Tag: P5+1

Israel Spies On Negotiations With Iran: Wall Street Journal

A new article by the Wall Street Journal states that Israel spied on Iran’s nuclear talks with the United States — and used the information to undermine the Obama administration’s position with the GOP-led Congress.

The White House found out about the operation, the Journal reports, when U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted messages among Israeli officials containing details that U.S. officials believed could have come only from the top-secret negotiations.  The WSJ claims it spoke with “senior White House officials” about the incident.

“It is one thing for the U.S. and Israel to spy on each other. It is another thing for Israel to steal U.S. secrets and play them back to U.S. legislators to undermine U.S. diplomacy,” a senior U.S. official told the WSJ.

U.S. officials say that classified information – such as the number of centrifuges that Iran might be able to keep operating as part of a final accord – were then shared with lawmakers in a concerted effort to derail the talks.

Israeli officials deny that and told the Journal that they did not spy directly on American negotiators.

“They say they got their information through other means, such as surveillance of Iran’s leaders or via one of the U.S.’s negotiating partners, such as the French,” states Politico.

The report shows the growing rift between the Obama administration and the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which has deepened in the wake of Netanyahu’s reelection last week.

“People feel personally sold out,” a senior White House official told the WSJ.  “That’s where the Israelis really better be careful, because a lot of these people will not only be around for this administration but possibly the next one as well.”

A senior official in Netanyahu’s office fired back, calling the allegations “utterly false” in an interview with CNN, adding that “Israel does not conduct espionage against the United States or Israel’s other allies. The false allegations are clearly intended to undermine the strong ties between the United States and Israel and the security and intelligence relationship we share.”

The Wall Street Journal:  “Using levers of political influence unique to Israel, Messrs. Netanyahu and Dermer (the Israeli ambassador to the U.S.) calculated that a lobbying campaign in Congress before an announcement was made would improve the chances of killing or reshaping any deal.”

More:

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/israel-iran-netanyahu-spying-116344.html#ixzz3VQj4yLLv

Is Senator Tom Cotton Taking Money from Defense Industry?

Huffington Post:

“A letter written by Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton and signed by forty-six other senators was sent to the Iranian leadership earlier this week that threatens a possible international agreement that the Obama administration is attempting to reach. With the deadline looming on March 24th this has seen as active sabotage and possibly even treason in a move that has never been seen by the Senate in the entire history of the United States.”

Snowden-story reporter Glenn Greenwald’s publication The Intercept reported on Monday, March 9th:

“Tomorrow, 24 hours later, Cotton will appear at an ‘Off the Record and strictly Non-Attribution’ event with the National Defense Industrial Association, a lobbying and professional group for defense contractors.

“The NDIA is composed of executives from major military businesses such as Northrop Grumman, L-3 Communications, ManTech International, Boeing, Oshkosh Defense and Booz Allen Hamilton, among other firms.”

More:

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/03/09/upon-launching-effort-scuttle-iran-deal-senator-tom-cotton-meets-defense-contractors/


TYT Network

(Updated post)

Democrats Upset At GOP Letter That Bypasses The President, Congress


TYT Network

Bloomberg News:

“A group of 47 Republican senators has written an open letter to Iran’s leaders warning them that any nuclear deal they sign with President Barack Obama’s administration won’t last after Obama leaves office.  

CNN states the letter was addressed to “the Leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Bloomberg:

“Organized by freshman Senator Tom Cotton and signed by the chamber’s entire party leadership as well as potential 2016 presidential contenders Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, the letter is meant not just to discourage the Iranian regime from signing a deal but also to pressure the White House into giving Congress some authority over the process.

“It has come to our attention while observing your nuclear negotiations with our government that you may not fully understand our constitutional system … Anything not approved by Congress is a mere executive agreement,” the senators wrote. “The next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen and future Congresses could modify the terms of the agreement at any time.”

CNN states that Hillary Clinton criticized the Senate Republicans who wrote the letter aimed at undermining the President’s nuclear negotiations with Iran. She called the move “out of step with the best traditions of American leadership.”

The Democratic front-runner for the 2016 presidential campaign told reporters at the United Nations on Tuesday that “one has to ask, what was the purpose of this letter?”

“There appear to be two logical answers,” Clinton said, according to CNN. “Either these senators were trying to be helpful to the Iranians or harmful to the commander-in-chief in the midst of high-stakes international diplomacy. Either answer does discredit to the letter’s signatories.”

How awkward that fellow Americans forced her to defend the situation.

The letter warns Iran’s leaders that a lasting nuclear deal would have to be approved by Congress.

Senator Tom Cotton, who spearheaded the letter, said Tuesday he’d welcome “even Hillary Clinton,” the presumptive Democratic presidential front-runner, to sign the letter.  Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a potential 2016 contender, signed the letter Tuesday, according to his spokeswoman.

“I suspect she might have reservations about this ill-fated nuclear deal with Iran as well,” Cotton said to CNN’s News Day.

Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul and Lindsey Graham are among the 47 Republicans who signed Cotton’s letter.

In the video above, Cenk Uygur of TYT Network gives a scathing rebuttal.