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	<title>FrontPage Magazine &#187; nuclear deal</title>
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		<title>Obama&#8217;s Generous Deal With the Mullahs</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/majid-rafizadeh/obamas-generous-deal-with-the-mullahs/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=obamas-generous-deal-with-the-mullahs</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Nov 2014 05:00:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Majid Rafizadeh]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=245714</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Winner: Islamic Republic.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Rouhani_1.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-245717" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Rouhani_1-431x350.jpg" alt="Rouhani_1" width="337" height="274" /></a>There are two issues which have become crystal clear about the nuclear talks with Iran. First of all, the Obama administration wants to reach a final nuclear deal regardless of how flimsy and weak the comprehensive nuclear deal might be and regardless of whether the ultimate nuclear deal will leave the Islamic Republic with a path to obtain nuclear capabilities and lift economic and political sanctions.</p>
<p>Secondly, the Iranian leaders have masterfully captured the weakness of the Obama administration and its desperation to strike a final nuclear deal. As a result, Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif, has been playing with the naiveté of the Obama administration by taking a tough stand and pointing out that Tehran will resist the “excessive demands” over its nuclear program. In other words, Iranian leaders are looking for a diluted, flimsy and sweet nuclear deal that would allow them to pursue their path to become a nuclear state and would help them phase out the economic and political sanctions as quickly as possible.</p>
<p>In the intense final few days of nuclear talks, the destiny of a historic nuclear deal and the outcome of the concentrated international negotiations over the future of Iran’s nuclear program will be determined. The deadline for nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) is approaching a deadline of 24 November.</p>
<p>There are some crucial hurdles which are still unresolved. These barriers are the process and phases through which sanction will be lifted as well as limitation on uranium enrichment, reducing the stockpile of already-enriched uranium, and the number of centrifuges that the Islamic Republic can retain. The Islamic Republic currently holds approximately 19,000 centrifuges. However, the Obama administration appears to be willing to ignore these gaps in order to save face by striking a deal and in order to add to his questionable and superficial records of Middle East achievements.</p>
<p>Although many scholars, politicians and policy analysts thought that the interim nuclear deal was far off and out of reach last year, the Obama administration, which desperately needed the interim nuclear deal, gave a significant amount of concessions and “closed the gaps” in the eleventh hours in order to persuade the Islamic Republic to sign the short term deal and reach an accord. This might occur again in the face of the final nuclear deal.</p>
<p>President Obama and Secretary of the State John Kerry will robustly push for any kind of final nuclear deal in order to avoid the post-failure consequences of the comprehensive nuclear deal and years of negotiations. The Obama administration has long been reluctant to carry out particular robust foreign policies such as ratcheting up political and economic sanctions on Iran and further isolating the Islamic Republic for  its nuclear defiance.</p>
<p>In addition, the other reason for the White House&#8217;s weak and desperate position to reach a final nuclear deal, is that the Obama administration&#8217;s attempts to create a narrative domestically that the spending of a considerable amount of political capital, months of negotiations, release of billions of dollars to the Iranian government, and diplomacy have “worked.” As a result, in order to avert any criticism, President Obama and John Kerry are willing to jeopardize the security threat that a nuclear state of Iran might pose to the Middle East.</p>
<p>On the other hand, whether the nuclear talks fail or succeed, the Islamic Republic will come out of this game as a winner. The major winner of the success or failure of nuclear talks will be Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamnenei. Shrewdly and masterfully, Khamenei placed himself in a position to not lose his legitimacy and credibility whether the nuclear talks succeed or scuttle. On the one hand, Khamenei has been arguing that he does not trust the United States and these nuclear negotiations, while he has been willing to give his blessing and a chance to President Rouhani, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and their technocrat team to pursue their objectives with these nuclear talks. As a result, if nuclear talks fail, the Supreme Leader will argue that he told them so from the beginning, and if the nuclear talks succeed, he will get credit for being flexible and giving the president a chance. In addition, the Supreme leader has reached his economic, hegemonic, and political objectives in the meantime.</p>
<p>In case of failure, the Iranian leaders have already received billions of dollars, they bought more time to stabilize their economy, regain the value of their currency, reduce inflation, and further consolidate the hold on power of the ruling clerics. In addition Russia, China and some other Asian countries, and European companies have ratcheted up their economic and business deals with the Islamic Republic, particularly in the oil sector due to the prospects of these nuclear talks in the last year. In either ways, the ruling politicians of the Islamic republic will emerge as the winners.</p>
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		<title>An Emboldened Iran Takes the Stage at the United Nations</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/arnold-ahlert/an-emboldened-iran-takes-the-stage-at-the-united-nations/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=an-emboldened-iran-takes-the-stage-at-the-united-nations</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Sep 2014 04:48:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Arnold Ahlert]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Why prospects for cooperation with the Islamic Republic look dimmer than ever. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="color: #232323;"><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/rouhani_3048708b.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-241813" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/rouhani_3048708b-411x350.jpg" alt="rouhani_3048708b" width="281" height="239" /></a>On Thursday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addressed the United Nations in a <a href="http://www.un.org/en/ga/69/meetings/gadebate/25sep/pdf/IR_en.pdf"><span style="color: #1255cc;">speech</span></a> replete with anti-Western sentiments, anti-Semitism, tiresome tropes regarding the genesis of terror, and promises to continue pursuing his nation’s nuclear program.</p>
<p style="color: #232323;">While acknowledging that terror had become a global issue, Rouhani sought to put the blame everywhere else. “Today’s anti-Westernism is the offspring of yesterday’s colonialism,” Rouhani insisted, proceeding to take a none-too-subtle shot at America, noting that “certain intelligence agencies have put blades in the hands of madmen, who now spare no one.” Apparently omitted from this list of madmen is Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has received direct support from Iran in the form of financial assistance, and despite all denials to the contrary, hundreds of Revolutionary Guard troops <a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iran-670210937"><span style="color: #1255cc;">fighting</span></a> in that nation. Iran also supports <a href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/05/senate-sanction-bill-target-hezbollah.html"><span style="color: #1255cc;">Hezbollah</span></a> and <a href="http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/65462.pdf"><span style="color: #1255cc;">Hamas</span></a>, both of whom have been designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S. State Department.</p>
<p style="color: #232323;">Thus, it was no surprise that Rouhani characterized the last war between Hamas and Israel as a conflict in which “thousands of innocent Palestinians in Gaza” were victims of the “Zionist regime’s aggression,” even as he characterized his own nation—the one that has <a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/183332#.VCRAc-fFm3c"><span style="color: #1255cc;">openly boasted</span></a> about sharing missile technology with Hamas to improve their ability to hit Israeli cities—as one of “tranquil secure and stable nations&#8221; in the Middle East.</p>
<p style="color: #232323;">Rouhani also aligned himself with the American left’s thoroughly misguided notions about the root of terror, “that germinates in poverty, discrimination, humiliation and injustice” that “grows in a culture of violence.” <a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/183332#.VCRAc-fFm3c"><span style="color: #1255cc;">Several studies</span></a> have thoroughly debunked that contention, yet it provides Rouhani and other apologists the opportunity to obscure the reality that Islamic fundamentalism is the primary driver of terror throughout the world. Thus, Rouhani expresses “astonishment” that groups like ISIS “call themselves Islamic” and that the Western media “repeats this false claim, which provokes hatred of all Muslims” and is &#8220;part of a (sic) Islamophobic project.” Like every other religion, Rouhani insists Islam is peaceful, and like every other prophet, the taking of even one innocent life is condemned by the prophet Mohammed.</p>
<p style="color: #232323;">Not quite. The Qur’an is <a href="http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/quran/023-violence.htm"><span style="color: #1255cc;">filled</span></a> with verses promoting violence and death against unbelievers, all the innocence in the world notwithstanding. Furthermore, the concept of <a href="http://www.inquiryintoislam.com/2010/06/what-is-abrogation-in-islam.html"><span style="color: #1255cc;">abrogation</span></a> explains that later verses in the Qur’an take precedence over earlier ones. Almost all of the violent verses appear later in the book.</p>
<p style="color: #232323;">Rouhani nonetheless continued his deceptive characterization of the real problems of the Middle East. “The strategic blunders of the West in the Middle-East, Central Asia and the Caucuses have turned these parts of the world into a haven for terrorists and extremists,” he insists, citing Iraq, Afghanistan and the “improper interference in Syria” as examples. He further insists the Middle East wants democracy—even as it impossible to believe he is unaware of the reality that democracy and Sharia Law are fundamentally incompatible systems of governance.</p>
<p style="color: #232323;">That reality made itself plain last week, when six Iranians were given <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/09/iran-happy-dancers-get-suspended-sentences-201491913331993392.html"><span style="color: #1255cc;">suspended</span></a> sentences of six months and 91 lashes for “obscene behavior” for appearing in a video singing the American pop song “Happy.”</p>
<p style="color: #232323;">They got off easy. In August, 16-year-old Ateqeh Rajabi was <a href="http://www.meforum.org/1000/why-do-muslims-execute-innocent-people#_ftnref2"><span style="color: #1255cc;">hanged</span></a> in the Iranian town of Neka. She was executed for having sex with her boyfriend. She was one of several victims executed for sexual “crimes” that violated Sharia Law.</p>
<p style="color: #232323;">Unsurprisingly, Rouhani addressed the issue of sanctions, calling them a “strategic mistake against a moderate and independent nation under the current sensitive condition of our region.” He falsely framed the issue as one where the “will of Iranian people,&#8221; rather than the economic squeeze imposed on his country, reinvigorated the current negotiations that were continuing in good faith, even as he warned that any other solution to Iran’s pursuit of nukes would be a “grave mistake.”</p>
<p style="color: #232323;">Rouhani made it clear that his nation remains &#8220;committed to our peaceful nuclear program” and that the &#8220;avoidance of excessive demands in the negotiations by our counterparts is the prerequisite for success in the negotiations.” He then tied those negotiations to the “beginning of a multilateral collaboration aimed at promoting security, peace and development in our region and beyond.”</p>
<p style="color: #232323;">In short, Iran wants to use nuclear negotiations as a bargaining chip in the fight against terror.</p>
<p style="color: #232323;">The Obama administration has sent out <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/09/25/rouhani-ties-iran-cooperation-on-mideast-violence-to-nuke-deal/"><span style="color: #1255cc;">conflicting signals</span></a> with regard to such a scenario. Publicly they claim they will not share intelligence, or coordinate military activity, with the nation <a href="http://www.state.gov/p/us/rm/2013/202684.htm"><span style="color: #1255cc;">still designated</span></a> &#8220;world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism&#8221; by the State Department. Yet prior to bombing ISIS in Syria, the administration notified Iran about it, and <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/23/us-syria-crisis-usa-iran-idUSKCN0HI2F220140923"><span style="color: #1255cc;">reassured</span></a> them they would not target the government of Bashar Assad, who remains a terrorist-abetting proxy of Iran. Furthermore, an unnamed Iranian official told Reuters that &#8220;military and security issues are being shared to fight against IS.” Secretary of State John Kerry also revealed he was &#8220;open to have a conversation at some point in time if there&#8217;s a way to find something constructive.”</p>
<p style="color: #232323;">Rouhani reiterated that a “historic” nuclear agreement with Iran is one where the West can show “that it does not oppose the advancement and development of others and does not discriminate when it comes to adhering to international rules and regulations.” He doubled-down on those questioning his nation’s motives, insisting “the notion that Iran seeks to control other Muslim countries in the region is a myth fanned in the recent years in the context of an Iranophobic context,” and that those who do so “breed imaginary enemies to sustain tensions and sow division and conflict.” He called for a “right approach” to the terror problem, insisting the proper solution comes from “within the region and regionally provided solution (sic) with international support and not from the (sic) outside the region.”</p>
<p style="color: #232323;">As it stands now, Rouhani’s “solution” aligns perfectly with an Obama administration seemingly convinced it can fight a proxy war from the air, while the nations of the Middle East ostensibly cobble together the “boots on the ground” necessary to degrade and destroy ISIS and other terror entities congealing in the caliphate that straddles Iraq and Syria. In the meantime, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-abaci <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-25/islamic-state-said-to-plot-subway-attacks-in-u-s-france.html"><span style="color: #1255cc;">revealed</span></a> that ISIS terrorists captured in his nation said the group is planning subway attacks in Paris and the United States.</p>
<p style="color: #232323;">One wonders when—or is that if—it will occur to the Obama administration that prolonging this conflict emboldens terrorists, not only in the Middle East, but all over the world, including the 40 ISIS fighters from America the administration <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2765635/Obama-administration-confirms-American-ISIS-fighters-returned-US-FBI-looking-congressman-spilled-beans-week.html"><span style="color: #1255cc;">admits</span></a> have returned home. With regard to Iran, prolonging the conflict allows them to use it as leverage in what ought to be seen as fruitless negotiations over Iran&#8217;s nuclear program.</p>
<p style="color: #232323;">In fact the negotiations are now bordering on the absurd, as the administration has reportedly floated a proposal that allows Iran to <a href="http://www.manilatimes.net/breaking_news/republicans-worry-us-let-iran-disconnect-scrap-nuclear-centrifuges/"><span style="color: #1255cc;">disconnect</span></a> thousands of centrifuges, rather than dismantle them. A senior administration official offered the administration’s rationale to the <i>New York Times,</i> insisting that “it takes a lot of time to put a cascade together, and piping is one of the most time-consuming parts of that laborious process.” Yet other experts noted this idea has been floated many times over the last decade, a reality that likely indicates a certain level of desperation on the part of the P5+1 nations who are under pressure to complete a deal—even a bad one&#8211;by Nov. 24.</p>
<p style="color: #232323;">Toward that end, the Obama administration has been touting the idea that Rouhani is a “<a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/359045/rouhani-obamas-moderate-iranian-lifeline-anne-bayefsky"><span style="color: #1255cc;">moderate</span></a>,” a notion that calculatingly ignores his abysmal human rights <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/irwin-cotler/human-rights-rouhani_b_5283081.html"><span style="color: #1255cc;">record</span></a> and the reality that he is little more than a front man for the genuine seat of power in Iran: Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his band of nihilistic mullahs. Mullahs who yearn for the re-emergence of the Twelfth or Hidden Imam that will bring about a period of chaos. In 2010 Khamenei <a href="http://www.thememriblog.org/"><span style="color: #1255cc;">claimed</span></a> he met the Hidden Imam and said he was assured that his reemergence would occur while Khamenei was still Supreme Leader.</p>
<p style="color: #232323;">Rouhani’s speech at the U.N. should be seen for exactly what it is: a more aggressive &#8220;charm offensive&#8221; by the latest representative of the world’s foremost sponsor of state terror. Moreover, a nuclear Iran would precipitate a nightmarish nuclear arms race in the most unstable region in the world. And despite every obfuscation on the part of the Obama administration, and their equally weak-kneed European allies, those are the real stakes. Stakes that include the real possibility of Iran supplying such weapons to terrorists.</p>
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		<title>Iran Inches Toward Total Economic Empowerment</title>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 05 May 2014 04:15:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Majid Rafizadeh]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[The Mullahs anxiously await the final stages of the nuclear deal. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/o-HASSAN-ROUHANI-VICTORY-IN-MODERATION-facebook.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-224778" alt="Hasan Rowhani" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/o-HASSAN-ROUHANI-VICTORY-IN-MODERATION-facebook-422x350.jpg" width="295" height="245" /></a>The nuclear talks between the Islamic Republic of Iran and six world powers (P5+1: China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United Kingdom) have inched forward toward the permanent nuclear deal and the removal of all economic sanctions against the Iranian regime.</span></p>
<p>Some proponents of the Iranian regime in the West and in Iran have been spreading a specific interest-driven narrative by pointing out that if a final nuclear is achieved, Iranian leaders are more likely to tone down their ideological and regional hegemonic ambitions as well.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">According to this argument, if a permanent nuclear deal is achieved, and if the diplomatic thaw between Tehran and Washington continues, Iran’s foreign policies in the region will not turn more aggressive or interventionist regarding regional and foreign policies. As a result, other countries should not be concerned about Iran’s policies and they should push for a final nuclear deal and the removal of sanctions.</span></p>
<p>In other words, those who advocate for Rouhani’s government and the Islamic Republic contend that Iranian leaders will instead become more cooperative, conciliatory, and will decrease their hegemonic ambitions and policies in the region.</p>
<p>This view fails to take into account the realities on the ground. Since the interim nuclear deal has been reached, the Islamic Republic has become more emboldened to achieve its ideological, geopolitical, and regional hegemonic ambitions. Some of the sanctions relief and billions of dollars that the Iranian regime has received from the United States and international community has empowered its assertive and aggressive stance.</p>
<p>According to Lieutenant Commander of Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base General Ali Reza Sabahi-Fard, Iran is rapidly upgrading its defense system. And as Commander of the Army Ground Force Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan announced last week, Iran&#8217;s Ground Force has test-fired new mid-range ballistic missiles and has equipped S-200 air defense system with new missiles. The S-200 system is characterized as having much longer-range capabilities as compared to previous missile systems.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">According to Reuters, Iran’s military is planning to target a mock-up American aircraft carrier. The newspaper </span><i style="line-height: 1.5em;">Haft-e Sobh</i><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> daily quoted Adm. Ali Fadavi, navy chief of the powerful Revolutionary Guards, as saying, &#8220;target the carrier in the trainings, after it is completed.&#8221; Accordingly, Adm. Fadavi pointed out, &#8220;We should learn about weaknesses and strengths of our enemy.&#8221;</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Recently, Iran&#8217;s National Army Day orchestrated a large-scale military parade through the capital, Tehran, where fighter jets and military technology manufactured by Russia and other countries, were part of the show. Iranian leaders have made clear that their military capabilities and their missile systems are non-negotiable in the nuclear talks. The United States and other members have also overlooked this threat, and are instead focusing on reaching a final nuclear deal.</span></p>
<p>Due to the recent sanction relief, several countries, including Turkey, China, Germany, and Austria, have boosted or are planning to boost their economic ties with the Islamic Republic. Iran’s oil exports, in legal or black markets, have also significantly increased.</p>
<p>The case that Iran’s desire for regional supremacy will be tempered if a permanent nuclear deal is sealed, and if the U.S. and Iran thawed diplomatic relations, does not take into account the underlying geopolitical and economic fundamentals, as well as historical context of the Islamic Republic.</p>
<p>The view claiming that Iran’s ideological and hegemonic ambitions will diminish if a final nuclear deal is reached is very unsophisticated and naïve. Even when Iran’s nuclear program was not in the spotlight, for example in the 1980s and early 1990s, the Islamic Republic was at its peak in meddling in other countries&#8217; domestic affairs and showed no sign of tempering its aspiration for regional supremacy.</p>
<p>In fact, these were the times that the Iranian leaders were notably and outstandingly attempting to alter the regional balance of power in its interest by intervening in Lebanon, giving birth to one of the most formidable Shiite non-state actors, Hezbollah, fighting with Israel through its proxies, forming one of the most long-standing Middle Eastern alliances with the Syrian government, and continuing the war in Iraq for an extra six years despite the fact it was offered full compensation by other countries to cease the war.</p>
<p>More recently, even after reaching a preliminary nuclear deal, the Islamic Republic has shown no sign of tempering its foreign policies when it comes to affecting the domestic politics of other countries including Yemen, Syria, Bahrain, and Lebanon. The Yemeni president pointed out in an interview, “Unfortunately, Iran still meddles in Yemen whether by supporting the separatist [Southern] Movement or some religious groups in the north.” He asked the Shiite-dominated Iran to “keep its hands off Yemen” and to halt giving support to “armed groups” in the country. Reportedly, the Houthis are receiving Iranian support, and have been capable of dominating the northern Yemeni province of Saada. Asir, the Saudi province, borders the Yemeni Shiite rebel strongholds.</p>
<p>The second part of the argument made by the proponents of Rouhani’s government and the Islamic Republic is very simplistic in the sense that it overlooks the sophistication and complexity of Iran’s politics in Middle East.</p>
<p>The reason that other countries are not concerned about Iran’s foreign policies in the region if a final nuclear deal is reached (as well as in case Iran tempers its policies and regional geopolitical position), is that they take no notice of the Middle Eastern political chessboard and the Islamic Republic’s role in this political jigsaw puzzle.</p>
<p>The issue is that Iran’s nuclear file has been filled up with frequent clandestine nuclear sites revealed by external governments and organizations, a robust determination to become a nuclear power, non-transparency, secrecy, and a lack of clarity about Iran’s nuclear developments. How can other nations accept these terms of security if another country in the region is on the verge of significantly tipping the balance of power in its favor through reaching a breakaway nuclear capacity?</p>
<p>Most likely, the permanent nuclear deal will leave the Islamic Republic with some breathing space to pursue its nuclear ambitions and achieve its objectives and nuclear breakthrough. If this occurs, the chessboard that is the Middle East will witness a critical reshaping in favor of the nuclear state. This will naturally be followed by a nuclear arms race and competition in the region, which will further destabilize the region and its security. In addition, the nuclear deterrence will boost and facilitate Tehran’s regional ambitions from economic, geopolitical, and strategic prisms.</p>
<p>Even if an efficient permanent nuclear deal is reached between the P5+1 and Iran, should other countries, as some policy analysts and proponents of Rouhani’s government argue, not be concerned about Iran’s regional hegemonic ambitions? It is very unrealistic and naïve to argue that the Islamic Republic will temper its ideological and regional hegemonic ambitions even if a permanent nuclear deal is reached and even if Washington and Tehran mend diplomatic ties. Iran is strongly involved in influencing the domestic affairs of other countries, through founding or backing some Shiite groups, which makes a shift in Tehran’s regional policies inconceivable. Furthermore, Tehran’s regional policies are not only aimed at achieving geopolitical and economic supremacy, but also founded on ideological landscapes, attempting to spread the Shiite version of Islam through either political movements or well-established religious seminary centers such as in the city of Qom.</p>
<p><b>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank"><b>Click here</b></a><b>. </b></p>
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		<title>Obama’s Misconceptions on Iran</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/majid-rafizadeh/obamas-misconceptions-on-iran/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=obamas-misconceptions-on-iran</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 07 Mar 2014 05:35:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Majid Rafizadeh]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Does the president really believe that the Islamic Republic has moderated?]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Hassan-Rouhani1.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-220355" alt="Hassan-Rouhani1" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Hassan-Rouhani1-450x350.jpg" width="315" height="245" /></a>This week, I was invited to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference, and when listening to Secretary of State John Kerry’s and Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speeches and their major points about the Islamic Republic of Iran, several underlying issues appeared to highlight the Obama administration&#8217;s misconceptions and its uninformed foreign policy towards the Mullahs.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">One of the crucial misunderstandings and misconceptions of the Obama administration is that it views the current status of American-Iranian rapprochement as similar to the American-Chinese rapprochement in the early 1970s with President Nixon’s trip to Beijing. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">One the fundamental flaws in such an analogy is misunderstanding the character of the policies and political moves of the Iranian leadership. It is crucial to point out that the shift in policy made by Mao Zedong was a </span><i style="line-height: 1.5em;">strategic </i><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">one, while the current policies carried out by the Rouhani government and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Al Khamenei are </span><i style="line-height: 1.5em;">tactical.</i><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In one of his speeches, Khamenei gave an example of such tactical moves in recent nuclear talks by referring to wrestling (a popular sport in Iran), where sometimes, when the wrestler faces a strong rival, he must show some “heroic flexibility” in order to win the match or survive. Rouhani clearly wrote in his memoir that the negotiations he led 10 years ago during the Khatami era, and the agreement to suspend Iran’s nuclear enrichment for two years, not only did not halt the advancement of the nuclear program, but actually moved the program forward, expanding the centrifuges and nuclear infrastructure in those years. He added that through his policies he was capable of buying time and progressing the nuclear program to 20 percent enriched uranium with thousands of centrifuges.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">By tactical shift, I mean that Iran is not looking for any kind of actual policy change or a new era of relations with the United States, Israel, or the West. The Islamic Republic is not attempting to make a fundamental strategic shift to create new ties with the US and Israel, and it is not attempting to shift its animosity. The goal of the Islamic Republic is to make some tactical changes to recover its economy, regain power, buy time and advance its nuclear program.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">When these objectives are achieved, all the agreements on the nuclear issues can be reversed, as Iranian authorities have repeatedly said.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">First of all, the Obama administration is very determined to focus on diplomatic avenues and push the interim nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic into a permanent nuclear deal.  While there is not an inherent problem in resolving Iran’s nuclear dilemma through diplomatic headways, the risk becomes much higher when the diplomatic avenues and negotiations are carried out in a flimsy, uncalculated, and marginal matter.  </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The shortcoming with the current diplomatic negotiations between the P5+1 (the U.S., Russia, France, China, Britain and Germany) and Iran, and the flaw with the Obama administration’s foreign policies regarding the ruling clerics in Iran, is that the final and comprehensive nuclear deal will leave Iran with some paths to becoming a nuclear power and obtaining nuclear weapons.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">As a result, the danger of reaching a final deal that gives the Mullahs and Ayatollahs the tools and infrastructure to develop nuclear weapons is much more dangerous than the current situation for several reasons.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Here are some of the consequences of reaching a flimsy permanent nuclear deal:  First of all, an insubstantial permanent nuclear deal will force the international community to lift all the economic and political sanctions that have accumulated as a result of decades of international consensus, sanctions, and Iran’s violations of nuclear enrichment and international standards. Secondly, as the sanctions are lifted, the Islamic Republic is significantly empowered in the regional and global arena economically, politically, and ideologically.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Third, it would be much more difficult to bring the Ayatollahs to the negotiation table once they have recovered their economy, currency value, and political status. The Mullahs will also use the loopholes in the final nuclear deal, as well as their clandestine nuclear sites, to develop nuclear weapons. Iranian leaders and the Supreme Leader have repeatedly pointed out that all these agreements are reversible at anytime.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The Mullahs and Ayatollahs faced tremendous difficulty holding on to power when international sanctions in fact began working. Many years of efforts and sanctions finally brought them to the negotiating table to make tactical shifts and regain their economy, power, and maintain the advancement of their nuclear program. However, as the Islamic Republic was economically and politically desperate, and as decades of sanctions finally yielded results, the Obama administration did not carry out an informed policy plan to seize the opportunity.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In such conditions, where the Mullahs find no other way outside of coming to the negotiating table to retain their power, the Obama administration pushed for a deal that was mainly on the terms set by the Iranian leaders, instead of putting the nuclear terms based on the American and the international community’s terms. And, this continues to be the case for the final nuclear deal as well.</span></p>
<p><b>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank"><b>Click here</b></a><b>. </b></p>
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		<title>Now the Twelfth Imam Can Come</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/robert-spencer/now-the-twelfth-imam-can-come/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=now-the-twelfth-imam-can-come</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Nov 2013 05:52:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert Spencer]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Iran takes a decisive step toward apocalyptic nuclear catastrophe – courtesy of Barack Obama.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/12th-Imam.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-211679" alt="12th-Imam" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/12th-Imam-450x306.jpg" width="270" height="184" /></a>Among the many who decried the Obama Administration’s catastrophic capitulation to the nuclear ambitions of the Islamic Republic of Iran, none spelled out its potential consequences as trenchantly as Israel’s Economy Minister Naftali Bennett: “We awoke this morning to a new reality,” he said Sunday. “A reality in which a bad deal was signed with Iran. A very bad deal. If a nuclear suitcase blows up five years from now in New York or Madrid, it will be because of the deal that was signed this morning.”</p>
<p>If that happens, it will also be because of the Shi’ite belief in the return of the Twelfth Imam. According to Islamic tradition, the dispute between the majority Sunnis and the <i>Shiat Ali</i> (Party of Ali) began upon the death of Muhammad in 632. The Sunnis contended that the prophet of Islam had made no provision for a successor as political, military, and spiritual leader of the Muslim community, and that therefore the Muslims should choose the best man among them as their leader. The nascent Party of Ali, on the contrary, claimed that Muhammad had designated his son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor, and that the successor of Muhammad had to be a member of the prophet’s household.</p>
<p>What’s more, far from being a mere functionary, this successor would bear some of Muhammad’s prophetic spirit, as well as infallibility in deciding disputed questions. Ali was finally chosen as the fourth caliph in 656, but in 661 was assassinated. Hassan, his eldest son (and successor, as far as the Shi’ites are concerned), was murdered in 670 on the orders of the Sunni caliph Muawiya. Then the Sunni/Shi’ite split became definitive and permanent when Ali’s younger son, Husayn, was killed in the Battle of Karbala in 680.</p>
<p>The Shi’ites were, thus, founded in loss and defeat, and these became the ongoing distinguishing features of Shi’ite history and piety. After the beheading of Husayn, the Shi’ites continued a succession of Imams, members of Muhammad’s household and his prophetic heirs. Each one in turn, over two centuries, was poisoned on orders of the Sunni caliph. According to the traditions of Twelver Shi’ism, the official religion of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the twelfth of these Imams, a boy of five years old, disappeared under mysterious and disputed circumstances in the year 874 – but remained alive. After his disappearance, he communicated to the world through four agents, the last of whom died in 941. At that point the Twelfth Imam went silent, entering the period of “Great Occultation.”</p>
<p>In his last communiqué to the world, via one of these messengers in 941, this mysterious figure consoled his followers with prophecies regarding his eventual reappearance. The circumstances of that reappearance could, in the hands of Iran’s mad mullahs, visit upon the world calamities of a scale never before seen. And Israel and America will bear the brunt.</p>
<p>“Hearts,” warned Mohammad al-Mahdi, the Twelfth Imam, in his last message, “will become inaccessible to compassion. The earth will be filled with tyranny and violence.” He was speaking of the time of his reappearance, explaining that he would only come back to the world when the evil that Muslims were suffering was at its absolute apex. In this he echoed a Shi’ite tradition of the words of the prophet of Islam himself, Muhammad, who prophesied that the Twelfth Imam would be “the Resurrector” and explained: “He will fill the world with peace and justice as today it is filled with violence and tyranny.”</p>
<p>That violence and tyranny is not incidental to the theology of the Twelfth Imam, which has revenge as its core and essence. The Shi’ites began to teach that the Twelfth Imam would return at a time when the Muslims were oppressed as never before, and suffering worse than ever. The Imam, in the company of Jesus (re-imagined, as in Sunni Islam, as a Muslim prophet), would finally end the horrific persecution of the true believers, taking up arms against their enemies and conquering and Islamizing the world.</p>
<p>This eschatological revenge fantasy would be of no concern to anyone but pious Shi’ites and religious anthropologists were it not for the element of Shi’ite tradition that requires that the earth be “filled with tyranny and violence” before the Twelfth Imam can return.</p>
<p>There is no requirement that non-Muslims must be responsible for that violence; Shi’ites filled with religious fervor, like the Ayatollah Khamenei and the mullahs behind him, could hasten the Twelfth Imam’s return and the consummation of all things by, say, launching a nuclear strike against Tel Aviv or some other Infidel outpost, knowing that by doing so they would almost certainly be provoking a retaliatory strike that would subject the Muslims in Iran to more defeat and repression than even the Shi’ites had previously suffered. That would be enough to bring the Twelfth Imam out of the well where he is said to be hiding.</p>
<p>But that is a matter of religious hope and speculation; the devastation that would supposedly lead to his reappearance, however, would be all too real. The two powers that the Iranian mullahs have long designated as the “Great Satan” and the “Little Satan” – America and Israel – would be the only targets of an Iranian attempt to hasten the Twelfth Imam’s coming.</p>
<p>A nuclear strike from Tehran into Israel could kill, estimates say, upwards of twenty million people, completely destroying the Jewish State.</p>
<p>Barack Obama, by acceding to the Iranians’ nuclear ambitions, has given a tremendous impetus to these revenge fantasies, probably not realizing or caring that Iran’s mullahs take the prophesies of the Twelfth Imam very seriously indeed – seriously enough for them to bet the entire world upon them. Obama has just made the odds appear to them to be considerably more favorable than they were just a week ago.</p>
<p><b>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank"><b>Click here</b></a><b>. </b></p>
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		<title>A Bogus Deal on Iran</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2010/ryan-mauro/a-bogus-deal-on-iran/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=a-bogus-deal-on-iran</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 20 May 2010 05:01:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ryan Mauro]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Turkey and Brazil broker a sham nuclear deal that can only speed Iran’s quest for the bomb. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/deal.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-60739" title="deal" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/deal.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="241" /></a></p>
<p>Both Turkey and Brazil have grown much closer to Iran in recent years and have voiced their opposition to further sanctions. So it is not surprising that they have now come to the Islamic Republic’s rescue, handing it a lifeline on its nuclear program just as the Obama administration, after a year of failed diplomacy, had begun to contemplate the possibility of new sanctions.</p>
<p>Acting more as Iran’s advocates than neutral brokers, Turkey and Brazil worked out a deal whereby Iran would ship low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for higher grade nuclear material. But the deal does little to stop Iran’s uranium enrichment activities, which are now approaching the 20 percent threshold that is considered the prelude to an operational nuclear weapon. A senior Israeli official has rightly <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iECRGuTIdm__SyV_1cq0Rzd3pEmQ">called</a> the deal “an Iranian trick,” as it will not end Iran’s own enrichment efforts and comes just as Secretary Clinton says the U.S., Russia and China have agreed on a draft resolution to impose sanctions.</p>
<p>The nuclear deal is just the latest sign of Turkey and Brazil’s newfound closeness with Iran. President Lula da Silva of Brazil reacted to the Ahmadinejad’s highly suspect “victory” in last year’s presidential elections by <a href="http://islamtimes.org/vdcd9f0f.yt0xx6me2y.html">saying,</a> “What right do I have, or any president, to question the election results in Iran. It would be overly arrogant for Brazil, 12,000 kilometers away, to pass judgment on Iran’s elections. Nor would I want them to judge ours.” A few months later, Ahmadinejad <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&amp;sid=aAhWVJrHnrOE">said</a> that the ties between Iran and Brazil have “no limits.”</p>
<p>This deal comes just as Secretary of State Clinton <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&amp;sid=aDKBSGPL4JqY&amp;pos=9">announced</a> that the U.S., U.K., France, Russia and China have finally agreed on the potential sanctions to be placed on Iran. The punishments include an arms embargo, freezing the assets of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, intercepting suspected WMD-related shipments, and other restrictions on dealing with the regime. This deal threatens to reset those negotiations.</p>
<p>China is <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64H0V820100518">reacting</a> positively to the deal in the hopes of using it to justify the delay of further action. Iran provides China with 11.4 percent of its crude oil imports, and their overall trade has doubled since 2005. The Iranian refusal to budge made it difficult for China to stand by the Islamic Republic’s side in the United Nations, but this latest maneuver will give them the excuse to call for more diplomacy. Avoiding sanctions is clearly the goal of the Brazilian President, who <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703315404575250172000040654.html">boasted</a>, “Diplomacy emerged victorious today.”</p>
<p>The Brazilian President is technically right. Diplomacy was indeed victorious—but it was a victory for Iran, and not for the U.S. or anyone threatened by Iranian nuclear weapons capabilities. Whereas Russia and China were in a tricky spot due to Iran’s blatant refusal to work with the international community, the role has been reversed and now the U.S. is the one in a tricky spot.</p>
<p>“But if he accepts it, many of the urgent issues he has said will have to be resolved with Iran in coming months—mostly over suspected weapons work—will be put on hold for a year or more.”</p>
<p><em>The New York Times</em> perfectly frames America’s new position. “Mr. Obama now faces a vexing choice. If he walks away from this deal, it will look like he is rejecting an agreement similar to one he was willing to sign eight months ago,” the newspaper <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/world/middleeast/18iran.html?hp">wrote.</a></p>
<p>Giving Iran another year will allow the regime to better prepare for the day when sanctions may finally be placed upon them. One of the regime’s key vulnerabilities is that it has to import petroleum-based products, including 30 percent of its gasoline. Iran is moving fast to <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601207&amp;sid=alWhZGuk_x2U">expand</a> ten of its current refineries and <a href="http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=167395">build</a> seven more, allowing them to produce twice as much gasoline in 2012. The Iranians have <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5AO20C20091125">struck</a> a $6.5 billion deal with a Chinese company to help make this happen.</p>
<p>If Iran ships out a large part of its uranium to Turkey, it will not significantly delay its pursuit of the ability to create a nuclear arsenal. It is true that Iran will lose some of their uranium stock, which they are already <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5AO20C20091125">short on.</a> However, while international pressure is alleviated, Iran can work on other aspects of the weapons program such as the ability to mount a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile. In the meantime, Iran can work to replenish its uranium stockpile from places like Zimbabwe, Venezuela, North Korea, possibly Burma, and through <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601072&amp;sid=aMtzNb9WS83I">expanding</a> production from its own uranium mine near Bandar Abbas, which they are still refusing to give the IAEA access to.</p>
<p>It is also important to remember that the deal does not stop Iran from enriching the uranium it keeps to 20 percent. David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security <a href="http://www.isis-online.org/isis-reports/detail/irans-gas-centrifuge-program-taking-stock/">says</a> that it would only take about six months to enrich the uranium from 20 percent to the bomb-grade level of 90 percent using 500 to 1,000 centrifuges. Iran currently has about 9,000 centrifuges, but only about 60 percent are said to be operating due to technical difficulties, probably courtesy of Western intelligence agencies.</p>
<p>This means that if this deal is enacted, Iran will still be enriching uranium to a level that will allow them to quickly create the fuel necessary for a nuclear bomb. The Iranians are openly expanding the number of their nuclear facilities, and likely have undeclared enrichment sites and stockpiles of uranium. The Syrians’ own nuclear program, which should be seen as an <a href="http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/russia-to-build-nuclear-power-plant-in-syria/#comments">extension</a> of Iran’s, and the planned <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1413223820100414">opening</a> of the Bushehr nuclear reactor in August further highlight the foolishness of relying upon this agreement to stop a nuclear-armed Iran from becoming a reality.</p>
<p>The Iranians’ best weapon in fighting the West has been the illusion that they can be dealt with diplomatically. Brazilian and Turkey have made this farce a reality. If the United Nations uses this latest deal as an excuse for inaction, the U.S. must immediately create a coalition that will place sanctions on Iran outside of the toothless organization’s framework.</p>
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		<title>ALAN KUPERMAN: There’s Only One Way to Stop Iran &#8211; NYTimes.com</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2009/jlaksin/alan-kuperman-there%e2%80%99s-only-one-way-to-stop-iran-nytimes-com/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=alan-kuperman-there%25e2%2580%2599s-only-one-way-to-stop-iran-nytimes-com</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Dec 2009 22:35:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jacob Laksin]]></dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=43411</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[PRESIDENT OBAMA should not lament but sigh in relief that Iran has rejected his nuclear deal, which was ill conceived from the start. Under the deal, which was formally offered through the United Nations, Iran was to surrender some 2,600 pounds of lightly enriched uranium some three-quarters of its known stockpile to Russia, and the [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>PRESIDENT OBAMA should not lament but sigh in relief that Iran has rejected his nuclear deal, which was ill conceived from the start. Under the deal, which was formally offered through the United Nations, Iran was to surrender some 2,600 pounds of lightly enriched uranium some three-quarters of its known stockpile to Russia, and the next year get back a supply of uranium fuel sufficient to run its Tehran research reactor for three decades. The proposal did not require Iran to halt its enrichment program, despite several United Nations Security Council resolutions demanding such a moratorium.Iran was thus to be rewarded with much-coveted reactor fuel despite violating international law. Within a year, or sooner in light of its expanding enrichment program, Iran would almost certainly have replenished and augmented its stockpile of enriched uranium, nullifying any ostensible nonproliferation benefit of the deal.</p>
<p>via <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/24/opinion/24kuperman.html?pagewanted=1&amp;_r=3">Op-Ed Contributor &#8211; There’s Only One Way to Stop Iran &#8211; NYTimes.com</a>.</p>
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		<title>Ahmadinejad dismisses US deadline for nuclear deal &#8211; AP</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2009/jlaksin/ahmadinejad-dismisses-us-deadline-for-nuclear-deal-ap/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=ahmadinejad-dismisses-us-deadline-for-nuclear-deal-ap</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:27:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jacob Laksin]]></dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=42948</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TEHRAN, Iran – Iran&#8217;s president on Tuesday dismissed a year-end deadline set by the Obama administration and the West for Tehran to accept a U.N.-drafted deal to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel. The United States warned Iran to take the deadline seriously. via Ahmadinejad dismisses US deadline for nuclear deal &#8211; Yahoo! News.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>TEHRAN, Iran – Iran&#8217;s president on Tuesday dismissed a year-end deadline set by the Obama administration and the West for Tehran to accept a U.N.-drafted deal to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel. The United States warned Iran to take the deadline seriously.</p>
<p>via <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iran_nuclear;_ylt=AiKfLK4ZXKnWva7sAWRforCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNkMGhkZmFtBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkxMjIzL2lyYW5fbnVjbGVhcgRjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzMEcG9zAzEwBHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNhaG1hZGluZWphZGQ-">Ahmadinejad dismisses US deadline for nuclear deal &#8211; Yahoo! News</a>.</p>
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