Oil, Gas, And Fracking News Reads: 12January 2020 – Part 2

Written by rjs, MarketWatch 666

Here are some more selected news articles about the oil and gas industry from the week ended 11 January 2020. Go here for Part 1.

This is a feature at Global Economic Intersection every Monday evening.

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Rocket attack in Baghdad, Syria gas field shelled after Soleimani killing – Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah Brigades warned Iraqi security forces to be at least 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) away from all American bases starting Sunday evening. Syrian regime forces and Iranian militias fired three shells at the Conoco gas field in the Deir Ezzor area of eastern Syria and two rockets were fired at the Green Zone where the US embassy is located on Sunday evening in the aftermath of the US airstrike that killed IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, according to Arab reports. No casualties were reported in the Conoco attack, according to local news source Deir Ezzor 24. According to Reuters, six rockets fell in and near the Green Zone in Baghdad. Several civilians in the area were injured, according to Al Arabiya. Iran-backed Iraqi militia commander Qais al-Khazali said on Sunday if US troops do not leave Iraq, they would be considered an occupying force. Khazali was speaking after Iraq’s parliament backed a recommendation by the prime minister to end the presence of foreign troops in response to the Soleimani attacks. Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah Brigades warned Iraqi security forces to be at least 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) away from all American bases starting Sunday evening. The brigades cautioned Iraqi forces from serving as human shields for US forces. The shelling came after Iranian-backed militias and US forces traded blows on Saturday night, as rocket attacks targeted Baghdad’s Green Zone and a base housing US forces, followed by a series of attacks on bases housing Iranian and pro-Iranian forces in Iraq and Syria.

US denies new air strike on pro-Iran convoy ahead of Soleimani funeral – Iranian state TV claimed that there was a fresh air strike on pro-Iran fighters in Iraq early Saturday. However, both the Iraqi military and the PMF itself later denied any air strikes had taken place in the area. The US-led coalition fighting Islamic State also said it did not conduct any recent attacks near the camp north of Baghdad. The killing of Quds Force commander Major General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad on Friday was the most dramatic escalation yet in spiralling tensions between Iran and the United States, which pledged to send more troops to the region – even as President Donald Trump insisted he did not want war. Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Majid Takht Ravanchi, told CNN that the killing was an “act of war on the part of the United States”. The Hashed al-Shaabi, an Iraqi paramilitary network dominated by Shiite factions with close ties to Iran, claimed a new strike had taken place early on Saturday morning, targeting one of their convoys. It alleged further air strikes near camp Taji had killed six people and critically wounded three when they hit a convoy of medics. The Hashed did not say who it held responsible but Iraqi state television reported it was a US air strike. This came hours ahead of a planned a mourning march for Soleimani, who was killed alongside Hashed number two Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in the precision drone strike. As head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps’ foreign operations arm, Soleimani was a powerful figure domestically and oversaw wide-ranging Iranian involvement in regional power struggles – and anti-US forces.

Supreme leader in tears as huge crowd mourns slain commander in Tehran – (Reuters) – Iran’s supreme leader wept in grief with hundreds of thousands of mourners thronging Tehran’s streets on Monday for the funeral of military commander Qassem Soleimani, killed by a U.S. drone on the orders of U.S. President Donald Trump. As the coffins of General Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who also died in Friday’s attack in Baghdad, were passed over the heads of mourners, Soleimani’s successor vowed to expel U.S. forces from the region in revenge. The killing of the 62-year-old Soleimani, architect of Iran’s drive to extend its influence across the Middle East, has stoked concern around the world that a broader regional conflict could erupt. Trump has listed 52 Iranian targets, including cultural sites, that could be hit if Iran retaliates with attacks on Americans or U.S. assets, although U.S. officials sought to play down the president’s reference to cultural targets.

At least 50 killed in stampede at Iranian general’s funeral, Tehran weighs response to U.S. attack – (Reuters) – At least 50 people were killed in a stampede as mourners packed streets for the funeral of a slain Iranian military commander in his hometown on Tuesday, forcing his burial to be postponed, state media reported. Tens of thousands of people had gathered in the southeastern city of Kerman to pay tribute to General Qassem Soleimani, whose killing in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq on Friday plunged the region into a new crisis and raised fears of a broader conflict. A senior Iranian official said Tehran was considering several scenarios to avenge his killing. Other senior figures have said Iran will match the scale of Soleimani’s killing when it responds but that it will choose the time and place. Tuesday’s stampede broke out amid the crush of mourners, killing 50 people, Iran’s ISNA news agency said, quoting the chief coroner for Kerman province, Abbas Amian. About 213 people were injured, an emergency services official told the semi-official Fars news agency. The burial of Soleimani had been postponed, ISNA said, without adding long any delay would last. “Today because of the heavy congestion of the crowd unfortunately a number of our fellow citizens who were mourning were injured and a number were killed,” emergency medical services chief Pirhossein Kolivand told state television.

Iran: deadly crush during funeral for Gen Qassem Suleimani – latest updates:

• More than 50 people have been killed in a crush in the south-eastern Iranian city of Kerman, where hundreds of thousands of mourners gathered for the burial of the military commander Qassem Suleimani. State media said 56 people had been killed and 213 injured.
• Suleimani’s burial has been postponed due to the size of the crowd. It comes a day after Iranian police said millions gathered to mourn Suleimani in Tehran, in the largest turnout since the 1989 funeral of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
• The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo has again defended the killing of Suleimani but provided no new evidence to support the US claim that the general posed a direct threat to US lives. At a press conference he accused Iran of propaganda by claiming Suleimani was in Baghdad on a diplomatic mission. Pompeo also said he was “confident” that lawyers were consulted before Donald Trump ordered the strike.
• The UK’s ambassador to Iran, Rob Macaire, has been summoned by Iran’s foreign ministry and warned against siding with the US over the attack. Macaire was also told to convey a message to London that UK should not be a “partner in this crime”.
• Iranian military forces have said they are prepared to use medium- to long-range missiles to attack US bases in the Middle East, in revenge for the assassination of Suleimani. The secretary of Iran’s national security council, Ali Shamkhani, said: “The 27 US bases that are closest to Iran’s border are already on high alert; they know that the response is likely to include medium-range & long-range missiles.”
• Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has vowed that Iran will respond “proportionately” to the killing of Suleimani.He described the US-ordered drone strike as an act of state terrorism and claimed Donald Trump had no respect for international law.
• British ships and helicopters have been placed on standby in the Middle East in case there is a further military escalation of the Iran crisis, the defence minister told MPs in the Commons.Ben Wallace said the UK had taken “urgent measures” to protect British nationals and interests in Iraq and other nearby countries should Iran retaliate.

Soleimani Was In Baghdad On Peace Mission To De-Escalate With Saudis- Report — Many rightly immediately questioned the official Trump administration narrative that Qasem Soleimani was in Baghdad on the night of his death by US drone strike in order to organize more attacks on Americans and US interests. This key claim served as the White House’s post hoc justification for killing the top Iranian general. And now it has emerged that the slain IRGC Quds Force chief had arrived at Baghdad airport last Thursday night as part of ongoing diplomatic efforts to mediate peace and an easing of tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. This according to no less than Iraqi (caretaker) Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi. Iraq had been reportedly serving as intermediary for crucial Saudi attempts at diplomacy which saw tensions soaring between Tehran and Riyadh after a summer of “tanker wars” and the Sept.14 Aramco attacks, widely blamed on Iran and its proxies in the region. Adel Abdul Mahdi told parliament in a speech on Sunday the Soleimani’s killing was a “political assassination” by the US, according to The Daily Mail, which reports further: Abdul Mahdi suggested that the Iranian military leader was in Baghdad as part of Iraqi-mediated negotiations with Iran’s main regional rival, Saudi Arabia.He said that Soleimani was going to meet him on the same day that he was killed.‘He came to deliver me a message from Iran, responding to the message we delivered from Saudi Arabia to Iran,’ Abdul Mahdi told The Washington Post.The Iraqi leader did not provide any further details.This would mean the high level assassination further served to disrupt peace efforts on a huge scale – something which Iran hawks, including Israeli government officials, likely saw as an additional benefit to the strike. Iraq has further identified that Soleimani had been traveling in the capacity of a “formal” and “high profile” guest of the Iraqi government, and had been delivering Tehran’s reply to a Saudi de-escalation letter at the moment he was killed.

Iran Abandons Nuclear Deal as Killing Fallout Widens -Fallout widened from last week’s killing of a top Iranian military commander by a U.S. drone in Baghdad, as Iraq’s parliament voted to expel U.S. troops from the country and Iran said it would no longer abide by any limits on its enrichment of uranium.Iran no longer considers itself bound by the 2015 nuclear agreement negotiated with the U.S. and other world powers, its government said on Sunday, according to the semi-official Fars news organization. U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the pact in 2018.Iraq’s parliament, which denounced the drone strike early Friday as a violation of the nation’s sovereignty, asked the government to revoke its 2014 request for foreign military intervention to beat back Islamic State, which had conquered large chunks of the country.The developments led Trump to double down late Sunday on his tactics. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump repeated a threat to strike Iranian cultural sites if U.S. citizens or sites are struck in retaliation for the U.S. killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. He also sent a warning to Iraq, saying that U.S. troops won’t leave the nation without billions in payment for a base there — or, they’d leave and Trump would apply sanctions to the country, which is an ally. Iraqi parliamentary session held to discuss presence of foreign forces in Baghdad, Iraq, on Jan. 5. “We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that’s there. It cost billions of dollars to build, long before my time. We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it,“ Trump told reporters as he returned to Washington from Florida. “If they do ask us to leave, if we don’t do it in a very friendly basis, we will charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before ever. It’ll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame.” Trump’s Iraq threat is his latest effort to ratchet up warnings against any counter-attack in the aftermath of Soleimani’s death. Earlier, a Lebanese proxy nurtured by Soleimani, vowed to attack U.S. soldiers and bases as Gulf Arab states tried to head off the kind of retribution that would plunge the combustible region into a broad military confrontation.

Trump Is Doing the Bidding of Washington’s Most Vile Cabal – WHILE THE MEDIA focus for three years of the Trump presidency has centered around “Russia collusion” and impeachment, the most dangerous collusion of all was happening right out in the open – the Trump/Saudi/Israel/UAE drive to war with Iran. On August 3, 2016 – just three months before Donald Trump would win the Electoral College vote and ascend to power – Blackwater founder Erik Prince arranged a meeting at Trump Tower. For decades, Prince had been agitating for a war with Iran and, as early as 2010, had developed a fantastical proposal for using mercenaries to wage it. At this meeting was George Nader, an American citizen who had a long history of being a quiet emissary for the United States in the Middle East. Nader, who had also worked for Blackwater and Prince, was a convicted pedophile in the Czech Republic and is facing similar allegations in the United States. Nader worked as an adviser for the Emirati royals and has close ties to Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince. There was also an Israeli at the Trump Tower meeting: Joel Zamel. He was there supposedly pitching a multimillion-dollar social media manipulation campaign to the Trump team. Zamel’s company, Psy-Group, boasts of employing former Israeli intelligence operatives. Nader and Zamel were joined by Donald Trump Jr. According to the New York Times, the purpose of the meeting was “primarily to offer help to the Trump team, and it forged relationships between the men and Trump insiders that would develop over the coming months, past the election and well into President Trump’s first year in office.” One major common goal ran through the agendas of all the participants in this Trump Tower meeting: regime change in Iran. Trump campaigned on belligerence toward Iran and trashing the Obama-led Iran nuclear deal, and he has followed through on those threats, filling his administration with the most vile, hawkish figures in the U.S. national security establishment. After appointing notorious warmonger John Bolton as national security adviser, Trump fired him last September. But despite reports that Trump had soured on Bolton because of his interventionist posture toward Iran, Bolton’s firing merely opened the door for the equally belligerent Mike Pompeo to take over the administration’s Iran policy at the State Department. Now Pompeo is the public face of the Suleimani assassination, while for his part, the fired Bolton didn’t want to be left out of the gruesome victory lap: Trump, who had no idea who Qassim Suleimani was until it was explained to him live on the radio by conservative journalist Hugh Hewitt in 2015, didn’t seem to need many details to know that he wanted to crush the Iranian state.

Mar-a-Lago Guests and Israel Had More Prior Knowledge of Strike on Soleimani Than Democratic Leaders – Days ahead of the assassination of high-ranking Iranian military and intelligence official Gen. Qasem Soleimani, President Donald Trump was dropping hints to guests at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, telling them to expect something “big” very “soon” in Iraq. “He kept saying, ‘You’ll see,’” a source who was at Mar-a-Lago told The Daily Beast. The Trump administration also forewarned Israel of the intended killing. “Our assessment is that the United States informed Israel about this operation in Iraq, apparently a few days ago,” said journalist and commentator Barak Ravid, who has sources within Israel’s government, according to the Los Angeles Times. Another source, an Israeli army officer, told the paper that the attack “did not come as a surprise.” Meanwhile, contrary to tradition, Trump neglected to inform top Democrats including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ahead of the strike. And Senate staff were told about as much as people at the resort.Even when Senate staff received a briefing on Friday following the Thursday killing, one anonymous source told The Daily Beast that Trump’s administration seemed to have no plans for de-escalating the situation or what they would do next. “This administration has absolutely not earned the benefit of the doubt when it makes these kinds of claims. When you’re taking action that could lead to the third American war in the Middle East in 20 years, you need to do better than these kinds of assertions,” a Senate aide who attended the briefing said.Although Trump officials are claiming that the attack was made to prevent further violence, “At the very least, it furthers division in the country and raises the political temperature,” an Iraqi official said. “We need de-escalation and this is the mother of all escalations.” Aside from Trump’s seemingly strange choices regarding who knew about the attack ahead of time, some have raised concerns that the attack might have actually been illegal according to international law. Agnes Callamard, a human rights expert and the UN Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial Executions, tweeted that the Pentagon’s statement on killing Soleimani “mentions that it aimed at ‘deterring future Iranian attack plans.’ This however is very vague. Future is not the same as imminent which is the time based test required under international law.”

U.S. Killing of Soleimani Leaves Trump ‘Totally Unpredictable’ Three years into Donald Trump’s presidency, U.S. allies and adversaries thought they had him figured out as a leader prone to bellicose talk who rarely delivered on his boldest military threats. That all changed Thursday with Trump’s decision to kill a key Iranian commander in the biggest foreign policy gamble of his time in office. With the high-stakes drone strike against General Qassem Soleimani, one of Iran’s most venerated leaders, Trump caught Tehran — and the rest of the world — by surprise, restoring a sense of unpredictability that could play to his advantage as world leaders are left wondering what his endgame is in the Middle East and beyond. “The Americans are now totally unpredictable,” Gerard Araud, a former French ambassador to the U.S. and the United Nations, said in an interview. “There was no response to Iranian attacks against oil tankers, a U.S. drone and Saudi oil fields, but out of the blue comes this surprising hit on Soleimani. We are depending on the unpredictable reaction of one man.” The drone strike shatters an assumption — often repeated by Western officials in anonymous briefings — that Trump would do his utmost to avoid war during an election year. Yet the move may only reinforce the determination of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un to build a stronger nuclear deterrent, as the Iraq strike underscores that a nuclear arsenal — which Kim’s regime possesses and Iran is capable of developing — is the surest way to ensure a regime’s survival. Trump built a reputation as a bellicose but risk-averse commander-in-chief. He repeatedly sought to pull troops out of the Middle East, look past North Korean violations of international sanctions and avoid what he called the “endless wars” his predecessors got the U.S. mired in. After almost three years of Trump badgering NATO allies on matters such as defense spending and praising autocrats like Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kim — who the president said he “fell in love” with — world leaders started to think they knew how to read the former New York real estate developer. That’s gone now, probably permanently. Yet Trump’s willingness to risk an escalation in an already volatile region gives him some leverage against U.S. foes even as it raises the risk of miscalculation, diplomats and analysts said in interviews. Leaders like North Korea’s Kim and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad will have to proceed cautiously before crossing a U.S. “red line,” and Iran will struggle to come up with a suitable response that won’t further destabilize its already embattled regime. Bringing “not agreement-capable” to new heights.

Trump says 52 targets already lined up if Iran retaliates (AP) – President Donald Trump issued a stark warning to Iran on Saturday, threatening to hit dozens of targets in the Islamic Republic “very fast and very hard” if it retaliates for the targeted killing of the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force. The series of tweets came as the White House sent to Congress a formal notification under the War Powers Act of the drone strike on Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a senior administration official said. U.S. law required notification within 48 hours of the introduction of American forces into an armed conflict or a situation that could lead to war. The notification was classified and it was not known if a public version would be released. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the classified document “suggests Congress and the American people are being left in the dark about our national security.” In unusually specific language, Trump tweeted that his administration had already targeted 52 Iranian sites, “some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture.” He linked the number of sites to the number of hostages, also 52, held by Iran for nearly 15 months after protesters overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979. Thousands of Iranians lined Baghdad streets Saturday for the funeral procession for Soleimani. The Islamic Republic has vowed revenge for the Trump-ordered airstrike that killed him and several senior Iraqi militants early Friday Baghdad time. Trump appeared to respond to such threats with tweets justifying Soleimani’s killing and matching the bellicose language from Iran. “Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, & badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently hundreds of Iranian protesters,“the president tweeted. “He was already attacking our Embassy, and preparing for additional hits in other locations. Iran has been nothing but problems for many years.” Trump also warned: “The USA wants no more threats!” Trump’s reference to targeting sites “important to Iran & the Iranian culture” could raise questions about whether striking such targets would violate international agreements. The American Red Cross notes on its website that the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their additional protocols, ratified by scores of nations in recent years, states that “cultural objects and places of worship” may not be attacked and outlaws “indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations.”

The latest: Iran tweets response to Trump’s threats to target cultural sites — Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted on Sunday, “Having committed grave breaches of int’l law in Friday’s cowardly assassinations, @realdonaldtrump threatens to commit again new breaches … Targeting cultural sites is a WAR CRIME.” Hossein Dehghan, the military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told CNN that Iran will target U.S. military sites in response to the killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani. He also claimed that Trump’s threat to target 52 cultural sites would be a war crime. Information and Communications Technology Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi tweeted: “Like ISIS, like Hitler, Like Genghis! They all hate cultures. Trump is a ‘terrorist in a suit.’ He will learn history very soon that NOBODY can defeat ‘the Great Iranian Nation & Culture.” Friday’s drone strike that killed Soleimani is the most direct confrontation from the U.S. since the Trump administration pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Iran has vowed to take revenge, according to the official Iranian news site IRNA.Experts including Ryan Goodman, a former special counsel at the Defense Department, have said attacking cultural sites is a war crime. Trump has faced criticism over the strike that killed Soleimani from some world leaders and members of Congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, who formally resigned a month ago, said the attack will lead to a “dangerous escalation,” NPR reports.

Trump says he’ll sanction Iraq if US troops forced to leave — President Trump said Sunday that the United States would not leave Iraq on “friendly” terms and threatened to impose sanctions on the country if forced to withdraw American troops. “If they do ask us to leave, if we don’t do it in a very friendly basis, we will charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before ever. It’ll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday afternoon when asked about the vote by Iraq’s parliament to end U.S. troop presence in the country. “If there’s any hostility, that they do anything we think is inappropriate, we are going to put sanctions on Iraq, very big sanctions on Iraq,” Trump added. Trump made the remarks to reporters while traveling from Palm Beach, Fla., to Washington, D.C., after a two-week stint at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Earlier Sunday, the Iraqi parliament voted in favor of a resolution calling on the country’s government to work toward ending U.S. troop presence there after a U.S. airstrike killed a top Iranian general in the capital of Baghdad. American forces have maintained a presence in Iraq since 2014 as part of the operation targeting ISIS. The bill is subject to approval by the Iraqi government. Trump also at one point Sunday suggested that American forces wouldn’t leave Iraq unless the country paid the U.S. back for its “expensive air base” there, an apparent reference to the Al Asad Air Base. “We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that’s there. It cost billions of dollars to build. Long before my time,” Trump said. “We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it.”

Iraq parliament calls for end of U.S. troop presence after Soleimani death — The Iraqi parliament passed a resolution Sunday calling for the government to expel foreign troops from the country in the wake of an U.S. airstrike that killed a top Iranian general, raising questions about the future of the allied mission that has successfully fought the “Islamic State,” or ISIS, in recent years. The resolution asks Iraq’s government to cancel the request for assistance from the U.S.-led coalition operating in the country against the “Islamic State,” which once controlled large swathes of Iraq and Syria before allied intervention. “The government commits to revoke its request for assistance from the international coalition fighting Islamic State due to the end of military operations in Iraq and the achievement of victory,” the resolution read. “The Iraqi government must work to end the presence of any foreign troops on Iraqi soil and prohibit them from using its land, airspace or water for any reason.” The U.S.-led coalition announced Sunday it was suspending most operations against “Islamic State,” also known in the Arab world as “Daesh.” The coalition has shifted its focus to protecting Iraqi bases from attack by Iranian-allied militias such as Kataib Hezbollah, according to an official statement. “As a result we are now fully committed to protecting the Iraqi bases that host Coalition troops,” the U.S.-led coalition said. “This has limited our capacity to conduct training with partners and to support their operations against Daesh and we have therefore paused these activities, subject to continuous review.“ The Iraqi parliamentary resolution is non-binding on the government, but Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi urged parliament earlier on Sunday to take urgent measures and end the foreign troop presence as soon as possible.

Trump threatens to slap sanctions on Iraq ‘like they’ve never seen before’ – President Donald Trump threatened Sunday to slap sanctions on Iraq after its parliament passed a resolution calling for the government to expel foreign troops from the country. Tensions in the Middle East spiraled last week after Trump called for a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad that killed a top Iranian general, Qasem Soleimani. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, the U.S. president said: “If they do ask us to leave, if we don’t do it in a very friendly basis, we will charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before ever. It’ll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame.” “We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that’s there. It cost billions of dollars to build. Long before my time. We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it,” Trump said. The president added that “If there’s any hostility, that they do anything we think is inappropriate, we are going to put sanctions on Iraq, very big sanctions on Iraq.” Soleimani, the head of a special forces unit in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was the key architect of Iran’s military operations overseas. He was killed late Thursday while leaving Baghdad airport, when his convoy was struck by a drone, ordered by the U.S. president. One of those killed with him was a key Iraqi militia leader, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces. The Iraqi government has accused Washington of violating its sovereignty. “The Iraqi government must work to end the presence of any foreign troops on Iraqi soil and prohibit them from using its land, airspace or water for any reason,” read the resolution passed by the Iraqi parliament, which convened in an extraordinary session on Sunday.

Pentagon rejects Trump threat to target Iranian cultural sites – Al Jazeera The United States’s defence secretary has contradicted President Donald Trump by saying the country’s military had no plans to bomb Iranian cultural sites amid threats of retaliation from Tehran over the US assassination of its top military commander, Qassem Soleimani. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Mark Esper said the US military will “follow the laws of armed conflict”. When pressed if that ruled out hitting cultural sites, Esper said pointedly: “That’s the laws of armed conflict”. More: US military has no plans to leave Iraq: US defence chief Iran: Qassem Soleimani’s remains arrive in Kerman for burial US-Iran tensions after Soleimani killing: All the latest updates In comments that sparked an international outcry, Trump first raised the prospect of attacking cultural sites in a tweet on Saturday and reiterated that view to reporters the next day. “We have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD,” he tweeted.

Iraq Votes To Expel US Troops As Iranian MPs Chant Death To America — Interim Iraqi prime minister, Adil Abdul Mahdi, stressed during the session, that while the US government notified the Iraqi military of the planned strike on Soleimani, his government denied Washington permission to continue with the operation. As RT reports, Mahdi said after the incident that it was clear it was in the interest of both the US and Iraq to end the presence of foreign forces on Iraqi soil. “Despite the internal and external difficulties that we might face, it remains best for Iraq on principle and practically.” Still there are plenty more US bases around… Meanwhile, as the Iraqi government voted, the Iranian parliament took to the Parliament podium to chant “death to America.” After a speech by parliamentary Speaker Ali Larjani, who exclaimed “Mr. Trump, this is the voice of the Iranian nation,” MPs surged united to the podium… The Iranian MPs echoed a popular sentiment heard on the streets as 1000s mourned the death of Qasem Soleimani.

British soldiers in Middle East on high alert amid warnings they WILL be killed as ‘collateral damage’ as Boris Johnson backs Donald Trump over ‘self-defence’ killing of Qassem Soleimani – Boris Johnson today backed America’s right to ‘self-defence’ as the fallout from Donald Trump’s killing of Qassem Soleimani escalated. The PM’s official spokesman refused to criticise the dramatic drone strike despite threats from Tehran that UK forces could be ‘collateral damage’ in reprisals. But Downing Street did caution that attacks on cultural sites – an idea Mr Trump has mooted – could break international law. And the government has again appealed for Iraq not to expel British and US troops, pointing out that they are in the country to combat ISIS. In a phone call with Iraqi counterpart Adil Abdul Mahdi today, Mr Johnson stressed his commitment to ‘Iraq’s stability and sovereignty’ after the killing on its territory. He ’emphasised the importance of the continued fight against the shared threat’ from the terrorist group. Mr Johnson is back in Westminster after his Caribbean holiday, but finds himself walking a tightrope between Mr Trump and other allies who want to ease tensions. He met Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace this afternoon to take stock of the situation. Speaking afterwards Mr Raab said: ‘We have been very clear that cultural sites are protected under international law and we would expect that to be respected.’

US starts the Raging Twenties declaring war on Iran – Pepe Escobar – It does not matter where the green light came from for the US targeted assassination of Quds Force commander Major General Qasem Soleimani and the Hashd al-Shaabi second in command Abu Madhi al-Muhandis. This is an act of war. Unilateral, unprovoked and illegal. President Trump may have issued the order. Or the US Deep State may have ordered him to issue the order. According to my best Southwest Asia intel sources, “Israel gave the US the coordinates for the assassination of Qasem Soleimani as they wanted to avoid the repercussions of taking the assassination upon themselves.”It does not matter that Trump and the Deep State are at war.One of the very few geopolitical obsessions that unite them is non-stop confrontation with Iran – qualified by the Pentagon as one of the five top threats against the US, almost at the level of Russia and China. And there cannot be a more startling provocation against Iran – in a long list of sanctions and provocations – than what happened in Baghdad. Iraq is now the preferred battleground of a proxy war against Iran that may now metastasize into a hot war, with devastating consequences.We knew it was coming. There were plenty of rumbles in Israeli media by former Defense and Mossad officials. There were explicit threats by the Pentagon. I discussed it in detail in Umbria last week with sterling analyst Alastair Crooke – who was extremely worried. I received worried messages from Iran. The inevitable escalation by Washington was being discussed until late Thursday night here in Palermo, actually a few hours before the strike. Sicily, by the way, in the terminology of US generals, is AMGOT: American Government Occupied Territory.Once again, the Exceptionalist hands at work show how predictable they are. Trump is cornered by impeachment. Netanyahu has been indicted. Nothing like an external “threat” to rally the internal troops. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei knows about these complex variables as much as he knows of this responsibility as the power who issued Iran’s own red lines. Not surprisingly he already announced, on the record, there will be blowback: “A forceful revenge awaits the criminals who have his blood and the blood of other martyrs last night on their hands.” Expect it to be very painful.

There’s a silver lining in a potential US-Iran war – The US is in a very strong position versus Iran. It has a vastly superior air force including stealth bombers and fighter planes, modern and effective naval forces including aircraft carriers, missile defense Aegis cruisers and nuclear submarines. The US also has superb intelligence and situational awareness, something the Iranians lack. Iran has short, medium and some long-range rockets, and the ability to use terrorism to its advantage. Beyond that, Iran has little else. The Iranian navy is worthless as a fighting force. Its air force is made up mostly of old planes that are hardly flightworthy. It does not have precision weapons. Iran does have drones and aging Russian cruise missiles. It also has proxy forces that can cause trouble for Israel in the form of Hezbollah and, to a degree, Hamas. But not much more. The US has formidable allies in the region. Israel has a first-rate air force, missile defenses, submarines and strike naval assets. It has a well-disciplined and trained army along with civil defense to protect its citizens. Like the US, Israel has excellent situational awareness and intelligence assets, formidable command and control capabilities, and deep fighting experience. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other allies in the region also have frontline fighter aircraft and competent naval assets. Like Israel, they also have some missile defenses. They are supported by the US, have precision weapons, and in a setting of general war can be useful and effective assets. Given the nature of the Iranian regime, its tendency toward extreme posturing and its ambition to dominate the Middle East and Persian Gulf, nothing can be ruled out. But if Iran does go to war, there is a silver lining: heightened conflict could provide the opportunity to end the country’s budding nuclear ambitions. If conflict breaks out, the US could use its bunker busters and precision weapons to annihilate as much of Iran’s missile and nuclear weapons centers as possible. That would definitely end the Mullahs’ rule and the Middle East would be spared the growing threat of nuclear war.

The Real Reason the U.S. Is Interested in Iran – The American obsession with Iran is about oil and natural gas. If these two resources had been absent, it is hard to imagine such an intense American focus on the country from the time of a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency-backed coup of Iran’s elected government in 1953 to today. The Foreign Policy magazine piece linked above is based on declassified CIA documents and summarizes the coup this way: “Known as Operation Ajax, the CIA plot was ultimately about oil.” This should come as no surprise. Iran was an oil power back in 1953 and it remains one today. Iran is presumed to have the third largest oil reserves in the world and the second largest natural gas reserves. Even if the numbers cited are somewhat inflated, Iran’s reserves are not small, and the country is likely to play a large role in world energy markets for many years to come. The recent escalation of tensions between the United States and Iran because of the U.S. assassination of a prominent, popular and by all accounts highly effective Iranian general will allow the advocates of war to trot out all manner of excuses for such a war: terrorism, regime change, the credibility of the United States, Iran’s nonexistent nuclear weapons, and the United States’ geostrategic posture vis-à-vis big power rivals such as Russia and China. (Does anyone really know what the last one means?) What won’t be discussed are the deep historical antagonisms which have developed starting with the 1953 CIA-backed coup, and few people remember that the United States supplied economic aid, dual-use (both civilian and military use) technology, training and arms through other countries to Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq War. Iran is said to have suffered over 1 million deaths during the eight years of conflict which also created a large class of disabled people.It turns out that the Iranian focus on America and its worldwide military, intelligence (covert and otherwise) and diplomatic operations is but a mirror image of the American focus on Iran and its worldwide network of intelligence and allied surrogates that Iran uses to strike at the United States and its allies.Behind it all are the vast stores of hydrocarbons that make Iran’s power possible and its importance substantial in the world. What is strange about this American obsession is that successive American administrations, both Republican and Democratic, have told us that soaring domestic production of oil and natural gas from shale deposits in t he United States would free us from foreign sources and lighten our military and security burden abroad. “Energy dominance” became the watchword in the U.S. oil and gas industry. So, why is the U.S. government and national security establishment still obsessing over Iran? Here are three possible energy-related explanations:

• There isn’t as much U.S. shale oil and natural gas as we are being told.
• Iran is a competitor of the U.S. oil industry.
• Iranian energy exports are a way for Iran to extend its influence.

Israelis quietly hail Soleimani killing as they brace for retaliation WaPo – Israelis reacted with muted satisfaction Friday to the killing of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, a man they considered the mastermind behind decades of terrorism directed against their country, even as they braced for potentially deadly retaliation by Iran and its proxies at a time of pitched tension in the region. Israel’s embassies around the world were put on heightened alert, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short a visit to Greece to monitor the situation from Jerusalem. Businesses bustled as usual on the morning before the beginning of the Sabbath, but officials closed the Hermon ski area, a resort in the Golan Heights that has been targeted in the past by missiles fired from Syria. Israel’s official reaction to Soleimani’s killing by a U.S. drone strike was restrained, so as not to further inflame the moment or imply any Israeli involvement. Netanyahu instructed government officials not to comment but hailed the attack in remarks to reporters while traveling. “Qasem Soleimani is responsible for the death of American citizens and many other innocent people. He was planning more such attacks,” Netanyahu said. “President Trump deserves all the credit for acting swiftly, forcefully and decisively.” [Iran vows revenge after U.S. drone strike kills elite force commander] Analysts said Israel was preparing for possible reprisals from any direction, from Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon in the north to the Gaza Strip in the south, where the ruling Hamas faction and Islamic Jihad cells had long-standing ties to Soleimani.

Iranian Revenge Will Be A Dish Best Served Cold – Scott Ritter e assassination by the United States of Qassem Suleimani, a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general and commander of the Quds Force, an Iranian paramilitary force specializing in covert operations on foreign soil, has sent shock waves through the Middle East and around the globe. The Trump administration has justified its action, citing unspecified intelligence that indicated Suleimani was in the process of finalizing plans for attacks on U.S. personnel and interests in the region, claiming that Suleimani’s death “saved American lives.” This narrative has been challenged by Lebanese officials familiar with Suleimani’s itinerary, noting that the Iranian general had been in Beirut on diplomatic business, and had travelled to Baghdad via a commercial air flight, where he had been diplomatically cleared to enter. These officials claim Suleimani was killed while riding in a convoy on his way from Baghdad International Airport into the city of Baghdad. In any event, Suleimani’s death resonates in a region already on edge because of existing tensions between the U.S. and Iran. The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, has announced three days of mourning for Suleimani, an indication of his status as national hero. Khamenei also vowed revenge on those who perpetrated the attack. Concern over imminent Iranian retaliation has prompted the State Department to order all American citizens to leave Iraq, and for U.S. forces in the region to be placed on the highest level of alert. Hundreds of American soldiers have been flown into the region as reinforcements, with thousands more standing by if needed. For many analysts and observers, Iran and the U.S. are on the cusp of a major confrontation. While such an outcome is possible, the reality is that the Iranian policy of asymmetrical response to American aggression that had been put in place by Qassem Suleimani when he was alive is still in place today. While emotions run high in the streets of Iranian cities, with angry crowds demanding action, the Iranian leadership, of which Suleimani was a trusted insider, recognizes that any precipitous action on its part only plays into the hands of the United States. In seeking revenge for the assassination of Qassem Suleimani, Iran will most likely play the long game, putting into action the old maxim that revenge is a dish best served cold.

Iran moving drones, missile batteries as US forces placed on alert: report – Iran is moving some drones and missile batteries as U.S. forces were placed on high alert Monday night, CNN reported. U.S. forces and air-defense missile batteries in the Middle East were told to monitor for potential Iranian drones after intelligence suggested an attack on U.S. targets, two U.S. officials told CNN. Intelligence saw Iran moving military equipment, including drones and missiles, over the last several days. U.S. officials told CNN the recent development could mean they are moving them in fear of a potential U.S. strike or they are preparing to conduct their own strike. An official told the news source that “there were indications that we needed to monitor the threats” more closely than at current levels. Another said the situation required “all Patriot batteries and forces in the area [to be] on high alert” against an “imminent attack threat.” The U.S. is preparing for strikes in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan based on intelligence, CNN reported, and the U.S. Maritime Administration has cautioned commercial ships in the Middle East about potential “Iranian action against U.S. maritime interests in the region.” Iran has used missiles on its drones in other attacks, including a prominent strike at two Saudi oil refineries last year.

Missiles hit Iraq base housing US troops; Iran claims responsibility – President Trump was briefed Tuesday evening after Iran claimed responsibility for the launch of missiles at an Iraqi military base housing U.S. troops, a marked escalation in the conflict between the two countries following the U.S.’s killing of a top Iranian general. The Pentagon in a statement said Iran had “launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against U.S. military and coalition forces in Iraq,” adding, “It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military and coalition personnel at Al-Assad and Irbil.” Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in the statement that the bases had been on high alert since the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani last week. “We are aware of the reports of attacks on US facilities in Iraq,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement. “The President has been briefed and is monitoring the situation closely and consulting with his national security team.” Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif) team also said it had been briefed on the matter, not long after Pelosi had met in the Capitol basement with the other members of the Gang of Eight for a briefing on the decision to launch the drone strike in Baghdad last week that killed Soleimani. “We must ensure the safety of our servicemembers, including ending needless provocations from the Administration and demanding that Iran cease its violence,” the Democratic leader tweeted Tuesday night, adding: “America & world cannot afford war.” Pelosi had huddled earlier Tuesday with members of the Democratic Steering Committee in another part of the Capitol, where she was handed a note about the latest strike on the base in Iraq. She then left the meeting to gavel open the floor ahead of Tuesday evening’s votes and four minutes later spoke by phone with Vice President Pence, who briefed her on “the Iranian attacks on facilities housing U.S. troops in Iraq,” according to spokesman Drew Hammell.

Trump Threatens To Hit Iran “Hard and Fast” After Rockets Strike US Targets In New Attacks –US officials suspect that the Iranian government has followed through on its promise of retaliation for the airstrike that took out general Shahid Qassem Suleimani this week, as US encampments in Iraq and Syria were targeted by rocket fire just days after Iranian officials promised a severe response to the attack.The militaries of Iran and the United States have continued to square off in the middle east over the past week, with rocket fire exchanged in multiple countries. US forces have targeted locations in both Iraq and Syria that are affiliated with Iran, while the government of Iran is being blamed for a number of ‘Katyusha’ unguided missiles that were fired into a heavily fortified “green zone” in Baghdad, which is home to the US embassy and other government buildings. In the green zone attack, 5 people were wounded but no casualties were reported.Balad airbase, a military base near Baghdad where many US troops are stationed was also hit by rockets. In that attack, there were 3 people wounded, but luckily no one was killed in that incident either. The Al-Kindi base in Mosul was also bombed in the same 24 hours of fighting, but there have been no reports of injuries or casualties. Following the attacks, Hezbollah warned Iraqi Security Forces to stay away from US bases, as more attacks are expected to be coming.Most recently, late on Saturday, reports came in that US aircraft attacked Iranian positions near the eastern Syrian city of Al-Bukamal. The video below, shared by the Nonpartisan International Relations and National Security analysis group, Strategic Sentinel reportedly shows fires in the aftermath of the US-led strikes on Al-Bukamal.

US War Against Iran in the Dominion of Production – As I write there’s little but confusion on whether Iran launched a bona fide strike on a US base in Irak or whether this was a pantomime meant to let both sides save face and remain within the realm of fakeness. Contrary to Trump’s lies about US early warning systems, the US was tipped off ahead of time and was able to move its personnel and any important equipment. The question seems to be whether Iran informed only the Iraki prime minister who then treacherously tipped off the Americans, or whether Iran itself tipped off the Americans through the Swiss. Especially if the latter, this only delays the inevitable reckoning with reality. That would be typical behavior of the berserker leadership, in spite of the reality of the psychological impacts on the masses of the Mideast and the West. Ultimately the biological force of the masses will force reality upon the nations, however much their berserker leadership classes dig ever deeper into their delusions. (This fakeness has much in common with the climate-industrial movement and corporate environmentalism in general. These are committed to a fake pantomime of caring and action while always reassuring the economic civilization that it can continue the binge, that there is no reality beyond this binge being necessary, sustainable and desirable.) This Potemkin exercise, if that’s what it was, looks unimpressive. It’s not remotely “proportional” to US crimes. The Iranian people and Shiites everywhere will take this as an insult unless the leadership assures them this is only the beginning. In the meantime we’d be left where we started in the world of fakeness. This house of mirrors is the US home terrain, the fake world of dollars and Dominion mirages, Mammon and media. The system depends upon these mirrors for its entire position. The domineering dollar is only the beginning of it. Anyone who thinks they’re going to win by out-faking the arch-faker is likely to be disappointed. The prospect that in the minds of the respective leaders this is Phony War doesn’t change the reality of the psychological whip-sawing the American masses must be undergoing, from day to day being summoned by the media to constant Two Minute Hates, then an actual beginning to war, then “All is well!” and a toning down of the alarmism, then more fatuous boasting from Trump, and then what next? Regardless of what the berserkers at the helm think they’re doing, however fake or not the action and/or the spin on the action may be, the psychological effect on the masses is real. One thing the drivers definitely are doing is scorching all earth where any kind of sane mass psychology could try to build itself.

War Least Desirable Outcome for US and Iran – Full scale war is the least desirable outcome for both the United States and Iran. That’s what Fitch Solutions believes, according to Richard Taylor, an oil and gas analyst at the company. Taylor added, however, that the business sees a “high risk” of retaliatory action by Iran for the killing of General Soleimani, “which will keep a geopolitical risk premium in Brent in the near term”. “We at Fitch Solutions view it as most likely that Iran will respond in a way that seeks to bolster its power of deterrence and its projection of strength while still remaining below the ‘threshold of war’,” Taylor told Rigzone. “That being said, there is still a substantial risk of miscalculation on either side, with retaliatory attacks eventually ending up crossing the respective governments’ ‘red lines’ and causing a direct military confrontation,” he added. Taylor said that for Brent, the elevated tension and lingering threat of disruption to physical oil infrastructure will add a “bullish near-term impetus to price”. The Fitch Solutions representative noted that the extent to which Brent maintains this geopolitical risk price premium now becomes a key question, “with previous attacks in the region having caused a sharp but ephemeral run-up in the oil price before retracing within a matter of days”. “In our view, the increased likelihood of a period of reciprocal attacks and incidents between the U.S., Iran and their regional proxies will mean the current price premium in Brent is likely to be more persistent through the next few months,” Taylor stated. Will Scargill, a managing oil and gas analyst at GlobalData, said increased tensions between the U.S. and Iran “certainly add risk to the global oil market” but added that the effect on the oil market of these heightened tensions is likely to be time and value-limited. “More significant market effects would likely only come from a major escalation in Iran’s response, such as major disruption to oil transit through the Strait of Hormuz,” Scargill stated.

Tanker Operators Suspend Travel Through Strait Of Hormuz – Following Iran’s decision to lob missiles at US-Iraqi bases last night, several major tanker operators have suspended sailing through the Straits of Hormuz, the site of several tanker attacks last year. Petrobras, Bahri – Saudi Arabia’s state-run tanker operator – and other tanker companies have suspended sailing through the Straits of Hormuz, WSJ reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. Meanwhile, Gulf officials are already trying to convince the world that there’s nothing to worry about in what’s essentially a tinderbox inside another tinderbox. United Arab Emirates’ Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said on Wednesday he saw no immediate risk to oil passing through the critical gateway through which 20% of the global supply of crude travels. al-Mazrouei made the comments on the sidelines of a conference in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital. The source of their concerns is clear: Iran carried out its “retaliation” for the killing of General Suleimani last night – though the Pentagon has confirmed that there have been no American casualties from Iran’s strikes. However, many fear that Iran isn’t finished with its retaliation. Mazrouei added that OPEC was not discussing any precautionary steps at the moment, but would re-evaluate the situation if a supply shortage emerged, according to Reuters. He said earlier that the global oil market was well supplied. Oil prices initially moved higher after last night’s attacks, but prices have since settled, and the market largely ignored the news about the tanker suspensions, as it was already largely priced in.

How the world’s most important oil chokepoint could factor into escalating US-Iran tensions -A critical gateway to the world’s oil industry has been thrust back into the global spotlight, following a dramatic escalation in geopolitical tensions since the targeted killing of a top Iranian general. The death of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani at the end of last week has ratcheted up already-high tensions between Washington and Tehran, with many investors increasingly anxious that a widening conflict could disrupt global oil supplies. Analysts at Eurasia Group predicted the most likely outcome of Soleimani’s death would be a months-long “escalatory cycle” of tit-for-tat responses in the Middle East, before mediation efforts eventually lead to de-escalating U.S.-Iran tensions. watch now VIDEO01:28 Gen. Soleimani’s daughter threatens attack on US troops during funeral procession But, as tensions continue to ramp up initially, analysts at the political risk consultancy said they would expect to see Iran harass commercial shipping in the Gulf – “and shipping in the Strait of Hormuz will be temporarily disrupted with navy drills.” Situated between Iran and Oman, the Strait of Hormuz is a narrow but strategically important waterway that links crude producers in the Middle East with key markets across the world. It was the focal point of heightened U.S.-Iran tensions in May and June last year, when six oil tankers and a U.S. drone were attacked in, or near, the waterway. Energy security in the Gulf Oil prices were trading higher on Monday, extending gains following Friday’s more than 3% jump. International benchmark Brent crude traded at $69.62 at around 12:15 p.m. London time, up around 1.5%, having briefly climbed above $70 a barrel earlier in the session. It was the first time since May that Brent futures had surpassed this psychologically important level. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) stood at $63.78 Monday morning, up more than 1.1% for the session.

Asia’s crude supplies could be disrupted if Iraqi oil facilities are targeted – Investors are worried about possible attacks on oil facilities in Southern Iraq that could affect crude supplies into Asia, an analyst told CNBC on Thursday. Iraq is the second-largest oil producer in OPEC, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. A disruption to its output level could make it hard for the oil cartel to replace the shortfall, Henning Gloystein, director for global energy and natural resources at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said on “Squawk Box.” “That southern facility is right at the heart of the geopolitical risk world at the moment,” he said referring to oil facilities in Iraq’s southern province of Basra. “This is where the oil market fears a confrontation because if that gets hit, markets will get into trouble, especially in Asia.” Basra, which is near the Umm Qasr port, accounts for nearly 85% of Iraq’s crude oil production, according to the Associated Press. Tensions in the Middle East soared after Iran on Wednesday local time launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against Iraqi military bases housing American troops. It was an act of retaliation in response to the U.S. killing of Iran’s top general, Qasem Soleimani. The attacks did not destroy major energy infrastructure that could have disrupted global crude supply. Oil prices initially surged more than 4% at news of the missile attacks, but they subsequently dropped almost 5% when U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington would impose sanctions on Tehran instead of another military strike as feared by some investors. But the situation remains volatile and the likelihood of possible strikes on tankers or oil facilities in the region remains.

The Latest: Germany: Russia, China say UN must address Iran crisis (AP) – At the United Nations, Russia and China say they strongly oppose the New Year’s Eve attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. But Moscow and Beijing say they have decided to block a U.N. Security Council statement condemning that attack because it doesn’t address the subsequent U.S. killing of Iran’s top general. The U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad had been stormed by Iran-backed Shiite militias. Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Monday that Moscow agreed with the proposed U.S. statement condemning the embassy attack. But he says it would be “impossible” not to take into account the U.S. killing of Gen. Qassam Soleimani inside Iraq last Friday. Mideast tensions have since reached a boiling point. Nebenzia says the focus must now be to “prevent developments going down the drain in the direction of a major conflict.” ___ 11:00 p.m. The U.S. Embassy in Israel has issued a warning to Americans to stay on the alert “in the event of mortar or rocket fire.” The embassy’s website said it posted the security alert Monday “out of an abundance of caution.” The warning addressed U.S. citizens in Israel, Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Tensions in the Middle East have been at a boiling point since the U.S. killed a top Iranian last week in Iraq. Israel, a key U.S. ally and longtime foe to Iran, has kept a low profile since the killing. The U.S. has said it will bomb Iran if Tehran retaliates. A former Iranian Revolutionary Guard leader then suggested the Israeli city of Haifa and others could be targeted should the U.S. attack Iran. ___

Iran crisis: Germany, France, UK urge de-escalation – German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday called on “all parties to exercise utmost restraint” as tensions continue to rise in the Middle East. The three leaders issued a joint statement saying there was “an urgent need for de-escalation” and that the “current cycle of violence in Iraq must end.” The trio reiterated their “attachment to the sovereignty and security of Iraq,” saying that “another crisis risks jeopardizing years of efforts to stabilize Iraq.” Fighting against Islamic State in the region “remains a high priority,” the statement added. The leaders urged Iraqi authorities to continue providing support to the US-led alliance fighting the militant group after Iraq voted to expel foreign troops linked to coalition forces fighting IS. Top EU diplomat Josep Borell tweeted on Monday that the EU “deeply regrets” Iran’s announcement that they will no longer abide by the terms of the nuclear deal. The joint statement from the UK, Germany and France came as German Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas on Monday morning branded US threats of sanctions against Iraq in response to voting to oust US troops as “not very helpful.” “I don’t think it works to convince Iraq with threats but with arguments,” said Maas, talking to Germany’s Deutschlandfunk public radio.In their Sunday statement, the European leaders also responded to Iran’s announcement that it would no longer stick to the limits set out in the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA).The statement called on Iran to refrain from any violence or nuclear activities and to reverse any measures that do not comply with the terms of the nuclear agreement.Officials from Germany, Britain and France will meet to discuss the Iran nuclear deal on Monday, Maas told Deutschlandfunk, saying it could “not simply be shrugged off.” The three countries would react later in the week to Tehran’s announcements. Merkel, Johnson and Macron made reference to the latest rocket attack on coalition troops stationed in Iraq, saying “we are deeply concerned about the negative role that Iran has played in the region, in particular with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the al-Quds unit under command of General Soleimani.”

Iranian MPs Pass Bill Labeling All US Military Personnel “Terrorist Entities” – Lawmakers of the Islamic Consultative Assembly on Tuesday have labeled the Pentagon and its affiliates as terrorist entities under a new law, according to Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). Iran’s new legislation was overwhelmingly approved by 223 lawmakers, according to IRNA. The law comes in response to the US’ assassination of top Iranian general Qasim Suleimani last Friday. The law states, “all members of the Pentagon, all affiliated companies, institutions, agents and commanders,” are now considered terrorist organizations in the eyes of Iran. This means, all those Silicon Valley technology companies that have contracts with the Pentagon, are now all classified as terrorist organizations and could be targeted if war broke out. The nation’s Supreme National Security Council has already designated the U.S. Central Command as a terrorist organization. The Trump administration recently identified the IRGC as a terrorist group after Trump pulled out of the 2016 nuclear deal with Iran. As both countries are designating each other as a terrorist organization, Iran is now on the verge of conducting a retaliation attack against the U.S. President Trump has warned that if retaliation is seen, the U.S. the U.S. military will strike 52 “very high level” Iranian cultural and state targets. Iran responded Tuesday and said it has considered 13 “revenge scenarios” in retaliation for Soleimani’s killing. Fars News Agency quoted Iranian Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani on Tuesday as saying that “even if there is consensus on the weakest scenario, carrying it out can be a historic nightmare for the Americans.”

Germany partially withdraws troops from Iraq –Germany has reduced the number of its troops stationed in Iraq due to growing regional security concerns, the Bundeswehr confirmed via a press release on Monday.Overnight, 35 German soldiers were brought to either Kuwait or Jordan, the military said. “These forces can be brought back at any time if training in Iraq is to resume.”The German military contingent in the country will be “temporarily thinned out,” with around 30 out of the 130 personnel serving in the country to be redeployed to neighboring countries, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had said in a letter to their ministries.The transfer mainly applied to soldiers stationed in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, and Taji to the north. Iraq’s parliament voted for anti-IS coalition soldiers to leave the country following the fatal drone attack on Qassem Soleimani.The German Bundeswehr supports regional efforts against Islamic State in Iraq, providing military training, Tornado reconnaissance jets and tanker aircraft for air-to-air refueling. Most of Germany’s soldiers in Iraq are stationed in the northern Kurdish region of the country.

Chevron pulls American oil workers from Iraq – Chevron has evacuated all of its American oil workers from Iraq following last week’s United States airstrike in Baghdad. Chevron, the United States’ second largest oil company, is pulling its American workers out of Iraq. (Credit: CNN) All of its employees and contractors who are U.S. citizens have left the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq as a precautionary measure. Chevron does not have oil workers elsewhere in Iraq. A Chevron spokesperson says the safety of its people and facilities is the top priority globally. The company says local staff are overseeing Chevron’s ongoing operations in the Kurdistan region. Exxon Mobil, another major U.S. oil company, has operations in southern Iraq. Britain’s BP and Anglo-Dutch company Royal Dutch Shell also work in the region. In a statement, Exxon says it is closely monitoring the situation and it has measures in place to provide security. Other oil companies, including BP and Shell, declined to comment.

Rockets reportedly hit Baghdad Green Zone a day after Iran fires missiles at US targets in Iraq– Two rockets hit the Green Zone in Iraq’s capital of Baghdad, a day after Iran launched missiles at bases housing U.S. and other coalition forces in Iraq, according to a report Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average pared gains following reports of an explosion in Baghdad. It closed 161 points higher but about 80 points lower than it had been just before the news. Iraq’s military said two Katyusha rockets fell inside the Green Zone, the section that contains the U.S. Embassy, other embassies of Western nations and foreign businesses, according to Reuters. There were no casualties, according to the statement from Iraq’s military. The White House and Pentagon had no immediate comment. The rockets were fired several hours after President Donald Trump declared that Iran appeared to be standing down from military conflict with the U.S. – remarks that sent stock indexes surging higher. On Tuesday night Eastern time, Iran launched missile attacks against two Iraqi bases that house U.S. military and coalition forces. The barrage was retaliation for the killing on Thursday of Iran’s top military leader, Gen. Qasem Soleimani, in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad. Trump on Wednesday defended the decision to target Soleimani, who has been blamed for the deaths of hundreds of Americans in the Middle East.

FAA issues emergency restriction for Persian Gulf airspace after Iran missile strike – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday issued an emergency restriction for Persian Gulf airspace after Iran fired more than a dozen missiles at two military bases in Iraq housing U.S. troops. “All flight operations in the overwater area of the Tehran flight information region (FIR) (OIIX) above the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman only are prohibited until further notice due to heightened military activities and increased political tensions in the region, which present an inadvertent risk to U.S. civil aviation operations and potential for miscalculation or mis-identification,” the FAA said in the restriction. The FAA pointed to the recent escalation in tensions between Washington and Tehran as well as Iran’s shooting down of an unmanned U.S. drone in June while it was above the Gulf of Oman. The emergency restriction applies to all U.S. air carriers and commercial operators and all operators of other aircraft registered in the U.S. The order comes as tensions skyrocket between Washington and Tehran after a U.S. drone strike killed top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who directed the country’s international network of proxy forces. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed “harsh retaliation” over the killing of Soleimani, who was known to be a close associate of the Iranian leader. The Pentagon confirmed Tuesday that Iran launched more than a dozen missiles against two Iraqi bases housing U.S. forces.

Commercial Flight Carrying 180 Passengers Crashes In Ball Of Flames Near Iran Airport — According to Iranian state television, a Boeing 737 carrying 180 passengers and crew has crashed near the airport in the capital city of Tehran. The aircraft was reportedly on its way to the Boryspil airport in Kiev, Ukraine, when it crashed just a few minutes after taking off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport.Civil aviation spokesman Reza Jafarzadeh said in a statement that an investigation team was at the site of the crash to asses the damage. The crash comes amid increased tensions between the governments of Iran and the United States, as Iran struck back at the United States military sites for taking out the top ranking Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani. As the military actions have been launched on both sides, America’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an emergency flight restriction, which prohibited civilian aircraft from entering the airspace over Iraq and Iran. The restrictions included the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

At least 63 Canadians dead in Iran plane crash – — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed his government will get answers after a Ukrainian passenger jet crashed, killing at least 63 Canadians, just minutes after taking off from Iran’s capital. Trudeau said Wednesday 138 passengers on the flight were connecting to Canada. The flight included many international students who were studying at universities across Canada. Newlyweds and a Canadian family of four were also on the flight. Trudeau said his government is reaching out to his international counterparts. Getting answers from Iran might prove difficult as Canada closed its embassy in Iran in 2012 and suspended diplomatic relations. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States is calling for cooperation with any investigation into the cause of the crash. The crash of the Ukraine International Airlines plane came hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Iraqi bases housing U.S. soldiers, but Iranian officials said they suspected a mechanical issue brought down the 3½-year-old Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Ukrainian officials initially agreed, but later backed away and declined to offer a cause while the investigation is ongoing. “There is a clear need for answers,” Trudeau said. “Canada is very concerned on this.” Trudeau said he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump earlier Wednesday. Asked if he could say whether the plane was shot down or not, Trudeau said: “I cannot. It’s too early to speculate.” Trudeau said Canadian victims’ families want and deserve answers. Authorities said they found the plane’s so-called black boxes, which record cockpit conversations and instrument data. But it was not immediately clear how much access to the information the Iranians would allow.

Amphibious Assault Ship Bataan With 2,000 Marines On Board Is Headed Toward Iraq – The Iraqi parliament voted on Sunday to expel US troops out of the country but so far, it appears that nobody in the US got the memo. In fact quite the contrary.According to the US Naval Institute, amid rising tensions with Iran, the US Navy is scrapping an exercise with Morocco as it redirects the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD-5) and embarked 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit with roughly 2,000 marines on board to the Middle East, a defense official confirmed to USNI News.#UPDATE: 2,000 US Marines en route to the Middle East onboard USS Bataan Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, USS New York San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock & USS Oak Hill Harper’s Ferry-class dock landing ship 4,000 US troops from 82nd Airborne also being/been deployed https://t.co/gxYG8qcDNi – ELINT News (@ELINTNews) January 6, 2020 Members of the 26th MEU and Bataan crew were slated to train with members of the Moroccan military as part of the joint Exercise African Sea Lion. Indeed, the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group had just arrived off the coast of Morocco this week before its new tasking, according to the USNI Fleet tracker. The ARG deployed quietly from the East Coast in December. Now, Bataan and the 26th MEU are moving closer to the Middle East, as shown in the most recent map of naval deployments.

Six B-52 Bombers Ordered To Indian Ocean Base To Be Available Against Iran – As more than 3,000 US troops are readying to deploy to the Middle East this week following the killing of the IRGC’s Quds Force General Qasem Soleimani, the Pentagon will additionally send major military hardware in the form of an additional B-52 strike force. CNN’s Barbara Starr reported late in the day Monday that a US defense official has confirmed the Pentagon will being sending six B-52 bombers to the major US military base at Deigo Garcia.Starr reports the B-52s will be “available for operations against Iran if ordered”. However, the CNN correspondent noted that “the deployment does not signal that operations have been ordered.” The major US military base at Diego Garcia, located in the middle of the Indian Ocean on the largest island in the Chagos archipelago, is often used as a staging ground for operations in the eastern hemisphere. Currently, American B-52 Stratofortress bombers are stationed at a US airbase in Qatar, after a strike group was previously ordered there by US Central Command (CENTCOM) last May over increasing tension with Iran.For that prior deployment, the Trump administration said it had been sending a “message to Iran”.Meanwhile, Iranian state media channels on Monday began “answering” US threats, broadcasting military “shows of force” against the United States to its population:

Iran likely downed Ukraine airliner with missiles, Canada’s Trudeau says, citing intelligence –(Reuters) – A Ukrainian airliner that crashed in Iran, killing all 176 people aboard, was likely brought down by an Iranian missile, Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said on Thursday, citing intelligence from Canadian and other sources. The destruction of the airliner, which carried 63 Canadians, “may well have been unintentional,” Trudeau told a news conference in Ottawa. “We have intelligence from multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence. The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile,” he said. The Ukraine International Airlines flight to Kiev from Tehran crashed on Wednesday hours after Iran fired ballistic missiles at U.S. targets in Iraq, and Iranians were on high alert for a U.S. military response. Trudeau said his government would not rest until it had obtained closure, transparency, accountability and justice. Earlier on Thursday, a U.S. official, citing an extensive review of satellite data, said Washington had concluded with a high degree of certainty that anti-aircraft missiles brought down the plane. The official said the Boeing 737-800 (BA.N) had been tracked by Iranian radar. The U.S. government believes Iran shot down the plane by mistake, three U.S. officials told Reuters. The data showed the plane was airborne for two minutes after departing Tehran when the heat signatures of two surface-to-air missiles were detected, one of the officials said.

Video of Iran crash appears to show missile strike as Canada and UK say they have intel Iran shot down Ukrainian plane – CNN has obtained video on Thursday that appears to show a missile being fired into the Tehran sky and striking an object, around the same time that a Ukrainian plane crashed just after taking off from the city’s airport.News of the video comes hours after the leaders of Canada and Britain said that they have intelligence that the Ukrainian airliner was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile.Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose country lost 63 citizens in the crash of Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752 earlier this week, said Canada’s intelligence, as well as intelligence provided by allies, shows that the commercial aircraft was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile. He called for a thorough investigation into what caused the crash but would not provide additional details about the evidence and intelligence he cited.”This may have been unintentional,” Trudeau said at a news conference in Ottawa.Not long after Trudeau’s news conference, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his country’s intelligence service had come to the same conclusion.”There is now a body of information that the flight was shot down by an Iranian Surface to Air Missile. This may well have been unintentional. We are working closely with Canada and our international partners and there now needs to be a full, transparent investigation,” Johnson said in a statement.”The UK continues to call on all sides urgently to deescalate to reduce tensions in the region,” he added. CNN reported earlier Thursday that the US increasingly believes Iran mistakenly shot down the airliner, according to multiple US officials. The working theory is based on continuing analysis of data from satellites, radar and electronic data collected routinely by US military and intelligence.A US official familiar with the intelligence said the plane was shot down by two Russian made SA-15 surface to air missiles. The US saw Iranian radar signals lock onto the jetliner, before it was shot down.The morning after the incident, US analysts discovered the data but took another day to verify, the official said.Video sent to CNN appears to show a missile fired into the Tehran sky early Wednesday morning and striking an object in the sky. Around that time, the Ukranian airliner crashed shortly after takeoff. CNN cannot verify the authenticity of the video, but the buildings seen in it appears similar to ones that are in the Iranian capitol suburb of Parand. The Ukrainian plane crashed just north of the suburb. The video sent to CNN and the New York Times, shows a light in the sky, moving left to right and then exploding. CNN has asked for more information from the individual who sent the video and how they obtained it, but has not yet received a response.

Iran accidentally attacked a Ukrainian plane, causing its crash – Just a few hours after Iran launched an attack against US bases in Iraq in retaliation for the US killing of Qassem Soleimani, a Boeing passenger jet bound for Ukraine crashed shortly after it took off from Tehran. All 176 people on board – including 82 Iranians, at least 63 Canadians, and 11 Ukrainians – were killed. Iran originally claimed the crash was not caused by any military action. However, by Saturday morning, Iranian officials admitted the plane was shot down after it “took the flying posture and altitude of an enemy target.”Iranian officials called the act the result of “human error,” and President Hassan Rouhaniapologized in a statement on Twitter, writing, “The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous mistake. My thoughts and prayers go to all the mourning families. I offer my sincerest condolences.”The admission followed Thursday reports by the US and Canada that their intelligence agencies had found a missile was responsible for the crash.“We have intelligence from multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday afternoon. “The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile. It may well have been unintentional.”Trudeau declined to elaborate on the evidence, but said that these developments confirmed “the need to have an in-depth investigation into this matter.”And shortly after Trudeau’s address, the New York Times published a video showing the airliner being hit by what appeared to be a missile. Despite the statements by the US and Canada – as well as the Times’ release of the video – Iran continued to deny that a missile felled the plane. Iranian officials accused the US of“spreading lies.”

Iran’s Day Of Reckoning- Tehran Invites US, Ukraine, France & Canada To Examine Crash Data – After vehemently denying that a misfiring of its missile defense system essentially shot UIA Flight 752 out of the sky, Tehran has decided that it will allow international investigators access to data from the plane’s ‘black box’ which could help shed some light on what caused the crash, WSJ reports. Iran’s top transportation ministers initially said that they wouldn’t share the data, citing the escalating tensions with the US and the West as justification. However, an outpouring of criticism from alleged US intelligence sources, along with trained aerospace analysts, have suggested that “a shootdown scenario” most likely caused the deadly crash, has apparently changed their mind. Even President Trump has said that he doubts the Iranians’ explanation. So Tehran has invited representatives from Boeing, the US, Ukraine (where the plane’s operator, Ukraine International Airlines, is based), France and Canada to join in the probe.Officials from Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization said Friday during a televised news conference that they would try and analyze the black box data, including the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, in Iran, though experts in Russia, Ukraine, France and Canada are standing by to lend assistance.

In Stunning Reversal, Iran Admits Accidentally Shooting Down Ukrainian Passenger Jet – After multiple denials, and demands for proof from foreign entities – accusing them of spreading “psychological warfare” lies, President Hassan Rouhani has admitted Iran accidentally shot down the Ukrainian jetliner that took off from Tehran’s international airport amid this week’s tensions. In a pair of tweets, Rouhani admitted that “Armed Forces’ internal investigation has concluded that regrettably missiles fired due to human error caused the horrific crash of the Ukrainian plane & death of 176 innocent people,” adding that “The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous mistake.” The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous mistake. My thoughts and prayers go to all the mourning families. I offer my sincerest condolences. https://t.co/4dkePxupzm – Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) January 11, 2020The army said Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was flying close to a sensitive Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps military site when it was downed because of “human error,” adding that the “culprits” would be identified and referred to judicial authorities.“Iran’s armed forces went on high alert following U.S. threats to target Iranian sites,” the army said in the statement.“Under such highly sensitive and critical circumstances, the Boeing Flight 752 flew close to a sensitive IRGC military site at an altitude and angle that made it appear as a hostile target. The plane was hit due to human error and unintentionally.”In the aftermath of the incident, Rouhani arranged for “compensation” payments to the victims’ families, and ordered reforms of the country’s air defense system to prevent similar disasters in the future. Iran will reportedly send the black boxes of the crashed jet to France as it lacks the technology to decode them, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif blamed “human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism” for the disaster. Our profound regrets, apologies and condolences to our people, to the families of all victims, and to other affected nations. – Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 11, 2020

Iran detains British ambassador amid Tehran protests — U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab criticized Iran and warned that it could become an international “pariah” after the British ambassador to the country was arrested during protests in Tehran.Ambassador Rob Macaire reported he was “safe and well” in the British embassy after being detained for over an hour by Iranian authorities Saturday, the Guardian reported.His arrest came as anti-government protesters filled the streets of the city after the Iranian government admitted that it mistakenly shot down a Kyiv-bound commercial airplane.Raab said in a Saturday statement that, “The arrest of our ambassador in Tehran without grounds or explanation is a flagrant violation of international law.”“The Iranian government is at a crossroads moment. It can continue its march towards pariah status with all the political and economic isolation that entails, or take steps to de-escalate tensions and engage in a diplomatic path forwards,” he continuedThe ambassador was attending a vigil for the victims of the crash at Amir Kabir University. Although the ambassador tried to leave as the event turned into a protest, he was arrested outside of the university on suspicion of organizing, provoking and directing radical actions, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency, the Guardian reported.State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus tweeted Saturday, “The Iranian regime a rrested the British ambassador to Iran. This violates the Vienna Convention, which the regime has a notorious history of violating. We call on the regime to formally apologize to the UK for violating his rights and to respect the rights of all diplomats.”

Israel had advance notice of U.S. plan to kill Iranian general Suleimani, report says – Israel had advance notice of the U.S. plan to kill Iranian military leader Gen. Qassem Suleimani, Israeli military and diplomatic analysts reported Friday night while refraining from providing further details due to heavy military censorship. “Our assessment is that the United States informed Israel about this operation in Iraq, apparently a few days ago,” Barak Ravid, a journalist and commentator with deep sources in the Israeli security establishment, said on Channel 13. An Israeli army officer with knowledge of Israeli military assessments, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he did not have permission to speak to reporters, told the Los Angeles Times that the attack on Suleimani “did not come as a surprise.” The reactions of Israel’s political leadership to Suleimani’s assassination were mostly positive, though deep concern was registered throughout the leadership. Iran and Israel maintained warm relations for almost four decades before the 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew the shah and imposed a theocratic Shiiite Muslim regime that for four decades now has called for “death to Israel” and is accused of backing and masterminding numerous terrorist attacks against Israeli or Jewish targets, including the 1992 and 1994 attacks on the Israeli Embassy and the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that left over 100 people dead. Hezbollah, the Lebanese-based Iranian proxy militia, has in recent years been accused of perpetrating further attacks against Israeli targets in India, Thailand and Bulgaria.

Occupied Palestinian Territories: Israel approves 1,936 new settler homes: watchdog – Israel has approved the construction of 1,936 new settler homes on occupied Palestinian territories, watchdog Peace Now said Monday. The green light was given on Sunday and Monday, Peace Now said, adding that 89 percent of the new homes will be erected in “settlements that Israel may have to evacuate under a future peace agreement with the Palestinians”. The watchdog says settlement building has vastly increased under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ally US President Donald Trump. Netanyahu has been fighting for his political survival faced with corruption charges and after failing to form a new coalition government following April and September elections. The premier, who was indicted in November on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, is now facing a third general election in March.

Israel Bombs Weapons Depot Run By Iranian Militia — Tensions continued to climb in the Middle East Thursday evening as reports of another air strike have been confirmed, but this time, it was the Israelis doing the shelling. According to reports by domestic and western media, the Israeli air force carried out an attack against an Iran-backed militia reportedly headquartered on the border between Syria and Iraq. Tribal sources in Iraq apparently told reporters that the Israeli shelling targeted trucks and individuals associated with Iranian-backed militias near the Iraqi-Syria border. Artillery and shelling was also reported, though it’s unclear who fired those shots. The weapons are believed to have been destined for Hezbollah.Casualties have been reported, though the exact number is so far unclear. Sources claimed that the airstrikes were targeting weapons shipments, according to the Washington Post. The Kataib Imam Ali, an Iran-backed militia, was apparently moving weapons, possibly in preparation for a strike against US interests.Al Mayadeen reported that the strikes targeted ballistic missile warehouses run by the group. The warehouse was situated outside of the city of Al Bukamal

US Airstrike Failed to Kill an Iranian General in Yemen Last Week – On January 2, the US launched an airstrike at Baghdad International Airport, killing Iranian Gen. Qassem Suleimani, and multiple Iraqis. It turns out, that was not the only US assassination bid that day. US officials are now reporting that they also took a shot at Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander Gen. Abdul Reza Shahlai, who was in Yemen at the time. They failed to kill him. Officials are declining to offer specifics, but the Treasury Department accused him of “a long history of targeting Americans and US allies globally.” Officials are also not talking about what specifically the justification for the attack was. The Trump Administration has struggled to justify the killing of Soleimani, and has offered no public evidence of allegations of an “imminent” attack. Shahlai would need to be involved in a whole other plot in Yemen, starting a whole new call for evidence on that too. That the US kept the failed assassination under wraps for more than a week is raising questions on whether the US carried out any more attacks, or was planning to kill even more Iranian leaders at the time.

US and Israel escalate Middle East tensions in wake of Suleimani assassination – A week after Washington’s drone missile assassination of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani at Baghdad’s international airport, a series of actions by the US and its principal regional ally, Israel, have escalated the drive toward a full-scale war throughout the region. On Thursday, it was reported that a US drone strike killed or wounded more than 60 civilians in Afghanistan’s western province of Herat, close to the border with Iran. Wakil Ahmad Karkhi, a member of the Herat provincial council, confirmed the mass casualties to TOLO news, saying the civilians were killed and maimed in a US attempt to eliminate the leader of a split-off from the Taliban, known as Mullah Nangyalay. The Pentagon has made increasingly indiscriminate use of air strikes in an attempt to stave off the Taliban, which controls the largest areas of the country since the regime it headed was overthrown by the US invasion more than 18 years ago. US strikes killed 579 civilians in the first 10 months of last year alone, a third more than in 2018. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin brief reporters about additional sanctions placed on Iran, at the White House, Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, in Washington. [Credit: AP Photo/Evan Vucci] Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes struck targets on the Syria-Iraq border early Friday morning, killing eight members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, the coalition of predominantly Shia militias that is considered part of the Iraqi armed forces. The air strike took place near the Albu Kamal-Qaim border crossing between Syria and Iraq, the same area that was struck by US F-15E fighter jets on December 29, resulting in the deaths of 25 members of the Kata’ib Hezbollah Iraqi militia and the wounding of over 50 more. Those bombing raids, carried out on the pretext of retaliating for a missile attack that claimed the life of a US military contractor, provoked angry protests that breached the security walls of the US embassy in Baghdad on December 31. Three days later, the US drone strike killed Suleimani, considered the second most important figure in the Iranian state, along with the top commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and eight other Iranians and Iraqis. This assassination attack amounted to an act of war against Iran and a war crime, punishable under both US and international law.

US assassination of Suleimani staggers Turkish government – Washington’s cold-blooded murder of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani, who led forces fighting US-backed Al Qaeda-linked militias in Syria and ISIS in Iraq, has staggered the Turkish government. Ankara took 10 hours to react to this illegal act of war carried out by its decades-long NATO ally, specifically by President Donald Trump, whom Erdoğan has described as a “friend of mine.” Turkish Presidential spokesman İbrahim Kalın said on Friday that “Turkey once again calls on all parties to act with common sense and avoid steps that will further escalate tensions.” Later the same day, the Turkish Foreign Ministry declared its “deep anxiety about the escalating US-Iranian tensions in the region.” It added, “Turkey has always been opposed to foreign intervention, assassinations and sectarian conflict in the region.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (https://www.flickr.com/photos/rt_erdogan/18825560029/in/photostream/) This statement came from a government that supported the illegal US invasion of Iraq in 2003, backed violent Islamist sectarian forces in the war for regime-change against the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and has waged a decades-long war against Turkey’s Kurdish population. Nonetheless, it reflects Ankara’s fear of a possible US war against Iran that would engulf Turkey, as well as of the outrage among workers across the Middle East at Suleimani’s murder. President Erdoğan’s first reaction to the killing was cited by Iran’s IRNA news agency after a phone call between Erdoğan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday. Rouhani reportedly said, “[W]e expect that all our friends and neighbors should explicitly condemn this crime,” adding that “if we remain silent against the US, it will become bolder and more aggressive.” He reportedly thanked the “Turkish president for his sympathizing with the Iranian government and nation on the sad occasion of the loss of the top Iranian general.” Erdoğan replied: “Foreign interference and fighting in the region prevent the region from attaining calm and stability, and we should not allow such measures to endanger regional peace and stability.” He gave a televised interview Sunday night to repeat his position, saying that “Turkey always stands against foreign intervention and regards the recent US attack in Baghdad with this same understanding.” Erdoğan said he had a phone conversation with Trump only a few hours before the assassination of Suleimani, adding, “So the matter was planned. We were shocked to hear the news. I specifically advised him not to increase tensions with Iran.”

Russia Declares Ceasefire Deal With Turkey In Idlib To Stem Refugee Tide – With all eyes on Iran and Iraq, and with the potential for a near-future US troop withdrawal from Iraq looming, the media has largely moved on from the other great festering problem which at any time could again become ground zero for full blown international proxy war: Idlib province. Following a month-long major Russian-Syrian offensive against jihadists in Idlib, which has witnessed hundreds of aerial bombings and the exit of tens of thousands of civilians toward Turkey (and according to both UN figures and Erdogan this is over 250,000), Moscow and Ankara have announced a new ceasefire agreement for the contested northwest Syrian province. “According to the agreements with the Turkish side, the ceasefire regime was introduced in the Idlib de-escalation zone starting from 14:00 Moscow time (11:00 GMT) on January 9, 2020,” Russian Major-General Yury Borenkov announced Thursday. This has reportedly resulted in a “paused” Syrian Army offensive, which is to allow in humanitarian aid. However, the key to any potentially lasting or significant pause in fighting relates to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s (HTS) acceptance. The al-Qaeda group issued no initial comment on the Russian announcement.The new ceasefire is part of a broader attempt by Turkey, Russia, and Iran to “de-escalate” the war in Idlib, also following pressure and threats out of Washington over the Syrian national offensive to liberate the territory from terrorists. Past attempts at any lasting ceasefire have witnessed sporadic mortar and missile attacks launched by al-Qaeda forces in areas south of Idlib, resulting in renewed Syrian Army operations to root out the insurgency. Additionally, Moscow is engaged in broader efforts to ‘normalize’ Assad’s standing at the UN and among the so-called international community. As for Turkey, President Erdogan has lately voiced the impossibility of his country potentially absorbing millions more refugees from the Idlib war fallout while also repeating his well-known ‘blackmail’ threats to ‘open the gates’ of Syrian refugees on Europe.

Turkey’s operation in Libya: Targeting gas reserves – Erdogan is using a well-worn gimmick to halt that trend: He is appealing to nationalist sentiments among the Turkish population. Presenting the Turkish government as a powerful regional player scores him points with a portion of the population, especially those who are religious and conservative. Erdogan waxes poetic when speaking to the public, noting that Kemal Mustafa Ataturk himself, the founder of modern Turkey, fought in Libya during the final days of the Ottoman Empire. The fact that military operations in northern Syria and Libya are taking place in what was the former empire’s territories has awakened dreams of past grandeur among some Erdogan supporters. It is also suspected that Erdogan intends to hold Turkey’s presidential election – scheduled for 2023 – this year. And by employing nationalist rhetoric, he is seeking to line up supporters behind him. Turkey is also pursuing economic interests with its military engagement. The agreement that Erdogan signed with al-Sarraj in November encompassed more than just military co-operation. Another point that was agreed to in Tripoli had to do with international maritime borders that were redrawn to Ankara’s advantage. This will theoretically enable Turkey to access massive gas reserves discovered off the southern coast of Cyprus about 10 years ago. But the find has also become a bone of contention, as the third-largest island in the Mediterranean has been split into a Turkish (northern) and a Greek (southern) half since 1974, with both sides claiming sovereignty over the valuable gas reserves. The Republic of Cyprus – the Greek part of the island – has cited maritime law, which guarantees every country an exclusive economic zone extending 200 nautical miles from shore, to bolster its claims. All natural resources found in this area belong to the country in possession of the shoreline, and that country has the right to exploit those resources economically. But in the case of Cyprus, the issue is a bit more complicated, because Ankara claims that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is also a sovereign state with all the rights that go with that distinction – including its own exclusive economic zone. The international community, however, does not recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as a sovereign state. That has led other countries in the region to ignore Turkey’s claims to the gas reserves off Cyprus. Coincidentally, on the same day the Turkish parliament approved the deployment of its army, Israel, Cyprus and Greece signed an agreement to push forward with the EastMed pipeline project. The 1,900-kilometer-long (1,180-mile-long) pipeline is intended to transport gas from Israel and Cyprus to Greece and other European countries, such as Italy. Ankara was never invited to participate in negotiations over the project. Turkey’s agreement with Libya is designed to deliver Ankara from its isolated role among its Mediterranean neighbors.

Libya’s Haftar Rejects Russia-Turkey Ceasefire Plan After Huge Advances – When Russia’s President Putin attended the launch ceremony for the TurkStream natural gas pipeline this week, at the top of the list of difficult geopolitical crises addressed with Turkey’s Erdogan was the rapidly unfolding Libya war. Some analysts say that the new Libya conflict and war for control of the oil and gas rich North African country between Benghazi-based Gen. Khalifa Haftar and the UN-recognized GNA in Tripoli is set to dominate world headlines in 2020 alongside the US-Iran showdown. Pundits were surprised when on Wednesday the Turkish and Russian presidents agreed to jointly issue an urgent call for ceasefire in Libya proposed to start from Saturday (Jan.12) midnight.That surprise cooperative agreement (given Russia and Turkey back separate sides of the war) to come to the negotiating table was swiftly rejected Thursday by Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA). This as the death toll continues to climb as Haftar is vowing the ongoing siege of Tripoli is the “final offensive” to wrest control of the city. Haftar went so far as the call his offensive a war against “terrorists” that cannot cease until definitive victory. In a video statement, Haftar’s military spokesman said, “We welcome [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s call for a ceasefire. However, our fight against terrorist organizations that seized Tripoli and received support of some countries will continue until the end,” according to Al Jazeera.At least 1,000 people have been killed since the LNA’s military offensive began months ago – though fighting has been sporadic for years – with at least 5,000 others wounded, according to United Nations estimates. Meanwhile, Turkish troops are said to have touched down in the Libyan capital earlier this week after Turkey’s parliament voted through a plan for military assistance to the besieged GNA. This after reports that Ankara has actually sent Turkish-backed Syrian militants with the FSA as mercenaries to assist in the campaign. Currently pro-Haftar forces are claiming to be a mere few kilometers away from the center of Tripoli. “The Libyan Army is now in Tripoli, and they are positioned only a few kilometers from the city center,” an LNA military spokesman said in an Arabic statement Thursday.

Rosneft, BP Hires Turkish Firm for Russian Gas Project — A Rosneft-BP joint venture has hired Turkish construction firm Tekfen to build a new gas pipeline in Western Siberia. The 90-km pipeline will connect the Kharampurskoye gas field in the Yamalo-Nenets area with Russia’s national grid system, Tekfen said in a statement on January 4.22 hours ago

Iraq escalations could hamper Afghan peace quest: EU – Roland Kobia, the European Union Special Envoy for Afghanistan has expressed anxiety over the possibly damaged to the Afghan peace talks due to the recent escalation in Iraq, saying that “Afghanistan is again squeezed in power politics but this time the Game is not so Great.” The concerns about the possible damage to the peace process have been raised after a US drone has targeted a top Iranian commander, Qassem Soleimani last Friday in Baghdad. “Middle East and South Asia strategies clash. The Afghan Peace Process needs in-depth solutions in Afghanistan but also a conducive regional, global context. Iraq events go the other way and jeopardize peace. Afghanistan again squeezed in power politics but this time the Game is not so Great,” the envoy said,” Kobia said in a tweet. Most of the experts believe that Soleimani’s assassination would pose sever tensions in the region. The Afghan presidential palace in a tweet has called on US and Iran to resolve the chaos through negotiations. In a telephonic conversation with the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, President Ashraf Ghani has emphasized that Afghanistan sovereignty would not be used against any country. Later today (Sunday), he also talked with Iranian president and assured that Afghan soil will never be used against any country. Meanwhile, Second Vice President, Sarwar Danish has expressed concern over the death of Soleimani, saying that any type of violence acts in the region could jeopardize the regional stability.

US Contractors Accused of Funding Taliban Attacks Against American Troops – Nearly 400 people who were either wounded while serving in the U.S. military in Afghanistan or are family members of service members who died in the conflict sued a group of companies on Friday they say helped fund attacks against Americans by making protection payments to the Taliban. “Defendants supported the Taliban for a simple reason: Defendants were all large Western companies with lucrative businesses in post-9/11 Afghanistan, and they all paid the Taliban to refrain from attacking their business interests,” the 288-page complaint filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. on Friday states. “Those protection payments aided and abetted terrorism by directly funding an al-Qaeda-backed Taliban insurgency that killed and injured thousands of Americans.” Relying on confidential witnesses, internal documents and publicly available information from journalists, government watchdogs and congressional hearings, the complaint alleges companies that worked in war-torn Afghanistan commonly acceded to the Taliban’s mob-style demands for payment in exchange for the guarantee that their businesses interests would not be attacked. One unnamed American executive who worked in Afghanistan is quoted in the complaint as saying “We don’t need any security if the payments are made. Nobody f – s with us.” The payments allegedly climbed as high as 40% of the value of the company’s project and were often facilitated through subcontractors. The subcontractors, such as private security firms that were known to pay off the Taliban, would sometimes send money through Afghanistan’s traditional money transfer network, which can be hard to trace. Other times, the companies would simply hire Taliban operatives to work as guards. The companies had significant interests to protect. One of the named defendants, the South African telecom firm MTN, was the largest cell-service provider in the country, while the other companies either had government development contracts or security deals. “Defendants decided that buying off the terrorists was the most efficient way to operate their businesses while managing their own security risks – even though doing so jeopardized other American lives,” the complaint states.

Trump Threatens Mass Destruction in Afghanistan — Nick Turse: – As Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld put it later, both awkwardly and passively: “A decision was made to fire the Hellfire missile. It was fired.” That air-to-ground, laser-guided missile – designed to obliterate tanks, bunkers, helicopters, and people – did exactly what it was meant to do. As it happened, though (and not for the first time in its history either), the CIA got it wrong. The dead, local witnesses reported, were civilians out collecting scrap metal, ordinary people going about their daily work just as thousands of Americans had been doing at the World Trade Center only months earlier when terror struck from the skies. In the years since, those Afghan scrap collectors have been joined by more than 157,000 war dead in that embattled land. That’s a heavy toll, but represents just a fraction of the body count from America’s post-9/11 wars. According to a study by the Costs of War Project of Brown University’s Watson Institute, as many as 801,000 people, combatants and noncombatants alike, have been killed in those conflicts. That’s a staggering number, the equivalent of the Rwandan genocide of 1994. But if President Donald Trump is to be believed, the United States has “plans” that could bury that grim count in staggering numbers of dead. The “method of war” he suggested employing could produce more than 20 times that number in a single country – an estimated 20 million or more Afghans, almost all of them civilians. It’s a strange fact of our moment that President Trump has claimed to have “plans” (or “a method”) for annihilating millions of innocent people, possibly most of the population of Afghanistan. Yet those comments of his barely made the news, disappearing within days. Even for a president who threatened to unleash “fire and fury” on North Korea and usher in “the end” of Iran, hinting at the possibility of wiping out most of the civilian population of an ally represented something new. After all, America’s commander-in-chief does have the authority, at his sole discretion, to order the launch of weapons from the vast U.S. nuclear arsenal. So it was no small thing last year when President Trump suggested that he might unleash a “method of war” that would kill at least 54% of the roughly 37 million inhabitants of Afghanistan. And yet almost no one – in Washington or Kabul – wanted to touch such presidential comments. The White House, the Pentagon, and the State Department all demurred. So did the chief spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. One high-ranking Afghan official apologized to me for being unable to respond honestly to President Trump’s comments. A current American official expressed worry that reacting to the president’s Afghan threats might provoke a presidential tweet storm against him and refused to comment on the record.

Inside the U.S. military raid against its own security guards that left dozens of Afghan children dead – Once the Americans left, the survivors started digging. There were too many dead and not enough shovels, so a local politician brought in heavy machinery from a nearby construction site. He dug graves deep enough to fit mothers with children, or children with children. Some were still in their pajamas, their hands inked with henna tattoos from the party preparations the night before. Villagers picked through the rubble of what had been an entire neighborhood, looking for remains to wrap in white linens for burial. A boy clutching a torn rug walked in a daze on top of the ruins. A young man collapsed in grief by a pile of mud bricks where his home once stood – where his wife and four children had been sleeping inside. The local doctor recorded a cellphone video to document the dead faces, freckled with shrapnel and blood, coated with dust and debris. Some were Afghan men of fighting age, but most – dozens of them – were women and children. Taza was 3 years old. Maida was 2. Zia, 1. The hot summer wind kicked up dust, smoke and the smell of gunpowder as villagers tried to make sense of why their remote village was demolished by an American airstrike in the middle of the night. A clue was found near several of the dead Afghan fighters: ID badges from the private security company at the American-controlled airfield up the road. Why had a team of U.S. soldiers and Marines battled its own paid security detail? After more than a decade, those who buried their families still don’t know. U.S. military officials publicly touted the August 22, 2008, Azizabad raid – Operation Commando Riot – as a victory. A high-value Taliban target had been killed; the collateral damage was minimal; the village was grateful. None of it was true. The Taliban commander escaped. Dozens of civilians were dead in the rubble, including as many as 60 children. The local population rioted. It remains one of the deadliest civilian casualty events of the Afghan campaign. But the story of how the operation turned tragic has been largely hidden from the public. USA TODAY spent more than a year investigating the Azizabad raid and sued the Department of Defense to obtain almost 1,000 pages of investigative files previously kept secret because it had been deemed “classified national security information.” The records included photographs of the destruction in Azizabad and sworn testimony from the U.S. forces who planned and executed the operation.

3 Dead, 2 Wounded After Terrorist Attack On US Base In Kenya – U.S. Africa Command has confirmed militants attacked a base used by U.S. forces in Kenya on Sunday. The Sunday attack was led by terrorist organization al-Shabaab at Manda Bay Airfield. U.S. Africa Command said, “Working alongside our Kenyan partners, the airfield is cleared and still in the process of being fully secured” adding that the security situation at Manda Bay is “fluid.” “Al-Shabaab is a brutal terrorist organization,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William Gayler, U.S. Africa Command director of operations. “It is an al-Qaeda affiliate seeking to establish a self-governed Islamic territory in East Africa, to remove Western influence and ideals from the region, and to further its jihadist agenda. U.S. presence in Africa is critically important to counter-terrorism efforts.” There were reports on Twitter that infrastructure and equipment on the base were heavily damaged during the intense firefight. Twitter handle Intel Air & Sea provided several pictures of a commercial twin-engine passenger aircraft engulfed in flames. The U.S. military’s Africa Command confirmed that one American serviceman and two Department of Defense (DOD) contractors were killed on Sunday when the al-Shabaab terrorist group attacked the Manda Bay Airfield in Kenya. Two additional DOD members were also wounded in the assault, according to a Sunday afternoon statement from Africa Command, adding that they are being evacuated and are in stable condition.

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