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President Trump on Tuesday signaled he is close to
ditching the Iran nuclear agreement struck by former President Barack
Obama, by saying the deal is an "embarrassment to the United
States" in his first address to the United Nations General
Assembly. "We cannot let a murderous regime continue these
destabilizing activities while building dangerous missiles and we
cannot abide by an agreement if it provides cover for the eventual
construction of a nuclear program," Trump said.
The Iran nuclear deal must be changed if the United
States is to remain in it, the top U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday,
suggesting its key limits on the Iranian nuclear program must be
extended. Making his debut appearance at the annual United Nations
General Assembly, U.S. President Donald Trump accused Iran of
exporting "violence, bloodshed and chaos" and of seeking to
project its influence in Yemen, Syria and elsewhere in a region rife
with sectarian conflicts between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims.
The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is
calling on President Trump to "enforce the hell" out of the
Iran nuclear deal rather than doing away with it completely. Trump
signaled he was near the point of scrapping the deal during his first
appearance before the United Nation's General Assembly Tuesday,
saying the agreement forged by former President Barack Obama is
"an embarrassment to the United States."
UANI IN THE NEWS
On the sidelines of the UNGA, some prominent critics of
the Iran nuclear deal endorsed his position Tuesday, debating how
best to move forward to prevent Tehran from becoming a nuclear
weapons state, while underscoring concerns about Tehran's links with North
Korea. Participants in the United Against Nuclear Iran conference
(UANI) agreed they see flaws in the 2015 deal, which offered
incentives to Iran in return for guarantees that it would not develop
nuclear weapons. But speakers disagreed on whether the United States
should attempt to renegotiate and expand the deal negotiated under
former President Barack Obama, or scrap it altogether.
New York City - President Trump should try to
renegotiate the Iran deal and maybe make it permanent instead of
withdrawing from the pact, according to former Gov. Jeb Bush.
"Maybe the question of negotiation is to extend it to
permanency," Bush said during a panel discussion hosted by
United Against Nuclear Iran. That idea was based on the assumption
that Iran is complying with the agreement and has arrested the
development of its nuclear weapons program, something critics of the
deal don't accept. It's also at odds with President Trump's likely
decision to decline to certify Iranian compliance with the agreement.
Former Florida governor and 2016 presidential candidate
Jeb Bush praised President Donald Trump's foreign policy in comments
made in New York City during the Iran Summit 2017. Asked by the
moderator, NBC News's Nicolle Wallace, to comment on Trump's behavior
toward North Korea and Iran, Bush said he believes Trump's brash
attitude has helped "set the table" in dealing with
dangerous regimes. "Once in a while, chaos, chaotic words,
are helpful," Bush said. "Regimes need to be called out.
Trump is right."
"The president in the speech today... particularly
on Iran and North Korea, could not have been more clear," Bolton
said at a conference hosted by United Against Nuclear Iran. "The
issue is whether the rest of his government feels the same way."
Tillerson, Bolton noted, had said the United States has imposed
economic sanctions on North Korea in order to induce a
"constructive, productive dialogue" with the regime. But
Bolton dismissed that as a repetition of failed policies.
He was gracious and measured, stern but sober-and tough
on Russia-as he addressed the greatest challenges facing the United
States. Standing in a hotel ballroom a few blocks from the spot where
Donald Trump was threatening to "totally destroy" North
Korea, Jeb Bush offered a glimpse of the presidency that could have
been. "At some point the president is going to have to go from
this ad hoc diplomacy, or whatever the foreign policy is, to
something that's clear and coherent," Bush, one of Trump's
vanquished 2016 opponents, told a hawkish hotel ballroom audience
gathered Tuesday for the United Against Nuclear Iran conference.
"Because at the end of the day, too much chaos, and being
unreliable, creates real dangers."
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) criticized President
Trump's foreign policy at a conference Tuesday, warning the president
risks creating "real dangers" around the world the day of
his first address to the United Nations General Assembly. Bush, who
was speaking at the United Against Nuclear Iran conference in New
York, called for Trump to reject "ad hoc diplomacy" and
develop a "clear and coherent" foreign policy strategy.
"At some point the president is going to have to go from this ad
hoc diplomacy, or whatever the foreign policy is, to something that's
clear and coherent," Bush said, as reported by McClatchy.
"Because at the end of the day, too much chaos, and being
unreliable, creates real dangers."
Bush was Trump's favorite foil during the Republican
presidential primaries, standing as an avatar of the maligned GOP
establishment. But the former Florida governor argued Trump has
moderated his policies in office, while his heterodoxy has paid off
in some areas. "As it relates to NATO, look, here's a place
where the rhetoric actually has been helpful," Bush said during
a foreign policy discussion hosted by United Against Nuclear Iran.
"Granted, the fact that he didn't embrace NATO to begin with,
but you're starting to see European countries increase their defense
budgets. ... From time to time, it's okay to shake up the
complacency."
A warning that the Iranian nuclear deal was boosting
Iran's agenda was heard on the sidelines of the UNGA meeting from
Prince Turki Al Faisal, the former Saudi Arabia ambassador to
Washington. "The Iranians are boasting about their ambitions and
their activities," he told a summit convened by United against a
Nuclear Iran. "They are telling us exactly what they want to do
and we are helping them do it."
Meanwhile, the former Florida Governor-turned GOP
presidential frontrunner-turned Donald Trump punching bag delivered a
foreign policy speech at the United Against Nuclear Iran conference
seemingly right out of the conservative foreign policy orthodox. As
Katie Glueck chronicled for McClatchy, Bush criticized the
freewheeling approach that has defined Trump's foreign policy:
"At some point the president is going to have to go from this ad
hoc diplomacy, or whatever the foreign policy is, to something that's
clear and coherent," Bush said.
As President Trump prepared to give his address at the
United Nations on Tuesday morning, United Against Nuclear Iran
(UANI), a decade-old, bipartisan, non-governmental organization, was
opening its annual summit just down the road. The line-up for the event
at New York City's Roosevelt Hotel was full of heavy hitters. David
Petraeus, Jeb Bush, John Bolton, Bill Richardson, and Joseph
Lieberman were just a few of the political celebrities in attendance.
In his opening remarks, Lieberman, UANI's chairman, praised the Trump
administration's Iran dispositions, calling it a "sea
change" from the deal-at-any-cost Obama administration.
Leiberman called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or
Iran deal, a waste of leverage, suggesting Obama had given away the
farm for little in return. Not surprisingly, given UANI's mission to
keep Iran from achieving nuclear arms, this would not be the last
attack on the JCPOA. Speaker after speaker from both parties,
including early and vociferous opponents of President Trump, trashed
the deal while urging the president to take a harder line in regard
to Iran.
IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL
After using the most high-profile foreign policy speech
of his presidency to call the Iran nuclear deal "an
embarrassment to the United States," President Trump could find
recertifying the agreement next month even more politically difficult
than the deal's opponents had already promised to make it. Supporters
of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the Iran deal is
formally known, rallied in defense of it this week ahead of Trump's
appearance at the United Nations General Assembly, where he was
expected to argue against the deal both publicly and privately.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the
world to change or cancel a nuclear deal with Iran, just hours after
President Donald Trump called the agreement "an embarrassment to
the United States." Netanyahu, who praised Trump's speech
earlier on Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly as
"courageous," singled out the deal's so-called "sunset
clause" -- which phases out the most significant restrictions on
Iran over time -- as the most problematic aspect of the accord. He
added that Iran must face severe sanctions for its ballistic missile
program and should be prevented from extending its influence in
Syria.
As US President Donald Trump meets with Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, every
NGO, expert and interest group is campaigning for Trump to use its
approach regarding the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement. Trump's options
vary from merely enforcing the accord's provisions to immediately
abrogating it to everything in between.
In public, in private, and with few exceptions, world
leaders gathered at the United Nations this week are urging President
Donald Trump not to follow through on his threat to derail the Iran
nuclear deal. But so far, Trump shows no sign of listening to them.
And some diplomats and supporters of the agreement even worry the
efforts could backfire by triggering Trump's defiantly contrarian
instincts.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani left Tehran for New
York on Sept. 17 to attend the UN General Assembly session. His brief
but important visit serves Iran with an opportunity to hold talks
with some of the leaders of the countries with whom Iran signed the
nuclear deal. Rouhani hopes to persuade them to stand up to US
President Donald Trump, who has vowed to scrap the landmark accord.
President Hassan
Rouhani of Iran said Tuesday that if President Donald Trump backs out
of the 2015 nuclear deal, "no one will trust America again"
and his country could then resume work on expanding its nuclear
capabilities. Rouhani raised that possibility in an interview with
NBC News just before Trump spoke for the first time as president
before the United Nations General Assembly, where he called Tehran a
"murderous regime" and the nuclear deal "an
embarrassment to the United States."
Iranian leaders today rejected France's President
Emmanuel Macron's suggestion that the Iran nuclear accord could be
supplemented to address Iran's ballistic missile program and Iranian
nuclear program after 2025. "Under no circumstances, the Islamic
Republic of Iran will hold talks over the J.C.P.O.A.," said Ali
Akbar Velayati, a top aide to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, referring
to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - the nuclear deal Tehran
signed with world powers two years ago. "This negotiation has
taken place once and Iran held talks with the 5+1 countries for a
long time and reached an agreement. No doubts from any countries
regarding this accord is acceptable and we will not accept any such
proposals," Velayati, a former Iranian foreign minister, added
in a reference to Macron's suggestion.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
Donald Trump isn't the only head of state who likes to
let off some steam on the weekends by trolling his enemies on
Twitter. Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei is right there with him.
American leaders are "oppressive," "hounding,"
"cruel," "corrupt," "bullying"
"liars," Khamenei said in a pointedly English-language
Twitter rant on Sunday.
The United States and Iran on Wednesday will have their
highest-level interaction of Donald Trump's presidency, a day after
the American leader delivered a blistering attack on the Islamic
Republic and the landmark 2015 nuclear deal. Amid strong signals
Trump could walk away from the nuclear accord as early as next month,
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Iranian Foreign Minister
Mohammad Javad Zarif will attend a European Union-hosted meeting
about the agreement at the United Nations. The closed-door gathering
is expected to be contentious, and the lead-up has seen Washington
and Tehran trade increasingly harsh barbs.
The Trump administration faces a pivotal decision in
coming weeks on how far it is willing to push to secure the release
of several Americans imprisoned in Iran. The White House is mulling
options that include punitive measures to pressure Iran over the
detained Americans and discussions through an interlocutor for a
possible prisoner swap, two sources familiar with the administration's
deliberations told Foreign Policy.
SANCTIONS RELIEF
With 33.5 trillion cubic meters of
natural gas, Iran has the largest conventional gas reserves in the
world. Along with its vast oil reserves, it also has sizable,
non-associated conventional gas resources that are being developed
aggressively. With regard to exports, however, natural gas has never
matched the significance of oil in Iran. Nonetheless, Tehran has
boosted gas production tremendously in the past few years, despite
sanctions and other challenges.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday
told the United Nations General Assembly that his country would act
to prevent Iran from establishing a permanent military presence in
Syria, the same day the Israeli military said it shot down an
Iranian-made drone. Echoing a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump,
the Israeli leader also lambasted the landmark 2015 nuclear deal
between Iran and six world powers, telling the group of nations to
"fix or nix" the agreement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised
President Trump for his speech before the United Nations General
Assembly on Tuesday, calling it the most "bold" and
"courageous" speech he's heard delivered at the annual
gathering of world leaders and diplomats. "I've been ambassador
to the United Nations, and I'm a long-serving Israeli prime minister,
so I've listened to countless speeches in this hall," Netanyahu
said during his own address before the United Nations General
Assembly. "But I can say this - none were bolder, none were more
courageous and forthright than the one delivered by President Trump
today."
MILITARY MATTERS
"The IRGC is a great popular military force in our
country and has played a very important role in the eight-year (Iraqi
imposed) war," President Rouhani said at a meeting with senior
American journalists and managers of media outlets in New York on
Tuesday. The IRGC has also taken a very effective role in protecting
Iran's security and fighting against terrorism today, the president
noted.
SYRIA CONFLICT
The U.S. military acknowledged Tuesday it has closed an
outpost in southern Syria in recent days amid reports that American
forces and their contingent of Syrian proxies had pulled out from an
important base in the area - effectively ceding the ground to Iranian-backed
militias. The decision to vacate the Zakaf outpost, a small,
barrier-walled compound just miles from the Syria-Iraq border,
appeared to represent a tacit acknowledgment that U.S.-backed forces
will now be in an increasingly difficult position to recapture
strategic border towns where the Islamic State's most senior leaders
have been sighted in recent months.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will
prevent Iran from establishing military bases in Syria and demanded
changes to the Iran nuclear deal in an address before the United
Nations General Assembly. Iranian-backed militia and military
advisers have been fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad in the country's six-year civil war, and Israeli leaders
have recently charged that Tehran is now moving to establish a
permanent presence there. Netanyahu said on September 19 that Tehran
was trying to lower what he called an "Iranian curtain"
across the Middle East, "from the Caspian Sea to the
Mediterranean."
Russian President Vladimir Putin is working on what
sounds to Israelis like science fiction but in Moscow makes perfect
sense - a deal on the power structure in Syria that both Israel and
Iran can live with. Two years after Russian warplanes began landing
in Khmeimim air base, carrying out devastating bombing missions on
rebel-held parts of Syria and killing thousands of civilians, along
with rebel fighters opposed to President Bashar Assad's regime and
Islamic State fighters, Putin now controls Syria's future.
HUMAN RIGHTS
A lawyer says an 81-year-old Iranian-American imprisoned
in Iran on widely criticized spying charges has undergone surgery and
had a pacemaker installed. Washington-based attorney Jared Genser
said in a statement that Baquer Namazi is expected to return to
Tehran's Evin prison on Wednesday. Genser says Namazi underwent
surgery Tuesday. He says his client has been in poor health. Namazi
is a former UNICEF representative who served as governor of Iran's
oil-rich Khuzestan province under the U.S.-backed shah.
OPINION & ANALYSIS
As the president travels to the United Nations this
week, the Middle East, along with North Korea, will top the agenda.
There, the United States faces a dramatic escalation of tension for
which it is not yet adequately prepared. Iran and its Shia militia
proxies, abetted by Russian airpower, are positioning themselves to
fill the vacuum in Iraq and Syria after the defeat of the Islamic
State (IS). The spread of Iranian presence and influence poses a risk
to Israel and Jordan, the Gulf states, and potentially also Turkey.
Moreover, as Iran undermines the sovereignty of Iraq, Syria, and
Lebanon, with Shia militias far more loyal to the Islamic Republic
than to their own states, stability and the regional security system
maintained by the United States are almost certain to break down.
Imam Musa al-Sadr is hardly known in the West today, but
the 39-year anniversary of this clergyman's mysterious disappearance
remains a source of deep grief and resentment among his followers.
Sadr's message of peaceful coexistence among peoples of different
faiths still resonates. One cannot help but wonder what the Middle
East, and Iran in particular, would look like today if Sadr had
lived?
President Donald Trump's maiden speech to the UN General
Assembly was a confusing hodgepodge of tropes, themes and threats
that made one unmistakable point: There is no coherent Trump
Doctrine. He awkwardly tried to reconcile the notion of "America
First" with a global outreach and planetary humanism designed to
appease and placate his largely international audience. Still, almost
without exception, the key threats he identified -- North Korea and
Iran -- will require, whether he likes it or not, the abandonment of
America First in favor of cooperation with others.
On August 31, major Western media outlets reported that
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had once again
certified Iran's compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. This
assertion, which purported to reflect the IAEA's seventh and latest
post-implementation report on Tehran's nuclear activities,
mirrors statements by the Iranian government and key world leaders in
response to the agency's previous reports... These accounts are
false. In fact, the IAEA has never certified Iran's compliance with
the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The number of times US President Donald Trump mentioned
Iran or its derivatives in his UN speech? Twelve, and each time to
emphasize its threat. The number of times he mentioned the
Palestinians or derivatives? That would be zero. Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, paying Trump the rare leader-to-leader gesture of
attending his speech and applauding throughout, was clearly pleased.
"In over 30 years in my experience with the UN, I never heard a
bolder or more courageous speech," Netanyahu tweeted immediately
after the 40-minute address on Tuesday. "President Trump spoke
the truth about the great dangers facing our world and issued a
powerful call to confront them in order to ensure the future of
humanity"... Long term, Netanyahu and Israel may not be as
enthused by Trump's dream of a world in which nations make a priority
of "sovereign" interests - or as the president put it,
repeating a campaign phrase that unsettled many US Jews,
"America First."
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