US President Trump expands travel ban; North Korea, Iran, Venezuela among 'restricted' eight countries

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters upon his return to the White House in Washington,

WASHINGTON , AP, 25th September 2017 --  Citizens of more than half a dozen countries will face new restrictions on entry to the U.S. under a proclamation signed by President Donald Trump on Sunday that will replace his expiring travel ban.
The new rules, which will impact the citizens of Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen — and some from Venezuela — will go into effect on October 18.
The restrictions range from an indefinite ban on visas for citizens of countries like Syria to more targeted restrictions. A suspension of non-immigrant visas to citizens for Venezuela, for instance, will apply only to certain government officials and their immediate families.
The announcement comes the same day as Trump's temporary ban on visitors from six Muslim-majority countries was set to expire 90 days after it went into effect. That ban had barred citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen who lacked a 'credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States' from entering the U.S. Only one of those countries, Sudan, will no longer be subject to travel restrictions.
'Making America Safe is my number one priority. We will not admit those into our country we cannot safely vet,' Trump tweeted late Sunday after the new policy was announced.
The new rules include the suspension of all immigrant visas for nationals of Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Yemen and Somalia, and the suspension of non-immigrant visas, such as for business and tourism, to nationals of Chad, Libya, North Korea, Syria and Yemen.
Citizens of Iran will not be eligible for tourism and business visas, but remain eligible for student and cultural exchange visas if they undergo additional scrutiny. Such additional scrutiny will also be required for Somali citizens applying for all non-immigrant visas

VIDEO: Iran violates spirit of nuclear treaty

Iran said on Saturday it had successfully tested a new ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 km (1,200 miles)

By Andrew Hammond

EDITORIAL, September 24, 2017-- On Friday, Iran test-fired a new medium-range missile, carrying details of the launch along with video footage from a camera located in the nose cone of the rocket on state television. The Khorramshahr rocket is capable of being fitted with multiple warheads and has an estimated range of 2,000 kilometres. While the rocket launch was a success, the timing of the test is certainly no coincidence, with the government in Tehran being singled out, along with the regimes of Venezuela and North Korea, for words of condemnation at the United Nations General Assembly in New York by United States President Donald Trump. 

The testing of the rocket now comes as the White House administration is re-examining the international treaty signed by it, the other permanent members of the Security Council and Germany with the government in Tehran to end economic sanctions imposed over Iran’s development of a nuclear programme. Right now, the White House administration is looking for any loophole to find Iran in non-compliance of the treaty terms, and to end the US support for the treaty. Up to now, Iran has fully complied in a verifiable manner with inspections of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and there is no legitimate reason from Washington to end its support. Friday’s launch, however, provides an argument that Iran is not complying with the spirit, if not the letter, of the treaty.

That’s essentially the exact issue raised by the UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, when he addressed the UN General Assembly, raising legitimate concerns over Tehran’s continued development of a ballistic missile programme. Because of Tehran’s actions and continued missile tests, further assessment and constant monitoring of Iran’s nuclear programme and commitments in line with the international treaty are absolutely necessary.

The reality is that while Tehran has reached an international agreement over its nuclear programme, it has also continued to meddle in the political affairs of nations from Yemen to Lebanon. Across the region, it is actively pursuing a disruptive agenda to meddle in Yemen by supporting Al Houthis, in Bahrain by supporting seditious elements, by interfering militarily through its support of militias in Iraq, backing the regime of President Bashar Al Assad in Syria, and supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon. It has also cosied up to Qatar to try and exert influence there. Together, the actions of the regime in Tehran are troubling, and certainly not what is expected from a near neighbour.

Defying Trump, Iran says will boost missile capabilities

Irans President Hassan Rouhani delivers remarks at a news conference during the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, U.S. September 20, 2017

LONDON, Reuters, SEP. 22, 2017  - Iran will strengthen its missile capabilities and will not seek any country’s permission, President Hassan Rouhani said on Friday in a snub to demands from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Rouhani was speaking at a military parade where an Iranian news agency said one of the weapons on display was a new ballistic missile with range of 2,000 km (1,200 miles), capable of carrying several warheads.
The Tasnim news agency, which quoted the head of the Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace division, Amirali Hajizadeh, gave few other details of the missile.
At the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump said Iran was building its missile capability and accused it exporting violence to Yemen, Syria and other parts of the Middle East.

Veterans, leaders urge US to withdraw from Iran deal

Jon Bolton warned that iran can simply write a check and get North Korean nuclear technology.

Al Arabiya, 21 September 2017 - American political leaders pushed for the withdrawal of the United States from the Iran nuclear agreement during an Iranian opposition rally in New York on Wednesday.

 

Former Trump campaign adviser and ambassador to the United Nations, Jon Bolton, praised US President Donald Trump’s UN speech  calling it “the best speech of his presidency” while calling for the United States to leave this “disastrous [Iran] agreement”.

 

“I think it’s very important that the United States declare as its official policy that the regime in Iran needs to change. I think the world needs to hear this with clarity,” he said during the rally that was held at the same time as President Hassan Rouhani’s UN General Assembly Speech.

Bolton also warned about the cooperation between Iran and North Korea.

Trump in his UNGA speech called the Iranian government an “economically depleted rogue state” whose chief export is violence.

“The fact is the cooperation between  the regime in Tehran and Pyongyang has been closed for many, many years and whatever accomplishments North Korea makes in the nuclear and ballistic missile fields, the Ayatollahs can have the next day by writing a check that’s large enough,” he said.

“That’s where the real threat comes from, and that’s what I think the world needs to understand. These are not two separate problems here, the North Korean problem and the problem of the Ayatollah’s regime. They are basically the same problem. The axis of evil is not a metaphor, it’s a reality”.

Joe Lieberman, the former Chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, was more forthright in calling for “decertification” of the agreement. 

 

“I think decertification, it’s a good idea and I think the main point is that Iran - contrary to the hopes of the Obama administration - has not changed their behavior overall, ” Lieberman told Al Arabiya English.

“They have complied with some details of the agreement but, they have not given inspectors access to military sites, and we don’t know what they are doing there.”

Experts say legal questions remain whether President Trump has the legal authority to withdraw  unilaterally. Lieberman said Trump has the authority to pull out of the Iran deal because it was an agreement signed by President Obama, not a treaty ratified by the Senate.

“I think that President Trump has the right under congressional legislation and as commander-in-chief of the United States to withdraw from the agreement,” Lieberman said.

Engel expressed deep concern about Iran’s policies regarding ballistic missiles and support for terrorist groups.

A senior Democratic Party Congressman on the US Congressional Committee on Foreign Affairs called for the review of Iran’s commitment ahead of a declassification.

 

“What would be better than decertification is to make sure Iran lives up to the agreement, which Iran isn’t doing, with its ballistic missile program and its support for terrorism,” said Congressman Eliot Engel of New York told Al Arabiya English.

President Trump has made up his mind about the agreement though he has yet to announce it.

“I think the Trump administration needs to examine what the Iranian regime has abided by in the agreement. I don’t want to create further instability in the Middle East, and I think we need to be careful,” Engel told Al Arabiya English in New York.

Engel expressed deep concern about Iran’s policies regarding the development of ballistic missiles and its support for regional terrorist groups.

“We have to work with regional allies like Saudi Arabia which is an important country when it comes to countering Iran and the Iranian regime’s influence in the region. I’m concerned about Iran’s destabilization of Syria and Lebanon and threats to Israel, and we can’t let them threaten the whole region.”

Iranian ex-pats rally while Rouhani rails +(Video & photos)

Iranian protestors gather outside the UN calling for regime change in Iran

Eric Shawn reporting from the UN Plaza

Fox News, September 20, 2017 - While Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addressed the United Nations General Assembly Wednesday, thousands of Iranian expats rallied outside to call for an end to the Islamic Republic's brutal regime.
'We want the American people to know that the Iranian people do not want a clerical regime,' said Sonia Samsami, the U.S. Representative of the National Council of Resistance to Iran. 'Regime change at the hands of the people is the only solution to the Iran crisis.'
Samsami's group, a coalition of more than 500 Iranian opposition groups and individuals, seek a 'democratic, secular and non-nuclear republic of Iran,' she told Fox News.

 

Protestors affiliated with the National Council of Resistance to Iran push for an overthrow of the Rouhani-led regime outside the United Nations on Wednesday.

The rally in midtown Manhattan came during Rouhani's speech, in which he vowed Iran would react 'decisively and resolutely' if the U.S. rescinds the controversial nuclear deal struck during the Obama administration. It came a day after President Trump signaled that he might just do that while blasting Tehran in blunt terms not often heard at the UN.
'The Iranian government masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy,' Trump told the world body on Tuesday. 'It has turned a wealthy country with a rich history and culture into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed, and chaos.'
Samsami's group wants the U.S. to support opposition to the theocracy that rules Iran. The group also called on the UN to investigate the largely forgotten massacre of summer 1988, in which some 30,000 political prisoners and dissidents in Iran were systematically executed. 

 

Iranian protestors gather outside the UN with caricature's of their President Rouhani

Efforts by international human rights bodies to investigate the situation were routinely blocked. But last year, a recording emerged of the high-ranking Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri - who died in 2009 - condemning four officials involved in the killings, which he branded the 'greatest crime committed during the Islamic Republic' for which 'history will condemn' them and the regime at-large.
'For decades, the clerical regime deliberately pursued a policy of silence and it was a red line to talk about the massacre,' Samsami said. 'The regime's officials perpetrators of the 1988 massacre must be held to account and tried under international law.'
While Rouhani is often considered to be something of a 'moderate' in western diplomatic and mainstream media circles, opposition activists contend otherwise.
NCRI members note that Rouhani has increased its export of terrorists via Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria while backing Syria's President Bashar Assad in war crimes amid the long-running Syrian Civil War. 

 

Protestors outside the UN oppose the Iranian regime's role in the bitter Syrian war and support of dictatorial President Bashar al-Assad. 

In their view, Rouhani, who was recently re-elected to a second term, closed seven million websites across the country, destroyed 100,000 'depraving' satellites and executed almost 1000 people last year alone.
Maryam Rajavi, the Paris-based president-elect of the NCRI, has laid out a plan of governance for the country she fled in the early 1980's while in her twenties.
'In the Iran of tomorrow, we will respect all individual freedoms. We underscore complete freedom of expression and the media and unconditional access by all to the Internet,' Rajavi said.
Inside the UN, Rouhani told his fellow world leaders, that Iran is not only a nation devoted to 'moderation' but the 'bastion of tolerance for various religions and ethnicities.'

اعتراف کارشناس رژیم: همه فکرهایشان را روی هم می‌گذارند که چه جوری از این هچل (برجام) بیایند بیرون

سفیرسابق رژیم در روسیه

نوبری سفیر اسبق رژیم در روسیه و کارشناس حوزه روابط خارجی در مصاحبه با تلویزیون رژیم (افق) به زهرخوران اتمی اعتراف کرد. وی از جمله گفت:‌

«ما اگر اقدام به شکایت بکنیم بابت نقض طرف مقابل بر عکس انگار تیری به خودمان شلیک کردیم یعنی یک مکانیزمی راه می‌افتد ظرف 45روز طرف شاکی می‌گوید من از این‌که شکایت کرده راضی نیستم چون راضی نیستم پس تو شورای امنیت رأی وتو می‌دهد و نتیجه‌اش این می‌شود که تمام تحریمها بر می‌گردد. بر این اساس است که ما الآن نمی‌توانیم شکایت بکنیم. نمی‌توانیم در برابر نقض طرف مقابل اقدام بکنیم.

نتیجه‌اش این می‌شود که ما مرتب اعلام می‌کنیم و آمانو اعلام می‌کند که ما متعهدیم طرف مقابل نقض می‌کند. ما هم نمی‌توانیم تو اون کمیته شکایت بکنیم چون به‌محض این‌که شکایت بکنیم انگار ماشه را علیه خودمان شلیک کردیم و این خیلی عجیبه که در اونجا تعبیه شده که شاکی وقتی که ما شاکی هستیم از کسی که شکایت می‌کند اون کسی که شکایت ازش کرده بگه من از این ناراضی‌ام تمام. تحریمهای حتی شورای امنیت بر میگرده این است که شرایط اونی که شما فرمودید من روشن کنم برای مردم تو چه وضعیتی افتادیم.

در این وضعیت افتادیم که طرفهای مقابل که لیدرشون آمریکاست مرتب تحریم می‌کنند و ما عملاً بلحاظ چارچوب برجام مکانیزمی برای مهار این نقض طرف مقابل نداریم که در واقع مثل این می‌ماند که یک مدلی درست شده انگار که ما تو گوشه رینگ افتادیم و طرف مقابل امکان این را داره که به ما ضربه بزنه ولی ما امکان قانونی و مقرراتی در چارچوب برجام نداریم که طرف را مهار کنیم این شرایط کنونی است.» 

نوبری وحشت خود را از شکل‌گیری برجامهای بعدی نشان داد و گفت:‌ «مرتب امروز که می‌گویم برجام یک، برجام دو، برجام سه، برجام چهار، همه برجامها را با سرعت اجرا کرد که در واقع خواسته آمریکا را گوش کرده باشد، یعنی هم در قبال مسائل منطقه‌یی مرتب تمام همان دیوار برلین ریخت، تمام آن بلوک شرق در واقع سقوط کرد، کل بلوک اصلاً در واقع منهدم شد، همه‌اش همان مفاد مذاکرات بود، یعنی این‌که شما باید در سلاح استراتژیکی باید کوتاه بیایید، بعد در قبال مسأله منطقه‌یی کوتاه بیایید، بعد در قبال حقوق‌بشر هم باید کوتاه بیایید، یعنی تمام.» 

کارشناس رژیم افزود:‌ «ما باید با همه فشارهایی که روی ما خواهند آورد، قطعاً خواهند آورد ببینید همانجور که دوست‌مان گفتند، گفتند ما را انداختند تو آچمز یعنی مثل این‌که ما را اندختند تو گوشه رینگ، ما را انداختند گوشه رینگ مرتب دارند می‌زنند، تحریم نمی‌دانم هواپیما، تحریم نمی‌دانم چی، تحریم چی، ما هم هیچ کاری نمی‌توانیم بکنیم چون تو برجام آمده است تکان بخوریم ناقض برجام می‌شود، ما هم که قرار است ناقض برجام نشویم، لذاباید همینجور باید بخوریم هوک چپ و راست بخوریم.» 

مجری تلویزیون رژیم این زهرخوران اتمی را به هچل تعبیر کرد و افزود:‌

«البته امروز این حرفها را می‌شود محکمتر گفت به‌دلیل این‌که طبعاً اثبات شده واقعیتش این است که الآن به یک وضعیتی رسیده که موافقان و مخالفان برجام در جمهوری اسلامی ایران همه دارند فکرهایشان را روی هم می‌گذارند که چه جوری از این هچل بیایند بیرون.

چرا من از کلمه هچل استفاده کردم؟ کلمه بهتری پیدا می‌کردم مخمصه، از یکطرف ما چیزی به‌دست نیاوردیم از طرف دیگر داریم بیشتر تحریم می‌شویم از طرف دیگه نباید برجام را نقض بکنیم من اسم این را می‌گذارم هچل یعنی خیلی چیز بدی است و اتفاقاً من که این را به شما عرض کردم وسط فرمایشات شما گفتم ول کنید حرفهای گذشته را ما خیلی راجع به این حرف زدیم تو این برنامه که آقا چرا برجام؟ این ایرادات اصلاً ول کنید از این مرحله گذشتیم الآن ما باید به این موضوع فکر کنیم که همه جمهوری اسلامی احزاب مختلف جریانهای مختلف اصول‌گراها اصلاح طلبها دولت منتقد همه الآن دارند به این فکر می‌کنند که حالا چی کار بکنیم بالاخره این مسأله مسأله‌ای است که برای نظام جمهوری اسلامی اتفاق افتاده واقعاً ما الآن تصور و ادعایمان و خواسته‌مان این نیست که الآن با دولت تصفیه حساب کنیم نه صدا و سیما نه منتقدان دولت الآن منصفانه و جوانمردانه نیست دولت دیدید ما گفتیم دیدید حرف ما درست در آمد خب این دیگر گفتن ندارد ولش کنید الآن جمهوری اسلامی تو این مرحله‌ای قرار گرفته که همه باید تلاش بکنیم بکشیمش بیرون از یکطرف چیزی به‌دست نیاوردید از یکطرف دارند تحریمها را تشدید می‌کنند از یکطرف دارند فشار می‌آورند که شما برجام رو نقض بکنید و ما نباید چیزی را که نمی‌خواهیم نمی‌توانیم نقض کنیم و نباید نقض کنیم اسم این را من می‌گذارم مخمصه و هچل...».

استراتژی جدید آمریکا در رابطه با رژیم ایران

استراتژی جدید آمریکا در منطقه نسبت به رژیم آخوندی تهاجمی‌تر میشود

بنا‌ به گفته 6مقام فعلی و سابق آمریکا رئیس‌جمهور دونالد ترامپ مشغول بررسی یک استراتژی است که می‌تواند واکنشهای تهاجمی‌تری را علیه نیروهای رژیم ایران، دست نشاندگان شیعی آن در عراق و سوریه و حمایتش از گروه‌های افراطی اتخاذ نماید.

این منابع گفتند این پیشنهاد توسط جیمز متیس وزیر دفاع آمریکا، رکس تیلرسون وزیرخارجه، ژنرال مک مستر مشاور امنیت ملی کاخ سفید و سایر مقامهای ارشد تهیه شده و روز جمعه در جلسه شورای امنیت ملی به ترامپ ارائه شده است.

دو منبع از این منابع گفتند این طرح ممکن است مورد توافق قرار گرفته و تا پایان سپتامبر علنی شود.

به‌گفته منابع مختلف، هدف از این طرح افزایش فشار بر رژیم تهران و مهار برنامه‌های موشک بالستیک و حمایتش از افراط‌گراها است.

یک مقام دیگر دولت گفت این طرح هم‌چنین خواستار یک استراتژی وسیع برای برخورد با طیفی از فعالیتهای بدخواهانه رژیم ایران، منابع مالی و پولی، حمایت از ترور، بی‌ثبات سازی در منطقه، به‌خصوص سوریه و عراق و یمن شده است.