Category Archives: US foreign policy

Method of attack on tankers remains key evidence against Iran

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Release of colour images adds more clarity to debate but fails to prove responsibility

The sophistication of the attacks on two shipping tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week had already led most independent analysts to conclude Iran was responsible for the high-profile explosions.

But there has been scepticism from some key countries, including Germany and Japan, after the US initially released a grainy black and white video it said showed Iranian forces removing an unexploded mine from one of the two targeted ships. Iran has denied involvement.

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Pompeo again blames Iran for tanker attacks but insists ‘we don’t want war’

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  • ‘President Trump has done everything he can to avoid war’
  • US secretary of state claims ‘lots of evidence’ of Iran culpability

The United States does not want to go to war with Iran, the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said on Sunday, following an attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week.

Pompeo reiterated that the US believes it was “unmistakable” that Iran was responsible for the attacks, in an interview with Fox News Sunday. He stressed a need for diplomacy and said American officials are reaching out to their foreign counterparts.

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Jeremy Corbyn: no ‘credible evidence’ of Iran role in tanker attacks

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Labour leader urges UK to ease tensions in Gulf after Foreign Office links blasts to Tehran

Jeremy Corbyn has called for the government to abstain from escalating tensions with Iran without “credible evidence” that Tehran was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers.

The Labour leader said Britain risked increasing the threat of war after the Foreign Office (FCO) said it was “almost certain” in its assessment that “a branch of the Iranian military … attacked the two tankers on 13 June”.

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The US must stand with the people of Hong Kong

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But for policies to be effective we must keep in mind how US actions affect the debate within China, where there is vigorous struggle over the country’s future

As the United States engages in an increasingly heated debate over policy towards China – the fight against Huawei, the trade war, talk of a new cold war – the protests in Hong Kong serve as a reminder that there are people in China who are concerned about the same things we are – basic rights, jobs, families.

In Hong Kong this week hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets to protest a proposed law that would enable the government to extradite Hong Kong citizens to the mainland – legislation perceived as legal cover for the Chinese Communist party (CCP) to jail those in Hong Kong advocating for their democratic rights.

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UK joins US in accusing Iran of tanker attacks as crew held

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Trump says incident involving two vessels in Gulf of Oman has ‘Iran written all over it’

The US has accused Iran of detaining the crew of one of two oil tankers attacked in the Gulf of Oman this week, as the UK also joined in formally blaming the country, saying no other nation or group “could plausibly be responsible”.

Washington claims Iran is behind a succession of recent shipping attacks in the Gulf. It said grainy video published on the US Central Command’s website provided evidence of Iran’s involvement in Thursday’s attacks. The footage purportedly shows an Iranian boat removing an unexploded mine from one of the vessels.

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US says video shows Iranian military removing mine from tanker

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  • US secretary of state accuses Tehran of ‘lashing out’
  • Iran denies responsibility for early morning attack

The US military has released video footage it says shows an Iranian military patrol boat approach one of two tankers attacked in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, to support the Trump administration’s claims that Iran was responsible.

The blurry black and white footage, taken from the air, shows a small military boat alongside a tanker and someone stand up on the prow of the boat to remove an object from the tanker’s hull. The small boat then pulls away from the tanker. US officials were quoted as saying the boat was an Iranian Revolutionary Guard patrol boat approaching the tanker after it was attacked, and the object removed was an unexploded limpet mine.

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Two oil tankers struck in suspected attacks in Gulf of Oman

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Sailors evacuated from two tankers in distress near the strategic strait of Hormuz

Two oil tankers have been hit in suspected attacks in the Gulf of Oman a month after a similar incident in which four tankers in the region were struck.

The US navy’s fifth fleet said it was assisting the tankers, which issued distress calls near the strategic strait of Hormuz. The crew from both tankers were evacuated.

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Pence defends Trump’s ban on pride flags at US embassies as ‘right decision’

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  • Administration stopped US embassies flying LGBTQ flag
  • ‘When it comes to the flagpole … one American flag flies’

Vice-President Mike Pence has defended the Trump administration’s decision to prohibit US embassies from flying the rainbow pride flag on their flagpoles during LBGTQ pride month.

Related: Trump v Mueller: how the president won the messaging wars

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Mexican president leads ‘celebration’ rally after US tariffs dropped

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Andrés Manuel López Obrador tells crowd in Tijuana he is raising an ‘open hand’, not a closed fist, to Donald Trump

The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, travelled to the border city of Tijuana to rally the country in “defence of national dignity”, but to also reaffirm friendship with the US people – barely a day after the US cancelled the threat of tariffs.

López Obrador called the rally, which was convened prior to the tariffs being cancelled, a “celebration” of both countries brokering a deal.

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Trump’s Mexico deal is victory for ‘hostage-taking’, ex-WTO head says

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Pascal Lamy said Trump’s actions went against the spirit of diplomacy after Mexico agreed to expand asylum program

The immigration deal imposed on Mexico by Donald Trump under the threat of punitive tariffs is a victory for “hostage-taking” over international rules, a former head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) said on Saturday.

Related: Trump calls off tariffs after US-Mexico deal but Mnuchin says threat remains

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US ambassador: Israel has right to annex parts of West Bank

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  • David Friedman gives interview to New York Times
  • ‘Israel has right to some, but unlikely all’ of disputed territory

The US ambassador to Israel did not rule out an Israeli move to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, land the Palestinians seek for a state, in an interview with the New York Times published on Saturday.

Related: Jared Kushner casts doubt on Palestinian ability to self-govern

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Trump wants to sell more weapons to Saudi Arabia. Congress must stop him | Mohamad Bazzi

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The administration wants to sell $8bn of weapons to Saudi Arabia and UAE – and prop up a morally indefensible war

On the Friday before Memorial Day, when few Americans were paying attention, the Trump administration announced that it would circumvent Congress and sell $8bn in new weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It was Donald Trump’s latest attempt to give a blank check to two US allies leading a disastrous war in Yemen.

Related: UK arms exports are still playing a central role in Yemen’s humanitarian crisis | Anna Stavrianakis

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Inquiry into oil tanker attacks stops short of blaming Iran

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UN security council hears unidentified state was behind explosions in Gulf last month

An unidentified state actor has been blamed for attacks on four oil tankers in the Gulf last month, according to an inconclusive inquiry that stopped short of explicitly pointing the finger at Iran.

The UAE along with Saudi Arabia and Norway presented the preliminary findings during a private briefing to members of the UN security council, which will also receive the final results of the inquiry and consider a possible response.

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Mexico tightens southern border security as another day passes with no tariff deal

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Under pressure from Trump, Mexico has launched a crackdown on the Guatemala border, arresting activists and holding migrants

As Donald Trump’s deadline for new tariffs on Mexican imports draws near, Mexico has stepped up security along its porous border with Guatemala – deploying police and soldiers to its southern frontier and arresting prominent migration activists.

Trump last week pledged to impose 5% tariffs on Mexican products on 10 June unless Mexico stops Central American migrants from travelling through its territory.

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US envoy says Russia still stands with Maduro, contradicting Trump

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Elliott Abrams says Russians ‘have not abandoned’ Nicolas Maduro despite US president’s tweet

The US special envoy for Venezuela has said that Moscow has “not abandoned” the regime of Nicolás Maduro and that the Russian presence in the South American country has not significantly changed since the failed uprising in April led by opposition leader Juan Guaidó.

Donald Trump tweeted earlier this week that “Russia has informed us that they have removed most of their people from Venezuela”, but the claim was quickly disputed by the Kremlin.

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Trump visit avoids major pitfalls despite usual blunders

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US president’s behaviour seemed tame in comparison with disastrous visit last year

He insulted London’s mayor, abused an American actor on Twitter at 1.20am, turned Brexit into a threat to the National Health Service, described Meghan Markle as nasty, and behaved as if he was a kingmaker offering audiences to aspirants from the 51st state, and yet to Whitehall’s diplomats Donald Trump’s state visit was by no means the worst in living memory.

It may be that the bar had been set vertiginously low, or that Trump, as a repeat visitor, has lost some of his capacity for shock and awe. Somehow, it seemed tame and normalised in comparison with his previous disastrous visit a year ago. Even the protests felt familiar, and like Trump’s insults aimed at Sadiq Khan, heartfelt but formulaic.

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Trump compares post-Brexit Irish border issue to plans for US-Mexico wall – video

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Donald Trump has started his visit to Ireland by comparing the country's post-Brexit border with Northern Ireland to the US border with Mexico, along which the US president wants to build a permanent wall. The Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, who looked visibly uncomfortable at the joint press conference, responded by saying that 'the main thing we want to avoid, of course, is a wall or a border' 

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Trump’s anti-abortion global gag rule harming women in Africa and Asia, report says

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‘People are dying as a result of the policy’ that bans aid to foreign groups who provide or promote abortions, says author of report

The Trump administration’s anti-abortion restrictions on US global health aid funding have significantly damaged health care for women in Africa and central Asia, according to a new report.

Restrictions on funding also include limiting access to funds for sex education, and shifting funds to anti-LGBTQ and pro-abstinence groups such as Focus on the Family, researchers say.

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Trump officials approved Saudi nuclear permits after Khashoggi murder

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  • Seven licenses approved for Riyadh by US energy department
  • Democrats: ‘Were decisions … based on Trump’s financial ties?’

The Trump administration twice approved licenses for the export of nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia after the murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, it emerged on Tuesday.

Related: Jamal Khashoggi: murder in the consulate

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41-gun salutes and a Twitter tirade: Donald Trump arrives in UK

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US president attends Buckingham Palace banquet after starting state visit with angry tweets

  • Follow all the latest on Trump’s visit with our live blog

Donald Trump breezed into Britain by launching an attack on London’s mayor and berating so-called fake news before being honoured with a glittering banquet hosted by the Queen.

Buckingham Palace provided the sumptuous backdrop for the US president, who had long desired the endorsement of an official state visit, and took the opportunity to bring four of his five children with him.

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