Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.
This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.
So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.
This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.
Iran’s Islamic Republic: 40 Years of Terror and Crime.
Glazov Gang: 9/11 Came From Riyadh & Tehran.
Revealed: Osama’s Post-9/11 Safe Haven in Iran.
Visit the Free Iran website
https://thefreeiranian.org/
“I Sort of Hope it is Joe, Because he Will Hear “Where’s Hunter?” Every Single Debate, Nine Times a Debate” – Trump Shreds Biden Crime Family at Ohio Rally (VIDEO)
OAN reporter and Twitter sensation Jack Posobiec attended the rally today and posted AMAZING VIDEO from outside the Huntington Center in Toledo.
The crowds started lining up to see President Trump 11 hours early!
The Gateway Pundit’s Kristinn Taylor reported from the Toledo rally.
Kristinn took this AMAZING 360 degree video from inside the Huntington Center at 4 PM!… Hours before the rally!
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/01/i-sort-of-hope-it-is-joe-because-he-will-hear-wheres-hunter-every-single-debate-nine-times-a-debate-trump-shreds-biden-crime-family-at-ohio-rally-video/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=daily
Caroline Glick and Mike Doran are pointing to 0’s correspondence with Twisted-Ragheads.
Demonrats are conspiring with the enemy to oust PT from office in Nov. 2020. The role of libertarian ideologues is explicit.
3 July 2019 Hesameddin Ashena
@hesamodin1 Follow Follow @hesamodin1
We have unseated an American President in the past. We can do it again. Trump can listen to Pompeo and we’ll make sure he stays a one-term President. Or he could listen to @TuckerCarlson and we might have a different ball game.
https://twitter.com/hesamodin1/status/1146341845833834496
See Mike Doran’s article from June, 2019:
What Iran Is Really Up To
https://mosaicmagazine.com/observation/politics-current-affairs/2019/06/what-iran-is-really-up-to/
Caroline Glick, July 2019:
John Bolton to Breitbart: US May Cancel Iran’s Remaining Sanctions Waivers
…Rouhani’s advisor, Hesameddin Ashena, made the regime’s commitment to defeating Trump next November, and replacing him with a Democrat, explicit. Rouhani’s advisor also weighed into the US policy debate about Iran and sided strongly with the anti-war wing of the Republican party, prominently represented by Fox News host Tucker Carlson – and against Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
In the tweet, Rouhani’s advisor declared, “We have unseated an American President in the past. We can do it again. Trump can listen to Pompeo and we’ll make sure he stays a one-term President. Or he could listen to @TuckerCarlson and we might have a different ball game.”
…
[Bolton] “The problem here not who got out of the deal or who is violating the deal. The problem here is Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons which they continue to do. There has been no strategic decision to give up nuclear weapons. I would argue the opposite. It is very clear from their behavior including lowing through these limits in the deal we’ve been discussing, it’s very clear that they still want deliverable nuclear weapons.”
https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2019/07/04/exclusive-john-bolton-to-breitbart-u-s-may-cancel-irans-remaining-sanctions-waivers/
SKY NEWS EXCLUSIVE: Iran ambassador rejects ‘absurd’ plane crash claims
Hamid Baeidinejad also questioned the “validity” of footage appearing to show a missile hitting the Boeing jet.
Channel 4 – Iran denies shooting down passenger plane
PBS – U.S., other governments say it’s likely Iran shot down Ukrainian passenger jet
Trump Reveals Attack That Soleimani Was Planning That Led To Drone Strike
President Donald Trump revealed during a press conference on Thursday some details surrounding his decision to kill Iranian terrorist Qassem Soleimani last week, saying that Soleimani was planning to blow up a U.S. embassy.
“We killed a man who killed many, many Americans and many, many people, thousands and thousands of people,” Trump said during a press conference at the White House. “We caught a total monster and we took him out and that should have happened a long time ago. We did it because they were looking to blow up our embassy.”
“We also did it for other reasons that were very obvious, somebody died, one of our military people died, people badly wounded, just a week before, and we did it,” Trump continued. “And we had a shot at him and I took it and that shot was pinpoint accurate and that was the end of a monster. Really, that was the second attack. We didn’t start it, they started it by killing one of our people and wounding badly other of our people. That you call retribution.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-reveals-attack-that-soleimani-was-planning-that-led-to-drone-strike?itm_source=parsely-api%3Futm_campaign%3Ddw_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=housefile&utm_content=non_insiders&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-85LGqymOW21l2NZgTzMGe8228Sn-xw0JxLq7YrbkxigBE6J8FkCWEkzuHTATNgi39shy65x8b-2VlEfihVdTjnsYLA1A&_hsmi=81736508
Security forces and anti-government protesters clash in Iraq’s Karbala
Lawyers take over Paris courthouse to protest pension reform plans
https://www.wptv.com/news/region-c-palm-beach-county/palm-beach/iranian-national-found-with-knives-on-flagler-memorial-bridge-palm-beach-police-say
Iranian with knives arrested near Trump estate.
Libya: Hundreds rally in support of Turkey military deal in Tripoli
Supporters of the Government of National Accord (GNA) held a rally in Tripoli on Friday, in support of the recent military agreement reached with Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed on January 6 that Turkish troops have started moving into Libya to support the United Nations-backed GNA forces.
The GNA forces are opposed by Libyan General Khalifa Haftar’s eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) forces, who recently launched a renewed assault on the capital Tripoli.
On November 27, Libya’s GNA and Turkey signed a military and security cooperation agreement, mapping out a maritime boundary between both countries in the Mediterranean.
Preview: Trump reveals to Ingraham details of Iranian terror general’s plot
( 10 PM tonight )
Trump hater orders man to remove MAGA hat; he refuses. So Trump hater makes threat, takes swing at hat — and victim pulls out his gun.
The Trump hater quickly opted for a change of scenery
As TheBlaze has been documenting for some time now, “Make America Great Again” hats — the iconic symbol of President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign — are like kryptonite to leftists.
https://www.theblaze.com/news/trump-hater-orders-man-to-remove-maga-hat-he-refuses-so-trump-hater-makes-threat-takes-swing-at-hat–and-victim-pulls-out-his-gun
Iran’s Only Female Olympic Medalist Rumored to Have Fled to Netherlands (sputniknews, Jan 10, 2020)
https://sputniknews.com/sport/202001111078004490-irans-only-female-olympic-medalist-rumored-to-have-fled-to-netherlands/
“Iran’s only woman to have ever won an Olympic medal, taekwondo fighter Kimia Alizadeh, is believed to have emigrated to the Netherlands, according to unconfirmed recent reports.
Alizadeh won a taekwondo bronze medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016, garnering widespread support and praise from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and other public officials. Alizadeh, who was 18 at the time, competed while wearing a headscarf.
On Thursday, the Iranian Students News Agency, an outlet loosely affiliated with the government, published a report stating that Alizadeh has emigrated to the Netherlands.
However, that statement has not yet been confirmed. According to ISNA’s report, the coach of Iran’s national taekwondo team said that Alizadeh has suffered an injury.
Local Iranian media outlets have also speculated that Alizadeh is training in the Netherlands and will represent a different country in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
A photo recently shared on Twitter by Iranian outlet Aseman Daily News shows a woman purported to be Alizadeh standing with a group of men and women while not wearing a headscarf.
?According to AFP, Iranian Member of Parliament Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh accused the country’s “incompetent officials” of permitting Iran’s “human capital” to leave the country.
Hosseinzadeh also compared Alizadeh to Iranian chess player Alireza Firouzja, who attained the title of grandmaster at age 14 after winning an Iranian national chess championship at age 12. He now resides in France.”
France, The “Budding Islamic Republic”
by Giulio Meotti
“Five years after the killings at Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher, France has learned to live with the Islamist threat,” wrote Yves Thréard, deputy editor at the daily newspaper Le Figaro.
France has been marking the fifth anniversary of the deadly jihadist attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which took place on January 7, 2015. Last month, French Senator Nathalie Goulet warned that more attacks were likely. “In France we have a serious problem and we need to do more to prevent extremists from acting. As it stands, there will be more attacks,” said Goulet said.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15412/france-islamic-republic
Iran’s Missiles and Its Evolving “Rings of Fire”
Mideast Security and Policy Studies Paper #169
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s warning on the emergent Yemen-originating missile threat corresponds to Iran’s modus operandi of surrounding its foes with missile “rings of fire” and will enable Tehran to complete the missile encirclement of the Jewish state as a step toward its eventual demise. Israel must do its utmost to confront this new strategic threat by establishing an alert system and defense capabilities against Yemen-originating cruise and ballistic missiles, whatever the cost.
View PDF
https://besacenter.org/mideast-security-and-policy-studies/iran-missiles-rings-of-fire/
Scottish Hermits Excommunicated After Accusing Pope Francis of Heresy
https://www.breitbart.com/faith/2020/01/10/scottish-hermits-excommunicated-after-accusing-pope-francis-of-heresy/
“Three hermits living on a Scottish island have been excommunicated from the Catholic Church after accusing Pope Francis of heresy in an online declaration.
The Black Hermits, who live on the island of Westray in Orkney — Father Stephen de Kerdrel, Sister Colette Roberts, and Brother Damon Kelly — were informed of their excommunication from the Catholic Church on Christmas Day in a written notice from the Diocese of Argyll and the Isles.
“In April, the group wrote to Bishop McGee to say they intended to withdraw their ‘obedience from Pope Francis and sever communion with the Holy See,’” a spokesman for the diocese told the BBC.
“The bishop advised them that their actions would incur automatic excommunication and urged them to reconsider and made several offers of dialogue, all of which were refused. As a result, the penalty of excommunication now applies,” he said.
The diocesan bishop, Brian McGee, reportedly wrote to the Hermits when he learned of their intent to sever communion with Rome, warning them of the consequences and urging them to reconsider.
The diocese was responding to a declaration posted by the hermits last April, in which they declared that tragically, “the head of the Church on Earth, Pope Francis, by his utterances, his behaviour, his teaching and his actions, has shown himself to be indeed a great heretic.”
“Never in history has there been such a Pope, who by his actions, words and teaching, has thrown the whole Church into confusion,” the declaration stated.
“Though we are utterly unimportant, for who is interested in hermits that dare to speak out, we cannot keep silent for fear of damning not only our own souls, but the souls of countless others,” the hermits wrote.
As a result of their excommunication, the three hermits will no longer be able to receive the sacraments licitly, unless they reconcile with the Church.
Father De Kerdrel, a former Capuchin novice master, founded the Black Hermits in 1999 by for “young men seeking a more primitive form of life.””
Syrian Orthodox Church in Sweden Under Guard After Series of Suspected Arson Attacks
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/01/10/sweden-syrian-orthodox-church-guarded-suspected-fire-attacks/
“Following several suspicious fires, members of the Syrian Orthodox St Maria’s church in Norrköping say they will begin patrolling the area around the church at night to avoid further potential attacks.
The move comes after the church received a fire alarm on Sunday night as a fire had broken out in the assembly room of the church, the second suspicious fire in a month according to Isa Gergin, spokesman and caretaker for the Syrian Orthodox Church, SVT reports.
“On the third of December, it was the same. Someone had poured gasoline on the outside and lit it. But the emergency services were quickly in place,” Gergin said.
Commenting on Sunday’s fire, Gergin said: “We have not gone through all the damage yet, but the building has survived and internally it is only smoke damaged.”
The two fires are not the first time the building has been victim to a suspected arson attack. in August 2018, police investigated another incident but according to Gergin, the church officials had not heard anything back from the police.
“I think they have closed the investigation. Personally, I think there is a connection,” Gergin said.
St. Jacob of Nisbin Syrian Orthodox Cathedral in Hovsjö is also stepping up security efforts with the Swedish government giving the church SEK 122,000 (£9,800/$12,900) towards 14 surveillance cameras as part of a scheme to help religious communities under threats of violence and harassment.
Church attacks in Sweden are relatively uncommon in general but attacks on communities targetted by radical Islamic Sunni extremists, such as Syrian Christians and Shi’ite Muslims, are a concern in the country.
Last year in March, Omran Hashem of the Shia Ahl Al-Bait Cultural Centre in the Oxhagen district of Örebro said that many Shi’ites across Sweden were concerned about the return of Islamic State members, saying they had previously been threatened and harassed by Sunni extremists in the past.”
5 Legal Fights You Must Follow in 2020
Why Would a General Fight on the Front Lines?
More than 50 ‘terrorists’ killed in French commando operations in Mali
https://thedefensepost.com/2020/01/10/mali-terrorists-killed-french-commando-operations-barkhane/
“More than 50 “terrorists” were “put out of action” in a series of operations conducted in Mali by forces deployed to Operation Barkhane between December 20 and January 5, the French Armed Forces Ministry said.
The first operation between December 20 and 21 had previously been announced by French President Emmanuel Macron.
In a helicopter-borne assault on a large camp in a densely forested area of central Mali’s Mopti region, “33 terrorists were neutralized by several dozen commandos supported by Tigre helicopters in fighting that lasted several hours,” the ministry said in a Thursday, January 9 release.
Previous AFP reporting put the location of the commando raid in the Ouagadou forest, 150 km (90 miles) from Mopti town.
At the end of the day on December 21, commandoes were attacked as they searched the area. A Reaper drone that was then supporting the operation conducted an airstrike “to neutralize seven GAT [armed terrorist group] fighters who had infiltrated by motorcycle.”
This was the first airstrike carried out by a French armed drone, and came just two days after Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly announced that the testing of remotely-piloted drones for armed operations was completed. France has a total of five Reaper drones. The three MQ-9 Reapers based near Niger’s capital Niamey are each capable of carrying two GBU-12 Paveway II 500-pound laser-guided bombs. France is due to receive six more Reapers that will be capable of firing Lockheed Martin’s Hellfire air-to-surface missiles in 2020, and the fleet is set to increase to 24 by 2030. Parly made the decision to arm France’s surveillance drones in September 2017.
A Malian gendarme and a member of the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) who had been held hostage were freed, and “several vehicles, including one equipped with an anti-aircraft gun,” and a large quantity of weapons were ‘neutralized,’ the release said.
Another helicopter-borne assault was conducted on December 30, when a “gathering of several terrorists was spotted,” also in the Mopti region.
Supported by Tigre and Gazelle helicopters, Barkhane commandos put six “terrorists” out of action, while “three armed individuals fleeing the area” were struck by a Reaper drone.
A third operation was carried out overnight on January 4 to 5, this time in the Serma area. An airstrike conducted by a Mirage 2000 jet was followed by another helicopter-borne assault against a “GAT training site.” A dozen fighters were “neutralized” and around 15 motorcycles were destroyed.
Operation Barkhane
Many armed groups including Islamic State are active in Mali and the wider Sahel region, but the majority of attacks are attributed to JNIM, which formed in March 2017 from a merger of several smaller groups. JNIM’s leadership has pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Mali has been struggling to contain a complex insurgency since 2012, when a Tuareg separatist uprising was exploited by Islamist extremists who took key cities in the desert north.
France began its Operation Serval military intervention in its former colony early the next year, driving the jihadists from the towns, and the MINUSMA peacekeeping force was then established.
But the militant groups have morphed into more nimble formations operating in rural areas, and the insurgency has gradually spread to central and southern regions of Mali and across the borders into neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. Large swathes of Mali remain outside government control, and inter-ethnic bloodshed is a regular occurrence.
Serval evolved in August 2014 into Operation Barkhane, and roughly 4,500 French troops are deployed in the region, including around 2,700 soldiers in Mali. Barkhane focuses activity in insurgent-hit Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, and troops work alongside other international operations, including the roughly 14,000-strong MINUSMA U.N. stabilization mission in Mali and the G5 Sahel Joint Force (FCG5S), a planned 4,500-strong joint counter-terrorism force comprising troops from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger and Mauritania.
Barkhane has a growing international dimension, with European partners sending more troops and equipment. Denmark has deployed two helicopters and up to 70 troops to support Barkhane and Estonia is to almost double the size of its Barkhane contingent this year. Chinook helicopters from the United Kingdom currently support the operation.
France has also been trying to build international support for a new military force to work alongside Barkhane.
French plans for a new international special operations task force for the Sahel were first reported in early October, and on November 5, Parly said that France expected the new force – dubbed “Takuba” – to deploy in Mali by 2020.
Estonia was the first partner to confirm a special operations forces deployment to Takuba. A defense ministry spokesperson told The Defense Post that special forces will deploy to Mali in the second half of 2020 and that force will ‘assist, advise and accompany’ the Malian Armed Forces. Belgium and the Czech Republic have also signaled that they will participate, but Germany has declined to join the task force.
President Macron and the presidents of the G5 Sahel group of states are due to meet on January 13 to discuss security and the presence of France-led forces in the region. In November, Macron said France was “confirming and consolidating its commitment” to the Sahel, noting that additional military resources would be forthcoming by early 2020, and that decisions would soon be announced on revamping the G5 Sahel Joint Force.
In November, senior officials said the United States is seeking a meeting of the Coalition against ISIS early in 2020 to focus on threats in West Africa and the Sahel.”
The Death of Conversation: Twitter’s Ridiculous New Feature
Hard Revenge on US Has Just Begun: Iranian Cleric
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2020/01/10/2179121/hard-revenge-on-us-has-just-begun-iranian-cleric
“Tehran’s provisional Friday prayers leader said Iran’s missile attack on a US military base in Iraq in retaliation for Lt. General Qassem Soleimani’s assassination was only a small part of the hard revenge operation against Washington.
Addressing worshippers in Tehran on Friday, Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari hailed Gen. Soleimani’s major role in the collapse of Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) terrorist group and said the revered commander promoted security in the Middle East region and other parts of the world.
Gen. Soleimani created a type of security that was the outcome active resistance not the one that comes from compromise or negotiation, which does not last, the cleric added.
“The hard revenge has just begun,” he said, adding that a very small part of the revenge operation has started.
The remarks came as Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on Wednesday targeted two US airbases in Iraq, including the Ain al-Assad in the western province of Anbar, in retaliation for the US assassination of the top Iranian anti-terror commander.
An informed source at the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said the IRGC’s missile attack on the US airbase of Ain al-Assad has killed at least 80 American forces.
“At least 104 targets from the positions of the Americans and their allies in the region have been identified, and if the Americans make any mistake again, those positions will be targeted,” the source warned.
The source also said that a number of American drones and helicopters and a large amount of military equipment were seriously damaged in the IRGC missile attack.
Fifteen missiles rained down on Ain al-Assad airbase, none of which were intercepted by the US army’s radar system, the source stated, adding that the accuracy and destructive power of the missiles have been so high that a number of the missiles annihilated several sensitive targets simultaneously each.”
Thousands of Iraqis Rally against Government, Iran and US
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2076286/thousands-iraqis-rally-against-government-iran-and-us
“Thousands of Iraqis rallied across the country on Friday, reviving a months-long protest movement against the government and adding criticisms of both the US and Iran to their chants.
The anti-regime demonstrations had been overshadowed recently by spiraling tensions between Tehran and Washington, which led each country to carry out strikes against the other’s assets in Iraq over the last week.
Fearing their movement would be eclipsed by war, Iraqi activists posted calls on social media in recent days for a mass protest on Friday, which marked the inverse date, 10/1, of the first rallies on October 1, or 1/10.
Iraqis turned out across the country, with hundreds streaming into the capital’s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the anti-regime movement, AFP journalists said.
“Damn Iran and America!” they cried out in the iconic square, still lined with tents and stalls set up three months ago.
Thousands more took to the streets in the country’s Shiite-majority south, including the main protest hotspots of Diwaniyah, Nasiriyah, the oil-rich port city of Basra and the twin shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala.
Protesters in Karbala clashed overnight with security forces and others were arrested in Basra on Friday.
“By relaunching the protests, we’re showing our commitment to the demands of the October revolution: that our leaders stop monopolizing our country’s resources,” said Haydar Kazem, protesting in Nasiriyah.
Iraq is OPEC’s second-largest crude producer, but one in five people live in poverty and unemployment is rife among youth, according to the World Bank.
Transparency International ranks Iraq the 12th most corrupt country in the world.
Outraged by government graft and inequality, Iraqis launched an anti-regime protest movement in October that saw unprecedented numbers hit the streets.
But the rallies were met with violence, with nearly 460 people killed and more than 25,000 wounded since they began.
The protests began to slip out of the spotlight in late December after a US contractor was killed in a rocket attack on a northern Iraqi military base where American and other international troops are stationed.
The US blamed a hardline group in the Popular Mobilization Forces, a military network incorporated into the Iraqi state, and launched an air strike that killed 25 PMF fighters.
Supporters of the group then besieged the US embassy in Baghdad and days later, the US killed a top Iranian commander and the PMF deputy chief in a drone strike outside the Baghdad airport.
In retaliation, Iran launched ballistic missiles on Iraqi bases where US and coalition forces are stationed.
The rallies persisted throughout the developments, but shifted to include calls for Iraq to be spared any conflict between Iran and the US, both of them allies of Iraq.”
Lufthansa Says Canceling Tehran Flights due to Security Uncertainty
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2076046/lufthansa-says-canceling-tehran-flights-due-security-uncertainty
“Germany’s flagship carrier Lufthansa said on Friday that its group airlines were canceling flights to and from Tehran until Jan. 20 inclusive due to the uncertain security situation of the airspace around the Iranian capital.
Lufthansa said the move was a “precautionary measure” and it would decide if and when its flights to Iran would resume when it had more information.
US officials said on Thursday that the government believed Iran accidentally shot down a Ukrainian airliner shortly after Iran fired missiles at two US military bases in Iraq, while Iran was on high alert.
Iran has denied the allegations…”
US Slaps New Sanctions on Iran after Missile Strikes
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2076266/us-slaps-new-sanctions-iran-after-missile-strikes
“The United States announced on Friday new sanctions on Iran following this week’s missile strikes by Tehran on US bases in Iraq.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the new sanctions will target eight senior Iranian officials involved in “destabilizing” activities in the Middle East as well as Tuesday’s missile strike, which came in retaliation for the US killing of senior Iranian commander, Qassem Soleimani, in a drone strike.
Mnuchin said President Donald Trump will issue an executive order imposing sanctions on anyone involved in the Iranian textile, construction, manufacturing or mining sectors. They will also impose separate sanctions against the steel and iron sectors.
“As a result of these actions we will cut off billions of dollars of support to the Iranian regime,” the treasury secretary said.
Among the senior Iranian officials targeted in the new measures were Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, the Iranian armed forces deputy chief of staff and Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij militia, a volunteer force loyal to the regime.
The US Treasury also slapped sanction on 17 Iranian metals producers and mining companies which it said generated billions of dollars in revenue.
The sanctions also included a network of three entities that are based in China and the Seychelles as well as a vessel “involved in the purchase, sale, and transfer of Iranian metals products,” the Treasury said in a statement.
Mnuchin said that the measures hitting Iran’s economy “will continue until the regime stops the funding of global terrorism and commits to never having nuclear weapons.”
The administration has already reinstated all the US sanctions that were eased under the 2015 nuclear deal, which has caused significant economic hardship in Iran and cut its oil exports to historic lows.”
Sultan of Oman dies: Oman state media
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oman-sultan/sultan-of-oman-dies-oman-state-media-idUSKBN1ZA00J
“The Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said al-Said, passed away early on Saturday, Oman state TV and the state news agency Twitter account said.”
Ukrainian plane crash in Iran: How journalists ‘solved’ it using tech tools, social media and a little math
https://gulfnews.com/world/mena/ukrainian-plane-crash-in-iran-how-journalists-solved-it-using-tech-tools-social-media-and-a-little-math-1.1578654342545
Why Would a General Fight on the Front Lines?
Blast during a Taliban meeting in Pakistan kills 30 including ISI members: Sources
https://www.khaama.com/blast-during-a-taliban-meeting-in-quetta-kills-30-including-isi-members-sources-8768754756/
“A powerful explosion ripped through a religious school during a Taliban meeting on Friday evening in Quetta, Pakistan claiming at least 30 dead including key Taliban and ISI members, a security source confirmed.
A reliable Afghan security source from the who did not want to be named in the report told Khaama Press that according to intelligence reports, the explosion took place when several key Taliban members including Sheikh Abdul Karim (Taliban’s supreme judge), Sheikh Abdul Karim’s brother, 3 Pakistan’s ISI members and some drug smugglers were sitting together on Friday evening in a religious school, besides a prayer mosque in Ishaqabad area, in Quetta of Pakistan.
“The explosion has occurred during an important meeting between the Taliban militants, ISI members, and drug smugglers”, the source said.
According to this Afghan security source, at least 30 people have been killed in this explosion including 3 ISI members, Sheikh Abdul Karim’s brother, Haji Mohammad Halim, Mawlavi Haji Ahmad Khan, Gul Agha Akhund, Mawlavi Amanullah and Haji Ahmad Khan, who were key Taliban members.
The security source believes that the motive behind this explosion is due to the recent internal conflicts between the Taliban members.
But, according to Pakistan news agencies, the incident has taken place in a mosque during an evening prayer time, killing a senior police officer, 13 civilians and injuring 20 other worshippers.
Prime Minister Imran Khan and Baluchistan’s chief minister, Jam Kamal Khan, condemned the attack. In a statement, Pakistan’s military said soldiers were at the scene of the attack to assist civil authorities.
No individual or group have immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing.”
US tried to kill two Iranian chiefs in one day: report
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/us-tried-to-kill-two-iranian-chiefs-in-one-day-report/1699135
“The U.S. tried to target a top Iranian military commander in Yemen on the same day that it successfully assassinated Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in Iraq last week, the Washington Post daily has reported.
The newspaper on Friday reported about a top-secret mission against Abdul Reza Shahlai, a financier and key commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, who was actively involved in Yemen’s multi-faction civil war.
The attack did not cause Shahlai’s death, U.S. officials told The Post. It took place on Jan. 3, the same day that a U.S. drone strike near an airport in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, killed Soleimani and others.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, senior U.S. officials reportedly told The Post few details about an operation that ultimately failed to achieve its goal of eliminating another Iranian who advanced ties between Tehran and its foreign allied militias.
“If we had killed him, we’d be bragging about it that same night,” one senior U.S. official told the newspaper, speaking about classified military operations on the condition of anonymity.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of a multi-nation nuclear deal with Iran in 2018 and used sanctions as part of a “maximum pressure” campaign to deter what it calls Tehran’s destabilizing behavior in the region.
The U.S. strikes were ostensibly aimed at Iranian military commanders who led Tehran’s cooperation with and support for Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the armed Lebanese group Hizbollah and Shia militias across Iraq and Syria.
In Yemen, Iran is understood to support the Houthi rebel group, which has since 2015 been fighting a Saudi Arabia-led coalition that seeks to restore ousted President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government. Tehran denies any involvement.”
Germany, Russia see goals align amid tension in Middle East
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-russia-see-goals-align-amid-tension-in-middle-east/a-51945376
“As the US and Iran teetered on the brink of war, the leaders of Germany and Russia made a plan to meet in Moscow. But a shifting balance in the Middle East could force Berlin to trust Moscow in the search for solutions.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s working visit to Moscow couldn’t come at a more dramatic time. This week alone Iran and the US attacked each other on Iraqi soil, Iran left an international nuclear deal and Turkey sent troops to Libya. Certainly reason enough for Russian President Vladimir Putin to invite Merkel to the Kremlin for a Saturday meeting.
Conflict between Iran and the US will top the meeting’s agenda and Merkel and Putin will also discuss Libya, Syria and Ukraine, spokespeople for both leaders said. Germany and Russia have traditionally had deep economic ties and, among NATO and European leaders, Merkel has been a welcome guest in Moscow.
Russia’s role in the Ukraine crisis and the annexation of the Crimean peninsula by Russia in 2014 have, however, caused serious divisions between the countries that haven’t healed. But analyst Alexander Baunov, a political observer at the Moscow Carnegie Center, said “Ukraine has stopped being so toxic” for relations between Moscow and Berlin. He pointed to recent progress on resolving the Ukraine crisis under the new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as evidence of a political thaw.
Divided by Ukraine, reunited by Trump
Merkel and Putin may have been pushed apart by the Ukraine crisis but they are being brought closer “by the one-sidedness and unpredictability of US actions,” Baunov told DW, pointing to US sanctions leveled at the Russian-German gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 last year, and US President Donald Trump’s recent decision to kill Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned US actions against Soleimani as “reckless,” while German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Rainer Breul said Berlin has not been privy to “information that would allow us to see that the US attack was based on international law.”
Calming the conflict
Russian analysts have said that following US actions, Merkel and Putin now share the goal of preventing a further escalation of fighting in the Middle East.
“Russia is interested in making sure that what is happening in the Middle East doesn’t have wider, bloodier consequences,” Middle East expert Andrei Ontikov said, adding that Germany and the rest of Europe can play a positive role in de-escalating the situation in the Middle East. “So, of course, Russia needs to coordinate its policies, including with Europe.”
While Putin may look to use his meeting with Merkel to present a united front with Germany and to paint Russia as a mediator in the Middle East, Berlin has also been considering how to make the most of Putin’s leverage in the Middle East. Russia’s influence in the region has grown since it entered the war in Syria in 2015. Its forces have been fighting alongside Iran to prop up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is seen in Moscow as a guarantor of continuing Russian influence in the Middle East. Putin has also coordinated closely with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over Syria.
The German Green Party’s foreign policy speaker, Omid Nouripour, told DW: “Putin pretends he has influence [in Iran]. So I hope that the German Chancellor will push him to convince the Iranians not to take retaliatory measures,” which Nouripour says would lead to an escalation in violence in the region.
For its part, the Kremlin has been consistently trying to coax Germany, and Europe, towards closer ties by portraying the US as an unreliable partner, particularly following Trump’s decision to leave the Iran nuclear deal last year. Both Germany and Russia have been pushing to save the deal ever since, even after Iran abandoned it on Sunday.
Berlin peace talks
Moscow and Berlin have also urged for an end the conflict in Libya. Fighting around the cities of Tripoli and Sirte has escalated recently, as the eastern-based Libyan National Army under ex-general Khalifa Haftar advance on forces loyal to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord. Germany has warned the situation could become “a second Syria.”
Germany has offered to hold a peace conference for the conflicting sides. The so-called Berlin process may take place in the coming weeks, though no date has been set yet. If the conference actually takes place, Jürgen Hardt, the foreign policy speaker in Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union, said it would be a “great diplomatic success.” He said he hopes Merkel will put her weight behind the initiative at the meeting in Moscow, adding, “We still have a long way to go before we make progress.”
On Wednesday, Putin issued a joint statement with the Turkish President expressing support for the conference in Germany, though the leaders said results could only be achieved “with the involvement and commitment of Libyans and neighboring countries.”Putin and Erdogan also called for a ceasefire starting on Sunday. Moscow has never officially made its loyalties in the Libyan conflict clear, though there have been media reports that Russian mercenaries are fighting on the side of General Haftar. Turkey last week sent troops to support the UN-backed government.
For Germany, the Moscow meeting could show how much diplomatic clout Merkel actually has in Libya and the rest of the Middle East.
According to Fyodor Lukianov from the Russian International Affairs Council, Putin is clearly in the driving seat in negotiations on the region.
“Germany is a passive player here, an observer from the sidelines,” he told DW. “Russia, on the other hand, is a key player [in the Middle East].””
Ross Kemp Belmarsh Prison Documentary Featuring Tommy Robinson (full episode)
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Tommy Robinson reacts to Ross Kemp’s HMP Belmarsh program
Iran says it ‘unintentionally’ shot down Ukrainian jetliner
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iranian state TV, citing a military statement, says the country ‘unintentionally’ shot down a Ukrainian jetliner, killing all 176 aboard.
The statement came Saturday morning. It blames “human error” for the shootdown.
The jetliner, a Boeing 737 operated by Ukrainian International Airlines, went down on the outskirts of Tehran during takeoff just hours after Iran launched a barrage of missiles at U.S. forces.
Iran had denied for several days that a missile downed the aircraft. But then the U.S. and Canada, citing intelligence, said they believe Iran shot down the aircraft.
https://www.wndu.com/content/news/Iran-says-it-unintentionally-shot-down-Ukrainian-jetliner-566898431.html
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Belgium: “No reason to not believe the reports” that Iran downed Ukrainian jet – Stoltenberg
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