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TOP STORIES
Donald Trump's U.N. ambassador says the president
"has grounds" to declare that Iran is not complying with
the 2015 nuclear deal... Nikki Haley, speaking Tuesday in Washington,
said she did not know what Trump plans to do next month when he is
due to certify to Congress whether Tehran is complying with the
agreement. But she appeared to lay the groundwork for Trump to
declare that Iran is in violation of the deal.
The United States might find Iran in violation of the
2015 nuclear agreement next month, but that does not mean Washington
is withdrawing from the agreement, the U.S. ambassador to the United
Nations said on September 5. Under U.S. law, the State Department
must notify Congress every 90 days whether Iran is in compliance with
curbs on its nuclear activities required in exchange for
international sanctions relief under the deal. The next deadline is
October, and U.S. President Donald Trump has said he thinks by then
the United States will find Iran out of compliance.
In the midst of a nuclear crisis with North Korea, the
Trump administration signaled on Tuesday that it is paving the way
for a simultaneous standoff with Iran, suggesting it could refuse to
certify that Tehran is complying with the 2015 nuclear accord. But
the administration could leave it up to Congress to decide whether to
withdraw from the deal.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Well, I'm very grateful to the folks at United Against
Nuclear Iran for asking me to chair the group because frankly it
gives me an opportunity to continue work I did in the Senate that was
focused on Iran. I believe long-term Iran, and a nuclear Iran, led by
a radical Islamist government is the greatest threat to the security
of the United States and to our allies.
"While Iran might be complying with the letter of
the JCPOA [Iran deal] it's been routinely violating its spirit, and
that's very problematic," United Against A Nuclear Iran Policy
Director Jason Brodsky previously explained to The Daily Caller News
Foundation. Brodsky claimed that while Iran's violations of the U.N.
resolution codifying the nuclear deal may not show explicit Iranian
procurement or development of nuclear material, it demonstrates a
regime that continues to pursue programs that pose a threat to the
U.S.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Chief
of Staff of Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, turned down
Americans' request for coordination in the Persian Gulf...
"Coordinating with American warships in the Persian Gulf for
Iran is ridiculous," said the general describing the demand of
Americans as avarice, "If something happens to Iranian oil rigs
in the Persian Gulf, will the foreign warships bear the
responsibility."
NORTH KOREA AND IRAN
"What people need to understand is that Iran can be
where North Korea is" in a short time, Dr. Emily Landau, an INSS
expert on the two countries, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. To
prevent this from happening, the world must up its game "in
devising a strategy to increase pressure on Iran" with a
combination of increased truly biting sanctions, isolation and the
threat of a military option, she said... Landau said there have
always been concerns about the North transferring nuclear weapons
technology to Iran, since "they are ready to share and sell to
anyone as long as they get hard cash... this has been going on for
years."
Israel is worried about the impact an unchecked rogue
nuclear state could have on Iran's own military ambitions. "Only
a determined international response [to North Korea] will prevent
other states from behaving in the same way," Israel's Foreign
Ministry said in a rare response to the North Korean nuclear crisis.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said
Wednesday that threats by the United States had pushed North Korea to
test nuclear weapons and were a "dangerous game for the entire
world."
SAUDI-IRAN TENSIONS
Iran's talk of a possible rapprochement was laughable,
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister told reporters in London on Tuesday.
Adel al-Jubeir said Iran would have to change its policies for any
rapprochement. Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, last
month said they would soon exchange diplomatic visits after the
regional rivals severed diplomatic ties last year. "The comments
of the foreign minister are laughable," al-Jubeir said. "If
Iran wants to have good relations with Saudi Arabia, it has to change
its policies. It has to respect international law."
HUMAN RIGHTS
A rights group is alleging Iran purposely left an
imprisoned journalist's cancer undetected to the point that he had to
lose an eye and part of his face after being released. New York-based
Center for Human Rights for Iran said Tuesday the blame for
54-year-old Alireza Rajaei having to undergo the surgery should be
placed on Iranian prison authorities. Rajaei, a pro-reform
journalist, served four years beginning in 2011 on the charge of
acting against national security and making anti-government
propaganda.
A family of four in Iran has launched a symbolic protest
against the cancellation of concerts around the country on religious
grounds. In recent years, dozens of concerts and cultural
performances have been abruptly called off in Iran following pressure
and intimidation by hard-liners who claim such events undermine
Islamic values. The closures of the officially sanctioned concerts
have been a direct challenge to Iranian President Hassan Rohani, a
relative moderate, who has promised to ease state restrictions and
give Iranians more rights and freedom.
DOMESTIC POLITICS
"Women get absolutely zero for supporting [Hassan]
Rouhani! If we hadn't voted in this election, does Rouhani think he
would have gotten re-elected with the numbers he did?" Leila, a
34-year-old women's rights activist, shot off in an angry text on
Telegram after it was revealed that Iran's president had not
nominated any women to join his second-term Cabinet. "Even
[Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad had a woman as a minister!" Ava responded
in the private group for young women's rights activists, referring to
the conservative former president's 2009 appointment of Marzieh Vahid
Dastjerdi as the Islamic Republic's first female minister.
Iranian media are reporting that protesters have
demonstrated in a western town where border guards earlier shot dead
two Kurdish men. The unrest happened Tuesday in Baneh, which is near the
Iraqi border and its semi-autonomous Kurdish region. A report by
yjc.ir, which is affiliated with state television, said five border
guards were arrested after the protests with the aim of calming
tensions.
The son of a prominent reformist politician ignited a
firestorm on social-media when he said he owes his success in life to
"good genes." The comments by Hamid Reza Aref, the son of
former Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, currently the head of the
reformist faction in parliament, quickly led to a #goodgenes hashtag
that has heaped scorn on the 39-year-old successful businessman and
on cronyism in Iran in general.
OPINION & ANALYSIS
An emerging pattern in the Trump administration is to
declare opposition to an Obama executive action but then leave the
actual work of dealing with the consequences of that decision to
Congress. That's what President Trump did Tuesday with immigration, and
it's what U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said Tuesday might happen with
the Iran nuclear deal.
The western Asian nation of Iran is on the cusp of
expanding its reach all the way to the Mediterranean Sea and Israel's
northern border - a drive that will make its nuclear pursuit,
ballistic missile development and terror sponsorship that much more
dangerous to the United States and its regional allies. This budding
hegemony is a product of Iran's growing presence in, or influence
over, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. It is being accomplished through
Tehran's own political or military activities, through the growing
regional activities of its most important terrorist client,
Hezbollah, and through Shiite militias that are pursuing Iranian
interests in Syria and Iraq.
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