Iranian official calls for negotiations with Washington in Iraq

[yota691]

Saudi Arabia: Iran is unable to close the Strait of Hormuz or Bab al-Mandab

Military intervention is likely to occur if authorized by the UN Security Council

 

 

 

 28 August 2018 12:55 PM

RIYADH: Iran is unable to close the Strait of Hormuz or Bab al-Mandab completely or partially, said Advisor to the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Ibrahim bin Abdul Aziz Al-Muhanna .

According to Reuters, on Tuesday, if Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, it is likely that the UN Security Council will give permission for military action .

Mahana pointed out that it is unlikely that the current sanctions will stop Iranian exports altogether .

And it raised the recent Iranian threats to close the Strait "Hormuz " worried oil investors around the world with responsibility for the strait to export 30% of crude around the world .

Saudi Arabia suspended shipments of oil through the Bab al-Mandab Strait on July 25, following attempts by the Houthis to attack two Saudi oil carriers. Saudi authorities said they had failed to meet their target.

[Butifldrm]

Ibrahim Al-Obaidi Tuesday, 28 August 2018 03:16 PM

 

Iran's reformers: Revolutionary Guards control the joints of the state .. And the fall of the regime chaos and foreign intervention is very likely

 

Observers: Saving Iran logo raised by all reformist and popular communities in Tehran for fear of collapse


What happens in Iran and how long economic and social deterioration in this form? 
 Thus came the cry of a well-known Iranian reformer, Sa'id Hajarian , the former head of the intelligence service, who suffered paralysis after the Basij forces in 2000 shot him in the face.

Hajarian called for Iran to be rescued from the military, specifically the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and warned of the political chaos witnessed by Tehran, saying "it may help to bring down the regime in his country through a foreign force." "We see today a strong confrontation by the authorities of the regime to expel dual nationals and prevent the arrival of Iranian nationals abroad, and we also see the exclusion of even experts at home," he said, .

Khajarian suffers from paralysis after being subjected to assassination attempts by a member of the Revolutionary Guards' Basij in 2000, when the second Khordad reform movement was widely accepted by former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. Handed over the Tehran City Council and ran away on a motorcycle with his partner. The bullet entered the cheek of the leftist Iranian activist and settled in his neck and suffered a paralysis following the injury.

"As long as there is no political collapse, it means that there will be no social collapse, but if the political system collapses, there is no possibility of controlling and managing the society," he said. 
"The social collapse will not lead to political collapse, but political chaos could lead to civil war, fragmentation and chaos in the country," he said.

Saving Iran

https://www.thebaghdadpost.com/ar/Story/119197/إصلاحيو-إيران-الحرس-الثوري-يسيطر-على-مفاصل-الدولة-وسقوط-النظام-بالفوضى-والتدخل-الأجنبي-وارد-جدا

[yota691]

Economist: US sanctions on Iran has caused the demobilization of large numbers of workers in Karbala, Najaf and Baghdad

15:49 - 28/08/2018

 

  

Information / Special ...

The economic sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran have led to the demobilization of a large number of workers in hotels and restaurants in Karbala, Najaf and Ashraf and Baghdad, among the religious tourism in the country has been paralyzed.

"The number of Iranian visitors to the country is estimated at 3.5 million per year to perform the decrees of the visit to the holy shrines and the visit of the Imam Hussein," he said. "The economic sanctions imposed on Iran have caused great paralysis. The country's religious tourism sector, as well as a decrease in visitor numbers over the past month. "

He added that "these sanctions caused the demobilization of a large number of workers in hotels and restaurants in the holy city of Karbala, Najaf and Baghdad, which led to the spread of unemployment to the scarcity of Iranian visitors," noting that "the visit of the next Imam Hussein (peace) will see a decline in the number of Iranian visitors as a result The increase in visiting fees and the decrease of the Iranian currency below the 60% off the dollar. "

On Tuesday, the Tourism Authority revealed a sharp decline in the number of Iranian visitors entering Iraq, and confirmed that the number had fallen from 5,000 to 400 per day, attributed to US sanctions against Iran. End 25 T

[Butifldrm]

Rohani is accountable to the Shura Council

 

8 hours ago

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NRT

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's parliament held a session Tuesday to question Iranian President Hassan Rowhani, who will answer MPs' questions on how his government is dealing with the country's economic difficulties .

The news agency "Fars" in a report, today, August 28, that Rowhani attended the Iranian Shura Council, and began to respond to the five questions raised by the deputies on several issues related to the economic situation, where the deputies completed the 30 minutes to ask their questions, Iranian response to it with a maximum of one hour .

The agency explained that the questioners and after the answers of the President of the Republic can ask him to raise the ambiguity that may occur and then the President will answer them, and according to the rules of procedure of the Council, it will be voting on the answers of the President whether it is convincing or not and each question alone if two thirds of the deputies involved in the The hearing will then raise the question to the judiciary .

This is the first call from parliament to President Rouhani, who is under pressure from conservative opponents to change the government after deteriorating relations with the United States and worsening economic crisis .

The deputies are seeking spiritual accountability for many issues, including the fall of the Iranian riyal, which has lost more than half its value since last April, in addition to weak economic growth and high unemployment.

The question of the Iranian president, which was signed by 80 deputies, revolves around five main topics: the government's failure to control the smuggling of goods and hard currency, the continuation of the banking embargo against Iran, the government's failure to take the appropriate measures to reduce the unemployment rate, Years, the high price of hard currency and the low price of the national currency .

R.

http://www.nrttv.com/AR/News.aspx?id=3793&MapID=3

[Pitcher]

Iran will be held accountable for destabilizing role in Middle East - Mattis

The US Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis said that Tehran has been the biggest destabilizing element in the middle East and will be hold accountable for this.


"Iran has been put on notice that the continued mischief they've caused around the area, murder they have caused", Mattis  added. during a briefing on Tuesday.


"The support of Assad and what they are doing about the Strait of Hormuz to the support of Houthis with the missiles that are being fired into Saudi Arabia or Iranian supplied UAVs that are being flown against international airports. This is not tolerated by us and they are going to be held to account for it", he further said.

Asked if the the stratgey of Trump administration has made any changes in the Iranian regime behaviour, Mattis said that they have seen less willingness from Iranian side to be confrontational, but fundamentally they continued to be the single biggest destabilizing element in the Middle East.


"our problem is not with Iran, but the leadership of the Iranian regime".


Talks with Russia


When he was asked about the talks with Russia and if the russians have the ability to get Iran out of Syria he answered: "As far whether Russia has the traction or has the persuasiveness to get Iran out, you have to look at what they are doing in Syria and in the first place in propping up someone who has committed mayhem and murder on his own people, they have no business there ". 

"Our goal is to move Syria civil war into the Geneva process so the Syria people can establish a new government that is not led by Assad and give them a chance for a future that Assad has denied them with the Russian and Iranian support and we are asking Russia to do the right thing in this case", he added.

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/Story/31064/Iran-will-be-held-accountable-for-destabilizing-role-in-Middle-East-Mattis

[Pitcher]

Iran says to maintain military presence in Syria despite U.S. pressure

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 Iran will maintain its military presence in Syria despite U.S. pressure for its withdrawal, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday, revealing more details about a military cooperation deal that Tehran and Damascus signed this week, Reuters has said.
Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami visited Damascus on Saturday for talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and senior military officials. He signed a deal for military cooperation in a meeting with his Syrian counterpart, but details of the accord were not revealed.
“The continued presence of Iranian (military) advisers in Syria was part of this military cooperation agreement between Tehran and Damascus,” the state news agency IRNA quoted Tehran’s military attache to Damascus, Abolqassem Alinejad, as saying.
help Syria to rebuild the military factories that were damaged in the war,” Alinejad said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have sent weapons and thousands of soldiers to Syria to help shore up Assad during the seven-year-long civil war there.
U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton reiterated last week Washington’s call for Iran to remove all its forces from Syria.

 

https://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/Story/31073/Iran-says-to-maintain-military-presence-in-Syria-despite-U-S-pressure

 

[Pitcher]

Iran parliament censures Rouhani in sign pragmatists losing sway

Iran’s parliament voted on Tuesday to reject President Hassan Rouhani’s explanations for economic hardship after a dramatic grilling on live TV, a sign his pragmatic faction is losing sway to hardline rivals as new U.S. sanctions begin to bite, Reuters reported.

The vote in parliament came two days after lawmakers sacked the minister of economy and finance and weeks after they sacked the labor minister, blaming them for the collapse of the rial currency and surging inflation.

Rouhani won two landslide elections on a platform of economic reform and opening Iran up to the outside world, and his pragmatic supporters have a majority in the parliament. But his reputation and political influence have taken a sharp hit as his promised economic gains have failed to materialize.

His highest profile achievement was to negotiate the lifting of financial sanctions on Iran in a 2015 deal with world powers over its nuclear program, but U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out in May and Washington has re-imposed sanctions.

Rouhani spoke out in parliament in defense of his economic record, blaming the country’s woes on the U.S. sanctions rather than his team’s management. But a majority of lawmakers voted to reject his explanation in four out of five areas.

There were conflicting reports about what would follow from the vote: several Iranian news agencies said Rouhani’s case would now be referred to the judiciary, although the spokesman for the parliamentary leadership, Behrouz Nemati, said lawmakers must hold further discussion before that would take place.

The action in parliament is a further sign of how the Trump administration’s decision to re-impose sanctions could affect Iran’s leadership and its relationship with the outside world, potentially for decades to come.

Iran’s rulers have been divided between a pragmatic faction that aims for better international relations, and hardliners who are wary of reforms. Trump’s decision to abandon the nuclear deal was opposed by U.S. allies in Europe, who argued that he undermined Rouhani and strengthened the hands of the hardliners.

While Rouhani and his cabinet run Iran’s day-to-day affairs, ultimate authority lies with the Supreme Leader, 79-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in power since 1989. Weakening the pragmatists now could affect the choice of Khamenei’s successor.

For now, Rouhani’s own position appears safe. The judiciary could determine that he broke the law and parliament has the power to impeach him, but experts on Iranian politics say power struggles are more likely to play out indirectly.

“The parliament’s move is politically motivated and indicates that tensions would increase in the Islamic Republic in coming months,” Saeed Laylaz, an Iranian economist, told Reuters by telephone from Tehran.


“Iranian political factions have always used international issues to pursue their domestic gains,” he added.

After the sacking of the two ministers this month, Tasnim news agency reported that 70 lawmakers had signed a motion to impeach a third: the Minister of Industry, Mines and Business.

Rouhani has bowed to pressure and fired the head of the central bank. A deputy central bank governor was arrested by the judiciary on corruption charges in a crackdown that also saw foreign exchange dealers rounded up.

“U.S. PLOT”

The lawmakers asked Rouhani on Tuesday about five subjects: unemployment, slow economic growth, the fall of the rial, cross-border smuggling, and the lack of access by Iranian banks to global financial services. The parliament found only Rouhani’s answer about banks satisfactory.

“I want to assure the Iranian nation that we will not allow the U.S. plot against the Islamic Republic to succeed,” Rouhani told parliament. “We will not let this bunch of anti-Iranians in the White House be able to plot against us.”

Iran’s official unemployment rate is 12 percent, with youth unemployment as high as 25 percent in a country where 60 percent of the 80 million population is under 30. The rial has lost more than two-thirds of its value in a year.

Iran’s economy has suffered not only from sanctions but also from pervasive corruption and the concentration of its wealth and trade in the hands of big firms controlled by the hardline Revolutionary Guards military force.

Washington imposed a new round of sanctions in August targeting Iran’s trade in gold and other precious metals, its purchases of U.S. dollars and its car industry. Worse is yet to come, with a new round of sanctions to be imposed in November that Washington says aims to cut Iran’s oil exports to zero.

The plunge in the currency and soaring inflation have sparked sporadic demonstrations against profiteering and corruption, with many protesters chanting slogans against both the government and Supreme Leader Khamenei.

Rouhani said such anti-government protests had encouraged Trump to try to provoke more unrest by harming Iran’s economy.
“The protests tempted Trump to withdraw from the nuclear deal,” he said, asking lawmakers to support his cabinet and not add to anti-government sentiment.

Although the economic problems were critical,Rouhani said: “More important than that is that many people have lost their faith in the future of the Islamic Republic and are in doubt about its power.”

 

 

https://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/Story/31059/Iran-parliament-censures-Rouhani-in-sign-pragmatists-losing-sway

[Pitcher]

The regime just doesn’t get it.  Stop building a nuclear weapon and exporting proxy wars and the sanctions will come off.  

[ChuckFinley]

1 hour ago, Pitcher said:

The regime just doesn’t get it.  Stop building a nuclear weapon and exporting proxy wars and the sanctions will come off.  

You think it would be pretty friging simple. 

[Pitcher]

Iraqi Kurds throw lifeline to Iranian Kurds as sanctions begin to bite

•  

ARTICLE SUMMARY

Iraqi Kurds, who remember the help they received from Iranian Kurds in the past, want to return the favor now that their brethren are suffering under US sanctions.

Dyari Abdulla carried a 20-kilo (44-pound) bag containing rice and sugar on his back on the border between Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan near Halabja. He waited in an orchard until his relatives from a nearby town in Iranian Kurdistan arrived, then he handed over the bag. “My relatives are suffering because of the high prices in Iran," Abdulla told Al-Monitor.

He remembers the harsh living conditions experienced by Iraqi Kurds in the 1990s when thousands of people died due to malnutrition because of international sanctions on Iraq. Like thousands of other young Iraqi Kurds, Abdulla risked his life trekking across the mountainous border illegally and flooding big Iranian cities seeking work so he could send money back to his family to survive. Now he fears for those across the border.

"It's going to get worse for people," Abdulla said.

Now, as Washington tightens the screws on Iran with crippling sanctions to bring the ayatollahs to their knees, hundreds of Iranian Kurds are flooding into Iraqi Kurdistan in search of work. 

The US sanctions are causing turmoil in Iran, with the Iranian currency — the rial — losing half its value since April. High inflation, the lack of employment and spikes in the prices of essential commodities have caused intermittent protests across Iran in recent months.

“Let me be clear: The reimposition of the sanctions, we think, is already having a significant effect on Iran’s economy and on, really, popular opinion inside Iran,” US national security adviser John Bolton told Reuters Aug. 21 in Jerusalem. US President Donald Trump "has made it very clear — his words — he wants maximum pressure on Iran, maximum pressure, and that's what's going on,” Bolton added.

The United States appeared to have scored a victory when Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi surprised many by stating Aug. 7 that his government, while opposing the sanctions, nonetheless abides by them. This baffled many influential figures in Iraq, given the tremendous influence Iran exerts in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in all spheres including political, military and economic.

"I call on everyone to stand with the Islamic Republic of Iran and assist it," Ammar al-Hakim, head of Iraq's Hikma bloc and a close ally of Iran, said Aug. 8.

Senior Iranian Kurdish politician Abdullah Ramezanzadeh snapped back at Abadi: “We shouldn't have prevented the disintegration of Iraq,” he said in reference to Tehran helping Abadi's government defeat the Iraqi Kurds following their ill-fated independence referendum Sept. 25, 2017. 

Facing huge opposition from Kurdish and Shia circles, Abadi soon softened his position on the sanction but has taken some measures. Ahmad Haji Rashid of the Iraqi parliament’s Finance Committee told Kurdish newspaper Azhans on Aug. 18, “The Iraqi government has decided to stop importing vehicles from Iran; moreover, the Iraqi banks do not do any trading with the Iranian banks, but it is difficult for Iraq to comply with all the measures. … Iraqi compliance with the American decisions to stop trading with Iran will create instability in Iraq, given the Iraqi economy is tied to the Iranian economy.”

Reuters reported Aug. 21 that the Iraqi government “plans to ask Washington for a waiver” from some sanctions, given the close trade ties between Iraq and Iran.

There were mixed messages from Kurdish circles in Iraq about the sanctions. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) representative in Tehran, Nazim Dabagh, said relations between the Iraqi Kurds and Iran are historical. “Abadi was hasty and shouldn't have taken such a position, because his government is a transitional government,” the veteran Kurdish diplomat said.

He added, however, that the KRG should be cautious in dealing with both the Iranians and Americans. “I believe the Kurdistan Region should tread carefully and not become involved" in US-Iranian rivalries that would "use Iraq and Kurdistan as a battleground to settle scores," he told Al-Monitor from Tehran. 

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) spokesperson Saadi Ahmad Pira echoed Dabagh’s view advising that the KRG should be cautious about going along with the sanctions, Kurdish media outlet Rudaw reported Aug. 20

“In reality, they [the Americans and Iranians] don't shake hands or visit each other. … I don't know the mechanism of how they collaborate with each other, and it's not my job to know. … But I know from the beginning — from the time of the overthrow of the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein [in 2003] until the war with Daesh [the Islamic State]" — Americans and Iranians collaborated with each other. The PUK has close ties with both the Americans and Iranians and understands the relations between the two. Pira noted, “I think the situation in Iraq is not such that [Americans and Iranians] could use [Iraq] as a field to clash over their disagreements.”

But KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, who spent a formative part of his life in Iran and speaks fluent Persian, was quoted Aug. 16 by Rudaw — which is affiliated with his Kurdistan Democratic Party — as somehow supporting the sanctions. “To deal with US sanctions on Iran, the Kurdistan Region will take a step as part of Iraq and will abide by Iraq decisions. To that effect, we have spoken to the Americans and Iraqis, and we have asked for a US delegation to visit us and clarify which goods are allowed [to be traded] and which are not,” Barzani said. 

As the Iraqi and Kurdish parties debate the wisdom of abiding by the American sanctions, the Iranian Consulate in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, announced Aug. 18 a huge boom in the number of Iraqi Kurds visiting the country during the holiday season thanks to the strong Iraqi dinar against the rial. The consulate said that in the first half of August, it issued 2,800 visas every day, while the figure was 630 daily in the previous year.

Washington has tried to limit Iran's power in Iraq since US forces arrived there in 2003, but to no avail. It's not clear if Washington will succeed this time around, given the complexities of the relations between Iran and Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region.

Abdullah says he will continue to help his relatives across the border in Iran, as even more difficult times are approaching when US sanctions on the oil and gas sector kick in November. “Iranian Kurdistan was a lifeline for us when we were under sanctions,” he said. 

Dabagh believes that even if Iraq complies with US sanctions, the KRG could act independently “to help in whatever ways possible to assist [Iran]” in order to reciprocate Iran’s friendship over the past six decades. “The countries that have come to the region for their own interests and to incite wars and create problems — I believe if their interests were realized tomorrow, they would abandon us once again,” he said.

https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/08/iraq-iran-us-sanction-kurdistan.html(

[markb57]

hang the mullah's. that would take care of it all.

[Butifldrm]

 

2018/08/28 21:06

• Number of readings 820
• Section: Iraq
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Abadi: We intend to send a delegation to the United States for an understanding on financial transactions with Iran

 

 

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday (August 28, 2018) that the government plans to send a delegation to the United States for an understanding on financial transactions with Iran.

"Iraq is not with economic sanctions against any country and this is its strategic position," Abadi said in a speech during the weekly conference and his follow-up.

"We intend to send a delegation to the United States for an understanding on financial transactions with Iran," he said.

Abadi said that the crises are not born today and everyone should unite to solve them, pointing out that the problem of tongue saline in the Shatt al-Arab dating back decades.

"The problem of the saline tongue in the Shatt al-Arab is due to decades and the scarcity of rain this season has exacerbated the crisis, " Abbadi said .

He added, "We directed the Ministry of Municipalities to investigate the reduction of chlorine in the waters of Basra, and the disclosure of results will appear within a week ."

And on setting a time limit to end the crises of the provinces, especially Basra, Abadi said that "crises are not born today and need to continue to work and everyone must unite to resolve the crises ."

"The current governments can not be held fully responsible," he said, adding that "the prevention of excesses on water quotas falls under the responsibility of maintaining exclusively ."

Abadi also announced an agreement with German company Siemens to develop the electric power sector in order to reach 24-hour processing .

"Electricity production reached 16 thousand megawatts, and we agreed with Siemens to develop the energy sector to the level of processing 24 hours, " Abbadi said .

On the political situation, Abadi said, "We wish to accelerate the formation of the largest bloc that leads to a government that meets the demands of citizens and the interest of the country," calling for "non-use of illegal and immoral means to pressure candidates such as threats and extortion ."

He added that "the Third Amendment Law of the election law provided for the suspension of the work of the Board of Commissioners until the completion of investigations that are still ongoing ."

 

Follow the obelisk

http://almasalah.com/ar/news/148451/العبادي-نعتزم-ارسال-وفد-لامريكا-للتفاهم-بشأن-التعاملات-المالية-مع-ايران

 

 

[yota691]

Khamenei: We will abandon the nuclear agreement if it does not preserve our national interests

02:42 - 29/08/2018

 

 

 

Khamenei: We will abandon the nuclear agreement if it does not preserve our national interests

[yota691]

 

Khamenei: Nuclear agreement is a means, not an end, and we can give it up if it does not serve our national interests

 

14:23

Last updated

The time now is 02:55 PM

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Follow - up / Tomorrow 's Press: 

stressed the supreme leader of the Iranian revolution, Ali Khamenei, said on Wednesday that Iran would abandon the international agreement on its nuclear program that did not serve their interests, pointing out that he can not rely on Europe to maintain the agreement.

"The nuclear agreement is not a goal but a means, and of course if we do not reach a conclusion with this means of preserving national interests, it will be abandoned," Khamenei said in a speech posted on his official website. 

"I have no objection to the continuation of relations and talks with European countries, but they should not be relied upon in economic issues or nuclear agreement." 

On May 8, Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Comprehensive Agreement on Iran's nuclear program, which was reached between the "international six" as international sponsors (Russia, the United States, Britain, China, France and Germany) and Iran in 2015, All the sanctions that have been suspended, a position rejected by Europe, and began to negotiate with Iran to stay in the nuclear agreement

[Pitcher]

Iran's Khamenei says Europe cannot save nuclear deal, help economy

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 Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday cast doubt on the ability of European countries to save Iran’s 2015 nuclear accord with world powers, now under threat following a U.S. withdrawal, and said Tehran might abandon the agreement, Reuters has said.
Khamenei cautioned President Hassan Rouhani not to rely too much on European support as he came under increased pressure at home over his handling of the economy in the face of U.S. sanctions, with key ministers under attack by parliament.
Following U.S. President Donald Trump’s exit from an international accord that would curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions, European powers have been scrambling to ensure Iran continues to get the economic benefits needed to keep it in the nuclear deal.
ut in his comments published on his official website Khamenei told Rouhani and his cabinet on Wednesday: “There is no problem with negotiations and keeping contact with the Europeans, but you should give up hope on them over economic issues or the nuclear deal.”
“The nuclear deal is a means, not the goal, and if we come to this conclusion that it does not serve our national interests, we can abandon it,”Khamenei was quoted as saying.
Khamenei set out a series of conditions in May for European powers if they wanted to keep Tehran in the deal. They included steps by European banks to safeguard trade with Tehran and guarantee Iranian oil sales

 

https://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/Story/31123/Iran-s-Khamenei-says-Europe-cannot-save-nuclear-deal-help-economy

 

[Pitcher]

Israel, US set up joint team to enforce Iran sanctions

Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon [File photo]

 

August 29, 2018 at 3:37 pm

16 SHARES

After a successful campaign to have the Iran nuclear deal torn up, Israel has now taken up the role of enforcer. With US President Donald Trump set to announce second rounds of sanctions in November, America and Israel have set up a joint team that will enforce economic sanctions against Iran in the high-tech sector.

Israel’s Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin yesterday announced the establishment of the joint team. The two are reported to have met in Washington for the fourth time in their tenures. According to the Israeli Haaretz, the meeting was also attended by the Director General of the Ministry of Finance, Shai Babad, and the Israeli economic attaché in the US Eran Nitzan.

In May of this year, Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the agreement, which he had earlier described as the “worst deal ever”. The move drew widespread criticism among the agreement’s other signatories; UK, France, Germany, China and Russia.

READ: US to ‘fight’ Iran’s lawsuit against sanctions at ICJ

Trump’s decision to break the international treaty signed by his predecessor, Barack Obama, followed months of lobbying by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  Washington re-imposed sanctions in May, which primarily target the country’s banking sector.

The sanctions are intended to hinder Tehran’s acquisition of US currency; its precious metals trade; bank transactions denominated in Iranian currency; activities related to Iran’s sovereign debt; and the country’s automotive sector.

 

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180829-israel-us-set-up-joint-team-to-enforce-iran-sanctions/

 

 

[Pitcher]

Sanctions unlikely to stop Iran oil exports completely’

A gas flare on an oil production platform in Iran [REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/]

 

August 29, 2018 at 1:43 pm

1 SHARES

Current US sanctions on Iran are unlikely to stop Iranian oil exports completely, a long-time adviser at Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said yesterday, adding Iran would be unable to close the straits of Hormuz and Bab El Mandab even partially.

Speaking at an oil conference in the Norwegian city of Stavanger, Ibrahim Al-Muhanna said Iran would be the first to lose out on a move to block those major shipping routes and that any such action would trigger further sanctions on Iran.

#OPEC

“Current sanctions are unlikely to stop Iranian oil exports completely, as almost all experts agree. I mean, they will continue to export one million [barrels per day] or so. So closing that Strait of Hormuz will damage the Iranians as much as damaging others,” he said.

Iran has said if it cannot sell its oil due to US pressure, then no other regional country will be allowed to do so either, threatening to block the Strait of Hormuz.

“The amount of oil going through the Strait of Hormuz is so large. There’s more than 18 million barrels a day, about two thirds of world maritime oil trade. Meaning, cutting oil from there will lead to an acute oil shortage and prices will skyrocket,” Al-Muhanna said.

READ: US official says EU aid for Iran sends ‘wrong message’

“Is Iran able or willing to close completely, or even partially, the Strait of Hormuz or Bab El Mandab, or both? The answer is no, and a really big no.”

US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers under which sanctions were lifted in return for Tehran accepting curbs on its nuclear programme. The Trump administration then announced plans to restore sanctions against Tehran.

 

 

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180829-sanctions-unlikely-to-stop-iran-oil-exports-completely/

[jcfrag]

On ‎8‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 4:34 PM, ChuckFinley said:

You think it would be pretty friging simple. 

Obviously they do not want to stop building their bomb...says it all to me right there

[jcfrag]

On ‎8‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 2:52 PM, Pitcher said:

Iran parliament censures Rouhani in sign pragmatists losing sway

Iran’s parliament voted on Tuesday to reject President Hassan Rouhani’s explanations for economic hardship after a dramatic grilling on live TV, a sign his pragmatic faction is losing sway to hardline rivals as new U.S. sanctions begin to bite, Reuters reported.

The vote in parliament came two days after lawmakers sacked the minister of economy and finance and weeks after they sacked the labor minister, blaming them for the collapse of the rial currency and surging inflation.

Rouhani won two landslide elections on a platform of economic reform and opening Iran up to the outside world, and his pragmatic supporters have a majority in the parliament. But his reputation and political influence have taken a sharp hit as his promised economic gains have failed to materialize.

His highest profile achievement was to negotiate the lifting of financial sanctions on Iran in a 2015 deal with world powers over its nuclear program, but U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out in May and Washington has re-imposed sanctions.

Rouhani spoke out in parliament in defense of his economic record, blaming the country’s woes on the U.S. sanctions rather than his team’s management. But a majority of lawmakers voted to reject his explanation in four out of five areas.

There were conflicting reports about what would follow from the vote: several Iranian news agencies said Rouhani’s case would now be referred to the judiciary, although the spokesman for the parliamentary leadership, Behrouz Nemati, said lawmakers must hold further discussion before that would take place.

The action in parliament is a further sign of how the Trump administration’s decision to re-impose sanctions could affect Iran’s leadership and its relationship with the outside world, potentially for decades to come.

Iran’s rulers have been divided between a pragmatic faction that aims for better international relations, and hardliners who are wary of reforms. Trump’s decision to abandon the nuclear deal was opposed by U.S. allies in Europe, who argued that he undermined Rouhani and strengthened the hands of the hardliners.

While Rouhani and his cabinet run Iran’s day-to-day affairs, ultimate authority lies with the Supreme Leader, 79-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in power since 1989. Weakening the pragmatists now could affect the choice of Khamenei’s successor.

For now, Rouhani’s own position appears safe. The judiciary could determine that he broke the law and parliament has the power to impeach him, but experts on Iranian politics say power struggles are more likely to play out indirectly.

“The parliament’s move is politically motivated and indicates that tensions would increase in the Islamic Republic in coming months,” Saeed Laylaz, an Iranian economist, told Reuters by telephone from Tehran.


“Iranian political factions have always used international issues to pursue their domestic gains,” he added.

After the sacking of the two ministers this month, Tasnim news agency reported that 70 lawmakers had signed a motion to impeach a third: the Minister of Industry, Mines and Business.

Rouhani has bowed to pressure and fired the head of the central bank. A deputy central bank governor was arrested by the judiciary on corruption charges in a crackdown that also saw foreign exchange dealers rounded up.

“U.S. PLOT”

The lawmakers asked Rouhani on Tuesday about five subjects: unemployment, slow economic growth, the fall of the rial, cross-border smuggling, and the lack of access by Iranian banks to global financial services. The parliament found only Rouhani’s answer about banks satisfactory.

“I want to assure the Iranian nation that we will not allow the U.S. plot against the Islamic Republic to succeed,” Rouhani told parliament. “We will not let this bunch of anti-Iranians in the White House be able to plot against us.”

Iran’s official unemployment rate is 12 percent, with youth unemployment as high as 25 percent in a country where 60 percent of the 80 million population is under 30. The rial has lost more than two-thirds of its value in a year.

Iran’s economy has suffered not only from sanctions but also from pervasive corruption and the concentration of its wealth and trade in the hands of big firms controlled by the hardline Revolutionary Guards military force.

Washington imposed a new round of sanctions in August targeting Iran’s trade in gold and other precious metals, its purchases of U.S. dollars and its car industry. Worse is yet to come, with a new round of sanctions to be imposed in November that Washington says aims to cut Iran’s oil exports to zero.

The plunge in the currency and soaring inflation have sparked sporadic demonstrations against profiteering and corruption, with many protesters chanting slogans against both the government and Supreme Leader Khamenei.

Rouhani said such anti-government protests had encouraged Trump to try to provoke more unrest by harming Iran’s economy.
“The protests tempted Trump to withdraw from the nuclear deal,” he said, asking lawmakers to support his cabinet and not add to anti-government sentiment.

Although the economic problems were critical,Rouhani said: “More important than that is that many people have lost their faith in the future of the Islamic Republic and are in doubt about its power.”

 

 

https://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/Story/31059/Iran-parliament-censures-Rouhani-in-sign-pragmatists-losing-sway

So where will this all go should he Revolutionary guard take over the government? Sounds like it is pretty unstable over there....till you look at the 12 commanders  in charge of the Revolutionary guards. 10 out of the 12 have been commanders since 1979 and 1980. Not a lot of fresh blood at the top. and if you look at Soleimani, his photos all look like he is iron deficient, or just old and tired of the war games....

Edited August 29, 2018 by jcfrag

[ChuckFinley]

1 hour ago, Pitcher said:

Sanctions unlikely to stop Iran oil exports completely’

A gas flare on an oil production platform in Iran [REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/]

 

August 29, 2018 at 1:43 pm

1 SHARES

Current US sanctions on Iran are unlikely to stop Iranian oil exports completely, a long-time adviser at Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said yesterday, adding Iran would be unable to close the straits of Hormuz and Bab El Mandab even partially.

Speaking at an oil conference in the Norwegian city of Stavanger, Ibrahim Al-Muhanna said Iran would be the first to lose out on a move to block those major shipping routes and that any such action would trigger further sanctions on Iran.

#OPEC

“Current sanctions are unlikely to stop Iranian oil exports completely, as almost all experts agree. I mean, they will continue to export one million [barrels per day] or so. So closing that Strait of Hormuz will damage the Iranians as much as damaging others,” he said.

Iran has said if it cannot sell its oil due to US pressure, then no other regional country will be allowed to do so either, threatening to block the Strait of Hormuz.

“The amount of oil going through the Strait of Hormuz is so large. There’s more than 18 million barrels a day, about two thirds of world maritime oil trade. Meaning, cutting oil from there will lead to an acute oil shortage and prices will skyrocket,” Al-Muhanna said.

READ: US official says EU aid for Iran sends ‘wrong message’

“Is Iran able or willing to close completely, or even partially, the Strait of Hormuz or Bab El Mandab, or both? The answer is no, and a really big no.”

US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers under which sanctions were lifted in return for Tehran accepting curbs on its nuclear programme. The Trump administration then announced plans to restore sanctions against Tehran.

 

 

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180829-sanctions-unlikely-to-stop-iran-oil-exports-completely/

No, but a Special Ops teams helping the Rebellion can do some damage to the holding areas and ports. 

[ChuckFinley]

31 minutes ago, jcfrag said:

Obviously they do not want to stop building their bomb...says it all to me right there

I cannot wait to the day they feel the weight of the people. 

[Pitcher]

They are throwing people in jail in Iran for any suspicious action, emails, texts, innuendo, or anything that is opposed to the Regime and it’s agenda.  Scary times in Iran if you are a young person who disagrees with the government and it’s proxy wars. They have squashed a number of anti government movements in Iran in the last year.

[ChuckFinley]

21 minutes ago, Pitcher said:

They are throwing people in jail in Iran for any suspicious action, emails, texts, innuendo, or anything that is opposed to the Regime and it’s agenda.  Scary times in Iran if you are a young person who disagrees with the government and it’s proxy wars. They have squashed a number of anti government movements in Iran in the last year.

Crap like that will eventually bite them in the a$$. Looking forward to that day.  

[Butifldrm]

Ibrahim al-Obeidi Wednesday, 29 August 2018 03:25 PM

The plan to drain Iraq's economy and loot its dollars to save the mullahs from sanctions

 

 

Observers: mullahs seize 200 million dollars of daily auctions and loot the capabilities of Iraq


The economic sanctions on Iran is a real problem for Iraq, because Tehran according to experts believe that it can walk in two ways ..

The first is to support terrorism, militias and the resistance of Washington, Saudi Arabia and the world. 
And the second is to circumvent the US economic sanctions, especially with regard to gold and cash transactions in dollars by relying on the resources of the countries that occupy them. In other words, it is possible to drain the Iraqi economy and the Lebanese economy and Yemen and take their dollars and resources to save Tehran's economy.

The arms of the mullahs

The Mullahs are prepared to make it very easy as long as there are arms that carry out their purposes from militias and gangs. The mullahs have begun to implement this scheme in the nearest location of Iraq. By flooding Baghdad with the counterfeit Iraqi currency and working to force the central bank to pump dollars to preserve the value of the currency. As well as looting Iraqi dollars in various ways and grab the central bank's auctions.

According to experts, the mullahs are saving the hungry Tehran .. besieged .. poor miserable at the expense of Baghdad. He does not care if the Iraqi economy falls today or tomorrow. It is important to keep his throne black.

A report published by the Center for Political and Strategic Studies revealed that once US sanctions on Iran entered into force, the debate on the Iraqi street began, and a similar unease prevailed over Tehran in Iraqi circles. Economic, political and even social relations require this.

Severe penalties

Especially that the current sanctions on Tehran, is the most severe in the series of US sanctions on Iran, as pointed out by US President Donald Trump, which he described the most severe sanctions ever, and said it will arrive in November to a higher level, and warned everyone dealing with Iran That he would not be able to deal with the United States. On the other hand, the Iraqi response was expressed by the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi, where he stressed that his government "does not sympathize" with the US sanctions imposed on Iran, but will abide by them to protect their interests.

According to experts, Americans learned the lesson from past years and tried to prevent Iran as much as possible from working through a third country. Iraq was one of the loopholes through which Iran traded oil and bypassed financial constraints. The Iraqi position, expressed through the visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi to Turkey, and during his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stressed the opening of Iraq to the Turkish markets, and the framing of a new phase, based on the cooperation of Iraq / Turkish joint economic, political and security. 
The central bank in turn, announced that Iraq will not deal with Iran in the currency of the dollar, within the trade exchange, which amounted to ten billion dollars, or any other banking transactions.

The government's adviser on financial affairs also confirmed that the government decided not to deal with Iran, to prevent the importation of cars and consumer goods, as well as electricity and other materials, and to replace them by going to Saudi and Kuwaiti markets.

But Iranian officials have expressed anger at the decision by the CBI to abide by US sanctions, while Iranian demands for compensation from Iraq for the environmental damage caused by the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s have come to fruition.

The Iraqi currency has seen a decline against the dollar in recent days. The central bank sold between 150-170 million dollars a day. After its decline, demand for the dollar increased to 200 million dollars.

Suspicious operations

Iraqi economists and bankers have warned of suspicious operations by Iran to obtain dollars from Iraq, which led to the devaluation of the dinar, after the Iranian currency became worthless following Iraqi banks' application of the US sanctions resolution. 
Economists attribute this decline in the value of the dinar to the purchase of Iranian traders through their agents in Iraq, hard currency from Iraqi markets to counter US sanctions by banning dealing with Tehran in dollars.

He called on government experts to take rapid and successive steps to prevent the decline of the Iraqi currency, and confront methods - they described malicious, aimed at harming the economy.

https://www.thebaghdadpost.com/ar/Story/119439/بالتفاصيل-خطة-استنزاف-اقتصاد-العراق-ونهب-دولاراته-لإنقاذ-الملالي-من-العقوبات

[yota691]

Newspaper: Iraqi proposal to deal with Iran in euros in this case

 

Thursday 30 August

 

 

Alsumaria News / Baghdad , according to a Gulf newspaper, on Thursday that the government committee that will visit Washington in order to exclude Iraq from sanctions on Iran will include advisers and ministers, as a political source revealed that there is a proposal to deal with Iran in euros.  Al-Arabi newspaper quoted a political source as saying that "the government committee scheduled to engage in talks with the American side in Washington, in order to exclude Baghdad from Washington sanctions imposed on Tehran , will include agents of ministers and advisers and representatives of the Central Bank," noting that " "He said. The source, who asked not to be named, said that "the committee will try to get an American exception, especially in terms of important goods and there are contracts and financial obligations must be completed," noting that "in the case of Washington's refusal to do so, there are other proposals, including dealing in euros , And this is what the Iranians should coordinate with the EU first and foremost. "  "If this is not possible, another proposal is dealing with the local currencies of the Iraqi dinar and the Iranian toman," he said. "Tehran does not want that because it serves Iraq more than their point of view."  Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday that the government plans to send a delegation to the United States for understanding on financial transactions with Iran.  This came after Ebadi announced in (August 7, 2018) that his government "does not sympathize", But he will commit to protect his interests.