Category Archives: Iran

Rebels withdraw in key Syrian town as pro-Assad troops advance

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Move by insurgents in Khan Sheikhun marks a milestone for Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold

Insurgent groups have withdrawn from Khan Sheikhun in north-west Syria, clearing the way for pro-government forces to enter the town, in a milestone moment in the war for Idlib province, the country’s last major rebel stronghold.

The development came hours after Turkey deployed tanks and armoured cars deep into Syria, partly in response to days of advances by forces fighting on behalf of the Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad.

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Turkish convoy in Syria hit by airstrikes, Ankara claims

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Reported strike came after large number of Turkish forces crossed border into Idlib province

Turkey has sent significant numbers of tanks and troops deep into Syria in an apparent bid to reinforce the town of Khan Sheikhun, where 92 people died in a 2017 sarin gas attack, one of the war’s most infamous atrocities.

Columns of Turkish forces, amounting to Ankara’s largest incursion into Syria of the eight-year conflict, crossed the southern border into Idlib province early on Monday, accompanied by Arab proxy forces.

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Iranian tanker at centre of diplomatic row leaves Gibraltar

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Shipping data show vessel moving as territory rejects final US request to hold it longer

The Iranian supertanker at the centre of a diplomatic row between Britain and Iran left Gibraltar on Sunday night, according to shipping data.

The marine traffic monitoring site Refinitiv showed the vessel moving away from the British territory, where it had been held for six weeks. Shortly later Refinitiv said the tanker revised its destination to Kalamata.

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US unveils warrant to seize Iranian oil tanker in Gibraltar dispute

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A day after Gibraltar judge allows vessel’s release, US condemns ‘scheme to unlawfully access US financial system’

The US justice department has issued a warrant for the seizure of the Iranian oil tanker at the centre of a weeks-long diplomatic dispute, just a day after a Gibraltar judge allowed the release of the detained vessel.

The move by Washington marks a significant escalation in its efforts to tighten economic sanctions against Iran, trying to detain a tanker that Gibraltar had said was no longer impounded under EU sanctions.

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Ship loaded with Iranian cargo in possible breach of US sanctions on Iran – video

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Video obtained by the Guardian shows the unloading of Iranian fertiliser from a cargo ship, CS Future, at Lianyungang port in China. The fertiliser is then loaded onto another cargo ship, the Bulk Aquila, which was due to carry the product to India on behalf of an Australian-owned company, Quantum Fertiliser. International companies face potentially significant punishments for breaching sanctions imposed by the US on trade with Iran. Quantum, a trading subsidiary of the ASX-listed multinational Incitec Pivot, said it was 'misled about the origin of the product' and urgently offloaded the cargo.

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UK caught in middle of US power play with Iran

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Seizure of Iranian oil tanker off Gibraltar was welcomed by US hawks but left Britain looking vulnerable

When Gibraltar’s authorities unexpectedly impounded the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 in July, one member of Donald Trump’s administration was particularly pleased. John Bolton, the president’s hawkish national security adviser, tweeted: “Excellent news”.

The authorities in Gibraltar – with the backing of the British – said the vessel was heading for Syria. Selling oil to the regime of Bashar al-Assad was in breach of EU sanctions.

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Gibraltar says it will free oil tanker at centre of Iran row

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Territory says Tehran has promised oil is not for Syria but US is challenging decision

Gibraltar’s chief minister has said he will allow a detained Iranian oil tanker to be released after Tehran gave the territory’s government an assurance that it would not allow its cargo to be discharged in Syria.

But Fabian Picardo acknowledged that his decision could yet be overturned after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) launched a challenge in the territory’s courts.

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Maryam Shojaei helps Iran’s female football fans carry fight for admission | Suzanne Wrack

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Gianni Infantino’s efforts have not had much impact and, with World Cup qualifiers soon, the wait to attend games continues

“They think that, if they give up on this, it’s a noose for them,” says Maryam Shojaei. “People will ask for more. If they give in in one area, they fear they will have to give in in others.”

“They” are the Iranian authorities and Iranian Football Association, who have thus far resisted calls for the removal of the 40-year ban on women in football stadiums. And Shojaei, who is the sister of the Iran national team captain, Masoud Shojaei, is one of an increasing number of women campaigning for entry: some have attempted to sneak into matches disguised as men, female sports photographers have had to scale buildings nearby just to do their jobs, and others have suffered brutal arrests and detention.

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US security adviser in Britain to discuss Iran, Huawei – and Brexit

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John Bolton expected to urge tougher UK stance towards Tehran and Chinese firm

John Bolton, Donald Trump’s national security adviser, has arrived in London for talks at which he is expected to urge Britain to toughen its stance on Iran and Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei.

As the United Kingdom prepares to leave the European Union on 31 October, many diplomats expect London to become increasingly reliant on the United States.

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Why Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ foreign policy yields minimum results

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The president is heading into 2020 with no major successes and looming crises – so many expect him to attempt to reverse the trend with dramatic deals

Donald Trump is heading into the 2020 elections with no clear-cut foreign policy successes, some dramatic failures and a string of looming crises around the world that could undermine his bid for re-election.

For that reason, many expect the president to try to reverse the trend with dramatic interventions around the globe with uncertain outcomes – which will make the next 16 months even more volatile than his presidency so far.

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Iranian woman arrested in Australia pleads guilty to conspiracy in US

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Plea agreement means Negar Ghodskani, whom Iran offered to swap for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, faces five years’ jail and $369,000 fine

An Iranian mother at the centre of a legal and political tussle between Australia, Britain, the US and Iran has pleaded guilty in a Minneapolis court to being part of a conspiracy to evade US sanctions and “illegally export controlled technology”.

Negar Ghodskani, 40, was pregnant when arrested on a US warrant in Australia in 2017.

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UK joins US in mission to protect oil tankers in Gulf

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No other European countries have signed up to US-led mission to ‘uphold international navigation’

Britain is to join a mission with the US to protect oil tankers in the Gulf from seizure by Iran, but London has said no other European countries have so far been persuaded to sign up.

The UK will supply two Royal Navy ships in the Gulf alongside two US warships while British ministers urge other countries to join in as the operation is finalised.

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Iran claims it has seized third oil tanker in Gulf as tensions with US rise

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State media says vessel was taken on Wednesday carrying a cargo of 700,000 litres

Iran claims it has seized a third foreign oil tanker in the Gulf in a further escalation of tensions between Tehran and Washington and its regional allies, who continue to stare each other down over crippling economic sanctions imposed by the Trump administration.

Iranian state media claimed the tanker was Iraqi and was seized on Wednesday in a northern part of the strait of Hormuz with a cargo of 700,000 litres of oil bound for neighbouring Arab states. The strait is one of the world’s most important waterways, on which a combustible standoff has played out since early July, when a British warship intercepted an Iranian tanker off the coast of Gibraltar.

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Australia giving ‘serious consideration’ to US request to help it confront Iran

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Mike Pompeo hails ‘unbreakable’ relationship between Washington and Canberra as he urges Australia to join coalition to protect shipping in the Gulf

Australia’s defence minister Linda Reynolds says the Morrison government is giving “very serious consideration” to a formal request from the Trump administration to join a US-led coalition to protect shipping in the Gulf from Iranian military forces.

Reynolds told journalists on Sunday after annual security talks between the Australian and American foreign affairs and defence ministers that the Morrison government was deeply concerned by the heightened tensions in the region, and strongly condemned the attacks on shipping in the Gulf.

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Iran to further reduce compliance with nuclear deal

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Foreign minister says Iran has been withdrawing in stages since US pulled out last year

Iran will take another step to reduce its compliance with a landmark 2015 nuclear deal, the Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said on Saturday, according to parliamentary news agency Icana.

Iran has repeatedly said it will reduce its commitment to the nuclear accord in stages and may even withdraw from the pact altogether unless the remaining signatories find ways to shield its economy from US sanctions. Washington pulled out of the deal last year.

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UK calls meeting with US and France to discuss Hormuz plan

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Aim is to create international mission to safeguard shipping through strait near Iran

The UK has invited military representatives of the US, France and other European countries to a meeting in Bahrain on Wednesday in an attempt to create an international mission to safeguard shipping through the strait of Hormuz.

Britain hopes it can act as bridge between the US – which has the largest military presence of a western nation in the region – and countries such as Germany, which is reluctant to getting involved in any mission led by Washington.

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‘Do not put your life in danger’: Iran reveals exchange with UK warship – audio

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Iran's Revolutionary Guards have released audio of an exchange in which a UK warship is told not to intervene in the capture of a British-flagged tanker on 19 July. Iranian commandos seized the Stena Impero near the strait of Hormuz two weeks after British forces captured an Iranian tanker near Gibraltar over concerns it was defying EU sanctions by transporting oil to Syria

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Iran tanker standoff: Tehran releases nine crew of Mt Riah vessel

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India urges Tehran to release remaining three crew of tanker seized on 13 July amid Middle East tensions

Iran has freed nine of 12 Indian crew members of MT Riah, a Panama-flagged tanker it seized this month as part of a growing diplomatic crisis in the Middle East, the Indian foreign ministry said on Saturday.

The MT Riah was detained by the Iranian coastguard on 13 July, with 12 Indian crew members on board, the Indian foreign ministry said, and appealed for the release of the remaining crew. No reason has been provided as to why the three are being held.

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Court ruling over tanks debt deals new blow to UK-Iran relations

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Judge finds in UK’s favour in dispute that has been linked to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe case

The path to improved British-Iranian relations has hit a new barrier after the high court in London ruled that the UK does not have to pay at least £20m interest on the £387m it owes to Iran over the cancelled sale of Chieftain tanks in the 1970s.

The debt was seen by Boris Johnson when he was foreign secretary as critical to the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the Iranian-British dual national imprisoned in Tehran.

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Iran hints at ship swap with UK amid de-escalation efforts

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Hassan Rouhani spoke after Iraqi president’s visit to Iran at request of UK defence ministry

Iran has indicated it wants to de-escalate the British-Iranian crisis, hinting at swapping two captured tankers.

“We do not seek the continuation of tension with some European countries,” Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, said on Wednesday during a weekly cabinet meeting. “If Britain steps away from the wrong actions in Gibraltar, they will receive an appropriate response from Iran.”

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