Daily Archives: May 28, 2020

2020-05-28: News Headlines

Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J.S. Davies (2020-05-28). Who Are the Secret Puppet-Masters Behind Trump's War on Iran? commondreams.org CODEPINK protesters at Congressional hearing on Iran in 2015. (Photo: CODEPINK) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/cp_senate.jpg_1718483346_1.jpg

Stephen Lendman (2020-05-28). Trump Regime Escalates War by Other Means on Iran and China. globalresearch.ca The US under both right wings of its war party represents an unparalleled threat to world peace, stability, democratic values, and the rule of law. | As long as the world community fails to uphold UN Charter principles and other core …

teleSUR (2020-05-28). Norway: Municipality Forced to Receive NATO Nuclear Submarines. telesurenglish.net The port of Tromso, located in a Norwegian municipality above the Arctic Circle, will receive nuclear submarines from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) even though local politicians have opposed the decision. | RELATED: | "The government and parliament do not dare say 'no' to the U.S.," Norway's Greenpeace leader Frode Pleym said. | After private investors bought the Olavsvern naval base in Tromso, NATO pushed for a…

teleSUR (2020-05-28). Fourth Iranian Tanker Arrives In Venezuela's Territory. telesurenglish.net The Faxon became the fourth Iranian-flagged tanker to reach Venezuela's Exclusive Economic Zone, as it entered this country jurisdictional waters, on Thursday. | RELATED: | This vessel is the fourth out of five to arrive after Forest, Fortune and Petunia entered in the past days to bring gasoline and related products as part of the bilateral energy deals signed by both countries. | Video: El buque iraní Faxon ingresó en el mar terr…

Terrace (2020-05-28). Why Iran's Fuel Tankers For Venezuela Are Sending Shudders Through Washington. popularresistance.org There was worry that as the Iranian tankers approached the Venezuelan coast the US warships would challenge their progress. As it turned out, the US Navy did not intervene. A major internal incident was averted. | Why the United States did not block the Iranian vessels does not have to do with Iran or Venezuela alone. It has to do with the presence of China behind both countries. | China has deep commercial links with Iran, and it has gradually developed such linkages with Venezuela. During the global pandemic, China has flown vital supplies to both countries. But, crucially, at the United Nations China has been…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-05-28). US announces end of sanction waivers under nuclear deal to Iran. peoplesdispatch.org US secretary of state Mike Pompeo announced the end of exemptions provided under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal to some foreign companies to work on certain Iranian nuclear sites. The waiver was renewed every 60 days despite the unilateral US withdrawal from the deal in 2018…

Dean Baker (2020-05-28). Washington Post Tells Readers About Trump's "Existential" Threat to China. cepr.net Thankfully, it is not a nuclear war. Apparently the Washington Post thinks plans considered by Trump to delist Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges and to make it more difficult for the country to trade in dollars will pose an "existential" threat to the country. While these plans, which put into practice, will almost certainly …

Kathy Durkin (2020-05-27). Iran-Venezuela solidarity breaks U.S. blockade. workers.org In an act of solidarity, Iran is sending a fleet of five tankers carrying 1.53 million barrels of needed gasoline and related fuel products to Venezuela. On May 23 and 25, the first two ships traveled through the Caribbean Sea and entered Venezuelan territorial waters with a Venezuelan naval and . . . |

Stephen Lendman (2020-05-27). Iran and Venezuela: Standing Tall Against Imperial USA. globalresearch.ca If all nations operated like Iran and Venezuela, world peace and stability would replace endless wars of aggression against nations threatening no one. | If countries worldwide refused to subordinate their sovereign rights to US interests, its imperial scourge would be …

Gareth Porter (2020-05-27). Washington's Tall Tale of Iranian-Al Qaeda Alliance. globalresearch.ca The U.S. assassination of

Finian Cunningham (2020-05-27). From Open Skies to Open Season for Nukes. thealtworld.com Washington is destroying trust and integrity by deliberately creating insecurity in order to achieve its geopolitical objective of controlling China. | Another one bites the dust. In less two years, President Donald Trump has now binned three major arms-control treaties — quite a record for undermining decades of international security architecture. First there was the nuclear accord with Iran (2018), then the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty (2019), and now the Open Skies Treaty. | There is growing concern that the Trump administration will let the last-remaining arms-control treaty fall — th…

commondreams (2020-05-27). NIAC Statement on Trump Termination of Iran Nonproliferation Waivers. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Terrace (2020-05-27). Update On Kings Bay Plowshare 7 Sentencing. popularresistance.org On Friday, May 22, Judge Lisa Godbey Wood of the Southern District Federal Court of Georgia in Brunswick assigned new dates for seven defendants, according to the Kings Bay Plowshares' attorney, Bill Quigley. Many of the defendants had asked the court to postpone their May 28th and 29th court dates to accommodate their right to be sentenced in person in open court, witnessed by the public and press and not by video. The seven were convicted of three felonies and one misdemeanor last October for their nonviolent, symbolic disarmament act at the Kings Bay Trident nuclear submarine base. | The defendants had also as…

Gloria La Riva (2020-05-26). Defying U.S. sanctions, first Iranian tanker reaches Venezuela. liberationnews.org The enhanced U.S. military presence in Caribbean waters did not deter Iran as the first of its five giant tankers full of gasoline and refinery supplies reached Venezuela's waters late Saturday, May 23.

Gloria La Riva (2020-05-26). Desafiando las sanciones de EEUU, primer buque iraní llega a Venezuela. liberationnews.org La presencia militar de los Estados Unidos en aguas del Caribe no disuadió a Irán mientras el "Fortuna", el primero de sus cinco gigantes buques petroleros llenos de gasolina y suministros de refinería llegó a las aguas de Venezuela el sábado 23 de mayo.

Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers (2020-05-26). Venezuela and Iran Show Solidarity Can Overcome US Empire. dissidentvoice.org Commemorating 100,000 COVID-19 Deaths The official milestone of 100,000 dead in the United States from COVID-19 is near. This figure is certainly an undercount as thousands of deaths from COVID-19 are not being recorded. Before our weekly news analysis, we pause to commemorate those deaths. The US, with 4 percent of the world's population, has 28 percent of …

Jeff Jurgens (2020-05-07). Once Again Trump Scoffs Congressional War Powers with Republican Help. peaceaction.org Once Again Trump Scoffs Congressional War Powers with Republican Help Washington, D.C. — May 7, 2020 — In response to the veto by President Trump yesterday of a bill (S.J.Res.68) to reclaim congressional war powers in regards to Iran and the anticipated failure today of the Senate override vote, Paul Kawika Martin, Senior Director for …

Andrey Areshev (2020-05-27). Trump: I Can and Will Start Wars Whenever I Please. strategic-culture.org Michael TENNANT | President Donald Trump's May 6 veto of a Senate resolution that would have required him to seek congressional approval for any further military confrontations with Iran demonstrates that, despite his occasional feints toward scaling back foreign intervention, Trump is as much a warmonger as anyone else in Washington. Worse still, his explanation for his veto indicates that he believes presidents have unlimited authority to launch wars, contrary to clear constitutional language. | "The question of whether United States forces should be engaged in armed conflict against Iran should only be made fo…

RT (2020-05-28). Envoy demands VOA ramp up anti-Iran efforts to 'support' Iranians… because what they really need is more US-funded propaganda. rt.com The US government-funded Voice of America's Persian news service must "do a better job" with its anti-Iran news coverage or it risks being shut down, US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook has warned. | In an unintentionally irony-laden oped published by the New York Post on Wednesday, Hook

RT (2020-05-28). Iran slams 'desperate attempt' by US to ramp up 'maximum pressure' campaign by ending sanctions waivers. rt.com Tehran has dismissed the Trump administration's "desperate attempt" to increase pressure on Iran by ending sanctions waivers that had allowed Russian, Chinese and European firms to keep working at civilian Iranian nuclear sites. | Washington will give foreign governments 60 days to wind down operations on the facilities or face new sanctions of their own, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday. The waivers had been in place since President Donald Trump tore up the 2015 nuclear deal two years ago. | The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said Washington was engaging in a "desperate attempt to distr…

RT (2020-05-28). 'NATO roulette': Norwegian port to host nuclear-powered US subs despite local objections. rt.com A municipal port in Norway is set to receive nuclear-powered submarines from NATO after the only naval base in the area was sold and decommissioned — but local politicians and environmental activists aren't on board with the plan. | When the Olavsvern base in Tromso was sold to private investors in 2009, pressure mounted from NATO to find an alternative point of arrival for reactor-driven vessels, other than Haakonsvern in Bergen, which is currently the only approved port in the country. | Now it appears a "temporary solution" to the problem has been found at Grotsund in Tromso, where the country's Armed…

RT (2020-05-28). US could conduct live NUCLEAR test 'within months' if Trump orders it. rt.com The US could carry out a live nuclear test within "months" should the president request it, a senior Pentagon official said, suggesting "geopolitical issues" — presumably referring to Moscow and Beijing — could prompt the order. | Though Washington has not altered its official stance on nuclear tests — which have been on pause for nearly three decades — that could change "rapidly," the acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Matters Drew Walter told an online forum hosted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies on Tuesday. | "If the president directed — becau…

RT (2020-05-27). Teenage girl's brutal 'honor killing' death in Iran stirs Rouhani to call for harsher laws. rt.com The alleged murder of a young Iranian teen by her father for running away with her older boyfriend has sparked public anger and prompted President Hassan Rouhani to push for harsher punishments for so-called 'honor killings'. | Five days after leaving with her 34-year-old boyfriend, Romina Ashrafi — who was aged 13 or 14, according to local media reports — was returned home following official complaints from her family. Despite multiple warnings to the authorities that she feared retaliation from her father, Ashrafi was sent back home to the city of Talesh. | Her father, Reza Ashrafi, reportedly used…

RT (2020-05-27). US ends ALL BUT ONE sanctions waivers for Iran nuclear facilities. rt.com The US is giving foreign governments 60 days to wrap up work on Iranian nuclear facilities — 90 days for the civilian reactor in Bushehr — or face Washington's sanctions, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced. | Washington has offered waivers for its sanctions against Tehran in connection with several civilian facilities since President Donald Trump unilaterally exited a nuclear deal with Iran in 2018. Now those waivers are being phased out entirely, Pompeo said on Wednesday. | European, Chinese and Russian companies working on nuclear projects in Iran will have two months to wrap up their o…

en.mehrnews (2020-05-28). Rouhani congratulates Azerbaijan on Republic Day. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 28 (MNA) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani felicitated his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev the occasion of Azerbaijan's national holiday, the Republic Day.

en.mehrnews (2020-05-28). Parliament open session on Thursday. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 28 (MNA) — The new Iranian lawmakers held an open session on Thursday to elect the Parliament's presiding board. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a former mayor of Tehran, was elected as the new speaker of the Parliament with 230 votes. Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi and Ali Nikzad were also elected as the first and second vice-speakers of the Parliament.

en.mehrnews (2020-05-28). Iran never to show passivity against enemies: IRGC chief. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 28 (MNA) — Chief Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami hailed Iran's considerable progress in the defense sector, underlining that the Islamic Republic will never show passivity against enemies' threats.

en.mehrnews (2020-05-28). Iran criticizes US for further violation of JCPOA, UNSCR 2231. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 28 (MNA) — Iran's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations criticized the new decision by the United States to end the remaining sanctions waivers under the nuclear deal, saying Washington is further violating the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and the UNSC Resolution 2231.

en.mehrnews (2020-05-28). Iran records 2,258 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 28 (MNA) — The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has infected 2,258 people and claimed 63 lives in Iran in the past 24 hours, a senior health official said.

en.mehrnews (2020-05-28). South Korea to send $500,000 worth medical cargo to Iran. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 28 (MNA) — South Korea will this week send $500,000 worth of medicine to Iran used to treat a hereditary disease, the South Korean foreign ministry said Thursday.

Jon Rainwater (2020-04-23). A Myriad of Ways to Wage Peace During These Times. peaceaction.org As we shelter in our homes to protect ourselves from this global pandemic, we wanted to share some of the many ways you can remain active and impactful in the work for a more peaceful world. Peace Action has long been a leader in organizing international conferences, marches, and rallies around the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty …

Lilly Dragnev (2020-03-13). Latest U.S. Military Strikes Are as Reckless as they are Cruel. peaceaction.org Washington, D.C. — March 12, 2020 — In response to reports that the U.S. has carried out five airstrikes on Iranian-backed militia sites in Iraq, Jon Rainwater, Executive Director of Peace Action, released the following statement: "At a time of one of the greatest global challenges of our lifetimes, it is shocking that the Trump …

Paul Kawika Martin (2020-03-11). Congress Sends Bipartisan Bill to Trump Rebuking Iran War. peaceaction.org Washington, D.C. — March 11, 2020 — In response to the House passing the bipartisan bill — S.J.Res.68 — that would thwart President Trump from going to war with Iran and end any current hostilities, Paul Kawika Martin, Senior Director for Policy and Political Affairs at Peace Action, released the following statement: "Both chambers and …

Strategic Culture (2020-02-08). US Deploys 'Mini-Nukes' in Deplorable Threat to World Peace. theantimedia.com These so-called "mini-nukes" represent—despite the diminutive-sounding name—an increased risk of nuclear war.

Jason Ditz (2020-02-05). Trump Says War With Iran Was "Closer Than You Thought" Last Month. theantimedia.com Trump told reporters that the U.S. came "closer than you thought" to war with Iran last month.