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Thursday, July 01, 2021

07/01 Links Pt1: Mr. President, Bring Home My Son; UAE-Israel peace is more than an agreement. It's a way of life; Dear Democrats, Israel is still a vital US interest

From Ian:

Mr. President, Bring Home My Son
Mr. President,

Earlier this week, 73 members of your party in Congress publicly urged you to reverse your predecessor’s policies toward Palestine. It seems like they won’t need to exert much effort to convince you, as earlier this year your administration allocated $235 million to the Palestinians, presented as part of an effort to “restore credible engagement” in the world’s most bitter conflict.

But I am here, sir, with a painful reminder: No American engagement in Israel and the Palestinian territories would ever be credible until my son comes back home.

Here, in case you need it, is the story: Early on August 1, 2014, at the tail end of yet another round of bloodshed provoked by Hamas, a ceasefire finally took hold. It was brokered by the United Nations and the Obama administration. Two hours later, it was blatantly violated when Palestinian terrorists, taking advantage of the lull in fighting, used one of their tunnels to creep into Israel. They shot and killed two soldiers, and abducted another—my son, Lieutenant Hadar Goldin.

Hadar was almost certainly killed in action, and we demanded that his body be returned to us for proper burial. John Kerry, then secretary of state for the administration in which you also served, agreed. “The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms today’s attack,” he said in a statement. “It was an outrageous violation of the ceasefire negotiated over the past several days, and of the assurances given to the United States and the United Nations. Hamas, which has security control over the Gaza Strip, must immediately and unconditionally release the missing Israeli soldier, and I call on those with influence over Hamas to reinforce this message.”

You, Mr. President, now have influence over Hamas. You can, and must, demand that Gaza’s rehabilitation be contingent upon the return of my son and of Oron Shaul, another Israeli soldier whose body is held captive by the terrorist organization.

Sadly, while diplomats—including your new ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield—continue to affirm the validity of our case, no concrete pressure has yet been exerted on Hamas or its paymasters in Iran. This week, the organization continued to restore its capabilities, propping up some of the power stations damaged during its recent assault on Israel. When asked if the organization was indirectly enjoying U.S. aid, a State Department spokesman last week said it was possible.


Israelis ‘Surprised’ at Hamas Sitting Next Door in Cairo, as Indirect Talks on Captives Show No Progress
Members of an Israeli delegation attending a Cairo meeting on securing Israeli captives held in Gaza were “surprised” to learn that senior Hamas representatives were sitting in a nearby room, Hebrew media reported Wednesday, with the two sides making no progress so far during indirect negotiations.

The Tuesday meetings, mediated by Egypt, were described by Israeli officials as “preliminary” efforts to bring home two civilians and the remains of two IDF soldiers held by the Hamas terrorist group, Israeli news site Walla reported.

Despite the close proximity of the Israeli and Hamas delegations — the first such indirect talks since the 11-day conflict in May — no progress was made, with Hamas demanding the release of Palestinian security prisoners that have “blood on their hands.”

Hamas holds captive Israeli citizens Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who crossed into Gaza Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul.

Walla said that Israel’s security cabinet would convene in the coming weeks to decide whether to maintain a policy of not releasing security prisoners involved in killing Israelis.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett pressed Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on returning the captives held by Hamas, thanking the Egyptian leader for its role in brokering the ceasefire that ended the May conflict.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed and Yair Lapid: UAE-Israel peace is more than an agreement. It's a way of life
As part of the Accords, the UAE, US and Israel also announced the Abraham Fund. Through this fund, the US International Development Finance Corporation, the UAE, and Israel will mobilise more than $3 billion in private sector-led investment and development initiatives to promote regional economic co-operation and prosperity in the Middle East and beyond. In turn, the initiative will generate unprecedented opportunity for the region’s peoples.

Now, two of the world’s most dynamic and advanced societies have begun to create a linked and powerful engine of progress and opportunity, not just for the UAE and Israel but also for the entire region.

This vision is one we share and cherish. The peoples of the UAE and Israel seek to live in a world where peace abounds. In order to achieve this vision, we must work hard to create opportunities for engagement and encourage others to join these efforts. This pursuit can only be bolstered by multilateral co-operation among countries similarly invested in opting for collaboration over confrontation.

While the Abraham Accords were the first of their kind in our region, they represent a future that we believe must become more commonplace: one in which differences are set aside in favour of dialogue. As momentum grows, we are reminded that sometimes the most impactful decisions are those believed to be difficult, if not impossible.

We both want to live in a world where peace is possible. We need to work hard with our peoples and with each other. In order to achieve lasting and sustainable solutions to the issues that our region faces, we will continue to champion the spirit of peace in all efforts to shape a better world for our children. Peace isn't an agreement you sign – it's a way of life. The ceremonies we held this week aren't the end of the road. They are just the beginning.

In doing so – in deciding differently – we choose peace.


Arsen Ostrovsky on ILTV discussing Israel - UAE relations

Former Trump Officials Launch Mideast Think Tank
Two former top Trump administration officials are teaming up to start a Middle East-centered think tank that will combat growing anti-Semitism and work to expand peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

The group, which will be formally announced on Thursday, will be housed at the Center for Security Policy, a hawkish D.C.-based think tank, and be led by Victoria Coates, who served as a deputy national security adviser for Middle Eastern and North African Affairs in former president Trump's National Security Council. Ellie Cohanim, a former deputy State Department special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, will also join the outfit, which will act as the center's principal arm for Middle East and North Africa initiatives.

"As America confronts China and COVID, we also have to maintain our commitment to our friends and partners in the Middle East," Fred Fleitz, the center's president and CEO, said in a statement announcing the initiative. "Victoria and her team will ensure the important groundwork laid by the Abraham Accords is supported and America's commitment to Israel and fighting global anti-Semitism is maintained."

The center's Middle East and North Africa program is being launched as Israel pursues peace agreements with its Arab neighbors. Coates played a central role in paving the way for the Trump administration to broker a historic peace accord between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. Coates said the group will focus on building out these agreements and fighting anti-Semitism as it continues to rise in America and across the globe.

"The Middle East and North Africa region is the vital fulcrum between east and west, and is home to not only some of the most sensitive transportation lanes on the planet, but also to much of the world's energy reserves," Coates said in a statement. "As our historic Arab partners begin to join together with our greatest [Middle East and North Africa] ally, Israel, there are enormous opportunities to advance American interests across the economic and security sectors. The Center's new [Middle East and North Africa] initiative will be focusing on how to leverage the U.S. presence in the region to the benefit of all."

The group will also coordinate the center's long-running study of Iran and the U.S.-Israel alliance.
Dear Democrats, Israel is still a vital US interest
The recent round of violence between Israel and Hamas has resurfaced the question of America’s relationship with Israel, particularly in the left wing of the Democratic Party. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted “[a]partheid states aren’t democracies.” Senator Bernie Sanders and others have spoken out about rethinking military aid given to Israel.

US foreign policy doesn’t always make sense to Americans and the use of extreme terminology sensationalizing and simplifying a complex conflict by leading Democrats confuses them even more. It’s very easy to get swept up in ideological issues – but the fact remains that foreign policy based on public sentiment would not protect Americans.

With that being said, one might question why Israel gets more US foreign aid than any other country in the region. The answer is simple: it benefits America. US aid to Israel comes in the form of memorandums of understanding (MOU), 10-year contracts that guarantee a certain amount of funds to use on military expenditure. The current MOU guarantees $38 billion and is more stringent than those signed in the past. According to a White House press release, the deal signed in 2016 doesn’t allow Israel to ask for more money unless it faces a security crisis, and more importantly – the deal phases out Israel’s ability to buy from its local defense industry, preferring US military sales instead. This means that the current deal plays into American interests even more than before.

Why is Israel so important to America?
Israel plays a strategic role as a loyal ally in a volatile region, and one of the only allies in the region the US can actually trust. This is especially important as the US will inevitably shift its presence to the Indo-Pacific region and will need reliable allies to maintain its interests in the Middle East. Combating terror is a major concern for both countries, so it’s extremely beneficial to have an active, skilled military on the ground to gather and share intelligence, as well as carry out covert and overt missions. The US is a major target of terror organizations. Increasing the ability to combat terrorism is thus crucial for protecting Americans.
Israel urging US to delay plans to reopen consulate until new gov’t stabilizes
The new Israeli government has asked the Biden administration to temporarily hold off on its plans to reopen the US consulate in Jerusalem as the de facto mission to the Palestinians, due to fears that the move might put a strain on Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s nascent coalition.

The Foreign Ministry asked Washington to wait until at least the end of the summer to give time for the politically diverse Israeli government to stabilize, an official familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel, confirming Axios reporting on the matter.

Israeli officials believe the administration understands the complexity of the matter and will refrain from pressing it for the time being.

Israel is required to sign off on the move, and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced his opposition when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken notified him of US plans to reopen the downtown Jerusalem consulate, which was shuttered by the Trump administration in 2019.

Ultimately though, the government in Jerusalem is expected to sign off on the reopening out of respect to US wishes.

The matter was likely raised Wednesday when Bennett met with Michael Ratney, the Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Israel.

While a location for the consulate has not been finalized, its old site on Agron Street in West Jerusalem is the most likely option as reopening the mission there would not create a new precedent. While the US might prefer a location in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians view as their future capital, Israel would likely be more opposed to the message sent by such a move.

Unlike the Obama administration, Biden officials have avoided identifying East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, instead insisting that such matters be left for the sides to determine in negotiations toward a two-state solution.


German President Steinmeier: The International Criminal Court Has No Jurisdiction over Israel
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier responded to questions submitted by Ha'aretz in advance of his visit to Israel which began Wednesday:


"Germany lives with the historical legacy of the monstrous abuses of political power perpetrated by the Nazi regime....Israel has repeatedly experienced discrimination and pressure in its dealings with the United Nations and associated organizations....It has much greater confidence in itself than in international organizations."

"Regarding the opening of investigations [of Israel]: the German government's position is that the International Criminal Court has no jurisdiction in this matter due to the absence of Palestinian statehood. A Palestinian state and the determination of territorial borders can only be achieved through direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians."
Arab Social Media Stars Find Common Ground with Israelis
Social media influencer Yousif Mohamed, 20, is one of the first Bahrainis to visit Israel. "You're never too young to want to try and change the world," he says. "Ignorance can sometimes hinder us and it was because of this that I decided to visit and see things for myself, and I'm really happy that I've taken that step....It's completely different from what you see in mainstream media. They aren't people who want death to Arabs....In fact, they live with Arabs like their brothers." Mohamed is one of 25 social media influencers from the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco who came to Israel for a week-long tour and to find common ground with Israelis.

Saoud Saqer, 30, is from Abu Dhabi. One lesson that Saqer wants to take back with him is that Israelis come from all different backgrounds. "Israel is a nation, it's a country....Within that state there are Muslims, Jews, Christians, and all of them share their love for the land and for the state of Israel. There are even Israeli [Jews] who have an Arab background. I want the world to know...there are Arabs and Muslims who are working in Israel's health department, the police, in the army."


GOP Wants Sanctions on Iran-Backed Terror Group Targeted in Biden Airstrike
GOP members of Congress are pressuring the Biden administration to approve sanctions on an Iran-backed terror group, just days after the United States launched a series of airstrikes on Tehran-controlled militants operating in Iraq and Syria.

President Joe Biden directed his first set of airstrikes in the Middle East this week, ordering defensive attacks on militant groups along the porous Iraq-Syria border, where Iranian terror proxies have conducted attacks on American forces in the region.

While the airstrikes received broad support in Congress, Republicans in Congress are frustrated over the Biden administration's refusal to issue sanctions on the terror group it struck this week. As negotiations with Iran over the 2015 nuclear accord continue in Vienna, the Biden administration has been reluctant to issue new sanctions on Iran. The administration has already walked back some of the toughest economic measures on Iran, generating anger among Republican hawks who supported the Trump administration's "maximum pressure" campaign on Tehran.

Rep. Greg Steube (R., Fla.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is pushing legislation that would sanction Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS), a leading Iranian-backed terror group that was among the militants hit by the most recent U.S. airstrikes. Steube's legislation is one of several Republican-led measures that would increase sanctions on Iranian terrorist proxies and their chief funder.

Steube told the Washington Free Beacon the Biden administration is playing both sides, attacking Iranian militants on one hand while actively working to unwind sanctions on the Islamic Republic's proxy groups.

"While President Biden acts like he is tough on terrorism, his half-hearted steps to hold Iran and their militias accountable does not nearly go far enough," Steube said. "Biden is attacking groups, like KSS, that he will not sanction or even designate as terrorist organizations—in fact, he has even walked back sanctions to appease Iran throughout the nuclear agreement negotiations."


Israel said negotiating COVID vaccine swap deal with UK
Israel is holding negotiations with the United Kingdom to broker a COVID-19 vaccine swap deal, according to an Israeli television report Wednesday.

Under the exchange, Israel, which currently has an excess of doses, would ship around 1 million of its Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines that are due to expire on July 30 to the UK, Channel 12 news reported.

In exchange, the Health Ministry would receive an equivalent number of vaccines that the UK is slated to receive from Pfizer in September.

The network described the talks on the proposed deal as “advanced” and said the shipments could begin as soon as next week. Israel is said to have around 1.4 million doses set to expire at the end of next month.

Israel is also reportedly seeking answers from Pfizer on whether it can use the vaccines it already has past their declared expiration date. But without a clear answer, the network said Israel was warning it will not offer the first COVID shot to Israelis after July 9, since there will not be unexpired vaccines for their second dose three weeks later.

Government officials have been encouraging Israelis — adolescents in particular — to get a first shot before the July 9 deadline so they can get their second dose before the expiration date.
HonestReporting Analyst on ILTV: Hamas Terror Camps Won't Stop Without Media Coverage
HonestReporting's Emanuel Miller told ILTV how Hamas summer camps for children in the Gaza Strip are a "fast-track to serving in a terror unit," pointing to evidence revealed last month of a teenager who was part of Hamas and killed in the fighting.

Unfortunately, things won't change without public pressure. And there won't be public pressure without media coverage.


The Joshua and Caleb Network: Summer Camp with Hamas (EYE-OPENING PHOTOS)
Hamas is now accepting registrations to send your children to summer camp in Gaza! Not quite sure you want to send your children to the Gaza Strip where your children will receive guerilla warfare training from a terrorist organization? Maybe you could try a more moderate camp in the West Bank…..or not.

If what you see on today’s program does not qualify as child abuse, then we don’t know what does. In fact, what is happening in these summer camps is a war crime as defined by the International Criminal Court.

Today’s program includes eye-opening photos and videos from actual summer camps that are held in the Gaza Strip and West Bank every year.




European Court of Human Rights refuses to hear case on Arafat’s death
The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday dismissed a case brought by the widow and daughter of Yasser Arafat, who have claimed the Palestinian leader’s death was the result of poisoning.

Suha El Kodwa Arafat and Zahwa El Kodwa Arafat, who are French citizens, filed their case with the Strasbourg-based European court in 2017 after French courts dismissed their claims.

Arafat died at the Percy military hospital near Paris aged 75 in November 2004 after developing stomach pains while at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Many Palestinians accuse Israel of poisoning Arafat, a charge flatly denied by the Jewish state.

But in 2012 his widow, Suha El Kodwa Arafat, said traces of the radioactive isotope polonium 210 had been found on his clothes, prompting a French lawsuit alleging his murder.

After a series of analyses and witness interviews, a court in Nanterre, west of Paris, dismissed the case, a ruling upheld on appeal.

Lawyers for Arafat’s widow said the investigation had been “fundamentally biased” and accused the judges of closing the probe too quickly.
PMW: PA loses a billion shekels because of its terror reward policy This weekend, July 3, will mark three years since Israel adopted the “Law to freeze money that the Palestinian Authority has paid in connection with terrorism from the money transferred to it by the government of Israel, 2018”
This weekend, July 3, will mark three years since Israel adopted the “Law to freeze money that the Palestinian Authority has paid in connection with terrorism from the money transferred to it by the government of Israel, 2018” – popularly known as Israel’s “Anti-Pay-for-Slay” law. When the law passed, the members of Israel’s Parliament who promoted the law, MPs Avi Dichter and Elazar Stern, specifically thanked Palestinian Media Watch for helping to formulate and sculpt the law.

In a nutshell, the law provides that every year the Israeli Minister of Defense presents a report to the Israeli Security Cabinet in which he details how much the Palestinian Authority spent in the previous year paying financial rewards to imprisoned terrorists, released terrorists, wounded terrorists, and the families of dead terrorists – collectively known as the PA’s ”Pay-for-Slay” payments. Once approved, that sum is then deducted, in twelve installments, from the tax revenues that Israel agreed to waive in favor of the PA, as part of the Oslo Accords.

The rationale underpinning the law was provided by PMW. In its presentations, PMW proved that instead of using the tax revenues to fulfill its duty to combat terror, the PA was using the tax revenues to implement its pugnacious terror reward policy.

Since passed, the Security Cabinet has approved three of the four reports submitted by the Minister of Defense (the approval of the fourth report is pending). Symbolically, pursuant to these decisions, and in coincidental coordination with the anniversary of the passage of the law, today also marks the day when over one billion shekels have been deducted from the tax revenues.

The first decision to implement the law was made by the Security Cabinet in February 2019, shortly after the brutal murder of Ori Ansbacher. In that decision, the Security Cabinet decided to deduct a sum of approximately 502 million shekels ($138,572,080 at the time of the decision) – the sum PMW exposed as reflecting the PA’s payments to the terrorist prisoners and released prisoners in 2018. In the decision, the Security Cabinet instructed the Minister of Defense to present an additional report regarding the PA’s payments in 2018 to the wounded terrorists and the families of dead terrorists.
Germany's Ban of the Hamas Flag: "A Superficial Measure"
German lawmakers said that banning the Hamas flag was aimed at sending "a clear signal" of support "to our Jewish citizens." Others, however, dismissed the ban as an empty gesture aimed at silencing critics of the German government's pro-Islamist foreign policy ahead of upcoming federal elections this September.

"A ban on flags remains a superficial measure if the structures of the associations and parties concerned are not or only insufficiently affected." — Alex Feuerherdt, Mena Watch

"What we have been experiencing in Germany for some time testifies to deep-seated Muslim anti-Semitism. One would have therefore wished that politics would have been active as early as 2015." — Ramin Peymani, German-Iranian author

"Wherever anti-Semites appear, politicians and the media try to place them in the right-wing camp, although time and again it is declared leftists who incite against Israel and urge others not to 'buy from the Jews.' The political lie of mostly right-wing extremist anti-Semitism was told so often that at some point no one raised an objection." — Ramin Peymani, German-Iranian author

"Political leaders in Europe are only gradually waking up from their multicultural daydreams. However, this is less based on the mature realization that one's own policy has failed, rather than due to the pressure of voters who fear for their prosperity and security." — Ramin Peymani, German-Iranian author

Germany's ban of Hamas flags follows a well-established pattern of announcing half-hearted measures to tackle radical Islam in Germany. In particular, the German government has a long track record of hypocrisy on Israel and the Jewish people.


Media Mute as Palestinian Journalists Ask UN for Protection Amid Abbas-ordered Crackdown
Abbas’ Iron Grip on Palestinian Media: Nothing New Under the Ramallah Sun

Nor is this the first time that media have turned a blind eye to Abbas’ clampdown on freedom of expression. For years, Abbas has used the PA’s controversial Electronic Crimes Law to quash and punish dissent on social media as well as shut down websites critical of his policies.

But the situation appears to be growing increasingly dire as an unpopular Abbas attempts to maintain power. Palestinian journalists and activists in the West Bank are being subjected “to arbitrary arrests, violent interrogations, confiscation of equipment, physical assaults and bans on reporting.” Rights organizations have even accused the PA of torturing journalists. Palestinian Authority Poisoning the Well of Information: Why It Matters

The same media outlets that are now ignoring the plight of their colleagues in the West Bank are seemingly all-too-happy to depend on them when it comes to producing slanted articles about alleged Israeli misdeeds. In doing so, they are not only withholding from the public critical information about the conditions in the West Bank, but are also sending a tacit message that the abuse of reporters is permissible in certain cases.

It is not.


Hamas leader filmed with prostitute in Israeli hotel!
Hamas leader Abdel Rahim Abou Fanah, chairman of the Zakat [Islamic legal alms, one of Hamas’ main channels for fundraising] committee within the Palestinian Islamist organization, ignited Arab social networks: In a video filmed on a mobile phone, by a young man speaking in the Palestinian Arabic dialect, this Hamas cadre appeared naked, in the company of a prostitute, in what appears to be an Israeli hotel, as indicate by signs in Hebrew on the furniture.

The video has aroused heated controversy, because Hamas, an Islamist organization affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, advocates chastity and imposes a ruthless dictate on the inhabitants of Gaza and a very strict control of “good morals”.

Meanwhile, the public in Gaza was shocked to see a Hamas leader enjoying the opulence of a luxury hotel in an Israeli resort town, when Gaza is under rubble, following the Israeli bombardments caused by Hamas missile fire!

In addition, the Zakat committee, headed by Abdel Rahim Abou Fanah, within Hamas, was pinned down by several investigations related to Hamas funding, in Germany in April 2019, then in Spain in November 2020.

And in August 2020, the board of directors of Islamic Relief [The largest Islamist NGO, affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, based in London and present in 40 countries around the world] was forced to resign, following the revelation of videos, dating from 2014 and 2015, in which Almoutaz Tayara [who had just been appointed president of Islamic Relief, in early August 2020, replacing Heshmat Khalifa, resigned following anti-Semitic remarks revealed by The Times] apologized for Hamas and called for the collection of donations, on behalf of Zakat, for the benefit of this organization classified as terrorist in United Kingdom !


How Iran’s Ali Akbar Mohtashamipur Made the Modern Middle East
“Joseph Stalin,” Charles de Gaulle famously observed, “didn’t walk away into the past, he dissolved into the future.” Stalin, the French leader said, was a harbinger of what was to come; the brutal Soviet system he helped build and perfect would outlive him.

While nowhere near as well-known or as powerful, the same could be said for Ali Akbar Mohtashamipur, who died in Tehran on June 7, 2021, at the age of seventy-four. A Shi’ite cleric and acolyte of regime founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Mohtashamipur died from complications relating to Covid-19. His legacy, however, did not die with him.

Obituaries in Western news outlets noted that Mohtashamipur was a founder of Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed, U.S.-designated terrorist group that rules Lebanon. But Mohtashamipur was more than a founding father of one of the world’s largest terrorist organizations. He was, in fact, one of a handful of men who built the modern Middle East. And both Iran and the region are the worse for it.

Born in Tehran in 1947, Mohtashamipur studied in the holy city of Najaf in Iraq, where he was mentored by the exiled firebrand cleric Ruhollah Khomeini, who resided in the city from 1965 until 1978 when he was expelled by Saddam Hussein. After a brief interlude in Paris, Khomeini would return to Iran in February 1979 and begin constructing a theocratic dictatorship.

Importantly, like revolutionary despots before him, Khomeini did not view the Islamic Revolution as being limited to Iran’s borders. As he once declared, “We don’t recognize Iran as ours, as all Muslim countries are a part of us.” As analyst Ray Takeyh noted in his 2009 work, Guardians of the Revolution, Khomeini sought to make Iran into the “epicenter of a new Islamic order, seeking allies wherever Muslims existed, irrespective of sectarian division or ethnic differences.” It was to be a “revolution without borders, whose appeal would not be limited by boundaries, cultural differences and national sensibilities.”

In his first speech as Iran’s supreme leader, Khomeini declared that “Islam has been dying or dead for 1,400 years,” but now “we have resurrected it with the blood of our youth. Very soon,” he insisted, “we will liberate Jerusalem and pray there.”

Mohtashamipur would prove to be essential in exporting Khomeini’s dream.
James Jeffrey and Dennis Ross: The Iran Nuclear Deal Isn't the Problem, Iran Is
With the sanctions relief that will result from returning to compliance with the JCPOA, Tehran's troublemaking resources will increase. So we can expect more Iranian expansion in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, as well as threats to neighboring states.

Many in the U.S. Congress as well as leaders of Middle East states worry that the administration and its European partners will wrongly see the Iran file as "closed" because they see the threat Iran poses too narrowly, and in only nuclear terms. The regional perspective on Iran is driven by these leaders' experience with the Islamic Republic. For many in the region, there is no way to build trust with Iran because Iran has an agenda to dominate the Middle East.

American officials are making commitments in private conversations with our allies in the region to not allow the nuclear file to change what the U.S. tolerates when it comes to Iran in the Middle East. The challenge will be to follow up and contest the Iranians as they directly and via proxies expand and threaten others. If we want to deter Iran's egregious actions, we must be able to show its leaders that they will pay a price.
Biden Administration: Rewarding the Murderous Regime of Iran?
"I told judges not to write death sentences for girls. This is what I said. But they perverted my words and quoted me as saying: Don't execute girls. First marry them for one night and then execute them." — Grand Ayatollah Hussain-Ali Montazeri, theologian and human rights activist, in his diaries.

The Biden administration should understand that Ebrahim Raisi is an extremely dangerous man partially because, from his perspective, anyone who criticizes the Islamic Republic or protests against it is rising against God and his representatives on earth. Whatever his regime does is presumed to be fully justified and rewarded by God because the Islamic Republic is a divine political establishment and all its actions are enforcing God's will on earth.

The Biden administration truly needs to halt talks with the Iranian regime, stop appeasing the ruling mullahs, impose sanctions and hold the Iranian regime accountable for handpicking a mass murderer to be the next president, and most likely, the next Supreme Leader of Iran.
Iran as a Challenge to Jerusalem and Washington
Israeli-American disagreement on Iran is a strategic dispute of the first order, one pertaining to what Israel sees as the greatest threat to its national security - Iran's nuclear ambitions and plans. Both sides agree about the nature of the Iranian threat, that Iran should be prevented from achieving military nuclear capability, and that the use of diplomatic tools to achieve that end is preferable to the use of military force.

Israel argues against returning to an agreement that is fundamentally flawed - one that does not, by any means, block all paths toward nuclear weapons. Moreover, once Iran returns to the original agreement after most of the punitive sanctions have been lifted, it will dig in its heels and refuse to proceed towards an improved agreement. If Iran remains in the original deal, within a decade most of the restrictions on its nuclear program will be removed as per the agreement's "sunset clauses," and it will then be able to become a legitimate nuclear threshold state.

From Israel's point of view, such a scenario is intolerable. Furthermore, Israel does not believe that, at the moment of truth, there would be enough time or international political will to block Iran from quickly crossing the threshold to military nuclear capability. Israel sees Iran as a close and direct threat of the highest strategic order, and itself as having narrow security margins in the face of that threat. The U.S., in contrast, is a distant global power with wide security margins and different priorities, including a growing weariness of wars in the Middle East. Israel perceives the U.S. as relatively tolerant of a scenario in which Iran becomes a nuclear threshold state, and as lacking the political will to confront Iran, also considering that its partners in the agreement are uninterested in doing so. Israel may ultimately have no choice but to shoulder the burden of halting Iran's nuclear program, should diplomacy prove fruitless.
Iran restricts IAEA access to main enrichment plant after attack
Iran has been restricting UN nuclear inspectors' access to its main uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, citing security concerns after what it says was an attack on the site by Israel in April, diplomats say.

The standoff, which one official said has been going on for weeks, is in the course of being resolved, diplomats said, but it has also raised tensions with the West just as indirect talks between Iran and the United States on reviving the Iran nuclear deal have adjourned without a date set for their resumption.

It follows various moves by Iran that breach the 2015 nuclear deal or have angered Washington and its allies, ranging from enriching uranium to close to weapons-grade to failing to explain the origin of uranium particles that the UN nuclear watchdog found at several undeclared sites.

"They are provoking us," said one Western diplomat who follows the International Atomic Energy Agency closely, adding that inspectors should be able to have full access next week.

Iranian officials were not immediately available for comment. The IAEA declined to comment, citing its general policy of not commenting on inspection matters.

Any reasons for Iran's move beyond the official security and safety concerns it cited as explanations are unclear, but it has quarreled with the IAEA over access before. Iran in 2020 denied the IAEA access to two locations for snap inspections. In 2019, Iran held an IAEA inspector and seized her travel documents.

The IAEA has so far stopped short of reporting the issue to its member states and calling an emergency meeting of its 35-nation Board of Governors as it did in November 2019 when Iran briefly held the IAEA inspector who diplomats say had sought access to Natanz.


Iranian Christians Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for "Sectarian Activities"
Three Christians from the Church of Iran were each sentenced to five years in prison on Saturday by the Revolutionary Court in Karaj in northern Iran, after being charged with "sectarian activities" and convicted of "engaging in propaganda against the Islamic regime."

Mervyn Thomas, president of the human rights organization Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), said, "We urge the Iranian authorities to release all prisoners detained on account of their religion or belief, and to end the relentless campaign of harassment of Christians and other religious minorities through the judicial system."
Turkey's IHH Aid Organization Linked to ISIS Brides
The Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH) has a dark side, with allegations linking it to the Islamic State.

Witnesses in an ongoing Ankara trial have disclosed how IHH helped women seeking to join ISIS to cross the Turkish border into Syria in the first place, and later helped them to escape back to Turkey.

Former ISIS member Elif Sancar told the Kurdish ANF news agency last summer that "the majority of ISIS women" have fled the Kurdish-run refugee and prison camps.







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