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Obama Admin Will Veto Counter-Terror Measures to Save Nuke Deal

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Secretary of State John Kerry is working to reassure Iranian leaders that recent congressional efforts to tighten counter-terrorism measures will not harm Iranian interests, according to a letter sent by Kerry to Iran’s foreign minister.

The assurances come following efforts by Congress to tighten restrictions in the visa waiver program, which they claim has gaping loopholes that may enable suspected terrorists to legally enter the United States with few background checks.

Iranian leaders expressed anger over the move in recent days, prompting senior Obama administration officials to convey their own concerns to lawmakers.

Kerry wrote to Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif late last week, promising that the Obama administration could veto these new counter-terrorism laws in order ensure Iran is not negatively impacted.

“I want to confirm to you that we remain fully committed to the sanctions lifting provided for under the [nuclear deal],” Kerry wrote Zarif in a Dec. 19 letter that came a day after the two met in person. “We will adhere to the full measure of our commitments, per the agreement. Our team is working hard to be prepared and as soon as we reach implementation day we will lift appropriate sanctions. (Read more from “Obama Admin Will Veto Counter-Terror Measures to Save Nuke Deal” HERE)

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US Poised to Lift Sanctions on Iran Under Nuclear Deal

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The United States appears poised to lift at least some sanctions against Iran — possibly as early as January — as members of Congress urge a swift, robust US response to Tehran’s recent ballistic missile test.

Secretary of State John Kerry said in a letter Wednesday to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Iran is fulfilling its obligations under the international agreement in what Kerry calls a “transparent” and “verifiable” way, and that “suspension of sanctions … is appropriate.”

The committee’s top Democrat, Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin, said at a hearing Thursday that it appears that sanctions relief could start as early as January, not in the spring as initially anticipated.

The deal involving the United States, Iran and five other world powers would curb Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for giving Iran access to billions in frozen assets and oil revenue.

Cardin said that throughout the congressional review of the deal, witnesses for the administration guessed that it would be spring until Iran could comply with the terms required for that relief to begin. (Read more from “US Poised to Lift Sanctions on Iran Under Nuclear Deal” HERE)

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Carter Banned Iranians from Coming to US During Hostage Crisis

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During the Iranian hostage crisis, Carter issued a number of orders to put pressure on Iran. Among these, Iranians were banned from entering the United States unless they oppose the Shiite Islamist regime or had a medical emergency.

Here’s Jimmy Carter saying it back in 1980.

Fourth, the Secretary of Treasury [State] and the Attorney General will invalidate all visas issued to Iranian citizens for future entry into the United States, effective today. We will not reissue visas, nor will we issue new visas, except for compelling and proven humanitarian reasons or where the national interest of our own country requires. This directive will be interpreted very strictly . . .

In November 1979, the Attorney General had given all Iranian students one month to report to the local immigration office. Around 7,000 were found in violation of their visas. Around 15,000 Iranians were forced to leave the US . . .

Now unlike Muslims, Iranians were not necessarily supportive of Islamic terrorism. Many were and are opponents of it. Khomeini didn’t represent Iran as a country, but his Islamist allies. So Trump’s proposal is far more legitimate than Carter’s action. Carter targeted people by nationality. Trump’s proposal does so by ideology. (Read more from “Carter Banned Iranians from Coming to US During Hostage Crisis” HERE)

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Iran Tests Another Mid-Range Ballistic Missile in Breach of UN Resolutions

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Iran has carried out a new medium range ballistic missile test in breach of two United Nations Security Council resolutions, a senior U.S. official told Fox News on Monday.

Western intelligence says the test was held Nov. 21 near Chabahar, a port city in southeast Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan Province near the border with Pakistan. The launch took place from a known missile test site along the Gulf of Oman.

The missile, known as a Ghadr-110, has a range of 1,800 – 2000 km, or 1200 miles, and is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The missile fired in November is an improved version of the Shahab 3, and is similar to the precision guided missile tested by Iran on Oct. 10, which elicited strong condemnation from members of the U.N. Security Council.

“The United States is deeply concerned about Iran’s recent ballistic missile launch,” Samantha Power, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., said in a statement after the last Iranian ballistic missile test in October.

President Obama mentioned the Iranian missile test during a press conference on Oct. 16 and said the United States was preparing to brief the U.N. sanctions committee. He added that it would not derail the nuclear deal. (Read more from “Iran Tests Another Mid-Range Ballistic Missile in Breach of UN Resolutions” HERE)

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You’ll Never Believe Who’s Really Behind the Paris Massacre According to Iran-Produced Video

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A video titled “Who Was Behind the Paris Attacks,” released by the office of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, alleges that the US and its allies were the real perpetrators behind the jihadist massacre in Paris that killed 132 people.

The US and allies, claimed the video, created ISIS and provided them with weapons in order to further their own interests, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported. Khamenei’s website also published a cartoon titled “Big Brother Goofed!”, showing Uncle Sam flinging an ISIS boomerang at Syria and the boomerang returning to strike France.

These missives follow the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s claim that France is paying the price for using ISIS terrorism to promote its own interests, MEMRI reported.

Regime officials further berated the West for only expressing shock when Sunni ISIS terrorism strikes their home, while failing to sympathize when the victims are in Syria, Iraq, and other places around the world.

Iranian daily Kayhan, which is affiliated with Supreme Leader Khamenei, published an editorial that claimed Edward Snowden’s revelations prove that the CIA and the Mossad were involved in establishing ISIS. (Read more from “You’ll Never Believe Who’s Really Behind the Paris Massacre According to Iran-Produced Video” HERE)

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US to Help Iran Rebuild Nuclear Reactor

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The United States and other global powers are helping Iran to update and reconstruct a nuclear reactor that has been suspected of helping the Islamic Republic produce enough material for a potential nuclear weapon, according to regional reports and statements from the State Department.

The United States’ goal is to work with Iran to refit the reactor in such a way that it can no longer produce weapons grade material.

However, Iran maintains that the United States and other partner nations will soon provide “advanced equipment” for the reactor, which is located near the Iranian industrial city of Arak.

A spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the Islamic Republic’s main nuclear regulator, said on Tuesday that the United States and several other nations would begin supplying Iran equipment so that it can modernize the nuclear reactor.

“Four countries of the [nuclear negotiating team] have accepted to cooperate with Iran in supplying advanced equipment for the (Arak) reactor and different other issues,” Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for the Iranian nuclear authority, said Tuesday. (Read more from “US to Help Iran Rebuild Nuclear Reactor” HERE)

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Obama Admin: Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps Not a Terror Group

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The State Department does not currently believe that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps should be designated as a foreign terrorist organization despite the military organization’s efforts to procure nuclear materials and conduct terrorist operations across the globe, according to a State Department official who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon.

Obama administration officials last week were hesitant to address the issue during testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. When asked to clarify its position on the corps, a State Department official told the Free Beacon that now is not the time to formally designate the military group as a terrorist organization.

Iranian officials have insisted that any new sanctions from the United States would be considered a violation of the recent nuclear deal and cause for Iran to walk away from the agreement.

The State Department maintains that the sanctions in place on the corps, which target certain individuals and actions, are enough to rein in the group’s rogue behavior. Iran itself is designated as a state sponsor of terror.

“We believe the sanctions we have in place remain the most appropriate and effective tools for targeting the IRGC, and we are making full use of such authorities with respect to the IRGC,” said a State Department official who was not authorized to speak on record. “In addition to Iran’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, we have a substantial set of sanctions already in place against the IRGC.” (Read more from “Obama Admin: Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps Not a Terror Group” HERE)

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Iran to Send ‘Fleet of Warships’ to the Atlantic Ocean

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Iran intends to dispatch “a fleet of warships” to the Atlantic Ocean shortly, the semi-state Fars news agency reported Thursday, quoting the regime’s navy chief.

“Our warships will soon berth at ports in the Atlantic Ocean,” Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari promised at a ceremony on Wednesday marking the return to port of Iranian warships that Fars said had taken part in joint drills with the Russian navy.

Sayyari said the Iranian vessels had been in the Caspian Sea and at the Russian port of Astrakhan. “The presence of Iranian warships in international ports shows the Iranian Navy’s prowess,” Fars quoted him saying.

Sayyari made a similar pledge to deploy warships in the Atlantic in early 2014. At the time, Iran promised to send its fleet close to American maritime borders as a counter to the US navy’s presence in the Gulf. But in April, the navy chief said the move had been canceled “due to a change in schedule.” (Read more from “Iran to Send ‘Fleet of Warships’ to the Atlantic Ocean” HERE)

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Another Iranian American Arrested and Imprisoned in Tehran; Pastor Saeed’s Wife Speaks Out

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Iran has arrested another American holding dual citizenship, bringing to four the number of Iranian Americans imprisoned in Tehran after they came under suspicion by hard-line security forces.

Siamak Namazi, a businessman based in Dubai who is in his early 40s, was arrested earlier this month when he was visiting a friend in Tehran, according to a family friend who did not want to be identified. It was not clear whether any charges have been brought against him or what authorities might allege he did.

Namazi, the son of a former governor in the oil-rich Iranian province of Khuzestan, comes from a prominent Iranian family. Namazi’s family came to the United States in 1983 when he was a boy, and he later returned to Iran after graduating from college to serve in the Iranian military. He has consulted on business opportunities in Iran for more than a decade.

A relative of Namazi’s said the family had tried to keep the arrest private, and the relative declined to comment. Word of the arrest of an unnamed Iranian American businessman was first reported by Iran Wire on Oct. 15. Namazi was named as the one who was arrested in several tweets by Iranian Americans earlier this month.

The State Department has repeatedly pressed Iran to release three other imprisoned Americans: Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian, who has been held for more than a year, was recently convicted after an espionage trial; former Marine Amir Hekmati of Flint, Mich., who was accused of being a spy when he went to Iran to visit his grandmother, has been held since 2011; and Saeed Abedini, a pastor from Boise, Idaho, was convicted in 2013 of threatening Iran’s national security by participating in home churches. Rezaian, Hekmati and Abedini have all strongly denied the allegations against them. (Read more from “Another Iranian American Arrested and Imprisoned in Tehran” HERE)

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Iran Tests New Long-Range Missile

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Iran announced Sunday it had successfully tested a new domestically produced long-range missile, which it said was the first that could be guided all the way to targets.

The defense ministry posted pictures of the launch of the missile, named Imad, on its website but no details were given about its maximum range or other capabilities.

“This is Iran’s first long-range missile that can be guided and controlled until hitting the target,” Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan was quoted as saying.

The launch comes months after some Iranian officials voiced concern that the Islamic republic’s recent nuclear deal with world powers could place limits on its missile program.

Dehghan said mass production of missile would be followed by supplies of the weapon to the Iranian military, the semi-official Press TV reported. (Read more from “Iran Tests New Long-Range Missile” HERE)

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