WSJ: Secret UN Report ID's Iran as Source of Hamas Weapons

 

In an editorial published Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal commented on the findings of a report recently issued by a United Nations committee regarding the illegal Iranian arms shipment found on the Klos C, a ship that Israel intercepted in March. The weapons were found hidden under bags of cement.

The editorial (Google search  terms) ties the findings to the recent escalation of hostilities between the Iranian-sponsored terror groups in Gaza and Israel.

Tehran denies any role in the shipment. But a recent classified report from the U.N. Security Council's Sanctions Committee effectively confirms it, and we've seen the pertinent portions. The panel found that Bandar Abbas, a southern Iranian port, "is established as the origin of the shipment of 100 containers of cement, including the 20 containing weapons and ammunition." ...

The panel concluded: "The shipment of arms and related material found aboard the Klos C is a violation of Iran's obligations under paragraph 5 of resolution 1747," referring to an embargo on Iranian arms transfers imposed by the Security Council in 2007. The panel didn't weigh in on the ultimate intended recipient of the shipment, yet previous such shipments have made their way to Gaza.

1747 is the the third of six Security Council resolutions passed overwhelmingly with regard to Iran's nuclear weapons program.

With less than two weeks to go before the deadline for a nuclear deal between the P5+1 nations and Iran, the UN report serves as an important reminder of the multiple threats Iran poses to the region.

In Iran is *Really* Good at Evading Sanctions, which appeared in the September 2013 issue of The Tower Magazine, Emanuele Ottolenghi warned, "If the world wants to avoid a dystopia in which the Bashar Assads of today and those of tomorrow enjoy perfect immunity to use chemical weapons against civilian populations as long as a nuclear-armed Tehran is on their side, figuring out how to dramatically and quickly ratchet up sanctions, before its too late, should be a major strategic imperative." The warning is especially apt in light of this latest revelation of Iran evading sanctions.

(By The Tower staff writers- reprinted by permission)

Rohani On New Iran Nuclear Deal: "World Powers Surrendered to Iran"

 

Over the weekend, it was announced that key elements of a new nuclear agreement between Iran and the six western powers-the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany - are contained in a 30-page memorandum that western sources are unwilling to release publicly. One detail that is being released publicly is that the nuclear agreement (or non-agreement, if you ask the Iranians) signed November 24 of last year is going to begin to be implemented January 20th.

Aside from the almost 3 months this gave Iran to hide or move things they'd rather the West didn't see and to clean up any evidence of what the Iranians were working on, remember that the November 24th agreement is supposed to be a six month freeze of Iran’s nuclear progress. Assuming the Iranians act with their usual duplicity and lack of candor, they just bought themselves 9 months to work on their illegal nuclear weapons program from the gullible West...as well as billions in trade and released assets to throw the regime a lifeline and finance their nuclear quest.

While the West is largely keeping mum, the Iranians have no problem calling this what it is - a defeat for the West and a victory for Iran. 'Moderate' Iranian president Hassan Rouhani chose Twitter as his avenue to celebrate:

  Hassan Rouhani @HassanRouhani Follow

Our relationship w/ the world is based on Iranian nation's interests. In #Geneva agreement world powers surrendered to Iranian nation's will

3:36 AM - 14 Jan 2014

  334 Retweets 85 favorites

• Reply
• Retweet

President Rouhani was even more specific in a speech in front of a howling crowd in the city of Ahwaz:“The Geneva agreement means the big powers’ surrender to the great Iranian nation; the Geneva agreement means the global acceptance of Iran’s peaceful nuclear technology acquired through the young scientists’ efforts and sacrifices; the Geneva agreement means breaking the barrier of sanctions which were unjustly imposed on the dear and peace-loving Iranian nation."

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi went even further, announcing in an interview with the Iranian government site FARS in a Farsi-only interview that “No facility will be closed; enrichment will continue, and qualitative and nuclear research will be expanded.All research into a new generation of centrifuges will continue.”

President Rouhani said almost exactly the same thing last November.

Araqchi also disclosed the existence of what he called a "secret side deal" that's part of the nuclear deal. Which of course, we're also not hearing about publicly.When asked, State Department spokeswoman, Marie Harf denied that there was any secret agreement.

Given our State Department's well deserved reputation for transparency and honesty, I'll let you make your own judgment on who's telling the truth here.

As you can imagine, President Obama is absolutely ecstatic over this.

There are at least 60 votes in the Senate for a bi-partisan bill to increase sanctions on Iran which would automatically strengthen sanctions against Iran if the Iranians don't comply with the new agreement. It's sponsored by Mark Kirk ( R-IL) and Robert Menendez ( D-NJ) and has an impressive 58 cosponsors in the notoriously partisan Senate, including 10 Democrats.

The bill is pretty much a gesture, since President Obama has now dismantled the sanctions regime that took years to assemble and even curtailed U.S. enforcement starting back when the president's Iranian-born consigliere Valerie Jarret was conducting secret, back channel negotiations with Iran for the past year.

But the president's response is illuminating. He has threatened to veto the bill if it passes, and is reportedly insisting that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid kill the bill and refuse to allow it to come to a vote. The president is even reaching back to his radical youth to channel John Lennon, saying, "What we want to do is give diplomacy a chance and give peace a chance."



As I've written on these pages before, what President Obama has done is essentially to sign off on Iran having nuclear weapons. Moreover, he has also told the Ayatollahs on more than one occasion that the U.S. has no problem with Iran striking Israel provided no U.S. assets are attacked.

Remember whom we're talking about here...a country that reflexively refers to the U.S. as the Great Satan, is the greatest sponsor of state terrorism in the world, and was directly implicated in the 9/11 attacks.

What we're creating here is a far more dangerous North Korea, something we will discover to our peril in not too short a time if nothing intervenes when the Ayatollah Khamenei or President Rouhani announce a successful nuclear missile test and begin transferring a warhead to Hezbollah. Meanwhile, they're simply laughing delightedly at how craven and easy to deceive our leaders are.

Iran Abruptly Quits Nuke Talks

Apparently President Obama and his team can't even do appeasement right.

The Iranian negotiators abruptly pulled out of the P5+1 talks and left for Teheran after the U.S. Treasury Department, on direct orders from the White House, announced new sanctions on a dozen companies and individuals for evading US sanctions.

“America’s move is against the spirit of the Geneva deal,” Iranian chief negotiator Abbas Araqchi told the Iranian government FARS news agency.“We are evaluating the situation and will make the appropriate response.”

That's actually a little humorous since the Iranians made it plain that our President and John Kerry were lying when they announced the Geneva deal 3 weeks ago because there is no deal at this time, merely a proposal. And the clock has not even started ticking yet on the six-month suspension of Iran's nuclear program our president and Secretary Kerry were talking about...not that the Iranians agree that they promised to freeze anything, according to them. Meanwhile, the Obama Administration admits Iran still received $20 billion in sanctions relief just for sitting at the table and giving up nothing.

The new sanctions were the White House's bright idea of a compromise. Congress was ready to pass resolutions and legislation calling for stricter sanctions in the event Iran didn't comply with the agreement (again, a little ludicrous since at present there isn't any agreement) but the White House went into action to quash them, even to the extent of forcing Democrat House Whip Steny Hoyer to withdraw support for his own resolution.

Iran had been quite clear that increased sanctions were a red line and that they would quit negotiations. And why not? They already have their money, and the sanctions regime that took two years to put into place is gone forever.So, instead of playing this silly gambit out, the Obama Administration decided to look like tough guys or something, and put out it's own sanctions, thus giving the Iranians an excuse to bolt and stall some more, or perhaps even hold up th ewest for more concessions as an excuse for coming back to the table.

You really can't make this stuff up. This president and his team aren't amateurs. They haven't reached that level yet.

Democrats Torpedo Iran Sanctions

The House had finished a resolution calling for increased Iran sanctions, a bi-partisan effort crafted by
Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), along with Reps. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), the chairman and Elliot Engel (D-N.Y.), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

It called for Iran to allow “no-notice inspections of all suspect sites, including military facilities, and to allow full access by by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) officials to all Iranian personnel, scientists, and technicians associated with Iran’s nuclear program” .

It also called on Iran to release U.S. citizens “held unjustly in Iran".

This was supposed to be released Wednesday night for a vote. Instead, Hoyer apparently got called on the carpet by the White House and withdrew support from a resolution he helped craft. Followed, of course, by a number of his fellow Democrats.

At present, the resolution is in limbo, and Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has already signaled that he will table any senate action on the matter.

Meanwhile, the countdown on Iran's so-called nuclear freeze hasn't even started yet, and the Obama Administration has admitted that the Iranian regime has already received $20 billion in sanctions relief
.....with nothing in exchange except the privilege of talking to them.

The Israelis, of course, had briefed members of the senate about what was actually going on, but Secretary Kerry in his briefing instructed them repeatedly to “disbelieve everything that the Israelis
say."

As I told you before, the sanctions regime is history, and this is by direct design of President Obama and his team.They're perfectly fine with a nuclear armed Iran.

Harry Reid Changes His Tune On Iran Sanctions Bill

 

Last week Democrat Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said that he  would  “ support” a bill that would tighten the sanctions. “The Senate must be prepared to move forward with a new bipartisan Iran sanctions bill, when the Senate returns after Thanksgiving recess. And I am committed to do so,” he said.

Ah well, he's received his orders from the White House and today is a different day. Now, Senator Reid is saying the Senate will act only “if we need to do stronger sanctions.”

Reid's fellow Democrats Chuck Schumer and Bob Menendez were outraged at what occurred in Geneva this weekend and are attempting to drum up support for new sanctions legislation .What Harry Reid is telling us here is that President Obama won;t be subjected to the political embarrassment of having to veto the bill - Reid will just use his powers as leader to table it.

Quite a piece of work, that Harry Reid.

The Rift Between Obama And Israel Widens

Two examples of how President Obama's non-actions on Iran are destroying the relationships between America and not just Israel but our other long term allies in the region.

 Mark Regev, a spokeman for Israeli Prime minister Netanyahu and the Israeli government makes it quite plain to Jake Tapper how the Israelis feel betrayed by the president..although I can't think for the life of me how they could have expected anything else. As it is,the Iranians have already received significant sanctions relief and a 3 month window to continue their illegal nuclear weapons program in exchange for absolutely nothing.

 Regev reminds us that the U.S. is not a disinterested party here. "The Iranians are building intercontinental ballistic missiles. They're not building them for us. They already have missiles that can hit Israel. They are building them for you."

Regev said that while Israel wants "to see the Iranian nuclear crisis resolved peacefully," the only good way to do that effectively short of military action is "a good agreement that actually effectively dismantles Iran's military nuclear program." Of course, this is anathema to President Barack Obama, who has done everything possible to thwart the Iran sanctions he now takes credit for. Just ask Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) about the president's opposition to the Kirk-Menendez amendment (which passed in the senate 100-0) implementing them :



Here's another signal, sent by none other than Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman,who says flatly that Israel needs to look for other allies other than America because the U.S. is "dealing with too many other challenges:

 "The Americans have a lot of problems and challenges around the world that they need to solve and they have problems at home. We need to understand them and our place in the global arena," Lieberman stated a week after returning to the ministry following his acquittal on corruption charges. During a speech given at the Sderot Conference, Lieberman stressed the importance of not putting too much focus on America as Israel's main ally. "For many years Israel's foreign policy was one directional towards Washington, but my policy has many more directions."

Barack Hussein Obama was quite plain when he came into office that his goal was to "create daylight" between America and Israel, and he's succeeded, to the detriment of both countries. Eventually, as I've written before on these pages, he intends to destroy the relationship completely if he can. His long history of having close relations with a whole slew of anti-Semites and 'anti-Zionists' like Al Sharpton, Khalid al-Mansour, Edward Said, Rashid Khalidi, Jeremiah Wright and Louis Farrakhan means it's practically in his DNA.

Of course, on our side of the pond, the White House has already given talking points to its anti-Israel apologists and flacks, as my friend Snoopy at Simply Jews reports.
 
In any event, the Israelis cannot allow an Iran with nuclear weapons. It is an existential threat to them, and I have no doubts they're going to do something about that .

Obama Secretly Watered Down Iran Sanctions Months Ago

 

Apparently President Obama was carrying out his own weakening of the Iran sanctions...without telling congress or the American people.

Ace foreign policy and national security reporter Eli Lake over at the Daily Beast has the story:

The Obama administration began softening sanctions on Iran after the election of Iran’s new president in June, months before the current round of nuclear talks in Geneva or the historic phone call between the two leaders in September.[...]

A review of Treasury Department notices reveals that the U.S. government has all but stopped the financial blacklisting of entities and people that help Iran evade international sanctions since the election of its president, Hassan Rouhani, in June.

On Wednesday Obama said in an interview with NBC News the negotiations in Geneva “are not about easing sanctions.” “The negotiations taking place are about how Iran begins to meet its international obligations and provide assurances not just to us but to the entire world,” the president said.

But it has also long been Obama’s strategy to squeeze Iran’s economy until Iran would be willing to trade relief from sanctions for abandoning key elements of its nuclear program.

One way Obama has pressured Iran is through isolating the country’s banks from the global financial sector, the networks that make modern international commerce possible. This in turn has led Iran to seek out front companies and cutouts to conduct routine international business, such as selling its crude oil.

In this cat and mouse game, the Treasury Department in recent years has routinely designated new entities as violators of sanctions, forcing Iran to adjust in turn. In the six weeks prior to the Iranian elections in June, the Treasury Department issued seven notices of designations of sanctions violators that included more than 100 new people, companies, aircraft, and sea vessels.

Since June 14, however, when Rouhani was elected, the Treasury Department has only issued two designation notices that have identified six people and four companies as violating the Iran sanctions.

This is exactly the same strategy former President George W. Bush used on al-Qaeda, one of the few things he got right in the so-called 'war on terror'. The world's banking system still flows through New York, and getting barred from that particular playground can be catastrophic...unless, as I've documented here previously, you deliberately give waivers on sanctions to selected players, as the Obama Administration has done since the inception of the sanctions. According to what Lake uncovered, that watering down process has been even more widespread than anyone realized:

Mark Dubowitz, the executive director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, an organization that has worked closely with Congress and the administration on devising the current Iranian sanctions, said the slow pace of designations was only one kind of sanctions relief Obama has been offering Iran.

“For five months, since Rouhani’s election, the United States has offered Iran two major forms of sanctions relief,” Dubowitz said. “First there’s been a significant slowdown in the pace of designations while the Iranians are proliferating the number of front companies and cutouts to bust sanctions.”

The second kind of relief Dubowitz said the White House had offered Iran was through its opposition to new Iran sanctions legislation supported by both parties in Congress.

By Dubowitz’s estimates, Iran is now selling between 150,000 and 200,000 barrels of oil per day on the black market, meaning that Iran has profited from the illicit sale of over 35 million barrels of oil since Rouhani took office, with little additional measures taken by the United States to counter it.

“Sounds like Obama decided to enter the Persian nuclear bazaar to haggle with the masters of negotiation and has had his head handed to him,” Dubowitz said.

Sounds like Iranian-born Obama consigliere Valerie Jarret had a say on this.

With the deal  that's shaping up in Geneva now, it looks like even the thin blanket of sanctions remaining is about to be ripped away..in exchange for nothing.

Obama's Push To Loosen Sanctions On Iran Headed Off By A Bi-Partisan Senate Effort

Now here's some good news.

Secretary Kerry and President Obama had been offering the Ayatollahs what they called 'reversible lessened sanctions' as a concession in exchange for Iran showing they were halting progress on their nuclear weapons program. How that was going to be verifiable in a way the West could trust is an open question.

Fortunately, in a rare moment of cooperation Republicans and Democrats in the Senate united in the face of this appeasement to quickly put together a new bill that will tighten sanctions:

The Senate Banking Committee will move ahead with a package of tough new sanctions on Iran after the negotiating session over its nuclear program ends in Geneva on Friday, the committee's chairman said on Thursday.

Senator Tim Johnson, a Democrat, said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told him to go ahead with the mark-up - or consideration - of the bill, a step toward bringing it to the full Senate for a vote. [...]

"I think Iran has in its power to decide whether or not it faces any more sanctions or whether or not it gets any relief from existing sanctions," Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, who also is a member of the banking committee, told Reuters.

But otherwise, he said he felt the sanctions should go ahead. "I just don't understand a negotiating posture that suggests that we should stop pursuing a course of action that at least brought Iran to the table while they continue to enrich," he said.

..Republican Mark Kirk, a banking panel member, said they might go ahead with a sanctions package even if the banking committee held off.

Kirk and a few other Republicans said they were considering introducing a stiffer package of Iran sanctions as an amendment to a defense authorization bill that is expected to be debated in the Senate during the week of November 18.

If nothing else, this is a signal to both Iran and to the president that the Senate isn't prepared to take the blame for another Munich..not with midterms coming up in a year, anyway.

There's also talk in the House about a bill of their own stiffening sanctions.

Israel Cuts Cooperation With EU In Response To Sanctions On Judea And Samaria

In response to the EU decision to re-erect ghetto walls around Judea, Samaria, East Jerusalem and the Golan, Israeli defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon had a highly appropriate response. He instructed the IDF and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories to stop cooperating with EU representatives in the West Bank and Gaza:

The instruction came recently and included orders to halt any assistance the IDF might be granting EU representatives working in infrastructure projects in the territories.

The IDF cannot prevent EU officials from traveling in and out of Palestinian Authority-controlled territories, but it can prevent them from entering or leaving the Gaza Strip via Israel, as well as from promoting projects.

According to a defense establishment source, the decision was taken in a bid to send a clear message to the EU, stressing that any move to boycott Israeli actions beyond the green-line "turns the organization into a biased mediator in negotiations, and as such, it must accept the results."

Ya'alon decided the freeze in cooperation between Israel and the EU will include Area C as well as the crossing between Israel and Gaza.

A security source said: "We cannot prevent anyone from traveling freely; we cannot freeze their movement, but from now on they are tourists."

Area C is the part of Judea and Samaria that is directly under full Israeli sovereignty and is approximately 96% Jewish.

The EU,of course is howling about this:

Speaking in Brussels, spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said "We have not received any official communication from the Israeli authorities. Our delegations on the spot are seeking urgent clarifications," Kocijancic added.

A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Friday that due to the Israel's restrictions on EU activity in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, several European humanitarian aid staff had failed to receive permits to enter the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip.

What part of 'tourists' don't they understand? Maybe the Egyptians will let them into Hamasistan - not.

According to a defense establishment source, the Israeli decision was taken in a bid to send a clear message to the EU, stressing that any move to boycott Israeli actions beyond the green-line "turns the organization into a biased mediator in negotiations, and as such it must face the consequences."

Yasser koach.

Germany Backs Away From EU Sanctions On Israel

 

As you know, the EU recently took a step towards rebuilding the walls of its Jewish ghettos when the European Commission, which is the operative arm of the EU arbitrarily issued instructions forbidding EU member states from cooperating, transferring funds, giving scholarships or issuing research grants to public or private bodies in Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem, and even the Golan Heights. In other words, the new Jewish ghetto according to the EU consists of Israel's indefensible 1948 ceasefire lines.

I had a feeling at least some members of the EU might see this for what it is and react, and Germany, having been down this road before has been the first to disavow this ghettoization of Israel:

In a statement issued by MP Philipp Missfedler, the Bundestag spokesman for German chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party and its coalition partner the Bavarian Christian Social Union, he stated the guidelines are “pure ideology and symbolic politics” and will not contribute to finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Missfelder stated it is encouraging that the Federal Government has moved away from the new EU directives, which declared that from January 1 2014, Israeli projects in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights will no longer be given European Union financial backing.

“Israel is the recognized administrative power in the territories without which approved development projects like solar energy or sewage works could not be installed," Missfelder stated.

He continued that an implementation of the new EU guidelines could mean an “end of research cooperation with the Hebrew University in Jerusalem because some of their academics have an address in East Jerusalem."

Not to mention push back when it comes to German exports.

This is symbolic of the conflict between Germany's mainstream parties and the far Left
Greens, who are almost reflexively anti-Israel.

It'a also worth mentioning that Germany recently concluded a deal with Israel for two more Dolphin subs...with Germany subsidizing part of the cost.

No Peace Talks Scheduled:The EU Dikat On Israel's Borders Garners Its First Fallout

Al-Hayat had announced that talks between the Palestinians and Israelis were resuming, but the State department has already confirmed that they're not.

"There are currently no plans for an announcement for the resumption of negotiations," [US State Department Spokeswoman Jen] Psaki said in Amman, where US Secretary of State John Kerry is on his sixth visit to the region to try to revive peace talks that broke down nearly three years ago.

(H/t Carl)

The reason's obvious. Why would Abbas and the Palestinians bother to negotiate anything now when the EU already has given them all their territorial demands?

And at that, according to the Palestinians, it's not enough anyway.

Abbas is bragging (in Arabic, of course) that Netanyahu offered him even more privately than was leaked publicly, but he still turned down any negotiations.

I find that doubtful, but it does make Abbas look tough and bolsters him with Fatah.

According to EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, the guidelines outlining the EU's new Jewish ghetto are going to be up for discussion, with Barroso saying “Following a request from Israeli authorities the EU stands ready to engage in consultations on their implementation”.

That indicates the EU was perhaps surprised by the Israeli response and might be open to at least discussing some changes. And they're perhaps also realizing that they're subject to damage from this as well.

For instance, according to today's Maariv daily, Israel has threatened to pull out from the European Union's Horizons 2020 program, a move that would seriously affect Europe's prestige and its wallet.

Israel is the only non-European full partner in the project, and is supposed to invest 600 million Euro (785 million US dollars) in the project over 7 years.

Besides the financial hit the EU project would take as a result, the move would be a serious blow to the project’s prestige and success. Israel is a central partner in the projects that Horizon 2020 undertakes, and part of these project’s successes are dependent on Israeli human resources and research.


But wait, there's more.

Israeli Economy and Trade Minister and Naftali Bennett have already let Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu and any other interested party know that his party Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) will leave the coalition if there's any negotiations based on the pre '67 borders, and a number of members of Netanyahu's own party Likud as well as Israel Beiteinu have echoed what Bennett said. Even if he wanted to, there's no way Netanyahu could begin any negotiations with that as a starting point without his government falling and he knows it.

Bennett, meanwhile has been spending time in China cementing business deals and goodwill. As he says, the country is wide open for increased trade with Israel, there is no historic or current anti-semitism and the Chinese are a lot more interested in the benefits they can get from Israeli innovation than the Arab-Israeli conflict.

“In all the 20 meetings we held, not once were we asked about the Arabs, or about the Palestinians, or about any occupation or anything else,” said Bennett. "All they care about is Israeli high-tech, Israeli innovations, how we can bring these technologies here. We met ministers and CEOs of companies and the heads of the state. So the main insight is that Israel needs to lead its economic diplomacy, not constantly deal with the political issues, where we don’t always have an answer, but lead through the economy.”

If the EU wants to erect walls against one of the top high tech and scientific countries in the world that actually provides important trade that benefits the EU's economy as opposed to the Palestinians who provide nothing and merely sop up EU tax dollars like a sponge, that's the EU's choice.

Ultimately, I think it's going to be as successful as their choice to replace six million Jews with 20 Million Muslims.

As for Israel, they need to announce an end to the Oslo era and the faux negotiations, annex the parts of area C and area B they decide they require for their security, bring the Jews behind those borders and move any non-Israeli Arabs to the other side. And then defend those borders diligently.

That's how this thing is going to end eventually anyway.

Top US commander: Iran sanctions not working

That's what General James Mattis,  the outgoing commander of America's Central Command (CENtCOM) told the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday.

General Mattis said it still may be possible to use sanctions and other pressure to bring Tehran "to its senses." But he also stated  that he believes Iran is using the ongoing negotiations as a ploy to buy time.


"That should not be in any way construed as we should not try to negotiate. I still support the direction we're taking," Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "I'm just — I'm paid to take a rather dim view of the Iranians, frankly."

Mattis at one point was asked point blank by Republican Senator James Inhofe whether he thought diplomatic efforts and economic sanctions were working to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

"No sir," he said.

General Mattis said the U.S. military has the ability to bring defeat Iran.

"There are a number of means to do that," he said, "perhaps even short of open conflict. But certainly that's one of the options that I have to have prepared for the president."

"If the president orders [us] into action, I have what it takes to make it the enemy's longest day and their worst day. And we'll get the other carrier out there quickly to reinforce."

General Mattis also stated the obvious...that if Iran is allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, other nations in the region are going to do likewise.

"At least one other nation has told me they would do that. At a leadership level, they have assured [me] they would not stay without a nuclear weapon" if Iran had one, he said, without naming the country.

Mattis wouldn't identify the country, but answered yes after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) asked if it was a "Sunni Arab state." I'd guess it was the Saudis. Mattis said that in his opinion, Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon would be the "most destabilizing event that we could imagine for the Middle East."

General Mattis also discussed Syria. In contrast to the Obama Administration, he said that he felt the situation was too murky and complex at this point for the U.S. to support arming the Sunni insurgents battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Mattis said the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is “both on the ground [in Syria] and are bringing in foreign fighters”, something you already know if you read this site. Hezbollah has fighter there too.

And Mattis is also correct about arming the rebels, mostly hard core Islamists, some with ties to al-Qaeda, another little factoid I've discussed previously. "We don't want to inadvertently, with the best of intentions, arm people who are basically sworn enemies," he said.

Smart man, this general. And he brought up another scenario I hadn't considered. If Assad is taken out, Iran could mount a backlash that could keep Syria in chaos for years by doing just what it did in Lebanon and Iraq...arming and training terrorist militias. After all, Hezbollah is already onsite.

Apparently General Mattis is also a little too savvy for the Obama Administration. Scuttlebutt has it that this highly decorated Marine with literally years of combat command experience is being forced out of command of CENTCOM and into early retirement at age 63 because he's too hawkish on Iran and too critical of Islamists for the Obama Administration's taste.

Pity. We could use the sort of warrior who popularized the slogan "no better friend, no worse enemy" for his command back when he ran the Marine 1st division in Iraq.

White House Opposes New Iran Sanctions Approved By The Senate 94-0

 

The Obama White House is now opposing new, stricter sanctions against Iran after the U.S. Senate approved them 94-0:

The White House announced its opposition to a new round of Iran sanctions that the Senate unanimously approved Friday, in the latest instance of Congress pushing for more aggressive punitive measures on Iran than the administration deems prudent.

On Thursday, Sens. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) introduced the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which the Senate passed 94-0. The new legislative language would blacklist Iran's energy, port, shipping, and shipbuilding sectors, while also placing new restrictions on Iran's ability to get insurance for all these industries. The legislation would also vastly expand U.S. support for human rights inside Iran and impose new sanctions on Iranians who divert humanitarian assistance from its intended purpose.

"The window is closing. The time for the waiting game is over," Menendez said on the Senate floor Thursday night. "Yes, our sanctions are having a demonstrable effect on the Iranian economy, but Iran is still working just as hard to develop nuclear weapons."

But the White House told several Senate offices Thursday evening that the administration was opposed to the amendment. National Security Spokesman Tommy Vietor sent The Cable the administration's official position, explaining the White House's view the sanctions aren't needed and aren't helpful at this time.

"As we focus with our partners on effectively implementing these efforts, we believe additional authorities now threaten to undercut these efforts," he said. "We also have concerns with some of the formulations as currently drafted in the text and want to work through them with our congressional partners to make the law more effective and consistent with the current sanctions law to ensure we don't undercut our success to date."

The real story, of course is that the new sanctions threaten to undercut the administration's ability to water them down by issuing waivers to most countries on abiding by them..just as they did with the last set of sanctions. That's why. although there's been a certain amount of economic turmoil, it hasn't stopped Iran from pursuing its illegal nuclear weapons program one iota:

One of the White House's chief concerns is that Congress is not providing the administration enough waivers, which would give the United States the option of negating or postponing applications of the sanctions on a case-by-case basis.

The White House also said that secondary sanctions should apply only to those Iranian persons and entities that are guilty of aiding Iran's nulear and missile programs. The new legislative language would designate entire categories of Iranian government entities to be sanctioned -- whether or not each person or entity is directly involved in such activities.{...}

"The truth is that the U.S. Congress continues to lead a comprehensive and unrelenting international sanctions program against the Iranian regime despite a comprehensive and unrelenting campaign by this administration to block or water down those sanctions at every move," a senior GOP Senate aide told The Cable. "We beat them 100-0 last year and while they tried to kill this amendment more quietly this time, we beat them again 94-0. Hopefully House and Senate negotiators will stay strong and resist the administration's strategy to dilute these sanctions in conference."

Actually, if the Obama Administration really wanted to stop Iran's nuclear program in a heartbeat, all they'd have to do would be to forbid any U.S. bank from doing transactions with any bank processing Iran's oil payments, or any insurance company insuring Iran's oils shipments from doing business with American citizens or financial outlets.

That's exactly how President George W. Bush dealt with outlets like the BCCI that were financing terrorism, and it's one of the few things he got right. The world's banking system is still wired into New York, and the inability to process oil payments or insure cargoes would pretty much end the game.Even the Russians and the Turks would have to comply.

Instead, we've been tasking half measures while the centrifuges turn and having them undercut by the President Obama and his team, sheer foreign policy geniuses that they are.

And this is just another example.

Major Unrest Hits Iran Over HyperInflation, Shortages

The above video shows unrest in Tehran as demonstrators call for bazaris and shopkeepers to join them in a general strike.

As I pointed out about four years ago, Iran has been an economic basket case for some time.

As with most Islamic regimes, Iran has discouraged capital investment. Inflation has always flirted with double digits, and unemployment is rampant,particularly among what I call the cannon fodder ages of 18-29 at around 30%

The regime was able to stave off a second Iranian revolution for some time by using part of its oil profits to provide subsidies on food, cooking oil and other staples but once Iran became a net importer in 2009 and began spending increasing amounts on its nuclear and imperial adventures, the subsidies became impossible over time.

The Iranian rial, always a bastard child among the world's currencies has fallen through the floor as Iran is now experiencing hyperinflation:

Since the U.S. and E.U. first enacted sanctions against Iran, in 2010, the value of the Iranian rial (IRR) has plummeted, imposing untold misery on the Iranian people. When a currency collapses, you can be certain that other economic metrics are moving in a negative direction, too. Indeed, using new data from Iran’s foreign-exchange black market, I estimate that Iran’s monthly inflation rate has reached 69.6%. With a monthly inflation rate this high (over 50%), Iran is undoubtedly experiencing hyperinflation.

When President Obama signed the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act, in July 2010, the official Iranian rial-U.S. dollar exchange rate was very close to the black-market rate. But, as the accompanying chart shows, the official and black-market rates have increasingly diverged since July 2010. This decline began to accelerate last month, when Iranians witnessed a dramatic 9.65% drop in the value of the rial, over the course of a single weekend (8-10 September 2012). The free-fall has continued since then. On 2 October 2012, the black-market exchange rate reached 35,000 IRR/USD – a rate which reflects a 65% decline in the rial, relative to the U.S. dollar.

I would take issue with the above only in its implying that this is all due to western sanctions, since countries like Russia, China and Turkey are openly violating the sanctions and the Obama Administration has literally given waivers on following the sanctions to moist of Iran's major trading partners and anyone else who's asked.

This is a deep seated problem based on the skyrocketing cost of food staples and other items versus a static Islamic economy.

Since most westerners ( except perhaps those who came of age in the old Soviet Empire) are unaccustomed to a black market in currencies, here's an explanation. the Iranian regime has an official, fantasy 'official' exchange rate with other currencies that vastly over-inflates its value. Since Iran's exports are mainly oil, which is traded in dollars, the official rate of the rial isn't particularly a factor there. But when Iran imports anything and attempts to pay in rials, the price is increased dramatically.

This especially effects merchants dealing in foodstuffs and other staples who use private money lenders in the sort of primitive export and exchange system used in the region. Want to import rice from Armenia? Forget about the official rate when there are money lenders in Tehran or Shiraz who will trade you rials for dollars at the black market rate, in spite of the regime's attempts to clamp down. This also leads to hoarding, as 10 kilos of rice bought today will fetch a far better price in a month or so. If the rice is priced in dollars and paid for in rials, these price increases are simply passed down to the customers who buy it. With the rial now buying less than half of what it once did and heading south, you can imagine what this is doing to the average Persian.

And that is not good news for the Iranian regime.For all the threats and bellicose language, Iran is simply unable to fight a war at this time financially.As such, the Obama Administration, if it actually had a coherent Middle East policy could do far worse than reaching out to the Iranian dissidents and assisting them in a covert fashion.

In fact, if the trend continued, Iran's financial woes could even lead to Iran being convinced to give up its nuclear weapons program in exchange for some realistic assistance on its economy.It might even lead to regime change.The west might be able to capitalize on this and call Iran's bluff at favorable terms.

On the other hand, knowing this as the Iranian leaders do and in reality, not particularly caring about the people they rule, this might entice the mullahs to take a long shot and risk everything on one violent throw of the dice, perhaps against some of the oil-rich kingdoms in the region.As I've observed before, we're not dealing with rational actors here.

How The White House And Senator Harry Reid Are Working To Weaken Iran Sanctions

As I mentioned previously, the media touting of the Obama Administration's foreign policy record is supremely unwarranted.

One of the president's worst foreign policy failures has been on Iran's illegal nuclear program.

The administration has repeatedly tried to 'engage' the Iranians, and the only thing it's resulted in is more time for the centrifuges to spin as Iran marches toward acquiring nuclear weapons.

The recent plethora of 'sanctions' are a joke.

If you'll remember, the same president who is now touting them as part of his foreign policy achievements fought against them tooth and nail when they were proposed, and they have done nothing to impede the Iranian nuclear weapons project.

Aside from the fact Russia and Turkey are openly flouting them, waivers and exceptions have been given out by the Obama Administration to foreign countries by the truck load.

The obvious conclusion, and one the Iranians have almost certainly come to as well is that this president is too weak to issue the only real sanctions that would work - stopping American Banks from dealing with anyone processing oil payments via Iran's Central bank. Either that, or he simply doesn't have a problem with Iran going nuclear, campaign rhetoric to the contrary.

The latest example of this kind of behavior involves legislation currently making its way through the Senate that would also be quite effective if enforced, a bill that would penalize any company that underwrites Iranian affiliates and any insurance company that underwrites activities that bolster the Iranian oil industry.

As you can imagine, this could cut into the mullah's cash flow quite effectively. Shipping companies, cargo carriers, oil exploration, even foreign employees working the oil fields for Iran all require insurance in order to do business.

So of course, it's being watered down to nothingness on instructions from the White House, with the able assistance of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senator Tim Johnston (D-SD):

The insurance industry and prominent Democratic lawmakers are attempting to water down a new Iran sanctions bill that would penalize any company that underwrites Iranian affiliates, according to insiders on Capitol Hill.

Sens. Harry Reid (D., Nev.), Tim Johnson (D., S.D.), and others have quietly lobbied to weaken the revamped sanctions language, which has been circulating on Capitol Hill for several months.{...}

Johnson and Reid have each received nearly half-a-million dollars from individuals and political action committees affiliated with the insurance industry, leading some to wonder whether these lawmakers are doing their corporate donors’ bidding.

Neither lawmaker responded to a request for comment.

“There is significant pressure being brought to bear by the Obama Administration in coordination with the insurance lobby to stop any far-reaching insurance sanctions against Iran,” said a congressional source. “Whether money plays a role, who knows, but the pressure is intense and Democrats—and even some House Republicans—appear to be carrying the water.”

The Senate in March considered language targeting the insurance sector, but Reid and the Obama administration lobbied at the time to thwart the amendment aimed at targeting those insurance companies dealing with Iran.

The language is missing from Johnson’s Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Human Rights Act of 2012, which still awaits final passage in the Senate.{...}

The Obama administration remains on the side of the insurance industry, insiders said.

“It’s more about the administration’s reluctance to go along with” the sanctions, one of the insiders explained. “The administration’s perspective as they explained it to me … is that [it doesn’t want to tell] our allies, ‘You have to stop doing business with Iran tomorrow.’

”Team Obama has repeatedly urged its Congressional allies to weaken multiple Iran sanctions despite widespread support for the measures.

The Iranian experience with America since the Islamic Revolution in 1978 has primarily been one of weakness and vacillation.

The Iranian regime has performed actions that would have resulted in a declaration of war from a previous generation of Americans, yet they continue doing so with impunity and without suffering any major retaliation whatsoever.

The cost for this kind of craven appeasement never goes away...it merely accrues and gathers interest. If this continues, the cost when the bill comes due to us in the future is going to make us wish we'd dealt with it far sooner.

Sanctions? What Sanctions? German Firms Shipping Dual-Use Goods To Iran

My friend ace reporter Benni Weinthal has a great story in the Jerusalem Post about how wonderfully the sanctions on Iran are working. Dual-use goods, for those of you unfamiliar with the term refers to items that can be used for either military or civilians purposes...a nice cover for both the Iranian regime and those wishing to get rich selling them the toys they want. Here's a slice:

Germany’s multi-billion euro bilateral trade relationship with Iran continues unabated, even as evidence mounts that the Islamic Republic is determined to build a nuclear weapons capability.

The Jerusalem Post has obtained an uncensored list from late 2011, showing hundreds of German and Iranian enterprises in a flourishing trade relationship.

This is despite Iran’s construction of Fordow, a medium-level uranium enrichment facility buried into the side of a mountain near Qom, and the fact that the German equipment could be used to build more underground nuclear facilities.

Some businesses have asked that their names be removed from the list to avoid damage to their reputations.

One company named is Baden-Württemberg-based engineering giant Herrenknecht AG, which appears to be delivering heavy tunneling equipment to Iran – some of which is promoted as having the capability of “drilling down to depths of 6,000 meters.” {...}

Tommy Steiner, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Policy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, told the Post on Sunday: “Since the 1960s, Germany has been a steadfast ally of Israel and contributed to Israel’s national security. One would hope that the German authorities would apply rigid scrutiny to dual-use equipment and technology that meets the criteria of sanctions enforcement.”

The revelations have surfaced at a tricky moment for German diplomacy with Iran over its nuclear program. The Federal Republic is a member of the so-called the P5+1 — the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany — and German diplomat Helga Schmid led last week’s technical nuclear negotiations in Istanbul with representatives of Iran’s government.

Late last month, Germany’s Federal Statistical Office said that bilateral trade with Iran in 2011 totaled nearly 4 billion euros (with about 3b. euros in German exports and 778m. euros in Iranian imports).

In fairness, it's by no means just the Germans. Nor does the article cover items sold to countries like Russia and Turkey, who freely violate the sanctions. They can buy from companies in Germany and elsewhere and then simply 'resell' the items to the Iranian regime, with no one looking over their shoulder.

The sanctions are annoying to Iran, but not damaging enough to stop them from pursuing their illegal nuclear weapons program.That's priority one for the regime, and it has been for quite some time.

Stopping Iran from going nuclear is going to take more forceful means.

Obama Administration Ignoring Russia's Supplying Ballistic Missile Goods To Iran

The Obama Administration is ignoring violations of UN sanctions on Iran by Russian arms manufacturers who are providing the Iranian with materials needed for the manufacture and navigation of ballistic missiles.

That's the conclusion of an assessment by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence sent to Congress:

“We assess that individual entities have provided assistance to Iran’s ballistic missile programs,” the DNI statement by legislative director Kathleen Turner said.

The new assessment differs from an earlier intelligence statement supplied to Congress that was more categorical on the transfers and did not contain legalistic references included in an apparent effort to avoid linking the Russian government to recent missile-related transfers.

The assessment could affect a requested presidential waiver sought by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration that is needed prior to the next U.S. payment to Russia for the International Space Station.

A State Department official said the Russia-Iran missile trade has not been raised in recent meetings between U.S. and Russian officials.

Current law requires the president to certify that it is Russia’s policy to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear and missile technology and systems.

This comes at a time when the Obama Administration is pushing Congress to pass permanent normal trade relations legislation for Russia.

Here's the punchline - the statement finishes by saying that the Russian government is incapable of implementing a policy to halt exports of missile and nuclear technology to Iran or to stop state-owned arms manufacturers from selling it to Iran or providing training.

According to the DNI, currently headed by James Clapper ( you know, the man who claimed The Muslim Brotherhood is a 'secular organization'), the U.S. intelligence community's official word is that “Moscow almost certainly is not pursuing an official policy of providing support to Iran’s ballistic missile program.”

I'd love to know the thought processes that went into that kind of 'intelligence' since all Russian arms exports are rigidly controlled by the state-owned company Rosoboronexport.

In 2008, U.S. sanctions were imposed on Rosoboronexport for sales of TOR-M1 air defense missiles to Iran. The Obama Administration removed them as part of the president's 'reset'. Since then, there have been massive trtansfers of Russian hardware and technology to Iran, sanctions or no sanctions.

Among other toys Rosoboronexport is now interested in providing to the Iranians and other interested parties is technology Russia has developed aimed at covering up the tracks made by mobile missile launchers from their hiding place to the launch point, making the missiles' locations impossible to find by satellite.

And it gets better. A Senior House Republican is calling on President Obama to explain fully what sort of arrangements he has with Russia on missile defense.

“There is still a great deal of concern about what you meant when you were overheard during a recent meeting in Seoul with Russia’s former President Dmitri Medvedev, that after this election, your ‘last election,’ you ‘would have greater flexibility’ to make a deal with Russia concerning U.S. missile defenses,” said Rep. Michael R. Turner, chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces, which oversees missile defense programs.

“What is it you and your administration are concerned the American people would object to in such a deal with Russia?” Turner asked. “Would it be limitations, unilateral or bilateral, with Russia on the speed, range, or geographical deployment of U.S. missile defense interceptors?”

Turner also asked the president in a May 23 letter to explain plans for up to an 80 percent cut in deployed U.S. nuclear warheads as part of the nearly completed Nuclear Posture Review implementation study.

“Many in Congress, me included, are deeply troubled that you may be willing to further trade or give away U.S. missile defenses to get closer to your goal of a world without nuclear weapons,” Turner said.

Turner called on the president to make public several draft missile defense agreements with the Russians that have been reported in news accounts but which remain secret.“Such transparency would be the best way to resolve concerns in the Congress about your statement to President Medvedev … about your intentions for missile defense,” Turner said.

Ellen Tauscher, the administration’s special envoy for missile defense, has denied any secret agreements with Russia—draft or otherwise—exist.

However, U.S. officials said Tauscher drafted an agreement meant to be signed by Obama and Medvedev at the 2011 summit meeting in Deauville, France, that was withdrawn from consideration by White House lawyers amid concerns that the draft contained legally binding constraints on U.S. missile defenses.

You may remember Ms. Tauscher from a previous mention on these pages...she's been in charge of gifting the Russians with our most advanced missile technology as an appetizer to that 'more flexible' missile defense agreement Prsident Obama promised the Russians once he's re-elected.

The Iran Sanctions That Aren't - State Department Give Waivers to 11 Countries

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced today that the State Department is exempting 10 European countries and Japan from penalties for doing business with Iran's central bank:

"I am pleased to announce that an initial group of eleven countries has significantly reduced their volume of crude oil purchases from Iran -- Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom. As a result, I will report to the Congress that sanctions pursuant to Section 1245 of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2012 (NDAA) will not apply to the financial institutions based in these countries, for a renewable period of 180 days," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a Tuesday statement. "The actions taken by these countries were not easy. They had to rethink their energy needs at a critical time for the world economy and quickly begin to find alternatives to Iranian oil, which many had been reliant on for their energy needs."

Of course, Mrs. Clinton didn't mention that Iran has already announced it would no longer sell crude to France and the United Kingdom, so they're getting a waiver based on Iran's actions,not theirs. And the other EU countries have already announced they will phase out all purchases of Iranian oil by July 1st. However, at this point it really doesn't matter. Without barring countries from dealing with Iran's Central Bank the oil sanctions are almost meaningless.

Let me explain to you why. Oil is fungible, and as we saw with the UN's Oil for Food scandal involving Saddam Hussein and Iraq, it's easily transferable, can easily be moved through other hands to disguise its origin and can be swapped via third parties for other items. The US could even end up buying Iranian oil if it was shipped to say, Venezuela and reflagged. But take away the ability of buyers to pay Iran for it directly by isolating Iran's central bank and it becomes a much more difficult and costly matter.

One of the few effective things President George W. Bush did in the period after 9/11 to fight Islamist terrorism was to identify the banks used to bankroll it and a number of questionable individuals and organizations who held accounts in otherwise legitimate institutions. Aside from freezing all suspect assets here in America and blocking US financial institutions from having any dealings with the suspect accounts and organizations, President Bush successfully got foreign financial institutions to cooperate by ordering US financial institutions not to deal with banks overseas handling accounts for places like the Islamic Cultural Center in Milan, Italy, Al Taqwa Construction in Dubai and the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society(RIHS) in Kuwait, all al-Qaeda and Hamas fronts. Since the world's banking system is wired through New York, most countries complied, which led to something like $79.9 million in terrorist assets being seized.

If President Obama was actually serious about stopping Iran's nuclear weapons program and ending Iran's financing of terrorism, he'd do something similar and make all of Iran's banks including Iran's central bank persona non grata in the world's financial systems using the same tools. Even countries like China and India might decide that forgoing Iranian oil was better than having their ability to perform financial transactions here in America compromised or curtailed.

But then, that was never going to happen with this president. I've become fairly convinced that President Obama isn't particularly exercised about whether Iran goes nuclear or not. He might just take a wag the dog option to pull off a strike on Iran if he's lagging in the polls come October, but failing that, he appears to be fine with it.

Either he's simply clueless and doesn't see the danger, is too preoccupied with his domestic agenda and his re-election bid,or feels that America needs to be taken down a peg. Or perhaps a combination of all three.

Iran Ends Crude Oil Sales To UK And French Companies

The Iranian regime has formally announced that it is cutting off all oil sales to French and British companies.

The ban is in retaliation for EU sanctions on buying Iranian oil, set to go into effect on July 1st of this year.

"Exporting crude to British and French companies has been stopped ... we will sell our oil to new customers," spokesman Alireza Nikzad was quoted as saying by the Ministry of Petroleum website. For 'new customers', read India and China.

The European countries had already cut back their purchases of Iran oil in anticipation of the sanctions, with major players like French company Total, Royal Dutch Shell and Spain's Cepsa and Repsol either cutting back sharply on Iranian crude or ceasing to buy it altogether.The EU accounted for close to 18% of Iran's imports.

The Europeans say they have reserves for about 120 days, and there are additional sources available like Russia, South America,Libya, the U.S.and European North Sea Oil. In addition, the Saudis and Gulf States have already pledged to make up any shortfall. That could lead to fireworks if the Iranians decide to try close off the Strait of Hormuz to stop the Persian Gulf Oil from reaching Europe.

The idea behind the sanctions is to force Tehran into giving up its illegal nuclear weapons program. I see the Iranian regime as trying something much more dramatic rather than giving up their nukes.

Two Plead Guilty on Illegal Computer Exports To Iran

Today in federal court, Massoud Habibion admitted conspiring with a company in Tehran to export computers through Dubai to Iran without obtaining licenses from the U.S. government. Habibion also admitted selling $4.9 million in computer-related shipments to a company in Dubai, knowing that most of the exports were destined for Iran.

Habibion was the owner of Online Micro LLC in Costa Mesa, California, along with one Mohsen Motamedian. Motamedian also pled guilty to obstruction of justice, telling a government witness to lie about the illegal exports.

Both men are U.S. citizens, and the feds prosecuted them for illegal shipments going on since May 2007.

Motamedian could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison; Habibion faces up to five years.

Some points to consider about the above AP story....the illegal shipments were done via Dubai, supposedly a U.S. 'ally', and a place where a number of prominent U.S. politicians have substantial connections. Is the company in Dubai being sanctioned or punished in any way?

How valuable are the sanctions anyway if they can be breached this easily, for years at a time?

And finally,why aren't these two men having their citizenship revoked and being deported?