WarSclerotic

Iran wants to bring the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers “back on track,” the Islamic Republic’s Atomic Energy Organization said Thursday, a day after Tehran said it will suspend some of its commitments to the international agreement unless the terms are renegotiated.

“Our goal is to strengthen the JCPOA and bring it back on track,” state news agency IRNA quoted spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi as saying,referring to the nuclear deal.

A year after the US withdrew from the accord, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised address Wednesday that signatories to the deal have 60 days to come up with a plan to shield his country — already laboring under economic hardship — from the sanctions imposed by US President Donald Trump. If negotiations fail, Iran will restart uranium enrichment to levels banned under the agreement, he warned.

Rouhani compared the situation to a medical emergency for the Islamic Republic, only 40 years after its founding.

“We felt that the nuclear deal needs a surgery, and the painkiller pills of the last year have been ineffective,” Rouhani said. “This surgery is for saving the deal, not destroying it.”

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, from left, wait for the start of prior to a bilateral meeting as part of the closed-door nuclear talks with Iran at a hotel in Vienna, Austria, Friday, July 6, 2018. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)

European powers on Thursday rejected “ultimatums” from Tehran but vowed to fight to save the Iran nuclear deal. The European Union urged Iran to respect the international agreement curbing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions, saying it aims to continue trading with the country despite US sanctions.

The EU and major European powers — Britain, France and Germany — also said that they “note with great concern the statement made by Iran concerning its commitments” to the nuclear deal.

The Trump administration pulled America out of the deal in May 2018 saying it does nothing to stop Iran from developing missiles or destabilizing the Middle East. The Europeans insist that the pact is an important pillar of regional and global security and was never meant to address those other issues.

Trump hit back at Tehran’s threats on Wednesday by tightening the economic screws further, slapping sanctions on the Iranian mining industry.

US President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland on May 8, 2019 (Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

The White House, which has already taken steps to scupper Iran’s oil exports — its crucial money-maker — said the steel and mining sector was the country’s second-largest source of foreign revenue, accounting for 10 percent of exports.

“Tehran can expect further actions unless it fundamentally alters its conduct,” Trump said in a statement.

JTA — The top intelligence agency in Germany has written what is being called its most comprehensive analysis of rising anti-Semitism by Islamist extremists.

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, or BfV, described its 40-page brochure as a tool for educators, social workers, police and others who work closely with recent Muslim immigrants or refugees.

Titled “Anti-Semitism in Islamism,” the recently published report represents a leap forward in terms of the agency’s focus on the topic, spokeswoman Angela Pley told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in a telephone interview.

She said the agency has never published such a comprehensive analysis of the subject based on empirical data.

“We are an early warning system,” Pley said. “Recommendations on what can be done must come from society and the political establishment.”

Pley said there had been no public response to the report by Muslim associations in Germany, but that it had been downloaded 1,439 times since its release.

It is one of a few recent government measures born of increased concern about anti-Semitism in Germany.

In 2018, the government appointed a commissioner, Felix Klein, to focus specifically on the topic. In 2012, a Bundestag commission was established to report on anti-Semitism nationwide and in all categories.

Felix Klein, the German government’s first-ever special envoy to the Jewish community, at the ‘Berlin wears a kippah’ protest, April 25, 2018 (courtesy BMI)

“Anti-Semitism in Islamism” homes in on the Islamist extremist component, which represents a looming threat, the agency said, though relatively few anti-Semitic crimes in Germany have been attributed to Islamist extremism.

The report distinguishes between “Islam” the religion and “Islamism,” which it describes as a form of political extremism that “aims at the partial or complete abolition of the liberal democratic constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany.”

Between 2010 and 2016, the Pew Research Center reported, the number of Muslims living in Germany rose to nearly 5 million, or 6 percent of the population, from 3.3 million, or 4.1%.

The vast majority of anti-Semitic crimes in Germany have a right-wing extremist background: In 2018, a total of 755 anti-Semitic crimes were reported, and 670 were attributed to the far right and 25 to “foreigners.” Of the 707 cases the previous year, 651 were attributed to the far right and 15 to foreigners.

But the new report, which identifies Islamist organizations and movements and their propaganda, warns that radicalization and incitement to anti-Semitic hate “form the breeding ground for violent escalations.”

It mentions a few sensational cases from recent years:

• In April 2016, a woman in Berlin was approached by two men of Arab descent who asked about the Israel-shaped pendant she was wearing. The men responded: “You f***ing Jews! You are the scum of the earth.”
• In December 2017, a Jewish high school student in Berlin was attacked by an Arab classmate who said “You are child murderers, you should have your heads cut off.”
• That same month, two unknown perpetrators attacked a synagogue in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and berated the staff, saying “Al-Quds belongs to us! Get out of here, you sons of bitches!” Al-Quds is the Arabic name for the city of Jerusalem.

Anti-Semitic beliefs promoted by Islamist groups and individuals “already represent a considerable challenge for peaceful and tolerant coexistence in Germany,” the report says.

Illustrative: A participant wears a kippah during a ‘wear a kippah’ gathering to protest against anti-Semitism in front of the Jewish Community House on April 25, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. (Carsten Koall/Getty Images via JTA)

It is not the first time the agency has examined anti-Semitism in this context: Past annual reports on extremist crime have covered Islamism and its anti-Semitic components. A symposium was held on the subject in the early 2000s, Pley told JTA.

Juliane Wetzel, a senior staff member at the Center for Research on Antisemitism at the Technical University in Berlin, called the report an “excellent contribution on the theme.”

“The conclusion is important: Islamist anti-Semitism is spreading in Germany,” said Wetzel, a member of the Bundestag’s commission of experts on anti-Semitism.

The new report is important, though the topic of anti-Semitism in Islamism has hardly been taboo in Germany as some critics have claimed, said political scientist Clemens Heni, director of the Berlin International Center for the Study of Antisemitism.

Among other organizations, “the intelligence agency has reported on it for decades,” Heni told JTA.

In its definition of anti-Semitism, the brochure includes anti-Zionism, since it “aims at the complete elimination of the State of Israel” and falsely defines the Mideast conflict “as a Jewish ‘war of annihilation’ against the Palestinians.”

The brochure says that anti-Zionists in Germany often argue that they are against Israel, not against Jews. But given that “Israel is the only Jewish state in the world and that its annihilation would inevitably result in the death and expulsion of millions of Jews, this argumentation turns out to be a trick to conceal the actual thrust of anti-Zionism,” the report concludes.

Among other points, the brochure covers anti-Semitic stereotypes in Islamism and the rejection of the State of Israel by Islamist organizations.

Its list of Islamic extremist groups and movements in Germany includes the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, among others.

Though there has been no public response from Muslim organizations in Germany, the Liberal Islamic Association recently published its own 178-page report on the results of its three-year program, Extreme Out: Empowerment, Not Antisemitism. The project was designed to “shed light on and work [against] anti-Semitic attitudes among young people of Muslim faith” and to help youth see themselves as part of German society.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday put off a visit to Greenland, citing pressing business in Washington — just two days after he also ditched a trip to Germany to fly to Iraq amid soaring tensions with Iran.

Pompeo was scheduled to visit Greenland’s capital Nuuk and to make a second stop to see New York Air National Guard troops deployed to assist climate research, part of a push to show the US commitment to the Arctic.

But US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said Pompeo was postponing the trip “due to a need for the secretary to be in Washington” on Thursday.

“We look forward to rescheduling the secretary’s visit at a time convenient for Greenland, Denmark and the United States,” she said.

Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, whose foreign minister, Anders Samuelsen, had also been set to meet Pompeo in Nuuk.

A senior diplomat in Greenland, Kenneth Hoegh, earlier told AFP that Pompeo’s visit was being postponed. Greenland’s government in a statement said it was informed that “urgent matters” required Pompeo in Washington.

The trip comes amid a spike in friction with Iran, after the United States announced the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group and nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to counter what it alleged were imminent Iranian threats.

Iranian President’s Office, President Hassan Rouhani visits the Bushehr nuclear power plant just outside of Bushehr, Iran, January 13, 2015. (Iranian Presidency Office, Mohammad Berno/AP)

Iran on Wednesday said it would no longer abide by some limits under a 2015 nuclear accord, a year to the date after President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the deal and instead slapped sweeping sanctions.

On Tuesday, instead of flying to Germany, Pompeo made an unannounced detour to Iraq — where Iran has a major influence — and said that the country’s leaders had promised to protect US interests.

Pompeo’s tour of Greenland was meant to have closed out a four-day visit to Europe that started in Finland, where he attended a meeting of the eight members of the Arctic Council.

While skeptical about fighting climate change, Pompeo noted that new sea routes were opening in the usually frozen Arctic — and challenged the role of China in seeking interests in the region.

Pompeo spent Wednesday in London where he discussed the tensions with Iran and delivered remarks on religious freedom, one of his key priorities.

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President Donald Trump on Wednesday tightened the screws further on Iran with sanctions on its mining industry after a frustrated Tehran said it would suspend some promises it made under a nuclear deal rejected by Washington.

On the anniversary of Trump’s withdrawal from the accord he denounced as “horrible,” tensions were soaring after the United States deployed an aircraft carrier strike group and nuclear-capable bombers to the region and accused Iran of “imminent” attacks.

In an announcement previewed for days, Iran said it would immediately stop implementing some restrictions under the 2015 deal — a move aimed largely at pressing Washington’s European allies to step up to preserve the agreement.

Tehran said it would abandon even more if the remaining parties to the agreement — Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia — failed to start delivering on their commitments to sanctions relief within 60 days.

President Hassan Rouhani said the ultimatum was intended to rescue the nuclear deal from Trump, whose sanctions have caused severe pain in Iran — which had anticipated an economic boon from the agreement negotiated under then president Barack Obama.

In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani speaks in a cabinet meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 8, 2019. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)

“We felt the (deal) needed surgery and that the year-long sedatives have not delivered any result. This surgery is meant to save the (deal), not destroy it,” Rouhani said at a cabinet meeting broadcast live on state television.

Rouhani denounced European countries for seeing the US as the world’s “sheriff” and said their view kept them from making “firm decisions for their own national interests.”

Cutting Iranian exports

Trump quickly fired back as he moved to inflict greater economic pain on Iran, imposing sanctions that would punish anyone who buys or trades the country’s iron, steel, aluminum and copper.

The White House had already acted forcefully to prevent all countries from buying Iran’s oil — its crucial money-maker — and said that the steel and mining sector was the country’s second largest source of foreign revenue, accounting for 10 percent of exports.

“Tehran can expect further actions unless it fundamentally alters its conduct,” Trump said in a statement.

But in a shift in tone, Trump — who talked tough on North Korea before two landmark summits with leader Kim Jong Un — said he was willing to negotiate face-to-face.

“I look forward to someday meeting with the leaders of Iran in order to work out an agreement and, very importantly, taking steps to give Iran the future it deserves,” he said.

Observers believe it is highly unlikely that Iran’s leaders — who have made hostility to the United States a bedrock principle since the 1979 Islamic Revolution toppled the pro-Western shah — would want to meet Trump, who has repeatedly threatened the country.

But Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif regularly saw his counterpart in the Obama administration, then secretary of state John Kerry, and recently dangled the prospect of a prisoner swap with the United States.

Zarif, who was visiting Moscow, accused European governments of not fulfilling their obligations under the nuclear deal.

“Our friends in Russia and China maintained very good relations with us in this year but the rest of the… participants did not meet any of their obligations,” Zarif said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (right) and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif give a joint press conference following their meeting in Moscow on May 8, 2019. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP)

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said it no longer considered itself bound by the agreed restrictions on stocks of enriched uranium and heavy water.

It said that after 60 days, it would also stop abiding by limits on the level to which Iran can enrich uranium and modifications to its Arak heavy water reactor that were designed to prevent the production of plutonium.

Uranium enriched to much higher levels than Iran’s current stocks can be used as the fissile core of a nuclear weapon, while heavy water is a source of plutonium, which can be used as an alternative way to produce a warhead.

But on a practical level, Robert Kelley, a former UN nuclear inspector now with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, said the commitments Iran was dropping had no bearing on its ability to develop an atomic bomb.

He said that Iran was simply seeking to “save face” after “striking a deal which was not respected by the other side.”

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attends a meeting with a group of the air force staff in Tehran, Iran, February 8, 2019. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

The three European parties to the deal tried to save the accord with a trade mechanism meant to bypass reimposed US sanctions, but their attempt was dismissed by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a “bitter joke.”

The European powers voiced alarm at Iran’s statement and expressed hope that the nuclear deal could be preserved.

“It is important to avoid any action that would prevent the enactment of the obligations by parties currently upholding the agreement or that might fuel an escalation,” a French foreign ministry spokesperson said.

Germany urged Iran to uphold the nuclear deal. “We as Europeans, as Germans, will play our part and we expect full implementation from Iran as well,” Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the nuclear accord was “a major achievement” in boosting international security and said he “strongly hopes” that it can be preserved, according to UN spokesman Farhan Haq.

BERLIN, Germany — European powers said Thursday that they still backed the nuclear deal with Iran, but rejected any “ultimatums” from Tehran to keep it alive.

“We reject any ultimatums and we will assess Iran’s compliance on the basis of Iran’s performance regarding its nuclear-related commitments” under a 2015 deal, the EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany said in a statement.

Iran said Wednesday it had stopped respecting limits on its nuclear activities agreed under the deal with major powers until they find a way to bypass renewed US sanctions, as Washington accused Tehran of resorting to “blackmail.”

Tehran said it was responding to the sweeping unilateral sanctions that Washington has reimposed since it quit the agreement one year ago, which have dealt a severe blow to the Iranian economy.

In their statement, the Europeans underlined “our own firm commitments under the agreement including as regards sanctions-lifting for the benefit of the Iranian people” but criticized the US sanctions.

In this photo from November 24, 2015, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, right, listens to his Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif prior to a meeting in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

“In this regard, we regret the re-imposition of sanctions by the United States following their withdrawal from the JCPOA,” — Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — as the nuclear deal is known.

“We call on countries not party to the JCPOA to refrain from taking any actions that impede the remaining parties’ ability to fully perform their commitments.”

The European powers added that they were “determined to continue pursuing efforts to enable the continuation of legitimate trade with Iran” in an effort to keep the imperiled pact afloat.

But it said that Iran must at the same time “implement its commitments under the JCPOA in full as it has done until now and to refrain from any escalatory steps.”