Fears mount among Iran's neighbours over nuclear talks

Arak Heavy Water reactor

The emerging terms of a deal to curb Iran's quest for a nuclear bomb is striking fear to neighbouring Arab countries in the region.

Concerns are mounting that the US may allow the Iranian regime to continue with its nuclear programme for civilian purposes - and therefore maintain the technology needed to produce nuclear weapons.

The Washington Post newspaper said: "The direction of US diplomacy with Tehran has added fuel to fears in some Arab states of a nuclear-arms race in the region, as well as reviving talk about possibly extending a US nuclear umbrella to Middle East allies to counter any Iranian threat.

"The major Sunni states, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, have said that a final agreement could allow Shiite-dominated Iran, their regional rival, to keep the technologies needed to produce nuclear weapons, according to these officials, while removing many of the sanctions that have crippled its economy in recent years."

And Arab officials said any deal could drive Saudi Arabia and other states to try to match Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

One Arab official said: "At this stage, we prefer a collapse of the diplomatic process to a bad deal."

The Obama administration initially said its policy was to completely dismantle Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure as a means to protect Washington’s Middle East allies, the paper said.

But it added: "Arab officials have increasingly spoken about a possible nuclear arms race in the Mideast as the negotiations have continued for 18 months, having been extended twice."

Arab leaders said they are committed to supporting the US coalition fighting Islamic State. But they said the campaign is complicated by fears Washington is aligning with Tehran, it added.

Four Geologists Kidnapped by Suspected Rebels in Northern Colombia

BOGOTA – Four geologists have been kidnapped in a rural area of the northern Colombian province of Norte de Santander, according to the Colombian Geological Service, or SGC, which said ELN leftist rebels are the likely culprits.

A group of people “intercepted and apparently detained” the geologists, employees of the company GEMI S.A.S. who were working as contractors for the SGC, the service said in a statement.

It said it has not yet been able to reestablish communication with the kidnap victims.

The geologists “apparently were approached by the ELN (National Liberation Army),” which has a strong presence in the area, the National Police commander for Norte de Santander, Col. John Jairo Aroca, told reporters.

They were abducted Thursday in the rural district of Santa Ines, part of the municipality of El Carmen, while conducting a water study, Aroca added.

Although the SGC did not provide the names of the four victims, local media identified them as Henry Botero, John Rios, Hernan Ayala and Karina Banquez.

The geologists’ work was essential for planning development and human activities in that area of the country, the service said.

The Colombian government and the ELN are currently involved in “exploratory dialogues” intended to lead to the opening of peace negotiations like the ones Bogota has held for more than two years in Cuba with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, Latin America’s largest insurgency.

Former First Lady of Virginia Sentenced to Prison

Wife of Former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell Sentenced to One Year and One Day in Prison in Public Corruption Case

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA — The former First Lady of Virginia, Maureen G. McDonnell, 60, of Glen Allen, Virginia, was sentenced Friday to one year and one day in prison, for soliciting and obtaining payments, loans, gifts and other items from Star Scientific, a Virginia-based corporation, and Jonnie R. Williams Sr., Star Scientific’s then chief executive officer, in violation of federal public corruption laws.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Leslie R. Caldwell, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Adam S. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office; Richard Weber, Chief, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI); and Colonel W. Steven Flaherty, Virginia State Police Superintendent, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer.

Former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell and his wife, Maureen McDonnell, were convicted on Sept. 4, 2014, following a jury trial of one count of conspiracy to commit honest-services wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to obtain property under color of official right. Maureen McDonnell also was convicted of two counts of honest-services wire fraud and four counts of obtaining property under color of official right, while Robert McDonnell was convicted of three counts of honest-services wire fraud and six counts of obtaining property under color of official right. In total, Maureen McDonnell was convicted of eight of 13 counts and Robert McDonnell was convicted of 11 of 13 counts.

According to the evidence presented at trial, from April 2011 through March 2013, the McDonnell’s participated in a scheme to use the former governor’s official position to enrich themselves and their family members by soliciting and obtaining payments, loans, gifts and other things of value from Star Scientific and Jonnie R. Williams Sr. The McDonnell’s obtained these items in exchange for the former governor performing official actions to legitimize, promote and obtain research studies for Star’s products, including the dietary supplement Anatabloc.

According to evidence presented at trial, the McDonnell’s obtained from Williams more than $170,000 in direct payments as gifts and loans, thousands of dollars in golf outings, and numerous items. As part of the scheme, Robert McDonnell arranged meetings for Williams with Virginia government officials, hosted and attended events at the Governor’s Mansion designed to encourage Virginia university researchers to initiate studies of Star’s products and to promote Star’s products to doctors, contacted other Virginia government officials to encourage Virginia state research universities to initiate studies of Star’s products, and promoted Star’s products and facilitated its relationships with Virginia government officials.

The evidence further showed that the McDonnell’s attempted to conceal the things of value received from Williams and Star to hide the nature and scope of their dealings with Williams from the citizens of Virginia by, for example, routing gifts and loans through family members and corporate entities controlled by the former governor to avoid annual disclosure requirements.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael S. Dry, Jessica D. Aber, and Ryan S. Faulconer of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Deputy Chief David V. Harbach II of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section. The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Richmond Division, IRS-CI, and the Virginia State Police.

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Iran news in brief, 20 February 2015

Drug money is used in Iran’s politics, Interior Minister admits

‘Dirty money,’ including money obtained from drug trafficking ‘has entered the political life in Iran and used in elections and decision making,’ the Iranian regime’s Minister of Interior has admitted.

Abdolreza Ahmadi-fazli was quoted by official news agency IRNA as saying: “A large part of the moral corruption in this country comes from the introduction of dirty money into politics.”Speaking during a seminar of police officials on Monday he said: “Part of this money is now in politics.”

According to Rahmani Fazli money both from drug trafficking and from contraband amounted to the equivalent of nearly $20 billion (17.5 billion euros) every year.

Iran was in 136th place out of 175 last year in an index of nations seen as corrupt by Transparency International, a non-governmental organization.

Recently it was disclosed that 170 members of mullahs’ parliament had received bribes.

This bribery was revealed during the trial of the first deputy of regime’s former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In the power struggle between the ruling cliques, Ahmadinejad’s deputy Mohammadreza Rahimi has been prosecuted and sentenced to five years in prison.

In an open letter, Rahimi revealed that he has bribed 170 parliamentarians for a total of 1200 billion tomans which was equivalent to $4.5 billion at the time.

The clerical regime affiliated gangs are the main distributor of drugs in the country as its agents intentionally propagate the use of drugs among the youth and teenagers, particularly high school and university students, in order to divert their attention from getting involved in anti-government activities.

The members of the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have seized control of drug trafficking throughout the country, using the multi-billion-dollar trade to establish links with a global crime network and further its goal of undermining the West.

The mullahs' regime has also counts on the illegal drug trade as an important source of badly-needed hard currency, some of which is spent on the regime's export of terrorism and fundamentalism abroad.

The bulk of the narcotics is sent abroad through international drug trafficking rings.

A member of the Iranian regime's  Quds Force, an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guard, that had plotted to kill Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US in 2011, had tried to hire a Mexican drug cartel to blow up a Washington restaurant