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Did Iran’s IRGC commander Ghaani go to Baghdad to oust US forces?

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Did Iran’s IRGC commander Ghaani go to Baghdad to oust US forces?
Did Iran’s IRGC commander Ghaani go to Baghdad to oust US forces?
Did Iran’s IRGC commander Ghaani go to Baghdad to oust US forces?

 

 

Ghaani’s trip to Baghdad, if it actually happened, may foreshadow more Iranian moves against the US. The US is gripped by crises, pandemic and protests, and Iran may see an opening.

 

Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Esmail Ghaani was in Iraq this week as part of Iran’s coordinated efforts to oust US forces from the region, according to reports. Al-Arabiya and other media suggested his visit was timed to coincide with a visit by Iran’s energy minister to seal a deal with Iraq to continue supplying energy to Baghdad.

 

Esmail Ghaani, an expert on Afghanistan and Pakistan who took the place of Qasem Soleimani after the latter was eviscerated by a US missile in January, has struggled to show leadership in his role with the IRGC. He went to Iraq in April and his visit was not well received.

 

Iraq has a new prime minister who is struggling to rein in security forces and also deal with ISIS insurgents.

 

Ghaani is not well liked by the Arabic-speaking members of some factions of the Hashd al-Shaabi, the powerful pro-Iranian militias in Iraq. Yet he wants to unify these factions with the help of a member of Hezbollah named Sheikh Mohamed Kawtharani and Abu Fadak, a key leader of the Hashd.

 

Not everything is known about what has happened in Iraq over the last six months a the country lurches from crisis to crisis and as Iran and the United Stated appeal for hearts and minds. The country is poor, divided, and full of protesters and a new ISIS insurgency. Its divided security forces mean no one has clear control.

 

 

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Also Read: ‘This is War’: Maduro Vows to Raise Fuel Prices as Iranian Tankers Reach Sanction-Hit Venezuela

Iran’s New Parliament Speaker Rejects Talks With US As ‘Futile’

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Iran’s New Parliament Speaker Rejects Talks With US As ‘Futile’
Iran's New Parliament Speaker Rejects Talks With US As 'Futile'
                        Iran’s New Parliament Speaker Rejects Talks With United States As ‘Futile’

 

 

Iran’s new parliament speaker Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf has said any negotiations with the United States would be “futile” as he delivered his first major speech to the conservative-dominated chamber on Sunday.

 

Qalibaf (Ghalibaf), a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ air force, was elected speaker on Thursday after low-turnout elections in February that helped ultra-conservatives dominate the legislature.

 

The newly formed parliament “considers negotiations with and appeasement of America, as the axis of global arrogance, to be futile and harmful,” said Qalibaf.

 

He also vowed revenge for the U.S. drone attack in January that killed Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Guards’ foreign operations arm.

 

“Our strategy in confronting the terrorist America is to finish the revenge for martyr Soleimani’s blood,” he told lawmakers in a televised address.

 

This, he said, would entail “the total expulsion of America’s terrorist army from the region”.

 

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have been rising since 2018, when President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from a landmark nuclear accord and began reimposing crippling sanctions on Iran’s economy.

 

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Also Read: ‘This is War’: Maduro Vows to Raise Fuel Prices as Iranian Tankers Reach Sanction-Hit Venezuela

That was followed by the U.S. drone strike near Baghdad airport in January that killed Soleimani, the mastermind behind Iran’s regional expansion. Days later, Iran fired a barrage of missiles at U.S. troops stationed in Iraq in retaliation, but Trump opted against taking any military action in response. Qalibaf also harshly criticized President Hassan Rouhani’s administration calling executive affairs of the country “chaotic”. He added that Rouhani’s government is focused on foreign ties and does not believe in “jihadi management”. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his supporters reject rapprochement with the U.S. and insist Iran can solve its problems.

Iran’s mosques to resume daily prayers as lockdown eases

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Iran’s mosques to resume daily prayers as lockdown eases
Iran's mosques to resume daily prayers as lockdown eases
Iran’s mosques to resume daily prayers as lockdown eases

 

 

Government employees went back to work in Iran on Saturday, and President Hassan Rouhani said mosques would resume daily prayers across the country, even though some areas are seeing high levels of coronavirus infections.

 

Rouhani also said on state television that shopping malls would be able to stay open beyond the 6pm (13:30 GMT) closing time imposed as part of the lockdown, a further step in the government’s plans to steadily ease the curbs.

 

“Doors to mosques across the country will open to the public for daily prayers,” Rouhani said, adding that worshippers should observe social distancing and other health protocols. He did not say when mosques would reopen.

 

Authorities are taking tougher measures to ensure health regulations are observed, such as barring people from buses and metro trains if they do not wear face masks, Iranian media reported.

 

Alireza Zali, head of the government-led Coronavirus Taskforce of Tehran, told state TV the situation in the capital was “still not favourable,” adding that the gradual easing of curbs should be accompanied by a “more serious observance” of the rules.

 

Iran, hit by the Middle East’s deadliest outbreak of the virus, began to loosen restrictions on human interaction in April, classifying areas as white, orange and red – respectively indicating low, medium and high risk for coronavirus infections.

 

Authorities had progressively closed mosques across Iran after confirming the first coronavirus infections in February.

 

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Also Read: ‘This is War’: Maduro Vows to Raise Fuel Prices as Iranian Tankers Reach Sanction-Hit Venezuela

Iran, hit by the Middle East’s deadliest outbreak of the vir us, began to loosen restrictions on human interaction in April, classifying areas as white, orange and red – respectively indicating low, medium and high risk for coronavirus infections. Authorities had progressively closed mosques across Iran.

‘This is War’: Maduro Vows to Raise Fuel Prices as Iranian Tankers Reach Sanction-Hit Venezuela

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‘This is War’: Maduro Vows to Raise Fuel Prices as Iranian Tankers Reach Sanction-Hit Venezuela
'This is War': Maduro Vows to Raise Fuel Prices as Iranian Tankers Reach Sanction-Hit Venezuela
‘This is War’: Maduro Vows to Raise Fuel Prices as Iranian Tankers Reach Sanction-Hit Venezuela

 

 

On Thursday, Nicolas Maduro said that the Venezuelan government plans to review prices for imported gasoline on the domestic market amid the shutdown of many of the national oil and gas company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA)’s refineries.

 

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced that fuel prices will go up in the country as of 1 June, with gasoline due to be sold at 5,000 bolivars (2.5 US cents) per litre at gas stations nationwide.

 

These will include 200 stations that will sell premium fuel at the equivalent of 50 US cents a litre, and gasoline will be limited to 120 litres (30 gallons) per month for each vehicle, according to Maduro.

“This is a war, my dear fellow countrymen who listen to me, a brutal war”, the Venezuelan president said in an address to the nation on Saturday, adding that the US is “persecuting any company that brings a drop of gasoline to Venezuela”.

 

He also said that Venezuela should charge international prices for gasoline “sooner rather than later, to prevent it from being stolen from Colombia and the Caribbean”.

“That should not be decreed or done haphazardly. It should be done through planning and strategy”, Maduro pointed out.

 

Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami, for his part, pledged that diesel fuel, which is vital to industries and electric power plants, will still be subsidised “100%”.

 

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Also Read: Britain, France, Germany ‘Regret’ U.S. Decision To End Sanctions Waivers On Iran’s Nuclear Program

The remarks followed Maduro’s announcement on Thursday that he had appointed a team of specialists from the government to implement a plan of gas distribution in the country and review the price for imported fuel on the domestic market, which has been one of the lowest in the world due to government subsidies. 

Iran Urges Lifting Tariffs for Exports to Georgia

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Iran Urges Lifting Tariffs for Exports to Georgia
Iran Urges Lifting Tariffs for Exports to Georgia
Iran Urges Lifting Tariffs for Exports to Georgia

 

 

Iranian Ambassador to Georgia Seyed Javad Qavam Shahidi in a meeting with Russian Foreign Ministry’s Regional Director-General Kakha Sikharolidze urged him to address the limitations created for import of the Iranian goods to Georgia. Iran Urges Lifting Tariffs for Exports to Georgia.

 

 

Qavam Shahidi pointed to the limitations on the export of the Iranian goods to Georgia and the concern of the Iranian businessmen over the issue while calling for addressing the issue.

 

The Iranian ambassador noted that Iran and Georgia should pursue their long-run interests, adding that the restrictions could leave negative impacts on the economic cooperation of the countries and hence lowering the volume of their trade exchanges.

 

 

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Also Read: Britain, France, Germany ‘Regret’ U.S. Decision To End Sanctions Waivers On Iran’s Nuclear Program

In a relevant development in early December 2019, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a meeting with Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Khvtisiashvili in Tehran underlined the need to develop mutual cooperation in different political and economic fields. In a relevant development in early December 2019, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a meeting with Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Khvtisiashvili in Tehran underlined the need to develop mutual cooperation in different political and economic fields.
In a relevant development in early December 2019, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a meeting with Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Khvtisiashvili in Tehran underlined the need to develop mutual cooperation in different political and economic fields. In a relevant development in early December 2019, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a meeting with Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Khvtisiashvili in Tehran underlined the need to develop mutual cooperation in different political and economic fields. In a relevant development in early December 2019, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a meeting with Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Khvtisiashvili in Tehran underlined the need to develop mutual cooperation in different political and economic fields.

Britain, France, Germany ‘Regret’ U.S. Decision To End Sanctions Waivers On Iran’s Nuclear Program

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Britain, France, Germany ‘Regret’ U.S. Decision To End Sanctions Waivers On Iran’s Nuclear Program
Britain, France, Germany 'Regret' U.S. Decision To End Sanctions Waivers On Iran’s Nuclear Program
Britain, France, Germany ‘Regret’ U.S. Decision To End Sanctions Waivers On Iran’s Nuclear Program

 

 

Britain, France, and Germany have criticized a decision by the United States to end sanctions waivers for companies from countries that remain in the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

 

“We deeply regret the U.S. decision to end the three waivers covering key JCPOA nuclear projects in Iran,” a joint May 30 statement from the three European powers said.

 

The waivers were part of the landmark agreement signed with Tehran in 2015 that limited Iran’s nuclear activities in return for lifting crippling economic sanctions.

 

They allowed European, Chinese, and Russian companies to work on the conversion of a heavy-water reactor in Arak, a major industrial city in western Iran.

 

“These projects, endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2231, serve the nonproliferation interests of all and provide the international community with assurances of the exclusively peaceful and safe nature of Iranian nuclear activities.”

 

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on May 27 that Iran’s continued “nuclear brinkmanship” in breaching some of its nuclear commitments did not justify renewing the waivers.

 

“The regime’s nuclear extortion will lead to increased pressure on Iran and further isolate the regime from the international community,” he said.

 

Nonproliferation experts say that the waivers give international experts a valuable eye into Tehran’s nuclear activities and that its scientific research is for legitimate civilian purposes, such as medicine.

 

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Also Read: Turkey, Iran seize on opportunity to exploit U.S. protests – Jerusalem Post

The United States president Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in 2018 and reimposed crushing sanctions on Tehran. In response, Iran has breached several provisions of the JCPOA at the fringes, saying that it can reverse them if the United States comes back into compliance.

Turkey, Iran seize on opportunity to exploit U.S. protests – Jerusalem Post

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Turkey, Iran seize on opportunity to exploit U.S. protests – Jerusalem Post
Turkey, Iran seize on opportunity to exploit U.S. protests - Jerusalem Post
Turkey, Iran seize on the opportunity to exploit U.S. protests – Jerusalem Post

 

Turkey and Iran have wasted no time in exploiting the protests in the United States sparked by the death of an African-American man in police custody, the Jerusalem Post said on Saturday.

 

Turkey, the world’s largest jailor of journalists, and Iran, which had murdered 1,500 demonstrators in 2019, have both been quick to express their support for the violent protests across the United States, it said.

 

The widespread protests were sparked in anger over the documented killing of George Floyd on Monday, after a Minnesota policer officer dug his knee into the victim’s neck during an arrest. One man has been killed and many injured and the U.S. National Guard has been called in to secure the cities.

 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, known for “ethnically cleansing Kurds in northern Syria” responded to the protests by calling the United States “racist and fascist”, the Jerusalem Post said.

 

The Turkish president went on call the protests the result of a “painful manifestation of the unjust order we stand against across the world”.

 

Erdoğan’s condemnation of the “inhuman mentality” in the United States arrives as Turkey continues to arrest journalists and activists, the Israeli newspaper said said.

 

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Also Read: World War 3: US BLOCKS Iranian fuel shipments to Venezuela in fresh row

Turkey is accused of prolonged and arbitrary detentions of journalists, human rights defenders and politicians, according to the World Report 2020 by the Human Rights Watch. Erdoğan’s government has prosecuted thousands of government critics on broadly defined terrorism charges in proceedings with insubstantial evidence. Turkey’s crackdown intensified after the July 2016 coup attempt. The article cited reports over the weekend on the detention of Kurdish and Yazidi women in a secret prison run by Turkish-backed Syrian rebels in Syria, where Turkey launched a military offensive last year.

World War 3: US BLOCKS Iranian fuel shipments to Venezuela in fresh row

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World War 3: US BLOCKS Iranian fuel shipments to Venezuela in fresh row
World War 3: US BLOCKS Iranian fuel shipments to Venezuela in fresh row
World War 3: US BLOCKS Iranian fuel shipments to Venezuela in fresh row

 

 

US officials said Wednesday that Washington has disrupted planned Iranian fuel deliveries to Venezuela by threatening sanctions against shippers.

 

It temporarily thwarted a burgeoning economic alliance between two of America’s biggest rivals.

 

US officials said two Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned vessels loaded with Iranian oil products and headed to Venezuela halted their deliveries after the sanctions threat.

 

The shipment was in violation of the US ‘maximum pressure’ policy on Iran. World War 3

 

It comes after a second Iranian tanker arrived in the Venezuelan port of El Palito on Wednesday. World War 3

 

The tanker Forest was second in a flotilla of five, carrying a total of 1.5 million barrels of gasoline and other petrochemical products to the Latin American nation grappling with hyperinflation.

 

Escorted by the Venezuelan navy and air force, the first vessel, the Fortune, docked in the same port earlier this week.

 

A third vessel was expected to reach Venezuelan shores on May 27 before the sanction blocks.

 

boat

                    It comes after a second Iranian tanker arrived in the Venezuelan port of El Palito on Wednesday. (Image: PA)

 

The United States had earlier announced it was considering measures to block the deal by the two nations that both suffer from severe American sanctions. World War 3

 

In a statement last week, the Trump administration denounced support provided by Iran — as well as other allies, namely Cuba, Russia and China — to “the illegitimate and tyrannical regime of Nicolas Maduro,” noting that the maximum pressure campaign “will continue until Maduro’s hold on Venezuela is over.” World War 3

 

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Also Read: Second Iranian Oil Tanker Arrives At Venezuela’s Largest Refinery

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made it clear last week that any US measure to halt the shipments would not go unanswered and “we will act in reciprocation” if Iranian tankers face any problem, be it in the Caribbean or elsewhere in the world. 

Iran Warns U.S. on Naval Activity in the Gulf

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Iran Warns U.S. on Naval Activity in the Gulf
Iran Warns U.S. on Naval Activity in the Gulf
Iran Warns U.S. on Naval Activity in the Gulf

 

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps unveiled scores of new and upgraded defensive speedboats with a warning to the U.S. that it won’t shy away from challenging American naval power.

 

“Today we announce that wherever the Americans are, we’re right there beside you, and in the near future you will sense us even more,” IRGC Navy Commander Admiral Alireza Tangsiri said on the sidelines of a ceremony in the Persian Gulf, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Thursday.

 

While battling sanctions and a major coronavirus outbreak, Iran appears determined to keep striking a defiant tone as tensions with the U.S. simmer. A month ago, President Donald Trump ordered the navy to destroy any Iranian vessels harassing U.S. ships, after accusations that the IRGC’s craft dangerously approached American military vessels in what U.S. Central Command said were international waters.

 

It’s not clear if all the vessels shown at the ceremony were new or how many had been refurbished. The IRGC received a number of Ashoura and Zulfaghar-class vessels — the same models unveiled Thursday — from the Defense Ministry in March 2016, state TV reported at the time.

Iran Ratchets Up Warnings to U.S. Over Tensions in Persian Gulf

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Also Read: Iran is running a custom-made strategy in the Levant

Earlier this month, Iran’s regular navy lost 19 sailors in a friendly fire incident involving its own ships during a military exercise in the Gulf of Oman. The Guard is also building a new vessel that will be named after General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq in January, according to Tangsiri.
Hostilities between Iran and the U.S. have spiraled after Washington exited the multiparty 2015 nuclear deal that aimed to rejuvenate the Iranian economy and renewed sanctions on the country’s oil exports. It also designated the IRGC –

Iran’s parliament taps hard-line former IRGC commander as speaker

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Iran’s parliament taps hard-line former IRGC commander as speaker
Iran’s parliament taps hard-line former IRGC commander as speaker
Iran’s parliament taps hard-line former IRGC commander as speaker

 

 

A former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander was installed as speaker of Iran’s parliament today, further tightening the grip of hard-liners on the country’s lawmaking body.

 

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf is the former mayor of Tehran, and also served as an IRGC air force commander and national police chief. The new speaker also had several failed bids for president; he lost to both Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani, the current president.

 

Gaining 230 out of 264 votes, Ghalibaf won overwhelmingly in parliament today. The 58-year-old replaces Ali Larijani, who held the position since 2008.

 

Ghalibaf’s election to the speakership cements what is an already ultraconservative new parliament standing in sharp contrast to the relatively moderate Rouhani.

 

Legislation supported by the president sailed through the previous parliament, but will face significant hurdles in the new hard-liner-dominated assembly, where 220 out of the 290 seats are held by conservatives.

 

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Also Read: IRGC commander Soleimani to Hamas: Iran will never abandon Palestine

“This parliament will not act as a government representative,” the oldest member of the new legislative body, Reza Taghavi, made clear to Rouhani and his team in the opening ceremony Wednesday.  During the parliament’s opening, lawmakers had their temperatures taken before entering the building and many arrived in face masks, state TV reported.
ran is currently dealing with the region’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak. Today, health officials confirmed 63 more deaths, bringing the death toll to 7,627. The total number of cases has reached 143,849. “This parliament will not act as a government representative,” the oldest member of the new legislative body, Reza Taghavi, made clear to Rouhani and his team in the opening ceremony Wednesday.  
During the parliament’s opening, lawmakers had their temperatures taken before entering the building and many arrived in face masks, state TV reported. Iran is currently dealing with the region’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak.
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