Anonymous ID: 24e837 Jan. 3, 2020, 4:04 p.m. No.7706634   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>6716 >>6851 >>6924

Increased Plane Traffic At U.S. Italian And Spanish Bases Points To The U.S. Getting Ready For Military Confrontation

 

Dozens of American cargo planes have reached the U.S. bases in Rota and MorĂłn, Spain and the one in Aviano, Italy. It is the largest military deployment at these bases since the 2003 Iraq War.

 

The almost 30,000 inhabitants of the small town of Rota, in southern Spain, have been surprised by the intense increase in American military air traffic over the last few days. The United States operates a naval base, which services several different types of American naval vessels, out of Rota, and it maintains an airbase one hundred kilometers away in Morón de la Frontera which caters to to the C-5 Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft. The US destroyers deployed from Rota are part of the NATO missile shield used to defend itself in the event of an attack by Iran, something that seems closer than ever after the latest events in the region. Aviano’s military base in Italy has also registered a dramatic increase in air traffic.

 

The increase in traffic in Rota and Morón were detected at the same time that the Pentagon confirmed the death of Qasem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force of Iran, in a concerted U.S. strike. Almost immediately, Iran vowed revenge. The U.S. Department of Defense accused Soleimani of “developing plans to attack U.S. diplomats and service members throughout the region.”

…

https://dailycaller.com/2020/01/03/increased-traffic-us-italian-spanish-bases-military-confrontation/

Anonymous ID: 24e837 Jan. 3, 2020, 4:09 p.m. No.7706691   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>6851 >>6875 >>6924

Russia Condemns US Killing of Iranian Commander

 

Voice of America

04 Jan 2020, 04:05 GMT+10

 

MOSCOW - Russia condemned U.S. airstrikes that killed a powerful Iranian commander in neighboring Iraq on Friday local time as a "reckless step" that risked "regional peace and stability" in the Middle East.

 

The United States killed General Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, in a drone strike as he and an entourage left Baghdad's main airport by car.

 

Pentagon officials said U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the strike to prevent imminent attacks against American forces in the region.

 

Yet with Iran's leadership already vowing a military response, Russia openly questioned the White House's understanding of the violent forces it had unleashed.

 

"Such actions do not create … find solutions to complex problems in the Middle East. On the contrary, it will lead to a new round of escalation of tensions in the region," said Russia's Foreign Ministry in a statement posted to its website.

 

In a separate statement, the ministry noted that Soleimani had "faithfully served and defended the national interests of Iran" and expressed condolences to the Iranian people over the commander's death.

 

The Kremlin's press service later announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed the attack with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron by phone, with both sides agreeing "this action might seriously escalate tensions in the region."

 

The reaction reflected Russia and Iran's increasingly close relations - ties forged by a four-year military alliance in Syria, where both Moscow and Tehran have come to the aid of their mutual ally, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

 

Several media reports say Soleimani - widely considered the military architect of Iran's actions in the Middle East - met with President Vladimir Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow in 2016 to personally discuss the Syrian offensive. Both the Iranian and Russian governments denied the meeting ever took place.

 

Soleimani is on a U.N. travel sanctions list and has been sanctioned by the U.S. since 2005 as a supporter of terrorism.

 

Observers in Moscow saw little chance of Russia coming to Iran's aide in the event of a wider military conflict.

 

"There's nothing Russia can do," says Alexey Malashenko, a longtime Middle East watcher and head of the Institute of Dialogue and Civilization said in an interview with VOA in Moscow.

 

"It's a situation involving Iran, the U.S., and Iraq."

 

Nuclear deals

 

Yet the U.S. strike on Soleimani again puts Iran near the top of a long list of issues causing friction between Moscow and Washington.

 

The Kremlin already had clashed with the Trump administration over its decision to rip up the Iran nuclear deal – a denuclearization swap for sanctions relief agreement brokered with Iran by the U.S. Obama administration along with Britain, Russia, Germany, France, and China back in 2015.

 

Russia has found common ground with European powers in denouncing the Trump administration's decision to abandon the agreement in favor of what the White House touts as a "maximum pressure" campaign that will yield a better deal limiting Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

 

Indeed, Moscow had been working with France and Germany to find ways to maneuver around U.S. sanctions and thereby keep Iran in compliance - an effort foreign policy experts now concede is all but doomed because of the U.S. attack.

 

"The last hopes for resolving the problem of the Iran nuclear program have been bombed to shreds," wrote Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Russia's upper chamber, the Federation Council, in a post to Facebook.

 

"Iran can now push forward its nuclear program, even if it wasn't planning to," added Kosachev.

 

"In that way, this is bigger than just the murder of one important figure."

 

https://www.shanghainews.net/news/263601294/russia-condemns-us-killing-of-iranian-commander

Anonymous ID: 24e837 Jan. 3, 2020, 4:11 p.m. No.7706711   🗄️.is đź”—kun

Eighteen dead in Sudanese aircraft crash

 

By Jay Jackson, Shanghai News.Net

03 Jan 2020, 18:08 GMT+10

 

EL GENEINA, Darfur, Sudan - Three judges were among eighteen people killed in a plane crash in the western part of the state of Darfur in Sudan on Thursday night.

 

The crash occurred shortly after the Antonov 12 plane took off from the Darfur capital of El Geneina on Friday.

 

Army spokesman Amer Mohammed al-Hassan told local media there were 18 people on board: three judges and 8 civilians, including four children, as well as 7 crew members, which included three military personnel.

 

"An Antonov 12 military plane crashed Thursday night after take-off from El Geneina killing its seven-member crew, 3 judges and eight civilians, including 4 children, who were onboard," Al-Hassan said.

 

The crash occurred around 5 kilometers from the El Geneina Airport. The plane was flying to the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.

 

The aircraft had delivered aid including medical supplies to Al-Helal Al-Ahmaz Society in Al-Geneina to provide relief for people impacted by recent violent clashes between local ethnic groups, and was ferrying injured civilians to Khartourm for specialist treatment. A member of the UN Food Program was among those killed.

 

The cause of the crash is unknown. Local authorities say an investigation is underway.

 

https://www.shanghainews.net/news/263598295/eighteen-dead-in-sudanese-aircraft-crash

Anonymous ID: 24e837 Jan. 3, 2020, 4:31 p.m. No.7706906   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>6924

3 Jan, 03:54

Diplomat slams US strike on Iraq as "the height of cynicism"

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted that "Washington is not interested in the world’s response but in changing the balance of power in the region"

Maria Zakharova Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

Maria Zakharova

© Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

 

MOSCOW, January 3. /TASS/. The United States first carried out a missile strike against Baghdad airport and only then requested the UN Security Council’s assessment of the attack on the US Embassy in Iraq. This is the height of cynicism, Rusian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the Rossiya 24 TV channel on Friday.

 

"It turns out that a missile strike was carried out first, an act that is out of sync with international law was committed. And only then did they [the Americans] requested [the assessment of the events] involving the [US] Embassy. This is probably the height of cynicism, you know," she said.

 

Zakharova noted that it was the UN Security Council’s purview to make a legal assessment of attacks on countries’ embassies, adding that Washington had not requested an extraordinary UN Security Council meeting on the issue.

 

She thinks that the US missile strike in Baghdad will only result in escalating tensions in the region, while Washington itself is only interested in changing the balance of power in the Middle East.

 

"To condemn attacks on their embassies, states go to the UN Security Council submitting draft statements. Washington did not appeal to the Security Council, which means that it is not interested in the world’s response [and that it is] interested in changing the balance of power in the region."

 

"That will not result in anything but escalating tensions in the region, which will be sure to affect millions of people," she wrote on her Facebook page.

 

The diplomat noted that, over the past few years, the US has repeatedly blocked UN Security Council’s statements condemning attacks on other countries’ embassies. "There are quite a few examples," she stressed.

 

Russia does not rule out US Baghdad airport strike will be discussed by UN Security Council today, Zakharova noted. "Of course, I believe the issue will be discussed in New York today. I think work on the format will be in progress," she said.

 

The diplomat was certain that the issue would be addressed by international organizations, individual countries and politicians. "And, of course, it will not bypass the United Nations," Zakharova added.

 

The Pentagon earlier confirmed that a missile strike near the Baghdad airport killed the head of the Quds Force Qasem Soleimani. The operation was carried out at the direction of US President Donald Trump, the statement said.

 

The Quds Force is a unit in Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) that is actively involved in military conflicts in Syria and Iraq. It is believed that its successful operations were mainly attributable to its commander Qasem Soleimani. Washington earlier branded Soleimani as a terrorist.

 

https://tass.com/politics/1105485

Anonymous ID: 24e837 Jan. 3, 2020, 4:32 p.m. No.7706922   🗄️.is đź”—kun

US has all targets identified if Americans are threatened - Trump

Trump says Soleimani plotted attacks on US diplomats and military personnel

US President Donald Trump AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

US President Donald Trump

© AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

 

WASHINGTON, January. /TASS/. The US has already identified all targets if Americans are threatened in response to Washington’s killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, US President Donald Trump said in a statement on Friday.

 

"The US has the best military by far anywhere in the world. We have the best intelligence in the world. If Americans anywhere are threatened, we have all of those targets already fully identified. And I am ready and prepared to take whatever action is necessary. And that in particular refers to Iran," Trump said.

 

Trump has deemed Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani "the number one terrorist anywhere in the world". The US leader stated that Soleimani planned imminent attacks against American civilians and soldiers.

 

"Last night at my direction, the United States military successfully executed a flawless precision strike that killed the number one terrorist anywhere in the world: Qasem Soleimani <…Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on American diplomats and military personnel," the president said.

 

"But we caught him in the act and terminated him," he added.

 

"We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war," Trump stressed.

 

"I have deep respect for the Iranian people, they are a remarkable people with an incredible heritage and unlimited potential," the president said. "We do not seek regime change, however, the Iranian regime’s aggression in the region, including the use of proxy fighters to destabilize its neighbors must end, and it must end now."

 

"The future belongs to the people of Iran, those who seek peaceful coexistence and cooperation, not the terrorist warlords who plunder their nation to finance bloodshed abroad," Trump stated.

 

The Pentagon earlier confirmed that a missile strike near the Baghdad airport killed the head of the Quds Force Qasem Soleimani. The operation was carried out at the direction of US President Donald Trump, the statement said.

 

According to the Pentagon, the strike was defensive, since it was aimed at protecting US troops in Iraq and other countries. Washington blamed Soleimani for allegedly approving a rally outside the US Embassy in Baghdad earlier this week. The US claims that Soleimani personally approved the recent attacks on US military bases in Iraq and that he is responsible for the deaths of hundreds US troops at the hands of Shi'a armed formations supported by Tehran during the campaign aimed to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

 

https://tass.com/world/1105581