Iran To Sail Warships Into The Atlantic, Pushing Near US Waters

The new Iranian destroyer Sahand sails in Persian Gulf waters, Iranian Army via AP

 

At a moment a US aircraft carrier group led by the USS Stennis is stationed in the Persian Gulf, putting Iran’s military on edge, the Iranian navy has announced plans to deploy warships to the Atlantic starting in March, in a clear attempt to increase the operating range of its forces and extend into the United States’ backyard.

A top Iranian naval commander told the the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Friday, “The Atlantic Ocean is far and the operation of the Iranian naval flotilla might take five months,” and also identified that among the deployed vessels will be its Sahand destroyer, touted as Iran’s latest domestic built stealth destroyer.

The U.S. Dollar: A Victim of Its Own Success

 

America’s most powerful weapon of war does not shoot, fly or explode. It’s not a submarine, plane, tank or laser. America’s most powerful strategic weapon today is the dollar.

The U.S. uses the dollar strategically to reward friends and punish enemies. The use of the dollar as a weapon is not limited to trade wars and currency wars, although the dollar is used tactically in those disputes. The dollar is much more powerful than that.

The dollar can be used for regime change by creating hyperinflation, bank runs and domestic dissent in countries targeted by the U.S. The U.S. can depose the governments of its adversaries, or at least blunt their policies without firing a shot.

Iran’s Demands: Europe Must Guarantee It Will Buy Iranian Oil

 

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has issued five demands to the European Union (EU)—including Europe guaranteeing Iran’s oil will be completely sold—that European leaders could find quite difficult to meet.

“Iran will resume halted nuclear activities if Europe fails to provide guarantees,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, a week after the EU said that it would act to protect the interests of EU companies investing in Iran as part of the European bloc’s continued commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.

FBI: Iran to Launch New Cyber Attacks

 

Iranian hackers poised for wide-ranging strikes in retaliation for U.S. leaving nuclear deal

The FBI is warning that Iranian hackers could conduct new cyber attacks on American businesses and government networks in response to the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.

“The FBI assesses foreign cyber actors operating in the Islamic Republic of Iran could potentially use a range of computer network operations—from scanning networks for potential vulnerabilities to data deletion attacks—against U.S.-based networks in response to the U.S. government’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),” the FBI said in a cyber alert to U.S. businesses.

Trump Walks from Iran Nuke Deal

(Photo Credit: White House)

 

The president called the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ‘one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered.’

President Donald Trump announced this afternoon that he is walking away from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal in a speech from the White House. The president explained the deal negotiated by the Obama administration and several European countries fails to protect U.S. national security interests and has enriched the Islamic Republic’s regime. Those funds, he added, have been used to enable “malign behavior” throughout the Middle East.

U.S. Confirms Iran Docs Authentic

(Photo Credit: Office of Prime Minister of Israel)

 

Washington officials believe it means the Iranian nuclear deal is now finished.

Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s revelation of more than 100,000 documents detailing Iran’s longstanding and clandestine nuclear weapons program, many officials in Washington, D.C., are now certain President Donald Trump will walk away from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal.

Israel at UN: Iran has more than 80,000 fighters in Syria

A military base outside Damascus that Israel says is being used by Iran to induct and train Shiite militiamen. (Israeli delegation to the United Nations)

 

Ambassador Danon presents satellite photo of alleged Iranian base near Damascus, indicates Israel would take military action to prevent Tehran from getting nukes

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday presented an aerial photograph of an alleged Iranian base outside Damascus that he said Tehran was using to bring in and train tens of thousands of fighters for the militias it backs in Syria.

“There are over 80,000 extremists from all over the Middle East who are members of Shia militias in Syria under Iranian control,” Danny Danon told the UN Security Council.

Iran: There is No ‘Plan B’

 

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has vowed to ‘shred’ the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal if the U.S. walks away.

The Iranian government has urged Europe to “encourage” President Donald Trump to recertify the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, saying there is no “Plan B” should the nuclear agreement be terminated.

Iran Threatens To Restart Nuclear Enrichment Program

 

Iran is threatening to restart its controversial nuclear enrichment program, as the head of the Islamic Republic’s Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI) revealed on Sunday that they have maintained the ability to quickly restart the full-scale enrichment of uranium “within 4 days,” reports FARS news.

“If senior Islamic Republic officials issue an order to resume the 20 percent enrichment, we can do it in Fordo within 4 days,” said Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the AEOI – referring to the Fordo nuclear facility in northern Iran. Of note – 20 percent enrichment is considered above the required level for nuclear energy production, however it is still well below the 80-90 percent required for a nuclear weapon.

Netanyahu: Iran nuclear deal paved way for nuclearization of entire Mideast

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the AIPAC policy conference in Washington on March 6. / Reuters

 

The signing of the Iran nuclear deal in 2015 opened the floodgates for all Mideast regional powers to pursue their own nuclear programs, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Iranian Presence in Mediterranean Sea Alarms Israel

 

‘Iranian ports in the eastern Mediterranean are a real risk for Israel.’

Israeli Adm. Shaul Chorev (Ret.) has warned that Israel’s next proxy war with Iran “could see a focus on the [Mediterranean] Sea.”

The Jerusalem Post quoted the retired naval officer on January 28 as cautioning that the strategy of Iran’s Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, clearly shows that “they will target Israeli strategic assets.” To do that, he said, they could use suicide vessels or land-to-sea missiles.

Iran “is on the verge of reaching the Mediterranean, including the use of Syrian ports by the Iranian Navy,” Chorev said. “Iranian ports in the eastern Mediterranean are a real risk for Israel.”

Israel Ready to Share Iran Intel With Saudi Arabia

Israeli Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot told a Saudi Arabian newspaper his country is ready to share its intelligence on Iran with the Saudi military.

 

The intrigue surrounding a potential Israeli-Saudi alliance to confront Iran’s aggression in the Middle East took another strange turn Thursday when a Saudi newspaper reported on an in-depth interview it conducted with the Israeli Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot.

Turkey’s Nuclear Ambitions

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (then Prime Minister) meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 18, 2012. Their meeting focused on nuclear cooperation, among other things. (Image source: kremlin.ru)

 

• Russia’s ROSATOM already has nuclear cooperation deals with Iran, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, among others. Turkey is just the latest to benefit — possibly along with Iran and North Korea, both of which have been openly threatening to destroy America — from Moscow’s play for power in the Middle East and the Mediterranean.
• The West would also do well not to feel secure in the knowledge that Turkey is a party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
• Nuclear reactors in the hands of a repressive Islamist authoritarian such as Erdogan could be turned into weapons factories with little effort.

Turkey’s announcement over the summer that it had signed a deal with Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation (ROSATOM) — of Hillary Clinton’s Uranium One stardom — to begin building three nuclear power plants in the near future is cause for concern. The $20 billion deal, which has been in the works since 2010, involves the construction in Mersin of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant — Turkey’s first-ever such plant— will be operational in 2023.

Russia Starts Construction on New Iranian Nuke Plant

The reactor building at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant / Getty Images

 

Russia to build two new nuke plants for Iran

A Russian atomic energy corporation announced late Monday that it has formally begun construction on a new $10 billion nuclear plant in Iran amid global efforts by the Trump administration to crack down on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear endeavors.

The deal, which has been in the works since the Obama administration negotiated the landmark nuclear agreement with Iran, is aimed at further cementing ties between Moscow and Tehran and is being handled by Russia’s state Rosatom corporation.

President Trump Takes Aim at Iran’s ‘Clandestine Nuclear Weapons Program’

 

President Donald J. Trump put the Iranian regime on notice with his speech last week: the time when the United States (U.S.) government would turn a blind eye to its decades-long drive for deliverable nuclear weapons is over. Citing a long litany of destabilizing, rogue behavior on the part of Tehran, the president announced he would not re-certify Iranian compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or Iran nuclear deal.