Iran's Nuclear ICBM Program in Cooperation with North Korea -- What to Do?

THE REAL NEWS TODAY IS THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP AND THE US MILITARY ARE ON THE SAME PAGE. • After a tough start because of Congress letting the Democrats drag appointment consents out forever, Senate Leader Mitch McConnell is getting his ducks in order. The Senate this week confirmed Christopher Wray as FBI director, replacing James Comey. With all this new activity, the military is shaping up to be a real Trump ally. • • • The UK Independent published an article on Tuesday about some of the new military "Star Wars" hardware in the pipe. For example, the Lockheed Martin HULC is an exoskeleton that allows soldiers to carry loads of up to 200 lbs for long distances There is also the electromagnetic rail gun that uses an electromagnet to propel a projectile at speeds up to 2500 meters per second. Or, how about the PHASR (Personnel Halting and Stimulation Response) rifle that fires a blinding green laser to dazzle the enemy. Although blinding weapons are illegal to use in war, the PHASR only causes temporary blindness. And, there is the Laser Weapon System (LaWS) that shoots a 3-kw photon beam capable of burning holes in unmanned vehicles and confusing the navigation of enemy vessels. Also, let's not forget the drone swarms -- to solve the problem of expensive drones being shot down, the military are experimenting with swarms of small, low cost drones, which are hard to shoot down, and when they are, another can carry on the mission. My favorite is the XM2010 sniper rifle that gives exact accuracy up to 1.2 kilometers away, and has a thermal sleeve over the barrel so it's invisible to infrared scanners. And, finally, there's the Active Denial System that fires electromagnetic waves which are absorbed by the skin. The sensation is so painful, the army call it 'The Goodbye Weapon.' • I haven't read about these weapons-in-progress on US news outlets, but the UK still does some old-fashioned factual reporting. So, when Iran raises its ugly head, President Trump may one day soon have one of these new weapons at his disposal. • • • RUSSIA AND THE NEW US SANCTIONS LAW. On Tuesday, President Trump has signed a sweeping sanctions measure that targets Russia, Iran and North Korea, the White House said in a prepared statement on Wednesday. The President's signature comes after some speculation that he could veto or not sign the legislation, which passed both chambers of Congress in overwhelming votes last week. Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials had signaled, however, that the President planned to sign the bill into law. While he signed the bill, President Trump made clear in a statement Wednesday that he's signing the bill "for the sake of national unity" even though he isn't satisfied with some of its provisions : "I favor tough measures to punish and deter bad behavior by the rogue regimes in Teheran and Pyongyang. I also support making clear that America will not tolerate interference in our democratic process, and that we will side with our allies and friends against Russian subversion and destabilization. Still, the bill remains seriously flawed -- particularly because it encroaches on the executive branch's authority to negotiate." The new sanctions bill maintains and expands sanctions against the Russian government. Most important, it will require congressional approval before the President can ease or lift sanctions on Russia. The measure also targets sanctions on Russian activities that undermine US cybersecurity, sanctions on Russian crude oil projects and on certain transactions with foreign sanctions evaders and human rights abusers, among other things. • A day after the Senate passed the new set of sanctions, Russia's Foreign Ministry last Friday announced countermeasures in which it set a September 1 deadline for Washington to reduce the number of diplomatic staff in the country and ordered some US-run facilities in Russia to close. Trump's signature is significant because he spent time on the 2016 campaign trail promoting a platform that included a warming of relations with Russia and its President, Vladimir Putin. The two leaders met in person for the first time in early July at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. Trump later came under fire for a previously undisclosed conversation that he had with Putin at the time over dinner in which only a Russian interpreter was present -- fake news because it turned out that President Putin was seated next to Mrs. Trump at dinner and when the President went over to say hello to her, he chatted with Putin for about 15 minutes about US adoption of Russian orphans -- another fake news attack on Trump!!! • • • NORTH KOREA AND THE NEW SANCTIONS LAW. As for North Korea, the new sanctions law enforces compliance with United Nations shipping sanctions against North Korea and imposes new sanctions in response to human rights abuses by the North Korean government and its bellicose behavior abroad. • • • IRAN AND THE NEW SANCTIONS LAW. The measure also targets Iran's ballistic missile program, its support for terrorism and human rights violations, although the US has certified that Iran is in compliance with the terms of the Iranian nuclear deal. Specifically, it imposes sanctions on any foreign person or foreign entity that does business with an entity already designated by the administration that has a connection to Iran's ballistic missile program. These sanctions could apply to any financial institution or any foreign company that provides key parts or components to Iran's missile program. • Again, we turn to UK news outlets. The UK Telegraph reported in mid-July that the United States had unveiled new economic sanctions against Iran over its ballistic missile programme and for contributing to regional tensions, and said it was deeply concerned about its "malign activities across the Middle East." The Tlegraph pointed out that the announcements came a day after President Trump's administration warned Teheran that it was not following the spirit of its 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers. The US Treasury Department said in a statement it was targeting 16 entities and individuals for supporting what it said was "illicit Iranian actors or transnational criminal activity." Those sanctioned, said the US Treasury which enforces individual and economicsanctions, had backed Iran's military or Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) by developing drones and military equipment, producing and maintaining boats, and procuring electronic components. Others,a ccording to the Treasury, had "orchestrated the theft of US and Western software programs" sold to Iran's government. The US State Department had also designated two Iranian organizations involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program, according to the Treasury Department. The US State Department released a prepared statement saying : "The United States remains deeply concerned about Iran’s malign activities across the Middle East which undermine regional stability, security, and prosperity." It said the activities "undercut whatever 'positive contributions' to regional and international peace and security were intended to emerge" from the nuclear agreement. The StateDepartment statement also listed Iranian support for groups including Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas movement as well as the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad and Houthi rebels in Yemen. • • • THE US CERTIFICATION OF IRAN COMPLIANCE. The Trump administration declared in July that Iran was complying with the nuclear deal concluded between Iran and six world powers, under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. Iran's foreign minister said in New York recently that his government has received "contradictory signals" from the Trump administration and doesn't know how to interpret them. Mohammad Javad Zarif told the Council on Foreign Relations he has not communicated with Rex Tillerson, the Secretary of State. But he said "it doesn't mean that there can't be (communication), because the possibilities for engagement with regard to the nuclear deal have always been open." Zarif stressed that "Iran is serious about the nuclear deal" which "can lay the foundation, not the ceiling." He said the International Atomic Energy Agency has verified Iran's compliance with the agreement, but unfortunately the US has not complied. Zarif said this "creates the impression in Iran that the United States' hostility toward Iran will never end. And I think that can be remedied." • Mohammad Zarif was also on the Charlie Rose talk show defending Iran as if it were the injured party instead of the world's leading terrorism exporter. But, it isn't as simple as that. • • • IRAN'S ICBM PROGRAM. Business Standard reported on Wednesday that Iran launched a rocket on July 27, and that was what prompted the US to impose sanctions on six companies. The United States, backed by France, Britain and Germany pushed for action at the UN Security Council following Iran's launch of a satellite rocket that all four countries described as a "threatening and provocative step." US Ambassador Nikki Haley argued in a letter to the Security Council that the Simorgh space launch vehicle system, "if configured as a ballistic missile" would have a range of over 300 kilometers and enough payload capacity to carry a nuclear warhead. The letter said : "This launch therefore represents a threatening and provocative step by Iran." Haley signed the letter on behalf of the four countries. • The sanctions were imposed on six companies that Washington said were linked to Iran's missile program. AFP, the largest French news outlet, said it saw the letter that charged : "Iran's longstanding program to develop ballistic missiles continues to be inconsistent with UN Security Council Resolution 2231 and has a destabilizing effect in the region." Resolution 2231 was passed two years ago to endorse the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. Under that resolution, which lifted sanctions in exchange for curbs on Iran's nuclear program, Teheran is "called upon" to refrain from carrying out launches of missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Iran has repeatedly said that it is not seeking to develop nuclear weapons and is not in violation of the resolution. But, in the letter, the US said the technology necessary for the space launch vehicle was "closely related to those of ballistic missiles, in particular to those of an intercontinental ballistic missile." It said that the missile technology control regime defined any ballistic missile system with a 500 kilogram payload and a range of at least 300 kilometers as being capable of delivering a nuclear weapon. This information should "allow the council to draw informed and timely conclusion as to what action should be taken," said the letter. • Haley has repeatedly called on the Security Council to respond to Iran's missile tests, but Russia has said Iran is not in violation of the resolution. Now, the four countries have called on Iran to "immediately cease" all ballistic missile activities, saying the international community must "send a clear message to Iran." The four couuntries requested that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres report to the Security Council on Iran's ballistic missile and space launch activities. • At a Security Council debate on preventing terrorists from acquiring weapons, Haley accused Iran of supporting armed groups with weapons, funding and training : "Weapons don't always just 'fall into the hands of terrorists.' Too often, they are pushed. This is the threat that we face today in Iran. As long as we allow the Iranian regime to violate this council's prohibitions with impunity, it will be a source of weapons to terrorist groups that will only grow in volume and destructive capability. The United States will continue to raise this issue of Iranian non-compliance with international obligations at every opportunity." • Iran remains defiant. Its foreign ministry on Saturday said it will continue "with full power" its missile program and criticized the US sanctions as "hostile, reprehensible and unacceptable." Teheran has accused the US administration of seeking to weaken the nuclear deal that US President Trump labelled "the worst deal ever" during his election campaign. • • • THE US MILITARY POSITION ON IRAN. The Daily Caller in July quoted Secretary of Defense James Mattis as saying that regime change will be necessary before the US and Iran can have substantially positive relations : “Until the Iranian people can get rid of this theocracy, these guys who think they can tell the people even which candidates they get a choice of. It’s going to be very, very difficult.” Mattis was speaking to the Mercer Island High School Islander in a rare and special interview with high schooler Teddy Fischer. Improving relations with Iran will be particularly difficult, according to Mattis. He noted that any potential rapprochement would be difficult because Iran is not really a democracy : “It’s the supreme leader [who] decides who gets to run in. It would be like having the current American President decide who gets to run in the next campaign, and by the way, when they come in he stays in the White House and the others just kind of rotate through.” Mattis noted that the Iranian regime was his “biggest problem” while he commanded US Central Command. Mattis has had no qualms about confronting the Iranian regime in the past, having called for a retaliatory strike on Iran after Iran supplied rockets to Iraqi insurgents fighting US troops in 2011, killing several. Mattis’ strike never happened, as his proposal was rejected by the Obama administration. Now, Mattis says everyone in the Middle East, from Tel Aviv to Cairo, has told him Iran continues to be a major problem. He added that the country’s evil influence has helped keep Syria’s dictator, Bashar al-Assad, in power, has escalated the conflict in Yemen by supplying ballistic missiles to Houthi rebels, while it continues to murder its own people. “Iran is certainly the most destabilizing influence in the Middle East,” Mattis told the Mercer Island High School Islander. Iran acts more like a “revolutionary movement” than a functional country looking out for the interests of its people, according to the Defense Secretary. It’s remarkably young population is known to have a less belligerent attitude toward the US and the West, compared to the zealot religious leaders who dominate the country’s governance, said Mattis : “The Iranian people are not the problem. The Iranian people are definitely not the problem, it’s the regime that sends agents around to murder ambassadors in Pakistan or in Washington D.C. It’s the regime that provides missiles to Lebanese Hezbollah or the Houthi in Yemen.” • • • THE BIG QUESTION -- IRAN OR NORTH KOREA??? The New York Post wrote on Tuesday : "It’s time to take on the Iran-North Korea nuke alliance." The NYPost pointed out that except for the bad weather, North Korea would’ve tested an ICBM last week at almost the same time as Iran did. It missed the date -- the anniversary of the 1953 armistice pact that ended the Korean War because of a rain storm. But, NK tested the next day, creating a "Mideast-East Asian stereo boom heard around the world," according to the NYPost, which reported that American experts no longer think it’ll take North Korea years to be able to hit the continental United States. Most watchers now expect it sometime next year. So, says the NYPost, "President Trump has drawn the short straw" -- three predecessors failed to stop the Kim regime’s nuclear and missile advances. If he wants to stop the North Koreans, Trump has no choice but to act -- and all of his options are bad. And, adds the Post, much of President Barack Obama’s Iran deal is expected to unravel during Trump’s tenure as well. • What are President Turmp's options? Americans have for a long time noted the cooperation between the rogue regimes in Iran and North Korea -- the exeprts say there are design similarities between North Korea’s home-built Rodong and its Iranian clone, the Shahab 3, and the Rodong B and Shahab 4. Iranian nuclear scientists were present at Pyongyang’s first nuclear test. Iran ally Syria modeled its nuclear plant (later eliminated by Israel) on a similar North Korean one. Rather than violating the Obama deal by experimenting at home, Iran can advance its nuclear program simply by observing North Korea’s and contributing to its progress. The NYPost says, "The mullahs have what Kim Jong-un needs most: cash. Pyongyang’s only foreign-currency-worthy export is weapons and knowing how to build and use them, which Iran craves. It’s a match made in hell." • We might ask why countries like Japan, which are threatened by North Korea, are eager to do business with Iran? The Ayatollahs enable NK’s development of the missiles that get fired near Japan. But, Japanese officials told the NYPost : “There’s no proof” of such cooperation." The truth is that the Obama administration, and prior administrations, didn't reveal what the intelligence community knew about the Teheran-Pyongyang nuclear cooperation because they were searching for a diplomatic breakthroughs on both fronts (and feared revealing spy methods). • BUT, the Trump administration and the US military under Commander-in-Chief Trump are less hesitant about the Iran-NK nuclear axis. Last Saturday's North Korea ICBM test proved that. America’s UN Ambassador Nikki Haley tweeted Sunday that “China is aware they must act” and that Japan and South Korea must increase pressure. It’s “not only a US problem” but one that requires an international solution. AND, the wrench in the cogs is Russia, whose diplomats argue there’s no proof this was an ICBM, therefore no need to increase sanctions -- a short-sighted position at best. But, the bet is that Russia and China will block attempts to corner Kim Jong-un and his henchmen -- especially now that administration officials like CIA Director Mike Pompeo are starting to push the idea of toppling the Kim Jong-un regime, which both Beijing and Moscow oppose. • The New York Post suggests one possible US action -- introduce a UN resolution naming and sanctioning persons and entities involved in the Iran-North Korea arms cooperation. Western diplomats say it is very unlikely to pass, but it would put America’s intel on Iran-NK cooperation out in the open for the world to see and react to. • Iran’s ballistic missile program was, bizarrely, left out of Obama’s nuclear deal, so revealing the Teheran-Pyongyang nexus might convince allies wobbly about Teheran’s violations that the Ayatollahs’ threat is global. It could also start the process of stopping a major cash source for the NK regime. There is also the Proliferation Security Initiative, a treaty signed by 105 countries that allows search and seizure of ships carrying illicit arms. If the US exposed the Iran-North Korea connection at the UN, then it could use the PSI to disrupt the cooperation, with allied help. • Thus, says the New York Post, the Iran-North Korea problem would be seen as a single issue to be addressed. • • • DEAR READERS, President Trump and his military commanders are doing several things useful to open up the Iran-North Korea connection -- US flights over South Korean skies; talking publicly about adding Japan and South Korea to the global nuclear club as a way to put China into action; and, blacklisting companies that do business with Kim Jong-un. A change in diplomatic strategy is needed to expose what everyone knows but never says -- as the New York Post put it : " Kim and the mullahs are BFFs." • One other thing President Trump could do is shut down Iran's propagandists operating in the US. The American Thinker reported this week on a June meeting in Washington of concerned Americans of Iranian origin as well as other Americans at the US Congress to set the stage for regime change in Iran. They assembled at the House Visitors' Center and discussed practical ideas for bringing about regime change in Iran. The impression the meeting made among those concerned with the situation in Iran and the Middle East was so positive that the event immediately made headlines around the world. On June 14, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the US policy toward Iran is based on the support of Iranian forces who can bring about peaceful regime change -- to which Iranian dissidents warmly responded by an open letter. But, says the American Thinker, the Iran regime's lobby in America, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), immediately attacked the "June 8 Coalition" meeting in the press and on their blogs, as well as directly confronting the participants on social media with their Iran regime supporters' echo chamber, and bragged about in the New York Times by former Obama White House staffer Ben Rhodes. • The American Thinker suggests that the US should start by investigating and auditing all Iran lobby groups and their financial resources, the misuse of their 501(c)(3)s, and the possible misuse of their 501(c)(4)s. To improve the situation, says the American Thinker, President Trump and Secretary of State Tillerson should immediately consider John Bolton's appointment to a now understaffed State Department. Former UN ambassador Bolton is perhaps the most experienced person in American politics when it comes to the Iranian regime and the Middle East. Bolton will bring his much needed experience and a coherent Iran policy, as well as order to State's Middle East section. • These actions would help to win back the Iranian people who were left alone to suffer in the streets of Iran during the 2009 election protests by President Obama and Secretary Hillary Clinton. President Trump should continue to declare US support for the Iranian people and implement tough sanctions on Iran's leaders as well as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the IRGC, based on human rights abuses and the export of international terrorism. • The Iranian regime has spread throughout Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. Through Hezbollah, the regime threatens Israel at the Golan Heights. It is also threatens Iraqi Kurdistan over its independence claim and is increasing its troop strength along the Iran-Kurdistan border. The US is the only power that can stop the advance of the IRGC under Soleimani into Kurdistan, where his Quds Force seem ready to open yet another Middle East front. • The Iranian regime has made a mockery of justice, severely violated human rights, abused minorities, imprisoned and executed dissidents in show trials; held Americans and other westerners hostage on fake charges; funded terrorism and war, stolen land from its own people, and generally oppressed and terrorized the country since 1979. Tahlilrouz.com -- a new Persian language website operated from the US to give voice to Iranian dissidents -- published on June 26 a letter from 111 intellectuals and other dissidents who oppose the Ayatollah regime in Iran. Here is the English translation of the letter : "Dear Secretary Tillerson, Millions of Iranians took to the streets of every major city in 2009 to call for regime change in Iran. They reached out to President Obama to not only draw a “red line” between the freedom-loving people of Iran and the most oppressive regime in its history, but also to genuinely express their solidarity with the standard-bearer of human rights and democracy in our times, namely the United States of America. However, their appeal fell on deaf ears and their hopes were dashed. Consequently, a massive wave of repression was unleashed upon them by the Islamist regime to silence their voice of dissent. It is no secret that in the past four decades the Iranian people have suffered immensely at the hands of the Islamist regime. Millions have been forced out of their homeland, thousands publicly executed in city squares, and many more imprisoned and brutally tortured on a daily basis. In addition, the regime continues the development of its ballistic missile program, support for terrorist organizations and networks around the world, and destabilization of the Middle East. It is abundantly clear that the Islamist regime in Iran cannot be rehabilitated to respect international law and join the community of nations. Your latest remarks concerning the need for Iran’s peaceful transition to a free, democratic state truly lit up the torch of hope and warmed the hearts and minds of millions of Iranians who are taken hostage by the nefarious theocracy. America, given its moral authority and global leadership in safeguarding fundamental human rights, can no longer afford to be a bystander. As such, we the undersigned wholeheartedly support the newly adopted US policy of regime change in Iran. Warmest Regards, (signed by 111 peopel whose names read like a Who's Who of Iranian dissident activists)" • It is time to get tough with Iran -- and North Korea -- two faces of the same renegade nuclear program coin.