Russia Begins Operations in Syria: End Game for the US Empire?

Russia-US-UN meeting on Syria planned for January 13 in Geneva — source
http://tass.ru/en/world/848743

It is expected that Russia will be represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov.

The meeting on Syria between Russia, United States and United Nations is scheduled for January 13 in Geneva, a diplomatic source told TASS on Monday.

On December 18 the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2254 in support of the Vienna agreements on the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Syria envisages participation of the Syrian opposition and representatives of government in the talks that are due to start in January 2016. The final goals of negotiations are defined as establishing the transitional government, adopting a constitution and holding election in the next 18 months. The document does not mention Syrian President Bashar Assad whose future remains the main stumbling block. The resolution states that the Syrian people should decide the future of the country.



Russia postpones year's first launch of Proton rocket with European satellite — source
The rocket will be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakhstan) on January 28 instead of January 25
http://tass.ru/en/science/848714

MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/.This year's first launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakhstan) of Russia’s Proton-M carrier rocket that should place into orbit the Eutelsat 9B satellite, has been postponed for three days, a source in the rocket and space industry told TASS on Monday.

"The preliminary launch date is January 28," the source said. The previous launch date, he said, was January 25. The source said that the launch was postponed because the staff of the Khrunichev Centre (manufacturer of Proton-M and Breeze-m upper stage) need more time to prepare the rocket and upper stage for launch. The launch of the European spacecraft will be carried out by International Launch Services (ILS). The ILS joint venture was created in 1995 by Russia’s Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Centre and the American corporation Lockheed Martin. Ten years after that Lockheed Martin withdrew from the partnership, selling the majority stake to a German businessman. In May 2008 the Khrunichev Centre bought the stake and ILS is its subsidiary ever since. The company, based in a suburb of Washington, D.C. - Reston (Virginia), over the past 20 years has carried out more than 80 commercial launches of the Proton carrier rockets from the Baikonur Cosmodrome Russia leases from Kazakhstan.

]...] It will be the first launch of the Proton rocket in 2016, the 92nd launch under the ILS programme, the 11th launch with a Eutelsat satellite and the 21st launch with a satellite manufactured by Airbus.



PUTIN: The deterioration of Russia's relationship with the West is the result of many 'mistakes'
http://www.businessinsider.com/vladimir-putin-interview-us-relationship-west-2016-1

Russian President Vladimir Putin told the German daily newspaper BILD that he believes Russia's deteriorating relationship with the West was the result of many "mistakes" made by NATO, the US and Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"We have done everything wrong," Putin told BILD publisher Kai Diekmann and BILD politics editor Nikolaus Blome last week, according to a transcript provided to Business Insider.

"From the beginning, we failed to overcome Europe’s division. Twenty-five years ago, the Berlin Wall fell, but invisible walls were moved to the East of Europe. This has led to mutual misunderstandings and assignments of guilt. They are the cause of all crises ever since," he said.

The US, the former Soviet Union and the post-soviet states who wanted to join NATO should have "redefine[d] a zone in Central Europe that would not be accessible to NATO with its military structures," Putin said.

Instead, NATO embarked on an "expansion to the east," allowing the post-Soviet Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — to join the organization. This resulted from the US' desire for "complete victory over the Soviet Union" after the Cold War ended in 1991, Putin claimed.

Putin has recently been upping his rhetoric toward the West. Significantly, the Russian leader — who is currently juggling Moscow's intervention in both Syria and eastern Ukraine — began 2016 by designating NATO a "threat" in an updated paper on Russia’s national-security strategy.

"They wanted to sit on the throne in Europe alone. ... You can also see this striving for an absolute triumph in the American missile defense plans," Putin said in the interview, referring to the US' plans to construct a missile-defense shield that Russia has staunchly opposed.

Russia's annexation of Crimea in March of 2014, Putin told BILD, was simply the Kremlin's way of protecting the people of Crimea from being confined within the borders imposed upon them by the US and Europe after the West claimed victory in the Cold War.

"Our soldiers have merely prevented the Ukrainian troops on Crimea from impeding the freedom of expression of the people," Putin said. "For me, it is not borders and state territories that matter, but people’s fortunes."

"If the Kosovars have the right to self-determination, why should people in Crimea not have it?" Putin asked, referring to the UN's determination in 2008 that Kosovo should become independent of Serbia.

Putin, however, conceded that Russia has made its own mistakes since the end of the Cold War.

"We were too late," he said. "If we had presented our national interests more clearly from the beginning, the world would still be in balance today."

"After the demise of the Soviet Union, we had many problems of our own for which no one was responsible but ourselves: the economic downfall, the collapse of the welfare system, the separatism, and of course the terror attacks that shook our country," he continued. "In this respect, we do not have to look for guilty parties abroad."

Russia launched a military intervention in Syria last September, and has reportedly been bolstering the pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine since the crisis erupted there in 2014.

Putin continues to deny that the Kremlin ever sent ground troops to fight in Ukraine, stating recently that any Russian soldiers there are either volunteers or "advisers."


Ambassador denies U.S. conducting helicopter raids in northern Iraq
http://www.trust.org/item/20160110085934-dlcbt/?

The U.S. ambassador to Iraq has denied reports that the United States has been carrying out helicopter raids against Islamic State militants in northern Iraq.

"There have recently been reports of U.S. helicopter raids in Hawija and Kirkuk. As Defense Minister Obaidi and numerous other Iraqi officials have stated, reports of these raids are untrue," Stuart Jones said in a statement on Saturday.

Recent reports of more than half a dozen air raids led by U.S. special forces have been decried by powerful Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias and other critics of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi as violations of Iraqi sovereignty.

"I want to stress what I have said many times before: Iraqi sovereignty is sacred and must be respected. All coalition activities conducted in Iraq are and will be in consultation with the Iraqi government," Jones said, referring to the U.S.-led coalition bombing Islamic State targets and training Iraqi forces.

Dubai-based al-Hadath TV and Iraqi media have reported several air raids over the last month in and around Hawija, 210 km (130 miles) north of Baghdad.

Washington said last month it was deploying a new force of around 100 special operations troops to Iraq to carry out strikes against Islamic State there and in neighbouring Syria. U.S. officials gave no details.

Both the U.S. and Iraqi military have denied that U.S. forces have carried out military operations on the ground in Hawija since October, when U.S. special forces and Kurdish peshmerga commandos rescued 69 Iraqis in a raid in which one U.S. commando was killed.
 
Aid convoy sets off for besieged, starving Syrian town
http://www.trust.org/item/20160111101331-b959z/?source=dpagetopic

* Trucks carrying food and medicine

* Town and two villages to be supplied

* Opposition demands end to Madaya siege before talks

An aid convoy headed for a besieged Syrian town on Monday where thousands are trapped and the United Nations says people are reported to have died of starvation.

Dozens of trucks bearing the Red Crescent logo and carrying food and medical supplies left Damascus for Madaya near the Lebanese border as part of an agreement between warring sides.

Another convoy was en route to two Shi'ite villages, al Foua and Kefraya in the northwestern province of Idlib 300 km (200 miles) away, the Red Cross said on its Syria Twitter account. Under the agreement, aid was to enter Madaya and the two villages simultaneously.

Madaya is besieged by pro-Syrian government forces, while the two villages in Idlib province are encircled by rebels fighting the Syrian government.

The blockade of Madaya has become a focal issue for Syrian opposition leaders, who told a U.N. envoy last week they would not take part in talks with the government, slated for later this month, until it and other sieges are lifted.

The United Nations said on Thursday the Syrian government had agreed to allow access to Madaya, where U.N. officials say there have been credible reports of people dying of starvation.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the war, puts the toll at 10, while opposition activists say it is in the dozens. Reuters could not independently confirm the reports.

One opposition activist has said people were eating leaves and plants.

The Madaya blockade began six months ago when the Syrian army and its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, started a campaign to reestablish President Bashar al-Assad's control over areas along the Syrian-Lebanese border.

Hezbollah has, in response to accusations it was starving people in Madaya, denied there had been any deaths in the town, and accused rebel leaders of preventing people from leaving.

The group's Al Manar television showed footage on Monday of hundreds of Madaya residents gathered outdoors waiting to receive aid.

[...] The last aid delivery to Madaya, which took place in October, was synchronised with a similar delivery to the two villages.

Hezbollah has said rebels in the town had taken control of aid which they were selling to those who could buy. The people of Madaya were being exploited in a propaganda campaign, it said.

One siege is by the Islamic State group, on government-held areas of the city of Deir al-Zor.

A U.N. Security Council adopted on Dec. 18 setting out a road map for peace talks calls on the parties to allow aid agencies unhindered access throughout Syria, particularly in besieged and hard-to-reach areas.

A newly formed opposition council set up to oversee negotiations has told U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura that this must happen before the talks he plans to hold on Jan. 25.



Aid to be delivered to starving Syrian towns as early as Sunday
http://www.trust.org/item/20160108214941-s2fg3/?source=dpagetopic

UPDATE: Aid convoys depart for besieged Syrian town, villages

NEW YORK, Jan 8 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Humanitarian groups could begin delivering much-needed aid in three besieged Syrian towns as early as Sunday, spokesmen said on Friday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) said they were preparing convoys packed with food and medical supplies for suffering populations in the towns of Madaya, al-Foua and Kefraya.

As Syria reels from civil war, a six-month-long blockade of Madaya by the Syrian army and its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, has trapped about 40,000 residents now enduring a harsh winter.

Further north, the villages of al-Foua and Kefraya, in the Idlib governorate, are home to some 20,000 residents under siege by armed opposition groups.

Twenty-three people have died of starvation in Madaya since Dec. 1 at health centers supported by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the global medical aid group said.

Urgently needed supplies include medicine and baby formula because mothers of infants are not lactating due of hunger, said Krzysiek.

The WFP will distribute such staples as rice, vegetable oil, flour, sugar, salt and canned food.

This will be the second humanitarian convoy reaching the three towns. The first took place in October.



Anti-Assad Propaganda Exposed: ‘Starving Syrian Child’ Revealed as Healthy Lebanese Girl
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/anti-assad-propaganda-exposed-starving-syrian-child-revealed-healthy-lebanese-girl/ri12143

A viral photo depicting a "malnourished Syrian child" being "starved" by the "evil Syrian army" is a bona fide fraud. The details, via Lebanon's Daily Star ('Starving Syria child' revealed as south Lebanon girl):

The family of a south Lebanon girl depicted in a photo that went viral alleging to show a starving child from a besieged Syrian border town has expressed anger over the incident.

"They took it too far this time," Rosine Mazeh, the grandmother of 7-year-old Marianna Mazeh, told Al-Jadeed from their village of Tay Filsey in a report broadcast Saturday.

She said the photo of her smiling brown-haired, blue-eyed granddaughter was originally posted to Facebook three years ago and had been doctored several times in the past by individuals promoting different causes.

Most recently, the photo was circulated in a side-by-side with images depicting a skeletal figure said to be suffering from malnutrition as a result of a Syrian army siege in the town of Madaya, located several kilometers east of Lebanon's border.

Several other photos circulating on social media and picked up by some international news agencies that alleged to show starvation from the town have also been revealed as fakes.

Next time try congressional testimony from a teary-eyed daughter of the Kuwaiti Ambassador? It has a 100% success rate with justifying bogus wars of aggression.



France: Syria, Russia must end operations against Syrian civilians
http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/France-Syria-Russia-must-end-operations-against-Syrian-civilians-441115

PARIS - Syria and Russia must stop military operations against civilians and in particular put an end to the "ordeal" taking place in the besieged city of Madaya just two weeks before Syrian peace talks are scheduled, France's foreign minister said on Monday.

"We discussed the absolute necessity that Syria and Russia end their military operations against civilians and in particular the ordeal in Madaya and other cities besieged by the regime," Laurent Fabius told reporters after meeting Syrian opposition coordinator Riad Hijab.

Fabius reiterated that President Bashar al-Assad could not remain in power and said Paris would consult the UN Security Council to pressure Syria to end indiscriminate attacks.

He is due to meet the UN's special envoy to Syria later on Monday.



Assad's army in 40 days with the support of the Russian aviation freed 150 cities and towns
http://fakti.org/globotpor/quo-vadis-orbi/asadova-armija-za-40-dana-uz-podrsku-ruske-avijacije-oslobodila-150-gradova-i-naselja

More than 150 cities and other settlements liberated the Syrian army from the beginning of December, thanks to the support of our aviation - said General Sergei Rudskoj.

The Chief of the General Directorate of Operations of the Armed saga RF without specified:

"In December, members of terrorist groups driven out of the 134 town and village, and the first days of January - from another 19. The greatest successes were achieved in the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, Homs and Cancer".

General Rudskoj also revealed that the Russian air force in Syria since the New Year beaten nearly 1,100 facilities terrorists in the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama, Homs, Damascus, Deir-ez-Zor, Hasek, Deraa and cancer. Were targeted and installation under the control ID, and processing of oil.



Saudi Arms Sales Are in Breach of International Law, Britain Is Told
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941020001478

The hugely embarrassing accusation comes after human rights groups, the European parliament and the UN all expressed concerns about Saudi-led coalition attacks in Yemen. Lawyers acting for the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) have stepped up legal proceedings against the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, which approves export licences, accusing it of failing in its legal duty to take steps to prevent and suppress violations of international humanitarian law, The Guardian reported.

In a 19-page legal letter seen by the Observer, CAAT warns that the government’s refusal to suspend current licences to Saudi Arabia, and its decision “to continue the granting of new licences” for military equipment that may be destined for use in Yemen, is unlawful. The letter cites article two of the EU Council Common Position on arms sales, which would compel the UK to deny an export licence if there was “a clear risk” that equipment might be used in a violation of international humanitarian law.

Lawyers for CAAT have given the government 14 days to suspend licences allowing the export of military equipment to Saudi Arabia, pending the outcome of a review of its obligations under EU law and its own licensing criteria. A failure to comply would see proceedings against the government, which would force it to explain in the high court what steps it has taken to ensure that UK military hardware is not being used in breach of international law.

“UK weapons have been central to a bombing campaign that has killed thousands of people, destroyed vital infrastructure and inflamed tensions in the region,” said Andrew Smith of CAAT. “The UK has been complicit in the destruction by continuing to support airstrikes and provide arms, despite strong and increasing evidence that war crimes are being committed.”

The legal move places the UK’s relationship with Saudi Arabia in the spotlight at a sensitive time. Almost £6bn of UK arms have been licensed to Saudi Arabia since David Cameron took office. However, concerns about the country’s human rights record have led to calls for the UK to stop arming the Saudis. Last weekend, Saudi authorities staged a mass execution of 47 prisoners; at least four were convicted for their involvement in political protests. In the wake of the executions, Belgium announced it would ban arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Germany’s Greens have demanded their country do the same.

When pressed in the past the UK has refused to suspend the arms exports, claiming that they comply with all legal frameworks. A Foreign Office minister, Tobias Ellwood, told parliament last July: “We have not seen any credible evidence that suggests that the [Saudi-led] coalition has breached the law.”

However, Amnesty International has warned of “a pattern of appalling disregard for civilian lives displayed by the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition”. The UN has expressed similar concerns. Last year Saudi-led coalition strikes hit a Médecins Sans Frontières mobile clinic and hospital and several schools. Saudi coalition strikes are alleged to have targeted electricity and water plants.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Business confirmed that it had received the letter, filed by law firm Leigh Day, but could not comment because of “ongoing legal action”.
 
Lavrov and Kerry confirm support for intra-Syrian negotiations

http://tass.ru/en/politics/848812

Damascus also stands for the soonest launch of a wide intra-Syrian dialogue without preliminary conditions

MOSCOW, January 11./TASS/. In a telephone conversation on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed support for intra-Syrian negotiations.

"Discussing the Syrian issue, the sides confirmed support for efforts of Staffan de Mistura, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General, towards organizing negotiations of representatives of the Syrian government and a representative delegation of the opposition circles with an aim to achieve political settlement," the Foreign Ministry informed.

The ministers "exchanged opinions on other topical international issues, including the implementation of the Minsk Package of Measures for the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine, the worsening of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the conflict in Yemen, the situation on the Korean peninsula after a nuclear test carried out by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea," the ministry said.

Sergey Lavrov and John Kerry "agreed to continue a dialogue during their personal meeting in the near future," it added.

Moscow, Damascus stand for soonest launch of intra-Syrian dialogue

Moscow and Damascus stand for the soonest launch of a wide intra-Syrian dialogue without preliminary conditions, the Russian foreign ministry said on Monday after a meeting between Russian president’s Middle East and Africa envoy and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad.

"Priority attention was focused on the political settlement of the Syrian crisis," the ministry said. "The sides once again stressed the topicality of the soonest launch of a broad intra-Syrian dialogue on the basis of the Geneva communique of June 30, 2012 and United Nations resolution 2254 of December 18, 2015 without preliminary conditions."

"The two diplomats also discussed current issues of the bilateral agenda," the ministry said, adding that the meeting had been initiated by the Syrian ambassador.
Click to expand...
 
angelburst29 said:
Aid convoy sets off for besieged, starving Syrian town
http://www.trust.org/item/20160111101331-b959z/?source=dpagetopic

Dozens of trucks bearing the Red Crescent logo and carrying food and medical supplies left Damascus for Madaya near the Lebanese border as part of an agreement between warring sides.

Another convoy was en route to two Shi'ite villages, al Foua and Kefraya in the northwestern province of Idlib 300 km (200 miles) away, the Red Cross said on its Syria Twitter account. Under the agreement, aid was to enter Madaya and the two villages simultaneously.

The Madaya blockade began six months ago when the Syrian army and its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, started a campaign to reestablish President Bashar al-Assad's control over areas along the Syrian-Lebanese border.

A newly formed opposition council set up to oversee negotiations has told U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura that this must happen before the talks he plans to hold on Jan. 25.


Aid to be delivered to starving Syrian towns as early as Sunday
http://www.trust.org/item/20160108214941-s2fg3/?source=dpagetopic

UPDATE: Aid convoys depart for besieged Syrian town, villages

NEW YORK, Jan 8 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Humanitarian groups could begin delivering much-needed aid in three besieged Syrian towns as early as Sunday, spokesmen said on Friday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) said they were preparing convoys packed with food and medical supplies for suffering populations in the towns of Madaya, al-Foua and Kefraya.

As Syria reels from civil war, a six-month-long blockade of Madaya by the Syrian army and its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, has trapped about 40,000 residents now enduring a harsh winter.

Urgently needed supplies include medicine and baby formula because mothers of infants are not lactating due of hunger, said Krzysiek.

The WFP will distribute such staples as rice, vegetable oil, flour, sugar, salt and canned food.

This will be the second humanitarian convoy reaching the three towns. The first took place in October.


Anti-Assad Propaganda Exposed: ‘Starving Syrian Child’ Revealed as Healthy Lebanese Girl
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/anti-assad-propaganda-exposed-starving-syrian-child-revealed-healthy-lebanese-girl/ri12143

A viral photo depicting a "malnourished Syrian child" being "starved" by the "evil Syrian army" is a bona fide fraud. The details, via Lebanon's Daily Star ('Starving Syria child' revealed as south Lebanon girl):

The family of a south Lebanon girl depicted in a photo that went viral alleging to show a starving child from a besieged Syrian border town has expressed anger over the incident.

"They took it too far this time," Rosine Mazeh, the grandmother of 7-year-old Marianna Mazeh, told Al-Jadeed from their village of Tay Filsey in a report broadcast Saturday.

She said the photo of her smiling brown-haired, blue-eyed granddaughter was originally posted to Facebook three years ago and had been doctored several times in the past by individuals promoting different causes.

Most recently, the photo was circulated in a side-by-side with images depicting a skeletal figure said to be suffering from malnutrition as a result of a Syrian army siege in the town of Madaya, located several kilometers east of Lebanon's border.

Several other photos circulating on social media and picked up by some international news agencies that alleged to show starvation from the town have also been revealed as fakes.

Next time try congressional testimony from a teary-eyed daughter of the Kuwaiti Ambassador? It has a 100% success rate with justifying bogus wars of aggression.
Click to expand...


Madaya Fake Media Images: BBC Caught Recycling 2014 Footage from Yarmouk
http://www.globalresearch.ca/madaya-fake-media-images-bbc-caught-recycling-2014-footage-from-yarmouk/5500604

Since the story of the Madaya “starvation” broke seemingly hours after the Saudi lawless and brutal execution of inspirational opposition speaker and cleric Sheikh Nimr, we have been presented with a ceaseless array of fake images many of which have been corrected or withdrawn by the offending mainstream media outlets but then relentlessly and brazenly recycled, regardless, by the social media propaganda rings.

However the cherry on the propaganda cake came tonight with a report from the BBC on Madaya. Not only do they try to conceal the fact that civilians are arguing with Ahrar al Sham terrorists and yelling at them:

“You are not hungry, we are!!”

The BBC uses the ambiguous and misleading term “fighter” instead of clearly specifying the civilians are referring to Ahrar al Sham militants who are occupying Madaya. Or one of their associates from Al Nusra or the FSA [less than 10% of the rebel contingent in Madaya].

Even more shockingly the BBC then went on to use footage from Yarmouk 2014 and described the boy in this footage as being in Madaya just after the October 19th 2015 food delivery from the Red Cross.

The boy comes into the film at 0:50 in the BBC Madaya footage 11th January 2016. (Video)

The same footage is being used here in a video depicting the situation in Yarmouk, south of Damascus July 4th 2014. (Video)

Perhaps we should not be shocked at this blatant use of unrelated footage to propagate what has been proven to be a dishonest narrative, but the levels to which our Government sponsored media are stooping these days is not something to be ignored. The consequences for the Syrian people and all other nations being subjected to their deceit are too dire for us to turn a blind eye to their frightening lack of ethics.

Pass BBC Fabrications:

Nov 5, 2015 - Fabricated BBC Video: ‘Reports on Aftermath of Syrian School Attack Were Largely Staged’
http://www.globalresearch.ca/fabricated-bbc-video-reports-on-aftermath-of-syrian-school-attack-were-largely-staged/5486939?utm_campaign=magnet&utm_source=article_page&utm_medium=related_articles

August 9, 2015 - Substitution of “Napalm Bomb” Footage: BBC Upholds Complaint
http://www.globalresearch.ca/fabrication-in-bbc-panorama-saving-syrias-children-substitution-of-napalm-bomb-footage/5464145?utm_campaign=magnet&utm_source=article_page&utm_medium=related_articles

July 22, 2015 - Media Manipulation and “Discrepancies”: BBC Admits Switching Pictures and Video Footage
http://www.globalresearch.ca/media-manipulation-and-discrepancies-bbc-admits-switching-video-footage-in-its-syria-reports/5453093?utm_campaign=magnet&utm_source=article_page&utm_medium=related_articles

July 20, 2015 - British Media Uses Fake Video Footage to Accuse Syria’s President of Killing his Own People
http://www.globalresearch.ca/british-media-uses-fake-video-footage-to-accuse-syrias-president-of-killing-his-own-people/5463437?utm_campaign=magnet&utm_source=article_page&utm_medium=related_articles

October 5, 2013 - BBC Media Fabrications on Alleged Incendiary Bomb Attack in Aleppo, Syria
http://www.globalresearch.ca/bbc-media-fabrications-on-alleged-incendiary-bomb-attack-in-aleppo-syria/5353099?utm_campaign=magnet&utm_source=article_page&utm_medium=related_articles
 
I think it is important to note the fake reporting/propaganda/lies being utilized.

Back in October 2015 Thebull started a thread about The Syrian Human Rights Observatory:
Propaganda of the Week!

And RT has a YouTube video explaining that he is just one man working from home in the UK:


Here is the site if you want to check out the anti-Russian flavor: http://www.syriahr.com/en/

And, I am hoping that Putin is prepared to deal with the corruption in the UN as he proceeds with negotiations. At least he will not be there personally on January 13th.

It seems the UN is wanting to use the starvation rescue as a wedge to influence Syrian aide given by Hezbollah against the "moderate" rebel opposition.

Hezbollah has said rebels in the town had taken control of aid which they were selling to those who could buy. The people of Madaya were being exploited in a propaganda campaign, it said.
Click to expand...
 
angelburst29 said:
Aid convoy sets off for besieged, starving Syrian town
http://www.trust.org/item/20160111101331-b959z/?source=dpagetopic

Dozens of trucks bearing the Red Crescent logo and carrying food and medical supplies left Damascus for Madaya near the Lebanese border as part of an agreement between warring sides.

Another convoy was en route to two Shi'ite villages, al Foua and Kefraya in the northwestern province of Idlib 300 km (200 miles) away, the Red Cross said on its Syria Twitter account. Under the agreement, aid was to enter Madaya and the two villages simultaneously.

The Madaya blockade began six months ago when the Syrian army and its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, started a campaign to reestablish President Bashar al-Assad's control over areas along the Syrian-Lebanese border.

The last aid delivery to Madaya, which took place in October, was synchronised with a similar delivery to the two villages.

Hezbollah has said rebels in the town had taken control of aid which they were selling to those who could buy. The people of Madaya were being exploited in a propaganda campaign, it said.

One siege is by the Islamic State group, on government-held areas of the city of Deir al-Zor.

A U.N. Security Council adopted on Dec. 18 setting out a road map for peace talks calls on the parties to allow aid agencies unhindered access throughout Syria, particularly in besieged and hard-to-reach areas.

A newly formed opposition council set up to oversee negotiations has told U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura that this must happen before the talks he plans to hold on Jan. 25.


Aid to be delivered to starving Syrian towns as early as Sunday
http://www.trust.org/item/20160108214941-s2fg3/?source=dpagetopic

This will be the second humanitarian convoy reaching the three towns. The first took place in October.


Anti-Assad Propaganda Exposed: ‘Starving Syrian Child’ Revealed as Healthy Lebanese Girl
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/anti-assad-propaganda-exposed-starving-syrian-child-revealed-healthy-lebanese-girl/ri12143


Saudi Arms Sales Are in Breach of International Law, Britain Is Told
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941020001478

The hugely embarrassing accusation comes after human rights groups, the European parliament and the UN all expressed concerns about Saudi-led coalition attacks in Yemen. Lawyers acting for the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) have stepped up legal proceedings against the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, which approves export licences, accusing it of failing in its legal duty to take steps to prevent and suppress violations of international humanitarian law, The Guardian reported.

The legal move places the UK’s relationship with Saudi Arabia in the spotlight at a sensitive time. Almost £6bn of UK arms have been licensed to Saudi Arabia since David Cameron took office.

However, Amnesty International has warned of “a pattern of appalling disregard for civilian lives displayed by the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition”. The UN has expressed similar concerns. Last year Saudi-led coalition strikes hit a Médecins Sans Frontières mobile clinic and hospital and several schools. Saudi coalition strikes are alleged to have targeted electricity and water plants.
Click to expand...



Information suggests that the Saudi-led coalition is being used and supplied by the U.S. and U.K. as a proxy to carry out their war plans?
In a Breach of International Law, Britain is providing the Saudi's with Arms, etc. while Washington "has backed the Saudi-led coalition with logistical and intelligence support, including crucial aerial refueling and targeting assistance, as well as billions of dollars worth of arms sales." The Saudi-led coalition is behind the Madaya crisis, the bombings in Yemen and of several Médecins Sans Frontières mobile clinics and hospital's, and have targeted electricity and water plants.

First convoy of Humanitarian Aid was sent last October, to Madaya, al Foua and Kefraya. It was confiscated "on arrival" by the al-Nusra Front, FSA and the Ahrar al-Sham group. The Aid never reached the resident population but was diverted to warehouse's to supply the different terrorist factions. In this second Aid convoy, the residents have clashed with the terrorists (link below).



Hezbollah Legislator: Saudi Arabia Behind Syria's Madaya Food Crisis
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941022001176

Saudi Arabia created the incident of Madaya in a move to tarnish the image of the Lebanese resistance movement," Nawaf al-Moussavi was quoted as saying by the Arabic-language media outlets on Tuesday.

Madaya is a small town in the Southern parts of Zabadani, 45km Northeast of Damascus, and about 1,000 terrorists from three groups have established bases for themselves in the city. 60% of these terrorists are from Ahrar al-Sham group, 30% from al-Nusra Front and others are FSA members. Madaya had 16,700 residents joined by almost 7,000 refugees last year.

Last summer, Madaya was freed by the Syrian army and Hezbollah after retaking the important city of Zabadani. After the terrorists took out their wounded members from Zabadani, a small number of them were besieged and are still in the same situation. The terrorists' conditions are now crucial in Madaya.

Terrorists prevent sending food and medical aid to the people in Madaya in a bid to increase domestic and international pressure on the Syrian army and Hezbollah to remove the siege, giving them a chance to flee the city.

The CNN, BBC, al-Arabiya, al-Jazeera, SkyNews, al-Nahar, Turk Press and several other Saudi and western-affiliated news media have launched propaganda against Hezbollah concurrent with releasing a number of images of starving, bony and sick people to claim that people in Madaya are dying of starvation and Hezbollah should be blamed.

But these news outlets don’t say anything about the four towns of Foua'a, Kafria in Idlib and al-Zahra and Nubl in Aleppo, where thousands of Shiites are besieged by Jeish al-Fath terrorists. Why have the people in Foua'a who were attacked by 30 Grad missiles two days ago not received any attention from the side of these media?

The Reality

The reality is that on October 18, tens of trucks full of foodstuff and drugs entered Madaya, Sarghaya and Baghin. The food and medical aid cargo comprising tens of trucks was enough for the 23,000 residents of these small towns to survive for several months.

But the problem is that Madaya is besieged by Ahrar al-Sham, al-Nusra Front and FSA terrorist groups and, as a matter of fact, taken hostage by these terrorists.

The men who refused to cooperate with these groups have earlier been killed and beheaded and people don’t have access to the food and medical aid cargos that have been sent in.

Many people seek to leave the town but the militants prevent them. Even recently, some negotiations were held based on which 300 terrorists were due to surrender to the Syrian army but other militants have troubled and blocked implementation of the deal.

Al-Manar news channel has recently broadcast a documentary showing that many of the images released by the Saudi-US-affiliated media of starving people don’t belong to the residents of Madaya town, proving that those media are only seeking to tarnish the face of Hezbollah and the Syrian army to reduce pressure on the terrorists.

One Argument

One question should be asked from the armed militants in Madaya and the media which are supporting them and shedding crocodile tears for the people: How come the armed militants in Madaya are fighting against the Syrian army and Hezbollah forces with such healthy and agile and vigorous bodies, but people are starving?


Madaya Citizens Prevent Terrorists from Confiscating UN Humanitarian Aid
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941021001416

The residents of the town of Madaya, Northwest of Damascus province, clashed with the terrorists as they were trying to confiscate the foodstuff and the humanitarian aid sent to the besieged town by a long convoy of vehicles of the United Nations (UN) and the Syrian Red Crescent.

The UN convoy brought several tons of humanitarian aid for over 20,000 civilians who have been taken as hostage by 1,000 terrorists in Madaya.

The terrorists were trying to confiscate the humanitarian aid and take them to their own warehouses, but faced people's strong opposition. The people themselves received the food and other humanitarian aid.

The UN and Syria's Red Crescent brought several tons of humanitarian aid for over 20,000 civilians.

"The humanitarian aid convoy is now in Madaya," the sources said, adding, "Another convoy of humanitarian aid has been forwarded to Fuaa and Kafraya in Idlib."

The siege of Fuaa and Kafraya has entered its tenth month while the terrorists have killed 600 Shiites in these two towns and prevent delivery of food and medical aid to their residents.

Nubl and Al-Zahra in Northwest of Aleppo province have also been surrounded by terrorists for years now and people have been dying of hunger in there too.

After the terrorist groups besieged and prevailed over many regions in Idlib in Northwestern Syria in late March 2015, the two Shiite-populated Fuaa and Kafraya towns in the Northern parts of the province came under a tight siege by the terrorists.

The siege was accompanied by massive and continued missile and rocket attacks on the city which destroyed foodstuff and medical warehouses and the terrorist groups, specially Jeish al-Fatah, attempted to keep people in the two towns hungry deliberately and based on a plan.

The terrorist groups' pounding of the two towns destroyed their infrastructures and public centers, and the only water treatment plant of the region as well as the power grid and agricultural structures were also shelled.

The terrorists' extensive attacks have killed and wounded hundreds of women, children and the elderly. The injured ones in the two regions are still being treated without Anesthesia due to the lack of drugs and equipment; patients are in need of the most trivial forms of medication for, for example, their children's diarrhea problem.

The terrorist groups don’t allow the residents of Fuaa and Kafraya to receive humanitarian aid and their ringleaders still provoke their forces to attack the Shiites and set fire to their houses. People in the region have been feeding on herbs, plants and tree leaves for months. But it's winter now and they can't find anything green to fee on.

The situation in Nubl and Al-Zahra in Aleppo province is much worse than this as they have been under siege by the terrorists for nearly four years now. Tens of people have died of hunger and lack of medicine in these two Shiite-populated towns.

But the Saudi and US media outlets have always kept mum about these towns, and they, instead, release fake images to claim that people in the town of Madaya in Damascus province are starving under the government's siege. And such lies come as the terrorists have seized the food and medical aid sent for the people of Madaya to rally international support to pressure the Syrian army to lift its siege of the terrorists.


In Yemen, Civilians Suffer Relentless Bombing by Saudi-led Coalition
https://theintercept.com/2016/01/11/in-yemen-civilians-suffer-relentless-bombing-by-saudi-led-coalition/

AFTER NEARLY 10 MONTHS of war, the destruction of Yemen continues with little respite for civilians.

On Sunday, a hospital in northern Yemen supported by Doctors Without Borders (known by its French acronym, MSF) was bombed, killing at least five people and destroying several buildings that were part of the facility. Ten people were injured in the attack, including three of the group’s staff.

The humanitarian group said it cannot confirm the origin of the attack but that planes were seen flying over the facility at the time. The only air power currently operating in Yemen is a Saudi-led coalition of Arab states that have waged a relentless bombing campaign since March.

More than 6,000 people have been killed in the war, including over 2,800 civilians, the majority of them from airstrikes, according to the United Nations. The United States has backed the Saudi-led coalition with logistical and intelligence support, including crucial aerial refueling and targeting assistance, as well as billions of dollars worth of arms sales.

This is the third MSF facility to be bombed in Yemen in less than three months. In October, airstrikes destroyed an MSF hospital in Haydan, while a health center run by the group in Taiz was hit by the Saudi coalition in December. Dozens of medical facilities have been destroyed or damaged in the conflict by Saudi airstrikes, as well as, on the other side, indiscriminate shelling by the Houthis and their allies.

“We strongly condemn this incident that confirms a worrying pattern of attacks to essential medical services and express our strongest outrage as this will leave a very fragile population without healthcare for weeks,” said MSF’s director of operations, Raquel Ayora, in a statement.

The Shiara hospital hit on Sunday lies close the Saudi border in the Razeh district of Saada province. Saada, a stronghold of the Houthi rebels the coalition is fighting, has been subjected to some of the fiercest bombardment in Yemen, causing widespread destruction and massive displacement.

The hospital had been bombed before MSF started supporting it, in an airstrike in September that killed two patients and destroyed several departments in the facility. The only functioning hospital in Saada lies in the provincial capital, leaving hundreds of thousands of Yemenis in the area without adequate access to medical treatment for war injuries as well as for ailments like malnutrition and malaria.

Since April, the Saudi-led coalition has imposed a crippling siege on Yemen, by far the poorest country in the region. Severe import restrictions on basic goods have led to a deepening humanitarian crisis, with over 21 million people now in need of basic assistance — more than anywhere else in the world. The blockade comes under the rubric of an arms embargo imposed by a U.N. Security Council resolution that was drafted largely by the Gulf countries taking part in the U.S.-supported Saudi coalition.

On the other side of the front lines, the Houthis have also blocked access to humanitarian aid within the country, imposing a vicious internal siege on Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city.

Last month, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, ironically lamented the humanitarian situation in Yemen, stating in a tweet: “Grim briefing on #Yemen today. Yemen’s future on the line: over 700 schools destroyed/damaged; 2x increase in malnourished kids in just 9mo.” Her statement has been criticized for hypocrisy.

“Such statements ring hollow,” said Belkis Wille, the Yemen researcher for Human Rights Watch, pointing out the direct role played by the U.S. in the war and its refusal to push for accountability by holding its own investigations into airstrikes.

The coalition has lashed out at the criticism of its military campaign. Yemen’s pro-Saudi government even expelled a U.N. human rights envoy last week over what it called “unfair statements.” The expulsion came after Rupert Colville, the spokesperson for the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, criticized the “terrible toll on civilians” in the conflict. The move caused an uproar and the government begrudgingly reversed its position two days later “because of the fuss created around the matter and caused by media reports,” according to a letter from the Yemeni mission to the United Nations.

The coalition also airdropped cluster bombs on residential neighborhoods in the capital, Sanaa, for the first time on Wednesday, according to Human Rights Watch. The group identified the munitions as from a CBU-58 cluster bomb manufactured at a plant in Tennessee in 1978.

On the same day as the cluster bomb attack, Sanaa was targeted with some of the heaviest bombing by the coalition in months. Warplanes struck a center for the blind, a wedding hall, the city’s chamber of commerce, and a residential neighborhood. The bombing came after the breakdown of a nominal ceasefire that was declared during U.N.-sponsored peace talks in December.

“The Saudis are using missile strikes as political exclamation points,” said Haykal Bafana, a lawyer and consultant in Sanaa. “I don’t know whose attention they are trying to get. Anytime I hear jets flying over me thoughts flash in my mind of me, my wife, and my kids dying.”

The next round of peace talks, which were scheduled for mid-January, have been postponed until the end of the month after a rejection by the Houthis.

“In order to have a viable peace process you need to have a group of sides involved in the war that actually want peace,” said Adam Baron, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and a founding member of the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies. “As all political sides think they’re winning, Yemenis are paying the price of the conflict with a deepening humanitarian crisis, destruction of infrastructure, and the unraveling of the country’s entire social fabric.”
 
The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier that militants are supplied with weapons and equipment from the Turkish territory.

Russian general: New militants regularly arrive to Syria’s Latakia province from Turkey
http://tass.ru/en/world/848780

New recruits are regularly arriving to the north-eastern part of the Syrian province of Latakia from Turkey Lieutenant General Sergey Rudskoy, chief of the main operations department of the Russian General Staff, told journalists on Monday.

Rudskoy said that Syrian government forces are making progress while militants are suffering losses and forces to leave their positions. "However, despite efforts of the international community directed at stopping any support to terrorists, new recruits regularly arrive to the north-eastern part of Latakia province from the Turkish territory," he added.


US Drones Attack Headquarters of Iraqi Popular Forces in Tikrit, Kill 9 People
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941020001248

The US military drones launched airstrikes on the popular forces in an area in Tikrit that had already been purged of terrorists, leaving two dozen casualties.

"In an incident against which we have had warned several times in the past, the US-led coalition attacked the Jund al-Imam Battalion popular forces' headquarters at Speicher base in Tikrit," Spokesman for Asaeb Ahl Al-Haq Battalion (one of the popular groups fighting alongside the Iraqi army against the ISIL) Naeim al-Aboudi said on Sunday.

He confirmed that 9 people were killed and 14 others were wounded in the attack.

Aboudi condemned the attack, and said no excuse could justify the air raid as the region had earlier been purged of terrorists and only the Iraqi popular and security forces were stationed there.



Several Blasts Rock Aramco Oil Facilities
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941022001373

A number of blasts hit Baqiq industrial city in the Southern Saudi province of Jizan where the kingdom's giant Aramco oil facilities is located.

The local residents of Al-Sharqiya region where the Baqiq industrial city and the Aramco oil facilities are located confirmed huge explosions near the huge oil facilities, the Arabic-language media outlets reported on Tuesday.

Baqiq industrial city belongs to Aramco oil company which itself is Saudi Arabia's biggest economic enterprise.

The oilfields of Aramco, including Qawareh oilfield, are located in Shiite-populated Eastern Saudi Arabia.

Aramco oil facilities have come under repeated missile attacks by the Yemeni army and popular forces in the last several months.

The Yemeni forces targeted the oil company in Jizan with Qaher-I ballistic missiles twice from mid to late December.

"The missile precisely hit Aramco oil company on Monday night," the Arabic-language media outlets quoted an unnamed Yemeni army official as saying after the second December attack.

He reiterated that the missile attack came in retaliation for the Saudi-led aggressors' violation of the UN-sponsored ceasefire.

The two attacks were launched on December 21 and 29, but the multi-trillion-dollar company has come under attack, at least, two times more in the last several months.

Qaher-I is an updated version of a Russian-made surface-to-surface missile.

The Yemeni forces' attacks on Aramco oil facilities come as the Saudi oil giant has put its stakes for sale.

Saudi Arabia is considering the partial sale of its state-owned oil monopoly, Aramco. It is the most valuable company in the world, with oil reserves estimated to be ten times those of US oil giant Exxon Mobil. Analysts say the whole company could be worth up to $10 trillion, giving even a partial float the potential to be the world's largest initial public offering.



Sociopath Media Report: Foreign Policy FUBAR (Photo's - Video)
http://fortruss.blogspot.ca/2016/01/sociopath-media-report-foreign-policy.html

Like most days watching a social network stream whizz by, one does not have to wait long before something so unbelievably stupid presents itself. On the 11th of January, Michael Weiss provided the entertainment for us all, a welcome distraction from the Madaya mess:

For those not aware, Michael Weiss' outfit, Interpreter Magazine, has been merged with an official U.S government asset - Radio Free Europe:

Moving on to the piece that Weiss is promoting, posted on the website of the Council on Foreign Relations proxy, Foreign Policy Magazine: "Russia Bombs Offices of American NGO in Syria, Says Group"

We can already see from the title that it is an attempt to tell Russia what they are and are not bombing. The first issue we have is why is there an American NGO office in the Takfiri stronghold of Idlib? We have Latakia, Hama, Damascus, Aleppo, Palmyra, and countless other towns and cities that one may have heard about through various reports. So why Idlib? The same Idlib that the West claims is 'liberated' from Assad's tyranny:

Does the school shown above look liberated to you? No! It looks like what it is - a Jaish al-Fatah stronghold. (Photo)

So anyway, they admit Idlib is 'rebel held'. Next up, they say the claim is from an "American advocacy organization". What on earth is that? No further details are given, surprise surprise. It then hyperlinks to a Reuters article, which cries 'Russia is bombing civilians' until it soils its diaper. Thus far, we have an unnamed "organziation" and a Reuters article for sources. God help us. Next up, is the dead horse being beaten into a pulp - "Russia ISN'T bombing ISIS but the Pentagons expensive 'rebels'". Well, Putin soon sorted that one out, by going to the UN and placing initially al-Nusra on the terrorist list, and then later on Ahrar al-Sham and dozens of others.

They then try to link Russia to the word that the U.S use incessantly - "Intervention". What that essentially does is dismiss the existence of International Law, because the US and Russia are both 'Intervening', and thus are both 'legit' through the eyes of an American.

The next section falls flat on its face after the first comma - "Syrian Emergency Task Force". This little NGO is headed by none other than John McCain's pet rat Mouaz Moustafa: "Rule of thumb - words like 'democracy' and 'freedom' are call signs for Zionism"

A reminder about Mouaz Moustafa: (photo's) Mouaz Moustafa with ISIS' press officer and John McCain

So basically, anything to do with Mouaz Moustafa is 100% linked to Wahhabi terrorism. The sentence that follows about "humanitarian aid" is laughable considering what has been seen in Madaya the past few days. Note how a "Pentagon official" found it "unusual and hard to believe" - they know they can only go so far with this because Matt Lee or RT's Gayane Chichakyan will only embarrass the State Department in a future briefing.

And of course - the "official" speaks "Anonymously" - surprise, surprise.

We then see the name "Evan Barrett". A quick google shows him being a writer for 'Al Arabiya' - one of the most aggressive Wahhabi propaganda machines alongside Al Jazeera.

Logically we could say that Mouaz Moustafa and Evan Barrett could have just smashed up a random place and claimed Russia bombed it. The pictures prove absolutely nothing. But hey, let's put some books there to make out that it was an educational institute (subliminal programming of the image of children studying).

The final section mentions the man in Halifax, England who has never visited Syria before - also known as the "Syrian Observatory for Human Rights". He thinks Russia is bad for bombing an area where Terrorists are, despite Putin okaying these areas (via the groups residing in them) with the UN.

Now we see the true purpose of this article - to disrupt Russia's momentum at the negotiation table. Putin has systematically destroyed the hardcore opposition in Syria, with the leaders of Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham being the most recent casualties. Al Qaeda in Syria are a #1 priority for not only Putin, but Assad too, as they still have the ability and logistics to strengthen, ISIS do not and are losing territory rapidly. The UN, as corrupt as they are, will laugh this article out of the building. "Anonymous officials" and phony NGO's are not going to cut it anymore.

As a side note, Riad Hijab is a hardcore Salafi lunactic who 'defected' from Syria to Jordan. He has absolutely no gravitational pull in any peace talks aside from his oversized stomach.

In conclusion, this piece just uses the cut and paste formula that the State Department has been using since day 1 (Sarin Hoax) - using proxies on the ground to stage something, and then using the Oligarch media agencies to whip up a frenzy, hoping the UN fall for it.

The Military Industrial Complex and the Mass Media is all that is left of the U.S empire. Both are becoming more blunt by the day, which is bad news for their head-chopping Takfiris.
 
Iran detains 2 U.S. Navy boats, 10 sailors in Persian Gulf
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/01/12/pentagon-2-us-navy-boats-held-iran-but-returned/78697686/

Tuesday Jan. 12, 2016 - Iran was holding 10 U.S. Navy sailors and two small Navy boats after the boats had mechanical problems and drifted into Iranian waters, but American officials have received assurances from Tehran that they will be returned safely and promptly.

WASHINGTON — Ten sailors aboard two small U.S. Navy boats were detained by Iran on Tuesday, but Tehran assured U.S. officials the crew and vessels would be promptly returned.

The two riverine boats were en route from Kuwait to Bahrain when the military lost contact with the vessels, a U.S. military official told USA TODAY. The U.S. has been communicating with Iranian officials, who gave assurances of the sailors' safety, the official said.

However, the semi-official Iranian news agency FARS reported that Iranian Revolutionary Guards arrested 10 U.S. troops for trespassing in Iranian waters. One woman was among those detained. The vessels were carrying three .50-caliber machine guns, the agency reported.

Secretary John Kerry spoke to his Iranian counterpart, Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, who promised the two ships would be allowed to continue their voyage, likely at first light Wednesday local time, according to a senior U.S. official.

The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the incident publicly.

The boats drifted into Iranian coastal waters in the vicinity of Farsi Island in the north Persian Gulf, apparently after one experienced mechanical problems and the other attempted to render aid. It was not clear how far into Iranian waters they traveled, but the move was unintentional, the senior official said.

White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said the administration was aware of the incident. “We are working to resolve the situation such that obviously the U.S. personnel are returned to their normal deployment.”

The incident could be a key test for Iran-U.S. relations after a nuclear deal in which the United States and other world powers agreed to lift international sanctions in return for Iran reducing its nuclear program. Relief from the sanctions could begin as early as this week. Kerry and Zarif developed a close relationship during the protracted negotiations.

While the U.S. expressed confidence the incident will be resolved peacefully, Iran's elite paramilitary forces could continue to seek provocations with the West by exploiting the situation.


Pentagon: 10 U.S. sailors taken into Iranian custody to be returned (map - photo - video)
http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2016/01/12/pentagon-2-us-navy-boats-held-iran-but-returned/78698018/

Ten sailors and two boats were taken into Iranian custody Tuesday after their patrol boats drifted into Iranian-claimed waters, according to two defense officials.

The riverine sailors are believed to have drifted into Iranian territory after having mechanical issues with their boats. The defense officials said Secretary of State John Kerry was immediately involved and Iran has agreed to turn the sailors and vessels over, though they have not been turned over as of 4 p.m., Eastern Standard Time.

"Earlier today, noonish East Coast, we lost contact with two small U.S. naval craft en route from Kuwait to Bahrain," said a defense official, who, like others, asked for anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations. "We subsequently have been in communication with Iranian authorities, who have informed us of the safety and well-being of our personnel. We have received assurances the sailors will promptly be allowed to continue their journey."

Fleet officials lost contact with the riverine boats in the vicinity of Farsi Island, an Iranian island in the north Persian Gulf. A U.S. official said it’s believed they drifted into the 12-mile zone near the island while in transit. The island is believed to be a base for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“We found out that the Iranians may actually have them so we initiated state-to-state contact,” said another defense official.

It is unclear whether the Iranian forces boarded the U.S. boats or confronted the sailors.

Officials at 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain did not immediately respond to requests for comment. An official at U.S. Central Command referred questions to the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told The Associated Press that the boats were moving between Kuwait and Bahrain when the U.S. lost contact with them. The situation began to unfold during the evening in the Persian Gulf, according to a defense official. The Truman Carrier Strike Group launched a search and rescue effort and is still in the vicinity.

A skeletal look at the Navy's new Riverine Command Boat. The ultra-fast vessel was built in Sweden, which prevented the Navy from buying one until now. (Photo: SAFE Boats)

The New York Times reported that Iran’s Fars news agency said the riverine boats traveled more than mile into Iranian territorial waters and that the Revolutionary Guard Corps seized some GPS gear to show the vessels had been “snooping.”

A Defense spokeswoman identified the American vessels as riverine command boats. These 49-foot-long vessels feature an aircraft-like cockpit and a reinforced hull that can drive onto a rocky beach to offload troops. They're a cross between a boat and a Stryker armored combat vehicle, according to a 2007 Navy Times profile of the boats.

With Rolls-Royce jets that propels it up to 43 knots, these $2.8 million boats are the flagships of the brown water Navy. They are designed for rivers and coastal waterways, with a three foot draft. The fast-attack craft host sensitive communications gear to act as a floating command post for riverine forces and can be outfitted for different missions.

These command boats can carry up to 20 troops and be armed with six crew-served machine guns, or alternately serve as an floating ambulance.

The situation is reminiscent of a 2007 incident when 15 British sailors were captured by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and held for two weeks.

The Iranian seizure is the latest flare-up in an increasingly tense relationship. Two weeks ago, U.S. officials blamed patrol boats with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps for firing rockets in the vicinity of the Truman Carrier Strike Group, which was then passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Those officials labeled it a “dangerous” and “unprofessional” stunt.

Some experts have cautioned that Iran’s elite paramilitary forces are likely to continue to seek provocations with the West, even as Iran enters into a nuclear agreement.

File video provided by the Defense Department shows a Navy Riverine Command Boat, the same type of vessel Iran seized Jan. 12 after two of the boats experienced mechanical issues in the Persian Gulf.


Ten US sailors are currently in Iranian custody
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/two-us-navy-boats-are-currently-in-iranian-custody-a6808371.html

Ten American sailors were taken into Iranian custody on Tuesday after two small US Navy ships were detained in the Persian Gulf.

A US Defense Department official told The Independent that the ships went missing for some time.

"Earlier today, we lost contact with two small US naval craft en route from Kuwait to Bahrain," the official said.

"We subsequently have been in communication with Iranian authorities, who have informed us of the safety and well-being of our personnel."

The official added that: "We have received assurances the ten sailors will promptly be allowed to continue their journey."

The Fars News Agency in Iran said that the boats illegally entered Iranian waters and the US sailors were “arrested.”

Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Navy confiscated GPS equipment and accused the servicemen of “snooping.”

White House officials are aware of the situation and is working to get the sailors returned home safely.

Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters that the administraiton is optimistic about the situation, Reuters reports.

The incident comes just hours before President Barack Obama is scheduled to address the nation in his eighth and final State of the Union Address.
 
BREAKING:

US aircraft carrier made 'provocative' maneuvers in Gulf after Iran detained US sailors - Tehran

https://www.rt.com/news/328716-us-maneuvers-gulf-arrest/

Iran said a US aircraft carrier “acted provocatively and unprofessionally” after its Revolutionary Guards seized two US boats that strayed into Islamic Republic's territorial waters.

The USS Harry S. Truman, which is currently deployed in the Persian Gulf, has been conducting improper maneuvers in the wake of the detention of the boats, a top Iranian naval commander claimed.

Two US Navy boats in Iranian custody - Pentagon

Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, the chief of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Navy, talked about the incident with the American boats in a live interview on state TV.

Fadavi dismissed reports that the ten American troops detained by the IRGC would soon be released as “speculation.” He said they would be questioned and warned that Iran would “act properly” if it concludes that the boats entered Iranian waters on an espionage mission rather than by accident.

He confirmed that US Secretary of State John Kerry had talked with his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif. Zarif demanded a formal apology for the breach of Iranian sovereignty, Fadavi said.

Two US boats armed with machine guns were detained about a mile into Iranian territorial waters, reportedly after one of them suffered a mechanical failure.

Last month, the US condemned Iran for conducting tests of a ballistic missile system in the Strait of Hormuz, saying the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and the USS Bulkeley destroyer were in proximity.

US releases video it says shows Iranian rockets fired near American aircraft carrier

The incident comes at a crucial moment for the nuclear deal between Tehran and six leading world powers, as Iranian nuclear scientists are about to disable the Arak heavy water reactor, paving the way for the lifting of economic sanctions on the Iranian oil industry.
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Iran Demands Apology From US for Alleged Territorial Water Violation

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160113/1033038953/iran-us-warship-apology.html

The Iranian foreign minister spoke to his US counterpart John Kerry and asked for an apology for violating Iran’s sovereignty by a US warship, the Azad News Agency reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Tehran demanded an apology from Washington for an alleged "violation" of the Iranian territorial waters by a US warship, local media reported Wednesday.

Iran has been reported to be holding two US vessels which were en route to Bahrain in custody, holding the sailors on board captive.

According to the Azad News Agency, the Iranian foreign minister spoke to his US counterpart John Kerry and asked for an apology for violating Iran’s sovereignty.
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Iran's Revolutionary Guards question U.S. sailors, dismiss talk of prompt release

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-boat-comment-idUSKCN0UR0K120160113

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday it was interrogating 10 American sailors it had detained a day earlier, and dismissed talk of their prompt release.

Iran detained the sailors who were aboard two U.S. navy boats in the Gulf in an incident that rattled nerves days ahead of the expected implementation of a landmark nuclear accord.

"If, during the interrogation, we find out that they were on an intelligence gathering mission, we will treat them differently," Guards spokesman Ramazan Sharif said in an interview with Tasnim news agency.

Late on Tuesday, a U.S. defense official had said plans were in place for Iran to return the sailors early on Wednesday to a U.S. Navy vessel in international waters.

But Sharif said that was speculation.

"What others say about the sailors' prompt release is their speculation, and I don't confirm or deny it," he told Tasnim.

IRGC Naval Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi told state television in an interview that a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Gulf had acted "provocatively and unprofessionally" for 40 minutes by carrying out air and sea maneuvers after Iran arrested the American sailors.

He said the sailors were transferred to Farsi island, near where they had been seized.

Tehran had asked Washington for an apology for "violating" Iran's territorial waters, Fadavi added.

"Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was in touch with U.S. Secretary of State (John) Kerry … Zarif took a firm stance as the sailors had violated Iran's territorial waters and asked the United States for an apology," Fadavi said.

Both U.S. and Iranian officials have described the sailors, whose boats may have inadvertently drifted into Iranian waters, as safe and well-treated. U.S. defense officials said nine men and one woman were aboard the two vessels seized.
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angelburst29 said:
Hezbollah Legislator: Saudi Arabia Behind Syria's Madaya Food Crisis
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941022001176

[...] Terrorists prevent sending food and medical aid to the people in Madaya in a bid to increase domestic and international pressure on the Syrian army and Hezbollah to remove the siege, giving them a chance to flee the city.

the problem is that Madaya is besieged by Ahrar al-Sham, al-Nusra Front and FSA terrorist groups and, as a matter of fact, taken hostage by these terrorists.

The men who refused to cooperate with these groups have earlier been killed and beheaded and people don’t have access to the food and medical aid cargos that have been sent in.

Many people seek to leave the town but the militants prevent them. Even recently, some negotiations were held based on which 300 terrorists were due to surrender to the Syrian army but other militants have troubled and blocked implementation of the deal.
Click to expand...

Note in the above link, negotiations were held based on which "300 terrorist" were due to surrender to the Syrian Army and in this next article by the Washington Post (which is a fabrication on the situation in Madaya) is this statement, "The U.N. humanitarian chief, warned late Monday after aid workers entered the town that "400" severely malnourished people urgently needed medical treatment, or else they were “in grave peril of losing their lives.”

Is the U.N. - using the Humanitarian Convoy - as a diversion to "rescue 300-400 terrorist (Ahrar al-Sham, al-Nusra Front and FSA terrorist) - out of the hands of the Syrian Army and then transferred to another location by their U.S./U.K handlers?


Surrounded by suffering, death in a besieged Syrian town (Video)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/un-humanitarian-chief-calls-for-urgent-medical-treatment-for-besieged-syrians/2016/01/12/cf311d57-bf87-4ed3-b4e9-2ef76e7331a9_story.html

BEIRUT — By the time the convoy carrying food arrived, Sereen didn’t know how much more she and others in the besieged Syrian town of Madaya could endure.

She had skipped meals for months, she said, so that her young nieces and nephews could eat the family’s diminishing supplies of rice and bulgur. She watched as friends turned into walking skeletons.

Then, in recent weeks, people began dying.

First a neighbor died of starvation, followed by his 9-year-old son, she said. On Monday — the day that a U.N.-backed agreement temporarily lifted the Syrian government’s brutal blockade of the mountain hamlet — Sereen learned that a 60-year-old friend had died.

The woman’s family “said she stopped eating altogether so that her grandchildren could eat,” Sereen said Tuesday, speaking from Madaya over Skype. “Her grandchildren survived, thanks be to God.”

A deal brokered between President Bashar al-Assad’s government and the United Nations permitted aid groups to send ­dozens of trucks to the town, near the Lebanese border and about 15 miles northwest of Syria’s capital, ­Damascus. The operation is expected to last several days and will also deliver food to two pro-government villages, Fua and ­Kefraya.

Pro-government forces have besieged Madaya, an opposition stronghold, since the summer, cutting off the flow of food and goods into the town. Fua and Kefraya, two villages in the northern province of Idlib, have been surrounded by rebels and face regular bombardment.

Images purporting to show people from Madaya, including emaciated and listless children, have circulated on Twitter and Facebook in recent days and drawn attention to the crisis.

As they began filling empty stomachs with rations of beans and rice Tuesday morning, some of the more than 20,000 people in the town revealed further details of their harrowing ordeal to aid workers and journalists.

Stephen O’Brien, the U.N. humanitarian chief, warned late Monday after aid workers entered the town that 400 severely malnourished people urgently needed medical treatment, or else they were “in grave peril of losing their lives.”

Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar Jaafari, on Monday denied that the government was using a policy of ­starvation and accused Arabic-language media of “fabricating” lies.

Sereen, 40, recalled seeing almost nothing but the effects of starvation all around her during that time. She spoke on the condition that her last name not be used, because of concern for her safety.

She remembered an argument a few weeks ago involving a butcher who refused a customer’s request to have his cat prepared as dinner meat.

She also described how her 10-year-old niece would forgo meals to give food to her younger sister. “Even the children had to become adults in this situation,” said Sereen, who shares an apartment with her grandparents, her mother and her brother’s family.

This summer, Sereen fled her home in the neighboring town of Zabadani with her mother during an attack by Syrian troops and Hezbollah fighters.

The assaults on Madaya and Zabadani are part of a military campaign by the Assad government to clear out rebels from key territory stretching from Damascus to Lebanon and the western coastline. The pro-government forces have encircled Madaya but have been careful not to storm it, because of threatened retaliation by rebels against Fua and Kefraya.

Another U.N.-backed agreement in September was supposed to end the sieges involving all those areas, including a mechanism for bringing in food, but it had faltered.

Before the Syrian uprising began in 2011, Sereen’s husband, Mohammed, owned a grocery store, and she was a stay-at-home wife. Like many from the area, they joined peaceful demonstrations against the Assad government and then backed an armed rebellion that eventually turned into a civil war that has killed more than 250,000 people.

Their three grown children have since fled the country, she said, but Mohammed was killed fighting for the Islamist Ahrar al-Sham rebel group in Zabadani last summer. She has had little time to mourn, she said.

She has mainly focused on how to survive.

“First, you’d see yourself losing weight. Then the hallucinations started happening. You’d have conversations with people and then completely forget what you said or what you talked about that day,” she said, adding that she had lost a considerable amount of weight.

She described how the family would pool together jewelry and other precious belongings to pay the war profiteers who would find ways to smuggle basic foods through the checkpoints that Syrian troops and Hezbollah fighters erected around Madaya. Two pounds of smuggled rice could cost $100 or more, she said.

In November, she said, she attempted to brave the checkpoints with snipers that surround the town and flee for medical care. Earlier last year, she said, she had finished chemotherapy for cancer and was due for a visit to the doctor. But as she attempted to leave in the middle of the night, she said, the smugglers she paid to help her out tripped one of the many land mines apparently planted on the outskirts of the town. One of them was killed.

Now she hopes the aid delivery will translate into an end to the siege and a return to the relative normalcy of seeing doctors and eating every day.

“We can’t go back to another blockade,” she said.




UN peacekeepers in CAR paid 13-year-old girls for sex
http://neurope.eu/article/un-peacekeepers-in-car-paid-13-year-old-girls-for-sex/

Four UN peacekeepers allegedly paid 13-year-old girls 50 cents in exchange for sex at a camp for the internally displaced in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR).

The peacekeepers had ties with a prostitution ring, run by boys and a young men and they committed the sexual crimes at a refugee camp for internally displaced people, called M’Poko. According to Washington Post, the camp is home to 20,000 people, mostly Christians.

This is not the first time where a sexual abuse scandal hits the UN peacekeeping mission in CAR, known as MINUSCA. In September, there were 17 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN personnel in the CAR. “Of these 17 cases, 13 involve allegations against our military, one involves allegations against our police, one case is against a civilian, and in two cases, the perpetrators status is unknown,” a MINUSCA statement had said in September.

In August, UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon fired former MINUSCA mission chief, Babacar Gaye of Senegal, and replaced him with Onanga-Anyanga, over the wave of the sexual abuse accusations. Then there were reports that UN peacekeepers killed a 16-year old boy and raped a 12-year old girl.

“I cannot put into words how anguished and angered and ashamed I am by recurrent reports over the years of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN forces,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had said then.

However, despite the verbal condemnation and the much intense rhetoric, sexual abuse cases in CAR continue and the UN leadership seems that it repeatedly failed to deal with the humanitarian problem. An internal UN study suggested that peacekeeping missions would be more efficient if more women participated in the missions.

(Comment - U.N. sexual abuse cases - are a "humanitarian" problem?)

Overall, UN employees in all around the world have been accused of 22 other sexual abuse incidents in the past 14 months.




U.N. says some of its peacekeepers were paying 13-year-olds for sex (Video)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/un-says-some-of-its-peacekeepers-were-paying-13-year-olds-for-sex/2016/01/11/504e48a8-b493-11e5-8abc-d09392edc612_story.html?tid=pm_world_pop_b

The United Nations has been grappling with so many sexual abuse allegations involving its peacekeepers that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recently called them “a cancer in our system.”

Now, officials have learned about what appears to be a fresh scandal. Investigators discovered this month that at least four U.N. peacekeepers in the Central African Republic allegedly paid girls as little as 50 cents in exchange for sex.

The case is the latest to plague the U.N. mission in the Central African Republic, whose employees have been accused of 22 other incidents of alleged sexual abuse or sexual exploitation in the past 14 months. The most recent accusations come in the wake of Ban’s efforts to implement a “zero tolerance” policy for such offenses.
 
angelburst29 said:
Iran detains 2 U.S. Navy boats, 10 sailors in Persian Gulf
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/01/12/pentagon-2-us-navy-boats-held-iran-but-returned/78697686/
Click to expand...

U.S. Sailors Detained by Iran Are 'Safely Returned' (Video)
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-sailors-detained-iran-are-safely-returned-n495526

Ten U.S. sailors detained by Iran were released early Wednesday, officials said.

The sailors — nine men and one woman — were held overnight on Iran's Farsi Island. They were taken into custody Tuesday when their two small U.S. navy riverine vessels drifted into Iranian-claimed waters during a training mission.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said in a statement Wednesday that the sailors had been released back into international waters following a U.S. apology and clarifications that any incursion was "a mistake."

"The Americans have undertaken not to repeat such mistakes," added the statement, which was read aloud on state TV. "The captured marines were released in international waters under the supervision of the IRGC Navy."

Defense Secretary Ash Carter said he was "pleased" the sailors were back in U.S. hands, thanking Secretary of State John Kerry for his diplomatic efforts to secure their release.

Kerry didn't mention any apology either in a statement on the sailors' release, but expressed "gratitude to Iranian authorities for their cooperation in swiftly resolving" the issue.

"That this issue was resolved peacefully and efficiently is a testament to the critical role diplomacy plays in keeping our country safe, secure, and strong," he said.


US Navy Sailors Held by Iran Are Released With Their Boats (Photo's)
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/01/13/10-sailors-detained-in-iran-returned-to-us-navy.html

Updated at 8:25 a.m. Eastern

TEHRAN, Iran -- All 10 U.S. Navy sailors detained by Iran after drifting into its territorial waters a day earlier have been freed, the U.S. and Iran said Wednesday.

The Navy said the American crewmembers returned safely and there were no indications they had been harmed while in custody.

The nine men and one woman were held at an Iranian base on Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf after they were detained nearby on Tuesday. The tiny outpost has been used as a base for Revolutionary Guard speedboats as far back as the 1980s.

The sailors departed the island at 0843 GMT aboard the boats they were detained with, the Navy said. They were picked up by Navy aircraft and other sailors took control of their boats for the return voyage to Bahrain, where the U.S. 5th Fleet is based.

The Navy added that it "will investigate the circumstances that led to the sailors' presence in Iran."

The Revolutionary Guard's official website published images of the detained U.S. sailors before their release, showing them sitting on the floor of a room. They look mostly bored or annoyed, though at least one of the sailors appears to be smiling. The sole woman had her hair covered by a brown cloth. The pictures also showed what appeared to be their two boats.

"After determining that their entry into Iran's territorial waters was not intentional and their apology, the detained American sailors were released in international waters," a statement posted online by the Guard said Wednesday.

Vice President Joe Biden, speaking later to "CBS This Morning," denied that Americans made any apology.

"There's nothing to apologize for," Biden said. "When you have a problem with the boat, you apologize the boat had a problem? No, and there was no looking for any apology. This was just standard nautical practice."
 
President Obama Delivers The State of the Union Address
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WweX6_cAV5Q
President Barack Obama in his eighth and final State of the Union Address.

The President Holds his 2015 End-of-Year Press Conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXzdZifMBdA
President Obama took questions from the White House press corps at his final press conference of 2015. December 18, 2015

Weekly Address: Happy Holidays from the President and First Lady
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xuKdXKKaTc
In this week’s address, the President and First Lady wished Americans a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, and thanked our brave troops for their service.

Weekly Address: Merry Christmas from the President and First Lady
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E2afKzJekU
In this week's address, the President and First Lady wished Americans a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
 
Iran's Top Commander Hopes US Congress Takes Lesson from Vessel Seizure
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941023001373

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firoozabadi hoped that seizure of the US navy vessels that trespassed on Iran's waters in the Persian Gulf would have a lesson for the Neocons in the US Congress.

The IRGC seized two US Navy boats on Tuesday and detained them on Iran's Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf. Nine men and one woman arrived in Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf illegally when they were captured by the IRGC Navy. Tehran released them, of course, after it ensured that the trespassing had resulted from an "unintentional action".

"The yesterday incident in Northern Persian Gulf once again displayed the vigilance and preciseness of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Armed Forces against the Americans' movements in the region and taught them how vulnerable they are against the Islamic Republic's power," the Iranian chief of staff said Wednesday afternoon.

"If it hadn't been for the insightfulness and good-will of our commanders, the Americans would have now been faced with a disaster," Major General Firoozabadi continued.

"Those US congressmen who plot a new problem for Iran each day are apparently fed with incorrect information and take their actions with closed eyes and away from the realities and, thus, harm the American nation," he added.

"I hope that the incident in the North of the Persian Gulf that will likely be not the last by the US troops gives a lesson to those in the US congress that rock the boat."



Leader's Top Military Aide: Iran-Led Coalition Formed to Confront Triangle of US, Saudi Arabia, Israel
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941023001133

Top Military Aide to the Iranian Supreme Leader Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi underlined that formation of an alliance by Tehran, Moscow, Beirut, Damascus and Baghdad is meant to confront the coalition of Washington, Tel Aviv and Riyadh.

The policies of the Al Saud are influenced by the Zionist regime and this regime is seeking to push the region towards insecurity, unrest, turmoil and chaos," General Rahim Safavi said on Wednesday.

"A coalition comprising the US, Saudi Arabia and Israel which has been formed in the region massacred the people of Syria, Iraq and Yemen and to confront this coalition, an alliance by Iran, Russia, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq was formed," General Rahim Safavi said.

He underlined that the massacre of not only the people of Syria and Iraq, but also the oppressed people of Yemen have been done by the Al Saud under the influence of Israel and one should be watchful of such policies.

Iranian leader's top military aide said that Saudi Arabia has dispatched the highest number of the ISIL terrorists to Syria and Iraq which resulted in the death and injury of thousands of people of those countries and displacement of tens of thousands.

"The Zionist regime is looking to stir tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia and this issue needs the vigilance of the country's political officials because insecurity is in the interest of the Zionists and the Americans," Rahim Safavi added.

In late September, Russia, Syria, Iraq and Iran created the Baghdad Intelligence Center to coordinate joint military actions against ISIL. The four countries are represented by officers of the national armed forces, whose primary task is to collect and analyze data related to ISIL operations in the region.



Putin hits out at NATO expansion, US’ European missile shield
http://thebricspost.com/putin-hits-out-at-nato-expansion-us-european-missile-shield/#.VpZ2K7tgmig

Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticised NATO’s “eastward expansion” and the US-initiated missile shield in Europe under what he called “the pretext of addressing the Iranian nuclear threat”.

“In 2009, current President of the United States Barack Obama said that if Iran’s nuclear threat no longer existed there would be no incentive for establishing the ABM system; this incentive would disappear. However, the agreement with Iran has been signed. And now the lifting of sanctions is being considered… but the ABM system is being further developed,” Putin noted referring to the July agreement between Iran and the P5+1 countries over Tehran’s nuclear program in Vienna.

Moscow says Obama’s earlier comments mean that with the resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue, Washington should now walk away from the missile shield plan.



Russia to Skip Nuclear Security Summit Due to 'Unacceptable' Interference
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160113/1033046123/russia-nuclear-summit.html

This year’s nuclear security summit will take place in Washington, DC on March 31-April 1, and will be hosted by US President Barack Obama, according to the US State Department.

“While preparing for the 2016 summit, its organizers have changed the core conception of the event by suggesting to develop some sort of ‘punishment’ for the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, as well as for the UN, Interpol, and the Global Partnership.”

“Obviously these recommendations, whatever formal status they may have, will become an attempt to attach the opinion of a limited group of states to the aforementioned international organizations and initiatives by circumventing their own mechanisms of making political decisions,” Zakharova added.

In November 2014, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that Russia would not be attending the event, saying it would rather focus on the IAEA High Level Conference on Nuclear Security to be held this year.

“This is why Russian President Vladimir Putin, as you know, has decided to drop our participation in the preparations for the 2016 summit,” Zakharova said.

“We understand that the IAEA with all of its necessary expert potential should play the central role in coordinating community efforts in nuclear security,” she added.


Reality Check: Obama's Final State of the Union Mixes Fact and Fiction (Video)
http://sputniknews.com/us/20160113/1033078707/obama-sotu-economy-isis.html

In his final State of the Union address, Barack Obama refrained from unveiling major policy initiatives, offering instead his bold vision for America's future, but the speech, apparently meant to be uplifting, has apparently mixed some fact with fiction.

In his speech, Obama painted a picture of a country, which has overcome a major economic crisis and has played a leading role in tackling every major global challenge, including terrorism and climate change.

​Let's take a look a closer look at some of the statements.

It's about the economy, stupid

"Let me start with the economy, and a basic fact: the United States of America, right now, has the strongest, most durable economy in the world. … Anyone claiming that America's economy is in decline is peddling fiction," the US president said boldly.

Indeed, the figures speak for themselves. The US economy added approximately 3 million jobs in 2015, while the unemployment rate has settled at 5 percent – roughly the same as it was before the Great Recession. The same month, the Federal Reserve raised US interest rates for the first time in almost a decade, which appears to point to a steady recovery.

​If only the US economy were truly as healthy as advertised.

"A low unemployment rate and dwindling pool of skilled workers suggest that hiring could slow this year. The US could also get hurt if the global economy takes a turn for the worse, particularly if China is hobbled," MarketWatch warned earlier in January.

Obama himself acknowledged that there were other worrying trends, including companies shifting operations overseas and income inequality growing. "It's made it harder for a hardworking family to pull itself out of poverty, harder for young people to start on their careers, and tougher for workers to retire when they want to," he observed.

​Consider this: average hourly wages in the US have grown slowly, reaching 2.5 percent in October and flatlining in December. Wage growth, often seen as one of key indicators of economic health, should not fall below 3-4 percent to keep the economy back on track.

Degrading and destroying Daesh… or not

In September 2014, Barack Obama pledged to wipe the brutal group off the face of the earth, enlisting more than 60 nations to help the US achieve this goal.

"With nearly 10,000 air strikes, we are taking out their leadership, their oil, their training camps, and their weapons. We are training, arming, and supporting forces who are steadily reclaiming territory in Iraq and Syria," the US president noted.

It would have been truly an achievement, but time has shown that 10,000 airstrikes are not enough to destroy the so-called caliphate. True, the group has suffered major losses in the last months, but those are largely attributed to Russia's aerial campaign in Syria. Moscow has also been relentless in its push for lasting and sustainable peace in the country.

Obama also mentioned that in Syria, "we're partnering with local forces and leading international efforts to help that broken society pursue a lasting peace." In late December, US State Department spokesperson John Kirby was even more optimistic when he described America's achievement in Syria as "bringing peace and security" to the war-torn Arab country.

The reality on the ground is different. Syria is torn apart by foreign fighters and sectarian violence. Washington's efforts to train an army of so-called moderate rebels to fight Daesh have turned into a $500-million failure. In October, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said that the US had no more than five trainees fighting in Syria.

3 A.M. call in International Crises

"When it comes to every important international issue, people of the world do not look to Beijing or Moscow to lead – they call us," Obama asserted.

In fact, tackling global challenges requires multilateral efforts; not a single country is capable of dealing with a major crisis on its own. The Iran nuclear deal and the Paris agreement on climate change have largely been seen as key diplomatic achievements of 2015. They would not have been possible, if leading global powers like Russia and China were not on board.

Similarly, when the US was on the verge of launching a military intervention in Syria in 2013, it was Moscow who offered an alternative, peaceful, solution. As a result, Damascus' chemical stockpile has been destroyed and not a drop of blood was spilled in the process.

Beijing's leadership is also a fact, the US cannot deny. Take the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), spearheaded by China. The $100 billion lender is an international institution designed to provide financial support to infrastructure projects in Asia.

Beijing's initiative has largely been welcomed with open arms but the United States and Japan are among the few countries, which have decided not to join. Moreover, Washington has tried to pressure several other states, including its allies, to avoid joining the development bank.

Moving forward requires a critical look back.
 
sToRmR1dR said:
Iran's Revolutionary Guards question U.S. sailors, dismiss talk of prompt release

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-boat-comment-idUSKCN0UR0K120160113
Click to expand...


Iran state TV footage of moment of arresting 2 US boats by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard (video)

_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voGgjptu9HU
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Iran 'Took Good Care' of US Sailors Seized in Persian Gulf - Kerry

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160113/1033080415/iran-us-sailors-kerry.html

Iranian authorities assisted US sailors and provided them with necessary things after seizing their boats when they entered Iran’s territorial waters, Secretary of State John Kerry said in a press conference on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Kerry thanked Iran for helping to arrange a prompt release of ten American sailors who were seized by Iran in the Persian Gulf.

"All indications suggest that our sailors were well taken care of, provided with blankets and food and assisted with their return to the fleet," Kerry stated.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced that Iran has seized two boats with ten US sailors in the Persian Gulf. The officials noted, however, that the navy personnel were safe and would be able to continue their trip to Bahrain.

A source in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps told Sputnik on Wednesday that US vessels entered Iranian territorial waters due to a technical fault.
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