More Hidden News/Facts on Iran

Here’s Hezbollah’s game-changing secret drone base

For years, the Lebanese Shi’ite militant organization Hezbollah has incorporated unmanned aerial vehicles into their arsenal, developing perhaps the most sophisticated aerial capabilities of any non-state armed group on earth.

IHS Jane’s has now used Google Maps to locate their airbase in northern Lebanon, according to an analysis published on April 23rd.

Hezbollah is arguably the Arab world’s most capable military force. The group is a direct proxy of the revolutionary regime in Iran, which sends the group perhaps as much as $350 million in aid a year, according to Matthew Levitt’s Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon’s Party of God.

Hezbollah has an estimated 100,000 rockets — an arsenal that likely includes Russian-made precision-guided missiles. Its infusion of fighters is largely responsible for the survival of Syria’s Assad regime after four years of war against ISIS, Al Qaeda, and secular armed groups. Hezbollah has operated cells and smuggling networks on every continent, and it’s the only Arab military force that can plausibly claim a battlefield victory against Israel.

The airbase is alarming evidence of the group’s vaunted operational capabilities — as well as the depth of its relationship with Tehran.

The airstrip includes a 2200-foot unpaved runway, several outbuildings, and an antenna that “could potentially be used to extend the range of a UAV ground control station.” (It can be found at 34.3109624, 36.3492857 on Google Maps).

Hezbollah airfield Business Insider via Google Maps

It’s located a few miles south of the town of Hermel in northern Lebanon, and about 10 miles to the west of the border wt ih Syria.

As the Jane’s report notes, the airstrip is too short to accommodate most manned aircraft, while its unpaved surface and mountainous surrounding terrain make it largely off-limits to planes that technically capable of landing on a runway of its length. That means there’s a strong possibility it was “built for Iranian-made UAVs, including the Ababil-3, which has been employed over Syria by forces allied to the Syrian regime, and possibly the newer and larger Shahed-129.”

The Ababil-3 is a small reconnaissance drone with limited range and flight endurance; it’s also been deployed by the Sudanese armed forces in the former Iranian ally’s various civil conflicts. But as The Aviationist notes, the Shahed-129 is superficially similar in design to the US’s Reaper and Predator platforms, and Iranian military officials claim that the drone can carry as many as 8 Sadid missiles.’  Read more here from BusinessInsider

Hezbollah airstrip Google Maps

Yes there is more to know about Iran, that country which is designated by the United States as the largest state sponsor of terror, and the one that the Obama White House normalized relations with and a country forced upon the global stage for economic development. This is the country that can build, is building a nuclear program that is the precursor to nuclear weapons.

Iran Deploys Hezbollah-Trained Afghan Sniper Brigade in Syria

DefenseNews: TEL AVIV — An Israeli intelligence source confirmed Monday that a new unit of Afghan snipers trained by Lebanese-based Hezbollah and financed by Iran is now operating beyond its northern border on behalf of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

In a July 18 interview, the source said the sniper unit – part of the Afghan Fatemiyoun Brigade – is one of several additional groups of special forces that are being deployed in the fight against the Islamic State organization, also known by its Arabic acronym Da’esh.

“These Afghan Shias are battle-hardened and focused at the moment on fighting Da’esh. But we’re obviously following with interest any introduction of new forces and capabilities in that theater that may turn their attention to us when the time is right for them,” said the Israeli analyst, who insisted on anonymity because the interview did not take place through normal authorization channels.

The Israeli source validated reports earlier this month from Iran’s Tasnim, a news agency affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG), that a new group of snipers specializing in camouflage and concealment tactics was now operational in Syria.

According to a July 9 report, Tasnim acknowledged that the unit was part of the Afghan Fatemiyoun Brigade trained by Hezbollah, which operates in Syria under the command of the IRGC.

Another Tasnim report from July 12, translated by Amir Toumaj, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in an account published by the online Long War Journal, noted that “Hundreds of special Fatemiyoun snipers have been deployed to defend sacred shrines across Syria and have joined Fatemiyoun combat units.”

According to Toumaj’s translation, “additional groups of special Afghan forces with advanced training in combat, commando capabilities, guerilla warfare, anti-armor missiles, shoulder-launched missiles, etc. are expected to join” Fatemiyoun ranks.

“The notable point is that the special Fatemiyoun forces have been trained under skilled Afghan instructors who themselves have completed training in special courses under the supervision of skilled Hezbollah forces,” noted the Tasnim report.

According to Toumaj’s research of Iranian media, the IRGC expanded the ranks of Fatemiyoun forces from a brigade to a full division last year; and some 380 have been killed thus far in Syria.

A recent study by Israel’s Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center noted that one year after signing of the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, Tehran has no intention of reducing its ties to Hezbollah, a designated terror organization.

In its report “Spotlight on Iran” for the week of July 4-17, the Center cited a July 12 interview on state-run Fars TV with Abbas Araghchi, Iranian deputy foreign minister, in which the official characterized the Iran-Hezbollah axis as “a priority… that could not be changed.”

“Araghchi’s remarks reinforce our assessment that no significant change can be expected in the quality and quantity of Iran’s support for Hezbollah, despite its effort to lift the international economic restrictions imposed on the country in recent years,” the Center noted.

It added, “Iran will be prepared to continue paying the diplomatic, media and even financial price in its relations with the United States and the West for continued fostering of Hezbollah as a military-political force and an Iranian proxy.”

 

John Kerry Issuing an Idle Threat to Turkey?

Power has not be restored at the U.S. coalition airbase, Incirlik, Turkey. Erdogan conducted a raid at the base arresting top Turkish commanders there. Further, there are an estimated 3000 Americans stationed in Turkey.

Turkish NATO membership may be in danger

US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Turkey, saying NATO will be scrutinising Turkey in coming days to ensure that it fulfils the alliance’s requirements.

Kerry said:

“NATO also has a requirement with respect to democracy,” Kerry said. Obviously, a lot of people have been arrested and arrested very quickly.

The level of vigilance and scrutiny is obviously going to be significant in the days ahead. Hopefully we can work in a constructive way that prevents a backsliding.”

A Number 10 spokesperson said:

“The National Security Adviser chaired a COBR meeting of senior officials this morning to discuss the situation in Turkey. Representatives from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the intelligence agencies, the Ministry of Defence, the Home Office and the Department for Transport attended. The ambassador and embassy staff in Ankara also joined by video link.

They noted that the situation in Turkey continued to stabilise, but that we needed to maintain our focus on the situation and monitor any developments over the coming days and weeks, including close cooperation and dialogue with the Turkish government.

British consular staff are working around the clock to support and reassure British nationals in Turkey at the moment, with a particular focus on supporting those waiting for planes in Turkey’s main airports. Flights are starting to get back to normal and backlogs of passengers are beginning to ease.

Officials agreed that we should monitor the situation on the ground closely over the coming days and keep the travel advice to Turkey under review.”

The Turkish military coup failed on Saturday morning as soldiers surrender after many dead and hundreds arrested.

Turkish President Erdogan had made a statement on Turkish television using his iPhone and FaceTime, calling on people to take to the streets to oppose the uprising.

Crowds confronted the coup plotters and gunfire and explosions were heard. The president has now returned to Istanbul, calling the coup attempt an “act of treason” and saying the army must be cleansed. He told crowds the government was now back in control.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim ordered the military to shoot down aircraft being used by coup plotters, with a helicopter being shot down by an F-16.

17 Turkish police officers were killed in a helicopter attack at the police special forces headquarters just outside of Ankara.

Reuters reported that in early hours of Saturday local time, the coup appears to have “crumbled” as crowds defied pro-coup military orders and gathered in major squares of Istanbul and Ankara to oppose the coup. Reuters also reported pro-coup soldiers surrendering to the police in Taksim Square, Istanbul.

Hey Obama, Kerry, Rhodes, Explain this Secret on Iran Deal

Related reading: Flying Above the Radar, Sanctions Evasion in the Iranian Aviation Sector

Related reading: Banking & Money Laundering Risk

Iranian financial institutions remain locked out of the U.S. financial system, and therefore cut off from much of the global financial system. International banks have been hit with $14 billion in fines since 2009 for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. The U.S. continues to designate the entire Iranian financial sector as a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act and the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act.

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Iran urged to avoid further ballistic missile launches, to preserve deal July 18, 2016

Iran has been urged not to carry out further ballistic missile tests, which might be deemed inconsistent with the “constructive spirit” of the nuclear deal struck with world powers a year ago.

The call came from UN Under Secretary-General Jeffrey Feltman, briefing the Security Council on the implementation of the resolution which endorsed the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

AP Exclusive: Confidential text eases Iran nuke constraints

VIENNA (AP) — Key restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program imposed under an internationally negotiated deal will start to ease years before the 15-year accord expires, advancing Tehran’s ability to build a bomb even before the end the pact, according to a document obtained Monday by The Associated Press.

The document is the only text linked to last year’s deal between Iran and six foreign powers that hasn’t been made public, although U.S. officials say members of Congress have been able to see it. It was given to the AP by a diplomat whose work has focused on Iran’s nuclear program for more than a decade, and its authenticity was confirmed by another diplomat who possesses the same document.

The diplomat who shared the document with the AP described it as an add-on agreement to the nuclear deal. But while formally separate from that accord, he said that it was in effect an integral part of the deal and had been approved both by Iran and the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, the six powers that negotiated the deal with Tehran.

Details published earlier outline most restraints on Iran’s nuclear program meant to reduce the threat that Tehran will turn nuclear activities it says are peaceful to making weapons.

But while some of the constraints extend for 15 years, documents in the public domain are short on details of what happens with Iran’s most proliferation-prone nuclear activity – its uranium enrichment – beyond the first 10 years of the agreement.

The document obtained by the AP fills in the gap. It says that as of January 2027 – 11 years after the deal was implemented – Iran can start replacing its mainstay centrifuges with thousands of advanced machines.

Centrifuges churn out uranium to levels that can range from use as reactor fuel and for medical and research purposes to much higher levels for the core of a nuclear warhead. From year 11 to 13, says the document, Iran can install centrifuges up to five times as efficient as the 5,060 machines it is now restricted to using.

Those new models will number less than those being used now, ranging between 2,500 and 3,500, depending on their efficiency, according to the document. But because they are more effective, they will allow Iran to enrich at more than twice the rate it is doing now.

The U.S. says the Iran nuclear agreement is tailored to ensure that Iran would need at least 12 months to “break out” and make enough weapons grade uranium for at least one weapon.

But based on a comparison of outputs between the old and newer machines, if the enrichment rate doubles, that breakout time would be reduced to six months, or even less if the efficiency is more than double, a possibility the document allows for.

The document also allows Iran to greatly expand its work with centrifuges that are even more advanced, including large-scale testing in preparation for the deal’s expiry 15 years after its implementation on Jan. 18.

A U.S. official noted, however, that the limit on the amount of enriched uranium Iran will be allowed to store will remain at 300 kilograms (660 pounds) for the full 15 years, significantly below the amount needed for a bomb. As well, it will remain restricted to a level used for reactor fuel that is well below weapons grade. Like the diplomats, the official demanded anonymity in exchange for discussing the document.

“We have ensured that Iran’s breakout time comes down gradually after year 10 in large part because of restrictions on its uranium stockpile until year 15,” the official said. “As for breakout times after the initial 10 years of the deal, the breakout time does not go off a cliff nor do we believe that it would be immediately cut in half, to six months.”

Still the easing of restrictions on the number and kind of centrifuges means that once the deal expires, Tehran will be positioned to quickly make enough highly enriched uranium to bring up its stockpile to a level that would allow it to make a bomb in half a year, should it choose to do so.

The document doesn’t say what happens with enrichment past year 13. That indicates a possible end to all restrictions on the number and kind of centrifuges even while constraints on other, less-proliferation prone nuclear activities remain until year 15.

Iran insists it is not interested in nuclear weapons, and the pact is being closely monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA says Tehran has essentially kept to its commitments since the agreement was implemented, a little more than six months after Iran and the six powers finalized it on July 14, 2015.

Marking the agreement’s anniversary Thursday, President Barack Obama said it has succeeded in rolling back Iran’s nuclear program, “avoiding further conflict and making us safer.” But opposition from U.S. Republicans could increase with the revelation that Iran’s potential breakout time would be more than halved over the last few years of the pact.

Also opposed is Israel, which in the past has threatened to strike Iran if it deems that Tehran is close to making a nuclear weapon. Alluding to that possibility, David Albright, whose Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security is a U.S. government go-to resource on Iran’s nuclear program, said the plan outlined in the document “will create a great deal of instability and possibly even lead to war, if regional tensions have not subsided.”

The deal provides Iran with sanctions relief in exchange for its nuclear constraints. But before going into recess, U.S. Congress last week approved a bill to impose new sanctions for Tehran’s continuing development and testing of ballistic missiles, a program the White House says is meant to carry atomic warheads even if it is not part of the nuclear agreement.

It also approved a measure that calls for prohibiting the Obama administration from buying more of Iran’s heavy water, a key component in certain nuclear reactors.

The White House has said removing the country’s surplus heavy water denies Tehran access to a material that may be stored for potential nuclear weapons production. But critics note that the purchase was made only after Iran exceeded heavy water limits proscribed by the nuclear deal and assert it rewarded Tehran for violating the agreement.

Hillary’s Newest Legal Machinery at Work on Depositions

Lawyers from several government agencies have rallied to Hillary’s defense, including those from the State Department and from the Justice Department. Likely, lawyers from the White House have also been consulted while Hillary herself has a team of lawyers. So, if she does prevail in the general election, does that mean she will provide a very late deposition and even pardon herself?

 

Clinton preserves option to stall deposition

Politico: Hillary Clinton’s lawyers are expected to appear before a federal judge Monday morning in a bid to keep her from being forced into videotaped, sworn testimony about her email system, but they’re keeping their options open if things don’t go their way.

In a little-noticed passage in a court filing last week, Clinton’s legal team laid the groundwork for a potential appeal that could allow the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee to delay any deposition for weeks or months, perhaps even until after the November election.

“For the sake of preserving any and all rights, counsel to Secretary Clinton respectfully submit that discovery is unwarranted in this case as a general matter,” longtime Clinton lawyer David Kendall and colleagues wrote in a filing submitted to U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan.

Legal experts say the language is aimed at keeping the door open for Clinton to try to block a deposition at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit if Sullivan decides to order one.

Kendall “is preserving that position for ultimately raising it on appeal, if necessary….It’s safe lawyering,” said Dan Metcalfe, former co-director of the Justice Department’s Office of Information and Privacy, now with American University’s law school. “It’s a wise thing to do, but one could infer from that that he’s not 100 percent confident that the argument….would prevail.”

It’s difficult to predict whether Sullivan will grant the request he’s set to take up Monday from the conservative group Judicial Watch, which is demanding to put Clinton under oath in connection with a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit exploring aspects of her private email set-up.

The judge—an appointee of President Bill Clinton—has been sharply critical of the former secretary of state for her handling of her emails. At a hearing last August, Sullivan said Clinton’s “violation of government policy” was responsible for the email imbroglio. And in May, the judge approved depositions for several of Clinton’s aides and issued an order explicitly leaving open the possibility Clinton herself might be required to testify.

But Sullivan has also seemed concerned about the litigation becoming a football in the presidential campaign. In May, he not only acceded to a request from a close Clinton aide to put videos of the depositions off limits to the public, he expanded the court-ordered restriction to the videos of all depositions conducted in the case.

If Sullivan approves a deposition for Clinton and the Clinton camp goes to the D.C. Circuit to try to block such testimony, Clinton appears to have a decent chance of succeeding at least in winning a delay, in part because that court has been very deferential to cabinet members in similar circumstances.

In 2014, the D.C. Circuit blocked a court-ordered deposition of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a defamation lawsuit former Agriculture employee Shirley Sherrod brought against late conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart over a video he published. The appeals court said it was “well-established” that c members should not be deposed in civil suits absent “extraordinary circumstances.”

Clinton is a former cabinet official, not a sitting one. However, her court filings last week mention that her status as a former cabinet official more than half a dozen times.

The D.C. Circuit may be more politically fertile territory for Clinton than it was a few years ago. The court is now split between Democratic and Republican appointees, 7-4. Four of the court’s Democratic appointees have joined the court since 2013.

Another reason Clinton’s legal team got directly involved in the case for the first time last week: while State is opposing a deposition for Clinton, the agency and its lawyers at the Justice Department might not try to appeal to block Clinton’s deposition if it is ordered.

In May, when Sullivan ordered depositions of about half a dozen former State officials—including a couple of close aides to Clinton—State did not try to seek relief from the D.C. Circuit, even though State argued against allowing the depositions in the first place.

The hearing Monday before Sullivan is likely to focus on whether Clinton’s use of a private email server could bring Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuit within an exception to a 1980 Supreme Court case involving the papers of another former secretary of state, Henry Kissinger. The high court ruled that Kissinger’s papers were not obtainable under FOIA because they were not in the State Department’s control at the time of the request, but in a footnote the court suggested its ruling might be different if an employee intentionally placed outside an agency’s possession.

“We need not decide whether this standard might be displaced in the event that it was shown that an agency official purposefully routed a document out of agency possession in order to circumvent a FOIA request. No such issue is presented here. We also express no opinion as to whether an agency withholds documents which have been wrongfully removed by an individual after a request is filed,” Justice William Rehnquist wrote for the court’s majority.

In filings last week, Clinton’s lawyers argued that because the Judicial Watch request involved in the suit came after Clinton left office in February 2013, the Kissinger case controls and State has no obligation to provide records that Clinton possessed at that time.

Kissinger squarely covers this case,” Kendall wrote, noting that Judicial Watch’s request for records about Clinton aide Huma Abedin’s employment arrangement came several months after Clinton left State.

Clinton’s lawyers went even further, arguing that “a general intent to ‘thwart’ FOIA” isn’t enough to upend the general rule that records outside an agency’s possession are lost to FOIA requesters.

In a statement last week, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton called it “both significant and disturbing” that Clinton was asserting her private email account was her private property, just as Kissinger asserted about the records he took and deposited in a restricted collection at the Library of Congress.

Sullivan might choose to shut down or delay the request for Clinton testimony given that it’s unclear what the court could do at this point to recover more of Clinton’s emails. She already turned over about 30,000 messages her lawyers deemed work-related. Those records have been searched by State, processed under FOIA, and released with the exception of a few messages deemed to contain “Top Secret” information.

The FBI currently has possession of several servers used by Clinton, as well as some messages recovered from other sources. After FBI Director James Comey announced he wasn’t recommending criminal charges against Clinton or others over the emails, the law enforcement agency said it plans to provide emails that might qualify as official records to the State Department.

Clinton has said she has no emails from that period in her possession at this point, beyond the equipment transferred to the FBI. However, it remains unclear how long it will take for State to obtain those records and just who will decide which of Clinton’s emails might qualify as official State records.

In addition, some of the records and equipment in the FBI’s possession might still be Clinton’s property, leaving open some prospect of Judicial Watch winning some court-supervised process to examine that material for government records.

On the other hand, it’s also possible Sullivan might decide the lawsuit under discussion Monday isn’t the right vehicle to pursue questions about Clinton’s handling of her email. There are dozens of other FOIA suits pending against State, including some relating to requests filed before Clinton stepped down as secretary.

Those other cases might be stronger ones to press the issue, but it’s unclear whether judges in those case would demand Clinton submit to deposition, how quickly they would do so, and whether a higher court would intervene over an order for such testimony issued in the months or weeks before Clinton is expected to face presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump in the November election.

 

 

Russia Makes Olympic Athletes with Proven Doping Program

Wada Report is here.  

WADA Calls For Russian Ban From Rio Olympics After Report Confirms ‘Unprecedented’ Doping Scheme

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Russia ‘Directed’ Athlete Doping For Years

A report says that Russia’s government and secret service directed systematic cheating in sports since 2011.

SkyNews: Russia has systematically covered up doping in “all sporting disciplines” since 2011, an official report has found.

The sports ministry and secret service “directed and oversaw” the manipulation of urine samples, the World Anti-Doping Agency said.

It resulted in at least 312 falsified results up until at least last year’s world swimming championships, WADA said.

The state-sponsored cheating happened after an “abysmal” medal count at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010, according to the report.

The cheating involved clean urine being frozen and switched for doped urine, often passed through secret holes in laboratories.

As well as the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014, Russia’s cheating also included the 2013 track world championships in Moscow.

The doping continued in the 2015 swimming world championships in Kazan, chief investigator Richard McLaren said.

Russia’s track and field athletes are already banned from the Olympic Games in Rio, beginning this summer.

The independent findings will increase pressure for all Russians – not just those in track and field events – to be banned from the games.

The report was commissioned following claims made by a Russian whistleblower, former director of anti-doping Dr Grigory Rodchenkov.

He claimed that dozens of athletes, including at least 15 medalists in Sochi, were part of an extensive state-run doping programme.

 

Reuters:

An independent commission report, led by Canadian law professor and sports lawyer Richard McLaren, published on Monday revealed evidence of widespread state-sponsored doping by Russian athletes at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

McLaren, who was a member of WADA’s independent commission which last year exposed widespread doping and corruption in Russian athletics, said the Russian Ministry of Sport oversaw the manipulation of athletes’ analytical results and sample swapping.

Here are some reactions from the world of sport:

TRAVIS TYGART (CEO of USADA)

“The McLaren Report has concluded, beyond a reasonable doubt, a mind-blowing level of corruption within both Russian sport and government that goes right to the field of play… and most importantly, our hearts go out to athletes from all over the world who were robbed of their Olympic dreams.

“Looking forward, we must come together as an international community — comprised of those who truly believe in the spirit of Olympism — to ensure this unprecedented level of criminality never again threatens the sports we cherish.”

IOC PRESIDENT THOMAS BACH

“The findings of the report show a shocking and unprecedented attack on the integrity of sport and on the Olympic Games. Therefore, the IOC will not hesitate to take the toughest sanctions available against any individual or organization implicated.”

PHILIP CRAVEN, PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE (IPC)

“We are truly shocked, appalled and deeply saddened at the extent of the state sponsored doping program implemented in Russia ahead of Sochi 2014. The findings of the McLaren report mark a very dark day for sport.

“Once we have the further details we have requested from both parties, the IPC Governing Board will convene for a telephone conference. The Board will discuss the findings of the report and decide what relevant action needs to be taken to protect clean athletes competing in Paralympic sport.

“This may include provisional measures and sanctions with regards to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.”

SCOTT BLACKMAN, UNITED STATES OLYMPIC COMMITTEE CEO

“The McClaren Report confirms what we have stated previously: the current anti-doping system is broken and urgently requires the attention of everyone interested in protecting clean athletes.

“We look forward to working with the IOC, WADA and the entire Olympic family to address the flaws in the current system so that a uniform approach to anti-doping can be implemented and enforced around the world.

“In the meantime, we are focused on preparing Team USA to compete at the upcoming Rio Games and will rely on the IOC, WADA and the international federations to impose sanctions that are appropriate in relation to the magnitude of these offenses, and that give clean athletes some measure of comfort that they will be competing on a level playing field in Rio.”

NICOLE SAPSTEAD, CEO OF UK ANTI-DOPING

“Now is the time for the entire sporting community to come together to find a way forward and ensure that the right processes, legislation and safeguards are in place to protect the rights of all athletes to clean, fair and honest competition.”