Remember When USA Gave Money to Iran?

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                   

How could Iran afford to buy so many ballistic missiles to use against Israel?  Here's when they had lots of money.  

WashingtonCNN — 

The Obama administration secretly arranged a plane

 delivery of $400 million in cash in 2016 on the same day Iran released four

 American prisoners and formally implemented the nuclear deal, US 

officials confirmed Wednesday.

President Barack Obama approved the $400 million transfer, which he had 

announced in January as part of the Iran nuclear deal. The money was flown 

into Iran on wooden pallets stacked with Swiss francs, euros and other 

currencies as the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement resolving claims 

at an international tribunal at The Hague over a failed arms deal under the 

time of the Shah.

7The Wall Street Journal revealed this week that in January 2016, the Obama administration secretly airlifted $400 million in cash to Iran.

The Wall Street Journal broke news that the Obama administration secretly airlifted $400 million in cash to Iran. The money was owed as part of a failed arms deal prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. But the payment coincided within the release of four Americans imprisoned in Tehran, raising questions about cash for prisoners.                                                 

                                                  Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin Senator 

In 2015, Baldwin, Democrat,  voted with Democrats against a Republican effort to block Democratic former President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. Republicans failed to get the 60 votes needed to block the deal, which lifted U.S. sanctions on Iran in exchange for limiting Iran’s nuclear capabilities. In other words, the Democrats took off the sanctions preventing Iran from receiving money!  Iran's nuclear capabilities have just gone underground, secretly developing to the level it is at today.  

Then,  Baldwin was one of the first U.S. senators to urge the Biden administration to  refreeze the money after the Hamas attacks on Israel. She joined a bipartisan group of 13 senators in an Oct. 13 letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The 2015 agreement didn’t send money to Iran, but rather freed up Iranian assets previously frozen under sanctions. U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew who  told lawmakers in July 2015 that Iran would gain access to an estimated $56 billion under the deal, though other estimates from Iranian officials placed that number lower.

Donald Trump criticized the move today at his rally in Portland, Maine.

DONALD TRUMP (R), Presidential Nominee: Four hundred million in cash. It's being flown in an airplane to Iran. I wonder where that money really goes, by the way. Right? I wonder where it really goes.  Well, it went to either in their pockets, which I actually think more so, or toward terrorism, probably a combination of both.

Besides this amount, another commentator said that President Barack Obama's administration had given $150 billion to Iran, effectively, they argued, funding Hamas.  Thus, Obama managed to give Iran $150 billion + $400 million=150.4 billion US$

The Biden administration on November 14, 2023,  extended a sanctions waiver to allow Iran to access upwards of $10 billion in electricity revenue once held in escrow in Iraq. The waiver allows Baghdad to continue purchasing electricity from Iran and, in a change from past policy, for Iran to convert its revenue into euros and draw on the money for budget imports out of Iraq and Oman. So now, $150.4 billion + $10 billion =

$160.4 billion dollars.  

The extension comes just over a month after Hamas — a terrorist group armed and funded by the regime in Tehran — conducted a surprise attack on Israel, killing 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping more than 240, which would be the October 7th massacre . Other proxies financed and armed by Tehran have attacked U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria with rockets and drones.

The July waiver came just as an unacknowledged nuclear understanding between the United States and Iran, evading the congressional review requirement of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act. Weeks later, the administration agreed to release another $6 billion in Iranian funds frozen in South Korea as part of a deal to secure the release of Tehran’s American hostages

According to the Associated Press, U.S. officials insist Iran can only spend the released funds on humanitarian purchases, including food, medicine, medical equipment, and agricultural goods. Yet opponents of the waiver note that money is fungible and that the waiver will allow the regime to free up funds to continue arming its anti-U.S. and anti-Israel proxies.  Is this still happening?  

Since the war, Tehran has steadily expanded its missile arsenal. It has also invested heavily in its own industries and infrastructure to lessen dependence on unreliable foreign sources. It is now able to produce its own missiles, although some key components still need to be imported. Iran has demonstrated that it can also significantly expand the range of acquired missiles, as it has done with Nodong missiles from North Korea, which it then renamed.  Iran’s missiles can already hit any part of the Middle East, including Israel. Over time, Tehran has established the capacity to create missiles to address a full range of strategic objectives. 

• Iran’s indigenous Fateh-110 family of solid-fuel missiles have achieved the precision necessary to destroy military and critical-infrastructure targets reliably, as demonstrated during its January 2020 attack against U.S. forces stationed at Ayn al Asad airbase in Iraq using Zolfaghar missiles. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Netanyahu showed all in the UN in 2018 how close Iran was to having nuclear power to use in their missiles, and the USA didn't listen because they went out to lunch.  They simply walked out just before he spoke.

Today, on October 11, 2024,  Iran has significantly advanced nuclear capabilities, possessing a large stockpile of enriched uranium, including material close to weapons-grade, which could theoretically be used to produce multiple nuclear weapons if further enriched, though the US intelligence community currently assesses that Iran is not actively pursuing the development of a nuclear device; however, experts warn that Iran could produce a nuclear weapon relatively quickly if it chooses to do so, with estimates of "breakout time" ranging from several months to a year depending on the level of enrichment required.

Resource:

https://iranprimer.usip.org/resource/irans-ballistic-missile-program

ttps://www.fdd.org/analysis/2023/11/15/iran-receives-access-to-10-billion-thanks-to-u-s-sanctions-waiver/

https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2023/11/15/iran-receives-access-to-10-billion-thanks-to-u-s-sanctions-waiver/

https://www.cnn.com/2016/08/03/politics/us-sends-plane-iran-400-million-cash/index.html

https://www.newsweek.com/us-give-iran-150-billion-barack-obama-jack-posobiec-1835083

https://www.baldwin.senate.gov/about/about-tammy

https://www.iranwatch.org/our-publications/articles-reports/irans-nuclear-timetable-weapon-potential#:~:text=Dividing%20the%202%2C295%20SWU%20by,revised%20April%2013%2C%201995).

China and Israel, Like Goliath and David

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                 

A long time ago, from 400 CE on,  Jews traveled on the Silk Road to China as traders. Possibly as early as the first few centuries of the Common Era, large merchant settlements of Jews could be found along the Eastern Silk Road, reaching even into Kaifeng, China, the capital of 7 dynasties.                    

                                Kaifeng Jews

 Kaifeng Palace, located on the north shore of Baogong East Lake, is known as the first government office of Ancient China, where capital officials worked during the Northern Song Dynasty.

Early trade documents in a unique form of Hebrew from the area dating from around 400 CE have been found in China that suggest the community was not only in existence, but thriving by that time. Remains of a great synagogue have also been found in Kaifeng and have been dated to the 11th and 12th Century CE.     

                                                  

The Radenites were Jewish .  Called Radhanim,  they were Jewish medieval merchants. Only a limited number of primary sources use the term, and it remains unclear whether they referred to a specific guild, or to a clan, or generically to Jewish merchants in the trans-Eurasian trade network. Jewish merchants operated in trade between the Christian and Islamic worlds during the early Middle Ages (approximately 500–1000). Many trade routes previously established under the Roman Empire continued to function during that period – largely through their efforts. Their trade network covered much of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and parts of India and China.   

 Then  Marco Polo on September 15, 1254 – January 8, 1324) was a Venetian of Italy merchant, explorer, and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295 being the first Westerner to see and trade with this unknown world.  Born in Venice, Marco learned the mercantile trade from his father and his uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, who travelled through Asia and met Kublai Khan. In 1269, they returned to Venice to meet Marco for the first time. The three of them embarked on an epic journey to Asia, exploring many places along the Silk Road until they reached Cathay (China).

                                                   

So the mixing and blending of goods, foods and cultures in countries touched by the great Asian trade routes was accomplished by a wide variety of different types of people – most of whom were merchants – out to make a buck along the Silk Road. For thousands of years, Arabs, traded with Africans and Greeks and Jews, and Jews traded with Persians, Georgians, Uzbeks and Chinese, and Chinese traded with Indonesians and Thais and Sri Lankans and Arabs who traded with . . . As bloodlines merged, imported cultural practices became integrated into those held dearly for millennia and modern cuisines emerged from the crucible of history – all blended and formed along the Great Silk Road. (Words by Laura Kelley)        

China and Israel have developed close strategic military links with each other. Bilateral military relations have evolved from an initial Chinese policy of secret non-official ties to a close strategic partnership with the modern and militarily powerful Israel.

                                               

     China and Israel deepening their ties

 China did not establish normal diplomatic relations with Israel until 1992. Since then, Israel and China have developed increasingly close strategic economic, military and technological links with each other. Israel maintains an embassy in Beijing and is planning to open a new consulate in Chengdu, its third in Mainland China. 

China is Israel's third largest trading partner globally and largest trading partner in East Asia. Trade volume increased from $50 million in 1992 to $15 billion in 2013. Israel is about 437 times smaller than China.  China is approximately 9,596,960 sq km, while Israel is approximately 21,937 sq km, making Israel 0.23% the size of China. Meanwhile, the population of China is ~1.4 billion people (1.4 billion fewer people live in Israel).

                     There are Jewish people in China.  

 Shared commonalities and similarities between the cultures and values of the two nations with ancient roots dating back thousands of years as well as convergence of interests have made the two countries natural partners. In addition, China is one of the few countries in the world to concurrently maintain warm relations with Israel, Palestine, and the Muslim world at large.    

                            More Kaifeng Jews

China's status as a potential world power has prompted Israel to maintain closer ties with China by integrating China's global influence with Israel's economic management and its regional strategic importance in the Middle East. Beijing has appreciated Israel's political stability and diplomatic ingenuity and sees the Jewish state as one of the regional pillars for securing China's influence in the Middle East and the entire world.

Israel has become one of the world leaders in cybersecurity. One of those who played a key role in Israel’s pioneering role in this field, which is now emerging as one of the most important aspects of our global economy and security, is Prof. Isaac Ben-Israel.

China, officially the People's Republic of China, is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population of more than 1.4 billion. China spans five geographical time zones and borders 14 different countries, the second most of any country in the world after Russia.  China is made up of 3.705 million square miles. Actually, The largest country in the world is Russia with a total area of 17,098,242 Km² (6,601,665 mi²) and a land area of 16,376,870 Km² (6,323,142 mi²), equivalent to 11% of the total world's landmass of 148,940,000 Km² (57,510,000 square miles). The USA is the 4th largest.                         

New Jersey above on the East Coast is a tiny orange state.  In 2021, it has 9.4 million population.  

New Jersey is the 5th-smallest US state, covering 20,168 square kilometers or 7787 square miles .As the comparison map above shows, the land currently controlled by the State of Israel (including disputed territories) is not much larger: 27,869 square kilometers or 10,760 square miles.  Israel in its pre-1967 borders was 8,019 square miles or 20,770 square kilometers, just barely bigger than New Jersey.  Considering its tiny size, is Israel large enough that it can afford give away land to try to placate the Arabs?                                                     

Israel is about 1.4 times smaller than Belgium. Belgium is approximately 30,528 sq km, while Israel is approximately 21,937 sq km, making Israel 71.86% the size  of Belgium. Meanwhile, the population of Belgium is ~11.7 million people (3.0 million fewer people live in Israel). .                                 

    Chinese Jews have arrived in Israel.  

In 2020, Israel is the 29th largest trading partner, 29th largest import partner, and 29th largest export partner of Taiwan. The value of exports to Israel was US$842.825,815, an annual increase of 7.706%. Imports from Israel amounted to 1.069. 7 million US$2,546, an annual increase of 7.787%.  Israel's Top 15 Trading Partners

• United States: US$13.1 billion (26.3% of total Israeli exports)
• China: $4.1 billion (8.3%)
• United Kingdom: $3.7 billion (7.5%)
• Netherlands: $2.5 billion (4.9%)
• Germany: $1.7 billion (3.4%)
• India: $1.6 billion (3.2%)
• Belgium: $1.45 billion (2.9%)
• Turkey: $1.41 billion (2.8%)

As far as the USA is concerned, The Biden administration has called managing America’s relationship with Beijing “the biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century.

A group photo at the Jewish Community of Taiwan’s 2021 Purim party. No masks required. (Archi Chang/ via JTA)

”Taiwan, Trade, Tech and More:are a Tense Era in U.S.-China Ties. China wants Taiwan.   As the small island off China remains blessedly untouched by COVID, its diverse group of Jews prepare to welcome this holiday like all others. This past spring, Taiwan’s small Jewish community gears up for big Passover party — sans masks.

China is determined to keep the peace and to keep a good name for itself, as has been the practice of their culture.  They are doing this at the expense of the individual's rights.  Right now a famous Chinese tennis player is kept away or may even be dead who made the mistake of exposing an important individual with his acts of attacking her, and this cannot be in this particular culture.  Evidently she was testing the water by doing this, and it isn't ready.

They have suffered a lot in the Western culture.  Chinese were taken advantage of and thought of as sub-human because of looking different in places like Seattle where there is an underground city that the Chinese had.  They were brought over to work on the railroad and in gold mining areas. 

 THEir STORY BEGINS IN THE EARLY 1800S IN THE SOUTH CHINA AREA OF TOISHAN, OR CANTON, IN THE GUANGDONG PROVINCE. AFTER YEARS OF GREAT PROSPERITY AND POPULATION GROWTH, THE IMPERIAL NATION WAS NOW FACING A DEVASTATING SEASON OF DROUGHTS, FLOODS, FAMINE, AND POLITICAL UNREST.  During this time, China would accept only silver from the British in trade for their valuable silks and spices. Preferring to keep their silver, the British offered to trade opium instead, and threatened the Chinese with gun boats if they refused. The conflict led to the Opium War in the 1840s, which opened China to a turbulent narcotics trade that ultimately devastated household industries and farming. The crisis was amplified by the Taiping Rebellion from 1850 to 1864, leaving many peasants in poverty and struggling to survive. When word came that gold had been discovered in central California in 1849, many Chinese, mostly men from the Guangdong area, jumped on boats headed to San Francisco or “Land of the Gold Mountain” hoping to strike it rich. What began as a trickle of immigrants soon became thousands of Chinese traveling to the United States, many with plans to make money and then return to their families in China.

During this time, China would accept only silver from the British in trade for their valuable silks and spices. Preferring to keep their silver, the British offered to trade opium instead, and threatened the Chinese with gun boats if they refused. 

The conflict led to the Opium War in the 1840s, which opened China to a turbulent narcotics trade that ultimately devastated household industries and farming. The crisis was amplified by the Taiping Rebellion from 1850 to 1864, leaving many peasants in poverty and struggling to survive.  When word came that gold had been discovered in central California in 1849, many Chinese, mostly men from the Guangdong area, jumped on boats headed to San Francisco or “Land of the Gold Mountain” hoping to strike it rich. What began as a trickle of immigrants soon became thousands of Chinese traveling to the United States, many with plans to make money and then return to their families in China.

China celebrated its 100 anniversary of Communism this past summer.  They have been demonstating from  increasing aggression on the global stage right from Beijing.  In March, the U.S. and its allies — including the European Union, the U.K. and Canada — imposed sanctions on Chinese officials for alleged human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the western region of Xinjiang. Beijing retaliated with sanctions of its own.

Even with the accelerated nuclear expansion, Beijing is still behind the United States, with its nuclear stockpile of 5,550 warheads, and Russia, which has 6,255, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent organization. China has about 350 nuclear warheads, the organization said.Nov 3, 2021'

WASHINGTON — China is continuing to strengthen its strategic nuclear arsenal and could have 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, according to a new Defense Department report released Wednesday.

Resource:

https://silkroadgourmet.com/the-jews-of-the-great-silk-road/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/taiwans-small-jewish-community-gears-up-for-big-passover-party-sans-masks/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo

https://www.mylifeelsewhere.com/country-size-comparison/israel/belgium

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%E2%80%93Israel_relations#:~:text=China%20and%20Israel%20have%20developed,modern%20and%20militarily%20powerful%20Israel.

https://www.nytimes.com/article/us-china-tensions-explained.html

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/cyber-week-how-israel-became-a-leader-in-cyber-tech-and-investment-674168

A Purim Contemplation: Iran's Past Concealing Behaviors Over Their Nuclear Program

 Nadene Goldfoot                                          

          Tehran, Iran 8.694 million;  capital of Iran, in the north of the country. Its central Golestan Palace complex, with its ornate rooms and marble throne, was the seat of power of the Qajar dynasty. The National Jewelry Museum holds many of the Qajar monarchs’ jewels, while the National Museum of Iran has artifacts dating back to Paleolithic times. The Milad Tower offers panoramic views over the city.  Iran has 76,923,300 population in 2011 and is 98%Shi'a Muslims.  It's the 6th largest Muslim majority country.  And just beyond the city are nuclear power plants.  

                                                                    

                          John Kerry, one of the "deal makers of the 5+1."  

The USA has been talking with Iran about its nuclear program and was to be concluded at the final end of the June 2015 deadline.  President Obama had been president since 2009 and would continue till 2017.  The president of Iran at that time was Hassan Rouhani.

                                                     

               The Two Presidents:  Hassan Rouhani and Barack Obama
   You would think it was in both their personal and national interests to "clinch a deal." Look what had been going on till this point.

     Iran's president is not a president like the American president who has to answer to the House and Senate on many decisions.  Iran's president is ruled by the  Ayatollah of that period. 

       Sayyid Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini, also known in the Western world as Ayatollah Khomeini, was an Iranian politician, revolutionary, and cleric.  He died in 1989.  In September 1980, Iraq launched a full-scale invasion of Iran, beginning the Iran–Iraq War (September 1980 – August 1988). That's when Danny and I made aliyah to Israel.   He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which saw the overthrow of the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and the end of the 2,500-year-old Persian monarchy. Following the revolution, Khomeini became the country's Supreme Leader, a position created in the constitution of the Islamic Republic as the highest-ranking political and religious authority of the nation, which he held until his death. Most of his reign was taken up by the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988. He was succeeded by Ali Khamenei on 4 June 1989.
                                           

August 2002:  Iran's opposition group, National Council of Resistance of Iran-a front for the militant People's Army, tells of construction of a nuclear reactor to produce plutonium at Arak and a uranium enrichment facility with centrifuges at Natanz.  Supposedly this information came from Israeli intelligence and was forwarded to the Resistance group.  It increased international fears that Iran was conspiring to build nuclear weapons under "a civilian project."

                                                    

Sayyid Mohammad Khatami served as the fifth President of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 to 1992. Later, he was critical of the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

February 2003:  Iranian President Muhammad Khatami says they do have the Natanz facility and that inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) can visit the site and other facilities !

June 2003:  IAEA report finds that Iran has violated its international nuclear obligations and agreements.

October 2003:  UK, Germany and France (the EU-3) launch diplomatic efforts to address Iran's nuclear policy.  The US refuses to be involved in the talks.

October 2003:  Iran agrees with EU-3 (Tehran Declaration"). Iran agrees to suspend all uranium enrichment.  The USS backed the agreement from the outset.                                          

                              Ahmadinejad's constant threats to Israel  

August 2005:  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became president of Iran, abandoned the agreement and restarted Iran's uranium enrichment activity and construction of the Natanz reactor.                     

                                Iran and China's heads together

June 2006:  IAEA says Iran is a "non-compliant" state.  China, US and Russia join the UK, Germany and France to form the P5+1 group to deal with the fear that Iran is on its way to make its first nuclear bomb!  

December 2006-2010:   UN Security Council passes 6 resolutions that Iran stop uranium enrichment, activities related and imposes sanctions against Iranian individuals and companies linked to the nuclear and missile programs.  

                                                     

Yukiya Amano was a Japanese diplomat and the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Amano previously served as an international civil servant for the United Nations and its subdivisions. On 22 July 2019, IAEA announced that Amano had died.

          2007:  CIA publishes their "National Intelligence Estimate" saying that in 2003 the IAEA Director General, Yukiya Amano, addressed a news conference at IAEA headquarters in Vienna on June 8th.  Any possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program can be clarified if the details of a preliminary deal sealed in April between Tehran and the 6 world powers are implemented.  Iran had stopped working on the nuclear military program.  This estimate was not accepted by Israeli intelligence, which claimed that Iran never stopped its clandestine and covert nuclear military research.  

       2007-2011:  Israel's intelligence led by Mossad initiates systematic  covert operations aimed at creating physical and psychological havoc, according to foreign reports.  The measures taken were an assassination campaign against Iranian scientists and sabotage of equipment and facilities.  This was supplemented by a joint venture with the CIA.  These 2 espionage agencies wrote a code for a malicious virus called Stuxnet, which was planted in computers operating the centrifuges in Natanz.  1/3 of the centrifuges were damaged.

                                                    

                            Fordow nuclear plant in Iran  

September 2009:  Obama reveals existence of Fordow, near Qom in Iran.  It's a small, heavily fortified underground enrichment facility.  Information came from US, Britain, Israel and others.  Fordow was built for a military program.  US and Israel talked about air strikes, military action.  

        2009-2011:  PM Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak lead campaign of threats to attack unless the international community tightened sanctions against Iran.  Neither wanted this and so this was a bluff.  General Ashkenazi and Mossad's head man, Meir Dagan were against war.  All in Israel believed the bluff.

      2010-2013:  More sanctions were given to Iran.  Iran's oil, petrochemical production, exports, shipping, insurance were targeted, and Iranian banks were cut off, blacklisted.   Over $100 billion in Iranian deposits were frozen around the world.                    

September 26, 2012:  What will happen in 2022?                       

  Netanyahu at UN speaking,  reaching  the red line about Iran's ability with nuclear power.  

2012:  WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - In a highly unusual rebuff to a close ally, the White House said on Tuesday that President Barack Obama would not meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a U.S. visit later this month, as tensions escalated over how to deal with Iran’s nuclear program.                                  

Spring 2013:  Iran's economy suffered, lost $160 billion in revenues.  They suffered from inflation, unemployment, currency devaluing.  Their SUPREME LEADER, ALI KHAMENEI, decided to change course.  He green lighted the replacement of Ahmadinejad who served 2 terrible terms. Now Iran has reached one of its goals.  They've been able to master most aspects of the nuclear process and has become a nuclear threshold state.  

November 2013:  Iran and P5+1 agree. it's called the Joint Plan of Action.  It limits Iran's nuclear program.  Arak reactor stops, stockpile of 20% enriched uranium is decreased and they will enrich uranium up to 5%.  Some minor sanctions are lifted.  2 deadlines for a comprehensive agreement are not met.                                               

            Iran's Parchin military facility.  Parchin is an Iranian military complex, located about 30 kilometres southeast of Tehran. It is closely linked with the Khojir missile production complex.To the northwest of Parchin in the Barjamali Hills, a test range for liquid-propellant missile engines is part of the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (SHIG) Khojir research facility 35°39′50″N 51°43′45″E where signature of engine test stand firing, probably including technology from the Russian SS-4 Sandal missile, was confirmed by an American spy satellite in August 1997.^[2]

On December 15, 1997, SHIG conducted at least a sixth 1997 test of an engine needed for an 800-mile-range (1,300 km) ballistic missile. The test was either the sixth or the eighth during 1997 according to available intelligence

                                                           

                               Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant:   is a nuclear power plant in Iran 17 kilometres southeast of the city of Bushehr, between the fishing villages of Halileh and Bandargeh along the Persian Gulf.  Construction of the plant was started in 1975 by German companies, but the work was stopped in 1979 after the Islamic revolution of Iran.  That's when the Shah was kicked out and Ayatollah's replaced him.  

                           Iranian army in parade

April 2015:  Iran and P5+1 have deal for 10 years.  Iran cannot enrich uranium over 5%, need to dismantle 75% of 19,000 centrifuges in Natanz, remove fissile materials from Fordow and dismantle elements of Arak reactor so as not to produce plutonium.  Removed equipment is to be put under strict IAEA inspection who will install seals and cameras linked to headquarters in Vienna.  Iran cannot produce advanced centrifuges, agree to intrusive inspection regime by IAEA including military sites.  In return, sanctions will be lifted gradually.  

                                                       

        Mohammad Javad Zarif is an Iranian career diplomat and academic. He has been foreign minister of Iran since 2013.

At the end of July 2015, Iran had begun to use doublespeak.  While talking, Mohammad Zarif agreed to most of the clauses in the draft agreement but when he returned to Iran, made different statements.  They declared that the sanctions will be lifted from Day 1 -not after phase 1.  Ali Khamenei and Rouhani made statements that military sites are off limits and said this to the Iranian parliament.  They contradicted what was agreed upon.  Yossi Melman thought that with linguistic creativity, differences could be bridged and resolved.  6 years have passed by and nothing has changed except the American president.    

"On January 16, 2016, the International Atomic Energy Agency verified that Iran has completed the necessary steps under the Iran deal that will ensure Iran's nuclear program is and remains exclusively peaceful."  They did not consider that what was said in the meeting and what was said to Iranians were 2 different things.                                             

U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a memorandum reinstating sanctions on Iran after the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal at the White House in Washington on May 8, 2018. CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES.  

   2021:  Robert Malley is the focal point for opening salvos over President Biden’s approach to the Middle East, and the value of a new deal with Iran.    

Malley, a Democrat born in 1963, New York   is an American lawyer, political scientist and specialist in conflict resolution, who was the lead negotiator on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.  It was his father, Simon Malley, who was born in Egypt and was a leftist Jewish journalist.  His mother was Barbara Silverstein.  

Saturday, January 11, the first day of the week in Iran’s calendar, has been a very long day for Iranians.  The day started with the Iranian armed forces publicly accepting responsibility for shooting down the Ukrainian airliner, Flight 752, as covered by IranWire earlier today.  

                                                       

      Iran has told population corona 19 virus is plot caused by USA and Israel.

Iran has decided to escalate tensions with the West by publicly confirming the production of enriched uranium at an underground nuclear facility and seizing a South Korean oil tanker transiting the Persian Gulf. This escalation may be designed to put additional pressure on President-elect Joe Biden to rejoin the 2015 Iran nuclear deal—a move that would give extensive sanctions relief to a regime under enormous economic stress. But if Biden were to give in to nuclear extortion and abandon sanctions, he would surrender his most important leverage against Tehran and never achieve his stated goal of negotiating a longer-lasting, better agreement.

Last month's escalation of tensions by Tehran looks like blackmail to force Biden to abandon sanctions—and give up leverage over the regime.  He plans to rejoin the  old Iran deal.  

Iran is in the power of a religious leader, an Ayatollah, not a president and cabinet.  He is their Supreme Leader.  Chances are that he will have power over their nuclear facilities and will be able to say when to use them.  He views Jews of the IDF and Jews in a synagogue differently.  He's at war with Israel.  Why?  Who knows?  Maybe it's because Jews had the chutzpa to return to their native homeland after 2,000 years.  Haman tried to wipe all Jews out.  He didn't succeed.  Hitler didn't succeed.  We're here to stay.  

Resource:

The Jerusalem Report, July 13, 2015; pages 20-23.  Nuclear timeline  by Yossi Melman, an intelligence Report.  

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/foreign-policy/iran-deal

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/13/us/politics/robert-malley-iran-middle-east.html

https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/01/08/biden-iran-nuclear-deal-sanctions-uranium-enrichment/