Saturday, 18 May 2019

Iran blames ‘unacceptable’ US sanctions for spike in tensions as White House advisors push for forceful response

Iran blames ‘unacceptable’ US sanctions for spike in tensions as White House advisors push for forceful responseIran’s foreign minister has hit out at “unacceptable” sanctions imposed by the US as an international deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions continues to unravel amid a spike in tensions.Mohammad Zarif defended Iran’s right to respond to the US pullout from the nuclear deal last year.“We believe that escalation by the United States is unacceptable and uncalled for. We have exercised maximum restraints,” he said during a visit to Tokyo. In other comments carried on the semi-official Mehr news agency, Mr Zarif was quoted as saying: “A multilateral deal cannot be treated unilaterally.”The spat over the nuclear deal has been heightened by a number of events this week, including a drone attack on a Saudi Arabian oil pipeline claimed by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, allegations of acts of sabotage perpetrated against oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the dispatch of US warships to the region.The Saudis – Iran’s biggest rival in the region – blamed Tehran for ordering the Houthi attack. A Saudi-led coalition has been waging an air war against the Houthis since 2015, with both the US and Riyadh accusing Iran of providing weapons to the Houthis. Tehran has denied this.Saudi Arabia’s deputy defence minister Khalid bin Salman tweeted: “The attack by the Iranian-backed Houthi militias against the two Aramco pumping stations proves that these militias are merely a tool that Iran’s regime uses to implement its expansionist agenda in the region”.The longest-simmering issue is the Donald Trump-mandated withdrawal from the nuclear pact and the cranking up of sanctions against Iran by Washington. Iran has issued a number of veiled threats about enriching its uranium stockpiles to weapons-grade levels, with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying the “the next steps are easier” than what has come before.Iran recently threatened it might resume higher enrichment by 7 July, beyond the level permitted by the current deal between Tehran and world powers, claiming that its programme is for peaceful purposes. White House advisor John Bolton in particular has long-standing concerns about Iran, writing in The New York Times in 2015 that the US should think about bombing Iran as the country “will not negotiate away its nuclear programme” – although an agreement was approved the next year.Mr Bolton was reportedly behind a push to update military plans surrounding the use of aggression by Iran, including sending as many as 120,000 troops to the region in the wake of an attack by Tehran on US interests or a significant move in its nuclear programme.Speaking on Thursday, Mr Trump said that he was the one to rein in 70-year-old Mr Bolton. “I’m the one who tempers him, which is OK,” he said.“I have John Bolton and I have people who are a little more dovish than him,” Mr Trump added.In a tweet on Wednesday, the president denied any infighting between members of his team. “There is no infighting whatsoever,” Mr Trump wrote. “Different opinions are expressed and I make a decisive and final decision – it is a very simple process.However, Mr Trump is said to be getting frustrated with officials like Mr Bolton and secretary of state Mike Pompeo over a push for a confrontation with Iran, according to The Washington Post. “They are getting way out ahead of themselves, and Trump is annoyed,” a senior administration official said.Mr Trump is not inclined to respond forcefully unless there is a “big move” from the Iranians, the paper quoted a White House official as saying, with the president believed to be loath to go against his long-standing promise to end costly foreign wars by the US. The Democratic US House speaker Nancy Pelosi meanwhile said on Thursday that the the Trump administration “must realise” it does not have congressional authorisation to go to war against Iran.Washington sent ships and warplanes into the Gulf last week, citing an increased threat from Tehran, and the state department warned all non-essential government staff to leave Iraq.British forces in Iraq were also placed on high alert on Thursday, following the decision.However, Major General Chris Ghika, the British deputy commander of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the US-led coalition fighting Isis, had a day earlier disputed claims from the White House that forces in the Middle East are facing an increased threat from Iran or its allies.Maj Gen Ghika told reporters during a video conference from coalition headquarters in Baghdad on Tuesday, that there “has been no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria”.




Woman with 2 kids in car drives through site of deadly crash in Texas

Woman with 2 kids in car drives through site of deadly crash in TexasA woman is expected to be charged for driving through a deadly crash investigation with two children in her vehicle in northwest Harris County.




EU ready to negotiate trade with US, including cars

EU ready to negotiate trade with US, including carsThe European Union said Friday it is prepared to negotiate a limited trade deal, including on cars, with the US, after President Donald Trump held off imposing auto tariffs. "We note that US postpones decision on car tariffs for 180 days," European trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom tweeted. In another tweet, Malmstrom said she would discuss the issue with EU trade ministers next week before meeting on May 27 with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.




How One Father Learned to Live Again After the Death of His 2-Year-Old Daughter

How One Father Learned to Live Again After the Death of His 2-Year-Old DaughterJayson Greene tells the story of his 2-year-old daughter's death and the aftermath in an affecting new memoir, 'Once More We Saw Stars.'




Photos of the Euro-spec Ford Focus ST Wagon

Photos of the Euro-spec Ford Focus ST Wagon




Two US death row inmates executed

Two US death row inmates executedA Tennessee man who killed his wife and an Alabama man convicted of a quadruple murder were executed by lethal injection Thursday. Donnie Edward Johnson, 68, was convicted in 1984 of murdering his wife, Connie Johnson, in Memphis, Tennessee, by stuffing a plastic garbage bag down her throat and suffocating her. Michael Brandon Samra, 41, was convicted in 1998 for his involvement in the murders of Randy Duke, Duke's girlfriend Dedra Mims Hunt, and Hunt's six-year-old and seven-year-old daughters.




Trump says 'good chance' Democrats will back his immigration, border plan

Trump says 'good chance' Democrats will back his immigration, border planA day after unveiling a plan to shift to a "merit-based" immigration system, the Republican president said there was a "good chance" that Democrats would back him and provide funding to manage record migrant flows along the U.S.-Mexico border. "The Democrats now realize that there is a National Emergency at the Border and that, if we work together, it can be immediately fixed. Such talk of bipartisan cooperation on the explosive immigration issue for years has ended in failure and finger-pointing.