[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Iranian officials reacted at the allegations linking the country to the recent war and violence in western Farah province of Afghanistan.
A front man for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran Bahram Qassemi told news hounds that Tehran notes the allegations by certain sides in Afghanistan accusing the neighboring countries for supporting the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... after the past week attacks in Farah city.
Qassemi further added that the US commanders who have grown desperate at establishment of security in the country after years of extensive military presence in Afghanistan and shedding the blood of thousands of innocent people in the country, are attempting to accuse the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran of supporting the Taliban to derail the public opinion from the real reasons behind the continued war in the country, according to Fars News.
In the meantime Qassemi said talks about water resources are also underway between the two countries and linking the issue to the internal problems in Afghanistan is not logical, correct and rational.
This comes as the Afghan defense Gen. Tariq Shah Bahrami had earlier said that the war in Farah has links with the water resources management issues.
The US Department of Defense or Pentagon had also said earlier that Washington cannot rule out the involvement of Iran in Farah violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018 00:00 ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Taliban ...Arabic for students... group has threatened to carry out attacks on security institutions in Kabul as part of their spring offensive, urging the civilians to stay away from such compounds amid growing criticisms that such attacks mostly lead to civilian casualties.
The group issued a statement claiming that the civilian casualties rate has dropped significantly during the attacks carried out by the group.
However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... the group admits that the attacks in Kabul cause civilian casualties, accusing the government and security institutions for using the civilians as human shields by establishing compounds in civilian frequented areas.
Taliban in its statement stated that the group has plans to carry out attacks on security institutions as part of their spring offensive and urged the residents of the city to cooperate and stay away from such compounds.
The latest Taliban claims regarding the reducing civilian casualties and adopting necessary precautions to prevent civilian deaths are following the growing criticisms that the majority of civilian deaths are caused in Taliban attacks, particularly in suicide and roadside kaboomings.
A total of 10,453 civilian casualties ‐ 3,438 people killed and 7,015 injured ‐ were documented in the 2017 Annual Report released last month by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the UN Human Rights Office.
The report further added that the high number of casualties to the civilians were inflicted by suicide kabooms and other attacks using improvised bombs (IEDs).
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018 00:00 ||
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[RADIOSHABELLE] Southwest State president Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden has sacked the governor of Lower Shabelle region Ibrahim Aden Ali [Najah] through a presidential decree.
Ali who has been serving the office for years was relieved of his deputy for unspecified reasons. He has been replaced with Mohammed Ibrahim Barre.
Meanwhile, ...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck and Manuel's rivalry was entering a new and more dangerous phase... Southwest leader has fired the deputy governor of Somalia’s breadbasket region, Lower Shabelle on social affairs Abdullahi Mohammed Nur.
In a Presidential decree, Southwest leader has appointed Ibrahim Adan Ali, immediate former governor of Lower Shabelle region as the minister for the presidency.
The new governor pledged to improve security and economy of the region which been plagued by inter-clan festivities and fighting between Somali military and al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... Al-Shabaab fighters control several towns and villages in Lower Shabelle region. The group has training bases, its own court and reinforcement bases in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018 00:00 ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] The Police Bureau of Investigation is looking into various irregularities which have enabled gunnies to be granted bail.
To arrest just one myrmidon, law enforcers have to deal with tremendous challenges, but have also found it difficult to keep gunnies in jail.
Many gunnies have gotten out on bail by exploiting loopholes in the law and absconded. There is now evidence that incorrect information is provided on bail petitions for myrmidon suspects.
On October 18 of last year, new JMB myrmidon Bulbul Ahmed Sarkar alias Fuad alias Rocky alias Mehedi, 26, took bail from the High Court through a petition that listed a fake guarantor.
Upon realizing this, the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) appealed to the court to investigate the matter. The court ordered PBI to investigate the matter and submit a report.
PBI has now undertaken an initiative to investigate each and every case of bail for other gunnies after it was found that a fake guarantor had been named for bail in Bulbul Ahmed’s case.
PBI has ordered each of its department, metro, and district officials to investigate the bail petitions of myrmidons.
Nagar DB police detained five people including the myrmidon commander Javed and second in command Fuad, from a JMB base station in Khoyjanagar area of Chittagong city on October 5, 2015.
Javed was killed in an alleged shootout with DB at Hathazari Kuaish area during a police operation on October 6. Cases were filed against them in an anti-terrorism lawsuit.
Four other JMB members Fuad alias Mohammad Bulbul, Sujan alias Babu, Mahbub, and Sohel alias Kajal were shown tossed in the clink You have the right to remain silent... . There are several cases filed against each of them.
Chittagong Metropolitan Police PBI Inspector Santosh Kumar Chakma filed a petition with the court on November 4, 2017 for further interrogation of Bulbul for investigation in a case.
He then came to know that Bulbul had been granted bail from October 18 of that year and looked into the matter of his bail.
Jalal of Tulsipara of Gobindaganj thana of Gaibandha and Jamal of Isanagar of Karnaphuli thana of Chittagong were mentioned as guarantors.
The police later found that both the guarantors were fake, and no such people live at the given addresses.
This matter prompted the PBI to investigate further. There have been questions about whether the myrmidons’ cases were run by any organized institutions.
PBI inspector Santosh Kumar Chakma said he is still investigating the matter as ordered by the High Court.
He said: "The guarantors’ names [Jamal or Jalal] on the custody papers have the same signature and are the same person. But their addresses are different. The matter is very sensitive."
In this regard, Chittagong Metropolitan PP Fakhruddin Chowdhury said: "PBI has brought the matter of fake guarantor to the attention of the court. After the hearing, the court ordered an investigation of the matter."
Apart from this incident, other gunnies arrested from different parts of the country have obtained bail from time to time. Many of these gunnies have now disappeared.
Most of the gunnies have cases filed against them in many parts of the country, under the anti-terrorism act, including Dhaka. Law enforcers are now trying to find and re-arrest them.
Members of Ansar al-Islam, JMB, Harkat-ul-Jihad, New JMB, and other banned myrmidon organizations have also managed to get bail. PBI has been examining their bail cases separately.
Head of PBI DIG Banaj Kumar Mazumder said: "We are investigating the issue of the two custodians of the myrmidon leader from Chittagong. Besides, other myrmidons’ bail conditions are also being investigated."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] All Chinese mosques should raise the national flag to "promote a spirit of patriotism" among Moslems, the country's top Islamic regulatory body has declared, as the Communist Party seeks to tighten its grip on religion.
Flags should be hung in a "prominent position" in all mosque courtyards, the China Islamic Association said in a letter published on Saturday on its website.
This would "further strengthen the understanding of national and civic ideals, and promote a spirit of patriotism among Moslems of all ethnic groups", it read.
Mosques should also publicly display information on the party's "core socialist values", and explain them to devotees via Islamic scripture so that they will be "deeply rooted in people's hearts", it said.
The China Islamic Association is a government-affiliated body and has the sole power to accredit imams.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
...and there will be a loyal toast, of maotai, drunk to the flag, five times a day, at convenient times of the day when all mosque-goers are assembled.
h/t Instapundit
[FreeBeacon] European countries are currently examining a range of options to counter the reimposition of harsh U.S. sanctions on Iran in a bid to continue doing business with the Islamic Republic, a move that is being met with chilly reception on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are already putting in place measures to ensure that any European nation caught skirting U.S. sanctions faces harsh repercussions, according to a new policy paper being examined by lawmakers and viewed by the Washington Free Beacon.
Ahead of a landmark foreign policy speech on Iran Monday morning by newly installed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, his first since taking the office, European nations have been locked in meetings to develop contingencies to continue doing business with Iran after new U.S. sanctions go into effect in the coming months. So, what motivates them: (a) Greed, (b) pathological envy of USA, (c) pathological hatred of Israel?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru ||
05/22/2018 04:01 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#3
Bright Pebbles, would it be possible for you expand upon what you mean by American internationalism a bit, please? I am just trying to get a better understanding. Thank you.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
05/22/2018 7:05 Comments ||
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#4
So, what motivates them: (a) Greed, (b) pathological envy of USA, (c) pathological hatred of Israel?
embrace the power of "and"
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/22/2018 7:12 Comments ||
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#5
With friends like these, who needs enemies?
Why are we still allied with them? Why are we not pulling our troops out? They are clearly working against us and not the least bit sorry about it.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
05/22/2018 7:58 Comments ||
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#6
Why is America running a $150 billion annual trade deficit with them? That's 1.5 million primary manufacturing jobs lost to them. Add to that support jobs in the economy.
#7
According to my UK friends a large part of this is that they do not understand the disconnect between US government and US companies.
So any issues with an American company / industry, think hi tech, is bundled into their feelings about the US gov't. Of course 20 years ago I blamed the Euros for this...now? Not so much.
#8
Well if the EU said to an American company that you can't trade with say India because they have nukes you'd be complaining about EU over-reach and it's the same the other way.
#9
I don't remember Indians shouting "Death to America" or being the world's foremost government sponsor of terrorism, some taking place in Europe. Please enlighten me.
If Europeans are dead set against trade with India, I am sure Americans will take a second look. What do you have against Indians?
#10
I think you totally miss my point, it's got not much to do with the reason why more the invasion of sovereignty.
My own opinion (which is not relevant to my point) is that Iran is not following the agreement so the agreement is over, but that's not why people are annoyed.
#11
If they fought bled and paid for their defense instead of defaulting to the USA to do it all they would have rights to feelings of sovereignty. Since they don’t they are nothing but spoilt pikers.
#15
It’s hard to make the transition from an America willing to follow the EU (including Britain) lead, and an America strongly acting in its own interest. Especially after having been assured by the outgoing administration first that Mr. Trump could not possibly win, and then that Mr. Trump was a bloviating idiot who would not be able to figure out how to get out of the Obama commitments. Their actions following being informed that they had until April to get Iran to agree to certain changes or America was out of the deal show they firmly believed what President Obama’s people told them.
It must feel a great deal like whiplash over there at the moment, a feeling that creates anger and indignation.
#17
Their actions following being informed that they had until April to get Iran to agree to certain changes or America was out of the deal show they firmly believed what President Obama’s people told them.
You can keep your doctor if you want to.
No boots on the ground.
etc etc etc
Heh, indeed! One thing I learned from reading Scott Adams and watching the last presidential election is that facts don't matter. It's all about 'the feelz'.
Information (aka 'facts') that challenge our world view are either rejected outright or drive our brains into cognitive dissonance. The tell for cog-diss is a retort that starts with 'So...' followed by some word salad rebutting a point you never made. At this point, you have won the argument.
The example here is "So you acknowledge you don't have a point and Iran and India are not comparable."
#21
Now, BP, lets stop and think a bit.
(a) Your country is run by a Quisling Government loyal to the EU - as proven by their delays and attempted sabotage of Brexit.
(b) The only way to save your country from becoming a Pakistan in the West is destruction of the EU and its ideologies. The only ones who can accomplish this are Russians or Americans. And Russians will destroy not just the EU but depopulate Europe (including Britain).
(c) So, instead of feeling injured national pride, you should cheer the Americans on - the way I'm sure Frenchmen in Vichy France, or East Europeans behind the Iron Curtain, did.
#23
Just was watching a show about Vlad the Impaler.
Seems he had a hard time with his "supposed" buddies in Europe but the Holy Roman Empire left him to twist in the wind so he had to fight off the Ottoman scourge however he could.......wasn't pretty.
[DAWN] India's Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that India will take any "comment on wanting peace" by Pak officials "seriously", The Times of India reported on Monday.
Sitharaman, while talking to Indian media on the sidelines of a seminar in New Delhi today, said that: "Any comment on wanting peace will definitely be taken seriously."
The Indian minister was referring to Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa's remarks made in April where he called for "comprehensive and meaningful dialogue" between both countries to look for a peaceful solution to the Kashmire dispute.
While addressing a passing out parade ceremony, Gen Bajwa had expressed Pakistain's "complete political and moral support" for the people of Kashmire who are fighting for their "basic right of self-determination". He added that while "such dialogue is no favour to any party" it is the only way to ensure peace across the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm sure he said something more along the lines "With the seriousness they deserve".
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...a Pak religious party. It is usually part of the govt, never part of the solution... -Fazzl (JUI-F) led by Maulana Fazal Ur Rehman has threatened to block the highway between Afghanistan and Pakistain.
The party reportedly issued the warning after the decision by the government of Pakistain to merge Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, according to The Express Tribune.
JUI-F’s Fata chapter Mufti Abdul Shakoor said Sunday Fata’s merger with the K-P "is an international agenda which will not be supported at any cost."
Speaking during a presser with JUI-F’s general secretary Mufti Ijaz Shinwari and information secretary Jihad Shah, Mufti Shakoor said the party will stage a protest demonstration at the Pak-Afghan highway in Landi Kotal and a separate one at the Indus Highway in Darra Adam Khel simultaneously against ignoring the will of tribal people and imposing decisions on them against their wishes.
The party’s chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ... had earlier announced that the party had decided to part ways with the ruling Pakistain Moslem League-Nawaz (PML-N) over the implementation of reforms in Fata.
Terming the merger a global conspiracy, Maulana Rehman had said that the government had backed off from the promise it made with their party for not going ahead with the merger.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018 00:00 ||
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[Jpost] Israel has struck targets in the Middle East with the F-35 Adir stealth fighter jet twice, Israel Air Force Commander Maj.-Gen. Amikam Norkin said Tuesday, becoming the first country to use the US-made jet in combat.
"We are flying the F-35 all over the Middle East. It had become part of our operational capabilities. We are the first to attack using the F-35 in the Middle East and have already attacked twice on different fronts," he said during the IAF Senior Air Force Conference in Herzilya. Glad to see it is being put to good use.
Norkin made the comments while showing a picture of one Israeli F-35 flying over the Lebanese capital of Beirut during the day. He did not mention when the picture was taken.
Israel declared initial operational capability of the world's most advanced jet in December after receiving nine F-35s. The Air Force is expected to receive a total of 50 planes to make two full squadrons by 2024.
With an extremely low radar signature, the F-35 is able to operate undetected deep inside enemy territory such as Iran as well as evade advanced missile defense systems like the advanced Russian-made S-300 missile defense system which Tehran announced in March had become operational.
Israel is also said to be still considering acquiring F-35B Lightning II short takeoff/vertical landing jets. According to Lockheed Martin, the B variant "is designed to operate from austere bases and a range of air-capable ships near frontline combat zones. It can also take off and land conventionally from longer runways on major bases."
This could be crucial in times of war when air force bases - and particularly runways - run the risk of being targeted by enemy missiles and rockets.
Current US Department of Defense plans state that Washington will acquire a total of 2,456 F-35s from the United States Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy. According to Lockheed Martin, over 280 F-35 aircraft have been delivered and are operating from 15 bases around the globe with over 580 pilots and 5,600 maintainers who have been trained on the aircraft whose fleet has surpassed more than 130,000 cumulative flight hours.
#4
As I recall, they also took a very proactive look at the software -- hardening security and junking subprograms they felt could be better done manually by trained ground crews.
#5
Israel should have some Mossad guys blow up a few buildings in Syria and then claim the F-35s did it. Let their neighbor wonder how invisible the thing is.
[IsraelTimes] Paleostinian media publish pictures and video of 83-year-old PA leader walking around in his robe in hospital and reading a newspaper
Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... is suffering from pneumonia but his condition is improving, officials said late Monday as pictures emerged showing the Paleostinian leader walking around a hospital in his robe.
"I visited President Abbas in hospital tonight. He suffers from pneumonia and is treated with antibiotics," Ahmed Tibi, an Arab Israeli politician, said on Twitter, adding that the octogenarian’s condition had "markedly improved."
Paleostinian media published pictures and video of a jovial looking Abbas walking around in hospital in a dark blue robe and sitting in his bed reading a newspaper, surrounded by associates.
Earlier it had been reported that Abbas, 83, was suffering from a fever as a result of an ear infection.
On Monday afternoon a senior Paleostinian official told The Times of Israel that Abbas’s health condition is "good" and has improved considerably in recent hours, a day after he was hospitalized for the third time in a week.
According to the Paleostinian official, Abbas, was suffering from an ear infection as a result of a recent surgery. The fever, a symptom of the infection, has since dropped, the official said.
Abbas has been receiving intravenous antibiotics since Sunday,
...that’s what they do when the situation is serious, in my experience...
is fully conscious and communicating with those around him, and is walking to the bathroom alone, said the official.
"We hope that he will be released within two days and his condition is certainly good," the official said.
Abbas was admitted to the Istishari Arab Hospital near Ramallah in the West Bank on Sunday with complications following the ear operation.
Abbas, who is a heavy smoker and overweight, has a long history of health issues, ranging from heart trouble to a bout with prostate cancer a decade ago. Two years ago, he underwent an emergency heart procedure after suffering exhaustion and chest pains.
More recently, a cardiologist moved into the presidential compound in Ramallah to monitor the longtime leader after a mysterious hospital visit in the United States, following Abbas’s address to the United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... Security Council in which he appeared weak.
Abbas, who insisted after the ear surgery last week that he was fine, has refused to designate a successor. But after more than a decade of avoiding discussion of the post-Abbas era, Paleostinian officials acknowledge that they are concerned, and potential successors are quietly jockeying for position.
He won a four-year term as president in 2005, but he has since remained in office in the absence of elections.
Abbas argues the split between his Fatah party and Islamist terror group Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",, which control the Gazoo Strip, has made elections politically impossible.
He has been involved in decades of negotiations with Israel but is unpopular among Paleostinians, with the majority wanting him to step down. He has also infuriated Israel’s government with a series of recent speeches denying any Jewish connection to the holy land and veering into anti-Semitism.
[PRESSTV] The Israeli regime has summoned the ambassadors of Spain, Slovenia and Belgium over their countries’ votes at the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... in favor of an international probe into the latest massacre of dozens of Paleostinians in the besieged Gazoo Strip.
Spanish Ambassador Manuel Gomez-Acebo and Slovenian envoy Barbara Susnik were summoned on Monday, while Belgian Ambassador Olivier Belle is to be called in the next day, according to a statement released by the Israeli foreign ministry.
The three European countries were among the 29 nations that voted at the UN Human Rights Council on Friday in favor of sending a team of international war crimes Sherlocks to probe the deadly shootings that left more than 60 Paleostinian protesters dead and over 2,000 others injured in Gazoo.
Only two of the council's 47 members -- the United States and Australia -- voted against the resolution, while 14 abstained, including Britannia, Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... and Germany.
The text said the team should "investigate all alleged violations and abuses ... in the context of the military assaults on large scale civilian protests that began on 30 March 2018 ... including those that may amount to war crimes."
On March 30, Paleostinians marched to the fence separating Gazoo from the occupied territories at the start of a six-week protest, dubbed "The Great March of Return," demanding the right to return for those driven out of their homeland.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
Spain has her "Occupied Territories" in Cueta and Melilla. Let's talk about the Cueta Border Fence, hmmmm?
[PRESSTV] US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... has proposed to establish a Paleostinian state with limited illusory sovereignty over around half of the West Bank and Abu Dis as its capital, an Israeli intelligence website reports.
The plan, due to be revealed next month, is reportedly intended to serve as a springboard for more negotiations between Israel and Arab governments, DEBKAfile reported Sunday.
Five administration officials told US media on Friday that Trump was preparing to reveal the "peace" plan after the end of the holy month of Ramadan in mid-June.
His son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, his special adviser for international negotiations, are the main authors of the text, it added.
Trump had discussed the text with three Arab leaders, namely Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, UAE emir Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed, Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... i ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Egyptian President Abdel-Fatteh el-Sisi.
However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... Ottoman Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan declined an offer to come aboard even before tensions rose between Tel Aviv and Ankara over Israeli massacres in the Gazoo Strip, the report said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018 00:00 ||
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[PRESSTV] A member of Congress has urged the US to recognize Syria’s Golan Heights as an Israeli territory after Washington's relocation of its embassy to Jerusalem al-Quds last week.
Republican Representative Ron DeSantis said in an interview published on Israel’s Walla news website on Sunday that he had brought the proposal before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, of which he is a member.
Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and has continued to occupy two-thirds of the strategically-important territory ever since, in a move that has never been recognized by the international community.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2018 00:00 ||
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h/t Instapundit
[DefendDemocracy.org] Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday presented the Islamic Republic of Iran with a stark choice: Either change or face "unprecedented financial pressure" in the form of "the strongest sanctions in history when we are complete." The Trump administration has declared financial war on the Iranian regime. Given the seriousness of its currency emergency, it’s a good bet America will win.
Iran’s economy is in crisis. Inflation is skyrocketing, banks are in turmoil, and Iranians protest daily against the regime’s ineptitude, corruption and foreign adventurism. The currency is collapsing. In 1979, just before the Islamic revolution, Iran’s official exchange rate was 70 rial to the dollar. Today’s official rate, 42,000 to 1, is only available to those with regime connections. Most Iranians have to accept less favorable terms on the black market.
The rial experienced several waves of devaluation, including during the last ramp-up in U.S. sanctions. The black-market rate per dollar went from around 11,000 in early 2011 to close to 37,000 in 2013, immediately before the June election of President Hassan Rouhani. The latest deterioration signals a worse crisis. It was triggered by Mr. Trump’s decision in October to decertify the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, indicating his intention to reimpose sanctions. The black-market rate has settled at 63,500, a nearly 40% loss of value since October. It dipped to 70,000 in the 24 hours after Mr. Trump announced on May 8 America’s official withdrawal from the nuclear deal. The regime is so desperate to avoid further collapse, it is taking extreme measures like criminalizing private currency trading and severely restricting the amount of currency Iranian travelers can take out of the country.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru ||
05/22/2018 15:38 ||
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[AnNahar] The United States will increase the financial pressure on Iran with the "strongest sanctions in history," after Washington pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday.
"We will apply unprecedented financial pressure on the Iranian regime. The leaders in Tehran will have no doubt about our seriousness," Pompeo said in his first major foreign policy address since moving to the State Department from the CIA.
"The sting of sanctions will only grow more painful if the regime does not change course from the unacceptable and unproductive path it has chosen for itself and the people of Iran," he added in the speech at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank.
"Iran will never again have carte blanche to dominate the Middle East," he said in outlining the new U.S. strategy on handling the Islamic regime, including 12 tough conditions from Washington for any "new deal" with Tehran.
Pompeo's list of 12 tough requirements included many that Iran is highly unlikely to consider.
He said Iran must "stop enrichment" of uranium, which was allowed within strict limitations under the 2015 deal. Iran must also allow nuclear "unqualified access to all sites throughout the country," Pompeo said, alluding to military sites that were off-limits under the 2015 deal except under specific circumstances. To that end, he also said Iran must declare all previous efforts to build a nuclear weapon, reopening an issue that the U.N.'s ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency has already deemed a closed matter.
Pompeo also demanded that Iran cease from a range of activities throughout the Middle East that have long drawn the ire of the U.S. and its allies. He said Iran must end support for Shiite Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... rebels in Yemen, "withdraw all forces" from Syria, halt support for its ally Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... and stop threatening Israel.
Iran must also "release all U.S. citizens" missing in Iran or being held on "spurious charges," he said.
At the same time, Pompeo offered Iran a series of dramatic potential U.S. concessions if it agrees to make "major changes." Under a new agreement, the U.S. would be willing to lift all sanctions, restore full diplomatic and commercial ties with Iran, and even support the modernization of its economy, Pompeo said.
"It is America's hope that our labors toward peace and security will bear fruit for the long-suffering people of Iran," Pompeo said.
[AnNahar] U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday vowed that Washington will "crush" whom he called Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... 's operatives around the world, as he issued a steep list of demands that he said should be included in a nuclear treaty with Iran to replace the Obama-era deal.
"We will track down Iranian operatives and their Hizbullah proxies operating around the world and crush them," Pompeo said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/22/2018 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman jugged Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! in Tehran for two years, has appeared in court to face a new charge, her husband said on Monday.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe was summoned to a court in Tehran on Saturday, according to a statement from Richard Ratcliffe, who runs the Free Nazanin campaign group.
The charge is for "spreading propaganda against the regime," which she denies, he said.
On Sunday, she was allowed to speak to the British ambassador to Tehran, Rob Macaire.
"This is the first time that she has been allowed any contact with the embassy in over two years," he said.
Contacted by AFP, Britannia's foreign ministry said in a statement: "We will continue to approach each case in a way that we judge is most likely to secure the outcome we all want.
"Therefore we will not be providing a running commentary on every twist and turn," the statement said.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian dual national who works for the Thomson Rooters Foundation -- the media organization's philanthropic arm -- was jugged Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! at Tehran airport in April 2016.
She is serving a five-year jail sentence for alleged sedition -- a charge she has always denied.
The couple have a three-year-old daughter Gabriella who is being looked after by Zaghari-Ratcliffe's parents in Tehran.
She has asked for temporary release from prison next month to celebrate her daughter's fourth birthday.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson visited Iran in December last year to press for Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release on humanitarian grounds.
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05/22/2018 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] The "jumbo Iran negotiation" sought by U.S. President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... will be "very, very difficult" to achieve, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson warned Monday.
U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo on Monday set 12 tough conditions for a "new deal" with Iran after Trump walked away from the existing nuclear agreement.
But Johnson said that he didn't see a comprehensive deal "being very easy to achieve, in anything like a reasonable timetable."
Britannia and the other powers who signed the 2015 agreement have vowed to honor the deal, despite the U.S. promising to increase financial pressure on Iran with the "strongest sanctions in history," hampering companies hoping to deal with the Middle Eastern state.
Johnson defended the original deal, saying it "protected the world from an Iranian nuclear bomb, and in return it gave the Iranians some recognizable economic benefits."
He added that G20 foreign ministers would discuss the issue when they meet in Buenos Aires later Monday.
"I think we will be discussing, not in the session but we'll certainly be discussing it with friends and colleagues today, how to take it forward," he told news hounds.
"But the prospect of a new jumbo Iran treaty is going to be very, very difficult.
"I think in the end, we will get back to the kind of additions to the JCPOA that we initially envisaged -- but it may take a long time," he added.
Johnson said Britannia was already taking measures to try to shield British companies dealing with Iran from being hit by U.S. sanctions.
"We're going to do everything we possibly can," he said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/22/2018 00:00 ||
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#5
Or girlcott whichever gender identity you sexually fluid 'parents' chose for your children to moan to their future, federally subsidized, counselors about.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
the personification of Somali state failure...
[Dhaka Tribune] The Police Bureau of Investigation is looking into various irregularities which have enabled 
Maulana Fazlur Rehman
[Jpost] Israel has struck targets in the Middle East with the F-35 Adir stealth fighter jet twice, Israel Air Force Commander Maj.-Gen. Amikam Norkin said Tuesday, becoming the first country to use the US-made jet in combat.
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
