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

[Renaissance]

From angleburst29:

White House downplays Iran's capture of sailors
http://thehill.com/policy/defense/overnights/265821-overnight-defense-white-house-downplays-irans-capture-of-sailors
(...)
The administration's critics, however, insist that Iran's seizure of the two American boats is proof that the U.S. has lost the upper hand, mere days before a nuclear agreement between the countries goes into force.
(...)
HOUSE ARMED SERVICES CHIEF: US MILITARY SUPERIORITY ERODING: The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee pushed back Wednesday on President Obama's State of the Union address, saying it's not "hot air" to warn that America's enemies are growing stronger.
(...)
"Our superiority is eroding," Thornberry said in a speech at the National Press Club.

Iran is emerging and these latest events don't provide any indication that the US has gained any sanity in working with Iran. Much as the case with Russia, I don't think the US has the kind of influence anymore to alter the trajectory of Iran. And so it has to eat a bit of crow.

 

[beherenow]

Rep. Duncan Hunter, a former US Marine and Iraq War veteran, said Iran — a “terrorist-sponsoring” existential threat to the US — accessed US cryptographic and satellite communications, sensors and jammers Hunter believes were aboard the two Navy patrol boats.

“We’d be stupid to think that they didn’t,” said Hunter, R-Calif. “I’m glad that the sailors are back safe, but there’s no way [the Iranian military] just let those boats sit there, and didn’t reverse engineer, or look at and copy everything that they possibly could.”

The hubris of these ass hats never ceases to amaze. They just can't seem to realize that their techo-superiorty has been surpassed.
My first thought after this happened was this; What if the initial reports of GPS malfunction were true?...(after all now their saying that did not happen, and all they do is lie, lie ,lie)...and that, as a result of the Iranians friendly relations with Mr. Putin, was due to a little benign "test" of one of the new toys that Mr. P has shared with them?...

or look at and copy everything that they possibly could.

....Right!..like a guy with a sub-machine gun has to study his enemies musket?!?

...so, jam their GPS, capture the boats, peacefully return them...message sent.

Apparently the Iranians know how to "play chess" too.

 

[Voyageur]

This exchange rate consideration may outrank other issues as a causal factor for direct force confrontation. A great power will NOT permit a thrashing of its currency.

Crude went under $30 this morning. And the ruble nearing 80 (presently at 78.)
My guess (only a guess) is Putin, and Russia, will not just sit idly watching. Saudis beware.

I could be wrong.

FWIW.

Fwiw too, back in December 2015, the business insider published this hit on Iran's oil production: "Iran is about to start selling oil that may cost just $1 a barrel". This of course comes with the refining/distribution costs added; yet the headline!

http://www.businessinsider.com/iran-oil-costs-1-per-barrel-2015-12

ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP can no longer hope to compete with Saudi, Iranian, or Russian companies, which now have exclusive access to reserves that can be extracted with nothing more sophisticated than nineteenth-century "nodding donkeys." Iran, for example, claims to produce oil for only $1 a barrel. Its readily accessible reserves — second only in the Middle East to Saudi Arabia's — will be rapidly developed once international economic sanctions are lifted.

Well the headline might get some people in a different mood for war, which is the usual savior for oil profits. If you look at the historical crude charts http://www.macrotrends.net/1369/crude-oil-price-history-chart you can see the cost aftereffects of when war was unleashed; you can see the low cost and than it skyrocketing. The markets are now saying sell, so who will be buying? One could speculate that the usual suspects are preparing for a new petroleum run once they can induce enough people to shed their stocks. Thereafter, once the stock manipulations are done, they will need a return to war (and renewed control) to accomplish its rise again.



With oil, Col. Fletcher Prouty had some things to say and how the players induced its veneer of scarcity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdSjyvIHVLw In this respect, the above article openly mentions:

The world is awash with oil. Everyone expects it to stay that way for decades.

Those are not particular words the producers want talked about. With Iraq and Libya, the talk, with observations, was on the Western nations stealing oil for their own control, which seems so. And yet others have speculated that the control is not to put it on the market, its to keep it in the ground, which is what Prouty seems to be talking about - creating scarcity.

If you were ExxonMobil, Shell, BP etc. with your fingers in every Western geopolitical puzzle, what would they be hopeful for?

I don't know exactly, yet is it possible that the game (notwithstanding Turkey's theft of Syrian oil for their own pockets) was to first try to break Russia on dropping oil prices instigated by the House of Saud, and when that failed, further contain Syria (like Iraq and Libya) with proxy armies and try to nullify Iran and any others that could feed new oil into the system as they emerge post sanctions?

What do we see? We see a provocation with the U.S. Navy in Iran's waters - testing the waters?

As an aside, the link to the above article has a interesting video on all the U.S. pipelines - 2.4 million miles of them it says.

 

[angelburst29]

This exchange rate consideration may outrank other issues as a causal factor for direct force confrontation. A great power will NOT permit a thrashing of its currency.

Crude went under $30 this morning. And the ruble nearing 80 (presently at 78.)
My guess (only a guess) is Putin, and Russia, will not just sit idly watching. Saudis beware.

Fwiw too, back in December 2015, the business insider published this hit on Iran's oil production: "Iran is about to start selling oil that may cost just $1 a barrel". This of course comes with the refining/distribution costs added; yet the headline!

http://www.businessinsider.com/iran-oil-costs-1-per-barrel-2015-12

With oil, Col. Fletcher Prouty had some things to say and how the players induced its veneer of scarcity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdSjyvIHVLw In this respect, the above article openly mentions:

The world is awash with oil. Everyone expects it to stay that way for decades.

Those are not particular words the producers want talked about. With Iraq and Libya, the talk, with observations, was on the Western nations stealing oil for their own control, which seems so. And yet others have speculated that the control is not to put it on the market, its to keep it in the ground, which is what Prouty seems to be talking about - creating scarcity.

If you were ExxonMobil, Shell, BP etc. with your fingers in every Western geopolitical puzzle, what would they be hopeful for?

I don't know exactly, yet is it possible that the game (notwithstanding Turkey's theft of Syrian oil for their own pockets) was to first try to break Russia on dropping oil prices instigated by the House of Saud, and when that failed, further contain Syria (like Iraq and Libya) with proxy armies and try to nullify Iran and any others that could feed new oil into the system as they emerge post sanctions?

What do we see? We see a provocation with the U.S. Navy in Iran's waters - testing the waters?

With Turkey's Erdogan theft of Syrian and Iraq crude oil coming to light and the evidence that Russia/Putin has since exposed, I noticed a curious correspondence in an approximate timeline - of when Turkey/U.S. Military forces first entered Syria and the sudden "forced" manifestation of the Fracking Oil and Gas Industry in the U.S. Many of us here in Northeastern Pennsylvania have been personally affected with it's "Gasland" environmental destroying affects. So, it goes without saying, the U.S. elites and their cohorts have had a heavy hand in what is transpiring on the World Market. Around this same timeline, Israel Military pushed it's way into the Golan Heights.

Russia has a good grasp on the geopolitical climate and is taking steps to protect itself. In the meantime, Shell and Total Oil Giants' Executives are rushing to Iran - to be first in line, as the U.S. lifts Sanctions. Obama is trying to get Congress to lift a 56-year-old embargo on Cuba - probably to tap into it's Oil Wells?

Russians Hurt By Falling Oil Prices, Sanctions
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/russia-faces-pain-over-falling-oil-prices-sanction/3144704.html

Russia’s economy is struggling at the beginning of 2016. Low oil prices and Western sanctions against Russia continue to affect the country’s economy.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev thinks the economy is looking better than one year ago. But he told a conference this week that Russia must prepare for the worst-case scenario. In such a case, conditions would worsen, not improve.

Medvedev spoke in Moscow at the yearly Gaidar Forum on economics. He noted that 2015 was probably the most difficult year for Russia economically in the past 10 years. The level of economic activity shrank 3.8 percent last year.

Two main reasons for this were the sharp drop in the price of oil and Western economic sanctions. Oil is Russia’s main export. Its price has dropped about 70 percent to $30 a barrel over the past 12 months.

“Russia is in (the) top 10 countries with the lowest public debt and greatest foreign exchange reserves. And, that really provides for the resilience of our financial system,” he said.

The prime minister admitted the federal government would likely face budget cuts. About half of Russia’s budget depends on oil export revenues.


PM Medvedev: Cabinet of Ministers to cut costs and scrap projects
http://tass.ru/en/economy/849922

GORKI, January 15. /TASS/. The government has to substantially reduce costs, scrap a series of projects and perform staff downsizing, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday at the meeting on the 2016 federal budget. "We will look at expenses that should be slashed and decide what projects we will have to abandon or postpone. I tasked all ministries and departments to make such proposals — on reduction of costs and downsizing," the prime minister said. The Prime Minister urges to mobilize budget revenues, particularly in terms of privatization and receivables reduction, and to adjust expenditures to meet expected revenues "to ensure delivery of social commitments and finance protected items even in such a challenging budget situation."


Russia refuses to rein in oil production in 2016
http://www.dw.com/en/russia-refuses-to-rein-in-oil-production-in-2016/a-18982706

Russia is keeping oil production at record levels in 2016 - following similar strategies by other oil producers like Saudi Arabia based on preserving market share against more cost-intensive products like US shale.

"From our point of view, it is unlikely that all the countries within OPEC can agree on production cuts, let alone those countries which are not in the OPEC coalition," the RIA news agency quoted Novak as saying in an interview with RBC TV.

"Such consultations have been underway for the past year and a half since oil prices started to fall in mid-2014," he said. "But we see that in 2015 countries like Saudi Arabia in OPEC have increased total production by 1.5 million barrels per day.

"Oil prices have fallen by more than 70 percent since June 2014. Although the price edged upwards several times in 2015, it's already fallen to below $30 per barrel this year - a far cry from the $90 price tag an oil barrel normally carried over the last decade, and uncomfortably close to the $5-10 cost of production per barrel.

But analysts predict that the oil market will come back into balance by the third quarter of this year, and that the price per barrel will go up to around $50 by the end of 2016.


Oil Prices Decline Friday as Iran Prepares to Enter Energy Market
http://sputniknews.com/business/20160115/1033183028/oil-prices-iran.html

World oil prices continued to decline Friday as Brent crude fell by over 3 percent against yesterday's close (1-15-2016), while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell by over 5 percent, according to trading data.

Generic Brent futures fell to $29.47 per barrel by 10:20 GMT after the trading day's previous low of $29.84 per barrel on 8:55 GMT, while WTI crude declined to $29.49 per barrel by 10:20 GMT after the 09:00 GMT low of $29.66 per barrel. The oil blends fell to Thursday's closing value by over 4.5 and five percent respectively.

Oil prices have been at 11-year and 12-year lows, depending on crude blend classification, since Monday. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has revised its 2016 oil price forecast down by over one fourth in its short-term energy outlook published Tuesday.

Brent crude prices plunged from $115 per barrel to $48.5 per barrel between June 2014 and January 2015, hitting the lowest levels since 2004 by January 2016. The recent decline comes as markets brace for Iranian supplies to kick off, reportedly as early as next week.

The price free fall has been attributed to global overcapacity, OPEC's decision to maintain output as well as economic turmoil plaguing the world's leading energy consumers, notably China.


Plummeting oil prices may challenge the established geopolitical status-quo and even result in war and turmoil, experts warn.
End of Petroleum-Centric World? Falling Oil Prices to Shake Up World Order
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160114/1033136934/falling-oil-prices-shake-up-world-order.html

The current slump in oil prices has affected giant oil corporations and the ancillary businesses; it also threatens to undermine economies of major energy-producing countries resulting in a "profound shake up" in the political order, according to Michael T. Klare, a Professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College (Massachusetts, United States).

The American academic feels that the continuing depression in oil prices may stretch into the 2020s and beyond.

Klare refers to the temporary economic slowdown in China, the surge of oil output in North America (up to 9.2 million barrels per day), and most notably to Saudi Arabia's "steadfast resistance" to decrease its own production or that of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

What lies beneath the Saudis' refusal to curtail their oil output? Riyadh is possibly determined to punish Russia and Iran for its support of Syria, the US academic notes. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia is apparently making attempts to drive US shale producers out of the oil market.

To add more fuel to the fire, Iraq and Iran continue to increase their output as well. As Daesh (Islamic State/ISIL) is losing ground in Syria and Iraq, Baghdad's oil production is expected to continue its growth, Klare remarks.

As for Iran, its nuclear deal with Washington has opened doors for Tehran's re-entering the oil market. According to US Energy Information Administration forecast released in August 2015, "Iran has the technical capability to increase crude oil production by about 600,000 b/d by the end of 2016."

"Only three developments could conceivably alter the present low-price environment for oil: a Middle Eastern war that took out one or more of the major energy suppliers; a Saudi decision to constrain production in order to boost prices; or an unexpected global surge in demand," Klare believes.


Shell, Total Oil Giants' Executives Rush to Iran Ahead of Sanctions Relief
http://sputniknews.com/business/20160116/1033243347/shell-total-iran.html

Representatives of the Anglo-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell company and the French Total corporation are expected to discuss the boosting of bilateral ties with Iran's National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) on Sunday, Iran's Mehr news agency reported.

"Relevant negotiations with all world’s major oil companies have begun," NITC Managing Director Ali Akbar Safaei said as quoted by the news outlet. Iranian oil tankers are now set to return to the European energy market, he added.

The visit comes ahead of the expected lifting of anti-Iran international sanctions, which have prohibited the country from selling its energy products on international markets.


Obama calls on US Congress to lift Cuba embargo
http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-Obama-calls-on-US-Congress-to-lift-Cuba-embargo-28944.html

WASHINGTON, USA (ACN) -- US President Barack Obama called on the US Congress on Tuesday to lift the over-50-year economic, commercial and financial embargo of Cuba.

The president said that 50 years of isolating Cuba had failed to promote US interests and that led to a setback for the US in Latin America and "that's why we restored diplomatic relations, opened the door to travel and commerce..."

Obama for the first time asked the US Congress to lift the trade embargo on Cuba in his previous State of the Union Address shortly after the historic December 17 announcement that diplomatic relations would be restored.


Oil reserves in Cuba - Cuba has three producing offshore oil fields within 5 km of its north coast
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_reserves_in_Cuba


US Calls UN Vote to End Embargo Against Cuba 'Unfortunate'
http://www.voanews.com/content/un-members-urge-us-to-lift-cuba-embargo/3025032.html

UNITED NATIONS—
A vote by the U.N. urging the United States to lift its economic embargo against Cuba will "not help move things forward," U.S. Ambassador Ron Godard said.

The international community voted nearly unanimously Tuesday for an end to the 50-year-old economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba.

One hundred ninety-one members of the U.N. General Assembly called for Washington to end the measures put in place during the height of the Cold War. Only the U.S. and Israel voted against it.

Last December, President Barack Obama ordered full restoration of diplomatic relations with the island nation. He also eased some travel restrictions, but only Congress can lift the 56-year-old embargo.

 

[angelburst29]

US, Iran Step Back From the Brink
_http://original.antiwar.com/buchanan/2016/01/14/us-iran-step-back-from-the-brink/

To awaken Thursday to front-page photos of U.S. sailors kneeling on the deck of their patrol boat, hands on their heads in postures of surrender, on Iran’s Farsi Island, brought back old and bad memories.

In January 1968, LBJ’s last year, 82 sailors of the Pueblo were captured by North Korea and held hostage with Captain Lloyd "Pete" Bucher, and abused and tortured for a year before release.

In the final 444 days of the Carter presidency, 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, and released only when Ronald Reagan raised his hand to take the oath.

In 2001, under George W. Bush, an EP-3 with 24 crew members was crashed by a Chinese fighter and forced to land on Hainan Island, where they were held for 11 days until we expressed "sorrow."

Compared to these hostage-takings, the Farsi Island incident does not seem serious. Its resolution within hours by Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif suggests that Iran wants nothing to halt implementation, just days away, of the nuclear deal that will release $100 billion in frozen assets.

Facilitating the sailors’ release was a taped admission by one, identified as the "commander," who called Iran’s treatment of the sailors "fantastic," and said the intrusion into Iranian waters "was a mistake. That was our fault. And we apologize for our mistake."

Still, what the reactions to this incident reveal is that not only is the United States dealing with a divided regime and nation in Iran, the U.S. is itself divided on what course to pursue with Iran.

"This administration’s craven desire to preserve the dangerous Iranian nuclear deal at all costs evidently knows no limits," said John McCain. He castigated U.S. officials, presumably including Kerry, for "falling all over themselves to offer praise for Iran’s graciousness in detaining our ships and service members.

Marco Rubio, inflamed over the treatment of the sailors, pledged anew to kill the nuclear deal on his first day in office. But by then Iran will have complied with its terms and gotten its cash.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy Commander Ali Fadavi warned that "the USS Truman aircraft carrier showed unprofessional moves for 40 minutes after the detention of the trespassers."

Fadavi added that Iran "was highly prepared with our coast-to-sea missiles" and "missile launching speedboats" to strike, had the U.S. warship taken action. Last fall, Iran tested two ballistic missiles in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, and a missile boat a mile from the Truman test-fired a rocket in the opposite direction.

There may be bluster and bluff in this. But if the RGC had fired at the Truman, that would have brought swift retaliation and a possible air, naval and missile war in the Persian Gulf.

Any prospective U.S. detente with Iran would be dead.

And, truth be told, some Americans, Saudis, Sunni Arabs and Israelis, who regard Iran as an existential threat, would relish seeing U.S. power unleashed against Iran.

So, too, many of the mullahs and Revolutionary Guard Corps might welcome a clash to abort the nuclear deal, restore the purity of their revolution, and rout the allies of President Hassan Rouhani in the February elections.

Indeed, assuming no clash in the next six weeks, the date to watch is Feb. 26, when elections are held for control of Iran’s 290-seat assembly.

A Guardian Council has power to disqualify candidates and it is likely that of the 12,000 who have filed, many will be purged for not supporting the principles of the Islamic Republic as required.

Yet, if President Rouhani, his prestige enhanced by the nuclear deal, to which all five U.N. Security Council members have signed on, and with billions being released to Iran, wins, a brighter day will begin.

And the world will await the reaction of the defeated hard-liners.

That same Feb. 26, elections are to be held for the 88-seat clerical Experts Assembly, which will choose the successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, himself the successor, 25 years ago, to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founding father of the revolution.

Rumors of Khamenei’s deteriorating health – he reportedly has suffered from stage 4 prostate cancer – could mean the Experts Assembly will be naming soon a new Supreme Leader of Iran.

The Feb. 26 elections could thus decide whether there is to be a cold peace between the United States and Iran, or a new war in the Middle East.

In the summer of 1914, the Great War came because, in the great capitals – Berlin, Vienna, Moscow, Paris, London – those who saw war as a disaster for civilization were outmaneuvered by more resolute men who saw war as the opportunity to smash hated rivals once and for all.

Anti-war Americans and Iranians won this one; they will have to win them all. The war parties, here and over there, need win only once.

 

[angelburst29]

The European Union and the United States are lifting Iran nuclear programme-related sanctions.
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160117/1033260794/eu-us-lift-iran-sanctions.html

The United States and the European Union are lifting sanctions imposed on Iran due to its nuclear programme.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the United States lifted sanctions against Iran. US President Barack Obama issued an executive order revoking the sanctions.

"I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, have determined that Iran's implementation of the nuclear related measures specified in… the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action of July 14, 2015 (JCPOA)… marks a fundamental shift in circumstances with respect to Iran's nuclear program,"

The statement comes after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed the Islamic republic fully complied with its obligations under the landmark nuclear deal.

"In order to give effect to the United States commitments with respect to sanctions described in section 4 of Annex II and section 17.4 of Annex V of the JCPOA, I am revoking Executive Orders 13574 of May 23, 2011, 13590 of November 20, 2011, 13622 of July 30, 2012, and 13645 of June 3, 2013, and amending Executive Order 13628 of October 9, 2012, by revoking sections 5 through 7 and section 15," the statement added.

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said that EU and US had issued relevant guidelines on lifting the sanctions against Iran. She also noted that the European Union hails beginning of JCPOA implementation.


Key Pentagon official in Jerusalem to discuss maintaining Israel’s military edge
_http://www.jta.org/2016/01/14/news-opinion/united-states/key-pentagon-official-in-jerusalem-to-discuss-u-s-maintaining-israels-military-edge?

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The U.S. deputy defense secretary met in Israel with its senior military officials to discuss sustaining Israel’s qualitative military edge in the Middle East.

This week’s visit by Bob Work came as Israel and the United States are finalizing another 10-year memorandum of understanding extending the defense assistance relationship.

“Their discussions focused on shared national security interests, regional security trends and ways to further strengthen Israel’s qualitative military edge,” Navy Lt. Cmdr. Courtney Hillson said, according to a Pentagon release.

The current defense assistance agreement, due to lapse in 2018, provides Israel $3 billion a year in defense assistance.

President Barack Obama has pledged to intensify assistance and cooperation with Israel in the wake of last year’s Iran nuclear deal, which he backed and Israel opposed. Reports have suggested that the aid could increase to as much as $4 billion a year.

Work, who met with Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, among other officials, “also explored ways to continue to deepen cooperation on defense technology and infrastructure,” Hillson said.



Shimon Peres suffers mild heart attack
_http://www.jta.org/2016/01/14/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/shimon-peres-suffers-mild-heart-attack

Former Israeli President Shimon Peres reportedly was feeling well after suffering a mild heart attack.

Peres, 92, was taken to the hospital Thursday morning after feeling chest pains. He underwent a cardiac angioplasty at the Heart Institute of Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer to open a blocked artery, according to reports.

Peres will remain under observation in the hospital for several days.

Two weeks ago, social media was flooded with rumors that Peres had died, leading him to take to Facebook to declare that rumors of his demise were greatly exaggerated.

“I wish to thank the citizens of Israel for the support, concern and interest, and wish to clarify that the rumors are false,” Peres said in a Facebook post. “I’m continuing with my daily schedule as usual to do whatever I can to assist The State of Israel and its citizens.”

Peres retired as president of Israel in 2014 after more than half a century in public life.

In an interview last week with JTA, Peres said he is busier than ever, including his work with the Peres Center for Peace. On a typical day, he is up at 4:30 a.m. to read and walks on his treadmill, he said. By 8:30 he is at his office, and he often works until 11 p.m.

 

[Altair]

Interesting video from Russia's Ministry of Defence (English subtitles)

http://<iframe width="854" height="...t8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Cosmos]

Interesting video from Russia's Ministry of Defence (English subtitles)

http://<iframe width="854" height="...t8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Great! The emperor is naked and will be much more bare in the not to distant future. "The man behind the curtain" gets exposed, step by step, by Putins government:

Russia may begin releasing data on US-coalition activity in Syria
http://www.sott.net/article/310362-Russia-may-begin-releasing-data-on-US-coalition-activity-in-Syria

"Frankly speaking, we expected our colleagues not only to pay attention to this, but also to draw certain conclusions. Therefore, to disprove further rumours and accusations against us and if our colleagues keep silent on the results of their bombings in Syria, we will ourselves have to inform the public of these facts," said the Russian official.

If the psychos continue in this way, which is likely, The russians have several trump cards waiting to be exposed. maybe even about 9.11 at some point... They madder they power hungry monsters in the west get, the more they shoot themself into their foot.

 

[angelburst29]

This week, Pentagon officials announced their new plan to train up to 7,000 more ‘moderate’ fighters, but this time the project would take place inside Syria (and to hell with international law).

“Sunnistan”: US and Allied “Safe Zone” Plan to Grab Territorial Booty in Northern Syria
http://www.globalresearch.ca/sunnistan-us-and-allied-safe-zone-plan-to-grab-territorial-booty-in-northern-syria/5501719

The program would address part of the tense and long-running dialogue between Washington and Ankara over sealing the border, which Western governments have long complained is an avenue for extremists to leave Syria and travel internationally,

Plans A-Z

The terrorist enclave in Syria is designed for purpose – to implant a hostile metastasis right in the middle of the very territory which neocolonial powers plan to tear away from the barely sovereign nations of Iraq and Syria.

Mice and Men

21WIRE was one of the first news sources to warn about Washington’s initial impulse back in 2014 when it began calling for a ‘No Fly Zone’ in Northern Syria. It was clear that a problem, reaction, solution dialectic was in play, with ISIS being the object of the public’s reaction. That plan might have come to fruition in the fall of 2015, but a funny thing happened on the way to the UN General Assembly in New York City. Later that week, Russia announced that it would be inserting itself, and its Air Force, into the Syrian quagmire, and with that, thwarted any master plan for a US-Turkey (NATO) controlled No Fly Zone along the Turkish-Syrian border. Suffice to say, that Russia already knew NATO’s next move and acted accordingly, and with purpose.

So the US-led Coalition’s ‘safe zone’ is the very Caliphate that Americans are decrying.

For anyone requiring proof that such a grand chessboard is in play in Syria, they need look no further than a set of US airstrikes that took place before Christmas. On December 6, 2015, US fighter bombers struck a Syrian military base located in the village of Ayyash in Deir Ezzor Province, east of Raqqa, which killed 3 Syrian Arab Army (SAA) soldiers and wounded additional others. Naturally, the Pentagon swiftly denied that any such attack took place. What happened after this incident was extremely telling, as explained by global affairs analyst Mike Whitney fromCounterpunch Magazine:

It’s also worth noting, that according to South Front military analysis, the US bombing raid coincided with a “a full-scale ISIS offensive on the villages of Ayyash and Bgelia.” In other words, the US attack provided sufficient air-cover for ISIS terrorists to carry out their ground operations. Was that part of the plan or was it merely a coincidence?

So the US air force was coordinating with ISIS boots on the ground, to achieve a common military objective. But it didn’t end there.

Less than 24 hours after the attack, US warplanes bombed the village of Al-Khan in north-eastern Syria killing 26 Syrian civilians including at least four women and seven children and four women. The message the US military is sending with these lethal attacks is that it wants to control the air-space over east Syria where it plans to remove ISIS and establish a de facto Sunni state consistent with its scheme to break Syria and Iraq into smaller cantons governed by local warlords, Islamic fanatics, and US puppets.

Also taking place at the same moment on Dec 6th, was Turkey’s quiet little invasion into northern Iraq, sending hundreds of troops and at least 20 tanks into territory north of Mosul, right between the Kurds and ISIS. It should be noted that this illegal incursion by NATO member Turkey was not approved by the Iraqi government in Baghdad, and Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi called for Turkey to “immediately withdraw its troops.” Judging by Washington’s silence on the matter, it’s obvious that the US gave Turkey its full blessing. Here, Zero Hedge astutely points out the obvious:

Most importantly of all, right on what Al-Araby al-Jadeed claims is the smuggling route for illegal ISIS crude into Turkey from Iraq.

Not surprisingly, Turkey’s sudden move also came at the same time that Russia began to publicly expose Turkey’s clandestine role in facilitating the ISIS oil trade, as well as launching airstrikes to destroy ISIS oil convoys moving from Syria into Turkey. And then Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan places his military assets at the very location where stolen ISIS oil makes its way from Iraq into Turkey? Hardly a coincidence.

This little Sunni wedge is also conveniently located next to a large rebel-terrorist contingent in Syria’s northwestern Idlib governorate (province). Syria’s border with Turkey has been porous from the beginning of the conflict, so the proposed ‘safe zone’ will allow Turkey to maintain this status quo – where it has been continuously allowing the free-flow of weapons, rebels and terrorist fighters alike, along with oil, narcotics and human trafficking – to move freely through its southern border with Syria.

This is just one of many geostrategic moves which will guarantee instability and military conflict in the region for another 100 years, as well as provide a timely entrée through to Azerbaijan and intoIran, and later towards the Eurasian heartland of Dagestan (Russia’s emerging energy center and geographic underbelly).

 

[goyacobol]

Iranian missile test carried out in October is now used to apply new sanctions on Iran.

RT
Published time: 17 Jan, 2016 15:09

US Treasury imposes new ballistic missile sanctions on Iran

The US Treasury says it is imposing new ballistic missile sanctions on Iran after Tehran released five American prisoners. The move also comes less than a day after some of the sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program were removed by the US and EU.

Washington has imposed sanctions on 11 companies and individuals for helping to supply Iran’s ballistic missile program, the Treasury Department stated.
Iran’s ballistic missile program poses a significant threat to regional and global security, and it will continue to be subject to international sanctions,” Adam J. Szubin, acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a press release.

“We have consistently made clear that the United States will vigorously press sanctions against Iranian activities outside of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – including those related to Iran’s support for terrorism, regional destabilization, human rights abuses, and ballistic missile program.”

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control says it will also block the assets of Mabrooka Trading, a company based in the United Arab Emirates, for providing Iran with parts used in their ballistic missiles. Others sanctioned include companies and individuals involved in the program, which supervised the testing of two ballistic missiles in 2015.

President Barack Obama’s administration delayed implementing the sanctions for more than two weeks, while negotiations to release two US prisoners being held in Iran were taking place, Reuters reported, citing its sources.

The US move comes after an Iranian missile test carried out in October that broke a UN Security Council resolution restricting the development of missiles that are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

On December 31, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Tehran should expand its missile program in response of US threats to introduce new sanctions.

Iran needs to step up its missile capabilities in response to aggressive actions by the US, which is threatening to impose more sanctions over a missile test that Iran held in October, Rouhani wrote in a letter addressed to Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan. The president says Iran has a right to continue developing its missiles since they are not capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

“As the US government is clearly still pursuing its hostile policies and illegal meddling ... the armed forces need to quickly and significantly increase their missile capability,” Rouhani wrote.

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The true intentions are now coming out. As if we didn't expect it.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

BREAKING:

US sanction illegal as American arms used against Palestinians, Yemenis - Iranian FM

https://www.rt.com/news/329268-tehran-us-sanction-illegal/

Iran has accused the US of hypocrisy and said that new sanctions imposed by the US are illegal, as arms sold by Washington are being used against people in Palestine and Yemen, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has stated.

A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Hossein Jaberi Ansari, says that Tehran will continue to enhance its missile capabilities, despite Washington introducing fresh sanctions, following a missile test by Iran in October, Press TV reports.

"The US sanctions against Iran's ballistic missile program ... have no legal or moral legitimacy," Reuters cited Ansari as saying in a televised news conference.

"America sells tens of billions of dollars of weaponry each year to countries in the region,” Ansari said. “These weapons are used in war crimes against Palestinian, Lebanese and most recently Yemeni citizens.”

On Sunday, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 11 companies and individuals for helping to supply Iran’s ballistic missile program.

“Iran’s ballistic missile program poses a significant threat to regional and global security, and it will continue to be subject to international sanctions,” Adam J. Szubin, acting Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a statement.

“We have consistently made clear that the United States will vigorously press sanctions against Iranian activities outside of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – including those related to Iran’s support for terrorism, regional destabilization, human rights abuses and ballistic missile program.”

 

[Ca.]

Action speaks louder than words as Russia keeps up with the pace.

Published on Jan 16, 2016
Results of airstrikes Russian FAB-500 on positions ISIS
Syria HD

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Russian Air Campaign in Syria Halts Daesh Advance Into Iraq
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jFX5WsQdaDU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The Russian air campaign in Syria targeting Islamist groups benefits Iraqi security in that it prevents militants from crossing over, the country’s anti-terror chief told Sputnik on Monday.
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160118/1033307620/russia-air-campaign-syria-daesh.html
(updated 13:45 18.01.2016)
Russia's Syria Campaign Helps to Achieve Two 'Politically Important' Goals
BAGHDAD (Sputnik) – Russia has been bombing positions of Daesh and the Nusra Front – radical Islamist groups outlawed in Russia – since September 2015, dealing immense damage to their infrastructure.

"At least they [militants] cannot slip freely from Syria to Iraq due to the presence of Russian reconnaissance and fighter jets," Lt. Gen. Abdul Ghani Asadi, the head of the counter-terror unit, said.

"They have been launching airstrikes at convoys heading from Syria to Iraq, as well as inside Syrian towns, which is a good thing," Asadi added.

Asked about the data sharing center that was set up last fall by Russia, Iraq, Iran and Syria, he said that any organization that keeps an eye on Daesh militants had the same significance as military reconnaissance

"This benefits us in different areas of the operation," Asadi noted.

The Baghdad Information Center was created in September to coordinate efforts in the fight against the Daesh. It is aimed at collecting, processing, summarizing and analyzing data about Daesh activities in the Middle East and sharing it out between general staffs of the four countries involved.

Small pockets of resistance by Daesh militants have prevented the Iraqi military from declaring the central city of Ramadi fully liberated, the head of the Iraqi counter-terrorism unit said.

Iraqi security forces initially declared Ramadi free in December, after Daesh militants captured the strategic city in the Anbar province last May.

"Ramadi – both the city proper and the administrative district, as well as its suburbs – has been taken under state control, but their Daesh presence in groups of three to four and the fact that they are holding families hostage is the reason why Ramadi has not been officially declared completely freed," Lt. Gen. Abdul Ghani Asadi said.

The Iraqi military said on December 28, that it was in full control of Ramadi, but the Anbar governor said later that in reality only 80 percent of the city was recaptured. Asadi said two weeks ago that the mission to liberate the city was complete by 95 percent.

The northern Iraqi city of Mosul in the Nineveh province remains the main center of the Daesh militants’ build-up in the country, Lt. Gen. Abdul Ghani Asadi, the state’s anti-terrorism forces commander, told Sputnik Monday.

"At present, the major forces of the Daesh terrorist group are located only in Mosul," Asadi stressed, responding to a question on the Daesh current stronghold.

He added that since a military operation in the Anbar province had been launched and the extremists had been expelled from the central province of Salah ad-Din, those who came with a certain plan, secured international support and possessed financial and human resources had gained a foothold in the country.

"It’s impossible to defeat them in a moment," he noted.

The Iraqi central and local authorities still do not control the city of Fallujah in Anbar province, Asadi added.

"In Fallujah, there are [Daesh ] forces. The situation beyond the control of the central and local governments has been kept in Fallujah for a year. But how long will the militants hold out in the city?" the anti-terrorism troops commander said, adding that the Iraqi army cut off the possibility to supply the militants with logistical and human resources.

The presence of small groups of the Daesh militants in some areas of the formerly controlled by them city of Ramadi in western Iraq, as well as holding families hostage by the terrorists hinders the official announcement of a complete liberation of the city, Asadi outlined.

He also pointed out that the situation was complicated by the fact that the insurgents mined the area before leaving it. "Ramadi is all mined," the military emphasized.

Daesh seized Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, in June 2014. It has become the terrorist organization’s main center in Iraq.

Fallujah, located 42 miles west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, is one of the largest cities in the Anbar province. In mid-July 2015, Iraqi troops launched a major offensive to liberate Fallujah as well as Ramadi from IS militants.

The Iraqi military said on December 28, 2015, that it was in full control of Ramadi, but the Anbar governor said later that in reality only 80 percent of the city was recaptured. Asadi stated two weeks ago that the mission to liberate the city was complete by 95 percent.

Russia's Syria Campaign Helps to Achieve Two 'Politically Important' Goals

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160116/1033233596/russia-syria-isis.html

 

[angelburst29]

State designates Afghan ISIS a foreign terrorist organization
http://thehill.com/policy/defense/265872-state-designates-isis-in-afghanistan-as-foreign-terrorist-organization

The State Department has officially designated the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria's Afghanistan affiliate as a foreign terrorist organization.

The affiliate was designated as "ISIL-K" — or the Islamic State in Syria and the Levant-Khorasan — using the preferred government acronym for ISIS, State announced Thursday.
The designation means a prohibition against knowingly providing, or attempting or conspiring to provide, material support or resources to the group. The department said in a statement the move is "an important element of our counterterrorism efforts."

"Designations of terrorists and terrorist groups expose and isolate individuals and organizations, and result in denial of access to the U.S. financial system," the department states. "Moreover, designations can assist or complement the law enforcement actions of other U.S. agencies and other governments."

The group announced its formation on Jan. 10, 2015, in an online video. It is led by former Tehrik-e Taliban (TTP) commander Hafiz Saeed Khan, and consists of former Pakistan and Afghan Taliban faction commanders, according to the State Department.

Since then ISIL-K has carried out suicide bombings, small arms attacks and kidnappings in Eastern Afghanistan against civilians and Afghan National Security and Defense Forces, and claimed responsibility for May 2015 attacks on civilians in Karachi, Pakistan, the Department said.

Pentagon officials have downplayed the presence of ISIS in Afghanistan, saying they are largely disaffected members of the Taliban who have "re-branded" themselves as ISIS.

However, a Pentagon report released last month said the group had become stronger in the second half of 2015 and was becoming more operationally active.

"The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — Khorasan Province has progressed from its initial exploratory phase to a point where they are openly fighting the Taliban for the establishment of a safe haven and are becoming more operationally active," the report said.



Russian researchers plan nuking asteroids for EU defense project to avoid fate of Dinos
https://www.rt.com/news/329211-russia-europe-space-defense/

How can Earth be protected from dangerous asteroids? The EU’s international NEOShield project posed this question to Russian researchers, who say, as a first line of defense, space-borne nuke warheads would do the job perfectly.

Russian scientists believe that, at the present time, a nuclear explosion set off close to a dangerous asteroid remains the most effective means to change its trajectory, and thus escape the impact, TASS news agency reported on Saturday.

Although international space treaties in force prohibit nuclear weapons in space at present, if an asteroid posed a real threat to life on our planet, “such bans are naturally going to be dropped,” Russia’s International Scientific Community Central Engineering Research Institute (TsNIIMash) told the agency.

Researchers stressed that the safest way to influence an asteroid’s orbit is in outer space, a good deal prior to the space wanderer’s expected collision with Earth.

“In this case a nuclear blast is conducted in such a way that the asteroid does not disintegrate into smaller pieces,” explain Russian space experts. The explosion would force the ejection of material from the space body’s surface, creating sufficient thrust to affect the its trajectory and sidetrack it to a safe orbit.

NEOShield is an international consortium that addresses the threat of impacts to Earth, hoping to avert the fate of the dinosaurs. Largely funded by the European Commission, it has gathered researchers from Germany, France, Britain, Spain, Russia, and the US.

The project’s primary aim is to investigate in detail the three most promising asteroid threat-reduction techniques: kinetic impactors, gravity tractors, and the explosive blast-deflection method.

TsNIIMash has been participating in NEOShield’s project. The institute is a part of Russia’s Roskosmos space agency specializing in the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles, air defense missiles, and their propulsion units.

Russia’s 2016-2025 federal space program includes a measure establishing a national space center dedicated to detecting potential threats from asteroids and comets.

Four Nebosvod-S (Welkin) satellites will be commissioned to monitor near-Earth space threats. Two of them will be planetary sentries on a circumterrestrial orbit and two others will be delivered to Earth’s circumsolar orbit.

The satellites will be capable of spotting space objects measuring several meters across.

In December of 2015, Russia’s Emergency Ministry reported that there will be 11 occasions when large asteroids come in hazardous proximity to Earth within the next 35 years.

The earliest one is expected on October 12, 2017, when asteroid 2012 TC4, estimated to be 17 meters in diameter, will shoot past Earth within the Moon’s orbit, missing our planet by a mere 115,000 kilometers – which is less than a third of the distance from Earth to the Moon (385,000 kilometers).



Aide to Palestinian Authority’s Saeb Erekat ‘suspected of spying for Israel’
http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2016/01/56456/

(Agence France Presse) – RAMALLAH, West Bank: Palestinian officials said Sunday they had arrested a member of their peace negotiating department for spying for Israel, a development likely to deepen distrust between the sides at a time of deadlocked diplomacy and simmering street violence.

The man, whose name was not released, is part of the management staff in the umbrella Palestinian Liberation Organisation’s (PLO) negotiations department and is accused of “collaborating with Israel”, a security official told Reuters.

Another official said the suspect had been arrested two weeks ago.

Al Ayyam newspaper, published in the West Bank city of Ramallah where Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s U.S.-backed administration is based, described the suspect as a 20-year veteran of the PLO team and said he had confessed to the charge.

How long he had spied for Israel and what damage he might have done remained unclear, Al Ayyam said, citing an unnamed senior Palestinian official. Israeli officials did not immediately respond.

Aide to PA’s Erekat ‘suspected of spying for Israel’

Erekat is the Palestinians’ former top peace negotiator. He is seen as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s closest aide and favored successor upon the end of his tenure, having displayed unwavering loyalty to the Palestinian leader.

Late last year, Abbas appointed Erekat, 60, as secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the same position Abbas once used as a springboard for becoming the main candidate in presidential elections following the death of Yasser Arafat in November 2004.

But Erekat is seen by some in Fatah as an outsider, and polls indicate he would do poorly in elections for president of the Palestinian Authority.

 

[angelburst29]

Syrian forces are preparing a major assault to capture Aleppo The details:

Russia Deploys Electronic Warfare System as Syrian Army Prepares for Major Offensive
http://russia-insider.com/en/russia-deploys-ka-52-attack-helicopters-syrian-army-prepares-major-offensive/ri12248?utm_source=Russia+Insider+Daily+Headlines&utm_campaign=6f2fba953c-Russia_Insider_Daily_Headlines11_21_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c626db089c-6f2fba953c-227216301&ct=t(Russia_Insider_Daily_Headlines11_21_2014)&mc_cid=6f2fba953c&mc_eid=c0b3995e1b

Once Syria's commercial hub, Aleppo city is now divided between government control in the west and rebel control in the east.

The broader province is split as well, with ISIS largely in the east, and rebel groups and Syria's Al-Qaeda affiliate,the Nusra Front, in the west.

But with backing from Russian airstrikes and foreign fighters, Syria's armed forces are slowly advancing south and southeast of the city.

"This will be the biggest military operation in Syria since the beginning of the war,"
one commander with pro-government forces told AFP.

While expected to play a key role in the upcoming offensive, Russia is also beefing up its own defensive measures with the deployment of Ka-52 attack helicopters, and a new warfare system:

The attack choppers will be used to protect the Russian Task Force deployed to Hmeymim airbase, near Latakia, as well as to conduct CSAR (Combat Search And Rescue) missions as the one launched to rescue the two pilots who ejected from the Su-24 Fencer shot down by a Turkish Air Force F-16 in November 2015 (during which, a Mi-8AMTSh Hip helicopter was hit by ground fire and later destroyed).

Interestingly, the first Ka-52 deployment will also be an opportunity for the Russians to test new technologies as the KRET Vitebsk EW (Electronic Warfare System).

According to the manufacturer, the Vitebsk can protect the helicopter from anti-aircraft threats in a range of several hundred kilometers, determining who is aiming at the aircraft and, once a missile is fired by a MANPADS (Man Portable Air Defense System), forcing it away from the designated target.

There's still plenty of fighting left to do, but the "moderate" rebels and their ISIS cohorts are increasingly finding themselves on the defensive.


ISIS commits massacre in village in Deir Ezzor, claiming the lives of 300 civilians
http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2016/01/56467/

Daesh (the so called ISIS, ISIL) mercenary-terrorists committed a massacre in al-Bghailiye village (in Deir Ezzor’s western countryside), claiming the lives of around 300 civilians, most of them women, children, and elderly people, local sources said to SANA reporters.

The Syrian government condemned the heinous crime, with Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi saying that the legal and moral responsibility for this barbaric and cowardly massacre committed by ISIS hordes lies on the shoulders of all the states that support terrorism and that fund and armor Takfiri organizations which harbor hatred for all humanity.

The Premier said that terrorist organizations are committing massacres to make up for the recurring losses and defeats they suffer at the hands of the Syrian Arab Army, and that these terror organizations know that their days in Syria are numbered.

He said that such massacres will not dissuade Syrians from pursuing reconciliations and working to liberate the entirety of Syrian territories, offering condolences to the families of the victims.

Daesh Kills 280 People in Syrian Deir Ez-Zor – Witness

(SputnikNews) ~ Daesh militants killed 280 in Syria after Russian humanitarian aid delivery to the region.

The Islamic State (ISIL, or Daesh) murdered some 280 people in the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor, where Russia had delivered a humanitarian aid earlier, local residents told Sputnik on Saturday.

“The horrific massacre carried out today by ISIL militants in al-Bagilya in Deir ez-Zor. 280 victims, including women, children and old people. Reason —cooperation with the Syrian Army—”, the local source said.

According to the local source, militants of the group outlawed in Russia continue the massacre, “killing whole families.”

Earlier it has been reported that the extremists had advanced into the northern tip of Deir ez-Zor.



Syria 4 Years On: Shocking Images Of A Post-US-Intervention Nation
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-17/syria-4-years-shocking-images-post-us-intervention-nation

While US intervention in its various forms has likely been ongoing for decades, March 2011 is often cited as the start of foreign involvement in the Syrian Civil War (refering to political, military and operational support to parties involved in the ongoing conflict in Syria, as well as active foreign involvement).

Since then the nation has collapsed into chaos with an endless array of superlatives possible to describe the economic and civilian carnage that has ensued.

However, while a picture can paint a thousand words, these four shocking images describe a canvas of US foreign policy "success" that few in the mainstream media would be willing to expose...

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Irreconcilable Differences: Iran Sees Dialogue With US as 'Waste of Time'

http://sputniknews.com/world/20160119/1033349373/iran-united-states-relations.html

Tehran believes that given Washington's unwillingness to compromise, further talks with the United States would make no sense, according to the Iranian Middle East expert Fouad Izadi.

In an interview with Sputnik, Fouad Izadi, a prominent Iranian expert on the Middle East said that further talks with Washington would be a "waste of time" given the White House's unwillingness to make concessions and show flexibility during the negotiating process.

He recalled that any negotiations should entail the parties' attempts to finally arrive at a consensus.

"The US government has repeatedly tried to impose its own interests without considering our position. Therefore, Iran feels that its dialogue with Washington on any issue will be meaningless and useless. It's a waste of time," Izadi said.

He added that relations between Iran and the United States will depend on how Washington acts in the future as far as its policy on Tehran is concerned.

"If the Americans tighten the problem of the Iranian nuclear dossier by slapping or extending sanctions, or follow its previous policy, aimed at toppling the Islamic Republic's current regime, the US-Iranian ties will certainly come to a standstill," Izadi said.

In this context, he noted that currently, there is no indication that Washington's foreign policy line will change in the immediate future.

Izadi was echoed by Iranian lawmaker Hossein Sheikholeslam, who expressed alarm over Washington's failure to deliver on its promises within the framework of the P5+1 talks.

"Future contacts between Iran and the US… will depend on how a joint comprehensive action plan on the Iranian nuclear program is fulfilled. If the Americans stick to their commitments, Iran will negotiate with them. As for the other regional political issues, we do not need to conduct a dialogue with Washington," Sheikholeslam told Sputnik.

The two men's remarks came after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, commenting on the lifting of sanctions against Tehran, said that his country is not going to restore full-fledged economic relations with the United States.

Late on Sunday, the United Nation's nuclear watchdog verified Iran's compliance with the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The confirmation led to the immediate lifting of UN and EU sanctions, as well as partial sanctions relief by the United States.


Iran Has Customers to Sell Increased Oil Exports: Zangeneh

_http://www.shana.ir/en/newsagency/253703/Iran-Has-Customers-to-Sell-Increased-Oil-Exports-Zangeneh

TEHRAN, Jan. 19 (Shana) – Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said there are buyers who are interested in Iran’s extra crude oil output following removal of sanctions.

“Yes, there are customers, and there has been negotiations in this regard,” he told reports following the visit to the ministry by First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri on Monday.

“Those countries that increased their production have to bring it down,” he replied to a question on the effect of Iran’s added production on an oversupplied market. “In fact, Iran will return to its (previous) stand.”

“The market has calculated Iran’s return,” he added in reference to the statements by President Hassan Rouhani that Iran will increase its oil export for 500,000 barrels a day immediately after removal of sanctions and for another 500,000 barrels in following weeks.

He welcomed withdrawal of sanctions and its victorious output for the Iranian nation and said, “We are at the beginning of the road."

"We have to work for years to compensate for the pressures in the past so that the country will continue the march toward development, dignity, and prosperity.”

Iran has begun to increase oil production

http://www.interfax.ru/business/490247

Iranian authorities were instructed to increase oil production by about 500,000 barrels per day

Moscow. January 19. INTERFAX.RU - Leaders Iran's oil industry on Monday gave an indication to increase oil production by about 500,000 barrels per day to use the Open after the lifting of sanctions on the export of raw capacity, reported the Iranian news agency Shana.

In the future, in a few months, as has been stated earlier, Iranian officials, the country plans to increase production by approximately another 500 thousand. Barrels per day.

According to The Financial Times, while none of the loaded oil tankers as of Monday night, did not leave from Iranian shores. This confirms earlier sounded by Tehran's claims that he wanted to avoid a further destabilization of the world oil market supply volley.

"Iran also suffers losses due to the reduction in oil prices, and with the removal of restrictions on the entry of Iranian oil market will be gradual and prudent", - wrote the Iranian ambassador to Russia, Mehdi Sanai on the page in the "Live Journal".

It was reported that Iran has already uploaded about 25 large tankers of heavy crude oil and condensate, which he could not realize the market during the period of sanctions.

Commerzbank analysts believe that this year Iran will not be able to significantly increase oil production, writes The Wall Street Journal. Experts remind that Libya and Iraq, it took almost a year to return to previous levels of production of raw materials, in the case of Iran will also affect the sector underinvestment in recent years.

The return to the world market of Iran, which has the fourth-largest oil reserves, also hinder the continuing US sanctions.

In the American "black lists" are still around 200 people and companies, which Washington considers related to terrorism, violation of human rights, with the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, testing and launching of ballistic missiles remains banned the sale of technology to Iran.

While international banks are now allowed to work with Iranian customers remain in force restrictions on dollar transactions for Iranian entities. US continues to prohibit the supply of Iranian oil to the United States.

European banks, even after the lifting of sanctions will be wary of starting a new business with Iran, writes The Financial Times. Large banks for some time, will stand on the sidelines, waiting for clarity, said the manager of one of them.

In previous years, the world's largest banks, including HSBC, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, ING, paid billions in fines for violations of the sanctions regime against Iran.

The head of National Iranian Oil Co. Rokneddin Javadi said that the conclusion of new oil contracts the country can take up to 9 months.

At the same time the return of Iran will become a new factor in the constant reduction of prices for raw materials.

The growth of oil supply in the market after the lifting of sanctions on Tehran, the slowdown of the Chinese economy would further increase the imbalance of supply and demand. Iran to return to previous buyers will offer discounts and deferred payment for its oil, say market participants.

In Iran, the cost of oil production on land is $ 10 per barrel, said Iranian Ambassador to Kazakhstan Mojtaba Damirchilu.

Oil prices are down almost the last year and a half since the beginning of the year they drop exceeded 20%.

As a result of sanctions, Iran has cut oil exports to about 1 million barrels a day to 3 million predsanktsionnyh barrels per day in 2011.