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Reuters: "Iran will pay thousands of dollars to
families of Palestinians killed in a wave of anti-Israeli protests and
violence, or whose homes have been demolished by Israel, Tehran's
ambassador to Lebanon said on Wednesday. Scores of Palestinians and dozens
of Israelis have been killed in five months of street violence.
Palestinians have carried out stabbings, shootings and car rammings, and
Israeli security forces have shot dead many assailants... 'The decision
firstly includes giving an amount worth $7,000 to every family of a martyr
of the intifada in Jerusalem,' ambassador Mohammad Fathali said at a Beirut
news conference. Iran would also offer '$30,000 to every family whose home
the occupation (Israel) has demolished for the participation of one of its
sons' in the unrest, he said." http://t.uani.com/1SUdf2B
AFP: "Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei said Wednesday that Iranians want lawmakers who will not be
intimidated by the United States, two days before a key parliamentary
election. Despite negotiations between Tehran and Washington that led to a
nuclear deal and the lifting of sanctions, Khamenei has said there will be
no further direct talks and no wider rapprochement. 'The people want
neither a pro-government nor an anti-government parliament,' he said in
Tehran. 'They want a courageous and devout parliament that knows its duties
and is not intimidated by the United States.' The remarks follow repeated
warnings by Khamenei and other officials since the nuclear deal that Iran
must guard against economic, social and cultural 'infiltration' from the
US." http://t.uani.com/1VErerk
Reuters: "Iran's leader said that he was
confident voters would return a parliament prepared to stand up to the
United States at Friday's election and prove that the lifting of sanctions
on the Islamic Republic had not changed its anti-Western stance... 'The
nation will vote for a parliament that puts Iran's dignity and independence
first, and stands up to foreign powers whose influence on Iran has been
removed,' Khamenei was quoted as saying by his official website on
Wednesday. Khamenei said again that he was certain that the United States
had concocted a plot after the nuclear deal to 'infiltrate' the Islamic
Republic... The potential opening up to the West has alarmed hardliners and
they have arrested dozens of artists, journalists and business people,
including Iranians holding joint U.S. or British citizenship as part of a
crackdown on 'Western infiltration'. Rouhani has criticized the arrests,
saying some 'play with the infiltration word' to pursue their own goals.
But Khamenei said in Tehran, addressing an audience of thousands of people
from Najafabad city: 'When I talked about a U.S. infiltration plot, it made
some people in the country frustrated. 'They complain why we talk about
infiltration all the time ... But this is a real plot. Sometimes even the
infiltrators don't know they are a part of it.'" http://t.uani.com/1mXL6tm
U.S.-Iran
Relations
ICHRI: "Siamek Namazi, the
Iranian-American businessman who was arrested in October while visiting
family in Tehran, is being held incommunicado in Evin Prison and denied
access to his lawyer and visits by family members. Namazi's family has
reported that the imprisoned dual national has gone on a hunger strike. 'As
a mother I ask the authorities to at least allow me and Siamak's father to
visit him as soon as possible to convince him to stop his hunger strike,'
wrote Effat Namazi in a Facebook post on February 20, 2016. Namazi
was arrested on October 15, 2016 and is being held in Evin's Ward 2-A,
which is controlled by Iran's Revolutionary Guards Intelligence
Organization. 'Unfortunately, I've not been able to visit Siamak, despite
an order from the Assistant Supervisor of Security Prisons,' wrote Effat
Namazi. 'His lawyer has not been able to see him either.' 'We recently
heard through Twitter that Siamak's cellmate said he had gone on a hunger
strike,' added Effat Namazi. 'This news has made the family much more
worried because it will certainly harm his health.' Namazi was heading the
strategic planning division for Crescent Petroleum, an oil and gas company
based in the United Arab Emirates, when he was arrested." http://t.uani.com/1SU1xFd
NPR: "Last year was a terrible season
for the American pistachio industry. Warm temperatures and the lack of
water resulted in a loss of almost half the crop, and profits were down by
around $1.4 billion from 2014. This year, the industry is hoping to
recover, but growers across the country may face a different issue:
competition stemming from the lifting of sanctions against Iran. Iran is
historically known for its pistachios. They're one of the country's main
non-oil exports, sold in large quantities to places like China. Until about
30 years ago, a large amount of the pistachios sold in the U.S. were from
Iran. The American pistachio industry didn't boom until an embargo was put
in place on the Iranian nut in the wake of the Iran hostage crisis of
1979-81." http://t.uani.com/1XMCUcT
Sanctions
Enforcement
AP: "A man arrested at the
U.S.-Canada border last week is one of four people accused of conspiring to
violate trade sanctions by sending technical equipment to Iran - some of
which ended up with the Iranian military, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Shahin
Tabatabaei, of Vancouver, Canada, was arrested entering Washington state at
Lynden, north of Seattle, on Friday, the FBI said. According to a federal
indictment in California that has been under seal for the past two and a
half years, he ran companies in Mexico and Canada that shipped American
items through Turkey or the United Arab Emirates into Iran from 2007 to
2011. The items appear to have had applications in the oil and gas
industry, and the indictment suggests at least some had potential military
uses. Assistant U.S. attorney Todd Greenberg told U.S. Magistrate Judge
Mary Alice Theiler on Tuesday afternoon: 'A number of the items went to the
Iranian military. That is a national security concern.' ... The other
defendants were based in Canada and Iran. One, Seyed Mohammad Akhavan
Fatemi, was identified as the owner of IRCA Group in Canada. The company's
website describes it as a property developer based in Vancouver and lists
its owner as Mohammad Fatemi." http://t.uani.com/1oHeC8n
Sanctions
Relief
Reuters: "Oil services company Petrofac
will reopen its office in Iran, its chief executive said on Wednesday, as
the lifting of Western sanctions allows foreign companies to rekindle
business ties with Tehran. 'We are keen to go back. We are opening our office
in Tehran again,' Petrofac Chief Executive Ayman Asfari told analysts on
Wednesday. He said Petrofac was probably going to bid for oil services
contracts though large oil companies once they have obtained new business,
meaning the amount of work it does in Iran would remain low in the next
year or two. 'But three or four years down the road it will be an important
market for us,' he said. Petrofac was in Iran before sanctions were imposed
and it worked directly for the National Iranian Oil Company on a number of
projects." http://t.uani.com/1XMEcVf
Reuters: "India on Wednesday approved a
$150 million credit line for the development of Iran's Chabahar port, the
government said in a statement. The port in southeast Iran is central to
New Delhi's efforts to circumvent arch-rival Pakistan and open up a route
to landlocked Afghanistan where it has developed close security ties and
economic interests. Under the agreement signed last year between the two
countries, India will equip and operate two berths in the first phase of
development at Chabahar Port and extend a credit line of $150 million
through its external lending arm. Both berths will commence operations within
18 months of the signing of a final contract, the statement said. India
will make a capital investment of $85.21 million and annual revenue
expenditure of $22.95 million on a ten year lease following which the
ownership of equipment will be transferred to Iran. New Delhi and Tehran
agreed in 2003 to develop Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman, near Iran's border
with Pakistan, but the venture has made little progress because of the
sanctions over Iran's atomic programme." http://t.uani.com/1T6UOYZ
Terrorism
AP: "Philippine officials said
Wednesday that they have strengthened security for Saudi Arabia's embassy
and its national airline because of a possible threat. Philippine Foreign
Undersecretary Rafael Seguis said the Saudi government had asked several
countries, including the Philippines, for improved security. He said he was
unaware of the nature of the reported threat. Seguis noted that Saudi
Arabia has a conflict with Iran, where the Saudi Embassy recently came
under attack, but said it's hard to say whether the reported threat was
connected to that. 'It's our responsibility under international convention
to protect, as a host state, foreign diplomatic missions,' Seguis said by
phone. 'It's just a security augmentation, maybe because of their present
situation with Iran.' Protesters set fire to the Saudi Embassy in Tehran
and attacked its consulate in another Iranian city in response to the
kingdom's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric on Jan 2." http://t.uani.com/1UlZg53
JPost: "The Islamic Republic of Iran
announced on Wednesday its support for the 'Jerusalem intifada' that Israel
has been witnessing for the past five months, declaring that it would give
financial rewards to families of Palestinian terrorists. Speaking at a
press conference in Beirut on Wednesday, with the participation of several
leaders of Palestinian factions, Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mohammad
Fathali, said: 'Continuing Iran's support for the oppressed Palestinian
people, Iran announces the provision of financial aid to families of
Palestinian martyrs who were killed in the 'Jerusalem intifada.' According
to the ambassador, every family of a martyr will receive $7,000, while a
family whose home was demolished by the IDF will receive $30,000. The aid
will be conveyed through the Palestinian branch of the Shahid Institution,
which was established in Iran in 1992. Fathali called on the Arab Muslim
nation to unite around the central Palestinian issue and said that 'the
martyrs' blood will release the entire Palestine, from the river to the
sea.' Hamas' foreign relations chief, Osama Hamdan, who participated in the
press conference, said that Hamas appreciates the Iranian initiative to
support the Palestinian intifada, adding that this is not the first gesture
Iran has made to Palestine and that the former treats the Palestinian issue
as 'its own issue.'" http://t.uani.com/21gi4bg
AP: "Israel's defense minister is
accusing Iran of building an international terror network that includes
'sleeper cells' that are stockpiling arms, intelligence and operatives to
be ready to strike on command in places including Europe and the U.S. Moshe
Yaalon says Iran aims to destabilize the Middle East and other parts of the
world and is training, funding and arming 'emissaries' to spread a
revolution. He says Tehran is the anchor of a 'dangerous axis' that
includes Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut, Saana and other cities in the
region." http://t.uani.com/1S1cQu5
Regional
Destabilization
Daily
Caller: "James
Jeffrey, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, made a provocative assertion
Tuesday when he said the burgeoning alliance between Iran, Russia and Syria
is the primary problem facing the Middle East today. Speaking during a
panel discussion for the launch of the Atlantic Council's new Task Force on
the Future of Iraq, Jeffrey, who served as ambassador from 2010 - 2012,
said that Iraq has actually been relatively successful compared to the rest
of the region, but warned of a worrisome trend he had seen recently. 'We
have an Iran, Syria, Russia problem right now in the Middle East, that is
the number one problem in the whole region,' said Jeffrey, 'considering we
also have ISIS, that's saying a lot.' ... In regard to Iran's strategy in
particular, Jeffrey noted that 'most, but not all, observers believe [Iran]
is trying to establish a regional power position.' The Iranian goal is to
'unite all of the Shia with a combination of ... diplomatic relations as a
state and a political ideological movement as a party.'"http://t.uani.com/1p4ijVA
Iran-Saudi
Tensions
Reuters: "Saudi Arabia and Bahrain warned
their citizens on Tuesday against travel to Lebanon, citing safety
concerns, and the United Arab Emirates said it was banning its nationals
from visiting the Mediterranean country. The moves by the Gulf Arab allies
came after Saudi Arabia last week suspended aid worth $3 billion to the
Lebanese army over the Beirut government's failure to sign up to statements
condemning attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran. Saudi Arabia and
Bahrain both urged citizens currently in Lebanon to leave quickly for their
own safety. They have both issued previous warnings on security grounds for
Lebanon, which is located next to war-ravaged Syria. In a terse statement
carried by the state news agency WAM that gave no reason for its new travel
ban, the UAE foreign ministry said it would also reduce the number of its
diplomats stationed in Beirut. In Lebanon's tangled political scene, Saudi
Arabia and its Gulf allies are staunchly opposed to Hezbollah, a political
party in the governing coalition that also has a powerful militia backed by
Iran, Riyadh's arch regional rival." http://t.uani.com/1mXKFiK
Human
Rights
ICHRI: "The Iranian government, in a
joint project with several domestic universities, is spending $36 million
to develop what it calls 'smart filtering' in order to strengthen its
Internet censorship capabilities. Smart filtering refers to the selective
blocking of content within a website, as opposed to the complete blocking
or shutting down of an entire website. The initiative, announced by deputy
Communications and Information Technology Minister Ali Asghar Amidian in an
interview with the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) on February 18, 2016,
reflects growing concern among hardliners in Iran over the state's ability
to control the citizenry's access to information given the huge growth of
Internet use in the country. It also reflects an unspoken acknowledgement
of the state's movement away from the wholesale blocking of websites that
have become widely used in Iran, by both the citizenry and state officials.
According to Asadollah Dehnad, the acting director of the
Telecommunications Company of Iran, who was quoted by Citna, the Iranian
technology news agency on January 18, the average Iranian spends more than
two hours a day on Telegram and 'that means many times more than watching
[state] television.' It has been almost a decade since Iranian officials
promised to introduce 'smart filtering.' To date, however, they have
had little success." http://t.uani.com/1R1ivvi
ICHRI: "The 70-year-old father of a
student who has not been heard from for 17 years since his arrest has been
sentenced to 91 days in prison and 74 lashes for 'disturbing public order'
by allegedly participating in a gathering in support of an imprisoned
spiritual leader. But Hashem Zeinali was only there to demand answers about
his son and got mixed into the crowd, according to his wife. Speaking to
the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Akram Neghabi said the
focus of her husband's interrogation indicated that the authorities
targeted Neghabi for seeking answers about their son rather than having any
connection to the case of the spiritual leader, Mohammad Ali Taheri, who
has been persecuted for his alternative spiritual beliefs. 'My husband told
the judge that he respects Mr. Taheri and his followers but my husband is
searching for our missing son and that's why he was in front of Evin Prison
on that day holding our son Saeed's picture,' Neghabi told the Campaign.
'During interrogations, the Revolutionary Guards told my husband that they
had not arrested our son and he should take back his accusations, therefore
they knew he was not a Taheri follower,' she said." http://t.uani.com/1XMBkYo
WashPost: "Iranian nationals are not even
allowed to visit their country's greatest foe, Israel, but an Iranian poet,
who fled from there two years ago after facing harassment and arrest for
being gay, is now seeking asylum in the Jewish state. Payam Feili, who has
been living in Turkey since 2014, arrived in Israel in December to see his
novella, 'I Will Grow, I Will Bear Fruit ... Figs,' staged as a play in
Hebrew in Tel Aviv, a city known for its openness toward gays. Now Feili,
who is not Jewish, says he wants to stay. He told The Washington Post
recently that after three months here, what he feels for the country is
something 'more than love.' ... Feili, who writes openly about being gay in
his poetry, believes that if he returns to Iran he will be putting his life
at risk. Homosexuality is illegal in the Islamic Republic and those found
guilty of the 'crime' face tough punishments, including death. According to
the PEN American Center, a writers' group advocating freedom of expression,
Feili was forced into exile after mounting threats against himself and his
family. In an article on the group's website, the poet describes how he was
arrested outside his home and held for 44 days without charge after
agreeing to publish his work in Hebrew. Feili also said that his openness
about his homosexuality has left him unable to publish in Iran following
the release of his first book, a collection of poetry titled 'Sakooye
Aftab' ('The Sun's Platform')." http://t.uani.com/1UlZjxV
Domestic
Politics
FT: "Iran's hardliners are trying to
rally support ahead of elections on Friday by alleging that their reformist
opponents are being supported by shadowy foreign groups - including the
UK's BBC. 'It is not an allegation. It is a crime [reformists have
committed],' Parviz Soruri, a senior hardline politician, told the
Financial Times. 'The BBC [Persian Service] very clearly has supported the
electoral list of reformists. This will mar Iran's political independence
and can lead to the presence of alien forces. The British move is
interference in our internal affairs.' ... Iranian reformists have reacted
angrily to the accusations of foreign support. Mohammad-Reza Aref, the most
prominent pro-reform candidate, said: 'I'm not going to dignify these
allegations with daily denials.' ... 'The old arrogant power [Britain] is
upset with us,' said Lotfollah Forouzandeh, a hardline politician. 'It is
because we will not surrender in our foreign policy." http://t.uani.com/1S1iE6L
Reuters: "The buzzing crowds and human
chains of Iran's disputed election in 2009 may be nowhere to be seen ahead
of Friday's poll but the activists who fired up the protests then are
keeping the flame alive online. After the sustained demonstrations of 2009,
Iran's hardline establishment barred reformist candidates and unauthorized
gatherings, and arrested many activists on charges of sedition. Now, reformists
seeking to spread the word about moderate candidates have turned to online
platforms like the messaging app Telegram. 'There is no way we are allowed
to have that street presence again,' said Mohammadreza Jalaeipour, a
political activist who spent five months in solitary confinement for
running a campaign supporting a reformist candidate in 2009. Now a
researcher at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard, Jalaeipour
runs a social media and Telegram campaign that includes the Green Online
Chain, harking back to the Green Chain of 2009 when activists in green
headbands held hands to form a 20-km (12-mile) line down Tehran's Valiasr
Street." http://t.uani.com/1KKjt2B
Opinion
& Analysis
Nicholas
Noe in Newsweek:
"One approach, however, has worked exceptionally well in fighting
terrorism and pressuring opponents around the world: Weaponizing the global
financial system by freezing assets and delinking states and institutions
from the vital infrastructure of the global economy. Indeed, there is now
widespread recognition that the cocktail of financial instruments brought
to bear against Tehran, for example, played a key role in forcing
concessions on its nuclear program and opening a pathway towards at least a
partial rapprochement with the West. In this non-violent effort, arguably
the most important tool was exercised in 2012 when Iran's financial
institutions and its government were cut off from the Belgium-based Society
for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication system (SWIFT). Iranian
companies, ministries and individuals could no longer trade, pay bills
internationally or move money around. The economic activity ground to a
halt and inflation skyrocketed in the Persian state. Last month, as part of
the overall deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, several
Iranian banks were finally reconnected to the SWIFT system, with more
likely to follow in the coming months. Almost immediately, the rusted lungs
of the Iranian economy reopened with tens of billions of dollars in global
trade deals offered. But almost as soon as this activity started to
register, the longstanding conflict between Iran and some Western nations,
actually moved into sharper focus with the honing of financial weapons by
the U.S. Treasury Department. Even though the United Nations and the
European Union have essentially lifted their nuclear-related sanctions,
U.S. President Barack Obama has kept in place an array of secondary
sanctions that penalize anybody doing business with companies connected to
Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an institution
the Obama administration says supports global terrorism and regional
destabilization. Prove yourself to be free of any IRGC links-a tall order
since it is believed to control huge swathes of the Iranian economy-and you
can do business globally. Come to the table with question marks around this
issue, and anyone dealing with you or moving your cash around would risk
America's financial wrath; not only in the form of steep U.S. fines in
perpetuity-tens of billions of dollars were levied over the past few years
under the old sanctions' regime-but also by being cut off from the American
side of the global financial system. Of course, since the U.S. is at the
heart of that system, and many key transactions are done using the U.S.
dollar, few institutions around the world are likely to risk the
possibility of facing Treasury Department scrutiny. But all of this could
quickly change with a new U.S. administration next year, or even increased
congressional disgruntlement this year. Just a week and a half ago, John
Smith, the acting director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets
Control, was berated at one public hearing by Representative Brad Sherman,
a Democrat who opposed the Iran deal, because of the former's statement
that he, 'has not seen evidence of European actors continuing to do
business with the IRGC.' Sherman countered with the example of Iran's
second largest airline that flies to several European cities, Mahan Air. In
2011, the Treasury Department sanctioned the airline for its IRGC links and
it remains on the secondary sanctions list. 'Here's an example where you
have a major airline doing business in dozens of cities and you can't find
them doing business with a single bank?' an exasperated Sherman asked of
Smith. Over the past month, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
has arrested alleged Hezbollah members on charges of using millions of
dollars in drug money raised from cocaine sales-including in the U.S.-to
purchase weapons for the party's fighters in Syria. Among those arrested
were Mohamad Noureddine, whom the DEA accuses of being a money launderer
for Hezbollah. The U.S. Treasury, which had accused Hezbollah of
counterfeiting the greenback in the past, has already imposed sanctions
against Noureddine and another alleged Hezbollah money launderer, Hamdi
Zaher El Dine in January 2016. Cases like these have been pretty standard
fare over the past decade and a half. Now, however, U.S. attempts to dry up
Hezbollah's funds have found a new tool that is set to be unsheathed by
mid-April, when the Treasury Department must promulgate specific
regulations for the International Financing Prevention Act of 2015. The
act, which passed unanimously by Congress and was signed into law by Obama
on December 19, 2015, is repeatedly touted by Republican presidential
hopeful Marco Rubio as his signature achievement. Crucially, and unlike
previous executive orders pertaining to Lebanon that went after individuals
or specific companies, the law penalizes any bank 'that knowingly
facilitates a significant transaction or transactions for Hezbollah.'
According to one top U.S. government official involved in the process, who
wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of his post, the law is
less focused on Lebanon than on delinking Hezbollah from financial
transactions that it benefits from elsewhere worldwide, especially in South
America and Africa. Despite such assurances, key sections of Lebanon's
political elite are worried, to say the least... When it comes to Lebanon's
banking system though, everybody invariably seems to fall into line,
fearful of doing anything that might disrupt one of the few profitable and
reliable anchors greasing so many wheels. Unsurprisingly then, waves of
Lebanese bankers and officials have been traveling to Washington, hoping to
soften or at least narrow the impact of the new law. Unfortunately for
them, it appears that their lobbying efforts might not come to much. Much
like the IRGC-focused sanctions, questions will likely linger long into the
future including: What constitutes a significant transaction-since the
Treasury Department will not set hard dollar limits, for example-and what
must a bank do to prove it did not 'knowingly' facilitate a transaction for
Hezbollah? Moreover, both the IRGC and Hezbollah are extremely secretive
organizations, with both hidden and public faces; in the case of Hezbollah,
the party has sizable elected representation at both the local and national
government levels. So, how can a bank manager really know whether a person
is unaffiliated with the targeted organization? And what constitutes being
a member of Hezbollah in the first place: Could a local 'supporter,' or
someone who votes for Hezbollah candidates, be prohibited from maintaining
bank accounts? Could an MP who is not a 'member' of the party per se-but is
still a part of its parliamentary bloc-put a whole bank's operations at
risk?" http://t.uani.com/1Q0jlut
Jennifer
Rubin in WashPost:
"The Government Accountability Office put out a preliminary report on
Tuesday on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran: 'GAO's
preliminary observations indicate that IAEA may face potential challenges
in monitoring and verifying Iran's implementation of certain
nuclear-related commitments in the JCPOA. According to current and former
IAEA and U.S. officials and experts, these potential challenges include (1)
integrating JCPOA-related funding into its regular budget and managing
human resources in the safeguards program, (2) access challenges depending
on Iran's cooperation and the untested JCPOA mechanism to resolve access
requests, and (3) the inherent challenge of detecting undeclared nuclear
materials and activities-such as potential weapons development activities
that may not involve nuclear material. According to knowledgeable current and
former U.S. government officials, detection of undeclared material and
activities in Iran and worldwide is IAEA's greatest challenge. According to
IAEA documents, Iran has previously failed to declare activity to IAEA.
However, according to a former IAEA official as well as current IAEA and
U.S. government officials GAO interviewed, IAEA has improved its
capabilities in detecting undeclared activity, such as by adapting its
inspector training program.' Now, it would have been helpful for the Senate
- before voting on the Iran nuclear deal - to have information like this.
Nevertheless, it confirms once again how much the administration gave up to
get its legacy deal. At a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
with Secretary of State John F. Kerry, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), a
staunch critic of the deal, read aloud more of the GAO's findings. 'Let me
read some of them: 'GOA's preliminary observations point to directly to
future problems with monitoring, verifying and meeting requirements of the
JCPOA.'' said Menendez. 'It talks about its limitation, 'a limited budget
from an irregular funding sources, human resource shortfall, important
equipment operating at capacity already not being able to go beyond that,
limited analytical capabilities that will all be tested by the new mandates
of the JCPOA, a lack of authorities,' obviously the IAEA activities will
depend to a significant degree on the cooperation of the Iranian state.' He
continued, 'Thirdly, that while they have focused virtually all of their
resources to pursue the JCPOA, they're going to have very little resources.
They turn away from other proliferators and potential proliferators. And,
finally, among other items, the IAEA's own estimates has identified the
need for approximately $10 million per year for 15 years over and above its
present budget. So, it is an agency that is understaffed for its purposes,
losing technical assistance, people are leaving, has now a singular focus.'
Menendez wants Iran to pay for the needed upgrades to the IAEA, but the
better question - which he has raised before - is how we could have given
Iran billions up front with such an obviously deficient monitoring scheme
in place. The incentive is on the administration to ignore violations (for
fear of losing its deal), not on Iran, 'flush with money,' as Menendez put
it, to abide by its terms." http://t.uani.com/1Q08Ebp
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