21 dec 2013
A political analyst says the American people are “waking up to” the true nature of their country’s so-called “special relationship” with Israel.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and other senior US officials have warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against announcing new illegal settlement construction on occupied Palestinian territories.
In a phone interview with Press TV on Thursday, Maidhc Ó Cathail, an editor at the Passionate Attachment, said he believes America’s changed attitude towards Israel “is nothing theatrical” because “America or at least certain people in America are finally waking up to the real nature of” Washington’s so-called “special relationship with Israel.”
“A lot of people may have the feeling that America’s change of attitude toward Israel is purely theatrics, but I think that’s a mistake,” he opined.
Americans are beginning to realize “that Israel is not and has never been a strategic asset of America [and] that it has always been a liability,” Cathail added.
“There is nothing theatrical about Israel’s anger toward Obama and Kerry,” he stated. “You only have to look at the Israeli press to see how they feel about Obama and Kerry, there was an article the other day by a leading Zionist Seth Lipsky in Haaretz in which he accused Obama and Kerry of ‘betrayal of never again.’”
Israelis’ anger with the Obama administration intensified following an interim deal between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the US, Britain, Russia, France and China -- plus Germany in Geneva on November 24.
The interim deal over Iran’s nuclear energy program was welcomed by the international community.
However, the hawkish Israeli prime minister described the nuclear deal as a "historic mistake.”
Since even before the deal was inked in Geneva, Israelis launched a lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill, hoping to get US lawmakers to pass new anti-Iran sanctions legislation.
On Thursday, US Senators Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey) and Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) introduced a new anti-Iran sanctions bill.
However, President Obama was quick to condemn the new anti-Iran effort by some hawkish senators and his Press Secretary Jay Carney said Obama would veto the bill if it ever passed Congress.
Moreover, ten US Senate committee chairs warned against the new anti-Iran bill, saying they “are strongly opposed” to it.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and other senior US officials have warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against announcing new illegal settlement construction on occupied Palestinian territories.
In a phone interview with Press TV on Thursday, Maidhc Ó Cathail, an editor at the Passionate Attachment, said he believes America’s changed attitude towards Israel “is nothing theatrical” because “America or at least certain people in America are finally waking up to the real nature of” Washington’s so-called “special relationship with Israel.”
“A lot of people may have the feeling that America’s change of attitude toward Israel is purely theatrics, but I think that’s a mistake,” he opined.
Americans are beginning to realize “that Israel is not and has never been a strategic asset of America [and] that it has always been a liability,” Cathail added.
“There is nothing theatrical about Israel’s anger toward Obama and Kerry,” he stated. “You only have to look at the Israeli press to see how they feel about Obama and Kerry, there was an article the other day by a leading Zionist Seth Lipsky in Haaretz in which he accused Obama and Kerry of ‘betrayal of never again.’”
Israelis’ anger with the Obama administration intensified following an interim deal between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the US, Britain, Russia, France and China -- plus Germany in Geneva on November 24.
The interim deal over Iran’s nuclear energy program was welcomed by the international community.
However, the hawkish Israeli prime minister described the nuclear deal as a "historic mistake.”
Since even before the deal was inked in Geneva, Israelis launched a lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill, hoping to get US lawmakers to pass new anti-Iran sanctions legislation.
On Thursday, US Senators Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey) and Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) introduced a new anti-Iran sanctions bill.
However, President Obama was quick to condemn the new anti-Iran effort by some hawkish senators and his Press Secretary Jay Carney said Obama would veto the bill if it ever passed Congress.
Moreover, ten US Senate committee chairs warned against the new anti-Iran bill, saying they “are strongly opposed” to it.
People have taken to streets of a Yemeni northwestern city to protest against interference by the United States and Israel.
On Friday, the protesters staged a demonstration in the city of Sa'ada chanting slogans and holding placards against the interference.
They also slammed Washington for launching assassination drone strikes in the country.
The protest followed a drone attack against a wedding convoy on December 12, which left 17 people dead near Rada in the southwestern province of al-Bayda.
Washington has stepped up its assassination drone operations in Yemen over the past few years.
The US claims the targets of the drone attacks are al-Qaeda militants, but local officials and witnesses maintain that civilians have been the main victims of the attacks over the past few years.
On Friday, the protesters staged a demonstration in the city of Sa'ada chanting slogans and holding placards against the interference.
They also slammed Washington for launching assassination drone strikes in the country.
The protest followed a drone attack against a wedding convoy on December 12, which left 17 people dead near Rada in the southwestern province of al-Bayda.
Washington has stepped up its assassination drone operations in Yemen over the past few years.
The US claims the targets of the drone attacks are al-Qaeda militants, but local officials and witnesses maintain that civilians have been the main victims of the attacks over the past few years.
19 dec 2013
"On political level, it's necessary to limit the appetite of special services with certain rules," Putin said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he envies his US counterpart Barack Obama because he can spy on his allies without any consequences.
Putin made the comments on Thursday at an annual question-and-answer session with journalists where he talked about how the revelations made by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden about the US government’s spying activities have changed Moscow’s relations with Washington.
“How do you personally feel about Mr. Obama?” a reporter asked. “Do you communicate? And what are the prospects of Russian-American relations” after Snowden’s revelations?”
“How do I feel about Obama after Snowden’s revelations? I envy him because he can get away with it,” said Putin in a light-hearted tone.
Putin also praised Snowden’s actions and said he is working for a “noble cause”, referring to his releasing of classified documents which showed how the US National Security Agency spies on the phone and internet records of ordinary people across the globe as well as world leaders including US allies.
The Russian President also said that his government is not working with Snowden and has not received any classified information from him.
"To speak in professional jargon, operatively speaking, we are not working with him, and we never worked with him,” Putin said about Snowden. "It is up to him to determine his future," he said. "We are not going to help him, just give him shelter."
Putin’s remarks came after former CIA director James Woolsey said Snowden “should be hanged by his neck until he is dead” if ever convicted of treason.
Putin also underlined the importance of regulations and restrictions on intelligence agencies such as the NSA.
"On political level, it's necessary to limit the appetite of special services with certain rules," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he envies his US counterpart Barack Obama because he can spy on his allies without any consequences.
Putin made the comments on Thursday at an annual question-and-answer session with journalists where he talked about how the revelations made by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden about the US government’s spying activities have changed Moscow’s relations with Washington.
“How do you personally feel about Mr. Obama?” a reporter asked. “Do you communicate? And what are the prospects of Russian-American relations” after Snowden’s revelations?”
“How do I feel about Obama after Snowden’s revelations? I envy him because he can get away with it,” said Putin in a light-hearted tone.
Putin also praised Snowden’s actions and said he is working for a “noble cause”, referring to his releasing of classified documents which showed how the US National Security Agency spies on the phone and internet records of ordinary people across the globe as well as world leaders including US allies.
The Russian President also said that his government is not working with Snowden and has not received any classified information from him.
"To speak in professional jargon, operatively speaking, we are not working with him, and we never worked with him,” Putin said about Snowden. "It is up to him to determine his future," he said. "We are not going to help him, just give him shelter."
Putin’s remarks came after former CIA director James Woolsey said Snowden “should be hanged by his neck until he is dead” if ever convicted of treason.
Putin also underlined the importance of regulations and restrictions on intelligence agencies such as the NSA.
"On political level, it's necessary to limit the appetite of special services with certain rules," he said.
14 dec 2013
By Graham Liddell
A bill that would have included Israel in a visa waiver program with the United States is "dead," as the House of Representatives has left for the year, an American nonprofit organization said Friday.
The US-Israel Strategic Partnership Act -- a bill which critics said would have codified into US law discrimination against Arab and Muslim Americans at Israel's borders -- is "dead in the water," Arab American Institute said in a statement.
"The bills never ... came to the floor of the House or Senate for a vote," the AAI statement said.
Pro-Israel lobby groups including AIPAC have been advocating for the bill since it was introduced in March, citing as its advantages an economic boost due to Israeli tourism in the US and greater ease of travel for Israelis, who under current US law are required to apply for a visa before arrival.
But opponents say language in the bill is "lopsided," requiring the US to admit all Israeli citizens while allowing Israel to maintain discriminatory practices against Americans who are Arab or Muslim, or who are pro-Palestinian activists.
The bill would have allowed Israel "an exemption to reciprocity," the head of a Washington-based nonprofit wrote in the New York Times in October.
"In other words, Israel would get to determine which American citizens it permits to enter," Yousef Munayyer of the Palestine Center wrote in an op-ed.
He cited the cases of Nour Joudah and Sandra Tamari, two Palestinian-American women who were denied entry to Israel in 2012, as examples of the Israeli discrimination that would have been legalized by the current version of the visa-waver bill.
Joudah spent a year teaching English at the Friends School in Ramallah, but after a vacation was denied re-entry by Israel border authorities even though she carried a valid Israeli-issued work visa. Similarly, Tamari flew into Israel to attend an interfaith conference, but was denied entry and banned from the country for 10 years after refusing to provide Israeli interrogators with the password to her email account, according to the op-ed.
Activist backlash against the US-Israel Strategic Partnership Act was "about the United States standing up for the rights of its citizens -- all its citizens -- in the face of bigotry," AAI said.
Though all congressional discussions concerning the bill are now tabled, pro-Israel lobby groups may promote a similar version in 2014.
"AIPAC and its allies may come back in March with the same (pro-Israel) ask, but now they know that when it comes to codifying discrimination against our community, they're overreaching."
A bill that would have included Israel in a visa waiver program with the United States is "dead," as the House of Representatives has left for the year, an American nonprofit organization said Friday.
The US-Israel Strategic Partnership Act -- a bill which critics said would have codified into US law discrimination against Arab and Muslim Americans at Israel's borders -- is "dead in the water," Arab American Institute said in a statement.
"The bills never ... came to the floor of the House or Senate for a vote," the AAI statement said.
Pro-Israel lobby groups including AIPAC have been advocating for the bill since it was introduced in March, citing as its advantages an economic boost due to Israeli tourism in the US and greater ease of travel for Israelis, who under current US law are required to apply for a visa before arrival.
But opponents say language in the bill is "lopsided," requiring the US to admit all Israeli citizens while allowing Israel to maintain discriminatory practices against Americans who are Arab or Muslim, or who are pro-Palestinian activists.
The bill would have allowed Israel "an exemption to reciprocity," the head of a Washington-based nonprofit wrote in the New York Times in October.
"In other words, Israel would get to determine which American citizens it permits to enter," Yousef Munayyer of the Palestine Center wrote in an op-ed.
He cited the cases of Nour Joudah and Sandra Tamari, two Palestinian-American women who were denied entry to Israel in 2012, as examples of the Israeli discrimination that would have been legalized by the current version of the visa-waver bill.
Joudah spent a year teaching English at the Friends School in Ramallah, but after a vacation was denied re-entry by Israel border authorities even though she carried a valid Israeli-issued work visa. Similarly, Tamari flew into Israel to attend an interfaith conference, but was denied entry and banned from the country for 10 years after refusing to provide Israeli interrogators with the password to her email account, according to the op-ed.
Activist backlash against the US-Israel Strategic Partnership Act was "about the United States standing up for the rights of its citizens -- all its citizens -- in the face of bigotry," AAI said.
Though all congressional discussions concerning the bill are now tabled, pro-Israel lobby groups may promote a similar version in 2014.
"AIPAC and its allies may come back in March with the same (pro-Israel) ask, but now they know that when it comes to codifying discrimination against our community, they're overreaching."
21 nov 2013
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman says Tel Aviv needs other allies to be replaced with the United States. "The link between Israel and its main strategic partner the United States has weakened," Lieberman said on Wednesday, AFP reported.
Lieberman admitted that Washington itself has “too many challenges,” including its own “domestic economic problems.”
The Israeli foreign minister also suggested that the US is dependent upon money from some Arab countries.
Lieberman, however, failed to specify any alternative partner.
On Tuesday, US President Barack Obama called on senators to give more time for diplomacy with Iran.
Israel began its lobbying efforts inside the US after it found out that talks between Iran and the world’s six major powers were coming close to an agreement in the Swiss city of Geneva.
During the last round of talks in Geneva on November 7-10, a first-step agreement was within reach but the position taken by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in favor of the Israel and a lack of commitment by US Secretary of State John Kerry spoiled the negotiations.
Lieberman admitted that Washington itself has “too many challenges,” including its own “domestic economic problems.”
The Israeli foreign minister also suggested that the US is dependent upon money from some Arab countries.
Lieberman, however, failed to specify any alternative partner.
On Tuesday, US President Barack Obama called on senators to give more time for diplomacy with Iran.
Israel began its lobbying efforts inside the US after it found out that talks between Iran and the world’s six major powers were coming close to an agreement in the Swiss city of Geneva.
During the last round of talks in Geneva on November 7-10, a first-step agreement was within reach but the position taken by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in favor of the Israel and a lack of commitment by US Secretary of State John Kerry spoiled the negotiations.
8 nov 2013
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The United States has defended its plans to spend billions of dollars to upgrade and modernize its nuclear arsenal.
This is while the US President has always maintained that the US will decrease its nuclear weapons stockpile, like the agreement with Russia in the NEW START program. Why does the US feel it needs nuclear weapons to maintain superiority, and yet preach other nations against having them? |
The United States and Israel have lost their UNESCO voting rights two years after suspending funding to the organization over the admission of Palestine.
Neither the United States nor Israel presented the necessary documentation on Friday to avoid losing their rights to vote, AFP quoted an unnamed UNESCO official as saying.
On October 31, 2011, the UNESCO General Conference in Paris admitted Palestine as its 195th member state, with 107 votes in favor, 14 votes against, and 52 abstentions.
The decision came in defiance of mounting pressure from the US, Israel and their European allies, and prompted Tel Aviv and Washington to cut their contributions to the global cultural agency.
Under UNESCO rules, the US and Israel had until Friday to pay their dues or automatically lose voting rights.
US funding accounted for 22 percent of the agency's overall budget.
The US-Israeli withdrawal of contributions reduced UNESCO's budget from USD 653 million to USD 507 million, and put some 300 UNESCO workers in danger of losing their jobs.
UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova has raised USD 75 million to deal with the financial crisis.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, also known as UNESCO, is responsible for selecting and overseeing World Heritage sites and deals with literacy, media freedom, science, and environmental issues.
Neither the United States nor Israel presented the necessary documentation on Friday to avoid losing their rights to vote, AFP quoted an unnamed UNESCO official as saying.
On October 31, 2011, the UNESCO General Conference in Paris admitted Palestine as its 195th member state, with 107 votes in favor, 14 votes against, and 52 abstentions.
The decision came in defiance of mounting pressure from the US, Israel and their European allies, and prompted Tel Aviv and Washington to cut their contributions to the global cultural agency.
Under UNESCO rules, the US and Israel had until Friday to pay their dues or automatically lose voting rights.
US funding accounted for 22 percent of the agency's overall budget.
The US-Israeli withdrawal of contributions reduced UNESCO's budget from USD 653 million to USD 507 million, and put some 300 UNESCO workers in danger of losing their jobs.
UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova has raised USD 75 million to deal with the financial crisis.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, also known as UNESCO, is responsible for selecting and overseeing World Heritage sites and deals with literacy, media freedom, science, and environmental issues.
7 nov 2013
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2 nov 2013
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In the US, the House Armed Services Committee has approved an additional funding in military aid to Israel. The committee has approved that nearly half a billion dollars be given to Israel this year.
The approval has not yet been finalized but, it's expected to get the final okay by the House Appropriations Committee and Senate. The money is in addition to over three billion dollars in military aid that Washington is already planning to send to Tel Aviv in the coming fiscal year. This comes as the US government has made cuts in food assistance program. The cuts have forced nearly forty-eight million Americans to see their food stamps slashed. |
26 oct 2013
The former head of Israel’s spy agency ‘Mossad’ Danny Yatom stated that the US spies on private phone conversations of Israeli officials. The comments came after former CIA employee Edward Snowden leaked to press information about an extensive surveillance program by the US government.
British newspaper ‘The Guardian’ headlined "The USA monitored calls of 35 world leaders according to classified documents leaked by fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden."
The thirty five world leaders weren’t named, however Yatom told the Ma’ariv website on Friday that it is very probable that the US administration is eavesdropping on private phone conversations of Israeli officials.
"It could very well be that it happened here, too, because when the Americans think they need to listen in on someone, that’s what they do," he added.
Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel revealed that the White House may have snooped on her mobile phone calls.
British newspaper ‘The Guardian’ headlined "The USA monitored calls of 35 world leaders according to classified documents leaked by fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden."
The thirty five world leaders weren’t named, however Yatom told the Ma’ariv website on Friday that it is very probable that the US administration is eavesdropping on private phone conversations of Israeli officials.
"It could very well be that it happened here, too, because when the Americans think they need to listen in on someone, that’s what they do," he added.
Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel revealed that the White House may have snooped on her mobile phone calls.
25 oct 2013
US Secretary of State John Kerry (C) follows US ambassador to France Charles Rivkin (L) at the US ambassador's residence in Paris on Oct. 21, 2013
France believed the United States attempted to hack into its president's communications network, a leaked US intelligence document published on Friday suggests.
US agents denied having anything to do with a May 2012 cyber attack on the Elysee Palace, the official residence of French presidents, and appeared to hint at the possible involvement of Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, a classified internal note from the US National Security Agency suggests.
Extracts from the document, the latest to emerge from the NSA via former contractor Edward Snowden, were published by Le Monde newspaper alongside an article jointly authored by Glenn Greenwald, the US journalist who has been principally responsible for a still-unraveling scandal over large-scale US snooping on individuals and political leaders all over the world.
The document is a briefing note prepared in April this year for NSA officials who were due to meet two senior figures from France's external intelligence agency, the DGSE. The French agents had traveled to Washington to demand explanations over their discovery in May 2012 of attempts to compromise the Elysee's communications systems.
The note says that the branch of the NSA which handles cyber attacks, Tailored Access Operations (TAO), had confirmed that it had not carried out the attack and says that most of its closest allies (Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand) had also denied involvement.
It goes on to note: "TAO intentionally did not ask either Mossad or (Israel's cyber intelligence unit) ISNU whether they were involved as France is not an approved target for joint discussions."
Le Monde interpreted this sentence as being an ironic reference to a strong likelihood that Mossad had been behind the attack.
The cyber attacks on the Elysee took place in the final weeks of Nicolas Sarkozy's term, between the two rounds of the presidential election which he ended up losing to Francois Hollande.
The attacks had been previously reported by French media, who have described them as an attempt to insert monitoring devices into the system but it remains unclear whether the presidential networks were compromised for any time.
There was no immediate response from the Elysee on Friday when asked for comment by AFP.
Sarkozy enjoyed warmer relations with the United States than any French president of recent times, to the extent that the media sometimes referred to him as "Sarko the American."
The revelations about the Elysee attacks followed damaging revelations that the US had tapped the mobile phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and spied on other allies.
"Spying between friends, that's just not done," Merkel said Thursday at the start of a summit of European Union leaders which has been overshadowed by the issue.
On a lighter note, the leaked document published by Le Monde on Friday underlines that NSA officials were anxious not to cause any further offense to their angry French counterparts.
Along with the technical details, the briefing note contains a phonetic guide to the pronunciation of the names of the French visitors.
They included DGSE technical director Bernard Barbier, who was to be addressed as bear-NAR bur-BYAY, and Patrick Pailloux, or pah-TREEK pie-YOO.
France believed the United States attempted to hack into its president's communications network, a leaked US intelligence document published on Friday suggests.
US agents denied having anything to do with a May 2012 cyber attack on the Elysee Palace, the official residence of French presidents, and appeared to hint at the possible involvement of Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, a classified internal note from the US National Security Agency suggests.
Extracts from the document, the latest to emerge from the NSA via former contractor Edward Snowden, were published by Le Monde newspaper alongside an article jointly authored by Glenn Greenwald, the US journalist who has been principally responsible for a still-unraveling scandal over large-scale US snooping on individuals and political leaders all over the world.
The document is a briefing note prepared in April this year for NSA officials who were due to meet two senior figures from France's external intelligence agency, the DGSE. The French agents had traveled to Washington to demand explanations over their discovery in May 2012 of attempts to compromise the Elysee's communications systems.
The note says that the branch of the NSA which handles cyber attacks, Tailored Access Operations (TAO), had confirmed that it had not carried out the attack and says that most of its closest allies (Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand) had also denied involvement.
It goes on to note: "TAO intentionally did not ask either Mossad or (Israel's cyber intelligence unit) ISNU whether they were involved as France is not an approved target for joint discussions."
Le Monde interpreted this sentence as being an ironic reference to a strong likelihood that Mossad had been behind the attack.
The cyber attacks on the Elysee took place in the final weeks of Nicolas Sarkozy's term, between the two rounds of the presidential election which he ended up losing to Francois Hollande.
The attacks had been previously reported by French media, who have described them as an attempt to insert monitoring devices into the system but it remains unclear whether the presidential networks were compromised for any time.
There was no immediate response from the Elysee on Friday when asked for comment by AFP.
Sarkozy enjoyed warmer relations with the United States than any French president of recent times, to the extent that the media sometimes referred to him as "Sarko the American."
The revelations about the Elysee attacks followed damaging revelations that the US had tapped the mobile phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and spied on other allies.
"Spying between friends, that's just not done," Merkel said Thursday at the start of a summit of European Union leaders which has been overshadowed by the issue.
On a lighter note, the leaked document published by Le Monde on Friday underlines that NSA officials were anxious not to cause any further offense to their angry French counterparts.
Along with the technical details, the briefing note contains a phonetic guide to the pronunciation of the names of the French visitors.
They included DGSE technical director Bernard Barbier, who was to be addressed as bear-NAR bur-BYAY, and Patrick Pailloux, or pah-TREEK pie-YOO.
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Former CIA agent Susan Lindauer says the United States began spying on foreign officials and even the UN Security Council members before the 9/11 attacks.
“We are spying on these people. We are spying on ambassadors. We are spying on senior diplomats and we’ve been doing it for years,” she told Press TV on Thursday. The Guardian reported on Thursday that the US National Security Agency monitored the telephone conversations of 35 world leaders. Officials from the White House, the US Department of Defense, and the State Department gave the world leaders’ numbers to the NSA. “What is very interesting to me as a former CIA asset is I know very well that at the United Nations… we frequently targeted Security Council members. This was very normal behavior for the past 10 years. I’d say even before the 9/11 we were doing this,” Lindauer said. The anti-war activist argued that the United States is no longer the dominant source of power and the world is no longer tolerant of US abuses. Lindauer said Washington's strategy in pursuing foreign civilians does not have a rational basis. “We are hunting down citizens of foreign countries whose activities might very well be legal within their own country, but which violates our own US policies and then we are sabotaging them or even arresting them and |
extraditing them to the United States for prosecution and this goes well beyond terrorism cases,” she explained.
“It is something that ordinary citizens should be afraid of,” she said.
“It is something that ordinary citizens should be afraid of,” she said.
24 oct 2013
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The biggest donor to the US Republican party has said the United States should drop a nuclear bomb on Iran before beginning negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear energy program.
Gambling mogul Sheldon Adelson, who is a staunch supporter of the Israeli regime, made the comments at Yeshiva University in New York City on Tuesday. Adelson, who donated nearly $100 million to Republicans during the 2012 election cycle, said Washington should first drop a nuclear bomb on desert areas in Iran. “Then you say, ‘See! The next one is in the middle of Tehran. So, we mean business. You want to be wiped out? Go ahead and take a tough position and continue with your nuclear development,” he said. |
80-year-old Adelson also owns a Tel Aviv newspaper that frequently magnifies warnings from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Iran would pose an existential threat to Israel.
His comments come amid intense lobbying efforts by Israelis and hawkish US lawmakers who are deeply concerned by the Iranian government’s diplomatic efforts to resolve the lengthy dispute with the West over Tehran’s nuclear energy program and Washington's recent diplomatic outreach to Iran.
Last week, The New York Times reported that a senior White House official has said Washington is planning to unfreeze Iran’s overseas assets in order to reciprocate Tehran’s confidence-building measures over its nuclear energy program.
In response to the Times’ report, a group of Republican senators released a statement saying, “The U.S. should not suspend new sanctions, nor consider releasing limited frozen assets, before Tehran suspends its nuclear enrichment activities.”
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) also sent a memo to US congressmen last week, claiming that Iran does not have the right to enrich uranium.
Iran is a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Iranian government has stressed that its people’s rights to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including enrichment, must be respected.
His comments come amid intense lobbying efforts by Israelis and hawkish US lawmakers who are deeply concerned by the Iranian government’s diplomatic efforts to resolve the lengthy dispute with the West over Tehran’s nuclear energy program and Washington's recent diplomatic outreach to Iran.
Last week, The New York Times reported that a senior White House official has said Washington is planning to unfreeze Iran’s overseas assets in order to reciprocate Tehran’s confidence-building measures over its nuclear energy program.
In response to the Times’ report, a group of Republican senators released a statement saying, “The U.S. should not suspend new sanctions, nor consider releasing limited frozen assets, before Tehran suspends its nuclear enrichment activities.”
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) also sent a memo to US congressmen last week, claiming that Iran does not have the right to enrich uranium.
Iran is a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Iranian government has stressed that its people’s rights to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including enrichment, must be respected.
