Guest views are now limited to 12 pages. If you get an "Error" message, just sign in! If you need to create an account, click here.

Jump to content
  • CRYPTO REWARDS!

    Full endorsement on this opportunity - but it's limited, so get in while you can!

Iranian official calls for negotiations with Washington in Iraq


yota691
 Share

Recommended Posts

Kurdistan

Kurdish party calls on Trump to take concrete action against Iran

2 hours ago
 

Kurdish party calls on Trump to take concrete action against Iran
Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDP-I) spokesperson Asso Hassan Zadeh speaks to reporters at a press conference in Erbil on Sept. 12, 2018. (Photo: Wladimir van Wilgenburg)
 
 

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A spokesperson for one of the main Iranian Kurdish opposition parties has called on the Trump administration to take serious actions against Iran, after Tehran killed 15, and injured another 42 in a missile attack on Iranian Kurdish parties in Koya.

“We have seen a lot of words, not actions, not deeds. We are waiting. Our contacts with officials in Washington are improving every day,” Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDP-I) spokesperson Asso Hassan Zadeh said at a press conference in Erbil on Wednesday.

On Monday, US Vice President Mike Pence condemned the Iranian attack in a phone call with Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani. Moreover, on Tuesday, US State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert also denounced the attack.

Two Iranian Kurdish leaders visited Washington in June, but so far, Iranian Kurdish politicians say they have not seen any support from Washington for Kurds or regime change. Nevertheless, they welcome President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out from the nuclear deal.

“The real strategy of the Trump administration is not clear,” Hassan Zadeh said. “Is it regime change, or stopping the regime’s behavior in this region?”

“It’s very important to emphasize the urgent need to have a democratic free government in Iran. There will be no peace and stability in the region as long as we have the Islamic Republic,” the spokesperson added.

“When the Iranian army attacked our headquarters in 1996 and came until Koy Sinjaq, the attack was stopped by the US military air force. That’s what we really need now: concrete measures, not just condemnations.”

The Kurdish official said they had not seen any real shift in American policy yet, despite the appointment of Iran hawk John Bolton several months ago.

In May, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated that regime change was not an objective in dealings with Iran.

“We are waiting to see the next shift in the Trump administration, especially after the appointment of new officials,” Hassan Zadeh said. “But we are still a little bit worried it’s only about limiting Iran’s actions in the region; with this nothing will be resolved.”

“Part of Iran’s strength is its destabilization activities in other countries in the region,” he explained, adding the regime in Tehran needs to go before any democracy and freedom can come.

Moreover, the KDP-I spokesperson said the same missiles that the United Nations discussed in its sessions, and which Iran gave to Hezbollah in Lebanon, and that was used by the Houthis in Yemen to attack Saudi Arabia were the same ones used in the assault on Kurds.

Therefore, he argued that condemnations are not enough, and the UN Security Council needs to discuss “the crimes” Iran committed last Saturday.

“Iran’s military chief of staff threatened to strike again,” Hassan Zadeh warned, suggesting the possible attack could threaten Kurdish refugees that also live in Koya who fled Iran after the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

The official suggested there might be a need to relocate them to other areas to protect their lives.

“We relay our call to stop the Iranian aggression, to protect our mothers, children, and families,” he stated.

“I call on all humanitarian organizations to visit us in Koy Sinjaq, and to see our immediate needs, and to see how they can help us.”

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

www.radiosawa.com/a/الجمهوريون-يعتزمون-فرض-عقوبات-على-الميليشيات-العراقية-المرتبطة-بايران/459610.html.........

Republicans plan to punish Iraqi militias linked to Iran

September 12, 2018

Side of the Washington Capitol Building
Side of the Washington Capitol Building
 

 

 

Republican members of the US Senate are planning to pass a law aimed at "Iran's growing influence in Iraq," a congressional aide told Reuters.

The bill, which Reuters says has seen a copy, includes terrorism-related sanctions on Iraqi-held militias.

He also asks US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to publish a list of armed groups receiving help from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Among the names of the law, known as the Iran-backed Terrorist Sanctions Act, are Republican senators David Perdue, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, while a similar bill was introduced in the House of Representatives with the support of Rep. Ted Bo.

There have yet to be any comments on when the legislation will be considered by congressional committees.

The White House said on Tuesday the United States would "respond quickly and firmly" to any attacks by Tehran's agents against US interests in Iraq.

Washington has accused Tehran of failing to prevent recent attacks on the US consulate in Basra and the US embassy complex in Baghdad.

Baghdad last Thursday saw a rocket attack on the heavily fortified Green Zone, which includes government offices, embassies and foreign missions, including the US embassy.

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do I read this correctly ?

 

1st, numerous articles talk about getting the US out of Iraq ( for whatever the reasons are today ); then some Idiot lobs a few missiles over into Kurd Country. and its - " Hey USA better get after it ( Iran ) right NOW ! " 

 

This is pitiful - hilarious, but pitiful.

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Details ... The United States plans to take action against Iran's proxies in Iraq

13-09-2018 11:47 AM
Readers
image.php?token=e3df84904eb932e36043c9777de08b6a&size=
 

Baghdad News -

 

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican senators are planning legislation to counter what they see as an increase in Iranian influence in Iraq, amid fears of attacks in Iraq by groups seen by US officials as agents of Iran, a US senator said. 

The bill imposes sanctions on terrorism on Iranian-controlled groups and requires the US Secretary of State to publish a list of armed groups receiving support from Iran's Revolutionary Guards. 

Among the sponsors are senators David Perdue, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. A similar bill was introduced in the House of Representatives backed by Rep. Ted Bo. 

There was no word on when the legislation would be considered at the level of congressional committees, which is usually the first step in any bill.

Three mortar rounds landed after midnight on Friday inside the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, where the US embassy is located. It was the first such attack in several years in the Green Zone, which houses parliament, government and foreign embassies. 

The United States warned Iran on Tuesday that it would "respond quickly and decisively" to any attacks by Tehran's allies in Iraq that would hurt Americans or damage US installations. 

A Reuters report last month said Iran had given ballistic missiles to allied Shi'ite insurgent groups in Iraq and was building capacity to do more there, in a development likely to increase tensions in relations between Washington and Tehran.

In May, US President Donald Trump announced his country's withdrawal from the nuclear agreement signed with Tehran in 2015 and ordered the re-imposition of US sanctions suspended under the deal aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear capabilities. 

Gulf states and Israel have expressed concern about Iran's activities in the region as a threat to its security.

 
 
 
  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

White House warns Iran on proxy rocket attacks, while Iran charges US responsible for instability

4 hours ago
 

White House warns Iran on proxy rocket attacks, while Iran charges US responsible for instability
An Iranian Kurdish Peshmerga member of the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDPI) inspects damage at the party headquarters in Koya, 100 kilometres east of Erbil, Sep. 12, 2018, after it was hit days earlier by an Iranian rocket attack. (Photo: AFP)
 
 

WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) - The White House warned Iran on Tuesday it would hold Tehran responsible for attacks against US targets in Iraq that are carried out by Shia militias.

The US warning came after three mortars fell overnight last Thursday on Baghdad’s heavily-fortified “Green Zone,” where the US embassy is located.

An Iraqi statement claimed the mortars landed on an “abandoned lot,” but resulted in “no casualties or physical damage.”

A security source inside the Green Zone, however, told Reuters that the shells fell near the Egyptian embassy.

Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, the militia headed by Qais al-Khazali, who was detained for attacking US troops during Operation Iraqi Freedom, claimed credit for Thursday’s attack.

In 2007 and 2008, rockets fired at the Green Zone caused multiple, repeated fatalities.

Thursday’s mortar attack was followed on Saturday by another assault in which three Katyusha rockets were fired on Basra International Airport, where the US Consulate is located.

No party claimed responsibility for that attack.

Responding to the two assaults, the White House, on Tuesday, issued a statement, denouncing the “life-threatening attacks in Iraq, including on the United States consulate in Basra and against the American embassy in Baghdad.”

The White House also said it would “hold the regime in Tehran accountable for any attack that results in injury to our personnel” or damage to US government facilities.

“America will respond swiftly and decisively in defense of American lives,” the statement concluded.

The clear articulation of Iranian responsibility for attacks carried out by the Iraqi militias represents a return to an earlier US view, embraced in the 1980s by the Reagan administration, or so Paul Davis, a former Pentagon analyst and currently a Senior Fellow at Soran University, remarked to Kurdistan 24.

“That was how we once understood terrorism,” Davis said. After any major attack, we had a “short list” of suspects: terrorist states and “the debate revolved around which of them had been responsible.”

There was a real prospect of determining which party was behind the attack, of US retaliation, and, therefore, of deterrence, Davis explained.

A retired US intelligence official concurred. He blamed Bill Clinton for transforming the US understanding of terrorism from a national security issue, involving enemy states, to a law enforcement issue, focused on the arrest, trial, and conviction of individual perpetrators.

Entifadh Qanbar, an Iraqi-American and head of the Future Foundation in Washington, applauded the White House statement.

The militia attacks on US targets would not have been carried out, except under “direct orders” from Qasim Soleimani, head of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Qanbar told Kurdistan 24.

“The only way to stop Iran,” he said, “is to hold Iran accountable.”

On Wednesday, Iran responded to the White House warning. Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Bahram Qassemi, denounced the US statement as “invalid, astonishing, provocative and irresponsible,” and charged that US “policies toward Iraq have led to nothing but insecurity and instability.”

Notably, Tehran’s initial response to the White House statement contained no counter-threat.

The Trump administration is apparently moving to correct a similar misunderstanding in regard to Afghanistan, revolving around Pakistani support for the Taliban.

The Afghan government has long charged that ending Pakistani support for the Taliban was key to defeating the terror organization. Earlier this month, the Pentagon announced it would cut $300 million in aid to Pakistan, because of its failure to act against extremist groups.

Zalmay Khalilzad, US ambassador to Afghanistan (2003-2005) and Iraq (2005-2007), where he was—and remains—quite friendly to the Kurds, shares that view, which he discussed in his memoirs, The Envoy

Khalilzad explained that already in the mid-1990s, Pakistani intelligence had begun “funding, supplying, and training” the Taliban, and he expressed his frustration with the failure of the George W. Bush administration, in which he served, to acknowledge Pakistan’s role in supporting the Taliban.

Khalilzad has recently been named special advisor to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Afghanistan.

The New York Times, on Wednesday, citing anonymous US Defense Department officials, suggested that any US retaliation for Iranian proxy strikes “could provoke” attacks against US military personnel and civilians by Iranian proxies elsewhere.”

However, it may be worth noting that Iran’s response, at least initially, was relatively mild, while the risk of Iranian proxy strikes against US targets exists in any case. That was, in fact, what prompted the White House warning.

Editing by Nadia Riva

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, 10 YEARS LATER said:

Do I read this correctly ?

 

1st, numerous articles talk about getting the US out of Iraq ( for whatever the reasons are today ); then some Idiot lobs a few missiles over into Kurd Country. and its - " Hey USA better get after it ( Iran ) right NOW ! " 

 

This is pitiful - hilarious, but pitiful.

Yes you have that right. Your unless until we need you.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
Thursday 13 September
-
 
+
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

US sanctions imposed by the Trump administration on the Iranian Republic, although they are still in their early stages, but their effects were not limited to Iran only, but to neighboring countries and even friendly, negative and positive. Iraq has replaced Saudi Arabia in August as the largest oil supplier to India, with refiners turning to Iraqi supplies to compensate for lower purchases of Iranian crude ahead of new US sanctions in November, 

data from the oil and shipping industry showed .

 

 


According to Reuters, India's imports fell as Tehran's biggest buyer of crude after China , from Iranian crude, from about one-third to about 225,000 bpd in August compared to July, with state-owned refineries slowing purchases due to delays in government approval. The use of Iranian ships for the transport of supplies. 

As a result, Indian refiners brought in 1.2 million barrels per day of Iraqi Basra crude in August, up about 46 percent from the previous month, while imports from Saudi Arabia fell 5 percent to about seven hundred and forty-seven thousand barrels a day in that period, . 

Despite the decline in purchases, Iran remainedThe third-largest oil supplier to India in August, according to figures, and Iraq and Saudi Arabia kept top oil suppliers to India last month, according to data from the arrival of tankers provided by the sources. 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

India will reduce its oil imports from Iran by half due to sanctions

India will reduce its oil imports from Iran by half due to sanctions

 14 September 2018 02:34 PM
Direct : a press report said that India is the second largest importer of crude oil from Iran plans to cut oil imports from Iran by half in September and October because of US sanctions.

An Indian government official told Reuters on Friday that India's crude shipments from Iran would fall this month and October to a level below 12 million barrels per day (bpd) after strengthening purchases from April to August.

Starting November 4, the United States will begin to implement economic sanctions against any entity that imports crude oil from Iran.

Last June, the Indian Oil Ministry announced that importers were prepared to drastically reduce Iranian oil imports or stop them altogether starting in November.

"We have a special relationship with the United States and Iran," said the unnamed source. "We see how we balance all these things and how we also balance the interests of refineries and end consumers."

According to a survey by the agency "Belbomberg" this week that South Korea's oil imports from Iran reached "zero" in August compared to the level of 194 thousand barrels per day in July before him.

 
  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Canada must end appeasement to Iran, support Kurdish people: Canadian MP

22 hours ago
 

Canada must end appeasement to Iran, support Kurdish people: Canadian MP
Conservative MP James Bezan, who also serves as Shadow Minister for National Defense, called on Ottawa to end its silence and get behind the people of Kurdistan. (Photo: Archive)
 
 

TORONTO (Kurdistan 24) – The Canadian government should stop making concessions to the Iranian regime and consider supporting the Kurdish people, a member of the Canadian Parliament said on Thursday.

Conservative MP James Bezan, who also serves as Shadow Minister for National Defense, called on Ottawa to end its silence and get behind the people of Kurdistan.

“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is continuing his policy of appeasement toward the Iranian regime instead of standing shoulder to shoulder with the Kurdish people,” Bezan told Kurdistan 24.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, the Canadian politician condemned Tehran’s recent missile attack on the headquarters of two main Iranian Kurdish parties as well as a refugee camp in the Kurdistan Region's town of Koya which killed at least 15 and injured 42 others.

He also highlighted the Peshmerga’s sacrifices on the battlefield who “Canadian soldiers worked side-by-side with” in the battle against the Islamic State (IS).

“Trudeau needs to explain why he is silent when a Canadian friend and ally is being unjustly targeted by [the] murderous regime in Tehran,” Bezan told Kurdistan 24 via email on Thursday.  

“The world must be united in showing that this blatant violation of international law by the Iranian regime will not be tolerated nor normalized.”

The Canadian MP said Ottawa needs “a strong and principled foreign policy that supports our friends and allies around the world [so] tyrannical regimes such as Iran can be dissuaded from actions like this in the future.”

In 2016, under Trudeau’s leadership, Canada lifted economic sanctions against the Iranian regime in an attempt to re-kindle diplomatic relations. The current Liberal government has also rejected calls to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity.

Editing by John J. Catherine

  • Thanks 1
  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mike Pompeo tears into John Kerry for meeting Iranian officials and “undermining US foreign policy”

The US Secretary of State accused Iran of arming Houthis and directing attacks on American interests in Iraq.

Mr Pompeo also criticised Iran for continuing to arm the Houthis in Yemen, and plotting assassinations in Europe. AFP Mr Pompeo also criticised Iran for continuing to arm the Houthis in Yemen, and plotting assassinations in Europe. AFP

Mike Pompeo has lashed out at his predecessor John Kerry, accusing him of “actively undermining” US foreign policy for reportedly telling Iranian officials in meetings to “wait out” the Trump administration.

In a special briefing on Friday where he was touting staffing and filling vacancies at the State Department, the US Secretary of State heavily criticised Mr Kerry for “unseemly and unprecedented” behavior while meeting Iranian officials.

Mr Kerry acknowledged this week that he had met Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif “three or four times” since 2016.

The Boston Globe reported that in these meetings Mr Kerry advised the Iranians to “wait out” the Trump administration’s time in office, and in an interview with Fox News this week, the former Secretary of State did not deny nor did he confirm that assertion.

“I think everybody in the world is talking about waiting out President Trump,” Mr Kerry said.

__________________

Read more:

Trump blacklists critical ex-CIA chief

Saudi and UAE are taking action to protect Yemen civilians, Mike Pompeo says

__________________

“This is a former secretary of state engaged with the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism,” Mr Pompeo said of Mr Kerry’s meetings, adding that just last week Iran directed its militias in Iraq to fire Katyusha rockets at the US consulate in Basra. He also said that he saw Mr Kerry in Munich earlier this year, along with former US energy secretary Ernest Moniz and former US negotiator Wendy Sherman, where he suspected they met Iranian officials. 

The US Secretary of State did not say, however, that Mr Kerry broke the law; something that US President Donald Trump accused Mr Kerry of doing on Thursday:

Mr Pompeo criticised Iran for continuing to arm the Houthis in Yemen, and plotting assassinations in Europe. He anticipated full compliance from the Europeans once US oil sanctions on Iran are in place on November 4.
 
  • Thanks 1
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Treason indeed! But I bet he walks away with a scolding and a hand slap. It's this kind of underhanded crap that keeps the US from being taken seriously.  The Democrats and Republicans act just as tribal as the Iraqis. More energy destroying each other than making things better for their constituents. 

  • Like 1
  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Iran: There Is No Spare Oil Capacity

Pipeline

The United States won’t be able to bring Iranian oil exports to zero because the other producers can’t offset the loss of all of Iran’s oil barrels in an already tight market, Iran’s OPEC governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili told Reuters on Friday.

According to Kazempour—whose position as Iran’s OPEC governor makes him the second most senior member after the oil minister at OPEC meetings—an already emerging “supply shortage” and little spare capacity virtually everywhere means that the United States can’t achieve its goal of bringing Iranian oil exports down to zero when sanctions on Iran’s oil industry return in early November.

“There is no spare capacity anywhere,” Kazempour told Reuters.

Earlier this week, Iran’s First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri said that Iran’s oil sales will “never reach zero,” the Iranian oil ministry’s news service Shana reported. The official admitted that Iranian oil exports would drop, but reiterated Iran’s position that the U.S. sanctions would not succeed in cutting off all of the country’s oil sales.

“The US is attempting to bring Iran’s oil sales to zero by imposing banking and transportation restrictions, and the administration, despite all the difficulties and hardships, is seeking solutions to quash their [US] plans,” Shana quoted Jahangiri as saying.

Iran’s oil exports started to drop noticeably in August, and many analysts now expect the sanctions to remove more than 1 million bpd of Iranian oil from the market.
 

Related: Gas Could Overtake Oil As The Largest U.S. Energy Source This Year

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly Oil Market Report on Thursday that due to falling supply from Venezuela and Iran, the market is tightening. It also said that oil prices are set to rise unless there is additional production increases elsewhere that will offset the supply losses.

“Evidence provided by tanker tracking data suggests that Iran’s exports have already fallen significantly but we must wait to see if the 500 kb/d of reductions seen so far will grow,” the IEA said, noting that Iran, Venezuela, and Libya could be the three primary drivers of further oil market tightening that could push Brent Crudeprices to above $80 a barrel in the coming weeks and months.

 

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Iran-There-Is-No-Spare-Oil-Capacity.html

 

 

  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

41 minutes ago, Pitcher said:

It’s not undermining, it’s treason.  Shadow swamp government in action

 

“You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” John Kerry...30 Oct 2006.  What a Pouge!!🤮4721E424-86DF-4C33-9A6E-74FA1F32937C.jpeg.b8560ea33db1a65b3c7a4c400c751b29.jpeg

  • Thanks 1
  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Iran's Latest Missile Strikes Showcase Tehran's Strategy

Increasing missile accuracy, excellent intelligence, and steady dominance in Iraq are all are part of Tehran's plan.

RTXSN84.jpeg?itok=OuXC6Fjw
 

The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired seven surface-to-surface missiles at bases of Kurdish opposition groups in Iraq on September 8. The attack, filmed by an IRGC drone, shows that Iran can carry out precision strikes and is a clear signal to Kurdish opposition groups, and also Baghdad’s supporters in Washington, that Iran will continue to carry out operations in Iraq as part of its policy to exercise influence in the region. It also showcases the precision of Iran's ballistic missile program. 

Iran’s IRGC chose the Kurdish targets after months of increasing clashes between several Kurdish armed opposition groups and the IRGC in areas of western Iran. The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), which was founded in 1945 and fought an insurgency against the Islamic Republic after 1979, said it killed “12 IRGC terrorists” on August 13. It has been showing off its attacks and its presence in Iran on social media, taunting the regime. At the same time other Kurdish groups, such as the Kurdistan Free Life Party, have carried out high profile attacks and called for a united front against Iran. 

Huff_NI_KDPI1111.JPGOne of the buildings struck by Iranian missiles. Two missiles struck a meeting of KDP-I leaders at their complex in Koya on September 8. (Zach Huff) 

The rising Kurdish insurgency in Iran comes in the context of U.S. sanctions and Washington’s leaving the Iran nuclear deal. Mustafa Hijri, head of the PDKI, was in Washington in June and said he hoped that America and world powers would “help us confront the regime ." Since then, the PDKI has attempted to show it is relevant and worth backing. At bases near Koya, the PDKI is training fighters, called peshmerga, and they also have been training in the mountains nearer the Iranian border. Their men and women cadres bear only small arms and RPGs. Based on recent interviews and a trip to the border with a patrol of the PDKI, they say that the number of recruits has quadrupled recently. They operate along the border even though Iranian artillery have targeted their operations and smuggling routes that festoon the mountains. The border is porous and IRGC bases, some of them renovated recently according to the PDKI, are a common sight. Although Iran increasingly uses drones which can be heard buzzing over the mountains, the PDKI cross with ease into Iran along the more than 100 km of the unmarked, mountainous border in northern Iraq.

Further south lies an area where another Iranian Kurdish group called the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) operates. PJAK is linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and has been clashing with the IRGC, killing seven Iranian soldiers in July. Therefore the area that concerns Iran is also one that Turkey has targeted as part of Ankara’s war with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has bases in northern Iraq. In August, a Turkish airstrike killed a senior PKK leader in Sinjar, while Turkey has indicated it wants to cooperate with Iran against the PKK. Iran wants to leverage Turkey’s dispute with Washington for its benefit. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani hosted his Turkish and Russian counterparts a day before the missile attack on Koya. In Iran’s strategy against groups like the PDKI, it follows that the next step may involve cross-border strikes on PJAK and is potentially part of its agenda for greater coordination with Turkey. 

Tehran flexes its muscles in northern Iraq as Iraq faces continued political chaos in Baghdad, with parties unable to come to a coalition agreement three months after elections. The day before the missile strike, Iraqi protesters in Basra targeted the Iranian consulate and burned it. The protesters raged over lack of services, but their anger was directed at Iranian-linked parties and targets. These protests against Iranian influence in southern Iraq and Iran's cross-border raids in the north are connected. Iran sees Iraq as its "near abroad," i.e., an area of Iranian national security interest where Tehran wants to project influence and power to create a buffer against threats while bolstering its proxies. 

But why did the IRGC choose to strike now? Kurdish groups that oppose the IRGC have had bases in northern Iraq for decades. However, most of the groups halted their offensive operations in the 1990s after Iran carried out a series of attacks on them, including artillery strikes and assassinations. The IRGC said via Iranian state media that it carried out the recent strike "after the terrorist groups' ringleaders ignored serious warnings by officials of the Iraqi Kurdistan region and the Islamic Republic's determination to dismantle their bases." This indicates that Iran's goal is a message to Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region that allowing the opposition groups to operate could destabilize the otherwise relatively stable and economically prosperous Kurdish enclave. Iran proved it could destabilize the Kurdish region before when IRGC Qods Force commander Qasem Soleimani helped broker the federal government ’s seizure of oil-rich Kirkuk in October 2017.

 

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/irans-latest-missile-strikes-showcase-tehrans-strategy-31352

  • Thanks 1
  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Japan May Have Loaded Its Last Iranian Oil Cargo

Oil

A Japanese buyer has loaded Iranian oil on a tanker expected to arrive in Japan in early October, in what could be the last purchase of Iranian oil before the U.S. sanctions snap back in early November, while Japanese refiners and buyers are replacing Iranian oil with other Middle Eastern alternatives, market and shipping sources told S&P Global Platts on Friday. 

The Yufusan very large crude carrier (VLCC) has loaded Iranian oil at Assaluyeh and Kharg Island, and more oil at Mina Al Ahmadi in Kuwait, and is set to dock in Japan on October 3, according to S&P Global Platts trade flow data.  

Japan is still negotiating with the United States on possible waivers for Iranian oil imports, but no breakthrough in talks has been reported. According to a Platts source, Japanese buyers will look to settle all transactions for Iranian oil by November 2 because the sanctions return on November 5. 

 

Uncertain if a waiver will be forthcoming, but not wanting to risk secondary sanctions if they continued to buy Iranian oil, Japanese refiners have been on the lookout to replace its Iranian oil. According to Platts sources, Japanese buyers of Iranian oil have purchased or looked to purchase oil from Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq in the Middle East, as well as Mars crude from the United States.

Earlier this month, major Japanese refiners were said to have officially notified Iran that they would halt all imports of Iranian oil for October while they wait for the Japan-U.S. talks on Iranian oil imports to make a permanent decision on how to proceed in November.

Related: Artificial Photosynthesis: A New Renewable Energy Source?

Idemitsu Kosan and Cosmo Energy Holdings have notified Iran of their plans for October, while top Japanese refiner JXTG Holdings Inc, as well as Fuji Oil Co, which relies heavily on Iranian oil, have decided to temporarily suspend imports from Iran, Jiji Press reported, citing sources in the know.

Japan is still trying to secure a waiver from the United States to avoid its refiners coming under secondary sanctions as importers of Iranian oil. In the meantime, Japanese companies are playing it safe and are halting imports as U.S.-Japanese waiver talks show little progress, according to Jiji Press’s sources.

A Cosmo Energy official told S&P Global Platts in early September that it would not load any Iranian oil for the month of October, but it had yet to make a final decision on imports from Iran in November and beyond, as it was still holding onto hopes that it may secure a waiver.

 

https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Japan-May-Have-Loaded-Its-Last-Iranian-Oil-Cargo.html

  • Upvote 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

5 hours ago, Pitcher said:

Mr. Kerry advised the Iranians to “wait out” the Trump administration’s time in office.

 

IMHO - John Kerry's statement is reminiscent to the comments, his boss Berry O'bummer made to a Putin aid at a conference circa 2016 ?

I am paraphrasing here and its late Friday night here but, as best as I can recall at the moment, something to the effect of, " Tell Vlad  everything will be OK after the election "

 

I'm following the economics and following the money  :bagofmoney:at the moment, trying not to get caught up in the political shitte show.

 

My prayers to those in the Southeast suffering the wrath of hurricane Florence.

 

Semper Fi :salute:

 

RV there yet ? :pirateship:

  • Thanks 1
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • yota691 changed the title to Iranian official calls for negotiations with Washington in Iraq
  • yota691 locked this topic
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.