While Trump considered bombing Iran, Biden ponders a new deal with it: Report

News Network
November 23, 2020

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Nicosia, Nov 23: The New York Times reported that on November 12, US President Donald Trump asked his senior advisers to examine options for airstrikes against Iran's main nuclear facility at Natanz. Trump convened the meeting just one day after the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors reported a significant increase in Iran's nuclear material.

Fortunately, Trump's advisers persuaded him that the risks of military action against Iran are very high. Had a strike against Iran actually taken place, apart from the fact that would be a clear violation of international law, it would also have scuttled any new deal with Iran, President-elect Joe Biden is pondering.

The nuclear deal, known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed in 2015 with the United States, Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia, allows Iran to keep a stockpile of 202.8 kilograms. Inspectors reported that the stockpile increased to 2,442 kilograms, while Iran continues to enrich uranium to a purity of up to 4.5 per cent, higher than the 3.67 per cent allowed under the deal. It should be noted that low enriched uranium between 3 and 5 per cent can be used for nuclear power, but for nuclear weapons 90 per cent purity is required.

According to New York Times, Trump had to be persuaded not to order the attack by Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley. They pointed out that a military strike would have no basis on international law, while the UN Security Council in all probability would not approve a military action against Iran.

Iranian Government Spokesman Ali Rabiei, responding to the NY Times' report, said that any US attack on Iran would face a "crushing" response.

Meanwhile, the US Administration announced fresh sanctions on numerous Iranian individuals, including the Intelligence Chief and a charitable foundation linked to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Trump had withdrawn from JCPOA in May 2018 and imposed sanctions, which according to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cut vital and lucrative Iranian exports by some 75 per cent, denying the regime of USD 70 billion in oil. Iran continued to comply with the provisions of JCPOA until July 2019, and then started violating parts of the deal, but last January following the assassination by the US of Major General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad, it ended all compliance with JCPOA.

As Trump was mulling over an attack on Iran, the Israelis carried out strikes in Syria on Iranian-backed militias. On 18 November, the Israeli Air Force hit targets of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force and the Syrian Army in the Golan Heights and Damascus International Airport, as retaliation for the planting of explosives near an Israeli military position in the Golan Heights.

Undoubtedly, if a military attack on Iran took place during Trump's final days in office, it would have certainly derailed Joe Biden's stated election promise to handle Iran "the smart way" and to give the Iranian regime "a credible path back to diplomacy".

Karim Sadjapour, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says that as both a Senator and a Vice President Biden's views on Iran was always realistic. "He has no illusions about the nature of the Iranian regime and the challenges it poses to US interests, but he's also been a consistent advocate of direct dialogue with Iran.... If Tehran shows a willingness to return to the status quo ante, no questions asked, it would strengthen the argument of those in Washington who favour an immediate return to the JCPOA. But if Tehran insists on being compensated for the sanctions imposed on Iran during the Trump era, or if Iranian leaders attempt to expand their nuclear program or carry out regional provocations in an attempt to expand their nuclear programme, or carry out regional provocations in an attempt to strengthen their bargaining position or signal that they are not weak, it will have the opposite effect."

Paul Adams, BBC diplomatic correspondent points out that Iran, which "has weathered the Trump storm, has its own demands. Officials say the removal of sanctions won't be enough. Iran expects to be compensated for two-and-a-half years of crippling economic damage..... The JCPOA was never a bilateral affair. Its other international sponsors - Russia, China, France, the UK and Germany, plus the European Union - are all, in one way or another, invested in its future. The European sponsors, in particular, are anxious to see Washington once more committed to the deal's success. The UK, France and Germany (the "E3") have tried to keep the deal alive during the Trump years and could now play a role in negotiating the terms of Washington's return. But in London, Paris and Berlin, there's a recognition that the world has moved on and that a simple return to the original deal is unlikely."

A deal between Biden and the Tehran government is possible but could be much more difficult if Tehran insists on demanding compensation for US withdrawal from the deal, or if Biden raises the issues of the Iranian ballistic missiles or the Tehran supported militias in the region.

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News Network
March 21,2024

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Mangaluru: A man from Dakshina Kannada was duped of Rs 2.5 lakh after he was promised a Poland visa.

In a complaint, a resident of Belthangady, stated that the accused, Manoj, had promised a job for his son in Poland. 

Between May 22 of last year and March 19, he handed over Rs 2.2 lakh in various phases, citing different reasons.

However, since the accused failed to provide a visa or return the money, a case was registered at the Dharmasthala police station under IPC sections 417 and 420.

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News Network
March 27,2024

Bengaluru: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday launched simultaneous raids in multiple places, including Bengaluru and Shivamogga.

Reports suggested that the ongoing raids are in connection with the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe on March 1. The blast had injured at least ten people as per the police report.

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) had launched an investigation alongside the NIA, and the trail of the suspect led them to Tumakuru first and subsequently to Ballari. Investigators believe that the bomb was planted by Mussavir Hussain Shazib, a handler of the Islamic State’s Shivamogga module who was aided by another IS handler called Ahmed Taahaa.

Sources in the know said that Shazib and Taahaa had stayed in Chennai for about a month between January and February using fake credentials. The names of the suspects were identified after they traced the cap worn by Shazib to a shop in a mall in Chennai. The cap, which was abandoned by the bomber in Bengaluru after the blast, was reportedly bought by Taahaa, around January-end.

As per the NIA, Shazib hails from Masjid Road in Thirthahalli, Shivamogga district, and Taahaa from Fish Market Road, Soppu Gude, Thirthahalli Rural. Both "wanted" suspects have been termed "absconders" by the NIA.

The NIA has questioned seven jailed terror suspects so far in connection with the blast. The investigation agency had also obtained seven-day custody of a jailed terror suspect named Maaz Muneer Ahmed.

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News Network
March 14,2024

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The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says at least five people, including a staff member, were killed and 22 others wounded after Israeli forces targeted a food distribution centre in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini in a statement on Wednesday said that the strike hit one of the very few remaining UNRWA distribution centers in the eastern part of Rafah.

“Today’s attack on one of the very few remaining UNRWA distribution centers in the Gaza Strip comes as food supplies are running out, hunger is widespread and, in some areas, turning into famine,” Lazzarini said.

“Every day, we share the coordinates of all our facilities across the Gaza Strip with parties to the conflict," he continued.

He said the attack was carried out even though "the Israeli Army received the coordinates including of this facility yesterday."

Lazzarini further urged the protection of the UN, its staff, and its premises and called for an independent investigation.

Israel acknowledged an airstrike on a food aid distribution center in southern Gaza, which it claimed targeted and killed a high-ranking member of Hamas. 

Meanwhile, the statement by the UNRWA head added that since October 7, at least 165 team members have been killed while in the line of duty and more than 400 people sheltering in UN buildings also lost their lives due to Israel's attacks.

More than 150 of the agency’s facilities, including schools and shelters, have been hit in the war, with some destroyed, and UNRWA staff have reportedly been mistreated and humiliated while in Israeli detention centers, according to the UNRWA.

Six aid seekers killed in Israeli attack

Separately, the health ministry in the Gaza Strip said six people were killed in the latest attack on Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid at the Kuwait Roundabout in Gaza City.

The Wafa news agency said some 83 people who were wounded in the attack have been transferred to the al-Shifa Medical Complex in the city.

Over the past weeks, Israeli forces have increased their offensives on the Kuwait Roundabout, an area where large groups gather to wait for aid deliveries.

Israeli forces killed 11 people waiting for food aid at the roundabout on Monday night.

The Israeli military has restricted the delivery of humanitarian supplies to northern Gaza for weeks, and thousands of children are going without sufficient food and medication.

The prevention of aid convoys comes as humanitarian officials have already issued a dire warning, stating that unless a ceasefire is implemented and aid is significantly increased, the toll of malnutrition and disease is expected to rise, leading to an alarming loss of lives.

So far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 31,272 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 73,024 others.

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