Speaking to Reuters after he briefed EU foreign ministers on the subject, the head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said that while the pace of uranium enrichment had slowed slightly since the end of last year, Iran was still enriching at an elevated rate of around 7 kg of uranium per month to 60% purity.

Enrichment to 60% brings uranium close to weapons grade, and is not necessary for commercial use in nuclear power production. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons but no other state has enriched to that level without producing them.

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Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/iaea-chief-says-irans-nuclear-enrichment-activity-remains-high-2024-02-19/

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Israel is plagued by an electoral system that gives disproportionate influence to small parties, which usually are needed to get to the minimum threshold of 61 Knesset members to form a government. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so unfortunate if Israel didn’t have to deal with aggression by Iran and its proxy, Hamas. As Anna Ahronheim writes in the Jerusalem Post, “Israel cannot have both security and political instability. Israel’s enemies, be it in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, or the West Bank, are wide awake looking for an opportunity to strike.”

Israel’s behind-the-scenes wars with Iran in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, and with Palestinian terrorists in the West Bank, are off the radar for most Americans. In the north, Israel has been conducting the “War Between the Wars” to thwart Iranian entrenchment in Syria, stop the transfer of game-changing, precision-guided weapons and drones, and target Iranian-supported missile and drone factories. These operations potentially could spin out of control with a miscalculation, causing regional instability that affects American security interests.

With the resurgence of Hamas-instigated terror operations in the West Bank, Israel has been preemptively conducting its “Break the Wave” operation to counter terrorist activity. But Hamas may see this time of Israeli political uncertainty as an opportunity to increase its attacks.

The political chaos is unfolding as President Biden plans to visit Israel in July. A few days ago, he thought he would be meeting with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, but now he likely will be meeting with foreign minister Yair Lapid as Bennett’s replacement. There is even a possibility that Defense Minister Benny Gantz could defect from the current coalition, swallow hard and rejoin former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he had a falling out, in a new government to avoid elections. Biden has said that his mid-July trip to Saudi Arabia and Israel will be an attempt to bring “more stability and peace to the Middle East.”

Bennett comes from the Israeli right and Lapid from the center-left. The expectation is that Lapid may be more accepting of the Biden administration’s requests regarding the Palestinian Authority, the “two states for two peoples” solution, limiting settlement expansion, and America’s desire to reopen a Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem. However, the Israeli electorate has leaned right since the Second Intifada, which began in September 2000, and likely would see such concessions as a betrayal. Most Israelis view the Palestinian Authority as a corrupt, unreliable partner, with a history of fomenting anti-Semitic ideology in textbooks, mosques and media. If Lapid makes concessions, he could be savaged by Israeli media and political opponents.

The good news is that Israel’s military and security apparatus is apolitical and has decades of experience coordinating its tactical operations with the United States, even when its government has interim leadership. However, on a more significant geostrategic level, it is hard to make major decisions when you are a temporary prime minister. Israel’s moderate allies — the Gulf states, Egypt and Jordan — who are developing an American-initiated defense plan with Israel in response to Iran’s escalation, most assuredly would feel better if Israel’s political system were more stable.

The messy Israeli democracy is hard for authoritarians to understand. To advance American policy interests, we need the Arab nations to deepen their relationships with Israel — as some have done with the Abraham Accords — as a counterweight to Iranian expansionism.

As Dan Shapiro, former U.S. ambassador to Israel, points out, U.S. officials “are used to conducting relations with Israel during political crises and election campaigns. The main principle is: Don’t interfere while Israel’s domestic political processes play out. Most normal business, particularly in security cooperation, can continue. While a minority government in Israel is fully empowered, in the case of elections, there may be some decisions a transition government in Israel cannot make.”

The Biden administration reportedly is still trying to salvage an Iran nuclear deal — a reworking of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) forged under President Obama — and is keeping Israel abreast of the negotiations. However, Lapid’s political weakness may force him to take a tougher line with the U.S. Iran, as an enemy to the U.S., Israel and the West in general, seems in no hurry to rejoin the deal now, while U.S. sanctions against it are not fully enforced and the Iranian economy can stay afloat by selling oil to China — though competition with Russian oil exports recently has stepped up.

Without secondary sanctions levied against China, Iran can continue to play hardball and undermine U.S. regional interests. Iran interpreted the U.S. not fully enforcing its sanctions not as a conciliatory gesture but as American weakness to be exploited. Expect Lapid or any Israeli prime minister to ask the U.S. to increase sanctions if Iran continues to develop its nuclear weapons program.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently sanctioned Iran because it refuses to explain uranium found in undeclared nuclear sites, and Iran has removed cameras that were monitoring its nuclear facilities. If Iran reneges on its nuclear program commitments, only snap-back sanctions, as promised in the JCPOA, could possibly pressure Iran to change its behavior. Iran knows that America has no credible military threat, making the Iranians more stubborn in negotiations.

There is broad support across the Israeli political spectrum for confronting Iran if it crosses the nuclear threshold — and it will be challenging for the Biden administration if Israel moves towards a significant military response.

American interests are also affected by Israel’s new confrontation with Russia in Syria. Until recently, Israel coordinated its air campaign against Iranian interests in Syria with Russia to avoid any Israeli-Russian conflict. Russia was working with Israel because it was in Russia’s interest to suppress Iranian entrenchment in Syria, since that could threaten Syrian stability. Last week, however, Israel bombed the Damascus Airport where Iran was transiting weapons, infuriating Russia. Taken to the worst extreme, this could escalate to an Israeli attack on Russian anti-missile systems if they were to be used against Israel, setting the region on fire. And with America’s plate full with the Russia-Ukraine war, the last thing Washington needs is a kinetic conflict between its primary ally in the Middle East and the Russian bear.

The U.S.-Israel relationship will survive this political melodrama; the two democracies have navigated through similar challenges before and continued to coordinate their joint security approach to the region. But the situation is not ideal, by far — especially if an interim Israeli prime minister must make a significant decision that affects American national security interests in the coming months.

Dr. Eric R. Mandel is the director of MEPIN, the Middle East Political Information Network. He regularly briefs members of Congress and their foreign policy aides. He is the senior security editor for the Jerusalem Report. Follow him on Twitter @MepinOrg.

Source: https://thehill.com/opinion/international/3532125-israels-government-collapses-again-so-what-now/

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Iran is close to having enough enriched uranium for a weapon as negotiations to return to the 2015 nuclear deal remain stuck, a diplomatic source said on Wednesday.

The Islamic Republic is very close to having a significant quantity of enriched uranium – meaning enough to produce one bomb and a redline set by Western parties to the talks.

While Iran is not yet enriching uranium to weapons-grade material at 90% purity, larger quantities of uranium enriched to a lower purity can be enough for a bomb. Jerusalem’s assessment is that Iran is close to having a significant quantity of uranium enriched to 60%.

Negotiations for the US and Iran to return to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ended weeks ago, with Iran making a demand outside of the nuclear agreement, for its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to be removed from the US Foreign Terrorist Organization list.

Washington has not yet officially responded to the demand, but a State Department spokesperson said last week that US President Joe Biden views the IRGC Quds Force as a terrorist organization.

Thus far, none of the Europeans’ proposals for a compromise or alternative agreement between the Americans and Iranians have been accepted by the Iranians, who have made removing the IRGC’s FTO designation the sine qua non of an agreement, a diplomatic source said.

Foreign Ministry Deputy Director-General Joshua Zarka was in was in Brussels on Tuesday to meet with the coordinator of Iran nuclear negotiations and EU Political Director Enrique Mora.

“Thank you @enriquemora_ for a significant and in-depth discussion on Iran, its nuclear program and regional behavior,” Zarka tweeted. “We agreed to continue this conversation in the near future.”

Israeli officials have also asked European interlocutors to ensure that another of Iran’s demands not be met and that the International Atomic Energy Agency’s open investigations of possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear program not be closed for political reasons, which could set a dangerous precedent. IAEA Secretary-General Rafael Grossi did not agree to close the probes but the matter is expected to be discussed in an IAEA board meeting in June.

The P5+1 negotiated with the US and Iran for 11 months to return to compliance with the JCPOA, which restricted Tehran’s uranium enrichment to 3.67% and cut almost all of its stockpile of enriched uranium in exchange for gradually lifting sanctions.

The US left the deal in 2018, arguing that Iran lied about its nuclear program and that the agreement was too weak. US President Joe Biden promised to return to it.

Israel opposed the original deal and its revival, pointing out that most of its limitations on Iran’s nuclear activities expire at the end of 2025. Further, Jerusalem notes that the agreement neither restricts Iran’s malign actions in the region nor its ballistic missile program, while lifting sanctions would lead to a major cash influx for terrorism, proxy warfare and weapons.

In recent months, the US, EU and E3 – Britain, France and Germany – have warned that little time remains before the deal’s nonproliferation benefits will become irrelevant, as Iran continues to violate the JCPOA.

Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-704055

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The post U.S. and Allies Close to Reviving Nuclear Deal With Iran, Officials Say first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

I have been a loyal American and friend of Israel for as long as I can remember. Although the two are not mutually exclusive, they are not a contradiction in terms, either. In our current environment of conveniently blaming Israel and, by extension, Jews for everything bad that occurs at any time or any place in the world, we must keep in mind that Jews seek justice in order to survive; whereas its enemies seek fabrications to justify their lies, defamations and curses, all the while motivating their children to kill.

The tactics of repeating false accusations over and over at every opportune moment appears to be successfully gaining converts. Even from within the Jewish community, some members of the tribe succumb to the scurrilous beliefs being promoted. Some hate promoters employ misdirection, double standards and outrageous slander and libel to achieve their goals. For too many non-Jews, it appears easier to just join their ranks than extend the effort and thinking skills to appreciate the flaws in their baseless war of words, which identify Israel as an ethnic-cleansing, Apartheid, Nazi-like agent who massacred Palestinians with the May, 1948 rebirth of State of Israel and episodically thereafter.

Such nonsense has been enabled since the traditionally Jewish/Israel supporting US Democratic Party swung its influence towards “new” underdogs favored by progressive US Reps including Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) and Rashid Tliab (D-Michigan), among others. No matter what they do, there appears to be no consequential actions forthcoming from their immediate boss, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-California) or from her boss, US President Joe Biden. So they escape unscathed.

My parents, both loyal Democrats, reminded me on many occasions, especially when they were targets of antisemitism that bullies do what they do because they can. Carrying this sad state of affairs forward; Americans find themselves confronting racism, while putting the other equally offensive ‘ism,’ antisemitism, on the back burner as it lacks sufficient popular willingness to initiate legislative means to effectively combat it whenever and wherever it raises its ugly head.

On the world stage, anti-Israel acts and antisemitism are indirectly being alluded to in Vienna, Austria as the “re-upping” of the original Obama advocated 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Iran nuclear accords/protocols are being discussed. Unfortunately its nuclear enrichment and ballistic missile development limits were dismissed by the principal signatory, Iran.

This led to financial and other sanctions being levied by former President Trump’s administration to bring Iran into line. It didn’t work.

Even with total visibility, the consequences for regional destabilization and existential threats to Israel fell upon an enemy that does not appear to respect Israel or the United States. This being most especially so, when we recall chants emanating from within Iran threatening, “death to Israel’’ and “death to America.”

President Biden’s actions may eventually be judged by future generations not so much for what he did, but rather for what he should have done to assure Israel and our American constitutional way of life, its permanence in the face of an angry, unswerving Iran.

Iran makes indelible demands seemingly to intimidate others, rather than to launch legitimate negotiations. It shows no willingness to concede positions on pivotal issues including: 1) perceived proxy based terrorism; 2) perceived human rights abuses; including hostage taking; 3) perceived destabilizing militia sponsorships; 4) intercontinental ballistic missile development and testing; 5) removal of sophisticated, strategically located missiles throughout Lebanon, as well as rockets housed within Gaza; each presumably intended to challenge its avowed enemy, Israel; and 6) its inhibiting of monitoring International Atomic Energy Agency nuclear inspectors, accessing all Iranian nuclear sites; operational and those in development.

The Vienna attending nations including, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Russia, the European Union and the US must wisely determine, before adjourning if; 1) Iran is more reliable now than it was in 2015? 2) America can be safeguarded from adversarial use of its contributed money ($10b. demanded by Iran as an initial show of good will), as well as expected sanction relief flowing funds; being used against itself or our ally Israel? This potential commands oversight; and 3) Biden can be counted upon to keep his pivotal promise to assure Israel’s solidness. “The United States will… never allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.”

The answers to the following may likely not be known unless and until Iran assumes a wartime footing. They include: is Iran developing terrorist infrastructures in Syria, Gaza, Judea and Samaria, while transferring strategic weapons to Hezbollah?; Has Iran put into place infrastructure so as to facilitate attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets abroad?; Besides Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces, are Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthi movement in Yemen, agents in Iraq, militias in Syria, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the PA and Hamas on active alert to engage suspected enemy forces?

Were ostensibly menacing circumstances reported by a number of news sources on March 21 and 22; that allege potential threats sourced to Iran to target Fort McNair, a US Army post in Washington, as well as alleged threats to the army’s vice chief of staff, on base proven credible?

If so, Iran should not be rewarded with its demanded incentives. It needs to prove itself as something other than an active threat to America and its only proven ally in the Middle East – Israel.

The stakes are too high and the risks too great to ignore or minimize Iran’s budding capabilities, which the US can ill afford; since the relatively recent debacle of seemingly abandoning the citizenry of Afghanistan to the Taliban.

The writer is author of the geopolitical thriller First the ‘Saturday People’ and Then the… and an op-ed contributor to The Miami Herald, The Washington Examiner, The Jerusalem Post, American Thinker and other media resources.

Source: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-689415

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North Korea has been relatively quiet since President Trump last met with Kim Jong Un at the DMZ in June 2019. It has carried out no major weapons tests, and focused largely on dealing with COVID, droughts and keeping its ailing economy afloat.

But now, eight months into the Biden administration, it is reverting to old ways, and it appears North Korea leader Kim Jong Un is upgrading his weapons arsenal, showcasing new technologies and testing President Biden — once again posing a serious threat to regional and global security.

New satellite images have now shown that North Korea is also ramping up its nuclear weapons program at the Yongbyon nuclear research center, expanding a uranium-enrichment plant, which could advance the country’s ability to produce weapons-grade material. Based on the size of the new plant, analysts say it could potentially allow them to add 1,000 new centrifuges.

NORTH KOREA FIRES 2 BALLISTIC MISSILES; JAPAN’S SUGA RIPS TEST AS ‘ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS’

https://www.foxnews.com/world/north-korea-ballistic-missiles-east-sea-weekend-tests

The news comes two weeks after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that North Korea had also restarted its nuclear reactor, based on the discharge of cooling water, which had not been observed since 2018. It called the findings “deeply troubling” and a “cause for serious concern”. There were also signs of activity at the nearby radiochemical laboratory, where fuel rods are reprocessed into plutonium.

All suggesting, quite clearly, that North Korea has restarted its nuclear weapons development program.

The apparent violations come just days after North Korea launched two ballistic missiles from a railway-borne system in violation of U.N. resolutions. On Wednesday the missiles flew about 800 miles towards japan and were the first of their kind in the hermit nation. North Korean state tv said the new delivery system would be used as a counter strike option.

The U.S. military’s Indo-Pacific Command said the launches do not pose an immediate threat to “US personnel or territory, or to our allies”, but Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has called the launch “outrageous” saying it threatened peace and security in the region.

NORTH KOREA SAYS ‘STRATEGIC’ LONGE-RANGE CRUISE MISSILES HIT TARGETS IN TEST

https://www.foxnews.com/world/north-korea-long-range-cruise-missiles-test

On Sept. 11, as the U.S. was commemorating the 20 years since the 9/11 attacks, North Korea also test fired a cruise missile, that experts said could have a nuclear capability – should they be able to miniaturize a warhead. The cruise missile, also capable of reaching Japan – showcasing the ability to perform figure eights in the sky.

After the tests, Ned Price, the State Department spokesman, urged a diplomatic solution, saying the Biden administration was “committed to dialogue with North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong-un, with the aim of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.” However Kim Jong Un has reportedly rebuffed any outreach so far.

North Korea remains desperate for sanction relief, but not, it appears at the cost of its nuclear program. As the stalemate between the U.S. and North Korea persists, some experts are wondering whether the Biden administration is returning to the Obama-era policy of strategic patience.

China has also continued to help North Koreans as best it can, most lately by holding up a U.N. investigation into North Korean sanctions busting, while being continually accused of helping the North Koreans bypass sanctions themselves, and turning a blind eye to ship to ship transfers off the North Korean coast.

A newly provocative North Korea is the last thing that President Biden needs. After eight months in office, Biden is increasingly involved with multiple foreign policy issues and on numerous fronts. The aftermath of the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, stalled attempts to restart the Iran nuclear deal, and the rise of China as an assertive competitor. With North Korea again flexing its muscles, President Biden will have one more thorn in his side.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/world/north-korea-nuclear-weapons-program-again-satellite-images

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“We vehemently ask Iran to return to the negotiating table constructively and as soon as possible,” a ministry spokesperson told a briefing. “We are ready to do so, but the time window won’t be open indefinitely.”

A sixth round of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington was adjourned two days after hardliner Ebrahim Raisi was elected Iran’s president. Raisi took office on August 5.

Since April, Iran and six powers have tried to work out how Tehran and Washington can both return to compliance with the nuclear pact, which former U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018 and reimposed harsh sanctions on Tehran.

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Vienna, Austria May 23, 2021. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas gives a statement before a virtual meeting of NATO Foreign and Defence Ministers in Berlin, Germany, June 1, 2021. Bernd von Jutrczenka/Pool via REUTERS

In reaction, Tehran has violated the nuclear limits of the accord, under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear work in exchange for lifting international sanctions.

Last month, France, Germany and Britain voiced grave concern about reports from the U.N. nuclear watchdog confirming Iran has produced uranium metal enriched up to 20% fissile purity for the first time and lifted production capacity of uranium enriched to 60%. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons. read more

The next round of talks has yet to be scheduled.

Two senior Iranian officials told Reuters in July Raisi planned to adopt “a harder line” in the talks. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Monday the talks might resume in “two to three months”.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/germany-urges-resumption-iran-nuclear-talks-2021-09-01/?rpc=401&

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A handout satellite image shows a general view of the Natanz nuclear facility after a fire, in Natanz, Iran July 8, 2020  -(photo credit: MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

Iran has installed extra advanced centrifuges at its underground uranium enrichment plant at Natanz that was hit by a blast last week, a report by the U.N. atomic watchdog on Wednesday showed, deepening Iran’s breaches of its nuclear deal with major powers.

The explosion and a power outage damaged an unknown number of centrifuges and Iranian state TV has shown footage of machines that it says were replaced there. Iran has blamed Israel for the explosion. Israel has not commented formally on it.

The International Atomic Energy Agency report was not clear on how many centrifuges are in use but it gave “up to” numbers of advanced machines installed at the plant that were higher than previously indicated. The report made no mention of the explosion or its effect on the plant’s activity.

“On 21 April 2021, the Agency verified at FEP that: … six cascades of up to 1,044 IR-2m centrifuges; and two cascades of up to 348 IR-4 centrifuges … were installed, of which a number were being used,” the IAEA report to member states said, referring to the underground Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz. The report was seen by Reuters.

According to a previous report, the IAEA verified on March 31 that Iran was using 696 IR-2m machines and 174 IR-4 machines at the FEP.

Wednesday’s report is the latest evidence that Iran is pressing ahead with the installation of the advanced machines, even though it is not allowed to use them to produce enriched uranium under the 2015 agreement.

The accord only lets Iran produce enriched uranium at its underground Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) at Natanz with first-generation IR-1 centrifuges, which are far less efficient than the advanced models.

Wednesday’s report also said Iran informed the IAEA that it plans to install four more cascades, or clusters, of IR-4 centrifuges at the FEP, where both of the IR-4 cascades it had planned have now been installed.

European parties to the agreement have seen progress in the first two rounds of indirect US-Iran negotiations to revive the deal but said on Wednesday that there were still major hurdles to overcome.

The United States withdrew from the accord in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Iran under President Donald Trump, who objected to the deal and sought to wreck it. Iran responded as of 2019 by breaching many of the deal’s restrictions on its nuclear activities.

Source: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/iran-installed-more-advanced-centrifuges-at-natantz-iaea-665931

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He said the international community and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) needed to deal with what he called nuclear terrorism. He added that Iran reserves the right to take action against the perpetrators, TV reported.

Iran said earlier on Sunday that a problem with the electrical distribution grid of the Natanz site had caused an incident.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: https://news.yahoo.com/iran-nuclear-chief-says-natanz-150142766.html

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