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Iran Tag

Holy cow. The Associated Press has reported that former President Barack Obama's administration attempted to give Iran access to U.S. banks despite sanctions in place and lied to Congress about said plans. In 2016, a license issued by the Treasury Department gave Iran permission "to convert $5.7 billion it held at a bank in Oman from Omani rials into euros by exchanging them first into U.S. dollars."

Iran has been trying to acquire foreign technology to build nuclear weapons, German intelligence reveals. Tehran has been targeting Germany's technology sector to get hold of tech in order to upgrade its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program, a report published by the intelligence agency of the German state of Baden-Württemberg indicates. The southwestern German state is home to several leading global technology and engineering companies.

Ismail Kowsari, a senior officer in Iran's Revolutionary Guard, lashed out at Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's vow to impose strong sanctions on the regime. From NBC News:
"The people of Iran should stand united in the face of this and they will deliver a strong punch to the mouth of the American secretary of state and anyone who backs them," said Kowsari, according to the Iranian Labour News Agency.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also mocked Pompeo, asking, "Who are you" to make decisions for Iran while a member of parliament insisted the regime shouldn't play into "U.S. radicalism."

Israel repeatedly has bombed Iranian missile and weapons depots in Syria, along with other Iranian assets. In most of the cases Syria is quick to blame Israel, and Israel is silent. When Iranian Revolutionary Guard fighters fired dozens of rockets at Israel recently, Israel wiped out 50 or so Iranian targets and was public in claiming credit.

The European Union is considering laws to protect European companies trading with Iran in the wake of new U.S. sanctions. The EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced plans to enact a set of laws that "seek to prevent European companies from complying with any sanctions the US may reintroduce against Iran," Germany's state-run broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported on Friday.

President Donald Trump announced that America will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. Trump has consistently threatened to withdraw from the deal, but extended it a few times in his first year. However, in January, Trump said this would be his last waiver "unless the deal is strengthened by Congress and European allies."

Reports indicated "Israeli intelligence uncovered a huge amount of new and dramatic information on the Iranian nuclear program." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a public announcement at 1:00 PM ET to discuss these findings (or as much as can be made public) and indicated he shared the intel with the US. Mossad managed to obtain a half ton of original documents germane to Iran's nuclear program. Incredibly. Documents revealed Monday explain how Iran continued nuclear weapons development using different organizations.

Iran has stirred the pot even more with Israel by threatening the Jewish state after an airstrike on Monday killed several Iranian military personnel at an air base near Homs, Syria. Reuters reported that Israel faces even more security concerns over the possibility of US airstrikes in Syria after President Donald Trump threatened Russia over its support of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

PressTV, which is affiliated with the Iranian regime, has reported that the government has revealed a plan to change to the Euro "as its official reporting foreign currency" as the country's rial continues to plummet. The rial's problems have caused citizens to rush to the banks to take out US dollars. This week, 60,000 rials could be purchased for just one American dollar.

An editorial in The New York Times on Monday blasted President Donald Trump for not having a plan for Syria. I don't know if Trump does or doesn't have a plan for Syria. What I do know is that Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama did have a plan for Syria - and it is the reason we keep seeing carnage there. What's worse, The New York Times enthusiastically supported Obama's plans affecting Syria.

The Trump administration has slapped sanctions on an Iranian company and nine Iranians for hacking into American universities. A tenth person received sanctions after he hacked accounts belonging to HBO employees to steal data and unaired episodes of shows like Game of Thrones. Officials said these individuals do not work for the regime, but did their work for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

More details are emerging about the Iranian drone launched from central Syria that was brought down over Israeli territory, and the resulting Israeli attack on the Iranian base near Palmyra that launched and controlled the drone. In that attack on the Iranian base, an Israeli F-16 was brought down, though the precise circumstances are not yet clear based on public information. Differing news accounts have the F-16 hit by shrapnel, or alternatively being ditched when the pilots realize a Russian-made surface-to-air missile (SAM) had locked on to the plane.