2020-02-28: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these 'POSTEES' on social media!

US sees 'significant reduction' in Afghan violence, prepares to sign historic deal with Taliban
rt.com | 2020-02-28
The US has seen a significant reduction in violence in Afghanistan during the past six days, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday. The statement comes the day before Washington hopes to sign an American troops withdrawal deal with the Taliban. | "We have seen just these last six days a significant reduction in violence in Afghanistan," Pompeo told lawmakers in Washington. | "We are watching closely to see if the Islamic Republic of Iran begins to take even more active measures… that undermine our efforts at peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan," he said. | Pompeo's remark suggested that if the dr…
rt.com/newsline/481943-taliban-us-deal-afghanistan/

A Difficult Peace
Sean Reynolds | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-02-28
Nearly a thousand of us were gathered in Chicago beneath the alarming edifice of Chicago's "Trump Tower." Iran's General Qassem Soleimani had been brutally murdered the day before in Iraq, with several of his associates; and the welcome surprise of Iran's relatively measured response was yet a few days off. A region-wide conflagration seemed just …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/02/a-difficult-peace/

Doctors Without Borders: Cheap Coronavirus Diagnostic Kits Needed in War-Torn Areas & Refugee Camps
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-02-28
Across the U.S., officials report a severe shortage of test kits for coronavirus. New York officials say they're preparing their own kits, after kits distributed by the Centers for Disease Control failed validation tests. Meanwhile, new cases of coronavirus continue to spring up worldwide, with Nigeria reporting its first case and one of Iran's vice presidents testing positive. We discuss how MSF USA, or Doctors Without Borders USA, is responding to coronavirus, with the organization's executive director, Avril BenoàÆt.
www.democracynow.org/2020/2/28/avril_benoit_msf_usa_coronavirus

US Military Building Presence in Saudi Arabia for First Time in 17 Years
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-02-28
Amid rising tensions with Iran, the United States is increasing its military presence in Saudi Arabia- separated from the Islamic Republic by only the Persian Gulf. Some 2,500 troops have arrived at their new home, the Prince Sultan Air Base, some 60 km southeast of Riyadh. On Iran, General John Walker, commander of the 378th Air Expeditionary Wing at the base, said: "We face a thinking enemy that is playing a real regional conflict for keeps, and they're very good." | While the U.S. government has not given any indication of how long it expects its forces to be there, temporary structures are being replaced with…
mintpressnews.com/us-military-building-presence-saudi-arabia/265343/

Turkey bombs Syria after losing dozens of troops to Syrian-Russian airstrike
wsws.org | 2020-02-28
The danger is growing that all-out war could erupt between the NATO alliance and the Syrian government's major international backers, Iran and Russia.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/02/28/turk-f28.html

'Not noble to cheer human suffering': Tehran shreds US offer of 'help' with coronavirus as Pompeo vows to 'sustain' sanctions
rt.com | 2020-02-28
Washington's offer to assist Tehran with its COVID-19 outbreak is pure hypocrisy, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said, condemning the top US diplomat after he promised to keep up crippling sanctions on Iran while vowing to send aid. | While US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told lawmakers on Friday that the administration had extended an offer to help Tehran beat back the lethal virus, he couldn't help but take jabs at "the regime," insisting Washington would "sustain [its] pressure" through a devastating sanctions campaign

The Space Force Becomes a Weapons System, Arms Companies Profit
T.J. Coles | counterpunch.org | 2020-02-28
As the world gets used to what the US military calls "Full Spectrum Dominance," the complex uplinks/downlinks, spurious RADAR returns, cyber glitches, and misinterpretations of big data bring the world closer to its ends, especially as US systems–including possibly nuclear–are orbited or put into the loop of the new Space Force. But the news isn't…
counterpunch.org/2020/02/28/the-space-force-becomes-a-weapons-system-arms-companies-profit/

'Aggressive designs': Pakistan blasts India's $3bn arms deal with Washington for 'destabilizing already volatile region'
rt.com | 2020-02-28
Islamabad has voiced concern over a recent multi-billion dollar weapons deal signed between Washington and New Delhi, insisting its nuclear-armed rival is upsetting stability in southern Asia. | On the heels of the $3 billion exchange inked last week

Turkey, Russia tiptoe toward 'unnecessary war'
M. K. Bhadrakumar | iranian.com | 2020-02-28
A military confrontation between Turkey and Syria has erupted in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib. Latest reports say that at least 34 Turkish soldiers were killed on Thursday in a Syrian air attack. A Turkish retaliation commenced last night itself. The Syrian airstrike in Idlib took place in an area between the towns Baluon and …
iranian.com/2020/02/28/turkey-russia-tiptoe-toward-unnecessary-war/

Prominent Iranian physician clears up misconceptions about outbreak & impact of sanctions
Sina Toossi | iranian.com | 2020-02-28
Prominent Iranian physician & member of the Health Ministry Minoo Mohraz has for her part defended the health ministry's data but has also said the number of people infected has been underreported because sanctions had blocked access to diagnostic kits: twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409214002999296 twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409467125059584 twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409591616118786 twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409679872663562 twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409919447117824 twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233410030164226049 twitter.co…
iranian.com/2020/02/28/prominent-iranian-physician-clears-up-misconceptions-about-outbreak-impact-of-sanctions/

Selected Articles: Assad's Victory in Syria War?
Global Research News | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-28
A future without independent media leaves us with an upside down reality where according to the corporate media "NATO deserves a Nobel Peace Prize", and where "nuclear weapons and wars make us safer" | | | If, like us, this is a …
globalresearch.ca/selected-articles-are-we-seeing-assad-victory-syria-war/5704994

"I Don't Think That You are Telling Us the Truth": House Democrats Grill Pompeo on Iran and Coronavirus
Eoin Higgins, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-02-28
"You can't hide behind classification on this one because you can't classify something that doesn't exist." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-1203951459.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2020/02/28/i-dont-think-you-are-telling-us-truth-house-democrats-grill-pompeo-iran-and?cd-origin=rss

A Difficult Peace‚Ä®
Sean Reynolds | zcomm.org | 2020-02-27
Nearly a thousand of us were gathered in Chicago beneath the alarming edifice of Chicago's "Trump Tower." Iran's General Qassem Soleimani had been brutally murdered the day before in Iraq, with several of his associates; and the welcome surprise of Iran's relatively measured response was yet a few days off. A region-wide conflagration seemed just Read…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/a-difficult-peace%e2%80%a8/

It's just business: US & Britain buying more and more oil from Russia
rt.com | 2020-02-27
Russia more than doubled crude oil supplies to the United States and Britain in 2019, data from the Federal Customs Service (FCS) has revealed. | A fall in prices for the Russian Urals oil, combined with US sanctions against Venezuela and Iran, were among the reasons for such an increase in purchases. | According to the data cited by business news outlet RBC, in October Russia became the second-largest supplier of oil and petroleum products to the United States. At the end of 2019, crude oil exports from Russia amounted to almost $2.2 billion, 2.4 times more than in 2018. In physical terms, the volume of oil e…
rt.com/business/481807-us-uk-russian-oil-purchases/

Death Toll from Coronavirus Rises to 26 in Iran
telesurenglish.net | 2020-02-27
The outbreak of coronavirus, officially named as COVID-19, in Iran has affected 245 people, Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education announced on Thursday. | RELATED: | Iran's Deputy Minister of Health Is Infected With Covid-19 | Kianush Jahanpur, head of Public Relations and Information Center of Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said that among the infected people, 26 have died. | Jahanpur said that Iran has raised the number of the laboratories for testing the vir…
telesurenglish.net/news/Death-Toll-from-Coronavirus-Rises-to-26-in-Iran-20200227-0001.html

Former Iranian ambassador to Vatican succumbs to coronavirus in first high-profile death of the epidemic
rt.com | 2020-02-27
Iran's former ambassador to the Vatican, prominent cleric Hadi Khosrowshahi, has died of coronavirus after being treated in hospital, according to state media. He is the highest-profile casualty of the epidemic so far. | Khoswrowshahi, 81, died in hospital on Thursday, bringing the country's death toll up to 26. There are 245 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Iran, including a handful of government officials. The deputy health minister, vice president for women and family affairs, and head of Iran's parliamentary security and foreign relations commission have all tested positive for the virus. At least 24 Iran…
rt.com/news/481851-iranian-ambassador-vatican-dies-coronavirus/

How Can the US Confront Coronavirus With 28 Million People Uninsured?
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-02-27
As the coronavirus continues to spread around the world, we don't yet know either the full scale of the unfolding global health disaster or the cumulative impact economically. But over the past week, as virus hotspots have emerged in South Korea, in Iran, in Italy and elsewhere, and as more and more countries find cases of the disease, we're beginning to get a sense of the magnitude of what is unfolding. | China has spent two months trying to contain an outbreak. As an authoritarian country it hasn't…
truthout.org/articles/how-can-the-us-confront-coronavirus-with-28-million-people-uninsured/

WHO Warns Against Danger of Complacency in Coronavirus Fight
telesurenglish.net | 2020-02-27
No country should make the "fatal mistake" of assuming it will be spared of the coronavirus, the World Health Organization warned Thursday, as governments across the world initiate emergency protocols to contain the epidemic's rapid spread. | RELATED: | Death Toll from Coronavirus Rises to 26 in Iran | The comments come as new infections reported around the world are now surpassing those in mainland China, whose numbers are on the decline after an aggressive containment campaign. | Chinese au…
telesurenglish.net/news/WHO-Warns-Against-Danger-of-Complacency-in-Global-Coronavirus-Fight-20200227-0014.html

Iran's VP for women and family affairs is latest official to test positive for coronavirus
rt.com | 2020-02-27
Iranian's vice president for women and family affairs, Masoumeh Ebtekar, has contracted the coronavirus. Three high-ranking officials, including Iran's deputy health minister, were already known to be infected. | "Ms. Ebtekar showed signs of infection with coronavirus and was tested. The results came back positive," IRNA quoted a spokesperson for the vice president as saying. | Earlier in the day, the head of the parliamentary security and foreign relations commission Mojtaba Zonnour said he had also tested positive for the virus. | Iran is enduring a large coronavirus outbreak; 26 people have died from the di…
rt.com/news/481825-iran-vice-president-coronavirus/

Another Top Iranian Lawmaker Contracts Coronavirus As Number of Cases Nationwide Surpasses a Hundred
sputniknews.com | 2020-02-27
The lawmaker represents the Qom Province in the Iranian Parliament. The province currently has the largest number of cases of coronavirus infection in the country.
sputniknews.com/middleeast/202002271078418737-another-top-iranian-lawmaker-contracts-coronavirus-as-number-of-cases-nationwide-surpasses-a/

No Space For War Between Nuclear Nations But Ready to Respond to India – Pakistan Military
sputniknews.com | 2020-02-27
New Delhi (Sputnik): The two South Asian nuclear-armed nations have been at loggerheads over the disputed region of Kashmir and have fought three wars in the past. Relations dipped to a new low after India in a surprise move revoked the decades-old special status of Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with India.
sputniknews.com/asia/202002271078418834-no-space-for-war-between-nuclear-nations-but-ready-to-respond-to-india—pakistan-military/

Turkish citizens returning from Iran to be quarantined
yenisafak.com | 2020-02-27
Turkish health minister on Thursday informed the Turkish citizens living in Iran about a 14-day compulsory quarantine period in case they want to return to Turkey.Fahrettin Koca's remarks came in eastern Agri province where he was investigating measures against novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 at the Gurbulak-Bazargan customs gate between Turkey and Iran.Koca urged the Turkish citizens currently living in Iran to refrain from going out especially without wearing a mask and said they also need to ventilate their home.He said the citizens should pay attention to personal hygiene, wash hands properly and avoid cl…
yenisafak.com/en/news/turkish-citizens-returning-from-iran-to-be-quarantined-3512900

Turkish Airlines temporarily halts Nakhchivan flights
yenisafak.com | 2020-02-27
Turkish Airlines has temporarily suspended flights to Azerbaijan's autonomous Nakhchivan region, the company's chairman said Thursday.Turkey's national flag carrier continues flying to the Azerbaijani capital Baku and Ganja, the country's second-largest city, Ilker Ayci added.The airline disinfected more than 250 aircraft as part of measures to fight coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, he said.In the wake of a dozen deaths from coronavirus in neighboring Iran, service there has been suspended, along with flights to China, where the outbreak began.In China, the death toll from the outbreak has reached 2,746…
yenisafak.com/en/life/turkish-airlines-temporarily-halts-nakhchivan-flights-3512887

Afghanistan 'peace deal' is not real without Iran
Pepe Escobar | iranian.com | 2020-02-27
Nearly two decades after the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan post-9/11, and after an interminable war costing over $ 2 trillion, there's hardly anything "historic" about a possible peace deal that may be signed in Doha this coming Saturday between Washington and the Taliban. We should start by stressing three points. 1- The Taliban wanted …
iranian.com/2020/02/27/afghanistan-peace-deal-is-not-real-without-iran/

Thousands Of US Troops Return To Saudi Base After 17-Year Absence To "Deter Iran"
Zero Hedge | iranian.com | 2020-02-27
After a nearly 17 year absence, US troops have returned Saudi Arabia's Prince Sultan Air Base. The last time the base, which lies about 60 miles outside of Riyadh, saw an American presence was in 2003, after which the troops moved to Qatar. The American troop surge into the gulf region to curtail Iran continues even as the world …
iranian.com/2020/02/27/thousands-of-us-troops-return-to-saudi-base-after-17-year-absence-to-deter-iran/

America's Iran Policy Backed Into a Corner By MEK in Albania
Anne Khodabandeh | iranian.com | 2020-02-27
Since well before President Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, the U.S. and Iran have been in a de facto state of non-military warfare with sanctions, economic sabotage, cyber-attacks, disinformation campaigns and social media attacks the weapons of choice. Both countries have exploited conflict in the region, especially after the rise …
iranian.com/2020/02/27/americas-iran-policy-backed-into-a-corner-by-mek-in-albania/

The Pentagon's New Map: How to Know if America Is Your Enemy
Eric Zuesse | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-26
If your country is friendly toward Russia, China, or Iran, then today's American Government is probably applying subversion, economic sanctions, or maybe even planning a coup, or (if none of those will succeed) probably is war-gaming now for a possible …
globalresearch.ca/know-america-your-enemy/5704774

UN disarmament chief hopes upcoming conference will address current nuclear challenges
news.un.org | 2020-02-26
With division and distrust rife among countries that possess nuclear arsenals, the UN disarmament chief is hopeful that the issue will be addressed during an upcoming conference on the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/02/1058171

JCPOA Members Remain Committed to the Deal: Russian Official
The Iran Project | iranian.com | 2020-02-26
The Permanent Representative of Russia to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said on Wednesday that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is regarded as an important part of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Mikhail Ulyanov made the remarks in tweet about the meeting of the Joint Commission of the …
iranian.com/2020/02/26/jcpoa-members-remain-committed-to-the-deal-russian-official/

Iran: Hotel business hit hard by coronavirus outbreak
Anadolu Agency | iranian.com | 2020-02-26
A vast majority of hotels in Qom, a holy city of Iran, have closed in the wake of rising cases of the coronavirus. Ahmed Fellahiyan, head of Qom Hotels and Hostels Association, told Iranian Students News Agency: "There are no tourists left in Qom due to coronavirus. Reservations are all cancelled. Only 30% of hotels …
iranian.com/2020/02/26/iran-hotel-business-hit-hard-by-coronavirus-outbreak/

Iran deputy health minister has coronavirus: Adviser
Sputnik News | iranian.com | 2020-02-25
Tehran previously stated that at least 95 people had been diagnosed with the dangerous disease. The majority of confirmed cases in the country come from the city of Qom – a centre of traditional pilgrimage for Shia Muslims, with at least 15 Iranians dying from the disease. Iran's Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi has tested …
iranian.com/2020/02/25/iran-deputy-health-minister-has-coronavirus-adviser/

Deconstructing the election to Iran's Majlis
M. K. Bhadrakumar | iranian.com | 2020-02-25
Iran's parliamentary election on Friday took place in extraordinary circumstances. The pandemic fear over coronavirus significantly impacted the voter turnout, which is estimated to be around 42% (as compared to 62% in the 2016 election to the Majlis). A dozen people have died so far in Iran and a few dozen diagnosed with the virus …
iranian.com/2020/02/24/deconstructing-the-election-to-irans-majlis/

Last Process: 38 Postees: 2020-02-29 05:40 GMT (00:40 EST)

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