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Iranian FM Zarif: 'Iran won't hesitate' slamming extra-regional coalition in Persian Gulf


Sputnik
Thu, 08 Aug 2019 08:51 UTC
Javad Zarif
© Sputnik/Ramil SitdikovIranian FM Javad Zarif
The US decision to build a maritime coalition to patrol the key sea route across the Strait of Hormuz has prompted outrage in Tehran, predicting it will result in more instability in the region. Tensions over the issue further escalated after reports of Israeli involvement in the matter, deemed a "clear threat" by the Islamic Republic.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has apparently taken aim at Washington's efforts to build a US-led maritime coalition in the Persian Gulf, insisting that "any extra-regional presence is by definition source of insecurity" there. He warned that Iran "won't hesitate to safeguard its security".

"Persian Gulf is vital lifeline and thus nat'l [sic] security priority for Iran, which has long ensured maritime security. Mindful of this reality, any extra-regional presence is by definition source of insecurity - despite propaganda", he tweeted.

Comment: Given the lifelong history of Israel's lack of integrity, humility and transparency, Iran has every reason to raise defenses. Iran has been very clear in forewarning of its response should Israel and the coalition commence active patrols in the Persian Gulf. How might this stack up? Israel will call the shots and Iran will deliver as promised.

Also from Sputnik: Iran warns Israel against joining US naval mission
Israeli media earlier reported that the country's Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz had stated at a closed session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Tel Aviv would provide intelligence and other assistance to a US naval coalition, allegedly seeking to safeguard the shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz.

Senior Advisor to the Iranian Parliament, Speaker Hossein Amir Abdollahian has cautioned Israel against taking part in a planned US maritime coalition on his Twitter, warning the Jewish state that it will suffer the consequences otherwise:

"If Israel enters the Strait of Hormuz, it will be engulfed in the wrath of the region and its smoke will rise from Tel Aviv"... "Iran has a vital role in the security of the Strait of Hormuz. Any US-led military coalition in the strait is a repetition of Iraq and Afghanistan occupation and escalation of insecurity in the region."

The senior advisor's statements come in the wake of warnings, sounded by Iran's Foreign Ministry on 9 August. The ministry' spokesman stated that the country would view any external military coalition's presence in the Gulf as a "clear threat" and act accordingly.
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Document

Epstein docs release: Accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre says Trump 'didn't partake in any sex with any of us'

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Fri, 09 Aug 2019 10:50 UTC
Epstein and car
© UnknownJeffrey Epstein
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ordered the partial release of what is expected to be approximately 2,000 pages of documents related to convicted pedophile sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The document release stems from a 2015 defamation lawsuit in New York brought by Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre against Epstein's 'Madam' - Ghislaine Maxwell. Giuffre says Maxwell helped Epstein traffic herself and other underage girls to sex parties at the billionaire pedophile's many residences.

The case was settled in 2017 and the records were sealed - leading to an appeal by filmmaker and author Mike Cernovich, who was later joined by the Miami Herald and several other parties including lawyer Alan Dershowitz - who has sought to clear his name in connection with Epstein's activities.

Comment: See also:

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Briefcase

Lead federal prosecutor of plea deal in Epstein's 2008 case unexpectedly resigns

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Thu, 08 Aug 2019 00:00 UTC
Marie Villafaña
© LinkedInMarie Villafaña, Assistant US attorney, So. District of Florida
Something big is about to hit in the Jeffrey Epstein drama, which in recent days has quietly slipped to the last page in the local media.

Moments ago, the Miami Herald whose reporting in 2018 reincarnated the Epstein pedogate scandal, reported that Marie Villafaña, the lead federal prosecutor who helped negotiate the controversial plea deal for accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, has submitted her resignation to the Justice Department.

Villafaña's lawyer, Jonathan Biran, confirmed her resignation to the Miami Herald, saying that she has long planned to transition to a legal career in healthcare, and now plans to join the federal Department of Health and Human Services, because allegedly, she handled a number of healthcare fraud cases in South Florida in recent years.

Her shocking departure comes amid a sprawling federal probe into the role she and other federal prosecutors, including her former boss, Alexander Acosta, had in sidelining the 53-page indictment against the wealthy New York schmoozer and convicted pedophile in favor of a state plea to minor prostitution charges in 2008.

Comment: For more on Marie Villafaña's role in this controversial plea deal, see also:
The scoop on feds' sweet deal for billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein

See also today's news update:
BREAKING: They got him! Epstein suicided on second attempt, found dead in Manhattan jail cell

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Light Sabers

Touché! India tells Pakistan to 'accept reality' and stop interfering in other countries' internal affairs


RT
Fri, 09 Aug 2019 10:48 UTC
Roadblock
© AFP/Rakesh BakshiSecurity personnel stand guard at a roadblock ahead of Muslim's Friday noon prayers in Jammu on August 9, 2019, after the Indian government stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its autonomy.
Pakistan must "accept reality" and stop poking its nose in the internal matters of other nations, New Delhi has said. The rebuke comes amid growing tensions over the disputed Kashmir territory.

A spokesman for India's Ministry of External Affairs condemned Islamabad after it suspended the last rail line linking the two countries.

Raveesh Kumar said that Pakistan must "accept reality" and stop taking "unilateral actions."

"This has been done without consulting us. We've urged them to reconsider their decision. Our sense is that whatever is being done by Pakistan is to present an alarming picture of our bilateral relationship."

On Monday, the New Delhi government revoked the special status of Indian-administered Kashmir, a move that has enraged Islamabad and led to a spike in tensions.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has insisted that the move would help stamp out "the separatism, corruption and terrorism" plaguing the disputed territory.

Comment: From RT: Pakistani FM visits China amid Kashmir escalation
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has traveled to Beijing to consult with Chinese leadership over rising tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi, after India revoked the special status of Kashmir.

Qureshi arrived in Beijing on Friday morning, and is expected to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, as well as other Chinese leaders.
Before leaving for China, Qureshi said he would brief Islamabad's "trusted friend" about the growing crisis in Kashmir. He added that he would apprise his Chinese counterparts of the "gross human rights violations" allegedly being perpetrated by India in the disputed territory.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has applauded his government's decision to revoke the special status given to Kashmir, insisting that the move would help reverse "the separatism, corruption, terrorism and family rule" that have taken root in the region.

Beijing has condemned India's actions as a threat to its own territorial sovereignty, but stressed that India and Pakistan must peacefully resolve the dispute through dialogue.
Qureshi
© AFPPakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi (L) looks on during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (unseen) in Beijing on March 19, 2019.
From RT: Pakistan launches 'say no to India', bans all cultural exchange
Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has launched a "Say No to India" campaign as the government bans all cultural exchanges with its neighbor amid the continuing escalation of the Kashmir crisis.

The ban encompasses all kinds of joint ventures between the Indian and Pakistani entertainment industries, PTI reported. Pakistan's Electronic Media Regulatory Authority will also clamp down on the sale of Indian direct-to-home TV satellites.

Islamabad has also banned the screening of Indian films in the country's cinemas. "No Indian cinema will be screened in any Pakistani cinema. Drama, films, and Indian content of this kind will be completely banned in Pakistan," an adviser to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday.
Pakistan rally
© Reuters/Akhtar SoomroA rally in solidarity with the people of Kashmir in Karachi, Pakistan.
From RT: Pakistani Federal Cabinet approves trade freeze, trains suspension
Pakistan's Federal Cabinet has approved the cutting of bilateral trade with India, as well as ending rail service between the neighboring nations. Islamabad announced earlier this week that it would downgrade diplomatic relations with New Delhi and suspend trade with its neighbour. Then, on Thursday, Pakistan said it would halt the Samjhauta Express, a rail line linking the two countries. The cabinet signed off on the measures on Friday.

India's lower house voted on Tuesday to downgrade the status of Kashmir from a state to a union territory, which will prevent the Muslim-majority region from formulating its own legislation.

The move sparked a major diplomatic crisis with Pakistan, which has been in a territorial dispute with India over Kashmir since 1947. Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has warned that India's decision could lead to a full-blown armed conflict between the two rivals.
Rally pakistan
© REUTERS/Mohsin RazaPeople chant slogans during a rally expressing solidarity with the people of Kashmir in Lahore, Pakistan August 6, 2019.
From RT: India calls for Pakistani artists to be blacklisted after Bollywood Ban
The All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) called on the Indian film industry to "put a complete stop to any association with Pakistani artists, musicians and diplomats."

The announcement, made in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stated that AICWA was "demanding" a "strict 'say no to Pakistan' policy for trade and bilateral relations." The letter claims that union members have refused to resume work until the blacklist and ban are implemented.
ANI demand letter
© Facebook
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Footprints

'If you go home, take your nukes with you!" German MP responds to Grenell's taunts to withdraw US troops


RT
Sat, 10 Aug 2019 11:07 UTC
US Envoy Richard Grenell
US Envoy to Berlin, Richard Grenell
The US must take its nukes off German soil if it is serious about relocating troops to Poland, a top opposition MP said in a tongue-in-cheek response to a veiled ultimatum from the American envoy.

German lawmakers have reacted to threats made by the US envoy to Berlin, Richard Grenell, saying that Berlin may use the ultimatum as an opportunity to push for the withdrawal of all American assets from Germany.

"The US ambassador is right: US taxpayers should not have to pay for US troops in Germany," Bartsch said, according to the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung. He also suggested that any potential troop withdrawal should be total and complete.
"If the Americans pull out their soldiers, they also have to pull out their nuclear weapons. And of course, these must be brought back home and not to Poland because it would provoke a further escalation in our ties with Russia, which doesn't serve European and German interests."
The spat began earlier this week when Grenell demanded that Germany increase its defense spending, arguing that it was "really insulting to expect the US taxpayer to keep paying for over 50,000 Americans" stationed in the European country.

Comment: The vassals are getting fed up. And rightly so, because U.S. occupation troops are like a houseguest who wrecks the place, demands special treatment, and never leaves even long after he's worn out his welcome. That's the experience of countries the world over who have to suffer the indignity of having American troops on their soil, whether 'invited' or not.

See also: After Germany refuses 'invitation' to send military to Strait of Hormuz,US consul Grenell 'reminds' her the empire has 34,000 troops stationed there

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Arrow Up

China imports oil from Iran despite US sanctions, and Washington can do nothing

Paul Antonopoulos
Fort Russ News
Fri, 09 Aug 2019 12:00 UTC
Soroush
© REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/File PhotoA gas flare on an oil production platform in the Soroush oil fields is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Persian Gulf, Iran, July 25, 2005.
Last month, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on Chinese oil trading company Zhuhai Zhengrong Ltd. and its CEO, Youmin Li, after a Bloomberg report accused China of circumventing tough US sanctions on Iran.

China continued its Iranian crude oil imports in July, two months after the end of US sanctions exemptions, research by three oil tanker companies showed, Reuters reported.

According to the data, tankers discharged between July and July between 4.4 million and 11 million barrels of oil in China, and some of the oil is believed to have gone to China's strategic oil reserves.

Comment: See also:

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Star

Liberal media puzzled: Openly gay Brnabic & Weidel prefer to work hard for their countries rather than aggressive PC campaigning

Dmitry Babich
RT
Thu, 08 Aug 2019 17:22 UTC
Ana Brnabic
© Reuters/Vasily Fedosenko; Reuters/Joachim HerrmannAna Brnabic and Alice Weidel
Western ultra-liberals and conservatives seem to forget the real European values, where tolerance is based on respect for a person's private life and professional qualities are put above belonging to minority groups.

When two years ago, in June 2017, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic appointed Ana Brnabic (a 42-year-old openly gay person who worked for American and British NGOs, including USAid) to the position of prime minister, the Western media was stupefied. It actually took Western journalists a few days to get out of their stupor.

Ana Brnabic is a member of a minority group, not a spokesperson for it

How was it possible? Could Aleksandar Vucic, this "ultranationalist" information minister (as the Guardian put it) in the government of the much-maligned Slobodan Milosevic be the one to make the dreams of the gay rights activists come true? (Milosevic was Serbia's president, and was toppled in a Western-backed 'revolution' in 2001 after the American-led invasion of Yugoslavia in 1999.)
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Black Cat

Nellie Ohr, wife of DOJ official funneled Clinton-funded dossier on Manafort to FBI

Ivan Pentchoukov
The Epoch Times
Fri, 09 Aug 2019 17:02 UTC
nellie ohr fusion gps
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesFusion GPS contractor Nellie Ohr arrives for a closed-door interview with investigators from the House Judiciary and Oversight committees in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington Oct. 19, 2018.
The wife of a high-ranking Justice Department official handed her husband a dossier of research on former Trump-campaign chairman Paul Manafort in December 2016, according to FBI documents released on Aug. 8.

Nellie Ohr, the wife of Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr, gave him a report titled "Manafort Chronology." Bruce Ohr gave the report to the FBI on Dec. 19, 2016.

Nellie Ohr compiled the Manafort report as part of her work for Fusion GPS. The Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) paid Fusion GPS $1 million to conduct opposition research on then-candidate Donald Trump. Fusion GPS hired Nellie Ohr to conduct open-source opposition research in 2015.

Comment: Alexandra Chalupa's involvement points to one of the real sources of meddling in the 2016 election: Ukraine.

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Magic Wand

Biden & AOC are leading Democrats to the magical land where facts don't matter and truth is make-believe

Graham Dockery
RT
Sat, 10 Aug 2019 16:56 UTC
joe biden campaign
© Reuters / Eric ThayerJoe Biden campaign
From Joe Biden announcing he chooses "truth over facts" and Congresswoman AOC more concerned about being "morally right," their frustration with President Donald Trump is making Democratic Party luminaries run afoul of reality.

Rallying the electorate at the Iowa State Fair on Thursday, Biden - the current front-runner for the Democrat presidential nomination in 2020 - proudly exclaimed his party's positions: "We choose unity over division. We choose science over fiction. We choose truth over facts!"

While this could be explained away as yet another unfortunate senior moment for Biden - who on the same day triggered mass facepalming with his declaration that "poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids" - it's not the first problematic pronouncement by prominent Democrats as of late.
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Top Secret

Presidential order also grants Barr power to declassify still-secret Hillary docs

Paul Sperry
Issues & Insights
Thu, 08 Aug 2019 16:37 UTC
william Barr
William Barr
For the past three years, Washington's gatekeepers have covered up evidence of two potentially massive and overlapping public-corruption scandals that, if fully exposed, threaten to shake the nation to its core.

One involves the Obama administration spying on the Trump campaign while sexing-up Russian interference in the 2016 election to justify it. The other involves it pulling punches in the Hillary Clinton email investigation and clearing her of criminal wrongdoing just in time for the Democratic National Convention.

President Donald Trump has granted his plucky new attorney general the power to rip the cover off both these election-year scandals.
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