Parky60 Loc: People's Republic of Illinois

A former member of Iran’s parliament said Sunday that Iran always intended to build a nuclear bomb.

The US said Tuesday that Iran’s nuclear breakout time was down to weeks, and blamed the previous administration, as negotiations between Tehran and world powers continued to stall.

“Their breakout period is down from about a year, which is what we knew it was during the deal, to just a few weeks or less,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at a press conference, referring to the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Iran’s breakout time was “down to a matter of weeks.”

The Biden administration has issued similar warnings about Iran’s nuclear breakout time in the past.

The breakout period refers to the amount of time it will take Iran to amass enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon, if it chooses to do so.

Having enough nuclear material for a bomb is not the same as having the capabilities to build the core of the weapon and to attach it to the warhead of a missile, which would likely take more time.

Psaki told reporters at the Tuesday press conference that Iran’s nuclear development “definitely worries us.”

“If we go back, under the Iran nuclear deal, Iran’s nuclear program was tightly constrained,” she said. “Since the Trump administration ceased US participation in the deal, Iran has rapidly accelerated its nuclear program.”

“That is a direct impact of pulling out of the nuclear deal, making us less safe, giving us less visibility, and it’s one of the reasons we pursued a diplomatic path again,” Psaki said.

Psaki said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Biden talked about Iran during a call on Sunday. Biden said during the call that he will make his first visit to Israel as president in the coming months.

“They also talked about the Iran nuclear deal negotiations which we keep the Israelis briefly regularly on, so certainly that could be a part of this conversation as well,” Psaki said of Biden’s upcoming trip.

Talks in Vienna between Iran and world powers have been stalled for six weeks, reportedly over Iran’s demand that Washington delist its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from a US terror list.

Israeli officials have said the chances of world powers signing a new nuclear deal with Iran have been greatly diminished, and the US is closer than ever to admitting defeat on Biden’s stated goal of returning to the 2015 deal, according to Tuesday reports.

Facing criticism of the deal during an appearance before Congress, Blinken on Tuesday called the 2015 agreement imperfect but better than the alternatives.

“We continue to believe that getting back into compliance with the agreement would be the best way to address the nuclear challenge posed by Iran and to make sure that an Iran that is already acting with incredible aggression doesn’t have a nuclear weapon,” Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“We’ve tested the other proposition, which was pulling out of the agreement, trying to exert more pressure,” he said.

The US has issued several other warnings about Iran’s nuclear development in recent months.

The 2015 deal gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs meant to guarantee that Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon, something it has always denied wanting to do.

The United States unilaterally withdrew from the accord in 2018 under then-US president Donald Trump and reimposed biting economic sanctions, prompting Iran to begin rolling back its own commitments and advancing its nuclear development.

The Vienna talks, which started a year ago, aim to return the US to the nuclear deal, including through the lifting of sanctions on Iran, and to ensure Tehran’s full compliance with its commitments. The US communicates with Iran via intermediaries at the talks.

Last week, a senior Israeli diplomatic official claimed that Biden administration officials notified their European counterparts that Washington does not plan on delisting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

According to an Axios report on Monday, the Biden administration “has recently started discussing a scenario” in which the deal won’t be revived.

A former member of Iran’s parliament said Sunday that Iran always intended to build a nuclear bomb.

Bevvy

The deal is not and never was worth the paper it is wrote on . If one believes it is , one must be terribly blinded

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

But if Iran has nuclear weapons it might not want to listen to the West...

It might even have aspirations of its own...

Imagine living in a world where ME nations don't fear Western invasion

Parky60 Loc: People's Republic of Illinois

Iran has said that their goal is to annihilate the Israel -- by the way, Israel is our biggest ally in the ME -- sure makes those countries feel like Iran is their buddy don't you think?

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

Saudi Arabia is your biggest ally in the ME...

And remind me what the Wahhabi view on Israel is???

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

https://cole.house.gov/media-center/weekly-columns/israels-longest-and-most-loyal-ally


Israel’s Longest and Most Loyal Ally
May 24, 2021 Weekly Columns
For nearly 75 years now, the United States has proudly stood with and by the Jewish State of Israel on the international stage. Indeed, America has always remained Israel’s longest and most loyal ally. And it is the shared desire to promote, protect and preserve democracy around the world which has created the strong and lasting bond between our two countries.

As you might know, Israel first established itself as an independent state on May 14, 1948, upon the declaration of the Jewish People’s Council and following years of land disputes. It was on that very same day – eleven minutes later, in fact – that the United States was first to recognize Israel and affirm its right to exist. About a year later, the United Nations also recognized Israel through admittance into its organization. However, many decades since Israel first declared its independence, there are still 29 countries around the world, including several of its Arab and Muslim neighbors, that refuse to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist.

Although the Israeli people desire to live at peace with their neighbors in the surrounding region, they are constantly the targets of senseless terror. And in recent few weeks, Israel has endured relentless and vicious attacks from Hamas. To be clear, Hamas is a terrorist organization that does not value human life. In contrast to Israel’s use of missile defense systems to protect its civilians, Hamas purposely embeds among innocent civilians and uses them as human shields. Alarmingly, Hamas continues to receive funding from state sponsors of terrorism, including Iran.

In response to what has now been more than 4,000 rockets fired at Israeli civilian cities in less than two weeks, House Republicans requested a vote last week on the bipartisan Palestinian International Terrorism Support Prevention Act, which was introduced by Congressman Brian Mast earlier this year. Rightly so, the legislation would sanction those who fund Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as well as cut off the flow of weapons. Unfortunately, 217 Democrats blocked consideration of the bill – even though this same exact bill passed the House in the previous Congress.

I am disappointed that Democrats who previously supported the legislation refused to even allow a vote on it last week, especially while Israel is the clear target of terrorism. The House missed a critical opportunity to show it stands with Israel and against terrorist organizations and their enablers. Indeed, as Israel’s most loyal ally, we have a solemn duty to stand with our Israeli friends and push back against sympathizers of the terrorist organization of Hamas and those who aim to misrepresent the narrative. Certainly, as a target of terrorism, Israel has the right to defend itself.

As a long-time member of the House Appropriations Committee that provides for our own national defense as well as significant security and economic assistance for Israel, I have proudly supported funding for initiatives like the Iron Dome, a joint Israeli-American project that intercepts missiles. Over the years and particularly in recent days, this technology has proved critical to helping Israel protect its people from enemies and save hundreds of lives. While the U.S.-provided security assistance rightly comes with the flexibility for Israel to self-determine how to exercise the right to defend itself, much of it is spent on purchasing needed equipment from U.S. industry. It is my sincerest hope that the Biden Administration and Democrats controlling Congress will continue to prioritize this vital support. Sadly, amid the latest attacks on Israel, House Democrats had an opportunity to increase defense aid through a request brought by Republicans on the floor. Unfortunately, they refused consideration of the measure.

While I am relieved that a ceasefire was agreed to, the United States must remain steadfast in supporting Israel and working to promote the peace desired by the Israeli people. Too many innocent lives have been taken due to the regional hostility. Through the diplomatic efforts of the Trump Administration, the Middle East and our Israeli friends saw an era of unprecedented peace, with new relationships formed with the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Bahrain, as outlined in the Abraham Accords. The Biden Administration should continue to further advance and enact these diplomatic initiatives. To encourage the Biden Administration to build upon previous diplomatic achievements in the region, I recently cosponsored the Israel Relations Normalization Act, which would require the Department of State to provide a strategy to strengthen and expand the Abraham Accords and other related normalization agreements with Israel.

Indeed, Israel is key to the cause of democracy in the Middle East, and the will of its citizens proves to be a powerful example that the government should serve and protect the people. We must always stand with Israel.

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

Source!

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

Imagine living in a world where Israel is hated by so many nations!

Oh, Iran definitely has aspirations! Remember the slogan…….Death to America…….Death to Israel

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/iranian-brig-gen-urges-destruction-of-israel-prior-to-nuke-talks-687248

Iranian Brig.-Gen. urges destruction of Israel prior to nuke talks

"We will not back off from annihilation of Israel, even one millimeter."

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL Published: NOVEMBER 28, 2021 21:39

The spokesman for the Islamic Republic of Iran’s armed forces, Brig.-Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, on Saturday urged the total elimination of the Jewish state during an interview with an Iranian regime-controlled media outlet.

"We will not back off from the annihilation of Israel, even one millimeter. We want to destroy Zionism in the world,” Shekarchi told the Iranian Students News Agency.
Shekarchi’s genocidal antisemitic remarks come just days before the nuclear talks are set to restart in Vienna Monday on curbing the Islamic Republic of Iran’s illicit nuclear program. The United States and other world powers are seeking to provide Tehran with economic sanctions relief in exchange for temporary restrictions on its atomic program. Israel and other countries believe Iran's regime seeks to build a nuclear weapons device.

The Iranian general also blasted Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates for normalizing diplomatic relations with Israel, terming the diplomacy “intolerable” for Iran’s clerical regime. "Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and other countries considered as Muslims, for us they part of the Zionist regime and this is very important," said Shekarchi.
Shekarchi has previously lashed out at Israel, saying that Iran’s regime can “level Haifa and Tel Aviv in the shortest possible time.”

The US under both democratic and republican administrations has classified Iran’s regime as the world’s worst state-sponsor of terrorism.
The US State Department said last year that the Islamic Republic is the top state-sponsor of antisemitism.
Sheina Vojoudi, an Iranian dissident who fled the Islamic Republic and now lives in Germany, told The Jerusalem Post that "A normal Iranian government, made by the Iranian people, would try to normalize ties with Israel. We could have great deals which can help both nations. Israeli water technology can help us to pass a serious water problem in Iran and an Iranian government would try to exchange knowledge about environmental issues especially water scarcity that we're facing right now but the Islamic Republic instead of solving all these problems, plans for the destruction of Israel and shoots people who ask for water."

She added that "This regime is ruining Iran and some other countries in the Middle East and makes the region a war zone. We have domestic problems and our people never think of fighting other countries. They don't even know why they should hate Israel. Our people will be happy to use Israeli water technology instead of planning to destroy Israel. We must save our country from this evil regime and turn the occupied Iran to a free Iran."

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

Of course it was always Iran’s intention to build nukes in the war capacity. They repeatedly failed to allow anyone to conduct the inspections required which was a sure sign they weren’t playing the game as they signed onto.

With wishy-washy biden at the helm they know he’s not going to drop any mothership bomb like Trump did so they will move with haste to complete their mission.

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

Parky, I just found this interesting article while I was researching this subject. How do you think all of this fits into prophecy?

https://jellyfish.news/war-footing-iran-parades-new-missiles-drones-amid-threats-to-strike-israel/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=war-footing-iran-parades-new-missiles-drones-amid-threats-to-strike-israel

Iran last week unveiled a handful of new missile systems and advanced war drones amid escalating threats to attack Israel if the Jewish state makes "even a small mistake" in the region, according to reports in Iran's state-controlled press.

The country unveiled the missile systems during military parades held last week celebrating Iran's National Army Day. The hardline regime's air force, ground force, navy, and air defense forces all displayed new domestically produced weaponry designed to deter and intimidate Israel from launching operations on Tehran's contested nuclear program, which has expanded in the years since President Joe Biden began diplomacy aimed at securing a revamped version of the 2015 nuclear deal.


The military event featured a line of armed drones, including an advanced "suicide drone" that Iranian military leaders said is produced to counter Israel's Harop drones, which can target enemies on the ground and self-destruct. The new drone "could be flown from both ground and offshore launchers," according to Iranian officials quoted in the state-run Tasnim News Agency.

Iran revealed the new military equipment on the same day its president, Ebrahim Raisi, issued threats to attack Israel. The warnings come as Israel considers its options in response to Iran's escalating nuclear program. Israel is believed to have launched several covert operations to sabotage Tehran's program during the past several years and could strike the country's nuclear infrastructure, especially if Iran's program reaches advanced stages of development on an atomic weapon.

"Not a small movement of the enemy is hidden before the sharp eyes of the Iranian Armed Forces," Raisi said, referring to Israel. "If they make the smallest mistake, our response will be given at the center of the Zionist regime and our Armed Forces won't let them relax."


Raisi's comments were directed toward the "Zionist regime" and meant to signal that "Iran's security forces are monitoring all of its activities."

In addition to the new suicide drones, Iran displayed what it called a "new generation of Ababil drones," a long-range surveillance drone used for targeting. The Ababils were billed as a "major achievement" and displayed on trucks during the military parade.

Iran says the new drones are equipped with an assortment of air-to-ground and surface-to-air missiles, all of which it could use in a potential standoff with Israel.


Three new missile systems also were announced during the event.

The Fath 360 system is a ground-to-ground missile system that fires long-range artillery rockets and also could be used for strikes on Israel and other neighboring countries. A second system is reportedly constructed to perform radar operations and missile launches simultaneously. The third system, called Dezful, is an air defense system modeled off Russia's Tor missile system, which fires short-range surface-to-air munitions.

"Iranian military experts and technicians have in recent years made great headways in manufacturing a broad range of indigenous equipment, making the armed forces self-sufficient in the arms sphere," Tasmin reported.


Iran also announced in recent days that it is expanding Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) operations in international waters. The IRGC's navy division is drafting plans to expand its forces' "operational depth" in "faraway waters." The announcement comes as Iran seeks to increase its presence in South America and other areas close to the United States. This includes a January operation in which an Iranian tanker delivered oil to Venezuela, in violation of U.S. sanctions.

Behnam Ben-Taleblu, an Iran expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, said Iran's increasingly sophisticated arsenal of drones "should be of particular interest for policymakers in the U.S. and security planners in the region."

"Drones are increasingly being used, along with missiles and rockets, in Middle Eastern conflict zones where the Islamic Republic has a partner or proxy in the field," Taleblu said. "Not only are sanctioned Iranian defense contractors and the regime's military-industrial complex engaged in drone production, but Iran is supporting the capabilities of its proxies through part proliferation, transfers, and aiding local production."

The production of this equipment is likely to embolden Iran and create a "lower bar for [the weapons'] use and greater Iranian sense of confidence that they can manage regional escalation dynamics," according to Taleblu. "Drones are an increasingly lethal element of Iran's ‘long arm' that can strike or harass enemy targets and positions in the region."

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

Nobody is arguing that the US is Israel's biggest ally

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

Dear God....

The Iranians threatened to strike back at Israel if it infringed upon their sovereignty...

The audacity

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

How disappointing……..just another one of your SA comments with no substance!

Pay close attention to this one paragraph…….

“The result is that today no country embodies threat to Israelis as does the Islamic Republic. Iran’s nuclear program appears to most Israelis to be an existential threat. The nuclear question and Iran’s extensive proxy operations in the Arab world have shaped Israel’s foreign policy in recent years and driven much of its actions on the global stage. Iran has become a near-singular focus of Israeli leaders and planners, identifying Iran’s hand in nearly every direction, and often with cause.”


https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2019/01/24/irans-revolution-40-years-on-israels-reverse-periphery-doctrine/

Iranian-Israeli hostility is actually quite odd. Tehran is well over a thousand miles from Jerusalem. The two countries do not border each other. They have no major bilateral claims toward one another. Whereas large Arab neighbors of Iran, like Iraq or Saudi Arabia, might be considered its natural competitors, Israel cannot. Even fans of the “ancient hatreds” school of Middle East conflict would come up short.

Natan Sachs

Director - Center for Middle East Policy Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for Middle East Policy

What historical memory there is of Persian-Judaic interactions is largely positive in Jewish eyes: Streets in Israel are named for Cyrus the Great, who allowed the Jews to return to Judea from their Babilonian exile in 538 BCE. Conversely, Judea never rose to compete with Persia for regional prominence, as did Greek or later Arab forces.

All else being equal, then, we might have expected cool, uncomfortable relations—or more likely non-relations—between Israel and a large Muslim-majority country, not the foreign policy-defining struggle of present. Indeed, as is often noted, this hostility between the two modern states was not always there. It can be traced directly to one period, 40 years ago: the Iranian revolution and the birth of the Islamic Republic.

FRIENDS BECOME FOES

From its inception in 1948, Israel dealt with an acute security challenge: It faced a massive, largely hostile region unified by a common religion and a common antipathy toward Israel. All four of its immediate neighbor states were Arab, as were the Palestinian Arabs, and they were backed by dozens of Arab and Muslim-majority states beyond them. Israel’s natural posture was therefore to try and find fissures among its potential foes. Early in the state’s existence, this took the form of the “periphery doctrine“: first Prime Minister David Ben Gurion’s attempt to forge an alliance with non-Arab (yet mostly Muslim) countries in the Middle East as a counter-balance to the Arab states. Chief among these non-Arab partners were Turkey and pre-revolution Iran, countries who had (then) a common orientation toward the West and their own reasons to feel isolated in the Middle East.

Israeli-Iranian cooperation included official relations—Israel had two successive ambassadors to Tehran—and robust trade in oil, a prime concern for Israel, then under a crippling Arab boycott. The basic logic was simple: My enemy’s enemy can be my friend, and Iran and Israel shared common Arab foes.

The revolution upended these relations dramatically. Not only were ties cut off, but Israel was relegated by Ayatollah Khomeini to the status of “Little Satan” (the “Great Satan” being the United States). For the new Iranian regime, Israel became a central focus of ideological, religion-infused vitriol. The Islamic Republic became a central backer of any (mostly Arab) “resistance” to Israel. Iran seemingly became more Palestinian than the Palestinians. It opposed all peace negotiations between Arabs and Israelis, including the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Oslo Accords of 1993.

A street in Tehran was named for the assassin of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, who first signed peace with Israel (the street was renamed “intifada” street in 2004 in an effort to improve relations with Egypt). Iran fostered the creation of the Lebanese Hezbollah, Israel’s most menacing guerilla adversary of recent years. It backed Sunni Islamist Palestinian groups, in particular the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and, at times, Hamas. In its fight against Israel, a seemingly endless tit-for-tat, even non-Israeli Jews were not safe. Most notably, Argentinean prosecutors, and several intelligence agencies, have accused Iran of direct involvement in the murder of 85 people in a suicide bombing of the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires in 1994.

THE THREAT INTENSIFIES

Israel’s approach to the Islamic Republic has been uneven. Despite the Iranian rhetoric, Israel did not see it, at first, as the implacable enemy of today. For much of the first decade of the Islamic Republic, it was engaged in a brutal war with another of Israel’s sworn enemies, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. (“I wish both sides success” was the rather gruesome way Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin put it.) Israel was a key player in the Iran-Contra affair, and the possibility that some in the Iranian regime might change their attitude toward Israel remained an option. By the 1990s, however, as Hezbollah grew in strength and the first signs of an Iranian nuclear program started emerging, Israelis became increasingly more concerned and increasingly active in their diplomatic efforts and covert operations against Iran.

Iran's revolution, 40 years onIdeological considerations, anger over Israel’s ties to the Shah, sympathy toward the Palestinians, and a generalized and foundational antipathy toward the West were all important elements of the about-face, but there were obvious structural advantages to this position as well. Israel is a useful enemy for the Islamic Republic. It is not merely a diversion from domestic woes, as it has been to many Middle Eastern regimes, but it is also part of an Iranian attempt to play in Middle Eastern affairs. For a large, Muslim-majority, non-Arab state committed in exporting its revolution to Arab countries, it is essential that the main fault lines in regional affairs not be national—Arab-Persian—but rather religious: Muslim-non-Muslim. For the major Shiite power, the minority Muslim strand, it is again important to draw the line not among and between streams of Islam, as many Sunnis do, but between Muslims and others, and there is no better “other” in the Middle East than Israel.

By carrying the mantle of unwavering resistance to Israel (and the United States) Iran can, in theory, appeal to solidarity with most Arabs. Moreover, engaging in the Palestinian cause allows Iran to expose hypocrisy and duplicity in the Arab states’ positions, whenever their commitment to the cause is tempered by pragmatic impulses.

The result is that today no country embodies threat to Israelis as does the Islamic Republic. Iran’s nuclear program appears to most Israelis to be an existential threat. The nuclear question and Iran’s extensive proxy operations in the Arab world have shaped Israel’s foreign policy in recent years and driven much of its actions on the global stage. Iran has become a near-singular focus of Israeli leaders and planners, identifying Iran’s hand in nearly every direction, and often with cause.

Is Iran a useful enemy to Israeli leaders as Israel is to Iranian ones? Like all politicians, Israeli leaders do appeal at times to foreign threats to divert attention from domestic affairs, and Iran has easily filled that need. Yet when it comes to Iran, unlike Palestinian affairs, the spectrum of opinions in Israel is quite narrow—there are very few Israelis, from across the political map, who do not see the Islamic Republic’s activity as a grave threat, whether they adopt the existential-threat rhetoric or not. There are very few Iran-doves in Israel, even if Israelis debate the means for confronting the threat.

NEW ALLIANCES, ENTRENCHED HOSTILITIES

As a result of the major shift in Israeli-Iranian relations, Israel today has a reverse periphery doctrine. It has strived and has had remarkable success in forging an alignment of sorts with major Arab countries—not only Egypt and Jordan, who have official peace with Israel, but even cooperation with the Gulf: Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E, Oman. These relations are far less developed or overt than the relations Israel had with the Shah’s Iran. They are limited in scope and entail no embassies. Yet the logic is the same as it was in the 1950s, but in reverse: My enemy’s enemy can be my friend and these Arab states and Israel share a common overriding foe—Iran. (They also share a common, though far less severe, hostility toward Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Turkey, Israel’s other main “peripheral” partner of old.)

The reverse periphery doctrine has been a boon to Israel in important ways. It now finds itself in one camp with major Arab players, limiting the short-term damage of the continued Israeli-Palestinian conflict (though not alleviating, and perhaps worsening, its long-term consequences) and allowing Israel to engage with world powers from a position of regional strength.

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

Still waiting for your source to prove that Saudi Arabia is our biggest ally! 😉

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

👏🏻👏🏻
Well stated with interesting article summation..

“Iran’s regime as the world’s worst state-sponsor of terrorism.” A very true fact… Methodical as they infiltrate other countries and move within to take over gradually.. Look at the UK, Germany, France, Belgium etc. World dominion by the excess birth rate gradually changing the countries ethnic makeup with census studies even suggesting it…

None of this to dismiss the acts of China and Russia and their ideology of governance and power...