Tag: Iran Deal

Biden Taps Coordinator of Obama’s Iran Nuclear Deal to Lead Trump Transition at State Department

Tom Pappert
Stephen Mull

The Biden U.S. State Department announced on Thursday the agency’s transition to the Trump administration will be coordinated by Stephen Mull, a former longtime State Department official who most recently served as the lead coordinator for the Iran nuclear deal reached under former President Barack Obama, and who is now the provost for the University of Virginia (UVA).

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller confirmed Mull was appointed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to lead the agency’s transition in a press conference. He told reporters the agency views a “peaceful transition of power” as an “essential part of our democracy that is vital to our nation’s security.”

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Ousted Iran Deal Negotiator to Teach Yale Class on Israel-Palestine Conflict Despite Ongoing FBI Investigation

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Robert Malley

Robert Malley, a Biden administration official who was embroiled in controversy while working as Special Envoy to Iran, is set to teach a course on the Middle East at Yale University.

The syllabus for the class, which is titled “Contending with Israel-Palestine,” says the course will take “an in-depth look at important questions surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” according to Yale Daily News.

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U.S. Should Continue Pressuring Iran Over Nuclear Program, Sen. Blackburn Tells Fox News

Jason M. Reynolds

  The United States needs to keep the pressure on Iran over its nuclear enrichment program, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn told anchor Charles Payne on Fox News. The interview video feed from “Sunday Morning Futures,” which aired Saturday, is available here. The transcript is available here. Blackburn is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Iran is desperate, the senator said, and, “Bear in mind, their economy is shrinking six to ten percent this year. Inflation is at forty percent.” President Donald Trump is doing the right thing with sanctions to stop them from enriching uranium and supporting terrorism, she said. This problem dates to the 1970s with the Iranian revolution. “The pressure is having an effect,” she said. The U.S. learned during President Barack Obama’s years that “leading from behind does not work,” she said in response to a question about getting European allies on board. Blackburn said she is holding out hope that diplomacy can work. Blackburn has been a consistent ally on President Trump’s efforts to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions. On June 27, the Johnson City Press quoted her as saying she supports the president’s new sanctions, which are in response to Iran shooting down an…

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Iran Says Will Withdraw from Obama’s Nuclear Deal, Threatens Resumption of Uranium Enrichment

Jason M. Reynolds

  Iran’s president said Wednesday the country will stop complying with parts of former President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal, Fox News said. Hassan Rouhani set a 60-day deadline for new terms before resuming higher uranium enrichment, Fox News said. It has been a year since President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from Obama’s 2015 agreement. The breakaway could further escalate tensions between Iran and the United States. ABC News reported that the recent decision to send an aircraft carrier and bombers to the Middle East to deter Iran stemmed in part from intelligence that the nation was possibly transporting missiles on boats in the Persian Gulf. In response to Iran’s announcement, U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07), gave the following statement: “President Trump was absolutely right to back out of the Iran Deal in 2017. Technically, the Obama administration willed the JCPOA into existence. Iran never signed the deal in the first place and it was never a treaty approved by Congress. Now Iran is announcing it is pulling out of that same nuclear deal and sets an ultimatum to renegotiate terms. How do you back out of a deal never acknowledged in the first place? “Clearly, Iran is…

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Five Takeaways From Israel’s Massive Intelligence Operation on Iran

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by James Carafano   The Israeli government on Monday unloaded a massive intelligence data dump that demonstrated Iran’s efforts to hide its nuclear weapons program. The revelations come weeks before an anticipated decision by the U.S. to “fix or nix” the Iran nuclear deal. Reactions to the Israeli intelligence revelations ranged from “ding-dong the deal is dead” to “nothing to see here, move along people.” Neither of these extreme assessments accurately characterize the likely impact this intelligence data will have on the final U.S. decision. Here are five takeaways from the intelligence dump that the Trump administration will no doubt take to heart. [ The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more ] 1. Trust but verify. The information is true. It is highly unlikely that Monday’s briefing from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the first the administration has heard about the Israeli intelligence operation. U.S. officials have already confirmedthe veracity of the documents. That doesn’t happen so immediately without prior contact. Sure, the White House knows the Israeli government dumped the information at a strategic time so as to add pressure to the White House to dump the deal. That…

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US: Plans Being Made in Case Iran Nuclear Talks With Europeans Fail

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The U.S. says it had constructive talks with its European partners last week on changes to the Iran nuclear agreement, but it is making contingency plans in case the talks fail and President Donald Trump decides to pull out of the landmark 2015 deal. Lead negotiator and State Department Policy Planning Director Brian Hook told reporters Wednesday he cannot predict whether U.S. talks with Britain, France and Germany on forging a supplemental agreement to address what Trump sees as deficiencies in the Iran nuclear agreement can meet a May deadline.

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