Tag Archives: Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)

While We Weren’t Paying Attention…

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While most Americans have been watching the political theater at home, the Biden administration has been continuing negotiations on an Iran deal supposedly to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

On Thursday, The Patriot Daily Wire reported:

Mossad Director David Barnea called the new nuclear deal negotiated between Iran and the West “a strategic disaster” that is “very bad for Israel” on Thursday, The Times of Israel reported.

Barnea emphasized that the emerging deal, mainly resulting from talks between Iran and the United States, is “ultimately built on lies” as he implored international leaders not to rush into signing on.

The Israeli intelligence leader said of the possibility that Iran obtains nuclear weapons that Mossad “is preparing and knows how to remove that threat.”

“If we don’t take action, Israel will be in danger,” he added.

Barnea’s strong statement comes as the U.S. and Iran inch close to implementing a form of the original Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) passed under former U.S. President Barack Obama.

European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell recently said that the U.S. could respond as soon as this week to a final draft proposal that would restore a form of the 2015 JCPOA accord.

“I hope that this response allows us to end the negotiations,” Borrell declared. “That’s my hope, but I cannot assure you that this will happen.”

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price signaled similar optimism to the E.U. on Monday but acknowledged that “there are still some outstanding issues that must be resolved.”

Israel is our strongest and most loyal ally in the Middle East. They are also the best informed as to what is actually going on with Iran’s nuclear program. It is well-known that Iran is the major fund source for terrorism around the world. A nuclear deal that gives them billions of dollars will help fund that terrorism as well as help fund their nuclear research. Any deal with Iran will probably be broken by Iran secretly or openly, and we will find out about it when they announce that they have a nuclear bomb and a delivery system or when they demonstrate that bomb by destroying Israel.

There are two principles that need to be considered when negotiating with Iran, which is a Muslim caliphate. The first is taqiyya, which essentially means that it is okay to lie to advance the cause of Islam. Remember that the goal of Iran is to recreate the former caliphate that was the Ottoman Empire. The second is hudna. Basically hudna is a cease fire called by an Islamic entity to give that entity time to rearm or gain some advantage. Both of these principles are in play in our current negotiations with Iran.
Our State Department is either ignorant of these principles or is choosing to ignore them. Neither should be acceptable to Americans.

 

 

Good News For America–Bad News For Russia

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On March 10th, Newsmax reported that the Iran nuclear talks have stalled. The sticking point is that Russia is demanding protection from sanctions in response to its invasion of Iran.

The article reports:

Just days after reports a deal was close, diplomats are now signaling talks for a rewritten Iran nuclear deal have stalled due to Russia’s demand for sanctions protections amid the world response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Politico reported Thursday night.

“The talks seem to have stalled, primarily because of Russian demands,” International Crisis Group analyst Ali Vaez told Politico.

The article also notes:

Russia is leading talks with Iran, along with diplomats from China, France, Germany, the U.K., and the U.S., but those other parties are balking at the demand for sanctions relief, according to Politico.

An official from the West parties told Politico the accommodation cannot be made in talks that were designed to pull the U.S. and Iran back into the deal — not to give Russia more trade leverage.

“We’ve made it very clear,” U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters Thursday, “that the new Russia-related sanctions are wholly unrelated to the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action].” 

“We also have no intention of offering Russia anything new or specific as it relates to the sanctions.”

The old Iran nuclear deal was called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action under former President Barack Obama’s administration when current President Joe Biden was vice president. Many of the Obama administration officials are now working in the Biden administration.

Just for the record, it is not a good idea to make a deal with the world’s largest source of terrorist funding. We have seen that Iran did not follow previous agreements, and there are no indications that Iran would follow any new agreement no matter how generous it is. Short of sanctions on Iran (which the Biden administration would never do), at this point there is probably no way to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and their delivery systems. If you understand the apocalyptic beliefs regarding the return of the Mahdi, that is a problem. There is a belief among some Muslims that if they create chaos, the Mahdi (their messiah) will return more quickly. Unfortunately, our State Department is obviously ignoring much of the history and beliefs of the militant Islamists who are currently ruling Iran.

How Does This Make Sense?

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On Friday, The Hill reported the following:

The Biden administration on Friday lifted sanctions on two Iranian entities involved in military missile programs.

The sanctions, targeting the Mammut Industrial Group (Mammut Industries) and its subsidiary Mammut Diesel, were originally imposed by the Trump administration in September 2020 as part of efforts to increase a maximum pressure campaign of sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear activity and actions in the region criticized as malign and destabilizing.

The delisting appears to be related to legal proceedings on behalf of the law firm Ferrari & Associates.

“Happy for the delisting of our clients today, and proud of all our team who worked on this. Don’t listen to the hype from any purported “experts.” This is not a political action, its one that followed established legal processes and norms,” tweeted Erich Ferrari, founder and principal attorney of Ferrari & Associates.

Ferrari did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Hill.

Ferrari’s bio on the firm’s website lists Mammut Industrial Group and related parties as a client and that the firm has removed three of the five designees targeted under the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The entities were identified as being “key producers and suppliers of military-grade, dual-use goods for Iran’s missile programs.”

The article notes:

The Biden administration is seeking to restart indirect talks with Iran in Vienna over efforts to bring both parties back to the JCPOA. 

The Biden administration says that the JCPOA is the best chance at putting a ceiling on Iran’s nuclear ambitions and preventing it from building a nuclear bomb. Iran maintains its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes but have exceeded limitations on uranium enrichment and research and development put in place by the deal in opposition to the U.S. sanctions. 

The New York Times reported last month that Iran may be within a month’s timeline of creating enough material to power a nuclear weapon. 

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the international nuclear watchdog, also reported last month that restrictions on its ability to inspect Iranian nuclear facilities was “seriously compromising” its ability to monitor Iran’s adherence to the JCPOA limitations. 

The U.S. and Iran last engaged in discussions in Vienna in June but have yet to resume talks over a host of disagreements and delays. This includes Iran’s insistence that the U.S. lift all sanctions imposed by the Trump administration and delays over the transition to a new government headed by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. 

Iranian officials in recent days have said they would return to Vienna “soon,” but the ongoing delays have frustrated Biden officials.

Based on what I am seeing, I don’t think I would let the Biden administration negotiate a deal on anything for me. I don’t think they understand the idea of negotiations–they have confused bargaining with giving away the store.