US And Israel Discuss Regional Issues, Iran’s ‘Destabilizing Behavior’
US and Israeli foreign ministers held a telephone call on Tuesday to discuss “Iran’s destabilizing behavior, among other issues, the State Department announced.
US and Israeli foreign ministers held a telephone call on Tuesday to discuss “Iran’s destabilizing behavior, among other issues, the State Department announced.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen consulted over issues of Iran and “Israel’s integration into the region,” a possible reference to US efforts to expand the Abraham Accords by convincing Saudi Arabia to establish relations with Israel.
An announcement by State Department also said that “Secretary Blinken conveyed concern over the recent escalation of violence, which has directly affected US citizens in the West Bank, and underscored the need for parties to work further to further de-escalate the situation.”
Israeli media reported on Tuesday thatthe Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)is buying weapons and loyalty in the West Bank using Iranian money.
The PIJ has established several armed cells and recruited dozens of gunmen in the northern West Bank, specifically in Jenin and Nablus. “The PIJ has become a dominant force in the northern West Bank, largely thanks to the financial aid it receives from Iran," a source told Israel's Jerusalem Post.
Since March, the Iranian regime has intensified its support to Palestinian militant groups and has publicly urged them to attack targets in Israel. Tehran officials expressed gratification at a serious flare-up of violence in April and pledged more support.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced Tuesday that Israel seized millions of dollars’ worth of digital funds intended for use by Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah and the Quds Force arm of the Revolutionary Guards.
Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) along with Congressmen Brad Schneider (D-IL), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Jared Golden (D-ME), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Rich McCormick (R-GA), and Kathy Manning (D-NC) introduced the resolution on Tuesday, June 27.
A flurry of media reports in recent weeks indicated that the Biden administration has been holding indirect and possibly direct talks with the Islamic Republic of Iran to hammer out an interim, limited nuclear deal that would offer financial rewards in exchange for some limits on Iran’s uranium enrichment.
Many members of Congress are concerned that the administration intends to reach an unwritten agreement with Tehran to avoid Congressional review. A 2015 law requires any deal with Iran that would result in sanctions reduction to be presented to Congress.
“In the face of unprecedented nuclear provocations from the Iranian regime, it is vital the United States make clear that a nuclear Iran is unacceptable,” said McCaul in an announcement about the bipartisan resolution.
“I am proud to lead this bipartisan resolution declaring with no ambiguity that Iran must not be able to obtain a nuclear weapon, and that the United States is willing to use all means necessary to prevent a nuclear Iran. Nothing is off the table.”
The resolution also says that the US should “recognize and support the freedom of action of partners and allies, including Israel to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”
Past and present Israeli governments have repeatedly threatened to launch a military attack against Iran if they see the imminent danger of nuclear weapons. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that his government will not recognize any international agreements, if it concludes that Israel faces the danger of a nuclear Iran.
A bipartisan group of 26 US senators last week asked President Joe Biden in a letter not to rush into a bad agreement.
Rep. McCaul had sent a letter to the President June 15 saying, “I am disturbed by recent revelations that the Administration has re-engaged in ‘proximity talks’ with the Iranian regime, and that the results of these discussions have included the apparent greenlighting of sizable payments to Iran.”
He was referring to the White House allowing Iraq to release more than $2.7 billion in Iran’s frozen funds earlier this month.
McCaul urged Biden to respect the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (INARA), which was enacted during the finalization of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015 to allow Congress to oversee dealings with Tehran. The Obama administration decided not to make the JCPOA nuclear deal a treaty, given opposition in Congress at the time and agreed to INARA to neutralize opposition among lawmakers.
The administration has denied it has reached any new deals with Iran, including an interim unwritten agreement, but many media sources and Israeli politicians have indicated that some sort of an agreement has been discussed.
“There is a small minority who abuse their position and tarnish the image of the judiciary in the eyes of the people,” Khamenei said in a revealing meeting with judiciary officials Tuesday.
He called on authorities to fight corruption within the judicial system and warned that "corruption is contagious". He said: "When corruption enters a system, this disease spreads. It is increasing day by day."
Khamenei said the media is partially to blame, tarnishing the judiciary's reputation further, refusing to acknowledge the heavy-handed and brutal punishments it has been handing down to civilians since the protests began in September in the wake of Mahsa Amini's death in morality police custody.
Khamenei's words contradict the fact that he controls the religious judiciary that is only accountable to him and plays the role of both prosecutor and judge. The courts in Iran are not independent, but part of the large bureaucracy known as the Judiciary, whose head is appointed by the Supreme Leader,
As “one of the main pillars in the establishment of the Islamic republic,” he said instability in the judiciary can lead to disruptions in the entire regime as he urged his inner circle to tighten up the flailing system.
Political pundit Rouhollah Rahimpour told Iran International that the main duty of the judiciary has become defending the regime against the people and cracking down any voice of dissent.
He called the distrust of the judiciary a natural consequence "when the judicial system does not pursue justice" and only works as a tool in the hands of the regime to stifle criticism and quash protests.
The regime used overwhelming force with military weapons in its crackdown on the protests since September, killing more than 500 civilians and arresting tens of thousands more. Hundreds of other protestors suffered hospitalization and permanent injuries, including the loss of eyes when shotgun pellets were fired at the faces of demonstrators.
After the wave of nationwide protests which has still yet to subside, the Iranian regime has embarked on a wave of executions which has seen dozens of prisoners hanged this year.
Iran's Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei claimed Monday that scores of Iranians only took part in protests due to foreign influence, undermining the strength of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement which has seen hundreds of thousands of Iranians calling for the end of the brutal dictatorship.
