Sanctions - Page 29

If President Obama’s master plan is to develop Iran into a regional super-power, settling the Middle East’s sectarian problems through Shiite conquest, then his nuclear deal was a major step forward.

An “investigative journalist” on Iran’s state-run PressTV Monday claimed to have discovered why the Obama Administration is both offering sanctions relief to the Ayatollah’s Islamic Republic while also imposing a new round of sanctions on Tehran: “Jewish neocons.”

Jailed former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed has refused an opportunity to travel to the United Kingdom for back surgery after the government insisted on taking one of his relatives as a “hostage” to make sure he returned.

AFP’s report on the possible decommissioning of the Arak heavy-water reactor in Iran is somewhat confusing, because it begins by factually stating that Iran has “removed the core of its Arak heavy water reactor and filled part of it with cement,” quoting a spokesman for the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization to that effect.

Turkish Airlines removed two Russian women from a flight to Bahrain at Atatürk Airport on January 10 due to “unruly behavior.”

In early November, Russian millionaire Mikhail Lesin was found dead in a Washington, D.C., hotel room. Lesin was very useful to Russian President Vladimir Putin in life, and his mysterious demise was extraordinarily well-timed. Two months later, there are still no official answers to questions about how he died or what he was doing in Washington, D.C.

Russian President Vladimir Putin defended Russia’s annexation of Crimea but also pushed for more cooperation against terrorism in an interview with German publication Bild.

The conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran escalated another notch on Monday morning, as the Saudis announced the suspension of air travel to and from Iran.

Iranian regime officials have pledged to respond to any coming U.S. sanctions by “forcefully” continuing to boost “its missile capabilities,” announced defense minister Brig Gen Hossein Dehqan on Friday. The Obama White House was said to be preparing financial sanctions

The United States is preparing new sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran after the regime in Tehran conducted ballistic missile tests in violation of international sanctions.

On Tuesday, Russia’s Economy Minister, Alexei Ulyukayev, sought to downplay the impact of much-publicized sanctions against Turkey over the downing of a Russian fighter jet on November 24.

Reports have surfaced, as has denial with equal fortitude, that the head of the Iranian Regime’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, General Qassem Soleimani, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week.

Turkish media outlets are reporting that the government has seized 27 Russian commercial ships because they failed “to meet sailing criteria.

China summoned U.S. envoy Kaye Lee in Beijing on Thursday to complain about the sale of $1.83 billion in arms to Taiwan, and threatened to impose sanctions on all companies involved, accusing the United States of breaking international law and compromising China’s sovereignty.

Iran continues to conduct missile tests in violation of United Nations sanctions, and appears to be disinterested in how the international community views their legitimacy.

Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, perhaps the most outspoken critic of Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran on the Democrat side of the aisle – and a serious contender for the bipartisan criticism championship belt – is outraged about the Administration’s weak response to last month’s illegal Iranian ballistic missile test.

Russian customs officials are denying Turkish nationals entry into the nation, reports indicate.

A Russian soldier crossed Istanbul’s Bosporus aboard a warship, waving around a surface-to-air missile launcher, an action the Turkish government condemned and has branded “provocative.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his country that Turkey could face more sanctions as a consequence for its forces shooting down a Russian warplane over Syria on November 24.

Ukraine is ready to move into the Turkish economic markets after Russia passed numerous sanctions against Turkey for downing one of its warplanes over Syria.

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued economic sanctions against Turkey in response to the downing of a Russian warplane on Nov. 24.

With sanctions about to be lifted, Iran unveiled a “new model” for a 25-year joint-venture oil and gas production contract on terms favorable to foreign companies in an effort to recruit $100 billion in foreign capital to break Russia’s natural gas monopoly in Europe.

The Russian government began steps to push through economic sanctions against Turkey for downing a warplane on Nov. 24.

The Bank of Utah has purchased a Boeing 737 airliner from Al Naser Airlines, an Iraqi company with deep ties to Mahan Airlines – an Iran-headquartered company that assists the Tehran regime in pursuit of its global ambitions, according to

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears ready to cooperate with the European Union to remove economic sanctions–after having gained enormous international leverage through his surprise military intervention in Syria.

The United States, along with France, Britain, and Germany, have asked the U.N. Security Council to investigate Iran’s recent violation of a ballistic-missile test ban and take “appropriate action.”

Carly Fiorina, a Republican candidate president and the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, presents herself on the campaign trail as a hawk on Iran. She’s promising to take a hardline on the regime in Tehran. However, during her time as the chief executive of HP, she “sold hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of products to Iran through a foreign subsidiary, despite strict U.S. export sanctions,” Bloomberg reports.

A few weeks ahead of a visit to Washington from Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Obama is talking tough about Chinese cyber-attacks.

The end of another “red line” farce draws nigh, as China waves aside the Obama administration’s bluster about cyberwar sanctions and claims to be more victimized by hackers than the United States is.

Hard on the heels of reports that China and Russia are busy using stolen U.S. government data to identify American intelligence officers and assets, comes word that the Obama administration is considering retaliatory sanctions against Russian and Chinese targets.

The United States Chamber of Commerce, America’s most powerful pro-business lobbying organization, has refused to engage in the battle of ideas over the Iranian nuclear deal.

The second video from Veterans Against the Deal introduces Patrick Farr, whose son, Army Spc. Clay Farr, was killed by an Iranian made bomb in Iraq in 2006. Mr. Farr says the Obama Administration “must not really care about what Iran has done on the terrorism front, killing American soldiers. They’ve just completely forgotten.”

About 80 supporters of the Iran deal gathered for a photo shoot Saturday afternoon in San Diego’s Balboa Park. The photos are to be used in a larger video project, in an effort to push elected officials and the public to support the

San Diego Congressman Scott Peters is sticking to a position of “undecided” on the Iran deal despite growing Democratic Party opposition that includes influential Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY).

Reuters reports the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has leveled sanctions against a dozen Turkish shipping and energy companies for doing business with Syria, along with four individuals connected with one of the sanctioned corporations, Milenyum Energy.

Rep. Juan Vargas (D-CA) has announced that he will oppose the Iran deal, becoming one of the first in his party to do so.