US, UAE, Saudi Advisers Agree to Regular Meetings to Counter Iran - White House The National Security Advisores of US, Saudi and UAE meet regularly to counter Iran malign activities WASHINGTON (Sputnik) March 26, 2018  - The national security advisers of the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have agreed to hold regular meetings to counter what they call the 'malign influence' of Iran, the White House said in a readout. 'The National Security Advisers of the United States of America… Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates met at the White House on Friday… to discuss issues of strategic importance… including joint efforts to counter the Iranian regime’s malign influence and provocative behavior,' the White House readout said. Senior officials from the US departments of State, Defense, and the Treasury as well as the Intelligence Community also participated in the meeting, the White House noted. 'The leaders agreed t...

Royce, Engel Introduce Bill Targeting Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps 3/2/2018 11:30:51 AM   facebook Google+ ► Print House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY)     Washington, D.C., March 1, 2018  – Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY) introduced H.R. 5132 to crack down on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps. Notably, the bipartisan bill authorizes the administration to sanction entities in which the IRGC has an ownership stake of less than 50 percent, significantly raising the stakes for anyone doing business with the IRGC. Chairman Royce on H.R. 5132: “As Iran’s most powerful economic actor, the Revolutionary Guards Corps bankrolls terror and Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program. Yet hundreds of its front companies have yet to be sanctioned. This bipartisan bill will close that gap. It will cut off cas...

Graham: We must ‘stop the Iran-Assad machine’ 2/28/2018 9:09:32 PM   facebook Google+ ► Print Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is the Senate’s lead appropriator for the U.S. State Department and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. WASHINGTON, Defense News, Feb. 28, 2018  -  War between Israel and Iranian proxy forces is imminent, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators warned Tuesday after a trip to the Middle East last week. “Any time you leave a meeting where the request is ammunition, ammunition, ammunition, that’s probably not good,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said of a meeting with Israeli officials. Graham is the Senate’s lead appropriator for the U.S. State Department and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Hezbollah — the powerful pro-Iranian Lebanese party — has built a plant in Lebanon to convert rockets into precision-guided munitions, and it has integrated its fighters into civilian infrastructure like ...

Iran devising phone apps for ‘mass surveillance’ of dissidents, new report says Iran ’s intelligence services have “significantly accelerated” spying on their own citizens in the wake of anti-regime protests that rocked the nation, according to an extensive investigation released Thursday by a leading Iranian exile dissident group. The Paris-based National Council of Resistance of  Iran , relying on what it says include sources inside the government, contends the country’s  Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps  and Ministry of Intelligence and Security are engaging in “mass surveillance” of protesters and dissidents by employing a web of state-produced mobile phone apps. Just days after U.S. intelligence warned in its annual “Worldwide Threat Assessment” of increased cyberthreats emanating from  Iran , the NCRI report said the  Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps  has so successfully deployed its social media spyware that millions of users out...

US won't repeat Obama mistake on Iran protests - VP 1/2/2018 12:20:05 PM Mike Pence waves at supporters as he arrives at a campaign rally in Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 27, 2016. WASHINGTON, EgyptToday, January 2, 2018  - US Vice President Mike Pence vowed in a tweet Monday that the United States would not repeat the mistake of the previous administration when Iranian protesters resisted the regime in Tehran. 'As long as Donald Trump is the president and I am vice president, the United States of America will not repeat the shameful mistake of our past when others stood by and ignored the heroic resistance of the Iranian people as they fought against their brutal regime,' Pence tweeted. 'The bold and growing resistance of the Iranian people today gives hope and faith to all who struggle for freedom and against tyranny. We must not and we will not let them down,' he added.

Rep. Zeldin Authors 24 Member Letter Seeking Confirmation of At Least 8 Iranian Violations of Iran Nuclear Deal 12/23/2017 10:57:26 AM U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin,     Washington, December 22, 2017  - Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1), member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led 23 Members of Congress in authoring a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Mike Pompeo, seeking confirmation of at least 8 reported violations of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly referred to as the Iran Nuclear Deal. Full text of the letter is as follows: Dear Secretary Tillerson, Secretary Mattis and Director Pompeo: President Trump appropriately announced on October 13, 2017, that he would not recertify the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as specified under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (INARA, Public Law 114-17)...

Trump unveils details of ‘America First’ security strategy 12/18/2017 9:02:19 PM US President Donald Trump lays out a national security strategy, in Washington, Monday, Dec. 18, 2017. AP, December 18, 2017  - President Donald Trump declared a new national security strategy on Monday, stressing the 'America first' message of his 2016 campaign and faulting previous US leaders for failing to measure up to it and look out for the nation's citizens. 'Our leaders engaged in nation building abroad while they failed to build up and replenish our nation at home,' he said, pointing to the economy's strong performance and predicting even better under his policies. His security strategy envisions nations in constant competition, reverses Obama-era warnings on climate change and affirms that the United States will unilaterally defend its sovereignty, even if that means risking existing the agreements with other countries that have dominated the...

Trump strategy document singles out Russia as bad actor globally 12/18/2017 8:51:26 PM The administration warned that intellectual property theft by China is a national security problem. Washington, Reuters, December 18, 2017  - US President Donald Trump’s administration named Russia on Monday as a bad actor on the world stage in a policy document that offers a sober analysis of Moscow as a rival despite Trump’s own bid for warmer ties with President Vladimir Putin. The criticism of Russia, laid out in a new national security strategy formed from Trump’s “America First” foreign policy vision, reflects a view long held by American diplomats that Russia actively undermines US interests at home and abroad. Excerpts of the strategy document released on Monday made no direct mention of US allegations that Russia meddled in last year’s presidential election. A US federal investigation is also looking into whether Trump campaign aides colluded with Russia,...

Mattis: Iran Working to Destabilize Middle East 12/17/2017 6:11:28 PM Defense Secretary James N. Mattis holds an impromptu news conference with Pentagon correspondents, Dec. 15, 2017 By Jim Garamone  WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2017  — “Everywhere you find turmoil [in the Middle East], you find Iran’s hand in it,” Defense Secretary James N. Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon yesterday. During an impromptu news conference, Mattis addressed questions about Iran and U.S. efforts to expose Iran’s malicious behavior. He praised U.S. Ambassador to the  United Nations  Nikki Haley’s Dec. 14 presentation at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling here that highlighted Iran’s illegal arms program.   Haley stood in front of an Iranian missile that Iran’s proxy – the Houthis – fired at Riyadh International Airport, a civilian target in Saudi Arabia. The missile didn’t hit the airport, but if it had, it potentially could have killed hundreds of innoc...

US – Visit by Jean-Yves Le Drian 12/17/2017 5:51:28 PM French Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian Washington, 18 December 2017  - Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian will be in Washington on December 18. This trip comes at a particularly important time for our bilateral relationship, given the size of the challenges that France and the United States must face together. In the course of his visit, Mr. Le Drian will deepen the level of the regular talks he holds with his counterpart Rex Tillerson, whom he hosted in Paris on December 8. He will also meet with National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner, as well as several think tank representatives. During these discussions, Mr. Le Drian will evoke our cooperation in every area, beginning with counterterrorism and the main regional crises: • Syria:  The foreign minister will discuss the situ...