Selasa, 24 September 2019
Greta Thunberg shows her displeasure with Donald Trump at the UN General Assembly - The Telegraph
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sImd7efEkSk
2019-09-24 07:45:14Z
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European Leaders Join U.S. in Blaming Iran for Saudi Oil Attacks, Urge New Deal - The Wall Street Journal
UNITED NATIONS—The leaders of Britain, France and Germany joined the U.S. in blaming Iran for this month’s attacks on Saudi Arabia and said the time had come for Tehran to start talks on a new, long-term agreement dealing with its nuclear, regional and missile activities.
In a joint statement on Monday, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, along with President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, said they continue to support the 2015 nuclear deal but said the time has come for Iran to start talks on a longer-term, more comprehensive agreement, as Washington has urged.
While the statement marks a significant shift on Iran by Europe’s powers, those nations are still far from endorsing all of Washington's demands for a new agreement. The statement also didn’t suggest that Europe is prepared to follow Washington in tightening economic pressure on Iran.
President Trump said he welcomed moves for a broader agreement.
“Let’s do a better deal” with Iran, Mr. Johnson told NBC, making him the first European leader to suggest the 2015 nuclear pact could be reworked. “I think there’s one guy who can do a better deal…and that is the president of the United States. I hope there will be a Trump deal,” the prime minister added, while calling the president a “very, very brilliant negotiator.”
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The Europeans’ push for broader talks came amid growing fears that tensions in the Persian Gulf could quickly escalate following the alleged Iranian attack on Sept. 14 on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure. That could lead to a cutoff in oil supplies and even a major war in the region.
Iran has denied responsibility for the attack.
“It is clear that we need to re-establish deterrence,” said Brian Hook, the U.S. special representative for Iran, in an appearance at the Asia Society in New York. “We are one missile strike away from a regional war.”
One of the cruise missiles fell short of the Saudi oil facilities, other U.S. officials disclosed, and its guidance and electronic systems are being examined as the U.S. seeks to reconstruct its flight path.
Iran has denied responsibility for the attack. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Monday on Twitter that the three European powers should muster the political will to forge “an independent path” instead of “parroting absurd U.S. claims” and making demands that are inconsistent with the nuclear deal.
There is no indication that Mr. Trump’s administration is planning in the near future to detail in public its evidence for blaming Iran. But the European statement makes clear that the countries are persuaded of Iran’s role, and U.S. officials seem confident that their conclusions will be borne out by U.N. investigators. France has sent experts to Saudi Arabia to investigate the attack.
European officials acknowledged they shared information in reaching their own separate conclusions on Iran’s involvement but didn’t provide details.
The prime minister’s remarks come as the U.K. is looking to deepen ties with Washington while navigating an acrimonious exit from the European Union.
Speaking to Sky News during his trip to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Mr. Johnson said the international community faced tough questions over how to respond “to what the Iranians plainly did in blowing up those Saudi Arabian oil fields.”
British officials later said the U.K. continues to support the 2015 nuclear deal. A government spokesman said that with Iran currently not complying with some of the nuclear pact’s limits, the U.K. was open to different ways to bring Tehran back into line.
Until now, the European Union and its three biggest member states, Britain, France and Germany, have strongly defended the 2015 deal, which lifted most international sanctions on Iran in exchange for strict but temporary limits on its nuclear activities.
However, France has been in talks with Iran and the U.S. about ways of de-escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington. The French have been working up proposals, so far rejected by Washington, that would see the U.S. ease sanctions in return for Iran’s full compliance with the deal and possibly other concessions.
France has in the past called for a supplemental agreement that would build on the 2015 nuclear deal and more permanently shut off Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon.
Iran has rejected any such changes to the nuclear pact and there could be major differences between the Europeans and Washington over what Iran should be offered to induce Tehran to consider such a proposal.
European countries in the past have condemned renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran, warning they threatened to drive Tehran away from the deal.
Iranian leaders have said they won’t hold talks with Washington until the U.S. drops its renewed sanctions. It threatened to take fresh steps away from the nuclear deal in November.
Mr. Macron was meeting with President Hassan Rouhani of Iran on Monday night.
The Trump administration pulled out of the nuclear deal in May 2018, with Mr. Trump saying the accord failed to stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon in the future and didn’t press Iran to curtail its ballistic-missile tests or its aggressive behavior in the region. Washington has since imposed sweeping sanctions on Iran.
“We seek comprehensive negotiations that are truly comprehensive,” Mr. Hook said. “This includes the nuclear file but also Iran’s role in the region, its missile development, support for terrorism, and wrongful detention of dual and foreign nationals, including many American citizens.”
In his appearance at the Asia Society, Mr. Hook reiterated that Mr. Trump’s administration was open to diplomacy with Tehran. However, he confirmed there are currently no back-channel talks between U.S. and Iranian officials.
He said the administration would continue to step up the economic pressure on Iran to meet its demands while expressing concern that Iran might again mount attacks against U.S. allies in the region.
Mr. Hook said the range and sophistication of the weapons used in the Saudi attack went beyond the capabilities of the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen and confirmed that none of the drones or cruise missiles used in the strike were fired from Iraqi territory.
U.S. officials have asserted that all of the drones and cruise missiles used in the attack were launched from Iranian territory.
The comprehensive approach sketched out by Mr. Hook would end Iran’s support for militant groups in the region, constrain its missile program, end “hostage-taking” or the detention of U.S. and other Western citizens and impose more stringent nuclear curbs than the 2015 accord.
—Sune Engel Rasmussen
and Vivian Salama
contributed to this article.
Write to Laurence Norman at laurence.norman@wsj.com and Michael R. Gordon at michael.gordon@wsj.com
Copyright ©2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
https://www.wsj.com/articles/european-leaders-join-u-s-in-blaming-iran-for-saudi-oil-attacks-urge-new-deal-11569280372
2019-09-24 06:59:00Z
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Senin, 23 September 2019
US, Afghan forces kill over 20 Al Qaeda fighters in southern Afghanistan raid, officials say - Fox News
U.S. special operations forces, including an American gunship, backed Afghan commandos in a predawn raid on a building filled with dozens of Al Qaeda fighters in southern Afghanistan, killing over 20 of the militants, officials said Monday.
A U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship leveled the building in the volatile Helmand Province after a suicide bomber detonated his vest during the joint operation, according to a U.S. official.
TALIBAN VIOLENCE IN AFGHANISTAN RAMPS UP AS SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS AT LEAST 20
Helmand police chief Col. Ehsamudin Helmandi said Afghan special forces killed 22 Taliban militants in addition to the Al Qaeda fighters. At least 14 other militants were wounded and some were taken prisoner as a result of the operations.
Helmandi said six Al Qaeda terrorists were also arrested in the operation, including Pakistani and Bangladeshi citizens.
No U.S. forces were wounded, according to American officials. Some Afghan special forces were wounded in the fight, though exactly how many was not immediately clear.
Dozens of Afghan civilians were also wounded and some killed in the crossfire and by the detonation of the Al Qaeda suicide bomber.
TWIN SUICIDE BOMBINGS TARGET AFGHANISTAN PRESIDENT'S RALLY, KABUL DOWNTOWN; 48 DEAD
The police chief blamed the Taliban and Al Qaeda for causing the civilian casualties in Musa Qala district because they used the local residents as human shields. The exact number of civilians killed is not immediately clear.
The joint operation destroyed a major Taliban hub in Helmand, which was also a gathering point for Al Qaeda fighters moving through the area. The Al Qaeda fighters were discovered as a result of communication intercepts, U.S. officials said, declining to elaborate because of the sensitivity of the intelligence.
Elsewhere in southern Afghanistan, a coalition service member thwarted a so-called “insider attack” on an armored vehicle carrying U.S. troops in the Kandahar Province.
'ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE MISSION': THE 8,000-MILE NONSTOP FLIGHT TO SAVE A US SOLDIER'S LIFE
The fast-acting response from the service member, whose nationality was not immediately clear, saved the lives of all onboard the vehicle, according to a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
No U.S. or allied troops were injured in the attempted attack, which took place off base, an official said. The shooter, a member of the Afghan army, was killed.
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The incidents come after President Trump scrapped a meeting at Camp David with top Afghan and Taliban leaders days before the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
A Pentagon spokesman said on Thursday the U.S. military had not been ordered to reduce any of the 14,000 troops currently serving in Afghanistan.
This year, 17 U.S. troops have been killed fighting in Afghanistan and 104 have been wounded, according to the Pentagon.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/us-kill-al-qaeda-fighters-afghanistan
2019-09-23 15:17:07Z
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Iran Says British Tanker Is Free to Go After 2 Months of Detention - The New York Times
A British-flagged tanker that Iran seized in July is now free to leave, Tehran said on Monday, more than a month after the British authorities released an Iranian tanker that had been detained off Gibraltar.
The news offered a rare hint of easing tensions for Iran, at a time when the country has been in an escalating cycle of confrontation with its Persian Gulf neighbors and with the United States, including the shooting down of drones, the seizure of tankers and, most recently, an attack on major oil installations in Saudi Arabia.
Officials of the United States and Saudi Arabia, Iran’s chief rival in the region, have blamed Tehran for the Sept. 14 attack on oil facilities in the kingdom, raising the prospect of retaliatory strikes and even war. But so far, the only apparent action they have taken against Tehran is a tightening of economic sanctions.
Iran had accused the British-flagged tanker, the Stena Impero, of violating maritime regulations in the Strait of Hormuz, but the seizure on July 19 was widely seen as retaliation for the detention of the Iranian vessel.
The legal proceedings against the Stena Impero have concluded, and Iran has decided to waive alleged violations, an Iranian government spokesman, Ali Rabiyee, said at a news conference, according to Iranian and Western news agencies that were present.
The ship had not left Bandar Abbas, a port in southern Iran, as of midday, and it was not clear how quickly it would set sail. Erik Hanell, chief executive of the tanker’s owner, the shipping company Stena Bulk, told SVT, a Swedish television station, that he hoped it would be a matter of hours.
Iran detained the 23-member crew along with the ship. It released seven of them this month, but the others have remained with the vessel.
The decision to release the ship comes a little more than a week after the attack on the Saudi oil installations. Iran has denied any responsibility for the attack, a sophisticated operation involving some two dozen drones and cruise missiles. The aerial strikes damaged infrastructure and temporarily cut Saudi oil production in half, sending tremors through world markets, but they caused no reported casualties.
The Houthi rebel faction in Yemen’s civil war, a group that is known to use weapons supplied by Iran, has said it carried out the attack against Saudi Arabia, which has been bombing in Yemen for more than four years, killing thousands of people.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain said early on Monday that there was “a very high degree of probability” that Iran was responsible for the strikes in Saudi Arabia, and he did not rule out British participation in military retaliation.
In May and June, several tankers operating near the Strait of Hormuz were damaged in what the United States said was sabotage by Iranian forces — which Iran also denied. Iran also detained several ships for varying periods of time, notably the Stena Impero.
Analysts have characterized the attacks — whether carried out by Iran or by one of the armed factions it supports in the Middle East — and ship seizures as Tehran’s demonstration that it has the power to cut off a large part of the world’s energy supplies.
Iran wants relief from punishing sanctions imposed by President Trump since he withdrew the United States from a 2015 deal that restricted the Middle Eastern country’s nuclear program. Relations have grown worse since then, as the United States has steadily added more economic penalties, seeking to choke off Iran’s oil sales, the life blood of its economy. In recent months, Iran has taken a series of steps to go beyond the limits imposed by the nuclear accord.
The direct confrontation with Britain began on July 4, when British marines and Gibraltar port officials seized an Iranian tanker, Grace 1, which has since been renamed the Adrian Darya 1. They said the ship was carrying oil to Syria, in violation of a European Union embargo.
Iran denied the allegation and accused the British of concocting the story to act against Tehran at the behest of Washington, though Britain formally opposes the American sanctions.
The government of Gibraltar, a semiautonomous British territory, released the ship six weeks later, and said that it had assurances that the Iranian tanker would not go to Syria. American officials asked that the ship be turned over to them, but the Gibraltar government rejected the request.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/23/world/middleeast/iran-british-tanker-release.html
2019-09-23 12:03:00Z
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Iran Says British Tanker Is Free to Go After 2 Months of Detention - The New York Times
A British-flagged tanker that Iran seized in July is now free to leave, the Iranian government said on Monday, more than a month after British authorities released an Iranian tanker that had been detained off Gibraltar.
The news offered a rare hint of easing tensions, at a time when Iran has been in an escalating cycle of confrontation with its Persian Gulf neighbors and the United States.
Iran had accused the British-flagged tanker, the Stena Impero, of violating maritime regulations in the Strait of Hormuz, but the seizure on July 19 was widely seen as retaliation for the detention of the Iranian tanker.
The legal proceedings against the Stena Impero have concluded, and Iran has decided to waive alleged violations, an Iranian government spokesman, Ali Rabiyee, said at a news conference, according to Iranian and Western news agencies that were present.
The ship had not left the Bandar Abbas, a port in southern Iran, as of midday, and it was not clear how quickly it would set sail. Erik Hanell, chief executive of the tanker’s owner, the shipping company Stena Bulk, told SVT, a Swedish television station, that he hoped it would be a matter of hours.
Iran detained the 23-member crew along with the ship. It released seven of them earlier this month, but the others have remained with the vessel.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/23/world/middleeast/iran-british-tanker-release.html
2019-09-23 10:30:00Z
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Civilians killed in Afghan forces' anti-Taliban operation - Aljazeera.com
A number of civilians have been killed in an air raid and ground assault on a Taliban hideout by Afghan special forces in the southern Helmand province.
There were conflicting reports on the number of people killed and wounded in the operation on Sunday night in Musa Qala district, which is under Taliban control.
Officials said the civilians killed were part of a wedding procession that came under fire during the operation targeting a house used by the Taliban.
Omar Zwak, the provincial governor's spokesman, told Al Jazeera on Monday at least 14 fighters including six foreigners were killed, adding that authorities were investigating reports on civilian casualties.
"We know there have been civilian deaths in this raid but we don't have a number yet," he said. "However, we are investigating to find out more."
Attaullah Afghan, a member of the Helmand provincial council, told Reuters news agency that 35 civilians were killed and 13 wounded.
Abdul Majed Akhund, deputy provincial councilman, told The Associated Press news agency authorities were investigating reports that at least 24 people attending a wedding died in the raid.
Afghanistan's security forces have been heavily criticised for inflicting civilian casualties during night-time raids.
Afghan and allied international forces, including NATO, have killed more civilians in the first three months of this year than the Taliban and fighters from other armed groups, a UN report said in April.
At least 305 civilians have been killed by pro-government forces between January and March, 52.5 percent of all deaths in that period, according to findings from the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
In one of the most condemned incidents earlier this month, four brothers were killed in a raid conducted by the CIA-trained and funded 02 Unit of Afghanistan's spy agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS).
On Friday, the US confirmed carrying out a drone attack on September 19 that killed at least 30 farmers in Nangarhar province. At least 40 others were wounded in the attack in Wazir Tangi area of Khogyani district.
The United States and the Taliban began peace talks last October in Qatar, with the aim of ending the almost 18-year-old war in Afghanistan.
But in a surprise move, US President Donald Trump announced last month after the nine round of talks that negotiations were cancelled without a deal.
A week after the talks were cancelled, Trump said in a tweet that the Taliban have "never been hit harder".
"After Trump cancelling the peace deal with the Taliban, there has been increase in drone attacks and ground operations, that is causing increase in civilian casualties," Faizullah Zaland, a political analyst based in Kabul, told Al Jazeera.
"It wil deepen mistrust among people in the Afghan government and will deepen the current crisis,"
"US must play a more responsible role in ending the meaningless war and prevent Afghan civilian casualties with immediate effect," he said.
Afghanistan will hold its fourth presidential elections on September 28 since US-led forces toppled the Taliban from power in 2001.
SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/civilians-killed-afghan-forces-anti-taliban-operation-190923081202690.html
2019-09-23 10:05:00Z
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Giuliani accuses Ukraine of laundering $3M to Hunter Biden, asks how Obama could let that happen - Fox News
Rudy Giuliani channeled President Trump Monday with a wee-hours Twitter blitz aimed at turning the Ukraine story currently roiling Washington into a big problem for Democrats.
Giuliani, the personal attorney for Trump and outspoken critic of Joe Biden and his son’s relationship with Ukraine, accused Kiev of laundering $3 million to Hunter Biden, suggested that the Obama administration turned a blind eye and made the prediction that the scandal is in its infancy.
ROMNEY WANTS ANSWERS IN WHISTLEBLOWER STORY
"If Dem party doesn’t call for an investigation of Bidens’ millions from Ukraine and billions from China, they will own it,” he tweeted. "Bidens’ made big money selling public office. How could Obama have allowed this to happen? Will Dems continue to condone and enable this kind pay-for-play?"
Giuliani titled his first tweet, "NEW FACT," and said Hunter Biden received a one-time payment of $3 million from the Ukraine that went through Latvia and then to Cyprus, before entering the U.S.
BIDEN'S CAMPAIGN LIKELY COMING TO AN END, NUNES SAYS
Giuliani did not provide how he learned about the purported transaction but said prosecutors were stonewalled at the time when they inquired about the sum.
"Did Obama know that his VP, the one he put in charge of giving billions to Ukraine, had a son who was making millions on the board of one of the most corrupt companies in Ukraine," he tweeted. "[Hunter] Biden’s boss had stolen $5b from Ukraine and was a fugitive. Did Obama know? Did he approve?"
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Trump asked his Ukranian counterpart to investigate Hunter Biden, who had a key role in a natural gas firm, Burisma Holdings, that was being investigated by a Ukrainian prosecutor as part of a corruption probe. Hunter Biden has not been accused of wrongdoing during his time at the company where he made $50,000 a month as a member of the board of directors, according to the New York Times. Up until his role on the board, Hunter Biden has no experience in Ukraine, the Times reported.
At a conference two years after he left office, Joe Biden openly boasted about successfully pressuring Ukraine to fire that prosecutor when he was vice president.
Trump on Sunday appeared to confirm that he spoke about Joe Biden with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but insisted that the call was routine. Democrats seized on his admission and some renewed calls for his impeachment. Political observers raised questions as to why Trump would allow himself to get into a position that it could even appear like he is seeking help from a foreign power to achieve political ends.
Giuliani, like many Trump supporters, stressed that the story is not the phone calls, rather the crony capitalism on display where the son of a sitting vice president could make millions working on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.
Trump accused Joe Biden of dishonesty in claiming that he never spoke to his son about his business dealings with a Ukrainian energy company, despite Hunter Biden telling the New Yorker that they spoke “just once” about it.
“And now he made a lie when he said he never spoke to his son,” Trump said. “Of course you spoke to your son!”
Fox News' Gregg Re contributed to this report
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/giuliani-accuses-ukraine-of-laundering-3m-to-hunter-biden-asks-how-obama-could-let-that-happen
2019-09-23 09:38:48Z
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