WarSclerotic

Source: Iran, and others, watching Israel stumble over coronavirus – The Jerusalem Post

When Israel had Corona under control, the message conveyed was of a strong, resilient country with a great deal of solidarity able to weather all kinds of storms, even a pandemic.

By HERB KEINON

JULY 20, 2020 20:43

An Israeli rabbi walks alongside the body of Eliahu Bakshi-Doron, the former Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel, who died from complications of the coronavirus

(photo credit: AHMAD GHARABLI VIA GETTY IMAGES/JTA)

Ooops!

https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-latest-in-series-of-blasts-explosion-reported-at-iranian-oil-pipeline/

An explosion was reported in an oil pipeline in Iran Saturday, the latest in a mysterious series of blasts and blazes that have occurred throughout the country.

Several of the recent disasters have struck sensitive Iranian sites, leading to speculation that they could be part of a sabotage campaign engineered by Israel or another Tehran foe.

The latest incident occurred in a pipeline in the Ahvaz region in the south of the country, according to reports in local and social media.

Video shared on social media showed a large fire at the scene. There were no reports of casualties in the incident, and it was not immediately clear what the cause was.

The last odd incident came on Wednesday, when seven traditional wooden vessels caught fire in a factory in the southern Iranian port city of Bushehr. Others have included gas blasts and explosions in Tehran, as well as in the vicinity of military facilities.

A July 2 explosion damaged Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility. A week before that, a large blast was felt in Tehran, apparently caused by an explosion at the Parchin military complex, which defense analysts believe holds an underground tunnel system and missile production facilities.

A Middle Eastern intelligence official was quoted earlier this month by The New York Times as saying the fire that badly damaged a building used for producing centrifuges at Natanz was sparked by Israel and was caused by a powerful bomb.

But the unidentified official said Israel was not linked to several other recent mysterious fires in Iran over past weeks.

Israeli TV reports, without naming sources, have said the blast destroyed the laboratory in which Iran developed faster centrifuges and set back the Iranian nuclear program by one or two years.

Iran last week called for action against Israel following the damage to the Natanz facility, and appeared to acknowledge the fire there was not an accident.

Israel also engaged in sabotage operations as part of its effort to stop Saddam going nuclear, see here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Opera#Strategy_and_diplomacy

Anthony Cordesman writes that Israel conducted a series of clandestine operations to halt construction or destroy the reactor.^[46] In April 1979, Israeli agents in France allegedly planted a bomb that destroyed the reactor’s first set of core structures while they were awaiting shipment to Iraq.^[46] In June 1980, Israeli agents are said to have assassinated Yehia El-Mashad, an Egyptian atomic scientist working on the Iraqi nuclear program.^[47][48] It has also been claimed that Israel bombed several of the French and Italian companies it suspected of working on the project, and sent threatening letters to top officials and technicians.^[46][48][49] Following the bombing in April 1979, France inserted a clause in its agreement with Iraq saying that French personnel would have to supervise the Osirak reactor on-site for a period of ten years.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-07-13/nuclear-sabotage-is-preferable-to-a-nuclear-deal-with-iran

Whoever wins the U.S. presidency in November, there is a good chance he will try to negotiate a stronger nuclear deal with Iran in 2021. But events of the last few weeks show that there are better ways to frustrate the regime’s nuclear ambitions.

Both President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, favor talking with Iran. “I would rejoin the agreement and use our renewed commitment to diplomacy to work with our allies to strengthen and extend it,” Biden told the New York Times last winter. Trump, meanwhile, was on Twitter last month urging Iran to “make the Big deal.”

The logic of a deal goes like this: Except for war, the only sustainable way to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons is to reach an agreement with its leaders. That has been the basic assumption underlying U.S. nuclear policy on Iran for the last 20 years. With the right mix of carrots and sticks, the thinking goes, Iran will negotiate away a potential nuclear weapon.

But a nuclear deal with Iran would have to rely on a partnership with a regime that oppresses its citizens, preys on its neighbors, supports terrorism on three continents and has shown contempt for international law. And the alternative to a deal is not necessarily a costly and dangerous war. The West can delay and foil Iran’s nuclear ambitions by other means.

Since late June, explosions have rocked at least three Iranian military facilities. The latest appears to have targeted an underground research facility for chemical weapons. Earlier this month, a building at Iran’s Natanz centrifuge site burst into flames.

Much remains unknown about this latest spate of explosions. A relatively new group calling itself “Homeland Panthers” has claimed credit for the attack on Natanz. Iranian officials have blamed it on Israel. David Albright, the former nuclear inspector and founder of the Institute for Science and International Security, told me his organization — which has studied satellite imagery of the facility before and after the explosion — cannot rule out that it was an accident. But “it looks more like a deliberate act,” he said.

There are several good reasons to think all of this was an act of Israeli sabotage. To start, the Israelis have done this kind of thing before. In the early 2010s, Israel’s Mossad conducted a series of assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists. Before that, Israel and the U.S. cooperated on a cyberattack on Natanz that sped up its centrifuges, causing them to break down.

More recently, Israeli spies broke into a Tehran warehouse and stole a technical archive of Iran’s nuclear program, demonstrating that they have “human networks that have penetrated Iran’s security structure,” said David Wurmser, a national security expert who most recently worked as an adviser to the National Security Council.

Whoever is responsible for the attack — and to be clear, the Iranians say they are prepared to retaliate against Israel, though they have yet to do so — the damage at Natanz alone has significantly set back Iran’s nuclear program. The facility there was an assembly center for more advanced and efficient centrifuges, which Iran was allowed to produce under the flawed 2015 deal. “This was a crown jewel of their program,” Albright said.

And the damage may be to more than just the centrifuges — it could also destabilize the Iranian regime itself. “The more Iran’s government looks impotent, and the impression is left the Israelis are everywhere, the more high-level Iranian officials will calibrate their survival by cooperating with Americans or Israelis, which itself creates an intelligence bonanza,” Wurmser said.

The attacks could also undermine the regime’s legitimacy among the Iranian public more generally. Sabotage of this sort shows that Iran’s leaders are not nearly as powerful and all-knowing as they say.

At the very least, the fact that someone was able to explode a “crown jewel” of Iran’s nuclear program should make clear that the civilized world can delay Iran’s nuclear ambitions without conferring legitimacy to the regime.

Hahahah

https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-admits-one-of-its-number-spied-for-israel-then-defected/

Hamas deputy leader Moussa Abu Marzouk has confirmed Arabic media reports that a member of the Gaza-based terror group collaborated with and subsequently defected to Israel.

“Hamas arrested a number of collaborators with the occupation… Some of them, or rather one of them, fled toward the occupation and the occupation gave him a warm welcome,” Abu Marzouk told the Lebanese pro-Hezbollah al-Mayadeen TV on Thursday.

A Tuesday report in the Saudi-sponsored Al-Arabiya outlet said that Hamas had arrested 16 members of a spy ring collaborating with Israel. While Hamas routinely announces the arrests of alleged collaborators, that ring was reportedly composed of members of Hamas’s own military wing.

Al-Arabiya further reported that Israel’s Mossad spy agency had recently facilitated the escape of senior commander Mohammad Abu Ajwa, who had previously led Hamas’s naval special forces, after Abu Ajwa had spied for Israel for years. The arrests of the remaining collaborators took place after Abu Ajwa’s escape, Al-Arabiya said.

While Hamas denied the report on Tuesday, Abu Marzouk appeared to confirm for the first time that the collaborators, including the one who had fled, were members of his group. Marzouk denied, however, that the collaborators were senior officials, or that they were operating in concert.

“They are isolated members. There is no connection between them. They are not commanders in the [Hamas military wing] Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, nor are they commanders in Hamas… What the occupation claims, that they are commando officers or senior naval officers, is absolutely false,” Abu Marzouk said.

Israeli authorities have yet to comment publicly on any of the stories in the Arabic press.

The Shin Bet security service declined to comment on Abu Marzouk’s statements to al-Mayadeen, saying that it does not respond to “foreign reports.”

Hamas officials first claimed in early July that their group had arrested several members of an “Israeli-directed” spy ring planning “sabotage” in the Gaza Strip.

Since then, Arabic-language media have been buzzing with alleged revelations about Israeli-directed espionage in the Gaza Strip and traitors at the highest levels of Hamas.

Tuesday’s report in Al-Arabiya said that after arriving in Israel, the senior naval commander provided information about weapons stockpiles and the residences of senior Hamas officials, leading the terror group to immediately move the materiel to other hideouts in the Strip.

In response to the supposed high-level defection, the report said the Gaza-based terror group embarked on a “restructuring” of its military wing by firing several senior officers. A second senior commander in Hamas’s internal security forces was also arrested for spying for Israel, Al-Arabiya reported.

In its denial of the Al-Arabiya report on Tuesday, Hamas accused Saudi Arabia of “lies” and of “closing ranks with the Zionist occupation.”

Unfortunately, I am not surprised.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-aide-said-to-admit-us-in-no-mood-for-annexation-so-pm-wont-go-ahead/

Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin has acknowledged in private conversations that no attention is currently being given in Washington to Israeli plans to annex up to 30 percent of the West Bank, according to a Tuesday Army Radio report.

As a result, Levin reportedly said, the controversial move will likely have to be placed on the back burner as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not move forward without coordinating with the Trump administration.

The US administration’s attention is elsewhere, the report claimed Levin had said, and “it is not listening” when it comes to annexation.

Iran sure is having some rotten luck at the moment.

https://www.israelhayom.com/2020/07/15/seven-ships-catch-fire-at-port-near-iranian-nuclear-reactor/

At least seven ships have caught fire at the Iranian port of Bushehr, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday, in what appeared to be the latest in a series of unexplained incidents around nuclear and industrial installations since late June.

No casualties have been reported, the agency said.

According to the Iranian Mehr agency on Wednesday, the fire started near the northern installations of the city’s port. Pictures from the incident showed a large pillar of smoke billowing from the area.

The agency said that “many firefighting crews are in the area to stop the blaze from spreading.” Social media users expressed concern that the residents of Bushehr may be threatened if the fire expands further.

The city houses Iran’s nuclear reactor, which has been ostensibly for peaceful purposes only.

There have been several explosions and fires around Iranian military, nuclear and industrial facilities since late June, including in Natanz, where its main uranium enrichment center was badly damaged in what the New York Times described as a deliberate effort by the US and Israel.

Natanz is the centerpiece of Iran’s enrichment program, which Tehran says is for peaceful purposes. Western intelligence agencies and international inspectors believe it had a coordinated, clandestine nuclear arms program at least until 2003. Tehran denies ever seeking nuclear weapons.

Iran’s top security body said on July 3 that the cause of the Natanz fire had been determined but would be announced at a later time. Some Iranian officials have said it may have been cyber sabotage and one of them warned that Tehran would retaliate against any country carrying out such attacks.

In an article in early July, state news agency IRNA addressed what it called the possibility of sabotage by enemies such as Israel and the United States, although it stopped short of accusing either directly.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on July 5 that Israel was not “necessarily” behind every mysterious incident in Iran.

Makes me proud to be Australian.

Although the voting result is only because the right wing/conservative party (Liberal Party) is in power. If it was to be the left wing party (Labor Party) then some/all of the votes would likely have been abstentions.

Some interesting bits of history in the article as well (my bolding).

Australia-Israel Relationship a ‘Mateship’ Based on Trade, Trust and Mutual Values

At the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that recently concluded, Australia was the only country to vote against all five anti-Israel resolutions, including the notoriously biased Agenda Item 7.

In Australia’s position paper explaining the votes last month, it noted, “Australia has been consistent in its principled opposition to biased and one-sided resolutions targeting Israel in multilateral forums. We have reiterated this position before this Council every year of our membership. Our position has not changed. It is our firm view that the Human Rights Council’s disproportionate focus on Israel—through an unmatched five single country, targeted resolutions every year—damages its credibility. These resolutions do nothing to contribute to lasting peace and stability for Israelis and Palestinians.”

The perfect voting record, according to Australian leaders, underscores the vital relationship between the two nations.

“Australia regards the biased and one-sided targeting of Israel in multilateral forums as unhelpful to efforts to build lasting peace and stability,” Australian Ambassador to Israel Chris Cannan told JNS. “Australia has been consistent in its principled opposition to the singling out and unfair targeting of Israel, and one-sided resolutions, in the HRC,” he said. “It remains Australia’s firm view that the HRC’s agenda Item 7—the only standing agenda item that focuses on a single country situation—expresses this bias and is inappropriate.”

He said of the bilateral relations: “Australia and Israel have a close, longstanding and bipartisan, bilateral relationship.  … Our contemporary relationship is at a high point; with reciprocal prime ministerial and head of state visits having taken place in the past three years.”

Still, he noted, “Our support for Israel has always been accompanied by a commitment to a two-state solution, negotiated directly between Israel and the Palestinians.”

Today, posed Cannan, “Australia is continuing to contribute to Israeli and regional peace and security through our contribution to the Multilateral Force and Observers in the Sinai and the UN Truce Supervision Organization.”

In terms of business and shared resources, Australia has backed up the expanding trade relationship with resources, including through an Australian innovation “Landing Pad” in Tel Aviv for early-stage Australian start-ups, and the opening of an Australian Trade and Defense Office in Jerusalem. “We are also increasing our national security cooperation, including on defense and cyber security,” he said.

Cannan further noted that the Australia-Israel relationship is based on values. “Australia is a close friend of Israel. It is in our national interest to see Israel succeed as a liberal democracy in the Middle East, and Australia continues to strongly support its right to exist within secure and internationally recognized borders.”

Arsen Ostrovsky, an international human-rights lawyer and Israel Affairs Director at the Zionist Council of New South Wales, similarly told JNS that “Australia is a reliable and trustworthy ally of Israel, showing in word and deed that [it] stands out and speaks out, supporting Israel against the relentless one-sided resolutions that exist in all UN forums.”

He maintained that “there’s a word in Australia—‘mateship’—a friendship based on the values of loyalty, courage and respect. In terms of this Australian government and prime minister, who stand with Israel when it counts even if it means going against so many other nations, I don’t think Israel could ask for a better mate and ally. Australians stand up for their mates, and certainly in the UN”

Originally from Sydney but now living in Tel Aviv, Ostrovsky explained that the Australia-Israel relationship is centuries old, with Australian engagement in the region dating back to the Sinai-Palestine campaign during World War I, including the iconic victory in the Battle of Beersheva in 1917. Hundreds of horsemen from Australia and New Zealand were brought by the Australia New Zealand Army Corps to Israel, making history as they liberated the city of Beersheva on behalf of the British—a key milestone towards the UN partition plan.

Australia voted in favor of the plan on Nov. 29, 1947, despite pressure from the United Kingdom to abstain, having left the region after the British Mandate period. That vote of countries worldwide led to Israel’s independence on May 14, 1948.

Since then, the nation has played an important role in the world body, calling out the council for condemning Israel under the guise of human rights.

Tensions did occur at the time of the Yom Kippur War in 1973 under the short term of Labor Party government of Prime Minister Edward Gough Whitlam. Issues also centered on the “Zionism is racism” debate; the lack of support for the Likud Party and building in Judea and Samaria by former Prime Minister Bob Hawke in the 1980s [also Labor Party]; and an existing BDS movement within the country.

But that is in the past, and the two nations look towards the future.

While Australia has not commented on Israel’s planned application of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, Ostrovsky said the country has been clear that it supports two states. It admittedly has concerns with the settlements while also recognizing Israel’s challenges—not least of which is Palestinian terror, incitement and payments to terrorists, which led Australia to stop its direct payments to the Palestinian Authority, he added.

“If Australia does express its concern with Israel applying sovereignty, it will be measured, and I hope they’d reiterate their support for Israel and the greater context of the challenges Israel faces from the region,” he said.

Politics aside, posed Ostrovsky, the relationship is based on economic interests and innovation: “There is an increasing number of Israeli companies on Australian stock market, and a lot to be gained in the future, from cyber security and tech to water security.”

Today, the two countries work together and share best practices with a small group of nations, including Austria, Denmark, Cyprus and New Zealand, to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

An interest in innovation

Paul Israel, CEO of the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce, told JNS that the trade relationship between the two countries is meaningful for both nations. Israeli exports to Australia, especially in innovation, high-tech, agritech and medtech, are relevant for large Australian enterprises because of their quality, robustness and scalability.

The Chamber, which has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Auckland and Tel Aviv, often hosts delegations from Australia to learn about Israel’s ecosystem and sustainable high-tech industry. “Innovation is relatively new to Australia, and Australia is in love with what Israel has built,” he said.

More than that, he explained, “there has been a consistent and well-documented history of bipartisan support from Australia to Israel, which has been consistent ever since. Australia is a pioneer in standing up for Israel in the United Nations, rooted in the dynamic, strong and vibrant Jewish community in existence since [the arrival of the Europeans] in 1780s, and based on values of democracy and freedom of speech.”

Ostrovsky agreed, saying that “Australia understands that Israel is a small democracy, surrounded by enemies.”

It is a “no-nonsense country that doesn’t tolerate bullies or intimidation,” he added. “Standing up for your friends is the definition of mateship—and that’s what Australia is doing.”

Lots of “work accidents” recently in Iran.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/irans-nuclear-facilities-are-mysteriously-under-attack

Black smoke rose as flames engulfed the Shahid Tondgooyan petrochemical plant in the Khuzestan province of Iran late Sunday afternoon.

Hours earlier, more than 500 miles away, detonations rocked the basement of an old, nondescript home in a northern pocket of Tehran. The two-story dwelling was said to have housed at least 30 gas cylinders that were used for unclear purposes.

Both incidents came fewer than two days after a string of explosions – and power outages – were reported west of Tehran in the early hours of Friday. Local reports indicated that multiple “mortar-like sounds similar to anti-aircraft missiles” were heard.

The blasts reportedly took place at an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) missile depot.

While some Iranian officials denied the outbursts altogether, and others quoted a former mayor – who reportedly died more than a year ago – as saying it was caused by gas tanks, experts said there is something bizarre at play across the beleaguered country.

These most recent attacks happened on the heels of multiple other mysterious explosions at sensitive sites over the course of the last three weeks – and no one is precisely sure what is going on, other than its rattling of the regime and stymying its controversial nuclear program.

“The tempo and tenor of the recent explosions in Iran have been unusual. There is evidence of a concerted campaign underway to thwart Iran’s nuclear program,” Jason Brodsky, Policy Director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News. “The more Iran advances its nuclear program in violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the greater the likelihood for additional strikes.”

He continued: “Additionally, Tehran is distracted by the coronavirus and economic problems. The public is increasingly disenchanted with the regime’s ability to govern the country. The conditions are ripe for additional kinetic activity.”

The first enigmatic hit happened on June 26 at a known liquid fuel production center that makes ballistic missiles in Khojir, near Parchin, southeast of the capital. Despite a downplaying by officials, satellite images later emerged to show extensive damage on an arsenal of gas tanks, along with an entire hillside blackened in the blast.

Then on June 30, 19 people died following an explosion at a medical center in Tehran.

Two days later, on July 2, the notorious Natanz uranium enrichment plant – which became active in 2018 as Iran’s principal place to develop centrifuges required to produce uranium and other nuclear weapons were in-development – was struck by a mammoth blast, as confirmed by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).

Tehran conceded that a severe attack had impaired an “industrial shed,” and AEOI officials acknowledged to the Iranian media that the blow had “set back Iran’s nuclear program by months.”

According to an analysis by the Kuwait-based publication Al-Jarida, the target of the assault was the UF6 gas – uranium hexafluoride – which Iran uses to infuse into its most advanced IR-6 centrifuges – of which 80 percent has been decimated as a result of the attack.

Then, on July 3, an unexplained fire erupted at a power plant in the southwest city of Shiraz, triggering a power outage in the region.

The next day, yet another explosion and inferno tore through a power plant in Ahwaz, while at the same time, a chlorine gas leak was detected at a Karoun petrochemical plant in Mahshahr, about 75 miles away.

“While one can never ignore the potential for an accident or gross incompetence, the locations of these explosions coupled with the increasing number of things exploding in the last few weeks does make a strong case for this being foreign sabotage,” underscored Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD). “Let’s not forget, they are all occurring on or near, nuclear, missile, or military installations.”

Nonetheless, a swirl of suspicion continues to linger around the series of seemingly harmonized attacks, with many suspecting Israel – and the United States – as pulling strings.

But adding to the peculiarity, BBC Persian reported that just after midnight on June 30, some of its journalists received an email from a group purporting to be the “Homeland Cheetahs” – comprised of anti-government, underground dissidents – claiming credit for earlier attacks. The outlet also said they were informed of the Natanz attack hours before it was documented by officials.

Source: China ‘strategic accord’ could give Iran a $400 billion boost, up military ties | The Times of Israel

Under 25 year agreement reportedly finalized, Beijing and Tehran to increase military cooperation, including weapons development and intel sharing; China getting discount oil

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, greets Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Qingdao in eastern China’s Shandong Province on June 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Negotiations between Iran and China over the creation of a 25-year strategic accord appear to have concluded, with The New York Times on Sunday publishing excerpts from an 18-page agreement labeled “final version” that could see Beijing invest $400 billion over the next 25 years in exchange for discount oil.

The document — which The Times said was dated June 2020 and has yet to be approved by the Majles, Iran’s parliament — detailed how Beijing would receive Iranian oil at a sharply reduced price for the next quarter century in exchange expanding its economic involvement in a variety of fields, including banking and infrastructure, such as telecommunications and transport.

This would potentially include giving the Iranians access to China’s global positioning system and helping roll out an Iranian 5G network.

China is Iran’s top trading partner.

In this photo from January 23, 2016, released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tehran, Iran. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

Tehran has been hit hard by American sanctions reimposed following Washington’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal in May 2018. Iranian crude exports have been severely curtailed by the US sanctions, as has much of the country’s foreign trade.

The deal could bring Iran as much as $400 billion in Chinese investment over the next quarter century, according to sources with knowledge of the deal who spoke with The Times.

The deal would also encompass military cooperation, including weapons development, combined training and intelligence sharing in order to combat ““the lopsided battle with terrorism, drug and human trafficking and cross-border crimes,” The Times reported.

Both Tehran and Beijing are currently at loggerheads with Washington, Iran over its nuclear program and China over ongoing trade disputes with the Trump administration.

The US has accused China of stealing its intellectual property and engaging in forced technology transfers from US firms doing business there.

The accord said that Iran and China as “two ancient Asian cultures, two partners in the sectors of trade, economy, politics, culture and security with a similar outlook and many mutual bilateral and multilateral interests will consider one another strategic partners,” the paper reported.

Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus march near the Forbidden City during a plenary session of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, May 25, 2020. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

On Sunday, a senior aide to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the accord could be signed as early as next March, Radio Farda reported.

There has been some pushback in Iran regarding the deal.

Last Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told lawmakers that their country had been negotiating with the Chinese and that the terms would be announced once a deal is struck.

During the session, Zarif was heckled by lawmakers, largely over his key role in negotiating a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which the US unilaterally abandoned in 2018 as a prelude to reimposing biting sanctions.

It was his first address to parliament since a new house started work in late May in the wake of elections that were dominated by conservatives and ultra-conservatives.

Zarif insisted there was “nothing secret” about the prospective China deal.

The nation would be informed “when an accord has been concluded,” he said, adding that the intention had already been made public in January 2016 when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Tehran.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has come out publicly in support of a strategic bilateral partnership with China.

The planned China deal has been a hot topic on Iranian social media since populist ex-president Mahmud Ahmadinejad last month condemned negotiations underway with a foreign country.

Source: Israel’s alleged Natanz strike ‘as complex as Stuxnet,’ a major blow to Iran | The Times of Israel

Blast at centrifuge assembly facility may have set back development by 2 years, experts tell the NY Times, with series of strikes causing ‘extreme internal and external pressure’