Trump says new sanctions on Iran to start on Monday, dials back rhetoric

DUBAI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would impose fresh sanctions on Iran but that he wanted to make a deal to bolster its flagging economy, an apparent move to defuse tensions following the shooting down of an unmanned U.S. drone this week by the Islamic Republic. On Thursday, an Iranian missile destroyed a U.S. Global Hawk surveillance drone, an incident that Washington said happened in international airspace. Trump later said he had called off a military strike to retaliate because it could have killed 150 people. Tehran repeated on Saturday that the drone was shot down over its territory and said it would respond firmly to any U.S. threat.

Speaking in Washington on Saturday before heading to the U.S. presidential retreat at Camp David, Trump indicated the government was taking a diplomatic path to put pressure on Tehran by moving to impose new sanctions. “We will call it ‘Let’s make Iran great again,’” Trump said. He later wrote on Twitter from Camp David: “We are putting major additional Sanctions on Iran on Monday. I look forward to the day that Sanctions come off Iran, and they become a productive and prosperous nation again.”

The Trump administration has sought to use promises of economic revival to solve other thorny foreign policy challenges, including the Israel-Palestinian peace process, with the White House outlining on Saturday a plan to create a global investment fund to lift the Palestinian and neighboring Arab state economies. Both Trump and Tehran have said they are not seeking a war, but Iran has warned of a “crushing” response if attacked. “Regardless of any decision they (U.S. officials) make… we will not allow any of Iran’s borders to be violated. Iran will firmly confront any aggression or threat by America,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told the semi-official Tasnim news agency on Saturday.

A senior commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards struck a similarly defiant note, in comments quoted by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). “If the violation is repeated then our response will be repeated,” said Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Guards’ aerospace division. “It’s possible that this infringement of the Americans was carried out by a general or some operators.”

Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, published a map on Twitter with detailed coordinates which he said showed the drone was flying over the Islamic Republic’s territorial waters. A Pentagon spokeswoman, Commander Rebecca Rebarich, said on Saturday: “We stand by where we said the aircraft was operating in international airspace.” Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned a United Arab Emirates envoy on Saturday because the UAE allowed the drone to be launched from a U.S. military base on its territory, the Fars news agency reported. Military sources told Reuters that U.S. forces were getting ready to evacuate contractors from a military base in neighboring Iraq over “potential security threats,” without saying what those threats might be. That was denied by Iraqi and U.S. military spokesmen on Saturday.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-iran-usa-threat/trump-says-new-sanctions-on-iran-to-start-on-monday-dials-back-rhetoric-idUSKCN1TN054?il=0

Oregon Capitol building closed as precaution amid partisan dispute

(Reuters) - Oregon’s State Capitol building was shut down on Saturday as a safety precaution, police said, in the wake of a bitter partisan divide that had Republican lawmakers walked out to block a vote on a bill to reduce climate change-causing gases. Democratic Governor Kate Brown on Thursday dispatched state police to round up the absent 11 Senate Republicans, at least two of whom are needed to form a required quorum for conducting business in the 30-member chamber controlled by Democrats. Some right-wing militia groups have expressed support for the absent Republican lawmakers, and opponents of the bill to cut greenhouse gas emissions below 45 percent of the state’s 1990 levels by 2035 staged a small rally on Saturday at the Capitol building in Salem. “We have been monitoring information throughout the day that indicates the safety of legislators, staff and citizen visitors could be compromised if certain threatened behaviors were realized,” said Oregon State Police spokesman Captain Timothy Fox said by email. Fox declined to elaborate on the threats, other than to say: “We are monitoring all sources of information and intelligence.”

The decision to close the building came after Senate President Peter Courtney canceled a floor session he had previously set for Saturday because of risks posed by the possible presence of militia groups, his spokeswoman, Carol Currie said by phone. The Republican walkout has halted work on other legislation as well, she said. Although no Republican senators have been apprehended so far, Fox said police have been in contact with several of them and have been assisted by “out of state resources.” He declined to elaborate. In a “call to action” on Thursday, a militia group known as Oregon Three Percent said it would provide security, transport and refuge for the absent Republican senators. “We will stand together with unwavering resolve, doing whatever it takes to keep these senators safe,” the group said on its Facebook page.

Republicans contend the legislation, which would cap the state’s total amount of greenhouse gases and force utilities and other companies to buy emission allowances, would make fossil fuel prices too high. They have instead sought to allow the proposal to be placed before voters on a ballot. One of the missing Republicans, state Senator Brian Boquist, told Portland television station KGW on Wednesday that if state police come for him, they should “send bachelors and come heavily armed.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-oregon/oregon-capitol-building-closed-as-precaution-amid-partisan-dispute-idUSKCN1TN0PS

North Korea's Kim says will consider letter received from Trump

(Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un received a personal letter from U.S. President Donald Trump and will put serious thought into its content, state-run North Korean news agency KCNA said. In a report published early on Sunday in Asia, KCNA did not give details on the letter but said Kim described it as “of excellent content.” “Kim Jong Un said that he would seriously contemplate the interesting content,” according to the report.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-northkorea/north-koreas-kim-says-will-consider-letter-received-from-trump-idUSKCN1TN0QQ?il=0

Ethiopia says coup attempt against leader of Amhara state failed

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia said there was a failed coup attempt against the head of one of the country’s nine regional states on Saturday, underscoring the challenges facing the new prime minister as he tries to spearhead political reforms amid widespread unrest. “There was an organized coup attempt in Bahir Dar but it failed,” Negussu Tilahun, spokesman for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, told state TV on Saturday, referring to the regional capital of Amhara state. He said efforts were under way to apprehend the coup plotters, who he said attempted to oust Ambachew Mekonnen, the regional government head in Amhara, north of the capital Addis Ababa. It was unclear who might be behind the unrest, and no group had publicly claimed responsibility.

Three residents of Bahir Dar, who asked not to be named because they feared for their safety, said they heard gunfire. One said it erupted in the town at around 6:30 p.m. (1530 GMT) and continued for some time. “There is gunfire … roads to the area where we are hearing the gunfire are closed,” the resident told Reuters by phone. A lecturer at the university told Reuters at around 10:00 p.m. that the gunfire had lasted at least four hours so far. “I first thought it was just a normal kind of incident and then we began to hear heavy gunfire,” he said. The third resident, a woman, said she could hear gunfire from her house and that transport in the city had stopped.

The development underscored continuing instability in parts of the Horn of African country. The reformist Abiy took power last year after three years of sporadic, deadly protests forced his predecessor to resign. Abiy released political prisoners, unbanned political parties and prosecuted officials accused of gross human rights abuses. But ethnic violence - long held in check by the state’s iron grip - has flared up in many areas, including Amhara. The United Nations says the violence has displaced at least 2.4 million people. Ethiopia, a nation of 100 million people, is due to hold a national parliamentary election next year. Several opposition groups have called for the polls to be held on time despite the unrest and displacement.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-security/ethiopia-says-coup-attempt-against-leader-of-amhara-state-failed-idUSKCN1TN0MR