Calls Grow To Revoke Iran-Linked Pentagon Official's Clearance

Sen. Cardin said on Thursday that the US is in a “much more dangerous situation” now because Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran, although he opposed it at the time.

“From what I’ve been told,” he said, “Iran is just not interested” in a deal. “You’ve got to figure out, where do you go from this day forward?”

Cardin was one of only four Democrats in the Senate to have opposed the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal. He argued that it allowed the regime in Tehran to get “too close” to nuclear weapons “under a legal path.”

He became less skeptical, however, after the IAEA confirmed in periodic reports that Iran was in compliance.

The Maryland Senator has taken over the influential Foreign Relations Committee at a critical time for Iran policy. The Biden administration has been in secret talks with the Islamic Republic for some time and many in Washington believe an informal deal looms on the horizon.

Cardin’s view of such a deal would carry weight (and procedural significance) on the Capitol. It’s hard to gauge his view, though, as he seems to have made few substantive comments on the issue.

In 2015, Cardin had a key role in helping President Obama to get his nuclear deal through congress, despite voting against the deal himself. Working closely with the Republican Senator Bob Corker, then Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, Cardin managed to get a bipartisan deal to give Congress the power to review the administration’s agreement. The law is called the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) and was a escape hatch for Congress in face of former President Barack Obama’s decision not to make the JCPOA a treaty, subject to Senate approval.

Interestingly enough, back then like right now, Cardin replaced Bob Menendez after the US Department of Justice indicted Menendez on federal corruption charges.

Cardin is widely believed to be less hawkish than Menendez. Still, he has advocated “maximum pressure on Iran’ as a means to get another agreement after Trump unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 deal.

“The only way to permanently deal with [Iran's nuclear program] is an agreement,” he said in December 2021. “The only way you can get there is through Maximum Pressure on Iran. Maximum Pressure on Iran."

Cardin was one of the two sponsors of a legislation (with the Republican Senator Pat Toomey) that proposed more sanctions for Iran over an alleged plot to kidnap the dissident journalist Masih Alinejad from the US.

Some Iranian-American activists have already started to lobby Cardin to back the MAHSA Act, which targets the offices of the President and the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, and which passed the House on September 12, 2023.

It is likely that Cardin supports the MAHSA Act, not least because human rights seem to hold a special place in his priorities. He was vocal last year when Mahsa Amini was killed in police custody in Tehran and did commemorate her death and the widespread protests that followed on their first anniversary this September.

What is not so clear is his stance on more controversial, Iran-related matters like the recent Iranian ‘influence scandal’ or a potential, limited deal with the Islamic Republic. Although he is known to be loyal to his party’s line, still he did vote no to the nuclear deal in 2015.

Senator Cardin will have a shorter-than-usual term as the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee because his term expires in January 2025, and he has announced that he will not seek reelection.

This week, Iran International and Semafor simultaneously released a report revealing that several individuals closely connected to President Joe Biden's former Iran special envoy, Robert Malley, were part of an influence network established by Iran's foreign ministry.

The president of the non-profit Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) recommends examining the emails and scrutinizing the subsequent actions of those involved in the influence operation.

One of the people who is named by Albright is Ali Vaez. Malley recruited Vaez to the Crisis Group in 2012. In a 2015 article on its website, the Crisis Group emphasized Vaez's role in the nuclear agreement, stating that he was trusted for his “impartiality”, leading “the US, Russia, China, Germany, the UK, and France to engage with him through telephone conversations, emails, and negotiations.”

The report names individuals like Vaez and Ariane Tabatabai as close associates of Robert Malley, whose security clearance was suspended earlier this year, leading to an FBI investigation for mishandling classified information.

The nuclear proliferation expert also expressed his willingness to engage in an open discussion about the actions of the Iranian individuals. He recalled their opposition to US positions and advocacy for Iranian interests during the JCPOA negotiations, emphasizing the need to counter their efforts both privately and publicly.

Since the report exposed the Iran-backed influence operation in Washington, many prominent Republicans in Washington have criticized the Biden administration.

The delegation's purpose is to take part in the 37th International Islamic Unity Conference, as reported by Iran's state news agency, IRNA, citing the Islamic Republic's Embassy in Kabul.

In May, a clash between Iranian border guards and the Afghan Taliban resulted in the deaths of at least two Iranians and one Taliban soldier. According to a report in the Iranian reformist daily newspaper Ham-Mihan, approximately 50 Iranians have lost their lives in border skirmishes with the Taliban since 2021.

Despite Iran's official non-recognition of the Taliban government, several delegations from the Taliban have made trips to Iran following their assumption of power in Afghanistan. In June 2022, Taliban representatives visited Tehran to participate in a border commission summit between Tehran and Kabul.

The Taliban move to cut off Helmand River's water flow from Afghanistan has had dire consequences for the inhabitants of the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan. Wetlands in Sistan have transformed into salt flats, the once-thriving wildlife has vanished, and many local villages have been deserted.

The announcement was made by Iraq's Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari in an interview with Al-Arabiya on Saturday.

The Iraqi Prime Minister also emphasized on Saturday that the border with Iran in the Kurdistan region is entirely under the control of Iraqi forces.

Earlier, Iran International had reported that based on the security agreement between Iran and Iraq, many headquarters of Kurdish opposition parties to the Islamic Republic in the Kurdistan region of Iraq have been evacuated.

The headquarters have been detonated by the parties' own forces. According to the informed individuals, the forces that were stationed in border headquarters have now gone to the Iraqi border guard bases and are supposed to be transferred to camps under the supervision of the United Nations.

Local media in the Kurdistan region of Iraq have reported on the permanent deployment of Iraqi border guard forces in these areas and the raising of the Iraqi flag in the locations where the evacuated headquarters of anti-Islamic Republic parties were. The reports also mention the use of thermal cameras by the Iraqi border guard forces to monitor the areas.

The Islamic Republic has long accused the Kurdistan Autonomous Region of Iraq of providing shelter to its opposition groups and claims that the parties use the soil of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq to threaten the security of the Islamic Republic. The Kurdish groups have repeatedly denied the allegations.

In recent years, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has launched missile and artillery attacks on the bases of Kurdish opposition groups multiple times.

The Pentagon's report stated, “North Korea, Iran, and violent extremist organizations remain persistent threats as they continue to further pursue and develop WMD.”

Regarding Iran, the report indicated, “It is assessed that Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapons program at this time but has the capacity to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear device in less than two weeks.”

Additionally, the report acknowledged Russia as an "acute threat" and identified China as a "pacing challenge."

“The PRC (People's Republic of China) has expanded and modernized nearly every aspect of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), with a focus on offsetting US military advantages,” added the report.

Additionally, it emphasized that China presents the "most comprehensive and urgent challenge" to the United States.

Regarding Russia, the report noted, "Russia poses the most acute nuclear, biological, and chemical threat in the near-term and will continue to retain WMD capabilities in the medium and long term."

The document expressed concerns about Russia's lack of transparency concerning its former Soviet program and its continued secrecy surrounding potentially dual-use biological research.

In the section on North Korea, the report mentioned, “Capability developments provide the DPRK with options for nuclear weapons use at any stage of conflict.”

The Islamic Republic claims it is not pursuing the development of nuclear weapons, but Western countries and Israel say that Iran's nuclear program, especially the enrichment of 60% uranium and the production of metallic uranium in Iran, has no connection to peaceful nuclear knowledge applications.