Iranian official calls for negotiations with Washington in Iraq

[Pitcher]

KIraq NSC stresses importance of distinguished ties with Iran

Baghdad, Aug 12, IRNA - The National Security Council of Iraq on Sunday underlined the importance of preserving the distinguished ties with Iran.

In a session presided over by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, the council also rejected the wrong interpretations of the remarks made recently by the Iraqi PM on anti-Iran sanctions.

Meanwhile, Iraqi government spokesman Sa'd al-Hadithi in a comment published by media termed the economic sanctions against the Iranian people as a 'brutal and wrong' measure.

He also said the Iraqi prime minister recently explained the stance of the Baghdad government that the choice of sanctions was wrong and detrimental to people. 

Al-Hadithi said as the Iraqi PM said Baghdad considers the sanctions as 'incorrect' but has to comply with parts of them which are related to financial transactions, bank orders and non-trading with dollars.

The Central Bank of Iraq issued a directive Friday, allowing all Iraqi banks to keep their trading ties with their Iranian counterparts based on euro.


In another development, Iraqi Interior Minister Qasim al-Araji has reiterated that none of border crossings with Iran has been closed and will not be closed in the future.

He however explained that Washington's anti-Iran measures did not include closure of border crossings or ban on imports from Iran but are related to non-transactions between the two countries with dollar.
 

http://www.irna.ir/en/News/82999239

[ChuckFinley]

16 minutes ago, 10 YEARS LATER said:

Iran's total financial & economic collapse is coming: so now they're trying to Shake Down Iraq for _ " 11 BILLION DOLLARS " ( say it like Goldmember ) 

I needed that. 

[10 YEARS LATER]

11 minutes ago, ChuckFinley said:

I needed that. 

Doesn't it feel as ( w/this investment ) if there are some days you are tenaciously hanging on by a thread with only your Humor as the lifeline that preserves your humanity while riding THIS Bus Full O' Monkeys ?

[ChuckFinley]

4 minutes ago, 10 YEARS LATER said:

Doesn't it feel as ( w/this investment ) if there are some days you are tenaciously hanging on by a thread with only your Humor as the lifeline that preserves your humanity while riding THIS Bus Full O' Monkeys ?

Humor is key in this investment. 

[10 YEARS LATER]

No need for lengthy debate OR listening to feigned outrage, empty threats & posturing.

 

Iran knows where they stand w/The USA. This could be a very brief chat followed by a very short after chat De-brief at the podium from US; with a response that ends with . . . " Drones & MOAB's " 

Edited August 12, 2018 by 10 YEARS LATER

[Pitcher]

You would think they would play the same game as N Korea just to get the sanctions taken off. 

 

Its just not that hard for Iran, stop building a nuclear bomb like the Obama Agreement says and stop with the proxy wars. 

 

Its almost like they want a ME war

[CSM (R) Thack]

1 hour ago, 10 YEARS LATER said:

Doesn't it feel as ( w/this investment ) if there are some days you are tenaciously hanging on by a thread with only your Humor as the lifeline that preserves your humanity while riding THIS Bus Full O' Monkeys ?

 

1 hour ago, ChuckFinley said:

Humor is key in this investment. 

It does...and it is!!!😂🤣👍

[CSM (R) Thack]

“Pride”...can’t look like their weak or subservient to “The Great Satan”! At some point, it’s  going to come down to put up or shut up! I hope it’s the later...not holding my breath though!!🇺🇸

[Pitcher]

1 hour ago, ChuckFinley said:

Humor is key in this investment. 

 

 

Thats is why Thug, King and a few others are so valuable to this site. They keep it light

[CSM (R) Thack]

2 minutes ago, Pitcher said:

 

 

Thats is why Thug, King and a few others are so valuable to this site. They keep it light

Hooah!!!👍

[ChuckFinley]

2 minutes ago, Pitcher said:

 

 

Thats is why Thug, King and a few others are so valuable to this site. They keep it light

I hear you  they keep our sanity. 

[Pitcher]

Only partial sanity Chuck.  Haha

[ChuckFinley]

Just now, Pitcher said:

Only partial sanity Chuck.  Haha

The other part is Scotch.  

[new york kevin]

2 hours ago, Pitcher said:

ERBIL - An Iraqi MP has strongly criticized the country's government for "being soft on Iran" in reacting to Tehran's demands for the old Iraq-Iran war reparations, calling on the UN to intervene and decide which side should compensate the other.

MP Fayaq Sheikh Ali said on Sunday in a statement on his Twitter account that the Islamic Republic "cannot insult the Iraqis whenever it wants to" and that it can't ask for compensation "for no reasons".

Sheikh Ali has also criticized the Iraqi government, noting that it should be braver against the neighboring country's request of war reparations.

Earlier, Iran asked Iraq for a total of $ 11 billion where the Iraqi lawmaker responded to it and said that Tehran should reimburse Baghdad with $ 22 billion for "sending the Islamic State to Iraq and leading one million Iraqis to death".

I would say that Sheikh Ali took great care for Iraq's initial response. Sounds like Iraq will be shaking off the hooks Iran hoped to sink into them.  I like that.

[Pitcher]

Oh man Scotch.  I don’t drink anymore but that sounds good.  20 year old single malt. Yep, that was my deal.  

[CSM (R) Thack]

37 minutes ago, ChuckFinley said:

The other part is Scotch.  

😂🤣😂🤣

[ChuckFinley]

1 hour ago, new york kevin said:

I would say that Sheikh Ali took great care for Iraq's initial response. Sounds like Iraq will be shaking off the hooks Iran hoped to sink into them.  I like that.

[ChuckFinley]

1 hour ago, Pitcher said:

Oh man Scotch.  I don’t drink anymore but that sounds good.  20 year old single malt. Yep, that was my deal.  

First Cranberry Juice on me. 

[Pitcher]

Iced Tea works fine.  Haha

[yota691]

 

[yota691]

 

[Butifldrm]

DEFENSE

 

2 days ago

Iran test-fires ballistic missile for first time in 2018, officials say

By Lucas Tomlinson | Fox News

•  

 

 

Iran test-fires ballistic missile as Trump hits Turkey, Russia and Iran with economic punishments; General Jack Keane weighs in on 'The Story with Martha MacCallum.'

EXCLUSIVE –  For the first time in more than a year, Iran test-fired a ballistic missile in a brazen display of defiance months after President Trump pulled the United States out of a landmark nuclear deal and days before his administration slapped new sanctions on the Islamic Republic, three U.S. officials with knowledge of the launch tell Fox News.

The test of an Iranian Fateh-110 short-range ballistic missile coincided with a large-scale naval exercise by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard forces late last week involving over 50 small gunboats in the Strait of Hormuz to rehearse “swarm” tactics which could one day potentially shut down the vital waterway, through which 30 percent of the world’s oil passes each year.

While the U.S. military publicly acknowledged the naval activity, the missile test from an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps base in Bandar-e-Jask in southeastern Iran has not been previously reported. The launch was detected by U.S. spy satellites.

According to the officials, the anti-ship Fateh-110 Mod 3 flew over 100 miles on a flight path over the Strait of Hormuz to a test range in the Iranian desert. “It was shore-to-shore,” said one U.S. official describing the launch, who like the others requested anonymity to discuss sensitive information.

There were no U.S. military assets nearby or in danger when Iran conducted the test, the official added. The guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans has been escorting vessels through the strait in recent days.

Video

Escalating tension between US, EU on Iran sanctions

A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment on the Iranian ballistic missile launch.

Last week’s missile launch is the first known test of the Fateh-110 in over a year since a pair were launched on consecutive days in March 2017. One of the missiles last year destroyed a floating barge roughly 155 miles away, two U.S. officials said at the time.

The top American commander for U.S. forces in the Middle East told reporters Iran’s recent naval activity was meant to “send a message” to the United States.

"I think it's pretty clear to us that they were trying to use that exercise to send a message to us that as we approach this period of the sanctions, they had some capabilities," Gen. Joseph Votel said at the Pentagon Wednesday.

It’s not immediately clear if the missile test occurred Thursday or Friday, but U.S. officials say it occurred as part of Iran’s annual naval exercise, moved up from its typical fall timeframe ahead of the new sanctions imposed this week. “It’s routine to see Iran doing a missile test during this annual drill,” one official said.

Earlier this week, John Bolton, President Trump’s national security adviser, said the new U.S. sanctions placed on Iran Tuesday were meant to pressure the government in Tehran over its military activity in the Middle East and its ballistic missile program.

In an interview on Fox News, Bolton said the new sanctions targeting Iran’s automotive and airline sectors were not to bring about “regime change” in Iran despite dozens of protests taking place throughout the country and its currency losing value.

U.N. resolution 2231 -- put in place days after the Iran nuclear deal was signed -- calls on the Islamic Republic not to conduct ballistic missile tests. The resolution bars Iran from conducting ballistic missile tests for eight years and went into effect July 20, 2015.

Video

What effect can new US sanctions have on Iran's economy?

But critics say the resolution leaves wiggle room by saying Iran is “called upon” not forbidden from carrying out such tests.

Iran is "called upon not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology," according to the text of the resolution.

Despite this most recent example of Iranian saber rattling, its notable Iran has not harassed any U.S. warships or aircraft in nearly a year. The last unsafe interaction occurred nearly a year ago on Aug. 14, 2017, when an Iranian drone flew too close to an F/A-18 Hornet attempting to land aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, according to the Navy.

Last September, Iranian state television aired footage of a ballistic missile launch of what Tehran described as a new type of medium-range ballistic missile hours after displaying the missile in a parade in Tehran, but the missile launch turned out to be fake and copy of a failed launch the previous January, according to U.S. officials.

The failed late January launch was first reported by Fox News and prompted the White House to put Iran “on notice” days later.

A year earlier, Iranian forces captured the crew of two small U.S. Navy patrol boats that strayed into Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf. The 10 American sailors were released roughly a day later.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/08/10/iran-test-fires-ballistic-missile-for-first-time-in-2018-officials-say.html

[yota691]

 

[yota691]

China confirms its continued import of oil from Iran, ignoring the US embargo

 

Arab and international Economy News _ Baghdad China has been importing oil from Iran for a long time and now ignores the unilateral US embargo and continues to buy oil from Tehran, the director of the International Federation of the Petroleum Industry and Chemical Industries of China (cpcif) Andrei Yu confirmed on Monday. "The Chinese market and many other markets depend on Iranian oil," Yu said in remarks to the official IRNA news agency. "Chinese companies will need Iranian oil in all circumstances and will buy oil from them. "He said. "We do not care about sanctions when we buy oil from Iran," he said. "China believes that oil, gas and other trade and economic fields should not be affected by the US embargo."  Views 7   Date Added 13/08/2018

[yota691]

Imam Khamenei: We will not negotiate with America again

Date of release: 2018/8/13 13:51 • 100 times read

The leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said today that America is proposing negotiations again. This is not a new issue, but now the equation has changed and we will not conduct negotiations again.

Iranian media quoted Mr. Khamenei as saying during a meeting with thousands of Iranian people of different sects in Imam Hussein Khomeini in Tehran that "the people are feeling the crisis of living and that a class of the Iranian people are living under economic pressure," stressing that The high price of foodstuffs and housing is putting pressure on the people. " 
Ali Khamenei criticized the Iranian government's performance in the foreign currency crisis and the high price of gold in the Iranian market, explaining that the crisis was caused by mismanagement and operational policies in the country.
He also pointed to the issue of the Iranian local currency and its decline against foreign currencies. He said that the devaluation of the national currency is one of the economic problems of the country. 
He noted that "many economists and officials in the country agree that the causes of this crisis are not external factors, but that the reasons are due to factors at home and this does not mean that the sanctions did not impact, but the main factor is the poor performance." 
"If the performance is well done, strong, programmed and timely, the sanctions will be only a very poor impact," he said.
"For example, in the case of foreign currencies and metal parts, we see that because of the mismanagement of some of the money went to the hands of people who abused their use and work, this problem is due to reasons in the executive policies and methods of management, if the distribution of funds wrong, we find that this process "The two parties, the first party that takes this money and the second party that gives it, and we direct our most attention to the party that takes the money, while the main loser in such a case is the party that gave the money and we do not say this is a treason but a serious mistake. 

Mr. Khamenei stressed that "the enemy lurks in Iran and if he sees any problem at home, he will break this crisis as the flies fly on the wound and try to exploit it and cause the greatest possible harm to us."
"All the institutions of the country should be vigilant in all fields," he said, referring to the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the judiciary, as well as to the Iranian people. "All these groups bear responsibility for the country and the ways of corruption must be closed," he said. 
"This call for negotiations is not new. They have been calling for this since the first victory of the Islamic revolution, but why not negotiate?" He said. . 
"The United States is following a certain rule in the negotiations, that America is dependent on power and money, they see negotiations as business deals," he said. 
"The Americans, when they want to negotiate with one another, are setting their main goals and will not back down on any of these goals and objectives," he said.

"The Americans demand that the negotiating partner have specific concessions, even if this party does not give them these concessions," he said. "They are making a big fuss until the party withdraws and gives them concessions." 
Imam al-Khamenei said that "the Americans do not give privileges to the counterparty in exchange for what they get from, and give the loss of empty promises to satisfy the negotiating party and convince him to make concessions." is over