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Iran continues its missile program despite international pressure


Sputnik
Mon, 21 Aug 2017 19:57 UTC
Iran missile test
© AFP 2017/ Mahmood Hosseini /TASNIM NEWS
Iran will not abandon its missile program and will continue activities related to the country's defense industry, Iran's new Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Amir Hatami said.

On Sunday, the Iranian parliament had approved almost all Cabinet candidates proposed by the country's President Hassan Rouhani, except the nominee for the position of the energy minister. Hatami was appointed as the country's new defense minister.

"We will firmly stick to our defense industry and will not allow a day of delay in defense ministry's mission," Hatami told reporters when asked about his response to certain countries' pressure on Iran's missile program as quoted by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). Hatami was speaking on the sidelines of the first cabinet meeting of the newly-formed Iranian Cabinet.

Addressing the parliament on Sunday, Rouhani stressed that the most important goal of the new government would be to safeguard the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
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Clipboard

Canada's PM warns asylum seekers that crossing the border illegally will not fast track immigration

Kate McKenna
CBC News
Mon, 21 Aug 2017 19:49 UTC
Asylum seekers
© Graham Hughes/The Canadian PressAsylum seekers rest in a tent at the Canada-United States border in Lacolle, Que.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has a message for asylum seekers: crossing illegally into the country doesn't offer an advantage when it comes to obtaining refugee status in Canada.

"If I could directly speak to people seeking asylum, I'd like to remind them there's no advantage," Trudeau said at a news conference Sunday in Montreal.

"Our rules, our principles and our laws apply to everyone."

Trudeau's comments come as the government grapples with a surge in asylum seekers crossing into Quebec.

In the first two weeks of August, more than 3,800 people walked over the border into the province, compared to the 2,996 who crossed throughout all of July.

Speaking prior to Montreal's Pride Parade, Trudeau stressed that anyone seeking refugee status will have to go through Canada's "rigorous" screening process.
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Info

Russia and Egypt discuss resolving the Syrian conflict

Breakingnews.sy - translated by Samer Hussein
Fort Russ News
Mon, 21 Aug 2017 19:47 UTC
Syrian flag
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia is in contact with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other partners in order to create a united delegation of the so-called "Syrian opposition" for negotiations with the government in Damascus.

During a joint press conference, held with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry after today's talks in Moscow, Lavrov said Russia and Egypt are actively working to provide assistance in formation of a joint delegation of the opposition in order to negotiate with the Syrian state, noting that the process of forming such delegation must be conducted on a constructive and realistic basis.

"We cooperate with other partners, Saudi Arabia including", Lavrov was heard saying, adding that the results of the efforts will be available soon.

He also said Egypt's role in resolving the Syrian conflict has been highly important, especially as regards preparing de-escalation zones within Syrian territory.
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Boat

That sinking feeling - US warships

Finian Cunningham
Sputnik News
Mon, 21 Aug 2017 17:59 UTC
USS John S. McCain
© Reuters/Ahmad MasoodThe U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain is seen after a collision, in Singapore waters August 21, 2017.
It doesn't inspire confidence that the US Navy manages to crash another of its top-notch warships - on the same day that it launches military drills off Korea; drills which could spark an accidental nuclear war.

If the US Navy can't control its own vessels in normal civilian maritime situations, what does that say about the competence, or lack of, in nail-biting war scenarios?

In the latest incident, the guided-missile destroyer USS John S McCain collided with an oil tanker near Singapore. This was the fourth major accident involving the US Navy this year - and all were in Asia-Pacific. Ten American sailors are missing and, from the extensive damage to the ship, presumed dead.

As one flabbergasted US military pundit told CNN: "How does a state-of-the-art navy destroyer equipped with multiple radar systems and communications gear with a full-bridge watch not see, detect and evade a 30,000 ton slow-moving (10 knots) behemoth?"

The US destroyer in question is fitted with the Aegis anti-missile system, which is supposed to be the apex of American technology for this kind of weaponry. There are reportedly 14 such vessels operated by the US 7th Fleet in the Asia-Pacific. The ships are purported to be a key part of the defense system for the US and its allies against North Korean ballistic weapons.
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Cult

Cheap American hypocrites! In Europe Nazis are good - in U.S. Nazis are bad

Denis Churilov
Fort Russ
Mon, 21 Aug 2017 00:00 UTC
Tweets about Nazis
Charlottesville - Putin did it!
Back in 2013-2014, when organized gangs of armed neo-nazis were fighting police in Kiev, Ukraine, the mainstream media was spinning it as "government repressing peaceful democratic protest" and the Obama administration showed them support.

For years, Nazi SS veterans have been conducting their annual marches in the Baltic States (those states are NATO members, by the way; the US oversees and finances their military programs). The media has been ignoring them.

Back in 2016, the United States was among 3 nations that voted against prohibiting the glorification of Nazism at the UN (vote name A/C.3/69/L.56/Rev.1). The media ignored that.
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Airplane

Saudi Arabia ready to provide 7 aircraft for free transport of Qatari Hajj pilgrims


Sputnik
Mon, 21 Aug 2017 15:04 UTC
Muslim pilgrims
© AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed
Saudi Arabia's national carrier has allocated seven of its modern aircraft to transfer Qatari pilgrims to perform Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage, local media reported, citing the airline's representatives.

On Thursday, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud reopened borders with Qatar and invited Qatari pilgrims to Hajj at his expense in spite of the diplomatic rift between several Arab states and Qatar. On Sunday, Saudi Arabian Airlines Director General Saleh Jasser said that the company had not yet taken Qatari pilgrims from Doha for Hajj due to the lack of authorization for landing in Doha airport from Qatari authorities.
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Yoda

Assad: No role for West in Syria until they stop supporting terrorists


RT
Mon, 21 Aug 2017 15:01 UTC
assad
© SANA / Reuters
Any form of constructive dialogue with the West and its regional allies will only be possible after they stop supporting the terrorists, Syrian president Bashar Assad has said. He also cautioned that it's too early to talk about victory in the conflict despite recent gains by Damascus.

"Our army is achieving one gain after another every day to eliminate terrorists... We will continue to attack terrorists until the last terrorist on Syrian land [is gone]," Assad said in a televised address Sunday.

However, despite the recent military success, it is still too early to talk about victory as the "battle continues, and where we go later and it becomes possible to talk about victory... that's a different matter," he said as cited by Reuters.

The Syrian leader also praised the role of the Russian air force and Hezbollah fighters on their ground for their continued support in fighting terrorism.

"The direct support of our friends, politically, economically and militarily, made our advance on the ground greater and the losses of war less. Therefore, they are our partners in these achievements on the road to crush terrorism," Assad said in a speech delivered at the opening of the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry Conference Sunday.
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Putin appoints Anatoly Antonov as Russia's new ambassador to US


RT
Mon, 21 Aug 2017 12:50 UTC
Anatoly Antonov
© Maksim Blinov / Sputnik
Moscow has selected Anatoly Antonov, a career diplomat specializing in defense and security issues, as its next ambassador in Washington. Antonov replaces Sergey Kislyak, who was painted as a shadowy spymaster by those targeting the Trump administration.

"According to the President's decree, Anatoly Antonov is appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the United States and the permanent observer of the Russian Federation at the Organization of American States in Washington," the statement on the Russian presidential website reads.

Antonov is presently Russia's deputy foreign minister.

Comment: Who is Anatoly Antonov?
He is Russia's former long-serving Deputy Minister of Defense and a reputed hardliner on US relations.

He spent almost six years as the deputy to two Russian defense ministers (Serdyukov and Shoigu) and was only moved back to the Foreign Ministry in December 2016. He is a trained diplomat but even in his previous diplomatic service he was handling distinctly military-themed issues as head of Foreign Ministry's Security and Disarmament Department from 2004 to 2011.

Antonov was deputy defense minister during the height of the Ukraine and Crimea crisis in 2014 and since 2015 can find his name on an EU sanctions list.

So there you go. Until today Russia's Ambasador to the US until today was Sergey Kislyak, an amicable man whose friendly disposition was matched only by the size of his belly. Yet the US press made the man who was Yeltsin's pick to head Russia's mission to NATO in 1998 was made by the US press into a dark spymaster pulling the strings behind the White House. - Seeing its friendliness repaid with scorn Russia is sending an entirely different type of man, giving the US an opportunity to meet an actual Russian hardliner rather than having to invent one.


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Rosneft enters India's energy market by acquiring Essar Oil for $13bn


RT
Mon, 21 Aug 2017 12:45 UTC
oil refinery of Essar Oil
© Amit Dave / ReutersAn oil refinery of Essar Oil, which runs India's second biggest private sector refinery, is pictured in Vadinar in the western state of Gujarat, India.
Russia's Rosneft and its partners including Dutch commodity trading house Trafigura have finalized the $12.9 billion purchase of India's second-largest oil refiner Essar Oil. It's the biggest foreign acquisition in the South Asian country.

The deal announced last October gives Rosneft a 49 percent stake in Essar. According to an Essar Group statement, Trafigura and the Russian fund UCP will hold a similar stake in equal parts; retail investors will hold the rest.

"Today is a historic day for Indo-Russian economic ties... I congratulate Rosneft, Trafigura, and UCP for investing in a world-class oil business, which we are proud to have built," said Essar Group Chairman Shashi Ruia.

"The closing of the acquisition enables Rosneft to enter one of the world's fastest growing markets," said the Russian oil major.
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Moscow court rejects Siemens' demand to seize its gas turbines in Crimea


RT
Mon, 21 Aug 2017 12:41 UTC
Siemens
© Tobias Schwarz / Reuters
The Moscow Arbitration Court has rejected a plea by Siemens to seize its gas turbines sent to Crimea. The German company claims its turbines were delivered to the Russian Black Sea peninsula illegally.

A further court hearing is scheduled for September 18.

Siemens has sued Technopromexport, accusing the subsidiary of Russian state firm Rostec of misrepresenting the destination for the final delivery of the turbines.

Siemens says the turbines were intended to be used in a project in Russia's Taman. Taman is a peninsula in the Krasnodar region of Russia not far from the Crimea.
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