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Armenia's PM tells US that it will maintain "special relations" with Iran regardless of sanctions


RFE/RL
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 16:28 UTC
armenia pm nikol pashnian john bolton

Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (right) with U.S. national-security adviser John Bolton in Yerevan on October 25
Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian says he made clear to U.S. national-security adviser John Bolton last week that Armenia will pursue its national interests and maintain "special relations" with its neighbor Iran.

Addressing the Armenian parliament on November 1, Pashinian said he told Bolton when he visited Yerevan last week that Armenia is a landlocked nation that does not have diplomatic relations with either neighboring Turkey or Azerbaijan, so it must retain "special relations" with its other two neighbors -- Iran and Georgia -- which he said are Armenia's only "gateways" to the outside world.

"I reaffirm the position that we should have special relations with Iran and Georgia that would be as far outside geopolitical influences as possible. This position was very clearly formulated also during my meeting with Mr. Bolton, and I think that the position of Armenia was clear, comprehensible, and even acceptable to representatives of the U.S. delegation," the Armenian leader said.

Comment: And as way for the threat to be even close to workable, the US and OPEC flood oil market ahead of midterms and Iran sanctions

See also:

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Oil Well

US and OPEC flood oil market ahead of midterms and Iran sanctions

Nick Cunningham
OilPrice.com
Thu, 01 Nov 2018 19:00 UTC
oil pump
© Reuters / Christian Hartmann
OPEC and the U.S. are together adding enormous volumes of new supply, which together have softened the oil market.

In October, OPEC hiked oil production to the highest level since 2016, back before the oil production cuts went into effect, according to a recent Reuters survey. The higher output, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, come just as Iranian oil is going offline. Also, Libya saw a sharp rebound in production, although the country is not part of the OPEC+ production cuts.


Comment: Stalling: US needs 'handful more weeks' to decide sanctioning Saudi Arabia for Khashoggi murder


The 15 countries in OPEC produced an average 33.31 million barrels per day in October, the highest since December 2016. That was also up 390,000 bpd from September. "Oil producers appear to be successfully offsetting the supply outages from Iran and Venezuela," said Carsten Fritsch of Commerzbank.

Russia, which is not part of OPEC but part of the OPEC+ coalition, continues to produce at post-Soviet record highs.

Iran lost 100,000 bpd in October, due to buyers cutting back as U.S. sanctions near, but the losses were more modest than many analysts had expected. In fact, despite the hardline rhetoric from Washington, the U.S. is poised to grant waivers to several countries that are unable to cut their imports of Iranian oil to zero.

Comment: This news should help the Donald in the short term:

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Eagle

'Troika of tyranny'!? US greatly expands sanctions of Venezuela, warns Cuba and Nicaragua - 'you're next!'


RT
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 01:05 UTC
Maduro
© Reuters / Handout
The US is slapping far-reaching sanctions on Venezuela in its bid to re-assert hemispheric dominance over what National Security Advisor Bolton dubbed a "Troika of tyranny" in a groan-worthy throwback to Bush's "axis of evil."

Trump has authorized even stricter sanctions against Venezuela, ostensibly targeting the country's gold sector but actually going after anyone and everyone deemed "to have directly or indirectly engaged" in "deceptive practices or corruption" relating to the Venezuelan government by the Secretary of State. Without defining any of those terms, the administration has written itself a blank check to wage economic warfare against the already-suffering nation.


Comment: You'd think by now the US would have learned that its punitive and prejudicial sanctions not only do not work (as far as attempting to bend a given government to its will) - but actually strengthen the resolve and determination of those nations that seek to be a sovereign and functioning part of a multi-polar world:

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Biohazard

Genetically engineered viruses have become the next generation of weaponry for the US

Tomasz Pierscionek
RT
Thu, 01 Nov 2018 10:22 UTC
biological warfare
© Global Look Press / Alexander Heinl
Many technologies have dual use potential and can be applied to either civilian or defense projects, depending on the intent of those in charge.

German rocket technology led to the creation of V2 ballistic missiles in WW2 and later enabled the US to launch space exploration missions in the latter half of the 20th century. The technology also helped the US develop its own ballistic missile program.

Nowadays, US scientists at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are working on a project called Insect Allies which will use insects to infect crops with genetically modified viruses that edit the crops' genetic profile to make them more resilient against disease, as well as natural and manufactured threats to the food supply. It is not clear how the insects' flight paths would be controlled to ensure they only infect designated targets.

Comment: In fact, the research phase of biological warfare has already advanced to the testing phase. The implications are not only ominous for Russia and for China, but for the whole world. See:

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Hammer

Who is really 'undermining' American democracy?

Stephen F. Cohen
The Nation
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 00:00 UTC
Ballot box icecrack
© Karen Norris, The Christian Science Monitor
Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at NYU and Princeton, and John Batchelor continue their (usually) weekly discussions of the new US-Russian Cold War. (Previous installments, now in their fifth year, are at TheNation.com.)

Summarizing one of the themes in his new book, War with Russia? From Putin and Ukraine To Trump and Russiagate, Cohen argues that Russiagate allegations of Kremlin attempts to "undermine American democracy" may themselves erode confidence in those institutions...
Ever since Russiagate allegations began to appear more than two years ago, their core narrative has revolved around purported Kremlin attempts to "interfere" in the 2016 US presidential election on behalf of then-candidate Donald Trump. In recent months, a number of leading American media outlets have taken that argument even further, suggesting that Putin's Kremlin actually put Trump in the White House and now is similarly trying to affect the November 6 midterm elections, particularly House contests, on behalf of Trump and the Republican Party. According to a page-one New York Times "report," for example, Putin's agents "are engaging in an elaborate campaign of 'information warfare' to interfere with the American midterm elections."
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Rocket

US boasts interception of medium-range ballistic missile banned by treaty


RT
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 05:07 UTC
Missile launch
© Missile Defense Agency
A medium-range ballistic target missile launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, October 26.
The US Missile Defense Agency has been practicing shooting down a land-based medium-range ballistic missile, just as Washington prepares for its withdrawal from the cornerstone INF nuclear non-proliferation agreement.

Less than a week after President Donald Trump announced his plans to withdraw the US from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), the US Navy has conducted a successful test of its Aegis Combat System by firing and intercepting a "medium-range ballistic missile," which is technically banned by the INF treaty.

Footage of the test shows USS John Finn tracking, engaging and shooting down a medium-range ballistic missile fired from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii using SM-3 Block IIA.


Comment: See also:

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Calendar

Stalling: US needs 'handful more weeks' to decide sanctioning Saudi Arabia for Khashoggi murder


RT
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 04:54 UTC
Pompeo MbS
© Reuters/Leah Millis
Sec of State Pompeo • Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
The US will need a "handful more weeks" to decide if Saudi Arabia should be somehow sanctioned for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Mike Pompeo has said, noting that Riyadh remains a "great partner" serving US national security.

Exactly one month after the disappearance and the subsequent murder of the Washington Post columnist inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the US has yet to issue the "severe punishment" that Donald Trump had promised if the regime's involvement in the journalist's death were confirmed. And even though Riyadh already confirmed that the journalist was indeed killed and his body 'disappeared,' the US administration is still trying to determine individual figures it could blame and punish.

The US is "reviewing putting sanctions on the individuals that we have been able to identify to date that ... were engaged in that murder," Pompeo told KMOX radio in St. Louis, according to Reuters. "It'll take us probably a handful more weeks before we have enough evidence to actually put those sanctions in place, but I think we'll be able to get there."

In Khashoggi's case there already appears to be plenty of evidence to establish the guilty party in his murder. Ankara maintains that there is strong proof that the killing of the Saudi journalist at the Saudi consulate on October 2 came as a result of a pre-planned operation by a squad of hitmen rather than a spontaneous fist-fight incident, as claimed by Riyadh.

Comment: Perhaps the sanction capital of the world forgot Khashoggi is not a US citizen. And, as for the empire, neither partnerships nor foes are easy to give up. Damn confusing when they cross over the lines of demarcation!

See also:

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Arrow Up

All US sanctions on Iran to be reinstated; Trump targets 700+ entities and individuals


RT
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 14:33 UTC
TrumpRigRouhani
© AFP/Mandel NGAN; Global Look Press/Ahmad Halabisaz
US President Trump • Iranian Oil Rig • Iran President Rouhani
All sanctions on Iran lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal will be back in force on November 5, the US administration has announced. The sweeping sanctions will see 700 people blacklisted, the US Treasury has announced. These include persons that were granted relief under the 2015 deal, as well as over 300 new names, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters.

Sanctions will also target payments through the special mechanism that the EU has been creating specifically to avoid Washington's penalties and to keep buying Iranian oil. Mnuchin has also threatened sanctions against the transaction service SWIFT. "SWIFT is no different than any other entity," Mnuchin told reporters. "We have advised SWIFT that it must disconnect any Iranian financial institutions that we designate as soon as technologically feasible to avoid sanctions exposure."

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has confirmed earlier reports that eight nations will receive exemptions from the reimposed penalties, but refused to name them and said the EU as a singular entity was not among them. Earlier reports suggested that the list of exemptions would include Japan, India and South Korea.

Pompeo has released a list of 12 demands for Iran to comply with if it wants the sanctions lifted. These include halting all nuclear and ballistic missile development, as well as ending what Washington calls Tehran's "support for terrorism," and withdrawing from the Syrian conflict. "Our ultimate aim is to compel Iran to permanently abandon its well-documented outlaw activities and behave as a normal country," Pompeo said. More details will become available on Monday as the sanctions take effect, he announced.


Comment: As 'we say', not as 'we do'.


Comment: From Sputnik:
"On November 5, the United States will re-impose sanctions that were lifted as part of the nuclear deal on Iran's energy, shipbuilding, shipping, and banking sectors," Pompeo said. "We expect to issue some temporary allotments to eight jurisdictions, but only because they have demonstrated significant reductions in their crude oil and cooperation on many other fronts, and have made important moves toward getting to zero crude oil importation. These negotiations are still ongoing."

In early October, Pompeo had noted Washington would grant waivers for some importers of Iranian oil, including India, in order to give them time to adjust to the new conditions, adding that eventually, they would have to reduce their oil imports from Iran to zero.

Commenting on the statement, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Dönmez claimed that Ankara to be granted waiver on the anti-Iranian sanctions.


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Attention

France under threat 'like never before' - should remain vigilant, says ex-French spy chief


RT
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 12:59 UTC
Bernard Squarcini
© AFP
Bernard Squarcini
France is facing unprecedented menace - both internal and external - as it is struggling to battle terrorism, Bernard Squarcini, former head of the French Internal Security Bureau has warned speaking to RT's SophieCo show.

Sitting in with RT's Sophie Shevardnadze, the ex-spy chief underscored that France does not feel secure at all. He explained that threats exist both beyond and inside its borders, including people in the French territory using the Internet to serve their malign purposes.

"France is very much threatened, like never before," - he proclaimed adding that France is struggling to deal with those threats, especially in the wake of the terrorist attacks that bloodied the country in recent years.

Paris is part of a global intelligence approach, but this area faces its own challenges not to allow data mining to "attack [the] national sovereignty" of each state. The methods to battle terrorism still need to be improved, the ex-spy chief believes, as a terrorist cannot be spotted on a European level so far.


Comment: An invasion of the ultimate privacy? Thought-control?
Excerpt: "Today the question to the interior intelligence is posed like this: which person out of a hundred people is capable of taking action? Without having executed the act, which is obviously a punishable offense. Without having done any preparations, for instance, buying nitrogen and fertilizer which can be used for preparing explosives. The task is to probe the consciousness, to find out who has an intention to commit a terrorist act in their head. And this is where we asked - after the Merah affair - to legalise special operations which are particularly useful in the domain of counter-espionage. Like Internet surveillance, e-mail surveillance, everything with regards to social networks and all. The problem is no longer only that of the police. The threat analysis must be much more refined, it must bring together sociologists, academics, people from surveillance, lawyers, psychiatrists, priests. How can we prevent extreme radicalisation working as a group?"


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Pirates

Canadian analyst: White Helmets are nothing more than terrorist auxiliaries


The Syria Times
Tue, 30 Oct 2018 12:31 UTC
Trudeau/WHelmets
© YourNewsWire
Canadian President Trudeau • White Helmets /Terrorists
Canada's decision to welcome White Helmets terrorists evacuated from Syria is consistent with Canada's overall strategy throughout the course of this criminal "Regime Change" war against Syria, a founding member of the United Nations, according to Mark Taliano, the Canadian political analyst and Research Associate at Global research.

Taliano told the Syriatimes e-newspaper that the strategy consists of pretending that the war of aggression using terrorist proxies is "humanitarian" while at the same time supporting all of the terrorists in coordination with a "coalition" that consists of NATO and its allies.

"Some refer to the strategy as a 'double game'... Will the consequences of this 'double game' imperil Canadians? It is impossible to foresee the future, but these terrorists are "intelligence assets", and the government will no doubt provide them with adequate remuneration for "services rendered", he added, raising the question: " Why would the terrorists bite the hand that feeds them?

Comment: Without an informed public and subsequent condemnation, the deception remains convenient and continued.

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