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America launches the economic side of the Middle East peace plan amid skepticism


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2 minutes ago, Pitcher said:

An Israeli analyst has warned that the main target of the Iranian ideology is to take control of Mecca and Medina, Arutz Sheva reported.

 

Thank You for bringing this and ALL the other great articles over, Pitcher, AND The Best Of Your Week To You, Sir!!! :tiphat:

 

Go Moola Nova!

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Iran's highest leaders approved Paris rally bomb plot, opposition group claims

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani arrives to a press conference in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015. Rouhani said Saturday he opposed a parliamentary vote on the landmark nuclear deal reached with world powers, saying terms of the agreement will turn into legal obligation if it is passed by the house. Picture of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hangs on the wall. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

 

 

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani arrives to a press conference in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015. Rouhani said Saturday he opposed a parliamentary vote on the landmark nuclear deal reached with world powers, saying terms of the agreement will turn ... more >

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By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times - Updated: 6:58 p.m. on Thursday, July 12, 2018

The Europe-based opposition to Iran’s ruling mullahs charged on Thursday that the plot to bomb its annual resistance rally near Paris on June 30 was approved by Iran’s highest leaders.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran quoted its intelligence sources inside the country as saying that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Hassan Rouhani approved the plan.

Belgian authorities foiled the plot when they found explosives in a car driven by a couple with ties to Iran. Prosecutors said the two were directed by Assadolah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat/spy posted at the country’s embassy in Vienna. After the Belgian arrests, German authorities apprehended Mr. Assadi, who had passed the explosives to the selected bombers, prosecutors said.

U.S. officials say Iran routinely packs its embassies in Europe with intelligence operatives who aggressively spy on exiled opponents.

The Tehran regime, pegged by the U.S. as the world’s chief state sponsor of terrorism, has rejected the charges.

Some U.S. media outlets suggested that the plot was a “false flag” staged by the council, often referred to as the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran, or MEK.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/12/ayatollah-ali-khamenei-hassan-rouhani-okd-paris-bo/?utm_source=onesignal&utm_campaign=pushnotify&utm_medium=push

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2018-07-13 BY SOTALIRAQ

 

Sulaymani: "We will cut off regional oil exports whenever you order a response to any American threat."

 

The commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Qassim Soleimani, praised the threat of President Hassan Rowhani to block oil exports in the region if he stopped Iranian oil sales. "I accept your hands on this, and I am at your service to implement any policy that serves the Islamic Republic."

"The media reported that if Iran is prevented from exporting oil, there is no guarantee for the export of oil from the entire region, and you talk about Iran's attitude towards the Zionist entity," Solaimani told President Rohani. Is a source of pride and pride. "

"The Revolutionary Guard is ready to implement a policy that hinders regional oil exports if the US impedes Iranian oil exports," Soleimani said.

"This is Dr. Ruhani, who we know after his recent statements about Iranian oil," said the commander of the Quds Force.

"I accept your hands (Rohani) on those wise statements that came at the time, and I am at your service to implement any policy that serves the Islamic Republic."

During his meeting with the Swiss-based Iranian community, Rohani threatened to block shipments of oil from neighboring countries if Washington went ahead with plans to force all countries to stop buying Iranian oil.

"The Americans claim that they are trying to stop the export of Iranian oil completely, they do not understand what they say, this talk is meaningless. If Iran can not export its oil, the export of oil will stop in the whole region. If you want to do this, try it and you will receive the result. "He said.

https://www.sotaliraq.com/2018/07/13/سليماني-مخاطباً-روحاني-سنقطع-صادرات-ا/

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Well Iran, we'll call your, "Soleimani" and raise you a, "Mattis".

Good luck with that!

My apologies for the caption (it was already there) but is appropriate as we are no longer sticking our heads in the sand and hoping it goes away.

How soon they forget...

Not for long I feel.

Mattis Effect 25.jpg

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7 minutes ago, CaptainBVI said:

Well Iran, we'll call your, "Soleimani" and raise you a, "Mattis".

Good luck with that!

 

:twothumbs:

 

Yeah, CaptainBVI, I suspect we have some really accurate “fast movers” that will make their “speed boats” and whatever else they have non starters for momentary but impressive “shock and awe”. Likely all over for the Insanians before it gets started. The USN Theodore was in the Persian Gulf earlier and I am not sure if it is still there or has been relieved with another USN Carrier Group. Well, OK, we may have some antiquated sub amarmaments that need to be “dispensed with” in a most Partiotic fashion.

 

In The Mean Time (if I may humbly add).................................

 

Go Moola Nova!

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4 minutes ago, Synopsis said:

 

:twothumbs:

 

Yeah, CaptainBVI, I suspect we have some really accurate “fast movers” that will make their “speed boats” and whatever else they have non starters for momentary but impressive “shock and awe”. Likely all over for the Insanians before it gets started. The USN Theodore was in the Persian Gulf earlier and I am not sure if it is still there or has been relieved with another USN Carrier Group. Well, OK, we may have some antiquated sub amarmaments that need to be “dispensed with” in a most Partiotic fashion.

 

In The Mean Time (if I may humbly add).................................

 

Go Moola Nova!

:pirateship:

They are bringing a knife to a gun fight.

You can't fix stupid but I believe nature calls it, "Natural Selection".

I personally am DONE being threatened as a nation.

Go ahead Iran, MAKE MY DAY!!!

Venting over...

Take care my friend.

Go Moola Nova!!!

:pirateship:

(I still love the pirate ship)

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It’s not just the US they are threatening. They want to annihilate Israel, Saudi Arabia, Europe, and anyone who gets in their way to form a new Arab Nation that controls the ME.  They are itching for a fight.  I hate war but at some point you have to defend your interests.  

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Iran renews its nuclear program and builds a plant to produce centrifuges

1-1165169-500x282.jpg

TEHRAN, July 18 (IranMania) - Iran's Atomic Energy Organization announced on Wednesday the construction of a plant that will operate up to 60 centrifuges a day under its nuclear program.

He said  Ali Akbar Salehi, said the new project comes in response to the directives of the bodies that are preparing to increase the capacity to enrich uranium if the nuclear deal collapsed after the withdrawal of the United States of it. ", Pointing out that he" Under the nuclear agreement concluded in 2015, which was signed as well as Russia China, Britain, France and Germany, Iran has agreed to reduce its nuclear program in return for easing sanctions. " 

"The new factory does not in itself violate the terms of the agreement. Instead of building the plant over the next seven to eight years during negotiations, we did not start working on it. Now that I have given the order, this factory started working and its  production is Needed to operate up to 60 IRC-6 centrifuges per day. " Finished

https://www.iraqpressagency.com/?p=279578

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Iran Calls Israel’s Reported Theft of Nuclear Trove ‘Laughably Absurd’

Image19iran-documents-articleLarge.jpg?qualit
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel presenting the Iranian documents in Tel Aviv in April.CreditAmir Cohen/Reuters

By The New York Times

  • July 18, 2018

Iran has denied as “laughably absurd” a detailed Israeli claim that intelligence agents stole clandestine Iranian documents this past winter that reveal what Israel has called Iran’s extensive past research on nuclear bombs.

The Iranian denial, issued by the country’s United Nations mission, was in response to articles in The New York Times and other publications in recent days about the detailed claim by Israel, which considers Iran its most dangerous foreign threat.

The Times article, published in Monday’s print editions, and similar accounts in The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, were based on a partial viewing of the documents by journalists from those publications at the invitation of the Israeli government.

Israeli officials also provided new details on how they said the documents had been obtained — through a secret raid on a Tehran warehouse on Jan. 31 by agents of the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, equipped with blowtorches.

 

The trove included what the Israelis described as 50,000 pages and 163 compact discs of memos, videos and plans for building weapons.

There was nothing in Israel’s claim that suggested the Iranians were still engaged in such activity, which American intelligence reports have said ended in 2003.

 

 

 

But the documents suggested not only that Iran had been deceitful but also that its work in weaponizing nuclear power had been far more sophisticated and organized than initially suspected.

The authenticity of the documents, which purport to be at least 15 years old, has not been independently confirmed.

Iran has always denied accusations by Israel and others that Iranian nuclear work was meant for military purposes, a denial that Iran’s United Nations mission reiterated in response to Israel’s latest claim.

 

“Iran has always been clear that creating indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction is against what we stand for as a country, and the notion that Iran would abandon any kind of sensitive information in some random warehouse in Tehran is laughably absurd,” a spokesman for the Iranian mission, Alireza Miryousefi, said in an emailed statement. “It’s almost as if they are trying to see what outlandish claims they can get a Western audience to believe.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel first announced the results of the seizure in April after he had given President Trump a private briefing.

Just days later, Mr. Trump made good on his longstanding vow to renounce the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran that was negotiated by the Obama administration and the governments of five other major powers, including major European allies of the United States.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/18/world/middleeast/iran-israel-nuclear-denial.html

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Iran threatens to blockade vital oil route from the Gulf

July 21, 2018
 
4E7588C500000578-0-image-a-3_15321812158
 
 

Iran may block oil tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz in response to possible US sanctions over the country’s nuclear programme.

US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of a 2015 deal signed by President Obama.

 

The international accord allowed experts to inspect Iranian nuclear sites. Tehran also agreed to reduce its stocks of enriched nuclear material.

 
 
President Hassan Rouhani, pictured, made the threat in response to a plan by US President Donald Trump to impose new sanctions on Iran after he pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal

President Hassan Rouhani, pictured, made the threat in response to a plan by US President Donald Trump to impose new sanctions on Iran after he pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal

Trump has threatened to impose sanctions on Iran. In response, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said Tehran could block oil tankers using the narrow Strait of Hormuz – cutting off supplies from the Gulf.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei backed his president and said: ‘If Iran’s oil is not exported, no regional country’s oil will be exported.

Rouhani’s apparent threat earlier this month to disrupt oil shipments from neighbouring countries came in reaction to looming US sanctions and efforts by Washington to force all countries to stop buying Iranian oil.

Iranian officials have in the past threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route, in retaliation for any hostile US action.

Khamenei used a speech to foreign ministry officials to reject any renewed talks with the United States after President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from a 2015 international deal over Iran’s nuclear programme.

Khamenei added: ‘The word and even the signature of the Americans cannot be relied upon, so negotiations with America are of no avail.

He claimed it would be an ‘obvious mistake’ to negotiate with the United States as Washington was unreliable.

http://www.gulf-insider.com/iran-threatens-blockade-vital-oil-route-gulf/

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Turkey's Erdogan Will Run Country Singlehandedly, "Dissenters Will Be Fired": Top Advisor

Profile picture for user Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/21/2018 - 10:56

In the aftermath of the recent presidential election which granted Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan executive powers, it appears the president wasted no time to make himself into a dictator.

Speaking to Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper, Mehmet Uçum, one of Erdogan's chief advisers, Erdogan "will decide on how to run the country singlehandedly under the country’s new system of government, and any personnel who do not fit in will be immediately replaced." He added that the new system would make it possible for issues that had been held up under the old parliamentary system to be resolved in the space of hours through Erdogan’s direct intervention.

ucum.jpg Mehmet Uçum

In other words, Turkey is no longer a democracy, with no checks and balances, and Erdogan will henceforth rule with executive decree.

In a curious admission, Ucum said that the new system that would make this possible will likely raise the hackles of the opposition, however, "as it places full responsibility for the country’s administration on Erdogan’s shoulders."

The president’s adviser outlined the workings of a system in which political boards and institutions would serve in only an advisory capacity, passing their analyses up to the president for consideration, however ultimately with no say in the decisionmaking process.

"To whom will all of these (dossiers) be sent? To the president. Who will receive the drafts prepared by political boards? The president. Why does the president need to make the decisions on his own? Because under the new system, the president is the person who holds political responsibility."

It gets better: the advisor "explained that another advantage of amassing so much authority under the president is that "it reduces the danger of conflicts within government because it simply removes room for dissent."

“If any kind of discord does arise, then this won’t turn into a systemic problem, but one of implementation. What does this mean? The sources of discord can be removed overnight, and replaced with people who can do the job properly,” Uçum said.

While Ucum was effusive that the system would become an “inspiration” to other countries, other observers were less enthusiastic. Duke University professor Timur Karan tweeted that such a system “assumes the president is omniscient.”

It also assumes that the market will give Erdogan free reign to plunder and embezzle government funds and assets as he has frequently been accused of doing (with the accusers usually ending up promptly in prison). However, while Erdogan now has unlimited time and funds to reincarnate some bizarre modern-day version of the Ottoman empire, the market may be less patient: already the lira has plunged to record lows while inflation is soaring and capital is fleeing the nation while the nation's misery index recently hit an all time high of 25%.

turkey%20misery%20index.jpg source: Holger Zschaepitz

Turkey is also tied for 5th spot with Greece in Bloomberg's index of the world's most miserable economies, up from 7th place in 2017.

bbg%20misery%20index.jpg

How much longer Erdogan can preserve his executive power will depend on the economy, which means that just like in Venezuela, we expect that in the very near future, the government will simply halt the publication of any government economic data as the country sinks into 3rd world oblivion.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-07-21/turkeys-erdogan-will-run-country-singlehandedly-dissenters-will-be-fired-top

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Kuwaiti newspaper claims that Israel will bomb Iranian positions in Iraq

By Rudao 2 hours ago
newspaper
The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida says that the aerial photographs are one of the exclusive images obtained by the Shalamjah crossing between Iran and Basra, which is relatively close to Kuwait's borders.

Roudao - Erbil 

newspaper reported , " the newspaper" Kuwait on Saturday, July 21, 2018, that Israel has identified Iranian military sites inside Iraqi territory to hit her, noting that "those sites are used to transport weapons and gear elements to Syria." 

The newspaper said that it obtained from sources familiar with exclusive aerial photographs, taken in the past two months, to those targets that Israel intends to hit, including border crossings with Iran, such as Mehran and Bashmak, along with Shalamjah border with Basra, and near Kuwait.

According to the newspaper's sources, "Israel has observed a lot in recent years, Iranian attempts to create a land corridor from Tehran, passing through Baghdad and to the Syrian territory, adding that some of those Iraqi sites controlled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards now were under the control of the US military in Iraq, such as airport H3 , And the site of the military military, as well as sites on important roads near villages and cities, such as lovers of Alba and other Iraqi sites belonging to Iran militarily. 

"Last week Israel shelled a site in Syria that said that the Revolutionary Guard near the Iraqi border is very far from the red lines in Syria."

She pointed out that the sources believe that "the remarkable development comes after Israel realized that Tehran insists on transferring arms to Syria for military positioning, despite all the diplomatic and political pressures on it, and is quickly trying to repair what Israel is bombing, to build a military force in Syria at any price" . 

"The implementation of this Israeli threat would represent a change in the rules of the game, and perhaps an attempt by Tel Aviv to expand the map of confrontation with Iran after the Syrian regime began taking control of the Kenitra border with the Israeli-occupied Golan." 

"This Israeli threat comes amid reports of the possibility of a US withdrawal from the Al-Tanf base in the border triangle between Iraq, Syria and Jordan, which plays a role in monitoring and maintaining US control of the Iraqi-Syrian border."

It is noteworthy that the Israeli authorities did not issue an explanation about what the Kuwaiti newspaper to prepare the news. 

http://www.rudaw.net/arabic/middleeast/iraq/210720189

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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday backed President Hassan Rouhani’s suggestion that Iran may block Gulf oil exports if its own exports are stopped and said negotiations with the United States would be an “obvious mistake”.”

 
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The US, electricity and Iran: What's behind the Iraq protests?

As protests continue across southern Iraq, some are questioning the role of the US in the ongoing unrest.

by Imran Khan

6 hours ago

 

 

 

Baghdad, Iraq - Is the United States behind the protests in southern Iraq? Well, the answer to that question is both yes and no.

Yes, because the US led the invasion and occupationof Iraq in 2003, which destroyed much of the infrastructure the country needed to remain a modern society.

No, because before the US, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein punished the south's residents by not building infrastructure after they rose up against him during the 1990-1991 Gulf War.

But there was another game afoot here that did allegedly involve the US.

The protests in the south, which kicked off in Basra almost two weeks ago, were sparked when Iran stopped supplying electricity to that region after it said it was owed $1.5bn in unpaid bills. 

The protesters didn't blame Iran but pointed to what they called an inept and corrupt Iraqi government. However, in recent days Al Jazeera has been told, off the record, that the US put pressure on Iraq not to pay the Iranians. 

Following its withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known colloquially as the Iran nuclear deal, in May, the US is currently preparing new sanctionsagainst Tehran - and it's rallying support for those measures from allies.

 

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Iraqi politician Raheem al-Darajji said he thinks the US is using Iraq.

"I personally believe that there is some sort of pressure being orchestrated by the US government on the authorities in Iraq not to pay Iran for electricity," he said.

When pressed on why he thought the US may be doing this, he replied that "it seems there is an unannounced proxy war carried out by the US against Iran and the US administration clearly wants the Iraqi government to be part of it".

Iraq, however, shares a huge border with Iran and has enjoyed close ties to it since the US-led invasion.

Putting a strain on that relationship by withholding money for bills is seen as dangerous by political observers. 

"From my conversations, I think the US has applied pressure on Iraq to withhold Iranian money, but there are other factors at play, including a weak government, unable to stand up to pressure," political analyst Ahmed Rushdi told Al Jazeera.

For the residents of Basra, international political intrigue matters little.

Through the time of Saddam, the US and now Iraqi democracy, they have seen little change in their lives over the decades and have now taken to the streets to express their anger. 

INSIDE STORY

What's fuelling the latest unrest in Iraq?

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Imran Khan @ AJImran

https://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/middleeast/2018/07/electricity-iran-iraq-protests-180721140946629.html

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Its no wonder why GOI does not want to support Basra and a key insight into the protests in that region. This isn't an USA making but an Iranian one. From an archived article...

 

Iran Occupies Basra through its Institutions, Militias

Basra – Basra governorate suffers from Iranian occupation to all its political, social, and security institutions given there are hundreds of centers for “charitable” purposes.

Occupation of Basra, 560 Km south of Baghdad, has been set since Khomeini’s reign in Iran.

During several interviews with Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, many Iraqis said that Persian language is now spread in Basra. They added that it has become somehow normal with many streets named after Iranian mullahs.

This, according to Iraqis, has driven many residents to leave Basra while many Shi’ites from nearby villages are arriving.

Military expert A. al-Rokabi said that Iran announced the Fatimid’s state when the Iranian troops occupied Fao and during the Iraqi-Iranian war.

Rokabi added that the scheme to occupy Basra has been set since Khomeini’s reign, but the regime has been conducting new methods since 2003. He added, “They are occupying the city in less conventional ways. They receive help of several Shiite parties and militias affiliated with Iran.”

Rokabi went on to say that Basra is fully occupied now by Iran and its natives has immigrated while cities of Dhi Qar and Maysan expanded. He explained that native tribes such as Basha Al Ayan, Naqib, al-Rashid and many others especially Sunnis are no longer in Basra.

“Basra has become a Shiite city after its citizens have been forced to immigrate,” he said.

Rokabi was a former naval captain at the Iraqi Ministry of Transportation. He reminisced how he used to sail freely and safely outside of Basra with the Iraqi flag on his ship. He described Shatt al-Arab as Iranian now where Iranian authorities arrest Iraqi fishermen for crossing international waters.

Rokabi pointed out that all of this happens with the knowledge of the local government in Basra and Iraqi government without any protest.

He confirmed that Iran occupied the Iraqi island Oum al-Rasas island in Shatt al-Arab in 2003. According to Rokabi, the island is used to smuggle drugs into Iraq and other Gulf countries and smuggling Iranians into Iraqi Bank.

Researcher Khalil al-Faddagh, a citizen from Basra, confirmed that the city never knew illegal Iranian presence before. He added that prior to the Iranian-Iraqi war, Iranians used to visit Basra legally through al-Shamlajah crossing point.

Faddagh added that Iranian presence now is dangerous and troublesome given that they enter the city as they please. He added that Persian language is now normally used with all the charitable institutions and schools.

Faddagh told Asharq al-Awsat that he used to work at the University of Basra prior to his travel to a Gulf country for work.

He conducted secret polls in regard of the Iranian presence and discovered there are over 135 institutions, schools and centers under different names that are under the patronage of Shiite militias and parties including the so-called Iraqi Hezbollah, League of the Righteous, Higher Islamic Council and many others.

According to Faddagh, the number of Iranian media outlets in Basra exceeds the number of Iraqi. He also mentioned that Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) had named a street in Basra after Khomeini. Something Provincial Council Member Ahmed al-Saliti considered as a pride for the governorate.

He explained that Sunni Basra natives and now no more than 13% of the population after it was 76% in the 60’s. He also added that members of Basra Provincial Council are all Shiites including Iranians who were granted the Iraqi nationality in 2003.

Civil activist Iman N. told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that situations in Basra are deteriorating after it was a civil city. She added that there is no security in the city and no municipal cervices.

Iman teaches at one of Basra’s high schools and said that one of the so-called Iraqi Hezbollah demanded that Persian language be taught in schools as a second language.

The activist confirmed that Imam Khomeini institution controls the women through financial support, while they, as activists, can’t help as much due to lack of resources.

She mentioned that prostitution rate had increased in Abdan city with Iraqis constantly visiting that city for purposes other than religious or touristic.

 
Edited by Theseus
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I sure hope Iran tries to block the route! It want work out to well for them!! President Trump will instruct our forces to kick the $h!t out of those Muslim devils!! If it we’re me , I would turn that place into solid glass! They are not dealing with the coward jimmy carter or the little no good for nothing “o” !!!

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Iran Warns Trump Not To Cut Off Oil Exports, Threatens "Mother Of All Wars"

Profile picture for user Tyler Durden
Sun, 07/22/2018 - 09:23

Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani warned the US not to threaten the nation’s oil exports, called for improved relations with its neighbors including arch-nemesis Saudi Arabia, and cautioned the US that a conflict with Iran would be "the mother of all wars."

"Don’t play with the lion’s tail, this would only lead to regret," Iran's leader said during a speech with Iranian diplomats on Sunday, the semi-official Iranian Students’ News agency reported. "The Americans must understand well that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars" he said, adding that Iranians will only be united by further threats from the US, and that the Islamic Republic "will certainly defeat America."

iran%20military%20drill.jpgiran%20military%20drill.jpg Iran military drill in the Strait of Hormuz, photo credit: AFP

The latest attack against president Trump by Rouhani came one day after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei backed the idea of blocking all oil exports from the region by closing the Strait of Hormuz in the event of Iran’s exports being banned. He also said that "U.S. govt.'s words or even signatures cannot be relied on; thus negotiations with the U.S. are useless. The assumption that negotiations or establishing ties with the U.S. would solve country's problems is an obvious error."

 

I have previously pointed out that U.S. govt.'s words or even signatures cannot be relied on; thus negotiations with the U.S. are useless. The assumption that negotiations or establishing ties with the U.S. would solve country's problems is an obvious error.

 
 

While Iran's belligerence toward the US (and vice versa) is nothing new, there was a surprising twist when Rouhani said that Iran would seek improved relations with its Arab neighbors in the Persian Gulf, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, according to Bloomberg. But he also said Saudi Arabia still needs to "change its actions, let go of obstinacy and be willing to have relations."

Iran's anger is the result of Trump's recent decision to withdraw from Obama's landmark nuclear deal, and Trump's subsequent pressure on US allies to completely cut imports of Iranian crude in response to Tehran’s alleged malign activities. Those who fail to comply with America’s request would be targeted by secondary US sanctions. Following Trump's withdrawal, Iran has been working with the EU to salvage the 2015 the accord.

And even though the other signatories to the deal officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), have condemned Trump's decision, and have assured that they remain strongly committed to the agreement, there has been little progress in carving out a deal that excludes the US, especially with the threat of financial sanctions looming.

Apart from attempts to exert international pressure and re-impose sanctions on Iran, that were in force till the JCPOA, the US launched an online campaign to distort Iranian leadership, according to a recent Reuters report.

Rouhani also suggested that Iran has alternatives to shipping crude through Hormuz.

“No one who really understands politics would say they will block Iran’s oil exports, and we have many straits, the Strait of Hormuz is just one of those,” Rouhani said. He didn’t elaborate on the other “straits” Iran might have available for its exports.

“Mr Trump! We are the honest men who have throughout history guaranteed the safety of this region’s waterways,” Rouhani said. “Do not play with the lion’s tail, it will bring regret.”

In response to US escalations, Iran threatened to halt oil shipments through the strait if the U.S. stopped it from exporting, Esmail Kowsari, deputy commander of the Sarollah Revolutionary Guards base in Tehran. Such a move would likely provoke a conflict between Iran and the US, as the strait is the most important export waterway for most Arab oil.

hormuz%202_0.jpghormuz%202_0.jpg

Ironically, Iran has a point: the recent surge in the price of oil and gasoline, which has led to Trump's repeated demands for OPEC and Saudi Arabia to pump more oil, and represents a threat to republicans ahead of the next midterm elections as Bloomberg calculated recently...

republicans%20and%20oil.jpgrepublicans%20and%20oil.jpg

... would be gone instantly, if Trump were to ease off the pressure on Iran or at least suggest a more staggered implementation of the sanctions. For now, however, the US is stuck with gasoline prices at 4 years highs.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-07-22/iran-warns-trump-not-cut-oil-exports-threatens-mother-all-wars

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  • yota691 changed the title to America launches the economic side of the Middle East peace plan amid skepticism
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