EU Allied with Trump Regime Sanctions on Iran

EU Allied with Trump Regime Sanctions on Iran

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

Britain, France, Germany, and the EU breached their JCPOA nuclear deal obligations.

They failed to challenge Trump's illegal pullout, supporting his regime's unlawful sanctions instead of refusing to observe them, how Russia and China reacted, fulfilling their JCPOA obligations, supporting Iran's fundamental rights.

Europe's refusal to observe its JCPOA obligations may doom the deal. An international agreement requires its signatories to stand by their commitments.

Britain, France, Germany, and the EU effectively abandoned the JCPOA by only pretending to want it preserved after the Trump regime pulled out. Their actions tell a different story - breaching the international agreement they vowed to observe.

They promised to maintain normal political, economic, financial, and trade relations with Iran but haven't done it.

Its promises turned out to be hollow, showing they're as untrustworthy as the US.

Last summer, a joint statement by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, together with UK, French and German foreign ministers, said "effective financial channels" with Iran remain open despite US reimposition of sanctions, adding:

"This is why the European Union's updated (1996) Blocking Statute will enter into force on 7 August to protect EU companies doing legitimate business with Iran from the impact of US extra-territorial sanctions."

"The remaining parties to the JCPOA have committed to work on, inter alia, the preservation and maintenance of effective financial channels with Iran, and the continuation of Iran's export of oil and gas."

The updated EU Blocking Statute is supposed to prohibit European businesses from complying with US sanctions on Iran, letting them recover damages from Trump regime imposed penalties if imposed.

A separate European Commission statement said "(w)e are determined to protect European economic operators engaged in legitimate business with Iran, in accordance with EU law and with UN Security Council Resolution 2231" - unanimously affirming the JCPOA.

All of the above was rhetorical posturing, implementation to maintain normal relations with Iran not forthcoming, nor is it likely ahead based on the EU's record of the past near-14 month period.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) was supposed to finance investments of EU nations in Iran, the arrangement approved last July. 

It never happened because the EIB refused to circumvent Trump regime sanctions, another promise made, another broken one, Brussels doing nothing to insure compliance to terms it agreed on. 

Nor was pledged EU cooperation with Iran's energy and related sectors, along with its small and medium-sized enterprises, (SMEs) fulfilled.

European banks failed to continue normal financial transactions with Iran's Central Bank (CBI), even on US non-sanctioned goods.

The so-called EU Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) barter system to circumvent Trump regime sanctions didn't work because no bloc nation agreed to host it.

The EU Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), a financial transactions mechanism to conduct normal trade with Iran, became operational late last month but fell woefully short of its intended purpose.

What was supposed to be an oil for goods mechanism is only for what the Trump regime hasn't sanctioned, failing to cover the export of Iranian energy resources and related products.

Even facilitating food, medicines, and medical equipment transactions isn't working as pledged. 

Iranian officials consider INSTEX accomplishing less that the scandalous oil for food program for Iraq from 1995 through Bush/Cheney's 2003 aggression.

UN heads of the operation Denis Halliday and Hans von Sponeck resigned their posts. In a joint November 2001 London Guardian op-ed, they denounced sanctions on Iraq, "punish(ing) (its) people for something they did not do."

"Does the UN security council only serve the powerful," they asked? Embargoing Iraq "breach(ed) the UN covenants on human rights, the Geneva and Hague conventions and other international laws."

Separately, Halladay said he was "driven to resignation because I refused to continue to take Security Council orders, the same Security Council that had imposed and sustained genocidal sanctions on the innocent of Iraq. I did not want to be complicit. I wanted to be free to speak out publicly about this crime."

UN-approved sanctions war on Iraq was responsible for about 1.5 million deaths, on average about 7,000 monthly, including 5,000 children under age-five.

If a similar world community-supported sanctions war on Iran continues longterm, something similar could happen, its severity depending on how long it lasts.

The JCPOA is supposed to assure normal Iranian trade and international financial transactions. Breach of its provisions by EU countries prevents normalized relations between Iran and Europe.

No evidence suggests European countries will change policies toward Iran, siding with unlawful Trump regime actions instead of fulfilling their JCPOA obligations, while pretending otherwise.

VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

Photo: By The original uploader was Siamax at English Wikipedia. - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Ervaude., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://ift.tt/2XlrrpQ

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Fire on board secret deepwater vehicle Losharik: Information classified

On July 1, 14 Russian navy men were killed in a fire that occurred on board the deep-water submersible vehicle of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy.

The AC-12, commonly known as Losharik, is a research deep-sea submersible vehicle designed to explore sea bottom and the bottom of the World Ocean in the interests of the Russian Navy. The fire broke out on board the vehicle during bathymetric research works. The 14 submariners were killed as they were poisoned with combustion products, the Defence Ministry of the Russian Federation said. The submariners took efforts to put out the fire, but did manage to survive.

The tragedy occurred on July 1 at about 8:30 p.m. on the submersible vehicle of Project 10831 submarine.

Dmitry Peskov, Putin's official spokesman, told reporters on July 3 that Putin as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief was informed about all the details about the secret vehicle, on which 14 Russian submariners were killed. However, Peskov added, the information was not to be exposed to the general public.

On July 2, the press service of the Kremlin announced an unscheduled meeting that took place between President Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. Putin called the deepwater vehicle an "unusual vessel." "We know that this is a research vessel and a highly professional crew. In accordance with your preliminary reports, seven of the victims are first rank captains, two are Heroes of Russia. This is a great loss for the navy, and for the army in general," he said. First rank captain corresponds to the military rank of colonel. An officer carrying such a rank can command a ship.

Many senior officers who served on the Losharik say that there were representatives of various units on board, who perhaps were going to test something. All submarines designed to work with the the Losharik vehicle are included in the structure of the General Directorate for Deep-Water Research. This is a unique structure that serves as part of the Navy, but in fact exists separately. The main task of the unit is to tap foreign underwater communication lines, recover samples of weapons and military equipment from the sea floor and protect Russian communications equipment.

It is worthy of note that NATO's annual anti-submarine exercises Dynamic Mangoose started off the northern coast of Norway on July 2. Warships, submarines and anti-submarine patrol aircraft from Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Canada, Norway, Poland, the USA, Turkey and France take part in the drills that will last through July 14.

However, the accident on board the Russian submersible vehicle is hardly connected with the NATO exercises, Michael Kofman, a senior researcher at the American Center for Naval Analysis believes.

Commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy Nikolai Evmenov is in charge of the investigation of the causes of the fire on board the Losharik. Putin asked Defence Minister Shoigu to fly to Severodvinsk to ensure unconditional identification of the causes of the tragedy.

Per Strand, director at the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, said referring to Russian officials that the fire on board the Russian submersible vehicle in the area of the Barents Sea occurred as a result of a gas explosion. The Norwegians did not register abnormally high levels of radiation after the accident with the Russian vehicle.

There are many reasons for a spontaneous fire to occur on board the deepwater submersible, because oxygen is replaced with quenching compounds, experts say. If a person stays in the compartment where fire protection systems were activated, he should wear an insulating gas mask (portable breathing device). This is a mandatory element of equipment for all submariners. The portable breathing device allows one to breathe for about 20-30 minutes in the absence of oxygen. This time is enough to get to the isolated breathing apparatus located in each compartment of the submarine. A person can breathe with the help of those machines for an hour and a half.

The Losharik deepwater vessel is a nuclear-powered vehicle that can carry out works at depths of up to six kilometers. The vessel lacks autonomy and can be operated with the help of redesigned submarines. The vessels docks to the carrier, and the submarine delivers the submersible to the designated area. The Losharik carries no weapons on board. It was created in the 1980s. The submarine is part of the Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research of the Russian Ministry of Defense, which is known as "underwater intelligence."

This is the largest accident that has happened on an underwater vehicle of the Russian Ministry of Defense since November 2008, when an accident on the Nerpa nuclear submarine claimed the lives of 20 people and injured another 21. The incident occurred during factory trials of the submarine in the Sea of Japan at the moment when freon gas started flowing into compartments of the submarine due to the unauthorized activation of the fire extinguishing system.

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The Myth of Iran Pursuing Nuclear Weapons Technology

The Myth of Iran Pursuing Nuclear Weapons Technology

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

Hostile US policies toward the Islamic Republic are unrelated to the threat of it obtaining nuclear weapons no evidence suggests it ever sought or wants. 

Among nations with known nuclear arsenals, North Korea alone is challenged by Washington, a nonbelligerent state, unlike nuclear armed and dangerous Israel at war with Palestinians and neighboring states.

Iran's legitimate nuclear program with no military component is the world's most heavily monitored, its ruling authorities fully cooperating with IAEA inspectors.

In contrast, the US and Israel permit no one to monitor their bomb-making facilities, these countries posing a major threat to world peace and humanity's survival.

Iran champions peace and stability, threatens no other nations, yet it's wrongfully treated like a pariah state - because of its sovereign independence, opposition to Washington's imperial agenda, and support for Palestinian rights.

Unlike the US, Britain, France, Germany, and the EU, Iran complies with its JCPOA nuclear deal obligations.

Because of European noncompliance, Tehran suspended some of its voluntary commitments as permitted under JCPOA articles 26 and 36.

IAEA monitors affirmed Iran's compliance with its JCPOA obligations 15 or more times. It's been increasing its uranium enrichment up to a 20% level - far below the 90% level required for nuclear weapons development.

Iranophobic NYT geopolitical propagandist David Sanger lied, claiming increased Iranian uranium enrichment "returns the focus to Iran's two-decade pursuit of technology that could produce a nuclear weapon (sic)."

No evidence suggests the Islamic Republic ever sought to develop a technology it abhors and wants eliminated everywhere.

Sanger quoted former Obama regime national security official Philip Gordon, accusing Iran of being on a "slippery slope" toward abandoning the JCPOA without explaining what's obvious.

International agreements require compliance by all its signatories. Iran, Russia, and China alone have observed their JCPOA obligations.

The Trump regime illegally pulled out. Britain, France, Germany, and the EU breached their obligations under the deal.

Iran correctly explained that no deal effectively exists if Europe abandoned it. Noncompliance by the EU renders it null and void.

Iran, Russia and China want the JCPOA preserved, stressing their commitment to the deal, requiring Europe to be on board for it to work - what hasn't been the case since Trump's May 2018 pullout.

Sanger: "...Iran seems on a pathway to step-by-step dissolution of key parts of the accord" - again ignoring noncompliance by the US and Europe.

He turned truth on its head suggesting Iran suspended some of its JCPOA commitments "to impose costs on Washington after enduring more than a year of sanctions," calling the move "risky."

US rage for toppling its government, for heading toward possible war on the country, endangering its people and the region is "risky" in the extreme.

The Times and other establishment media cheerlead Washington's imperial agenda, including its wars of aggression, its illegal sanctions, and other hostile actions against nations threatening no one.

Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium and heavy water exceeded their limits because the Trump regime banned their export.

The notion that Iran may be "getting too close to producing a bomb," according to Sanger, flies in the face of its abhorrence of these weapons.

Nor is Iran heading toward "cross(ing) (a) threshold" for producing nukes, requiring enrichment of uranium to a far greater level than it's doing.

Sanger quoted Pompeo's Big Lie, roaring: "If there is conflict, if there is war, if there is a kinetic activity, it will be because the Iranians made that choice."

All Middle East, Central Asia, and North African wars were made in the USA, supported by its imperial partners - against nonbelligerent nations threatening no one.

The Islamic Republic never attacked another country preemptively. Not a shred of evidence suggests it intends going another way - just the opposite.

VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html 

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Hawkish US Media Have an Iran Problem

Hawkish US Media Have an Iran Problem

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

Establishment media never met a sovereign independent country they didn't want transformed into a US client state.

Iran and Venezuela are in the eye of the storm, Cuba and Nicaragua next in line, US control over Russia and China the grand prize.

And don't ignore Syria and other active US war theaters, conflicts all about gaining control over these countries, their resources and populations - or solidifying it in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and Lebanon/Palestine partnered with Israel.

Establishment media pretend US wars of aggression (and by other means) are all about democracy building, a notion abhorred in Washington, tolerating it nowhere, especially not at home - fantasy democracy the US system from inception.

It's how the founders crafted it. They included bankers, merchants, planters, ship owners, lawyers, politicians, judges, slave owners and traders, speculators, smugglers, privateers, and other type wheeler-dealers - what today we'd call a Wall Street crowd.

We the people meant them, not ordinary Americans. They created a government of men, not laws, how the nation is governed today by Washington rules exclusively.

America's second president John Adams explained it, saying the nation should be run by "the rich, well-born and able."

John Jay, the nation's first Supreme Court chief justice, affirmed the notion, saying America should be run by the people who own it.

That's the reality of democracy in America. No rule of the people ever existed. Governance of, by, and for the privileged few alone at the expense of most others is the American way - seeking global dominance, not just from sea to shining sea.

American exceptionalism, moral superiority, and the indispensable state don't exist, the nation an increasingly totalitarian plutocracy, oligarchy and kleptocracy, seeking control over all other nations by whatever it takes to achieve its objectives - war its most favored strategy.

With Trump regime hardliners hellbent for war on Iran, wanting US-controlled puppet rule replacing its sovereign independence, establishment media support what demands condemnation.

Operating as press agents for powerful interests, they pretend nonbelligerent Iran, a preeminent peace and stability supporter, threatens the region and US national security - clearly not so.

Media watchdog FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting) provides some of the best coverage of fourth estate pro-establishment reporting, anti-Iran bias prominent as the Trump regime heads toward possible war on the country.

Iran's nuclear program is entirely legitimate with no military component. No evidence suggests it seeks one, just the opposite, a technology it abhors and wants eliminated because of its threat to humanity.

IAEA monitors affirmed Iran's compliance with its JCPOA obligations 15 or more times. Britain, France, Germany, and other EU countries breached what they pledged to fulfill under the deal.

Iran has been increasing its uranium enrichment up to a 20% level - far below the 90% level required for nuclear weapons development.

Its actions are permitted under JCPOA articles 26 and 36. Virtual establishment media unanimity falsely portray its increased uranium enrichment otherwise - "mischaracteriz(ing) (its action) as (pursuing) a nuclear weapons program," FAIR explained, adding:

Trump's illegal JCPOA pullout "is referred to in neutral terms" by establishment media, ignoring its illegality. Iran's legal actions are falsely called a breach of its obligations.

"Iran to Breach Limits of Nuclear Pact..." the Wall Street Journal headlined.

AP News: "Iran Says It Will Break Uranium Stockpile Limit in 10 Days," adding the announcement indicates its "determination to break from the landmark 2015 accord..."

The NYT: "Trump Adds Troops After Iran Says It Will Breach Nuclear Deal"

Washington Post: "Iran threatens to increase enriched-uranium stockpile beyond limits set by nuclear deal in 10 days"

CNN: "Iran says it will break the uranium stockpile limit agreed under nuclear deal in 10 days"

Fox News: "Iran to break uranium stockpile limit set by nuclear deal..."

A Fox News opinion piece headlined: "US goal in Iran should be regime change," saying: 

"Trump wisely renounced" the JCPOA - an international agreement supported by the world community, unanimously affirmed by Security Council members, making it binding international and US constitutional law under its Supremacy Clause (Article VI, clause 2).

Other establishment media failed to denounce Trump's unlawful pullout, nor are they against war on the country.

FAIR: The NYT "uncritically cited Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's statements that the US is 'considering a full range of options'-including military strikes-without mentioning that these would be violations of international law because they go against UN Security Council Resolution 1887, which requires peaceful resolutions to disputes regarding nuclear issues, in accordance with the UN Charter and the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which both the US and Iran are parties to," adding:

Establishment media "frequently attribute malicious intentions to Official US Enemies without going through the bother of presenting evidence." 

"Iran is often accused of sneakily plotting to develop nuclear weapons, the way US ally Israel actually did when it built the only nuclear weapons arsenal in the Middle East."

"This is ironic, because Iran has actually been a consistent leader in the nuclear disarmament movement."

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini refused to develop nuclear weapons in response to thousands of Iranians killed by Saddam Hussein's use of banned CWs, tens of thousands virtually disabled by chronic diseases from exposure to these toxins.

Ayatollah Ali Khameini's fatwa against developing and producing nukes is more legally binding in Iran than legislation alone.

Reporting on Iran by dominant media is one-sided, vilifying the country unjustifiably, supporting war, deploring peace - mindless of the potentially catastrophic consequences of waging war on a nation threatening no one, one able to hit back hard if attacked.

The possibility of things turning out this way is far too great for comfort - because of US rage for regime change, supported by the fourth estate instead of being on the side of world peace and stability, what the rule of law demands.

VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Photo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawk#/media/File:Hawk_in_Kurdistan.jpg

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Trump's Dubious Outreach to North Korea

Trump's Dubious Outreach to North Korea

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

US relations with other countries, especially sovereign independent ones it doesn't control, are long on unacceptable demands, woefully short on seeking cooperative relations.

Two summits between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un failed to improve bilateral relations.

They featured one-sided unacceptable US demands in return for empty promises - how Washington always deals with nations it wants transformed into vassal states.

The Trump regime wants a North Korean client state bordering China. Its hardliners want the DPRK rendered defenseless by eliminating its nuclear deterrent and ballistic missiles.

According to John Bolton earlier, "(w)e have very much in mind the Libya model from 2003, 2004. There are obviously differences. The Libyan program was much smaller, but that was basically the agreement that we made."

In 2011, US-led aggression raped and destroyed the country, Gaddafi sodomized to death, a fate Kim understands, wanting a similar outcome for himself from future US aggression avoided.

On Friday in Osaka, Trump said he'd like to meet Kim at the DMZ, separating North and South Korea - "just to shake his hand and sell HELLO," he tweeted, adding:

"After some very important meetings, including my meeting with President Xi of China, I will be leaving Japan for South Korea (to meet with President Moon)."

"While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border..."

Both leaders last met in Hanoi, Vietnam last February. Two Kim/Trump summits achieved virtually nothing toward stepping back from the brink on the Korean peninsula toward regional peace, stability, and normalized bilateral relations.

North Korea maintains a nuclear and ballistic missile deterrent because of the genuine fear of possible US aggression.

Bilateral relations are dismal, pockmarked by multiple rounds of oppressive sanctions, showing extreme US hostility toward the country and its people.

Kim showed good faith during summit talks with Trump - in June 2018, again in February, accomplishing nothing, showing the futility of negotiating with a partner bent on dominating North Korea, unwilling to deal with its ruling authorities cooperatively.

Nothing suggests a change of US tactics ahead. Talks in Hanoi broke down because Trump regime officials refused to offer any concessions, nothing as a show of good faith, something not in the US imperial vocabulary. 

Kim asked DJT for partial sanctions relief alone, wanting only ones affecting North Korea's economy lifted.

Trump refused, insisting on full compliance with his regime's unacceptable one-sided demands, refusing even a modest gesture of good faith in return.

Bilateral talks were suspended following the failed summit. At the time, DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui blamed Trump regime officials for the breakdown, saying:

"We have no intention to yield to the (one-sided) US demands in any form, nor are we willing to engage in negotiations of this kind," adding:

Pompeo and Bolton "created the atmosphere of hostility and mistrust and, therefore, obstructed the constructive effort for negotiations between the supreme leaders of North Korea and the United States."

Choe quoted Kim saying: "For what reason do we have to make this (65-hour) train trip again? Choe added: "I want to make it clear that the gangster-like stand of the US will eventually put the situation in danger."

"We have neither the intention to compromise with the US in any form nor much less the desire or plan to conduct this kind of negotiation."

On June 20 and 21, days before the Osaka G20 summit, China's Xi Jinping visited Pyongyang, his first state visit as head of state following Kim's invitation, part of efforts by both countries to work cooperatively.

Both leaders said they reached consensus on "important issues," agreeing to further cooperative relations, especially given US hostility toward North Korea.

There's virtually no prospect for normalizing US relations with the country.

An uneasy armistice has persisted between them since US aggression in the early 1950s ended.

It continued endlessly by other means from then to the present day. It won't end as long as the DPRK defends its independence, its sovereign right.

It rejects the acceptable US demand to subordinate its sovereignty to its interests - as it should. The same goes for all nations.

Note: On Sunday, Trump and Kim met in the DMZ, DJT saying talks between both nations will begin "over the next two or three weeks." He also stepped over the demilitarized zone border into North Korea, the first sitting US president to do it.

Talks are better than conflict even if there's no prospect that the Trump regime will take steps toward normalizing bilateral relations.

This is a developing story, more on it as further information becomes available.

VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Photo: Por The White House from Washington, DC - President Trump's Trip to Vietnam, Domínio público, https://ift.tt/2ZWQ39Z

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