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Another step closer to war - Iran prepares to start uranium enrichment

Peter Korzun
Strategic Culture Foundation
Thu, 07 Jun 2018 19:14 UTC
Iran prepares to start uranium enrichment
Iran has launched preparations to boost its uranium enriching capacity. The decision is the result of the United States' withdrawal from the nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JPCOA). Tehran has begun work on infrastructure to build advanced centrifuges at its Natanz facility. It also plans to secure nuclear fuel for the Bushehr power plant. The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed of its plans to increase the enrichment within the limits of the 2015 deal with world powers.

This is a signal that Iran will not comply with the JPCOA if it collapses. Tehran wants European banks to take the risk and safeguard trade. Oil sales must be guaranteed and the losses resulting from US sanctions must be compensated by Brussels. The demand for new negotiations on ballistic missile program and regional policy must be abandoned as these issues are not related to the JPCOA.

The EU is trying to preserve the agreement but it's hard to see how private companies could be convinced to deal with Tehran running the risk of American punitive measures. Peugeot, Total, Italy's Danieli have already halted or are preparing to halt their ties with Iran.
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Light Saber

Justice and freedom for Julian Assange insures free speech for us all

John Pilger
The Courage Foundation
Mon, 04 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
assange
© Inconnu
Julian Assange

The Courage Foundation announces an urgent campaign to support Julian Assange and demand his freedom. Keep an eye on our liveblog for updates.

This month, it will be six years since Julian was forced to take refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London. He had been warned; the US Department of Justice was likely to file an application with Britain's Home Office for his extradition to the United States. The allegations against Julian and WikiLeaks in the US were subsequently declared secret by a US District Court judge, but it has since been confirmed that a grand jury in Virginia has concocted a number of possible 'charges' against the WikiLeaks founder.

The most likely of these is 'espionage', which harks back to a long -defunct First World War law designed to punish conscientious objectors.

Julian is not an American; neither has he 'betrayed' any state. His 'crime' has been free journalism and publishing, which are protected under the US Constitution, a document whose sanctity has apparently been jettisoned.

Comment: John Pilger: The isolation of Julian Assange is the silencing of us all

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Info

Putin teases during Q&A: Lasers and hypersonic missiles in service, but 'that's not all'


RT
Thu, 07 Jun 2018 18:32 UTC
MiG-31 fighter jet
© Alexey Nikolskiy / Sputnik
MiG-31 fighter jet carries Kinzhal hypersonic missile
All the recently unveiled cutting-edge Russian weapons will be put into service in time, while some are already adopted, President Vladimir Putin said during his annual Q&A session in Moscow, teasing more surprises to come.

"The hypersonic air-deployed Kinzhal system - the missile which can travel at 10 Mach speed - is already used by our troops in the South Federal District," Putin said. "A laser combat system is in service as well."

Two other novelties - the hypersonic Avangard system and Sarmat ICBM - will be put into service in 2019 and 2020 respectively. The Avangard hypersonic glider system, which can exceed the speed of sound 20 times during final approach, has been already put into serial production, the president revealed.

Comment: See also:

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War Whore

Giuliani claims Kim Jong-un was "on hands and knees" trying to get Trump back to Singapore summit


RT
Thu, 07 Jun 2018 16:36 UTC
giuliani
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani has risked causing another diplomatic uproar after he claimed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was "on hands and knees," desperately trying to save the June 12 summit after Trump briefly withdrew.

Lately, Giuliani has become an avid foreign policy commentator despite not being authorized by the US president, and his long-time friend, Donald Trump to speak on foreign matters. The former New York City mayor, who was hired by Trump in April to deal exclusively with the Mueller probe, raised eyebrows last month when he implied that the US president was keen on fomenting regime change in Iran. Although the State Department promptly disowned Giuliani's comments, reports have emerged that Trump is growing increasingly frustrated with Giuliani for getting him bad press.

However, on Wednesday, the lawyer was at it again, telling a business conference in Tel Aviv that Trump has a head start in the much-anticipated meeting with Kim, as it was allegedly the North Korean leader who had to do the begging to get the meeting back on the table.
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Phoenix

Saudi Prince MBS reappears, will make first foreign trip since suspicious disappearance to Moscow

Andrew Korybko
Eurasia Future
Thu, 07 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
Mohammed bin Salman
© Charles Platiau / Reuters
Exposing the rumors about his supposed "death" as nothing more than fake news spread by his fearful enemies in the region, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's first foreign trip since emerging from his suspicious disappearance will be to Moscow, where President Putin is keen to strengthen his country's partnership with the Wahhabi Kingdom as he "balances" Iran in the Mideast and seeks to guarantee Saudi support for the Russian peace plan in Syria.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, popularly known simply by his initials as MBS, will attend the World Cup opening ceremony in Moscow next Thursday on 14 June, representing his first foreign trip since emerging from his suspicious disappearance. His country's regional state and non-state enemies had a field day spreading loads of fake news over the past month imagining that MBS was killed in a failed coup attempt in late April, with a fabricated "death" notice even emerging on social media last week purporting that the Kingdom's de-facto ruler was already buried. To the disdain of his many regional critics and the utter embarrassment of everyone who participated in the fake news campaign about his death, MBS is clearly very much alive and dedicated to advancing the fast-moving and full-spectrum Russian-Saudi rapprochement as soon as he foreseeably can.
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Bullseye

Putin: The possibility of a new world war that could end civilization should be enough to deter conflicts between nations


RT
Thu, 07 Jun 2018 16:24 UTC
no war
© Reuters
A new world war could become "an end of civilization," Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a live televised call-in show. Awareness of this should restrain international powers from engaging in global conflict, he added.

While giving his take on the risks of a new global conflict, Putin recalled Albert Einstein. "I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones," he quoted the world renowned physicist and a Nobel Prize winner.

He went on to say that "understating of the fact that World War III could be an end of the modern civilization" should deter the world "from any radical and highly dangerous actions that could [threaten] the modern civilization."
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Yoda

Putin admits he's nervous about terrorists using Telegram, but has no plans to restrict social media outlets


RT
Thu, 07 Jun 2018 16:21 UTC
st petersburg bombing
© Reuters
Vladimir Putin insists Russia has no intention of restricting social media, but admitted he was "nervous" about security concerns posed by Telegram and other hard-to-monitor channels of online communication.

Asked by leading blogger Gusein Gasanov to comment "on rumors that YouTube, Instagram and other social media" could be blocked in Russia during his Direct Line live broadcast on Thursday, the Russian president gave an emphatic reply.

"We have no plans to shut anything down."
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X

Meeting between US, Russia and Jordan over Syrian de-escalation zone canceled


Sputnik
Thu, 07 Jun 2018 16:01 UTC
Syria
© Reuters/ Rodi Said
The meeting between Russian, US, Jordanian representatives regarding the de-escalation zone in southern Syria will not take place, Jordanian newspaper Al Ghad reported, citing its sources.

"The agreement is a key step within the three countries' joint efforts to stop violence in Syria and create the proper conditions for a sustainable political solution to the Syrian crisis," State Minister for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani said.

The meeting was scheduled to take place this week in the Jordanian capital of Amman at the level of deputy foreign ministries.
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Arrow Down

House says US has no legal right to attack Iran, unanimous vote

Marjorie Cohn
Truthout
Mon, 04 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
Rep Keith Ellison
© Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images
Rep. Keith Ellison waiting for President Trump to deliver his address to a joint session of Congress, February 28, 2017.
In a little noticed but potentially monumental development, the House of Representatives voted unanimously for an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019 (H.R. 5515) that says no statute authorizes the use of military force against Iran.

The amendment, introduced by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota), states, "It is the sense of Congress that the use of the Armed Forces against Iran is not authorized by this Act or any other Act." A bipartisan majority of the House adopted the National Defense Authorization Act on May 24, with a vote of 351-66. The bill now moves to the Senate.

If the Senate version ultimately includes the Ellison amendment as well, Congress would send a clear message to Donald Trump that he has no statutory authority to militarily attack Iran.

This becomes particularly significant in light of Trump's May 8 withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. That withdrawal was followed by a long list of demands by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, which could set the stage for a US attack on Iran.

Comment: It's about time Congress becomes effective and does something meaningful.

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Star of David

Netanyahu: 'Syria not immune' Israel will destroy Assad's forces if attacked


RT
Thu, 07 Jun 2018 12:55 UTC
Netanyahu
© CNBC
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
Israel will "destroy" any Syrian forces that attempt an attack against Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned. He also cautioned President Assad against inviting Iranian troops into Syria.

"Now the war is nearly over he invites Iran in? He is no longer immune. If he fires, we'll destroy his forces," Netanyahu said in London on Thursday.

In May, Israel launched several missiles at what it claimed were Iranian military targets inside Syria. Tel Aviv is believed to be responsible for numerous airstrikes on Syrian territory, but the Israeli military rarely comments on such cases.

Last month Netanyahu warned that Israel considers all Iranian forces inside Syria - not just troops near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights - as targets. "We will continue to act against [Iran's] intention to establish a military presence in Syria opposite us, not just opposite the Golan Heights but anywhere in Syria," he said.

Assad has denied that the Iranian military has a formal presence in Syria, noting that his ally has only sent officers and advisers which are embedded with Syrian forces.

Comment: Netanyahu - provoking the attack he wants.
See also: Netanyahu: We'll strike at Iran not just in Golan Heights, but anywhere in Syria

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