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Trump says US ‘moving forward’ with additional sanctions on Iran


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Date of release: 2019/7/7 10:13 • 125 times read
Iran raises uranium enrichment rate over 3.6%
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced on Sunday that it was stepping up its commitments to the 2015 nuclear agreement.
"We will send a message today to the European Union that we will reduce our commitments, a step aimed at maintaining the agreement," Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghji told a news conference. 
"We announce an increase in the rate of uranium enrichment to more than 3.6 percent and up to 5 percent," said Iran's Atomic Energy Agency spokesman Behruz Kamalundi, according to the Fars news agency. 
"Our country has given an opportunity to abide by the nuclear agreement and to reduce our commitments does not mean leaving the agreement," Araghji said, noting that diplomacy is still open and there may be ideas about selling Iran's oil and recovering its money. 
He also said that Iran would take another 60 days to maintain the nuclear agreement and find solutions. "If the Europeans can not meet Iran's demands, we will continue to reduce our commitments to the nuclear agreement step by step," he said.
"We will file a complaint about the steps taken by America after its withdrawal from the nuclear agreement." 
The two officials also said that Iran "will not enrich uranium at the moment to the level necessary for the Tehran reactor."
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KAMALUNDI: Over the next few hours we will start increasing the level of uranium enrichment to more than 3.67 percent

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will start upgrading uranium enrichment to more than 3.67 percent in the coming hours, Iran's Atomic Energy Organization spokesman Behruz Kemalundi said Sunday.

According to Mehr news agency , the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization Behrouz Kamalonda, said during a press conference held on Sunday morning in the office of a spokesman for the Iranian government, that "according to the orders we received from President Rouhani, we must take the second step, which will start Tmhidadtha hours after Few ".

"If it takes time to raise our uranium reserves, it will not take long to increase the level of enrichment," he said, adding: "In the second step, there is no issue of time and time. Today we will hand over copies of the changes to the International Atomic Energy Agency And its representative in Iran. "

"The technical measures will be completed within a few hours, and the enrichment will increase by 3.67 per cent, which was the intention of the Islamic Republic and announced in advance," Kamalundi said.

"We have been instructed to meet the needs of the country; our needs are requirements for energy and research reactors, more fuel for power stations, the level of enrichment and reserves will increase, and we will accelerate its operations," the spokesman said.

He said that what happened to the Arak reactor is to pour the cement into the pipes inside the main store, with the possibility of reviving it. We prefer to follow the new reactor because the previous technology has become old and we have a plutonium in the new reactor.

"We would prefer to take advantage of the new reactor, although it is too late. We have signed a number of contracts that have been frozen in recent months and we have expressed hope for us to be able to benefit from the new reactor," he said. .

He said that the cooperation of the Chinese is good in the context of the new (redesigned) reactor, but they are under intense pressure from the United States. "We are acting on the basis of the performance of the other side and the Chinese-British team, and although we were pessimistic towards the British, Forward well and subsequent developments will show what action we will take.

 
Khobar code 1896089
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US sent message to Iran after drone downing, warning of limited strike: Iranian official

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A day after the drone was downed in the Gulf, Iranian officials said Tehran had received a message from Trump. (File/AFP)

Updated 6 sec ago

REUTERS

July 07, 201906:12

0

“After the downing of its intruding drone, the United States told us through diplomatic intermediaries that it wanted to carry out a limited operation,” an official said

“But Iran’s response was that we regard every operation as the beginning of the war,” he said

DUBAI: The US conveyed a message to Iran warning of a limited strike against the country after its unmanned drone was shot down in the Gulf, Iran’s civil defense agency chief Gholamreza Jalali was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency on Sunday.
“After the downing of its intruding drone, the United States told us through diplomatic intermediaries that it wanted to carry out a limited operation,” said Jalali who is also a senior commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.
“But Iran’s response was that we regard every operation as the beginning of the war.”
A day after the drone was downed in the Gulf, Iranian officials told Reuters on June 21 that Tehran had received a message from US President Donald Trump through Oman after the drone was downed warning that a US attack on Iran was imminent. Iranian and US officials denied the report.

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1521941/middle-east

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Iran's oil production falls to its lowest level since 1986

Iran's oil production falls to its lowest level since 1986

 08 Jul 2019 03:41 PM
Mubasher : According to press reports, Iran's oil production fell to the lowest level since 1986, with the application of US sanctions.

Oil production data in Iran showed that US sanctions on oil sales have the same negative effects of Iran's war with Iraq for more than 30 years, the Bloomberg news agency said on Monday.

Iran's oil production fell to 2.280 million barrels per day, while the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) indicated in its latest report for May that Iran's supplies fell to 2,370 million bpd.

The current US crisis between Iran and the United States does not seem to end at the moment. Donald Trump warned Tehran last month to use "overwhelming force" if Tehran attacked the United States.

Trump added: "Any military strike from Iran to anything of the United States will meet with great power and overwhelming."

The US special envoy to Iran announced that Washington will punish any country that imports oil from Tehran, stressing that there are no exceptions in this regard

 
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Editorial date: 2019/7/8 8:47 • 137 times read
Iran's oil minister optimistic about improving oil exports
(Reuters) - Iran's oil minister, Begin Zengane, said he was "very optimistic" about an improvement in his country's crude oil exports, despite tightening US sanctions on the country's main source of income.
"I am very optimistic about the improvement of our oil exports," Zangneh told state television. 
"Cooperation between the members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the oil-producing countries outside the Organization - OPEC + - will stabilize the market." 
Industry sources said last month that Iran's crude oil exports fell in June to 300,000 bpd or less after Washington tightened sanctions on Tehran's oil exports in May. 
For his part, the representative of the Iranian Oil Company on the Energy Exchange, the possibility of buying foreign customers crude oil from Iran. 
"The move came because of the desire of people outside Iran to attend and participate in crude oil trades in the local energy market, after the participation was limited to foreign companies in the legal capacity," said Amir Hussein Tbeianian.
The representative of the national company, that "it is possible for foreigners to obtain the symbol of trading and participation in transactions to buy Iranian crude oil on the local energy exchange."
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US imposes sanctions on Hezbollah 2 MPs and security official in Lebanon

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NAJIA HOUSSARI

July 09, 201918:34

0

The Treasury named MPs Amin Sherri and Muhammad Hasan Ra'd to a terror-related blacklist

Designation says Hezbollah uses its parliamentary power to advance its alleged violent activities

WASHINGTON/BEIRUT: The US imposed sanctions on Tuesday on two Hezbollah members of the Lebanese Parliament and a security official with the Iran-backed group.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of Treasury said MPs Amin Sherri and Muhammad Hasan Ra’ad, members of the Loyalty to Resistance Bloc, acted on behalf of Hezbollah, which used its parliamentary power to advance its violent activities. 

OFAC released a photo of Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani with his arm around Sherri’s shoulder.

The other man blacklisted is Wafiq Safa, a top Hezbollah official close to leader Hassan Nasrallah. The US said Safa maintained the group’s ties to financiers and arranged the smuggling of weapons and drugs.

Ra’ad, 64, is the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc and an MP since 1992. Sherri, 62, is a 17-year Hezbollah veteran of Parliament representing Beirut.

“Hezbollah uses its operatives in Lebanon’s Parliament to manipulate institutions in support of the terrorist group’s financial and security interests, and to bolster Iran’s malign activities,” said Sigal Mandelker, Under Secretary of Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

The newest sanctions brought to 50 the number of Hezbollah individuals and entities blacklisted by the Treasury since 2017.

The move came as the US steps up pressure on Iran and its alleged “proxies” in the Middle East, including Hezbollah, which Washington accuses of encouraging “terror” attacks.

 

Embedded video
 

Today, the U.S. designated three senior Hizballah officials for efforts to undermine Lebanese sovereignty. Any distinction between Hizballah’s political and military wings is artificial and we call on our allies to designate Hizballah in its entirety as a terrorist organization.

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

Department of State✔@StateDept

Today, the U.S. designated three senior Hizballah officials for efforts to undermine Lebanese sovereignty. Any distinction between Hizballah’s political and military wings is artificial and we call on our allies to designate Hizballah in its entirety as a terrorist organization.

704

1:48 PM - Jul 9, 2019

327 people are talking about this

 

 

What the sanction mean

It was the first time the US Treasury had placed Hezbollah lawmakers on its blacklist, which forbid US individuals and businesses with a US branch — including leading international banks — from doing business with those sanctioned.

The sanctions bar US citizens from dealing with the three men, block any assets they have in the US and limit their access to the US financial system.

A Trump administration official said the US wanted the sanctions to have a “chilling effect” on anyone who does business with Hezbollah. 

“It is time we believe for other nations around the world to recognize that there is no distinction between Hezbollah’s political and military wing,” a senior administration official who insisted on anonymity told journalists.

“To any member of Hezbollah considering running for office, know that you will not be able to hide beneath the cover of political office,” the official said.

“The message is actually that the rest of the Lebanese government needs to sever its dealings with these figures,” the State Department said.

The Treasury Department also called on “the international community to include Hezbollah on terrorism lists,” stressing that there is “no distinction between Hezbollah’s political and military wing.”

“The Lebanese government must sever its contacts with the sanctioned Hezbollah members. We will not close our eyes to members of the party in the government,” it added.

 

Hezbollah defiant

Hezbollah deputy Ali Fayyad said: “The US sanctions resolution is an insult to the Lebanese people, first and foremost” He added “There must be an official position from the parliament and the government on what affects Lebanon’s sovereignty.”

Hezbollah is represented in parliament by 13 deputies. The bloc is led by Raad, who was born in 1955 in the town of Jbaa in southern Lebanon, and is married with five children. He studied philosophy at the Lebanese University and participated in the creation of the Lebanese Union for Muslim Students, which was active in the late 1980s.

According to the Loyalty to Resistance Bloc’s website, he was one of the “early activists in Hezbollah and the Islamic resistance movement, and one of the founders of the support committees for the Iranian Islamic revolution in 1979. He headed the editorial board of the political weekly newspaper Al-Ahed for 10 years and took leadership positions in Islamic work.”

Raad was elected to represent southern Lebanon in 1992 and re-elected in 1996, 2000, 2005 and 2009. He was a member of the Hezbollah delegation, led by Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, that attended the National Dialogue Conference in 2006, which was organized to find a solution to the political crisis in Lebanon after the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 on September 2004, which called for free and fair presidential elections and the withdrawal of foreign forces, and the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005.

Raad, an outspoken defender of Hezbollah’s positions, denounced “the United States and those who are planning to defeat the spirit of resistance so that no obstacle remains to the ‘Deal of the Century’ (economic Middle East peace plan) they are marketing, by trying to subjugate us by means of the economic siege, starving us and imposing conditions on our sovereignty.”

He added: “We are interested in addressing this plan because it is aimed at our existence. They want to twist our arms.”

Sherri was born in 1957 in Beirut to a family that worked in the fields of trade and industry. He was elected to the parliament in 1998, reelected in 2004 and held his seat until 2010, and was elected again in 2019.

Safa, who is in charge of Hezbollah’s Liaison and Coordination Unit, oversees Hezbollah’s interactions with the international community and the Lebanese security agencies.


Trusted by Nasrallah

The website Janoubia.com, which opposes Hezbollah, said that Safa “represents by himself an international and Arab network as well as a Lebanese network. He is always present and interferes in the smallest details. 

Even when there is a disruption in the contacts between Hezbollah and the Lebanese political leaders, Safa remains in touch with army officers, the Future Movement, the Progressive Socialist Party or the Lebanese Forces, the site said.

Safa was Hezbollah's first negotiator in all the prisoner-exchange operations with Israel since the founding of the party and was directly linked to Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. Safa enjoys the Trust of Nasrallah as one of the party's primary and senior cadres.”

Known as a man of few words who is very secretive, Safa was a member of the Shiite Amal Movement militia before joining Hezbollah in the 1980s after the 1978 disappearance of Shiite religious leader Musa Al-Sadr in Libya.

“Targeting Hezbollah deputies in the sanctions might be for intelligence reasons, because of some telephone calls or frequent visits to a place,” said former Lebanese ambassador to Washington Riad Tabbara. 

He added that the US call for the Lebanese government to sever relations with the two deputies and the security official “is subject to negotiations.”

He explained: “Hezbollah has already been on the list of sanctions, and its representatives in the government and parliament receive salaries from the Lebanese government. This comes in accordance with arrangements agreed between the Lebanese and US sides through delegations from the Lebanese Central Bank and from the parliament that visited Washington and reached solutions that do not harm Lebanon or break US sanctions.

“The United States is concerned about Lebanon’s economic, security and political stability, and it goes easy with Lebanon under this ceiling.”

The latest sanctions are “a message to Iran and its arms in the region,” he added.

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1523256/middle-east

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Europeans take first step to punish Iran over nuclear pact breaches

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People walk in front of a mural of Iran's late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran, Iran July 7, 2019.

July 09, 201916:20

0

European powers urged Iran to reverse its move to increase uranium enrichment

The European parties to the deal along with the EU's diplomatic chief called on Tehran to reverse breaches of the agreement

BERLIN: European powers took their first step on Tuesday toward punishing Iran for breaking its nuclear agreement, triggering the deal’s mechanism to resolve breaches.
The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany, plus the foreign affairs chief of the European Union, said in a statement that Iran was “pursuing activities inconsistent with its commitments” under the deal, known as the JCPoA.
“These compliance issues must be addressed within the framework of the JCPoA, and a Joint Commission should be convened urgently,” they said.
The three European powers are the remaining Western signatories to Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement, which was abandoned by the United States last year.
Convening a joint commission of signatories — the Europeans plus Russia and China — is the first step in a process foreseen in the agreement that could eventually lead to a “snapback,” bringing back the international sanctions lifted by the deal.
“Iran has stated that it wants to remain within the JCPoA. It must act accordingly by reversing these activities and returning to full JCPoA compliance without delay,” the European countries said.
The 2015 agreement between Iran and world powers offered Iran access to world trade in return for agreeing to curbs on its nuclear program.
The future of the pact has been in doubt since last year when the United States pulled out of it and reimposed unilateral sanctions. Iran has said it wants to continue to abide by the agreement but cannot do so indefinitely if US sanctions prevent it from receiving any of the promised economic benefits.
The deal’s fate has come to a head in the past 10 days, after Iran announced steps that were in violation of its central commitments — it announced that it had amassed more enriched uranium than allowed under the agreement and said it had refined uranium to a higher purity.
Tehran argues that its steps are permitted under the deal as a response to US non-compliance. It has said it could take new steps in 60 days, including restarting dismantled centrifuges and purfiying uranium to a sharply higher threshold.
CONFRONTATION
The nuclear diplomacy is a central issue in a wider confrontation between the United States and Iran, which has escalated since the start of May when Washington tightened sanctions with the aim of halting all Iranian oil exports.
The dispute took on a military dimension, with Washington accusing Tehran of attacks on ships in the Gulf. Last month Iran shot down a US drone, prompting President Donald Trump to order retaliatory air strikes, only to call them off minutes before impact.
The European powers strongly disagreed with the Trump administration’s decision to abandon the nuclear deal, and have since found themselves caught in the middle, trying to persuade Iran to stick to it without receiving the promised benefits.
The Trump administration argues that the deal agreed under his predecessor Barack Obama was too weak because some of its terms were not permanent and it omitted non-nuclear issues such as Iran’s ballistic missile program and regional policies.
Trump’s hard-line policy is backed by oil-exporting Arab states in the Gulf, which consider Iran a foe and stand to gain from US sanctions that have removed Iranian crude from the market, and by Israel, which has repeatedly called on the European countries to reimpose sanctions.

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1523216/middle-east

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Iranian, US Delegations Reportedly Held Secret Talks In Iraq Last Week

Profile picture for user Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/09/2019 - 17:05
 

In a report that is intended either as a warning to President Trump or as gloating over the state of the Iranian regime, Israeli TV station i24reports that over the past week, a delegation from the US has been holding talks with a group of senior Iranian officials in Erbil, the de facto capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

 

Iran

Iranian officials

The meetings are a sign of "nascent upheaval" in the Iranian government, the report said, as the country's economic crisis worsens. Another sign is the arrest of 125 Iraqi government officials, many of which have been charged with espionage. Others have been removed from their posts, while some have simply disappeared.

 
 

As the Israelis tell it, Iran made the first overtures about holding talks with the US - though President Trump has repeatedly insisted that he'd be open to talking. Tehran reportedly contacted the Kurdish opposition parties based in Iraq, hence the location of the meeting. Unfortunately, an Iranian source said the talks proved 'useless'. One State Department official effectively denied the report, saying rumors about a US-Iran meeting were "highly doubtful."

However, the Israelis' Iranian sources warned that the leadership is worried about a possible soft coup brewing in the IRGC.

Sources suggest that Iran's Revolutionary Guards, especially its Basij forces - one of the five forces of the IRGC - have experienced division, suggesting Iran's leadership is working to counter a budding soft coup.

The Iranian delegation was led by the grandson of Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini, Hassan Khomeini. Two officials from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were also involved, as was Iraj Masjedi, Iran’s special envoy to Iraq. Publicly, Tehran has refused Trump's overtures and insisted that it wouldn't negotiate with the Trump administration.

Gen. Ali Nasiri, who has likely been detained, according to sources, while others were killed in assassination plots that include fatal medical injections and car "accidents".

Over the past week, two tankers carrying Iranian crude have been seized, and - more ominously - Tehan breached limits on the enrichment threshold for its uranium, which it has also been stockpiling again. Now, Iran is threatening to enrich its uranium past 20%. The level as of early this week was 4.5%.

The US and Iran also haven't quite resolved tensions that flared following a series of tanker attacks in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, and the downing of an American spy drone.

Though, notably, Washington seems to have toned down its anti-Iranian rhetoric this week.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-07-09/iranian-us-delegations-reportedly-held-secret-talks-iraq-last-week

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Iran is negotiating with Kurdish parties for fear of standing with America

Image:

■ The headquarters of a Kurdish party bombed by Iran Archived

 

Source:

  • London - Agencies
History: 10 July 2019

Opponents of the Iranian Kurds said that representatives of the Iranian regime had held meetings in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, in preparation for negotiations with four opposition Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran and the Kurdistan Party of Kurdistan and the other two dissident parties under similar names.

According to the website «Arab.Net» from Kurdish sources, the talks between those parties and Iranian officials, including intelligence officers, was in three stages in Germany and Norway. The sources, who did not want to be identified, said that Iran has threatened to attack the bases of these parties, which are based in Kurdistan, Iraq and its destruction in full if Tehran was hit by a US strike and kidnapped those parties along with America and its allies.

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 2019/07/09 16:29:08
 

The deputy commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guard for Cultural and Social Affairs Hassin Najat said his country's forces would destroy US aircraft carriers in the Gulf waters if any folly against Iran were committed.

"American bases in the region are in the range of Iranian missiles," Negat said. "Our missiles will target US bases in neighboring Arab countries in the event of any attack on our country."

The Iranian military official stressed that "the war is not on Trump's agenda and he wants to drag Tehran to negotiate through the maximum pressure."

Nagat pointed out that US President Donald Trump did not respond to the downing of the plane, knowing that "the bases from which US operations will be launched in the range of our missiles."

"Iran has put Israel's security at risk and now it is troubling Saudi Arabia, America and Israel. Tehran is fighting the war at the enemy's borders and not on its borders," he warned.

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EXCLUSIVE: US, Iranian officials held secret talks in Iraq last week

Iraq Foreign Minister Mohamed Alhakim, right, shakes hands with Iranian Ambassador to Iraq, Iraj Masjedi, left, during the visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, center, in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, March 10, 2019.

 

i24NEWS

Latest Revision July 09, 2019, 1:31 PM

AP Photo/Hadi Mizban

Iraq Foreign Minister Mohamed Alhakim, right, shakes hands with Iranian Ambassador to Iraq, Iraj Masjedi, left, during the visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, center, in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, March 10, 2019.

125 Iranian officials were said to be arrested, charged with espionage in an attempt to neutralize them

Secret meetings between US government officials and Iranian officials took place last week at a hotel in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish region in Iraq, sources informed i24NEWS, as the Iranian regime shows signs of a nascent upheaval. 

The Iranian delegation, which has at times been at odds with government policy, was headed by the grandson of Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini, Hassan Khomeini, and also included two officials from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as well as Iraj Masjedi, Iran’s special envoy to Iraq.

Iran has reportedly been contacting Kurdish opposition parties based in Iraq, but the talks remained “useless,” according to internal Iranian sources who informed i24NEWS' senior political correspondent Christian Malard.  

Exclusive: US Met Iranian Officials in Iraq Last Week

 

“The Iranian Communist Party”, one of the Kurdish opposition parties, announced that some of the major Kurdish parties have been secretly meeting with the Iranian officials for the past two years under the monitoring of a Norwegian NGO, which identity the party refused to reveal. 

Sources suggest that Iran's Revolutionary Guards, especially its Basij forces -- one of the five forces of the IRGC -- have experienced division, suggesting Iran's leadership is working to counter a budding soft coup. 

125 Iranian officials were said to be arrested recently and charged with espionage in an attempt to neutralize them for purportedly turning their backs on the regime.

i24NEWS DESK | Iraq to send delegations to U.S., Iran to calm tensions | Wednesday, May 22nd 2019

Play Video

Many others have been removed from their official posts or simply disappeared from the public eye without any explanation, such as Gen. Ali Nasiri, who has likely been detained, according to sources, while others were killed in assassination plots that include fatal medical injections and car "accidents". 

During the secret talks, American officials stayed at the same hotel in Erbil as Saudi officials who were later relocated away from the negotiation venue. 

Back in May, Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi said he would send delegations to both Washington and Tehran in order to calm tensions. 

In March, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani made his first official visit to Iraq,despite pressure from Washington for Baghdad to limit ties with its neighbor.

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/1562691436-exclusive-us-iranian-officials-recently-held-secret-talks-in-iraq

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10-07-2019 12:04 AM
image.php?token=3a27e1ce0364ee1b92e51ce7e0a2a0f2&c=1331455&size=
 


 

Baghdad: 
An Israeli channel has uncovered a series of secret talks between an Iranian and US delegation in northern Iraq. 
The Iranian channel, "i24 news", Tuesday evening, Tuesday, that an Iranian delegation, led by the grandson of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, met with US officials, the hotel in the city of Arbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, on Friday, July 5 Ongoing. 
Private sources told the channel, which spoke on condition of anonymity, that a delegation of Saudi officials were staying at the same hotel, before being moved to another place to be away from the negotiating place. 
According to the information disclosed, the Iranian delegation consisted of Hassan Khamenei, the grandson of Iranian leader Ayatollah Khamenei, leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and Iran's ambassador to Iraq, Araj Masjedi, and other dignitaries. 
Private sources were unable to obtain further details and the results of the negotiations. 
Iran had reportedly contacted Kurdish opposition parties based in Iraq, but according to the information received, the talks were still "useless". 
Earlier, a Kurdish opposition party called the Iranian Communist Party announced that a number of Kurdish parties had held secret meetings with a number of Iranian officials over the past two years under the supervision of a Norwegian organization. 
The party refused to give further details or reveal the identity of the Norwegian organization that monitored the talks. 
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Trump is really sweating the dollars and dinars out of the Iranians, after trashing their currency! I think this pressure might be a dynamic part of any RV!? I mean, who wants them with more money (RV'd) to terrorize their people and their neighbors? Sweat those Maliki billions out of them!

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Report: Iranian boats attempt to seize British tanker in Persian Gulf

 

i24NEWS

Latest Revision July 10, 2019, 7:17 PM
 
i24NEWS BREAKING NEWS

BREAKING NEWS

This is a developing story

Five Iranian boats attempted to seize a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, unsuccessfully, a CNN report revealed on Wednesday. 

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/1562803187-iranian-boats-reportedly-attempt-to-seize-british-tanker-in-persian-gulf

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IRANIAN ARMED BOATS TRY TO SEIZE BRITISH TANKER

The British tanker was crossing into the Strait of Hormuz when the Iranian boats approached.

BY JERUSALEM POST STAFF, REUTERS
 
 JULY 11, 2019 02:55
 
 
An Iranian oil tanker,
 

Five armed Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps boats failed in an attempt to capture a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday, CNN reported. 

The British tanker was crossing into the Strait of Hormuz when the Iranian boats approached. The Iranian ships told the British Heritage tanker that it should change its course and stop in Iranian territorial waters. A US aircraft overheard and recorded the incident, CNN reported. The UK's Royal Navy frigate HMS Montros had been escorting the tanker. When given orders by the Iranian ships, the Navy frigate pointed its guns on the Iranians and warned them to back away. The Iranian ships backed away in response to the verbal warning. 

Britian seized a Iranian oil tanker off Gibraltar last week over accusations it was breaking sanctions by taking oil to Syria.
Iran's armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri said the aggression would not go “unanswered.” 

"Capture of the Iranian oil tanker based on fabricated excuses ... will not be unanswered and when necessary Tehran will give appropriate answer," Bagheri said.

https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Iranian-armed-boats-try-to-seize-British-tanker-595288

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10 hours ago, Butifldrm said:

IRANIAN ARMED BOATS TRY TO SEIZE BRITISH TANKER

The British tanker was crossing into the Strait of Hormuz when the Iranian boats approached.

BY JERUSALEM POST STAFF, REUTERS
 
 JULY 11, 2019 02:55
 
 
An Iranian oil tanker,
 

Five armed Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps boats failed in an attempt to capture a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday, CNN reported. 

The British tanker was crossing into the Strait of Hormuz when the Iranian boats approached. The Iranian ships told the British Heritage tanker that it should change its course and stop in Iranian territorial waters. A US aircraft overheard and recorded the incident, CNN reported. The UK's Royal Navy frigate HMS Montros had been escorting the tanker. When given orders by the Iranian ships, the Navy frigate pointed its guns on the Iranians and warned them to back away. The Iranian ships backed away in response to the verbal warning. 

Britian seized a Iranian oil tanker off Gibraltar last week over accusations it was breaking sanctions by taking oil to Syria.
Iran's armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri said the aggression would not go “unanswered.” 

"Capture of the Iranian oil tanker based on fabricated excuses ... will not be unanswered and when necessary Tehran will give appropriate answer," Bagheri said.

https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Iranian-armed-boats-try-to-seize-British-tanker-595288

Hmmm, Capture of the Iranian oil tanker based on fabricated excuses. Lets see, who do we believe?😏

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Iranian Boats Attempt To Seize UK Tanker In Straits Of Hormuz

Profile picture for user Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/10/2019 - 20:27
 

With the Persian Gulf uncharacteristically quiet in recent days, without any material provocation either real of staged, late on Wednesday CNN reported that five armed Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard boats unsuccessfully tried to seize a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf. There was no independent verification of the report, but instead it was once again sourced to those who stands to gain the most from a way with Iran, namely "two US officials with direct knowledge of the incident."

british%20heritage.jpg British Heritage tanker

According to the report, the British Heritage tanker was sailing out of the Persian Gulf and was crossing into the Strait of Hormuz area when it was approached by the Iranian boats. The Iranians ordered the tanker to change course and stop in nearby Iranian territorial waters, according to the officials. A US aircraft was overhead and recorded video of the incident, although so far a video has not been released.

 

british%20heritage%20map.jpg

 
 

In addition to the US aircraft escort, the UK's Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose had been escorting the tanker, and during the confrontation, it trained its deck guns on the Iranians and gave them a verbal warning to back away, which they did. Montrose is equipped on the deck with 30 mm guns specifically designed to drive off small boats. The frigate was in the region performing a "maritime security role" according to a prior notification from UK officials.

hms%20montrose.jpg HMS Montrose

The incident takes place less than a week after British Royal Marines in Gibraltar stormed and seized an Iranian ship believed to have been carrying oil to Syria, in what authorities said was a violation of European Union sanctions on Syria. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned earlier Wednesday that the UK "will see the consequences" after the Gibraltar seizure.

Rouhani, speaking in a cabinet session, said, "I tell the British that they are the initiator of insecurity and you will understand its consequences later."

On Tuesday, the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford said that the US and allies were working to put together a coalition of countries to come up with a system to enforce freedom of navigation in the region amid what the US says are heightened threats from Iran.

"We had a discussion today, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense and I and we are engaging now with a number of countries to see if we can put together a coalition that would ensure freedom of navigation both in the Straits of Hormuz and the Bab el Mandeb," Dunford said following an awards ceremony for his Finnish counterpart.

"I think what we'll do is, we certainly from the United States perspective would provide maritime domain awareness and surveillance," he said, adding that naval vessels would escort commercial ships that shared a country of origin, if required.

"Escorting in the normal course of events would be done by countries who have the same flag so a ship that is flagged by a particular country would be escorted by that country and I think what the United States can provide is domain awareness, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and then coordination and patrols for other ships that would be in the area would be largely coalition ships," Dunford said.

This alleged latest provocation by Iran comes just hours after President Trump announced on Twitter that sanctions on Iran will "soon be increased, substantially!" following news that Iran was enriching uranium beyond the limits imposed by the Iran Nuclear Deal.

Last month Trump halted plans for a military strike against Iran in retaliation for the shooting down of a US drone, Trump said he found it hard to believe it had been an "intentional" act. "I think that it could have been somebody who was loose and stupid that did it," Trump said in the Oval Office on June 20.

It is unclear if Trump has been briefed on the latest events in the Gulf, and if this alleged attempt at seizing a western tanker will give the neocons in Trump's circle enough sway to finally commence the Gulf war which could send oil above $300 and involve all the world's superpowers in what would be one giant, and very deadly proxy war.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-07-10/iranian-boats-attempt-seize-uk-tanker-straits-hormuz

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Trump vows to increase sanctions against Iran

Trump vows to increase sanctions against Iran

 10 July 2019 06:05 PM
Direct: US President Donald Trump threatened to increase sanctions on Iran, with its lifting of uranium enrichment ratio.

"Iran has always been secretly enriching uranium in complete violation of the $ 150 billion bad deal signed by John Kerry and the Obama administration," Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday.

Iran has said it has breached the terms of the uranium enrichment deal in accordance with the 2015 agreement.

This came after the United States withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran last year and re-imposed strong economic sanctions on Tehran.

"The sanctions will soon be substantially increased on Tehran," Trump said.


 

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Iran Guards say US, UK will 'regret' seizing tanker off Gibraltar

Khamenei, right, Hossein Salami, second right, former commanders of the Revolutionary Guard Mohsen Rezaei, second left, and Yahya Rahim Safavi salute the Supreme Leader in Tehran.

i24NEWS - AFP

Latest Revision July 11, 2019, 06:45 AM

(Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

Khamenei, right, Hossein Salami, second right, former commanders of the Revolutionary Guard Mohsen Rezaei, second left, and Yahya Rahim Safavi salute the Supreme Leader in Tehran.

Russia blamed Washington on Thursday for the escalation in tensions with Tehran

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Thursday that the United States and Britain will "strongly regret" the seizure of a tanker off Gibraltar, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.

"If the enemy had made the smallest assessment they wouldn't have done this act," said Rear-Admiral Ali Fadavi, deputy commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guards, referring to the seizure of an oil tanker late last week by Gibraltar's police aided by British Royal Marines.

He added that the seizure of the tanker was "stupidity... a trait the American President has in spades and the British to some extent."

The UK detained an Iranian oil tanker off the coast of Gibraltar on July 4 allegedly bound for Syria. 

Iran: UK will face 'consequences' over tanker seizure

Play Video

At the same time, Russia blamed Washington on Thursday for the escalation in tensions with Tehran after Britain said Iranian ships had attempted to impede a British oil tanker in Gulf waters.

"The situation is very concerning," said Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, quoted by news agency RIA Novosti.

"The reasons for this are clear. This is Washington's deliberate, premeditated course to exacerbate tensions."

"As before, we call on everyone to behave with restraint in the Persian Gulf in order not to exacerbate the situation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, calling for dialogue.

i24NEWS DESK | Report: Russia to begin S-400 transfer to Turkey Sunday | Friday, July 5th 2019

Play Video

Britain said the confrontation on Wednesday saw three Iranian boats attempt to "impede the passage" of a commercial vessel called British Heritage, which is owned by British energy giant BP.

This led a British warship moving between the three boats and warning them off, UK defense ministry officials said.

Ryabkov called Britain's actions "outrageous" saying that they violated not only international law but also European Union internal legislation.

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/1562841791-iran-guards-say-us-uk-will-regret-seizing-tanker-off-gibraltar

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Will America launch a war similar to Iraq on Iran? Washington will resolve the debate!

Political | 08:42 - 12/07/2019

 
image
 
 

Mawazine News 
The prospects for an American war against Iran such as the ones it launched on Iraq in 2003 are continuing . The candidate for the post of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Millie, said that the US administration is not considering the idea of launching a war against Iran like the one it launched on Iraq. 2003. 
He denied Millie, who was nominated by US President, Donald Trump, during a hearing conducted in the armed Services Committee Affairs of the Senate of the Congress to consider his candidacy, that his administration is considering the idea of sending 150 thousand soldiers to Iran, as happened during the war on Iraq. 
"I prefer not to discuss emergency operations in open meetings, but no, I do not think anyone (in the US administration) is seriously considering anything similar to what you have just described," Milley said in response to a question from Republican Senator Thomas Coton.
"I do not know whether the war with Iran will happen, but its outbreak will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the distribution of the forces responsible for our defense priorities," he said. 
The US military said that Iran had intensified its activities in the recent period, but did not confirm that there is a need for the United States to take additional measures against the Islamic Republic, and said: "I think the time will show whether it is necessary or not. In recent months "

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5308.jpg?width=750&&height=375&watermark=2

 
2019/07/12 14:24
  • Number of readings 3
  • Section: Iraq
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The Revolutionary Guard announces the bombing of sites on the border with Iraqi Kurdistan

BAGHDAD /  

The Revolutionary Guard announces the bombing of sites on the border with Iraqi Kurdistan

Continued...

http://almasalah.com/ar/news/174698/الحرس-الثوري-يعلن-قصف-مواقع-على-الحدود-مع-كردستان-العراق

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