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https://twitter.com/Raman_Ghavami/status/993932711315329025
Iran’s FM in Moscow as Russia moves to save nuclear deal
Donald Trump’s move to ditch the nuclear deal has infuriated Washington’s allies in Europe as well as China and Russia
Russian efforts to save the accord will boost its role as a power-player in the Middle East
MOSCOW: Iran’s foreign minister visits Moscow on Monday as Russia tries to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive in the wake of Washington’s pull-out, pushing it into rare cooperation with Europe.
Mohammad Javad Zarif’s diplomatic tour took him to Beijing at the weekend and will see him visit Brussels later in the week, as the international backers of the 2015 accord scrabble to save it.
After meeting his Chinese counterpart on Sunday, Zarif said he was hopeful of forging a “clear future design” for the accord.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has already spoken with Germany’s Angela Merkel and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the efforts, after voicing his “deep concern” over US President’s Donald Trump’s decision.
Trump’s move to ditch the nuclear deal has infuriated Washington’s allies in Europe as well as China and Russia.
“(European) cooperation with Russia, which until recently seemed impossible because of the Skripal (spy poisoning) case, with the expulsion of diplomats and the reduction of contact, is now receiving a fresh boost,” consultant Andrei Baklitski of the PIR Center NGO said.
“The Europeans, after the withdrawal of the US from the deal, have found themselves forced to save the Joint Cooperative Plan of Action themselves,” he added.
Moscow would have to play a key role in ensuring Tehran does not resume its nuclear program, he said.
On Sunday US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington still wants to work with Europe to counter Iran’s “malign behavior.”
But while Pompeo talked up the prospect of renewed coordination with America’s allies, another top aide reminded Europe its companies could face sanctions if they continue to do business with the Middle Eastern power.
Russian efforts to save the accord will boost its role as a power-player in the Middle East, after its intervention on the side of Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria.
This, along with its diplomatic moves to orchestrate an end to the conflict, has put Moscow at loggerheads with the US and Europe, which have intervened against the regime.
Zarif will meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, according to Iran’s foreign ministry.
Merkel is set to visit Russia and meet Putin for a working visit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Friday, while French President Emmanuel Macron will be in Saint Petersburg later in the month for an economic forum.
Putin will also meet Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Sochi, presidential aide Yury Ushakov said.
Iran has said it is preparing to resume “industrial-scale” uranium enrichment “without any restrictions” unless Europe can provide solid guarantees that it can maintain trade ties despite renewed US sanctions.
After long negotiations, Iran had agreed in July 2015 to freeze its nuclear program in return for the lifting of punishing international sanctions.
The deal was negotiated between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — plus Germany.
Russia and Iran once had difficult relations but have seen ties improve since the end of the Cold War.
While Tehran was shunned by the international community in the 1990s, Moscow agreed to resume the construction of the Bushehr Iranian nuclear plant that Germany had abandoned.
Russia and Iran also sought to strengthen their business ties long before the 2015 agreement, despite international sanctions in place.
Analysts have suggested Russia could benefit economically from the US pull-out, as it is less exposed to the consequences of renewed sanctions than Europe.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1302186/middle-east
Congress wants to cancel secrecy of missile tests
Members of Congress have gone on record saying they want to cancel the secrecy of missiles tests, reports Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.
The sentiment appears in a new National Defense Authorization Bill for 2019 on which the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces recently met.
“This section would also require that [officials] make the quarter and fiscal year for execution of planned flight tests unclassified,” it explains.
The section is titled “Improvements to Research and Development and Acquisition Processes of Missile Defense Agency.”
Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists explained the longtime practice has been to disclose information publicly about planned flight tests of ballistic missile defense systems.
But this year the Department of Defense said that information was being classified.
The subcommittee’s markup of the proposed spending plan suggested the secrecy was unacceptable, “at least with respect to the test schedule,” the report said.
“Together with the release of each integrated master test plan of the Missile Defense Agency, the director of the Missile Defense Agency shall make publicly available a version of each such plan that identifies the fiscal year and the fiscal quarter in which events under the plan will occur,” they wrote.
The bill would require the release of such information.
“Aside from the merits of the House language, it represents a noteworthy legislative intervention in national security classification policy,” the FAS report said.
http://www.wnd.com/2018/04/congress-wants-to-cancel-secrecy-of-missile-tests/
Secrecy News
Covert vs. Clandestine: Defining Terms
Posted on Apr.26, 2018 in CRS by Steven Aftergood
The differences between “covert action” performed by the CIA and “clandestine activities” conducted by the military, as well as the distinct legal frameworks and reporting requirements that govern them, are revisited in a new report from the Congressional Research Service.
See Covert Action and Clandestine Activities of the Intelligence Community: Selected Definitions in Brief, April 25, 2018.
Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made publicly available this week include the following.
Army Futures Command, CRS Insight, April 24, 2018
Australia, China, and the Indo-Pacific, CRS Insight, April 23, 2018
The Consumer Product Safety Act: A Legal Analysis, April 24, 2018
Frequently Asked Questions About Prescription Drug Pricing and Policy, updated April 24, 2018
Overview of “Travel Ban” Litigation and Recent Developments, CRS Legal Sidebar, updated April 23, 2018
Can Corporations be Held Liable under the Alien Tort Statute?, CRS Legal Sidebar, April 24, 2018
https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/2018/04/covert-clandestine-crs/
Desperation/fear…Trump can make everyone jump.
Hey asshole. Did you researched yourself if it was reporting the facts or not? No you haven't because you are too fucking lazy except to whine and complaint. You just sound stupid.
'''Secrecy News
Missile Defense Flight Test Secrecy May Be Reversed'''
CHECK OUT THE ACTUAL DOCUMENTS WITHIN THE ARTICLES.
https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/2018/04/bmd-flight-test-secrecy/
Posted on Apr.26, 2018 in classification, Congress, Missile Defense by Steven Aftergood
Some members of the House Armed Services Committee want the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency to return to its previous practice of publicly disclosing information about planned flight tests of ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems and components.
Earlier this year, the Department of Defense said that information about BMD flight tests, objectives and schedules was now classified, even though such information had routinely been made public in the past. (DOD Classifies Missile Defense Flight Test Plans, Secrecy News, March 5, 2018).
But in their initial markup of the FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act, members of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee said that the new secrecy was unacceptable, at least with respect to the test schedule.
They directed that “Together with the release of each integrated master test plan of the Missile Defense Agency, the Director of the Missile Defense Agency shall make publicly available a version of each such plan that identifies the fiscal year and the fiscal quarter in which events under the plan will occur.”
The pending provision would “require that MDA make the quarter and fiscal year for execution of planned flight tests unclassified.” (h/t Kingston Reif)
Aside from the merits of the House language, it represents a noteworthy legislative intervention in national security classification policy.
Under other circumstances, the executive branch might consider it an intolerable infringement on its authority for Congress to require information to be unclassified over and against an agency’s own judgment or preference.
But in the context of the context of the ambitious and contentious defense authorization act — which among other things would establish a new U.S. Space Command under U.S. Strategic Command — this particular dispute over classification authority recedes into comparative insignificance.
Somewhat relatedly, the Joint Chiefs of Staff have updated DoD doctrine on space operations, with an expanded discussion of natural and man-made threats.
“Our adversaries’ progress in space technology not only threatens the space environment and our space assets but could potentially deny us an advantage if we lose space superiority.”
The doctrine describes general approaches to defending against threats to space-based assets, including defensive operations, reconstitution, and enhanced resilience through distribution, proliferation and deception. See Joint Publication (JP) 3-14, Space Operations, 10 April 2018.
https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/2018/04/bmd-flight-test-secrecy/
Can you go and research to see if it is legitimate and report it?
I knew you are/were a baker. ;-)
Why is it have to be addition?
Did Q said to use addition? There is no defined set of rule that you must use the addition. Explain.
Aren't we all high mighty. Did you read our replies? He said he looked, but couldn't find it. Why don't you be a nice guy and just kindly direct him to valuable intel. Don't assume you know anything about us, get it?
Ok, so you did not use the addition. I wanted to know why someone used the addition for the dates. Why not multiplication or division? If you could kindly explain, I appreciate it. I maybe missing something.
GOOD.
Thanks.
Come on now. What theory made you apply addition?
I guess we will find out when the time comes.