90 Miles From Tyranny

Friday, March 18, 2022

No Deal with Iran is Better Than A Bad Deal

Having conspicuously failed in its efforts to prevent Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration looks set to add to its global reputation for weakness by agreeing yet another flawed nuclear deal with Iran.

Russia has been fully involved in the latest talks to revive the deal, as the negotiator for the US. Western negotiators have claimed that Moscow was effectively supporting Iran to withstand pressure from the US to make concessions.

If true, the fact that Russia has assurances from Washington that sanctions will not affect its dealings with Iran is further evidence of the Biden administration's desperation to reach a new agreement with Tehran....

[I]ntelligence experts believe Iran's space programme [Iran just launched its second satellite into space] is being used to develop missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

"Iran's nuclear programme has never before been this advanced, and is exposing the international community to unprecedented levels of risk." — Corinne Kitsell, UK Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, March 8, 2022.

The problem for Mr Biden is that, by failing to address the very real threat posed by Iran's nuclear ambitions, he will simply be presiding over a further erosion in America's standing as a global power.

Having conspicuously failed in its efforts to prevent Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration looks set to add to its global reputation for weakness by agreeing yet another flawed nuclear deal with Iran.

Negotiations in Vienna to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 deal to limit Iran's attempts to acquire nuclear weapons, are said to be reaching a conclusion, with the possibility that a new agreement could be announced in the coming weeks.

Indeed, with both Iranian and Western officials indicating that a deal is close to being agreed, the only remaining stumbling block appears to be last-minute demands by Russia for Moscow to be granted sanctions relief on its future trade dealings with Tehran.

As one of the signatories to the original JCPOA agreement negotiated by the Obama administration, Russia has been fully involved in the latest talks to revive the deal, as the negotiator for the US. Western negotiators have claimed that Moscow was effectively supporting Iran to withstand pressure from the US to make concessions.

Russia's decision to invade Ukraine, however, has complicated matters: the West has responded by imposing hard-hitting sanctions against Moscow -- sanctions, moreover, that would apply to any future trading arrangements Russia might have with Tehran in the event a new nuclear deal was agreed, and sanctions against Iran lifted.

Initially, Washington said it had no intention of offering Russia sanctions relief. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking during a visit to Tehran this week, insisted that Moscow had received written guarantees from Washington that Western sanctions on Russia over Ukraine. The remark suggests Russia can continue trading with Iran in spite of US sanctions.

"We received written guarantees," said Mr Lavrov. "They are included in the text of the agreement itself on the resumption of the JCPOA on the Iranian nuclear programme."

If true, the fact that Russia has assurances from Washington that sanctions will not affect its dealings with Iran is further evidence of the Biden administration's desperation to reach a new agreement with Tehran, even if it means making unpalatable concessions on Iran's nuclear...

Visage à trois #124

Three Videos For Your Viewing Pleasure:

Three Additional Bonus Videos:

There will be no fireworks at Mount Rushmore this Independence Day because the government finds it too risky — but perhaps what they’re really worried about is an outbreak of patriotism.

For the second year in a row, the National Park Service has denied a request from South Dakota to put on a fireworks display at the monument on July 4, Fox News reported.

The display was eliminated from South Dakota tradition in 2009 because of the stated fire risks but returned in 2020 and included an appearance by former President Donald Trump.

Leftists were sufficiently rankled by Trump’s appearance during a pandemic, though no cases of the virus could be traced to the event, and the event has yet to return.

Now in a letter to the South Dakota Department of Tourism, Michelle Wheatley, superintendent of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, cited concerns such as potential pollution, wildfire risk, visitor restrictions to the park for the event and offense to tribal groups in the area to bar the display this year.

“After careful consideration, the NPS has determined that we are unable to grant your request for this permit to hold a special event with fireworks at the Memorial,” the March 14 letter stated.

“Based on the information provided in the application, we have determined that multiple such criteria are present for the requested event, each of which would be independently sufficient to deny the request for a permit,” it added.

Of course, no prohibition of anything enjoyable would be complete with the requisite nod to how it would further oppress marginalized groups.

“Fireworks are viewed by multiple Tribes as an adverse effect to the traditional cultural landscape,” Wheatley stated, citing a Tribal Cultural Survey conducted in May 2021 that revealed “ample documented opposition from the Tribes to the 2020 event.”

The NPS also claimed fireworks “present a clear and present danger to the public health and safety” — though the 2020 display went off without injury — and “result in significant conflict with existing...

Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #299

‘I Expect Him To Be Indicted,’ Says Lawyer For Mother Of Hunter Biden’s Out-Of-Wedlock Child

Clint Lancaster, a lawyer for an Arkansas woman whose child Hunter Biden fathered out of wedlock, confirmed Thursday that the mother testified to a federal grand jury in Delaware in a criminal tax probe against Biden.

The mother, Lunden Alexis Roberts, and Lancaster were interviewed by an assistant U.S. attorney, an FBI agent and an IRS agent over a year ago concerning a criminal case building against President Joe Biden’s son, Lancaster told CNBC.

He told the outlet that he complied with a federal subpoena asking him to hand over “a significant amount of Hunter’s financial records” to investigators.

Lancaster said he examined “anywhere from 10 gigs of data” containing records and documents related to Biden’s finances after his client, Roberts, filed a 2019 child-support lawsuit against the president’s son.

In the lawsuit, Robert’s said she received financial assistance from a company owned or controlled by Biden from May to November 2018, CNBC reported.

“I had his Burisma pay records,” Lancaster told the outlet. “I had records of ultimately what Burisma paid into the United States.”

He sent federal investigators a lot of “problematic” financial information, Lancaster told CNBC. “I’m not making any statements about what was in the tax records, whether he paid taxes, or whether he didn’t pay taxes,” the outlet reported he said.

While working on a case in Wisconsin, Lancaster received the subpoena that required him to turn over financial records, including ones a judge previously sealed to the public, he told the outlet.

“I expect him to be indicted,” he said. “Just based on what I saw in his financial records, I would be surprised if he’s not indicted.”

“[We] don’t want Hunter to go to jail,” Lancaster told CNBC of his and Robert’s intentions. “It’s not my goal, much to the unhappiness of many people in the Republican Party,” he added.

After alerting Biden’s lawyer in the child support case, Biden released a statement acknowledging ongoing federal investigations.

“I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors,” Biden’s statement read, the Daily Mail reported .

Biden has never mentioned that he and Roberts share a daughter, Lancaster confirmed to CNBC.

Roberts received a $2.5 million settlement after a...

Old Joe Biden watched Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to Congress Wednesday and pronounced the Ukrainian president “convincing.” Biden said that “Putin is inflicting appalling — appalling devastation and horror on Ukraine — bombing apartment buildings, maternity wards, hospitals. I mean, it’s — it’s God awful.” As a result, “We are crippling Putin’s economy with punishing sanctions that’s going to only grow more painful over time with the entire NATO and EU behind us, and many other countries.” The old man boasted that “the American people are answering President Zelenskyy’s call for more help, more weapons for Ukraine to defend itself, more tools to fight Russian aggression.” Biden insisted that “it’s about freedom.” It all sounded great, but he didn’t mention one key detail: his handlers’ new nuke deal with Iran will give Russia ten billion dollars. So who is paying for all that Russian aggression? A large chunk of this cash will be coming from you and me.

The Washington Free Beacon reported Wednesday that “Russia’s top state-controlled energy company,” Rosatom, “is set to cash in on a $10 billion contract to build out one of Iran’s most contested nuclear sites as part of concessions granted in the soon-to-be-announced nuclear agreement that will guarantee sanctions on both countries are lifted.”

Rosatom is set to work on the Bushehr nuclear plant in Tehran. According to the Free Beacon, “Russia and the Biden administration confirmed on Tuesday that the new nuclear agreement includes carveouts that will waive sanctions on both countries so that Russia can make good on this contract.”

State Department Spokesman Ned Price tried to paint a happy face on this fiasco, claiming that “we, of course, would not sanction Russian participation in nuclear projects that are part of resuming full implementation of the JCPOA,” that is, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Obama’s disastrous 2015 nuclear deal. Of course.

And so Russia will get ten billion dollars from Iran to spruce up one of its nuclear plants, and where will that money come from? Gabriel Noronha, a former State Department official, explained on March 7 that “Iran is set to get access to a massive windfall of cash: My latest estimate (derived from figures declassified during my tenure at the State Department) is $90 billion in access to foreign exchange reserves, and then a further $50-$55 billion in extra revenue each year from higher oil and petrochemical exports, with no restrictions on how or where the money can be spent. Personally, the most troubling transfer of funds will be the $7 billion ransom payment the United States is preparing to pay for the release of four Americans from an Iranian jail. Now, let me be clear: I would be extremely glad to bring these Americans back home safely as quickly as possible. They are innocent victims who, along with their families, have suffered unjustly for far too long. But make no mistake: Biden’s payment will only supercharge Iran’s hostage-taking...