Tag: IRAN

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Huckabee Drops Bomb: This Week There’s Been ‘More Pressure to Put Sanctions on Indiana Than on Iran’

mike_huckabee_theridgewood blog

By Katie LaPotin

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee lambasted Americans Saturday for being more outraged at Indiana’s new religious freedom law than President Obama’s Iran deal.

He called the uproar over the Religious Freedom Restoration Act a distraction from Thursday’s announcement of a tentative nuclear proliferation deal with the Middle Eastern nation.

Huckabee made the remark on CNN’s “Smerconish”:

“Somebody who is a blogger made an observation this week that – I thought it was interesting – that there’s been more pressure this week to put sanctions on Indiana than on Iran. I thought that was a pretty wise observation, and it’s been a real almost distraction from something that is a whole lot more significant in terms of our national security than anything that’s been occupying the front pages here.”

Huckabee, who’s considering another run at the White House in 2016, also attributed the drama over the religious freedom laws in Indiana and his home state to the growing pressure from the gay community nationwide:

“The reason that those corporations put the pressure on Indiana and Arkansas was because the militant gay community put the pressure on them,” he said, singling out Apple’s business with Saudi Arabia and Wal-Mart’s business in China.

“I think these corporations really ought to either be consistent — quit making money from these countries that are really oppressing human rights, and quit bowing to the pressure, and just sell their stuff, that’s what they’re in business for – sell stuff.”

Both company’s CEOs came out strongly against the Indiana and Arkansas laws, respectively:

“Statement on HB 1228: Every day, in our stores, we see firsthand the benefits diversity and inclusion have on our associates, customers and communities we serve. It all starts with our core basic belief of respect for the individual. Today’s passage of HB1228 threatens to undermine the spirit of inclusion present throughout the state of Arkansas and does not reflect the values we proudly uphold. For those reasons, we are asking Governor Hutchinson to veto this legislation. – Doug McMillian, Wal-Mart CEO”

Huckabee’s comments on Saturday echoed those he made to Tony Perkins, the host of the Family Research Council’s “Washington Watch,” on his radio show Wednesday:

According to Mediaite, the former governor said of the gay rights activists fighting RFRA legislation in Indiana and Arkansas:

“It won’t stop until there are no more churches, until there are no more people who are spreading the Gospel, and I’m talking now about the unabridged, unapologetic Gospel that is really God’s truth.”

Huckabee, whose supporters recently launched a super PAC for his potential 2016 bid, told Smerconish that he will announce his intentions later this Spring.

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U.S. Rep. Scott Garret , U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance, and U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey express skepticism about the framework for a nuclear deal with Iran

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By Tony Rhodin | The Express-Times

U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance said no sanctions should be lifted against Iran in a nuclear containment deal until the full agreement is scrutinized and approved by Congress.

Two other Republican members of Congress who represent the area say looking at Iran’s past and the country’s nuclear future require a skeptical view of any deal.

Iran has agreed in principle to a framework that would place significant restrictions on its nuclear program, extending the timeline for the creation of enough material for a nuclear weapon from two or three months to a year, the Associated Press reports. Negotiations will continue for another three months to hammer out a possible formal agreement.

“The political understanding with details that we have reached is a solid foundation for the good deal we are seeking,” Secretary of State John Kerry said in Lausanne, Switzerland, the AP reported.

Garrett says the framework doesn’t succeed

U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Warren, says the deal doesn’t achieve what any agreement must — keeping Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon.

“The framework that President Obama laid out … does not meet the most important priority for the United States and its allies during these negotiations — ensuring that Iran never obtains nuclear weapons,” Garrett said in a news release. “Secretary of State Kerry and negotiators from the global community must realize the implications of agreeing to a bad deal with a state sponsor of terrorism like Iran.

“Any deal that allows a nuclear-armed Iran — now or in the future — makes the world a more dangerous place, and is completely unacceptable.

https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/breaking-news/index.ssf/2015/04/local_gop_members_of_congress.html

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Iran Declares Pre-emptive Victory in Nuke Talks

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Iran Declares Pre-emptive Victory in Nuke Talks

Top Iranian Negotiator: ‘We are the winner’

BY: Adam Kredo
March 11, 2015 5:00 am

Iran’s foreign minister and chief negotiator in nuclear talks with the West declared victory for his country, stating that no matter how the negotiations end, Tehran has come out “the winner,” according to remarks made on Tuesday and presented in the country’s state-run press.

Javad Zarif, the Islamic Republic’s foreign minister, stated in remarks before the country’s powerful Assembly of Experts, which recently installed a hardline new cleric as its leader, that the nuclear negotiations have established Tehran as a global power broker.

“We are the winner whether the [nuclear] negotiations yield results or not,” Zarif was quoted as saying before the assembly by the Tasnim News Agency. “The capital we have obtained over the years is dignity and self-esteem, a capital that could not be retaken.”

Zarif’s comments were accompanied by a host of bold military displays by Tehran in recent weeks, including the announcement of one new weapon that Iranian military leaders have described as a “very special” missile.

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/iran-declares-pre-emptive-victory-in-nuke-talks/

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Obama’s ‘shameful’ snub of Netanyahu

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Photo from Congressman Darrell Issa ,had a great seat for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech this morning.For Israel, the Iranian pursuit of a nuclear bomb is an existential threat. Is it any wonder they do not trust this administration to decide when Iran will obtain the weapon with which it threatens to wipe Israel off the map?

Obama’s ‘shameful’ snub of Netanyahu
By Darrell Issa5 P.M.MARCH 2, 2015

For all of the attention being given to the fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is coming to address Congress Tuesday, so many of those covering the upcoming speech have gotten it backward. The story is not that Benjamin Netanyahu is coming to the United States at the behest of congressional leaders. The story is that one of America’s closest allies in the world feels so alienated by President Obama that he believes his best hope in protecting his nation from a nuclear Iran lies in making his case directly to the American people, having lost confidence in a U.S. president who has rejected his counsel and sought to demonize and marginalize him. Put simply, rather than standing behind our allies, President Obama has thrown himself decisively in front of them, as an obstacle to be circumvented.

Though it is shameful that a staunch ally feels the need to go directly to the American people, it should not be surprising to those who have watched this administration’s actions. The attacks on Israel’s leader continued this week, as Secretary of State John Kerry questioned Prime Minister Netanyahu’s judgment, suggesting that Netanyahu’s support of American involvement in Iraq (involvement Kerry himself supported) somehow rendered him untrustworthy. National Security Adviser Susan Rice called his upcoming Capitol Hill speech “destructive.”

For Israel, the Iranian pursuit of a nuclear bomb is an existential threat. Is it any wonder they do not trust this administration to decide when Iran will obtain the weapon with which it threatens to wipe Israel off the map?

https://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/mar/02/issa-obama-israel-netanyahu-iran-speech/

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Obama, Netanyahu on Collision Course 6 Years in the Making

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Obama, Netanyahu on Collision Course 6 Years in the Making

WASHINGTON — Feb 28, 2015, 12:41 PM ET
By JULIE PACE and MATTHEW LEE Associated Press

For six years, President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been on a collision course over how to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions, a high-stakes endeavor both men see as a centerpiece of their legacies.

The coming weeks will put the relationship between their countries, which otherwise remain stalwart allies, to one of its toughest tests.

Netanyahu is bound for Washington for an address to Congress on Tuesday aimed squarely at derailing Obama’s cherished bid for a diplomatic deal with Tehran. At the same time, Secretary of State John Kerry and other international negotiators will be in Switzerland for talks with the Iranians, trying for a framework agreement before a late March deadline.

In between are Israel’s elections March 17, which have heightened the political overtones of Netanyahu’s visit to Washington.

The prime minister is speaking to Congress at the request of Republicans. His visit was coordinated without the Obama administration’s knowledge, deepening tensions between two leaders who have never shown much affection for each other.

Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of the liberal Jewish advocacy group J Street, said Netanyahu was “crossing some lines that haven’t been crossed before and is putting Israel into the partisan crossfire in a way it has not been before.”

But the largest pro-Israel lobby in the U.S., the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, has tried to play down the partisanship.

“AIPAC welcomes the prime minister’s speech to Congress and we believe that this is a very important address,” spokesman Marshall Wittmann said. “We have been actively encouraging senators and representatives to attend and we have received an overwhelmingly positive response from both sides of the aisle.”

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/obama-netanyahu-collision-years-making-29292210