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Showing posts with the label Henrik Urdal @h_urdal. @PRIOUpdates
Iran's brave human rights defenders and their struggle against the death penalty 10/13/2017 9:52:37 AM Campaign against death penalty Amnesty International, Oct 12, 2017  - On 10 October, people around the world marked the World Day against the Death Penalty. This year is particularly significant for us at Amnesty International because it marks 40 years since the organization first began campaigning for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty in 1977. Since this landmark moment, countries that use the death penalty have become an increasingly isolated minority. In fact, as of September 2017, more than two-thirds of the countries around the world have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. However, as the world moves away from the death penalty, Iran continues to execute hundreds of people every year and comes second only to China in the number of executions carried out annually. Amnesty International recorded nearly 1,000 executions in Iran ...
Iran attempted to buy nuclear technology illegally 32 times, German agency says By Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News A Ghadr-H missile, center, a Sejjil missile and a portrait of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are on display for the annual Defense Week, marking the 37th anniversary of the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, at Baharestan Sq. in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2017 (AP) Iran tried to obtain illicit technology that could be used for military nuclear and ballistic missile programs, raising questions about a possible violation of the 2015 agreement intended to stop Tehran’s drive to become an atomic armed power, according to three German intelligence reports obtained by Fox News. Continue Reading Below The new intelligence , detailing reports from September and October and disclosed just ahead of President Trump’s planned announcement Thursday on whether the U.S. will recertify the Iran deal, reveals that Iran’s regime made “32 procurement attempts … that definitely or wi...
Perfect Timing To Raise The Tone On Iran Heshmat Alavi , CONTRIBUTOROpinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Continued from page 1 As if Iran hadn’t enough troubles in the region already, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in recently published remarks highlighted the necessity of guaranteeing a two-state solution for the Palestine and Israel dilemma. This is a soft spot for Iran as the regime has deviously used this flashpoint region as pretext to justify its role across the region. With Trump inviting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the White House, Tehran understands fully how its Middle East influence is in jeopardy. All said and done, Iran’s deepest concerns currently hover over the fate of the Revolutionary Guards ( IRGC ), especially after House Speaker Paul Ryan called for the designation of this entity as a foreign terrorist organization.
Earthquake jolted southern Iran 10/6/2017 8:25:21 AM Earthquake measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale jolted the city of Haftkal in Khuzestan province in southern Iran Oct 6, 2017-  Iran's regime media reported: 'A relatively strong earthquake measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale jolted the city of Haftkal in Khuzestan province in southern Iran on Thursday. According to the Seismological Centre of the Institute of Geophysics of Tehran University, the earthquake struck Hafkal , a town in Khuzestan Province at 13:41 local time (10:11 GMT). The epicenter of the quake was 49.21 degrees longitude and 31.37 degrees latitude in depth of 10 kilometer. There has been no report yet on the possible damages caused by the earthquake.'
Trump: Iranian regime supports terrorism and exports violence, bloodshed and chaos 10/6/2017 9:07:07 AM U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he departs for Bedminster, New Jersey, from the White House in Washington, US., September 29, 2017 Reuters, 6 October 2017  - President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Iran had not lived up to the spirit of the nuclear deal agreed with world powers and suggested he would reveal his decision on whether to certify the agreement soon. “We must not allow Iran ... to obtain nuclear weapons,” Trump said during a meeting with military leaders at the White House. “The Iranian regime supports terrorism and exports violence, bloodshed and chaos across the Middle East. That is why we must put an end to Iran’s continued aggression and nuclear ambitions.
Iran must stop meddling in Mideast, says King Salman 10/6/2017 8:52:12 AM Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Saudi Arabias King Salman bin Abdulaziz at the Kremlin in Moscow on Thursday. - AFP Khaleej Times- October 6, 2017-  Iran must stop meddling in the Middle East, the King Salman of Saudi Arabia told Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in the Kremlin on Thursday, Russia's Interfaxnews agency reported. 'We emphasise that the security and stability of the Gulf region and the Middle East is an urgent necessity for achieving stability and security in Yemen,' King Salman said, quoted by the agency. 'This would demand that Iran give up interference with the internal affairs of the region, to give up actions destabilising the situation in this region.' King Salman and Putin exchanged views on the situation in the Middle East and North Africa and agreed on the need to fight terrorism, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei ...
In meeting with military, Trump talks of 'calm before the storm' 10/6/2017 8:06:35 AM U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a briefing with senior military leaders at the White House in Washington, U.S., October 5, 2017. REUTERS WASHINGTON (Reuters) - OCTOBER 6, 2017-  After discussing Iran and North Korea with U.S. military leaders on Thursday, President Donald Trump posed for a photo with them before dinner and declared the moment “the calm before the storm.” “You guys know what this represents?” Trump said after journalists gathered in the White House state dining room to photograph him and first lady Melania Trump with the uniformed military leaders and their spouses. “Maybe it’s the calm before the storm,” he said. What storm? “You’ll find out,” Trump told questioning reporters. Classical music played in the background and tables were set in the nearby Blue Room for a fancy meal. The White House did not immediately reply to a request to cla...
Trump plans to declare that Iran nuclear deal is not in the national interest 10/5/2017 9:02:29 PM The move would mark the first step in a process that could eventually result in the resumption of U.S. sanctions against Iran The Washington Post- October 5 , 2017-  President Trump plans to announce next week that he will “decertify” the international nuclear deal with Iran, saying it is not in the national interest of the United States and kicking the issue to a reluctant Congress, people briefed on an emerging White House strategy for Iran said Thursday. The move would mark the first step in a process that could eventually result in the resumption of U.S. sanctions against Iran, which would blow up a deal limiting Iran’s nuclear activities that the country reached in 2015 with the U.S. and five other nations. Trump is expected to deliver a speech, tentatively scheduled for Oct. 12, laying out a larger strategy for confronting the nation it blames for...
Tillerson Blames Iran for Overseeing 'Network of Proxies Who Export Terror' 9/15/2017 9:10:40 PM A day after the US imposed new sanctions on Iran, the US state secretary has lashed out at Tehran he accused of overseeing a threat network of proxies who export terror and violence. WASHINGTON (Sputnik), SEP. 15.2017 -- Iran oversees a threat network that exports terror and destabilizes countries across the Middle East, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Friday. 'In the Middle East, Iran oversees a threat network of proxies who export terror and violence. They destabilize countries throughout the region,' Tillerson said in an opening speech at the Ninth Community of Democracies Governing Council Ministerial in Washington. Tillerson said the United States was working closely with its allies in Europe, as well as with Israel, to address these 'threats,' while also supporting the emergence of a stronger and more resilient democr...
Trump Team Plans New Sanctions Against Iran 9/14/2017 7:37:39 PM The United States President Donald Trump by VIVIAN SALAMA and CAROL E. LEE WASHINGTON, NBC News, September 14, 2017   — The Trump administration plans to announce new  sanctions against  Iran as soon as Thursday while also taking steps to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran for now by extending the sanctions relief in the accord, senior administration officials familiar with the matter said. The moves come in advance of President Donald Trump's first appearance at the United Nations General Assembly next week. Trump plans to sign off on a new Iran policy in advance of the gathering of world leaders, but officials said he is delaying a final decision on pulling out of the 2015 deal to curtail Iran's nuclear program, known as the  Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action  (JCPOA), while exploring options for renegotiating key elements. The deadline for his decisi...
CZECHS REFUSE TO LIFT BAN ON NUCLEAR SUPPLIES FOR IRAN 9/8/2017 8:43:05 PM The Czech Parliament PRAGUE (AP) Sep 8, 2017  -- The Czech Parliament's lower house has rejected a government proposal to annul a 2000 law that bans Czech companies from supplying equipment for Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant. The proposal rejected Friday took into account a 2015 deal that saw international sanctions on Iran lifted in exchange for the country curbing its nuclear activities. Iran has one operational nuclear plant in the southern port city of Bushehr. It is planning to build more reactors there.
Iran: A regime with no future 9/4/2017 7:28:27 PM Ali Khamenei By: Shahriar Kia (Political analyst)  Alriadh Daily, 04 September 2017  - The cabinet ministers of Iranian President  Hassan Rouhani  received a confidence vote recently in this regime’s parliament. 16 out of 17 ministers were approved after many reports indicated Rouhani reviewed the list extensively with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. However, an evaluation of this slate of names proves this cabinet will render no alternations and represents the very impasse the entire regime is facing. The next four years will, in fact, be worse than the previous. Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif has retained his post as foreign minister, considering his role in negotiating the nuclear agreement with the P5+1, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Despite Iran’s threats of relaunching its nuclear drive in the case of US President Donald Trump find...
Suu Kyi and Myanmar face chorus of anger over Rohingya crisis 9/4/2017 3:28:51 PM Malala Yousafzai said she is waiting for fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to condemn the tragic and shameful treatment of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar AFP, September 4, 2017  - Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai and Muslim countries in Asia led a growing chorus of criticism on Monday aimed at Myanmar and its civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi over the plight of its Rohingya Muslim minority. Nearly 90,000 Rohingya have flooded into Bangladesh in the past 10 days following an uptick in fighting between militants and Myanmar's military in strife-torn western Rakhine state. The impoverished region bordering Bangladesh has been a crucible of communal tensions between Muslims and Buddhists for years, with the Rohingya forced to live under apartheid-like restrictions on movement and citizenship. The recent violence, which kicked off last October when a ...
ANALYSIS: Why Iran fears Nikki Haley’s trip to Vienna 9/4/2017 11:23:44 AM Nikki Haley speaks at the UN Security Council emergency meeting over North Korea’s missile launch on August 29, 2017 in New York F. Mahmoudi   Al Arabiya, 4 September 2017   - There is an Iranian saying that when someone is suspicious and not trustworthy, he has something in his shoes! The root of this proverb comes from a time when people used to hide dagger in there boots and used when needed. This story seems to be true for members of the Iranian regime. The anouncement of  Nikki Haley’s visit to Vienna   on August 23 and her meeting with Yukiya Amano, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, regarding the US demanding UN inspection of Iranian military sites, has been terrifying Tehran. Are they hiding anything in their shoes? Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif described the visit as the “continuation of US violations...
How to get out of the Iran nuclear deal 8/29/2017 3:33:39 PM US foreign policy and nuclear diplomacy ABROGATING THE IRAN DEAL: THE WAY FORWARD I. Background: National Review, Aug. 28, 2017  - The Trump Administration is required to certify to Congress every 90 days that Iran is complying with the July 2015 nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — JCPOA), and that this agreement is in the national-security interest of the United States.1 While a comprehensive Iranian policy review is currently underway, America’s Iran policy should not be frozen. The JCPOA is a threat to U.S. national-security interests, growing more serious by the day. If the President decides to abrogate the JCPOA, a comprehensive plan must be developed and executed to build domestic and international support for the new policy. Secretary of State John Kerry talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif after the International Atomic Energy Agency...