Iran begins yearly dry run ahead of nuke talks with West
TEHRAN: Iran’s military started its annual war games in a seaside location of the Gulf of Oman, state TV reported Sunday, less than a month prior to upcoming nuclear talks with the West. The report stated navy and air force units along with ground forces were getting involved in a more than 1 million square-km (386,100 square-mile) area east of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Almost 20% of all oil shipping goes through the strait to the Gulf of Oman and Indian Ocean.
The drill comes in the middle of heightened stress between Iran and the United States in the wake of former president Donald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal of America from Iran’s 2015 nuclear offer with world powers.
State television said brigades, consisting of commandos and air-borne infantry deployed for the annual workout. Fighter jets, helicopters, military transport aircraft, submarines and drones were likewise anticipated to participate in the drill. It wasn’t instantly clear how long the workout would last.
Dubbed “Zolfaghar-1400”, the dry run are focused on “improving preparedness in confronting foreign risks and any possible intrusion”, state TV said.
United States authorities said last week that Iran had actually taken a Vietnamese-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman last month and was still holding the vessel in its port.
Iran provided clashing accounts of what took place, declaring that elite Revolutionary Guard commandos had warded off an US seizure of a tanker bring Iranian oil in the Gulf of Oman and freed the vessel. It aired significant video footage on state tv but did not further describe the occurrence.
The nuclear deal, understood as the Joint Comprehensive Strategy, or JCPOA, assures Iran financial incentives in exchange for limitations on its nuclear program, and is meant to avoid Tehran from establishing an a-bomb.
After the US withdrew from the deal in 2018 and brought back sanctions on Iran, the Islamic Republic gradually – and publicly – deserted the deal’s limitations on its nuclear advancement.
Iran states its stockpile of 20% enriched uranium has actually reached over 210 kilograms (463 pounds), the current defiant move ahead of upcoming nuclear talks with the West.
Under the historical nuclear deal, Iran was prohibited from enriching uranium above 3.67%. Enriched uranium above 90% can be used for nuclear weapons, though Tehran insists its nuclear program is peaceful.
After months of hold-ups, the European Union, Iran and the US announced last week that indirect speak with resuscitate the offer would resume November 29 in Vienna.
Published at Sun, 07 Nov 2021 06:01:01 -0600
Iraq PM calls for calm after drone attack on his home
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi said he was unhurt and appealed for “calm and restraint” after a drone attack on his residence early on Sunday as political tensions installed in the nation.
The attack in Baghdad’s Green Zone was the very first to target the house of Kadhemi, who has been in power considering that May 2020, and came as Iraq’s political parties wrangle over who will run the next government after elections last month.
That vote saw the Conquest (Fatah) Alliance, the political arm of the pro-Iran Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary network, suffer a significant decrease in its parliamentary seats, leading the group to denounce the outcome as “scams”.
No group has actually yet claimed obligation for Sunday’s attack, which left two bodyguards hurt, according to a security source.
In a tweet, Kadhemi called “for calm and restraint on the part of everybody for the good of Iraq”.
“My house has been the target of cowardly assault. Praise God, I am fine therefore are those who deal with me,” he then stated in a brief video shared on social media.
“Afraid rockets and drones do not develop countries.”
Kadhemi’s workplace described the attack as a “stopped working assassination attempt”.
The United States quickly condemned the attack and said it was “eased to learn the Prime Minister was unhurt”.
“This evident act of terrorism, which we highly condemn, was directed at the heart of the Iraqi state,” state department spokesman Ned Cost stated in a statement.
“We are in close touch with the Iraqi security forces charged with maintaining Iraq’s sovereignty and independence and have used our support as they investigate this attack.”
A large number of security forces were released in and around the greatly guarded Green Zone, which likewise hosts the United States embassy and is often targeted by rocket attacks.
On October 31, 3 rockets fell in Mansour, a neighbouring district, without causing any injuries.
The attack came throughout a duration of skyrocketing tensions over the outcomes of the October 10 elections.
Hundreds of Hashed supporters encountered cops on Friday while objecting near the Green Zone to vent their fury over the outcome.
One protestor passed away of their injuries in medical facility, according to a security source, while a Hashed source stated 2 demonstrators were eliminated.
The health ministry reported 125 injuries, most of them from the security forces.
Numerous hundred supporters of pro-Iranian groups returned to the Green Zone on Saturday to oppose.
Some burned a portrait of the Prime Minister, whom they called a “criminal”.
According to initial tallies, the Conquest won around 15 of the 329 seats in parliament last month, down from the 48 it held previously, that made it the second-largest bloc.
The big winner this time, with more than 70 seats according to the initial count, was the motion of Moqtada Sadr, a Shiite Muslim preacher who campaigned as a nationalist and critic of Iran.
Final election outcomes are expected within weeks.
Released at Sun, 07 Nov 2021 04:38:49 -0600
