Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie told Pentagon reporters that over the past six months Iran has attacked U.S. forces and facilities a number of times, but “very good action on the part of commanders on the ground” has thwarted any U.S. casualties.

“Had U.S. casualties occurred, I think we might be in a very different place right now,” said McKenzie.

McKenzie and other U.S. officials said this week the missile strikes on Sunday that hit close to the consulate were not aimed at the U.S. And Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said on its website that it had attacked what it described as an Israeli spy center in Irbil.

U.S. and Israeli officials declined to publicly comment or describe the target. But the attack came several days after Iran said it would retaliate for an Israeli strike near Damascus, Syria, that killed two members of its Revolutionary Guard.

“I think it’s obvious that Israel is going to take steps to defend itself when it’s confronted with with Iranian actions. And of course, Iran is dedicated to the destruction of Israel,” McKenzie said Friday. “I do worry about these exchanges between Iran and Israel, because many times our forces are at risk, whether in Iraq or in Syria. So that, in fact, does concern me.”

McKenzie, who is retiring after about three years as head of U.S. Central Command, was speaking at what was expected to be his final press briefing. He said that as he prepares to turn over the job to incoming Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, his message to his successor is that Iran continues to be his biggest challenge.

“My central problem in my three years of command was Iran,” said McKenzie, who also oversaw the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and commando raids to kill Islamic State leaders. “There were other problems, other huge problems, but the headquarters as a whole … focused on the Iranian problem and everything attendant to that.”

The U.S. presence in Iraq has long been a flash point for Tehran, but tensions spiked after a January 2020 U.S. drone strike near the Baghdad airport killed a top Iranian general. In retaliation, Iran launched a barrage of missiles at al-Asad airbase, where U.S. troops were stationed. More than 100 service members suffered traumatic brain injuries in the blasts.

More recently, Iranian proxies are believed responsible for an assassination attempt late last year on Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. And officials have said they believe Iran was behind the October drone attack at the military outpost in southern Syria where American troops are based. No U.S. personnel were killed or injured in the attack.

Last year, U.S. forces in Iraq shifted to a non-combat role, but Iran and its proxies still want all American troops to leave the country. McKenzie said the Iranian leaders believe that they can launch a certain level of attacks against the U.S. without affecting the ongoing negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Diplomats trying to salvage the 2015 Iran nuclear deal appear to be near the cusp of an agreement that would bring the U.S. back into the accord and bring Iran back into compliance with limits on its nuclear program.

Congressional opponents of the deal peppered McKenzie with questions this week about the impact of an agreement on Iranian aggression and whether sanctions relief will only provide Iran funding for other malign behavior.

McKenzie said the U.S. has gotten better at countering potential strikes by Iranian drones and other defensive measures, which contributed to the lack of American casualties. But he and others have noted that the Iranian ballistic missile strikes have gotten more precise.

“We don’t want Iran to have a nuclear weapon, and the best way to get to that is probably through a negotiated solution,” he said, adding that such a deal won’t likely solve other problems, such as Iranian conventional attacks in the region. “I don’t think anybody in the United States government is blind to that fact, but … if you can take nuclear weapons off the table, that’s a powerful capability that you don’t have to worry about.”

Once that is done, he said, then the U.S. could move on and deal with other problems, including Iran’s increasing ballistic missile and drone threats.

“What you’d like to do is negotiate that, but if you can negotiate that, that’s where U.S. Central Command comes in. It’s our job to demonstrate to Iran the concept of deterrence – that the things they want to pursue are too painful for them to achieve. We work at that every day.”

Source: https://www.stripes.com/theaters/middle_east/2022-03-18/general-iran-israel-missile-strikes-put-us-troops-at-risk-5393194.html

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As tensions remain high between Iran and the US, the Islamic Republic appears to have constructed a new mock-up of an aircraft carrier off its southern coast for potential live-fire drills, The Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

The faux foe, seen in satellite photographs obtained by AP, resembles the Nimitz-class carriers that the US Navy routinely sails into the Persian Gulf from the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway where 20% of all the world’s oil passes through.

While not yet acknowledged by Iranian officials, the replica’s appearance in the port city of Bandar Abbas suggests Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard is preparing an encore of a similar mock-sinking it conducted in 2015.

It also comes as Iran announced Tuesday it will execute a man it accused of sharing details on the movements of the Guard’s Gen. Qassem Soleimani, whom the US eliminated in a January drone strike in Baghdad.

The move follows continued tensions between the US and Iran. The US Navy recently issued a warning to mariners in the Gulf to stay 100 meters away from US warships or risk being “interpreted as a threat and subject to lawful defensive measures”.

While no mention was made of Iran in the notice, it follows US President Donald Trump’s threat last month to fire on any Iranian ships that harass Navy vessels.

Trump’s warning followed a tense encounter between US and Iranian ships in the Persian Gulf.

The US military said at the time that 11 Revolutionary Guards naval vessels from the Guards navy came close to US Navy and coast guard ships in the Gulf, calling the moves “dangerous and provocative”.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard acknowledged that the incident had taken place, but also claimed that it was American forces who sparked the incident.

The replica built by Iran carries 16 mock-ups of fighter jets on its deck, according to satellite photos taken by Maxar Technologies. The vessel appears to be some 200 meters (650 feet) long and 50 meters (160 feet) wide. A real Nimitz is over 300 meters (980 feet) long and 75 meters (245 feet) wide.

The fake carrier sits just a short distance away from the parking lot in which the Guard unveiled over 100 new speedboats in May, the kind it routinely employs in tense encounters between Iranian sailors and the US Navy. Those boats carry both mounted machine guns and missiles.

The US Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, which patrols Mideast waters, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Source: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/281623

The post Iran preparing for confrontation with US? first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

US President Donald Trump at a ceremony in the White House, January 17, 2020, in Washington. (AP/Steve Helber)

US President Donald Trump on Friday mocked and warned Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after the Iranian supreme leader called him a “clown” earlier in the day as he addressed prayers in Tehran.

“The so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ of Iran, who has not been so Supreme lately, had some nasty things to say about the United States and Europe,” Trump wrote on Twitter, apparently referring to Khamenei’s speech.

“Their economy is crashing, and their people are suffering. He should be very careful with his words!” Trump said.

Trump followed up by writing in support of the Iranian people in response to an earlier tweet by Khamenei.

“The noble people of Iran—who love America—deserve a government that’s more interested in helping them achieve their dreams than killing them for demanding respect. Instead of leading Iran toward ruin, its leaders should abandon terror and Make Iran Great Again!” Trump wrote in English and Farsi.

Khamenei had written on Twitter earlier Friday that “The villainous US govt repeatedly says that they are standing by the Iranian ppl. They lie. If you are standing by the Iranian ppl, it is only to stab them in the heart with your venomous daggers.”

The statement was in response to Trump on Saturday writing in support of Iranian protesters.

Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump

The post Trump warns Khamenei to be ‘careful with his words’ following Tehran sermon first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Khamenei said the U.S. should leave the region, adding “Military action like this is not sufficient. What is important is ending the corrupting presence of America in the region,” Reuters reported.

Iran fired as many as 15 ballistic missiles into Iraq Wednesday, officials said, in a major retaliation by the rogue regime after the U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian Quds Force Gen. Qassem Soleimani last week.

Ten missiles hit Al-Assad Air Base, one missile hit a military base in Erbil and four missiles failed to hit their targets, according to a U.S. military spokesman for Central Command, responsible for American forces in the Middle East. The attacks unfolded in two waves, each about an hour apart.

Initial assessments showed “no U.S. casualties,” a U.S. military official in Baghdad told Fox News.

Iranian state television later claimed – without evidence – that the strikes killed “at least 80 terrorist U.S soldiers” and damaged helicopters, and drones at the Ain al-Asad airbase.

President Trump tweeted a response late Tuesday evening: “All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well-equipped military anywhere in the world, by far! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning.”

The White House previously said he would not make an address to the nation Tuesday.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said right after the attack: “We are aware of the reports of attacks on U.S. facilities in Iraq. The president has been briefed and is monitoring the situation closely and consulting with his national security team.” It was not immediately clear how the U.S. may respond.

The Pentagon added: “In recent days and in response to Iranian threats and actions, the Department of Defense has taken all appropriate measures to safeguard our personnel and partners. These bases have been on high alert due to indications that the Iranian regime planned to attack our forces and interests in the region. As we evaluate the situation and our response, we will take all necessary measures to protect and defend U.S. personnel, partners, and allies in the region.”

Meantime, Iran state TV claimed Tehran launched “tens” of surface-to-surface missiles at the Al Assad Air Base. State TV described it as Tehran’s revenge operation over the killing of Soleimani.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard then warned the U.S. and its regional allies against retaliating over the missile attack in Iraq.

The Guard issued the warning via a statement carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency: “We are warning all American allies, who gave their bases to its terrorist army, that any territory that is the starting point of aggressive acts against Iran will be targeted.” The Guard in the warning also threatened Israel.

The latest U.S. intelligence assessment showed Iran had more than 2,000 ballistic missiles, Pentagon officials told Fox News.

The USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier strike group has been in the Gulf of Oman along with guided-missile destroyers, a guided-missile cruiser and at least one submarine. The Navy warships and submarine together had hundreds of Tomahawk cruise missiles with pre-planned targets locked into the missiles.

The ships would be ready to fire if given the order, two senior Pentagon officials told Fox News.

MEGHAN MCCAIN CONFRONTS WARREN ON SOLEIMANI: WHY IS IT SO HARD TO CALL HIM A TERRORIST?

The attack came days after Soleimani was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad’s airport. A senior Iraqi commander of an Iran-backed militia also was killed.

The U.S. blamed Soleimani for the killing of hundreds of American troops, and said he was plotting new attacks just before his death.

Iranian officials and President Trump have traded threats since Soleimani’s death, and more U.S. troops have been deployed to the region amid heightened tensions.

Iran-backed militias in Iraq, known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), have threatened revenge on American interests and personnel for the killings.

On Sunday, Iraqi lawmakers approved a resolution to expel U.S. forces from the country. The resolution comes nearly five years after the government requested U.S. troops be deployed to Iraq after the Islamic State overtook vast swaths of the country.

The terror group has since been defeated, Abdul-Mahdi said, adding the mission has now evolved into a U.S.-Iran proxy war.

As the crowds mourned Soleimani, more angry calls rose from Iran to avenge his death, drastically raising tensions.

Hossein Salami, Soleimani’s successor as leader of the Revolutionary Guard, addressed a crowd of supporters gathered at the coffin in a central square in Kernan. He vowed to avenge Soleimani.

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“We tell our enemies that we will retaliate but if they take another action we will set ablaze the places that they like and are passionate about,” Salami said.

A procession in Tehran on Monday drew more than 1 million people in the Iranian capital, crowding both main avenues and side streets in Tehran.

Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin, John Roberts, Lucas Tomlinson, Brie Stimson and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/world/missile-attacks-target-us-forces-in-iraq-senior-military-source-says-iran-suspected

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The post Why Iraq is at the center of the dispute between Iran and the United States first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Hormuz, at the mouth of the Arabian Gulf, accounts for about a third of the world’s seaborne oil flows.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized a foreign oil tanker in the Arabian Gulf on July 31, the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) reported, compounding already deep concerns about the safety of shipping in a region crucial to oil exports.

The vessel – the third foreign ship seized by the guards in the Gulf since July 14 – is suspected of smuggling a large volume of fuel, ISNA reported, without giving any details about the flag or nationality of the ship or its operator. The agency cited the public affairs office of the IRGC’s second naval division.

The ship was carrying 700,000 liters (4,403 barrels) of smuggled fuel when it was seized near Farsi Island in the western part of the Arabian Gulf, off Iran’s southwestern coast near the Iraq border, ISNA reported, citing the guards’ public affairs office. That’s about 400 miles (640 kilometers) from the Strait of Hormuz, which has been at the centre of Iran’s standoff with the West in recent weeks.

Tensions have flared in the strait as Iran resists US sanctions that are crippling its all-important oil exports and lashed out after the July 4 seizure of one of its ships near Gibraltar. Iran impounded a British tanker, the Stena Impero, in the passageway 15 days later and continues to hold it.

Hormuz, at the mouth of the Arabian Gulf, accounts for about a third of the world’s seaborne oil flows. To reduce the risks of navigating the waterway, a growing number of ships have been turning off their transponders to avoid signaling their positions.

The vessel seized last week was taken to Bushehr port on Iran’s southwest coast, and its cargo was confiscated and handed over to the National Oil Distribution Company of Iran’s local branch, ISNA said.

The announcement of the ship’s capture coincides with a joint meeting between the Iranian and Qatari coastguards in Tehran aimed at improving and developing maritime cooperation between the Gulf neighbors, state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported earlier Sunday. That gathering follows a rare meeting between the coastguards of Iran and the UAE last week.

Following the capture of the Stena Impero, the Royal Navy has started to escort British ships, and a plan for a European naval mission has been endorsed by Denmark, France, and Italy. The US has embarked on a parallel operation that the Europeans are wary of joining for fear of being identified with President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure campaign” against Iran.

The campaign began with the US withdrawal from the multi-power nuclear deal a year ago and has mounted with widening sanctions meant to force Iran to negotiate a broader accord addressing its ballistic missile program and support for regional militant groups.

In response to the crippling of its economy and oil exports, Iran has abandoned restrictions on uranium enrichment, downed a US drone and test-fired a ballistic missile. It’s also been accused of carrying out a number of attacks on oil tankers near Hormuz.

For all the latest transport news from the UAE and Gulf countries, follow us on Twitter and Linkedin, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube page, which is updated daily.

Source: https://www.arabianbusiness.com/transport/425260-iran-seizes-another-foreign-tanker

The post Iran seizes third foreign ship in less than a month first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Iranian military commanders warned it will be their “duty” to respond in kind following the dramatic swoop yesterday on 300,000-tonne vessel Grace 1.

Grace 1 is believed to have been transporting oil from Iran to a refinery in Syria, flaunting international sanctions.

Royal Marines used helicopters and fast attack boats to capture the vessel – flagged to Panama – in a dramatic operation.

Revolutionary Guard commander Mohsen Rezai, however, threatened to seize a British tanker in response.

Taking to Twitter, he said: “If Britain does not release the Iranian oil tanker, it is the Iranian authorities duty to seize a British oil tanker.”

Tehran authorities also summoned the British ambassador to answer for the incident which they have branded “piracy”.

Gibraltar tanker seizure (Pic: MOD)

Royal Marines were hailed for the “brave” and “bold” operation to seize the tanker suspected of carrying oil destined for the cruel regime of Bashar al-Assad.

The Marines worked alongside the authorities in Gibraltar to detain the Grace 1, which was believed to be heading to the Banyas refinery in breach of European Union sanctions.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the swift action by the authorities on the Rock and the Royal Marines would deny valuable resources to Assad’s “murderous regime”.

The marines were brought in to use their specialist boarding skills to help ensure the Royal Gibraltar Police could gain access to the tanker at sea.

(Pic: MOD)

Gibraltar tanker seizure (Pic: MOD)

The first marines onto the vessel descended on ropes from a Wildcat helicopter, while others were in rigid inflatable boats – around 16 Royal Gibraltar Police officers were also involved in the mission.

The British ambassador to Tehran met with Iranian ministry of foreign affairs officials on Thursday afternoon after being summoned by Iran, it is understood.

He was to reiterate the UK’s backing of the firm actions taken by Gibraltar in enforcing the sanctions.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi reportedly told Iranian state TV that the ambassador was summoned over the “illegal seizure” of the tanker.

Gibraltar’s chief minister Fabian Picardo praised the “brave men and women” of the Royal Marines, the Royal Gibraltar Police, HM Customs Gibraltar and the Gibraltar Port Authority for their work in securing the detention of the vessel and its cargo.

Mr. Hunt congratulated those involved in the “bold move to enforce Syria sanctions”.

Gibraltar tanker seizure (Pic: MOD)

Mr. Picardo said: “In the early hours of this morning, Gibraltar port and law enforcement agencies, assisted by a detachment of Royal Marines, boarded a supertanker carrying crude oil to Syria.

“We have detained the vessel and its cargo. This action arose from information giving the Gibraltar government reasonable grounds to believe that the vessel, the Grace 1, was acting in breach of EU sanctions against Syria.

“In fact, we have reason to believe that Grace 1 was carrying its shipment of crude oil to the Banyas refinery in Syria.”

The EU has imposed a series of sanctions against Assad’s regime in Syria in response to the conflict in the country.

Some 270 individuals and 69 entities are listed in the sanctions regime.

Gibraltar tanker seizure (Pic: MOD)

The post BREAKING: Iran threatens to seize British ships after Royal Marines capture oil tanker first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

One of Israel’s largest attacks is reported by Syrian sources to have swept across 10 targets across the country early Monday, July 1. They included Damascus Mezza military airport; Iranian and Hizballah military facilities at Al Kiswa south of Damascus; the base of the Syrian 1^stDivision; the Syrian military “research” institute at Jumriyah; military facilities at Siniya; and a chain of Hizballah bases in the Qalamoun Mts straddling the Syrian -Lebanese frontier, as well as bases in the Homs district.

The attacks were said to have been conducted by Israeli jets from Lebanese air space and naval vessels. Syrian sources reported that four people were killed in the attack and its air defense systems intercepted some of the incoming Israeli missiles. They described powerful explosions and huge fires at Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hizballah bases in the Qalamoun Mts and ambulances streaming to the scene.

DEBKAfile’s military sources add that Israel delayed this latest round of attacks on Iranian and Hizballah positions in Syria to give US and Russian diplomacy a chance to reach understandings on the Syria situation. When their effort ran into the ground last week, the Israeli military was ordered to go forward. A large-scale operation became urgent when Iran and Hizballah were discovered to be preparing to embark on an operation against Israel, as part of Tehran’s campaign against US Middle East allies in retaliation for the Trump administration’s sanctions. Israel’s wide-ranging strikes on the 1^st of July aimed at preempting that Iranian-Hizballah operation before it got off the ground.

Source: https://www.debka.com/damascus-israeli-air-naval-forces-hit-10-syrian-iranian-hizballah-targets/

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The sanctions end all the economic benefits America granted Tehran for its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, though Iran for now continues to abide by the accord that saw it limit its enrichment of uranium. While for now not threatening to resume higher enrichment, Iranian officials in recent months have made a point to threaten that could resume at any time faster than before.

The new American sanctions particularly hurt Iran’s vital oil industry, a crucial source of hard currency for its anemic economy. Its national currency has plummeted over the last year, sending prices for everything from mobile phones to medicine skyrocketing.

“Today, Iran is able to sell its oil and it will sell,” Rouhani vowed Monday as the sanctions kicked in.

Iranian state television aired footage of air defense systems and anti-aircraft batteries in two-day military maneuvers underway across a vast stretch of the country’s north.

The drill was to continue through Tuesday. Iranian army Gen. Habibillah Sayyari said both the national army and the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard were taking part in the exercise.

Rouhani, meanwhile, pledged to government officials in comments aired on state TV that Iran would overcome the sanctions.

“We are in the war situation, ” Rouhani said. “We are in the economic war situation. We are confronting a bullying enemy. We have to stand to win.”

Iran is already in the grip of an economic crisis. Its national currency, the rial, now trades at 145,000 to one U.S. dollar, down from when it traded 40,500 to $1 a year ago. The economic chaos sparked mass anti-government protests at the end of last year which resulted in nearly 5,000 reported arrests and at least 25 people being killed. Sporadic demonstrations still continue.

The United States says the sanctions are not aimed at toppling the government, but at persuading it to radically change its policies, including its support for regional militant groups and its development of long-range ballistic missiles.

However, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and John Bolton, the president’s national security adviser, both have made public statements supporting overthrowing Iran’s theocratic government.

Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman welcomed the newly restored U.S. sanctions in a tweet on Monday, saying they will deal a “critical blow” to Iran’s military presence around the Middle East.

The Trump administration’s decision to restore sanctions “is the sea change the Middle East has been waiting for,” he said.

Israel has been a fierce opponent of the 2015 nuclear deal from which the U.S. withdrew in May, saying the accord failed to rein in Iran’s regional military threat.

Contact TIME Editors about this story at editors@time.com.

Source: http://time.com/5444587/iran-military-drills-renewed-sanctions/

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Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, listens to an unidentified pilot during a ceremony to unveil Iran’s newest fighter jet, the Qaher-313, in Tehran, Iran, February 2, 2013 (AP/Mehr News Agency/Younes Khani)

Iran’s defense minister said Saturday that the Islamic Republic was set to unveil a new fighter jet and, despite new US sanctions, will continue developing its missile program.

“Our top priority has been development of our missile program. We are in a good position in this field, but we need to develop it,” Brigadier General Amir Hatami was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency, according to Reuters.

“We will present a plane on National Defense Industry Day, and people will see it fly, and the equipment designed for it,” he added, referring to the August 22 celebrations.

Hatami is believed to have been referring to the Qaher F-313 fighter plane, which Tehran said it began testing last year.

The Qaher is one of several aircraft designs the Iranian military has rolled out since 2007. Tehran has repeatedly claimed to have developed advanced military technologies in recent years, but its claims cannot be independently verified because the country does not release technical details of its arsenals.

In 2013, then president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that building the Qaher F-313, or “Dominant” F-313, shows Iran’s will to “conquer scientific peaks.”

Hatami’s announcement came after Iran’s navy on Saturday unveiled its first-ever advanced defense system for its warships, amid rising tensions with the US in the Strait of Hormuz.

Navy Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi told reporters in Tehran the domestically made Kamand system would protect Iran’s naval destroyers against anti-ship cruise missiles.

In remarks carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, Khanzadi said the Kamand system was based on the American-made Phalanx CIWS, and could destroy any target up to 2 kilometers away.

For the time being, Khanzadi said, the defense system would only be installed on Iranian warships “that carry out missions in deep and distant waters.”

The announcement came two weeks after Iran launched naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz as a show of force while Washington prepared to reimpose sanctions on Tehran.

Navy Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi speaks at a Tehran press conference on July 31, 2019. (screen capture: YouTube/PressTV)

Iran routinely operates small boats in the Strait of Hormuz and the surrounding area, and has often threatened to shut down the vital waterway where one third of all oil traded by sea passes.

In recent weeks, President Hassan Rouhani renewed the threat, saying that if US sanctions threatened Iran’s crude oil exports, the rest of the Mideast’s exports would be threatened as well.

Earlier in August, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard confirmed that it had carried out a naval exercise in the Gulf, days before the US re-imposed the economic sanctions that were eased under the 2015-Obama era nuclear deal.

The general overseeing US military operations in the Middle East said Tehran was trying “to use that exercise to send a message to us that as we approach the period of the sanctions here that they had some capabilities.”

The capabilities include ocean mines, explosive boats, coastal defense missiles and radars, US Central Command head General Joseph Votel said.

In May, the US announced it was abandoning the 2015 agreement and reimposing nuclear-related sanctions, threatening global companies with heavy penalties if they continue to operate in Iran.

In a bid to salvage the accord, the EU and European parties to the deal — Britain, France, and Germany — presented a series of economic “guarantees” to Iran last month, but they were deemed “insufficient” by Tehran.

In this photo released by official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani attends a meeting with a group of foreign ministry officials in Tehran, Iran. Sunday, July 22, 2018. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)

The sanctions that went into effect earlier in August target US dollar financial transactions, Iran’s automotive sector, and the purchase of commercial planes and metals, including gold. Even stronger sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sector and central bank are to be re-imposed in early November.

US President Donald Trump has offered talks on a “more comprehensive deal” but Iran has balked at negotiating under the pressure of sanctions and has instead leaned on its increasingly close ties with fellow US sanctions targets Turkey and Russia.

Agencies contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-says-it-will-unveil-new-fighter-jet-continue-developing-missiles/

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