Latest news with #NationalSecurityPresidentialMemorandum
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US unveils new sanctions over Iran missile program
The State Department said Wednesday they would sanction six entities and six individuals based in Iran and China for supporting Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) ballistic missile development. 'Today's action, which targets this network that has facilitated the procurement of sodium perchlorate and dioctyl sebacate from China to Iran, is taken in support of the United States' maximum pressure campaign to curtail Iran's ballistic missile program and disrupt the activities of the IRGC, as outlined in the President's National Security Presidential Memorandum,' State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement. Sodium perchlorate is used to produce ammonium perchlorate. Both ammonium perchlorate and dioctyl sebacate are chemicals usable in solid propellant rocket motors, which are commonly used for ballistic missiles, according to the Treasury Department. 'Iran's aggressive development of missiles and other weapons capabilities imperils the safety of the United States and our partners,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. 'It also destabilizes the Middle East, and violates the global agreements intended to prevent the proliferation of these technologies. To achieve peace through strength, Treasury will continue to take all available measures to deprive Iran's access to resources necessary to advance its missile program,' he continued. In March, the State Department announced it would offer a $15 million reward for information linked to four Chinese nationals it says have helped the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) procure U.S. military equipment and drone technology. Officials said individuals would facilitate the sale of U.S. goods to front companies based in China that would send the technology to Iran. Iran would then transport products to the IRGC and its linked companies which Bruce said would soon end. 'The United States will continue to hold accountable those who seek to advance Iran's ballistic missile program, to include its procurement of propellant ingredients used for ballistic missiles,' the State Department spokesperson said in her Wednesday statement. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
30-04-2025
- Business
- The Hill
US unveils new sanctions over Iran missile program
The State Department said Wednesday they would sanction six entities and six individuals based in Iran and China for supporting Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) ballistic missile development. 'Today's action, which targets this network that has facilitated the procurement of sodium perchlorate and dioctyl sebacate from China to Iran, is taken in support of the United States' maximum pressure campaign to curtail Iran's ballistic missile program and disrupt the activities of the IRGC, as outlined in the President's National Security Presidential Memorandum,' State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement. Sodium perchlorate is used to produce ammonium perchlorate. Both ammonium perchlorate and dioctyl sebacate are chemicals usable in solid propellant rocket motors, which are commonly used for ballistic missiles, according to the Treasury Department. 'Iran's aggressive development of missiles and other weapons capabilities imperils the safety of the United States and our partners,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. 'It also destabilizes the Middle East, and violates the global agreements intended to prevent the proliferation of these technologies. To achieve peace through strength, Treasury will continue to take all available measures to deprive Iran's access to resources necessary to advance its missile program,' he continued. In March, the State Department announced it would offer a $15 million reward for information linked to four Chinese nationals it says have helped the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) procure U.S. military equipment and drone technology. Officials said individuals would facilitate the sale of U.S. goods to front companies based in China that would send the technology to Iran. Iran would then transport products to the IRGC and its linked companies which Bruce said would soon end. 'The United States will continue to hold accountable those who seek to advance Iran's ballistic missile program, to include its procurement of propellant ingredients used for ballistic missiles,' the State Department spokesperson said in her Wednesday statement.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rachel Maddow Calls Trump's 170-Mile U.S. Border-Mexico Military Base a ‘Big Red Flag' of ‘Authoritarian Takeover'
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow called out President Donald Trump's administration for quietly turning 170 miles of the United States border into a military base, which is the latest move in Trump's efforts to crack down on illegal immigration, saying his effort is huge warning sign of authoritarian rule. The journalist jumped right into her take on Trump's second 100 days in office on Monday night's episode of 'The Rachel Maddow Show' by outlining the details of Trump's military zone, which she said has yet to become a 'major issue' but soon will be. 'I want to put a little focus on things that have not yet emerged as major issues, but heads up, they're coming,' Maddow prefaced, sharing that this month Trump signed off on what's being called a National Security Presidential Memorandum, a message declaring that three neighboring states — New Mexico, Arizona and California — are now part of a military base. 'In this memo, Trump ordered the Pentagon, the Defense Department, to start taking control of this land. So now the U.S. military has taken control of 170 miles of land, starting in New Mexico, along new New Mexico's southern border,' Maddow explained. 'And they have declared that that land is now part of Fort Huachuca, which is a U.S. army base that's not even in New Mexico. It's in Arizona. Why would you take 170 miles of land in three different states and say all that land is now part of an army base somewhere very far away? It's because he wants active duty service members to start arresting people on U.S. soil.' She went to explain that as of last week, the military now has the power to 'arrest anyone who steps foot on that 170-mile-long strip of land.' Per a note from the U.S. Northern Command, soldiers can 'temporarily detain trespassers,' 'conduct cursory searchers of trespassers' and 'conduct crowd control measures.' That's when she shared that she believes the orders are some of the early signs of Trump's attempts to turn the U.S. into an authoritarian-operated nation. 'We may not think of this as something that matters for broader U.S. politics, or indeed the health of our political system,' Maddow said. 'But if you're looking for big red flags in terms of authoritarian takeover in a democratic rule of law country, when you've got U.S. troops searching and arresting people and doing 'crowd control' on U.S. soil, you're kind of there.' Maddow goes on to explain that while the Posse Comitatus, a 19th century law that blocks the military from participating in everyday civil law enforcement, Trump has appeared to have found a loophole, as he has designated three states as a military zone. 'Under American law, the Posse Comitatus Act is supposed to prevent the U.S. government from using U.S. soldiers on U.S. soil,' Maddow said. 'Theoretically, if somebody wonders onto a military base they can be arrested as trespassers on military property. So the idea here, I think, the neat trick that Trump has pulled here is that he's just turned hundreds of miles of American soil into what is technically a military base. So hey, presto, that's one unique trick to give the U.S. the power to search and arrest people on U.S. soil. And right now, they are only doing it at the edges, the physical edges of our country. But that is how you start.' You can watch the full 'Rachel Maddow Show' clip in the video above. The post Rachel Maddow Calls Trump's 170-Mile U.S. Border-Mexico Military Base a 'Big Red Flag' of 'Authoritarian Takeover' | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
Boston Globe
25-04-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Ending Iran's nuclear weapons program is not enough
Advertisement Yet addressing Iran's support for terrorism — which includes its involvement in the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel by Hamas and its stoking of regional turmoil by the Houthi rebels in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon — has apparently not factored into the current negotiations with Iran. It should. President Trump himself has said as much. Although special envoy Steve Witkoff has been confusing about the priorities for the negotiations — will a deal merely limit or terminate Iran's uranium enrichment? — the goals articulated by the president after he signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum in February reinstating 'maximum pressure' on Iran were sparkling clear. As a Advertisement Iranian support for terrorism was also a central component of Trump's decision in 2018 to pull out of the Obama deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. At the time, the White House That White House statement also noted that Iran was misusing the financial windfall it received as part of the JCPOA, which freed up billions of dollars in Five years later, minutes of Hamas meetings seized in Gaza now reveal that a senior Hamas official traveled to Iran, where he discussed planning for ' Today, key Iranian proxies Hezbollah and Hamas are severely degraded, though both still pose ongoing threats to Israel. And a US-led air campaign targeting the Houthis has yet to constrain the group's continuing rocket and drone attacks in the Red Sea and on Israel. In its latest annual threat assessment, the US intelligence community Advertisement The moment is right, then, for the Trump administration to use all the leverage it has to pressure Iran to give up both its nuclear program and its terrorist program. That leverage consists mainly of sanctions imposed on Iran not only because of its nuclear enrichment program, but also because of its human rights abuses and support of terrorist groups. If Iran truly wants full integration into the international financial system, it must be willing to abandon both enrichment and terrorist funding. But so long as the deal is limited to the nuclear portfolio, and does not cover Iran's other illicit activities, some sanctions will remain in place. That is because there is a wide array of international sanctions on Iran which are intended not only to stop its nuclear and missile programs, but also punish it for its support of terrorism, human rights abuses, and other issues. And so long as those other sanctions remain in place, Iran will face the same frustrations it did after the 2015 JCPOA was signed. Consider Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's 2016 Nowruz Advertisement That same year, then-Secretary of State John Kerry tried (and failed) to The JCPOA was doomed to fail because of this internal contradiction, even if President Trump had not pulled the United States out of the deal in 2018. Unless the president plans to capitulate to Iranian terrorism and unilaterally terminate all Iran sanctions, even without an Iranian commitment to cease sponsoring terrorism or engaging in other malign activities, then the same problem will face these new negotiations. Iran cannot enjoy the economic benefits it seeks while under sanction, and some sanctions will remain in place so long as Iran continues to engage in these illicit activities. The only way to square this circle is to expand negotiations to include not just nuclear weapons but Iranian sponsorship of terrorism as well.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
To stop migrants, US Army to take control of some of border with Mexico
U.S. Army soldiers will soon be patrolling a 170-mile buffer zone along the southern border with Mexico in a newly created "National Defense Area" in Arizona and New Mexico. It's part of the Trump administration's efforts to use the U.S. military to stop the flow of undocumented migrants into the United States. The large swath of area will stretch 60-feet-deep along federal lands running the length of the border and will be considered a part of Fort Huachuca in Arizona, meaning that, just as at any Army base, trespassers would be apprehended by soldiers and held until turned over to law enforcement. Some analysts see it as a way to militarize the border and skirt a federal law -- the Posse Comitatus Act -- that prohibits U.S. military personnel from carrying out law enforcement duties: by declaring the federal property a military base where migrants crossing into can be detained. 'Last week, President Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum directing federal agencies administering federal land on the border to make land available to the Defense Department in a new national defense area," Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Tuesday. "This new National Defense Area spans more than 170 miles across our border in New Mexico," said Leavitt. "But in in the coming weeks, this administration will add more than 90 miles in the state of Texas." "This National Defense Area will enhance our ability to detect, interdict and prosecute the illegal aliens, criminal gangs and terrorists who were able to invade our country without consequence for the past four years under the Biden administration," said Leavitt. "It will also bolster our defenses against fentanyl and other dangerous narcotics that have been poisoning our communities.' U.S. officials told ABC News that the initial phase of the new area will stretch from Fort Huachuca in southeastern Arizona eastward into New Mexico. The designation of a National Defense Area will apply only to federal lands that have been newly transferred to the control of the Defense Department and will not apply to privately held lands or territory belong to Native American reservations. That means it will be non-contiguous but will be in effect for much of New Mexico's border with Mexico, which stretches for nearly 180 miles of the state's border. U.S. Army troops will be operating in what is essentially a buffer zone formally known as the Roosevelt Reservation that includes federal lands in California, Arizona, and New Mexico on the border with Mexico. In 1907, to prevent smuggling, President Theodore Roosevelt declared that a 60-foot-wide buffer zone on public lands along the border with Mexico belongs to the federal government. Two U.S. officials told ABC News it was still to be determined whether the new authority would be applied to Texas given that the Roosevelt Reservation does not apply to lands in that state. According to the officials, the U.S. Army will soon begin placing signs on both sides of that 60-foot buffer zone warning that they are about to enter Defense Department property and could be apprehended for trespassing. Because of natural barriers along the border, the Roosevelt Reservation in some cases may stretch a mile into U.S. territory. Some of the territory to now be considered an Army base already has existing fencing on the border but in some areas does not. Regardless, the Army will place signage in both English and Spanish warning that any trespassers into the area will be apprehended. The move by the Trump administration has drawn criticism from legal analysts who describe it as a way to get around the U.S. military having law enforcement on the border which is done by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Currently 10,000 U.S. military personnel have been authorized to serve along the border, but only in a support role to CBP. "The president's plan would empower U.S. soldiers patrolling the area to take on a civilian law enforcement function: apprehending and detaining migrants crossing the border into the U.S. Deploying the military to enforce civilian law is a clear violation of the Posse Comitatus Act," said Elizabeth Goitein, the senior director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. "Under emergency powers law, the president is required to seek congressional approval for any transfer of federal land to the Defense Department," said Goitein. To stop migrants, US Army to take control of some of border with Mexico originally appeared on
