Israel Calls to Support IAEA in its Investigations with Iran

Prime Minister Yair Lapid with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Prime Minister's Office)
Prime Minister Yair Lapid with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Prime Minister's Office)
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Israel Calls to Support IAEA in its Investigations with Iran

Prime Minister Yair Lapid with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Prime Minister's Office)
Prime Minister Yair Lapid with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Prime Minister's Office)

Israel objected to Tehran's request to end open probes by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), calling on major countries to support the "independence" of the watchdog investigating Iran's nuclear program.

Political sources in Tel Aviv said there were several faults and defects in the draft to revive the nuclear agreement presented by the EU to Iran, including that this agreement will not enter into force until after four stages to establish confidence between Iran and the United States.

They believe that during the four stages spanning over 165 days, Tehran will have the freedom to act as if there is almost no agreement and will start receiving its frozen assets after their gradual release.

Sources close to Prime Minister Yair Lapid said he was sending the head of Mossad, David Barnea, to put forward friendly proposals for Israeli-US cooperation.

Lapid stressed that the visit did not aim to provoke the US administration, as former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used to do. He confirmed that Barnea's visit came at the request of the Senate Intelligence Committee and not on his initiative.

Meanwhile, Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis during his official visit to Basel on Monday.

Herzog called upon the Swiss and all other governments to oppose the Iranian nuclear program in no "uncertain terms."

"Iran has sworn itself to Israel's destruction and is working tirelessly to destabilize our region and the entire world," he said, adding that Iran's behavior cannot be met with silence and its activities cannot go unpunished.

"Such a state must not be allowed to possess nuclear capabilities. Iran must be denied such capabilities by all means necessary,” he added.

Herzog referred to the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, who said there would be no way back to a nuclear deal if the IAEA probe continues.

"The Iranian president's statement today is perfectly clear. It says, 'We don't respect the independence of the International Atomic Energy Agency to investigate open cases,' which are major cases involving enriched uranium located by IAEA inspectors”, Herzog said.

The Israeli president urged Switzerland to do everything to ensure the IAEA's independence and deny Iran nuclear weapons.

Haaretz quoted a reliable source close to the Israeli government on Monday, reviewing the most critical points in the European draft agreement.

According to the understandings in the European Union's draft proposal presented last month, the treaty will be completed only after four rounds designed to establish trust between the parties.

The first stage, dubbed "day zero," is the day the agreement is signed.

Before signing, the sides should finalize a deal to release prisoners from Iran in exchange for money trapped in various international bank accounts and an initial easing of the sanctions.

At the same time, Iran will be required to freeze all its violations of the agreement until now but will be able to retain the inventory of uranium it has accumulated thus far.

During the second stage, the deal will be placed on the congressional table for a maximum of five days from the date of signing. For 30 days from that moment, members of Congress will be able to peruse and study the treaty, and throughout this period, there will be no possibility of easing the legislation's sanctions.

The third phase will enter into force 60 days after Congress approves, during which a representative of the US State Department will inform the UN Security Council and the IAEA about the decision to return to the agreement.

After an additional 60 days, the fourth and final stage would see the US formally return to the deal.

The US and Iran will issue a joint declaration of their commitment to the process, and Washington will lift additional sanctions on other companies.

Israel believes this formula contains many loopholes that must be addressed before signing it but refuses to talk about them publicly to maintain the level of friendly dialogue between the partners.

According to a government source, Lapid is unsatisfied with dialogue with the United States but has sent his envoys to France, Britain, and Germany.

However, the source revealed that Israel would request to slow the lifting of sanctions from the first to the fourth stage.

On Monday, Lapid met with Netanyahu to deliver a security briefing on the nuclear deal. Lapid's military secretary, Avi Gil, attended the meeting.

The meeting focused on the Iran deal and "the diplomatic and defense activities that Israel is leading to influence the issue," along with other unspecified national security issues.

Netanyahu spoke to the press after the briefing, saying he was "more worried after the meeting than before."

Meanwhile, former Mossad head Yossi Cohen said at a World Zionist Organization event in Switzerland that Mossad carried out many operations against Iran's nuclear program, including some deep inside Iranian territory.

"Without going into too many details, I can tell you the Mossad had many successes in the fight against Iran's nuclear program," Cohen said.

Referring to the Mossad operation in January 2018, he noted the operation to snatch the Iranian nuclear files, which he said showed "clear evidence" that Tehran lied about the military dimensions of its atomic program.

Cohen said Israel "will continue to do whatever needs to be done" to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear arms if a deal is signed.

"We can never allow a regime that calls for our destruction to get its finger on the nuclear trigger," he said.



Trump Administration Cancels Travel for Refugees Already Cleared to Resettle in the US

 An Afghan refugee man, who asked not to use his name and not to show his face fearing his identity could lead to his capture, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP)
An Afghan refugee man, who asked not to use his name and not to show his face fearing his identity could lead to his capture, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP)
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Trump Administration Cancels Travel for Refugees Already Cleared to Resettle in the US

 An Afghan refugee man, who asked not to use his name and not to show his face fearing his identity could lead to his capture, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP)
An Afghan refugee man, who asked not to use his name and not to show his face fearing his identity could lead to his capture, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP)

Refugees who had been approved to travel to the United States before a deadline next week suspending America's refugee resettlement program have had their travel plans canceled by the Trump administration.

Thousands of refugees who fled war and persecution and had gone through a sometimes yearslong process to start new lives in America are now stranded at various locations worldwide. That includes more than 1,600 Afghans who assisted America's war effort, as well as relatives of active-duty US military personnel.

President Donald Trump paused the refugee resettlement program this week as part of a series of executive orders cracking down on immigration. His move had left open the possibility that refugees who had been screened to come to the US and had flights booked before the Jan. 27 deadline might be able to get in under the wire.

But in an email dated Tuesday and reviewed by The Associated Press, the US agency overseeing refugee processing and arrivals told staff and stakeholders that "refugee arrivals to the United States have been suspended until further notice."

There are a little more than 10,000 refugees from around the world who had already gone through the lengthy refugee admission process and had travel scheduled over the next few weeks, according to a document obtained by the AP. It was not immediately clear how many of those had been set to arrive by upcoming deadline.

Among those are more than 1,600 Afghans cleared to come to the US as part of the program that the Biden administration set up after the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Many veterans of America's longest war have tried for years to help Afghans they worked with, in addition to their families, find refuge in the US. Many were prepared for a suspension of the resettlement program but had hoped for special consideration for the Afghans.

"The Trump administration’s early pause of refugee flights is alarming, leaving thousands of Afghan allies in fear and uncertainty," said Shawn VanDiver, a Navy veteran and head of #AfghanEvac, a coalition supporting Afghan resettlement efforts. "We are ready to partner to fix this and urge clear communication with impacted families. Let’s honor our promises and uphold America’s values."

There is a separate path — the special immigrant visa program— specifically for Afghans who worked directly with the US government. VanDiver's group said that program, set up by Congress, did not appear to be affected at this time.

Trump's order signed Monday had given the State Department a week before it began to halt all processing and traveling. It appears the timing was moved up, though it was not immediately clear what prompted the change.

The State Department referred questions to the White House.

Agencies that help refugees settle and adjust to life in America have argued that this is the type of legal immigration that Trump and his supporters say they like and have pointed to the stringent background checks and sometimes yearslong wait that refugees endure before setting foot in America.

"This abrupt halt to refugee admissions is devastating for families who have already endured unimaginable hardship and waited years for the chance to rebuild their lives in safety," Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, head of Global Refuge, one of the 10 US resettlement agencies, said in a statement Wednesday.

"Refugees go through one of the most rigorous vetting processes in the world, and many are now seeing their travel canceled just days, or even hours, before they were set to begin their new lives in the United States," she said. "It’s utterly heartbreaking."

Refugees are distinct from people who come directly to the US-Mexico border with the goal of eventually seeking asylum. Refugees must be living outside of the US to be considered for resettlement and are usually referred to the State Department by the United Nations.

While the resettlement program has historically enjoyed bipartisan support, the first Trump administration also temporarily halted resettlement and then lowered the number of refugees who could enter the country annually.