Obama put Iran's ballistic missile program back in business
The Washington Free Beacon reports that the Obama administration put Iran's ballistic missile program back in business by removing sanctions on its primary bank, and then lied to Congress about it for nine months.
The Obama administration misled journalists and lawmakers for more
than nine months about a secret agreement to lift international
sanctions on a critical funding node of Iran’s ballistic missile
program, as part of a broader “ransom” package earlier this year that
involved Iran freeing several U.S. hostages, according to U.S. officials
and congressional sources apprised of the situation.
The administration agreed to immediately lift global restrictions on Iran’s Bank Sepah—a bank the Treasury Department described
in 2007 as the “linchpin of Iran’s missile procurement”–eight years
before they were to be lifted under last summer’s comprehensive nuclear
agreement. U.S. officials initially described the move as a “goodwill
gesture” to Iran.
The United States also agreed to provide Iran $1.7 billion in cash to
release or drop charges against 21 Iranians indicted for illegally
assisting Tehran. Full details of this secret agreement were kept hidden
from Congress and journalists for more than nine months, multiple
sources told the Washington Free Beacon.
State Department officials who spoke to the Free Beacon now
say the United States “already made” the decision to drop U.S.
sanctions, but declined to address multiple questions aimed at
clarifying the discrepancy between past and current explanations for
dropping international sanctions.
...
Senior Iranian officials said in January that the $1.7 billion
payment and delisting of Bank Sepah were part of the agreement to free
U.S. hostages, a charge the Obama administration denied at the time.
“The annulment of sanctions against Iran’s Bank Sepah and reclaiming
of $1.7mln of Iran’s frozen assets after 36 years showed that the U.S.
doesn’t understand anything but the language of force,” Mohammad Reza
Naqdi, commander of Iran’s Basij Volunteer Force, told Iran’s state-controlled press in early February.
Senior congressional sources apprised of the matter told the Free Beacon
that these latest revelations provide further proof of the
administration’s intentional bid to deceive the public about its
dealings with Iran.
“Facts are facts, no matter how much the administration tries to hide
them,” said one senior congressional aide involved in investigating the
matter. “Journalists and Members of Congress are on the trail and have
already uncovered so much, including the cash payment of almost $2
billion to the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism as a ransom
for four American hostages. The truth, no matter how disturbing it is,
will continue to come out.”
“This should eliminate any remaining doubt that the administration
paid a ransom to Iran,” said another source familiar with the issue.
“Why else would they keep Congress and the American people in the dark
about this unprecedented concession? President Obama’s continued
capitulation to the Iranian regime is a hazard to our national
security.”
Another source who serves as a senior adviser to Congress and is familiar with the administration’s thinking told the Free Beacon
that the Obama administration misled the public to avoid sparking
outrage over its decision to drop sanctions on the top funder of Iran’s
ballistic missile program.
“The Obama administration couldn’t tell the American public that it
had just unleashed Iran’s ballistic missile program as one part of an
enormous ransom extracted by Iran,” the source said. “So instead they
ran to friendly reporters to misleadingly boast about how successful
their diplomacy was, while they were bribing Iran with billions of
dollars and military concessions to stay at the table.”
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington, D.C.-based
think tank, described the administration’s move as putting Iran’s
ballistic missile program “back in business.”
“It represents a unilateral dismantling of the international ballistic missile embargo against the Islamic Republic,” FDD wrote in a recent policy analysis. “Iran’s preferred missile-financing bank is back in business.”
Can't wait to see what comes out after the elections. Maybe they'll even find that missing Obama video.
The Israel Project's Omri Ceren talks about the Iran deal
Omri Ceren talked by video from New York City and about the Iran nuclear
deal, his opposition to the deal, and the lobbying effects of other
groups who were supporting the deal. He responded to a video clip from
Daniel Kalik speaking August 16, 2015, and an ad from his J Street
organization supporting the deal. Mr. Ceren responded to telephone calls
and electronic communications, with the telephone lines divided between
those who supported and opposed the deal.
Report: Obama covered up N. Korea missile component transfers to Iran during nuke talks
The Washington Free Beacon reports that North Korea transferred advanced missile components to Iran while the P 5+1 talks with Iran were ongoing - and that President Hussein Obama hid that fact from the United Nations (Hat Tip: Gershon D).
Since September more than two shipments of missile parts have been
monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies as they transited from North
Korea to Iran, said officials familiar with intelligence reports who
spoke on condition of anonymity.
Details of the arms shipments were included in President Obama’s
daily intelligence briefings and officials suggested information about
the transfers was kept secret from the United Nations, which is in
charge of monitoring sanctions violations.
...
CIA spokesman Ryan Trapani declined to comment on the missile
component shipments, citing a policy of not discussing classified
information.
But other officials said the transfers included goods covered by the
Missile Technology Control Regime, a voluntary agreement among 34
nations that limits transfers of missiles and components of systems with
ranges of greater than 186 miles.
One official said the transfers between North Korea and Iran included
large diameter engines, which could be used for a future Iranian
long-range missile system.
The United Nations Security Council in June 2010 imposed sanctions on
Iran for its illegal uranium enrichment program. The sanctions prohibit
Iran from purchasing ballistic missile goods and are aimed at blocking
Iran from acquiring “technology related to ballistic missiles capable of
delivering nuclear weapons.”
U.S. officials said the transfers carried out since September appear to be covered by the sanctions.
Other details of the transfers could not be learned. However, U.S.
intelligence agencies in the past have identified Iran’s Islamic
Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) as the main shipper involved in transferring ballistic missile-related materials.
...
A classified State Department cable from October 2009 reveals that Iran is one of North Korea’s key missile customers.
The cable, made public by Wikileaks, states that since the 1980s
North Korea has provided Iran with complete Scud missiles and production
technology used in developing 620-mile-range Nodong missiles.
Additionally, North Korea also supplied Iran with a medium-range
missile called the BM-25 that is a variant of the North Korean Musudan
missile.
“This technology would provide Iran with more advanced missile
technology than currently used in its Shahab-series of ballistic
missiles and could form the basis for future Iranian missile and [space
launch vehicle] designs.”
“Pyongyang’s assistance to Iran’s [space launch vehicle] program
suggests that North Korea and Iran may also be cooperating on the
development of long-range ballistic missiles.”
A second cable
from September 2009 states that Iran’s Safir rocket uses missile
steering engines likely provided by North Korea that are based on
Soviet-era SS-N-6 submarine launched ballistic missiles.
That technology transfer was significant because it has allowed Iran
to develop a self-igniting missile propellant that the cable said “could
significantly enhance Tehran’s ability to develop a new generation of
more-advanced ballistic missiles.”
“All of these technologies, demonstrated in the Safir [space launch
vehicle] are critical to the development of long-range ballistic
missiles and highlight the possibility of Iran using the Safir as a
platform to further its ballistic missile development.”
A spokesman for Spain’s mission to the United Nations, currently in
charge of the world body’s sanctions committee, said the committee has
not received any communications from the United States since Spain took
charge of the panel in January.
If you're waiting for a White House or State Department denial, don't hold your breath.
White House National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan
declined to comment. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf did not
return emails seeking comment.
If you're still wondering whose side President Obama is on, or whether he's seeking to arm Iran with nuclear weapons, I don't think you have to wonder anymore.
Israeli TV shows first images of Iranian missile that can reach 'far beyond Europe'
As Iran allegedly negotiates an agreement with the P 5+1 with respect to its nuclear program, Israel's Channel 2 showed a satellite image (above) in which a new Iranian missile 'that can reach far beyond Europe' is shown.
Iran has built a 27-meter-long missile, capable of delivering a
warhead “far beyond Europe,” and placed it on a launch pad at a site
close to Tehran, an Israeli television report said Wednesday, showing
what it said were the first satellite images of the missile ever seen in
the West.
It stressed that the missile could be used to launch spacecraft or satellites, but also to carry warheads.
The Channel 2 news report showed satellite imagery documenting what
it said was Iran’s “very rapid progress” on long-range missile
manufacture.
It showed one photograph of a site near Tehran, which it said the
West had known about for two years, where Iran was working on engines
for its long-range missiles.
It then showed a satellite photograph of a second site, nearby, which
featured a launch pad, with the 27-meter missile on it — an Iranian
missile “never seen before” by the West.
The missile is capable of taking a manned spacecraft or satellite into space, the TV report said.
It is also capable of carrying a conventional or non-conventional warhead “far beyond Europe,” the report added.
Another weapon whose development is not restricted by the JPOA? What could go wrong?
President Hussein Obama may not have red lines, but Iran sure does. The Iranians have made it quite clear - again - that they will not negotiate over their ballistic missile program. I received this via email from The Israel Project.
A top Iranian official reiterated on Wednesday that
Tehran will refuse to discuss its ballistic missile program in the
context of comprehensive negotiations over its nuclear program with the
international community, the latest in a long line of statements underlining that the Islamic republic views the issue as a red line.
The dispute has the potential to impact the domestic policy debate in
the United States both substantively and politically. Substantively, the
issue is tangled up in a broader debate over the degree to which Iran
will be forced to account for or roll back suspected military dimensions
of its atomic program. Iranian negotiators had this week sought already
to delay discussions wholesale of
all such dimensions, which range from warhead development to the
involvement of the Iranian military in uranium production. Politically
an outright Iranian refusal is likely to erode confidence in the Obama
administration's diplomatic nimbleness. Iranian negotiators had managed
to exclude mention of Iran's missile program from the interim Joint
Action Plan (JPA), an omission that White House figures justified to
lawmakers and journalists as justified for the sake of building
momentum. Lead U.S. diplomacy, including lead negotiator Undersecretary
of State Wendy Sherman, instead insisted that Iran's ballistic missile program would be addressed in comprehensive negotiations.
And now that the sanctions are effectively gone, Iran just has so many incentives to make that concession....
The commander of U.S. military forces in the Pacific said this week that North Korea’s
KN-08 missile — a new road-mobile, intercontinental-range weapon — is a
serious threat with the potential to hit the United States with a
nuclear warhead.
The comments by Navy Adm. Samuel Locklear
to foreign reporters on Tuesday were made as a report provided new
details on the six KN-08 missiles — initially thought in 2012 to be
mock-ups — that now appear to be hard-to-locate and easy-to-fire mobile
intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
“From a military
planning perspective, when I see KN-08 road-mobile missiles that appear
in a North Korean military parade, I am bound to take that serious, both
for not only the peninsula, but also the region, as well as my own
homeland, should we speculate that those missiles potentially have the
technology to reach out,” Adm. Locklear said.
North Korea wants the United States to believe it has strategic missiles, and the strategic threat cannot be ignored, he said.
The KN-08's have not yet been tested.
Meanwhile, North Korea is also reported to be developing an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapon.
A new twist on the threat of a North Korea
missile strike on the United States was disclosed Monday in Seoul.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service revealed that Pyongyang is
developing an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapon.
The intelligence service stated in a report to the South Korean legislature that North Korea has purchased Russian-made EMP technology for developing its own pulse arms, Agence France-Presse reported.
EMP
was first discovered in the 1950s during nuclear tests in the Pacific.
After large nuclear test blasts, all electronics in areas up to 1,000
miles from the point of detonation were disrupted.
In recent
years, EMP simulators have evolved from test equipment — used to check
the survivability of electronics on nuclear and other weapons — to
offensive weapons that can create EMP waves without nuclear blasts. The
United States, China, Russia and North Korea are believed to be working on EMP weapons.
Former CIA Director R. James Woolsey Jr. and Peter Pry, a former U.S. intelligence officer who took part in a congressional EMP commission, stated in a recent article that North Korea’s long-range missiles appear “capable of making a catastrophic nuclear EMP attack on the United States.”
North Korea’s
2012 satellite launch shows that a warhead-equipped satellite in polar
orbit at a height of around 310 miles could be detonated over U.S.
territory. The satellite bomb would be “ideal for making an EMP attack
that places the [disruption] field over the entire contiguous 48 United
States,” they wrote on the Family Security Matters website.
Analyst Mark Langfan says that if North Korea has these weapons, so does Iran.
Arutz Sheva analyst Mark Langfan, who has been warning of
the EMP threat for a long time, notes that North Korea and Iran have
long been cooperating in the nuclear field, and that technology that
reaches Pyongyang can be assumed to have reached Iran as well.
Langfan recently predicted
that Iran will use an EMP bomb to take control of the Shiite-majority
areas of eastern Saudi Arabia where almost 100% of Saudi oil is located.
One Iranian EMP bomb can knock out the Saudi and American defenses in Saudi Arabia, he noted.
US assessment: Iranian rockets could reach US by 2015
A new assessment by the United States National Air and Space Intelligence Center says that Iran's ambitious missile plans could result in it having rockets that could reach the United States by 2015.
The report, the Foreign
Ballistic and Cruise Missile Threat Assessment, was prepared by the
National Air and Space Intelligence Center with significant
contributions from the Defense Intelligence Agency Missile and Space
Intelligence Center and the Office of Naval Intelligence. The report's
authors could not determine how many ICBM's the Iranians currently
possess.
The report states that since 2008, Iran has
conducted multiple successful launches of the two-stage Safir space
launch vehicle and has also revealed the larger two-stage Simorgh SLV,
which could serve as a test bed for developing ICBM technologies. Since
2010, Iran has revealed the Qiam-1 SRBM, the fourth generation Fateh-110
SRBM, and claims to be mass-producing anti-ship ballistic missiles.
Iran has modified its Shahab 3 medium-range ballistic missile to extend
its range and effectiveness and also claims to have deployed the
two-stage, solid-propellant Sejjil MRBM.
U.S. intelligence says that Iran has ambitious
ballistic missile and space launch development programs and continues
to attempt to increase the range, lethality, and accuracy of its
ballistic missile force. Iranian ballistic missile forces continue to
train extensively in highly publicized exercises. These exercises enable
Iranian ballistic missile forces to hone wartime operational skills and
evolve new tactics. Iran is fielding increased numbers of theater
ballistic missiles, improving its existing inventory, and is developing
the technical capability to produce an ICBM.
Iran has an extensive missile development
program, and has received support from entities in Russia, China, and
North Korea. The Iranian Shahab 3 MRBM is based on the North Korean No
Dong missile. Iran has modified the Shahab 3 to extend its range and
effectiveness, with the longest range variant reportedly being able to
reach targets at a distance of about 2,000 kilometers. Iran also claims
to have mass-produced Shahab 3 missiles. Iranian solid-propellant rocket
and missile programs are also progressing. Iran has conducted multiple
launches of the Sejjil, a solid-propellant MRBM with a claimed range of
2,000 kilometers. In addition, Iran has conducted multiple launches of
the Safir, a multistage SLV that can serve as a test bed for long-range
ballistic missile technologies.
US Defense Intelligence Agency: N. Korea can mount nuclear weapon on ballistic missile
In an assessment mistakenly marked as 'unclassified,' the United States Defense Intelligence Agency has concluded with a moderate degree of confidence that North Korea is capable of mounting a nuclear weapon aboard a ballistic missile.
The evaluation, dated last month, was made public by Republican
Representative Doug Lamborn as he questioned senior Pentagon officials
about North Korea's nuclear weapons program during a hearing of the
House of Representatives Armed Services Committee.
"DIA assesses
with moderate confidence the North currently has nuclear weapons capable
of delivery by ballistic missiles, however the reliability will be
low," said Lamborn. He was quoting from a DIA report entitled "Dynamic
Threat Assessment 8099: North Korea Nuclear Weapons Program (March
2013)."
US officials and South Korea sought to play down the DIA evaluation.
Pentagon
spokesman George Little said, "It would be inaccurate to suggest that
the North Korean regime has fully tested, developed or demonstrated the
kinds of nuclear capabilities referenced in the passage."
James
Clapper, the country's senior intelligence official, warned that the
assessment was not necessarily shared by the wider US intelligence
community.
"I would add that the statement read by the Member is
not an Intelligence Community assessment. Moreover, North Korea has not
yet demonstrated the full range of capabilities necessary for a nuclear
armed missile," Clapper, the director of national intelligence, said in a
statement.
I'd have a lot more confidence in the Defense Intelligence Agency than I would in Clapper. Clapper is the moron who told a Congressional committee two years ago that the biggest threats the United States faces are Russian and China, and not Iran, North Korea and Islamic terrorists.
And wouldn't it be just like the Obama administration to go too far in downplaying a threat?
Lamborn did not say what range any nuclear-capable North Korean
missiles might have. Kristensen said one analyst recently claimed
nuclear warhead capability for North Korea's Nodong short- to
medium-range missile. It would be able to hit US-based facilities in the
region, including South Korea and probably Japan.
The United
States and South Korea have plans to respond proportionately to North
Korean provocations like the shelling of an island or attacking a ship.
But
not wanting to increase the tension in Korea, Washington has not been
explicit about how it would respond to an incident involving nuclear
arms, beyond saying it was capable of defending itself and its partners.
US
President Barack Obama said on Thursday the United States would work
diplomatically to reduce tensions with North Korea, but warned that
Washington would take "all necessary steps" to protect America and its
allies.
The percentage of Americans who believe that North Korea is a threat to their country has risen by 13% in the last month to 40%. And given how incredibly little the United States knows of North Korea's intentions, it's not surprising that Americans are starting to get nervous.
The Obama administration calculates it's likely North Korea may test
fire mobile ballistic missiles at any time, based on the most recent
intelligence showing Pyongyang probably has completed launch
preparations, a U.S. official said Tuesday.
The administration
believes a test launch could happen without North Korea issuing a
standard notice to commercial aviation and maritime shipping warning
them to stay away from the missile's path, according to the official,
who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the information.
He cautioned most of the
information comes from satellite imagery, so it's impossible to reach a
definitive conclusion because the United States has no means to gather
information on the ground.
"We hope they issue a
notification, but at this point we don't expect it. We are working on
the assumption they won't, " the official said.
He said the launch could be "imminent," but also cautioned that the United States "simply doesn't know."
They hope North Korea will notify them? They simply don't know?
So this where Obama's appeasement is leading teh United States and its allies... What if North Korea and Iran both attack with nuclear weapons at the same time? What could go wrong?
US missile-warning
systems detected the launch of a North Korean rocket on Tuesday, and
initial indications are that the missile deployed an object that
appeared to achieve orbit, the North American Aerospace Defense Command,
or NORAD, said.
The launch was detected at 7:49 p.m. EST (0049
GMT Wednesday) and the rocket was tracked on a southerly course, with
the first stage falling into the Yellow Sea and the second stage falling
into the Philippine Sea.
"Initial indications are that the
missile deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit," NORAD said
in a statement. "At no time was the missile or the resultant debris a
threat to North America."
"We noted the
launch and we are monitoring the situation. We will have further
official comment later," the official said in an email message.
North
Korea launched a long-range rocket for the second time this year on
Wednesday local time, and may have succeeded in putting a satellite into
space, the stated aim of what critics say is a disguised ballistic
missile test.
The UN and the Russians are not so sanguine. This is from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
"The
Secretary-General deplores the rocket launch announced by the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)," Ban's spokesman Martin
Nesirky said in a statement.
"It is a clear violation of Security
Council resolution 1874, in which the Council demanded that the DPRK
not conduct any launch using ballistic missile technology," the
statement said.
Russia expressed
"deep regret" over North Korea's rocket launch on Wednesday, saying the
reclusive nation had violated a UN Security Council resolution limiting
its use of ballistic technology.
The Russian Foreign Ministry
said in a statement that the North Korean launch had increased
instability in the region and called on other nations to refrain from
actions that would further escalate tensions.
But Hussein Obama is on vacation now. We can't let this interfere with his golf game. And don't give me this crap about it being the middle of the night in the US when this happened. He announced that Osama Bin Laden had been liquidated around 11:30 pm US Eastern time in May.
The June 29 report, which was signed by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, states that Tehran "has boosted the lethality and effectiveness of existing systems by improving accuracy and developing new submunition payloads" that extend the destructive power over a broader area than a solid warhead.
According to Bloomberg, the report found that the improvements are in tandem with routine ballistic- missile training that "continues throughout the country" and the addition of "new ships and submarines."
Bloomberg said the report also addresses the Islamic Republic's nuclear program and the assistance it offers to Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas and Iraqi Shiite groups. It also repeated the US assessment that Iran with "sufficient foreign assistance may be technically capable of flight-testing" an intercontinental ballistic missile by 2015.
"There was a theme that Iran is improving the accuracy and lethality of its missiles," Bloomberg quoted Congressional Research Service Iran analyst Kenneth Katzman as saying.
"US government reports have previously always downplayed the accuracy and effectiveness of Iran’s missile forces," he added.
Failed Russian ICBM crosses Azerbaijan, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey
Around 8:45 on Thursday night, there was a glow in the skies over Israel. This UFO was not a Martian spaceship, but it probably was a Russian ICBM.
Let's go to the videotape.
Later Thursday, Russian news agency Novosti quoted the Defense Ministry in Moscow, which confirmed that a missile was test-fired from the Astrakhan region in central Russia. The trail of light seen in Israel was also reported in Armenia, Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon, Jordan and other countries in the region.
According to a statement issued by Russia's Defense Ministry, crews belonging to the army's strategic missile division successfully test-fired a ballistic missile at 9:39 pm, Moscow time. A video shot in the area the missile was fired from showed parts of the missile falling. However, the clip was removed a few minutes after being posted.
Israeli Astronomical Association Chairman Dr. Yigal Pat-El said that it is quite possible that the unidentified flying object reported by residents nationwide was a ballistic missile test.
"It most likely spun out of control and its remnants and the fuel was what people saw. It reached a height of 200-300 kilometers and that's why it was seen from so many locations," he told Ynet.
"We saw a large trail of light traveling from a distant spot in the sky," Dorit from northern Israel reported earlier. "We could not see the source of the light. The trail was massive. It was an unusual sight. Moments later we saw swirling movement where the light was coming from."
Concerned citizens in Armenia and Lebanon also called their local police stations after seeing the unusual glowing light. One Lebanese citizen reported seeing the light in the sky and in response an American web-surfer said it might be a military test. The Lebanese woman laughingly responded with: "A military test? Here?"
Notably, similar reports were received in Norway in 2009, following a failed Russian missile test. At the time, residents offered various explanations, ranging from a meteor to a UFO.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
