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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Khamenei dismissed Trump's remarks as lies unworthy of a response, declared that Israel will be ELIMINATED
2025-05-19
[X] The dogs bark, but the caravan passes on.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Trump says Lebanon has chance for future ''free from Hezbollah grip'', Iran says will agree to uranium enrichment cap
2025-05-15
[NAHARNET] U.S. President Donald Trump
...The Hero of Butler, Pennsylvania...
 said Wednesday at a meeting of leaders from the Gulf Cooperation Council hosted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

...Crown Prince and modernizer of Saudi Arabia as of 2016. The Turks hate him, so he must be all right, despite the occasional brutal murder of Qatar-owned journalists...
 in Riyadh that there is in Leb
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects....
 a new chance for peace and for a future "free from the grip of Hezbollah".

"In Lebanon there is a new chance for a future free from the grip of Hezbollah gunnies if the new president and PM can rebuild an effective Lebanese state," Trump said.

"This is a once in a generation opportunity to forge a Lebanon that is prosperous and at peace with its neighbors," he added.

Trump also told Gulf leaders that he urgently wants "to make a deal" with Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as StĂźrmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or FĂźhrer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
to wind down its nuclear program but that Tehran must end its support of proxy groups throughout the region -- Hamas
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
 in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
s in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
-- as part of any potential agreement.

(Iran) "must stop sponsoring terror, halt its bloody proxy wars, and permanently and verifiably cease pursuit of nuclear weapons," Trump said.

The U.S. and Iran have engaged in four rounds of talks since early last month focused on Iran's nuclear program. Trump has repeatedly said that he believes brokering a deal is possible, but that the window is closing.

Trump remarks came after he met with Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh on the sidelines of the gathering, a day after announcing he was lifting sanctions on the war-battered country.

Hezbollah is severely weakened after its war last year with Israel in which much of its top leadership was killed, and after losing a key ally with the fall of former Syrian President Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Horror of Homs...
, a conduit for Iran to send arms.

What President Trump said in Saudi Arabia on the 13th:
Trump says he wants Iran deal, but Tehran must act fast or face crippling sanctions
[IsraelTime] US President Donald Trump says he wants to strike a deal with Iran amid ongoing nuclear talks, but will cripple Iran’s economy if the Islamic Republic “rejects this olive branch.”

“I want to make a deal with Iran. If I can make a deal with Iran, I’ll be very happy if we’re going to make your region and the world a safer place,” Trump says during a foreign policy speech in Riyadh.

“But if Iran’s leadership rejects this olive branch and continues to attack their neighbors, then we will have no choice but to inflict massive maximum pressure [and] drive Iranian oil exports to zero like I did before,” he says.

“Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. But with that said, Iran can have a much brighter future,” he adds.

“This is an offer that will not last forever. The time is right now for them to choose… Things are happening at a very fast pace,” Trump says.

He calls Iran the “most destructive force” in the Middle East, and blames the regime for instability across the region.

Offering what he describes as both a final warning and a potential opening for diplomacy, he says Iran has a choice between continuing its “chaos and terror” or embracing a path toward peace.
Iran’s response to Trump’s threat:
Iranian official says Tehran will agree to deal that caps uranium enrichment
[IsraelTimes] Iran is willing to agree to a deal with the US in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions, an Iranian official tells NBC News in an interview published on Wednesday.

Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, says Tehran would commit to never making nuclear weapons, getting rid of its stockpiles of highly-enriched uranium, agree to only enrich uranium to the lower levels needed for civilian use, and allow international inspectors to supervise the process, NBC reported.

US officials have offered varying statements regarding whether they’ll accept a deal that allows Iran to maintain a limited enrichment program, though, more recently have asserted that they won’t.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Day 3: Death toll from Iranian port blast rises to 40, MP blames Israel
2025-04-28
Day 1 can be seen here, Day 2 can be seen here.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The death toll from the explosion in the Iranian port of Shahid Rajaee, located near the city of Bandar Abbas, has increased to 40. This was reported on April 27 by the governor of the Iranian province of Hormozgan, Mohammad Ashouri Taziani.



Previously, 36 deaths were reported.

“The number of people who have died from injuries sustained in the explosion has now reached 40,” Mehr news agency quotes Taziani as saying.

On the afternoon of April 27, members of the Iranian parliament reported that many of the dead had not yet been identified. Media sources also suggested that there were other bodies of the dead under the rubble.

As reported by Regnum news agency, the explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port occurred on April 26. According to eyewitnesses, the sound was so loud that it was heard within a radius of 20 km from the scene. Local media reported that the explosion occurred at a warehouse for hazardous goods, but the head of the terminal, Pazhman Behzadpur, denied this information. An investigation has been launched into the explosion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent condolences to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the country's President Masoud Pezeshkian. The head of state expressed his readiness to provide the necessary assistance in eliminating the consequences of the disaster. Later, on Putin's orders, two amphibious aircraft Be-200ChS and Il-76 of the Ministry of Emergency Situations were sent to Iran.

There were 1,205 reported casualties from the explosion. Most of them have already been discharged from hospitals. As of 16:00 Moscow time on April 27, 190 people remain in hospitals, including 20 in intensive care units.

The Russian Embassy in Tehran reported that no information about injured Russian citizens had been received. Russian foreign missions in Iran are operating as usual.

More from regnum.ru
Iran's MoD confirms there were no military goods in Shahid Rajaee port
Not a lie that it was said, but the claim is definitely taqqiya. Do go on…
[Regnum] There were no military goods in the Iranian port of Shahid Rajaee near the city of Bandar Abbas, where an explosion occurred the day before. This was stated on April 27 by the official representative of the Iranian Defense Ministry, Reza Telai-Nik.

“During the investigation, it was found that there were no imported or exported military cargoes in the area of ​​the fire,” Iranian state television channel IRIB quotes him as saying.

A powerful explosion rocked the Iranian port of Shahid Rajaee on April 26. According to eyewitnesses, the sound of the explosion was so loud that it was heard within a radius of 20 km from the scene. One of the buildings collapsed, and port operations were suspended.

According to the latest data, 1,139 people were injured in the explosion. The total number of deaths at the moment is 25 people. As the head of the judicial power of Hormozgan province Mojtaba Ghahremani noted, 21 bodies have already been handed over to the forensic medical examination. The bodies of ten victims have been identified, including two women and eight men.

Several media outlets reported that the explosion occurred at a hazardous cargo warehouse. Terminal head Pazhman Behzadpour later denied this information, stating that the explosion was not related to hazardous cargo. An investigation has been launched into the incident. The Russian embassy in Tehran reported that no information about Russian citizens being injured has been received.

As reported by the Regnum news agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent condolences to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and the President of the IRI Masoud Pezeshkian in connection with the explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port. In his telegram, the Russian leader also expressed his readiness to provide the necessary assistance in eliminating the consequences of the disaster.
Courtesy of Fred, Hodhod Yemen News adds:
It is worth noting that the Iranian Crisis Management Organization blamed the incident on ''unsafe storage of chemicals in containers at the Shahid Rajaee Port,'' according to the organization's front man, Hossein Zafri, who told the Iranian ILNA news agency, ''The cause of the earth-shattering kaboom was the chemicals inside the containers.''
The Times of Israel adds:
Fires still burning a day later; person connected to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps tells NYT that sodium perchlorate ignited.

An individual tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reportedly confirmed the earth-shattering kaboom occurred in a shipment from China of a chemical used to produce missile fuel.

Fires continued to break out in different areas of Shahid Rajaei port as of Sunday night, according to state media, with helicopters and firefighters continuing efforts to extinguish them.

Iran’s health ministry urged residents of Hormozgan province, where the port is located, to avoid going outside "until further notice" and to use protective masks.

Authorities declared three days of public mourning across the province, and state TV reported all schools in offices in the bucolic provincial capital of Bandar Abbas, near the port, were ordered closed to allow authorities to focus on the emergency effort.

The port’s customs office said in a statement carried by state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
that the earth-shattering kaboom probably resulted from a fire that broke out at the hazardous and chemical materials storage depot. A regional emergency official said several containers had went kaboom!.

The New York Times

...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
 quoted an individual with ties to Iran’s IRGC, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
 to discuss security matters, who said that sodium perchlorate had went kaboom!. The compound is a major ingredient in solid fuel for missiles.

The port had taken in a shipment of the chemical in March, the private security firm Ambrey said a day earlier. The fuel was part of a shipment from China by two vessels to Iran, first reported in January by the Financial Times.

BLAST HEARD 50 KILOMETERS AWAY, FIRE ’STILL NOT OUT’
Live footage from the port on Sunday showed thick smoke still visible at the scene of the earth-shattering kaboom.

"The fire is under control but still not out," a state TV correspondent reported from the site around 20 hours after the blast.

The explosion was so powerful that it was felt and heard about 50 kilometers (30 miles) away, Fars news agency reported.

Speaking Sunday at the scene, Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said that "the situation has stabilized in the main areas" of the port. He told state TV that workers had resumed loading containers and customs clearance.

Images from news agency IRNA on Saturday showed rescuers and survivors walking along a wide boulevard carpeted with debris after the blast at Shahid Rajaee, more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) south of Tehran.

Flames could be seen engulfing a truck trailer and blood stained the side of a crushed car, while a helicopter dropped water on massive black smoke clouds billowing from behind stacked shipping containers.

"The shockwave was so strong that most of the port buildings were severely damaged," Tasnim news agency reported.

Saturday is the start of the working week in Iran, meaning the port was busy with employees.

Three Chinese nationals were "lightly injured," China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing its Bandar Abbas consulate.

Iranian MP accuses Israel of involvement in port blast, as fires continue to smolder
[IsraelTimes] Though authorities are still working to determine the cause of the blast, an Iranian parliament member claimed that Israel was responsible, saying that explosive devices were planted in the shipping containers that caused it.

“Israel was involved in the explosion,” MP Mohammad Siraj told the Rokna news agency on Sunday. “It was not accidental. Clear evidence points to Israeli involvement.”

“There were explosives planted in the container, either in their country of origin or along the transportation route,” Siraj claimed. “We do not rule out the involvement of internal factors in planting the explosives in the containers. The explosion occurred at four different locations.”

Siraj did nor provide evidence to back up his claim, and an Israeli official was quoted by Hebrew media Saturday as saying Israel had no part in the blast at the port.

Iran’s Defense Ministry denied the reports that the blast may have been caused by the mishandling of solid fuel used for missiles, with a spokesman telling state TV that the reports were “aligned with enemy psyops,” and that the blast-hit area did not contain any military cargo.

In a first reaction on Sunday, spokesman Gen. Reza Talaeinik denied that missile fuel had been imported through the port.

“No sort of imported and exporting consignment for fuel or military application was (or) is in the site of the port,” he told state television by telephone.

He called foreign reports on the missile fuel baseless — but offered no explanation for what material detonated with such incredible force at the site. Talaeinik promised authorities would offer more information later.

Social media footage of the explosion on Saturday at Shahid Rajaei saw reddish-hued smoke rising from the fire just before the detonation. That suggested a chemical compound being involved in the blast, as in the Beirut explosion.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran offered US a nuclear agreement with same enrichment cap as 2015 deal, will never stop enriching
2025-04-19
[IsraelTimes] Three-stage proposal would reportedly see Tehran temporarily cap enrichment at 3.67%, transfer highly enriched uranium to 3rd country, boost UN oversight at nuclear facilities.
That is deliberately insulting. Screw it — release the Bibi.

Iran will never agree to dismantle uranium centrifuges, eliminate stockpile — official

[IsraelTimes] More from the Iranian official speaking to Reuters:

Tehran’s red lines “mandated by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei” can not be compromised in the talks, the official says.

He says those red lines mean Iran will never agree to dismantle its centrifuges for enriching uranium, halt enrichment altogether, or reduce the amount of enriched uranium it stores to a level below the level it agreed to in the 2015 deal that Trump abandoned.

It will also not negotiate over its missile program, which Tehran views as outside the scope of any nuclear deal.

“Iran understood in indirect talks in Oman that Washington doesn’t want Iran to stop all nuclear activities, and this can be a common ground for Iran and the US to start a fair negotiation,” the source says.

Iran said today reaching a deal with the United States was possible if “they demonstrate seriousness of intent and do not make unrealistic demands.”

Top US negotiator Steve Witkoff, in a post on X on Tuesday, said Iran must “stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment” to reach a deal with Washington.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Negotiations in Oman: What Iran and the US were able to agree on
2025-04-15
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Kirill Semenov

[REGNUM] On April 12, delegations from the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and the United States, led by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, concluded the first round of talks in Muscat, mediated by the Sultanate of Oman.

The parties assessed the results of the first meeting with cautious optimism. However, against the backdrop of mostly pessimistic expert forecasts preceding the event, one can even speak of a certain success.

US President Donald Trump also described the talks as successful. "I think things are going well, the situation with Iran, I think, is pretty good," he said.

DIRECT NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE US AND INDIRECT ONES FOR IRAN
In general, the current meeting in Oman can be characterized as "negotiations about negotiations" - the parties are only trying to feel out each other's positions and moods, as well as compare topics that can be discussed. First of all, it is necessary to decide what exactly should be on the negotiating table and what should be negotiated, since all previous statements and comments showed a wide range of what the US and Iran can declare and even present to each other.

In particular, Araghchi, after leaving Muscat, said: “Today we came very close to the basis of the negotiations” and made it clear that the upcoming session, scheduled to be held in a week, will focus on discussing the agenda of the negotiations with an appropriate schedule.

It is also significant that the US and Iranian delegations gathered at the same hotel in Muscat but were in separate rooms while Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Albusaidi relayed messages between them.

As Abbas Araghchi told Iranian media, a total of four rounds of exchange of opinions took place over the course of two and a half hours.

This format of the negotiators' placement allowed each side to maintain its own opinion on the format of the meeting. From the Americans' point of view, these were direct contacts. The Iranians still considered them indirect.

It was essential for Iran to show that Tehran still views the Trump administration's unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal during his last term and the imposition of new rounds of illegal sanctions as a treacherous and hostile act against the Islamic Republic.

Therefore, for direct negotiations to be possible, the Iranian side had to be convinced of Washington’s constructive approach and its rejection of the language of ultimatums and demands for unilateral concessions from Iran.

Now, as the Iranian Mehr News writes, the American delegation demonstrated that same “constructive” approach, and the negotiations took place in a “positive atmosphere” and will therefore continue next week.

In turn, it was important for the US to declare these contacts direct. The Trump administration urgently needs to demonstrate at least some successes in its “100 days,” and in this case, direct negotiations with Iran can be presented as such.

What added significance to this American point of view was the fact that as the two sides were leaving the hotel, they met face to face. Abbas Araghchi personally exchanged pleasantries with his American counterpart Steve Witkoff in the presence of Badr bin Hamad. At the same time, the Iranian minister stressed that the “meeting at the door” was “accidental.”

JUST THE NUCLEAR DOSSIER AND NOTHING MORE
The topic of what the next rounds of negotiations might be about takes us back to Whitkoff's statements on March 21.

At the time, the special envoy stated bluntly that the United States was seeking a “verification program” to ensure that Iran’s nuclear energy program was not being used for military purposes. Tehran had also expressed readiness for such an agreement.

However, Whitkoff's position was later contradicted by other US administration officials, who called for dismantling Iran's nuclear infrastructure, as happened in Libya.

Naturally, such a scenario was considered humiliating and unacceptable for the Islamic Republic. After that, threats of force rained down on Tehran.

At the same time, the current relatively successful outcome of the first round of consultations suggests that Witkoff, with the support of Vice President J.D. Vance (who are considered the main “pragmatists” regarding Iran), managed to overcome the resistance of the “hawks” and the pro-Israel lobby and convince Donald Trump to accept their approach.

Therefore, the exchanges of messages in Muscat concerned exclusively the “nuclear dossier”.

It should be especially emphasized that the US delegation did not put forward demands regarding Iran’s missile program and the end of support for the “axis of resistance” groups, which had been voiced earlier.

The United States has already made some concessions to begin negotiations, and Trump is willing to sign a short-term, interim nuclear deal based on "good faith" with "virtually no formal monitoring mechanisms," CNN reports.

This was also perceived by the Iranian side as a "constructive approach", so it cannot be ruled out that at the next stage Iran and the US will agree to direct negotiations. They can take place either in Oman or in one of the European countries. Perhaps the US and Iran want to see how the Europeans would gradually begin to join the process of developing a new deal.

Regarding its possible parameters, the announced Iranian proposals included: easing sanctions, including pressure on Chinese companies that buy Iranian oil; unblocking access to Iranian billions of dollars frozen abroad, as well as Iran retaining the ability to work on a peaceful nuclear program.

In exchange, Iran is willing to return to the terms of the 2015 deal, which Trump abandoned during his first term, regarding uranium enrichment levels.

According to other sources, in addition to the above positions, Iran has proposed to the United States the concept of a nuclear-free Middle East, which should include a corresponding renunciation by Israel of nuclear weapons and related research.

ISRAEL VS.
For Iran, it was also important in the current negotiations to achieve respectful attitude of the United States towards the Islamic Republic. This is a matter of international prestige of the IRI.

Iran is extremely negative about the refusal of the UN Security Council and leading states to condemn Trump for unilaterally withdrawing from the deal and moving towards a policy of confrontation with Iran, the most obvious example of which was the assassination of one of the leading military commanders of the IRGC, Qasem Soleimani.

Therefore, although Tehran was ready for dialogue with Washington, it was only on an equal footing.

At the same time, despite this, not everyone in Iran believes in the sincerity of the US desire to conclude a new deal.

As a well-informed Iranian source, who wished to remain anonymous, told Regnum, "experience shows that the Americans do not want an agreement" and the "hawks" will be able to convince Trump of their rightness again. Also, according to the Iranian official, Israel's position is causing concern in Tehran.

It is clear that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not accept a deal pushed by American pragmatists that would leave Iran with its ballistic missiles as a threat to Israel. For the radical Zionist government, only a massive strike capable of disabling all Iranian weapons systems aimed at Tel Aviv would be considered acceptable.

Therefore, Iran expects any provocations from Israel.

It is also clear from the comments of Israeli analysts and experts that the current situation in the Middle East is starting to turn against Israel. And President Trump has apparently found the strength to rein in Netanyahu, accept the US-Iran negotiations as a given, and come to terms with it.

This was most likely what was discussed during the negotiations between the US President and the Israeli Prime Minister during the latter’s visit to Washington on April 8, but the delicate nature of this dialogue forced it to be left outside the announced information agenda.

In particular, Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, said that Israel believes that the time has come to act. Especially after Iran carried out a series of direct strikes on Israel in 2024. "Israel does not see any more room for negotiations,” Diker told The Media Line.

In his opinion, the current diplomatic track with the Islamic Republic of Iran is a continuation of the long-standing war of deception waged by Iran.

The Israeli believes the Iranians are too happy to drive a wedge between Israel and the United States, as they did under Obama.

"Israelis are deeply skeptical that diplomacy can succeed, especially if the outcome is similar to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal," said Danny Cytrynovich, a research fellow in the Iran program at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

He stressed that Israel could be cornered if the new deal does not substantially dismantle Iran's nuclear infrastructure.

In this regard, a representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who wished to remain anonymous, drew the attention of the Regnum news agency to the fact that in these conditions the position of Russia and China takes on a special role.

Their job is to continue to convince the Americans that now is a good time to restore the deal and lift sanctions, in defiance of pressure from Israel, which is sure to continue.

" Iran's policy on the nuclear program is clear. We have given and can give guarantees that our program is peaceful and will be peaceful, and we are confident that there is no reason to think otherwise," the Iranian emphasized.

***

If the Trump administration has indeed adopted a solutions-oriented approach to limiting and more closely monitoring Iran's uranium enrichment capabilities, then significant progress is likely to be possible in the future.

At the moment, the risk of a military clash between Iran and the US has significantly decreased, although Israeli provocations are still possible. But for now, it seems that Tel Aviv has no leverage to turn the situation in its favor. Unilateral strikes on Iran could enrage Trump personally, from whom any unpredictable consequences can be expected, and this is an extremely high risk for Netanyahu.

In a letter the US president sent to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last month, Trump set a clear two-month deadline to reach an understanding. It is unclear what will happen if the parties fail to reach an agreement in two months, and whether the US position will change from benevolent to confrontational again.

Moreover, we do not yet know what proposals the Americans will make regarding Iran’s nuclear program and how much they will differ from the Iranian ones.

On the other hand, many observers interpret the two-month stance to mean that the US is not necessarily pushing for an immediate comprehensive agreement that would end the decades-long dispute, but would potentially open the way to temporary measures that could buy time for further diplomacy.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran: Talks with US to stay ‘indirect,’ will only address nuclear issues and sanctions
2025-04-14
One wonders how rapidly Iran’s scientists are sprinting toward the finish line of their nuclear bombs to fit on the missiles they’ve been working on in parallel — all under the cover of discussions they intend to drag out as long as President Trump is willing. Nothing so silly as the shape of the table, but if they are still discussing what subjects they will discuss…
[IsraelTimes] Islamic Republic says Oman to continue mediating, with future location not yet finalized; Trump says talks ‘going okay’ but ‘nothing matters until you get it done’

The Iranian foreign ministry said Sunday that talks with the United States slated for next weekend will remain “indirect,” with Omani mediation, and focused solely on the nuclear issue and lifting of sanctions.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff held brief talks on Saturday in Muscat — after a two-hour-plus, Omani-mediated session, with the US and Iran delegations in separate rooms –marking the highest-level Iran-US nuclear negotiations since the collapse of a 2015 accord.

Another round of talks will be held on Saturday, April 19, with the location yet to be finalized.

“Negotiations will continue to be indirect. Oman will remain the mediator, but we are discussing the location of future negotiations,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in an interview with state TV.

He said the talks would only focus on “the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions” and that Iran “will not have any talks with the American side on any other issue.”

Analysts had said the US would push to include on the agenda discussions over Iran’s ballistic missile program along with Tehran’s support for the “axis of resistance” — a network of terrorist groups opposed to Israel.

Tehran has, however, maintained it will talk only about its nuclear program.

Donald Trump in 2018 pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers during his first term as US president.
And rightfully so. Under cover of that stupid agreement that President Obama pretended really hard was not a diplomatic treaty requiring Senate advice and consent, Iran built several new sites and populated them with many more centrifuges for concentrating uranium even faster than originally intended, to the point that they they were already getting close to breakthrough by the time President Trump threw off the treaty’s protections.
He reimposed sweeping economic sanctions against Iran, which continued to adhere to the agreement for a year after Washington’s pullout
…that’s “adhere”, since at sites away from IAEA supervision they were accelerating accumulating nucleqr bomb materials and continuing work on the bomb mechanisms forbidden altogether by the “agreement” they’d signed off on agreeing to. As was revealed by the warehouse of materials Mossad made off with and PM Netanyahu shared with the UN General Assembly….
but later began rolling back its own commitments.

Asked about the talks, Trump told journalists aboard Air Force One on Saturday: “I think they’re going OK. Nothing matters until you get it done.”
…whether done with a signed, enforceable agreement or Israeli and American bombs.
Iran, which avowedly seeks Israel’s destruction, has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.
Not taqqiya, but one of the other categories of required Moslem lies to protect the Ummah from kaffir attacks.
However, it has been enriching uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, has obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities, and its officials have increasingly warned that they could pursue the bomb.
Where could means are in the process of…
Saturday’s rare negotiations came weeks after Trump sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging nuclear talks while warning of possible military action if Iran refuses.
American dawa does not require converting to our religion, just surrender.
The US president said earlier this week that Israel would participate in such a strike, if not lead it.

Iran and the US separately described Saturday’s discussions as “constructive.”

Iran said Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi acted as an intermediary in the indirect talks.

The negotiators, Araghchi and Witkoff, spoke directly for “a few minutes” after the talks, Tehran’s foreign ministry said.

The process took place in a “friendly atmosphere,” Oman’s Albusaidi said.

Several Iranian websites that track the unofficial exchange rate reported Sunday a strengthening of the Iranian rial to around 850,000 to the US dollar, down from more than one million in recent days.

‘TURNING POINT’
Iran is reeling from Israel’s pummeling of its two proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, and is seeking relief from wide-ranging sanctions hobbling its economy. Israel went to war against Hamas after the Gaza-ruling terror group invaded Israel on October 7, 2023
…the attack having been funded, trained, and planned by Iran…
and slaughtered 1,200 people in southern Israel, most of them civilians, and abducted 251 hostages, where 59 are still held.
…more than half having become corpses along the way…
Hezbollah began attacking northern Israel the next day,
…also planned, trained, and funded by Iran…
drawing an escalating Israeli response, during which much of Hezbollah’s leadership was killed and its military capacity greatly degraded.

Tehran has agreed to the meetings despite balking at Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign of ramping up sanctions and repeated military threats.
Mere threats or solid promises? I think the latter.
Trump and Witkoff both had described the talks as being “direct” in the days before the meeting..

“I think our position begins with dismantlement of your program. That is our position today,” Witkoff told The Wall Street Journal before his trip. “That doesn’t mean, by the way, that at the margin we’re not going to find other ways to find compromise between the two countries.”

He added: “Where our red line will be, there can’t be weaponization of your nuclear capability.”

That red line indicated a degree of flexibility in the Trump administration’s position and a potential break with Israel, whose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asserted that he will only accept the full dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear facilities.

On Sunday, Iranian media largely welcomed the rare talks as a “decisive turning point” in relations between the longtime foes.

Iran’s conservative Javan daily praised the US for “not seeking to expand the negotiations to non-nuclear issues.”

The government-sponsored newspaper, Iran, described the discussions as “constructive and respectful,” quoting Araghchi.

Meanwhile, the reformist Shargh newspaper said it was a “decisive turning point” in Iran-US relations.

The hardline Kayhan newspaper, which was largely skeptical in the days leading up to the talks, lamented that Iran does not have a “plan B” while there was “no clear prospect for an agreement with Donald Trump.”

It, however, lauded what it said was the fact that the American side did not bring up “the dismantling of nuclear facilities” and “the possibility of a military attack” during the discussions.

Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Western-backed shah and Iran’s subsequent seizure of the US Embassy in Tehran and its holding of 52 American diplomats as hostages.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Top Iranian officials told Khamenei to allow US nuke talks or risk fall of regime – NYT
2025-04-12
[IsraelTimes] In rare coordinated effort, officials said to have warned Iran’s supreme leader that military threats from US and Israel are real, and country faces massive unrest if it goes to war

In a rare intervention, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...>
 was urged by his brass hats to allow negotiations with the United States on the regime’s nuclear program or risk the fall of the Islamic Theocratic Republic, The New York Times

...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
 reported Friday.

The US and Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as StĂźrmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or FĂźhrer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
are set to meet in Oman on Saturday for talks over Tehran’s rogue nuclear program.

According to The New York Times report, which cited two senior Iranian officials who are familiar with the details, Khamenei held a meeting last month attended by heads of the judiciary and parliament. Those officials, in what the sources described as an unusual, coordinated effort, pressured Khamenei into accepting talks with Washington, even direct ones.

They told Khamenei that the threat of military action by the US and Israel against its nuclear sites was serious.

"If Iran refused talks or if the negotiations failed, the officials told Mr. Khamenei, military strikes on Iran’s two main nuclear sites, Natanz and Fordow, would be inevitable," the sources said, as reported by the Times.

The country, already in economic shambles, would be forced to respond, but then would also likely be plunged into domestic unrest if it were to go to war, they said.

The combination of such events would amount to an existential threat to the Islamic Theocratic Republic, the officials reportedly told Khamenei.

The sources said that Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, an ex-Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps chief and current conservative head of Parliament, told Khamenei that a war combined with a domestic economic implosion could quickly get out of control.

They also quoted President Masoud Pezeshkian as telling Khamenei that managing the country through its current crises was not tenable. The report points to power cuts that threaten to shutter factories and water shortages in the central city of Yazd, which saw schools and government offices closed this week.

Iran previously rejected talks but has since relented amid US President Donald Trump
...Oh, noze! Not him!...
’s threats.

Hossein Mousavian, a former diplomat who served on Iran’s nuclear negotiating team on a 2015 deal and is now a visiting fellow at Princeton University, told The New York Times that the change illustrated that preserving the regime was Khamenei’s main priority.
Hossein Mousavian, a former diplomat who served on Iran’s nuclear negotiating team on a 2015 deal and is now a visiting fellow at Princeton University?
Signing him on was a real triumph, donchaknow. Their NearEast history and international relations students will be getting the story straight from the horse’s mouth. Wasn’t it Yale who had a former Talib minister matriculate with a full scholarship, despite being illiterate in both Pashto and English? Such an opportunity for his fellow students, wherever he was!
"Mr. Khamenei’s turnaround demonstrates his long-held core principle that ’preserving the regime is the most necessary of the necessities,’" Mousavian said.

While Khamenei relented and agreed to talks, he also imposed his own conditions, the report said.

Citing three Iranian officials, the NYT said that Khamenei agreed to discuss strict monitoring for the nuclear program and a significant reduction of the enrichment of uranium. However,
a hangover is the wrath of grapes...
 he has said that Iran’s missile program is off limits, regarding it as being part of Iran’s defenses. The sources said that was a "deal breaker."

However,
a hangover is the wrath of grapes...
 the report also said that Iran was "open to discussing its regional policies" and support for its terror proxies like Hamas
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
, Hezbollah and the Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
s in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
More from the Times of Israel:
Then, there are the expectations of the two sides. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi maintains the negotiations will begin as indirect talks, likely with Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi passing messages between Tehran and US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. Trump has maintained the talks will be direct. While not a major roadblock, it signals the challenge the negotiations face — particularly after years of indirect talks during the Biden administration went nowhere.

And while the US side can offer sanctions relief for Iran’s beleaguered economy, it remains unclear just how much Iran will be willing to concede. Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran could only maintain a small stockpile of uranium enriched to 3.67%. Today, Tehran’s stockpile could allow it to build multiple nuclear weapons if it so chooses, and it has some material enriched up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels. Judging from negotiations since Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the deal in 2018, Iran will likely ask to keep enriching uranium up to at least 20%.

One thing it won’t do is give up its program entirely. That makes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal of a so-called Libyan solution — “you go in, blow up the facilities, dismantle all the equipment, under American supervision, American execution” — unworkable. Iran routinely threatens Israel with destruction and is the main backer of several proxy terror groups attacking Israel, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

Iranians, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have held up what ultimately happened to the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was killed with his own gun by rebels in the country’s 2011 Arab Spring uprising, as a warning about what can happen when you trust the United States.

Already, a top adviser for Khamenei, Ali Shamkhani, has warned what could happen if the US continues to threaten Tehran, including Iran expelling inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency and ending cooperation with the UN watchdog.

“The transfer of enriched material to a secure location could also be considered,” he added, opening the door again to Iran having secret, undeclared nuclear sites as it did when the crisis over its program began over 20 years ago.

But Majid Takht-e Ravanch, a deputy Iranian foreign minister, offered a more positive note on Friday.

“If the American side refrains from raising unrelated issues and demands — and abandons threats and intimidation — there is a good opportunity to reach an agreement,” Takht-e Ravanch said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
Link


Caribbean-Latin America
Argentina seeks arrest of Iran’s Khamenei for 1994 bombing of AMIA Jewish center
2025-04-12
They aren’t likely to get him. What’s their fallback?
[IsraelTimes] Argentine court ruled last year that Iran and Hezbollah were behind attack that killed 85 people in Buenos Aires; lead prosecutor says no immunity for Iranian supreme leader

By Grace Gilson
The names of bombing victims and the Spanish phrase "Memory and Justice" cover a wall after a ceremony was held to mark the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the AMIA Jewish center that killed 85 people in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, July 18, 2024. (AP/Natacha Pisarenko)
JTA — Argentine prosecutors have requested an arrest warrant for Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires.

Khamenei, who ascended to his position in 1989, was Iran’s leader at the time of the attack. It killed 85 people and was, at the time, the single deadliest attack against Diaspora Jews since the Holocaust. An Argentine court ruled last April that Iran and Hezbollah were behind the attack.

The lead prosecutor in the case, Sebastián Basso, argued in an Argentinian federal court that Khamenei was behind the decision to carry out the attack, and he did not have immunity from prosecution, Argentine newspaper Clarín reported Wednesday.

“It is the national judicial authorities who have the duty and the power to judge those responsible, regardless of their location and the social and political position they occupy in the territories where they reside,” said Basso, according to Clarín. He cited both Argentine and international law in his arguments.

Basso said that Khamenei “led the decision to carry out a bomb attack in Buenos Aires in July 1994 and issued executive order (fatwa) 39 to carry it out. It is also undeniable that Khamenei has always been, and continues to be, the main supporter of groups with military capabilities such as Hezbollah,” according to Clarín. Khamenei has previously denied allegations of Iran’s involvement in the attack.

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Previous prosecutors had said Khamenei could claim immunity for the charges. More broadly, Basso’s request signifies Argentina’s shifting approach to Iran’s role in the AMIA attack, which it had allegedly once tried to downplay before last April’s ruling.


Firemen and policemen search for wounded people after a bomb exploded at the Argentinian Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA in Spanish) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 1994. (Ali Burafi/AFP)
In 2013, Argentina took steps to jointly investigate the attack with Iran. Basso’s predecessor, Alberto Nisman, was assassinated in 2015, hours before he was set to present evidence that a former Argentine president had covered up Iran’s involvement in the bombing.

In 2021, Iran appointed two men to its government who were implicated in the bombing.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Media: Khamenei puts Iranian Armed Forces on high alert
2025-04-07
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] . Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has placed the country's Armed Forces on high alert. This was reported on April 6 by Reuters, citing a high-ranking Iranian official.
Beware the American spy squirrels peeping in the windows, and the Mossad spy herons flying overhead…
"Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has placed the Iranian Armed Forces on high alert," the statement said.

Iran fears that if negotiations with the US drag on, Israel could launch its own attack on the Islamic Republic, the source said.

According to the official, this could lead to the restoration of all international sanctions against Iran.

It is also noted that Iran has warned some countries, including Turkey and Iraq, that any support they give to potential attacks by the United States will be considered a hostile act with serious consequences.

As reported by the Regnum news agency, on March 30, US President Donald Trump threatened Iran with " unprecedented bombings " if Tehran refused to sign an agreement with Washington on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. At the same time, he indicated that there was a dialogue between the US and Iran.

Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli FM: Israel could end Gaza war ‘tomorrow’ if Hamas frees hostages, exits Strip
2025-04-04
[IsraelTimes] Foreign Minister Saaralso says both Jerusalem and Paris interested in stable Lebanon, preventing Iran from acquiring nukes, after meeting French counterpart in Paris

Israel is ready to end the war in Gaza “tomorrow” in exchange for the release of hostages and an end to Hamas’s presence in Gaza, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Thursday after meeting his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot in Paris.

“The way is very simple,” Sa’ar said, “hostages back, Hamas out.”

“We are still giving a chance to negotiations to extend the ceasefire and release our hostages on the basis of [US special envoy Steve] Witkoff’s proposal, but it is not open-ended,” he warned, referencing a proposal that would secure the release of five Israeli hostages.

Also Thursday, Sa’ar said both Israel and France are “interested in the stability of Lebanon, the continuation of the ceasefire, and the release of Lebanon from Iranian occupation,” referring to Iran’s hold over Hezbollah.

France is a “friendly country,” Sa’ar stressed, adding that he invited Barrot to visit Israel.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron last week said Israeli strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon were unjustified after the IDF struck targets belonging to the terror group in response to rocket fire at Israel.

Under the November ceasefire which ended over a year of Hezbollah-instigated fighting, the terror group was obligated to pull its forces north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south, while the Lebanese army deployed to control the area.

Israel, meanwhile, was obligated to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon within 60 days. The withdrawal deadline was pushed off, with Lebanese and US approval, to February 18. Israel eventually withdrew from all of Lebanon except for five strategic posts along the border.

Touching on Iran’s uranium enrichment, Sa’ar said Thursday that Israel and France share a “common” goal of preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Western countries, including the United States, have long accused Iran — which is sworn to Israel’s destruction — of pursuing a nuclear weapon, which Tehran has denied, insisting its enrichment activities were solely for peaceful purposes.

Iran has ramped up its enrichment of uranium up to 60 percent purity, the only country in the world without a nuclear weapons program to do so, and has obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities.

“The most extremist regime in the world shouldn’t possess the most dangerous weapon in the world,” Sa’ar told reporters.

Israel is the region’s sole, if undeclared, nuclear-armed state. It has long made preventing any rival from matching this capability its top defense priority.

Iran has twice in the past year fired large barrages of missiles and drones at Israel in support of its terror proxies Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen.

In response, Israel struck Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses. That reduced Tehran’s conventional military capabilities, according to analysts and US officials, an assessment disputed by Tehran.

Sa’ar stressed that Iran was a threat to the entire region and not just to Israel, adding Israel was in talks with France, Britain, and the United States.

“We don’t exclude a diplomatic path with Iran,” he added.

Concern is mounting as talks with Iran appear to have reached an impasse, while the window for negotiating a new treaty with Tehran is set to close in the fall. Key aspects of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deal that Iran signed with world powers in 2015, are due to expire in October. US President Donald Trump already took the US out of the deal during his last mandate.

On Wednesday, Barrot warned that a military confrontation with Iran would be “almost inevitable” if talks over Tehran’s nuclear program failed.

Trump said in early March he had written to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to call for nuclear negotiations and warn of possible military action if Tehran refused. He has threatened that Iran will be bombed if it persists in developing nuclear weapons. Khamenei has promised to hit back.

Reflecting Israeli concerns about Turkish influence in Syria, Sa’ar accused Ankara of playing a “negative role” there, in Lebanon, and other regions.

“They are doing their utmost to have Syria as a Turkish protectorate. It’s clear that is their intention,” he said.

Turkey was a strong backer of groups opposed to Bashar al-Assad during the country’s 13-year civil war and is considered to be one of the new administration’s key allies.

Turkey accuses Israel of destabilizing Syria, demands end to airstrikes

[IsraelTimes] Turkey demands Israel withdraw from Syria and says it must stop harming stabilization efforts there, after Israel stepped up airstrikes in the neighboring country and accused Turkey of trying to turn Syria into a Turkish protectorate.

“Israel has become the greatest threat to regional security” and is a “strategic destabilizer, causing chaos and feeding terrorism,” the foreign ministry in Ankara says.

“Therefore, in order to establish security throughout the region, Israel must first abandon its expansionist policies, withdraw from the territories it occupies, and stop undermining efforts to establish stability in Syria,” it adds.

Report: Paris proposes French forces replace Israelis on 5 occupied hills
That’s so sweet! But no —absolutely not.
[AnNahar] France has proposed a mediation aimed at replacing Israeli forces with peacekeepers from the French UNIFIL contingent on the five strategic hills Israel is still occupying in south Lebanon, sources told Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath television.

“France backs Lebanon’s inclination to devise a timeframe for the handover of Hezbollah’s weapons,” the sources added.

“France wants the ceasefire supervision committee in Lebanon to oversee the negotiations over the land border and the captives,” the sources went on to say.

The sources also revealed that the committee’s work is still ongoing despite the suspension of its meetings for two weeks now, adding that “France is communicating with Israel and the U.S. to adopt the diplomatic choice in Lebanon rather than the military.”
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Trump sends another aircraft carrier to the Middle East after massing stealth bombers at island air base amid mounting fears he is ready to strike Iran
2025-04-03
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] US president Donald Trump has moved another aircraft carrier to the Middle East after amassing stealth bombers to the nearby Chagos Islands, amid fears he may be gearing up to strike Iran.

The US is moving the USS Carl Vinson from Asia, where it normally patrols the South China Sea, to the Persian Gulf, directly south of Iran, to join its sister carrier USS Harry S. Truman.

Trump appears to be making good on a threat to attack Iran with a 'bombing the likes to which they have never seen before' should its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, refuse to destroy its nuclear programme and stop supporting proxy wars in the Middle East.

America has already moved six B-2 Spirit stealth bombers to the Chagos Islands, a third of its fleet, with satellite imagery showing them resting at the Diego Garcia military base on the UK-controlled island.

These high-tech planes have the capability of carrying bunker busting bombs across Iran that could destroy its military and nuclear sites.

The B-2 Spirits will likely be supported by a fleet of six Stratotanker in-flight refuelling craft, which were seen at Diego Garcia.

These would give the Spirits the capability to fly to Iran, deliver payloads and fly back to the Chagos Islands in a roughly 5,000-mile round trip.

But Iran appears to be stepping up to the military challenge, with Khamenei adviser Ali Larijani telling local media: 'If America or Israel bomb Iran under the nuclear pretext, Iran will be compelled to move toward producing an atomic bomb.'

Last month, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran had substantially increased its production of nuclear-capable uranium, and had increased its stockpile of near-weapons grade material.

The US is also exerting financial pressureon Iran, with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday meeting in Washington with 16 global banks and federal law enforcement agencies on U.S. sanctions policy on Iran including efforts to cut its oil exports.

Bessent said President Donald Trump's administration is applying economic pressure to the maximum extent possible to disrupt Iran's access to financial resources that help it fund Hamas and other militant groups throughout the Middle East and its efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon.

'This includes the billions of dollars each year that Iran generates via its oil sales, which the regime also uses to finance its dangerous agenda and support its multiple terrorist proxies and partners,' Bessent said, according to a copy of his remarks.

Iran says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.

Trump restored his policy of maximum pressure on Iran in February that includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero.

In March Treasury slapped sanctions on tankers carrying Iranian oil and on a Chinese 'teapot' refinery for processing the oil. Teapots are small, independent refineries in China. China's national oil company refineries have stopped buying Iranian oil over concerns about sanctions.

Bessent mentioned the U.S. sanctioning of Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical Co., Ltd, the small refinery, and its chief executive officer for purchasing and refining hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of Iranian crude oil, including from vessels linked to the Houthis and the Iranian Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics.

Bessent also warned the banks that Iran conducts its foreign exchange activities through a covert shadow banking network. 'My message to financial institutions worldwide is unequivocal: safeguard your institutions from being exploited by this malign network, so you can continue to serve your legitimate clients with integrity,' Bessent told the banks, according to the Treasury Department.

The department did not immediately respond to a request about which banks and agencies participated.

Bessent said Treasury uses tools such as Wednesday's meeting to bring together financial institutions, regulatory agencies, and law enforcement, to disrupt what it calls Iran's illicit revenue streams.

In an NBC interview over the weekend, Trump also threatened so-called secondary tariffs, which affect buyers of a country's goods, on both Russia and Iran. He signed an executive order in March authorizing such tariffs on buyers of Venezuelan oil.

Last month, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran had substantially increased its production of nuclear-capable uranium, and had increased its stockpile of near-weapons grade material.

The US is also exerting financial pressureon Iran, with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday meeting in Washington with 16 global banks and federal law enforcement agencies on U.S. sanctions policy on Iran including efforts to cut its oil exports.

Bessent said President Donald Trump's administration is applying economic pressure to the maximum extent possible to disrupt Iran's access to financial resources that help it fund Hamas and other militant groups throughout the Middle East and its efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon.

'This includes the billions of dollars each year that Iran generates via its oil sales, which the regime also uses to finance its dangerous agenda and support its multiple terrorist proxies and partners,' Bessent said, according to a copy of his remarks.

Iran says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.

Trump restored his policy of maximum pressure on Iran in February that includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero.

In March Treasury slapped sanctions on tankers carrying Iranian oil and on a Chinese 'teapot' refinery for processing the oil. Teapots are small, independent refineries in China. China's national oil company refineries have stopped buying Iranian oil over concerns about sanctions.

Bessent mentioned the U.S. sanctioning of Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical Co., Ltd, the small refinery, and its chief executive officer for purchasing and refining hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of Iranian crude oil, including from vessels linked to the Houthis and the Iranian Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics.

'Teapot refinery purchases of Iranian oil provide the primary economic lifeline for the Iranian regime,' Bessent said.

Bessent also warned the banks that Iran conducts its foreign exchange activities through a covert shadow banking network. 'My message to financial institutions worldwide is unequivocal: safeguard your institutions from being exploited by this malign network, so you can continue to serve your legitimate clients with integrity,' Bessent told the banks, according to the Treasury Department.

The department did not immediately respond to a request about which banks and agencies participated.

Bessent said Treasury uses tools such as Wednesday's meeting to bring together financial institutions, regulatory agencies, and law enforcement, to disrupt what it calls Iran's illicit revenue streams.

In an NBC interview over the weekend, Trump also threatened so-called secondary tariffs, which affect buyers of a country's goods, on both Russia and Iran. He signed an executive order in March authorizing such tariffs on buyers of Venezuelan oil.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Tehran warns it will strike US bases in region if Trump takes military action against Iran
2025-03-30
[IsraelTimes] Tehran will strike US bases in the region if Washington follows through on its warning of military consequences for Iran in the absence of a new nuclear deal, the speaker of the Iranian parliament says.

US President Donald Trump said earlier this month that he had sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warning that “there are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal.”

“If the Americans attack the sanctity of Iran, the entire region will blow up like a spark in an ammunition dump,” Parliament Speaker Mohammad Qalibaf says.

“Their bases and those of their allies will not be safe,” Qalibaf says in a live speech at the annual Al-Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, that marks the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan.

Khamenei called Trump’s message deceptive, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday that talks would be impossible unless Washington changed its “maximum pressure” policy. Iran had thoroughly examined Trump’s letter and had sent “an appropriate response” through Oman, Araqchi said.

Earlier today, Araqchi was reported by state media as saying that while Trump’s letter contained threats, it also left the door open to diplomacy. He did not elaborate.

Western powers accuse Iran of having a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability. Tehran insists its program is wholly for civilian energy purposes, although a UN nuclear watchdog report last month asserted that it is the only non-nuclear weapon state to produce such high quantities of nuclear materials.
Link



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