Archive for May, 2017

Iran missile program growing, not slowing, according to senior commander – Fox News

As President Trump wrapped up his first foreign trip on Friday, Iranian leaders made another defiant declaration in the war of words unfolding between Tehran and Washington.

According to a senior Revolutionary Guard commander who spoke to the semi-official Fars news agency, the regime has apparently built a third underground missile factory despite sanction by both the U.S. and the United Nations.

"Iran's third underground factory has been built by the Guards in recent years," Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Guards airspace division, was quoted as saying. He added that the regime "will continue to further develop our missile capabilities forcefully."

The announcement flies in the face of a series of statements and sanctions designed to curtail this exact kind of activity. A 2015 U.N. Security Councilresolution"calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology."

IRAN ATTEMPTED MISSILE LAUNCH FROM SUBMARINE, US OFFICIALS SAY The Trump administration imposed new sanctionsin Februaryof this year in response to an Iranian missilelaunchshortly after the president's inauguration. Thesanctions came after President Trump declared on Twitter that he was formally putting Iran "on notice."

It was barely a week before Iran was conducting tests again, even launching the new missile fromthe same launch padused a week before.

Tehranwas back at it about a month later, launchinga pair of ballistic missilesin a test that unfolded around the same time as an alarming confrontation between Iranian fast-attack vessels and a group of U.S. Navy and international warships.

Just last week, the administrationannounceda new round of economic penalties over activities related to Iran's ballistic activities and programs. And President Trump has made a point to criticize Iran publicly, and repeatedly, during his ongoing trip to the Middle East and beyond.

IRAN'S ROUHANI: WE WILL NOT WAIT FOR US'S PERMISSION TO TEST BALLISTIC MISSILES

Thepresident has called out the regime by name, suggesting that combating "the threat posed by Iran" is a top priority, and blaming Tehran for the spread of "destruction and chaos" across the region.

On Saturday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he hoped Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who had just been re-elected for a four-year term, "puts an end" to the launches.

Just a few days later, on Monday of this week, Rouhanimade clearthat won't be happening anytime soon. Iran's missiles "are for peace, not for attack," he said, adding that his nation will not wait for "permission" from the U.S. and others before conducting its own controversial tests.

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Iran missile program growing, not slowing, according to senior commander - Fox News

Iran Sees $50B Oil Deals Enter Operational Phases In 2018 – OilPrice.com

Iran expects around US$50 billion worth of oil contracts to launch their operational phases next year, according to Fardad Daliri, director of investment at the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO) of Iran.

The Islamic Republic is inviting local and foreign companies to take part in oilfield development projects that Iran wants to launch soon, Daliri said at an international exhibition in Tehran, as reported by Trend news agency.

We are hopeful to be able to sign huge oil deals on the development of shared oil fields both on and offshore, Trend quoted Daliri as saying.

Iran is finalizing talks and expects to soon sign deals with major international companies, including Frances Total, Denmarks Maersk, Malaysias Petronas, Indonesias Pertamina, and Russias Lukoil, the official said.

Totalthe first oil major to return to looking at investing in Iranis waiting for an extension of the waiver on U.S. sanctions against Iran before it makes the final decision on a US$2.2-billioninvestment in a gas project in the country, according to Totals chief executive Patrick Pouyanne.

OPECs no.3 producer, Iran, which is currently pumping just below 3.8 million bpd of crude oil, wants to increase its production to 5 million bpd by 2021.

In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Irans Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said that the re-election of reformist President Hassan Rouhani last week was an important step toward signing big deals with big international companies.

Related:Europe Joins Race For Cheaper Batteries With This Gigafactory

One important step was the election, because in this election Iranian people said 'yes' to positive interaction with the world, the minister noted.

Zanganeh reiterated Irans long-term plan to lift the countrys production capacity to 5 million bpd in the next five years, thanks to new projects developed together with international companies.

Iran hopes to sign this year oil development contracts with Total, Lukoil, and Maersk, and possibly Pertamina, Zanganeh told Reuters.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Trump’s move to isolate Iran could further strain Sunni-Shiite relations in Mideast – McClatchy Washington Bureau


McClatchy Washington Bureau
Trump's move to isolate Iran could further strain Sunni-Shiite relations in Mideast
McClatchy Washington Bureau
While President Donald Trump's recent visit to Saudi Arabia preached partnership with Muslim leaders to end terrorism, critics say his alignment with one side of the Middle East's sectarian divide could do more harm than good. Trump's criticizing of ...

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Trump's move to isolate Iran could further strain Sunni-Shiite relations in Mideast - McClatchy Washington Bureau

More Bad News on Civilian Casualties in Iraq and Syria – Slate Magazine (blog)

An Iraqi boy looks on as people collect wood and metal at a site that was targeted by an airstrike a couple of days ago, in Qayyarah, south of Mosul, on Oct. 29.

Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images

Several recent reports underline the growing risk to civilians in the U.S.-led war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. On Thursday, the Pentagon released the results of an investigation, finding that more than 100 civilians were killed when the U.S. dropped a bomb on a building in Mosul, Iraq, in March, the largest single incident of civilian deaths since the campaign began in 2014. (Locals have put the number at around 200.) CentCom had initially denied that the strike took place, before announcing the investigation. Officials now say that ISIS had likely placed explosives inside the building, contributing to the deadliness after the bomb was dropped. The battle for Mosul, which has gone on for more than seven months now, has been particularly brutal for civilians, who have often been prevented from leaving by ISIS or advised not to by the Iraqi government.

Meanwhile, a fresh wave of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition reportedly killed dozens of civilians, including children, in Eastern Syria this week. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that 106 people have been killed in Mayadeen since Thursday evening, including IS fighters and 42 children. Eighty of those were killed in an airstrike on a building that housed the families of ISIS fighters. Syrias state news agency put the number at 35, and the coalition has not yet responded to the report.

Journalist Samuel Oakford of the monitoring site Airwars also published an investigation in cooperation with Foreign Policy today finding that non-U.S. members of the anti-ISIS coalition have killed at least 80 civilians in Iraq and Syria since the start of the campaign, but that none of those 12 countries will acknowledge responsibility for any of the deaths. Airwars also reported this week that between 283 and 366 civilians likely died from coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria in April, the fourth consecutive month that those deaths exceeded those caused by Russian strikes. This has raised questions about whether the Trump administrations hands-off attitude toward airstrikes has raised the risk for civilians.

The UNs High Commissioner for Human Rights today warned that civilians are increasingly victimized by both the intensified airstrikes, and the retaliatory attacks by ISIS. In once incident, ISIS fighters slit the throats of eight men in a town that had just been bombed, blaming them for giving away coordinates to the coalition. The situation is only likely to worsen as the battle for Mosul grinds on and the campaign against ISISs heavily fortified capital in Raqqa ramps up.

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More Bad News on Civilian Casualties in Iraq and Syria - Slate Magazine (blog)

Pentagon report says more than 100 civilians killed in March bombing in Iraq – CBS News

Firefighters search for the bodies of civilians who were killed after an air strike against ISIS fighters triggered a massive explosion in Mosul, Iraq, on March 22, 2017.

Reuters

WASHINGTON -- A Pentagon investigation has found that more than 100 civilians were killed after the U.S. dropped a bomb on a building in Mosul, Iraq, in March.

The probe found that the U.S. bomb triggered secondary explosions from devices clandestinely planted there by fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). And the military says the secondary blasts caused the concrete building to collapse.

The lead investigator and author of the report is Air Force Brig. Gen. Matthew Isler.

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At least a hundred people were killed by a huge explosion in Mosul, with some eyewitnesses blaming a coalition airstrike. Most of the victims wer...

The air strike had been requested by Iraqi troops who were 100 yards away and could see the location of the two snipers on the second floor of a two story building, investigators found.

However, the Iraqis could only see one side of the building and did not observe any civilians entering the building. Bad weather on the two preceding days prevented observation of the building from drones overhead, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports.

When the strike was approved, coalition forces had no information that civilians had taken shelter inside the building, Isler said.

Both snipers were killed in the strike and ensuing secondary explosion, as well as 101 civilians taking shelter in the lower floors. Another four civilians died in a nearby building, Isler said. He said 36 civilians remain unaccounted for.

The investigation determined that the collapse of the building could not have been caused by the 500 U.S. pound bomb, which contained 196 pounds of explosives. Explosives experts estimated it would take at least 1,000 pounds of TNT distributed throughout the second floor of the building to bring it down.

Explosive residue found at the blast site did not match the type of explosives used in a 500-pound bomb, Isler said, but did match explosives previously used by ISIS.

"They put a lot of work into this set up," Isler said. He concluded ISIS intended the explosives to kill civilians once the sniper's nest was bombed.

The civilians had taken shelter in the basement and on the first floor of the building because it was well-built and the owner had offered it up as shelter.

It was likely the largest single incident of civilian deaths since the U.S. air campaign against IS began in 2014. The deaths represent about a quarter of all civilian deaths since the U.S. air campaign began.

2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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