Iran Expands Atomic Energy Schools To Elementary Level
In an effort to develop its nuclear ambitions, Iran has extended the reach of its atomic energy schools to include elementary-level education.
In an effort to develop its nuclear ambitions, Iran has extended the reach of its atomic energy schools to include elementary-level education.
Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, claimed on Wednesday that the move aims to “nurture specialized human resources from an early age.”
In an interview with ILNA, Eslami explained the rationale behind establishing atomic energy schools saying, "These schools have been established in line with the dissemination of science and technology and to spread the belief in the ability of the society."
"The issue of training specialized human resources is a social responsibility of the Atomic Energy Organization, and we are dedicated to expanding education in the schools affiliated with this organization," Eslami stated.
Previously limited to the secondary level, atomic energy schools have now expanded their scope to elementary education.
Currently, Iran has 13 atomic schools, but Eslami expressed optimism about further expansion in the coming academic years.
"Naturally, the schools are set up in the cities that have nuclear facilities. In fact, atomic schools are established in a space where the Atomic Energy Organization has its own capacities," he said.
The establishment of atomic energy schools is part of Iran's broader effort to develop its nuclear program. However, the US and its allies have raised concerns about the country's nuclear intentions, suspecting the possibility of Iran seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
The State Department's internal watchdog has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the suspension of US Iran envoy, Robert Malley.
The Office of Inspector General (OIG), Diana Shaw, launched the investigation in addition to ongoing Federal Bureau of Investigation investigations into Biden’s Iran man, which could lead to a more formal investigation, according to a report by Politico.
Iran International first reported that Malley was suspended from his position as US envoy for Iran on June 29, with his security clearance suspended while he was under investigation relating to his handling of classified documents.
The Involvement of the FBI was also reported, although until now no official details have been announced, except that Malley is on “unpaid leave.”
The suspension had been kept under wraps since it took place on April 22, with Malley given a more limited scope of work before the affair unraveled two months later.
Shaw’s investigation was prompted by the Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who raised a host of questions about the State Department and called on her to act.
Confirming the action, which will run alongside the FBI investigation, Shaw wrote to the group: “OIG considers several factors when determining whether to initiate work, including statutory requirements, available resources, our jurisdictional authority, and the existence of criteria against which to measure the department’s actions.
“Considering these factors and the circumstances you detailed in your letter, we plan to begin a preliminary review.”
The Republican Study Committee echoed the calls claiming in a Tweet that Malley had his security clearance suspended for mishandling classified information and that he continued to work without an active clearance.
In a Tweet, the group wrote: “Biden is hoping we aren't paying attention. But we are. We must #InvestigateMalley NOW!”
Like many other Iranians in the US, journalist Karmel Melamed has supported further investigations. He wrote on Twitter: “This whole fiasco with Malley stinks to high hell … He and his mullah regime buddies operating here in America & collaborating together need to be prosecuted for treason against the United States. The lack of accountability for their crimes is shameful.”
In further revelations of Iran’s deepening US influence, Republicans in Congress have issued a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines warning about the influence of Iran's terror ideology in at least four US-based mosques and centers.
According to Fox News Digital, the three-page GOP letter details Iranian regime-linked mosques and centers in Maryland, Texas, Michigan and Virginia. It claims that the Islamic Education Center (IEC) in Potomac, Maryland, secured funding from what it says is the Iranian regime-controlled Alavi Foundation and Washington-based Iranian Iman, Abolfazi Bahram Nahidian.
The letter gives a damning rundown of the centers and their leaders’ links to the regime. “The Iranian regime's attempts to spread malign influence in the United States in multiple Shiite mosques and cultural centers across the country has been happening for years,” it says.
“These state-sponsored mosques preach hatred toward anyone who disagrees with the Iranian regime and go as far as to praise the ayatollah's repressive reign through songs and shrines. It is imperative that the US government understand and respond to the threat posed by state-sponsored terrorism wherever it appears, whether in the Middle East or at home.”
While Biden avoids affirmative action in Iran, even in the face of aggression in the likes of Syria and the Persian Gulf, meanwhile continuing to push for restarting the nuclear talks (JCPOA), the pressure is on, but the question remains, is Biden listening. Revelations of plots to attack US citizens on home soil continue, but the softly-softly approach of the Biden era is wearing thin for Congress.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed Israel's Iran strategy despite Biden's recent nuclear deal efforts.
In an interview with Newsmax on Monday, he reiterated his policy on Iran, its most dangerous enemy in the Middle East, and said he will not be deterred by the Biden administration's efforts to restart a nuclear deal with Iran.
"Israel will do what it needs to do to defend itself by itself against the threat of Iran to annihilate it with nuclear weapons," Netanyahu told Rob Schmitt Tonight.
The Biden administration has been striving to bring the United States back into the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a deal that was previously abandoned under the Trump administration. Talks are also said to be addressing the release of some of the US citizens detained in Iran and unfreezing some Iranian assets. It has been met with fierce opposition on both sides of Congress and since the latest talks began in June, maritime tensions continue between the two arch-enemies in the Persian Gulf.
Netanyahu said of the ongoing US talks: "I think that any deal with Iran that doesn't set back Iran's nuclear infrastructure is basically not worth it because it means nothing ... They basically take what you give them, but they don't set back. They don't roll back the capacity to produce nuclear weapons or the components of nuclear weapons. So, you really get nothing for it. And my view hasn't changed."
A conservative newspaper editor in Tehran says that Iranian hardliners exposed US envoy Robert Malley’s alleged secret contacts with Islamic Republic officials.
Masih Mohajeri, a cleric who is the editor of Jomhuriye Eslami (Islamic Republic) conservative newspaper in Iran told a local website that “merchants of sanctions” in Iran who always tried to sabotage relations with the West, exposed Malley, who has been suspended from the State Department and his security clearance is under investigation.
‘Merchants of sanctions’ in Iranian jargon are those in the power structure within the regime who reap profits from foreign sanctions, by using Iran’s isolation to set up their business monopolies in the country. Chief among them are allegedly senior officers of the Revolutionary Guard and their circle of hardliners, who currently control the parliament, the presidential administration, and the fearsome judiciary.
Although Mohajeri belongs to the first generation of Islamist revolutionaries who overthrew the monarchy in 1979, he is known as a relatively independent elder, who occasionally criticizes officials and extremists within the regime.
“Malley held negotiations with some Iranian individuals, in such a way that problems were reaching a point [of resolution], which perhaps even American officials were not fully aware. But domestic hardliners and merchants of sanctions exposed the information related to these talks, to sabotage them,” Mohajeri was quoted as saying. He did not claim to have any insider information for accusing the hardliners, but his full interview has not yet been published.
Mohajeri went on to accuse hardliners of a series of malign activities within Iran and interference in domestic politics.
Iran International first reported June 29 that Malley was suspended from his position as US envoy for Iran, his security clearance was suspended and he was under investigation related to his handling of classified documents. The Involvement of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was also reported, although until now no official details have been announced, except that Malley is on “unpaid leave.”
Biden administration officials Friday went to Capitol Hill to brief members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, but they revealed nothing about why Malley was suspended and what is the investigation about. According to the committee chairman Rep, Michael McCaul (R-TX), officials claimed that due to the US Privacy Act they could divulge any information while the investigation is still ongoing.
To add to the mystery, Tehran Times an Iranian regime mouthpiece has extensively reported on Malley’s saga, appearing to have some insider information. The paper reported the exact date of Malley's suspension as April 21, when Malley was informed by the Diplomatic Security Department that due to his not having maintained classified documents, his security clearance was suspended. No one else had an exact date as to when Malley’s security clearance was suspended.
Benny Avni, a columnist at the New York Sun commented about the briefing, pointing out that “the briefers apparently shed no light on Mr. Malley’s mysterious removal from his post, the stripping of his security clearance, or the purging of his official Twitter account.”
He also quoted Jason Brodsky, the policy director at United Against a Nuclear Iran as saying that the State Department has a communication problem. “They can’t announce that the nuclear deal is dead. They can’t announce there is a deal. And they can’t provide anything on Malley. Their dodge, duck, and weave act is awkward.”
As Iran grapples with its economic crisis, government officials periodically try to show optimism about a nuclear deal with the West, while pundits express caution.
Officials are well aware that people blame the regime for the continuation of US sanctions that has pushed annual inflation to 70 percent and has weakened the currency 12-fold in five years.
Iranian media on Sunday quoted Shahriar Haydari, the vice chair of parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee as insisting that there are unmistakable signs of a Western desire to conclude a nuclear deal. He claimed that European powers and the United States continue contacts with Tehran to re-start negotiations, possibly in Oman, which he said has indicated it readiness to host the talks.
US State Department repeatedly said in June and July that there are no deals in the offing, although contacts with Tehran continue and talks have taken place in Oman. The main purpose of these talks reportedly revolves around freeing four Americans held hostage by Iran, but even this process has not made any visible progress.
Prisoner release plans have always included the proposal of freeing Iran’s frozen funds in South Korea as the big prize for Tehran to let the prisoners who have been arrested on baseless charges go free.
However, the Iranian government sent a draft bill to parliament July 29 that would authorize the executive to refer the case of the funds in Seoul to arbitration. This could be a sign that prisoner release talks have hit a snag and Tehran is resorting to desperate measures.
Nevertheless, lawmaker Haydari tried to sound optimistic about the outlook for a deal, blaming the “Zionist lobby” and Americans who oppose the revival of a nuclear agreement for its delay. Haydari said that a deal might not happen until after the US presidential elections, but the Americans and Europeans are knocking on Tehran’s door asking for negotiations.
Even before the November 2020 elections, candidate Joe Biden announced that he totally disagreed with President Donald Trump’s 2018 decision to leave the Obama-era JCPOA accord and would try to return to the agreement. However, 18 months of indirect talks with Iran failed in September 2022 and later Washington repeatedly insisted that the JCPOA was no longer on its agenda.
Iranian analysts have been voicing pessimist since 2022 over the prospects of a deal, some seeing intransigence by Tehran and an unwillingness to change its foreign policy.
A new factor that emerged in late June could have added another complication to efforts to reach deals with Iran. The US administration’s special envoy for Iran Rob Malley was put on unpaid leave for an apparent security breach that is now under FBI investigation. Malley was committed to reviving the JCPOA and willing to offer financial relief to Tehran for progress.
A former senior Iranian foreign ministry official, Qassem Mohebali was quoted by Khabar Online website in Tehran on Sunday as saying that Malley’s departure could hurt the talks.
“Although America’s policies are not made by single individuals, but a person who is positively inclined toward Iran and solving its problem, and a person who did not have good relations with Israel and those opposing the nuclear deal, naturally could have played a more positive role in concluding an agreement,” Mohebali stated. “His dismissal could be interpreted as a negative sign in the nuclear talks,” he added.
A classified briefing Friday at the US House Foreign Affairs Committee by administration officials did not reveal the reasons for the suspensions of US Iran envoy Rob Malley.
The Jewish Insider reported that committee Chairman Michael McCaul said officials had not been able to offer details on Malley’s status regarding an investigation over his security clearance.
Iran International first reported June 29 that Malley’s security clearance had been suspended and he has been under investigation related to his handling of classified documents. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is reportedly involved in the investigation, although until now no official details have been announced, except that Malley is on “unpaid leave.”
Chairman McCaul (R-TX) had threatened the Biden administration with subpoena if they failed to brief his committee on Malley’s status. While he had been suspended perhaps as early as April, the administration did not inform Congress about it.
“We don’t really have any details” on the Malley investigation “because it’s an ongoing investigation,” McCaul said according to the Insider. He also said that the administration will likely not be able to provide a full briefing until the investigation ends.
A spokesperson from the Committee told Iran International that officials refused to provide any significant new information, including the reason Malley's security clearance was revoked, citing the Privacy Act, but the Committee will try again to obtain more information.
McCaul was quoted by the Insider as saying, “They couldn’t get into the details,” adding, “the question is, is the FBI involved because if they are, then that’s a national security problem.”
Malley who was chief US nuclear negotiator with Iran has been replaced by Abram Paley as acting envoy.
