear program two decades ago. Iran has repeatedly vowed to avenge Fakhrizadeh’s killing.


“It is most important that Iran doesn’t have nuclear weapons, with or without an agreement, this I also told to my friend Biden," Netanyahu said, referring to the U.S. president.


Iranian threats of retaliation have raised alarms in Israel since the signing of normalization deals with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in September.


Now that the Democrats are in the U.S white house again, it is expected that the Iranian Nuclear Deal with the world powers and Germany be re-perfected to ensuring ease of economy blockade against Tehran and peace in the Mideast region.

We are watching all of your activities, you will be defeated, Iranian Defense Chief warns US

We are watching all of your activities, you will be defeated, Iranian Defense Chief warns US

Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said that the Persian's armed forces are monitoring all U.S. activities against Islamic Republic at various political, economic and social levels.

In a statement made during his visit to the home of former Defense Minister Major General Musa Namjo, Hatimi pointed out that “American anti-Iranian activities at various political, economic and social levels aim to break the resistance of the people and destabilises the security of the country, but the U.S. will be defeated by the Iranian people this time. 

It happened in previous times,” he said. The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will monitor and respond to any despicable and malicious move of the United States strongly.

His remarks was concurrent with the commemoration ceremony of 40th anniversary of the Sacred Defense (Iraqi imposed war against Iran in 1980-1988).

 “Americans will certainly be defeated by the great nation of Islamic Iran like previous years and the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, under the wise leadership of the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, will respond to any malicious movement of the enemy authoritatively and strongly.”

According to Mehr Agency: “The Iranian armed forces are working according to the directives of the Leader of the Revolution, Imam Khamenei, in strengthening its capabilities and defending the people and the country and consciously monitoring all the activities of the desperate enemies and resolutely responding to them,” he said.

Shortly after the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979 , Tehran and Washington cut diplomatic ties after the U.S. embassy in Tehran was seized and 55 people were kept hostage for 444 days.

Hostility between Tehran and Washington has grown since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and imposed more severe sanctions on Iran that paralysed its economy. 

Tehran responded by gradually reducing its obligations under the agreement signed in 2015.

The hostility reached unprecedented levels in early January when the Iranian military commander, Major-General Qassem Soleimani, was assassinated in a U.S. drone strike as ordered by US President.

Iran responded on January 9 by firing several missiles at two bases in Iraq that host American and NATO coalition forces.

Other signatories countries to the Iranian nuclear deal have severally affirmed their  pleaded and supports for the deal. 
Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said that the Persian's armed forces are monitoring all U.S. activities against Islamic Republic at various political, economic and social levels.

In a statement made during his visit to the home of former Defense Minister Major General Musa Namjo, Hatimi pointed out that “American anti-Iranian activities at various political, economic and social levels aim to break the resistance of the people and destabilises the security of the country, but the U.S. will be defeated by the Iranian people this time. 

It happened in previous times,” he said. The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will monitor and respond to any despicable and malicious move of the United States strongly.

His remarks was concurrent with the commemoration ceremony of 40th anniversary of the Sacred Defense (Iraqi imposed war against Iran in 1980-1988).

 “Americans will certainly be defeated by the great nation of Islamic Iran like previous years and the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, under the wise leadership of the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, will respond to any malicious movement of the enemy authoritatively and strongly.”

According to Mehr Agency: “The Iranian armed forces are working according to the directives of the Leader of the Revolution, Imam Khamenei, in strengthening its capabilities and defending the people and the country and consciously monitoring all the activities of the desperate enemies and resolutely responding to them,” he said.

Shortly after the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979 , Tehran and Washington cut diplomatic ties after the U.S. embassy in Tehran was seized and 55 people were kept hostage for 444 days.

Hostility between Tehran and Washington has grown since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and imposed more severe sanctions on Iran that paralysed its economy. 

Tehran responded by gradually reducing its obligations under the agreement signed in 2015.

The hostility reached unprecedented levels in early January when the Iranian military commander, Major-General Qassem Soleimani, was assassinated in a U.S. drone strike as ordered by US President.

Iran responded on January 9 by firing several missiles at two bases in Iraq that host American and NATO coalition forces.

Other signatories countries to the Iranian nuclear deal have severally affirmed their  pleaded and supports for the deal. 

Poster Speaks

Poster Speaks/box

Trending

randomposts