Iran
People have been over selling the "meaning" of military exercises for years.
This habit of rhetoric gives, for example, the North Korean regime something to whinge about each year when US and South Koreans practice interoperability as allies do. Our own press are complete (censored) about that (they have to fill air time and pages of "content") so they dutifully feed the spin machine.
This habit of rhetoric gives, for example, the North Korean regime something to whinge about each year when US and South Koreans practice interoperability as allies do. Our own press are complete (censored) about that (they have to fill air time and pages of "content") so they dutifully feed the spin machine.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
Leave Syria or Be Crushed, USA Tells Iran
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/m...yria-305pjkbs0
The United States has vowed to cripple Iran with the “strongest sanctions in history” unless Tehran agrees to a dozen tough conditions, including the complete abandonment of nuclear fuel enrichment, a withdrawal of all its military forces from Syria and an end to aggression against Israel and Saudi Arabia.
“Sanctions are going back in full effect, and new ones are coming,” Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, warned as he gave the clearest view yet of US policy following President Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal two weeks ago. “Iran will never again have carte blanche to dominate the Middle East. The Iranian regime should know this is just the beginning.”
In a hawkish speech that is likely to exacerbate tensions with European allies, Mr Pompeo said that the US was ready to increase diplomatic, military and economic pressure on Iran. He said: “We will ensure freedom of navigation on the waters in the region. We will work to prevent and counteract any Iranian malign cyber-activity. We will track down Iranian operatives and their Hezbollah proxies operating around the world and crush them.”.
Under the Iran nuclear deal, which was finalised in 2015, Tehran consented to curbs on its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions. Today Mr Pompeo dismissed the nuclear pact — which was agreed by Britain, Germany, France, China and Russia — as a gamble that had backfired. “The bet was a bad one for the US, for Europe, and for the world. Iran’s leaders saw it as a starting gun for the march across the Middle East,” he said.
He listed a dozen US demands, including:
● Iran must completely abandon uranium enrichment. At present it is allowed to enrich to 3.67 per net — far below the 90 per net needed for a bomb.
● It must give the International Atomic Energy Agency instant access to inspect military sites.
● It must end its ballistic missile programme.
● It must release all US citizens and “citizens of our partners and allies detained on spurious charges or missing in Iran”.
● Iran must withdraw “all forces under Iranian command from Syria”.
● It must end threatening behaviour against neighbours, including its threats to destroy Israel and firing missiles in Saudi Arabia.
In his first major speech as secretary of state, Mr Pompeo also warned Britain, Germany and France that the Trump administration was looking beyond Europe to build an international coalition to confront Iran. “We understand our re-imposition of sanctions and the coming pressure campaign on the Iranian regime will pose financial and economic difficulties for a number of our friends,” he said. “But you should know that we will hold those doing prohibited business in Iran to account.”........
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/m...yria-305pjkbs0
The United States has vowed to cripple Iran with the “strongest sanctions in history” unless Tehran agrees to a dozen tough conditions, including the complete abandonment of nuclear fuel enrichment, a withdrawal of all its military forces from Syria and an end to aggression against Israel and Saudi Arabia.
“Sanctions are going back in full effect, and new ones are coming,” Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, warned as he gave the clearest view yet of US policy following President Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal two weeks ago. “Iran will never again have carte blanche to dominate the Middle East. The Iranian regime should know this is just the beginning.”
In a hawkish speech that is likely to exacerbate tensions with European allies, Mr Pompeo said that the US was ready to increase diplomatic, military and economic pressure on Iran. He said: “We will ensure freedom of navigation on the waters in the region. We will work to prevent and counteract any Iranian malign cyber-activity. We will track down Iranian operatives and their Hezbollah proxies operating around the world and crush them.”.
Under the Iran nuclear deal, which was finalised in 2015, Tehran consented to curbs on its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions. Today Mr Pompeo dismissed the nuclear pact — which was agreed by Britain, Germany, France, China and Russia — as a gamble that had backfired. “The bet was a bad one for the US, for Europe, and for the world. Iran’s leaders saw it as a starting gun for the march across the Middle East,” he said.
He listed a dozen US demands, including:
● Iran must completely abandon uranium enrichment. At present it is allowed to enrich to 3.67 per net — far below the 90 per net needed for a bomb.
● It must give the International Atomic Energy Agency instant access to inspect military sites.
● It must end its ballistic missile programme.
● It must release all US citizens and “citizens of our partners and allies detained on spurious charges or missing in Iran”.
● Iran must withdraw “all forces under Iranian command from Syria”.
● It must end threatening behaviour against neighbours, including its threats to destroy Israel and firing missiles in Saudi Arabia.
In his first major speech as secretary of state, Mr Pompeo also warned Britain, Germany and France that the Trump administration was looking beyond Europe to build an international coalition to confront Iran. “We understand our re-imposition of sanctions and the coming pressure campaign on the Iranian regime will pose financial and economic difficulties for a number of our friends,” he said. “But you should know that we will hold those doing prohibited business in Iran to account.”........
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It's easy to portray the Yanks as gung ho, but Trump's intransigence has bought NK to the table. However, John Bolton makes my p1ss boil - never been downrange but quite happy to send in the troops at the drop of a hat. I can live with so called 'hawks' that know what the outcome looks like, but he seems happy enough to experience warfare from a textbook whilst others get dirty.
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This ultimatum sounds like the one addressed by the Austro-Hungarian empire to Serbia in 1914: the "sending party" knows in advance that the "receiving party" will not "comply" with it, but it is not the goal. The latter is to legitimize (in the opinion of their allies) the actions to follow. Besides the obvious fact that any ultimatum should be reasonable, it should also contain verifiable clauses only. And at this point politicians often fail because they are mostly the guys with no technical/math education and speak slogans and propaganda-like statements making claims unverifiable. E.g. "spurious charges", "threatening behaviour" and some other words could be interpreted in millions of ways. Also words such as "firing missiles in Yemen" sound vague. The Iranians can say that these are Yemen forces, not them. And proving that this is a lie can only be done if somebody captures the Iranian crew operating the launch complex on the spot in Yemen.Looks strange because according to his bio Mike Pompeo acquired great engineering skills at West Point and thus should be aware of what verification is.
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I think that the thing the US fails to understand now is that there are alternative partners for these countries to go to - including China and Russia, both of whom have no scruples about who they partner with or on what terms (Military involvement in Syria and Financial 'Investments' in Africa prove that), if there is a longer term benefit for them either in economic or political/military terms. The actions of Trump may have worked as a policy 50 years ago but now not so much I think.
The 19th Century belonged to Britain, the 20th Century to the USA, the 21st Century either India or China but certainly not the other 2..................
IMHO
Arc
The 19th Century belonged to Britain, the 20th Century to the USA, the 21st Century either India or China but certainly not the other 2..................
IMHO
Arc
including China and Russia,
Arclite01,
Old fashioned obsolete thinking. The age of Empires is long gone., and will never return. 21st Century will NOT belong to either India or China. It won't BELONG to any country.
Old fashioned obsolete thinking. The age of Empires is long gone., and will never return. 21st Century will NOT belong to either India or China. It won't BELONG to any country.
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2. Regarding ranking of economies, measuring them in dollars, sterlings, etc. is a wrong approach. PPP matters (purchasing power parity). And in this list
https://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?t=100&v=65
China is number 1 and Russia is number 6, way ahead of Italy and Canada.
However, coming back to the main topic: as correctly mentioned above by Lonewolf, Russia seems to have little or no influence on Iran with regard to presence of Iranian forces in Syria. Just read a detailed analysis in some Russian media this morning where it was written that some "under carpet" talks between Russia and Iran about withdrawing Iranian forces yielded no result. Analysts assumed that these talks were undertaken in the frame of US-Russia negotiation on Syria.
The war of words gets turned up a notch.
It's rather easy to talk smack when you aren't in any danger of being attacked. What will be interesting to see, over the waters of the Persian Gulf, is whether or not the Iranian aircraft will try to play tag with American aircraft on patrol the way that the Russians do.
Was interested to see another aerospace related story, about a missile test facility that was news to some people, in the Iranian desert.
America is a disloyal, atrocious, criminal, isolated, angry enemy with disloyal, corrupt leaders whose salaries are paid by the Zionists and the MKO [People's Mujahedin of Iran] terrorist group," Bagheri said, according to the official Iranian National News Agency. "This is while, Iran as a big nation, is faithful to its promises and remains committed to the international laws," adding that, "Today Iran has reached its peak of power" and would not wait for permission to pursue its domestic and regional interests.
Was interested to see another aerospace related story, about a missile test facility that was news to some people, in the Iranian desert.
1. If it's all about trade turnover with Iran measured in some USD 10 billion, then it does not matter whether the economy of the "other side" is 2 or 20 trillion. It is anyway big enough.
2. Regarding ranking of economies, measuring them in dollars, sterlings, etc. is a wrong approach. PPP matters (purchasing power parity). And in this list
https://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?t=100&v=65
China is number 1 and Russia is number 6, way ahead of Italy and Canada.
.
2. Regarding ranking of economies, measuring them in dollars, sterlings, etc. is a wrong approach. PPP matters (purchasing power parity). And in this list
https://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?t=100&v=65
China is number 1 and Russia is number 6, way ahead of Italy and Canada.
.
The point is that in a wealth of metrics you can choose one to support your case.
1. If it's all about trade turnover with Iran measured in some USD 10 billion, then it does not matter whether the economy of the "other side" is 2 or 20 trillion. It is anyway big enough.
2. Regarding ranking of economies, measuring them in dollars, sterlings, etc. is a wrong approach. PPP matters (purchasing power parity). And in this list
https://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?t=100&v=65
China is number 1 and Russia is number 6, way ahead of Italy and Canada.
However, coming back to the main topic: as correctly mentioned above by Lonewolf, Russia seems to have little or no influence on Iran with regard to presence of Iranian forces in Syria. Just read a detailed analysis in some Russian media this morning where it was written that some "under carpet" talks between Russia and Iran about withdrawing Iranian forces yielded no result. Analysts assumed that these talks were undertaken in the frame of US-Russia negotiation on Syria.
2. Regarding ranking of economies, measuring them in dollars, sterlings, etc. is a wrong approach. PPP matters (purchasing power parity). And in this list
https://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?t=100&v=65
China is number 1 and Russia is number 6, way ahead of Italy and Canada.
However, coming back to the main topic: as correctly mentioned above by Lonewolf, Russia seems to have little or no influence on Iran with regard to presence of Iranian forces in Syria. Just read a detailed analysis in some Russian media this morning where it was written that some "under carpet" talks between Russia and Iran about withdrawing Iranian forces yielded no result. Analysts assumed that these talks were undertaken in the frame of US-Russia negotiation on Syria.
Russia isn’t a replacement as a trade partner for the US unless the volume of trade isn’t much. The gent that opined about alternatives wasn’t specific to Iran, nor was my reply.
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To some it would appear that the US is now speaking the sort of language that Iran, N Korea, use on an every-day basis...and understand.
Sadam Hussein used it all the time.
Sadam Hussein used it all the time.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/w...ield-70g5g8j78
Iran builds new missile factory in Syria under Russian defence shield
Iran is building a new missile factory in Syria under the cover of a Russian defence umbrella and sending ballistic missiles to its allies in Iraq, according to new reports which raise fears of an expanding confrontation with Israel.
Satellite images show what appear to be a new base and factory taking shape in northwest Syria near the town of Baniyas. The base is in an area covered by a Russian S-400 aerial defence system set up to protect Moscow’s military operations in the Syrian civil war, which would make it a tricky target for an Israeli airstrike. Separately, it was reported that Iran had sent ballistic missiles with a range long enough to hit Tel Aviv or Riyadh to militias operating in Iraq.
Israel has promised to attack missile transfers by Iran, and has done so regularly in recent months in Syria, but has not so far struck Iran-allied militias in Iraq. With Iraq torn between its western and Iranian alliances, an Israeli strike would cause further instability......
The new missile factory in Wadi Jahannam near Baniyas was spotted by Imagesat International (ISI), an Israeli-based firm. It said the base’s layout was reminiscent of Parchin, Iran’s major and highly secretive missile development centre. The base would be covered by the Russian S-400 defence system, which is regarded as a threat to US aircraft, let alone Israeli ones. Moscow has refused to supply the system to the regime but operates it there to protect its own forces.
In Iraq the Iranian missile build-up, first reported by the Reuters news agency citing Iranian and western sources, is not nearly so far advanced. It quoted officials saying that “only a few dozen” short-range missiles were involved. The Iranian sources appeared to play down notions that they were specifically aimed at Israel. “The logic was to have a backup plan if Iran was attacked,” one senior Iranian official said.
However, the Zelzal, Fateh-110 and Zolfaqar missiles have a range of up to 700km (430 miles) putting them within range of Tel Aviv as well as Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, Iran’s great regional rival.
The sources also said there were three sites where new missiles were being built. The three included a repurposed Saddam Hussein-era factory at al-Zafaraniya, east of Baghdad, one at Jurf al-Sakhar, north of Karbala, and a third, alarmingly, in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, supposedly a western ally but one whose second party, the PUK, has close ties to Iran.
It would be highly embarrassing for Britain and America, which has poured huge resources into Iraq, firstly after the invasion of 2003 and then in the fight against Islamic State, if it were to be used as a launching pad for attacks against Israel or other allies such as Saudi Arabia........
Iran builds new missile factory in Syria under Russian defence shield
Iran is building a new missile factory in Syria under the cover of a Russian defence umbrella and sending ballistic missiles to its allies in Iraq, according to new reports which raise fears of an expanding confrontation with Israel.
Satellite images show what appear to be a new base and factory taking shape in northwest Syria near the town of Baniyas. The base is in an area covered by a Russian S-400 aerial defence system set up to protect Moscow’s military operations in the Syrian civil war, which would make it a tricky target for an Israeli airstrike. Separately, it was reported that Iran had sent ballistic missiles with a range long enough to hit Tel Aviv or Riyadh to militias operating in Iraq.
Israel has promised to attack missile transfers by Iran, and has done so regularly in recent months in Syria, but has not so far struck Iran-allied militias in Iraq. With Iraq torn between its western and Iranian alliances, an Israeli strike would cause further instability......
The new missile factory in Wadi Jahannam near Baniyas was spotted by Imagesat International (ISI), an Israeli-based firm. It said the base’s layout was reminiscent of Parchin, Iran’s major and highly secretive missile development centre. The base would be covered by the Russian S-400 defence system, which is regarded as a threat to US aircraft, let alone Israeli ones. Moscow has refused to supply the system to the regime but operates it there to protect its own forces.
In Iraq the Iranian missile build-up, first reported by the Reuters news agency citing Iranian and western sources, is not nearly so far advanced. It quoted officials saying that “only a few dozen” short-range missiles were involved. The Iranian sources appeared to play down notions that they were specifically aimed at Israel. “The logic was to have a backup plan if Iran was attacked,” one senior Iranian official said.
However, the Zelzal, Fateh-110 and Zolfaqar missiles have a range of up to 700km (430 miles) putting them within range of Tel Aviv as well as Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, Iran’s great regional rival.
The sources also said there were three sites where new missiles were being built. The three included a repurposed Saddam Hussein-era factory at al-Zafaraniya, east of Baghdad, one at Jurf al-Sakhar, north of Karbala, and a third, alarmingly, in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, supposedly a western ally but one whose second party, the PUK, has close ties to Iran.
It would be highly embarrassing for Britain and America, which has poured huge resources into Iraq, firstly after the invasion of 2003 and then in the fight against Islamic State, if it were to be used as a launching pad for attacks against Israel or other allies such as Saudi Arabia........
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