Video - 'What difference Does it Make?' 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.

Video - 'What difference Does it Make?' 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.(conservativetribune).

Michael Bay, director of the “Transformers” and “Bad Boys” series of films (and, um, “Pearl Harbor”), released the trailer for his latest film, titled “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” on Tuesday.

The film, based on Mitchell Zuckoff’s 2014 book “13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi,” was filmed for between $30 million and $40 million.

While much less than Bay’s usual budget, there’ll no doubt be plenty of explosions — including exploding the myth that Hillary Clinton’s State Department did all it could to prevent the deaths of four American civilians at our consulate in Libya.

The Sept. 11, 2012, attack killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, U.S. Foreign Service agent Sean Smith and CIA contractors Glen Doherty and Tyrone S. Woods. The attack was originally blamed on spontaneous protests over a YouTube film that insulted Muhammad, but was later revealed to be a planned attack by radical Islamic terrorists.

The film, which is being released under the tagline “When everything went wrong, six men had the courage to do what was right,” stars James Badge Dale, John Krasinski, Pablo Schreiber, Toby Stephens, David Denman, Max Martini and Dominic Fumusa. Hmmmm........What difference does it make for the presidential election?

(IBD) Hillary Clinton Email Gaps Hide 'Pay For Play,' #Benghazi Truth https://t.co/k96sw7Z69w - #IBDeditorials - pic.twitter.com/ZsqtgvI0pU 172

— Daniel John Sobieski (@gerfingerpoken) December 28, 2015

Obama Administration Rejects The Keystone XL Pipeline.

Obama Administration Rejects The Keystone XL Pipeline. (Popsci).

The U.S. government will formally reject granting permission to complete the Keystone XL pipeline across the U.S.-Canada border, according to The Wall Street Journal.

#BREAKING: Secetary of State John Kerry has recommended against the Keystone XL pipeline, sr administration officials tell @eliselabottcnn

— CNN NationalSecurity (@NatSecCNN) November 6, 2015

President Obama will address the nation on the decision at 11:45 a.m. ET today (Friday, November 6) according to Climate Central.

The move follows on the heels of the announcement earlier this week that the principal company behind the pipeline, TransCanada, that it was requesting a pause in the U.S. State Department's review of the project, citing ongoing legal disputes over it in the state of Nebraska.

Judicial Watch Obtains New Huma Abedin Emails from Clinton Server.

Judicial Watch Obtains New Huma Abedin Emails from Clinton Server. HT: JudicialWatch.

Judicial Watch today released more than 50 pages of new emails from the clintonemail.com server account of Huma Abedin, a former top aide to Hillary Clinton during her tenure in the State Department.

The emails discuss seemingly sensitive security and foreign affairs issues and raise questions about the handling of classified material during Hillary Clinton’s tenure at the State Department. Read the full story here.

Former secr of the Nobel Peace Prize committee: "Giving Pres. Obama the esteemed award, didn’t have desired effect'

Former secr of the Nobel Peace Prize committee: " giving the president the esteemed award, didn’t have desired effect" (TOI).

In a break with Nobel tradition, the former secretary of the Nobel Peace Prize committee says the 2009 award to President Barack Obama failed to live up to the panel’s expectations.

Geir Lundestad writes in a book to be released on Thursday that the committee had expected the prize to deliver a boost to Obama. Instead the award was met with fierce criticism in the US, where many argued Obama had not been president long enough to have an impact worthy of the Nobel.

“Even many of Obama’s supporters believed that the prize was a mistake,” Lundestad wrote in excerpts of the book read by The Associated Press. “In that sense the committee didn’t achieve what it had hoped for.”

Lundestad, who stepped down last year after 25 years as the non-voting secretary of the secretive committee, noted that Obama was startled by the award and that his staff even investigated whether other winners had skipped the prize ceremony in Oslo.

That has happened only on rare occasions, such as when dissidents were held back by their governments.

“In the White House they quickly realized that they needed to travel to Oslo,” Lundestad wrote.

Speaking to AP on Wednesday, Lundestad said he didn’t disagree with the decision to award the president but the committee “thought it would strengthen Obama and it didn’t have this effect.”

Judicial Watch: New State Department Documents Reveal Hillary Clinton Email Gap - Benghazi Gate.

Judicial Watch: New State Department Documents Reveal Hillary Clinton Email Gap - Benghazi Gate. HT: Judicial Watch.

Judicial Watch today released newly obtained Department of State documents showing a nearly five-month total gap in the emails former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton decided to return to the State Department late last year.  The documents also show that one key State Department official did not want a written record of issues about the Clinton emails.  The documents also raise new questions about the accuracy of representations made to Judicial Watch, the courts, Congress, and the public by the Obama administration and Clinton.

The documents were produced under court order in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit Judicial Watch filed on May 6, 2013 (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:15-cv-00687)).   The lawsuit was filed after the Obama State Department violated federal law and failed to respond to two separate FOIA requests, including a request for records about the actual production of the emails records by Clinton to the State Department.

The first batch of documents obtained by Judicial Watch contains a heavily redacted email from State Department official Eric F. Stein to Margaret P. Grafeld, dated April 21, 2015, with the subject “HRC Emails.”  Stein is deputy director of global information systems at the State Department and Grafeld is deputy assistant secretary of global information systems. Stein reports to Grafeld that the “gaps” in Clinton’s emails include:

• Jan. 21 – March 17, 2009 (Received Messages)
• Jan. 21 – April 12, 2009 (Sent Messages)
• Dec. 30, 2012 – Feb. 1, 2013 (Sent Messages)

In addition, Stein notes Clinton’s employment timeline as follows:

• Secretary Hillary Clinton
• Appointed:  January 21, 2009
• Entry on Duty: January 21, 2009
• Termination of Appointment: February 1, 2013.

Read the full story here.

BEnghazi Timeline.

Kerry Picks Hillary Donor to be State Dept. "Email Czar", to oversee the burgeoning Hillary Clinton email scandal.

Kerry Picks Clinton Donor to be State Dept. "Email Czar", to oversee the burgeoning Hillary Clinton email scandal. HT: JudicialWatch.

The new “email czar” appointed by Secretary of State John Kerry to oversee the burgeoning Hillary Clinton email scandal is a Clinton campaign donor who recently made a generous contribution, according to federal records obtained by Judicial Watch.

Her name is Janice Jacobs, a former career diplomat assigned by Kerry this week to be the State Department’s “Transparency Coordinator,” according to a mainstream news report. Jacobs will be in charge of responding to public-record requests involving the secret email account that Clinton used exclusively to conduct official government business. She will also handle congressional requests “faster and more efficiently,” and will improve the State Department system for keeping records.

Kerry could not have picked a better team player. Jacobs is a big Clinton fan who contributed $2,700 to the Hillary for America presidential campaign fund, Federal Election Commission records obtained by JW show. Hmmm......Sounds like : 'Himmler investigating death camps allegations'.Read the full story here.

Tehran and Moscow started talks on the supply of the Russian Sukhoi 30 fighter jets to Iran.

Tehran and Moscow started talks on the supply of the Russian Sukhoi 30 fighter jets to Iran. (Fars).

The talks were held on Tuesday on the sidelines of the MAKS 2015 air show in the town of Zhukovsky near Moscow during which Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian Vice-President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari were present.

"Today, we visited different parts of the exhibition and the fighter jets' air show for three and a half hours accompanied by Mr. Putin which was a rare opportunity," Sattari told FNA yesterday.

"Putin showed that he is well aware of the military issues, knows the companies and products and spends time to get more familiar with them," he added.

Asked if the issue of purchasing Russia's Shkhoi 30 was raised during the visit, Sattari said, "We spoke about it but we didn’t discuss purchasing them and talks were mostly focused on the technological issues."

"You should ask issues related to purchasing (Sukhoi 30) from the defense ministry, and other groups like the trade teams should pursue the issue," he added.

The Sukhoi Su-30 is a twin-engine, two-seat supermaneuverable fighter aircraft developed by Russia's Sukhoi Aviation Corporation. It is a multirole fighter for all-weather, air-to-air and air-to-surface deep interdiction missions. Hmmmm..........SU-30 can be delivered immediately while the SU-35 has a production backlog for even the Russian airforce, which is modernizing at a rapid rate.

Video - Washington Journal: Omri Ceren on the Opposition to the Iran Nuclear Deal

Abbas Araqchi: 'Arak heavy-water reactor, total failure for US, ultimate victory for Iran'.

Abbas Araqchi: 'Arak heavy-water reactor, total failure for US, ultimate victory for Iran'. (Taz).

The heavy-water reactor of Arak is a one-hundred-percent defeat for the United States and a one-hundred-percent victory for the Islamic Republic, Iranian nuclear negotiator and Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was a great blessing for Iran for having addressed the country’s most important political issue, he said, Fars news agency reported August 23.

JCPOA is the official name given to Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers reached on July 14.
Through the deal, Iran’s nuclear program is narrowed to oblige the world powers that the Islamic Republic is not seeking a nuclear bomb.

If the JCPOA is read completely, it can be seen that the document contains the general points of Iran’s R&D (research and development program), he said.

He refuted speculations claiming the Arak nuclear facility is not of the heavy-water kind, asserting the opposite.

“While the US had set out for not allowing Iran to have a heavy-water facility, we entered the talks with our own red lines, which was to have the Arak facility as a heavy-water reactor,” he said, adding that now that Iran has achieved its objective, the US has met total failure in regards with the Arak facility.


According to the JCPOA, Iran will change the design of Arak heavy water plant to make less plutonium and the International Atomic Energy Agency will have more access to Iran's nuclear facilities.

Obama's BFF Iran to receive S-300 missile systems this year.

Obama's BFF Iran to receive S-300 missile systems this year. (Taz).

Iran will receive S-300 missile systems from Russia this year, the Islamic Republic’s Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said.

The Russian side has promised to supply Iran with the S-300 surface-to-air missile systems in 2015, Dehghan said, Iran’s state TV reported Aug. 23.

While responding to a question about signing a new contract with Russia on the issue the minister said that the previous contract will be updated.

“There is no new contract but we added an addendum to the existing contract.”
“Some changes were made to the radar and navigation systems of S-300 which has increased the costs and we have to pay these additional costs,” Dehghan said.

Russian state arms producer Almaz-Antey in June said it would supply Iran with a modernized version of the S-300, among the world's most capable air defense systems, once a commercial agreement was reached.

Earlier Iranian media outlets quoted Dehghan as saying Iran will sign a contract with Russia this week to buy four S-300 missile systems.


In April this year, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signed a decree removing the ban on the supply of these systems to Iran. Hmmm.......Blocking of the strait of Hormuz for begin 2016 if OPEC doesn't yield to Iran's quota demands.

Iranian who could be in charge of inspecting suspect nuclear sites, reportedly ex-head of Iran nuclear bomb effort.

Iranian who could be in charge of inspecting suspect nuclear sites, reportedly ex-head of Iran nuclear bomb effort. (TOI).

The Iranian official who could be in charge of inspecting suspect nuclear sites as part of a side agreement with the international nuclear watchdog IAEA may be the same man who oversaw Tehran’s nuclear program a decade ago when it is suspected atomic weapons were being developed.

Dr. Ali Hosseini-Tash, currently the deputy secretary of Supreme National Security Council for Strategic Affairs, is the signatory on behalf of Iran to the agreement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA, revealed last week by the Associated Press.

According to Paris-based dissident group National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Hosseini-Tash is a military commander who was tasked with militarizing Tehran’s nuclear program.

Hosseini-Tash is a senior IRGC commander, who has been in charge of advancing Tehran’s bomb-making projects for many years,” Shahin Gobadi, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the NCRI told the Daily Mail.

“In this position, he has been intimately involved in every detail of the bomb-making program and is fully aware of the program’s vulnerabilities and concealment tactics,” he said

According to the agreement, the IAEA that would allow Tehran to use its own inspectors to investigate the Parchin facility, which is believed to have been the site of nuclear weapons work. The presence of Hosseini-Tash’s signature could add fuel to the fire of critics who say the agreement is akin to letting the cat guard the cream.

“Allowing the Tehran regime to inspect Parchin and provide the results to the IAEA is akin to allowing a murderer to investigate his own murder and provide the relevant DNA to the police,” Gobadi said.

The State Department on Thursday said “in no way” did the UN atomic watchdog agree to let Iran inspect its own nuclear facilities, rejecting the AP’s reporting.

“That is not how the IAEA does business,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

However, Olli Heinonen, in charge of the Iran investigation as IAEA deputy director general from 2005 through 2010, told AP on Wednesday he could think of no similar arrangement — a country essentially allowed to carry out much of the probe of suspicions against it.

The Parchin side agreement is not part of the main deal inked in July between six world powers and Iran, but is closely linked to it. The US has said it will not lift sanctions on Iran without being given an okay from the IAEA.

The report still riled Republican lawmakers who have been severely critical of the broader agreement to limit Iran’s future nuclear programs, signed by the Obama administration, Iran and five world powers in July.

The critics have complained that the wider deal is unwisely built on trust of the Iranians, while the administration has insisted it depends on reliable inspections.

“President Obama boasts his deal includes ‘unprecedented verification.’ He claims it’s not built on trust,” said the Republican leader of the House, Speaker John Boehner, “But the administration’s briefings on these side deals have been totally insufficient — and it still isn’t clear whether anyone at the White House has seen the final documents.”

Israeli officials responded to the report by calling on Iran and the IAEA to fully publicize its agreement, something the IAEA says it is legally barred from doing.

Hmmm.......That's like putting Himmler in charge to make sure no death camps are build.  Read the full story here.

Iran's 'Staunchest Ally' Pres Hussein Obama to participate in a live webcast on Iran deal with Jews from the U.S. and Canada.

Iran's 'Staunchest Ally' Pres Hussein Obama to participate in a live webcast on Iran deal with Jews from the U.S. and Canada. (INN).

As intense discussions regarding the Iran nuclear agreement continue, President Barack Obama will address the North American Jewish community next Friday, August 28, at 2:10 p.m. Eastern Time.

Obama will participate in a live webcast to deliver remarks to and take questions from participants across the United States and Canada in an event co-sponsored by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and The Jewish Federations of North America, according to a statement released on Thursday.

Previously, the two groups have hosted webcasts and forums on the Iran nuclear agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General Dore Gold and former IDF Head of Military Intelligence Amos Yadlin.

President Obama will deliver his remarks from the White House, with viewers able to tune in via computers and cell phones. Participation is free, and those interested in joining can register at www.jewishfederations.org/president.


“We are honored that President Obama will join us for this important discussion,” said Michael Siegal, Chair of the Board of The Jewish Federations of North America.

Despite efforts by the Obama administration to convince American Jews to back the Iran deal, several Jewish groups have said they reject the deal, including the American Jewish Committee (AJC), one of the largest and most influential Jewish organizations in the United States.


A recent poll found that American Jews oppose the nuclear agreement with Iran by a margin of more than 2 to 1. That is, 45% of registered Jewish voters said straight out that they oppose the deal, while only 22% said they favor it.  Hmmmm.....How could any Jew believe a Pres who has been lying to Congress  and arranging  backroom deals since 2011 with Iran?

Iran not to wait for UN Security Council permission for weapon trade, Rouhani says

Iran not to wait for UN Security Council permission for weapon trade, Rouhani says. (TAZ).

Iran will ignore the UN Security Council resolution which imposes limits on the country’s military sphere if necessary, the Islamic Republic President Hassan Rouhani said.

Iran will buy and sell weapons wherever it deems necessary and does not care about any resolution, he said, Iran’s state IRINN TV reported Aug. 22.

According to a UN Security Council resolution which was passed following the Tehran and P5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) nuclear deal Iran will have to acquire permission from the UN Security Council for any arms deal it would like to make.

Rouhani also defended the nuclear deal, saying global reaction towards the agreement proves that it was a good deal, a win-win agreement. He said that all the countries in the world excluding Israel are in favor of the nuclear deal, which is a rare historic event.

Rouhani further stressed that the country’s military power is not against any country.

The military doctrine of the Islamic Republic is based on defense not assault, he added.
The president said the country’s military industry is prepared to defend the country at the highest level.

He further said that deterrence and defense is Iran’s principal strategy.

Iran’s foreign policy is based on détente, confidence-building and convergence with the world, Rouhani said, adding that this policy is not in contrast with empowering the military industry.

If Iran wants productive dialogue with counterparts it should be strong, he stressed.
“If a country is not strong it can not seek real peace.”

However Rouhani underlined that deterrence can not be achieved only by military power.
“We need cultural, political and economic power as well.”

He added that Iran will continue to empower its army in order to protect stability in the region, and sustainable ties with the world as well as the regional countries.


“It is also necessary for sustainability of the nuclear deal,” he said. Hmmm.....The deal isn't even approved and already they're breaking it.

Pres Hussein Obama's BFF Iran to produce ballistic missiles in all ranges- Defense Minister

Pres Hussein Obama's BFF Iran to produce ballistic missiles in all ranges- Defense Minister. (Taz).

Iran's Defense Minister said that Iran would produce ballistic missiles in all ranges.

Defense Minister Hossein Dehgan said that "our missile producing program continues based on Iran's defense needs as well as threats", Mehr News Agency reported August 21.

He said that the US and Zionism's (Israel) threats and plot over Iran has been continuing as in past.

He added that Iran's military doctrine in both structure and is equipment fields is totally passive defense and Iran dose not intend to intervene in any country, however the country will respond to any intervention by “determinative and regretting action” from air, land and sea.

Dehgan said the military sphere in Iran is totally domestic and Iran has no need of foreign help or technology in this regard, especially in designing and producing defense systems.

His statement comes after an IRGC commander announced Aug.21 that Iran will continue producing long-range ballistic missiles.

RGC Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh announced Aug.21 that a huge ballistic missile exercise would be carried out in the near future, Fars News Agency reported.

According to the report, there have been rumors that the IRGC has stopped developing ballistic missiles, or the tests have been halted, or Iran's military program has been compromised (in nuclear talks), but the IRGC has been keeping its activities the same as in the past.

Hajizadeh said that the IRGC has achieved "great progress" over the past two years.


UNSCR 2231: Iran "Called Upon Not To Undertake Any Activity Related To Ballistic Missiles"

UNSCR 2231 states, "Iran is called upon not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology, until the date eight years after the JCPOA Adoption Day or until the date on which the IAEA submits a report confirming the Broader Conclusion, whichever is earlier."[12]


This provision "calls upon" Iran not to engage in the development of ballistic missiles as a means of delivering nuclear weapons for 8 years. Iran rejected the inclusion of this provision in the JCPOA and agreed to its mention only in UNSCR 2231, which it does not consider to be binding.

Text of draft agreement between IAEA, and pres. Hussein Obama's BFF Iran.

Text of draft agreement between IAEA, and pres. Hussein Obama's BFF Iran. (AP).

Pretty funny that @AP was able to get text of IAEA - Iran agreement when Congress couldn't @APDiploWriter @cerenomri

— IsraelMatzav (@IsraelMatzav) August 21, 2015

Pres Hussein Obama's BFF Iran to launch "huge ballistic missile exercise"

Pres Hussein Obama's BFF Iran to launch "huge ballistic missile exercise" (Taz).

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is preparing to launch a "huge missile exercise".

IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh announced Aug.21 that a huge ballistic missile exercise would be carried out in near future, Fars News Agency reported.

According to the report, there have been rumors that the IRGC has stopped developing ballistic missiles, or the tests have been halted, or Iran's military program has been compromised (in nuclear talks), but the IRGC has been keeping its activities the same as in the past.

Hajizadeh said that the IRGC has achieved "great progress" over the past two years. "Some exercises and tests have been happened during the last two year, but publishing the events on media outlets is the Supreme National Security Council's decision.

He said that the details on ballistic missile exercise would be announced in the near future.

Hajizadeh's statement came as Iranian top military official Major General Hassan Firouzabadi said Aug.12 the missile tests will continue on time, based on enactments, ordered by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

His statement was in response to Iranian lawmakers' demand to continue missile tests in the country, Mehr News Agency reported August 12.

Members of the Iranian Parliament in a statement addressed to Chief of Staff of Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi asked for the resumption of missile tests.

In a letter addressed to the Parliament last week, Firouzabadi had asked the MPs not to sign Iran’s recent nuclear agreement -- called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA – because, he said, wrong interpretations of the deal by the US could affect Iran’s military power.

The JCPOA has put bans on Iran’s research and building of missiles that could carry nuclear warheads.

Iranian diplomats who reached the deal with the six world powers called the group P5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) refer to this point and say since Iran has no plan to build nuclear-related missiles, its missile program is not restricted by the deal.

Some critics inside Iran however believe that the US could claim any sort of missile developed by Iran is capable of carrying nuclear warheads, thus putting strict limits on the country’s missile program.


The US has already considered some old versions of Iranian-made missiles such as the Shahab series capable of being equipped with nuclear warheads.

AEOI Chief Reveals Enemies' Attempts to Carry Out Sabotage Acts at Fordo

AEOI Chief Reveals Enemies' Attempts to Carry Out Sabotage Acts at Fordo. (Fars).

Deputy Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Asqar Zarean disclosed enemies' attempts to carry out sabotage acts at Fordo uranium enrichment plant.

"The enemy has several times sought to conduct acts of sabotage to disrupt the operation of Fordo, but these actions have all been foiled due to the vigilance of the Iranian security and intelligence forces," Zarean said in the Central city of Qom on Wednesday.

In relevant remarks on Saturday, Zarean warned that enemies were seeking to hit a blow at the country's nuclear industry through new methods and instruments.

"Similar to the past, the enemy is seeking to prevent Iran's peaceful nuclear activities using new instruments, and we should identify and defuse these moves with wisdom and prudence," Zarean said, addressing a press conference in Tehran.

He, meantime, said that all enemies' plots against Iran's nuclear industry have proved futile.

The nuclear official informed that the AEOI is now through with designing a new centrifuge system, named Ultra, for medical purposes, adding that the centrifuge machine will be delivered to the Pasteur Institute of Iran (PII) in the near future.

Also last September, Zarean disclosed that the country had disrupted plots by foreign spies to recruit its nuclear experts and stopped sabotage attempts through faulty foreign equipment supplied for its facilities.

"We aim to raise awareness about the enemy, who is more hostile to us every day," Zarean, who is also in charge of security for Iran's nuclear program, said.

He did not name countries that authorities believe are behind the sabotage and the recruitment effort.

Zarean said foreign intelligence agencies targeted the experts when they traveled abroad and that the experts informed their superiors about the contact when they returned home. He did not elaborate on number of the attempts and destinations where the contacts occurred.

Zarean also showed parts and equipment, including modems and pumps, which he said had been deliberately tampered with to sabotage Iran's nuclear program. He described the items on display, which he said had been manufactured in western and Asian countries, as only a small sample of western sabotage. Hmmm....I'm sure The Obama 'Admin' is already all over it, looking for the culprits.

Iran's top security council holds back on nuclear deal review, will announce no conclusion before the U.S. Congress does.

Iran's top security council holds back on nuclear deal review, will announce no conclusion before the U.S. Congress does. (DS).

The secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) indicated Thursday that it has nearly finished examining Tehran's landmark nuclear deal with world powers but will announce no conclusion before the U.S. Congress does.

The SNSC and parliament are both perusing the text of the July 14 pact mandating Iran to curb its nuclear work in exchange for a removal of sanctions, mirroring Congress which has the right to approve or reject it in a vote to be taken by Sept. 17.

"We are in the final stages of examining the deal in the Supreme National Security Council," SNSC secretary Ali Shamkhani was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency.

"The results will be announced around the same time that the P5+1 announces theirs," he was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA, referring to the six global powers that reached the diplomatic breakthrough with the Islamic Republic.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the ultimate power in Iran to clear or sink the deal, has so far refrained from commenting decisively on the matter, although he has said he does not trust the United States to honor its commitments.

The SNSC is headed by President Hasan Rouhani, a relative pragmatist who won Khamenei's approval to negotiate an end to a volatile nuclear stand-off with the West and has championed the outcome of the talks. But there are also sceptics among the other 12 SNSC members, who include senior figures in government and the hardline security establishment.

Iran's parliament voted in June, before the deal was struck, to give the SNSC the right to issue a verdict on it. But some lawmakers still insist on their right to review the text, and parliament Wednesday appointed 15 MPs to an ad hoc committee to do just that.

U.S. President Barack Obama is trying to gather 34 votes in the Senate to ensure Congress cannot kill the nuclear deal. Twenty-five senators, all Democrats, have said they will support it. Opposition Republican hardliners are strongly opposed.

Esmail Kosari, an influential member of the new ad hoc committee, accused the government of trying to bypass parliament. "To lift the nuclear sanctions, Iran should make some commitments. And according to law the parliament should examine any agreement that brings commitment," Kosari was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, a powerful conservative and former chief nuclear negotiator who also sits on the SNSC, told Tasnim a parliamentary say is necessary. "I am also quite knowledgeable in this field and that's why we formed a special committee in the parliament to examine it line by line." Hmmm.....It seems the U.S. Congress will have the decisive vote on Both sides.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: “The US sanctions are no concern of ours,”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: “The US sanctions are no concern of ours,”  (Taz).

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Moscow does not care about the United States’ unilateral sanctions against Iran over the delivery of the Russian-made S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system to the Islamic Republic, Press TV reported.

“The US sanctions are no concern of ours,” Lavrov told journalists in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol on Wednesday, emphasizing that Moscow stands only by its own international commitments.

“Above all, with regard to sanctions, this is the decision of the UN Security Council. All other unilateral restrictions imposed bypassing the Security Council in violation of the general norms of the international law are of no interest to us," he said.

The remarks by the top Russian diplomat came one day after John Kirby, US State Department spokesman, said that Washington is concerned about the delivery of the defense system to Tehran despite the fact the move does not violate any UN Security Council resolutions.

“We’ve been making very clearly our objections to any sale of this missile system to Iran, as I said, for quite some time, and we’ll continue to monitor it closely,” Kirby said.

He further claimed that Washington needs more details on the issue in order to check it for compliance with the US measures against Iran.

Last week, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that President Vladimir Putin has made the decision on the possible supply of S-300 missile system to Tehran, stressing that it is merely a bilateral issue while no participation of a third country is needed.


Earlier on Wednesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency that Moscow and Tehran have reached an agreement on the delivery of S-300 defense system to Iran.

'Not the Onion' - U.N[utcases] to reportedly let Iran inspect its own nuclear sites.

'Not the Onion' - United N[utcases] to reportedly let Iran inspect its own nuclear sites. (Jpost).

The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency will allow Iran to use its own experts and equipment to conduct an investigation into questions over its past nuclear weaponization work, according to a leaked document obtained by the Associated Press.

The agreement, characterized as “unusual” by nuclear experts, amounts to the IAEA “essentially ceding the agency’s investigative authority to Iran,” the AP stated in its report.

the terms of this particular agreement appear unusual. The IAEA has sought access to several sites, including an Iranian military complex at Parchin, for nearly a decade, in order to obtain answers to a set list of questions over the possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program.

Physical access will be denied, the report said, as will photo and video evidence of areas of several sites, to accommodate Iran’s “military concerns.”

“If this is the agreement, then it is absurd,” said Simon Henderson, a proliferation expert and director of the Gulf and Energy Policy Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “If we are not confident that we know what Iran has done in the past, then we cannot accurately estimate how long it would take Iran to break out.”

“Unless non-Iranians do the inspecting, we won’t be confident,” Henderson continued, calling the development a “major, perhaps fatal, weakness” in the accord. “It is no good just considering breakout in terms of enriching enough material, in this case [highly enriched uranium], for a nuclear weapon.”

“To permit Iran to carry out its own soil sampling and to rely on technical checks will not compensate for the necessity that IAEA weapons inspectors must physically enter and thoroughly investigate any suspect military or nonmilitary sites,” Dubowitz said. “It is through these physical investigations that inspectors can dis - cover the clues of clandestine nuclear and weapons develop - ment activities.” Hmmm.......That's like putting Himmler in charge to make sure no death camps are build. Read the full story here.

Related: Pres Hussein Obama's secret Iran deals exposed.

What is in the secret side deals? According to Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), one of the side deals governing inspections of the Parchin military complex allows Iran to collect its own soil samples, instead of IAEA inspectors. That is like letting Lance Armstrong collect his own blood samples for a doping investigation.