US better be aware of Putin's Evil Empire

US better watch out. This might be the ideal time, with political  chaos, and a slipping, fractured, foreign western support abroad, for the "Alliance of Evil" - Russia, N.Korea, Iran, Cuba, and other potential supporters, to attack the USA.

Hamas- Israel war: Three musketiers ? Hamas, iran, Russia

There was only one real winner last Saturday when war broke out in Israel — Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin’s enabling of his “Arsenals of Evil” ally, Iran, resulted in the opening of a new front in Gaza in his war against the West.  

Read more at: https://thehill.com/opinion/international/4250708-putins-fingerprints-are-on-hamas/

EU-Iran relations: EU condemns Iran for hasty trials and brutal treatment of street protesters.

The European Union condemned the execution of two men in Iran on Saturday, amid anti-government protests sparked by the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman. 

Mohammad Mehdi Karami, 22, and Mohammad Hosseini, 39, were hung after allegedly killing a paramilitary during nationwide protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini in September. 

Critics have questioned the validity of the charges against the two men, while pointing out that they were denied proper legal support in rushed, closed trials.

Read more at: https://www.euronews.com

Ukraine War: US getting very alarmed by the military Union between Iran and Russia

Russia and Iran are collaborating more closely than ever in the areas of fighter jets and lethal drones, according to US intelligence. Moscow has rebuked Washington's assessment, as the invasion of Ukraine presses on.

The United States warned on Friday that Russia and Iran are ramping up military cooperation to an extent that is "harmful" to Ukraine and Iran's neighbors.

Citing intelligence assessments, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby described "an unprecedented level of military and technical support that is transforming their relationship into a full-fledged defense partnership."

Read more at https//www.dw.com

Iran - flag: world soccer championship

The U.S. Soccer Federation briefly displayed Iran’s national flag on social media without the emblem of the Islamic Republic, saying the move supported protesters in Iran ahead of the two nations’ World Cup match Tuesday.

Iran’s government reacted by accusing America of removing the name of God from its national flag. 

Read more at: https://www.metro.us/us-soccer-displays-iran-flag-minus-islamic-republic-emblem/

Ukraine war: iran: promises to continue delivering destrucive drones to Russia to bomb Ukraine.

The US says it agrees with Western allies that Iran's supply of explosive drones to Russia violates UN sanctions.

Kyiv was struck by so-called "kamikaze" drones on Monday, unleashed by Russia but believed to be Iranian-made.

The United States agrees with British and French assessments that Iran supplying drones to Russia would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six powers, U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said on Monday.

Read more at: https://www.reuters.com

Who is Salman Rushdie? The writer who emerged from hiding -

Over a literary career spanning five decades, Sir Salman Rushdie has been no stranger to death threats arising due to the nature of his work.

The novelist is one of the most celebrated and successful British authors of all time, with his second novel, Midnight's Children, winning the illustrious Booker Prize in 1981.

But it was his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, published in 1988, which became his most controversial work - bringing about international turmoil unprecedented in its scale.

In the Islamic world, many Muslims reacted with fury to the book's publication, arguing that the portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad was a grave insult to their faith.

Death threats were made against Rushdie, 75, who was forced to go into hiding, and the British government placed him under police protection.

Read more at:Who is Salman Rushdie? The writer who emerged from hiding - BBC News

EU-Iran nuclear talks set to resume in the 'coming days'

The European Union (EU) and Iran announced Saturday that stalled nuclear talks would resume "in the coming days", following a surprise visit to Tehran by the bloc's foreign police chief.

Head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrel, who has pushed to break the diplomatic deadlock, made the announcement with the Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian at a press conference in the Iranian capital.

Talks between Iran and the major powers - Russia, United States, China, France, United Kingdom and Germany - over Tehran's nuclear programme have stagnated since March.

read more at : EU-Iran nuclear talks set to resume in the 'coming days' | Euronews

Iran nuclear talks: EU urges Tehran to salvage deal quickly

European negotiators on Friday called on Iran to move faster toward salvaging the 2015 nuclear deal after the seventh round of talks adjourned in Vienna.

European representatives from the UK, France and Germany, known as the E3, have called the pause "disappointing," although they say there has been some "technical progress." The diplomats say Iranian officials requested the pause in negotiations.

Read more at: Iran nuclear talks: EU urges Tehran to salvage deal quickly | News | DW | 17.12.2021

Iran nuclear talks pulled back from brink as Tehran shifts stance | Iran nuclear deal - thanks to Chinese and Russian pressure - by Patrick Wintour

Efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal have been hauled back from the brink of collapse as Tehran revised its stance after pressure from Russia and China and clear warnings that the EU and the US were preparing to walk away.

The cautiously optimistic assessment came at the start of the seventh round of talks on the future of the nuclear deal in Vienna. It follows what was seen as a disastrous set of talks last week in which the US and the EU claimed Iran had walked back on compromises reached in previous rounds.

The Russian ambassador to the talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, said: “We managed to eliminate a number of misunderstandings that created some tension. Everyone confirmed their commitment to productive work [to restore the nuclear agreement].”

Read more at: Iran nuclear talks pulled back from brink as Tehran shifts stance | Iran nuclear deal | The Guardian

Iran nuclear programme: Threat of Israeli strike grows - by Yolande Knell

In the turquoise waters of the Red Sea, Israeli, Emirati and Bahraini naval forces for the first time just days ago rehearsed joint security operations with a US warship.

It followed a war-game at a desert airbase just north of the Israeli port city of Eilat last month, which sent fighter planes from Israel and seven other countries roaring into the skies.

Such drills aim to send a strong warning to Iran, which has recently been holding its own large military exercises, and stress strategic alliances.

Read more at: Iran nuclear programme: Threat of Israeli strike grows - BBC News

IRAN: U.S. Stresses Diplomacy Is 'Best Path' on Iran After Israelis Threaten Military Action

The State Department has urged American allies to rely on diplomacy, not military action or threats, to stop Iran's nuclear program, following last week's belligerent remarks from Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

Read more at: U.S. Stresses Diplomacy Is 'Best Path' on Iran After Israelis Threaten Military Action

Middle East: Iran nuclear deal: US joins Vienna talks aimed at reviving accord

The United States has joined talks in Vienna aimed at reviving the Iran nuclear deal, which the Trump administration abandoned in 2018.

President Joe Biden has said he wants to return to the landmark accord.

But the six remaining state parties need to find a way for him to lift the sanctions imposed by his predecessor and for Iran to return to the agreed limits on its nuclear programme.

Read more at: Iran nuclear deal: US joins Vienna talks aimed at reviving accord - BBC News

Middle East: Iran's supreme leader calls for 'definitive punishment' of scientist's killers

Iran’s supreme leader has called for the “definitive punishment” of those behind the killing of one of the country’s most senior scientists, who was identified by Israel as having headed a secret nuclear weapons programme.

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the architect of Tehran’s nuclear strategy, was killed on Friday on a highway near the capital in a carefully planned assassination that has led to a serious escalation of tensions in the Middle East.

Iran later told the UN in a letter there were “serious indications of Israeli responsibility” and that it reserved the right to “take all necessary measures to defend its people”.

Read more at: Iran's supreme leader calls for 'definitive punishment' of scientist's killers | World news | The Guardian

Germany, France and Britain to discuss Iran nuclear on Monday - in Berlin

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas is meeting his French and British counterparts in Berlin on Monday for talks focussing on the nuclear deal with Iran, a German foreign office spokeswoman said, adding Iran was violating the agreement systematically.

"Together with our partners, we strongly call on Iran to stop violating the deal and return to fulfilling all its nuclear obligations completely," the spokeswoman said.

Read more at: Germany, France and Britain to discuss Iran nuclear on Monday - Germany

US Elections: Trump's Turkish Ally Erdogan and other populists/authoritarian leaders around the world Stay Mum on Biden Victory

Erdogan, along with the leaders of Russia, Israel, Iran, Hungary, Saudi Arabia and China, offered no initial congratulations to the president-elect.

Read more at: Trump's Turkish Ally Erdogan Stays Mum on Biden Victory | Greek Reporter Europe

Iran - Womens Lib.: Iranian women go online to break silence over sexual abuse

For 14 years, Sara Omatali kept her personal trauma under wraps, unable to speak out about the ordeal she suffered in Tehran in the summer of 2006. The former journalist, who now lives in the United States, was sexually assaulted while interviewing a prominent artist in the Iranian capital. A week ago, she finally decided to break her silence on Twitter.

Omatali is among dozens of Iranian women who have recently taken to social media to denounce the sexual harassment and abuse they suffered. Some have used the #MeToo hashtag, coined in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

Read more: 
Iranian women go online to break silence over sexual abuse

Middle East: Iran-Syria Relations:Israeli military sources say Iran withdrawing from Syria

Iran is "gradually" withdrawing from Syria and arranging for the closure of its military bases in the country, following a double attack on Monday night attributed to Israel, said sources at the Israeli defence ministry.

The sources called it a "significant reduction" of forces aimed at decreasing tension in one of the hottest zones in the region, close to Israel's northern border, which is already dealing with the Lebanese Hezbollah. In addition, Israeli sources said they have also seen a reduction in the number of Shiite militants operating in Syria, even though that is more due to the effect of the "natural progression of the civil war" than to actions attributed to Israel.

"We are determined, more determined than Iran, and I can explain why," said Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennett.

"For Iran, Syria is an adventure a thousand miles from home.

For us, it's about our lives," Bennett said.

Read More at: 
Israeli military sources say Iran withdrawing from Syria - Analysis - ANSAMed.it

Iran and the US: The Ayatollah in the White House - by Stephen Richter -

Since the 1950s, the history of the United States and of Iran has been amazingly intertwined.

Unfortunately, at decisive turns in history, the two countries’ relationship was a tragic one. T

The action taken by one typically triggered disastrous effects in the other.

Usually, the lubricant that facilitated – and also doomed – the interaction between the two nations was the question of the ownership of, or easy access to, oil.

That was the case, for example, when the U.S. government at the time collaborated with the UK on toppling the duly elected government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953. He was ousted in a coup just because he wanted to have the Iranian people benefit from the spoils of their nation’s oil re

Or when the U.S. government in the 1970s clung to the ever more despotic acting Shah of Iran. U.S. protection was not only insufficient to prevent, but also actually fomented the Shah’s eventual ouster in the popular, religiously inspired Iranian revolution of 1979.

But of late, stunning parallels between Donald Trump and Ayatollah Khameini have come into sight. While Donald Trump does not wear a black turban, like the ayatollahs of Iran, his hairdo is no less prominent or protrusive. In addition, it is far more colorful.

Another bewildering commonality between the religious leaders of Iran and the current U.S. President is even more troublesome. The fact that Trump’s relationship to science, evidence and the truth is on par with that of the Ayatollahs, is probably his greatest betrayal of American traditions. 

Read mThe Ayatollah in the White House - The Globalist

Turkey: Looming coronavirus threat adds to Turkey’s economic woes

The fast-spreading coronavirus has dampened global economic prospects for 2020, a year that many had hoped would see a revival in the fragile world economy. For Turkey, the threat comes atop existing economic woes, coupled with its deepening military involvement in the war in neighboring Syria. Though the deadly virus is not yet officially present in Turkey, it has badly affected another neighbor, Iran, forcing the closure of border crossings in a blow to bilateral trade and tourism.

Of the nearly 89,000 cases reported globally as of March 2, 90% are in China, the epicenter of the outbreak, where the death toll is nearing 3,000. The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned March 2 that the virus was now spreading faster outside China, singling out South Korea, Japan, Iran and Italy as “our greatest concern.” In Iran, Turkey’s eastern neighbor, the official death toll stood at 66 as of March 2, with more than 1,500 people infected since Tehran announced the first deaths Feb. 19. According to WHO, infection cases have been exported from Iran to at least 11 countries.  

The outbreak threatens to further cripple the sanction-hit Iranian economy, which shrank some 9.5% last year, atop a nearly 5% contraction in 2018, according to figures by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). With its oil and gas revenues plunging, Iran’s current account deficit hit $12 billion — or 3.4% of its gross domestic product (GDP) — in 2019, a far cry from the $15 billion surplus in 2017. The country’s unemployment rate has shot up to 17% and its annual consumer inflation to about 30%, while the budget deficit has reached more than 5% of the GDP. 

With the coronavirus closing in on Turkey, the Turkish health minister warned March 2 there might already be infected individuals in the country, although no case has been officially confirmed thus far. According to the head of the Turkish Medical Association, “Turkey could weather the disease without any human loss if the necessary measures are enforced.”

Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/03/turkey-iran-looming-coronavirus-threat-add-economic-woes.html#ixzz6FrgaZ3xG

Read more at: Looming coronavirus threat adds to Turkey’s economic woes