US Issues Arrest Warrant for Iranian Tanker Leaving Gibraltar
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-17
The United States issued a warrant to seize Iran's Grace 1 oil tanker before it leaves Gibraltar's waters in what appears to be a last ditch effort to prevent the vessel from continuing its journey into the Mediterranean. | RELATED: | UK Snubs Trump, Orders Release of Iranian Oil Tanker | A U.S. federal court issued the warrant this week to seize the Grace 1 in Gibraltar, along with all of its contents, which include the oil it carries and nearly US$1 million. | "A network of front comp…
telesurenglish.net/news/US-Issues-Arrest-Warrant-for-Iranian-Tanker-Leaving-Gibraltar-20190817-0001.html

The Plot to Attack Iran:‚Ä® How the CIA and the Deep State Have Conspired to Vilify Iran
Eugene E Ruyle | indybay.org | 2019-08-17
NPML, 6501 Telegraph Ave, Oakland (just North of Alcatraz Ave.)…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/15/18825506.php

Pentagon to name new facility after Curtis 'Bombs Away' LeMay
rt.com | 2019-08-17
The US Strategic Command, which oversees America's nuclear arsenal, plans to name a new facility after the legendary but controversial bomber General Curtis LeMay, who notoriously said there are 'no innocent civilians.' | …
rt.com/usa/466686-base-name-bomber-nebraska/

Questions continue over Russian nuclear accident
wsws.org | 2019-08-17
The dangers associated with the rapidly accelerating global arms race are clear, even as questions remain over the nature of the nuclear explosion that occurred in Russia's far north last week.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/17/nyon-a17-a17.html

'Bolton Is Desperate to Start a War': US Issues Warrant to Seize Iranian Oil Tanker
Jake Johnson, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-08-17
"Perfectly illustrates the U.S. trying to impose its domestic laws on the rest of the world. It should provoke worldwide outrage." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/iran_trump_bolton_pompeo.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2019/08/17/bolton-desperate-start-war-us-issues-warrant-seize-iranian-oil-tanker?cd-origin=rss

North Korea Suspends Talks With South Korea Because of U.S. Sanctions
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-16
While U.S.-North Korea nuclear talks fail to proceed because of a lack of unanimity within the Trump administration, the North suspended peace talks with the South because of the U.S.'s refusal to lift economic sanctions, says Tim Shorrock…
therealnews.com/stories/north-korea-suspends-talks-with-south-korea-because-of-u-s-sanctions

'Quash' convictions and release women jailed for protesting against wearing veils in Iran, urge UN rights experts
United Nations | un.org | 2019-08-16
Decades-long prison sentences handed down to three women protesting the strictly enforced wearing of veils in Iran, have drawn alarm and condemnation from six United Nations independent human rights experts.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/08/1044371

Friday's Daily Brief: Education key for Rohingya, DR Congo violence continues, Zimbabwe protest latest, women's rights in Iran, environmental protection
United Nations | un.org | 2019-08-16
Our main stories today: Two years in, Myanmar's Rohingya youth need more education; DR Congo testimonies highlight armed brutality; appeals for Zimbabwe to 'stop cracking down' on protesters; Iran urged to release women jailed for protesting veiling laws; and new human rights agreement on environmental protection.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/08/1044391

Did the US really intend to destroy the Soviet Union with its nuclear monopoly?
Dave Lindorff | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-16
74 years ago by the United States dropped the only two atomic bombs exploded in war on cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Today, recalling those events, remember that the US still refuses to renounce a strategy of first-strike use of its nuclear arsenal. This has me pondering two questions that should raise enormous doubts in …
nationofchange.org/2019/08/16/did-the-us-really-intend-to-destroy-the-soviet-union-with-its-nuclear-monopoly/

The War on Nature
Evaggelos Vallianatos | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-16
Ancient Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Chinese and Indians respected or worshipped several gods. Those gods were usually forces of nature, which opened the mind, eyes and hearts of human beings to the mysteries, beauty and truth of the natural world. The vast human majorities of the ancient world were peasant farmers and shepherds who cultivated…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/16/the-war-on-nature/

Iran's Dangerous Deterrence Policy: Trading Tankers and Another Partial Withdrawal from the JCPOA
Elijah J. Magnier | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-16
The UK acknowledged its first defeat by Iran when it released the Iranian super tanker "Grace 1" captured by 30 Royal Navy commandos in the first week of July in response to a US request, as the Spanish Foreign …
globalresearch.ca/iran-dangerous-deterrence-policy-trading-tankers-partial-withdrawal-jcpoa/5686590

Trump worsens threat of nuclear catastrophe with Russia
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2019-08-16
MIT professor Ted Postol warns that Trump's withdrawal from the INF treaty threatens nuclear 'catastrophe.' Guest: Theodore Postol, award-winning Professor…
thegrayzone.com/2019/08/16/trump-worsens-threat-of-nuclear-catastrophe-with-russia/

How Obama helped Trump escalate nuclear tensions with Russia
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2019-08-16
The Trump administration has dangerously withdrawn from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). MIT professor emeritus Ted Postol explains how…
thegrayzone.com/2019/08/16/how-obama-helped-trump-escalate-nuclear-tensions-with-russia/

Progressives Are Right to Endorse a 'No First Use' Nuclear Weapons Policy
James Carden | thenation.com | 2019-08-15
Progressives Are Right to Endorse a 'No First Use' Nuclear Weapons Policy…
thenation.com/article/nuclear-weapons-no-first-use-john-bolton-donald-trump/

Australia must end its support for more US wars
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2019-08-15
anti-war Pip HinmanIssue 1233 Australia Iran AUSMIN talksRemember when Donald Trump campaigned for office in 2016 on getting the United States out of "endless wars"? He did, in part, to distinguish himself from the pr…
greenleft.org.au/content/australia-must-end-its-support-more-us-wars

Here Are Five Lies About Iran That We Need to Refute to Stop Another Illegal War
Mehdi Hasan | theintercept.com | 2019-08-14
The Trump administration is lying about Iran and its nuclear program. The media has to debunk this false drumbeat for war.
theintercept.com/2019/08/14/trump-iran-worst-lies/

United States and Turkey Agree to a Syrian "Safe Zone," Betraying the Kurds
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-14
Baris Karaagac discusses how the U.S allowed the Turkish government seize land in northern Syria to counter Russian and Iranian influence in spite of former Kurdish allies…
therealnews.com/stories/united-states-and-turkey-agree-to-a-syrian-safe-zone-betraying-the-kurds

How Voice of America Persian Became a Trump Administration PR Machine
Jordan Michael Smith | theintercept.com | 2019-08-13
As an Iranian American journalist covering the Iran-U.S. relationship, Negar Mortazavi is accustomed to receiving vitriol on social media. Still, she found it unusual when she saw on Twitter that someone had called her a "treasonous criminal" and "a spy and an enemy of the people." The tweets got darker: "If the U.S. had laws of the Middle Ages like Iran, this mouthpiece of the corrupt regime would have been executed," one read, in Farsi. | What made the tweets unusua…
theintercept.com/2019/08/13/trump-voa-persian/

Trump admin sabotages Iran diplomacy at every turn
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2019-08-12
With its recent sanctions on Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Trump administration continues to undermine any possibility of diplomacy…
thegrayzone.com/2019/08/12/trump-admin-sabotages-iran-diplomacy-at-every-turn/

The NYT's Pro-War Arguments Against War With Iran
Gregory Shupak | fair.org | 2019-08-09
Once you're debating who ought to start a war, you've abandoned the anti-war argument (New York Times, 6/20/19). | The New York Times has published five editorials since the beginning of May that are ostensibly critical of a possible military war between the United States and Iran. As anti-war arguments, however, they are woefully lacking–vilifying Iran without subjecting the US to comparable scrutiny, and hiding US aggression towards Iran. | The editorials regurgitate the same anti-Iran demonology pro-war voices offer to try t…
fair.org/home/the-nyts-pro-war-arguments-against-war-with-iran/

How We Learned to Hate the Bomb
Norman Stockwell | progressive.org | 2019-08-09
For nearly three-quarters of a century, "The Progressive" has been a consistent voice against nuclear madness.
progressive.org/dispatches/how-we-learned-to-hate-the-bomb-stockwell-190809/

"Global Hawk" drone: evidence of Iran's advanced defensive capability
unitedEditor | uwidata.com | 2019-08-08
The recent downing of an American "Global Hawk" drone by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards is evidence of Iran's advanced defensive capability. Iran has proven that it can answer a direct military threat, even from a global power like the US. The same can be said for the UK, whose international immunity provided by world authorities …
uwidata.com/4788-global-hawk-drone-evidence-of-irans-advanced-defensive-capability/

Kashmir Under Siege: India Moves to Annex Territory, Heightening Tensions with Nuclear Rival Pakistan
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-08-08
Tensions are escalating over the disputed region of Kashmir following India's revocation earlier this week of its special status, which granted the area some autonomy. Kashmir remains on lockdown, with internet and other communications blocked and leaders placed under house arrest. The Modi government has also deployed tens of thousands of additional troops in Kashmir. Pakistan announced Wednesday it would expel India's ambassador and stop its newly appointed envoy from assuming his position in New Delhi. It also announced it was cutting off all bilateral trade with India. We speak with three guests: Sanjay Kak,…
www.democracynow.org/2019/8/8/kashmir

US Sanctions Iran's Foreign Minister; Move Seen as Rebuke of Diplomatic Offer
Jason Ditz | theantimedia.com | 2019-08-01
The latest US sanctions on Iran are very specific, hitting FM Javad Zarif, blocking all property and financial interests he has in the US.

US Sanctions Iran's Foreign Minister; Move Seen as Rebuke of Diplomatic Offer

Diplomacy Instead of a Disaster in Iran
Paul Kawika Martin | peaceaction.org | 2019-07-18
Washington, D.C. — July 18, 2019 — In response to reports of the U.S. shooting down an Iranian drone, Paul Kawika Martin, Senior Director for Policy and Political Affairs at Peace Action, released the following statement: "Because of the Trump administration's policy of maximum provocation towards Iran, America stands on the precipice of another blunderous …
peaceaction.org/2019/07/18/diplomacy-instead-of-a-disaster-in-iran/