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Boat

Deploying joint EU fleet to Persian Gulf a 'hostile message' says Tehran


RT
Sun, 28 Jul 2019 13:13 UTC
HMS Prince of Wales
© Reuters/Russell CheyneBritish sailors on board HMS Prince of Wales
As Tehran and London are locked in a row over tanker seizures, Britain's proposal to send an EU naval mission to the Persian Gulf will only increase the ongoing tensions, an Iranian government spokesperson warned.

The idea of deploying a European fleet to patrol the Persian Gulf "sends a hostile message" and is "provocative and will increase tensions," Ali Rabiei said on Sunday, as cited by Fars News Agency.

Security in the region should be maintained by the Gulf nations themselves, not foreign powers, he stressed.

Tensions between Iran and the UK began escalating on July 4, when the British Royal Marines and Gibraltar police seized the Iranian oil supertanker Grace 1 off the southern coast of Spain. Officials in London said the ship was suspected of transporting oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions. Tehran denied any wrongdoing.


Comment: More from Sputnik: Second Brit warship enters gulf stoking tensions
Britain currently operates one warship in the Gulf, but the UK government came under fire this month for failing to ensure the safety of a tanker impounded by Iranian authorities. The HMS Duncan will work in the area until late August when it will be replaced by another warship.

The HMS Duncan, a Type 45 air-defence destroyer, has arrived in the Persian Gulf to escort British vessels, a week after Iranian forces seized a UK-flagged oil tanker, the British government said in a statement on Sunday. Earlier this month, the HMS Duncan was deployed in the Black Sea for Exercise Sea Breeze 2019, involving major naval drills with NATO and partner nations.

"We have relocated from an intense deployment in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, which included support to the French carrier strike group with live operations in Syria," said Tom Trent, the ship's commanding officer. "The Royal Navy continues to deliver consistent, enduring and world-class capability in the region - HMS Duncan is proud to support this vital operation and ready to play her part."

The announcement comes the same day Iran's President Rouhani described the presence of foreign forces as the main factor fueling tensions in the Middle East.

The destroyer is slated to come off duty in late August, and will be replaced later in the year by the HMS Kent, a Type 23 frigate.


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Briefcase

Iran seeks legal action: British court ruling halts UK payments for botched military contract


Sputnik
Sat, 27 Jul 2019 13:49 UTC
chieftain tank
© CC by 2.0/Peter TrimmingChieftain Tank
The two countries relations recently took a turn for the worse after British authorities in Gibraltar detained a tanker, carrying Iranian oil, over suspicions of violating EU sanctions, a move that Tehran has slammed as "illegal".

Iranian Ambassador to the UK Hamid Baeidinejad has slammed a recent ruling by the High Court in London, declining Tehran's request for the country to pay part of the interest of a multimillion debt, and vowed to continue litigations. "Iran disagrees with the UK court's decision not to require the British company to pay part of the interest of its debt in the years of sanctions and will take the necessary legal action", he said.

Iran and the UK have been arguing about the exact sum London owes it under a botched military supply contract signed between the UK and the Iranian shah prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. State-owned British firm International Military Services were to supply around 1,500 Chieftain battle tanks and armoured vehicles to Iran under it, but the contract was scrapped in 1979.

In 2002, the UK government agreed in that it owed around £450 million ($557 million in today's prices) to Iran, but the sides failed to come to an agreement on the interest for this decades-old debt and have been trying to determine them via court.
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X

Taliban: 'No agreement' on direct talks with Afghan government without US military departure


RFE/RL
Sun, 28 Jul 2019 09:19 UTC
Zabihullah Mujahid
© UnknownZabihullah Mujahid, Taliban spokesman in a letter to Trump: “We have noticed that you have understood the errors of your predecessors and have resolved to thoroughly rethinking your new strategy in Afghanistan. You must also not hand over the Afghan issue to warmongering generals, but must make a decision where history shall remember you as an advocate of peace.”
The Taliban has rejected a statement from a senior Afghan minister who said he hoped direct talks would begin within two weeks between the militant group and the government in Kabul.

Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban's political office in Qatar, said on July 28 that negotiations with the government will only come after an agreement has been reach with the United States on the departure of foreign forces from Afghanistan.

Another Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said there had been "no agreement" on a meeting between government officials and the insurgent group. Once the insurgents reach a deal with the United States, the Taliban would be open to intra-Afghan talks, Mujahid said, insisting that any government representatives would have to participate in a personal capacity.

The comments come the day after Abdul Salam Rahimi, Afghanistan's state minister for peace affairs, told reporters that a 15-member Afghan government delegation was "preparing for direct talks" with the Taliban. "We are working with all sides and hope that in the next two weeks the first meeting will take place in a European country," Rahimi said, as U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was continuing a visit to Kabul.

Khalilzad is expected to return to Qatar during the next week for an eighth round of direct talks between U.S. officials and Taliban negotiators to end the nearly 18-year war in Afghanistan.

Comment: More from Arab News 28/7/2019: Taliban reject direct talks with Afghan government
Abdul Salam Rahimi, Afghanistan's state minister for peace affairs, said Sunday that a 15-member government delegation will meet with the Taliban in Europe, without elaborating.

US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who is currently visiting Kabul, tweeted that another round of "intra-Afghan" talks will occur "after we conclude our own agreements." He said it would include the Taliban and "an inclusive and effective national negotiating team consisting of senior government officials, key political party representatives, civil society and women."

The Taliban have been holding peace talks with the United States for nearly a year but have refused to meet with the government, viewing it as an American puppet.
See also:

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Better Earth

US' lackey Brazil to Russia: Other BRICS nations will hear 'Venezuelans' cry for freedom'


RFE/RL
Sat, 27 Jul 2019 07:39 UTC
Ernesto Araujo
© File photoBrazil's FM Ernesto Araujo
Brazil's top diplomat has urged his counterparts in the BRICS grouping of countries -- Russia, India, China, and South Africa -- to listen to Venezuelans' "cry for freedom" and to support that country's opposition leader in a tense political standoff.

"Brazil has heard that cry. I appeal to you all to listen to it, too," Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo said on July 26 at the opening session of a BRICS foreign ministers gathering in Rio de Janeiro.

Araujo reiterated his conservative government's support for Juan Guaido, the opposition leader who is struggling for power over socialist President Nicolas Maduro. Araujo denounced Maduro's government as "a regime sustained by force" that he said has led to extreme poverty, hunger, and "the exodus of 4 million Venezuelans."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov responded to Araujo's remarks by saying the approach to Venezuela should be based on "international law and give support to Venezuelans without external interference, and always with [respect to] the Constitution."

Brazil's leader, President Jair Bolsonaro, took office in January and has complained about Russia's support of Maduro and suggested allowing a U.S. military presence in Brazil.
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Star of David

68th week of the Great March of Return: IDF wounds 71 Civilians - 30 Children, 3 women, paramedic


Palestine Center for Human Rights
Fri, 26 Jul 2019 18:35 UTC
gaza protest March of Return
© PCHRGaza.org
On the 68th Great March of Return, 71 Palestinian civilians were injured due to the Israeli military's continued use of excessive force against peaceful protests along the Gaza Strip's eastern border. At least 30 children, 3 women and a paramedic were among those injured this Friday, 26 July 2019. Thirty-nine civilians were shot with live bullets and 4 of them sustained moderate to serious wounds.

Today's protest, which lasted from 16:30 to 19:30, was titled "Palestinians Refugees of Lebanon", and involved activities such as speeches by political leaders and theatrical performances. Dozens of civilians protested at varied distances from the border fence across the Gaza Strip, and were met with Israeli soldiers' excessive force despite no imminent threat to the soldiers' lives.

Despite reports that the Israeli military changed their open-fire strategy against the Great March of Return protesters and ordered soldiers to aim at their ankles;[1] PCHR's fieldworkers documented the injury of many protesters in their upper extremities, including 4 that sustained moderate to serious wounds. As such, this asserts Israel's relentless insistence on the unjustified policy of using excessive force.

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Dollars

Papadopoulos suggests "sleazebag" Weissmann behind mysterious $10,000 cash 'entrapment' payment from alleged spy before his arrest

Cristina Laila
Gateway Pundit
Sat, 27 Jul 2019 18:32 UTC
Andrew Weissmann
Andrew Weissmann: Mueller's lieutenant assembled an aggressive team.
Former Trump campaign foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos suggested that Mueller's top prosecutor Andrew Weissmann was behind a mysterious $10,000 'entrapment' payment made to him by an Israeli-American shortly before he was arrested in July of 2017.

Congressman Devin Nunes asked Mueller on Wednesday about a $10,000 cash payment made to George Papadopoulos in July of 2017 during a meeting in a hotel in Israel.

Mueller obfuscated and said that it wasn't in his purview. Nunes shot back and reminded Mueller that he investigated, charged and arrested Papadopoulos. Still, Mueller refused to answer questions about this mysterious stack of cash that an Israeli-American businessman named Charles Tawil gave to Papadopoulos.


Papadopoulos flew from Israel to the Greek island of Mykonos and gave the stack of cash to one of his lawyers because he was suspicious that it came from a spy.

On July 27, Papadopoulos then flew back to the US from his travels to Israel and Greece and was arrested by federal agents as soon as he landed at Dulles International Airport.

Papadopoulos spent 11 nights in jail after he was convicted of 'making a false statement to the feds.'

"Congressman Nunes gets it. The $10,000 is going to be the iceberg that sinks this titanic," Papadopoulos said this week.
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Arrow Up

Maximum pressure: Russian military registers no ceasefire violations in Syria over 24-hr period - first in months


Sputnik
Sun, 28 Jul 2019 18:14 UTC
idlib
© REUTERS / Ammar Abdullah
Russia has registered no truce violations in Syria over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defence Ministry's Center for Syrian Reconciliation said.

"Over the past 24 hours the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides has not registered any ceasefire violations in the Idlib de-escalation zone," the statement said on Saturday.

This is the first case of no truce breach in months.

The Russian military also organized a humanitarian action in Hanany-2 district of Aleppo city, the bulletin added.

Comment: Is al-Qaeda feeling the pressure?



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Bullseye

Best of the Web: Not wrong: Trump triples down on criticism of Baltimore democrats - "Disgusting, rat infested mess!"


RT
Sun, 28 Jul 2019 18:00 UTC
West Baltimore
© Reuters / Jim BourgWest Baltimore neighborhood.
President Trump has unleashed a Twitterstorm on Rep. Elijah Cummings, advising the congressman to clean up the "worst" congressional district in the US instead of criticizing the treatment of migrants at the border.

"Rep, Elijah Cummings has been a brutal bully, shouting and screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border, when actually his Baltimore district is FAR WORSE and more dangerous." President Donald Trump said in his first tweet on Saturday. "His district is considered the Worst in the USA."



Unlike the "clean, efficient and well run" US southern border with Mexico, Maryland's 7th congressional district is just "filthy," the president said.
Cumming District is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.
Advising the African-American politician to spend more time in Baltimore, Trump spent most of Saturday tweeting footage of the problems faced by Cummings' constituents.

Comment: More Trump:





Baltimore IS a sh*thole.



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Russian Flag

Macron to host Putin at French Mediterranean Fort in August


RFE/RL
Sun, 28 Jul 2019 17:55 UTC
putin and macron
© Reuters / Yuri Kadobnov
French President Emmanuel Macron said he has invited Russian leader Vladimir Putin for talks next month at the Bregancon fort off the country's Mediterranean coast.

Macron, speaking on July 27 as he began his summer vacation at the medieval fort near the village of Bormes-les-Mimosas, said he will meet with Putin on August 19, days ahead of hosting a G7 summit.

He said the talks will be held at the fort because it offers the possibility "to work in isolation...and receive foreign leaders, which I will do with Vladimir Putin in a few weeks' time."

Macron received criticism last year when it emerged that he had spent $38,000 to install a swimming pool at Bregancon.

Russian state-run TASS news agency reported the Kremlin had confirmed that preparations for Putin's visit to France were under way.
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Nuke

Iran to resume operations at Arak nuclear reactor


Sputnik
Sun, 28 Jul 2019 17:44 UTC
arak iran nuclear
© AP Photo / Hamid Foroutan
Iran's Vice President and head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said Sunday that the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor will resume its operation, ISNA news agency reported.

Salehi made the announcement in the parliament and noted that Iran was not going to produce nuclear weapons although it had scientific and technological resources for that, the ISNA news agency reported citing Iranian lawmaker Mehrdad Lahouti.

The vice president added that the reactor would operate with changes in the technology.

The remarks came in the light of the extraordinary meeting of the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in the Austrian capital of Vienna expected later on Sunday, where the representatives of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, China and Iran will discuss ways to save the deal.

One year after the US abrupt withdrawal from the JCPOA, Tehran announced in May its decision to suspend some of the obligations under the agreement, including the reconstruction of the modernized Arak nuclear reactor for civil purposes. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gave the European countries 60 days to hold negotiations with Iran.

Comment: See also:

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