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Anonymous ID: 39327a Nov. 2, 2024, 11:58 a.m. No.21883735   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Iran Warns of Nuclear Program Shift, Threatens US and Israel

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/khamenei-iran-israel/2024/11/02/id/1186440/

 

Iran has issued strong warnings to the U.S. and Israel, with its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, vowing a "tooth-breaking response" and top officials hinting at potential changes to Iran's nuclear policy if faced with existential threats.

 

Khamenei declared on Saturday that Iran would retaliate forcefully against Israel and the United States for "what they are doing against Iran" and its allies in the region. The remarks follow an intensifying cycle of military exchanges and political posturing that has stoked fears of further escalation.

 

Kamal Kharrazi, a senior adviser to Khamenei, suggested on Friday that Iran could shift its nuclear policy to create weapons. Speaking to Lebanese broadcaster Al Mayadeen, Kharrazi stated that Iran has the capacity to develop nuclear weapons and may reconsider its stance on nuclear arms should the nation face an existential threat.

 

"If an existential threat arises, Iran will modify its nuclear doctrine. We have the capability to build weapons and have no issue in this regard," he stated. Kharrazi attributed Iran's restraint to Khamenei's 2003 religious ruling, or fatwa, prohibiting the development of nuclear weapons.

 

Kharrazi also indicated that Iran might extend the range of its ballistic missiles, citing concerns about Western responses to Iran's territorial sovereignty. "There is a possibility that the range of Iran's missiles may increase," he remarked, signaling potential shifts in Iran's defense strategy.

 

General Mohammad Naeini, spokesperson for Iran's Revolutionary Guard, stated that Iran would deliver a "decisive and strong response" to any perceived new aggression, particularly from Israel. "The enemy must learn it cannot engage in any act of hostility without receiving a crushing response," he said.

 

These statements come as the U.S. reinforces its presence in the Middle East. On Friday, the Pentagon announced the deployment of additional military assets, including B-52 bombers, fighter jets, refueling aircraft, and Navy destroyers, as the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group prepares to leave the region.

 

The White House, through a State Department spokesperson, reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, warning that any escalation by Iran would be met with a "serious" response.

 

Amid these tensions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently highlighted Israel's "freedom of action" against Iran following targeted strikes on Iranian military installations. "We can reach any place in Iran as necessary," he said, reaffirming Israel's objective to prevent Iran from achieving a nuclear capability.

 

This latest exchange builds on a history of friction. Iran's recent missile strikes followed Israel's airstrikes on positions associated with Iran-backed groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. These hostilities reflect a longstanding rivalry, now exacerbated by Israel's response to attacks from Gaza and northern borders.

 

Iran, meanwhile, has hinted at diminishing diplomatic reliance on Europe, which Kharrazi implied may no longer temper Iran's military ambitions, particularly regarding missile range.

 

Iran's nuclear ambitions have long been a source of international scrutiny, especially since 2017, when the United States, under former President Donald Trump, withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal, prompting Iran to scale back compliance with nuclear restrictions.

Anonymous ID: 39327a Nov. 2, 2024, 12:01 p.m. No.21883758   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3781

Texas Bars DOJ Election Monitors From Polling Sites

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/doj-polling-sites-texas/2024/11/02/id/1186446/

 

Federal election monitors are being told to stay away from polling locations in Texas.

 

"Secretary [Jane] Nelson confirms in a letter to the @TheJusticeDept that federal monitors are not permitted in Texas polling locations under state law," the official account for the Texas secretary of state said in a post on X.

 

"Texans can be confident in the state's strong measures to ensure election integrity."

 

The Department of Justice Friday said it would send election monitors to 86 jurisdictions in 27 states on Tuesday, the most in two decades and a 49% increase from 2020.

 

Florida and Missouri banned federal monitors from polling sites in the 2022 midterms and Florida Secretary of State Cory Byrd, a Republican, said he would ban federal authorities from entering polling sites in the four counties from his state.

 

The presence of "federal law enforcement inside polling places would be counterproductive and could undermine confidence in the election," he wrote, adding that his office plans to send state monitors to polling sites in the same counties.

 

"These monitors will ensure that there is no interference with the voting process," Byrd wrote to the DOJ.

 

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft also pushed back, telling the DOJ state law "vigorously restricts" who can enter polling sites.

 

"The unnecessary and seemingly unlawful intrusion of the same partisan agency that sued Alabama and Virginia to let noncitizens vote in elections is wrong," Ashcroft said. "The DOJ is unwanted, not needed, and has provided no legal basis to interfere with our elections."

 

Katherine Culliton-González, a former Justice Department voting rights lawyer who now serves as chief policy counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told The Washington Post it was "very promising and very much needed that the number of jurisdictions [being monitored] has increased."

 

Monitors "go to places where there is a potential for problems," she said. "Normally, monitors have a very calming effect."