type here...
Home Blog Page 207

Khameini: ‘America Could Not Do Anything’ to Stop Iran from Developing Nuclear Weapons

-
0
Khameini: ‘America Could Not Do Anything’ to Stop Iran from Developing Nuclear Weapons

Khameini: ‘America Could Not Do Anything’ to Stop Iran from Developing Nuclear Weapons

Khameini: ‘America Could Not Do Anything’ to Stop Iran from Developing Nuclear Weapons

Khameini: ‘America Could Not Do Anything’ to Stop Iran from Developing Nuclear Weapons
Khameini: ‘America Could Not Do Anything’ to Stop Iran from Developing Nuclear Weapons

Iran’s supreme leader said Thursday that the U.S. would be powerless to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and said no further negotiations with American leaders are forthcoming.

“America could not do anything” to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, although the state terror sponsor is not currently seeking them, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reportedly told Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was visiting Tehran in an effort to ease tensions between Iran and the U.S.

Tehran “will in no way repeat” negotiations with the U.S., Khamenei reportedly also told Abe. “We have no doubt about your good will and seriousness, but . . . I don’t regard Trump as deserving any exchange of messages and have no response for him and will give no response.”

Meanwhile, two oil tankers — laden with “Japan-related cargo,” according to Japan’s Trade Ministry — were apparently attacked in the Gulf of Oman Thursday, suffering a series of explosions that injured crew members. The U.S. Navy responded to the disaster offering assistance.

Read More …

US reportedly eyeing Iran after attack on two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz

-
0
US reportedly eyeing Iran after attack on two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz

US reportedly eyeing Iran after attack on two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz

US reportedly eyeing Iran after attack on two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz

US reportedly eyeing Iran after attack on two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz
US reportedly eyeing Iran after attack on two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz

The Trump administration was quick to blame Iran Thursday after a pair of Japanese-owned tankers were attacked Thursday near the Strait of Hormuz — a charge the Islamic Republic quickly denied.

A US defense official, without citing evidence, told CBS News that it was “highly likely Iran caused these attacks” on Thursday.

The official told the network he had seen reports that crew members of one of the tankers believed they were hit by a torpedo or a mine, but that he couldn’t confirm those reports.

The two tankers, the Marshal Islands-flagged Front Altair and the Panama-flagged Kokuka Courageous, were on their way to Taiwan and Singapore from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, respectively, the source said.

The Front Altair was on fire in waters between Gulf Arab states and Iran after an explosion that a source blamed on a magnetic mine.

The crew of the Norwegian vessel were picked up by a vessel in the area and passed to an Iranian rescue boat.

Read more …

Oil tanker attacks will inflame conflict between the US, its allies and Iran

-
0
Oil tanker attacks will inflame conflict between the US, its allies and Iran

Oil tanker attacks will inflame conflict between the US, its allies and Iran

Oil tanker attacks will inflame conflict between the US, its allies and Iran

The explosions, on a vital passageway for the world’s oil supply, may prove Trump’s policy of coercion has backfired

Continue

Russia, Iran not natural allies despite shared goals

-
0
Russia, Iran not natural allies despite shared goals

Russia, Iran not natural allies despite shared goals
 Russia, Iran not natural allies despite shared goals
Russia has been voicing its strong support for the Iranian regime in response to the Trump administration’s pressure and recent sanctions on Tehran.

 

Continue

OFAC sanctions Iran’s largest petrochemical holding group for providing financial support to IRGC

-
0
OFAC sanctions Iran’s largest petrochemical holding group for providing financial support to IRGC

On June 7, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against Iran’s largest petrochemical holding group for providing financial support to an engineering conglomerate of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to Executive Order 13382. In addition, OFAC designated the holding group’s network of 39 subsidiary petrochemical companies and foreign-based sales agents. According to OFAC, profits derived from the holding group’s activities “support the IRGC’s full range of nefarious activities, including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction . . . and their means of delivery, support for terrorism, and a variety of human rights abuses, at home and abroad.”

As a result, all property and interests in property belonging to the identified entities subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked and must be reported to OFAC, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from transacting with them. Moreover, OFAC warned foreign financial institutions that they may be subject to U.S. correspondent account or payable-through account sanctions if they knowingly facilitate significant transactions for any of the designated entities. OFAC further issued a reminder that as of November 5, 2018, purchasing, acquiring, selling, transporting, or marketing petrochemical products from Iran is sanctionable under E.O. 13846 (covered by InfoBytes here).

 

U.S. Sanctions Iraq-Based Company Affiliated With IRGC

-
0
U.S. Sanctions Iraq-Based Company Affiliated With IRGC

U.S. Sanctions Iraq-Based Company Affiliated With IRGC

 

The United States has sanctioned an Iraqi company that it said had helped Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) evade sanctions by smuggling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of weapons.

In a June 11 statement, the U.S. Treasury Department said the penalties target the South Wealth Resources Company in Baghdad and two executives, who the statement said helped facilitate weapons shipments and the company’s financial operations.

The treasury said that the company and the two men — Makki Kazim ‘Abd Al Hamid Al Asadi and Muhammed Hussein Salih Al Hasani — are linked to the IRGC’s elite Quds Force.

“Treasury is taking action to shut down Iranian weapons smuggling networks that have been used to arm regional proxies of the IRGC Quds Force in Iraq, while personally enriching regime insiders,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was quoted as saying in the statement.

“The Iraqi financial sector and the broader international financial system must harden their defenses against the continued deceptive tactics emanating from Tehran in order to avoid complicity in the IRGC’s ongoing sanctions evasion schemes and other malign activities,” Mnuchin added.

There was no immediate reaction from Iraq or Iran.

In an unprecedented move in April, the U.S. designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization.

The new sanctions were announced as Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits Tehran in an effort to help ease tensions between Washington and Tehran.

https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-sanctions-iraq-based-company-affiliated-with-irgc/29995986.html

U.S. SANCTIONS IRAQ-BASED COMPANY, SAYS IT BACKS IRAN’S IRGC

-
0
U.S. SANCTIONS IRAQ-BASED COMPANY, SAYS IT BACKS IRAN’S IRGC

U.S. SANCTIONS IRAQ-BASED COMPANY, SAYS IT BACKS IRAN’S IRGC

U.S. SANCTIONS IRAQ-BASED COMPANY, SAYS IT BACKS IRAN’S IRGC

Washington previously sanctioned Iran’s elite IRGC in April, designating it a terrorist organization in an unprecedented move.

Continue

Saudi Arabia Threatens Iran With ‘Grave Consequences’ As Tankers And Airport Attacked

-
0
Saudi Arabia Threatens Iran With ‘Grave Consequences’ As Tankers And Airport Attacked

Saudi Arabia Threatens Iran With ‘Grave Consequences’ As Tankers And Airport Attacked

Saudi Arabia Threatens Iran With ‘Grave Consequences’ As Tankers And Airport Attacked

Saudi Arabia Threatens Iran With 'Grave Consequences' As Tankers And Airport Attacked
Saudi Arabia Threatens Iran With ‘Grave Consequences’ As Tankers And Airport Attacked

On June 13, just a day after a missile fired by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia hit Abha International Airport in Saudi Arabia, injuring 26 people, the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet came to the assistance of two oil tankers in a “reported attack in the Gulf of Oman.”

The Houthi missile attack on the Saudi Arabian airport, some 70 miles from the Yemen border, came early on Wednesday morning. It was the latest in more than 200 recent cross-border missile attacks, albeit with greater impact and casualties. The Arab News reported that “the day before the attack, a spokesman for the Houthi military warned that the group planned to target every airport in Saudi Arabia and that the coming days would reveal ‘big surprises’.”

Responding to the airport attack, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said “the Iranian regime is the only party in the region that has been pursuing reckless escalation, through the use of ballistic missiles and UAVs to directly target civilian installations and innocent civilians,” adding that “the continuation of the Iranian regime’s aggression and reckless escalation, whether directly or through its militias, will result in grave consequences.”

Read More …

Treasury Sanctions Iraqi Firm Accused of Smuggling Arms for Iran

-
0
Treasury Sanctions Iraqi Firm Accused of Smuggling Arms for Iran

Treasury Sanctions Iraqi Firm Accused of Smuggling Arms for Iran

Treasury Sanctions Iraqi Firm Accused of Smuggling Arms for Iran

Treasury Sanctions Iraqi Firm Accused of Smuggling Arms for Iran
Treasury Sanctions Iraqi Firm Accused of Smuggling Arms for Iran

The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed sanctions on an Iraqi company it said had trafficked hundreds of millions of dollars in arms for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force.

Treasury’s blacklisting of the South Wealth Resources Company, or Manabea Tharwat al-Janoob General Trading Company, is part of the Trump administration’s broader pressure campaign against Tehran that the White House says is meant to coerce the government into a nuclear and regional security pact. The latest sanctions also affect two Iraqi men the U.S. accuses of aiding the IRGC’s weapon imports.

“Treasury is taking action to shut down Iranian weapons smuggling networks that have been used to arm regional proxies of the IRGC Qods Force in Iraq, while personally enriching regime insiders,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The secretary said Iraq’s financial system must bolster efforts to counter illicit Iran-directed activity.

—

Read More …

IRANIAN MILITARY: THE RUMORS OF FLEEING OR ARRESTED COMMANDERS ARE FALSE

-
0
IRANIAN MILITARY: THE RUMORS OF FLEEING OR ARRESTED COMMANDERS ARE FALSE

IRANIAN MILITARY: THE RUMORS OF FLEEING OR ARRESTED COMMANDERS ARE FALSE

IRANIAN MILITARY: THE RUMORS OF FLEEING OR ARRESTED COMMANDERS ARE FALSE

At first the IRGC paid the rumors no mind until Wednesday when their spokesman, Ramezan Sharif, officially acknowledged these reports, responding publicly that the rumors are allegedly false.

Continue
1...206207208...704Page 207 of 704