WSWS (2022-02-04). Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa. wsws.org Strikes across France by healthcare, transport and employment agency workers over staff shortages, workload and pay; protests by teachers across Iran against wages and conditions following protests of retirees demanding a rise in pensions; 5,000 South African food workers on indefinite strike against pay and job cuts for eleventh week…

William D. Hartung (2022-02-04). What a Waste, and You're Paying for it: $778 Billion for the Pentagon and Still Counting. juancole.com ( Tomdispatch.com) — 2021 was another banner year for the military-industrial complex, as Congress signed off on a near-record $778 billion in spending for the Pentagon and related work on nuclear warheads at the Department of Energy. That was $25 billion more than the Pentagon had even asked for. It can't be emphasized enough just …

_____ (2022-02-03). Iran's Economy Reveals Power And Limits Of US Sanctions. popularresistance.org Tehran, Iran — As economists, politicians, and pundits mull the threat of "swift and severe" United States economic sanctions against Russia should the latter invade Ukraine, one country that has long been in Washington's crosshairs does not have to ponder what such punitive measures can do — Iran. | Some 655 Iranian entities and individuals were sanctioned under the administration of former US President Barack Obama, according to data compiled by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). But the most brutal punishment kicked off in 2018, after former US President Donald Trump's administration un…

Dave DeCamp (2022-02-03). Top Senate Democrat Slams Biden Administration for Negotiating With Iran to Revive the JCPOA. news.antiwar.com Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), the influential chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Menendez said the administration was "clinging" to the deal for "nostalgia's sake" in a rebuke to the US's indirect negotiations with Iran. "At this point, we seriously have to ask what exactly are we trying to salvage?" he said. | "As someone who has followed Iran's nuclear…

Dave DeCamp (2022-02-03). US Officials Claim Iran's 'Breakout Time' Will Be Under a Year If JCPOA Is Revived. news.antiwar.com As the indirect negotiations between the US and Iran are said to be entering the final stage, anonymous US officials "Breakout time" is a term used in the US and Israel that means the time it would take for Iran to develop a nuclear bomb if they decided to make one. The estimates are generally made to make it appear that Tehran is secretly planning to make a bomb, but after decades of warnings, it still hasn't happ…

_____ (2022-02-02). After Failed Talks, Russia Will Likely Target Persian Gulf. popularresistance.org For some reason, in the aftermath of this month's failed talks among the Russian, American and NATO representatives in Geneva, everybody is talking as though they believe Russia's invasion of Ukraine is imminent. From the officials of the U.S. State Department, Pentagon and NATO to the intelligence agencies and the media, nearly everyone is talking as though they have not the slightest doubt that Russia intends to invade. | However, in a Friday meeting with president Biden, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Biden not to provoke panic, saying that he did not see a greater threat now then during a simila…

_____ (2022-02-02). Russia Opens Doors for Iran's Eurasian integration. strategic-culture.org Raisi and Putin's January meeting may have seemed anticlimactic, but Russia is now opening doors for Iran's Eurasian integration | By Yeghia TASHJIAN | On 20 January, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi traveled to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow, with the express purpose of advancing bilateral ties between both countries at the highest level. | Among the talking points of the two leaders were their shared regional and international issues, the Vienna negotiations for Iran's nuclear program, and regional cooperation in Eurasia. | Contrary to expectations and to the positive statements made befor…

Anonymous103 (2022-02-02). Biden Intensifies Anti-China/Russia Rhetoric As US Struggles With Rising Inflation. southfront.org Click to see full-size imagePolls suggest that the Democrats will lose control of Congress. | Written by Paul Antonopoulos, independent geopolitical analyst | While many in the US are trying to address pressing domestic issues, the White House's political rhetoric is intended to divert voters' attention to non-existent external threats. If one is to believe Western mass media, it would appear that the US is being encircled by external threats, primarily China and Russia, but also by the likes of Iran and North Korea. | Alt…

Kamal Iranidoost (2022-02-02). US behavior in imposing sanctions unpredictable: Kremlin. en.mehrnews.com The Kremlin spokesman expressed concern about the unpredictability of US behavior in imposing sanctions on other countries and called for an end to Washington's provocative actions against Moscow.