Didn’t Happen: Iran’s Missile Test a Fake

The new Iranian long range missile Khoramshahr is displayed during the annual military parade marking the anniversary of the outbreak of the 1980-1988 war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, on September 22,2017 in Tehran.

If Trump does not recertify by October 16 that Iran is in compliance with the agreement, Congress would have 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Tehran suspended under the accord. There are genuine issues involving Iranian policies in the region and differences with USA interests, but most of the Trump administration’s rhetoric does not attempt to make a specific argument that withdrawing from the JCPOA would be of any help in changing those policies. And that video? It’s from January.

Those who believed the bitter debate over the Iranian nuclear deal was an artifact of the Obama years destined to be reviewed only in the presidential library have it seriously wrong. And North Korea, for its part, would have little incentive to enter into talks over its own nuclear program if Washington were to tear up an agreement that, by all accounts, Iran is adhering to. “Not much of an agreement we have!”

“We thought it was the wrong decision”, he said, “but we want to see it implemented”. “Fake empathy for Iranians fools no one”. Clearly, he referred to the IAEA’s responsibility to ensure Iran is in compliance.

Mr. Trump discussed the Iran deal with British Prime Minster Theresa May for almost an hour at a meeting during the U.N. General Assembly last week, U.K. Ambassador Kim Darroch said Monday, detailing his unhappiness with the deal.

There is no more doubt that North Korea is unsafe.

Tensions between Iran and Israel have intensified in recent months amid Tehran’s involvement in Syria, and as the deadline for the United States to certify that the 2015 nuclear deal is still in the American interest approaches next month.

German Ambassador Peter Wittig asked, “What kind of signal would this send to countries like North Korea?”

Trump and other critics like the governments of Israel and Saudi Arabia worry that the JCPOA rehabilitates Iran and legitimizes its role in the region.

It’s actually a vital question for United States national security. On Tuesday, he heard another round of lectures, after delivering one himself, at the United Nations.

The president has the most powerful intelligence gathering apparatus that the world has ever known at his fingertips.

Ukraine has sought U.S. support against Russian Federation since a pro-Western government took power following street protests in 2014, when the Kremlin-backed president fled the country. It may be that the recent attention paid to North Korea’s missile and nuke programs by the United States was making it harder for Iran to get the required response from the U.S. to their provocations.

“We won’t allow that to happen, and we will speak by actions, not by words”. And the president’s tweets aren’t going anywhere, even if he’s constantly in violation of Twitter’s terms of service.

Some analysts say Mr. Trump’s threat to withdraw from the Iran deal is a ploy to either induce Tehran to end the deal or wring new concessions from Iran.

South Korean analysts believe, though, the US measure wouldn’t target North Korean diplomats. “The president has patience for a half-page”.