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Iraqi President to visit Iran, expand cooperation, offers to mediate amid tensions with US


Sputnik
Sun, 26 May 2019 13:28 UTC
barham salih
© AP Photo / Iranian Presidency Office via AP
Iraqi President Barham Salih has received an invitation from his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, to visit Iran, during his meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, the presidential office said.

"The Iranian Minister presented an invitation from President Rouhani to President Barham Salih to visit Tehran to follow up the common dossiers," the presidential office said in a statement, published on its official website late on Saturday.

According to the statement, the Iranian foreign minister said during the meeting that Tehran was interested in expanding cooperation between the two countries, and conveyed Iran's support for Iraq.

Comment: See also:

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Bullseye

Iranian envoy to UN highlights three key problems when dealing with the US


Sputnik
Sun, 26 May 2019 01:44 UTC
UN Flags
© Sputnik / Sergey Guneev
The permanent representative to the UN said Iran acknowledges US interest in engaging in dialogue, but added that there are three major obstacles that make a diplomatic resolution to the on-going crisis impossible at this moment.

Iranian permanent representative to the UN Majid Takht-e-Ravanchi published an opinion piece in the Washington Post, in which he detailed the hardships Tehran faces when dealing with the US.

According to Takht-e-Ravanchi, Trump is being driven to a confrontation with Iran by a number of people, both inside the US Government and in the Middle East. The representative argues that "contrary to the views of his close associates," President Trump doesn't seem to genuinely want a war with Iran. However, US policy towards Iran is inconsistent and controversial, he pointed out, adding that the US can't decide between threats and calls for dialogue.

Comment: As Trump has said himself, he's not always the one calling the shots: Trump attacks Military Industrial Complex and calls for infrastructure investments in the Middle East
On May 20 speaking to Fox News, President Trump echoed Eisenhauer's warnings. [...]

"I say, 'I want to bring our troops back home.' The place went crazy. You have people here in Washington, they never want to leave."

'You know what I'll do, I'll leave a couple hundred soldiers behind,' but if it was up to them, they'd bring thousands of soldiers in. Someday people will explain it, but you do have a group, and they call it the military-industrial complex. They never want to leave. They always want to fight."
See also:

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Arrow Up

Trump reaffirms his 'confidence' in Kim Jong-un as they join together in mocking 'Swampman Joe Biden'


RT
Mon, 27 May 2019 09:34 UTC
Kim Jong Un donald trump vietnam
© REUTERS / KCNA
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump meet for the second North Korea-U.S. summit in Hanoi, Vietnam
US President Donald Trump has reaffirmed his "confidence" in North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, tweeting an approving snicker at his recent insult of Joe Biden and brushing off concerns over Pyongyang's short-range missile tests.

Donald Trump took to Twitter on Saturday to rekindle his somewhat stale bromance with Kim, hanging in the balance after their summit in Vietnam in February faltered and was further threatened by the recent seizure of a North Korean cargo ship by the US.

Trump, on a state visit to Japan, which eyes hosting its own summit with North Korea, defied hawkish National Security Advisor John Bolton, tweeting dismissively about "some small weapons" fired by Pyongyang "which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me."

Comment: That was yesterday, and today Trump said:
"He [Kim] knows that with nuclear... only bad can happen. He is a very smart man, he gets it well," Trump remarked, stressing that North Korea has "tremendous economic potential."
At the same press conference, he said regarding Iran:
"We're not looking for regime change, we're looking for no nuclear weapons. The prime minister's [Abe] already spoken to me about that, and I do believe that Iran would like to talk. And if they'd like to talk, we'd like to talk also. We'll see what happens... nobody wants to see terrible things happen, especially me. "
We'll see indeed...

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Bad Guys

Pentagon accuses Iran's Revolutionary Guards of being 'directly responsible' for tanker attacks


Reuters
Mon, 27 May 2019 09:34 UTC
Pentagon
© AP Photo /
The U.S. military on Friday accused Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) of being directly responsible for attacks on tankers off the United Arab Emirates earlier this month, describing it as part of a "campaign" by Tehran driving new U.S. deployments.

"The attack against the shipping in Fujairah we attribute it to the IRGC," said Rear Admiral Michael Gilday, the director of the Joint Staff, adding the Pentagon attributed limpet mines used in the attack to the IRGC. He declined to describe "the means of delivery" of the mines.

The remarks were made at a Pentagon news briefing to explain U.S. plans to send 900 more forces, including engineers, to the Middle East to bolster U.S. defense and extend the deployment of some 600 personnel manning Patriot missiles.

Comment: Also see:

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NPC

Ocasio-Cortez calls Politico 'anti-Semitic' for pointing out Bernie Sanders is rich


RT
Mon, 27 May 2019 09:34 UTC
Bernie Sanders anti-semitic money tree Politico tweet
© Politico
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) blasted Politico for using anti-Semitic tropes in its scathing profile of Bernie Sanders. In a piece focused on his 'wealth', the presidential hopeful is shown next to a 'money tree'.

The Friday cover of Politico Magazine is graced by the image of Bernie Sanders, the only Jewish candidate in the packed Democratic presidential race, standing against the backdrop of a tree with dollar bills instead of leaves and a luxury mansion. The article, titled 'The Secret of Bernie's Millions', contrasts Sanders' socialist inclinations with being "a three-home-owning millionaire with a net worth approaching at least $2 million."

Politico's Michael Kruse does not pull any punches in his review of Sanders' political career, with colorful passages like: "The champion of the underclass and castigator of 'the 1 percent' has found himself in the socioeconomic penthouse of his rhetorical bogeymen." He describes Sanders' 2016 presidential run, effectively hijacked by the Clinton camp and the Democratic National Committee (DNC), as "the most lucrative thing he's ever done."
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Quenelle

UN maritime convention can't be applied to Kerch Strait incident because Russia opted out decades ago


RT
Sun, 26 May 2019 13:05 UTC
ukraine navy
© Russia's Federal Security Service / Sputnik
Ukrainian naval vessels seized by Russia on November 25, 2018.
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea is urging Russia to hand over Ukrainian ships and crew detained for "border violation" off Crimea in 2018. Moscow has hit back, saying the body has no jurisdiction here.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said Moscow had made an opt-out while ratifying the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea which now effectively "excludes" its rules from being applied to the case with Ukraine. The opt-out in question allows Russia not to follow the international rulings on issues of its borders, military and national security.

Stressing this point, the ministry again lamented the "irresponsible" behavior of Ukrainian sailors during the incident almost a year ago.

Comment: See also: Drama in the Kerch Strait: A desperate ploy by West to undermine upcoming Trump/Putin meet

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Black Magic

Stoltenberg: 'NATO to adopt new strategy' - but can't say what it is


RT
Sat, 25 May 2019 15:52 UTC
NATO

FILE PHOTO. Global Look Press / Kay Nietfeld
NATO 'experts' have developed an updated strategy, the bloc's chief Jens Stoltenberg revealed. And one doesn't have to look for long for an explanation, with 'bad Russia' conveniently cited as a reason for the overhaul.

"Our military experts have adopted a new military strategy for the alliance this week," NATO's Secretary General Stoltenberg told Germany's Die Welt.

The very ability to come up with a new strategy, according to NATO's chief, shows the alliance's strength, since "we are able to change when necessary."

No actual details about the strategy have emerged at this point. The need for an updated document was explained by Stoltenberg as a reaction to a "new security situation," as well as "challenges in the east and the south." The top brass also did not miss out on the opportunity to cite a commonly hyped "nuclear threat" from Moscow as one of the reasons.

Comment: See also:

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Target

Trump attacks Military Industrial Complex and calls for infrastructure investments in the Middle East

Matthew Ehret
Strategic Culture
Thu, 23 May 2019 19:51 UTC
US F-35 fighter jet
© Andy Wolfe / Reuters
For the first time in over half a century, an American President has actually come out attacking the Military Industrial Complex. Of course, everyone knows of President Dwight D. Eisenhauer's famous outgoing 1961 speech warning the world (and the incoming President Kennedy) what sort of monster had arisen at the heart of America's defense institutions. Very little on the matter was said on the frightening topic by decades of political leaders who rose to prominence in the shadow of JFK's corpse. Instead, the beast grew like a malignant cancer over the ensuing years as a major branch of the British-run deep state that carried out a coup with Sir Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain speech in 1946 and the MI6-directed re-organization of American intelligence with the creation of the CIA in 1947.

After John F. Kennedy's assassination, networks of neoconservative contaminated all branches of government in both parties bringing the USA into a frenzied military doctrine centered on regime change wars, oil-centered geopolitics and unipolarism totally uncharacteristic with the better constitutional traditions of the nation. This geopolitical doctrine nearly drove the west into a full military confrontation with Russia and China in recent years.

Comment: See also:

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Light Saber

Sanders tweet-burns neocon fossil Bill Kristol over 'foolish' pushing for Iraq war, asks where his apology is


RT
Sun, 26 May 2019 20:48 UTC
Iraq war
© Khalid al-Mousily / Reuters
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders took a swipe at neoconservative Bill Kristol for his "foolish advocacy of the Iraq war," and questioned whether he had apologized to the country for it yet.

Sanders was responding to a tweet Kristol sent that said, "#Never Sanders," and linked to a New York Times article about the longtime Vermont senator's opposition to war.

"Have you apologized to the nation for your foolish advocacy of the Iraq war?" Sanders tweeted, adding he makes "no apologies for opposing it."

Sanders' record of opposing wars like Vietnam and Iraq, and US meddling in Nicaragua, has recently been highlighted by the media as the 2020 presidential primaries approach.

Comment: William Kristol is a war criminal, pure and simple. The amount of blood on his hands can hardly be calculated.

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Bullseye

'Negotiating with the devil bears no fruit' - IRGC on talks with US


RT
Sun, 26 May 2019 12:23 UTC
us iran
© FILE PHOTO simon2579 / Getty Images
Talking with Washington is akin to talking with the devil, a senior official with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said, downplaying the US military presence in the region as the "weakest in history."

"Negotiating with the devil, the Quran says, bears no fruit," the deputy commander of the IRGC, Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, said, as cited by Fars News Agency.

Fadavi made his remarks while talking about the longtime lack of effective negotiations between Tehran and Washington.

He also did not mince his words on the state of the US military presence in the region, labeling it the "weakest in [its] history." The influence of Saudi Arabia, a US major ally and arms-buyer, in the Middle East has also been diminished over the years, the official added.


Comment: However: Weapons worth $8 billion headed to Middle East without congressional approval


Comment: He's simply speaking the truth; as Pepe Escobar notes in Iran squeezed between imperial psychos and European cowards:
Professor Mohammad Marandi at the Faculty of World Studies of the University of Tehran offers quite a sobering perspective: [...]

"Iranians have been preparing for war with the Unites States ever since the Iraq invasion in 2003. After what they've seen in Libya, in Syria, Yemen, Venezuela, they know that the Americans and Europeans are utterly brutal.
See also:

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