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Highlighting the Importance of the Iran Deal in Israel

This was originally posted on Treasury Notes, the official blog of the U.S. Department of Treasury. You can read the original post here. 

Adam Szubin, Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, concluded his visit to Israel, where he met with senior Israeli government officials and thought leaders to discuss the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as well as our shared efforts to counter Iran’s support for terrorism, its missile program, and other malign activities. The trip was the first to Israel by a Treasury Department official since the nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 partners was reached in July.

Endorsed by the United Nations Security Council and more than 100 countries, the JCPOA is a historic deal that cuts off all pathways for Iran to build a nuclear weapon, puts in place intrusive inspections, and ensures that Iran’s nuclear program will be exclusively peaceful.

During the trip, Acting Under Secretary Szubin met with senior Israeli government officials – including National Security Advisor Yossi Cohen, Minister for Energy and Infrastructure Yuval Steinitz, and Director-General of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dore Gold. He also spoke with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro and participated in a roundtable with key Israeli think tanks. Throughout these discussions, Acting Under Secretary Szubin addressed questions and misconceptions about the nuclear deal and underscored the importance of the United States and Israel intensifying our joint work in the intelligence, financial, and diplomatic arenas to effectively counter terrorist groups like Hizballah and other violent extremists supported by Iran through the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-Qods Force.

The deal reached in Vienna in July makes the United States and Israel more secure by foreclosing Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon.

Sanctions relief under the JCPOA will only occur after the International Atomic Energy Agency has verified that Iran has completed key nuclear steps – and even then, with narrow exceptions, this relief only applies to the United States’ nuclear-related secondary sanctions. This means that we will maintain an array of authorities to counter Iran’s ongoing illicit conduct. Our trade embargo on Iran will remain in effect except for narrow exceptions, and we will not lift sanctions that target Iran’s support for terrorist groups, its abuses of human rights, or its destabilizing activities in the region.

The United States sees Iran clearly for what it is: the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism and destabilizing force in the region.

Iran’s active support to groups like Hizballah and reliance on the IRGC-Qods Force only heightens the imperative to cut off Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear bomb. That’s why the nuclear deal is so critical; the world is far better positioned to confront those threats with Iran’s nuclear program held in check. That’s also why the United States is keeping firmly in place the whole array of U.S. sanctions targeting Iran outside the nuclear realm. In fact, under the JCPOA, more than 200 Iran-linked persons will remain designated by the United States and subject to direct U.S. and secondary sanctions, including the networks of the IRGC, IRGC-Qods force, major Iranian companies, and key military and defense entities and firms.

The United States and Israel will continue to work together on key diplomatic and security issues to foster stability in the region and ensure continued security for Israel.

Jamie Obal is a media affairs specialist at the U.S. Department of Treasury.

Dense Fog Advisory issued September 02 at 7:25AM EDT until September 02 at 9:00AM EDT by NWS


…DENSE FOG ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM EDT THIS MORNING… THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY HAS ISSUED A DENSE FOG ADVISORY…WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM EDT THIS MORNING. * TIMING…THROUGH THE MORNING RUSH. THE FOG WILL SLOWLY LIFT BETWEEN 8 AND 10 AM. * IMPACTS…POOR VISIBILITIES OF ONE-QUARTER MILE OR LESS WILL

Source: Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Middlesex County New Jersey Issued by the National Weather Service.

Air Quality Alert issued September 01 at 3:25PM EDT by NWS


…AIR QUALITY ALERT IS IN EFFECT FOR WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 2… THE NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION HAS ISSUED A CODE ORANGE AIR QUALITY ALERT WEDNESDAY FOR MIDDLESEX COUNTY. A CODE ORANGE AIR QUALITY ALERT MEANS THAT AIR POLLUTION CONCENTRATIONS WITHIN THE REGION MAY BECOME UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS. SENSITIVE GROUPS INCLUDE CHILDREN…PEOPLE

Source: Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Middlesex County New Jersey Issued by the National Weather Service.

Air Quality Alert issued August 31 at 3:25PM EDT by NWS


…AIR QUALITY ALERT IS IN EFFECT FOR TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 1… THE NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION HAS ISSUED A CODE ORANGE AIR QUALITY ALERT TUESDAY FOR MIDDLESEX COUNTY. A CODE ORANGE AIR QUALITY ALERT MEANS THAT AIR POLLUTION CONCENTRATIONS WITHIN THE REGION MAY BECOME UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS. SENSITIVE GROUPS INCLUDE CHILDREN…PEOPLE

Source: Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Middlesex County New Jersey Issued by the National Weather Service.

What I Saw in Alaska

This week, President Obama is visiting Alaska to experience firsthand how climate change is affecting Alaska and the greater Arctic, and to meet with Alaskans across the state – in locations as diverse as Anchorage, Seward, Dillingham, and Kotzebue – who are dealing with the consequences of climate change.

In support of the President’s trip, I spent the past weekend making my own stops in Alaska to learn more about how climate change is already affecting local communities and ecosystems, and to engage with Alaskans working to tackle climate-related challenges.

I was joined on the trip by three other senior officials from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP): Tamara Dickinson, the leader of OSTP’s Environment & Energy division; Ambassador Mark Brzezinski, Executive Director of the U.S. Government’s Arctic Executive Steering Committee and former U.S. Ambassador to Sweden; and Beth Kerttula, Director of the National Ocean Council, as well as a native Alaskan and former minority leader in the Alaska state legislature. I wanted to share a few observations with you about what we saw.

Senior OSTP officials at the Cold Climate Housing Research Center
OSTP’s Ambassador Mark Brzezinski (far left), Tamara Dickinson (fourth from left), Director John Holdren (second from right) and Beth Kerttula (far right) with staff of the Cold Climate Housing Research Center in Fairbanks, Alaska.

On Saturday, we visited the Cold Climate Housing Research Center, a nonprofit corporation that develops sustainable, cost-effective building technologies tailored to Alaska and other polar regions. We also toured the Permafrost Tunnel Research Facility. Studies conducted at this underground laboratory (one of only two permafrost tunnels in the world!) help us better understand how climate change is accelerating permafrost thaw, and the associated impacts on communities and ecosystems.

Inside the Permafrost Tunnel Research Facility
Inside the Permafrost Tunnel Research Facility.

We kicked off Sunday by hearing from participants in the Fulbright Arctic Initiative about the research that Initiative scholars from the United States and other Arctic nations are doing on critical topics like energy, water, and health and infrastructure. In the afternoon, we met with scholars who are younger, but no less impressive: students in the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program, which supports science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education for Alaska Natives from sixth grade all the way through college and graduate programs.

Meeting with students in the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP)
Meeting with students in the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP).

During our trip, we also participated in roundtable discussions with students and faculty at the University of Alaska (UAA) Fairbanks and UAA Anchorage, researchers who are working on the cutting edge of Arctic climate science. And we met with the mayors of Anchorage, Fairbanks, the Northwest Arctic Borough, and other Alaskan municipalities, as well as with officials of Federal departments and agencies with office in Alaska, to talk about their efforts to prepare for and adapt to climate change, and the ways in which the Federal government can best support them.

Alaska represents the frontlines of our fight against climate change. What my OSTP colleagues and I saw and heard over the weekend has powerfully augmented our understanding of the range of dramatic impacts that climate change is having on ecosystems and communities in the far North. I believe that the stops that President Obama is making in Alaska this week – including a historic visit to the Alaskan Arctic –will further underscore for the Nation the importance of taking strong action to combat climate change now.

So I encourage you to follow the President’s trip at http://ift.tt/1X1OnWI, and to join this Administration in working together to #ActOnClimate.

Dr. John P. Holdren is Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the Office of the Science and Technology Policy, and Chairman of the U.S. Arctic Executive Steering Committee.

Air Quality Alert issued August 31 at 3:25PM EDT by NWS


…AIR QUALITY ALERT IS IN EFFECT FOR TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 1… THE NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION HAS ISSUED A CODE ORANGE AIR QUALITY ALERT TUESDAY FOR MIDDLESEX COUNTY. A CODE ORANGE AIR QUALITY ALERT MEANS THAT AIR POLLUTION CONCENTRATIONS WITHIN THE REGION MAY BECOME UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS. SENSITIVE GROUPS INCLUDE CHILDREN…PEOPLE

Source: Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Middlesex County New Jersey Issued by the National Weather Service.