Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Eye on Iran: Iran Announces 15-year Nuclear Development Plan






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Fars (Iran): "Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi announced that the country is compiling a 15-year-long plan to further expand its peaceful nuclear know-how and capabilities. 'A 15-year-long plan is being compiled and the plan will be reviewed every 5 years,' Salehi said, addressing a ceremony at Fordo nuclear site near the Central city of Qom on Monday. 'One of our plans is to move on the path of commercialization and we hope to gain success in this arena,' he added. Salehi also announced Iran's plans to construct a nuclear hospital and two small nuclear power plants in the Southern province of Bushehr to desalinate water. In relevant remarks on Tuesday, President Hassan Rouhani announced that Iran would commercialize nuclear technology as soon as the nuclear agreement comes into practice in near future. 'Our nuclear program has been recognized in the Resolution 2231 and world powers are eager to cooperate with us in this regard,' Rouhani told reporters. The president added that the Islamic Republic plans to export enriched UF6 and import yellow cake from abroad." http://t.uani.com/1igiB8m

Fars (Iran): "Iranian President Hassan Rouhani blasted Israel for its crimes against the Palestinians and support for the terrorist groups, and said the regime was created and continues its life based on terrorism. 'Certain governments are created based on terrorism and see their survival in light of terrorism and its clear instance is the fake Zionist regime in the Palestinian territories,' Rouhani said on Monday, addressing a congress in Tehran to commemorate the Iranians martyred by the terrorist groups. 'The (Israeli) government and regime basically started its job based on intimidation, terrorism and occupation and today it is continuing the same anti-human path,' he added. Elsewhere, Rouhani blasted the western states' double-standard approach towards terrorism, and said, 'Terrorism will not be annihilated as long as collective determination and real resolve is not created in the world.' 'Today, there are powers in Europe and the US which keep mum on a terrorist grouplet and support a terrorist regime but are opposed to another terrorist group,' he said." http://t.uani.com/1N7cSPf

AP: "The head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard said Tuesday that the U.S. is still the 'Great Satan,' regardless of the nuclear deal struck with Americans and world powers over the Islamic Republic's contested nuclear program. The comments by Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, reported by the official Guard website, said that 'the enmity against Iranian nation by the U.S. has not lessened and it has been increased.' 'We should not be deceived by the U.S.,' Jafari reportedly said. 'It wants to infiltrate into Iran, resorting to new instruments and method.' ... Earlier Tuesday, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, the head of powerful Iran's Experts Assembly, which oversees the nation's Supreme Leader and institutions under his supervision, also said the nuclear deal will not alter Iran's foreign policy toward the United States. 'The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the U.S. its No. 1 enemy,' Yazdi said. 'If you try to discover the root of the sedition that is happening around us today, you will identify U.S. as its main supporter.'" http://t.uani.com/1NKC9Ph

Nuclear Program & Agreement

AFP: "The United States remains Iran's 'number one enemy' despite a recent nuclear deal with world powers, the chief of Tehran's top clerical body said Tuesday, Iranian media reported. The Assembly of Experts is among Iran's most influential institutions, comprising 86 elected clerics who appoint and can dismiss the country's supreme leader, led by ultraconservative Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi. The nuclear agreement should not 'change our foreign policy' of opposition to the United States, 'our number one enemy, whose crimes are uncountable', Yazdi said in a speech opening the annual two-day assembly meeting. 'The US and Israel are the source of the situation in the region and (their) goal is to protect the Zionist regime in the Middle East,' he was quoted as saying, blaming the two countries for the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen." http://t.uani.com/1UpdONP

Al-Monitor: "The new Saudi king will use his first official visit to the White House this week to make clear that his country's lukewarm support for the nuclear deal with Iran comes with strings attached. King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud's three-day visit, strategically scheduled just days before Congress votes on the agreement, offers the Saudi leader a powerful platform to insist that the United States help combat Iranian 'mischief.' The king is seeking assurances in the fight against Iran's proxies across the region, as well as with elements of the nuclear deal itself... Despite deep reservations about the deal, sources close to the Saudi government say that unlike Israel, the kingdom quickly concluded that it could not be defeated in Congress and that no better alternatives were likely to emerge. Riyadh, however, has repeatedly made clear that its support is conditioned on a tough inspection regime and snapback sanctions. Salman may seek further assurances on those aspects of the deal in light of recent reports that allege that Iran will be allowed an unusual amount of autonomy with regard to inspections of its military installation at Parchin. 'The agreement must include a specific, strict and sustainable inspection regime of all Iranian sites, including military sites, as well as a mechanism to swiftly re-impose effective sanctions in the event that Iran violates the agreement,' the Saudi Embassy in Washington said after the deal was announced." http://t.uani.com/1JveA6S

Congressional Vote


Algemeiner: "'Tomorrow's rally is important, because next week Congress returns to Washington and actual debate on the Iran nuclear agreement begins,' retired Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman told The Algemeiner on Monday. He was referring to the 'Stop Iran Rally,' organized by the same grassroots movement that brought 15,000 people to protest the nuclear deal in New York City's Times Square last month, being held on Tuesday outside the office of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). 'There is little time left for people who oppose this terrible agreement to speak the truth of why it threatens America's security and the security of our allies in Israel and the Arab world to people in power in Washington,' Lieberman said. 'Tomorrow we can directly thank Senator [Chuck] Schumer [D-NY] for his principle and courage in opposing this bad deal and express our disappointment to Senator Gillibrand that she is supporting it, and ask her to reconsider based on information about the secret side deals that has come out since she announced her support. ' Coincidentally, Gillibrand's office is located in the same Manhattan building (780 Third Avenue) as that of Schumer, among the few Democrats in Congress who have come out publicly against the deal. The purpose of the self-described 'bipartisan' demonstration is to persuade Gillibrand to change her position on the deal... Lieberman was just named chairman of United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI), a nonprofit advocacy organization that opposes the nuclear deal." http://t.uani.com/1igliXz

Free Beacon: "A majority of voters oppose the Iran Deal and said they think that it would make the world a less safe place, according to a Quinnipiac University National poll conducted last week. Fifty-five percent of Americans said that they oppose the nuclear deal with Iran, while only 25 percent said that they support the deal. The poll also shows that 56 percent of Americans think that the deal would make the world less safe, compared to 28 percent who think that the deal would make the world safer." http://t.uani.com/1hRbZgM

Morning Consult: "Voters are skeptical of a proposed nuclear deal between the United States, its allies and Iran, a new survey shows, even as the White House and Democratic allies inch closer to reaching the legislative threshold necessary to allow the deal to survive. The Morning Consult poll shows about seven in ten voters have seen, read about or heard about the proposed deal. Among those voters, only 27 percent say they support the deal, while 56 percent say they are opposed. More than three quarters of self-identified Republicans and almost six in ten independents are opposed. Even among members of President Obama's own party, support for his signature foreign policy initiative is soft, at best. Just 44 percent of self-identified Democrats say they support the deal, while 36 percent are opposed. " http://t.uani.com/1JK3I4h

Free Beacon: "Over 200 retired generals and admirals called on Congress to reject the Iranian nuclear deal in a full-page New York Times ad on Sunday, calling the agreement a threat to U.S. national security. The ad, which was placed by the Warrior Legacy Foundation, followed a letter to congressional leaders from retired military officials last week warning of the national security risks of the Iran deal. After the letter was published last Wednesday, nearly 20 additional flag officers signed onto it. 'This agreement will enable Iran to become far more dangerous and render the Mideast still more unstable and introduce new threats to American interests as well as our allies,' said the ad. 'In our professional opinion, far from being an alternative to war, the Join Comprehensive Plan of Action makes it likely that the war the Iranian regime has waged us since 1979 will continue, with far higher risks to our national security interests.'" http://t.uani.com/1Uk3FYe

WashPost: "American opinions on the Iran nuclear agreement have grown sharply polarized along party lines, according to a new poll ­released Tuesday as the White House closes in on support needed in the Senate to block Republican opposition to the deal. A survey by the University of Maryland's Program for Public Consultation finds that Americans narrowly support the deal, with 52 percent wanting Congress to approve it and 47 percent wanting the pact rejected... The new survey and other polls suggest that a massive campaign to stop the deal has gained traction with the public. Other recent polls, providing few details or specifics of the deal, have generally found Americans tenuous about the agreement and tilting toward opposition. For example, 55 percent of voters opposed the deal in a Quinnipiac University poll released Monday - more than double the 25 percent who supported it... While the University of Maryland poll found a slight majority supporting the deal, large majorities of respondents said core criticisms of the deal were compelling. Nearly 8 in 10 said the decision to provide negotiated access to any suspicious, undeclared sites instead of 'anytime, anywhere' inspections throughout Iran was a convincing reason to reject the deal. Almost as many said another compelling reason was the estimated $100 billion Iran will receive of its own money currently frozen in accounts under sanctions. Critics call the money's release a windfall and say it will fuel Iran's expansionist ambitions throughout the region. Those worries mirror a strong vein of distrust toward Iran captured in polls before and after the deal was announced. Most Americans lack confidence that the agreement will stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and expect it to cheat." http://t.uani.com/1Kp97nM

NYT: "Three House Democrats from New York and a House Democrat from Florida who is running for a Senate seat endorsed President Obama's nuclear deal with Iran on Monday, lending fresh momentum to the pact from political quarters that once appeared most leery of it. In rapid succession, Representatives Nydia M. Velázquez, Gregory W. Meeks and Yvette Clarke of New York backed the deal, as did Representative Patrick Murphy, the Democratic establishment's choice to compete for the Senate seat being vacated by the Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio... The decisions by all four House members speak to the shifting politics of the Iran deal. For Democrats, especially those with potential primary competition, opposing the accord now appears to be a greater political risk than supporting it." http://t.uani.com/1IDWG09

AFP: "Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tuesday he hoped the US Congress would not be swayed by 'warmongers' propaganda' over the nuclear deal struck between Tehran and world powers. 'What happens in the US Congress, that's certainly a US issue,' he told a news conference in Tunisia. 'We believe it's a mutually beneficial agreement,' Zarif said of the July 14 accord on scaling down Iran's controversial nuclear programme in exchange for a lifting of international sanctions. 'And if people are not too much concerned with the propaganda being raged by warmongers in our region and outside our region, there's no reason for the deal to face any impediments in the United States,' said the minister who negotiated the deal." http://t.uani.com/1O5J2HY

Terrorism

AFP: "Kuwait on Tuesday charged 24 people suspected of links to Iran and Shiite militia group Hezbollah with plotting attacks against the Gulf state, a statement by the public prosecutor said. The men were charged with 'spying for the Islamic republic of Iran and Hezbollah to carry out aggressive acts against the State of Kuwait' by smuggling in and assembling explosives, as well as possessing firearms and ammunition, the statement said. They were also charged with 'carrying out acts that would undermine the unity and territorial integrity' of Kuwait, and of possessing eavesdropping devices, it said... Prosecutors said the suspects were linked with a 'terror cell' the interior ministry said it had busted last month while seizing large amounts of weapons, ammunition and explosives. Officials said at the time that three men had been arrested and confessed to joining an illegal group that local media reported was Hezbollah. Media had reported that more arrests followed and the prosecutor said 22 of the suspects charged on Tuesday had received explosives and weapon training to 'achieve illegal goals.'" http://t.uani.com/1UpdBKD

Extremism

Fars (Iran): "Iranian Supreme Leader's top adviser for international affairs Ali Akbar Velayati blasted western officials' remarks that Tehran has changed its policy on Israel, and underscored that Iran will never recognize the usurper regime. 'Iran will not recognize Israel. We still emphasize that Israel is a usurper and occupying regime and we will not come along with it,' Velayati said in a meeting with a religious delegation from Pakistan in Tehran on Saturday. He expressed pleasure that the western states' plots to make the Muslim states recognize Israel have failed, and said, 'The Islamic countries have not recognized it and the Palestinian people's fight should continue until they regain their territories.' After reopening the British embassy in Tehran on Sunday following four years of strained relations between the two countries, British Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond claimed in an interview with the British media that the current Iranian government had displayed a more nuanced approach than its predecessor to a long-running conflict with Israel." http://t.uani.com/1Kp7iY6
 
Human Rights

NYT: "Iranian security forces arrested a prominent reformist politician on Monday, hours after he held a news conference thanking President Hassan Rouhani for a more open political atmosphere, several Iranian news agencies reported. The arrest of the politician, Ali Shakorirad, put a damper on the hopes of Iran's reformists. Just last week they started the Islamic Iranian National Union Party, filling a void after the two original reformist parties were banned by Iran's judiciary after antigovernment protests in 2009. The arrest illustrates the uphill political battle Mr. Rouhani faces in executing his agenda of more political and personal freedoms. Mr. Shakorirad has long played a central role in a movement calling for democratic political reforms in the Islamic republic... 'Released or not, we can expect more of these cases in the coming months, as hard-liners do not want the reformists to gain power,' said Saeed Laylaz, an economist close to the government. 'This is a warning for all of us.'" http://t.uani.com/1N06t6X

Opinion & Analysis

Nicholas Burns in NYT: "Republicans have been right to highlight the deal's principal weakness - it could permit Iran to emerge stronger 10 to 15 years from now as restrictions on its nuclear program begin to lapse. Specifically, an unfettered Iran in 2030 would be free to reconstitute an expanded civil nuclear program. It could possibly use that program, as it has in the past, to build a covert nuclear arms effort. This is one of the deal's major downside risks that the Obama team has struggled to counter. Whether Iran gets that far will depend ultimately on the leadership and will of the United States to stop it. That is why Mr. Obama needs to affirm what has been missing in the Iran debate: a comprehensive United States strategy to contain Iran's support for terrorism and to prevent it from becoming a nuclear weapons power. As with the Truman Doctrine, where the United States vowed not to let Greece and Turkey go Communist in the late 1940s, Mr. Obama should declare that he and his successors will not permit Iran to go nuclear. This won't win him many Republican votes in the short term, but it will be a serious response to their concerns and reassure wavering Democrats. More important, it is the right response to an assertive Iran and will recoup some of our diminished credibility in the region. Mr. Obama should not be content to have his veto sustained in Congress. His more important aim, looking beyond the vote, is to win the long-term struggle with Iran for power in the Middle East. To begin this effort, the administration should commit to a policy of coercive diplomacy - major steps to keep Iran on the defensive and push back against its growing power in the Middle East. The president should suggest that Republicans and Democrats agree on a separate resolution to support this more tough-minded approach. Such a resolution could begin to heal the wounds from the bruising Iran debate and to chart a more assertive American posture in the region. A new, bipartisan policy should include the following elements. First, Mr. Obama could reaffirm President Jimmy Carter's doctrine from the 1970s that the United States will defend its vital interests in the security of the Persian Gulf region against any aggressor. This would bolster the recent efforts of Secretary of State John Kerry to strengthen the defense of Saudi Arabia and the gulf states. Second, Mr. Obama could state in unmistakably clear terms that the United States would use military force to strike Iran should it violate the nuclear agreement and drive toward a nuclear weapon. This would be an important reassurance to the many members of Congress in both parties who want to see the nuclear deal not as an isolated initiative but as an integral part of a larger and more assertive American regional policy. Third, Mr. Obama could announce the expedited renewal this autumn of the United States-Israel military assistance agreement, set to expire in 2017. This would counter Iran's support of Hezbollah and Hamas in challenging Israel's security on its northern and southern borders. Mr. Obama could commit to ensuring Israel's qualitative military edge over Iran and other regional rivals. He should close the glaring public gap between him and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A strong symbolic step would be for Mr. Obama to travel to Israel to stand side by side with Mr. Netanyahu against a nuclear Iran. Finally, the administration could reaffirm America's commitment to form a strong regional coalition with moderate Arab states, Turkey, the European allies and our Asian allies to reimpose sanctions on Iran, should that be necessary. This United States-led coalition could also be useful in pressuring Iran politically to end its support for the bloody regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. As Mr. Obama and congressional leaders look beyond the Iran vote, the reassertion of a stronger American presence in the Middle East could earn bipartisan support. An Obama pivot back to American leadership in the Middle East is not only good politics in a divided Washington, but also the right diplomatic response to reaffirm United States power and purpose on Iran and in a violent, turbulent but still vital Middle East." http://t.uani.com/1Uk4L67

Sean Naylor in The Daily Beast: "It was July 25, 2004. Violence was escalating in Iraq, the Taliban were reasserting themselves in Afghanistan, and Joint Special Operations Command - the U.S. military's cadre of elite special operations forces -- was already deploying operators to the Horn of Africa and Yemen. But for the first day of the three-day JSOC commanders' conference at Fort Bragg, the country under discussion was Iran. In the days after September 11, JSOC was running at least two undercover agents into Iran. But the command wanted to know more - much more - about the would-be regional superpower it seemed to confront at every turn. Today, the U.S. and Iranian governments are in a period of political détente, with the nuclear deal signed in Vienna. Tehran and Washington's militaries are even cooperating - if at arm's length - in the fight against ISIS. But this is hardly a friendship, especially not with Iran's long, long history of supporting terror - and JSOC's history of trying to kill those Iranian-backed terrorists. After 9/11, about 10 leading al Qaeda figures, including bin Laden's son Saad, had fled Afghanistan for Iran... The U.S. invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq gave JSOC more opportunities to penetrate Iran. After the invasion, the U.S. Army's Delta Force and a secret human and signals intelligence unit nicknamed Task Force Orange did quiet work along the Iranian border, particularly in Kurdistan, where Delta quickly made connections with the Asayish-the Kurdish intelligence organization that had one or more spies reporting on the Iranian nuclear program. Delta enlisted the help of other Iraqis as well in its twin campaigns against al Qaeda in Iraq and Iran's covert operatives, but 'the guys with the greatest access and placement were the Kurds,' said a task force officer. 'They delivered some fucking huge targets to us.' Delta wasn't the only unit working with the Asayish. 'There's a long history between Orange and the Kurds going back to at least the early 1990s,' said a special mission unit officer... In 2003, tantalizing information reached the command that JSOC chief Maj. Gen. Stan McChrystal to direct the advance force operations cell to examine ways to infiltrate Iran. JSOC heard that Iran had moved Saad bin Laden and the other al Qaeda exiles from Afghanistan to a comfortable 'country club'-like facility in downtown Tehran, according to a JSOC staff officer." http://t.uani.com/1UpivHo

Michael Eisenstadt in War on the Rocks: "President Obama has often stated, regarding Iran's potential nuclear weapons ambitions, that 'all options are and will remain on the table' and that the United States would be able to deal with such an eventuality because 'we preserve all our capabilities ... our military superiority stays in place.' Administration officials have likewise claimed that the inspection regime agreed to in the nuclear deal with Iran would increase America's insight into Iran's declared nuclear infrastructure, greatly enhancing the effectiveness of a military strike should it someday be deemed necessary. Further scrutiny, however, raises questions regarding whether political and military dynamics set in train by the nuclear deal with Iran will in fact make preventive military action an even more problematic, and therefore unlikely, option for the United States. This could influence Iran's future proliferation calculus. The nuclear deal, if implemented fully, could place major constraints on Iran's ability to undertake a breakout from declared, or possible covert, facilities for 10 to 15 years. But as these constraints are lifted (or circumvented before then by Iran), the temptation to pursue a breakout could be strengthened. Several factors will influence Iran's decision-making on this matter; foremost among these is Iran's assessment of the risk of attempting a breakout... The political context created by the nuclear accord will have a decisive impact on any future debates regarding preventive action and would likely deter the U.S. from undertaking military action, though military-technical trends are also likely to greatly influence the U.S. decision calculus, if Iran were ever to move toward or attempt a nuclear breakout. The foregoing assessment shows, however, that in the military arena, as in other competitive domains, nothing ever 'stays in place.' Thanks in part to the nuclear accord, 10 to 20 years from now, America's ability to detect and ferret out a clandestine Iranian weapons program may be improved in some areas, but diminished in others. Preventive action will likely be more complicated, risky, and costly. And future Iranian covert underground facilities may be beyond the reach of the current generation of conventional penetrator munitions such as the MOP, though new means of defeating deep buried facilities are undoubtedly being developed. Whether these will be game changers, remains to be seen. The nuclear deal with Iran could therefore complicate U.S. efforts to deter, detect, and prevent a future Iranian nuclear breakout, while buying Iran time to counter some of America's most potent capabilities. This could have a decisive impact on Iran's nuclear decision calculus, and affect America's ability to deter a future Iranian nuclear breakout. The Obama administration should be concerned about this, though in its zeal to sell the nuclear deal with Iran, it shows no sign of acknowledging the significant risk inherent in its Iran policy, which future administrations and future generations of Americans may have to live with." http://t.uani.com/1EzfYsw

WashPost Editorial Board: "The absurdities in Iran's prosecution of Post reporter Jason Rezaian on bogus espionage charges continue to pile up. The last of four sessions of his trial was held on Aug. 10, and a spokesman for the judiciary said Sunday it was the final session. Iranian law says a verdict must be issued within a week of a trial's conclusion. It also says no suspect may be held for more than one year without conviction. Yet Mr. Rezaian remained in Tehran's notorious Evin prison on Monday, 405 days after his arrest, and no verdict in his case has been announced. His lawyer says she does not know why; she speculates that a verdict may have been issued but not revealed even to her. The delay, secrecy and blatant violation of Iran's own laws betray both the weakness of the charges against Mr. Rezaian and the use of the case for political purposes. The purported evidence in the case is a disgrace to the Iranian judiciary: It reportedly includes an unsuccessful 2008 online job application by Mr. Rezaian to President-elect Obama's transition team and a visa application submitted to a U.S. consulate for his Iranian wife. Several of the developments in the case occurred in concert with the international negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, prompting many analysts to conclude that hard-liners in the regime were persecuting Mr. Rezaian in an attempt to undermine Tehran's chief negotiator, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who has called the Post journalist a 'friend.' If that is true, then the fact that Mr. Rezaian remains imprisoned, in violation of Iran's laws, suggests that Mr. Zarif and President Hassan Rouhani have been unable to gain control over factions whose cooperation will be essential if the nuclear deal is to be successfully implemented. That ought to be a red flag for the Obama administration as well as for the five other governments that are parties to the deal, and it should be given some weight by those in Congress still considering whether to support the accord. We concluded in July that the deal is preferable to the alternatives - but the failure to release Mr. Rezaian since then is deeply troubling. The Rouhani government has a clear opportunity in the next two weeks to rectify the injustice done to Mr. Rezaian and to reassure the international community of its readiness to honor the nuclear accord. The annual United Nations General Assembly session begins on Sept. 15, and the deadline for a congressional vote on a nuclear deal is days later. Tehran can send a clear signal to both bodies by releasing Mr. Rezaian and the other Americans it is holding before those events." http://t.uani.com/1IE4ajv
         

Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Eye on Iran is not intended as a comprehensive media clips summary but rather a selection of media elements with discreet analysis in a PDA friendly format. For more information please email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com

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