US gives up military option, non-UN sanctions against Iran
DEBKAfile Special Report April 21, 2010, 5:41 PM (GMT+02:00)
DEBKAfile Special Report April 21, 2010, 5:41 PM (GMT+02:00)
US Dep. Defense Secretary Michele Flournoy
Addressing a news conference in
A few hours later, the Pentagon spokesman denied that a military strike against Iran was off the table, indicating confusion and polarization at the top of the Obama administration on its Iran
DEBKAfile's military sources report that Flournoy's statement contradicts every public assertion by president Barack Obama, defense secretary Robert Gates and the chairman of the joint Chiefs of staff Adm. Mike Mullen, all of whom have insisted that all options are on the table ifIran
The policy reversal amounts to a beckoning finger atAmerica 's open door for Iran
Monday and Tuesday, April 19-20,Iran 's foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced his government is willing to go back to talks with the United States Turkey has offered its services as broker between Washington andTehran
But if anything,Iran Tehran 's only object in seeking to discuss an agreed outcome for the nuclear controversy is to buy time and push away Washington
Fourney's statement that the United States is counting on UN sanctions to deter Iran likewise plays into Tehran's hands, because it removes the second bludgeon hanging over Iran's heads, that of US penalties outside the world body. This is the only remaining option since most of the informed sources quoted by US media in the past week view the administration's hopes of Russia and China coming around to tough UN sanctions as non-starters.
DEBKAfile's military sources report that Flournoy's statement contradicts every public assertion by president Barack Obama, defense secretary Robert Gates and the chairman of the joint Chiefs of staff Adm. Mike Mullen, all of whom have insisted that all options are on the table if
The policy reversal amounts to a beckoning finger at
Monday and Tuesday, April 19-20,
But if anything,
Fourney's statement that the United States is counting on UN sanctions to deter Iran likewise plays into Tehran's hands, because it removes the second bludgeon hanging over Iran's heads, that of US penalties outside the world body. This is the only remaining option since most of the informed sources quoted by US media in the past week view the administration's hopes of Russia and China coming around to tough UN sanctions as non-starters.
This wholesale US retreat on Iran leaves Israel as the only country still holding to a military option for putting the brakes on Iran
However, Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported thatIsrael 's political and military leaders are divided on the wisdom of executing this option and attacking Iran without US
However, Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that
IRAN'S IRGC TO STAGE MILITARY EXERCISE
Wed, 21 Apr 2010 09:49:52 GMT
Font size : 
 |
Brigadier General Hossein Salami |
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) will stage a massive military exercise in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, a top IRGC commander announced.
"The three-day maneuver will start in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday," IRGC Deputy Commander, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, said on Wednesday.
He added that the drill, dubbed "Great Prophet 5," will be carried out to "lay emphasis on security of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz."
The IRGC commander said that the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz sea passage are host to key economic and energy routes adding, "We intend to display Iran's constructive, positive and determining role in establishing security in the region."
He explained that new weapons including the IRGC's missile potential would be tested during the maneuver.
Salami said that the drill carries the message of "peace and friendship" for Persian Gulf states, adding, "The military exercise is not a threat for any neighboring country."
The event will coincide with the anniversary of the establishment of IRGC. The IRGC's naval, air and ground forces will take part in the drill.
SF/MTM/MMA
"The three-day maneuver will start in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday," IRGC Deputy Commander, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, said on Wednesday.
He added that the drill, dubbed "Great Prophet 5," will be carried out to "lay emphasis on security of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz."
The IRGC commander said that the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz sea passage are host to key economic and energy routes adding, "We intend to display Iran's constructive, positive and determining role in establishing security in the region."
He explained that new weapons including the IRGC's missile potential would be tested during the maneuver.
Salami said that the drill carries the message of "peace and friendship" for Persian Gulf states, adding, "The military exercise is not a threat for any neighboring country."
The event will coincide with the anniversary of the establishment of IRGC. The IRGC's naval, air and ground forces will take part in the drill.
SF/MTM/MMA
Revolutionary Guards - terrorists'
By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL21/04/2010 02:43
Talkbacks (24)
BERLIN – A broad swath of prominent European intellectuals and politicians, crisscrossing Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, are slated to announce on Wednesday that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) should be put on the European Union terror list, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
The European “Stop the Bomb” coalition, which advocates aggressive European-based sanctions against the Iranian government, organized the petition.
The petition, signed by the likes of Elfriede Jelinek, the Austrian winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2004, reads: “As Iran’s most important trading partner, the EU is in a unique position to effect change. Therefore, the EU has the responsibility to impose severe sanctions to thwart Teheran’s drive towards nuclear weapons, and to firmly act towards the protection of human rights in Iran.”
Those who support designating the IRGC a terrorist entity encompass a wide range of the left and conservative political spectrum. Gisela Stuart, Labor MP in the UK and Italy’s Gianni Vernetti, a MP from the liberal Alliance for Italy and former secretary of state for foreign affairs, were two of a number of parliamentarians who advocate isolating the IRGC.
Former Spanish minister of defense and Socialist party member Julian García Vargas also signed the anti-IRGC petition, as did Mats G. Nilsson, a Swedish MP from the Moderate Party, and Claude Goasguen, a French MP from the center-right Union for a Popular Movement.
“By targeting the Revolutionary Guards, Europe can lead the way with ‘smart’ sanctions that cripple the Iranian energy sector – the lifeblood of the men who rule Iran – and, in doing so, support the Iranian reformers against a brutal and illegitimate regime,” according to Mark Dubowitz, executive director the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a leading expert on the Revolutionary Guards and energy sanctions, who spoke to the Post on Tuesday.
“Banning trade with the Guards’ leaders and front companies, which are such dominant players in Iran’s energy sector, would weaken the Guard and undermine its primary source of wealth and influence,” he added.
“It also would send a shot across the bow to Iran’s European energy partners, which are literally fueling the armored vehicles and motorcycles used to brutally repress those standing for freedom on the streets of Teheran.”
Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister and point man on the nuclear crisis in Iran, resisted robust sanctions on the IRGC during the non-nuclear proliferation conference in Teheran.
He told the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung that “in view of the role that the IRGC plays in Iran’s society and economic sphere... we do not believe in comprehensive sanctions.”
Iran’s Commerce Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari confirmed that “problems will certainly surface” because of pending sanctions and alluded indirectly to difficulties in refining oil because Iran is dependent on foreign gas supplies.
The United States designated the IRGC as a global terrorist entity in 2007 because of its involvement in arms trade and sponsorship of Islamic-based terror groups such as Hizbullah.
According to economic and security experts, the IRGC controls as much as 75% of Iran’s economic activity, including military work on its nuclear program; a crackdown on the IRGC could cause a massive financial and economic meltdown in Iran.
Meanwhile, members of the Free Democrat Party (FDP) in Berlin drafted a groundbreaking resolution urging their party’s delegates to the party congress in Cologne this coming weekend to sponsor a bill to place the IRGC on the EU’s terror list.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is the head of the FDP, but his party’s top-level leadership has remained averse to tough sanctions against Iran, largely because of the party’s pro-business base.
Yet Nils Augustin, a FDP member and attorney in Berlin, crafted the resolution along with Saba Farzan, a German-Iranian FDP member and Iran expert.
According to the resolution, it would “correspond to the liberal spirit” of the party’s tradition.
The resolution cites the role of the Guards in terrorizing the civilian population in Iran as well as Teheran’s jingoistic foreign policy.
The FDP paper cites the Dutch Parliament resolution as a precedent. The Netherlands is the only European country at this time pushing for the EU to designate the IRGC as a terror organization.
The European “Stop the Bomb” coalition, which advocates aggressive European-based sanctions against the Iranian government, organized the petition.
The petition, signed by the likes of Elfriede Jelinek, the Austrian winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2004, reads: “As Iran’s most important trading partner, the EU is in a unique position to effect change. Therefore, the EU has the responsibility to impose severe sanctions to thwart Teheran’s drive towards nuclear weapons, and to firmly act towards the protection of human rights in Iran.”
Those who support designating the IRGC a terrorist entity encompass a wide range of the left and conservative political spectrum. Gisela Stuart, Labor MP in the UK and Italy’s Gianni Vernetti, a MP from the liberal Alliance for Italy and former secretary of state for foreign affairs, were two of a number of parliamentarians who advocate isolating the IRGC.
Former Spanish minister of defense and Socialist party member Julian García Vargas also signed the anti-IRGC petition, as did Mats G. Nilsson, a Swedish MP from the Moderate Party, and Claude Goasguen, a French MP from the center-right Union for a Popular Movement.
“By targeting the Revolutionary Guards, Europe can lead the way with ‘smart’ sanctions that cripple the Iranian energy sector – the lifeblood of the men who rule Iran – and, in doing so, support the Iranian reformers against a brutal and illegitimate regime,” according to Mark Dubowitz, executive director the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a leading expert on the Revolutionary Guards and energy sanctions, who spoke to the Post on Tuesday.
“Banning trade with the Guards’ leaders and front companies, which are such dominant players in Iran’s energy sector, would weaken the Guard and undermine its primary source of wealth and influence,” he added.
“It also would send a shot across the bow to Iran’s European energy partners, which are literally fueling the armored vehicles and motorcycles used to brutally repress those standing for freedom on the streets of Teheran.”
Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister and point man on the nuclear crisis in Iran, resisted robust sanctions on the IRGC during the non-nuclear proliferation conference in Teheran.
He told the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung that “in view of the role that the IRGC plays in Iran’s society and economic sphere... we do not believe in comprehensive sanctions.”
Iran’s Commerce Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari confirmed that “problems will certainly surface” because of pending sanctions and alluded indirectly to difficulties in refining oil because Iran is dependent on foreign gas supplies.
The United States designated the IRGC as a global terrorist entity in 2007 because of its involvement in arms trade and sponsorship of Islamic-based terror groups such as Hizbullah.
According to economic and security experts, the IRGC controls as much as 75% of Iran’s economic activity, including military work on its nuclear program; a crackdown on the IRGC could cause a massive financial and economic meltdown in Iran.
Meanwhile, members of the Free Democrat Party (FDP) in Berlin drafted a groundbreaking resolution urging their party’s delegates to the party congress in Cologne this coming weekend to sponsor a bill to place the IRGC on the EU’s terror list.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is the head of the FDP, but his party’s top-level leadership has remained averse to tough sanctions against Iran, largely because of the party’s pro-business base.
Yet Nils Augustin, a FDP member and attorney in Berlin, crafted the resolution along with Saba Farzan, a German-Iranian FDP member and Iran expert.
According to the resolution, it would “correspond to the liberal spirit” of the party’s tradition.
The resolution cites the role of the Guards in terrorizing the civilian population in Iran as well as Teheran’s jingoistic foreign policy.
The FDP paper cites the Dutch Parliament resolution as a precedent. The Netherlands is the only European country at this time pushing for the EU to designate the IRGC as a terror organization.
No comments:
Post a Comment