The Temple
Solomon's Temple Explained
shocking revelation on the third temple
[Edited on 3/30/2019 by gina]
Yes there are other things going on. BUT
4/9/19 The Elections in Israel happen, but it can take a month of so before the new party is announced. it is not like it is here.
The Peace Plan will be announced after the election, probably near June.
NYC - Yes they are doing a anti-terrorism drill Sunday night in the Holland Tunnell. Don't use it.
USA - Trump signed an Executive Order regarding if the grid (power) went down in the US. Also Russia will be allowed to use our air space under the Treaty of Open Skies. if you see them flying around that is why. Happening this month.
https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/openskies
Mexican President Obrador will allow Russian planes to go thru their country near our southern border, yes the border with those caravans.
There is a Mexico Russia alliance.
https://themazatlanpost.com/2019/01/14/mexico-russia-alliance-on-the-way-amlo-accepts-putins-invitation-to-russia/
He will not seek a second term.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/mexico-president-lopez-obrador-signs-vow-he-won-t-seek-n985311
Spain and Mexico are not in agreement.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/03/spain_tells_mexico_hell_no_following_amlos_demand_for_an_apology_for_colonial_conquest.html
[Edited on 3/30/2019 by gina]
VENEZUELA - April 6th the military action begins to remove the incumbent President.
US/RUSSIA - Russia flew over several military bases of the US under the Open Skies Treaty as well as Area 51.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/russian-spy-plane-flies-over-170239105.html
TURKEY/SAUDI ARABIA etc.
Al Jazeera investigated Jamal Kashoggi's death. Turkish investigators say a huge oven was built at the Saudi Counsel's home. This began taking place when Kashoggi started going to the Consulate in Turkey. It was build to specifications that could handle burning a human body. 1,000 degrees Celcius. It was made of basalt instead of clay. Basalt would sustain the higher temperatures. The pipeline fittings, according to the man who built the oven, had to be twice the size of normal fittings. More than that, men were seen bringing in suitcases to the home after Kashoggi's disappearance. The men had come from Turkey with these suitcases. There are pictures of the men bringing the suitcases into the home. Those men were believed to be hitmen sent to Turkey to handle the Kashoggi situation. Handle meaning bring him back to Saudi if not willingly, then by force. The oven burned for 3 days.
Watch Al Jazeera World's full investigation: https://aje.io/dp2yu
CHINA , ISRAELI PEACE PLAN
CHINA
Commercial satellite images have provided the first photographs of a secret Chinese anti-satellite laser base in western Xinjiang province, along with other high-technology weapons facilities.
The laser facility is located near a lake and is about 145 miles south of the Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang.
The facility was discovered by retired Indian Army Col. Vinayak Bhat, a satellite imagery analyst who specializes on China. China is using its satellite tracking stations located throughout the country as a means of identifying and targeting satellites.
ISRAELI PEACE PLAN
https://www.endtime.com/prophecy-news/quiet-rollout-of-u-s-peace-plan/
Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riad Malki said he hadn’t seen U.S. President Donald Trump’s much-trumpeted peace plan and was unaware of any Arab country having received a copy.
“We think there’s no need to announce the ‘deal of the century’ if it’s being implemented in steps and we are now in the last steps of its implementation,” he told reporters in the Tunisian capital on the sidelines of a meeting of Arab foreign ministers.
Remarks: The Israel elections are April 9th.
[Edited on 4/7/2019 by gina]
AFGHANISTAN
Abdullah Abdullah will be on the ballot for the Presidential Election in Afghanistan, which was to take place in April and could be postponed till September. After all it is spingtime and the Taliban springtime offensive will begin shortly, it's an annual tradition. Abdullah Abdullah may have Rashid Dostum on his ticket. General Dostum runs the prison in Shibergan which is so horrible when prisoners get sent there shortly afterward they resemble ghosts. It is a place of torture, starvation and misery. He is also the one who facilitated prisoners being put in big metal containers and being left in the desert at Dasht-i-Lal. When people began banging on the containers from the inside that they could not breathe, his idea of providing air holes was to have his forces shoot into the containers killing people inside and letting their bodies putrify in the desert heat while the others were still inside them. Is he a good candidate to lead Afghanistan into the future?
https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/upfront/2019/04/afghanistan-peace-taliban-190412082056288.html
Interview with Abdullah Abdullah by Mehdi Hasan of AJZ.
Weather - the weather comes under the terror thread because it will encompass other things including domestic and foreign policy.
The Bible said there would be famine and pestilence in the end times. Noaa has announced that the flooding in the midwest will continue possibly into July. We export much of the food grown there. No exports = financial economic problems. No food also means SKY HIGH prices here for us for food. Remember Henry Kissinger said "if you control the food supply you control the people". Scary prophecy isn't it?
Soy corn wheat and cattle are wiped out in record amounts.
1 million acres of farmland, livestock, dams, homes destroyed.
Nebraska from March 2019
When the Dam breaks St. Louis and others could be flooded.
[Edited on 4/14/2019 by gina]
[Edited on 4/14/2019 by gina]
NORTH KOREA/RUSSIA
Kim Jung Un and Vladimir Putin hold their peace conference next week in Vladivostock.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1484041
Remarks: We cannot heavily sanction any country that Russia backs, and Russia backs North Korea and Iran and also Venezuela. With regard to Venezuela, US consulate, embassy staff and others were told to leave Venezuela. This occurs prior to the commencement of military action.
AFGHANISTAN/QATAR
The next round of talks regarding the Peace Plan for Afghanistan is scheduled for April 19th (tomorrow) at their political headquarters in Doha, Qatar. The Taliban are not happy because the Afghanistan government has a large amount of people they are sending to the talks.
They had this to say:
"The creators of (the) Kabul list must realize that this is an orderly and prearranged conference in a far-away Khaleeji (Gulf) country and not an invitation to some wedding or other party at a hotel in Kabul," the Taliban spokesman said.
The Taliban – who see Ghani as a US stooge and his government as a puppet regime – also continue to insist they will not be negotiating with Kabul at the conference, and any administration officials are involved merely in a "personal capacity".
Further doubts were cast when some of those Ghani said would attend the conference announced they would not go. Current Afghan President Ghani's own running mate Amrullah Saleh, the former head of Afghan intelligence and a longtime Taliban critic, was among them. The Taliban "should agree to direct & focused negotiations with the Afghan government", he tweeted.
Atta Mohammad Noor, a key opposition figure and former governor of Balkh province, had also been included on the list, which was meant as an inclusive representation of Afghan society. But Noor slammed the delegation as politically biased toward Ghani. "We won't be attending the talks with this running order," Noor tweeted Wednesday, adding he viewed the list as Ghani's "intentional act to sabotage the peace efforts".
Ghani met with the delegates Wednesday, giving no indication of any trouble, saying: "We and the Afghan nation expect you to return home successfully and proudly from meeting with the Taliban in Qatar."
Taliban expert Rahimullah Yusufzai told AFP that while the Afghan government needs to be inclusive in who it sends to Doha, "this is not realistic". "I have seen in the list people who have no influence. You have to pick and choose, 250 is not manageable," Yusufzai said.
The delegation includes representatives of political parties, political figures, Jihadi leaders, martyrs’ families, High Peace Council, religious clerics, parliament, civil society, women, youths, journalists, government officials and tribal elders.
President Ashraf Ghani’s Chief of Staff Abdul Salam Rahimi, his vice president candidate Amrullah Saleh, head of Administrative Office of the President Abdul Waheed Qatali are included in the delegation.Seven ministers are also in the list. Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah’s two deputies Mohammad Khan and Mohammad Mohaqqiq are also included in the delegation.
Political leaders outside the government include Haneef Atmar, Mohammad Yunus Qanooni, Ata Mohammad Noor and Ismail Khan.
https://www.geo.tv/latest/234469-talks-in-trouble-as-taliban-slam-afghan-guest-list
http://www.1tvnews.af/en/news/afghanistan/37957-afghanistan-names-250-member-delegation-for-talks-with-taliban-in-qatar
AND
The Taliban spokesman said there will be women there, but he clarified,
“There will be women among Taliban delegation members in the Doha, Qatar meeting,”
but “These women have no family relationship with the senior members of the Taliban, they are normal Afghans, from inside and outside the country, who have been supporters and part of the struggle of the Islamic emirate.”
One of the women was at the Moscow conference, Fawzia Koofi and will be at this conference also. The other woman who was at the Moscow conference was Hawa Nuristani, who is now head of the Independent Electoral Commission.
Civil society groups, the western-backed government and Afghanistan’s international partners have pressed for women to take part in the talks and news of the Taliban delegation was welcomed. Fawzia Koofi, a former member of the Afghan parliament who took part in a previous round of meetings in Moscow, said the presence of women in the Taliban team was a “good step”.
“The concern that we have about this process is that the Afghan people are not a part of this process, especially women who paid the highest price under the Taliban government. Women don’t know what will happen to their lives in future, and to the freedoms they won after the Taliban.”
Ahead of the talks in Moscow, the Afghan Women’s Network called on the men organising the talks to “bring women to the table”; women shared photos and messages on social media with the hashtag #AfghanWomenWillNotGoBack.
“Today, the male Afghan political actors and their international counterparts are talking about negotiating peace in the country. We, women of Afghanistan, are very concerned about this process,” the campaign network said.
The current government team for future negotiations with the Taleban includes three women among its 12 members: Hasina Safi, Minister of Information and Culture; Dr Alema (one name only), Deputy Minister of Refugees and Repatriation and Shahgul Rezayi, a former member of Parliament.
The US Institute of Peace (USIP) has published figures about the current role of women in Afghan society. These include:
As of 2019:
• Millions of women have voted in local and national elections. Of parliament’s 320 members, 63 are women, while women hold 18 seats as ministers or deputy ministers and four serve as ambassadors.
• Schools and universities employ more than 68,000 women instructors including 800 university professors in both private and public institutions.
• More than 6,000 women serve as judges, prosecutors, defence attorneys, police and army personnel.
• Government data counts about 10,000 women among the country’s doctors, nurses and health professionals.
• Female journalists number 1,070, working throughout Afghanistan.
• Some 1,150 women entrepreneurs have invested $77 million in their businesses, providing job opportunities for 77,000 Afghan women and men.
https://president.gov.af/file/sites/4/2018/11/Peace-Road-Map-Summary-English.pdf
Ahead of the talks in Moscow, the Afghan Women’s Network called on the men organising the talks to “bring women to the table”; women shared photos and messages on social media with the hashtag
#AfghanWomenWillNotGoBack.
“Today, the male Afghan political actors and their international counterparts are talking about negotiating peace in the country. We, women of Afghanistan, are very concerned about this process,” the campaign network said.
REMARKS: The desires of the west (which is the U.S.) is to bring a more democratic process (such as the right to vote) to the Afghan people, increase prosperity, business development. The Taliban have been viewed as backwards by our standards of technological development, and draconian in their views towards women. I remember early on in the war that began in 2001, reporters were shocked and horrified at the rules for women that the Taliban had in effect, they cannot wear makeup, they must be covered, they cannot leave the house without a male guardian, etc. etc. The reporters felt that the women were prisoners. As I delved into the war, who the Taliban are, their beliefs I came to different conclusions than most. I remember a question and answer session for press and others, where they would answer questions asked. Mullah Omar himself was quite taken aback when someone asked 'is it true you beat your women', he said "no we do not beat our women". Questions regarding denying women education were asked and he said "we are not against education for women, I want to see more women enroll in the University in Qandahar and become Doctors and Nurses. There are women going there right now, there are more women going there now then before we running the government." When questioned about why women were sequestered in their houses with the windows painted black, he said it was for their own protection so that when their husbands were away fighting no one would know if there were women there alone. It was not safe for them to go out by themselves and it was also un-Islamic as men are the maintainers, and protectors of women.
The more I learned about them, the more I began to understand the fierce devotion their women have for them and the culture and society they want for the women, their families and their future.
They were wrongly accused in being complicit in 9-11-01. They were asked to choose between their cultural law of Pashtunwalli and the western desire to acquire Osama. They did not provide shelter to Osama, an Arab gave him that mountain, and Osama's son said this in a book he wrote about life in Afghanistan with his Father. Things got convoluted and the war morphed into Muslims vs. non-Muslims, as well as the oil deals signed waaay before 9-11-01 happened in Cambridge Massachusetts, the meeting where the documents were signed, Hamid Karzai was in attendance and signed those documents. 9-11-01 has many facets and components to it, oil being one of them, oil deals. Pepe Escobar of the Asia Times did a series about this. There are also oil deals for the oil in Balochistan, in Pakistan, but the Pakistani Taliban were in the way there, and then they became villains so drones and bombs were sent to get them out of the way.
For there to be peace in Afghanistan, much needs to be done, including listening to all sides and respecting their points of view. Women who want to live a simple life should be able to do so. All the women deserve a basic education so they can read, write and communicate, but their religion must be respected and acknowledged also. They should not be asked to choose between their religion and becoming independent women like western women. Microbusinesses should be available to them so they can stay in their villages, towns and be successful. The Taliban must be able to practice their religion in the manner they see fit or there cannot be peace because if you attack someone's religion especially a Muslim, they have a religious right to fight you over that and do jihad, in fact they are required to do that. Nobody wants to have a never ending war. All parties must have a say in a newly developing government. For anyone to support former warlords who are guilty of war crimes (whether they have been charged or not) is not going to lead to a government that has any staying power. General Dostum is not acceptable to the Taliban. At the peace talks, ASK them who is not acceptable in a new government, and find out why. Peace requires work, and dialogue. Some day I would like to see Trump Skype with them and get an understanding of who they are. I think he would be very surprised, but for now, let Zalmay Kalizad do his job. By the way they are wary of the peace talks because of things like an important Commander being assassinated in Farah within the last few days. (assassinated means precision drone strike against a person as a designated target).
[Edited on 4/18/2019 by gina]
Afghan meeting cancelled. Will be rescheduled at a later time. The meeting was cancelled due to the Kabul Administration under Afghan President Ghani including 250 people on the guest list. Of that list 50 were women, with women's rights activists, war victims, opposition figures, youth and media groups, tribal elders and members of the AHPC (Afghan High Peace Council). The council does not represent the current government.
The Taliban felt it was inappropriate to parade all these people in front of them in some sort of an attempts to convince them that they are somewhat wrong and all these people who want peace in Afghanistan are right. It was inappropriate for all of these people and groups to be on the guest list. Even former President, Hamid Karzai declined to come once he saw the guest list. Sultan Barakat who oversees hosting the event said that postponement was necessary "to build further consensus as to who should participate".
2,804 civilians were killed last year in Afghanistan, per the Director of the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian studies.
The Taliban said they will only talk to Ghani in a "personal capacity", just them and him. They suggested a shorter participant list which was "not acceptable" to the Ghani administration.
The next round of peace talks is thus indefinately postponed. There are some other things they are dealing with such as:
Mullah Husain, a key member of Taliban, was killed in a night raid conducted by Afghan forces in Qarabah district in Kabul on Sunday night, Qarabagh District Governor Mohammad Hanif Sediqi said on Monday. The operation was launched in Sabzrang village in Qarabagh district.
Afghan security forces have detained a famous Taliban commander Mullah Azizullah also known as Zakaria in western Farah province, the Afghan Ministry of Defense (MoD) said on Wednesday for his fighting efforts in Helmand, Badghis, Herat, Nimruz and Farah provinces.
Taliban ’s deputy governor for eastern Nangarhar province has been killed along with other militants in Sherzad district, an official claimed on Saturday. Attaullah Khogyani, the governor’s spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News.
While politics goes on so does their jihad to expel foreign troops that are occupying the country.
[Edited on 4/20/2019 by gina]
AFGHANISTAN - ATTACK AT THE COMMUNICATIONS MINISTRY -
1. It was not conducted by the Taliban. At least one Daesh (Isis) flag was found at the scene so while they have not as yet claimed responsibility for the attack, they are the likely people who conducted it.
Seven people including 4 civilians were killed during the attack. A suicide bomber detonated an explosion there and there were gunfights for many hours. The building houses the Communications Ministry and Postal Service.
Police chief General Sayed Mohammad Roshandil said a bomber blew himself up outside the ministry, clearing the way for the other attackers to enter the building and the heavily guarded government compound in central Kabul. Interior Ministry Spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said the security operation ended at the ministry "after all four attackers were shot and killed by Afghan security forces."
https://www.rferl.org/a/29893097.html
Amanduddin Shariati, security official and Interior Ministry spokesman confirmed there was an explosion.
RE: The Afghan Peace Talks
PAKISTAN PRIME MINISTER WANTS NO ILL WILL WITH THE KABUL ADMINISTATION-
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan says he will not give advice to the Afghan government regarding peace and reconciliation anymore. “Now I’m not giving any advice to the Afghan government, because it would call it interference,”
https://ariananews.af/pakistan-pm-says-will-not-give-advice-to-afghanistan-anymore/
Other problems are with some of the Afghans who have been 'liberated' by the US Coalition forces. They fear and refuse to go back to life the way it was under the former Taliban regime. They like their new found freedoms.
https://asiafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/2018_Afghan-Survey_fullReport-12.4.18.pdf
The Taliban want the Afghan Constitution changed but have not disclosed specifics on what they want changed in it. This is the Afghan Constitution.
http://www.afghanembassy.com.pl/afg/images/pliki/TheConstitution.pdf
I believe if they had some of the scholars from Al Azhar in Cairo assist them, they could craft some drafts as to what they want in it, because the Constitution seems like a bland, outline. I also think in the short therm, a two state solution would be an interim compromise. The US stops shooting at them, lets them live in the lands and areas that they control (which is by estimates 50% of the country), as everyone else works on the peace plan. There will be additional problems because of the Saudis who are at odds with Doha and the government of Qatar, so much so they want Al Jazeera dismantled so that no human rights abuses are reported, and they have imprisoned another reporter,
Saudi authorities have secretly tried prominent journalist Ali al-Dhafiri and handed him a five-year prison sentence as a crackdown led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman against rights campaigners and intellectuals widens in the conservative kingdom.
RUSSIA AND SYRIA
Russia is working on a peace plan for and with Syria.
Several Russian envoys met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and discussed a constitutional committee, trade, as well as the ways to improve Syria's relations with neighboring Arab countries, Russia's Foreign Ministry said.
Formation of a constitutional committee is key to political reforms and new elections meant to unify Syria and end an eight-year war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced about half of Syria's pre-war 22 million population. Syria's opposition last year agreed to join the process of rewriting the constitution under U.N. auspices following a peacemaking conference in the Russian city of Sochi.
Russia has been a close ally of Assad and in 2015 launched a military intervention there to support his forces, turning the tide of the war in Assad's favor. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on April 19 that Assad met Russia's Syriaenvoy Alexander Lavrentiev, Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin and several Russian Defense Ministry officials.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/russian-envoys-meet-syrias-assad-142805
MEANWHILE, the 72,000 people in the Hol Camp in the Kurdish controlled area of Syria known as Rojava want ONE thing. For the Isis Caliphate to return. Life is so miserable for them that is what they want.
The squalid al-Hol camp, in the Kurdish-majority region of Syria known as Rojava, is filled with more than 72,000 people — most of them women and children who came out of the last piece of ISIS-held territory in Baghouz.
"If it weren't for the airstrikes on our tents and camps killing our children," she says, "we would not have left the caliphate." All refuse to give their names.
The women at al-Hol say they are there because ISIS leader Baghdadi told them to escape to save their children.
"This is injustice — we pray for the caliphate to return," says one of the women, who says this is the third day they have been turned away from promised cartons of food. Everything is in short supply here.
In their caliphate, they say there was justice. There was no bribery or corruption or wasta — the influence-peddling at the heart of most countries in the region.
"Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and any shepherd were on the same level," says an Iraqi boy, referring to the ISIS leader now believed to be in hiding.
They say when there was food in the caliphate, it was distributed. Here at the camp, they say they come every day to be humiliated and told there's nothing for them.
This camp, they complain, is full of infidels. There is music. Male and female guards wear tight clothing and smoke cigarettes. They say the men harass women.
They insist that everything was better in what they call al-dawla — the state.
"There, a woman would walk with her head held high and a man would lower his eyes," a Syrian woman says. "Here, it's the opposite.
"Any official who goes for an hour and speaks to them can't change anything — are you a prophet that they would believe in you?" says Hisham al-Hashimi, an Iraqi counterterrorism expert in Baghdad.
REMARKS: The differences in culture, behavioral norms are the things that the Taliban fear for people in their countries. They don't want women going back to wearing revealing clothing and falling prey to indecent behavior. Isis is known for being very strict, people are not allowed to look upon the opposite sex with lust and try to act on that. The women are to be protected from this, yet in the refugee camps the women are harassed by men, starved. Nobody wants to live like that. They feel they had better lives under Isis. They were taken care of. They were not expected to go out to support themselves, men are the maintainers of women, they marry early to prevent immorality from grabbing ahold of them. The women focus on maintaining the household, taking care of and properly rearing the children. The children are not raised by day care. The entire culture is different. You cannot just kill a village of Isis fighters and think you can re-assimilate these women into the new Iraq and tell them, now you are free, take off your veil, get a job and date everyone you see that you want to. That is the American way, they do not want that, not the women or the fighters.
Additional democracy and it's liberating effect is seen as un-Islamic because it is un-Islamic. It is based on secular laws which are the will of the people, and that changes over time. Look at our own country. Gay marriage, changes in the curriculums in school to include and embrace homosexuality occurred due to changes in secular laws. God's laws do not change. He gave them Abraham, he gave them to Moses, he gave them to all the groups, all the religions. The Muslims kept what was given to them and they do not want to change that now. This is why Isis and the other groups see our efforts as a threat and an affront to religion.
Putin and Assad feel that they can bring about a peace plan for Syria. We should watch closely what they come up with.
SRI LANKA
There are reports that the attack was done by National Twoheed Jamath. It is a local branch of ISIS.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/who-national-thowheed-jamath-isis-14444922
The attack was reportedly done to avenge the attack/deaths of Muslims in the attacks in the Christchurch, New Zealand masjuds (mosques).
[Edited on 4/24/2019 by gina]
PROPHECY
Morgan Freeman decodes the identity of the anti-Christ. Short video.
Well, Nero has been dead for a long time. There are more problems. There was not just one anti-Christ according to a theologian, Dr. Kim who uses Biblical evidence to show that Satan was physically here in the beginning and had children.
Satan has a son tracing the lineage back
I put this up in another thread but it ties together with Dr. Kim's premis regarding Baal and what was going on in those days.
President Trump and Baal Peor June 2020
So if Satan had sons, and if Jesus also had children, as some believe, and we know the lineage of David, the Merovingian line is still alive, Princess Diana was of that lineage, we have an interesting world where the anti-Christ is already here, he doesn't just come up from out of the abyss to assume a place in the new Temple that will be build in Jerusalem. Then, there has been a holy war from the beginning of man's being on the earth. It could also explain why there is evil and evil people, they have been here forever they are descendents of Satan.
9-11-01
The engineers just have problems with the official version of what happened. Tomorrow engineers are going to the annual conference of the ASCE’s Structural Engineering Institute and ask more engineers what think about the evidence they have regarding demise of the Towers.
https://www.ae911truth.org/images//PDFs/Project-Due-Diligence-Brochure.pdf
They will network and distribute Project Due Diligence brochures to all 1,000 conference attendees throughout the day. Then they will hold a reception and presentation at the hotel next door, where we hope to receive at least two dozen engineers and educate them in depth about the fraud of the official WTC reports.
The ASCE : https://www.structurescongress.org/
IRAN/US
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has hinted that it would close the Strait of Hormuz if Iran is prevented from using it, in what appeared to be the first response to the US plan to end waivers on Iranian oil exports.
"If Iran’s benefits in the Strait of Hormuz, which according to international rules is an international waterway, are denied, we will close it,” IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri said after the Trump administration revealed Monday that it will no longer exempt any countries from US sanctions if they continue to buy Iranian oil.
Rouhani said that the Americans should come to realize that establishing peace with Iran is the mother of all peace and waging war with the country is the mother of all wars.
The Iranian foreign ministry said Iran was in "constant talks with its international partners including the Europeans" on Washington’s ending of the exemptions. It added that an “important decision" will be announced later, without elaborating.
China, India, North Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Italy, and Greece will face US sanctions starting May in case they continue to purchase Iranian oil. In November, Washington reimposed strict economic sanctions against Tehran and all states that don’t abide by them, after its withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal.
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1691596/irgc-threatens-close-hormuz-strait
REMARKS: The waivers for punishing other countries who buy Iranian oil come up for renewal MAY 1st. If they are not renewed, then we sanction other countries also if they buy Iranian oil.
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1691201/us-ends-waivers-iran-oil-imports
If the Strait of Hormuz is closed you can expect to see prices of $10 (that's right TEN U.S. Dollars) for a gallon of gas. That would bankrupt the US. There are estimates that the prices will already be $4.00 a gallon by Christmas and that is if nothing else happens.
Better foreign policy is if we do not want to trade with Iran or buy their oil, we don't we punish them as one sovereign country. We have no right telling other countries they cannot do their own trade deals with Iran because they are sovereign countries. We really do not own the world, not should we try to. We should shore up our borders, work out honest/mutually beneficial trade deals and be at peace with other nations. We do not need more wars, more attacks. This foreign policy we have now is bullying other countries and it is wrong to do so. The sanctions do not even work anyway because other nations just get it covertly. Iran will sell to Russia, Russia will sell to smaller countries, and so does China. Do we threaten them, when China finances our economy loaning us money? The prophecy from thousands of years ago was that the last big war would be the US against Russia, and the whole other side of the world, no other country will stand with us, the NATO countries they are concerned with their own survival which is why France and Germany merged as a bloc and the UK got out of the alliance that was draining them.
What does sovereignty mean to our government? We cannot threaten all the other nations because they deal with Iran. We should speak only relative to our dealings with them, let the rest of the world have their own sovereign states and manage their own affairs. That's why China does not get in any wars. They just manage their own stuff, they do not tell any other nations who they can do deals with. If someone attacks them, they will retaliate, but other than that, they do not go and start wars/coups. Why should they? There is a lesson to be learned from China.
[Edited on 4/25/2019 by gina]
WAIVERS IRAN
4-29-19 IRAN SANCTIONS WAIVER
Iran’s top general warned on Sunday that Tehran could close the strategic Strait of Hormuz shipping route if it faces more “hostility,” news agency ISNA said, as the US tightens up sanctions.
“We are not after closing the Strait of Hormuz but if the hostility of enemies increase, we will be able to do so,” armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Hossein Bagheri told semi-official ISNA.
“Also if our oil does not go through the strait, other countries’ oil will certainly not cross the strait, too,” he added.
The statement came after Washington said on Monday it would start imposing sanctions on countries such as India, China and Turkey that buy Iranian oil. 1.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif “The Islamic Republic’s choices are numerous, and the country’s authorities are considering them,... and leaving NPT (nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) is one of them,” state broadcaster IRIB’s website quoted Zarif as saying. Meanwhile, Iran’s state television reported on Sunday that Zarif is planning to visit North Korea, without giving the date of the visit.
“The date of this trip will be set and announced soon,” the television quoted Zarif as saying. It gave no further details. 2
Trump wants solo Talks with Kim Jung Un per John Bolton. 3
REMARKS: What do you think the Iranian reaction to having it's economy lose 50 Billion dollars because of U.S. sanctions should be?
They would also like non Iranian ships out of the Persian Gulf.
We already have the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower warship there. The Iranians did some drone footage of it.
Is this provocation?
IRAN
We have a warship in the Persian Gulf, we put sanctions on the country, tell them they cannot sell to other nations.
They have been aware of our presence for a long time.
Iran's envoy to the United Kingdom has warned the United States that Tehran will “forcefully retaliate” any moves by the US military against the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), which was designated as a terrorist organization by US President Donald Trump earlier this week.
They are ready if we want to start a war.
Iran's envoy to the United Kingdom has warned the United States that Tehran will “forcefully retaliate” any moves by the US military against the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), which was designated as a terrorist organization by US President Donald Trump earlier this week. 1
A senior Iranian commander says Iran will never allow US warships to sail near its territorial waters, reiterating once again that the Islamic Republic is ready to respond to any action by Washington.
Deputy Chief of Iran's Army for Coordination Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari made the remarks on Monday while speaking to reporters in reaction to the return of US aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis to the Persian Gulf on Friday after a long absence. 2
The annual exercise enlists the Ground Force’s elite units. They include the rapid response unit, the special forces, commandos, combat and reconnaissance drones, the electronic warfare unit, engineering corps, and the Zolfaqar fast patrol craft. Various attack, transport, and airdrop helicopters are flown during the event.
According to Tasnim news agency, the Cobra gunships deployed in the last stage have been equipped with enhanced thermal cameras. The equipment, it said, has been enhanced with laser rangefinder and is capable of tracing and detecting targets in various environmental conditions, including sheer darkness, fog, smoke, and dust. 3
PALESTINE - HAMAS WILL REJECT THE DEAL OF THE CENTURY
Ismail Haniya discussed with senior Hama leaders in Gaza why Hamas cannot back the so called “Deal of the Century” US Peace Plan.
https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/specialseries/2013/05/20135612348774619.html
[Edited on 4/28/2019 by gina]
STRAITS OF HORMUZ
Because some of the press mis-report things that are said, let's make it clear what WAS said.
"Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a gathering of Police commanders in Tehran on Sunday, Major General Baqeri said the Iranian Armed Forces are in charge of security of the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran wants the Strait of Hormuz to remain open with sustained security, he noted, saying the Iranian oil and commodities are being freighted through the strait just like the shipments of other countries.
“If anybody is to make the Strait of Hormuz unsafe, we will certainly counter it, and if our oil is not to be shipped over through the Strait of Hormuz, then the oil of others will definitely not go through the strait either,” the top general underlined.
“This would not mean the closure of Strait of Hormuz, we have no intention of closing it, unless the enmity of enemies would reach a limit that there is no other choice. That day, we will be fully capable of closing the strait,” Major General Baqeri added."
Highlighting Iran’s strict control over the southern waters, the commander said American warships and trade vessels have to respond to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy when crossing the Strait of Hormuz several times a day.
He said the most recent reporters show that American forces continue to respond to the IRGC Navy’s questions and there is no sign of a change in their behavior at the Strait of Hormuz.
REMARKS: If the US or others create conditions where Iranian oil cannot go thru the straits, or oil for other countries, THEN they would close it and they can do it in one day, but they HAVE NO INTENTION TO DO THAT AT THIS TIME.
IRAQ/SYRIA
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is alive and well and Isis released a recent video with mention of the Sri Lanka attacks. It is not an old video because he has aged with time. He does not think they are defeated he said:
"Our battle today is a battle of attrition, and we will prolong it for the enemy, and they must know that the jihad will continue until Judgment Day,” he said in the video.
Now that territory is gone, after a four-year battle that ended in defeat last month at the hands of American-backed forces in the town of Baghuz, Syria.
Mr. al-Baghdadi acknowledged that loss in the video, an 18-minute infomercial released by an Islamic State media group on Monday and distributed by the SITE Intelligence Group. Seated cross-legged on the ground in an Arab-style sitting room, he calmly told a group of unidentified followers that the battle was far from over.
“Truthfully, the battle of Islam and its people with the crusader and his people is a long battle,” he said. He called on his followers to continue pursuing their enemies “with all of their abilities.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/isis-mysterious-leader-is-not-dead-new-video-shows/ar-AAAI45M
REMARKS: All I will say is IF Osama was not in that house in Abbottabad, Pakistan as the world was told that he was, he may be running Isis from behind the scenes with Baghdadi as the spokesman.
CALIFORNIA
Army veteran who served in Afghanistan was planning a mass murder event in California. 8 lbs. of 3 inch nails, pressure cooker ied with remote control detonation....
REMARKS: It is troubling that these things are going on, because it is said that if you kill one innocent man, it is like killing all of humanity. To randomly just kill groups of people is not Islamic. Repentence is very important in Islam, if people are just murdered, there is no way the can repent, it takes away their right to repentence. God himself reserved judgement and punishment for himself. When he finds a people to be total disbelievers, the worst of the worst, he will destroy them, if he wills. He may use them to harass others and then punish them later, pitting one false group against another. It is up to him. Others should not take it upon themselves to do this. If someone fights you by a place of worship, then you may fight them, but you cannot just go and blow people up or shoot them at places of worship. That is not permissable. Just going out killing large numbers of people is not a religious mandate for anyone in any group.
[Edited on 4/30/2019 by gina]
VENEZUELA AND THE IMMINENT COUP
Erik Prince of Blackwater, has offerred his organizations help to remove President Maduro from office.
"Prince sketched out a plan to field up to 5,000 soldiers-for-hire on behalf of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, according to two sources with direct knowledge of Prince's pitch.
REMARKS: The theme is we need to liberate oppressed people around the world, take down dictators by any means possible including using mercenaries and guns for hire. The Sandanista revolution in Nicaragua is an example of when mercenaries were deployed to assist in that effort. Trump has recently said that Cuba needs to get out of Venezuela and not help them or they will be sanctioned. Russia says that we need to get out of Venezuela and stop meddling there. With the US embassy staff being ordered to leave the country, military action is imminent.
[Edited on 4/30/2019 by gina]
IRAN
We just sent another warship to the area near Iran. The USS Abraham Lincoln.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48173357
PAKISTAN
Asia Bibi has arrived in Canada hoping to start a new life after her years on death row. But although there is huge relief among campaigners for religious freedom that she is out of Pakistan, her ordeal may not be over.
Islamic extremists have pledged to pursue the Christian woman and kill her for the act of blasphemy of which she was accused and later acquitted. Bibi may spend the rest of her days looking over her shoulder in fear of an international assassin.
Bibi’s backstory is well known after international attention was focused on her case. The former farm labourer was sentenced to death on flimsy evidence in 2010 after being accused of blasphemy in a dispute with Muslim women in her village over a cup of water. Two Pakistani politicians were later killed for publicly supporting her and criticising the country’s draconian blasphemy laws.
REMARKS: There are other countries she could have went to. She went to Pakistan from France to do farm labor work. Why couldn't she just go from France to Canada. Canada has been welcoming people including refugees for quite a while now. As a Christian, why is she wearing a hijab? The whole thing just does not add up.
IRAN
Iran is seeking support from other countries including China who have been effected by the waivers and tarriffs.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/08/iran-challenges-europe-china-us-nuclear-deal
Iran is now giving them 60 days to take significant strides or face a potentially severe new crisis in the Middle East
By raising the stakes, Iran has challenged Europe and China to wean themselves off dependence on the dollar – for both a long-term aspiration. Iran is now giving them 60 days to take significant strides or face a potentially severe new crisis in the Middle East.
The initial two steps announced by President Hassan Rouhani are at the very low end of the scale of available measures. Iran will stop exporting low enriched uranium (LEU) and heavy water – a trade which had kept its stockpiles of both under the levels set by the 2015 deal.
Much more serious are the steps Iran is threatening to take after the 60-day deadline. Rouhani has it will lift the agreed 3.67% limit on the level of purity to which it enriches uranium. For every percentage point that figure is allowed to creep up, Iran gets exponentially closer to the capacity to produce weapons-grade uranium.
Rouhani said that if the ultimatum is not met, Iran will also end a Chinese-led initiative to redesign its heavy water reactor in Arak. If that happened, the route to producing plutonium would be open once more.
The US is putting sanctions on metal and mining sectors of the Iranian Economy.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/05/08/595459/US-imposes-sanctions-on-Iran-metal-mining-sectors
"US President Donald Trump has issued an executive order to impose new sanctions on Iran to deny it of revenue from exports in the metal and mining sectors.
"Today's action targets Iran's revenue from the export of industrial metals -- 10 percent of its export economy -- and puts other nations on notice that allowing Iranian steel and other metals into your ports will no longer be tolerated," Trump said in a statement Wednesday. "Tehran can expect further actions unless it fundamentally alters its conduct."
REMARKS: Hurting the economy of another country, a sovereign nation, is a direct provocation. Encouraging other countries to join an axis of economic deprivation is much more than just grandstanding. The impact on our economy will not be favorable. The stock market dropped over 500 points. Do we need another 2007 economic crisis?
IRAN - The Plan to Get Iran Out of the Nuclear Deal - planned by John Bolton in 2017
First Iran are not the bad guys. They are a sovereign nation minding their own business. Our sanctions have threatened them yet they still speak about peace. They DID NOT damage those oil tankers in the Gulf this past weekend, which included 2 Saudi tankers, and 1 from the United Arab Emirates, the other one from Norway. Someone or a couple of someone's want to create a reason for action to be taken against Iran.
One thing that is very troubling is that John Bolton, the US National Security Chief actually had a plan in 2017 on how to force Iran out of the 2015 Nuclear Deal which was signed under the Obama administration.
"Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says US National Security Advisor John Bolton, along with anti-Iran figures in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Israel were planning to push Washington out of a multilateral 2015 nuclear deal with Iran even before Bolton was appointed to his current post.
Zarif made the remarks in a tweet addressed to US President Donald Trump, which appeared on his official Twitter page on Sunday, saying, “ICYMI, before you hired him [John Bolton], this was the plan that @AmbJohnBolton and his #B_Team cohorts had for Iran.”
The hawkish “B-team” is comprised of US National Security Adviser John Bolton, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Zarif included in his tweet the link to an article by Bolton, which was published by the National Review magazine in 2017 when he was not Trump's national security advisor, in which the hawkish American politician reflected on how the United States could get out of the Iran nuclear deal, which is officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)."
"Under the JCPOA, reached in July 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries including the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany, Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions.
On May 8, Iran announced that it would stop exporting excess uranium and heavy water, setting a 60-day deadline for the five remaining parties to the deal to take practical measures towards ensuring Iran’s interests in the face of the American sanctions.
“A detailed blueprint for #FakeIntelligence, #ForeverWar and even empty offers for talks—only phone numbers were not included,” Zarif added in his tweet in what is a clear allusion to a recent CNN report, alleging that the White House has contacted Swiss authorities to share a telephone number with Iran in hopes that Tehran will contact Trump."
[Read it for yourselves]
https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/08/iran-nuclear-deal-exit-strategy-john-bolton-memo-trump/
II. Campaign Plan Components
There are four basic elements to the development and implementation of the campaign plan to decertify and abrogate the Iran nuclear deal:
1. Early, quiet consultations with key players such as the U.K., France, Germany, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, to tell them we are going to abrogate the deal based on outright violations and other unacceptable Iranian behavior, and seek their input.
2. Prepare the documented strategic case for withdrawal through a detailed white paper (including declassified intelligence as appropriate) explaining why the deal is harmful to U.S. national interests, how Iran has violated it, and why Iran’s behavior more broadly has only worsened since the deal was agreed.
3. A greatly expanded diplomatic campaign should immediately follow the announcement, especially in Europe and the Middle East, and we should ensure continued emphasis on the Iran threat as a top diplomatic and strategic priority.
4. Develop and execute Congressional and public diplomacy efforts to build domestic and foreign support.
III. Execution Concepts and Tactics
1. Early, quiet consultations with key players
It is critical that a worldwide effort be initiated to inform our allies, partners, and others about Iran’s unacceptable behavior. While this effort could well leak to the press, it is nonetheless critical that we inform and consult with our allies and partners at the earliest possible moment, and, where appropriate, build into our effort their concerns and suggestions.
This quiet effort will articulate the nature and details of the violations and the type of relationship the U.S. foresees in the future, thereby laying the foundation for imposing new sanctions barring the transfer of nuclear and missile technology or dual use technology to Iran. With Israel and selected others, we will discuss military options. With others in the Gulf region, we can also discuss means to address their concerns from Iran’s menacing behavior.
The advance consultations could begin with private calls by the President, followed by more extensive discussions in capitals by senior Administration envoys. Promptly elaborating a comprehensive tactical diplomatic plan should be a high priority.
2. Prepare the documented strategic case
The White House, coordinating all other relevant Federal agencies, must forcefully articulate the strong case regarding U.S. national-security interests. The effort should produce a “white paper” that will be the starting point for the diplomatic and domestic discussion of the Administration decision to abrogate the JCPOA, and why Iran must be denied access to nuclear technology indefinitely. The white paper should be an unclassified, written statement of the Administration’s case, prepared faultlessly, with scrupulous attention to accuracy and candor. It should not be limited to the inadequacies of the JCPOA as written, or Iran’s violations, but cover the entire range of Iran’s continuing unacceptable international behavior.
Although the white paper will not be issued until the announcement of the decision to abrogate the JCPOA, initiating work on drafting the document is the highest priority, and its completion will dictate the timing of the abrogation announcement.
A thorough review and declassification strategy, including both U.S. and foreign intelligence in our possession should be initiated to ensure that the public has as much information as possible about Iranian behavior that is currently classified, consistent with protecting intelligence sources and methods. We should be prepared to “name names” and expose the underbelly of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard business activities and how they are central to the efforts that undermine American and allied national interests. In particular, we should consider declassifying information related to activities such as the Iran-North Korea partnership, and how they undermine fundamental interests of our allies and partners.
3. Greatly expanded diplomatic campaign post-announcement
The Administration, through the NSC process, should develop a tactical plan that uses all available diplomatic tools to build support for our decision, including what actions we recommend other countries to take. But America must provide the leadership. It will take substantial time and effort and will require a “full court press” by U.S. embassies worldwide and officials in Washington to drive the process forward. We should ensure that U.S. officials fully understand the decision, and its finality, to help ensure the most positive impact with their interlocutors.
Our embassies worldwide should demarche their host governments with talking points (tailored as may be necessary) and data to explain and justify abrogating JCPOA. We will need parallel efforts at the United Nations and other appropriate multilateral organizations. Our embassies should not limit themselves to delivering the demarche, however, but should undertake extensive public diplomacy as well.
After explaining and justifying the decision to abrogate the deal, the next objective should be to recreate a new counter-proliferation coalition to replace the one squandered by the previous Administration, including our European allies, Israel, and the Gulf states. In that regard, we should solicit suggestions for imposing new sanctions on Iran and other measures in response to its nuclear and ballistic-missile programs, sponsorship of terrorism, and generally belligerent behavior, including its meddling in Iraq and Syria.
Russia and China obviously warrant careful attention in the post-announcement campaign. They could be informed just prior to the public announcement as a courtesy, but should not be part of the pre-announcement diplomatic effort described above. We should welcome their full engagement to eliminate these threats, but we will move ahead with or without them.
Iran is not likely to seek further negotiations once the JCPOA is abrogated, but the Administration may wish to consider rhetorically leaving that possibility open in order to demonstrate Iran’s actual underlying intention to develop deliverable nuclear weapons, an intention that has never flagged.
In preparation for the diplomatic campaign, the NSC interagency process should review U.S. foreign-assistance programs as they might assist our efforts. The DNI should prepare a comprehensive, worldwide list of companies and activities that aid Iran’s terrorist activities.
4. Develop and execute Congressional and public diplomacy efforts
The Administration should have a Capitol Hill plan to inform members of Congress already concerned about Iran, and develop momentum for imposing broad sanctions against Iran, far more comprehensive than the pinprick sanctions favored under prior Administrations. Strong congressional support will be critical. We should be prepared to link Iranian behavior around the world, including its relationship with North Korea, and its terrorist activities. And we should demonstrate the linkage between Iranian behavior and missile proliferation as part of the overall effort that justifies a national-security determination that U.S. interests would not be furthered with the JCPOA.
Unilateral U.S. sanctions should be imposed outside the framework of Security Council Resolution 2231 so that Iran’s defenders cannot water them down; multilateral sanctions from others who support us can follow quickly.
The Administration should also encourage discussions in Congress and in public debate for further steps that might be taken to go beyond the abrogation decision. These further steps, advanced for discussion purposes and to stimulate debate, should collectively demonstrate our resolve to limit Iran’s malicious activities and global adventurism. Some would relate directly to Iran; others would protect our allies and partners more broadly from the nuclear proliferation and terrorist threats, such as providing F-35s to Israel or THAAD resources to Japan. Other actions could include:
‐ End all landing and docking rights for all Iranian aircraft and ships at key allied ports;
‐ End all visas for Iranians, including so called “scholarly,” student, sports, or other exchanges;
‐ Demand payment with a set deadline on outstanding U.S. federal-court judgments against Iran for terrorism, including 9/11;
‐ Announce U.S. support for the democratic Iranian opposition;
‐ Expedite delivery of bunker-buster bombs;
‐ Announce U.S. support for Kurdish national aspirations, including Kurds in Iran, Iraq, and Syria;
‐ Provide assistance to Balochis, Khuzestan Arabs, Kurds, and others — also to internal resistance among labor unions, students, and women’s groups;
‐ Actively organize opposition to Iranian political objectives in the U.N.
IV. Conclusion
This effort should be the Administration’s highest diplomatic priority, commanding all necessary time, attention, and resources. We can no longer wait to eliminate the threat posed by Iran. The Administration’s justification of its decision will demonstrate to the world that we understand the threat to our civilization; we must act and encourage others to meet their responsibilities as well.
1 Although this paper will refer to “the JCPOA,” the abrogation decision should also encompass the July 14, 2015, statement by the Security Council’s five permanent members and Germany, attached as Annex B to Security Council Resolution 2231. The JCPOA is attached as Annex A to Resolution 2231.
[Edited on 5/13/2019 by gina]
IRAN Continued
Iran's position now in response to the sanctions, the discontinuance of the waivers for other countries so that they can buy Iranian oil is this.
On May 8, Iran announced that it would stop exporting excess uranium and heavy water, setting a 60-day deadline for the five remaining parties to the deal to take practical measures towards ensuring Iran’s interests in the face of the American sanctions.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi also said in an interview on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic has put a "step-by-step" withdrawal from the nuclear deal on the agenda.
"We have not left the JCPOA so far, but we have put such a move on our agenda and that would happen step-by-step," the senior Iranian diplomat said, adding, "No country can accuse Iran of breaching or leaving the nuclear deal."
Elsewhere in his interview with Press TV, Kamalvandi said Iran has no intention to stop fulfilling its commitments under the JCPOA, but decided to suspend parts of them for six months.
Tehran’s decision to suspend some of its nuclear deal commitments was meant to give time to Europeans to comply with their obligations and to bring the international agreement back on its right track, he added.
The Iranian nuclear official also criticized the European signatories to the agreement for failing to implement the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) aimed at circumventing the US sanctions.
"Iran waited for a year to see what Europeans are going to do, they have given promises … they have taken good positions, but their promises about SPV and INSTEX have not been fulfilled," Kamalvandi said.
Late in January, the three European parties to the 2015 deal issued a joint statement, announcing the launch of a long-awaited direct non-dollar payment mechanism meant to safeguard their trade ties with Tehran in the face of the sanctions.
Germany, France and Britain had registered the mechanism, named INSTEX, which would be based in the French capital, Paris, and managed by a German banking expert.
Head of Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations Kamal Kharrazi on Saturday censured the European signatories to the landmark nuclear agreement for failing to fulfill their obligations under the deal, urging them to speed up implementing the non-dollar direct payment channel with Tehran.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran negotiated honestly and, as a result, a nuclear accord was reached which has also been endorsed by the UN Security Council [Resolution 2231]. But despite Iran's fulfillment of its commitments, Europe has only taken a political stance and reneged on its obligations," the senior Iranian official added.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Iran had every right to scale back some of its commitments under a multilateral nuclear agreement Tehran clinched with major world powers in 2015.
Speaking after a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Sochi on Monday, Lavrov said the nuclear accord, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), includes clear provisions that enable Iran to halt some of the commitments it accepted voluntarily if other signatories to the deal fail to comply with their obligations under the agreement.
He added Russia and China believe that it is essential to preserve the JCPOA and that the unilateral US sanctions against Iran are illegitimate and aimed, in particular, at halting oil exports from the country.
"We also noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran remains committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, but expects the same from our European colleagues, who also have to implement their part of the agreements," Lavrov said.
The top Russian diplomat expressed hope to hold "candid" talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the issue. He also expressed optimism that the European signatories to the deal would comply with their obligations despite Washington's pressure.
"This plan and this resolution, which is binding, guarantee that Iran will freely supply its oil to world markets. Therefore, the Russian Federation will make sure that other parties to the deal, first of all our European colleagues, will fulfill their part of the agreement. There's simply no other way", the Russian foreign minister said.
A German government spokesman said on Monday that Berlin is working on maintaining a legal channel for trade with Iran.
"Along with our E3 partners, we're undertaking efforts to keep enabling legitimate trade with Iran, in particular by providing a payment channel," Steffen Seibert told a regular news conference.
Germany, France and Britain had registered the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) which would be based in the French capital, Paris, and managed by a German banking expert.
The foreign ministers of France, Germany, and Britain met with European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in the EU headquarters in Brussels on Monday to discuss Iran’s recent decision to stop implementing parts of its commitments under the JCPOA.
REMARKS: France is against our sanctions. They are allied financially with Germany, they formed a financial bloc not that long ago. Russia and China are against what we are doing. Iran has given the other countries 60 days to not implement/follow the US sanctions after that they will go back to pre May 7th levels of uranium enrichment and heavy water production.
WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT THIS PROBLEM WITH THE SANCTIONS
The ministers from the EU signatories to the nuclear deal with Iran have expressed concern about a military escalation between the United States and Iran as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo paid a surprise visit to Brussels.
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, and French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian each held talks with Pompeo on May 13, following a joint session with EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini focused on efforts to keep a landmark 2015 deal with Iran afloat.
Pompeo canceled a planned trip to Moscow in order to brief the European allies on Washington's latest moves. He is still set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Sochi on May 14.
