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Iran Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 13, 2016 4 Comments
There have been a series of assinations of top Hezbollah commanders in the recent past, including Imad Mughniyeh (mastermind of almost all attacks on Israel and the U.S.), his son Imad Mughniyeh (who was killed along with several high level operatives and an Iranian general), Hassan Laqqis (key Hezbollah link to Iranian weapons procurement) and Samir Kuntar (who killed an Israeli girl by smashing her head against the rocks on a beach). In some of the cases (Imad Mughniyeh) Israeli involvement was clear, in the others it's presumed. Hezbollah just lost another top commander, the brother-in-law of Imad Mughniyey, and its top commander in Syria, Mustafa Amine Badreddine. The BBC reports:

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on May 12, 2016 3 Comments
One year after the Obama-backed Nuclear Deal came into effect, Islamic Republic of Iran remains the leading sponsor of international terrorism, says a policy paper published by British policy think-tank Henry Jackson Society. According to the report released on Wednesday at the House of Lords in London, Iran maintains a large and lucrative illegal financing network to bypass the remaining sanction that are in place to stop Tehran from funding terrorist outfits and regime. The report quotes an economist close to current Iranian regime describing the extent of the network, stating that “between 5,000-10,000 people worked in the [illicit financing] network, handling deals worth between $300 billion and $400 billion over the past decade.” Even after easing of sanction by the U.S. and the West, Iran seems to have no intention of giving up this illicit financing network which also acts as a lucrative source of income for the members of the military and the regime.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 09, 2016 9 Comments
Iran's Tasnim agency reported the regime tested a ballistic missile, but the defense minister denied the claims.
“Two weeks ago, we test-fired a missile with a range of 2000 kilometers and a margin of error of eight meters,” declared Brigadier General Ali Abdollahi. "We can guide this ballistic missile."

Posted by David Gerstman on May 06, 2016 33 Comments
Perhaps the most famous person on the internet right now is Ben Rhodes, Obama's Deputy National Security Adviser. Rhodes is profiled in a The New York Times Magazine cover stroy that rips to shreds both the story line sold to the American public and the notion that we have independent media in the age of Obama. Rhodes' job was to message and ensure that the White House's narrative of the nuclear deal with Iran was the media's. Rhodes, in the profile written by David Samuels, displays no shame about his job; in fact he seems quite pleased with himself.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on April 21, 2016 2 Comments
Germany-based activists linked to the terrorist outfit Hezbollah could be getting large amounts of financial support from the German government, the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung reveals. In one instance, city of Berlin is set to grant €100,000 to a 'refugee project' allegedly run by Hezbollah sympathisers. ‘Refugee Impulse Club’, as the group is called, has also been nominated for a €10,000 prize offered by the German Ministry of Culture. The nomination alone brings €2,500 to the group. Hezbollah, the Iran-funded Shia terrorist group, controls most of Lebanon and has made large territorial gains in Syria fighting on behalf of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Hezbollah also acts as the long arm of Iranian regime, with a long history of involvement in international terrorism under the direction of Tehran. According to a German intelligence report, Berlin is home to some 250 active Hezbollah members. Estimated 950 Hezbollah members and 300 Hamas members are thought to be operating on German soil. Berliner Zeitung reports:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 20, 2016 3 Comments
I guess I knew this case was percolating through the system, but I didn't pay much attention to it. The Supreme Court upheld a law which paved the way for terror victims to recover damages from Iran. The Opinion is here. The legal issue was not terrorism, but whether Congress exceeded its authority. Here's the opening of Justice Ginsburg's majority opinion:
A provision of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012, 22 U. S. C. §8772, makes available for postjudgment execution a set of assets held at a New York bank for Bank Markazi, the Central Bank of Iran. The assets would partially satisfy judgments gained in separate actions by over 1,000 victims of terrorist acts sponsored by Iran. The judgments remain unpaid. Section 8772 is an unusual statute: It designates a particular set of assets and renders them available to satisfy the liability and damages judgments underlying a onsolidated enforcement proceeding that the statute identifies by the District Court’s docket number. The question raised by petitioner Bank Markazi: Does §8772 violate the separation of powers by purporting to change the law for, and directing a particular result in, a single pending case? Section 8772, we hold, does not transgress constraints placed on Congress and the President by the Constitution....
The NY Times describes the background, Supreme Court Rules Iran Bank Must Pay for Terrorist Attacks:

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on April 12, 2016 3 Comments
Terrorist group Hezbollah is using the conflict in Syria to prepare for a war with Israel, reveals a report published by the UK-based research group BICOM. In 2015, Iran funnelled a billion dollars to the Lebanon-based terrorist group. According to a strategic analysis released by Britain Israel Communications & Research Centre (BICOM) on Monday, Iran-backed Hezbollah's missile stockpile is now estimated to be around 100,000-150,000, with large portion of it hidden among Lebanon's civilian population. Hezbollah entered the Syrian civil war 5 years ago to fight on behalf of Iran-backed dictator Bashar Al Assad. Since then 5,000 of its 20,000-strong fighting force is pinned down in Syria. The terrorist militia now controls territory within Syria, creating a base for Iran -- a fallback option in case Assad regime were to collapse. The Obama-Kerry Nuclear Deal gave Iran a signing bonus of  $150 billion. Flushed with fresh cash, regime in Tehran is making up for the past cuts it had to make in funding its proxy terrorist group across the Middle East including Hezbollah.

Posted by Mike LaChance on April 03, 2016 19 Comments
Stewardesses for Air France have been ordered to wear headscarves when flying into Iran's capital of Tehran and they're not happy about it. The order has sparked a backlash. The Telegraph reports:
Air France stewardesses mutiny over order to wear headscarves Air France stewardesses, furious at being ordered to wear headscarves in Tehran, say they will refuse to fly to the Iranian capital when the airline resumes the service later this month.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 02, 2016 18 Comments
About 2 weeks ago, I noted that the limp-wristed handshake with Cuba's acting dictator Raul Castro perfectly captured Obama's presidency. He nearly topped this historic effort with this week's Nuclear Policy Summit commemorative photograph. The Daily Mail reports:
Surrounded by world leaders, President Barack Obama gave the peace sign as they gathered for a 'team photo' during a two-day nuclear summit. All eyes were on Obama as 54 other presidents and prime ministers joined him in Washington, DC, for crunch talks on Iran and terrorist threats involving nuclear weapons. There was one set of eyes, however, that was particularly focused on the President - those of Prime Minister David Cameron. Relations between Cameron and Obama have been strained since the President criticized the Prime Minister for getting 'distracted' during the crisis in Libya and turning it into a 's**t show'.

Posted by David Gerstman on April 01, 2016 4 Comments
Last July, we responded to President Barack Obama's challenge to read the nuclear deal he made with Iran and concluded that it was awful. One of the worst parts of the deal was language (appearing twice) that said, "Iran has stated that if sanctions are reinstated in whole or in part, Iran will treat that as grounds to cease performing its commitments under this JCPOA in whole or in part." Or in the words of Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, this is Iran's "nuclear snapback."

Posted by Jonathan Levin on March 25, 2016 1 Comment
In another demonstration of President Obama's inability to formulate a coherent policy in the face of fresh Iranian violations of missile test bans, the United States both imposed new sanctions on and eased trade with Iran on the same day on Thursday. Iran's renewed aggression is unmistakable even to those whose willful blindness wrought the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ("JCPOA").

New Sanctions In Response to Iranian Missile Tests

Earlier this month, Iran conducted two days of tests in violation of UN resolutions.  At least one of the missiles had "Israel must be wiped of the face of the earth" written on it.  These violations prompted many lawmakers to call for new sanctions on Iran, including Hillary Clinton and a number of Republican Congressmen.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 24, 2016 6 Comments
The Obama Administration issued a federal indictment charging seven Iranian officials with cyber crimes. Adam Kredo of the Washington Free Beacon reports:
The Obama administration unsealed a federal indictment Thursday charging seven Iranian government-backed hackers with cyber crimes as the result of multiple attacks in recent years on several U.S. banks and a New York dam, according to officials. The indictment accuses the Iranian government and its Revolutionary Guards Corps of orchestrating and conducting a years-long cyber attack on at least 46 U.S. financial institutions and a dam based outside of New York City.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 24, 2016 24 Comments
The latest in the NRA's Freedom's Safest Place video series features Charlie Daniels, who starts out with a provocative statement: "You might have met our fresh-faced flower-child president, and his weak-kneed Ivy League friends." Good thing he limited "weak-kneed Ivy League" to "friends" of Obama. Otherwise I'd take great offense. Here is the full text:

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on March 23, 2016 2 Comments
Communist North Korea is heavily involved in training and arming the Islamic Republic of Iran and its Islamist allies in the Middle East. According to recent revelations by former US intelligence officer Dr. Bruce Bechtol, North Korea has a more extensive military partnership with Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and even Hamas -- than previously thought. In the past, North Korea has supplied Scud missiles to Iran and is currently playing a key role Iran’s domestic missile program. According to Bechtol, who is also president of the International Council on Korean Studies, Islamic Republic’s missile program would be “non-existent” without the help of the Communist Regime of North Korea. Nuclear proliferation and illegal arms trade makes up to 40 percent of North Korea’s economy. Iran has been paying impoverished North Korea in much needed hard cash and oil supplies. The Obama-Kerry Nuclear Deal that gives Iran $100 billion in previously frozen funds as well as greater access to international banking system, will inevitably boost this clandestine relationship.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on March 20, 2016 10 Comments
It seems that Iran is having trouble getting the Obama administration to understand just how little it respects or fears Obama's America. They do keep trying, though.  They bully and cajole the Obama admin while dangling empty promises and outright lies before them, and they repeatedly declare that their goal is, first, the destruction of Israel (wipe Israel off the map), and second, the destruction of the United States (we're the "big" Satan after Israel's "little" Satan.). That's okay, the Obama admin assures us, Iran doesn't mean what its leaders say (there may be a certain amount of projection here).  Iran does love and respect—if not America then—its fearful leader. Iran's theocratic leadership shakes its head in disbelief  . . . and pure joy.  How weak! How malleable! How ineffectual!  Iran loves a weak American president as Jimmy Carter found out to the detriment of his second term dreams.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on March 16, 2016 5 Comments
In a rather surprising move, Russia's president Vladimir Putin announced Monday that he would begin withdrawing troops from Syria the very next day.  Those of us watching the Middle East carefully were not only surprised by the move but also intensely curious about possible motivations and what the move will ultimately mean in the region, particularly with regard to Israel. Tuesday, retired U. S. Army lieutenant colonel Ralph Peters offered a compelling analysis of Putin's move and of what it means not only in the Middle East but, ultimately, for the United States. Positing that Putin has quickly seen—Russia's been in Syria only since September—that the power that will emerge in the region will be Iran's, not Russia's, Peters concludes that Putin's decision was based in cold, hard reality. In his article, "The Syrian War Just Taught Putin to Worry About Iran," for the The New York Post, Peters writes:

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on March 03, 2016 2 Comments
Amid renewed tensions between Iran and the Sunni Arab States, the six member Gulf Cooperation Council has declared Iranian-backed Hezbollah a terrorist organisation. Since 1980s, Iran has been exercising control over Lebanon through its proxy Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist military outfit. Tehran-funded Hezbollah does not only controls Lebanon but also carries out terrorist operations on behalf of its Iranian masters across the globe. Thousands of Hezbollah fighters are currently fighting alongside the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on behalf of Assad Regime in the Syrian civil war. The power vacuum created by President Obama’s hasty retreat from the Middle East has been rapidly filled by Iran and its proxies. Iranian expansion has now created an unbroken corridor of control extending from the Gulf of Persia to the Mediterranean coast of Lebanon. Flushed with fresh cash, thanks to Obama-Kerry Nuclear Deal that unlocked $100 billion in frozen funds, Iranian Regime is now capable of bankrolling its proxies throughout the Arab World.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on February 29, 2016 1 Comment
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a judgment allowing victims of Iranian terror to attach a judgment owed to Iran.  This is separate from the Bank Markazi case argued before the Supreme Court last month. In this case -  Ministry Of Defense And Support For The Armed forces Of The Islamic Republic Of Iran v. Frym - ten victims of Iranian terrorism who hold valid judgments against Iran from previous cases seek to collect by attaching a judgment owed to Iran in yet another previous dispute.  All of the victim/Plaintiffs are U.S. citizens and have successfully navigated a welter of procedural and jurisprudential pitfalls. The case is a good reminder of Iran's global reach and commitment to terror.  It's also fairly complicated, so bear down.

1997 Ben Yehuda Bombing

Nine of the Plaintiffs seeing to enforce judgements against Iran were injured or had loved ones injured in the same attack.  According to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia:
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