Isku Iraniin

[TeVu]

Eskalaatio. Ennenkuin asia on tutkittu, niin ei kannata hutkia. Iranilla ei ole mitään motivaatiota hyökätä jenkkejä vastaan koska neuvottelut on käynnissä. Venäjällä on enemmän motivaatiota aiheuttaa kärhämää.

Näin kans luulisin että nyt on joku Venäjän tukema erillisporukka ammuskellut ja Iran voi tykätä kyttyrää tästä tempusta.

 

[ctg]

Tämä artikkeli mainitsee myös että kukaan ei ole ilmoittaunut syylliseksi.

As many as 12 ballistic missiles have struck Iraq’s northern Kurdish regional capital Erbil, with some reports suggesting several landed near the US consulate building.

A US official said the missiles were launched from neighbouring Iran early on Sunday morning, but there were no reports of casualties.

Officials in Iraq and the US gave different accounts of damage. One US official said there was no damage and no casualties at any US government facility, and that there was no indication the target was the consulate building, which is new and currently unoccupied.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-round-of-talks-between-iran-and-saudi-arabia
An Iraqi official in Baghdad at first said several missiles had hit the consulate and that it was the target of the attack. Later, Lawk Ghafari, the head of Kurdistan’s foreign media office, said none of the missiles hit the US facility but that areas around the compound had been hit.

A US defence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was not certain exactly how many missiles were fired and where they landed. A US state department spokesperson called it an “outrageous attack against Iraqi sovereignty and display of violence”.

The health ministry in Erbil said there had been no casualties.

“Several missiles fell on the city of Erbil,” said Erbil governor Omid Khoshnaw, quoted by the Iraqi news agency INA.

The governor said it was not clear whether the intended target was the US consulate or the airport, where there is a base for the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group.

“We condemn this terrorist attack launched against several sectors of Erbil, we call on the inhabitants to remain calm,” Kurdistan prime minister Masrour Barzani said in a statement.

The attack comes several days after an Israeli strike near Damascus, Syria killed two members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency quoted Iraqi media acknowledging the attacks, without saying where they originated.

Satellite broadcast channel Kurdistan24, which is located near the US consulate, went on air from their studio shortly after the attack, showing shattered glass and debris on their studio floor.

In the past, US forces stationed at Erbil’s international airport complex have come under fire from rocket and drone attacks that US officials blame on Iran-aligned militia groups, but no such attacks have occurred for several months.

A spokesperson for the regional authorities said there were no flight interruptions at Erbil airport.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Residents of Erbil posted videos online showing several large explosions, and some said the blasts shook their homes. Reuters could not independently verify those videos.

Iraq has been rocked by chronic instability since the defeat of the Sunni Islamist group Islamic State in 2017 by a loose coalition of Iraqi, US-led and Iran-backed forces.

Iraqi political parties, most of which have armed wings, are also involved in tense talks over forming a government after an election in October.

Shia militia groups close to Iran warn in private that they will resort to violence if they are left out of any ruling coalition.

The chief political foes of those groups include their powerful Shia rival, the populist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has vowed to form a government that leaves out Iran’s allies and includes Kurds and Sunnis.

Missiles land near US consulate in northern Iraq city of Erbil

US and Iraqi officials say there were no reports of casualties from the attack, which one official said was launched from Iran

www.theguardian.com

 

[BobLeeSwagger]

Eskalaatio. Ennenkuin asia on tutkittu, niin ei kannata hutkia. Iranilla ei ole mitään motivaatiota hyökätä jenkkejä vastaan koska neuvottelut on käynnissä. Venäjällä on enemmän motivaatiota aiheuttaa kärhämää.

Israelilla olisi suurin motivaatio ampua amerikkalaisia ohjuksilla ja syyttää Irania.

 

[Leaderwolf]

Israelilla olisi suurin motivaatio ampua amerikkalaisia ohjuksilla ja syyttää Irania.

Jos nyt kuitenkin pidetään ne foliot keittiön kaapissa.

 

[aj77]

Saattaisi olla Putinin edun mukaista eskaloida ja lietsoa siellä missä tuotetaan maailmalle öljyä.

 

[Nikhris]

Näin kans luulisin että nyt on joku Venäjän tukema erillisporukka ammuskellut ja Iran voi tykätä kyttyrää tästä tempusta.

Tämä artikkeli mainitsee myös että kukaan ei ole ilmoittaunut syylliseksi.

Missiles land near US consulate in northern Iraq city of Erbil

US and Iraqi officials say there were no reports of casualties from the attack, which one official said was launched from Iran

www.theguardian.com

Väärää infoa. Iran ilmoitti olevansa iskun takana jo alusta alkaen ja kohteena oli Iranin mukaan Mossadin operatointi alueella - tuohon USA:n uuteen konsulaattirakennukseen josta on paasattu ei osunut USA:n mukaan (ei siellä edes ollut henkilökuntaa paikalla) ja mitään "US base" mistä myös on puhuttu ei alueella ole. Ketään ei kuollut. Mitenkään ennenkuulumatonta tämä ei ole, kun Iran on sotilaallista toimintaa pistänyt Irakin alueella ihan puikoillakin, vaikka tästä nyt Ukrainan sivussa jotkut jo intoilevat jotain isompaa.

Iranian Guards claim ballistic missile attacks in Erbil

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claim the missile attacks, saying it targeted Israeli ‘strategic centre’ in Iraq.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[ctg]

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian will head to Moscow on Tuesday, the ministry said, days after negotiations on an Iran nuclear deal stalled amid new Russian demands.

"Russia has made its official demands loud and clear, and this needs to be discussed among all parties to the 2015 agreement, like all the demands that have been presented by other parties," foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters on Monday.

"The foreign ministers of the parties (to the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal) are in constant contact", and Amir-Abdollahian "will go to Moscow on Tuesday to continue the discussions", Khatibzadeh added.

More than 10 months of talks in Vienna have brought major powers close to renewing the landmark 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on regulating Iran's nuclear programme.

But the negotiations were halted after Russia on March 5 demanded guarantees that Western sanctions imposed following its invasion of Ukraine would not damage its trade with Iran.

On March 11, the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeted that the pause was "due to external factors," despite the fact that "a final text is essentially ready and on the table".

Iran's FM to hold talks on nuclear deal in Moscow

METATEXT

www.spacewar.com

 

[ctg]

Iran has arrested several suspected members of a spy network linked to arch foe Israel, foiling its attempt to sabotage a key underground nuclear facility, state media reported.

The announcement comes as Iran is engaged in talks with major powers on reviving a landmark nuclear deal abandoned by the United States in 2018.

Iran has accused Israel of repeatedly targeting its nuclear facilities and scientists, most recently in an attempt to undermine efforts to restore the 2015 agreement, which was bitterly opposed by the Jewish state.

The suspects "planned on sabotaging the Fordo facility and were arrested by the intelligence services of the Revolutionary Guards", the official IRNA news agency reported late Monday.

Fordo is an underground uranium enrichment facility located outside the central city of Qom, around 180 kilometres (110 miles) south of Tehran.

IRNA did not specify the identity of the suspects or say how many were arrested.

But it said that Israeli intelligence agents tried "to approach" an employee at Fordo after "recruiting" one of his neighbours, in order to gain information about advanced centrifuges at the facility.

The suspects had received payments "in the form of cash and digital currency so that no trace of it remains," IRNA added.

An Israeli "spy officer, in the guise of a Hong Kong company and with the help of an intermediary", communicated with the Fordo employee, it said.

Iran has accused US or Israeli agents of carrying out an array of surveillance and sabotage operations targeting its nuclear programme over the past decade.

In August 2012, saboteurs blew up power lines supplying the Fordo plant.

Two years later, Iran said it had arrested several "spies" in Bushehr province, where its sole nuclear power plant is located.

In 2020, Tehran accused Israel of masterminding the assassination of top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in an attack near Tehran.

The following year it claimed Israel was behind a "small explosion" that hit its Natanz uranium enrichment plant.

It was the second alleged sabotage attempt against the facility in less than year, after a reported attack in July 2020.

Iran foils Israel-linked 'sabotage' plot at nuclear plant

METATEXT

www.spacewar.com

 

[ctg]

Negotiations with Iran to free Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe are “going right up to the wire”, Boris Johnson has said.

The UK prime minister said talks with Tehran over the release of the British-Iranian dual-national were “moving forward” but that he could not say more as “negotiations continue to be under way”.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe talks ‘going to the wire’, says Boris Johnson

Hopes raised British-Iranian woman might finally be released after British passport returned to her

www.theguardian.com

Sky Newsin mukaan toimittaja on jo vapautettu ja Boris on keskustelemassa Iranilaisten kanssa, shekki kourassa maksaakseen velkansa.

Boris Johnson going ‘from dictator to dictator’ for oil, says Starmer

Labour leader warns about replacing dependence on Russia with reliance on Saudis, as PM prepares for Gulf visit

www.theguardian.com

 

[ctg]

Washington said Wednesday it was "close" to a deal with Iran on reviving a 2015 pact that saw Western powers provide sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on Tehran's nuclear programme, the latest sign of advancement following prolonged deadlock.
Days after Russian demands seemed to jeopardize talks in Vienna over restoring the pact, this week has seen multiple positive signals that an accord may at last be within reach, including the release of two British Iranians Wednesday after years of detention in Iran, and word that outstanding issues have narrowed to just two.
The negotiations began last April between Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran and Russia, with the United States taking part indirectly.
Now a successful resolution appears more viable than at any point in years.
"We are close to a possible deal, but we're not there yet," said State Department spokesman Ned Price. "We do think the remaining issues can be bridged."
Speaking to reporters, Price declined to confirm Tehran's claim that there were just a pair of final issues to be sorted out, down from four, before agreeing to restore the six-party Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which aimed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
But he said the issues are surmountable, although the 11-month-old talks "are at a very delicate stage."
"There is little time remaining given the nuclear advancements that Tehran has made" toward developing nuclear weapons that would undermine any agreement, he said.
The EU diplomat chairing the Vienna talks, Enrique Mora, told reporters last week that delegations were down to negotiating the footnotes of the text, but progress stalled when Moscow demanded guarantees that Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine would not affect its trade with Iran.
However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov indicated Tuesday that Russia had received "written guarantees" from Washington.

Iran nuclear deal 'close', Tehran frees captives as obstacles narrow

METATEXT

www.spacewar.com

 

[ctg]

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday said he hoped for a change of political regime for the people of arch-enemy Iran, in a message marking the Persian New Year, or Nowruz.

"Nowruz literally means 'new day. And that's my greatest wish to you, the Iranian people: that you will see a new day -- a day of freedom from the cruel Iranian regime," he said in a video message in English.

Israel considers Iran an "existential threat" and the two countries have been at loggerheads since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Western-backed shah.

Bennett's remarks also come as Israel has vehemently opposed the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

The deal granted the Islamic republic much-needed sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear programme, but started unravelling after the US unilaterally pulled out in 2018.

On Friday, Bennett had appealed to the US not to remove Iran's Revolutionary Guards from its blacklist of foreign terrorist organisations as part of a renewed deal.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps "is a terrorist organisation that has murdered thousands of people, including Americans", he said in a joint statement with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.

The United States had said on Wednesday that Washington and Tehran were close to agreement on restoring the 2015 accord.

"We are close to a possible deal, but we're not there yet," said State Department spokesman Ned Price. "We do think the remaining issues can be bridged."

Sources close to the talks have said outstanding issues included Tehran's demands for Washington to delist the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group.

At a cabinet meeting Sunday, Bennett denounced what he said was a desire to sign the Iran deal "at almost any price, including saying that the largest terrorist organisation in the world is not a terrorist organisation".

"That is too high a price to pay," he added.

Israeli PM wishes Iranians 'regime' change for Persian New Year

METATEXT

www.spacewar.com

 

[ctg]

Also on Sunday, the EU’s coordinator for the nuclear talks met Iran’s foreign minister and its chief negotiator. “Working on closing the remaining gaps in the #ViennaTalks,” the EU diplomat Enrique Mora tweeted before his trip. “We must conclude this negotiation. Much is at stake.”

In the US, Republican and Democrat senators are coming together to form an alliance this week to block any recognition of the IRGC or any lifting of sanctions on the organisation.

In a joint statement last week, the Israeli prime minister and foreign minister said: “The IRGC is a terrorist organisation that has murdered thousands of people including Americans. We refuse to believe that the US would remove its designation as a terrorists organisation. The IRGC are Hezbollah in Lebanon, Jihad in Gaza, they are Houthis in Yemen, they are the militias in Iraq. They kill Jews because they are Jews, they kill Christians because they are Christian, and Muslims because they refuse to surrender to them.”

Speaking in Israel, Blinken nevertheless defended the principle of trying to revive the Iran nuclear deal, saying: “The US believes that a return to full implementation of the deal is the best way to put Iran’s nuclear programme back in the box that it was in, but has escaped from since the United States withdrew from that agreement.

“But whether there’s a deal or not, our commitment to the core principle of Iran never acquiring a nuclear weapon is unwavering. And one way or another, we will continue to coordinate closely with our Israeli partners on the way forward.”

The Israel summit was also attended by foreign ministers from Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.

Malley revealed that the British have taken on the task of negotiating the release of US dual nationals still held in Iran, including Morad Tabhaz, the tri-national who was not released nearly a fortnight ago along with Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Roxanne Tahbaz, his daughter, has accused the UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, of a betrayal of her family.

When Tahbaz was allowed out on furlough the family complained about the number of armed guards accompanying him. He was subsequently sent back to Evin prison but then moved to a hotel in Tehran after representations by the British and American governments, the Foreign Office said.

Iran will never acquire nuclear weapons, US promises Israel

Antony Blinken seeks to reassure Israel and Gulf allies ahead of possible renewal of nuclear deal

www.theguardian.com

 

[ctg]

The US Treasury announced on Wednesday the newly imposed sanctions targeting several entities it accused of involvement in procuring supplies for Iran's ballistic missile programme.
"This move is another sign of the US government's ill will towards the Iranian people," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement.
The step proves "the current US administration, contrary to its claim, uses every opportunity to make baseless accusations and put pressure on the Iranian people," he added.
The United States said the new sanctions target Iranian national Mohammad Ali Hosseini and his "network of companies" as suppliers of the ballistic programme.
The move followed an Iranian missile attack on Arbil, Iraq on March 13 and an "Iranian enabled" attack by Yemen's Huthi rebels on a Saudi oil facility on Friday, as well as other attacks by "Iranian proxies" on Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Iran had claimed responsibility for the March 13 missile strikes, saying they targeted an Israeli "strategic centre", and warning of more such attacks.
The sanctions come at a time when the United States seems close to an agreement with Iran on its return to the 2015 nuclear deal.
The accord gave Iran much-needed sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme that would guarantee it could not develop a nuclear weapon -- something the Islamic republic has always denied seeking.
But it fell apart in 2018, when then-president Donald Trump withdrew the United States and reimposed biting economic sanctions.
Iran, in response, began rolling back on most of its commitments under the accord.
"The US, while claiming it is ready to return to the full implementation of its obligations under the nuclear agreement, continues to fundamentally violate it and UN Security Council Resolution 2231," Khatibzadeh said.
Indirect negotiations between the arch-rivals, which have been underway in Vienna for nearly a year, have overcome most disagreements but outstanding issues remain.
Among them is a demand by Iran that its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which carried out the attack on Arbil, be removed from a US terror blacklist.

Iran slams new US sanctions as sign of 'ill will'

METATEXT

www.spacewar.com

 

[ctg]

Iran said Monday it will only return to Vienna in order to finalise an agreement to revive its landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, with the last steps dependent on Washington.

Tehran has been engaged in long-running negotiations in the Austrian capital to revive the deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia directly, and the United States indirectly.

"We will not be going to Vienna for new negotiations but to finalise the nuclear agreement," foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters in Tehran.

However, Iran said there were still outstanding issues that it was waiting on Washington to settle.

"At the moment, we do not yet have a definitive answer from Washington," Khatibzadeh said.

"If Washington answers the outstanding questions, we can go to Vienna as soon as possible."

Iran says will return to Vienna only to finalise nuclear deal

METATEXT

www.spacewar.com

 

[ctg]

Leading former diplomats including seven ex-UK foreign and defence ministers have warned the Iran nuclear talks are heading to “corrosive stalemate devolving into a cycle of increased nuclear tension” and urged Tehran and Washington to show more flexibility.

Year-long talks in Vienna on reviving the deal and for the US, which was pulled out of the agreement by Donald Trump, to lift sanctions on Iran have in effect ground to a halt in a dispute over whether the west will lift the foreign terrorist organisation designation, and sanctions, against the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

The former diplomats said in an open letter that a final draft text of a renewed agreement was ready to be signed and warned that “for US and European leaders to let slip the opportunity to defuse a nuclear crisis in the Middle East would be a grave mistake”.

Washington says the sanctions on the IRGC do not relate to the nuclear deal, but to its long-term terrorist behaviour in the region, including in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

The signatories to the open letter, coordinated the European Leadership Network, include former senior diplomats in 14 countries including the former foreign secretary Jack Straw, former defence secretaries Lord King and Des Browne, as well as the former Conservative Middle East minister Alistair Burt.

They say the legacy of Trump’s strategic error in leaving the agreement “can today be measured in the tons of enriched uranium Iran has since accumulated, including uranium enriched to near-weapons grade; in the thousands of advanced centrifuges it is spinning; and, in the rapidly dwindling timeframe for Iran to reach a breakout capability”.

The US left the nuclear deal in 2018. Joe Biden on his election as president said he wanted to rejoin so long as Iran came back into compliance with the agreement on nuclear non-proliferation.

Time running out to reach Iran nuclear deal, warn experts

Letter signed by former diplomats says Iran close to developing nuclear weapons capability

www.theguardian.com

 

[ctg]

The EU diplomat seeking to revive a 2015 nuclear deal will visit Tehran this week, Iran announced Monday, as the United States voiced hope for progress.
Enrique Mora has played a key role as an intermediary between the United States and Iran during a year of on-off talks in Vienna that have been at a standstill since March.
Mora will meet with Ali Bagheri, the Islamic Republic of Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said at a weekly press briefing.
"Mora's trip moves the talks in the right direction," Khatibzadeh said.
The date of Mora's arrival in Iran's capital has not been confirmed, but local press reported he is expected on Tuesday.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Ned Price said the United States looked forward to hearing Mora's assessments from Tehran.
"We support his efforts to bring these negotiations to a successful conclusion," Price told reporters.
"We are confident that we can conclude this negotiation quickly if the Iranians are willing to proceed in good faith to allow us to continue to build on and to move forward with the significant progress that had been made over months and months of oftentimes painstaking diplomacy and negotiations," he said.
The 2015 deal gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme to guarantee that it could not develop a nuclear weapon, something Tehran has always denied wanting to do.
In an interview with the Financial Times published on Saturday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was seeking a "middle way" to bridge the remaining gap between Tehran and Washington.
He said that he wanted Mora to visit Tehran, but that Iran had appeared "very much reluctant". He described the EU's diplomatic push as "the last bullet" in attempts to salvage the deal.
"We cannot continue like this forever, because in the meantime Iran continues developing their nuclear programme," Borrell added.

Iran says EU nuclear coordinator to visit this week

METATEXT

www.spacewar.com

Khatibzadeh also said on Monday that the red "lines set by the high authorities of the Islamic republic have been respected, and that is why we are here today," without elaborating.
"If the United States decides today to respect the rights of the Iranian people, we can go to Vienna after Mora's visit and sign the agreement," he said.

 

[John Hilly]

Hyvä juttu siis everstin kuolema.

IRGC Colonel Assassinated in Tehran, Mossad Suspected of Being Behind Hit | FDD's Long War Journal

An IRGC colonel reportedly involved in plans to kill Israelis abroad was assassinated Sunday afternoon in Tehran.

www.longwarjournal.org

 

[VanhaPate]

Iran on takavarikoinut kaksi Kreikan lipun alla olevaa laivaa sen takia, että Kreikka on toimittanut iranikaista öljyä Yhdysvaltoihin.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1530221539144130561

 

[VanhaPate]

Tuo ei sitten ollutkaan ihan niin yksinkertainen juttu. Amerikkalaiset ovat ensin ottaneet haltuun venäläisen tankkerin, joka kuljetti iranilaista öljyä. Tämä liittyi venäjän vastaisiin sanktioihin mutta koska lasti oli iranilaista, niin tuolle toimenpiteelle ei ollut laillista perustetta. Mutta kreikkalaiset laivat ovat kuitenkin väärä kohde Iranin vastatoimille.

https://lloydslist.maritimeintelligence.informa.com/LL1140913/US-seizes-Iranian-crude-from-Russian-tanker-arrested-in-Greece

 

[VanhaPate]

Lyhyen ajan sisällä toinekin IRGC:n eversti kuollut.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1532714234584383488