Iran will not necessarily look for escalation: to wriggle through will be to win a major symbolic victory. But if it is pushed to the limit, Iran likely will first respond by pushing back in the region and in Afghanistan against US interests.
An inside look at the grassroots Embassy Protection Collective comprised of Americans who have gathered from across the country to…
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PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA — A leaked diplomatic memo reveals that the North Korean government is lobbying its allies for assistance in dealing with an “urgent” food shortage crisis needed to stave off hunger this month. But with U.S. and international sanctions in play, delivery of humanitarian aid is risky business.
Oil prices saw a surge today – up a further 3 percent, following reports that Washington is set to announce an end to the sanctions waiver on Iranian oil, an announcement set for May 2nd.
As a result, Brent crude oil futures surged to over $74 per barrel, while US crude futures hit highs of $65.71 per barrel.
The silence is almost deafening. Is it the quiet before the storm? Or is the US giving up on Venezuela? I don’t think so. It’s more like a regrouping after a first defeat. Well, it’s a multiple defeat if we start counting since the failed coup attempt against Hugo Chavez on 11 April 2002.
However, Washington is not giving up. The first blows come flying. Pompeo to Maduro. Open your borders for humanitarian aid, or else…. which implies the usual, “all options are on the table. ’Humanitarian’ military intervention is an option”.
I just returned from 11 days in Venezuela, my sixth trip there since 2005.
Plaza Bolivar in Caracas, Venezuela
Many people have asked me how they can understand what’s really happening in Venezuela based on information from public institutions such as the U.S. government and the mainstream media. Sources they have used include television ranging from Fox News to MSNBC and CNN; newspapers from the New York Times to more “progressive” publications; and radio from private ad-based to public listener-supported stations.
Undoubtedly, this latest flooding crisis in Iran reveals the highly vicious nature of the current U.S. Administration with regards to the application of collective punishment of a target nation.
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has lashed out at the US sanctions regime, stating how punitive economic sanctions have hampered the international flood relief effort meant to bolster humanitarian relief operations in his country.
Ottawa imposed sanctions on 43 Venezuelan officials Wednesday, according to a statement by Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland.
While the statement did not specify the names of those targeted, Freeland indicated that they were “high-ranking officials” or “governors.”
“Canada is committed to supporting the peaceful restoration of constitutional democracy in Venezuela,” she added.
Previous Canadian sanctions had targeted a total of 70 Venezuelan officials.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an elite group of that country’s military, as a foreign terrorist organization early Monday, confirming a report published last Friday in the Wall Street Journal that suggested that such a move was likely to occur in a matter of days.
Since 19 March 19, devastating floods swept across large areas of Iran, triggered by the heaviest downpours in many years. Heavy rainfall began two and a half weeks ago, overflowing rivers, washing away bridges, inundating houses and destroying infrastructural establishments in the northern, western and central parts of the country. According to the Iran Legal Medicine Organization, at least 62 people have been killed nationwide in the natural disaster so far, which has also forced tens of thousands of people, mostly in villages, to evacuate their homes and move to emergency shelters.
