U.S. Congress tightens Iran sanctions

August 2, 2012 Leave a comment

By Alan Elsner, Editor-in-Chief

Washington, Aug. 2 – The United State Congress has approved new sanctions on Iran’s energy, shipping and financial industries, in hopes that increasing the economic pressure will persuade the Islamic Republic to halt its nuclear weapons program.

The House of Representatives voted 421-6 in favor of the Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Human Rights Act of 2012, a set of measures aimed at depriving Iran of income from its energy production and shipping trade, the country’s largest export sectors. The Senate later approved the bill on a voice vote and President Obama is expected to sign it shortly.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran’s leaders remained unimpressed both by sanctions and threats of other actions.

“America and Israel have also made clear that all options are on the table. But these declarations have also not yet convinced the Iranians to stop their program,” Netanyahu said on Wednesday.

“However forceful our statements, they have not convinced Iran that we are serious about stopping them. Right now the Iranian regime believes that the international community does not have the will to stop its nuclear program. This must change and it must change quickly, because time to resolve this issue peacefully is running out,” the prime minster said.

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Panetta issues tough warning to Iran

August 1, 2012 Leave a comment

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak visit the Iron Dome Battery, August 1, 2012 - Photo by Dor Kaidar

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak visit the Iron Dome Battery, August 1, 2012 – Photo by Dor Kaidar

By Alan Elsner, Editor-in-Chief

Jerusalem, Aug. 1 — U.S.  Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Wednesday issued a strong warning to Iran that the United States would use military force if necessary to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.

Panetta, who was visiting Israel, made his remarks outside the city of Ashkelon which has often faced missile attack from Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, with an “Iron Dome” anti-rocket defense system as a backdrop.

Panetta said several times that “all options,” including military force, are on the table to stop Iran, should sanctions and diplomacy — the preferred means of persuasion — ultimately fail.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta meets with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Benny Gantz in Israel, August 1, 2012

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta meets with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Benny Gantz in Israel, August 1, 2012

“If they continue and if they proceed with a nuclear weapon, … we have options that we are prepared to implement to ensure that that does not happen,” the Pentagon chief said.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, standing beside Panetta, said he sees an “extremely low” probability that sanctions will ever compel Iran to give up its nuclear activities.

The White House announced new sanctions on Tuesday and Congress is expected to enact new measures before the end of this week. On a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, said the purpose of additional sanctions was to “affect Iran’s calculus” to get Tehran to negotiate seriously over its disputed nuclear program.

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Panetta denies discussing Iran attack plans during meeting with Barak

July 31, 2012 1 Comment

By Lauren Appelbaum, Political Director

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak meets with U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in Jerusalem, July 31, 2012

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak meets with U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in Jerusalem, July 31, 2012

Washington, July 31 - U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta met with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak Tuesday night in Jerusalem after denying reports that the two were discussing Iran “attack plans.”

“I think it’s the wrong characterization to say we are going to be discussing potential attack plans,” Panetta told reporters during a press conference in Cairo before departing for Israel. “What we are discussing are various contingencies and how we would respond.”

When reporters asked Panetta if these potential plans include military options, he said the discussions would be “more about what is the threat that we’re confronting” in Iran’s nuclear program and sharing intelligence information.

Panetta said the two also would speak about the Iron Dome. In the last decade, Israelis in the north and south have suffered bombardments by Iran-backed terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas. In response, Israel developed the Iron Dome system in 2007 to defend against short-range rocket and artillery attacks. The system integrates vertically launched interceptor missiles with a mobile control center as well as an advanced radar component.

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80 percent of Americans see Iran as threat to U.S. and its allies

July 31, 2012 1 Comment

By Alan Elsner, Editor-in-Chief

Washington, July 31 – Four out of five American likely voters see Iran’s nuclear weapons program as a threat to the United States and its NATO allies, according to a new poll commissioned by The Israel Project (TIP).

The poll of 800 likely voters in the upcoming U.S. presidential election found that 39 percent considered the Iranian nuclear weapons program a very big threat and 41 percent thought it was a moderate threat to the United States and the nations of NATO. Only 12 percent said it was not much of a threat and six percent said it was no threat at all.

The poll, conducted by polling firm Public Opinion Strategies July 18-19, carried a statistical margin of error of plus or minus 3.46 percentage points.

Eighty percent of likely voters believe Iran is building nuclear weapons, despite the Tehran government’s constant denials. Only 10 percent thought it was not. Moreover, there was a high level of consensus across party lines on this, with 72 percent of Democrats, 81 percent of Independents and 89 percent of Republicans convinced the Iranians were building nuclear weapons.

Sixty percent say Iran’s nuclear program poses a very big threat to Israel and another 27 percent say the program is a moderate threat. Iranian leaders have frequently vowed to wipe Israel off the map.

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U.S., Israel unified in stopping Iranian nuclear capability

July 30, 2012 2 Comments

By Lauren Appelbaum, Political Editor

Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta visits Israel Oct. 3, 2011

Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta visits Israel Oct. 3, 2011

Washington, July 30 – On Tuesday – a day after Mitt Romney’s visit to Israel – U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will be visiting the country to discuss new ways to cooperate between the United States and Israel.

Speaking to reporters on a plane to Tunisia Sunday, Panetta said the U.S. and Israel are unified in their position on preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

The goal of his meetings is to strengthen ties between the two countries “so that we can be fully prepared to deal with any contingency that may happen,” he said.

Panetta said the U.S. respects Israel’s “sovereignty and their ability to make decisions with regard to their own security.”

And both countries, he said, support tough international sanctions against Iran as opposed to military measures.

“My view is that they have not made any decisions with regards to Iran, and they continue to support the international effort to bring pressure against Iran to pull back from their efforts to develop their nuclear capability,” he said.

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As Iran talks again fail, Ros-Lehtinen urges “game-changing sanctions”

June 19, 2012 Leave a comment

By Lauren Appelbaum, Political Director

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

Washington, June 19 – Talks on Iran’s nuclear program between Iran and the P5 + 1 ground to a halt Tuesday night in Moscow as no progress was made in resolving the issue.

The P5+1 – Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany – demanded that Iran stop enriching uranium to a 20 percent level, a key step in the process of creating nuclear weaponry. The bloc also asked that Iran ship out existing stockpiles of enriched uranium and close the Fordo complex where much of the suspected nuclear work is thought to occur.

Iran continued to insist that its right to enrich uranium be recognized and that sanctions be lifted.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) said that additional talks are a “dangerous diversion” and urged “game-changing sanctions.”

“The P5+1 negotiations with Iran have failed again,” Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement. “More talks are not the answer, but only a dangerous diversion. Time is rapidly running out to stop the nightmare of a nuclear-weapons-capable Iran from becoming reality.”

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Campaigns debate relationship with Israel, Iran at TIP briefing

June 18, 2012 3 Comments

By Ari Bildner, Staff Writer

Former Rep. Robert Wexler, President of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace; Foreign Policy Advisor, Obama 2012 Campaign

Former Rep. Robert Wexler, President of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace; Foreign Policy Advisor, Obama 2012 Campaign

Mary Beth Long, Co-chair of the Romney campaign’s Middle East/North Africa policy working group

Mary Beth Long, Co-chair of the Romney campaign’s Middle East/North Africa policy working group

Washington, June 18 – Advisers to the Romney and Obama campaigns sparred Monday about the American response to the Iranian threat and the U.S.-Israel relationship at a Capitol Hill briefing organized by The Israel Project.

“This administration has gone beyond the call of duty” in strengthening the bilateral relationship, said former Democratic Rep. Robert Wexler, who now heads the non-partisan S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace.

Wexler gave several instances he said highlighted the “unprecedented” cooperation between the U.S. and the Israeli government.

Mary Beth Long, a foreign policy adviser to Republican presumptive nominee Mitt Romney, argued that defense department budget cuts could limit America’s ability to pursue its regional interests in the future.

“We need to increase our ability to project credible defensive capabilities into the Middle East,” she said. Long also said the administration was perceived by many of “being more concerned with Israel going to war than Iran than Iran building a nuclear weapon,” a line Romney used when speaking to the Faith and Freedom Coalition on Saturday.

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Clinton, Peres address upcoming negotiations with Iran

June 12, 2012 1 Comment

By Ari Bildner, Staff Writer

Hillary Clinton and Shimon Peres - Photo by Natasha Mozgovaya

Hillary Clinton and Shimon Peres – Photo by Natasha Mozgovaya

Washington, June 12 -  The international community has a clear plan for the upcoming negotiations with Iran, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday.

“There is a unified position being presented that gives Iran, if it is interested in taking a diplomatic way out, a very clear path that would be verifiable and linked to action for action,” she said during a discussion hosted by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings Institution with Israeli President Shimon Peres.

The P5+1, the six-nation negotiation group comprising of Russia, China, France, Germany, United Kingdom and United States, will take on Iran’s nuclear ambitions in talks scheduled for June 18-19 in Moscow. The meeting was almost derailed by Iran’s rhetoric against the European Union, a lead party to the negotiations.

Peres said Iran aims to dominate the Middle East through its relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons.

“In the 21st century, the Iranian leaders want to renew imperialism,” he said. “If Iran will win, the whole Middle East will become the victim.”

Peres is in Washington to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor, in a special ceremony to be conducted by President Obama on Wednesday. On Monday, Peres met with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta at the Pentagon.

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Ros-Lehtinen: Iran, P5+1 talks end without success, making nuclear Iran more likely

May 24, 2012 Leave a comment

By Lauren Appelbaum, Political Director

Washington, May 24 - International talks between Tehran and the P5+1 (United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, China and Germany) on Iran’s nuclear program ended today with no evident progress, although a new meeting is scheduled for next month in Moscow.

“The Iranian regime still hasn’t stopped enriching uranium, hasn’t turned over its enriched uranium stockpiles, and hasn’t let international inspectors into suspected weapons-related testing sites.  In fact, all Iran has agreed to is further talks,” U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement.

The main issue at the negotiations was Iran’s enrichment of uranium to the 20 percent purity level, which signifies a technical ability to enrich to the military-ready 90 percent level. While details of the talks remain secret, CNN reported that Iran rejected the idea of completely stopping its uranium enrichment as demanded by the United Nations. Highly enriched uranium is used to make nuclear bombs.

Yet the two-day meeting in Baghdad began with Iran’s insistence that rounds of punishing international sanctions be lifted as a pre-condition to any halt in enriching uranium that could be used for a nuclear weapon.

“The P5+1 appear to be offering Iran more concessions, backing away from previous demands on the Iranian regime, and now agreeing to more talks that buy Iran more precious weeks for their centrifuges to spin and race toward a nuclear weapons capability,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “The endless negotiations are helpful only for Iran, no one else.  Only crippling sanctions will stop the nightmare of a nuclear-armed Iran, the world’s leading state-sponsor of global terrorism, from becoming a reality.”

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U.S. Amb. to Israel says U.S. ready for military option for Iran

May 18, 2012 Leave a comment

Ambassador Daniel Shapiro

Ambassador Dan Shapiro

By Lauren Appelbaum, Political Editor

Washington, May 18 – Diplomatic work and sanctions may not be enough to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, the U.S. ambassador to Israel said on Tuesday.

“We do believe there is time. Some time, not an unlimited amount of time,” Dan Shapiro said during a closed forum with the Israel Bar Association. “But at a certain point, we may have to make a judgment that the diplomacy will not work.”

Speaking just a week before an important round of talks with Tehran in Baghdad, Shapiro said the U.S. has the plans in place to attack Iran if necessary.

Yet he said the U.S. hopes it will not have to resort to military force.

“But that doesn’t mean that option is not fully available. Not just available, but it’s ready,” he said. “The necessary planning has been done to ensure that it’s ready.”

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