A push from the Obama Administration to ease sanctions against Iran even if that country does not stop their nuclear program is causing severe tension between Washington and Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the rare step of blasting the U.S. in public demanding to know why President Obama was in such a hurry to lift sanctions against a country that has sworn to destroy Israel.
Some analysts believe that the current push by the Obama Administration to ease or remove sanctions against Iran for their nuclear program is an indication they’ve given up on attempting to broker a peace deal between Israel and Palestinians.
The White House issued a statement saying that President Obama had called Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Friday to talk about the negotiations with Iran and to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to keeping that country from obtaining a nuclear bomb. However, the statement did not include a reference the two men discussed the peace talks which is the first time a phone conversation between the leaders did not include that topic.
Israeli officials say that Obama’s hurried negotiations with Iran have stripped away most of the goodwill he built up during a March visit to Israel.
The American pastor being held in Iran because of his faith was moved to a prison considered even more brutal than where he had previously been held.
Family members of Saeed Abedini went to visit him at Evin Prison, a Tehran facility where he had been kept over a year. When they arrived, they were told the pastor had been moved 90 minutes away to Rajai Shahr Prison.
Rajai Shahr prison houses some of Iran’s more violent prisoners including murderers and rapists. Also, Abedini is not allowed to have any visitors at that prison.
The American Center for Law and Justice, Abedini’s American based attorneys, say that Abedini has been beaten and tortured. The mysterious move has concerned his lawyers who have been closely monitoring Abedini’s health.
Israel is releasing 26 long held Palestinian prisoners as part of a deal worked out by the United States to resume peace talks.
The release is the second of four scheduled under the agreement.
All of the prisoners were convicted of murder before the 1993 Oslo agreements between Israel and the PLO. The prisoners have served between 19 and 28 years in Israeli prisons.
The announcement of the prisoner release comes on the heels of a second announcement, Israel will continue building Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Palestinians walked away from the negotiation table in 2010 over Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Iranian groups are planning a massive rally to celebrate the 24th anniversary of the storming of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran called the “Grand Day of Death to America.”
A new government bureaucratic group called the Death to the U.S. Committee is reportedly organizing the rally according to Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri.
“The crimes of U.S. leaders and international Zionism in dealing with Iran’s great nation will never be erased from public memories and minds,” Jazayeri said.
The New York Times reports the event will include the awarding of the First Major International Award of ‘Down With America.’ The award will be given for the best anti-American picture, poster, song, video or caricature. The winner of the award could receive up to $4,000.
The rally by hard-liners is seen as a response to recent reports that new President Hassan Rouhani is taking a more moderate position with the United States.
Just days after reports that the country is about a month away from having enough material for a nuclear weapon, Iran has announced they are opening 34 new nuclear sites.
Iranian leaders, despite initial attempts at appearing to give ground at talks aimed at ending their nuclear program, boldly said they will build enough nuclear plants to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity by 2020.
“We are considering construction of power plants along the coasts of the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea as well as the Central parts of Iran, but priority is given to the Persian Gulf coasts because we want to pave the way for water desalination facilities to supply drinking water for the Southern provinces of Iran,” said Iran Atomic Energy Organization head Ali Akbar Salehi.
Salehi also implied that those negotiating with western nations to end Iran’s nuclear program do not really have that authority.
Russia reportedly will be helping Iran build some of the reactors.
Four Iranian Christians will be receiving 80 lashes after being convicted of breaking Iranian law for using wine in a communion service.
The four men were sentenced on October 6th after being arrested on a raid of a house church in December. The men were charged with consuming alcohol because they were using wine to conduct a communion service.
The head of Christian Solidarity Worldwide says this action by the Iranian government effective criminalizes Christians exercising their faith.
“The sentences handed down to these members of the Church of Iran effectively criminalize the Christian sacrament of sharing in the Lord’s Supper and constitute an unacceptable infringement on the right to practice faith freely and peaceably,” Mervyn Thomas, chief executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, told Fox News.
More than 300 Christians have been arrested in Iran since 2010 for exercising their faith. The United Nations has been very critical of Iran’s treatment of Christians and has called for the release of several Christians imprisoned for their faith including American pastor Saeed Abedini.
An estimate from one of America’s top nuclear experts says that Iran is about one month away from having a functional nuclear bomb.
The announcement came as the White House invited Senate staffers to a briefing asking them to delay sanctions against Iran for their refusal to end their nuclear program. Also, Iran has blocked international inspectors from suspected nuclear facilities in violation of agreements the nation has signed.
The Institute for Science and International Security said that the “breakout times”, or the time it takes to enrich uranium to weapons grade, is shortening every day in Iran. Iran’s stockpile of highly-enriched uranium has almost doubled in a year and the nation has built 7,000 more centrifuges in the last year to enrich the nuclear material.
The White House asked for all sanctions to be delayed until after a scheduled negotiation session in Geneva next month.
United Nations inspectors have previously found evidence of a weapons program in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty despite Iran’s claim they are only enriching uranium for nuclear power.
The European Parliament passed a resolution calling for Iran to release Pastor Saeed Abedini, imprisoned for over a year because of his Christian faith.
The resolution states the European Parliament “is deeply concerned about the fate of Pastor Saeed Abedini, who has been detained for over a year and was sentenced to eight years of prison in Iran on charges related to his religious beliefs.”
The Christian Post reports that the resolution was received this week by the American Center for Law and Justice, who is representing the jailed pastor and his family.
Iran imprisoned the Christian pastor in 2012 for allegedly threatening national security. However, many world leaders have stated their beliefs his imprisonment is directly connected to his Christian faith.
Israel’s prime minister is warning that despite the tone of Iran’s new president regarding their nuclear program their end goal of obtaining a nuclear weapon has not changed.
“When it comes to nuclear weapons the only difference between the two is that Ahmadinejad is a wolf in wolf’s clothing, while Rouhani is a wolf in sheep’s clothing who thinks he can pull the wool over the eyes of the international community,” Benjamin Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly.
Iranian President Hasan Rouhani had downplayed the country’s nuclear aspirations in a speech last week to the U.N. that gained a lot of positive response from world leaders including a personal phone call from U.S. President Barack Obama.
“I wish I could believe Rouhani but I don’t because facts are stubborn things. Iran’s savage record flatly contradicts Rouhani’s soothing rhetoric,” Netanyahu said. “The last century taught us that when a radical regime with global ambitions gets awesome power its appetite for aggression knows no bounds. The world may have forgotten this lesson. The Jewish people have not.“
For the first time, President Obama has made a direct appeal to Iran for the release of jailed Christian pastor Saeed Abedini.
President Obama called Iranian President Hassan Rouhani marking the first time the leaders of the two nations have spoken directly since 1979. While the majority of the conversation centered on Iran’s enrichment of nuclear materials, Obama broached the subject of the American pastor jailed for his faith. Continue reading →
