Iran executes 'CIA spy' amid Gulf tensions

Iran has hanged a CIA informer said to be a former member of the military unit that downed the US drone on Thursday. Iran’s Judiciary Unit for Armed Forces confirmed an earlier report by Iran Human Rights organisation (IRH) that Seyyed Jamal Haji-Zavareh was executed last week on charges of "spying for an enemy state and the CIA”. Hajizavareh was reportedly executed at the Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj, west of Tehran. The justice department has denied Haji-Zavareh had been a senior member of the military unit and has referred to him as “a subcontracted former employee of the Ministry of Defence who had left his job nine years ago”. However, according to the rights group, prior to his arrest in September 2017, Seyed Jamal (also known as Siavash) Haji-Zavareh was an employee of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He had been arrested along with his wife, Leila Tajik.  Iran said earlier this week it had dismantled a 'new' US spy network in the country linked to the CIA The force was established in the late 1980s after the end of Iran-Iraq war as part of theIRGC’s air force and is currently in charge of Iran’s strategic missile forces. Pictures on Iranian national TV today showed the commander of the Guards’ aerospace division General Amirali Hajizadeh inspecting the retrieved sections of the US surveillance drone and admitting that his force’s missile had downed it on Thursday. Iran has accused US of violating its national sovereignty by flying the drone over the waters of the Strait of Hormuz, but Washington has maintained that the spying unmanned plane had been in international airspace when hit by a missile. “A well-informed source told IHR Jamal was held in a place called the death cell. He was tortured severely”, the rights group said, adding that Jamal’s wife, Leila Tajik, has been sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment and is held at Kachouei prison of Tehran. “They could not have a lawyer of their own choice,” the source said, “Siavash (Seyed Jamal) was in solitary confinement at an unknown place owned by the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence.” The report comes days after Iran said it had dismantled a "new" US spy network in the country linked to the CIA, amid escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington. In what it termed a "wide-reaching blow" to US intelligence, state news agency IRNA said on Tuesday that Tehran had carried out the operation in cooperation with "foreign allies", without naming any state. President Donald Trump said Friday the United States was "cocked & loaded" to strike Iran but pulled back at the last minute as it would not have been a "proportionate" response to Tehran's shooting down of the unmanned drone. The downing of the drone came after tensions spiked between the two countries following a series of attacks on oil tankers the US has blamed on Iran.

Trump’s Deportation Numbers Continue to Lag Behind Obama’s Despite Strong Rhetoric

Despite President Trump's zealous immigration enforcement rhetoric, his administration has deported few illegal immigrants than Barack Obama's had at this point in his term.With four months still remaining, the Trump administration has deported 282,242 illegal immigrants this fiscal year, its highest annual total since Trump took office, but still significantly fewer than Obama deported in each of the early years of his administration, according to Department of Homeland Security data review by Axios.Under Obama, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported more than 385,000 immigrants each fiscal year from 2009-2011 before reaching a high of 409,849 in 2012. In contrast, the Trump administration deported only 226,119 in fiscal year 2017, and roughly 250,000 in fiscal year 2018.As he launched his 2020 reelection campaign last week, Trump vowed to deport “millions” of illegal immigrants.> ….long before they get to our Southern Border. Guatemala is getting ready to sign a Safe-Third Agreement. The only ones who won’t do anything are the Democrats in Congress. They must vote to get rid of the loopholes, and fix asylum! If so, Border Crisis will end quickly!> > -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2019Record numbers of asylum-seekers arriving at the southern border each day have overwhelmed Department of Health and Human Services resources. Trump administration officials have continuously urged lawmakers for months to provide more funding to shelter and provide medical care for migrants, many of whom are women and children.The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a $4.6 billion spending bill to address the deteriorating border situation.The majority of the funds — $2.9 billion — will go toward improving conditions for migrants in HHS facilities, while $793 million will go toward improving conditions at Customs and Border Patrol facilities, where migrants are housed until they can be transferred to HHS shelters – a process that now regularly exceeds the 72-hour time limit imposed by federal regulations.Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox and Friends Monday that the bill will go to the floor for a vote next week.

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11 dead as plane crashes in Hawaii, believed during skydiving trip

The twin-engine King Air plane, with eleven people onboard, went down soon after takeoff from Dillingham Airfield and there were no survivors, the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) said. "We are still gathering information as to the intent of the flight and what they were doing," Honolulu Fire Department Chief Manuel Neves told a news conference. CNN said the plane was on a skydiving excursion and the Federal Aviation Administration would investigate the crash.

Gold glistens as US-Iran tensions fuel flight to safety

Gold prices struck near six-year highs on Friday as a weaker dollar and escalating US-Iran tensions fueled a flight to safer investments, while oil futures built on strong gains.