Those in the Obama administration who tried to “sell” the Iran nuclear deal claimed that the agreement would trigger many changes in the regime and benefits would be seen by all. They said it would bring even more moderation into the regime and that it would stop nuclear weapons programs. However, more than a year later we are still waiting to see anything positive come from the deal.
Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007, a 2016 Republican candidate for president and advisory board member of United Against Nuclear Iran, Jeb Bush, and counsellor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, cofounder of United Against Nuclear Iran, and special assistant to President Obama from 2009 to 2011, Dennis Ross, have advised Donald Trump to isolate Iran immediately.
With the new administration in place in the US, Iran is opposing its participation in Syria peace talks in capital of Kazakhstan, Astana. The Foreign Minister of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif said last week: “We have not invited them, and we are against their presence.” This shows that Iran is clearly fearful of the Trump administration. Trump has not been silent with his concerns regarding Iran.
In an unprecedented move, a 23 member bi-partisan group of senior former US officials signed a critical letter and delivered it to President-elect Donald Trump. The letter suggested new policy options regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran and the need for the United States to open up a meaningful channel of communication with the Iranian opposition, namely the coalition, National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which is led by Maryam Rajavi. Wrote Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, an Iranian-American political scientist, and president of the International American Council wrote in article which was published in ‘alarabiya.net’ on January 20, the articles continues as follows:
Al-Arabiya published an article on January 17 by Abdulrahman al-Rashed, former General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel, and veteran internationally acclaimed journalist, about Iran’s relationship with outgoing President Barack Obama, which he compares to the animal fable about “a frog that carries a scorpion on its back across a river. The frog is first hesitant to carry the scorpion out of fear of being stung but the scorpion insists it wouldn’t. However, the scorpion does indeed sting the frog and when the latter asks it why it did so, the scorpion replies saying it was its natural for it to do so.”
According to a document released this week, Osama bin Laden suspected Iranian officials of putting tracking devices into his sons. This document was one of many pieces of evidence seized during the 2011 attack that resulted in the death of the al-Qaida leader.
For over two years, American intelligence officers have tried to declassify the many documents they obtained during the raid.
In his article for The Hill, Shahriar Kia, political analyst and member of the Iranian opposition, the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, also known as the MEK), writes about Iran’s Middle East ambitions.
The six-year uprising for freedom from decades of dictatorship in their country, by the Syrian people, is now becoming a regional war and global crisis.
Human rights organisation Amnesty International has slammed Iran’s use of inhumane punishment such as blinding, flogging and amputation. It pointed out that every year hundreds of people are subjected to flogging, often in public, in Iran.
Amnesty International recently reported the case of a journalist who was lashed 40 times earlier this month for not reporting the correct number of motorcycles the police have confiscated in a certain city.
One of the most challenging tasks for President-elect Donald Trump to deal with when he enters office will be foreign policy with regards to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Trump has openly criticised the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – an Obama-led nuclear agreement that left Iran with the upper hand.
On Tuesday 17th January a conference was held at the Victor Hugo Hall of the French National Assembly on the topic of “Middle East Developments, French and European Approaches”.
There were numerous speakers from the French Parliament such as Dominique Lefebvre, Michel Terrot, Brigitte Allain, Pascal Deguilhem, Philippe Gosselin and Federic Reiss. There were also other prominent figures from all over the world including Dr. Alejo Vidal Quadras, former Vice President of the European Parliament and Amb. Lincoln Bloomfield, former Assistant US Secretary of State.
