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Iran began building its second nuclear power plant with Russian help on
Saturday, the first such project since last year's landmark nuclear
deal with world powers. The project in the southern port city of
Bushehr will eventually include two power plants expected to go online
in 10 years. Construction on the second plant is set to begin in 2018.
The entire project will cost more than $8.5 billion, with each plant
producing 1,057 megawatts of electricity. "Construction of the
power plant is a symbol of Iran enjoying the results of the nuclear
deal," Senior Vice-President Ishaq Jahangiri said at a ceremony
marking the start of the project. "We will continue working with
Russia as a strategic partner and friend," he added. Iran's sole
operational nuclear reactor, also built in Bushehr with Russian
assistance, produces 1,000 megawatts. It went online in 2011, and the
two countries have agreed to cooperate on future projects.
Iran has sentenced an Iranian-British charity worker to five years in
prison, after detaining her while on a family trip to the country in
April, her husband said on Friday. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is one of
several dual nationals Iran has arrested in recent months, some of whom
have been accused of spying. Abolghassem Salavati, an Islamic
Revolutionary Court judge who has handled numerous high-profile cases
involving foreigners, handed down the sentence in Ms.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case on Tuesday, her husband Richard Ratcliffe
said. Mr. Salavati presided over a three-hour trial on Aug. 14 at which
Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe's lawyer was present, according to her family.
The family said the proceedings were held in secret, and it was denied
permission to attend. Mr. Ratcliffe said Iran hadn't revealed specific
charges against his wife. "A sentence with secret charges still
seems crazy," he said. "Literally it is a punishment without
a crime." http://t.uani.com/2c5qkb2
Iran has stepped up its harassment of U.S. Navy ships in the Persian
Gulf, angering the U.S. military and members of Congress.
Since the international nuclear deal with Iran was implemented in early
January, the number of incidents involving U.S. and Iranian ships in
the Gulf has approximately doubled. The Navy has counted at least 31
interactions with Iranian naval forces deemed "unsafe,"
"unprofessional," or both, according to a defense official.
That's about as many such interactions that occurred all of last year,
according to statistics provided to Fox News. And those are also
only counting interactions that have met the criteria of
"unsafe" or "unprofessional." Overall, there were
more than 300 interactions between U.S. and Iranian forces last year...
Military officials say there is no question that the behavior is
getting worse. "We've seen an uptick in confrontations by Iranian
vessels in the Arabian Gulf," Army Gen. Joseph Votel, the top U.S.
commander in the region, said on Aug. 30. U.S. military officials refer
to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf. Votel also issued a rare
warning to Iranian forces: "Ultimately if they continue to test us
we're going to respond and we're going to protect ourselves and our
partners."
U.S.-IRAN
RELATIONS
A senior Iranian military commander on Sunday dismissed claims from
Washington that US patrol ships have been harassed by Iranian boats in
the Persian Gulf, saying Tehran acted according to international law.
"Iranian boats continue to act based on defined standards and are
well aware of the international laws and regulations, so the claims are
not only untrue, but stem from their fear of the power of Iran's
soldiers," said Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of
staff of Iran's armed forces, according to state news agency IRNA. The
Pentagon last week said seven Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps
fast-attack boats approached the USS Firebolt on September 4 with their
machine guns uncovered, though not trained on the Americans. It was at
least the fifth incident revealed by the Pentagon in the past month,
with US military officials repeatedly criticising the Iranian military
for its behaviour in the Gulf. But Jazayeri said the claims were
exaggerated. "When Iranian boats pass by them at a distance of a
few kilometres, Americans claim that Iranian boats have approached them
within a range of one kilometre," he said.
CONGRESSIONAL
ACTION
Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio is accusing the Obama
administration of trying to "deceive" Congress and the
American people about roughly $1.7 billion in payments to Iran --
suggesting at least some of the money was a "ransom" for
American hostages and demanding official documents for the related
transactions. "Each day brings new revelations about your
administration's efforts to deceive Congress and the American people
regarding payments of billions of dollars to the world's foremost state
sponsor of terrorism," Rubio wrote Saturday in a letter to
President Obama. "The America people do not believe the story that
your administration did not provide Iran an illicit and potentially
illegal ransom payment." ... Rubio submitted a list of nine
demands in the letter, including a request for a copy of a waiver
allowing the use of cash, instead of complying with a U.S. code that
states "all federal payments made by an agency shall be made by
electronic transfer."
OPINION & ANALYSIS
On September 8, 2016, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
released its third report on Iran's compliance with United Nations
Security Council (UNSC) resolution 2231 (2015). UNSCR 2231
codified into international law the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA), an agreement reached between the P5+1 and Iran in July 2015 aimed
at limiting Iran's nuclear program. The JCPOA was implemented on
January 16, 2016, a date known as Implementation Day... We continue to
call on the IAEA and the Joint Commission to make public information on
the technical implementation of the JCPOA in order to allow independent
analysis of the strength and enforcement of the agreement. We
call on the Joint Commission states to disclose publicly its decisions
and their basis. We urge the United States and its European
partners to not agree to any further exemptions unless the Joint
Commission agrees they will be made public. We will continue
seeking out and making available information on JCPOA implementation
due to this ongoing lack of transparency.
President
Obama says the $400 million he paid Iran in January for the release of
four hostages was leverage, not ransom. If so, the mullahs have
apparently developed a taste for it. Witness the five-year prison
sentence handed to their latest Western hostage, which came to light
Friday. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian dual citizen, had
traveled to the Islamic Republic to visit relatives. She and her
2-year-old daughter, Gabriella, were detained in April at Tehran's Imam
Khomeini Airport as they were about to fly home to London. The exact
charges haven't been disclosed, but Iran's Revolutionary Guards accuse
her of plotting revolution. Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe works at the Thomson
Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the company that owns the
Reuters news agency. She wasn't involved in coverage of Iran. One
purpose of the harsh sentence is to remind Iranians in the diaspora
tempted to return home in the wake of the nuclear deal that the regime
sees them as traitors. It's also no accident that the sentence came
shortly after the U.K. upgraded its diplomatic relations back to
ambassador level. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson cheered the new
opening to Tehran last Monday, only to receive a rude awakening days
later. Now the regime has a new political and financial bargaining
chip, and Mr. Obama has created a cash-for-hostages incentive system with
his earlier ransom. Let's hope the British government is wiser than to
stuff briefcases with unmarked bills.
Even beyond the danger that Iran could use its $1.7 billion in
air-freighted cash to fund terrorists, North Korea's fifth nuclear test
reminds us that Iran could also use its U.S.-begotten trove of hard
currency to buy nuclear weapons technology - or even the warheads
themselves - from cash-hungry North Korea. Congress might want to keep
that risk in mind, as lawmakers debate how to address what appear to be
two separate issues, cash for Iran and nuclear tests by North Korea. In
an interconnected world, especially one in which America's retreat has
encouraged a rising network of anti-U.S. alliances, let's take a moment
to survey these two big dots. One is President Obama's $1.7 billion
financial settlement with Iran, shipped to Tehran early this year in
three planeloads of foreign banknotes, with timing that raises
questions of whether it was ransom for American prisoners, and secrecy
that raises further questions about why Iran apparently demanded the
entire sum in cash. The other dot is North Korea's latest nuclear test,
its fifth since 2006, and the fourth on Obama's watch, following tests
in 2009, 2013 and this January. This latest test, Sept. 9, was North
Korea's biggest detonation to date, and one which North Korea
attributed to a miniaturized warhead that can be placed on a missile.
In
the years following the 1979 revolution in Iran, hundreds of students
and faculty were killed, victims of a brutal campaign to silence
dissent, stifle academic freedom and impose uniformity of thought.
Thousands of other students and faculty suffered brutality, torture and
detention for "propaganda against the system,"
"participating in illegal gatherings" or
"insulting" government officials, i.e., exercising rights
guaranteed under international law to freedom of speech, freedom of
association and peaceful assembly. Tens of thousands more had their
university educations or careers upended and were forced into exile.
This assault on academic freedom did not stop in the 1980s, but has
instead become a principal feature of the contemporary Iranian regime.
While some thought that the 2013 election of a "moderate,"
Hassan Rouhani, as president would bring about change in the academy, a
loosening of restrictions did not materialize. Amnesty International
reported in 2014 that students and academics were still being routinely
harassed, detained and even barred from studying or teaching because of
their views or beliefs. Since this time, surges in
"Islamicization" of higher education have continued. Today,
restrictions in access to university education - particularly for women
and minorities - are on the rise.
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