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Fools Trust the Obama Administration, While Experts Correctly Fear Rising Threats From Russia and Iran

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New York- February 18, 2015. Informed foreign policy and economic experts rightly fear one gathering threat today even more than genocidal attacks by the purported Islamic State and its shadowy network of affiliates–Russia could soon provide military and diplomatic cover to Iran as that nation contrives to topple the monarchy in Saudi Arabia, and subsequently extends control by force over other energy-rich Arab kingdoms, including United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain.

Russia and Iran each have far longer histories as independent nations than America does–over many centuries, they have been enemies, rivals, and friends. In recent months, and particularly since 2008, ties among Russia and Iran have strengthened for defensive reasons, to blunt pressures emanating from the United States and from the European Union.

Going forward, Russia’s potentially muscular protection for Iran (whose Muslim population chiefly are Shia) is particularly irksome for Saudi Arabia, where a majority of the populace is Sunni–no series of workshops or teach-ins will soon reconcile this doctrinal schism.

Worse, given Iran’s demonstrated propensity to meddle throughout the Middle East since 1979, Russia’s growing support for Iran may accelerate attempts by Iran to de-stabilize the energy-laden, eastern province of Saudi Arabia, where a substantial proportion of the population is Shia.

Given recent events in Yemen, where Iranian-backed Houthi rebels quickly seized control over large portions of a country touted as a success story and strong ally by the Obama Administration as recently as last September, Saudi officials watch Russia’s engagement with Iran, America’s retreat from the Middle East, and America’s fomenting of regime change since 2008 everywhere except Iran with profound concern. (Read more from “Fools Trust the Obama Administration, While Experts Correctly Fear Rising Threats From Russia and Iran” HERE)

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Secret Iranian Unit Fueling Mideast Bloodshed With Illicit Arms Shipments

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By Jennifer Griffin. As conflicts and civil wars rage across the Middle East and North Africa, a shadowy covert cell operating under the Iranian government is fueling the bloodshed.

Unit 190, a secret arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force made up of about two-dozen employees, has for years smuggled arms to these conflict zones.

After an extensive investigation tracing the land, air and sea routes used by the Quds Force to move weapons to Hezbollah, Hamas and now the Houthis in Yemen, Fox News has also learned from western intelligence sources the name of the Iranian man who is a key player in Unit 190: Behnam Shahariyari, born in 1968 in Ardabil, northwest Iran.

According to western intelligence sources, Shahariyari runs a network of straw companies — which skirt sanctions packing RPG’s, night-vision equipment and long-range rockets in powdered milk, cement and spare vehicle parts.

“Very often arms and explosives were placed in trucks underneath legal cargo in order to hide them,” said Michael Eisenstadt, director of Military and Security Studies programs for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. (Read more about the illicit arms shipments HERE)

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Iran Marks 36th Anniversary of Islamic Revolution Amid Nuclear Talks

By Associated Press. Iran is marking the 36th anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution as the country continues negotiations with world powers over its contested nuclear program.

State television aired footage of commemorations in Tehran and elsewhere across the country Wednesday. Some participants chanted “Down with the U.S.” and “Death to Israel.”

On Feb. 11, 1979, followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ousted U.S.-backed Shah Reza Pahlavi. America helped orchestrate the 1953 coup that overthrew Iran’s popularly elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, which brought Pahlavi to power and set the stage for decades of mistrust between the countries. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Unbelievable: Obama Agrees to 80 Percent of Iran’s Nuclear Demands

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Photo Credit: Jerusalem Post Israeli officials told Channel 10 on Friday that they are convinced the Obama administration has already agreed to most of Iran’s demands in the P5+1 negotiations over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

According to unnamed officials, Washington “has given the Iranians 80 percent of what they want” out of the negotiations, Channel 10 is reporting.

Jerusalem officials appear alarmed at the prospect that the United States will soon strike a deal with the Iranian regime that will leave it with a “breakout capacity” of months during which it can gallop toward a nuclear bomb.

The practical significance of the American compromises in the talks is that Iran will be permitted to keep over 7,000 centrifuges, enough for the Iranians to produce enough enriched material to sprint toward the bomb within a matter of months.

These developments have apparently fueled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s sense of urgency in traveling to Washington and addressing Congress in hopes of lobbying American lawmakers to pass tougher sanctions against the Islamic Republic. (Read more about the nuclear demands HERE)

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Obama Admin. Bribed Iran to Stay in Nuke Talks With $11.9 Billion in Payments

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By Adam Kredo. The Obama administration on Wednesday paid $490 million in cash assets to Iran and will have released a total of $11.9 billion to the Islamic Republic by the time nuclear talks are scheduled to end in June, according to figures provided by the State Department.

Today’s $490 million release, the third such payment of this amount since Dec. 10, was agreed to by the Obama administration under the parameters of another extension in negotiations over Tehran’s contested nuclear program that was inked in November.

Iran will receive a total of $4.9 billion in unfrozen cash assets via 10 separate payments by the United States through June 22, when talks with Iran are scheduled to end with a final agreement aimed at curbing the country’s nuclear work, according to a State Department official.

Iran received $4.2 billion in similar payments under the 2013 interim agreement with the United States and was then given another $2.8 billion by the Obama administration last year in a bid to keep Iran committed to the talks through November, when negotiators parted ways without reaching an agreement.

Iran will have received a total of $11.9 billion in cash assets by the end of June if current releases continue on pace as scheduled. (Read more about from “Obama Admin. Bribed Iran” HERE)

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Saudi Arabia’s King Dies

By BBC. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz was the fifth of his brothers to take the throne and became king in 2005, reports Caroline Hawley

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz has died, royal officials have announced, weeks after he was admitted to hospital.

King Abdullah, who was said to be aged about 90, had been suffering from a lung infection.

A statement early on Friday said his 79-year-old half brother, Salman, had become king.

Abdullah came to the throne in 2005 but had suffered frequent bouts of ill health in recent years. (Read more about Saudi Arabia’s king dying HERE)

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Iraq is Giving US Weapons to Iranian Militias

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By Joel Himelfarb. U.S. weapons intended for Iraq’s embattled military are winding up in the hands of Shiite militias backed by Iran, Bloomberg reports.

Obama administration officials and U.S. lawmakers say the Baghdad government, which received $1.2 billion in training and equipment assistance in the omnibus spending bill passed by Congress last month, has been turning military hardware over to the militias.

A senior administration official told Bloomberg’s Josh Rogin and Eli Lake that the U.S. government is aware of this but is caught in a dilemma. Iraqi security forces are unable to fight ISIS without the assistance of the militias, who are sometimes commanded by officers of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.

But if Washington were to stop arming the Iraqi military, the situation would get even worse, with ISIS overrunning even more of Iraq and committing atrocities on an even larger scale. The official said the risk of failing to help the Baghdad government was greater than the risk of doing so. (Read more about Iraq giving US weapons to Iranian militias HERE)

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U.S. Military Back to Training in Iraq, but it’s a Little Different this Time

By Loveday Morris. Years after the U.S. military tried to create a new army in Iraq — at a cost of over $25 billion — American trainers have returned to help rebuild the country’s fighting force.

But this time, things are different.

With the Iraqis dependent on their own logistics, there is a shortage of weapons and ammunition available for training. For the time being, soldiers at Camp Taji are restricted to shouting “bang bang” to simulate firing during exercises. And, mindful of how Iraqi troops fled their positions last June during a major offensive by Islamic State extremists, U.S. trainers have added some new elements to boot camp. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Iran: We Will Get The Bomb

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller

Photo Credit: Daily Caller

Iran has no intention of reaching a settlement over its illicit nuclear program, the Islamic Republic’s senior strategist revealed last week on his blog.

Instead, the regime has adopted a policy of “elongation” with the 5+1 nations in which it strings along the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany as it develops nuclear weapons, wrote Alireza Forghani.

Forghani is a senior analyst and strategy specialist in the supreme leader’s camp and closely aligned with Mehdi Taeb, who heads the regime’s Ammar Strategic Base, a radical think thank, and thus speaks with the blessing of the Islamic regime.

“Elongation” is Iran’s sole doctrine, Forghani wrote, in which the Geneva negotiations between the P5+1 and Iran were “never supposed to be brought to a successful conclusion … whether positive or negative.” Those talks began in 2006 and have been extended several times as one deadline after another failed to produce a comprehensive agreement. The two sides agreed on Nov. 24 to yet another deadline extension, this time to June 30, 2015.

Forghani warned that soon he will promote the slogan “Nuclear weapon is our definite right,” and that there will be people in the streets demanding a nuclear-armed Iran. He also promised the destruction of Israel, which he claimed “is exactly what Almighty God wants.”

Read more from this story HERE.

5 Problems with the Nuclear Talks with Iran

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kerry_johnThe Obama administration was forced to punt once again at the talks on Iran’s nuclear program when the Iranians refused to budge on their maximal demands on uranium enrichment and sanctions relief.

When they failed to strike a deal by Monday’s deadline, Iran and the P5 +1 (five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany) extended the negotiations for another seven months, until June 30, 2015.
There are five major problems with the negotiations, as currently structured:

1. Iran has been able to legitimize its once-covert nuclear program.

Tehran has won the acceptance of the P5 + 1 for illicit uranium enrichment activities at Natanz and the heavy water reactor at Arak, capable of functioning as a plutonium bomb factory, that Iran sought to hide from International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors before they were exposed in 2002. Other nuclear proliferators will demand the same lax treatment if they are caught red-handed in the future.

2. Iran has won sanctions relief disproportionate to its relatively minor concessions.

Tehran has pocketed significant economic benefits from sanctions relief, about $700 million per month, as part of the interim Joint Plan of Action. As the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., has noted: “The Obama administration’s Iran nuclear negotiations have done little to advance the security of the United States and our allies, but they have benefited Iran. As these negotiations drag on, Iran continues to enrich uranium, is free to pursue some nuclear-related R&D, and has been handed access to previously frozen assets and an easing of sanctions. At the same time, the United States has received little in return but a promise to keep talking.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Mysterious Blast at Iran Nuke Plant Proves Weapons Program Alive, Say Experts

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Photo Credit: IsraelDefense.comThe massive blast at an Iranian nuclear plant earlier this week remains shrouded in mystery, but it cleared up one thing, according to those who track the Islamic Republic: The nuclear weapons program Tehran has long denied is real.

The massive blast Sunday night rocked buildings more than 10 miles away, and before-and-after satellite images published by the Israel Defense Force showed startling destruction at a facility Iran has repeatedly barred international inspectors from entering.

“[The] images indicate that a complete section of structures was simply eliminated by an unexplained explosion,” IDF analyst Ronen Solomon said. “The explosion wiped several testing units off the face of the earth while inflicting collateral damage on adjacent buildings.”

Iran, which initially denied an explosion took place, was forced a day later to own up to a blast, via the IRNA official Iranian news agency. The report said two people had been killed as a result of a fire at the site. The true casualty figure may never be known.

Israel has long insisted that Iran’s charm offensive, successful in easing western sanctions, is a ruse to buy time while it pursues nuclear weapons.

Read more from this story HERE.

Want to Stop ISIS? Secure the Border

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Photo Credit: ISIS videoBy Shawn Moran.

A 25-year-old European male walks north, crossing a painted yellow line just outside an American Port of Entry. He heads towards the inspections area, careful to avoid the canine teams patrolling the pre-inspection areas. He picks a lane at random. He is carrying a larger than average backpack and is sweating, not from the weight, but from the fear that he will be stopped before carrying out his mission. This man is an ISIS jihadist. His mission is to attack America. His actions unleash a wave of terror, destruction and death, but that is just the beginning.

While first responders and Border Patrol Agents tend to the wounded and close the Port of Entry, other terrorist cells take advantage of tragedy. Several miles to the west of attack, a black Ford Suburban winds its way along deserted road, stopping near the north end of now unguarded border fence. Surveillance tapes will later show a group of six men crossing the primary border fence, scaling the secondary fence, and quickly crossing the border. Overwhelmed, understaffed and responding to a national crisis, no dispatcher or Border Patrol agent spots the illegal entry or the vehicle that drives them away. The evidence will later show the vehicle turning north, obeying all traffic laws and disappearing into American society. Otherwise occupied, understaffed Border Patrol agents will be unable to respond as more ISIS terrorist cells begin operations on American soil.

Unfortunately, this scenario is a real possibility today, because our borders are vulnerable and unsecured. But we can’t address the growing crisis through token measures or actions that provide no security. We need real solutions.

The solution is to focus on three simple strategies: (1) enforce our immigration laws; (2) support our Border Patrol Agents with additional training; and (3) give the proper number of hours for agents to effectively patrol and secure the border.

As threats from ISIS increase, the trends on the border are heading in the wrong direction. Even as encounters with illegal aliens increase, there is a decreased presence of agents and a lack of support from Washington for their efforts.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: AP / Pablo Martinez MonsivaisNetanyahu to Obama: Hope Iran Won’t Get Nuclear Deal It Wants from You

By Patrick Goodenough.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu praised President Obama Wednesday for leading the effort against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, but described the Iranian nuclear issue as “even more critical” and voiced the hope that negotiations with Iran would not leave it on the threshold of nuclear weapons capability.

“Israel fully supports your effort and your leadership to defeat ISIS,” Netanyahu told the president in the Oval Office during a media appearance before bilateral talks. “We think everybody should support this.”

“And even more critical is our shared goal of preventing Iran from becoming a military nuclear power,” he continued. “As you know, Mr. President, Iran seeks a deal that would lift the tough sanctions that you’ve worked so hard to put in place, and leave it as a threshold nuclear power. I fervently hope that under your leadership that would not happen.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Iran’s President: Calling Islamic State Islamic is Part of Western ‘Islamophobic Project’

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Photo Credit: AP / Jason DeCrowIranian President Hasan Rouhani accused Western media Thursday of deliberately trying to vilify Islam by identifying Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL) terrorists as Muslims.

“I am astonished that these murderous groups call themselves Islamic,” he said in a speech at the U.N. General Assembly devoted largely to terrorism and extremism. “What is more astonishing is that the Western media, in line with them, repeats this false claim, which provokes the hatred of all Muslims.”

Muslims, he added, “see this defamation as a part of an Islamophobic project.”

While rejecting any link between his religion and terrorism, Rouhani instead blamed factors like foreign conspiracies, poverty and injustice.

Read more from this story HERE.