In a blow to Trump, Europe seeks gas supplies from Iran

The European Commission vice-president for energy union,Maros Sefcovic, said during a visit to Azerbaijan last week that the European Union was ready to negotiate Iran’s participation in the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), a system of pipelines designed to pump Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region to southern Italy via Georgia, Turkey, Greece and Albania.

The European bloc is keen to get its hands on Iranian gas and has already held talks with Tehran on the issue. This means it is unlikely that the EU will budge on its opposition to US President Donald Trump’s demands for revising the Iran nuclear deal.

How Iran cheats on nuclear deal, with no flat accusation from Trump or IAEA

 

President Donald Trump has dropped teasing hints into the hubbub, high rhetoric and suspense of the run-up to the Oct. 15 deadline, when he must either certify that Iran is in compliance with the 2015 nuclear accord or withhold certification. The former would lend the accord another 90-day lease of life; the latter could entail the re-imposition of pre-nuclear deal sanctions against Iran, if approved by Congress.

Preyed by the same uncertainty as everyone else, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday, Oct. 7: “Even 10 Trumps can’t roll back the benefits to this country of the nuclear deal. We have achieved benefits that are irreversible. If the United States violates (the nuclear deal), the entire world will condemn America, not Iran.”

Iranian president threatens to revitalize nuclear program

 

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s president warned Tuesday that it could ramp up its nuclear program and quickly achieve a more advanced level if the U.S. continues “threats and sanctions” against his country, which signed a landmark nuclear accord with world powers in 2015.

Hassan Rouhani’s remarks to lawmakers were his most direct warning that the deal could fall apart and risked ratcheting up tensions with the United States. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants to scuttle the accord, which limited Iran’s ability to produce a nuclear weapon while ending most sanctions against it.

Iran eyes nuclear-powered ships after US sanctions move

 

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday ordered the country’s scientists to start work on nuclear-powered ships in response to the expected renewal of sanctions by the United States.

In letters read out on state television, Rouhani criticised the US move as a breach of last year’s nuclear accord and told Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation to start work on “planning the design and production of nuclear fuel and reactors for maritime transport.”

The president said he had also ordered the foreign ministry to prepare a legal complaint to the international committee that oversees the nuclear accord.

Russia Adds Hundreds of Warheads Under Nuclear Treaty

61 new warheads since April under New START

Russia increased its deployed nuclear warheads over the past six months under a strategic arms reduction treaty as U.S. nuclear warhead stocks declined sharply, according to the State Department.

During the same period, the United States cut its deployed nuclear warheads by 114, increasing the disparity between the two nuclear powers.

Russia’s warhead increases since 2011 suggest Moscow does not intend to cut its nuclear forces and will abandon the New START arms accord as part of a major nuclear buildup.

Obama Admin Brushes Off Intel Iran Is Buying Nuke, Missile Materials

The Obama administration is brushing aside new German intelligence reports indicating that Iran has accelerated its efforts to procure key nuclear materials, despite promises to end this behavior as part of last summer’s nuclear accord, according to comments by a U.S. official provided to the Free Beacon.

Germany’s internal intelligence agency concluded in a recent report that sources have witnessed “extensive Iranian attempts” to procure illicit materials, “especially goods that can be used in the field of nuclear technology,” according to the report. The report appears to show that Iran is not upholding its most critical commitments under the nuclear deal.

Iran ‘Blackmailing’ U.S. for Greater Nuke Concessions

Experts: Obama admin going above and beyond nuke deal to aid Iran

The Obama administration is taking steps to aid and please Iran far beyond U.S. commitments under last summer’s nuclear accord, according to experts, who warned Tuesday during testimony on Capitol Hill that the White House is becoming “dangerously close to becoming Iran’s trade promotion and business development authority.”

The Obama administration’s efforts to boost Iran’s economy and resurrect its financial sector are not required under the comprehensive nuclear agreement, yet the White House is undertaking this role to soothe relations with the Islamic Republic, nuclear experts told the Senate Banking Committee.

Iran oil exports surpass 2 million barrels per day — minister

Expanded trading in the wake of lifted economic sanctions driving oil prices down some 60% worldwide

TEHRAN — Iran’s oil exports have surpassed 2 million barrels per day following the lifting of sanctions under its nuclear deal with world powers, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Sunday.

“Iran’s oil and gas condensate exports are now at more than 2 million barrels per day” after rising by 250,000 bpd since March 1, the ministry’s Shana news service quoted Zanganeh as saying.

US may soon break Iran taboo with new military discussions

WASHINGTON (AP) — The pursuit of peace in Syria may require the United States and Iran to break new ground in their increasingly comfortable diplomatic relationship, propelled by last year’s nuclear accord and their more recent prisoner swap. Another taboo could be shattered soon: Military discussions.

Iran may be just one of 17 countries invited to the first gathering Friday of a task force the US and Russia are leading to forge a temporary truce in Syria’s civil war. But for the Obama administration, Iran is like no other country at the table.

Incoming Mossad chief: Iran is our most substantial menace

In the view of the new Mossad Director Yossi Cohen, Iran has become the most substantial threat facing Israel since signing a nuclear accord with the six powers.

‘Death to America’ stands despite nuclear deal: Iran MPs

Tehran (AFP) – A clear majority of Iranian legislators said Monday the Islamic republic will not abandon the slogan of “Death to America” despite its July nuclear accord with world powers.

“The martyr-nurturing nation of Iran is not at all prepared to abandon the slogan of ‘Death to America’ under the pretext of a nuclear agreement,” 192 members of Iran’s 290-seat parliament said in a statement carried by state news agency IRNA.

Top ayatollah: White House dreaming if it thinks Iran deal will lead to improved ties

The Obama administration is naive if it thinks the nuclear accord will lead to restored relations between the United States and Iran, a top Iranian cleric said on Sept. 24.

“The U.S. wants to say that, following [the conclusion of] the JCPOA, the ice has been broken between the two countries; but that is not the case,” Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami said in a sermon following the Eid al-Adha prayers in Teheran.

Iran Vows to Violate UN Restrictions on Ballistic Missiles

Iran missile stocks increase

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed that the Islamic Republic would violate outstanding United Nations restrictions governing the country’s ballistic missile program and that the behavior would not violate the recent nuclear accord, according to a translation of the leader’s remarks performed by the CIA’s Open Source Center.

Iran is “not committed to the restrictions on its missile program,” according to a recent comment made by Rouhani, who said  a violation of  international restrictions would not impact the nuclear accord recently reached with global powers.

Iran’s Rowhani vows to ignore missile agreement in nuclear deal

“We will purchase weapons from wherever we deem necessary and we are not waiting for anyone’s permission; if we deem necessary we will sell our weapons and we will do this without paying attention to any resolution,” Rowhani said on Aug. 22 at a National Defense Industry Day ceremony according to the semi-official Fars News Agency.

Teheran unveiled a new advanced missile during National Defense Industry Day ceremonies, as well as a satellite launcher that experts estimate paves the way for Iran’s development of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

Iran buys 100 Russian refueling aircraft for its air force to reach any point in the Mid East

In case anyone missed the memo a week ago on Iran’s intention regardless of the nuclear deal:

 

In defiance of the international arms embargo, Iran last week placed an order with Moscow for a huge fleet of 100 Russian IL78 MKI tanker aircraft (NATO: Midas) for refueling its air force in mid-flight, thereby extending its range to 7,300 km. This is reported exclusively by debkafile from its military and intelligence sources. The transaction runs contrary to the terms of the nuclear accord the six world powers and Iran signed in Vienna earlier this month.

These tanker planes can simultaneously refuel six to eight warplanes. Their acquisition brings Israel, 1.200km away – as well the rest of the Middle East – within easy range of Iranian aerial bombardment. It also puts Iran’s air force ahead of Israel’s in terms of the quantity and range of its refueling capacity.