In A World Gone Crazy THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary EMBARGOED UNTIL 5:00AM on October 13, 2017 *_PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMPS NEW STRATEGY ON IRAN_* "It is time for the entire world to join us in demanding that Irans government end its pursuit of death and destruction. President Donald J. Trump" President Donald J. Trump, in consultation with his national security team, has approved a new strategy for Iran. It is the culmination of nine months of deliberation with Congress and our allies on how to best protect American security. *"_HIGHLIGHTS_"* *""* *"Core Elements of the Presidents New Iran Strategy"* * The United States new Iran strategy focuses on neutralizing the Government of Irans destabilizing influence and constraining its aggression, particularly its support for terrorism and militants. * We will revitalize our traditional alliances and regional partnerships as bulwarks against Iranian subversion and restore a more stable balance of power in the region. * We will work to deny the Iranian regime and especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) funding for its malign activities, and oppose IRGC activities that extort the wealth of the Iranian people. * We will counter threats to the United States and our allies from ballistic missiles and other asymmetric weapons. * We will rally the international community to condemn the IRGCs gross violations of human rights and its unjust detention of American citizens and other foreigners on specious charges. * Most importantly, we will deny the Iranian regime all paths to a nuclear weapon. *"_BACKGROUND_"* *""* *"The Nature of the Iranian Regime under Supreme Leader Khamenei"* For 28 years, Ali Khamenei has been Irans Supreme Leader. Before that, he held the office of President for 8 years. In that time, he has shaped the Iranian regime in his image. Khamenei and the IRGC have pursued a steady policy of spreading a revolutionary ideology aimed at undermining the international system and many states by force and subversion. His main enemy and rallying point has been and continues to be the United States of America, which he calls the Great Satan. Under Khamenei, Iran exports violence, destabilizes its neighbors, and sponsors terrorism abroad. Within Iran, under Khameneis rule the Iranian government has oppressed its people, abusing their rights, restricting their access to the internet and the outside world, rigging elections, shooting student protesters in the street, and imprisoning political reformers like Mir Hussein Musavi and Mehdi Karroubi. *"The Threats from the Iranian Regime"* * The reckless behavior of the Iranian regime, and the IRGC in particular, poses one of the most dangerous threats to the interests of the United States and to regional stability. The Iranian regime has taken advantage of regional conflicts and instability to aggressively expand its regional influence and threaten its neighbors with little domestic or international cost for its actions. This occurred most recently following the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from the vacuum created by the Obama administrations ill-considered withdrawal from the region. * The full range of the Iranian regimes malign activities extends well beyond the nuclear threat it poses, including: o Ballistic missile development and proliferation; o Material and financial support for terrorism and extremism; o Support for the Assad regimes atrocities against the Syrian people; o Unrelenting hostility to Israel; o Consistently threatening freedom of navigation, especially in the strategically vital Persian Gulf; o Cyber-attacks against the United States, Israel, and Americas other allies and partners in the Middle East; o Grievous human rights abuses; and o Arbitrary detention of foreigners, including United States citizens, on specious charges and without due process. *"The Need for a Comprehensive Strategy"* * The previous Administrations myopic focus on Irans nuclear program to the exclusion of the regimes many other malign activities allowed Irans influence in the region to reach a high-water mark. * Over the last decade and a half, United States policy has also consistently prioritized the immediate threat of Sunni extremist organizations over the longer-term threat of Iranian-backed militancy. * In doing so, the United States has neglected Irans steady expansion of proxy forces and terrorist networks aimed at keeping its neighbors weak and unstable in hopes of dominating the greater Middle East. Recently, the Iranian regime has accelerated the seeding of these networks with increasingly destructive weapons as they try to establish a bridge from Iran to Lebanon and Syria. * The Trump Administration will not repeat these mistakes. * The Trump Administrations Iran policy will address the totality of these threats from and malign activities by the Government of Iran and will seek to bring about a change in the Iranians regimes behavior. * The Trump Administration will accomplish these objectives through a strategy that neutralizes and counters Iranian threats, particularly those posed by the IRGC. *"Countering the IRGC"* Supreme Leader Khameneis primary tool and weapon in remaking Iran into a rogue state has been the hardline elements of the IRGC. The IRGCs stated purpose is to subvert the international order. The IRGCs power and influence have grown over time, even as it has remained unaccountable to the Iranian people, answering only to Khamenei. It is hard to find a conflict or a suffering people in the Middle East that the IRGCs tentacles do _not_ touch. * Unaccountable to Irans elected leaders or its people, the IRGC has tried to gain control over large portions of Irans economy and choke off competition, all the while working to weaken and undermine Irans neighbors and perpetuate the chaos and instability in which it thrives. * The IRGC has armed Bashar al Assad and guided his butchering of his own people in Syria and has cynically condoned his use of chemical weapons. The IRGC has sought to undermine the fight against ISIS with the influence of militant groups in Iraq under the IRGC's control. In Yemen, the IRGC has attempted to use the Houthis as puppets to hide Irans role in using sophisticated missiles and explosive boats to attack innocent civilians in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as to restrict freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. The IRGC has even threatened terrorist attacks right here at home. Senior IRGC commanders plotted the murder of Saudi Arabias Ambassador to the United States, Adel Jubeir, on American soil in 2011. But for exceptional work by our law enforcement and intelligence officers to detect and disrupt this egregious act, the IRGC would have conducted this terrorist attack and assassination in our own capital and would have killed not only a Saudi Arabian diplomat, but a host of other innocent bystanders at a popular restaurant in Washington, D.C. * The IRGC, which repeatedly displays reckless hostility and disregard for the laws and norms that underpin the international order, threatens all nations and the global economy. * Our partners in the international community agree with us that the IRGCs reckless behavior threatens international peace and security. They agree that the IRGC is fanning sectarianism and perpetuating regional conflict. They agree that the IRGC is engaged in corrupt economic practices that exploit the Iranian people and suppress internal dissent, human rights, and Irans economic prosperity. * For all these reasons, we want to work with our partners to constrain this dangerous organization, for the benefit of international peace and security, regional stability, and the Iranian people. *""* *"The Iranian Nuclear Program and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action"* * The Iranian regimes activities severely undercut whatever positive contributions to regional and international peace and security the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) sought to achieve. * Even with regard to JCPOA itself, the Iranian regime has displayed a disturbing pattern of behavior, seeking to exploit loopholes and test the international communitys resolve. * Iranian military leaders have stated publicly that they will refuse to allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections of their military sites. These statements fly in the face of Irans commitments under JCPOA and the Additional Protocol. Not long ago these same organizations hid nuclear facilities on military sites. * This behavior cannot be tolerated; the deal must be strictly enforced, and the IAEA must fully utilize its inspection authorities. ### REMINDER OF TIMELINE FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY//NOT REPORTABLE _TIMELINE (AS PREVIOUSLY CIRCULATED) _ 5:00AM Embargo lifts on White House Iran Policy Fact Sheet (above) 11:30AM Embargo lifts on the On-The-Record, Off Camera (no audio) Briefing on Iran Policy with Secretary Tillerson and National Security Advisor McMaster 12:45PM President delivers remarks on Iran Policy |
Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re
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