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Ditching the Iran Deal forced Europe to break with US foreign policy


Sputnik
Fri, 11 May 2018 10:48 UTC
tehran rouhani
© official website of Iranian Presidency office
On May 8, US President Donald Trump announced that the US was leaving the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and promised to re-instate the toughest economic sanctions against Iran in response to Tehran's alleged continued work on its military nuclear program. Ramin Mazaheri, PressTV's chief correspondent in Paris, comments on the news.
Sputnik: Despite numerous pleas not to withdraw from the deal, President Trump did it anyway. Why has he taken this step? Was it to be expected?
Ramin Mazaheri: Was it to be expected? I certainly did. History shows that America has a very strict policy of not keeping its policies. We can look at North Korea: they made major steps towards dismantling their nuclear project during their previous leader's era. The video of them blowing up the cooling tower to officially shut their nuclear plant is a famous image many will remember.
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Newspaper

'He's dying anyway': White House staffer slammed for comment on McCain


Sputnik
Fri, 11 May 2018 10:56 UTC
McCain
© AP Photo / Evan Vucci
A White House staffer made an insensitive remark about GOP Senator John McCain, who was diagnosed with late-stage brain cancer last year, while addressing his opposition to the CIA chief nominee.

John McCain's wife Cindy took to Twitter to strike back at Kelly Sadler, a special assistant to US President Donald Trump, who allegedly claimed that the senator's opinion on CIA director nominee Gina Haspel was irrelevant because "he's dying anyway." The purported incident happened during an internal meeting at the White House, and was reported by an attendee speaking on condition of anonymity.
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Newspaper

Lavrov: Moscow worried by attempts to downplay Palestinian issue


Sputnik
Fri, 11 May 2018 10:50 UTC
Jerusalem
© CCO
According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Moscow is worried about the state of the settlement between Palestinians and Israelis, as the US decision on Jerusalem has led it to deadlock.

Moscow would like to see a more active role for the Middle East quartet of mediators in the Israeli-Palestinian settlement, according to the Russian foreign minister.
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Russian Flag

Putin's new presidential cabinet prepared for Cold War 2.0 against West and increased Eurasian integration

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Fri, 04 May 2018 08:29 UTC
putin
© AFP / Yuri KochetkovRussian President Vladimir Putin (center) inspects the road section of the road-and-rail Crimean Bridge over the Kerch Strait on March 14, 2018
Immediately after his official inauguration on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to announce a new government. And a bombshell is in the making. The new cabinet is bound to be a Stavka: that is, a war cabinet.

In the context of the interminable Russiagate saga, increasingly harsh US sanctions, the Skripal charade (which, incidentally, has totally disappeared from the Western news cycle), and the serious escalation in Syria - in contrast to the Russia-Iran-Turkey attempt at a peace process in Astana - that's an all but inevitable option chosen by the Kremlin.

As early as four years ago former military officer Yevgeny Krutikov, a columnist for Vzglyad, exposed what constituted Russian red lines for the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization: Ukraine, Georgia, Finland, Sweden, "unfriendly actions of Lithuania and Poland" against the Kaliningrad enclave and navigation in the Baltic, and last but not least, the Arctic, "almost the ideal of all available bases for launching a first strike, both by nuclear weapons and high-precision, strategic non-nuclear arms."
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Dominoes

EU head Juncker: Europe needs to replace US as world leader, Washington no longer fit for the role


RT
Fri, 11 May 2018 08:18 UTC
eu and us flag
© Francois Lenoir / Reuters
Europe needs to replace the US as the world leader as Washington is no longer fits this role, the EU Commission head said following Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. Whether the EU can do it is another matter.

"At this point, we have to replace the United States which as an international actor has lost vigor, and because of it, in the long-term, influence," President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said while speaking to Belgium's Flemish regional parliament on Wednesday. He went on to say that Washington had been turning away from constructive international relations "with a ferocity that can only surprise us."

The top European official accused the US of being unwilling "to cooperate with other parts in the world." His words came just days after the US President Donald Trump announced that he would pull the US out of the Iranian nuclear agreement, which he repeatedly denounced as the "worst deal ever negotiated." Despite facing criticism from other parties to the deal, as well as some other members of the international community, the US leader seems to be sticking to his decision.
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Chess

Putin and Erdogan reportedly agree that US withdrawal from Iranian nuclear deal was a 'mistake'


RT
Fri, 11 May 2018 08:10 UTC
putin erdogan
© Umit Bektas / Reuters
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, discussed the US withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal on the phone, agreeing that Donald Trump's decision was wrong, a Turkish source said.

The two leaders discussed the US move on the phone on Thursday and "pointed out that it was a mistake," a source in the Turkish president's administration told RIA-Novosti. Erdogan and Putin also shared the opinion that "the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is a diplomatic success, which must be preserved," it added. The official release on the Kremlin website says the two leaders discussed the American exit from the deal and the deal's importance, but it does not specifically mention any condemnation.

According to the source, the Turkish and Russian leaders also expressed concern over the recent escalation of tensions in Syria, as Israel carried out a massive airstrike against Iranian targets in the country early on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Erdogan told Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the phone that he thought that the US decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal was wrong, and stressed that the accord must be maintained.

Comment: A Russian MP commented further on the ramifications of canceling the JCPOA deal, saying that the US withdrawal will only "incite action" from Iran to develop nuclear weapons and that the US is acting as an instigator.

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Bulb

Hungarian prime minister Orban declares end to "liberal democracy" in Hungary, promises to fight for Christian values


RT
Thu, 10 May 2018 11:08 UTC
hungary protest orban
© Lisi Niesner / ReutersPolicemen stand guard during a protest against the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Hungary May 8, 2018
Viktor Orban has declared the end of "liberal democracy" in Hungary, saying it has failed to defend freedoms and Christian culture in wake of the migrant crisis. He vowed to build a "Christian democracy" defying EU dictates.

In a Thursday address given after Hungary's new parliament handed him his third straight term, the Prime Minister said that Hungarians have defied the "old world order" in favor of Christian democracy, allowing Hungary to "survive and grow"as a nation.

"The era of liberal democracy has come to an end. It is unsuitable to protect human dignity, inadmissible to give freedom, cannot guarantee physical security, and can no longer maintain Christian culture," Orban said.

Hungary has built a "twenty-first century Christian democracy that guarantees human dignity, freedom and security" as well as "protects the traditional family model," the PM said. He added: "We are Christian Democrats and we want Christian Democracy."
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Attention

Judicial Watch finds evidence fmr FBI Director Comey coordinated with Mueller on Russia testimony

Sara Carter
saraacarter.com
Fri, 11 May 2018 01:30 UTC
james comey
Judicial Watch discovers emails revealing coordination

A government watchdog group revealed Thursday that former FBI Director James Comey was advised by senior FBI officials to seek Special Counsel Robert Mueller's advice prior to testifying before "any congressional committee" about President Donald Trump's campaign and its alleged collusion with Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election, according to new emails obtained by Judicial Watch.

Comey was also advised to seek Mueller's counsel on the circumstances surrounding his firing by Trump before providing testimony to Congress, the Department of Justice emails obtained by Judicial Watch reveal. It is the first time evidence reveals there was coordination between the Special Counsel and Comey in the long drawn out controversial Mueller investigation.
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Jet4

SOTT Focus: The Real Story Behind Israel's Attack on "Iranian" Targets in Syria and Trump's Abandonment of the Iran Deal

Joe Quinn
Sott.net
Thu, 10 May 2018 23:59 UTC
Israeli flag golan
The Israeli government maintains that it attacked dozens of "Iranian military sites" in Syria late Wednesday night in response to the alleged firing of 20 rockets by Iran at Israeli military bases in the Golan Heights. There is, however, no evidence that Iran or anyone else in Syria launched any "rockets" at Israeli targets in the Golan, although that claim served as a useful justification for the Israeli attack on Syrian air defense positions, which did occur.

According to the IDF, "50 Iranian targets" in Syria were hit. Five Syrian SA-22 (Pantsir S1) systems were also struck due to the fact that these systems targeted the Israeli planes, or so the IDF stated. This claim is, however, dubious given that the SA-22 is chiefly designed to target low flying aircraft and, more specifically, cruise and other missiles that fly at extremely low altitude. It was these systems, in conjunction with older Soviet-era Syrian air defense systems - updated in recent years by the Russian military - that shot down about 70% of the cruise missiles fired at Syria last month by the US, UK and French militaries.

Learning from a previous attack that resulted in at least one Israeli jet being shot down, last night's attack involved the use of mostly air-to-surface missiles fired from high altitude, well beyond the range of the SA-22 and other Syrian systems. So it's unlikely that Israeli jets fired on these positions in response to any 'barrage' from Syria. It is much more likely that these targets were pre-defined by Israel, largely via satellite imagery.
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USA

Global dictatorship - US tyranny unmasked

Finian Cunningham
Sputnik News
Thu, 10 May 2018 22:36 UTC
US President Donald Trump
© Reuters/Joshua RobertsUS President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting Republican Congressional leaders about tax reform at the White House in Washington, US, September 5, 2017.

US President Donald Trump has torn up yet another international treaty this week and pushed the world to the brink of more war in the Middle East - all on the back of absurd anti-Iran claims.

What do you call it when one country appoints itself to unilaterally violate international consensus and law in order to recklessly pursue illegal interests? A global dictatorship seems not exaggerated.

Let's relieve ourselves of illusions about "American democracy" and "freedom loving, law-abiding beacon of hope"; rather we need to call Washington out for what it is.

Make no mistake, the US government is acting like a rogue regime that is out on its own, holding a blow torch to the face of global peace. To have the support of just two other client regimes - Israel and Saudi Arabia - in violating the Iran nuclear deal this week only emphasizes Washington's wayward tyranny.

Russia, China, the European Union and the United Nations - signatories to the landmark 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - have all deplored Trump's move to blow up that accord.

Just like the Paris Accord on climate change and various trade treaties, Trump has shown a brazen disdain for any multilateral diplomacy. His high-handed, maximalist attitude reveals that his policy is not so much "America First" as "American Fist".
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