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Tag: US Iran news

  • Iran’s president-elect says he received’t meet with Joe Biden

    Iran’s president-elect mentioned Monday he wouldn’t meet with President Joe Biden nor negotiate over Tehran’s ballistic missile program and its help of regional militias, sticking to a hard-line place following his landslide victory in final week’s election.
    Judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi additionally described himself as a “defender of human rights” when requested about his involvement within the 1988 mass execution of some 5,000 individuals. It marked the primary time he’s been placed on the spot on dwell tv over that darkish second in Iranian historical past on the finish of the Iran-Iraq warfare.

    “The US is obliged to lift all oppressive sanctions against Iran,” Raisi mentioned on the information convention.
    Raisi sat in entrance of a sea of microphones, most from Iran and nations house to militias supported by Tehran. He seemed nervous initially of feedback however slowly loosened up over the hourlong information convention.
    Asked about Iran’s ballistic missile program and its help of regional militias, Raisi described the problems as “non-negotiable.”
    Iran’s new President-elect Ebrahim Raisi speaks throughout a press convention in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 21, 2021. (AP)
    Tehran’s fleet of assault plane date largely again to earlier than the 1979 Islamic Revolution, forcing Iran to as an alternative put money into missiles as a hedge towards its regional Arab neighbours, who’ve bought billions of {dollars} in American navy {hardware} through the years. Iran additionally depends on militias like Yemen’s Houthis and Lebanon’s Hezbollah to counterbalance towards enemies like Saudi Arabia and Israel, respectively.
    On assembly Biden, Raisi merely answered: “No.” His reasonable competitor within the election, Abdolnasser Hemmati, had urged throughout campaigning that he’d be probably prepared to fulfill Biden.
    The White House didn’t instantly reply to Raisi’s statements Monday.

    Raisi, a protégé of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been sanctioned by the U.S. partly over his involvement within the mass executions. His victory within the balloting final Friday got here amid the bottom turnout within the Islamic Republic’s historical past. Millions of Iranians stayed house in defiance of a vote they noticed as tipped in Raisi’s favor.
    Of those that did vote, 3.7 million individuals both by accident or deliberately voided their ballots, far past the quantity seen in earlier elections and suggesting some wished not one of the 4 candidates. In official outcomes, Raisi received 17.9 million votes general, practically 62% of the overall 28.9 million forged.

    Raisi’s election places hard-liners firmly in management throughout the federal government as negotiations in Vienna proceed to attempt to save a tattered deal meant to restrict Iran’s nuclear program, at a time when Tehran is enriching uranium at 60% its highest ranges ever, although nonetheless in need of weapons-grade ranges. Representatives of the world powers get together to the deal returned to their capitals for consultations following the newest spherical of negotiations on Sunday.
    Top diplomats from nations concerned within the talks mentioned that additional progress had been made Sunday between Iran and international powers to attempt to restore a landmark 2015 settlement to comprise Iranian nuclear growth that was deserted by the Trump administration. They mentioned it was now as much as the governments concerned within the negotiations to make political selections.
    Raisi’s election victory has raised considerations that it may complicate a potential return to the nuclear settlement.

  • US nonetheless open to Iran nuclear talks after Iran’s rejection

    The Biden administration stated Sunday it stays open to talks with Iran over the 2015 nuclear deal regardless of Tehran’s rejection of an EU invitation to hitch a gathering with the U.S. and the opposite unique members within the settlement.
    A senior administration official stated the U.S. was ‘disappointed’ within the rejection however was versatile as to the timing and format of the talks and noticed Iran’s resolution to snub the European invitation as a part of the diplomatic course of. The official stated the U.S. can be consulting with the opposite members, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the European Union, on the way in which ahead.
    The official was not licensed to debate the matter by identify and spoke on situation of anonymity.
    Earlier Sunday, Iran turned down the supply for talks saying the “time isn’t ripe” for the assembly, at which the U.S. would have participated as an observer. Iran had been insisting that the U.S. carry or ease sanctions imposed on it by the Trump administration underneath its “maximum pressure campaign” earlier than sitting down with the United States.
    President Joe Biden has stated repeatedly that the U.S. would return to the deal that his predecessor, Donald Trump, withdrew from in 2018 solely after Iran restores its full compliance with the accord.
    “Considering US/E3 positions & actions, time isn’t ripe for the proposed informal meeting,” Iranian overseas ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh stated on Twitter. He referred to the so-called E3, which contains Britain, France and Germany.
    “Remember: Trump failed to meet because of his ill-advised Max Failure,” he stated. “With sanctions in place, same still applies. Censuring is NOT diplomacy. It doesn’t work with Iran.”
    The Biden administration introduced earlier this month that it might settle for an EU invitation to take part in a gathering of deal members and on the similar time rescinded a Trump dedication from the U.N. Security Council that Iran was in vital breach of the settlement that each one U.N. sanctions had be restored.
    The U.N. transfer had little sensible impact as practically all members of the world physique had rejected Trump’s dedication as a result of the U.S. was now not a participant within the nuclear deal.
    Biden administration officers stated the withdrawal of the dedication was meant to point out goodwill towards its companions and on the similar time had eased extreme restrictions on the motion of Iranian diplomats posted to the U.N.
    Separately on Sunday, the State Department condemned a weekend assault by Iran-backed Yemeni rebels on Saudi Arabia, saying it broken prospects for peace. Along with the overtures to Iran on the nuclear entrance, the Biden administration additionally reversed a number of late Trump administration strikes towards Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen.
    Secretary of State Antony Blinken rescinded his predecessor’s designation that the Houthi rebels had been a “foreign terrorist organization,” a transfer that the U.N. and aid teams had stated would make the already disastrous humanitarian scenario in Yemen even worse.
    In addition, the Biden administration determined to halt all offensive help to Saudi Arabia for its army marketing campaign towards the Houthis in Yemen.
    The Houthis, nonetheless, have stepped up their operations within the nation, urgent forward with an offensive in Marib province and launching assaults on Saudi Arabia.
    On Saturday, Saudi authorities stated that they had intercepted a missile assault over their capital and reported that bomb-laden drones had focused a southern province, the most recent in a collection of airborne assaults they’ve blamed on the Houthis.

    State Department spokesman Ned Price on Sunday stated the U.S. “strongly condemns the Houthis’ attacks on population centers in Saudi Arabia.”
    He stated they “threaten not only innocent civilians but also prospects for peace and stability in Yemen”, and referred to as on the Houthis “to end these egregious attacks.”
    “The United States remains committed to its longstanding partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to helping Saudi Arabia defend its territory as it faces attacks from Iranian-aligned groups,” Price stated.

    On Friday, the Biden administration additional strained ties with the Saudis when it printed a declassified intelligence report discovering that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince had ordered an operation to seize or kill Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist and U.S. resident who was brutally slain on the Saudi consulate in Turkey. Saudi Arabia has forcefully rejected the report’s conclusions.

  • Explosion strikes Israeli-owned ship in Mideast amid stress

    An explosion struck an Israeli-owned cargo ship crusing out of the Middle East on Friday, an unexplained blast renewing considerations about ship safety within the area amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran.
    The crew and vessel had been protected, in accordance with the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which is run by the British navy. The explosion within the Gulf of Oman pressured the vessel to go to the closest port.
    The incident recalled the summer time of 2019, when the identical web site noticed a collection of suspected assaults that the US Navy blamed on Iran, which Tehran denied. Meanwhile, as President Joe Biden tries to revive nuclear negotiations with Iran, he ordered in a single day airstrikes on services in Syria belonging to a strong Iranian-backed Iraqi armed group.
    Dryad Global, a maritime intelligence agency, recognized the stricken vessel because the MV Helios Ray, a Bahamian-flagged roll-on, roll-off car cargo ship. Another personal safety official, who spoke to The Associated Press on situation of anonymity to debate intelligence issues, equally recognized the ship because the Helios Ray.
    Satellite-tracking information from web site MarineTraffic.com confirmed the Helios Ray had been almost getting into the Arabian Sea round 0600 GMT Friday earlier than it all of a sudden rotated and started heading again towards the Strait of Hormuz. It was coming from Dammam, Saudi Arabia, and nonetheless listed Singapore as its vacation spot on its tracker.
    Israel’s Channel 13, in an unsourced report, mentioned the evaluation in Israel is that Iran was behind the blast. Israeli officers didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark. The Iranian authorities didn’t touch upon the blast Friday.
    The blast comes as Tehran more and more breaches its 2015 nuclear accord with world powers to create leverage over Washington. Iran is looking for to stress Biden to grant the sanctions reduction it acquired below the deal that former President Donald Trump deserted almost three years in the past.
    Iran additionally has blamed Israel for a latest collection of assaults, together with a mysterious explosion final summer time that destroyed a sophisticated centrifuge meeting plant at its Natanz nuclear facility and the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a prime Iranian scientist who based the Islamic Republic’s army nuclear programme twenty years in the past.
    Capt. Ranjith Raja of the info agency Refinitiv advised the AP that the Israeli-owned vessel had left the Persian Gulf Thursday sure for Singapore. On Friday at 0230 GMT, the vessel stopped for at the very least 9 hours east of a primary Omani port earlier than making a 360-degree flip and crusing towards Dubai, seemingly for harm evaluation and repairs, he mentioned.
    The vessel got here loaded with cargo from Europe. It discharged automobiles at a number of ports within the area, Raja added, together with in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, with its final port of name at Dammam.
    While particulars of the explosion remained unclear, two American protection officers advised the AP that the ship had sustained two holes on its port facet and two holes on its starboard facet simply above the waterline within the blast. The officers mentioned it remained unclear what precipitated the holes. They spoke to the AP on situation of anonymity to debate unreleased data on the incidents.
    A United Nations ship database recognized the vessel’s homeowners as a Tel Aviv-based agency known as Ray Shipping Ltd. Calls to Ray Shipping rang unanswered Friday.
    Abraham Ungar, 74, who goes by Rami, is the founding father of Ray Shipping Ltd., and is called one of many richest males in Israel. He made his fortune in transport and development.
    According to the Nikola Y. Vaptsarov Naval Academy, the place Ungar supplies assist and maritime coaching, he owns dozens of car-carrying ships and employs hundreds of engineers.
    The US Navy’s Bahrain-based fifth Fleet mentioned it was “aware and monitoring” the state of affairs. The US Maritime Administration, an company of the Transportation Department, issued a warning to industrial shippers early Saturday acknowledging the explosion and urging ships to “exercise caution when transiting” the Gulf of Oman.
    While the circumstances of the explosion stay unclear, Dryad Global mentioned it was very attainable the blast stemmed from “asymmetric activity by Iranian military.”
    As Iran seeks to stress the United States to raise sanctions, the nation might search ?to train forceful diplomacy by army means,” Dryad reported.

  • Extraordinary warning to Trump by 10 former Pentagon chiefs in opposition to involving navy in claiming election fraud

    In a rare rebuke of President Donald Trump, all 10 dwelling former secretaries of protection cautioned Sunday in opposition to any transfer to contain the navy in pursuing claims of election fraud, arguing that it might take the nation into “dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory.”
    The 10 males, each Democrats and Republicans, signed on to an opinion article printed in The Washington Post that implicitly questioned Trump’s willingness to comply with his Constitutional responsibility to peacefully relinquish energy on January 20.
    Following the Nov. 3 election and subsequent recounts in some states, in addition to unsuccessful court docket challenges, the result is obvious, they wrote, whereas not specifying Trump within the article.
    “The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived,” they wrote.
    The former Pentagon chiefs warned in opposition to the usage of the navy in an effort to alter the result.
    “Efforts to involve the US armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory,” they wrote. “Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic.”
    Quite a lot of senior navy officers, together with Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have stated publicly in current weeks that the navy has no function in figuring out the result of US elections and that their loyalty is to the Constitution, to not a person chief or a political occasion.

    The 10 former Pentagon leaders additionally warned of their Post article of the hazards of impeding a full and easy transition at Defense Department previous to Inauguration Day as a part of a switch to energy to President-elect Joe Biden. Biden has complained of efforts by Trump-appointed Pentagon officers to impede the transition.
    Without mentioning a selected instance, the previous protection secretaries wrote that transfers of energy “often occur at times of international uncertainty about US national security policy and posture,” including, “They can be a moment when the nation is vulnerable to actions by adversaries seeking to take advantage of the situation.”
    Tensions with Iran symbolize simply such a second. Sunday marked one 12 months because the US killing of Qassem Soleimani, the highest Iranian normal; Iran has vowed to avenge the killing, and US officers stated in current days that they’re on heightened alert for potential Iranian assault on US forces or pursuits within the Middle East.

    In an additional signal of US-Iranian stress, the performing secretary of protection, Christopher Milller, introduced Sunday night that he has modified his thoughts about sending the Navy plane service, the USS Nimitz, residence from the Middle East and as a substitute will preserve the vessel on responsibility. Just final week, Miller introduced that he was sending the Nimitz residence, a call that had been opposed by senior navy officers.
    In reversing himself, Miller cited “recent threats issued by Iranian leaders against President Trump and other US government officials.” He didn’t elaborate, and the Pentagon didn’t reply to questions.

    The opinion article within the Post was signed by Dick Cheney, William Perry, Donald Rumsfeld, William Cohen, Robert Gates, Leon Panetta, Chuck Hagel, Ash Carter, James Mattis and Mark Esper. Mattis was Trump’s first protection secretary; he resigned in 2018 and was succeeded by Esper, who was fired simply days after the Nov. 3 election.
    The Post reported that the thought for writing the opinion piece started with a dialog between Cheney and Eric Edelman, a retired ambassador and former senior Pentagon official, about how Trump would possibly search to make use of the navy in coming days.