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Iranian President: Diplomacy With U.S. is an Active ‘Jihad’ Diplomacy just as significant as new weapons, missiles Iranian President Hassan Rouhani described his country’s diplomacy with the United States as an active “jihad” that is just as significant to Tehran’s advancement as the slew of new weapons and missiles showcased by the Islamic Republic’s military. Rouhani praised the country’s military leaders for standing “against the enemy on the battlefield” and said as president, he would carry out this “jihad” on the diplomatic front. Rouhani’s comments echo those of foreign minister and lead nuclear negotiator Javad Zarif, who said Tuesday that...

As U.S. and Iranian diplomats inched toward progress on Tehran’s nuclear program last week, Saudi Arabia quietly signed its own nuclear-cooperation agreement with South Korea. That agreement, along with recent comments from Saudi officials and royals, is raising concerns on Capitol Hill and among U.S. allies that a deal with Iran, rather than stanching the spread of nuclear technologies, risks fueling it. Saudi Arabia’s former intelligence chief, Prince Turki al-Faisal, a member of the royal family, has publicly warned in recent months that Riyadh will seek to match the nuclear capabilities Iran is allowed to maintain as part of any...

Via the Examiner, he’s not the only State Department official to admit this within the past 24 hours. Jen Psaki also acknowledged last night that a nuclear deal with Iran wouldn’t be legally binding, with good reason. The only way to give an international agreement the force of law vis-a-vis future presidents and Congresses is to have the Senate ratify it under its treaty power. Until that happens — and it won’t happen — this is a deal between Barack Obama and the Ayatollah Khamenei. Once one of them is gone, the deal remains valid if and only if his...

Secretary of State John Kerry spent five minutes of a Senate hearing excoriating a group of 47 Republicans who sent a highly unusual letter to the government of Iran warning that Congress could modify the terms of any nuclear deal it negotiates with the White House. 'This letter raises questions of judgment and policy,' he insisted, before Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker cut him off and scolded him for delivering 'a well-written speech.' 'It's not a speech! This is not a speech!' Kerry erupted. 'This is a statement about the impact of this irresponsible letter. The letter does not have...

It’s safe to say that no president in modern times has had his legitimacy questioned by the opposition party as much as Barack Obama. But as his term in office enters its final phase, Republicans are embarking on an entirely new enterprise: They have decided that as long as he holds the office of the presidency, it’s no longer necessary to respect the office itself. Is that a bit hyperbolic? Maybe. But this news is nothing short of stunning: A group of 47 Republican senators has written an open letter to Iran’s leaders warning them that any nuclear deal they...

President Obama will wait until after a nuclear deal with Iran is made to make the case to the American people that it's the right thing to do. He made the comment today after being asked about this letter from nearly 50 U.S. senators to Iran, which stated, "The next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen and future Congresses could modify the terms of the agreement at any time." A member of the press asked Obama, "Can you comment on the Republican letter to Iran? Can you comment on that?" "I think it's...

In a tweet this morning, NBC News senior political editor Mark Murray writes: “With GOP Senators’ Iran Move, Politics Goes Beyond the Water’s Edge.” 47 Republican Senators sent to the Supreme Leader of Iran reminding him that Congress is not bound by deals that Congress does not approve. The article Murray links to describes this as “stunning” and “unprecedented” and implies that the letter constitutes a breach of protocol so significant that it ends the long tradition of bipartisan foreign policy. This is utterly preposterous. The only way to reach such a conclusion is to ignore efforts by Democrats to...

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, speaking to Iranian press, mocked a letter sent by 47 Senate Republicans to Tehran warning of their intent to undermine any future multilateral agreement – as a "propaganda ploy" and questioned whether its signatories – including the upper chamber's most senior members – fully understood their constitutional role. "In our view, the letter has no legal value," Zarif said. "While no agreement has been reached, some political pressure groups are so afraid even of the respect of an agreement that they resort to unconventional methods, unprecedented in diplomatic history." "The world is not the...

<p>Our attention these days with regard to security is understandably riveted on the Islamic State, or ISIS, and its hideous decapitations, rapes and live immolations. We must deal with the Islamic State, but it is not the gravest threat we face. The Israelis are right — we should awaken to the fact that the coming of a nuclear Iran holds special dangers and requires particularly urgent attention. There are four driving reasons.</p>

The Pointlessness of the Two-Phased Nuclear DealPosted By Majid Rafizadeh On March 5, 2015 @ 12:35 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | No Comments The deadline for the “first phase” of nuclear talks between the Islamic Republic and the six world powers (known as the P5+1; the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, and China) is approaching.The prolonged negotiations appear to be making progress, according to Secretary of State John Kerry. In addition, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif stated that both sides came to “a better understanding” at the negotiation.After the interim nuclear deal was reached in November 2013,...

Obama’s morally confused foreign policy is making the world more dangerous by the day. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Congress on Tuesday to warn Americans of the anti-Western threats from theocratic — and likely to soon be nuclear — Iran. Netanyahu came to the U.S. to outline the Iranian plan to remake the Middle East with a new nuclear arsenal. His warning was delivered over the objections of the Obama administration, which wants to cut a deal with Iran that allows the theocracy to continue to enrich lots of uranium. Netanyahu received a standing ovation for stating the...

Iran Foreign Minister: We Believe We Are 'Very Close' to Nuke Deal GENEVA — Iran has no intention of building a nuclear weapon, and the sooner the world recognizes that, the sooner there will be a deal aimed at curbing its nuclear capabilities in exchange for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told NBC News. "Iran is not about building nuclear weapons," Zarif said in an exclusive interview with Ann Curry Wednesday. "We don't want to build nuclear weapons, we don't believe nuclear weapons bring security to anybody, certainly not to us." Zarif said his...

“….While [Prime Minister Netanyahu] condemned President Obama’s proposed nuclear deal with Iran as dangerously lenient, one word was missing from his expansive speech: Zero. It is a word he likes, one he has used before to describe his bottom line when it comes to an acceptable Iranian nuclear program — zero capability whatsoever.

The U.S. State Department hunkered into defense mode after Benjamin Netanyahu’s congressional speech, saying in an early Wednesday statement that the Israeli prime minister misrepresented one of his claims that painted Secretary John Kerry in a poor light. Jen Psaki, spokeswoman for the State Department, referred to the website FactCheck.org to make her point that Netanyahu’s remarks about Iran going nuclear actually “misrepresented what Kerry had said’ during the secretary’s House Foreign Affairs Committee testimony on Feb. 25, Fox News reported. In his speech, Netanyahu said Kerry told Congress Iran could “legitimately possess” up to 190,000 centrifuges used to enrich...

MONTREUX, Switzerland - Simply demanding Iran's capitulation is no way to get a nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday as he wrapped up three days of talks with a veiled dig at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Kerry said he and Iranian counterpart Mohammad Jawad Zarif made some progress in their negotiations in the Swiss lakeside town of Montreux and would resume them on March 15. Kerry aides said many obstacles remained before a late March deadline for an outline accord between Iran and six world powers. "There are still significant...

....pushing back against those saying that there was no tactical alternative in his speech, Netanyahu said that he did indeed present a practical alternative that would extend Iran's break out time by adding new restrictions. He also said that he presented a case for not lifting sanctions until the Iranians stop its hostile actions against neighboring countries and stop threatening to annihilate Israel. Netanyahu said that the responses he heard from both Republicans and Democrats were encouraging and that his impression was that they both understand why this is a bad deal. On Tuesday, US President Barack Obama on Tuesday...

Brit Hume shares revealing insight and reaction to Netanyahu's speech and the many flaws in Obama's approach with Iran.

Netanyahu delivered a solid speech and a solid case, but here are four points worth highlighting.1. Iran’s expansionism Backed by Iran, Assad is slaughtering Syrians. Backed by Iran, Shiite militias are rampaging through Iraq. Backed by Iran, Houthis are seizing control of Yemen, threatening the strategic straits at the mouth of the Red Sea. Along with the Straits of Hormuz, that would give Iran a second choke-point on the world’s oil supply.Just last week, near Hormuz, Iran carried out a military exercise blowing up a mock U.S. aircraft carrier. That’s just last week, while they’re having nuclear talks with the...

03/03/2015 - Complete Transcription

MONTREUX, Switzerland (Reuters) - Iran on Tuesday rejected as "unacceptable" U.S. President Barack Obama's demand that it freeze sensitive nuclear activities for at least 10 years but said it would continue talks on a deal, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported. Iran laid out the position as the U.S. and Iranian foreign ministers met for a second day of negotiations and as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a stinging critique of the agreement that they are trying to work out. Iran's Mohammed Javad Zarif and the United States' John Kerry met a day after Obama told Reuters that Iran...