Washington (CNN)A U.S.-flagged ship was recently intercepted by an Iran Revolutionary Guard naval patrol, the U.S. Navy revealed to CNN Tuesday.
The incident occurred on Friday when four Iranian naval vessels surrounded the U.S.-flagged Maersk Kensington in the Strait of Hormuz.
The episode came ahead of an encounter Tuesday in which Iran Revolutionary Guard patrol boats fired shots at a commercial cargo ship and then intercepted the vessel, the Marshall Islands-flagged M/V Maersk Tigris, which was also crossing the Strait of Hormuz.
A senior U.S. military official told CNN that “the Iranians encircled the Kensington and followed the ship on its course for a period of time before withdrawing and breaking away.” After that, the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet issued a notice to mariners about the incident.
ADEN (Reuters) – Houthi fighters, backed by supporters of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh entered the provincial capital of the mainly Sunni Shabwa province in eastern Yemen on Thursday, residents said, despite intense Saudi-led air strikes against the group.
And Iran is insisting on an immediate influx of cash if they sign onto the deal with the West. Gee… I wonder what they will use that cash for.
ANKARA (Reuters) – Iran will only sign a final nuclear accord with six world powers if all sanctions imposed over its disputed atomic work are lifted on the same day, President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech on Thursday.
This is approximately like catching a murderer murdering, leaving him out free, and allowing him to keep his gun, with the stipulation that he not have access to his ammunition for ten years. Assuming he doesn’t cheat, which he always has.
Lausanne, Switzerland (CNN)Talks to reach a deal on a framework agreement on Iran’s nuclear program will be extended an extra day, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
“We’ve made enough progress in the last days to merit staying until Wednesday. There are several difficult issues still remaining,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the talks in Lausanne would continue another day as “long as the conversations continue to be productive.”
Diplomats and negotiators worked late as an initial deadline approached, but more time appeared necessary to reach a framework deal.
How long talks will continue was unclear. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius informed the Iranians that he will return to Paris at dawn Wednesday in an apparent effort to force the Iranians’ hand, Western diplomatic sources told CNN.
This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years.
Sanaa, Yemen (CNN)Rebels seized an international airport in Yemen Sunday as a U.N. envoy warned that the country was at “the edge of civil war.”
Houthi militants took over the airport in Taiz as they swept through the city and surrounding province, two officials with the Taiz provincial government said.
One civilian was killed and 82 others wounded when the rebels fired at local residents protesting their presence, the officials said.
The rebels have also seized security and intelligence buildings in Taiz and set up checkpoints in the area, the officials said. Taiz, about 390 kilometers (240 miles) south of Sanaa, is Yemen’s cultural capital.
And, of course, the Houthi rebels are being supported by Iran, the same country that Obama is trying to let develop their nuclear capabilities.
These tensions, moreover, were further exacerbated by Iran’s decision to support the Houthi rebels, the Shia minority in the north of the country, a decision that has helped to further destabilise the country after President Saleh was forced from office in the wake of the original Arab uprisings in 2011.
Instead, Petraeus said the Iran-backed Shiite militias who are helping to fend off ISIS are “the foremost threat” to long-term stability in Iraq, according to an interview with the Washington Post. The comments provide the most expansive glimpse yet into how Petraeus may be helping to shape the Obama administration’s strategy in Iraq as he continues to advise the National Security Council on the issue.
Those militias, many funded and trained by Iran, have been an important part of efforts to push ISIS out of Syria, but they have also been accused of war crimes — allegedly murdering not just ISIS fighters, but also Sunni civilians.
“They have, to a degree, been both part of Iraq’s salvation but also the most serious threat to the all-important effort of once again getting the Sunni Arab population in Iraq to feel that it has a stake in the success of Iraq rather than a stake in its failure,” Petraeus told the Post. “Longer term, Iranian-backed Shia militia could emerge as the preeminent power in the country, one that is outside the control of the government and instead answerable to Tehran.”
Just in case you were thinking that Iran wasn’t an issue anymore. Good thing our foreign policy is so effective nowadays.
The Iranian leader made his call for Israel to be “annihilated” on Twitter over the weekend. Mixed in with tweets insisting that Iran is committed to diplomacy on other issues, Khamenei posted a series of tweets slamming Israel. Among them was a document called “9 key questions about elimination of Israel.”
While he and other Iranian leaders have spoken similarly of Israel in the past, the one-page document, packed with specific details, was new.
It says the “proper way of eliminating Israel” is for “all the original people of Palestine including Muslims, Christians and Jews wherever they are, whether inside Palestine, in refugee camps in other countries or just anywhere else, take part in a public and organized referendum.” The “Jewish immigrants who have been persuaded into emigration to Palestine do not have the right to take part,” he adds.
It’s unclear who Khamenei thinks the “original people of Palestine” are, given that the region’s history dates back thousands of years and includes countless waves of immigration and exile.
