Iran - where is it heading?

[C_Clayton_Jones]

So what? Remove sanctions cuz you're a pussy?

No, reinstate the Iran Nuclear Accords, allow the Iranian economy to improve, take from the Iranian hardline leadership the ability to demonize the West, engage Iran in trade and diplomatic discourse, and eventually the Iranian people will elect increasingly stable governments not hostile to the West.

What Trump is doing is guaranteed not to work: more sanctions, more bombastic rhetoric, and more ignorant, idiotic, empty threats – the hardliners in the Iranian government thrive on this; Trump’s failed policy toward Iran benefits only the hardliners.

 

[cnm]

No one is "forced" to go along. They want to because it is right.

Oh the hilarity.

 

[Lastman]

As long as the US isn't involved, let the locals slug it out.

The US isn't involved?
The US is forcing the whole world to go along with that stupid version of a sanctions program.

The only thing 'stupid' about Iran sanctions is they they allow food and medicine to come in.

Sanctions need to absolute.

Sanctions need to be smart and flexible, not absolute.
If you make them absolute, you foster massive amounts of hatred. And in this case, far outside Iran as well. Even in Europe, against Europeans, for going along with your absolute sanctions program. You forcing your allies to go along with your sanctions program is going to back fire big time on the 3 to 20, 30 year time-scales.

No one is "forced" to go along. They want to because it is right.

A google search for "europe sanctions iran" disagrees with that.

So link it

 

[frigidweirdo]

Saudi Arabia and neighbors join Israel in backing Trump against Iran, just as others turn away

WORLD
TRUMP'S ALLIANCE AGAINST IRAN: SAUDI ARABIA AND PARTNERS JOIN ISRAEL IN SUPPORTING U.S. AS OTHERS TURN AWAY
BY TOM O'CONNOR ON 9/25/18 AT 4:04 PM



Donald Trump Blasts Iran During UN Speech
SHARE
WORLDINTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS


While President Donald Trump condemned Iran in his address Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly, a small but influential group of countries gathered elsewhere in New York City in an attempt to rally support for an increasingly controversial cause among the international community.

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the ambassadors of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to Washington and the director of Israel's Mossad spy agency were among those who spoke alongside two of President Donald Trump's most senior officials at the 2018 United Against Nuclear Iran summit. These five U.S.-backed countries have accused Iran of interfering in their respective internal affairs and were among the few world powers to welcome Trump's decision to unilaterally abandon a 2015 multinational deal by which Iran agreed to denuclearize in exchange for a lifting of sanctions.

At a time when traditional U.S. allies France, Germany and the U.K.–all of which also signed the nuclear deal–were working alongside China and Russia to counter U.S. sanctions against Iran, this Middle Eastern quintet has formed the core of foreign support for Trump's hardline stance against the revolutionary Shiite Muslim power. UAE ambassador to the U.S. Yousef al-Otaiba said Tuesday that the Iranian threat was existential.

"We have paid the price more than anyone else in our part of the world," Otaiba said, sitting on a panel beside State Department director of policy planning Brian Hook and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir. "The Gulf countries, Israel and the countries in the immediate vicinity are the ones at immediate risk."

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President Donald Trump (C), Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (R) and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (L) pose with regional leaders for a group photo during the Arab Islamic American Summit at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Riyadh on May 21, 2017. The U.S., the Arabian Peninsula powers and Israel are stepping up pressure on Iran to curb its regional activities.MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

While the four Arabian Peninsula states do not recognize or maintain relations with Israel, their mutual enmity for the leadership in Tehran has forged an informal coalition. Otaiba himself reportedly met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a chance encounter in Washington in May, during which both men discussed their country's positions on Iran, according to the Associated Press.

Bahrain, a majority-Shiite Muslim island state ruled by a Sunni Muslim monarchy with close ties to neighboring Saudi Arabia, went so far as to publicly back Israel's right to defend itself via a social media statement by its top diplomat in March. Having accused Iran of funding a Shiite Muslim insurgency in his country, Bahraini envoy to the U.S. Sheikh Abdullah bin Rashed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa reaffirmed this statement on Tuesday.

Keep Up With This Story And More By Subscribing Now

"Some of you might recall our foreign minister tweeted a few months ago and said that every country has the right to defend itself, including Israel," Sheikh Abdullah said.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted a CIA-reinstalled absolute monarchy, Iran's growing presence in the region has created major concerns for Saudi Arabia and Israel. The staunch U.S. allies have been at odds since Israel's 1948 creation, which prompted the mass displacement of Palestinians and a series of Arab-Israeli wars, but reports have suggested that two have become increasingly close in the face of a common foe, especially as Riyadh's regional clout has fallen in Iran's favor in countries such as Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

"This is a regime the only way one can deal with them is by pressuring them and by forcing them to change," Jubeir told the conference Tuesday, accusing Tehran of sponsoring terrorism, cyber attacks, ethnic cleansing projects and of supporting a group of Zaidi Shiite Muslim rebels, known as Ansar Allah or the Houthi movement, which he said have fired up to 197 ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia.

Jubeir left the event without taking questions and Israeli Mossad Director Yossi Cohen's comments at the following panel were off the record.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are locked in a battle for regional supremacy, fighting proxy wars in multiple countries across the Middle East.REUTERS

As a Saudi-led coalition—which includes Bahrain and the UAE—bombs the Houthis in Yemen, Israeli warplanes blast alleged Iranian and pro-Iran positions fighting on behalf of resurgent government forces in Syria. Both Saudi Arabia and Israel have backed Syrian rebels attempting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran and Russia. Israeli officials have called for Saudi Arabia and its regional allies to openly work together with their country against Iran. Last month, a report surfaced suggesting Saudi Arabia acquired the Iron Dome missile defense system, which Israel uses to block rocket attacks from Palestinian and Lebanese groups sponsored by Iran. The Israeli Defense Ministry reportedly denied the report.

While the true extent of their alignment remains the source of reports and speculation, Israel and Saudi Arabia's anti-Iran postures have been emboldened by the Trump administration. The U.S. leader followed up his fiery debut at the U.N. General Assembly last year with another verbal assault on Tehran, calling it a "corrupt dictatorship" whose leaders "sow chaos, death, and disruption."

"They do not respect their neighbors or borders, or the sovereign rights of nations. Instead, Iran’s leaders plunder the nation's resources to enrich themselves and to spread mayhem across the Middle East and far beyond," he said. "The Iranian people are rightly outraged that their leaders have embezzled billions of dollars from Iran’s treasury, seized valuable portions of the economy, and looted the religious endowments, all to line their own pockets and send their proxies to wage war."

Iran has been keen to point out the perceived growing ties between the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia and dismissed their accusations, accusing them of conspiring to destabilize the country and the region. The Iranian position has been reinforced by its success in tackling the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) alongside Iraqi government forces backed by the U.S. and Syrian government forces opposed by Washington. In Syria, Iran-backed militias have deployedalongside Syria's armed forces around Idlib, the final province under the control of an Islamist-led insurgency.

France, Germany and the U.K. have joined the U.S. in cautioning Syria and its Iranian and Russian allies from pursuing an all-out offensive in Idlib, but have split with the Trump administration on punishing Iran economically for its involvement in the Middle East and development of ballistic missiles.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (R) takes part in a bilateral meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in the French Mission to the United Nations on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on September 24. The foreign ministers of France, Germany and the U.K. as well as the EU reached a deal with Iran to establish an alternate payment system to avoid U.S. sanctions.MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

France, the EU, Germany and the U.K. have been deeply critical of the U.S. decision to leave the Iran deal, which came after the International Atomic Energy Agency affirmed Tehran's adherence on multiple occasions and followed U.S. exits from other international agreements. A day before Trump's U.N. address and the United Against Nuclear Iran conference, the foreign ministers of these transatlantic powers met with their Russian, Chinese and Iranian counterparts to discuss saving a nuclear deal that no longer protects the beleaguered Iranian economy from heavy U.S. sanctions.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini announced Monday alongside Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that China, the EU, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K. would establish an alternative payment to dodge U.S. sanctions against companies doing business with Iran.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas previously made a similar suggestion last month, arguing that Europe had to step up and "counterbalance" the U.S. when it "crosses red lines." Experts have suggested that such a move could have a major impact on U.S. global influence, as China and Russia were vying with the West for international authority and European powers were growing frustrated with the direction of Trump's foreign policy.

"The United States makes its decisions based on its national security interests, other parties to the plan of action need to make their decisions based on the capacities of their nations," Hook told the summit Tuesday when asked about the positions of China, the EU, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K.

The sanctions against Iran are not having the effect of driving Iran to the negotiating table.

Bolton has recently indicated he finds regime-change a realistic future for Iran.

You Americans, you do realize that you're giving muslim terror recruiters everything they need to get new fighters and (financial, verbal, material) supporters for the next few decades, if you continue to plunge the economy of Iran into a big mess like you did in Iraq, which led to the rise of ISIS and a related increase in 'small' muslim terror attacks (with cars, with knives) in the west?

And i suspect most of the new hatred generated in the Iran region by this Trump policy, will be pointed at Americans less well protected than Trump himself (even after his presidency, which you should end asap).

What a surprise. Saudi Arabia is using Trump to get at Iran. They've always tried to do this. They hate the Iranians and the US is doing their work for them.

Let's forget how many hijackers from 9/11 were from Saudi Arabia. Let's forget how much money the Saudis give to groups who kill US soldiers.

links, please. especially about money given by the Saudis to groups who kill US soldiers..

Really? You don't know this?

Oh, well here you go.

Opinion | Fighting, While Funding, Extremists

"Saudi Arabia itself has been accused of underwriting extremists. "

"Even so, American government reports say financial support for terrorism from Saudis “remains a threat to the kingdom and the international community.” And while this has been ignored by Mr. Trump, Saudi Arabia undermines whatever good work it does by continuing to spend billions of dollars spreading Wahhabism, its ultraconservative brand of Islam — which in turn inspires ISIS, Al Qaeda and other Sunni extremists — through a network of imams and mosques in countries like Kosovo, Indonesia and Pakistan."

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33533.pdf

"According to U.S. government reports, financial support for terrorism from Saudi individuals remains a threat to the kingdom and the international community, even though the Saudi government has “reaffirmed its commitment to countering terrorist financing in the Kingdom and the Gulf region.”"

" Saudi security entities continue to arrest cells suspected of plotting attacks, recruiting, or fundraising for some terrorist groups."

"some terrorist groups"... not all terrorist groups. Just those that aren't in line with Saudi policy.

Saudi Arabia 'top of the list' in funding extremism in Britain

"Saudi Arabia 'top of the list' in funding extremism in Britain"

"A clear link can be drawn between overseas money, mainly from Saudi Arabia, and the recent wave of attacks, a think-tank says."

""Research indicates that some Saudi individuals and foundations have been apparently heavily involved in exporting an illiberal, bigoted Wahhabi ideology.""

FactCheck Q&A: Is Saudi Arabia funding ISIS?

"
Perhaps the most powerful indication of Saudi’s financial links with ISIS can be seen in the cache of emails leaked from the office of Hillary Clinton, who was US Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013.

The messages, published by Wikileaks, contain an unambiguous statement by her campaign chairman, John Podesta:

“We need to use our diplomatic and more traditional intelligence assets to bring pressure on the governments of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are providing clandestine financial and logistic support to ISIL and other radical Sunni groups in the region.”"

There's plenty more where that came from.

 

[cnm]

Do you similarly need the US attempts at forcing other nations to sanction Iran to be linked?

 

[PoliticalChic]

Saudi Arabia and neighbors join Israel in backing Trump against Iran, just as others turn away

WORLD
TRUMP'S ALLIANCE AGAINST IRAN: SAUDI ARABIA AND PARTNERS JOIN ISRAEL IN SUPPORTING U.S. AS OTHERS TURN AWAY
BY TOM O'CONNOR ON 9/25/18 AT 4:04 PM



Donald Trump Blasts Iran During UN Speech
SHARE
WORLDINTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS


While President Donald Trump condemned Iran in his address Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly, a small but influential group of countries gathered elsewhere in New York City in an attempt to rally support for an increasingly controversial cause among the international community.

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the ambassadors of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to Washington and the director of Israel's Mossad spy agency were among those who spoke alongside two of President Donald Trump's most senior officials at the 2018 United Against Nuclear Iran summit. These five U.S.-backed countries have accused Iran of interfering in their respective internal affairs and were among the few world powers to welcome Trump's decision to unilaterally abandon a 2015 multinational deal by which Iran agreed to denuclearize in exchange for a lifting of sanctions.

At a time when traditional U.S. allies France, Germany and the U.K.–all of which also signed the nuclear deal–were working alongside China and Russia to counter U.S. sanctions against Iran, this Middle Eastern quintet has formed the core of foreign support for Trump's hardline stance against the revolutionary Shiite Muslim power. UAE ambassador to the U.S. Yousef al-Otaiba said Tuesday that the Iranian threat was existential.

"We have paid the price more than anyone else in our part of the world," Otaiba said, sitting on a panel beside State Department director of policy planning Brian Hook and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir. "The Gulf countries, Israel and the countries in the immediate vicinity are the ones at immediate risk."

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President Donald Trump (C), Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (R) and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (L) pose with regional leaders for a group photo during the Arab Islamic American Summit at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Riyadh on May 21, 2017. The U.S., the Arabian Peninsula powers and Israel are stepping up pressure on Iran to curb its regional activities.MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

While the four Arabian Peninsula states do not recognize or maintain relations with Israel, their mutual enmity for the leadership in Tehran has forged an informal coalition. Otaiba himself reportedly met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a chance encounter in Washington in May, during which both men discussed their country's positions on Iran, according to the Associated Press.

Bahrain, a majority-Shiite Muslim island state ruled by a Sunni Muslim monarchy with close ties to neighboring Saudi Arabia, went so far as to publicly back Israel's right to defend itself via a social media statement by its top diplomat in March. Having accused Iran of funding a Shiite Muslim insurgency in his country, Bahraini envoy to the U.S. Sheikh Abdullah bin Rashed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa reaffirmed this statement on Tuesday.

Keep Up With This Story And More By Subscribing Now

"Some of you might recall our foreign minister tweeted a few months ago and said that every country has the right to defend itself, including Israel," Sheikh Abdullah said.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted a CIA-reinstalled absolute monarchy, Iran's growing presence in the region has created major concerns for Saudi Arabia and Israel. The staunch U.S. allies have been at odds since Israel's 1948 creation, which prompted the mass displacement of Palestinians and a series of Arab-Israeli wars, but reports have suggested that two have become increasingly close in the face of a common foe, especially as Riyadh's regional clout has fallen in Iran's favor in countries such as Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

"This is a regime the only way one can deal with them is by pressuring them and by forcing them to change," Jubeir told the conference Tuesday, accusing Tehran of sponsoring terrorism, cyber attacks, ethnic cleansing projects and of supporting a group of Zaidi Shiite Muslim rebels, known as Ansar Allah or the Houthi movement, which he said have fired up to 197 ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia.

Jubeir left the event without taking questions and Israeli Mossad Director Yossi Cohen's comments at the following panel were off the record.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are locked in a battle for regional supremacy, fighting proxy wars in multiple countries across the Middle East.REUTERS

As a Saudi-led coalition—which includes Bahrain and the UAE—bombs the Houthis in Yemen, Israeli warplanes blast alleged Iranian and pro-Iran positions fighting on behalf of resurgent government forces in Syria. Both Saudi Arabia and Israel have backed Syrian rebels attempting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran and Russia. Israeli officials have called for Saudi Arabia and its regional allies to openly work together with their country against Iran. Last month, a report surfaced suggesting Saudi Arabia acquired the Iron Dome missile defense system, which Israel uses to block rocket attacks from Palestinian and Lebanese groups sponsored by Iran. The Israeli Defense Ministry reportedly denied the report.

While the true extent of their alignment remains the source of reports and speculation, Israel and Saudi Arabia's anti-Iran postures have been emboldened by the Trump administration. The U.S. leader followed up his fiery debut at the U.N. General Assembly last year with another verbal assault on Tehran, calling it a "corrupt dictatorship" whose leaders "sow chaos, death, and disruption."

"They do not respect their neighbors or borders, or the sovereign rights of nations. Instead, Iran’s leaders plunder the nation's resources to enrich themselves and to spread mayhem across the Middle East and far beyond," he said. "The Iranian people are rightly outraged that their leaders have embezzled billions of dollars from Iran’s treasury, seized valuable portions of the economy, and looted the religious endowments, all to line their own pockets and send their proxies to wage war."

Iran has been keen to point out the perceived growing ties between the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia and dismissed their accusations, accusing them of conspiring to destabilize the country and the region. The Iranian position has been reinforced by its success in tackling the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) alongside Iraqi government forces backed by the U.S. and Syrian government forces opposed by Washington. In Syria, Iran-backed militias have deployedalongside Syria's armed forces around Idlib, the final province under the control of an Islamist-led insurgency.

France, Germany and the U.K. have joined the U.S. in cautioning Syria and its Iranian and Russian allies from pursuing an all-out offensive in Idlib, but have split with the Trump administration on punishing Iran economically for its involvement in the Middle East and development of ballistic missiles.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (R) takes part in a bilateral meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in the French Mission to the United Nations on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on September 24. The foreign ministers of France, Germany and the U.K. as well as the EU reached a deal with Iran to establish an alternate payment system to avoid U.S. sanctions.MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

France, the EU, Germany and the U.K. have been deeply critical of the U.S. decision to leave the Iran deal, which came after the International Atomic Energy Agency affirmed Tehran's adherence on multiple occasions and followed U.S. exits from other international agreements. A day before Trump's U.N. address and the United Against Nuclear Iran conference, the foreign ministers of these transatlantic powers met with their Russian, Chinese and Iranian counterparts to discuss saving a nuclear deal that no longer protects the beleaguered Iranian economy from heavy U.S. sanctions.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini announced Monday alongside Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that China, the EU, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K. would establish an alternative payment to dodge U.S. sanctions against companies doing business with Iran.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas previously made a similar suggestion last month, arguing that Europe had to step up and "counterbalance" the U.S. when it "crosses red lines." Experts have suggested that such a move could have a major impact on U.S. global influence, as China and Russia were vying with the West for international authority and European powers were growing frustrated with the direction of Trump's foreign policy.

"The United States makes its decisions based on its national security interests, other parties to the plan of action need to make their decisions based on the capacities of their nations," Hook told the summit Tuesday when asked about the positions of China, the EU, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K.

The sanctions against Iran are not having the effect of driving Iran to the negotiating table.

Bolton has recently indicated he finds regime-change a realistic future for Iran.

You Americans, you do realize that you're giving muslim terror recruiters everything they need to get new fighters and (financial, verbal, material) supporters for the next few decades, if you continue to plunge the economy of Iran into a big mess like you did in Iraq, which led to the rise of ISIS and a related increase in 'small' muslim terror attacks (with cars, with knives) in the west?

And i suspect most of the new hatred generated in the Iran region by this Trump policy, will be pointed at Americans less well protected than Trump himself (even after his presidency, which you should end asap).

What benefit did America, or the world, accrue by guaranteeing nuclear weapons to the world's worst state sponsor of terrorism?

 

[Claudette]

As long as the US isn't involved, let the locals slug it out.

I agree. Let SA deal with Iran.

Iran is its owns worst enemy.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Saudi Arabia and neighbors join Israel in backing Trump against Iran, just as others turn away

WORLD
TRUMP'S ALLIANCE AGAINST IRAN: SAUDI ARABIA AND PARTNERS JOIN ISRAEL IN SUPPORTING U.S. AS OTHERS TURN AWAY
BY TOM O'CONNOR ON 9/25/18 AT 4:04 PM



Donald Trump Blasts Iran During UN Speech
SHARE
WORLDINTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS


While President Donald Trump condemned Iran in his address Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly, a small but influential group of countries gathered elsewhere in New York City in an attempt to rally support for an increasingly controversial cause among the international community.

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the ambassadors of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to Washington and the director of Israel's Mossad spy agency were among those who spoke alongside two of President Donald Trump's most senior officials at the 2018 United Against Nuclear Iran summit. These five U.S.-backed countries have accused Iran of interfering in their respective internal affairs and were among the few world powers to welcome Trump's decision to unilaterally abandon a 2015 multinational deal by which Iran agreed to denuclearize in exchange for a lifting of sanctions.

At a time when traditional U.S. allies France, Germany and the U.K.–all of which also signed the nuclear deal–were working alongside China and Russia to counter U.S. sanctions against Iran, this Middle Eastern quintet has formed the core of foreign support for Trump's hardline stance against the revolutionary Shiite Muslim power. UAE ambassador to the U.S. Yousef al-Otaiba said Tuesday that the Iranian threat was existential.

"We have paid the price more than anyone else in our part of the world," Otaiba said, sitting on a panel beside State Department director of policy planning Brian Hook and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir. "The Gulf countries, Israel and the countries in the immediate vicinity are the ones at immediate risk."

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76
The Most Powerful Military Forces in the World
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President Donald Trump (C), Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (R) and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (L) pose with regional leaders for a group photo during the Arab Islamic American Summit at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Riyadh on May 21, 2017. The U.S., the Arabian Peninsula powers and Israel are stepping up pressure on Iran to curb its regional activities.MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

While the four Arabian Peninsula states do not recognize or maintain relations with Israel, their mutual enmity for the leadership in Tehran has forged an informal coalition. Otaiba himself reportedly met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a chance encounter in Washington in May, during which both men discussed their country's positions on Iran, according to the Associated Press.

Bahrain, a majority-Shiite Muslim island state ruled by a Sunni Muslim monarchy with close ties to neighboring Saudi Arabia, went so far as to publicly back Israel's right to defend itself via a social media statement by its top diplomat in March. Having accused Iran of funding a Shiite Muslim insurgency in his country, Bahraini envoy to the U.S. Sheikh Abdullah bin Rashed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa reaffirmed this statement on Tuesday.

Keep Up With This Story And More By Subscribing Now

"Some of you might recall our foreign minister tweeted a few months ago and said that every country has the right to defend itself, including Israel," Sheikh Abdullah said.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted a CIA-reinstalled absolute monarchy, Iran's growing presence in the region has created major concerns for Saudi Arabia and Israel. The staunch U.S. allies have been at odds since Israel's 1948 creation, which prompted the mass displacement of Palestinians and a series of Arab-Israeli wars, but reports have suggested that two have become increasingly close in the face of a common foe, especially as Riyadh's regional clout has fallen in Iran's favor in countries such as Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

"This is a regime the only way one can deal with them is by pressuring them and by forcing them to change," Jubeir told the conference Tuesday, accusing Tehran of sponsoring terrorism, cyber attacks, ethnic cleansing projects and of supporting a group of Zaidi Shiite Muslim rebels, known as Ansar Allah or the Houthi movement, which he said have fired up to 197 ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia.

Jubeir left the event without taking questions and Israeli Mossad Director Yossi Cohen's comments at the following panel were off the record.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are locked in a battle for regional supremacy, fighting proxy wars in multiple countries across the Middle East.REUTERS

As a Saudi-led coalition—which includes Bahrain and the UAE—bombs the Houthis in Yemen, Israeli warplanes blast alleged Iranian and pro-Iran positions fighting on behalf of resurgent government forces in Syria. Both Saudi Arabia and Israel have backed Syrian rebels attempting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran and Russia. Israeli officials have called for Saudi Arabia and its regional allies to openly work together with their country against Iran. Last month, a report surfaced suggesting Saudi Arabia acquired the Iron Dome missile defense system, which Israel uses to block rocket attacks from Palestinian and Lebanese groups sponsored by Iran. The Israeli Defense Ministry reportedly denied the report.

While the true extent of their alignment remains the source of reports and speculation, Israel and Saudi Arabia's anti-Iran postures have been emboldened by the Trump administration. The U.S. leader followed up his fiery debut at the U.N. General Assembly last year with another verbal assault on Tehran, calling it a "corrupt dictatorship" whose leaders "sow chaos, death, and disruption."

"They do not respect their neighbors or borders, or the sovereign rights of nations. Instead, Iran’s leaders plunder the nation's resources to enrich themselves and to spread mayhem across the Middle East and far beyond," he said. "The Iranian people are rightly outraged that their leaders have embezzled billions of dollars from Iran’s treasury, seized valuable portions of the economy, and looted the religious endowments, all to line their own pockets and send their proxies to wage war."

Iran has been keen to point out the perceived growing ties between the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia and dismissed their accusations, accusing them of conspiring to destabilize the country and the region. The Iranian position has been reinforced by its success in tackling the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) alongside Iraqi government forces backed by the U.S. and Syrian government forces opposed by Washington. In Syria, Iran-backed militias have deployedalongside Syria's armed forces around Idlib, the final province under the control of an Islamist-led insurgency.

France, Germany and the U.K. have joined the U.S. in cautioning Syria and its Iranian and Russian allies from pursuing an all-out offensive in Idlib, but have split with the Trump administration on punishing Iran economically for its involvement in the Middle East and development of ballistic missiles.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (R) takes part in a bilateral meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in the French Mission to the United Nations on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on September 24. The foreign ministers of France, Germany and the U.K. as well as the EU reached a deal with Iran to establish an alternate payment system to avoid U.S. sanctions.MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

France, the EU, Germany and the U.K. have been deeply critical of the U.S. decision to leave the Iran deal, which came after the International Atomic Energy Agency affirmed Tehran's adherence on multiple occasions and followed U.S. exits from other international agreements. A day before Trump's U.N. address and the United Against Nuclear Iran conference, the foreign ministers of these transatlantic powers met with their Russian, Chinese and Iranian counterparts to discuss saving a nuclear deal that no longer protects the beleaguered Iranian economy from heavy U.S. sanctions.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini announced Monday alongside Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that China, the EU, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K. would establish an alternative payment to dodge U.S. sanctions against companies doing business with Iran.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas previously made a similar suggestion last month, arguing that Europe had to step up and "counterbalance" the U.S. when it "crosses red lines." Experts have suggested that such a move could have a major impact on U.S. global influence, as China and Russia were vying with the West for international authority and European powers were growing frustrated with the direction of Trump's foreign policy.

"The United States makes its decisions based on its national security interests, other parties to the plan of action need to make their decisions based on the capacities of their nations," Hook told the summit Tuesday when asked about the positions of China, the EU, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K.

The sanctions against Iran are not having the effect of driving Iran to the negotiating table.

Bolton has recently indicated he finds regime-change a realistic future for Iran.

You Americans, you do realize that you're giving muslim terror recruiters everything they need to get new fighters and (financial, verbal, material) supporters for the next few decades, if you continue to plunge the economy of Iran into a big mess like you did in Iraq, which led to the rise of ISIS and a related increase in 'small' muslim terror attacks (with cars, with knives) in the west?

And i suspect most of the new hatred generated in the Iran region by this Trump policy, will be pointed at Americans less well protected than Trump himself (even after his presidency, which you should end asap).

 

[Crepitus]

Saudi Arabia and neighbors join Israel in backing Trump against Iran, just as others turn away

WORLD
TRUMP'S ALLIANCE AGAINST IRAN: SAUDI ARABIA AND PARTNERS JOIN ISRAEL IN SUPPORTING U.S. AS OTHERS TURN AWAY
BY TOM O'CONNOR ON 9/25/18 AT 4:04 PM



Donald Trump Blasts Iran During UN Speech
SHARE
WORLDINTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS


While President Donald Trump condemned Iran in his address Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly, a small but influential group of countries gathered elsewhere in New York City in an attempt to rally support for an increasingly controversial cause among the international community.

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the ambassadors of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to Washington and the director of Israel's Mossad spy agency were among those who spoke alongside two of President Donald Trump's most senior officials at the 2018 United Against Nuclear Iran summit. These five U.S.-backed countries have accused Iran of interfering in their respective internal affairs and were among the few world powers to welcome Trump's decision to unilaterally abandon a 2015 multinational deal by which Iran agreed to denuclearize in exchange for a lifting of sanctions.

At a time when traditional U.S. allies France, Germany and the U.K.–all of which also signed the nuclear deal–were working alongside China and Russia to counter U.S. sanctions against Iran, this Middle Eastern quintet has formed the core of foreign support for Trump's hardline stance against the revolutionary Shiite Muslim power. UAE ambassador to the U.S. Yousef al-Otaiba said Tuesday that the Iranian threat was existential.

"We have paid the price more than anyone else in our part of the world," Otaiba said, sitting on a panel beside State Department director of policy planning Brian Hook and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir. "The Gulf countries, Israel and the countries in the immediate vicinity are the ones at immediate risk."

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President Donald Trump (C), Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (R) and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (L) pose with regional leaders for a group photo during the Arab Islamic American Summit at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Riyadh on May 21, 2017. The U.S., the Arabian Peninsula powers and Israel are stepping up pressure on Iran to curb its regional activities.MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

While the four Arabian Peninsula states do not recognize or maintain relations with Israel, their mutual enmity for the leadership in Tehran has forged an informal coalition. Otaiba himself reportedly met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a chance encounter in Washington in May, during which both men discussed their country's positions on Iran, according to the Associated Press.

Bahrain, a majority-Shiite Muslim island state ruled by a Sunni Muslim monarchy with close ties to neighboring Saudi Arabia, went so far as to publicly back Israel's right to defend itself via a social media statement by its top diplomat in March. Having accused Iran of funding a Shiite Muslim insurgency in his country, Bahraini envoy to the U.S. Sheikh Abdullah bin Rashed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa reaffirmed this statement on Tuesday.

Keep Up With This Story And More By Subscribing Now

"Some of you might recall our foreign minister tweeted a few months ago and said that every country has the right to defend itself, including Israel," Sheikh Abdullah said.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted a CIA-reinstalled absolute monarchy, Iran's growing presence in the region has created major concerns for Saudi Arabia and Israel. The staunch U.S. allies have been at odds since Israel's 1948 creation, which prompted the mass displacement of Palestinians and a series of Arab-Israeli wars, but reports have suggested that two have become increasingly close in the face of a common foe, especially as Riyadh's regional clout has fallen in Iran's favor in countries such as Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

"This is a regime the only way one can deal with them is by pressuring them and by forcing them to change," Jubeir told the conference Tuesday, accusing Tehran of sponsoring terrorism, cyber attacks, ethnic cleansing projects and of supporting a group of Zaidi Shiite Muslim rebels, known as Ansar Allah or the Houthi movement, which he said have fired up to 197 ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia.

Jubeir left the event without taking questions and Israeli Mossad Director Yossi Cohen's comments at the following panel were off the record.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are locked in a battle for regional supremacy, fighting proxy wars in multiple countries across the Middle East.REUTERS

As a Saudi-led coalition—which includes Bahrain and the UAE—bombs the Houthis in Yemen, Israeli warplanes blast alleged Iranian and pro-Iran positions fighting on behalf of resurgent government forces in Syria. Both Saudi Arabia and Israel have backed Syrian rebels attempting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran and Russia. Israeli officials have called for Saudi Arabia and its regional allies to openly work together with their country against Iran. Last month, a report surfaced suggesting Saudi Arabia acquired the Iron Dome missile defense system, which Israel uses to block rocket attacks from Palestinian and Lebanese groups sponsored by Iran. The Israeli Defense Ministry reportedly denied the report.

While the true extent of their alignment remains the source of reports and speculation, Israel and Saudi Arabia's anti-Iran postures have been emboldened by the Trump administration. The U.S. leader followed up his fiery debut at the U.N. General Assembly last year with another verbal assault on Tehran, calling it a "corrupt dictatorship" whose leaders "sow chaos, death, and disruption."

"They do not respect their neighbors or borders, or the sovereign rights of nations. Instead, Iran’s leaders plunder the nation's resources to enrich themselves and to spread mayhem across the Middle East and far beyond," he said. "The Iranian people are rightly outraged that their leaders have embezzled billions of dollars from Iran’s treasury, seized valuable portions of the economy, and looted the religious endowments, all to line their own pockets and send their proxies to wage war."

Iran has been keen to point out the perceived growing ties between the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia and dismissed their accusations, accusing them of conspiring to destabilize the country and the region. The Iranian position has been reinforced by its success in tackling the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) alongside Iraqi government forces backed by the U.S. and Syrian government forces opposed by Washington. In Syria, Iran-backed militias have deployedalongside Syria's armed forces around Idlib, the final province under the control of an Islamist-led insurgency.

France, Germany and the U.K. have joined the U.S. in cautioning Syria and its Iranian and Russian allies from pursuing an all-out offensive in Idlib, but have split with the Trump administration on punishing Iran economically for its involvement in the Middle East and development of ballistic missiles.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (R) takes part in a bilateral meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in the French Mission to the United Nations on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on September 24. The foreign ministers of France, Germany and the U.K. as well as the EU reached a deal with Iran to establish an alternate payment system to avoid U.S. sanctions.MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

France, the EU, Germany and the U.K. have been deeply critical of the U.S. decision to leave the Iran deal, which came after the International Atomic Energy Agency affirmed Tehran's adherence on multiple occasions and followed U.S. exits from other international agreements. A day before Trump's U.N. address and the United Against Nuclear Iran conference, the foreign ministers of these transatlantic powers met with their Russian, Chinese and Iranian counterparts to discuss saving a nuclear deal that no longer protects the beleaguered Iranian economy from heavy U.S. sanctions.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini announced Monday alongside Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that China, the EU, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K. would establish an alternative payment to dodge U.S. sanctions against companies doing business with Iran.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas previously made a similar suggestion last month, arguing that Europe had to step up and "counterbalance" the U.S. when it "crosses red lines." Experts have suggested that such a move could have a major impact on U.S. global influence, as China and Russia were vying with the West for international authority and European powers were growing frustrated with the direction of Trump's foreign policy.

"The United States makes its decisions based on its national security interests, other parties to the plan of action need to make their decisions based on the capacities of their nations," Hook told the summit Tuesday when asked about the positions of China, the EU, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K.

The sanctions against Iran are not having the effect of driving Iran to the negotiating table.

Bolton has recently indicated he finds regime-change a realistic future for Iran.

You Americans, you do realize that you're giving muslim terror recruiters everything they need to get new fighters and (financial, verbal, material) supporters for the next few decades, if you continue to plunge the economy of Iran into a big mess like you did in Iraq, which led to the rise of ISIS and a related increase in 'small' muslim terror attacks (with cars, with knives) in the west?

And i suspect most of the new hatred generated in the Iran region by this Trump policy, will be pointed at Americans less well protected than Trump himself (even after his presidency, which you should end asap).

The sanctions aren't working? Well duh. The main party in the negotiation has proven itself to be untrustworthy. Why would they try again to make a deal with us?

 

[BlindBoo]

War is big business.

Peaceniks hurt the bottom line.

No money in cooperation, compromise and non-violent solutions.

 

[LordBrownTrout]

Saudi Arabia and neighbors join Israel in backing Trump against Iran, just as others turn away

WORLD
TRUMP'S ALLIANCE AGAINST IRAN: SAUDI ARABIA AND PARTNERS JOIN ISRAEL IN SUPPORTING U.S. AS OTHERS TURN AWAY
BY TOM O'CONNOR ON 9/25/18 AT 4:04 PM



Donald Trump Blasts Iran During UN Speech
SHARE
WORLDINTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS


While President Donald Trump condemned Iran in his address Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly, a small but influential group of countries gathered elsewhere in New York City in an attempt to rally support for an increasingly controversial cause among the international community.

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the ambassadors of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to Washington and the director of Israel's Mossad spy agency were among those who spoke alongside two of President Donald Trump's most senior officials at the 2018 United Against Nuclear Iran summit. These five U.S.-backed countries have accused Iran of interfering in their respective internal affairs and were among the few world powers to welcome Trump's decision to unilaterally abandon a 2015 multinational deal by which Iran agreed to denuclearize in exchange for a lifting of sanctions.

At a time when traditional U.S. allies France, Germany and the U.K.–all of which also signed the nuclear deal–were working alongside China and Russia to counter U.S. sanctions against Iran, this Middle Eastern quintet has formed the core of foreign support for Trump's hardline stance against the revolutionary Shiite Muslim power. UAE ambassador to the U.S. Yousef al-Otaiba said Tuesday that the Iranian threat was existential.

"We have paid the price more than anyone else in our part of the world," Otaiba said, sitting on a panel beside State Department director of policy planning Brian Hook and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir. "The Gulf countries, Israel and the countries in the immediate vicinity are the ones at immediate risk."

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President Donald Trump (C), Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (R) and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (L) pose with regional leaders for a group photo during the Arab Islamic American Summit at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Riyadh on May 21, 2017. The U.S., the Arabian Peninsula powers and Israel are stepping up pressure on Iran to curb its regional activities.MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

While the four Arabian Peninsula states do not recognize or maintain relations with Israel, their mutual enmity for the leadership in Tehran has forged an informal coalition. Otaiba himself reportedly met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a chance encounter in Washington in May, during which both men discussed their country's positions on Iran, according to the Associated Press.

Bahrain, a majority-Shiite Muslim island state ruled by a Sunni Muslim monarchy with close ties to neighboring Saudi Arabia, went so far as to publicly back Israel's right to defend itself via a social media statement by its top diplomat in March. Having accused Iran of funding a Shiite Muslim insurgency in his country, Bahraini envoy to the U.S. Sheikh Abdullah bin Rashed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa reaffirmed this statement on Tuesday.

Keep Up With This Story And More By Subscribing Now

"Some of you might recall our foreign minister tweeted a few months ago and said that every country has the right to defend itself, including Israel," Sheikh Abdullah said.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted a CIA-reinstalled absolute monarchy, Iran's growing presence in the region has created major concerns for Saudi Arabia and Israel. The staunch U.S. allies have been at odds since Israel's 1948 creation, which prompted the mass displacement of Palestinians and a series of Arab-Israeli wars, but reports have suggested that two have become increasingly close in the face of a common foe, especially as Riyadh's regional clout has fallen in Iran's favor in countries such as Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

"This is a regime the only way one can deal with them is by pressuring them and by forcing them to change," Jubeir told the conference Tuesday, accusing Tehran of sponsoring terrorism, cyber attacks, ethnic cleansing projects and of supporting a group of Zaidi Shiite Muslim rebels, known as Ansar Allah or the Houthi movement, which he said have fired up to 197 ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia.

Jubeir left the event without taking questions and Israeli Mossad Director Yossi Cohen's comments at the following panel were off the record.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are locked in a battle for regional supremacy, fighting proxy wars in multiple countries across the Middle East.REUTERS

As a Saudi-led coalition—which includes Bahrain and the UAE—bombs the Houthis in Yemen, Israeli warplanes blast alleged Iranian and pro-Iran positions fighting on behalf of resurgent government forces in Syria. Both Saudi Arabia and Israel have backed Syrian rebels attempting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran and Russia. Israeli officials have called for Saudi Arabia and its regional allies to openly work together with their country against Iran. Last month, a report surfaced suggesting Saudi Arabia acquired the Iron Dome missile defense system, which Israel uses to block rocket attacks from Palestinian and Lebanese groups sponsored by Iran. The Israeli Defense Ministry reportedly denied the report.

While the true extent of their alignment remains the source of reports and speculation, Israel and Saudi Arabia's anti-Iran postures have been emboldened by the Trump administration. The U.S. leader followed up his fiery debut at the U.N. General Assembly last year with another verbal assault on Tehran, calling it a "corrupt dictatorship" whose leaders "sow chaos, death, and disruption."

"They do not respect their neighbors or borders, or the sovereign rights of nations. Instead, Iran’s leaders plunder the nation's resources to enrich themselves and to spread mayhem across the Middle East and far beyond," he said. "The Iranian people are rightly outraged that their leaders have embezzled billions of dollars from Iran’s treasury, seized valuable portions of the economy, and looted the religious endowments, all to line their own pockets and send their proxies to wage war."

Iran has been keen to point out the perceived growing ties between the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia and dismissed their accusations, accusing them of conspiring to destabilize the country and the region. The Iranian position has been reinforced by its success in tackling the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) alongside Iraqi government forces backed by the U.S. and Syrian government forces opposed by Washington. In Syria, Iran-backed militias have deployedalongside Syria's armed forces around Idlib, the final province under the control of an Islamist-led insurgency.

France, Germany and the U.K. have joined the U.S. in cautioning Syria and its Iranian and Russian allies from pursuing an all-out offensive in Idlib, but have split with the Trump administration on punishing Iran economically for its involvement in the Middle East and development of ballistic missiles.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (R) takes part in a bilateral meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in the French Mission to the United Nations on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on September 24. The foreign ministers of France, Germany and the U.K. as well as the EU reached a deal with Iran to establish an alternate payment system to avoid U.S. sanctions.MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

France, the EU, Germany and the U.K. have been deeply critical of the U.S. decision to leave the Iran deal, which came after the International Atomic Energy Agency affirmed Tehran's adherence on multiple occasions and followed U.S. exits from other international agreements. A day before Trump's U.N. address and the United Against Nuclear Iran conference, the foreign ministers of these transatlantic powers met with their Russian, Chinese and Iranian counterparts to discuss saving a nuclear deal that no longer protects the beleaguered Iranian economy from heavy U.S. sanctions.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini announced Monday alongside Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that China, the EU, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K. would establish an alternative payment to dodge U.S. sanctions against companies doing business with Iran.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas previously made a similar suggestion last month, arguing that Europe had to step up and "counterbalance" the U.S. when it "crosses red lines." Experts have suggested that such a move could have a major impact on U.S. global influence, as China and Russia were vying with the West for international authority and European powers were growing frustrated with the direction of Trump's foreign policy.

"The United States makes its decisions based on its national security interests, other parties to the plan of action need to make their decisions based on the capacities of their nations," Hook told the summit Tuesday when asked about the positions of China, the EU, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K.

The sanctions against Iran are not having the effect of driving Iran to the negotiating table.

Bolton has recently indicated he finds regime-change a realistic future for Iran.

You Americans, you do realize that you're giving muslim terror recruiters everything they need to get new fighters and (financial, verbal, material) supporters for the next few decades, if you continue to plunge the economy of Iran into a big mess like you did in Iraq, which led to the rise of ISIS and a related increase in 'small' muslim terror attacks (with cars, with knives) in the west?

And i suspect most of the new hatred generated in the Iran region by this Trump policy, will be pointed at Americans less well protected than Trump himself (even after his presidency, which you should end asap).

The sanctions aren't working? Well duh. The main party in the negotiation has proven itself to be untrustworthy. Why would they try again to make a deal with us?

The rial is practically worthless now.

 

[Crepitus]

Saudi Arabia and neighbors join Israel in backing Trump against Iran, just as others turn away

WORLD
TRUMP'S ALLIANCE AGAINST IRAN: SAUDI ARABIA AND PARTNERS JOIN ISRAEL IN SUPPORTING U.S. AS OTHERS TURN AWAY
BY TOM O'CONNOR ON 9/25/18 AT 4:04 PM



Donald Trump Blasts Iran During UN Speech
SHARE
WORLDINTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS


While President Donald Trump condemned Iran in his address Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly, a small but influential group of countries gathered elsewhere in New York City in an attempt to rally support for an increasingly controversial cause among the international community.

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the ambassadors of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to Washington and the director of Israel's Mossad spy agency were among those who spoke alongside two of President Donald Trump's most senior officials at the 2018 United Against Nuclear Iran summit. These five U.S.-backed countries have accused Iran of interfering in their respective internal affairs and were among the few world powers to welcome Trump's decision to unilaterally abandon a 2015 multinational deal by which Iran agreed to denuclearize in exchange for a lifting of sanctions.

At a time when traditional U.S. allies France, Germany and the U.K.–all of which also signed the nuclear deal–were working alongside China and Russia to counter U.S. sanctions against Iran, this Middle Eastern quintet has formed the core of foreign support for Trump's hardline stance against the revolutionary Shiite Muslim power. UAE ambassador to the U.S. Yousef al-Otaiba said Tuesday that the Iranian threat was existential.

"We have paid the price more than anyone else in our part of the world," Otaiba said, sitting on a panel beside State Department director of policy planning Brian Hook and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir. "The Gulf countries, Israel and the countries in the immediate vicinity are the ones at immediate risk."

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President Donald Trump (C), Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (R) and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (L) pose with regional leaders for a group photo during the Arab Islamic American Summit at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Riyadh on May 21, 2017. The U.S., the Arabian Peninsula powers and Israel are stepping up pressure on Iran to curb its regional activities.MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

While the four Arabian Peninsula states do not recognize or maintain relations with Israel, their mutual enmity for the leadership in Tehran has forged an informal coalition. Otaiba himself reportedly met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a chance encounter in Washington in May, during which both men discussed their country's positions on Iran, according to the Associated Press.

Bahrain, a majority-Shiite Muslim island state ruled by a Sunni Muslim monarchy with close ties to neighboring Saudi Arabia, went so far as to publicly back Israel's right to defend itself via a social media statement by its top diplomat in March. Having accused Iran of funding a Shiite Muslim insurgency in his country, Bahraini envoy to the U.S. Sheikh Abdullah bin Rashed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa reaffirmed this statement on Tuesday.

Keep Up With This Story And More By Subscribing Now

"Some of you might recall our foreign minister tweeted a few months ago and said that every country has the right to defend itself, including Israel," Sheikh Abdullah said.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted a CIA-reinstalled absolute monarchy, Iran's growing presence in the region has created major concerns for Saudi Arabia and Israel. The staunch U.S. allies have been at odds since Israel's 1948 creation, which prompted the mass displacement of Palestinians and a series of Arab-Israeli wars, but reports have suggested that two have become increasingly close in the face of a common foe, especially as Riyadh's regional clout has fallen in Iran's favor in countries such as Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

"This is a regime the only way one can deal with them is by pressuring them and by forcing them to change," Jubeir told the conference Tuesday, accusing Tehran of sponsoring terrorism, cyber attacks, ethnic cleansing projects and of supporting a group of Zaidi Shiite Muslim rebels, known as Ansar Allah or the Houthi movement, which he said have fired up to 197 ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia.

Jubeir left the event without taking questions and Israeli Mossad Director Yossi Cohen's comments at the following panel were off the record.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are locked in a battle for regional supremacy, fighting proxy wars in multiple countries across the Middle East.REUTERS

As a Saudi-led coalition—which includes Bahrain and the UAE—bombs the Houthis in Yemen, Israeli warplanes blast alleged Iranian and pro-Iran positions fighting on behalf of resurgent government forces in Syria. Both Saudi Arabia and Israel have backed Syrian rebels attempting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran and Russia. Israeli officials have called for Saudi Arabia and its regional allies to openly work together with their country against Iran. Last month, a report surfaced suggesting Saudi Arabia acquired the Iron Dome missile defense system, which Israel uses to block rocket attacks from Palestinian and Lebanese groups sponsored by Iran. The Israeli Defense Ministry reportedly denied the report.

While the true extent of their alignment remains the source of reports and speculation, Israel and Saudi Arabia's anti-Iran postures have been emboldened by the Trump administration. The U.S. leader followed up his fiery debut at the U.N. General Assembly last year with another verbal assault on Tehran, calling it a "corrupt dictatorship" whose leaders "sow chaos, death, and disruption."

"They do not respect their neighbors or borders, or the sovereign rights of nations. Instead, Iran’s leaders plunder the nation's resources to enrich themselves and to spread mayhem across the Middle East and far beyond," he said. "The Iranian people are rightly outraged that their leaders have embezzled billions of dollars from Iran’s treasury, seized valuable portions of the economy, and looted the religious endowments, all to line their own pockets and send their proxies to wage war."

Iran has been keen to point out the perceived growing ties between the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia and dismissed their accusations, accusing them of conspiring to destabilize the country and the region. The Iranian position has been reinforced by its success in tackling the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) alongside Iraqi government forces backed by the U.S. and Syrian government forces opposed by Washington. In Syria, Iran-backed militias have deployedalongside Syria's armed forces around Idlib, the final province under the control of an Islamist-led insurgency.

France, Germany and the U.K. have joined the U.S. in cautioning Syria and its Iranian and Russian allies from pursuing an all-out offensive in Idlib, but have split with the Trump administration on punishing Iran economically for its involvement in the Middle East and development of ballistic missiles.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (R) takes part in a bilateral meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in the French Mission to the United Nations on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on September 24. The foreign ministers of France, Germany and the U.K. as well as the EU reached a deal with Iran to establish an alternate payment system to avoid U.S. sanctions.MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

France, the EU, Germany and the U.K. have been deeply critical of the U.S. decision to leave the Iran deal, which came after the International Atomic Energy Agency affirmed Tehran's adherence on multiple occasions and followed U.S. exits from other international agreements. A day before Trump's U.N. address and the United Against Nuclear Iran conference, the foreign ministers of these transatlantic powers met with their Russian, Chinese and Iranian counterparts to discuss saving a nuclear deal that no longer protects the beleaguered Iranian economy from heavy U.S. sanctions.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini announced Monday alongside Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that China, the EU, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K. would establish an alternative payment to dodge U.S. sanctions against companies doing business with Iran.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas previously made a similar suggestion last month, arguing that Europe had to step up and "counterbalance" the U.S. when it "crosses red lines." Experts have suggested that such a move could have a major impact on U.S. global influence, as China and Russia were vying with the West for international authority and European powers were growing frustrated with the direction of Trump's foreign policy.

"The United States makes its decisions based on its national security interests, other parties to the plan of action need to make their decisions based on the capacities of their nations," Hook told the summit Tuesday when asked about the positions of China, the EU, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K.

The sanctions against Iran are not having the effect of driving Iran to the negotiating table.

Bolton has recently indicated he finds regime-change a realistic future for Iran.

You Americans, you do realize that you're giving muslim terror recruiters everything they need to get new fighters and (financial, verbal, material) supporters for the next few decades, if you continue to plunge the economy of Iran into a big mess like you did in Iraq, which led to the rise of ISIS and a related increase in 'small' muslim terror attacks (with cars, with knives) in the west?

And i suspect most of the new hatred generated in the Iran region by this Trump policy, will be pointed at Americans less well protected than Trump himself (even after his presidency, which you should end asap).

The sanctions aren't working? Well duh. The main party in the negotiation has proven itself to be untrustworthy. Why would they try again to make a deal with us?

The rial is practically worthless now.

Meaningless. Has no bearing on anything I said.

 

[LordBrownTrout]

Saudi Arabia and neighbors join Israel in backing Trump against Iran, just as others turn away

WORLD
TRUMP'S ALLIANCE AGAINST IRAN: SAUDI ARABIA AND PARTNERS JOIN ISRAEL IN SUPPORTING U.S. AS OTHERS TURN AWAY
BY TOM O'CONNOR ON 9/25/18 AT 4:04 PM



Donald Trump Blasts Iran During UN Speech
SHARE
WORLDINTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS


While President Donald Trump condemned Iran in his address Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly, a small but influential group of countries gathered elsewhere in New York City in an attempt to rally support for an increasingly controversial cause among the international community.

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the ambassadors of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to Washington and the director of Israel's Mossad spy agency were among those who spoke alongside two of President Donald Trump's most senior officials at the 2018 United Against Nuclear Iran summit. These five U.S.-backed countries have accused Iran of interfering in their respective internal affairs and were among the few world powers to welcome Trump's decision to unilaterally abandon a 2015 multinational deal by which Iran agreed to denuclearize in exchange for a lifting of sanctions.

At a time when traditional U.S. allies France, Germany and the U.K.–all of which also signed the nuclear deal–were working alongside China and Russia to counter U.S. sanctions against Iran, this Middle Eastern quintet has formed the core of foreign support for Trump's hardline stance against the revolutionary Shiite Muslim power. UAE ambassador to the U.S. Yousef al-Otaiba said Tuesday that the Iranian threat was existential.

"We have paid the price more than anyone else in our part of the world," Otaiba said, sitting on a panel beside State Department director of policy planning Brian Hook and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir. "The Gulf countries, Israel and the countries in the immediate vicinity are the ones at immediate risk."

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76
The Most Powerful Military Forces in the World
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Every World Press Photo Winner Ever: 60 Images That Define Our World

President Donald Trump (C), Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (R) and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (L) pose with regional leaders for a group photo during the Arab Islamic American Summit at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Riyadh on May 21, 2017. The U.S., the Arabian Peninsula powers and Israel are stepping up pressure on Iran to curb its regional activities.MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

While the four Arabian Peninsula states do not recognize or maintain relations with Israel, their mutual enmity for the leadership in Tehran has forged an informal coalition. Otaiba himself reportedly met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a chance encounter in Washington in May, during which both men discussed their country's positions on Iran, according to the Associated Press.

Bahrain, a majority-Shiite Muslim island state ruled by a Sunni Muslim monarchy with close ties to neighboring Saudi Arabia, went so far as to publicly back Israel's right to defend itself via a social media statement by its top diplomat in March. Having accused Iran of funding a Shiite Muslim insurgency in his country, Bahraini envoy to the U.S. Sheikh Abdullah bin Rashed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa reaffirmed this statement on Tuesday.

Keep Up With This Story And More By Subscribing Now

"Some of you might recall our foreign minister tweeted a few months ago and said that every country has the right to defend itself, including Israel," Sheikh Abdullah said.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted a CIA-reinstalled absolute monarchy, Iran's growing presence in the region has created major concerns for Saudi Arabia and Israel. The staunch U.S. allies have been at odds since Israel's 1948 creation, which prompted the mass displacement of Palestinians and a series of Arab-Israeli wars, but reports have suggested that two have become increasingly close in the face of a common foe, especially as Riyadh's regional clout has fallen in Iran's favor in countries such as Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

"This is a regime the only way one can deal with them is by pressuring them and by forcing them to change," Jubeir told the conference Tuesday, accusing Tehran of sponsoring terrorism, cyber attacks, ethnic cleansing projects and of supporting a group of Zaidi Shiite Muslim rebels, known as Ansar Allah or the Houthi movement, which he said have fired up to 197 ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia.

Jubeir left the event without taking questions and Israeli Mossad Director Yossi Cohen's comments at the following panel were off the record.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are locked in a battle for regional supremacy, fighting proxy wars in multiple countries across the Middle East.REUTERS

As a Saudi-led coalition—which includes Bahrain and the UAE—bombs the Houthis in Yemen, Israeli warplanes blast alleged Iranian and pro-Iran positions fighting on behalf of resurgent government forces in Syria. Both Saudi Arabia and Israel have backed Syrian rebels attempting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran and Russia. Israeli officials have called for Saudi Arabia and its regional allies to openly work together with their country against Iran. Last month, a report surfaced suggesting Saudi Arabia acquired the Iron Dome missile defense system, which Israel uses to block rocket attacks from Palestinian and Lebanese groups sponsored by Iran. The Israeli Defense Ministry reportedly denied the report.

While the true extent of their alignment remains the source of reports and speculation, Israel and Saudi Arabia's anti-Iran postures have been emboldened by the Trump administration. The U.S. leader followed up his fiery debut at the U.N. General Assembly last year with another verbal assault on Tehran, calling it a "corrupt dictatorship" whose leaders "sow chaos, death, and disruption."

"They do not respect their neighbors or borders, or the sovereign rights of nations. Instead, Iran’s leaders plunder the nation's resources to enrich themselves and to spread mayhem across the Middle East and far beyond," he said. "The Iranian people are rightly outraged that their leaders have embezzled billions of dollars from Iran’s treasury, seized valuable portions of the economy, and looted the religious endowments, all to line their own pockets and send their proxies to wage war."

Iran has been keen to point out the perceived growing ties between the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia and dismissed their accusations, accusing them of conspiring to destabilize the country and the region. The Iranian position has been reinforced by its success in tackling the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) alongside Iraqi government forces backed by the U.S. and Syrian government forces opposed by Washington. In Syria, Iran-backed militias have deployedalongside Syria's armed forces around Idlib, the final province under the control of an Islamist-led insurgency.

France, Germany and the U.K. have joined the U.S. in cautioning Syria and its Iranian and Russian allies from pursuing an all-out offensive in Idlib, but have split with the Trump administration on punishing Iran economically for its involvement in the Middle East and development of ballistic missiles.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (R) takes part in a bilateral meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in the French Mission to the United Nations on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on September 24. The foreign ministers of France, Germany and the U.K. as well as the EU reached a deal with Iran to establish an alternate payment system to avoid U.S. sanctions.MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

France, the EU, Germany and the U.K. have been deeply critical of the U.S. decision to leave the Iran deal, which came after the International Atomic Energy Agency affirmed Tehran's adherence on multiple occasions and followed U.S. exits from other international agreements. A day before Trump's U.N. address and the United Against Nuclear Iran conference, the foreign ministers of these transatlantic powers met with their Russian, Chinese and Iranian counterparts to discuss saving a nuclear deal that no longer protects the beleaguered Iranian economy from heavy U.S. sanctions.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini announced Monday alongside Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that China, the EU, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K. would establish an alternative payment to dodge U.S. sanctions against companies doing business with Iran.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas previously made a similar suggestion last month, arguing that Europe had to step up and "counterbalance" the U.S. when it "crosses red lines." Experts have suggested that such a move could have a major impact on U.S. global influence, as China and Russia were vying with the West for international authority and European powers were growing frustrated with the direction of Trump's foreign policy.

"The United States makes its decisions based on its national security interests, other parties to the plan of action need to make their decisions based on the capacities of their nations," Hook told the summit Tuesday when asked about the positions of China, the EU, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K.

The sanctions against Iran are not having the effect of driving Iran to the negotiating table.

Bolton has recently indicated he finds regime-change a realistic future for Iran.

You Americans, you do realize that you're giving muslim terror recruiters everything they need to get new fighters and (financial, verbal, material) supporters for the next few decades, if you continue to plunge the economy of Iran into a big mess like you did in Iraq, which led to the rise of ISIS and a related increase in 'small' muslim terror attacks (with cars, with knives) in the west?

And i suspect most of the new hatred generated in the Iran region by this Trump policy, will be pointed at Americans less well protected than Trump himself (even after his presidency, which you should end asap).

The sanctions aren't working? Well duh. The main party in the negotiation has proven itself to be untrustworthy. Why would they try again to make a deal with us?

The rial is practically worthless now.

Meaningless. Has no bearing on anything I said.

I know, you never say anything.

 

[BlindBoo]

As long as the US isn't involved, let the locals slug it out.

The US isn't involved?
The US is forcing the whole world to go along with that stupid version of a sanctions program.

The only thing 'stupid' about Iran sanctions is they they allow food and medicine to come in.

Sanctions need to absolute.

Sanctions need to be smart and flexible, not absolute.
If you make them absolute, you foster massive amounts of hatred. And in this case, far outside Iran as well. Even in Europe, against Europeans, for going along with your absolute sanctions program. You forcing your allies to go along with your sanctions program is going to back fire big time on the 3 to 20, 30 year time-scales.

No one is "forced" to go along. They want to because it is right.

Sure and the Feds never ever back mail or force the States into passing laws by withholding funds either. Hopefully the multi-nation agreement will hold until Trumpybear resigns or is voted out of office.

 

[peacefan]

US wants “regime change” in Iran — Rouhani


US wants “regime change” in Iran — Rouhani

Speaking at Tehran University, Iran President Hassan Rouhani said the US is seeking regime change in the country through psychological and economic warfare. (Reuters)
Updated 23 sec ago
REUTERS
October 14, 201807:19
293

• Rouhani said the US is using psychological and economic warfare to pursue a regime change in Iran
• Vice-president Eshaq Jahangiri played down the impact of the planned restrictions, saying the US “will not be able to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero”

The United States is seeking “regime change” in Iran, President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday, adding that the current US administration is the most hostile that the Islamic Republic has faced in its four decades.
Tensions have increased between Iran and America after US President Donald Trump withdrew from a multi-lateral agreement on Iran’s nuclear program in May.
“In the past 40 years there has not been a more spiteful team than the current US government team toward Iran, Iranians and the Islamic Republic,” Rouhani said in a speech broadcast on state TV.
“There was a time when there was one person who had enmity. The rest were moderate. Now...the worst have gathered around each other,” he added in a speech marking the beginning of the academic year at Tehran University.
Rouhani accused the Americans of using psychological and economic warfare and questioning the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic.
“Reducing the legitimacy of the system is their final goal. When they say getting rid of, regime change in their own words, how does regime change happen? Through reducing legitimacy, otherwise a regime doesn’t change,“
He used the English phrase “regime change” to emphasize his point.
Washington reintroduced steps against Iran’s currency trade, metals and auto sectors in August.
With US curbs on Iran’s oil exports set to come into force next month, some Iranians fear their country is entering an economic slump that may prove worse than the period from 2012 to 2015, when it last faced major sanctions.
Vice-president Eshaq Jahangiri played down the impact of the planned restrictions.
“America will certainly not be able to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero,” Jahangiri said on Sunday, according to Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
“America thinks Saudi Arabia can replace this oil. But right now Iran’s oil has reached more than $80 and with half the previous exports we will have the same income as before,” he added on comments on the IRIB website.

 

[peacefan]

and this while the Saudi's are just as bothersome to countries in the region as the Iranians.
i understand the Trump administration is trying to make sure Saudi wins that war, but the question remains : are the Saudis really any better than the Iranians?
ofcourse, questions about financial ties between the Saudis and the US remain valid too.
i'd just wish the US hadn't put US and EU (civilian) lives on the line by making us the bad guys to anyone who supports the Iranians *or* extremist Islam.
terror threats and attacks are on the rise here in Europe, and i strongly suspect the crappy post-Saddam aftermath handling has something to do with that.

the US will have to choose between the Saudis and the Europeans as true allies.
can you please hurry up with that nuclear fusion project so we can drop our dependence on oil, arab politics, and perhaps even save yourselves and the rest of us from extreme weather?

 

[gipper]

US wants “regime change” in Iran — Rouhani


US wants “regime change” in Iran — Rouhani

Speaking at Tehran University, Iran President Hassan Rouhani said the US is seeking regime change in the country through psychological and economic warfare. (Reuters)
Updated 23 sec ago
REUTERS
October 14, 201807:19
293

• Rouhani said the US is using psychological and economic warfare to pursue a regime change in Iran
• Vice-president Eshaq Jahangiri played down the impact of the planned restrictions, saying the US “will not be able to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero”

The United States is seeking “regime change” in Iran, President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday, adding that the current US administration is the most hostile that the Islamic Republic has faced in its four decades.
Tensions have increased between Iran and America after US President Donald Trump withdrew from a multi-lateral agreement on Iran’s nuclear program in May.
“In the past 40 years there has not been a more spiteful team than the current US government team toward Iran, Iranians and the Islamic Republic,” Rouhani said in a speech broadcast on state TV.
“There was a time when there was one person who had enmity. The rest were moderate. Now...the worst have gathered around each other,” he added in a speech marking the beginning of the academic year at Tehran University.
Rouhani accused the Americans of using psychological and economic warfare and questioning the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic.
“Reducing the legitimacy of the system is their final goal. When they say getting rid of, regime change in their own words, how does regime change happen? Through reducing legitimacy, otherwise a regime doesn’t change,“
He used the English phrase “regime change” to emphasize his point.
Washington reintroduced steps against Iran’s currency trade, metals and auto sectors in August.
With US curbs on Iran’s oil exports set to come into force next month, some Iranians fear their country is entering an economic slump that may prove worse than the period from 2012 to 2015, when it last faced major sanctions.
Vice-president Eshaq Jahangiri played down the impact of the planned restrictions.
“America will certainly not be able to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero,” Jahangiri said on Sunday, according to Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
“America thinks Saudi Arabia can replace this oil. But right now Iran’s oil has reached more than $80 and with half the previous exports we will have the same income as before,” he added on comments on the IRIB website.

The US government has a long history of covertly imposing regrime change. The results are poor, but that never seems to stop them.

 

[Marion Morrison]

As long as the US isn't involved, let the locals slug it out.

The US isn't involved?
The US is forcing the whole world to go along with that stupid version of a sanctions program.

The only thing 'stupid' about Iran sanctions is they they allow food and medicine to come in.

Sanctions need to absolute.

I wonder how they'd grow rice in that swampy Iran.

Denying people food because you don't like their government leaders' policy that they probably don't like, either?

C'mon, man. That's not right on any level whatsoever.

 

[Marion Morrison]

US wants “regime change” in Iran — Rouhani


US wants “regime change” in Iran — Rouhani

Speaking at Tehran University, Iran President Hassan Rouhani said the US is seeking regime change in the country through psychological and economic warfare. (Reuters)
Updated 23 sec ago
REUTERS
October 14, 201807:19
293

• Rouhani said the US is using psychological and economic warfare to pursue a regime change in Iran
• Vice-president Eshaq Jahangiri played down the impact of the planned restrictions, saying the US “will not be able to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero”

The United States is seeking “regime change” in Iran, President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday, adding that the current US administration is the most hostile that the Islamic Republic has faced in its four decades.
Tensions have increased between Iran and America after US President Donald Trump withdrew from a multi-lateral agreement on Iran’s nuclear program in May.
“In the past 40 years there has not been a more spiteful team than the current US government team toward Iran, Iranians and the Islamic Republic,” Rouhani said in a speech broadcast on state TV.
“There was a time when there was one person who had enmity. The rest were moderate. Now...the worst have gathered around each other,” he added in a speech marking the beginning of the academic year at Tehran University.
Rouhani accused the Americans of using psychological and economic warfare and questioning the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic.
“Reducing the legitimacy of the system is their final goal. When they say getting rid of, regime change in their own words, how does regime change happen? Through reducing legitimacy, otherwise a regime doesn’t change,“
He used the English phrase “regime change” to emphasize his point.
Washington reintroduced steps against Iran’s currency trade, metals and auto sectors in August.
With US curbs on Iran’s oil exports set to come into force next month, some Iranians fear their country is entering an economic slump that may prove worse than the period from 2012 to 2015, when it last faced major sanctions.
Vice-president Eshaq Jahangiri played down the impact of the planned restrictions.
“America will certainly not be able to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero,” Jahangiri said on Sunday, according to Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
“America thinks Saudi Arabia can replace this oil. But right now Iran’s oil has reached more than $80 and with half the previous exports we will have the same income as before,” he added on comments on the IRIB website.

The US government has a long history of covertly imposing regrime change. The results are poor, but that never seems to stop them.

Oh no! Not the "Regime Change" thing again! That's like Bullwinkle pulling a rabbit out of his hat.

And I quote Rocky: "Aw, that trick never works!"

Can they not see that that shit never works? WTF?!

 

[surada]

It will just be more proxy wars..

Yeah because appeasment will work better

Appeasement isn't the answer, but perhaps a strategy for getting Iran to feel less threatened so they can rejoin the international community as a good citizen.