Iran Focus

Washington, 30 Sep – Nikki Haley, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, said “some countries” are shielding Iran from inspections by the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It’s believed Haley was targeting Russia, as several diplomats say that Russia has been trying to restrict the IAEA’s role by arguing it has no authority to police a broadly worded section of the deal.

These inspections are specifically mandated under the landmark 2015 Nuclear Deal with six major powers that restricted Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Haley said that the IAEA should widen the inspections to include military sites.

Iran Focus

London, 30 Sep – The future of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal negotiated by former US President Barack Obama is on shaky ground. During his first ever United Nations General Assembly speech, President Donald Trump made quite a statement. He called the nuclear deal an “embarrassment” to his country because it is so one-sided.

He added: “The Iranian government masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy. It has turned a wealthy country with a rich history and culture into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed, and chaos. The longest-suffering victims of Iran’s leaders are, in fact, its own people.”

It was a strongly-worded speech that made some of the other diplomats and world leaders uncomfortable.

Iran Focus

London, 29 Sep – President of the United States Donald Trump has a deadline of 15th October in which he is legally obliged to inform Congress about Iran’s compliance, or non-compliance, with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

His decision is eagerly awaited because it could have a profound impact on the future of the nuclear deal. If he decides that he will not certify Iran compliant with the deal, which he has hinted that he may do, the next step will be up to Congress.

Congress will have sixty days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions that were in place before the nuclear deal was signed. They were sanctions that were truly crippling the country’s economy.

Iran Focus

London, 28 Sep – A prominent critic of the Iranian nuclear deal recently discussed why he hopes Donald Trump will see the light and finally decertify Iran’s compliance at the October deadline.

David Ibsen, president of the United against a Nuclear Iran think tank, gave an interview to the Adriana Cohen Show on Boston Herald Radio on Wednesday September 27, in which he assessed that although it is hard to say for certain what will happen on October 15, he hopes Trump will back up his tough talk on Iran with action.

Ibsen said: “I think one hope that people have is that if the president doesn’t recertify this deal that we can put pressure on our allies and the Iranians to shore up some of the shortcomings of the agreement.”

Iran Focus

London, 28 Sep – The US should withdraw from the Iranian Nuclear Deal using the plan devised by former American Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, according to a national security expert.

Fred Fleitz, senior vice president for policy and programs at the Center for Security Policy, wrote an op-ed for Fox News in which he asserted that this move away from the nuclear deal was the right thing for the US and should begin with the decertification of the Iranian Regime as compliant with the nuclear deal at the October deadline.

Fleitz is not alone in his calls for Trump to ignore Iran apologists and end the deal (formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action of JCPOA). Some 45 national security experts, including former Under Secretary of State for Arms Control Robert Joseph; former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith; former Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Gen. William Boykin, recently wrote a letter to Trump imploring him to withdraw from the deal using Bolton’s plan.

Iran Focus

London, 28 Sep – A US confrontation with Iran seems inevitable which means that oil prices will soar, according to a commodities expert.

Kirk Spano wrote an op-ed for Seeking Alpha in which he asserted that Donald Trump is already ramping up the pressure on the Iranian Regime and that as soon as the first shot is fired, oil prices will surge because supply will be disrupted.

This is not the first article that Spano wrote on the subject. In mid-September he wrote a piece called “An Iran War is Coming – Buy Oil Stocks Now” which was criticised by some as “clickbait” or “inflammatory” with some outright dismissing the idea of war with Iran. In his new article, Spano is using Trump’s speech to United Nations General Assembly as evidence.

Iran Focus

London, 28 Sep – Iran and North Korea pose as much of a threat today as they did when George W. Bush announced them as part of the Axis of Evil in 2002, along with Iraq, and we must stop pretending otherwise, according to one legal expert who specialises in terrorism cases.

Gary M. Osen, who litigates terrorist financing, state-sponsored terrorism and U.S. anti-terrorism law cases in federal courts, wrote an op-ed for News Max in which he asserted that because we didn’t listen at the time, Iran and North Korea still pose a threat to the world.

He noted that although Bush had been mocked at the time for evoking a relationship between the three states that many believe did not exist, he was ultimately proven right.