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Paper Tiger Sanctions on Iran Will Speed The End of Pax Americana

Bahar Azizi
Sott.net
Sat, 03 Nov 2018 22:28 UTC
sanctions iran

New shiny sanctions for Iran, from the US Deep State!
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran, the P5+1 and EU was announced on July 14th, 2015. According to the US fact sheet, the EU would terminate all nuclear-related economic sanctions, and the US would terminate all of its secondary economic and financial sanctions once the International Atomic Energy Agency verified Iran's implementation of its key nuclear commitments, as laid out in the agreement.

On January 16th, 2016, UN inspectors declared that Iran had dismantled significant elements of its nuclear programme, leading to many of the international sanctions imposed over the past decade being lifted. If the lifting of sanctions continued as planned, Iran's total trade could have increased by $61 billion annually, which would add 32 percent to Iran's GDP. However, US President Trump withdrew from the deal earlier this year, and reimposed all sanctions against Iran. In addition, tomorrow, November 4th, new sanctions against Iran will be imposed.
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Brain

Europe should drop sanctions & reach out to Russia or drive it into China's embrace - France's Sarkozy


RT
Sat, 03 Nov 2018 19:50 UTC
Then French President Nicolas Sarkozy (L) meets Vladimir Putin at the Elysee Palace in Paris in 2010.
© Sputnik / Aleksey Nikolsky
Then French President Nicolas Sarkozy (L) meets Vladimir Putin at the Elysee Palace in Paris in 2010.
Europe should reach out to Russia and abandon "counterproductive" economic sanctions - or risk seeing it drifting further towards China, former president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has warned, in a candid interview.

Alienating Russia brings nothing but harm to European interests, Sarkozy told France's Point media outlet. "Europe and Russia must work together in an atmosphere of trust," he said, adding that "sanctions are counterproductive."

Commenting on the latest batch of American sanctions targeting Russian debt bonds, Sarkozy suggested that "the worst" is yet to come as the US Congress plans "to asphyxiate 140 million Russians by depriving Russian banks of access to international funding."
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Attention

Roscosmos chief says Soyuz rocket could have been sabotaged in Kazakhstan before launch


RT
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 11:44 UTC
soyuz
© Sputnik / Aleksey Filippov
The day before, the chairman of the emergency commission assigned to investigate the incident said that the accident involving the Soyuz-FG was caused by a faulty sensor on one of the rocket's side blocks during the disengagement from the central block.

The hole in the hull of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft could have been drilled before the launch at the Baikonur space center, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin told Sputnik.

"We deny that this could have been done at the Moscow plant. Baikonur remains as an option, or some exotic versions," Rogozin said.

On October 11, a Soyuz-FG launch vehicle with two members of the new crew for the International Space Station on board failed to reach its destination, becoming the first failure of a manned space launch in modern Russian history.

Comment: This means that Roscosmos has now hinted that both the Soyuz rocket incident and the ISS hole found in August were acts of sabotage...

Alarming: Russia says drilled hole in International Space Station was intentional

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Attention

Strategic engineered migration serves as a weapon of war

Leonid Savin
Voltairenet.org
Thu, 05 Nov 2015 00:00 UTC
Refugees Greece
© EPA/STRATIS BALASKAS
Migrants and refugees protest at the port of Lesbos, Greece.
After reading the title, you may think it is describing the phenomenon that Europe has recently been facing: the hundreds of thousands of refugees, both victims of the hardships of civil wars and opportunists, who are invading the Balkans by land and by sea and then making their way further, trying to reach richer countries like Germany, France and Scandinavia by any means possible.

It would seem that this stream of refugees has objective reasons: armed conflicts and wars have been going on in Libya, Syria and Iraq for many years, while the situation is also turbulent in Palestine and Afghanistan. In Tunisia and Egypt, meanwhile, both of which experienced the Arab Spring, the situation also leaves much to be desired. Hardly anybody is taking notice of Bahrain, where opposition protests have been brutally suppressed for years, while in Yemen, air strikes are even being carried out on wedding processions. The location of these two states is not very convenient, however - there is simply nowhere to flee. There is also another important detail: camps are being built for Muslim refugees in Saudi Arabia, but nobody is going there for some reason. As a last resort, they stay in Jordan and Turkey.

Is there also some general reason for their frantic desire to flee so far from their homeland? Wealthy relatives who have already settled in the European Union, perhaps? Or stories about welfare benefits on which they will be able to live comfortably? After all, to make such a journey they have to pay handsomely for the services of smugglers. According to some reports, these smugglers take between $4,000 and $10,000 to transport a single refugee from Syria or Libya to Europe. Even if this person has wealthy relatives abroad, receiving money via bank transfer is impossible in war-torn Syria. Organising transportation on credit clearly involves certain guarantees, especially considering that the boats often sink in the Mediterranean.

Who is providing guarantees that encourage hundreds of thousands of people to rush from other continents to Europe and why?

Comment: Why would the US grant members of such questionable groups refugee and resident status under the official protection of the US government? What were the objectives they were brought in to fulfill?

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Attention

EU omit? Not on the Iran exemption list, Europe vows to defy US sanctions


RT
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 23:07 UTC
EUsanctionsflags
© financialtribune.com/KJN
European countries have vowed to maintain "effective financial channels" and to keep trading with Tehran after the US announced that the EU is not among those spared from its sweeping sanctions against Iran.

European countries suddenly discovered that they were not on the list of the 'lucky ones' that their ally, the US, decided to exempt from the new wave of all-encompassing sanctions it plans to unleash on Iran. The sanctions, targeting Iran's shipping, finance and energy sectors, which come into force on November 5, are also designed to punish those countries that dared to do business with the Islamic Republic in defiance of the US pressure.

Only eight nations were graciously granted exemptions by the US, according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. However, Pompeo made it clear that the EU as a single entity is not on the list, sparking an angry reaction from the US' western allies. Washington also specifically mentioned that it plans to target the special mechanism the EU has been creating to circumvent the restrictions, prompting its allies to fight back.


Comment: See also:

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Star of David

Netanyahu opines: Khashoggi murder 'horrendous', but Riyadh's stability too important


RT
Sat, 03 Nov 2018 03:27 UTC
MbS/StarDavid
© Unknown
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
The Israeli PM has somewhat condemned the murder of Jamal Khashoggi though he stressed that Saudi Arabia is way too important as a counterbalance to Iran, which he sees as a far "larger problem" than one assassinated journalist.

After a month of silence, Benjamin Netanyahu has finally spoken out against the murder of the Washington Post columnist who was 'disappeared' upon entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. He echoed, however, the rhetoric of the US administration, which so far has been reluctant to say or do anything that could upset the Saudi monarchy, likely awaiting the blame to be shifted upon a group of rogue agents and officials who have nothing to do with the House of Saud.

Netanyahu said, speaking in the Bulgarian town of Varna:
"What happened in the Istanbul consulate was horrendous, and it should be duly dealt with. Yet at the same time I say it, it is very important for the stability of the world, for the region and for the world, that Saudi Arabia remain stable. I think that a way must be found to achieve both goals," Netanyahu stressed, "because the larger problem is Iran, and we have to make sure that Iran does not continue the malign activities."
While Israel and Saudi Arabia do not have official diplomatic relations, they are both close allies of the United States in the region. A reciprocal animosity towards Iran is one of the strategic, mutually uniting factors in this trilateral relationship and, over recent years, a number of reports have indicated behind-the-scenes intelligence cooperation between Tel Aviv and Riyadh.

Comment: The murder of Khashoggi and SA counterbalancing Iran - are incomparable situations, uneven levels. Netanyahu uses Khashoggi as the hook to bring Iran into his narrative. Interestingly, Bibi has remained unusually silent on this murder for a month. Does this pique curiosity?

More from Muslim Mirror 11/2/2018:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi have called on the White House to keep supporting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, despite the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by a hit squad sent from Riyadh, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

According to The Post Netanyahu described the crown prince as a "strategic ally" in the Middle East. The Post said Egypt's president Sisi had conveyed a similar message.

Since MBS rose to power, the Saudi Arabia's pro Zionist policies have become an open secret.

Earlier in 2016 a retired Saudi general visited Israel, heading a delegation of academics and businessmen.

During the visit Dr. Anwar Eshki met with Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai, and several Knesset members from the opposition.

Such a visit by former general Eshki, who was once a top adviser to the Saudi government, is an extremely rare occurrence. "While this wasn't an official visit, it was a highly unusual one, as Eshki couldn't have traveled to Israel without approval from the Saudi government," the newspaper report said.

In March top Israeli and Saudi Arabian officials reportedly held a series of secret meetings in Cairo. In 2017 Saudi and Israeli officials held a closed-door meeting together in Washington.

According to an AFP report the Crown Prince Emir Mohammed bin Salman secretly visited Tel Aviv in September last year.


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Top Secret

US military's empire of secrecy

Maj. Danny Sjursen
TruthDig
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 00:00 UTC
Pompeo Bagram
© Andrew Hamik/AP
Secretary of State Pompeo visits Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, July 2018.
"Democracy dies in darkness." That's an old saying that The Washington Post recycled as its motto at the dawn of the Trump era. Truth is, the journalists at the Post don't know the half of it; nor do they bother to report on the genuine secrecy and increasing lack of transparency in the Department of Defense. Nothing against the Post - neither do any of the other mainstream media outlets.

But it's true: Right under most Americans' noses, the military has become more opaque over the last several years. Now, few outlets cover foreign policy with any particular gusto-after all, there's so much to say about Stormy Daniels or the Brett Kavanaugh drama. But this trend should concern all citizens.

Thing is, what the U.S. military is up to on any given day is done in your name. If civilians are killed, locals alienated or civil liberties restricted, then the global populace, including concerned U.S. citizens, aren't going to fix blame solely on the armed forces ... they're going to blame you! If for no other reason than this, citizens of 'an ostensible democracy' ought to be paying attention. The military is a fierce, potentially brutal instrument, and anyone who cares about liberty ought to watch it closely.

Comment: Equilibrium is rarely the forte of politics. Nor is status quo the best option for military in a changing global environment. This author has managed to identify, with bias, some of the problems but not the depth and breadth of attributable sources in a complex, multilayered, cover-yer-ass governmental structure that demands proper oversight, scrutiny and accountability as the servants to society and its well-being. To its credit, the Trump administration has brought to daylight many secretive issues, practices, networks and subterfuge to inform the public of the government's true nature and urge agencies to clean up their acts and return to their sworn purposes.

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Attention

Ex-Pentagon analyst: 'Wheels are in motion' to replace MbS with someone more 'West compatible'


RT
Sat, 03 Nov 2018 08:05 UTC
MohammedbinSalman
© Saudi Royal Court/Handout via Reuters
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Following outrage over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, Prince Mohammad bin Salman might face troubles at home. As analysts told RT, some in Saudi Arabia are keen to see the Crown Prince go.

Much of the mounting international outrage over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is attributed to Mohammad bin Salman, the 33-year-old Crown Prince who once famously vowed to reform his autocratic kingdom into a vibrant modern state. He recently assumed authority over the Saudi intelligence community - in addition to sweeping powers in defense and the economy - but it doesn't mean his position in the monarchy is rock solid, experts believe.

Michael Maloof, former senior security policy adviser in the Pentagon, told RT America that the young prince has made more enemies than friends among the Saudi royals, and "has upset the leadership so much." According to the analyst, there is a growing rebellion against MBS in the House of Saud.

"The wheels are already in motion to try and replace MBS with someone more compatible with the West."


Comment: See also:

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Network

Huh? CIA's secret communications network cracked by Iranians using Google Search?


RT
Sat, 03 Nov 2018 01:26 UTC
Googleye
© Global Look Press/Federico Gambarini
The web-based network which was used by the CIA to communicate with its sources was overcome by Iranians using text-book Google queries, a new exposé claims. The agency knew about the vulnerability, but failed to act on it.

Probably the biggest failure of US intelligence since 9/11 has been the compromise of the CIA's communication network, which it had used to keep in touch with agents and assets in foreign nations. The Chinese busted and executed dozens of US spies because of it. A new exposé by Yahoo News says a similar upheaval happened in Iran and that the Iranians managed to defeat the system relatively easily - because it was never intended for the purpose it was used for.

The internet-based platform was first used for war zones in the Middle East and was not designed for long-term communication or to stand up to any serious counter-intelligence effort. "The issue was that it was working well for too long, with too many people. But it was an elementary system," one former US intelligence official said.

So around 2010, the Iranians managed to penetrate it, and many at the CIA were shocked with how simple Tehran's approach was. The Iranians identified one of the websites used for the network through a double agent and then used Google Search to find sites with similar digital fingerprints. The visitors to those sites were then tracked, leading to an unravelling of the entire CIA network.

Comment: Iranians used Google to unravel the CIA's com network. The CIA used waterboarding and didn't get squat.

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Handcuffs

Trump: If migrants throw rocks they will be arrested, not shot


RT
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 18:53 UTC
Migrants rocks
© Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
Migrants from the US-bound Central American caravan throw stones at a police helicopter.
Walking back his previous comments, US President Donald Trump said that illegal migrants who attack the US military with rocks will not be fired upon, but will be detained.

Trump told reporters on Friday that all of his border enforcement actions are in compliance with existing US laws. He has vowed not to allow the caravans of migrants from El Salvador and Honduras, currently making their way north through Mexico, from entering the US [to enter the US.] .

Any asylum-seekers who cross the border illegally will be deported, and those who cross at points of entry will be held in tent cities with their families while they await adjudication, rather than be released into the US, Trump said on Thursday at the White House.

Comment: No matter what rules are set forth by the administration, the goal for each migrant is to get both feet on US soil - even if it is an arrest. Having demonstrated prior violence, there are by nature and intent no protection guarantees. Anything can happen.

See also:

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