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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
After 5th round of nuclear talks, Iran says discussions with US ‘complicated’
2025-05-24
[IsraelTimes] Oman’s FM says ‘some but not conclusive progress’ made in negotiations

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that Tehran’s discussions with the United States over its nuclear program were "complicated," as the fifth round of talks concluded in Rome.

"The negotiations are too complicated to be resolved in two or three meetings," said Araghchi, who leads the Iranian negotiating team in the talks mediated by Oman.

Araghchi said there was potential for progress in nuclear negotiations after Oman made several proposals.

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi said "some but not conclusive progress" was made. "We hope to clarify the remaining issues in the coming days to allow us to proceed toward the common goal of reaching a sustainable and honorable agreement."

The talks, which began in April, are the highest-level contact between the foes since the United States quit a landmark 2015 nuclear accord during President Donald Trump
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
’s first term.

Since returning to office, Trump has revived his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran, backing talks but warning of military action if diplomacy fails.

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 Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
wants a new deal that would ease the sanctions, which have battered its economy.

The fourth round of talks, in the Omani capital Muscat, ended with a public spat over enrichment. Witkoff said Washington "could not authorize even one percent" enrichment — a position Tehran called a red line, citing its rights under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Ahead of Friday’s talks, Araghchi said "fundamental differences" remained with the United States, while adding that Tehran was open to its nuclear sites undergoing more inspections.

"We will not have an agreement at all" if the United States wants to prevent Iran from enriching uranium, he said.

The talks came ahead of a June meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog, the Vienna-based ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the October expiry of the 2015 accord.

The deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, aimed to allay Western suspicions that Iran was seeking a nuclear weapons capability, an ambition that Tehran has denied, while enriching uranium to levels that have no civilian application.

In return for curbs on its nuclear program, Iran had received relief from international sanctions. But the accord was torpedoed in 2018 when Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States and reimposed sanctions. Iran responded by ramping up its nuclear activities.

It is now enriching uranium to 60 percent — far above the deal’s 3.67 percent cap but below, though close to, the 90 percent level needed for a nuclear warhead.

Analysts in Tehran said Iran was unlikely to back down.

"It’s quite simple; if the US expects Iran to halt nuclear enrichment, then there can’t be a deal," said Mohammad Marandi, a political scientist who was once an adviser on the nuclear issue.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran says the country’s nuclear industry employs 17,000 people, similar to other countries where uranium is enriched for civilian use.

"The Netherlands, Belgium, South Korea, Brazil and Japan enrich without possessing nuclear weapons," its front man Behrouz Kamalvandi said.

Iran’s enmity with Israel, whose main backer is the United States, has been a constant backdrop to the talks.

In a letter to the United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
, Araghchi wrote: "We believe that in the event of any attack on the nuclear facilities of the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran by the Zionist regime, the US government will also be involved and bear legal responsibility."

The warning came after CNN
...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for...
, citing unnamed US officials, reported Israel was making preparations to carry out such a strike.

The White House said Trump had a "productive discussion" with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday about Iran and the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington.

Friday’s talks took place before an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna in June, during which Iran’s nuclear activities will be reviewed.

The 2015 deal provides for the possibility of UN sanctions being reimposed through a mechanism called "snapback" if Iran fails to fulfil its commitments.

The agreement’s three European parties — Britannia, La Belle France and Germany — have warned they will trigger the mechanism if the continent’s security is threatened.

Araghchi said such a move would have "consequences — not only the end of Europe’s role in the agreement, but also an escalation of tensions that could become irreversible."

Mosssd
...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end...
 chief David Barnea and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer met US negotiator Steve Witkoff in Rome on Friday on the talks’ sidelines.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s targeting Iran’s program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn they could pursue a nuclear weapon if the nation is threatened.

"Iran almost certainly is not producing nuclear weapons, but Iran has undertaken activities in recent years that better position it to produce them, if it chooses to do so," a new report from the US Defense Intelligence Agency said.

"These actions reduce the time required to produce sufficient weapons-grade uranium for a first nuclear device to probably less than one week."

However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
 it likely still would take Iran months to make a working bomb, experts say.

Asked about the negotiations, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said "we believe that we are going to succeed" in the talks and in Washington’s push for no enrichment.

"The Iranians are at that table, so they also understand what our position is, and they continue to go," Bruce said Thursday.

One idea floated so far that might allow Iran to stop enrichment within the country but maintain a supply of uranium could be a consortium in the Mideast backed by regional countries and the US.

There are also multiple countries offering low-enriched uranium that can be used for peaceful purposes by countries.

However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
 Iran’s Foreign Ministry has maintained that enrichment must continue within the country’s borders, and a similar fuel-swap proposal failed to gain traction in negotiations in 2010.
Related:
Negotiations 05/22/2025 Israel said readying to quickly strike Iranian nuclear sites if US-Iran talks collapse
Negotiations 05/22/2025 Israel, Turkey said to agree to prevent clashes in Syria, establish hotline
Negotiations 05/22/2025 Columbia U president backs international students amid protests at commencement

Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Denying US and Israel are planning a strike, Trump says he wants a deal with Iran
2025-02-06
[IsraelTimes] US president urges that work on new nuclear pact start ‘immediately’; Iranian FM insists administration’s restoration of ‘maximum pressure’ policy ‘will turn into another failure’

US President Donald Trump
...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party...
 on Wednesday denied the United States and Israel plan to carry out a military strike on Iran, instead saying he wants to make a new nuclear deal with Tehran and that work on the pact should start immediately.

"I want 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 Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon. Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED," Trump wrote, apparently in the middle of the night, on his Truth Social platform. It was unclear which reports he was referring to.

"I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper," he wrote. "We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed. God Bless the Middle East!"

The post echoed comments he made during a joint presser the day before with visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the two of them are committed to ensuring Tehran never has a nuclear weapon.

On Tuesday, Trump restored his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran, including efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero, in an effort to stop the Islamic Theocratic Republic from developing an atomic bomb.

The move brought back the tough US policy on Iran that Trump implemented throughout his first term.

Trump took exception to the idea that Iran is currently weak when it was suggested during his presser with Netanyahu.

"They’re not weak. They’re very strong right now, and we’re not going to allow them to have a nuclear weapon," Trump said. "It’s very simple."

"I signed a very strong proclamation," he said. "Doesn’t mean they won’t be weak [in the future]."

’A FAILED EXPERIMENT’
Responding, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated Wednesday that the reimposition of a policy of heavy pressure against Iran will end in "failure" as it did when Trump was previously in office.

"I believe that maximum pressure is a failed experiment and trying it again will turn into another failure," Araghchi told news hounds following a cabinet meeting, while again claiming that Tehran was not pursuing nuclear weapons.

As part of the "maximum pressure" policy during his first term that ended in 2021, Trump withdrew the United States from a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and major powers and reimposed biting sanctions.

The deal — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

Tehran adhered to the deal until a year after Washington pulled out but then began rolling back its commitments. Efforts to revive the 2015 deal have since faltered.

"If the main issue is that Iran does not pursue nuclear weapons, it is achievable and is not much of a problem," Araghchi said, repeating the claim — derided by Western powers — that Tehran’s program is solely civilian.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also downplayed the impact of sanctions on Iran.

"America threatens new sanctions, but Iran is a powerful and resource-rich country that can navigate challenges by managing its resources," Pezeshkian said in a televised ceremony.

However,
there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened...
 a senior Iranian official told Rooters that "the holy manal establishment’s will is to give diplomacy with Trump another chance, but Tehran is deeply concerned about Israel’s sabotage."

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Tehran wanted the United States to "rein in Israel if Washington is seeking a deal" with the Islamic Theocratic RepublicOn Wednesday, Iran’s nuclear agency chief Mohammad Eslami insisted that his country remains committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, saying "Iran does not have, and will not have a nuclear weapons program."

But with its regional allies either dismantled or gravely weakened since the start of the Hamas
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
-Israel war 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...
 in October 2023, and mounting discontent among many Iranians at the state of the economy, analysts say the holy manal establishment has few options other than to strike a deal with Trump.

The fall of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
 in Syria in December, a crucial ally of Tehran, has severely disrupted Tehran’s "Axis of Resistance®," a network of regional gangs, terror proxies and allied states, with which Iran counters Israel and the United States while asserting its influence throughout the Middle East.

The Iranian official also said Tehran disagreed with "any displacement of Gazooks, but Iran-US talks are a separate matter," referring to Trump’s remarks that the US would take over war-ravaged Gaza and create a "Riviera of the Middle East" after resettling Paleostinians elsewhere.

"Iran does not agree with any displacement of Paleostinians and has communicated this through various channels. However,
there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened...
 this issue and the path of Iran’s nuclear agreement are two separate matters and should be pursued separately," the official said.

War in Gaza erupted on October 7, 2023, when the Paleostinian terror group Hamas led thousands of hard boyz in a devastating attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Terrorists also kidnapped 251 people who were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip. The following day, Iran-backed Lebanese terror group began attacking across Israel’s northern border and the fighting escalated into open war by September the following year. Israel decimated Hezbollah’s leadership and depleted its fighting abilities before the two sides reached a mediated ceasefire at the end of November.

A ceasefire in the Gaza war, which began in January and includes the release of hostages, is in the midst of the first of its three phases, though the remaining two stages have yet to be negotiated and agreed on.
I'd really like a few things cleared up to solidify my knowledge base.

  • Could anybody hum the first few bars of the Paleostinian national anthem?
  • Who was the first king/potentate/president/prime minister of Paleostine?
  • Approximately when did he reign?
  • By which feats (or feets) of engineering did the indigenous Arabs who have been peacefully practicing Islam there since at least the time of the Natufians, manage to move the intrusive Hebrew temple under their second or whatever most holy mosque?


    • Gimme a little time and I'll think of a few more.
    Link


    Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
    The Truth About Ukraine's Decision to Give Up Its Nukes in the '90s
    2024-01-29
    [Yahoo] Ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many politicians and commentators have rued the day, back in January 1994, when Presidents Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin pressured Ukraine to dismantle its nuclear weapons. The missiles had once been controlled by the Soviet Union but were still on the soil of the newly independent Ukrainian nation. If Ukraine had held on to those nukes, some argue, Vladimir Putin might have been deterred from annexing Crimea in 2014 or invading the whole country in 2022.

    In moments of pique, even Ukraine’s current president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and some of his top aides have argued that their predecessors shouldn’t have given up the nukes for that reason.

    However, recently declassified documents—published Thursday by the National Security Archive, a private research group, which obtained them through a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act—reveal that the argument is nonsense.

    The documents—transcripts of conversations involving Clinton, Yeltsin, and Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk, at a historic summit on broad post–Cold War relations, held in Moscow and Kyiv exactly 30 years ago—clearly reveal these facts:

    • Ukraine lacked the resources to maintain the nearly 1,700 Soviet nuclear weapons on its soil, many of them on intercontinental ballistic missiles that were nearing the end of their service lives. (My own reporting from several years ago, not reflected in these documents, indicates that Moscow retained command and control over the ICBMs, though Ukrainian officers could have fired the shorter-range nuclear missiles on their soil.)

    • Kravchuk and almost all Ukrainian politicians were eager to dispose of the weapons, fearing that their nuclear cores might melt down in a manner reminiscent of the Chernobyl power-plant disaster, which had occurred in Ukraine just eight years earlier. Everyone involved—the presidents, the diplomats who spent months negotiating the precise terms, and British officials, who later signed the deal as well—viewed it as mainly a measure to promote nuclear safety and nonproliferation. The U.S. Senate had recently passed a bill—named for its sponsors, Democrat Sam Nunn and Republican Richard Lugar—to pay for the cleanup and dismantlement of nuclear weapons throughout the former Soviet Union. (The deal signed in January 1994 provided “a minimum” of $175 million to Ukraine for this purpose.) Also, the U.S. and Russia were negotiating the SALT II arms-control treaty, which would require the elimination of the SS-19 and SS-24 ICBMs inside Ukraine.

    • Finally, Yeltsin forgave Ukraine mountains of debt for oil and gas that Russia had supplied, and Clinton promised to persuade the International Monetary Fund and the G7 nations to pay Ukraine’s energy imports into the future. At a meeting with Clinton, according to a memorandum of their conversation, Kravchuk said, “When we have stabilization of our currency and private investment for Ukraine, then everyone will understand that the agreement signed by the three presidents [to remove nuclear weapons from Ukraine] was the only possible step.” At a meeting with both Clinton and Yeltsin two days later, Kravchuk said, “There is no alternative to nuclear disarmament.”

    The U.S.-Russia-Ukraine accord—which one of Clinton’s top aides called “the crowning achievement of the summit”—can be looked back at as a betrayal of Kyiv in one sense. Clinton and Yeltsin did promise Ukraine “full guarantees of security, as a sign of friendship and good neighborliness.” The two leaders also reaffirmed “the obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state,” including Ukraine.

    Later that year, at a conference in Budapest, the U.S., Russia, and Britain formalized those security assurances to Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan (the latter two former Soviet republics had also given up the nuclear weapons on their territory), in exchange for their signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

    Putin clearly violated this pledge when he annexed Crimea 20 years later, in 2014, and then invaded all of Ukraine eight years hence. The U.S. and Britain, while not legally obligated to come to Ukraine’s aid (other than to seek immediate assistance from the U.N. Security Council, as the Budapest Memorandum required), didn’t raise a huge stink about the incursions either. A case could be made that the relative passivity encouraged Putin to mount his all-out invasion, believing—incorrectly, it turned out—that the West would do little to stop him.

    Still, it is false to contend that Ukraine would not have given up the nuclear weapons on its soil had Kravchuk or any other leader at the time known that Russia would violate its guarantee of Ukrainian borders. That pledge, though important, was more a bonus than an essential element of the accord. The nukes in Ukraine (and Belarus and Kazakhstan) were going to be removed, with the host leaders’ permission and blessing, regardless of what else was said or done.
    Link


    Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
    Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: March 28th, 2023
    2023-03-29
    Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
    [Korrespondent] 22:57 Russian propagandists launched a new fake online: they released a video in which allegedly "Ukrainian military" stopped a civilian car and began to offend a woman with a child. The fake was picked up even by the Russian Foreign Ministry, despite the fact that even the Kremlin military correspondents have already managed to debunk it. More details - in the material The shooting of the car .

    22:34 As of March 28, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have destroyed more than 1,500 drones of the Orlan-10 operational-tactical level at the front, not counting quadrocopters and tactical-level UAVs, Yuri Ignat, spokesman for the Air Force Command, said. He also noted that the grouping of enemy aircraft, which attacks Ukraine from several dozen airfields, has increased quantitatively, but has become much worse in quality.

    22:20 The Institute for the Study of War in a new report analyzes the actions of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and predicts the course of hostilities in Ukraine. More details - in the material There are no hopes for the world .

    21:59 Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin believes that Ukraine, thanks to the significant depletion of Russian forces and the supply of Western weapons, has a "very good chance" of a successful counteroffensive in the spring of 2023. In his opinion, Ukraine has a "significant advantage" in comparison with Russian forces, although the front line has changed from one side to the other in recent times.

    "The Ukrainians inflicted significant losses on the Russians, and they depleted their stocks of armored vehicles in a way that no one could ever imagine. And now we see how Russia will re-mothball the T-54 and T-55 tanks due to the level of losses that the Ukrainians inflicted," - said the US Secretary of Defense. He added that Russia's resources are running out, it is increasingly lacking artillery ammunition and is forced to turn to Iran and North Korea for help.

    “Therefore, I think that we will see an increase in hostilities in the spring, as the conditions for maneuvering improve, and also based on what we have already done and continue to do. I think that Ukraine will have a very good chance of success,” Austin emphasized. .

    21:41 At least 2,000 Russian officers died in the war in Ukraine, the KIU OSINT project calculated on March 28 according to open data.

    20:44 British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that China's recent actions regarding the war in Ukraine undermined its status as a neutral side, and called on Beijing to take constructive steps.

    20:26 The United States stops the exchange of data on strategic nuclear forces with Russia after Moscow announced the suspension of participation in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, writes WSJ.

    20:13 Peskov in December 2022, during a meeting with one of the Russian officials, where representatives of the cultural and political elite were present, said that the war against Ukraine would continue for a very long time, writes The Guardian. According to the publication, the guests raised a toast to the establishment of peace, after which Peskov said: "Everything will be much more complicated. It will take a very long time." This spoiled the mood of the guests, who spoke in private conversations against the war with Ukraine, the sources of the publication shared.

    19:24 The National Resistance Center under the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has compiled a map of the camps where the Russians are taking deported Ukrainian children. The map was created on the basis of data from open sources and will be supplemented. As can be seen from the geography of the camps, the process of taking children to the Russian Federation is systematic and prepared in advance.

    18:56 The first three strike companies of the UAV are already ready for battle - they have been fully equipped, pickup trucks, shock copters and Starlinks have been handed over, Mikhail Fedorov, head of the Ministry of Digital Development, said. He stressed that all the drones are Ukrainian-made, and the equipment for the shock companies of the Drone Army was purchased by private donors.

    18:32 Due to the incident in the Black Sea with the downing of an American drone in early March, the United States decided to send reconnaissance drones further from Crimea, which limited their ability to collect information, CNN reports, citing a US senior official. The decision to bypass the area of ​​potential collision with Russian aircraft, according to a CNN source, is part of the Biden administration's efforts to "avoid excessive provocation" between Washington and Moscow. At the same time, the official did not rule out that reconnaissance flights of drones will resume in the usual mode in the future.

    18:10 According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the settlements of Belogorovka, Bakhmut, Avdeevka, Maryinka and their environs remain at the epicenter of hostilities. During the day, units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine repelled 24 enemy attacks in the indicated directions.

    17:44 In the next six months, the Ukrainian energy system will have enough electricity to cover the needs of consumers, Volodymyr Kudrytsky, chairman of the board of NPC Ukrenergo, predicts. At the same time, he added that "it is necessary to prepare well for the next winter: to resume, first of all, the operation of those power units at thermal and hydroelectric power plants that were damaged, and to mobilize all the resources of the energy system to the maximum in order to pass the winter with dignity, without blackouts."

    17:40 The Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee recommended that international federations allow Russians who do not support the war against Ukraine to start as neutral athletes, said IOC head Thomas Bach. At the same time, teams from Russia and Belarus cannot be considered as participants in international competitions.

    The IOC also recommended not to allow Russian athletes associated with the armed forces and security agencies to participate in the competition. In particular, among the Russian athletes, many are listed in the CSKA sports society, some represent the National Guard.

    Bach said that the decision on the participation of Russian athletes in the Olympic Games will be made by sports federations. The IOC Executive Committee recommended that international federations create separate commissions on the issue of admitting Russian athletes to competitions.

    17:34 Propaganda Russian media write with reference to emergency services that near the railway tracks near the village of Svitino in New Moscow, they found "wreckage, presumably of a drone." According to them, there is no damage at the site of the discovery of the wreckage. Meanwhile, the telegram channel Baza reports that the drone had the inscription "Glory to Ukraine" and publishes a photo.

    17:07 Zelensky held a coordination meeting in Sumy with the leaders of the armed formations and law enforcement agencies on the arrangement and protection of the state border and the security situation in the Sumy region.

    17:00 In Poland, three more suspected of collaborating with Russian special services have been detained. The Polish Cabinet reported that they were charged with espionage activities, all of them are in custody.

    16:55 Under Melitopol, according to preliminary data, a substation was blown up near the village of Fedorovka of the Terpinovsky village council, Melitopol mayor Ivan Fedorov said.

    16:52 In Mariupol, a total cleansing and search activities after yesterday's explosion of the car of "the head of the city police department" Mikhail Moskvin. According to the adviser to the mayor of the city, Petr Andryushchenko, there are patrols of military occupiers and "policemen" on the streets. Mostly men are stopped regardless of age and women under the age of 40. They check documents, gadgets, personal belongings.

    Moskvin himself was hospitalized with a shell shock after the explosion of his car, but today he was taken by helicopter from Mariupol to Taganrog. His condition is unknown, "but definitely far from stable-good," Andryushchenko added.

    16:41 Blinken called proposals for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine a "cynical trap" to freeze the conflict.

    16:26 Zelensky said that in the Sumy region he got acquainted with the service of border guards to cover the borders of the state. The President checked the fulfillment of tasks by the units of the State Border Service on the border with Russia.

    15:42 The Ukrainian military showed that inside the downed Iranian drones.

    15:03 In Bakhmut, Russia is reinforcing the PMC Wagner mercenaries with units of its regular army, primarily paratroopers, said Sergey Cherevaty, spokesman for the Eastern Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: “The main striking force remains PMC Wagner. However, due to huge daily losses and due to the fact that they can no longer replenish their ranks as quickly as before, including at the expense of former prisoners, we see that they are being reinforced by regular army units, primarily airborne troops. Cherevaty added that the Wagnerites have problems with ammunition and manpower.

    14:54 The “Supreme Court of the DPR” sentenced a serviceman of the Azov Battalion, Dmitry Smitiy, to 20 years in a strict regime colony for allegedly shooting a resident of Mariupol.

    14:25 The European Union at the summit in December will consider the issue of starting negotiations on the accession to the EU of Ukraine and Moldova, said the head of the European Council Charles Michel.

    14:23 Zelensky is on a working trip to the Sumy region today. In particular, he presented Akhtyrka with "an honorary distinction of a hero city, a city-defender, a city-winner."

    13:46 In Bakhmut, the number of military clashes has decreased over the past three days - it is possible that the Russians are regrouping, said Sergey Cherevaty, spokesman for the Eastern Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to him, "the coming days - a week will show what is the cause in reality."

    13:17 The Russians fired two missiles, previously S-300, at the city of Bogodukhov, Kharkiv region, Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OVA, said. Previously, no casualties.

    13:14 France will double the supply of 155-mm artillery ammunition for Ukraine - up to 2000 per month, Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said. He also said that the SAMP-T air defense system will arrive in Ukraine "in the near future." In addition, the French government is considering the possibility of increasing funding for the EU fund to help Ukraine. According to the minister, the 200 million euro allocated by Paris has already been fully used.

    13:01 Ukraine received three Leopard 2A6 tanks from Portugal, the country's Ministry of Defense reported.

    12:45 The order to bombard the Drama Theater in Mariupol, as well as the maternity hospital and the children's hospital was given by the commander of the military unit, Serhiy Atroshchenko, investigators of the InformNapalm international community found out. He was born in Ovruch, Zhytomyr region.

    12:14 The US State Department supports the creation of a special tribunal to investigate the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine, said Ambassador for Global Criminal Justice Beth Van Skaak. At the same time, she added that there was not yet a final consensus on the model for such a tribunal. Thus, two models are being considered: a Ukrainian tribunal, which will have international support, and a court that the UN General Assembly can create. The Ukrainian authorities want to create a separate international institution, but there are fears that it will not be possible to collect the necessary votes in the General Assembly for its creation, the ambassador said.

    According to her, the United States came to the conclusion that the most effective way to ensure accountability for crimes of aggression involves the creation of an internationalized court within the Ukrainian judicial system, that is, a hybrid option. Such a court could generate greater international support, and would not require a General Assembly resolution to establish a new independent international institution, which would take time and resources.

    11:32 Zelensky may visit Poland soon, but even when an agreement is reached, the visit will not be reported until the last moment for security reasons, said Deputy Polish Foreign Minister Pavel Yablonsky. He added that the leaders of Poland and Ukraine are actively maintaining contact.

    10:47 The Russians fired mortars at a hospital in the Dnipro district of Kherson at night, the head of the OVA, Alexander Prokudin, said. The main building and the heating system were damaged, there were no casualties.

    10:21 The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said that the deployment of nuclear warheads on the territory of the country without transferring control over them to Minsk would not contradict the provisions of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

    10:15 Motor Sich President Vyacheslav Boguslaev blocked the delivery of a combat helicopter for the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense in April 2022 in favor of Russia, the SBU reported. According to the investigation, he received an order from representatives of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense for the transfer of a MI-2 helicopter to the department for a fee to carry out combat missions at the front. However, Boguslaev instructed his subordinates to disassemble the aircraft into parts and hide the operational documentation for it.

    09:46 Reznikov showed a video with British Challenger 2 tanks that arrived in Ukraine.

    09:23 British intelligence reports that in recent days Russia continues to prioritize the operation to encircle Avdiivka, but has made little progress at the cost of heavy losses in armored vehicles. Analysts estimate that the 10th Tank Regiment probably lost most of its tanks trying to encircle Avdiivka from the south. The regiment is part of the 3rd Army Corps, the first major new formation that Russia sent to Ukraine in August 2022.

    Despite training in Belarus, the 3rd Army Corps still demonstrates limited combat capability, intelligence notes. The losses of the 10th Panzer Regiment were probably mainly due to tactically erroneous frontal attacks. There were similar losses in other unsuccessful attacks by Russian armored vehicles, for example, in the Ugledar region.

    09:12 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) suggests that the Russian military leadership involved a certain number of highly trained Wagner PMC units in the attack on Avdiivka in order to consolidate recent limited tactical successes in the area.

    Also, ISW drew attention to rumors about the resignation of the commander of the Eastern Military District of the Russian Federation, Colonel General Rustam Muradov, as well as the possible dismissal of the commander of the Western Military District, Colonel General Yevgeny Nikiforov, whose troops are operating along the line Kupyansk - Svatovo - Kremennaya. Analysts cannot confirm these rumors, but note that potential dismissals of commanders are related to areas of operations in which Russian troops have failed to make significant progress or have suffered significant losses. At the same time, the Russian authorities and bloggers focused on finding and punishing individual commanders, and not on investigating and solving systemic problems in the army.

    08:59 In the Kherson region over the past day, as a result of Russian shelling, five people were injured, the OVA reported.

    08:46 The Russians launched an airstrike with a guided aerial bomb on Belopolye, Sumy region, one person was injured, the President's Office reported.

    08:35 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of March 28.

    • personnel - about 171,730 (+570) people liquidated,

    • tanks - 3602 (+7),

    • armored combat vehicles - 6966 (+13),

    • artillery systems - 2653 (+15),

    • MLRS - 525 (+2),

    • air defense systems - 277 (+0),

    • aircraft - 305 (+0),

    • helicopters - 291 (+0),

    • UAV operational-tactical level - 2235 (+19),

    • cruise missiles - 911 (+0),

    • ships/boats - 18 (+0),

    • automotive equipment and tankers - 5502 (+9),

    • special equipment - 287 (+2).

    08:11 According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, at night the Russians used 15 attack UAVs of the Shahed type, 14 of which were destroyed.

    The army of the Russian Federation is concentrating its main efforts on conducting offensive operations in the Limansky, Bakhmutsky, Avdeevsky and Maryinsky directions. The fiercest battles go for Bakhmut, Avdeevka and Maryinka. Over the past day, units of the Defense Forces repulsed 62 enemy attacks in the indicated directions.

    The Russians have recently introduced more and more restrictions on the free movement of Ukrainian citizens between settlements in the occupied territories. In particular, in the Gorlovsky district of the Donetsk region, as well as in the Kakhovsky district of the Kherson region, it is impossible to get into individual settlements without local registration.

    07:38 In the Dnipropetrovsk region, two enemy drones were shot down by air defense forces at night, another one hit a private enterprise in the Dnieper. There was a strong fire on the area of ​​4000 sq. m, said the head of the OVA Sergey Lysak. The fire has already been extinguished and no one was hurt.

    07:05 At night, 12 Shahed-type enemy kamikaze drones were detected and destroyed by air defense forces in the airspace of Kiev, Sergey Popko, head of the KGVA, said.

    02:17 Germany and the Netherlands will continue to provide humanitarian and financial assistance to Ukraine, supply weapons and train the military, as well as take care of compliance with anti-Russian sanctions, a joint statement says following the results of government consultations between the two countries.

    02:14 The Russians attacked Ukraine with Shahed-136/131 strike drones and guided aerial bombs. According to the command of the Air Force, 12 Shahed-136/131 strike UAVs and one reconnaissance drone Granat-4 were destroyed. In total, the enemy used 13 kamikaze drones, one reconnaissance UAV Granat-4 and two guided bombs.

    The attack of "shaheeds" was carried out from the northern and south-eastern directions. Su-35 fighters took off from the Morozovsk airfield in the Rostov region and attacked the Kherson region with two guided aerial bombs.

    01:02 In the Svyatoshinsky district of Kiev, as a result of the fall of the wreckage of a downed kamikaze drone, a fire broke out in the store, people were not injured, the city authorities said.

    00:10 Since March 27, the military command has transferred Avdiivka, Donetsk region, to the red zone. The city is closed to entry. This also applies to accredited journalists and volunteers. Read more about the situation in the city in the material Avdiivka in the red zone .

    Link


    International-UN-NGOs
    German foreign minister confident deal to save JCPOA reachable ‘in coming weeks’
    2021-07-06
    [IsraelTimes] Following Stockholm Initiative meeting in Madrid, member countries renew appeal to all nuclear powers to promote disarmament by adopting significant measures to comply with NPT.

    German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Monday he was confident of reaching a deal to save the 2015 nuclear accord 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 Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
    "in the coming weeks."

    "We think (the talks) can reach their goal," he told news hounds in Madrid after a gathering of the Stockholm Initiative, a group of 16 states working towards nuclear disarmament.

    "I think we’ll get there in the coming weeks," Maas added of the Iran talks that resumed in April in Vienna.

    The negotiations aim to save the deal — known to diplomats as the JCPOA — between Iran and the five permanent UN Security Council member states plus Germany.

    Under the Trump administration, the US walked away from the accords designed to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

    Following the Stockholm Initiative meeting in Madrid, member countries "renewed their appeal to all states possessing nuclear weapons... to promote disarmament by adopting significant measures" to comply with the global Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), they said in a statement.

    Stockholm member states’ foreign ministers were meeting ahead of the next Review Conference on the NPT, which has been delayed until early next year due to the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
    ...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
     pandemic, Spain’s foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said.

    The initiative’s members include current co-chairs Germany, Spain and Sweden as well as Argentina
    ...a country located on the other side of the Deep South. It is covered with Pampers and inhabited by Grouchos, who dance the Tangle. They used to have some islands called the Malvinas located where the Falklands are now. They're not supposed to cry for Evita...
    , Canada, South Korea, Æthiopia, Finland, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Norway, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Switzerland
    ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
    Related:
    JCPOA: 2021-07-01 Iran conditions return to nuclear deal on US commitment to never withdraw again
    JCPOA: 2021-06-12 US lifts some Iranian sanctions as nuclear talks resume
    JCPOA: 2021-05-29 US Lawmakers Pressure Biden to Enforce Sanctions on Assad
    Link


    Israel-Palestine-Jordan
    A soccer field-sized dig, stories deep: Israel expands Dimona nuclear facility
    2021-02-26
    [IsraelTimes] Reactor appears to be getting most extensive new construction work in decades, satellite photos show; reason unclear.

    A secretive Israeli nuclear facility, supposedly at the center of the nation’s undeclared atomic weapons program, is undergoing what appears to be its biggest construction project in decades, satellite photos analyzed by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named show.

    A dig about the size of a soccer field and likely several stories deep now sits just meters from the aging reactor at the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center near the city of Dimona. The facility is already home to decades-old underground laboratories that, according to foreign reports, reprocess the reactor’s spent rods to obtain weapons-grade plutonium for Israel’s nuclear bomb program.

    What the construction is for, however, remains unclear. The Israeli government did not respond to detailed questions from the AP about the work. Under its policy of nuclear ambiguity, Israel neither confirms nor denies having atomic weapons. It is among just four countries that have never joined the Non-Proliferation Treaty, a landmark international accord meant to stop the spread of nuclear arms.

    Link


    Syria-Lebanon-Iran
    Iran: The Mullah's Pursuit of Obtaining Nuclear Weapons
    2021-02-19
    [Gladstone Institute] The IAEA at first did not take these reports of a secret Iranian atomic warehouse seriously. This should not be surprising: the IAEA has a long history of misreporting the Iranian regime's compliance with the deal and declining to follow up on credible reports about Iran's illicit nuclear activities.

    Iran's nuclear deal has dangerous fundamental flaws, specifically the ability to enrich uranium in the first place -- as the preeminent US nuclear negotiator Ambassador John R. Bolton wrote a few years ago, without it, no bomb -- and the deal's notorious sunset clauses that remove restrictions on Iran's nuclear program after the deal soon expires.

    After a significant amount of pressure was imposed on the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, inspecting the suspected site that the Israeli Prime Minister referred to was implemented two years later, in the fall 2020. Even then, although Iran's leaders certainly had enough time to clean up the facility, the IAEA's inspectors nevertheless reported that traces of radioactive uranium had been detected by examining remaining samples.

    It should also not come as surprise that the ruling mullahs of Iran are declining to answer the IAEA's questions.

    It is also important to point out that one of the most basic requirements of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to which Iran is a party, as well as one of the terms of the 2015 "nuclear deal," was that the Iranian regime is required to reveal its nuclear activities to the IAEA -- a condition with which it also failed to comply.

    The detection of radioactive particles in Turquz Abad not only points to the high probability that Tehran has been undertaking work on nuclear weapons in secret; it also points to the high probability that Iran's ruling mullahs have most likely been violating the nuclear deal since it was reached in 2015.

    MORE
    Link


    Syria-Lebanon-Iran
    Iran to continue peaceful nuke program in compliance with IAEA: Official
    2020-07-28
    [Al Ahram] 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 Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
    will continue its peaceful nuclear program in compliance with the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA) regulations, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was quoted as saying by semi-official Fars news agency on Monday.

    "Iran is a member of Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its nuclear program are carried out in coordination with IAEA regulations," said Araghchi.

    "As an accountable country, Iran has removed all ambiguities and misinformation regarding its nuclear program," he said.

    He noted that "whenever our interests regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) are served, we will be ready to return to all our JCPOA commitments."
    Link


    Syria-Lebanon-Iran
    Iran threatens to quit nuclear non-proliferation treaty
    2019-04-29
    [Asharq Al-Awsat] Iran threatened on Sunday to withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in response to the United States tightening sanctions on Tehran

    Iran’s “choices are numerous, and the country’s authorities are considering them ... and leaving NPT is one of them,” state broadcaster IRIB’s website quoted Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as saying.
    Link


    Africa North
    Sudan says it has cut all defence ties with North Korea
    2018-06-07
    [AlAhram] Sudan said on Wednesday it had cut all defence ties with North Korea, in a rare admission that it used to have such ties in the first place.

    The announcement came as Washington is locked in a standoff over Pyongyang's missile and nuclear weapons programmes, and as Sudan, which is still on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, reels from an economic crisis.

    "Sudan's government would like to affirm that its defence production sector has cancelled all contracts ... with North Korea, and ended all relations, direct or through a third party," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

    It said this came as part of its commitment to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty and sanctions against Pyongyang. It did not say when ties had been severed, or provide details of what they had been.

    The United States lifted 20 years of sanctions on Sudan in October, in a move that looked set to help Sudan's ailing economy, but the country has since plunged into a fiscal crisis, with the Sudanese pound's value plummeting and no significant increase in foreign investment.

    Washington said then that Sudan had made progress fighting terrorism, and that it had secured Khartoum’s commitment not to pursue arms deals with North Korea.

    But Sudan remains on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism - alongside Syria and Iran - which means a ban on weapons sales and restrictions on U.S. aid.

    Sudan's economic problems led to widespread protests earlier this year.
    Link


    Israel-Palestine-Jordan
    Palestinians said seeking to join 8 international treaties
    2018-03-25
    As if they were a real country, or something.
    [IsraelTimes] As UN rights council passes 5 anti-Israel resolutions, PA looks to sign Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and UN's Convention against Apartheid in Sports

    The Paleostinian Authority has in recent days filed official requests to join eight international treaties, Hadashot news reported Saturday.

    The Ramallah-based government is seeking to join the UN’s International Convention against Apartheid in Sports and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, among other treaties, according to the report.

    Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon condemned the "unilateral move" by the Paleostinians.

    "The Paleostinian leadership is mistaken in thinking that it can establish facts on the ground by making detours and unilateral moves," Danon said. "Instead of ignoring the United States and Israel, the Paleostinians should stop encouraging terrorism and incitement."

    The news came a day after the Human Rights Council adopted five resolutions condemning Israel, one of which called on Israel to relinquish the Golan Heights strategic ridge to war-torn Syria.

    The five resolutions were presented by the countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation under the council’s "agenda item 7" which concerns Israel.

    Israel is the only country that has a dedicated agenda item at the council, a mechanism that Israel, the US, and some European countries say is discriminatory.

    US Ambassador Nikki Haley
    ...Trump administration's ambassador to the UN. First woman to serve as Governor of South Carolina, and the second Indian-American governor in the country, after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. At the age of 39, Haley was the youngest governor in the U.S., a distinction formerly held by Jindal. She is a Republican, which really grates on the Dems...
     said in a statement Friday that the council was "grossly biased against Israel," noting that it had adopted only three resolutions separately targeting North Korea, Iran, and Syria.

    "When the Human Rights Council treats Israel worse than North Korea, Iran, and Syria, it is the council itself that is foolish and unworthy of its name," said Haley.

    "Our patience is not unlimited. Today’s actions make clear that the organization lacks the credibility needed to be a true advocate for human rights
    When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
    ," she said.

    Haley has over the past year repeatedly warned that the United States was ready to walk away from the 47-member body established in 2006 to promote and protect human rights worldwide.
    Link


    China-Japan-Koreas
    Senior politician calls for S. Korea to have nuclear weapons
    2016-02-01
    A former leader of South Korea's ruling party demanded Sunday the government re-introduce tactical nuclear weapons in a bid to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. Chung Mong-joon, who led the Saenuri Party from 2009-2010, stressed the need for the South to declare the end of an inter-Korean denuclearization deal and the withdrawal from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

    "(We) should consider and review 'all alternatives' before too late for our survival," he said on his blog.

    Chung, once a seven-term lawmaker, has long called for the South to go nuclear amid the North's continued development of its nuclear arsenal.

    The U.S. withdrew nuclear weapons from Korea in the early 1990s, when the two Koreas issued a joint declaration to keep the Korean Peninsula nuclear-free. Chung said the denuclearization deal has already become null and void as the North conducted four nuclear tests, most recently on Jan. 6. He stressed that peace can be maintained by countering nuclear threats with nuclear weapons.

    "It's a Cold War lesson," he said. "Talks to get rid of nukes are possible only when there is a strong means corresponding to nukes."

    Chung said sanctions and pressure on North Korea would have a limited effect and Pyongyang is expected to seek negotiations with Washington, bypassing Seoul, as a nuclear state.

    That's a reason why the South needs to withdraw from the NPT, he added, citing the Article X of the treaty. It says, "Each Party shall in exercising its national sovereignty have the right to withdraw from the Treaty if it decides that extraordinary events, related to the subject matter of this Treaty, have jeopardized the supreme interests of its country."

    In the wake of the North's latest provocation, calls have grown here for the South to have its own nuclear deterrence. Rep. Won Yoo-cheol, the floor leader of the Saenuri Party, openly said it's time for the South to have nuclear weapons for peace and self-defense.

    President Park Geun-hye said she understands such a sentiment but made clear that her administration will stick to the policy of denuclearizing the entire peninsula.
    Link



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