Ben Rhodes played a key role in crafting both the Iran deal and the historic thawing in relations between the US and Cuba - and was by Obama's side on all but one of his overseas trips. Here he gives his views on the world after Obama.
Rhodes was deputy foreign policy advisor and speechwriter for the Obama administration, joining the Obama campaign as a speechwriter when he was just 29 years old. Rhodes stayed on for the full eight years of his term, tasked with the role of interpreting and explaining Obama's vision for the world.
In a new book, he reveals that after the election of Donald Trump, Obama wondered whether his presidency came too early, for a world that wasn't ready.
Apr. 25, 2017 - 7:01 - The truth about the danger posed by the men freed in prisoner swap as part the January 2016 deal and the other concessions were kept secret until now. How far does Pres. Obama's apparent deception go?
FOX NEWS: Some senior U.S. officials involved in the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal have privately concluded that a key sanctions relief provision – a concession to Iran that will open the doors to tens of billions of dollars in U.S.-backed commerce with the Islamic regime – conflicts with existing federal statutes and cannot be implemented without violating those laws, Fox News has learned.
At issue is a passage tucked away in ancillary paperwork attached to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, as the Iran nuclear deal is formally known. Specifically, Section 5.1.2 of Annex II provides that in exchange for Iranian compliance with the terms of the deal, the U.S. “shall…license non-U.S. entities that are owned or controlled by a U.S. person to engage in activities with Iran that are consistent with this JCPOA.”
In short, this means that foreign subsidiaries of U.S. parent companies will, under certain conditions, be allowed to do business with Iran. The problem is that the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act (ITRA), signed into law by President Obama in August 2012, was explicit in closing the so-called “foreign sub” loophole. » | James Rosen | Friday, October 9, 2015
ARUTZ SHEVA: Israel's ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, slams international community's 'poor track record' after it empowers Iranian terror regime.
Israel's ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor took on the United Nations Security Council on Monday, just after it unanimously approved a draft resolution implementing the Iranian nuclear deal with the West.
"You have awarded a great prize to the most dangerous country in the world," Prosor began. "I hate to be the one to spoil the party, but someone has to say the emperor has no clothes."
"Today is a very sad day," he continued, "not only for the State of Israel, but for the entire world. Even at this moment, the international community refuses to see the tragedy."
Without checking first to see that Iran is already taking steps to comply with the agreement, passing the draft resolution is "like allowing a criminal to sit on the jury to decide his own fate," Prosor said.
"It's not only that you have not cured the symptoms, you have strengthened the source of the problem," he added. "You have given the source of the problem - Iran - money, stability at home, and the time to carry out its destructive ideology." » | Nitsan Keidar | Monday, July 20, 2015
