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Iranian-American Journalist Convicted, Iran News Agency Says

A court in Iran has convicted Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, Iran’s ISNA news agency said on Sunday, but the U.S. newspaper said Tehran was working a political angle by not disclosing details.

ISNA quoted judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei as saying the California-born Rezaian, the paper’s Tehran bureau chief, had 20 days to appeal the verdict. Rezaian was arrested in July 2014. He was accused of espionage.

“He has been convicted. … But I don’t have the details of his verdict,” the news agency quoted Ejei as saying . . .

State Department spokesman John Kirby said the United States was monitoring the case closely. “We continue to call for all charges against Jason to be dropped and for him to be immediately released,” Kirby said earlier.

Iran has accused Rezaian, 39, of collecting confidential information and giving it to hostile governments, writing a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama and acting against national security. The Post has dismissed the charges as absurd. The final hearing in his trial was on Aug. 10. (Read more from “Iranian-American Journalist Convicted, Iran News Agency Says” HERE)

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Bill Clinton Suppressed This Evidence of Iran’s Terrorism

Bill Clinton’s administration gathered enough evidence to send a top-secret communique accusing Iran of facilitating the deadly 1996 Khobar Towers terrorist bombing, but suppressed that information from the American public and some elements of U.S. intelligence for fear it would lead to an outcry for reprisal, according to documents and interviews.

Before Mr. Clinton left office, the intelligence pointing toward Iran’s involvement in the terror attack in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 U.S. servicemen and wounded hundreds was deemed both extensive and “credible,” memos show.

It included FBI interviews with a half-dozen Saudi co-conspirators who revealed they got their passports from the Iranian embassy in Damascus, reported to a top Iranian general and were trained by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), officials told The Washington Times.

The revelations about what the Clinton administration knew are taking on new significance with the recent capture of the accused mastermind of the 1996 attack, which has occurred in the shadows of the U.S. nuclear deal with Iran.

Ahmed al-Mughassil was arrested in August returning to Lebanon from Iran, and his apprehension has provided fresh evidence of Tehran’s and Hezbollah’s involvement in the attack and their efforts to shield him from justice for two decades, U.S. officials said. (Read more from “Bill Clinton Suppressed This Evidence of Iran’s Terrorism” HERE)

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Iran Has Missiles Pointed at US Targets

A senior Iranian military leader warned this weekend that “all U.S. military bases in the Middle East are within the range of” Iran’s missiles and emphasized that the Islamic Republic will continue to break international bans on the construction of ballistic missiles.

Much of this missile work, like the details of Iran’s advanced arsenal, remains secret, according to Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force.

Hajizadeh dismissed the threat of military action by the United States, warning that all U.S. assets and allies are in range of Iran’s current missile arsenal, according to comments made Sunday in Tehran and recorded by Iran’s state-controlled Fars News Agency.

The threats of attack on the United States were issued as Iran unveiled new high-tech torpedoes and the formation of a joint war room along with Russia, Syria, and Iraq.

“Some of the threats by the U.S. are aimed at appeasing the Zionists, while others are for the purpose of domestic consumption (in the U.S.), but what is important is that they are aware of and acknowledge our capabilities and deterrence power,” Hajizadeh was quoted as saying. (Read more from “Iran Has Missiles Pointed at US Targets” HERE)

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Watch: Iranian People Give Their Opinions on Donald Trump

Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C Groundbreaking CeremonyCNN recently asked everyday people in Tehran, Iran, their opinions on Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson (video below).

In the second GOP debate, there was plenty of bad-mouthing Iran, opposition to the nuclear treaty and threats of military action against the Middle East country.

All of the Iranians recognized Trump’s picture, and most had negative comments.

One woman didn’t like Trump’s physical features, while a second woman added, “Yes, I know. I don’t like him. He doesn’t care about the poor people.”

The second woman was shown a picture of Bush and exclaimed, “Oh my god! His father and his brother did a big mess.” (Read more from “Iranian People Give Their Opinions on Donald Trump” HERE)

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The Obama Admin Knows a Big Secret About Iran and It’s Refusing to Tell Congress

John KerryThe Obama administration is declining to inform Congress about the number of American citizens and troops killed by Iran and its terror proxies, according to a document provided to Congress and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

The administration was repeatedly asked by Congress to release figures describing how many Americans and Israelis have been killed by Iran’s military and terror activities since the country’s 1979 revolution.

In a series of on-the-record responses obtained exclusively by the Free Beacon, and provided in written form to Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), Kerry sidestepped the questions on all of the three separate occasions he was asked to provide the figures.

The questions come as the United States prepares to unfreeze more than $100 billion in Iranian assets under the terms of the recently inked nuclear deal. Experts fear the Islamic Republic will funnel the cash windfall into its rogue terror operations and proxy groups.

Lawmakers and experts also have expressed concern about portions of the deal that will lift international sanctions on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as well as Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s financial empire. (Read more from “The Obama Admin Knows a Big Secret About Iran and It’s Refusing to Tell Congress” HERE)

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CIA Director Worried Iran Might Outsource Nuke Program to North Korea

Ayatollah Ali KhameneiThe Iran nuclear deal does not prohibit Iran country from outsourcing its nuclear arms research to North Korea, which has vowed this week to produce more nuclear bomb fuel, experts are saying.

“We have to make sure that we’re doing whatever we can to uncover anything,” CIA Director John Brennan told reporters on Tuesday, reports The Washington Times.

“I’m not saying that something is afoot at all — what I’m saying is that we need to be attuned to all of the potential pathways to acquiring different types of [weapons of mass destruction] capabilities.”

The deal will free between $100 billion to $150 billion in Iranian assets, which could be used to pay other rogue countries, like North Korea, to carry out the research operations that the agreement prohibits in Iran itself, said Michael Rubin, an analyst for the American Enterprise Institute.

“[Secretary of State John] Kerry and crew left a loophole a mile wide when they effectively allowed Iran to conduct all the illicit work it wants outside of Iran, in countries like North Korea or perhaps Sudan,” Rubin said. (Read more from “CIA Director Worried Iran Might Outsource Nuke Program to North Korea” HERE)

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Watch: Iran Just Spit in Obama’s Face With This Stunning Video Threat- Will He Respond?

Obama_APIran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei continued his heated, anti-U.S. social media campaign on Sunday by releasing a video promising death and destruction to American forces if any military action is taken against his country.

On Sunday, the Iranian leader tweeted the link to a video entitled, “If any war happens.”

The video opens by quoting President Obama from an interview he gave assuring those who have any doubts about the Iran nuclear agreement that the military option is always on the table. “We could knock out their military with speed and dispatch, if we chose to,” said Obama.

An image of the White House appears next with the Ayatollah’s voice in the background stating, “A U.S. official has said that he can destroy Iran’s army. I do not want to say anything more in this regard.”

The video then depicts two cowboys, apparently representing the United States, with an Iranian fighter in the foreground pulling a knife on them. Khameni says, “Our predecessors used to call such statements, ‘boasting among strangers.’”

Next, the video shows images of Iran’s military arsenal, which it has at its disposal to attack U.S. naval and ground forces. (Read more from “Watch: Iran Just Spit in Obama’s Face With This Stunning Video Threat- Will He Respond?” HERE)

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Iranian Warships Confront US Navy on ‘Daily Basis’

Mideast IranU.S. naval forces operating in and around the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping lane, are “routinely approached by Iranian warships and aircraft” on a “nearly daily basis,” according to a Pentagon official familiar with operations in the region.

During these interactions between U.S. and Iranian forces, American aircraft and ships are routinely photographed by the Iranians for intelligence purposes, according to the official, who said that most confrontations between the sides are “conducted in a safe and professional manner.”

The disclosure of these daily run-ins comes following the release of footage by the Iranian military purporting to show a reconnaissance mission over a U.S. aircraft carrier station in the Strait of Hormuz.

The clip, which was filmed at the end of August and is punctuated by dramatic music, shows U.S. personnel aboard the ship and shots of U.S. warplanes stationed on it.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps “drones have carried out such missions many times; although the drone remains for a long time above the [American crew’s] heads, they didn’t notice it,” Iran’s state-control media reported in Persian at the time, according to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute. “In some cases, [the American crew] did notice the IRGC drone awhile after the filming and tried to drive it off by sending a helicopter or fighter jet after it.” (Read more from “Iranian Warships Confront US Navy on ‘Daily Basis'” HERE)

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Iranian Defense Minister: We Will Always Provide Arms to the Resistance Against the U.S. And Israel

Defense-Minister-Hossein-Dehghan-1Interviewer: “Will the U.S. remain “the Great Satan” even after the nuclear agreement, and for how long?” . . .

Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan: “Ayatollah Khomeini called the U.S. the ‘Great Satan,’ and there is nothing strange about it. This name was given on the basis of the principles of the holy Quran, which clearly points to Satanic characteristics, conduct, and goals. Since the end of World War II, the U.S. has dedicated itself to a policy of instigating strife, discord, and wars between the world’s nations. They have occupied countries and carried out conspiracies all over. They have meddled in the affairs of others, and have toppled independent regimes. All these policies have been solely to serve American interests.

“The U.S. interfered in Iran in the middle of the 20th century, and brought down the democratically elected government of Mosaddegh. It did not hesitate to perpetrate the most abominable crimes against the Vietnamese and Korean peoples, as well as many other countries, because they refused to serve as its lackeys. When the U.S. administrations insist on a policy of arrogance towards others, it is only natural that the Iranian regime continues to view the U.S. as the ‘Great Satan’” . . .

Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan: “During the [nuclear] negotiations, they kept changing their positions. Their positions were not resolute, and therefore, we do not trust their positions. They have no credibility and do not keep their promises” . . .

“I think that today, it is the U.S. that faces isolation. This is because of its unstable positions and its attacks on weak countries.” (Read more from “Iranian Defense Minister: We Will Always Provide Arms to the Resistance Against the U.S. And Israel” HERE)

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Iran Promises to Do This Terrifying Thing to U.S. Interests

Ali KhameneiBy Adam Kredo. A senior Iranian military official has vowed to “set fire” to all U.S. interests in the region and maintained that the Islamic Republic welcomes war with America, according to regional reports demonstrating that Tehran is still committed to fighting the United States in the wake of a recently inked nuclear accord.

“In threatening remarks,” a top Iranian commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stated that Iran is prepared to “annihilate” U.S. and Israeli war forces should they “take the slightest military move against Iran,” according to Iran’s state-controlled Fars News Agency.

“We monitor their acts day and night and will take every opportunity to set fire to all their economic and political interests if they do a wrong deed,” Brigadier General Hossein Salami, the IRGC’s lieutenant commander, was quoted as saying in Tehran on Thursday.

In a direct threat to both the United States and Israel, Salami promised to “cut off enemies’ hands and fingers will then send its dust to the air,” according to the report.

These Iranian military officials were responding to multiple claims by U.S. officials that a military option against Tehran still remains on the table, despite the recently inked accord, which aims to constrain the Islamic Republic’s contested nuclear program. (Read more from “Iran Promises to Do This Terrifying Thing to U.S. Interests” HERE)

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Iran Thumbs Nose at US Even as Obama Rallies Support for Nuke Deal

By Paul Alster. Even as President Obama was securing the Senate support necessary to assure passage of the nuclear deal with Iran, Tehran’s top defense officials were scoffing at U.S. claims the pact will restrict the Islamic Republic’s military ambitions.

The president has been twisting arms and Secretary of State John Kerry reassuring lawmakers that the deal between Iran and the P5 +1 – members of the UN Security Council plus Germany – will ensure international inspections and bar Iran from ever developing nuclear weapons. This week, Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., became the 34th member of the Senate to back the controversial and unpopular deal, meaning that if it is defeated in a vote as expected, Obama will have enough support to sustain his certain veto. But Iran’s military brass has answered the U.S. nose-counting by thumbing their nose at America.

“Iran does not plan to issue permission for the [International Atomic Energy Agency] to inspect every site,” Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehqan told Al Mayadeen News Wednesday. “U.S. officials make boastful remarks and imagine that they can impose anything on the Iranian nation because they lack a proper knowledge of the Iranian nation.”

Iran’s official FARS news agency added that “Dehqan had earlier underlined that Tehran would not allow any foreigner to discover Iran’s defensive and missile capabilities by inspecting the country’s military sites.”

On the same day, a top Iranian general told troops preparing for a massive military drill involving up to 250,000 men that “the U.S. and the Zionists should know that the Islamic Revolution will continue enhancing its preparedness until it overthrows Israel and liberates Palestine.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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