President Trump Reinstates 'Highest Level' of Sanctions on Iran By Tessa Berenson Updated: May 8, 2018 2:28 PM ET http://time.com/5269746/donald-trump-iran-nuclear-deal-macron/ President Donald Trump announced he will reinstate “the highest level of economic sanctions” that were waived as part of the Iran nuclear deal in 2015, fulfilling one of his major campaign pledges and undoing a signature foreign policy achievement of the Obama Administration. “The Iran deal is defective at its core,” he said. “If we do nothing, we know exactly what will happen. In just a short period of time the world’s leading state sponsor of terror will be on the cusp of acquiring the world’s most dangerous weapon. Therefore I am announcing today that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.” In its place, Trump said he wants a “real comprehensive and lasting solution,” which would involve eliminating Iran’s ballistic missile program, and stopping its terrorist activities worldwide and “menacing activity” across the Middle East. Trump has long signaled he would back away from the 2015 agreement that froze Iran’s nuclear program, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. He has called it “the worst deal ever,” particularly because it isn’t permanent and would allow Iran to resume enriching some uranium after a decade and lift other restrictions after that. But Trump has faced intense pressure from European allies to stay in, including Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson in visits to Washington before Trump made his decision. “Today’s action sends a critical message,” Trump said. “The United States no longer makes empty threats. When I make promises, I keep them.” Former Secretary of State John Kerry, who was one of the architects of the deal under President Obama, has been speaking out about the deal and reportedly meeting with foreign leaders in recent weeks to discuss how to protect it. Trump slammed Kerry the day before he announced his decision to pull out, tweeting that the deal was “very badly negotiated” and that Kerry “was the one that created this MESS in the first place!” View attachment 7804
Read: Trump’s Iran nuclear deal speech full text “America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail.” By Jennifer Williams@jenn_ruth jennifer@vox.com May 8, 2018, 2:40pm EDT https://www.vox.com/world/2018/5/8/...an-nuclear-deal-speech-full-text-announcement President Trump arrives to deliver a statement on the Iran nuclear deal on May 8, 2018. Evan Vucci/AP My fellow Americans, today I want to update the world on our efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. The Iranian regime is the leading state sponsor of terror. It exports dangerous missiles, fuels conflicts across the Middle East, and supports terrorist proxies and militias, such as Hezbollah, Hamas, the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. Over the years, Iran and its proxies have bombed American embassies and military installations, murdered hundreds of American service members, and kidnapped, imprisoned, and tortured American citizens. The Iranian regime has funded its long reign of chaos and terror by plundering the wealth of its own people. No action taken by the regime has been more dangerous than its pursuit of nuclear weapons. And the means of delivering them. In 2015, the previous administration entered into a deal regarding Iran’s nuclear program, the deal was called the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action]. In theory, the so-called Iran deal was supposed to protect the United States and our allies from the lunacy of an Iranian nuclear bomb that would only ensure the survival of the Iranian regime. In fact the — and over time reach the brink of a nuclear breakout. The deal lifted crippling economic sanctions, on Iran, in exchange for very weak limits on the regime’s nuclear activity and no limits at all on its other malign behavior, including its sinister activities in Syria, Yemen, and other places all around the world. In other words, at the point when the United States had maximum leverage, this disastrous deal gave this regime, and it’s a regime of great terror, many billions of dollars, some of it in actual cash, a great embarrassment to me as a citizen, and to all citizens of the United States. A constructive deal could have easily been struck at the time. But it wasn’t. At the heart of the Iran deal is a fiction, that Iran only desired a peaceful nuclear energy program. Today we have definitive proof that this Iranian promise was a lie. Last week Israel published intelligence documents, long concealed by Iran, conclusively showing the Iranians’ regime and its history of pursuing nuclear weapons. The fact is, this was a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made. It didn’t bring calm, it didn’t bring peace, and it never will. In the year since the deal was reached, Iran’s military budget has grown by almost 40 percent, while its economy is doing very badly. After the sanctions were lifted, the dictatorship used its new funds to build nuclear capable missiles, support terrorism, and cause havoc throughout the Middle East and beyond. The agreement was so poorly negotiated that even if Iran fully complies, the regime can still be on the verge of a nuclear breakout in just a short period of time. The deal’s sunset provisions are totally unacceptable. If I allow this deal to stand, there would soon be a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Everyone would want their weapons ready by the time Iran had theirs. Making matters worse, the deal’s inspection provisions lack adequate mechanisms to prevent, detect, and punish cheating and don’t even have the unqualified right to inspect many important locations including military facilities. Not only does the deal fail to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but it also fails to address the regime’s development of ballistic missiles that could deliver nuclear warheads. Finally, the deal does nothing to constrain Iran’s destabilizing activities including its support for terrorism. Since the agreement, Iran’s bloody ambitions have grown only more brazen. In light of these glaring flaws, I announced last October that the Iran deal must either be renegotiated or terminated. Three months later, on January 12, I repeated these conditions. I made clear that if the deal could not be fixed, the United States would no longer be a party to the agreement. In the last few months, we have engaged in talks with France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. We have also consulted with our friends in the Middle East. We are unified in our understanding of the threat and our conviction that Iran must never acquire a nuclear weapon. After these consultations, it is clear to me that we cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement. The Iran deal is defective at its core. If we do nothing, we know exactly what will happen. In just a short period of time, the world’s leading state sponsor of terror will be on the cusp of acquiring the world’s most dangerous weapons. Therefore, I am announcing today that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. In a few moments, I will sign a presidential memorandum to begin reinstating US nuclear sanctions on the Iranian regime. We will be instituting at the highest level of economic sanction, any country that helps Iran in its quest for nuclear weapons could also be strongly sanctioned by the United States. We will be instituting at the highest level of economic sanction, any country that helps Iran in its quest for nuclear weapons could also be strongly sanctioned by the United States. America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail. Will now allow American cities to be subject to destruction. And we will not allow Iran to gain access to the most deadly weapons on earth. Today’s action sends a critical message, the United States no longer makes empty threats. When I make promises, I keep them. In fact, at this very moment, secretary Pompeo is on his way to North Korea, in preparation for my upcoming meeting with Kim Jong Un. Plans are being made, relationships are strengthening and what will happen between South Korea, North Korea, and Japan, a future of great prosperity for all. We will find a real, comprehensive, and lasting solution to the Iranian nuclear threat. This will include efforts to eliminate the threat of Iran’s ballistic missile program, to stop its terrorist activities worldwide, and to block its menacing activity across the Middle East. In the meantime, powerful sanctions will go into full effect. If the regime continues its nuclear aspirations, it will have bigger problems than it has ever had before. Finally I want to deliver a message to the long suffering people of Iran. The people of America stand with you. It has now been almost 40 years since this dictatorship seized power and took a proud nation hostage. Most of Iran’s 80 million citizens have sadly never known an Iran that prospered in peace with its neighbors and commanded the admiration of the world. But the future of Iran belongs to its people. They are the rightful heirs to a rich culture and an ancient land, and they deserve a nation that does justice to their dreams, honor to their history, and glory to god. Iran’s leaders will naturally say that they refuse to negotiate a new deal, they refuse and that’s fine. I would probably say the same thing if I was in their position. But the fact is, they are going to want to make a new and lasting deal, one that benefits all of Iran and the Iranian people. When they do, I am ready, willing and able. Great things can happen for Iran and great things can happen for the peace and stability that we all want in the Middle East. There has been enough suffering, death, and destruction, let it end now. Thank you, god bless you. Thank you. President Trump shows a signed Presidential Memorandum after delivering a statement on the Iran nuclear deal on May 8, 2018. Evan Vucci/AP
http://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-alerts-golan-residents-over-abnormal-iranian-movement-in-syria/amp/ IDF puts Golan on alert over ‘abnormal’ Iranian movement in Syria Army deploys air defense systems in northern Israel, tells authorities to open bomb shelters; small numbers of reservists reportedly called up By JUDAH ARI GROSS Today, 9:27 pm 5 By Judah Ari Gross The Israeli army sounded alarms Tuesday night over irregular Iranian movements in Syria, advising Golan residents to ready bomb shelters and putting its air defenses on high alert. In a message to local authorities, the army said its decision was based on “abnormal movements of Iranian forces in Syria.” The announcement followed multiple warnings by Israeli defense officials of a potential Iranian strike and came just before US President Donald Trump announced that the United States was pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal and imposing new sanctions on the Islamic Republic. The army did not instruct residents to enter bomb shelters, only for local authorities to open public ones in case of emergency. A number of reservists were also called up, the army said. An IDF spokesperson would not elaborate on which units they came from, but media reports indicated they served in air defense, intelligence and Home Front Command units. The Israel Defense Forces said it deployed missile defense batteries in northern Israel and “there is high preparedness of IDF troops for an attack.” The military called on residents to listen to security instructions as needed. Following Trump’s announcement, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman met with the heads of Israel’s armed services in the military’s Tel Aviv headquarters to discuss the security situation, his office said. Earlier on Tuesday, the US Embassy in Israel also prohibited American government employees from visiting the Golan Heights without approval in light of the security situation on the border. “The IDF is ready and prepared for a variety of scenarios and warns that any action against Israel will be answered with a fierce retaliation,” the army said. Illustrative. An Iron Dome missile defense system, designed to intercept and destroy incoming short-range rockets and artillery shells, is deployed in the Golan Heights near the Israel-Syria border, on March 17, 2017 (AFP / JALAA MAREY) A video released by the IDF showed soldiers setting up the Iron Dome, Patriot, and Arrow missile defense systems. The military does not generally reveal its deployment of air defenses. Its decision to do so on Tuesday night was likely an effort to both reassure residents of northern Israel and warn Iran that the IDF was prepared to counter a missile attack. On Sunday night, Israeli defense officials warned that Iran was planning to retaliate for recent deadly airstrikes in Syria, which have been attributed to the Jewish state, by having its proxies fire missiles at military targets in northern Israel sometime in the near future. Security forces were also preparing for the possibility of attempted infiltrations of military bases and communities in the north, Hadashot TV news reported on Monday. Tehran vowed revenge after the T-4 army base in Syria was struck in an air raid on April 9, killing at least seven members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. The strike was widely attributed to Israel, though Jerusalem refused to comment on it. (T-4 was the base from which Israel said Iran launched an attack drone into Israel in February.) Late last month, a second strike, allegedly conducted by Israel, against an Iranian-controlled base in northern Syria was said to have killed more than two dozen Iranian soldiers. On Monday, Iran’s army chief of staff warned that the regime would respond to any Israeli aggression “at an appropriate time,” as the countries continued to trade threats amid spiraling tensions. “If the enemy casts a covetous eye on our interests or conducts [even] a slight act of aggression, the Islamic Republic will give an appropriate response at an appropriate time,” Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri said according to regime-affiliated Press TV. On Sunday, all of Israel’s nightly news broadcasts reported that the Israeli military and intelligence services had identified preliminary efforts by Iran in Syria to carry out its reprisal, using its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Hezbollah terrorist group and local Shiite militias to launch a barrage of precision-guided missiles, likely at Israeli military targets in the north. Illustrative: A Fateh-110 ballistic missile, taken at an Iranian armed forces parade in 2012. (military.ir/Wikimedia Commons) “Israel has recently identified with certainty Iranian preparations to fire at the north,” Channel 10 said. “We are not on the eve of war with Iran… but Iran is very determined to carry out an attack” to avenge the T-4 strike and the deaths of its military personnel, it said. Israel Radio on Sunday night said the Iranian planning for an attack was at “an advanced stage.” The understanding in the defense services is that Iran is looking to conduct its retaliation in such a way as to avoid full-fledged war with Israel, and would therefore likely not target civilian locations, according to the reports, which did not attribute the information to any specific source. Israel was working to prevent or counter such an attack, but was also preparing for the possibility that the Iranians “succeed in hitting a base in the north with missiles,” Channel 10 reported. The Israel Defense Forces was threatening to hit all Iranian targets in Syria if Tehran launched an attack on Israeli territory, the TV report said.
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Trump Did NOT Convince Kim to Ditch His Nukes. China Did Donald Trump thinks his “maximum pressure” campaign persuaded North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. But it’s a bunch of baloney. The reason Kim Jong-un is planning to denuclearize is because China adamantly opposes nuclear weapons on the peninsula. That’s the whole deal in a nutshell. China, who is North Korea’s biggest trading partner, gave Kim an ultimatum: Ditch the nukes or face long-term economic strangulation. Kim very wisely chose the former option, which is to say, he backed down. The situation in North Korea is really quite bleak. Consider, for example, this recent piece in a United Nations periodical titled “The 5 most under-reported humanitarian crises that are happening right now”. Heading the list is this blurb on North Korea: “….what has been drastically underreported in the last year is that unprecedented number of people who are going hungry. The UN estimates that 70 percent of the population, or 18 million people, are food-insecure and reliant on government aid. To make things worse, last year North Korea experienced its worst drought in 16 years, exacerbating an already dire food shortage. With tight control of its borders keeping out aid organizations and journalists, it’s almost impossible to capture how many are actually receiving the urgent food aid they need.” (U.N. Dispatch) Unfortunately, famine and drought are just the tip of the iceberg. The economic sanctions have added a whole new layer to the North’s misery, in fact, they have brought the economy to its knees. Pyongyang might have been able to muddle through had Beijing not joined the international blockade, but once China agreed to participate, the North’s fate was sealed. In the last year, the DPRK’s currency has dropped precipitously, the country’s import-export trade has been slashed by half, and the battered economy has plunged into a deep slump. The problem is almost entirely attributable to China’s tightening sanctions regime which has effectively cut off the flow of capital and vital resources to the North. In order to grasp how overly dependent the DPRK is on China, take a look at this: “Trade with China represents 57% of North Korea’s imports and 42% of its exports. … In February 2017, China restricted all coal imports from North Korea until 2018. This is considered to be extremely harmful to the North Korean economy, as coal was the top export of the nation, and China was their top trading partner… On 28 September 2017… China ordered all North Korean companies operating in China to cease operations within 120 days. By January 2018 customs statistics showed that trade between the two countries had fallen to the lowest level recorded. Banking On 7 May 2013, Bank of China, China’s biggest foreign exchange bank and other Chinese banks closed the account of North Korea’s main foreign exchange bank. On 21 February 2016 China quietly ended financial support of North Korea without any media publicity. It is reported to be due to the fallout of relations between the two governments….”(Wikipedia) China Sanctions Summary: China destroyed the North’s import and export trade, including the North’s primary export, coal. China shut down all the DPRK’s companies operating in China. (terminating the recycling of revenues back to the North.) China cut off access to foreign banking. (and, thus, foreign investment) China stopped providing any financial support for the North. What other country could withstand this type of economic strangulation by its biggest trading partner? None of this has anything to do with Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign which really had no effect onKim’s decision at all. Denuclearization is all China’s doing. China put a gun to Kim’s head and simply waited for him to cave in. Which he did. He very wisely chose the path of least resistance: Capitulation. The question is: What did Kim get in return?Before we answer that, we need to understand that China-DPRK relations have been strained for more than a year, dating back to early 2017 when China joined the US effort to impose sanctions on the North. The Korean News agency sharply rebuked China for its disloyalty saying, “(China) is dancing to the tune of the US while defending its hostile behavior with excuses that (the sanctions) were not meant to hurt the North Korean people, but to check its nuclear program.” While the North’s anger is understandable, it’s worth pointing out that Beijing has always opposed Kim’s nuclear weapons programs, in fact, in 2016, (long before bilateral relations soured) China’s Foreign Minister openly condemned the DPRK’s behavior saying, “We strongly urge the DPRK side to remain committed to its denuclearization commitment, and stop taking any actions that would make the situation worse.” The warning was followed a year later by joint sanctions aimed at forcing Kim to give up his nukes. To Beijing’s credit, the goal was never to punish or humiliate the North, but to strengthen regional security by reducing access to nuclear weapons. Bottom line: China has acted responsibly throughout. In March 2018, Kim made an unannounced visit to General Secretary Xi Jinping in Beijing. Kim was given the red carpet treatment for four days while the two leaders huddled and worked out their strategy for denuclearization in the context of a broader economic revitalization program aimed at integrating the peninsula with the rest of the continent.Very little is known about the 4-day confab in Beijing, but it’s obvious that Kim was encouraged to normalize relations with his counterpart (Moon Jae-in) in the South based on a firm commitment to decommission his nuclear weapons. It is no coincidence that the meeting between the two leaders and Kim’s dramatic reversal in policy took place just weeks after Kim met with the Chinese Premier. Clearly, China was the driving force behind Kim’s decision. Critics of process think the North is engaged in an elaborate hoax that will amount to nothing, but that is probably not the case. Keep in mind, it is Beijing that is calling the shots not Kim. If China wants Kim to abandon his nukes, that’s probably what he will do. Of course, Kim would not go along with Beijing’s demands if he thought he might be putting his country at risk of a preemptive attack by the United States. Nor would he give up his nukes if he thought he was going to wind up like Mummar Gaddafi who was savagely skewered after he succumbed to US demands to surrender his WMD. So how did China manage to convince Kim that he had nothing to worry about? This question has not yet been fully answered, but we have to assume that China (and perhaps Russia) provided assurances to Kim that his country would be defended if attacked by the United States. Such guarantees would not be unprecedented, in fact, in 2017 Beijing stated clearly that no unprovoked attack by the US on the DPRK would go unanswered. Here’s part of the statement which appeared in Chinese state media: “China should make it clear that if North Korea launches missiles that threaten U.S. soil first and the U.S. retaliates, China will stay neutral,” (but) “If the U.S. and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so.” “China opposes both nuclear proliferation and war in the Korean Peninsula. It will not encourage any side to stir up military conflict, and will firmly resist any side which wants to change the status quo of the areas where China’s interests are concerned.” (Cont.)
(Cont) ...Beijing must have allayed Kim’s fears or he never would have agreed to denuclearize. But now that he feels protected, Kim appears to be eager to reconcile with his new friends in the South. Here’s what he said on Friday: “I look forward to making the most of this opportunity so that we have the chance to heal the wounds between the North and the South…. I came here to put an end to the history of confrontation as well as to work shoulder to shoulder with you to tackle the obstacles between us. I came with the confidence that a brighter future awaits us.” Kim is serious. He wants to restart the peace process and restore economic ties with the South. He formalized his commitment by signing a document that called for “the prohibition of the use of force in any form against each other”, “an end to the war” and”complete denuclearization.” Also, both leaders are committed to the gradual economic integration of the North and South via vital infrastructure projects that will strengthen popular support for the (eventual) reunification of the country. The importance of this joint commitment cannot be overstated. Kim is not simply giving up his nukes to placate China or ease sanctions, he is taking the first step on a path towards “balanced economic growth and shared prosperity”. Item 6 in the Panmunjeom Declaration”, which Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in signed on Friday, lays it out in black and white: “South and North Korea agreed to actively implement the projects previously agreed in the 2007 October 4 Declaration, in order to promote balanced economic growth and co-prosperity of the nation. As a first step, the two sides agreed to adopt practical steps towards the connection and modernization of the railways and roads on the eastern transportation corridor as well as between Seoul and Sinuijufor their utilization.” The clause articulates the same vision for the future as an earlier integration plan that was drafted at the the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok on September 6-7, 2017. The meetings– which included North and South Korea, Japan, Russia and China– focused on drawing neighboring states into a common economic space with lowered trade barriers to promote development and prosperity. The strategy has been dubbed the Putin Plan and it is designed in a way that it can be easily linked to the Eurasian Union project and China’s strategic “Silk Road Economic Belt” project. The ultimate objective is to create a free-trade zone (“Greater Europe”)that extends from Lisbon to Vladivostok. The plan is explained in greater detail in Gavan McCormick’s excellent article at The Asia-Pacific Journal titled “North Korea and a Rules-Based Order for the Indo-Pacific, East Asia, and the World”. The Putin Plan anticipates multiple Siberian oil and gas pipelines criss-crossing the two Koreas to railways and ports that are linked to Japan, China, the Middle East, South Asia, and Europe. Here’s an excerpt from the article: “South Korea’s President Moon projected his understanding of this within the frame of what he called “Northeast Asia-plus,” which involved construction of “nine bridges of cooperation” (gas, railroads, ports, electricity, a northern sea route, shipbuilding, jobs, agriculture, and fisheries), embedding the Korean peninsula in the frame of the Russian and Chinese-led BRICS, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Shanghai Cooperation Organiziation (SCO) organizations, extending and consolidating those vast, China- and Russia-centred geo-political and economic groupings. Though billed as “economic,” and having no explicit “security” element, the Vladivostok conference was nevertheless one that would go a long way towards meeting North Korea’s security concerns and making redundant its nuclear and missile programs. …Unstated, but plainly crucial, North Korea would accept the security guarantee of the five (Japan included), refrain from any further nuclear or missile testing, shelve (“freeze”) its existing programs and gain its longed for “normalization” in the form of incorporation in regional groupings, the lifting of sanctions and normalized relations with its neighbor states, without surrender…. ….Vladivostok might mark a first step towards a comprehensive, long overdue, post-Cold War re-think of regional relationships….” (“North Korea and a Rules-Based Order for the Indo-Pacific, East Asia, and the World”, Gavan McCormick, The Asia-Pacific Journal) In my opinion, Kim Jong-un is prepared to liquidate his nuclear weapons stockpile in order to join this massive regional development project that will draw the continents closer together, create new centers of power and prosperity, undermine Washington’s self-aggrandizing “pivot to Asia” strategy, and strengthen a rules-based multi-polar world order that protects the sovereignty and rights of all its members. Thus, “denuclearization” conceals a tectonic shift in the global power structure.“ https://www.unz.com/mwhitney/trump-did-not-convince-kim-to-ditch-his-nukes-china-did/
Everyone and their mother are coming out of the wood work to downplay and condemn the potential end of this stand off and President Trumps part in it. Must be getting close.
GREAT NEWS! THE THREE AMERICAN HOSTAGES DETAINED IN NORTH KOREA ARE ON THEIR WAY HOME WITH SECRETARY OF STATE POMPEO!!! THANK YOU LORD AND THANK YOU PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP!!! View attachment 7818
At Putin’s Parade, Netanyahu Seeks Understanding on Iran Israeli leader wants to make sure that the Russians consider his security concerns Russian President Vladimir Putin, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu watch the Victory Day military parade at Red Square in Moscow. Photo: MAXIM SHIPENKOV, PRESS POOL By Yaroslav Trofimov May 9, 2018 https://www.wsj.com/articles/at-putins-parade-netanyahu-seeks-understanding-on-iran-1525876793 MOSCOW—There is no bigger date than May 9 on modern Russia’s calendar: a commemoration of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany that, under President Vladimir Putin, has also turned into celebrations of military might. And there was little that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could do more to ingratiate himself with Mr. Putin than flying to Moscow to participate in Wednesday’s Red Square military parade, a festivity snubbed by Western leaders since the 2014 invasion of Ukraine. As he stood by Mr. Putin while intercontinental ballistic missiles rolled through the square, Mr. Netanyahu went as far as pinning to his jacket the black-and-orange St. George’s ribbon—a symbol of Russia’s military glory that has also become an emblem of Russian irredentism. The ribbon is banned in Ukraine and officially discouraged even by Moscow’s close partners Belarus and Kazakhstan; the only other foreign leader at the parade, the president of Russia’s historic ally Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, remained conspicuously ribbon-less. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow, wearing a St. George's ribbon. Photo: ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO/ASSOCIATED PRESS Mr. Netanyahu, who landed in Moscow just hours after an Israeli air strike on Iranian military positions near Damascus, had deadly serious business to transact. With President Donald Trump pulling out of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran and with Israeli strikes in Syria gathering pace, the Middle East is sliding toward war. Some of the Russian weaponry on parade in Moscow on Wednesday, such as the S-300 air defense system, may soon end up in the hands of President Bashar al Assad’s regime, constraining Israel’s ability to operate in Syrian skies. Mr. Netanyahu—who has assiduously cultivated a personal relationship with Mr. Putin—wants to make sure that Russia doesn’t bundle Israel’s security concerns into its broader conflict with the West. Here, the symbolism of attending the Red Square parade delivered a valuable point. “The Russians are worrying that we may go after Assad, and we are telling them that we are not going to go after Assad unless he allows the Iranians to go after us,” said Eran Lerman, who served until 2015 as deputy director for foreign policy at Israel’s National Security Council. “Our conversations with the Russians are pretty hard-headed. We take each other seriously. But our ability to hold that conversation comes from Israel being able to respect and honor the immense sacrifice of the Russian people in the Great Patriotic War,” he added, using the Russian terminology for World War II. Now that Mr. Trump has withdrawn from the nuclear agreement, Russia is growing increasingly concerned about an escalation in the military conflict between Israel and Iran. If allowed to happen, that’s something that could endanger the survival of the Syrian regime—and Moscow’s overall regional stature. “Putin faces a difficult challenge. Russia can’t renounce its partnership with Israel, and it can’t renounce its partnership with Iran,” said Andrey Kortunov, director of the Russian International Affairs Council, a state-run think-tank. “A direct confrontation between Israel and Iran would destroy all plans not just for Syrian settlement but for reaching any kind of stability in the region. I think Putin will do everything possible to prevent it.” One such possibility would be for Moscow to intensify its efforts to mediate between Israel and Iran—the two foes that have few other ways of communicating. “If you want to speak with the Iranians, you have to speak with the Russians,” said Zvi Magen, a former Israeli ambassador to Moscow. “Russia could offer being a broker between Iran and Israel, and create a negotiating process. If it happens, it would give Russia many points in the international game against the West.” For Mr. Netanyahu to have joined the May 9 parade, he added, was “the price of the invitation.” The May 9 celebration of “Pobeda”—victory—is the closest to a state religion in Mr. Putin’s Russia. Official propaganda identifies that 1945 triumph with Russia’s current struggles—and the West as a modern-day incarnation of Nazis, with no mention of Nazi-Soviet cooperation to divide Poland and other parts of eastern Europe in 1939-1940. Ubiquitous car stickers proclaim “Onto Berlin,” “1941-1945, We Can Repeat,” and even “Onto Washington.” Israel—which last year passed a law to officially mark May 9—has so far avoided being identified with the enemy West in Moscow’s perceptions. In its live commentary Wednesday, the state Russia One TV channel presenter spoke admiringly of Mr. Netanyahu as the Israeli leader laid a wreath to a tomb of Soviet soldiers: “He’s a military man himself, and he’s the brother of a military hero, the hero of Entebbe.” (Mr. Netanyahu’s brother died in the 1976 hostage-rescue mission in Entebbe, Uganda.) During their talks, Mr. Putin pointedly acknowledged Israel’s and Russia’s common attitudes to World War II, according to a transcript released by the Kremlin, while Mr. Netanyahu thanked Russia for defeating the Nazis—and immediately accused Iran, which seeks to wipe out the Israeli state, of preparing a second modern-age Holocaust. “If this personal relationship between Putin and Netanyahu didn’t exist, our relationship with Israel would have been much tenser,” said Mr. Kortunov of Russia’s International Affairs Council. “There are many diverging interests. And if Putin and Netanyahu didn’t have the opportunity for an informal dialogue in Moscow, many problems would have been much harder to solve—or even to discuss.”
Netanyahu Warns Putin That Iran Wants to Destroy 6 Million Jews Henry Meyer, Andrey Biryukov and David Wainer 5/9/2018 https://www.bloombergquint.com/busi...in-as-russia-debates-deal-for-syrian-missiles (Bloomberg) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President Vladimir Putin that Iran is out to destroy his country, pressing his appeal for Russian help to keep Tehran from using Syria as a launching pad to attack the Jewish state. Netanyahu opened the talks in the Kremlin on Wednesday amid rising tensions over the possible delivery of Russian S-300 air-defense missile systems to Syria. After attending a military parade in Moscow commemorating the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, the Israeli leader warned that seven decades after the Holocaust, “there is a country in the Middle East, Iran, which calls for the destruction of another 6 million Jews.” The visit comes a day after a new strike targeting Iranian forces in Syria that the government in Damascus said was carried out by Israel. The risk of a direct clash between the Jewish state and the Islamic Republic has been rising amid concerns in Israel about the growing threat from Iran’s military and allied militias’ presence on its doorstep. Putin described the situation in the Middle East as “very tense,” telling Netanyahu that he’s hopeful “we manage to find a way to defuse” the conflicts. Before he left for Moscow, the Israeli premier said that his talks with Putin were “especially” important. “In light of what is currently happening in Syria, it is necessary to ensure the continued coordination” between the militaries of Russia and Israel, he said. Israeli missiles were fired late on Tuesday at a target outside the capital, Damascus, Syria’s state-run Sana news service said. The Israeli strike was aimed at an arms depot belonging to Hezbollah and the Iranians, according to the U.K.-based opposition monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. At least 15 people were killed, including eight Iranians, it said. S-300 Deal Russia has alarmed Israel by raising the possibility of supplying advanced S-300 air-defense systems to Syria in the wake of strikes by the U.S., France and the U.K. last month in retaliation for an alleged chemical weapons attack by regime forces. That could upset the balance of forces, making it harder for the Israelis to penetrate Syrian territory. While the Russian side hasn’t yet decided whether to proceed with the S-300 delivery, it has every right to do so, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said on Wednesday, according to the Interfax news service. Russia understands the risks of a clash between Iran and Israel and “all its efforts are aimed at avoiding this worst-case outcome,” said Elena Suponina, a Middle East expert based in Moscow. If that is the case, Russia must get the Iranians “not to establish their forces in Syria, because otherwise Syria will not be stabilized, things will happen there, and it can harm the Russian interest in Syria,” former Israeli national security adviser Yaakov Nagel, who has sat in previous meetings with Putin, told reporters in a conference call. Israel has carried out at least 150 bombing raids in Syria since the civil war began there in 2011, according to Zvi Magen, a former Israeli ambassador in Moscow. Targets have included an air base used by the Iranian military as well as arms convoys bound for Hezbollah, the Iranian-armed Shiite group in Lebanon that’s repeatedly fought with Israel. Israel’s government and the army have a strict policy of not acknowledging or commenting on military actions taken in the neighboring country. ©2018 Bloomberg L.P.
I imagine that if there is a war between Iran and Israel on the 70th anniversary of Israel, many eschatologists will interpret it as a sign of the end times.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...s-Golan-Israel.html?__twitter_impression=true Iran attacks Israel directly for the first time as it fires 20 rockets from Syria at military bases and Israeli jets respond by bombing Damascus amid fears of war a day after Trump tore up nuclear deal By Khaleda Rahman For Mailonline and Ap 22:53 09 May 2018, updated 01:43 10 May 2018 Iranian forces fired 20 rockets at Israeli front-line military positions, Israel said It triggered an Israeli reprisal and further escalating heightened tensions Israeli military said Iron Dome rocket defene system intercepted some rockets Explosions were heard in Damascus, with reports saying Israel is striking back Iranian forces in Syria fired rockets at targets in Israel early today in the first direct attack of its kind as the two countries teetered on the brink of all-out war. The attacks, which caused 'minimal damage' but no casualties according to Israeli officials, sparked a powerful response from the Israeli military, which shelled Iranian positions in the Syrian town of Quneitra before launching air strikes on Damascus. The dramatic escalation in tensions - the first time Iranian troops directly attacked Israel rather than using paramilitary proxies - came as Tehran vented its anger at US President Donald Trump tearing up the Iran nuclear deal a day earlier. Israel said Iranian forces had fired 20 artillery rockets at their military bases in the disputed Golan Heights but that their Iron Dome defence system had intercepted a number of them. In response the Syrian capital of Damascus shook with sounds of explosions just before dawn, and firing by Syrian air defenses over the city was heard throughout the night. An Israeli official said Israel was targeting Iranian positions inside Syria. They included the Mezzeh airbase in Damascus, according to Israeli media. More than 30 Israeli missiles have reportedly struck targets near the city. Meanwhile, people in Metula, a town in the northern Israel, were reportedly asked to enter 'secure areas' following an explosion in the area. Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said Iran's Al Quds force fired the rockets at several Israeli bases, though he would not say how Israel determined the Iranian involvement. The incoming attack set off air raid sirens in the Israeli-controlled Golan, which was captured from Syria in the 1967 war. Long-exposure photographs showed Israeli artillery launched to intercept projectiles fired from Syria early today Israel 'views this Iranian attack very severely,' Conricus told reporters. He said Israel had responded, but did not provide details. 'This event is not over,' he added. Syria's state media said Syrian air defences had intercepted 'hostile Israeli missiles' early Thursday that were fired over southwestern Damascus. Earlier, Syrian media said the hostilities began with Israeli fire at Syrian positions in the country's south from across the border. Pro-Syrian media said Syrian missiles then fired at Israeli forces. One TV station, Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen, said at least 50 missiles were fired from Syria at Israeli forces in the occupied Golan Heights. It was the first time in years that Syrians had fired at Israeli forces in Golan, Syrian media reported. Iranian forces fired 20 rockets from Syria at Israeli front-line military positions in the Golan Heights early on Thursday, the Israeli military said Israel has been on heightened alert in recent days, anticipating an attack from Iran following the Iranian regime's vows to retaliate to what it says are recent Israeli strikes in Syria targeting Iranian outposts. Late on Tuesday, Syrian state media said Israel struck a military outpost near the capital of Damascus. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the missiles targeted depots and rocket launchers that likely belonged to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, killing at least 15 people, eight of them Iranians. Last month, an attack on Syria's T4 air base in Homs province killed seven Iranian military personnel. On April 30, Israel was said to have struck government outposts in northern Syria, killing more than a dozen pro-government fighters, many of them Iranians. Read the rest at the link
The Latest: Israel says 'nearly all' Iranian targets hit Associated Press May 10, 2018 http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/05/10/latest-israel-says-nearly-all-iranian-targets-hit.html JERUSALEM – The Latest on the war in Syria, where Israel responded to a rocket attack by launching a wave of missile strikes on Iranian positions (all times local): 9:30 a.m. Israel's defense minister says the military has struck "nearly all" of the Iranian infrastructure sites in Syria. Avigdor Lieberman says Thursday Israel responded fiercely to an unprecedented rocket attack by Iranian forces in Syria against Israel. He says no one was harmed in Israel and all the rockets were either intercepted or fell short. Lieberman told the Herzliya Conference, an annual security gathering north of Tel Aviv, that "if it rains on us it will be a flood on them." Israel attacked dozens of Iranian targets overnight in response to the rocket barrage on Israeli positions in the Golan Heights. It was the most serious military confrontation between Israel and Iran to date and Israel's biggest strike in Syria since the 1973 war. ___ 7:50 a.m. The Israeli military says it attacked dozens of Iranian targets in neighboring Syria in response to an Iranian rocket barrage on Israeli positions in the Golan Heights, in the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date. Israel says the targets included weapons storage facilities, logistics centers, intelligence sites and logistic sites used by elite Iranian forces in Syria. It also says it destroyed several Syrian air-defense systems after coming under heavy fire. It says none of its warplanes was hit. The blistering Israeli assault was by far the most intensive Israeli action in neighboring Syria since the civil war broke out there in 2011. Israel has tried to stay on the sidelines but has acknowledged over 100 airstrikes over the past seven years. Israel Strikes Iranian Targets in Syria as Regional Tensions Rise Dov Lieber, Dion Nissenbaum May 10, 2018 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...in-syria-as-regional-tensions-rise/ar-AAx2KgR Israel’s military carried out strikes against Iranian targets in Syria after it said Iranian forces based there fired rockets at its soldiers in the Golan Heights, raising the risk of a wider regional war just a day after President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the international nuclear deal with Tehran. Iran’s attack in the Golan appears to be the first time Iran has opened fire from Syria on Israeli targets. The Israeli military said dozens of Iranian military sites across southern and central Syria were struck. The Israeli military called the strikes—which focused on sites related to logistics, intelligence and ammunition storage—its largest-ever operation against Iranian positions in Syria. “It will take substantial time for the Iranians to replenish these systems,” said Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman. In a separate incident, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen fired a barrage of missiles into Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. The pair of attacks were an early indication that Iran and its allies are flexing their muscles in the Middle East after Washington’s move. The strikes heightened tensions in a region already on edge and underlined the risk of direct confrontation between Iran and Israel following the U.S. exit from the nuclear agreement. Iran, until now, had held back from any retaliatory response to recent Israeli strikes on its assets in Syria. The escalating clashes come as the Trump administration works to rally allies to join the U.S. in confronting Iran and its backers across the Middle East. One of Mr. Trump’s biggest criticisms of the 2015 nuclear-containment deal with Iran was that it didn’t do anything to halt Tehran’s support for destabilizing militant groups stretching from Lebanon to Yemen. But Pentagon officials have been reluctant to turn their military focus in Syria from Islamic State toward Iranian forces and their proxies. Military leaders worry that confronting Iran in Syria could risk dangerous blowback to thousands of U.S. forces working in Iraq and Syria. When he withdrew from the Iran deal, Mr. Trump directed the U.S. military to draw up new plans “to meet, swiftly and decisively, all possible modes of Iranian aggression against the United States, our allies and our partners.” U.S. officials couldn’t say on Wednesday how that would play out for U.S. forces in the days and weeks ahead. For now, the Trump administration has offered unequivocal support for Israel’s escalatory strikes inside Syria. Israel has grown increasingly alarmed by Iran’s presence in Syria, where it has used its support for President Bashar al-Assad to build up its military strength. Israel has said that it won’t allow Iran to put down deep roots in Syria, and its military has hit a series of Iranian targets in recent weeks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr. Trump have established a close working relationship. Mr. Netanyahu has repeatedly conferred with Mr. Trump about Iran’s military activities in the Middle East and Israel’s plans to strike Iranian targets. In rejecting the Iran deal on Tuesday, Mr. Trump cited the Israeli leader’s recent presentation on Iran’s covert nuclear-weapons program as a central example of why Tehran couldn’t be trusted. Mr. Trump also laid out a new list of demands that Tehran must meet, including ending its “quest to destroy Israel” and cutting of its support for Mr. Assad in Syria. Some critics of Mr. Trump said the president’s decision to scrap the Iran deal was already increasing the risk of an expanding confrontation between Israel and Iran. Iran’s barrage in the Golan Heights—which caused no injuries and only limited damage to property, the Israeli army said—came after suspected Israeli missiles targeted an Iran-linked army base south of Syria’s capital, Damascus, on Tuesday, shortly after Mr. Trump said the U.S. would withdraw from the international nuclear deal with Iran. © omar sanadiki/Reuters The Israeli military’s official Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, said Israel was carrying out retaliatory strikes against Iranian targets in Syria and warned that Syrian involvement against it would “be met with great severity.” Mr. Conricus, the Israeli military spokesman, said none of the 20 rockets fired at Israel landed in the country—four were shot down by Israel’s Iron Dome system and the rest fell short in Syrian territory. The Iranian attack was launched around 30 kilometers to 40 kilometers south of Damascus, near the town of al-Kisweh, the military spokesperson said. In the Iranian attack, rockets were fired from a multi-barrel launcher fixed atop a moving truck, Mr. Conricus said. The Israeli army allegedly hit targets on Tuesday night at al Kisweh, killing eight Iranians, according to the he U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group. The Syrian state news agency said its military’s air defenses had “confronted” Israeli missiles and reported Israeli shelling in the Syrian city of Baath, near Israel’s northern border. Later, the agency said a fresh wave of Israeli missiles was intercepted in the vicinity of Damascus, the capital. On social media, activists reported loud explosions to the south and northeast of the city. Israel is targeting some air-defense systems and radar, the agency reported, publishing pictures and videos of Syrian air defenses intercepting what it said were Israeli missiles. Israel has been bracing for Iranian retaliation to a number of alleged strikes in Syria but particularly for an attack last month when presumed Israeli missiles hit an Iranian-controlled base deep in Syria. The observatory said as many as 18 Iranians were killed in that attack, though Iran denied there were any casualties. Mr. Conricus said the Iranian Quds Force, an arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was behind the attack Wednesday night. He declined to explain how Israel knew about the role of the Quds Force in the attack. “The Israel Defense Forces view this event with great severity and remain prepared for a wide variety of scenarios,” the Israeli military said in a statement. An Iranian official at the country’s United Nations mission didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Attackers launch coordinated strikes in Kabul with bombs, bullets Trump greets three Americans freed from North Korea
So, Kerry, who holds no office or diplomatic mission is entertaining Iranian officials in NY working specifically against the mission of the current administration. Some would call that sedition... http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13970217000956 Iran Confirms Zarif-Kerry Meeting in New York TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran on Monday confirmed media reports that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had met with former US Secretary of State John Kerry in New York two weeks ago to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal, but meantime, stressed that the minister has had no meeting with the Trump administration officials. "We don’t see the US just as Mr. Trump; the United States is not just the current ruling administration and there are many figures who have different views on international and regional issues," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said. He described Kerry as a political figure somehow aware of issues related to Iran who can leave major influence on the US public opinion, and said, "During the trip (to New York), a meeting was held (between Zarif) with Kerry, although you know that at present, Kerry doesn’t hold any government post." Qassemi said that the nuclear deal was certainly one of the issues raised during the Zarif-Kerry meeting, but meantime underlined that "during the trip no talks and meeting was held with the US officials". The US media reports said last week that Kerry reportedly met Zarif at the United Nations in New York for a second meeting in as many months amid threats by US President Donald Trump to withdraw from the nuclear agreement by May 12. According to the Boston Globe, the Obama administration's top diplomat has also met with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeir, French President Emmanuel Macron on two occasions, and spoken on the phone with EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in an attempt to save the agreement that he spent years negotiating with other world leaders. Western media reports claimed last week that Trump has “all but decided” to withdraw from the agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and to allow nuclear-related sanctions on Iran that were suspended under the nuclear deal to snap back into effect. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi warned on Sunday that abrogation of the internationally-accepted 2015 nuclear deal would endanger the non-proliferation mechanism in the world and stir more crises in the region. "The nuclear deal, before anything else, is a security agreement in area of non-proliferation and any move against it will weaken the non-proliferation mechanism and exacerbate crises in the region and will confront all of us with the two choices of security and insecurity," Araqchi said at a meeting with his Swedish counterpart Annika Soder in Tehran. He also warned that any attempt to link the nuclear deal with other issues and ignore the US violation of the agreement is a wrong approaches and will further complicate the regional and international situation. "The nuclear deal is a colossal historical experience and choice and its success in light of collective efforts and support will ensures the interests for entire world," Araqchi said.
Don, President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State John Kerry pursued an agreement (JCPOA) as opposed to a treaty because a treaty would have required them to get a 2/3 vote by the Senate in a positive fashion. The lesson to any future US President is that they need to pursue a treaty as opposed to an agreement which would have also required that the Senate take action to approve the dissolution. It wouldn't surprise me if several Americans are formally accused of sedition and/or treason in the near future. President Trump tweeted about John Kerry's possibly illegal actions a few days ago. View attachment 7836 In addition, John Kerry allegedly had a meeting with Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in February on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. I posted about this on the "Signs" thread. #4869 Zarif, Kerry met in Munich last month: New Yorker March 3, 2018 http://www.tehrantimes.com/news/421731/Zarif-Kerry-met-in-Munich-last-month-New-Yorker ...the New Yorker said “Kerry quietly urged the Iranians not to abandon the deal or violate its terms, whatever the Trump Administration does.”
