Tag: Iran VS USA

NOVANEWS A range of U.S. policies have been deliberately designed to provoke an Iranian response. by: Phyllis Bennis Anti-war demonstrators gather outside Downing Street on 26 June, 2019 in London, England, to call on the government to publicly oppose the escalation of conflict between Donald Trump's administration and Iran and demand that military action is ruled out. (Photo: Wiktor Szymanowicz / Barcroft Media via Getty Images) Some things are still unclear about Trump’s recent decision to bomb Iran — and his rapid-fire follow-up decision not to. We still don’t know what he or his bomb-Iran cheerleaders — National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — thought the bombing would actually accomplish. We also don’t know why Trump decide...

NOVANEWS By Prof. Marjorie Cohn Global Research The New York Times is reporting that on June 20, President Trump ordered military strikes against Iran to retaliate for its shootdown of a U.S. drone, but then pulled back and didn’t launch them. Officials told the Times that Trump had approved attacks on Iranian radar and missile batteries. Trump tweeted, “We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it, not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone.” Nevertheless, shortly after midnight on June 21, Newsweek reported that regional U.S. military assets have been put on 72-hour standby. On June 19, an Iranian surface-to-air miss...

NOVANEWS By Richard Galustian Global Research Is Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard the only sane voice in both Houses of the US Congress? She says “War with Iran would make the Iraq War look like a cakewalk.” Russian roulette is a game of chance where players spin the cylinder of a revolver with a single bullet in turns, put the muzzle against their head and pull the trigger. The player has 16.67% chances of firing a bullet into his head if there is one bullet in the 6-chamber revolver. Each player starts by spinning the cylinder, thus each player has an equal chance of being killed by the bullet. If there can be a lethal game of Russian roulette in international politics, this is it; what just began on May 8, the first anniversary of the United States’ withdrawal from the Iran nuclear...

NOVANEWS "The U.S. is publicly propagating a policy intended to damage as severely as possible Iran's economy and Iranian national companies, and therefore inevitably Iranian nationals." by: Jake Johnson In an interview on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif accused the Trump administration of waging a "psychological war against Iran." (Photo: PressTV) Amid reports of the "devastating" impact U.S. President Donald Trump's newly reimposed sanctions are having on ordinary Iranians' ability to afford basic necessities and life-saving medicines, Iran accused the U.S. of "naked economic aggression" before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday and called on the United Nations body to order a suspension of the penalties. "Sanctions hurt ordinary people on the ...

NOVANEWS This group has already walked back Trump’s offer for dialogue with Iran without preconditions by: Trita Parsi Mike Pompeo and Donald Trump (Photo: Department of State/Flickr) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s announcement of the creation of a new Iran Action Group at the White House–almost exactly on the anniversary of the CIA-led coup against Iran’s elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953 no less–was as usual short on substance but heavy on on accusations and demands. Yet, it may still be quite significant precisely because of the growing fissures within the Trump administration in regards to Iran policy. Hawks on Iran were caught off guard when Donald Trump announced last month that he would be willing to meet with Iran’s leaders “any time th...

NOVANEWS "The Trump administration, committed to neither secularism nor freedom within the content of its own governance, is transparently adopting the form of 'supporting Iranian voices' for ends that cannot be genuine." by: Esfandyar Batmanghelidj "That Pompeo sounds like an acolyte of the Islamic Republic is of great importance to the integrity of his support for Iranian voices. It is probably even more significant than his disdain for Islam, the faith to which millions of Iranians deeply adhere even if they wish religion would stay out of politics. How can a man like Pompeo advocate for secularism?" Batmanghelidj writes. (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/cc) In his brief stint as CIA director, Mike Pompeo brought God to Langley. At least that’s how it felt it to ...

NOVANEWS In letter to EU foreign policy chief, revealed by MEE for the first time, Javad Zarif said US behaviour rendering nuclear deal 'meaningless' By Dania Akkad Middle East Eye   Two months into the new Trump administration, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif warned that Washington’s behaviour towards the nuclear deal threatened to “render the entire bargain meaningless,” according to a copy of a letter obtained by Middle East Eye. “Iran cannot afford to keep implementing the deal unilaterally while a key participant persists in its systematic violation of key provisions of the JCPOA by invoking irrelevant, extraneous and unfounded excuses,” he wrote, referring to the deal, which is formally referred to as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Zarif’s letter, addressed...