• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About

Radio America Online News Bureau

inspections

Placation vs. Change in Iran

August 6, 2018 by GregC

http://dateline.radioamerica.org/podcast/8-6-nash-blog.mp3

The Trump administration began reapplying economic sanctions against Iran Monday, the latest consequence of President Trump withdrawing the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal.

Trump withdrew the U.S. as a signatory of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in May, and the new round of sanctions is the first of two rounds of crippling sanctions designed to deter Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons and grant more liberties to its people.

“There’s the difference between the Obama administration and the Trump administration.  The Obama administration was trying to placate.  The Trump administration is trying to actually change Iranian behavior,” said retired U.S. Navy Captain Chuck Nash, who is also a Fox News military analyst.

This first tranche of sanctions forbids the importing of Iranian carpets, pistachios, and also voids licenses that allows Iran to buy American and European-made aircraft.  Another round of sanctions targeting oil and banks is set to take effect Nov. 4.

European leaders are furious with Trump for bringing the sanctions back, but Nash says they have little choice but to go along.

“They were looking to sell a tremendous amount of goods to Iran.  Those deals, now that the United States has pulled out, the administration has basically said, ‘Would you like to do business with the United States or would you like to do business with Tehran?  Pick one,'” said Nash.

And Nash says the Europeans could not circumvent the sanctions even if they wanted to.

“Look at aircraft for example.  There is so much United States technology in aircraft that there isn’t an aircraft manufacturer in the western world who can export to Tehran if the United States pulls the licenses for its technology.  It’s embedded in those platforms,” said Nash.

Nash says the sanctions are also meant to make life uncomfortable for another group inside Iran.

“That impacts the bazaaris, which is the mercantile class inside of Iran,” said Nash.  “They are the big supporters of the theocratic regime.”

Nash says the bazaaris were key allies of Ayatollah Khomeini during the Islamic Revolution of 1978-1979.  But he says if the bazaaris feel the heat, the mullahs will also be sweating.

“When they start shifting because they’re under pressure, if things really start to happen, you’ll get the mullahs’ attention,” said Nash, who notes the Iranian economy is already hurting badly.

“In the last year alone, their currency, the rial, has lost 80 percent of its value.  Things have been going south in Iran for years,” said Nash.

He says the mullahs are sure to blame the renewed sanctions for the economic misery in Iran, but Nash doesn’t think the people will believe them.

“The mullahs are trying to tell the people, ‘No, no, no.  It’s not our gross mismanagement.  It’s not our spending money on militarization instead of working on infrastructure and other things in the economy.  No, no, no.  It’s the Americans pulling out of the deal.’  And the people aren’t buying it,” said Nash.

Nash says the Iranian leadership has funneled valuable resources into the Revolutionary Guard Corps, which pledges allegiance not to the government but to the Islamic Revolution, similar to how the SS pledged fidelity to Adolf Hitler instead of the nation.  That, in addition to the weak economy, is sparking large protests against the the regime.

Nash says Iranian leaders may soon have to make a very tough decision.

“The mullahs are probably going to be able to keep the lid on this but for how much longer?  And that’s the equation they have to balance.  ‘Can we really let the United States move on to the Nov. 4  exercise of sanctions, which would be the second tranche, where they then put sanctions against our banking industry and our energy sector?’

“When that happens, that could spell doom for the mullahs inside of Tehran,” said Nash.

Share

Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: inspections, Iran, mullahs, Nash, news, obama, sanctions, Trump

North Korea: Glimmers of Hope, Deal Too Vague, Trump Legitimizes Kim

June 12, 2018 by GregC


Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America devote all three martinis to the Trump-Kim summit. They are happy that President Trump did not promise to revoke any of the North Korean sanctions and that Kim reportedly made concessions on his missile program. They also rip the deal over Trump agreeing to end joint military exercises with South Korea, while only getting a vague promise from Kim to move towards denuclearization. They also berate Trump for lavishing public praise towards Kim, calling it a great honor to meet with him and suggesting Kim loves his people.

Share

Filed Under: Economy, News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: Donald Trump, inspections, international relations, Kim Jong-Un, missiles, National Review, North Korea, nuclear agreement, sanctions, summit, Three Martini Lunch

Iran Decision ‘Right and Overdue’

May 8, 2018 by GregC

http://dateline.radioamerica.org/podcast/5-8-gaffney-blog.mp3 http://dateline.radioamerica.org/podcast/5-8-yoho-blog.mp3

President Trump announced Tuesday that the United States will withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal on May 12, citing the ineffectiveness of the agreement in stopping development of a nuclear weapon and announcing tough new economic sanctions to put the pressure back on the Iranian government.

In 2015, President Obama, through then-Secretary of State John Kerry, signed on to the JCPOA without consulting Congress.  The stated conclusion of the deal was that the U.S. and five key allies would ease sanctions and return frozen Iranian assets in exchange for Iran allowing international inspections at its admitted nuclear sites.

By labeling the plan an executive agreement rather than a treaty, Obama and Kerry were able to bypass Congress.  But they also set the stage for a future president reversing the policy unilaterally.

Obama administration veterans, the media, and America’s partners in the agreement, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA, are very critical of Trump decision, but he is earning wide praise from most congressional Republicans and conservative policy experts.

“The thing that you’ve got to admire about President Trump is that he makes a decision.  He move forward with it.  We will deal with it and the rest of the world will deal with this,” said Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla, who chairs the House Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.

Center for Security Policy President Frank Gaffney, who served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy in the Reagan administration, is also very happy with the move.

“I think the decision was both right and overdue.  I’m thrilled he has taken this step,” said Gaffney.  “It finally denies legitimacy to this heinous regime, which could just mean that the people of Iran are able to achieve freedom as well as us achieving a measure of security that would otherwise be denied us.”

Gaffney points out Iran is not only the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism but has proven it cannot be trusted to honor agreements.

“It has cheated on every agreement that it has participated in.  It has pursued weapons of mass destruction.  It continuously says that it seeks death to America.  It has gotten an enormous amount of money (from the nuclear deal), which it has used to further endanger our interests and those of our friends and allies in the region and beyond,” said Gaffney.

Yoho also cited Iran’s bad faith on the world stage.

“Right after it was agreed to by those entities, not us in Congress, Iran fired ballistic missiles and that was against the clause of exercising good faith and Iran broke that the next day,” said Yoho.

But even if Iran had abided by the terms of the JCPOA, Yoho says there are still terrible flaws, including the gaping holes in the inspections.

“They were supposed to be able to check anywhere, anytime, any place per John Kerry.  I was in the hearing when he said that.  Then it turned out it was 24 hours notice and (no access) to places like military bases.  Those places are off limits.  Then we can only inspect those places we know.  We can’t inspect places that we may hear of,” said Yoho.

Where Yoho and Gaffney strongly disagree is what should happen once the sanctions put Iran in a vulnerable spot again.

“Let those start to work.  Let the dust settle.  Then we’ll see how earnest and sincere Iran is, wanting to come to the table and put this nuclear business behind everybody,” said Yoho.

Gaffney believes there should never be a table to return to when it comes to Iran.

“There is clearly no point in having a deal with people who can’t be trusted – not only can’t be trusted but can be trusted to violate any obligation they make,” said Gaffney.

He says the only permanent solution to Iranian nuclear ambitions is for the Iranian people to kick the mullahs to the curb.

“I think the only solution to this is for the people of Iran to remove this regime that enslaves and brutalizes them and threatens us.  And I think that is clearly the desire of the people of Iran,” said Gaffney.

“We will end the threat of an Iranian nuclear weapon by once and for all seeing this regime removed from power,” added Gaffney.

Standard Podcast [ 7:35 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Standard Podcast [ 7:21 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Share

Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: inspections, Iran, JCPOA, news, President Obama, President Trump, regime change, Terrorism

Primary Sidebar

Recent

  • Mossad’s Masterful Bunker Trap, Trump Still Pursuing Nuke Deal, Dems Amnesty Delusion
  • Trump Keeps Iran Guessing, Supremes Uphold Tennessee Trans Law, More Dem Deportation Drama
  • Trump Warns Tehran, Does Trump Trust Tulsi? Mayor Bass Admits Exploiting Illegals
  • Iran Begs for Ceasefire, NY Times Unloads on Mamdani, Fake Cop Targets Minnesota Lawmakers
  • Israel Targets Iranian Nukes, How Trump is Navigating Israel-Iran, Sen. Padilla’s PR Stunt

Archives

  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008

Copyright © 2025 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in