Tuesday, November 06, 2018
PMW: "Settlers" kill Palestinians for pleasure - hate speech in official PA daily
The Palestinian Authority regularly demonizes Jews, Israelis, and those who they call "settlers" and accuse them of believing in precisely the hate ideologies the PA itself espouses to its own people.Petra Marquardt-Bigman: Don’t Be Fooled: The Left Only Cares About Palestinians If It Can Blame Israel
While accusing Israelis of participating in a religious war, it is Mahmoud Abbas' advisor who has called Israel "Satan's project" and presented the war with Israel as a religious war to destroy Israel and Jews. The PA Mufti, who is appointed by Abbas, has said extermination of Jews is a religious obligation and Islamic destiny.
In Israel, the isolated cases of Israeli terror against Palestinians are punished and condemned. It is the Palestinian Authority under direct instructions of Mahmoud Abbas that rewards murderers of Israelis with high salaries and calls terrorist murderers "stars in the sky of the Palestinian people."
In this op-ed in the official PA daily, the writer projects the PA's own hate ideologies onto what he refers to as Israeli "settlers." They are demonized as inhuman murderers who kill Palestinians for their own pleasure and at the orders of the Israeli government.
Under the headline "The settlers are sacrificing the Palestinians' blood as a sacrifice to Netanyahu," regular columnist for the official PA daily, Muwaffaq Matar, who is also a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council and hosts a TV program on Fatah-run Awdah TV, portrayed Israelis living beyond the Green Line as "mass murderers obsessed with bloodshed" who are "directed" and controlled by the Israeli army and government:
"Criminals, mass murderers, obsessed with bloodshed, wild unbridled foreigners, but also directed - these are the settlers, the colonialists, the pawns of the racist regime in Tel Aviv.
[They are] criminals who are being activated by a remote control with dual controls - one in the hands of the heads of the occupation army, and the second in the hands of the heads of the coalition of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's government. Both of them are trying to inflict a heavy toll on the Palestinian citizens by means of groups of people devoid of the elements of human nature, who have no connection to the civilized societies other than [their] human form..." [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 14, 2018]
Anyone with even a passing interest in news from the Middle East will know that all over the region, undemocratic and repressive regimes use their security forces to suppress dissent. The Palestinian authorities in Gaza and the West Bank are no exception, as a recently released Human Rights Watch report documents.
Considering that the report is “the result of a two-year investigation,” it is remarkably meager. According to the summary, HRW exposes the “machineries of repression to crush dissent” by showing that Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza “routinely arrest people whose peaceful speech displeases them and torture those in their custody.”
Why Israel Is Right To Expel Human Rights Watch’s Omar Shakir
While this might give the impression that the report focuses exclusively on the abuse of people arrested for “peaceful speech,” there are also chapters that deal with cases of people accused of criminal charges in Gaza and the West Bank.
But what the report leaves out is perhaps more noteworthy than what it covers. A glimpse of what’s missing is provided on page 51, where one sentence suffices to deal with the most egregious abuses:
“Hamas authorities have also carried out 25 executions since they took control in Gaza in June 2017 [sic! Hamas took control in June 2007], including 6 in 2017, following trials that lacked appropriate due process protections and courts in Gaza have sentenced 117 people to death, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.”
In other words, a report that is touted as “the result of a two-year investigation” relies on another human rights organization to provide a one-sentence summary of executions carried out by Hamas. Presumably, two years were too short for the hard-working people at HRW to check their own records, which indicate that Hamas carried out considerably more than “25 executions” since taking power in 2007.
But the appalling sloppiness displayed by HRW when it comes to keeping track of the murderous record of the Islamist terror group that rules Gaza is a telling sign of how little Palestinian human rights matter to HRW when Israel can’t be blamed.
Dore Gold: The Bedouin Encampment of Khan al-Ahmar Violates the Oslo Accords
Khan al-Ahmar is a cluster of Bedouin structures located in the Judean Desert to the east of Jerusalem. This past year this subject has been heating up. It is located on public land and is situated on the main route connecting Jerusalem to the Jordan Valley. Twenty-eight Bedouin families live there. It is too small to really be called a village, so some label it as a hamlet or even other terms. The structures in Khan al-Ahmar were not erected with any sort of building permit, as required by Israel's Civil Administration in the West Bank.
Accordingly, demolition orders were issued in 2009. Though the residents turned to the Israeli Supreme Court, in its ruling the Court stated: "there is no dispute that the entire complex was put up in violation of the zoning laws." In the past the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Jewish families living in illegally constructed dwellings needed to be removed, as was the case in Migron (2012), Amona (2017), and Netiv Ha-Avot (2018).
Some Western commentators have fundamentally misunderstood Israel's decision to dismantle Khan al-Ahmar. A New York Times analysis insisted that Israel sought "to make room for the expansion of Jewish settlements." Of course, anyone familiar with the topography of the West Bank, with the map of the West Bank, knows that the Judean Desert is full of empty territory, so that the argument that the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar was required for settlement expansion really rings hollow.
Security agency chief warns of deceptive calm: We foiled 480 major terror attacks this year
The Shin Bet security agency has thwarted 480 Palestinian terrorist attacks so far in 2018, agency Director Nadav Argaman told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday.Israel’s Next Northern War: Operational and Legal Challenges
The Shin Bet's efforts were a major factor in the defense establishment's ability to maintain the fragile calm between Israel and the Palestinians, especially in Judea and Samaria, Argaman said.
"The situation in the Palestinian arena has been very unstable this year. In the Gaza Strip, we are somewhere between a potential [military] campaign and efforts to stabilize the humanitarian situation," he told the committee.
"In Judea and Samaria the situation is very complex as well. Things on the ground are relatively calm, but this calm is deceptive. The situation is actually highly combustible."
Argaman continued, "Hamas is constantly trying to launch terrorist attacks in and from Judea and Samaria.
"We were able to prevent 480 major terrorist attacks, stop 590 lone-wolf terrorists and arrest 219 Hamas cells. This indicates that there is a large, clandestine terrorist infrastructure there."
Hamas leaders in Gaza and Turkey are sparing no effort to mastermind terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria, and similar efforts are being made from Lebanon by the Hezbollah terrorist group, Argaman said.
Hezbollah has threatened Israel’s northern border for decades. Today, however, the nature of this threat has become dire, and the risks of escalation real, as Iran continues supplying Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon with game-changing weapons to devastate the Israeli homeland.Netanyahu says ‘occupation is baloney’ if a country is powerful enough – reports
When the next conflict erupts between Israel and Hezbollah, its scale and intensity will bear little resemblance to those of recent memory. Hezbollah today is highly competent, adaptable and lethal. Its forces have gained invaluable battlefield experience in Syria and amassed more weaponry than 95 percent of the world’s conventional militaries, including at least 120,000 rockets and missiles. This is more than all of Europe’s NATO members combined, and ten times as many as when it last went to war with Israel in 2006.
Especially troubling is Hezbollah’s growing arsenal of powerful long-range precision missiles capable of striking targets throughout Israel. Unlike in recent conflicts, Israel’s missile defenses will be incapable of shielding the nation from such a threat. From the outset of conflict, Hezbollah will be able to sustain a launch rate of more than 3,000 missiles per day – as many as Israel faced in the entire 34-day conflict in 2006.
Despite this quantum leap in its capabilities, Hezbollah is under no illusion about its ability to inflict military defeat on Israel. It will not seek victory in the valleys of Lebanon or the skies over Israel, but in the court of public opinion.
To do so, it will use combat operations to lay the groundwork for an information campaign delegitimizing Israel. Two tactics will be central to Hezbollah’s efforts: first, deliberately attacking Israeli civilian population centers to compel an aggressive response by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF); second, illegally exploiting the presence of Lebanese civilians to shield itself from IDF attack.
Hezbollah will then manipulate the inevitable casualties by relying on widespread misperceptions about the true nature of combat operations and how international law (the law of armed conflict, or LOAC) regulates such operations. It will use the inevitable images of civilian suffering in Lebanon to portray Israel’s lawful operations as immoral and illegal. By weaponizing information and the law, Hezbollah will seek to force Israel to halt its self-defense campaign before the IDF can achieve decisive victory.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told lawmakers in his governing Likud party on Monday that powerful countries can occupy territories and transfer populations without consequence, in an apparent reference to ostensible Arab indifference toward Israel’s control over the West Bank.Netanyahu: 'Occupation is bull'
“Power is the most important [component] of foreign policy. ‘Occupation’ is baloney. There were huge countries that have occupied and transferred populations and no one talks about them,” Netanyahu was quoted by Army Radio as saying Monday, in the closed-door Likud faction meeting. The remarks were also carried by the Yedioth Ahronoth daily on Tuesday morning.
“Power changes everything and it changes our policies vis-a-vis Arab states, and there are other countries on the way,” he reportedly added, apparently referring to states that have covertly expressed interest in forging diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.
The prime minister also appeared to reject the notion that Israeli territorial concessions could bring peace, according to additional comments from the meeting published by Yedioth on Tuesday.
“Contrary to the notion that concessions will bring about agreements with the Arabs, concessions will only bring about slight and short-term changes and nothing more,” Netanyahu said, seemingly referring to ceding territory to the Palestinians. “What we need to do is advance [talks] on shared interests with Israel based on technological power.”
Netanyahu’s reported comments came after he visited Oman last month in the first official meeting between the leaders of the countries since 1996.
Speaking at a Likud party meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the demonstration of strength is the most important thing in Israel's foreign policy.Dutch parliament to hold hearing on PA program rewarding terrorism
"'Occupation' is bull. There are countries that have conquered and replaced entire populations and the world keeps silent. Strength is the key, it makes all the difference in our policy towards the Arab world."
Netanyahu stressed that concessions are perceived as weakness in the Middle East . "As opposed to the perception that concessions promote agreements with the Arabs, they would only bring minor and short-term changes—nothing more.
"The right thing to do is to make progress through common interests, which are based on technological strength," the premier explained. (h/t Elder of Lobby)
Prompted by Israel calls to condemn the Palestinian Authority for rewarding terrorism, the Dutch Parliament will host an event later this week to hear from prominent activists who are spreading awareness about the so-called “pay-to-slay” initiative.Minister: Israel might destroy Syrian S-300s, even if manned by Russians
Director of the Israel-based nongovernmental organization Palestinian Media Watch Itamar Marcus and terror-attack survivor Kay Wilson will travel to the Hague to address Dutch politicians about the P.A. giving convicted terrorists and their families huge salaries. Marcus and Wilson were invited by Dutch parliament member Joël Voordewind, who invited Marcus and Wilson, and will be chairing the discussion.
The move was endorsed by Yesh Atid Party minister Elazar Stern.
Stern has called on “the Parliament of the Netherlands to send a clear message that the P.A. must stop financially rewarding the terrorists.”
The Netherlands gives more than $14.8 million annually to UNRWA, the United Nations agency that deals with the Palestinian refugee issue. The United States cut its funding to UNRWA in September.
“It is important to update the Dutch Parliament that the P.A. has ignored all resolutions demanding they stop rewarding terror,” said Marcus. “While in some years the P.A. attempted to deceive the international community and conceal the payments, in its 2018 budget, the P.A. openly allocated 1.2 billion shekels [288,000,000 euros] for payments to terrorist prisoners and families of ‘martyrs.’ ”
An Israeli cabinet minister has warned that if the Syrians use their recently supplied advanced Russian air defense missiles to bring down Israeli planes over Israeli territory, the launchers would be targeted — even if that means endangering Russian military specialists at the launch sites.Palestinian attempts stabbing attack near Kfar Adumim
Environmental Protection Minister Ze’ev Elkin, who is also co-chair of the Russia-Israel Intergovernmental Commission, told Russian media Monday that it was a “big mistake” for Moscow to supply its ally Syria with the S-300 missile system, because the advanced missiles, which are considered a significant threat to Israeli air power in the area, “might lead to destabilization of the situation.”
Elkin cautioned that “considering the mess” that the Syrian army was in, the Syrians cannot be trusted to operate the equipment correctly and may end up shooting down an “Israeli military or commercial plane over Israeli territory.”
Israel, he noted, reacts to attacks on its territory and aircraft with “practical actions,” which would “undoubtedly take place” against the launchers should Israeli aircraft be hit in Israeli airspace.
“I greatly hope that there would be no Russian military specialists [at the missile launch sites],” he said, stressing that in the past Israel has taken pains to ensure that Russian military personnel are not hurt through its actions in Syria.
A Palestinian woman tried to stab a border police officer by a gas station near the Kfar Adumim settlement on Tuesday, off Route 1, in the West Bank.IDF to partially demolish home of Barkan attacker
Police received a report about a suspicious looking Palestinian woman, who was in a falafel stand in the gas station’s compound and refused to leave.
When border police arrived, the woman, 37, from the Palestinian city of Yatta in the South Hebron Hills, left the area and began walking towards the Allon settlement.
Border police called on her to stop and began to approach her, the police spokesperson said.
Instead of stopping, the woman pulled out a pair of scissor from her bag and ran at them, yelling in Arabic.
One officer shot and moderately wounded her. Border police who later searched her bag found a knife inside it.
The woman was transported to the Hadassah Medical Center at Mt. Scopus.
The IDF has ordered the partial demolition of the home of the terrorist responsible for the deadly shooting attack in the Barkan industrial zone last month.Israel steps up effort to block PA activities in Jerusalem
On Tuesday, the Head of the IDF’s Central Command, Maj.-Gen. Nadav Padan issued the demolition orders for two stories of the home where Naalwa lived in the West Bank village of Shweika near Tulkarem.
According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, the order was signed after a request was made by the attacker’s family against the demolition order was rejected.
Nevertheless the home will remain partially intact, with the demolition to be limited to basement and ground floor of the building.
In early October 23 year-old Ashraf Walid Suleiman Na’alwa shot dead Kim Levengrond-Yehezkel, 29, of Rosh Ha’ayin, and Ziv Hagbi, 35, from Rishon Lezion. He also is suspected of shooting a third woman, seriously injuring her.
Israeli security forces on Sunday searched the offices of the PA’s Jerusalem Affairs Ministry in Dahiyat al-Barid, a West Bank village located north of Jerusalem.The unsung hero of the fight against Gaza arson terrorism
Palestinians said that IDF soldiers and security officers confiscated many documents and computers. Several employees were summoned for questioning at Jerusalem police headquarters.
The raid on the offices of the PA ministry, which also includes the headquarters of the PA “Governorate of Jerusalem,” came in the context of Israel’s efforts to enforce a law that bans the PA from operating inside the country.
Israel says that the Palestinians had been acting in violation of the Law for the Implementation of the Agreement on the Gaza Strip and Jericho Area – Restriction on Activity – 1994, which prevents the PA from carrying out political, governmental or similar activity within the area of the State of Israel, including in east Jerusalem.
In recent months, however, the PA has increased its activities in east Jerusalem, prompting Israeli authorities, to take a number of measures to combat the phenomenon. The measures include, among other things, the arrest of scores of PA-affiliated activists and officials in east Jerusalem and the ban of dozens of events organized by the PA and other Palestinian political groups.
Yassin Abu Sidra, 24, stands at the top of an 18-meters-high tower on the border of the Gaza Strip, near Kibbutz Be'eri, and scans the area from morning till nightfall looking for fires.Hamas demands tax on Palestinian goods passing through Kerem Shalom: report
Since the Palestinians began flying incendiary balloons and kites into Israel some seven months ago, this has been his mission.
Abu Sidra, a lookout for Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL), is the first to spot the incendiary balloons and kites and helps preventing the fire from spreading by sending firefighting forces to the scene.
This job requires him to constantly be on alert. In recent months, he hasn't had a moment's rest. From the top of the observation tower he can see the Be'eri Forest, the Kissufim Forest, the Shokeda Forest and the farmland of the Israeli communities by the border.
He has already spotted hundreds of incendiary balloons and kites and directed firefighting forces to where they landed.
"There were days of 30-40 fires a day," Abu Sidra says. "The firefighting forces ran from one scene to the next, rushing to get there to prevent the spread of the fire."
Hamas on Tuesday morning was reportedly demanding Palestinian merchants and business owners pay an extra 30 NIS for all goods passing through Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel.IsraellyCool: “Iconic” Shirtless Palestinian Rioter Reportedly Injured. The Photos Tell a Different Story
The added tax is causing delays in the movement of goods and fuel, Walla reported.
Palestinians in the blockaded enclave are protesting the tax implemented by Hamas, the Islamist government of the Gaza Strip, the report added.
According to some reports, “Triple A” A’ed Abu Amro – otherwise known as shirtless terrorist who George Takei crushed on – has been shot.Egypt Considers Banning The Burqa As Part Of Anti-Extremism Campaign
Multiple reports from Gaza say that the 20-year-old protester photographed last month with a slingshot and a Palestinian flag was among those injured by Israeli troops in the most recent protests.
A’ed Abu Amro was among those injured by Israeli sniper fire on Monday, according to multiple activists and journalists reporting from the area. Photos show him being carried away on a stretcher.
—
Abu Amro appears to have been shot in the leg and is recovering at a Gaza hospital.
Except the photos of him on the stretcher seem to tell a different story – perhaps phasers were set to stun
In other words, just like everything else about this “protester” and the cause he represents, it seems to be a lie.
Egypt is discussing a new draft law that would prevent women from wearing a burqa (nikab) in public spaces as part of a government campaign against extremist interpretations of Islam. The burqa, used mainly in Islamic cultures, is the veil that covers a woman’s entire face except for the eyes.Egypt nixes Brazilian FM's visit as embassy relocation plans sour ties
On Saturday, Ghada Ajami, a lawmaker, submitted a bill in the Egyptian parliament calling for a fine of 1,000 Egyptian pounds ($56) for women who defy the proposed ban. The fine would double for repeat offenders.
Ajami stressed to the press that the purpose of the bill is “to support the state’s efforts in fighting terrorism.”
A copy of the draft bill obtained by The Media Line states that the burqa would be prohibited in Egyptian public spaces “at any time and under any circumstances.”
Public spaces would include hospitals, health clinics, schools, cinemas, theaters, public libraries, museums, and government buildings, among others.
Ahmad Sharbini, an Egyptian political analyst, told The Media Line that “Egypt is going through a period of instability because of radical Islamic groups operating within the country,” adding that the burqa creates a security problem as “many male and female terrorists use it to hide their identities or sneak into places.
Egypt has postponed a visit by Brazil's top diplomat, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry said on Monday. Diplomatic sources said decision followed President-elect Jair Bolsonaro's vow to relocate the Brazilian Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes Ferreira had been set to fly to Cairo for a three-day visit from Nov. 8 to 11 that was to have included meetings with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.
But Cairo postponed the trip, citing problems with senior officials' agendas, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry said onday. Ministry insiders said no new date has been proposed, signaling Egypt's discontent with Bolsonaro's proposal.
Behind the scenes, Egyptian officials said Cairo was deeply displeased with Bolsonaro's promise, which breaks with longstanding Brazilian foreign policy in support of a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict.
The Egyptian Embassy in Brasilia was unavailable for comment.
Egyptian Cleric Nabil Al-Mursi: Wife Beating in Islam Is Meant to Discipline, Not to Punish or Humiliate pic.twitter.com/2uwhy9XU8J
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) November 6, 2018
Saudi Arabia prepares to build first nuclear research reactor
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday laid the foundation stone for the kingdom’s first nuclear research reactor, state media said, as the kingdom seeks to diversify its energy mix.Iran says US will ‘regret’ renewed sanctions, vows Tehran won’t cave to pressure
The reactor was among seven projects launched by the prince during a visit to Riyadh’s King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
SPA offered no details on when the research or non-power reactor — typically used for research, development and education purposes — would be built and at what cost.
Saudi Arabia currently draws on oil and natural gas to meet its own fast-growing power demand and desalinate its water.
The world’s top crude exporter harbors plans to build 16 nuclear reactors over the next two decades for $80 billion as it seeks to diversify, despite concerns over nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.
Prince Mohammed said in March that if Iran develops a nuclear weapon, Riyadh will do so too.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif took to YouTube on Tuesday to dismiss US sanctions and Washington’s demands of change from Tehran as “absurd, unlawful and fundamentally flawed” and maintained the Trump administration would come to “regret this unwise move.”Did Trump Blink on Iran Sanctions?
“The US administration appears to believe that imposing draconian sanctions on Iran will bring about such pain to our nation that it will force us to submit to its will,” Zarif said in a video message, posted in English and Persian.
“We have weathered difficult times in the face of 40 years of American hostility relying solely on our own resources, and today we and our partners across the globe will ensure that our people are least affected by this indiscriminate assault,” he said.
Washington’s decision to scrap the multi-nation nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose sanctions — with the last tranche hitting on Monday — was “pushing it further into global isolation,” Zarif claimed.
When Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal in May of this year, he vowed that America would re-impose all the sanctions on Tehran that had been lifted by the pact championed by President Barack Obama.US permits activity at 3 Iran nuclear sites, even as sanctions renewed
That promise will be kept on November 5, as a deadline is reached for nations that need to cease importing Iranian goods or face serious financial penalties. It will impose sanctions on more than 700 businesses, government agencies, and individuals in Iran involved in oil, banking, shipping, shipbuilding, and insurance. That will tighten the noose that has been gradually choking the Iranian economy since Trump took office and began the process of dismantling his predecessor’s pact.
But there are two key elements of the announcement made by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that are troubling to those who have been applauding the president’s intentions to scrap a deal that enriched and empowered an enemy nation bent on hegemony in the Middle East, and failed to end the threat of an Iranian nuclear weapon. Far from being a sweeping ban on trade with Iran, the new sanctions keep open some significant loopholes.
One is that the administration has granted an exemption to eight unidentified countries, allowing them to continue to do business with Iran. One is believed to be India, a major trading partner of Tehran.
Also notably absent from the announcement was any mention of America’s determination to ensure that any nation or entity that conducts business with Iran will be cut off from the US-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication or SWIFT, which facilitates international transactions. If it had been included in the sanctions, that would essentially compel anyone interested in commerce with Iran to choose between money to be made with Iran or being able to do business in the United States, as well as any other entity that has interactions with US banks. That would have imposed a blanket of complete isolation on Iran.
What happened?
The United States said Monday it was issuing waivers to allow the continuation of a nuclear deal with Iran, after declaring the agreement a disaster and slapping sweeping sanctions.EU struggles to find host for new Iran trade mechanism
Hours after sanctions went into effect that ban most trade with Iran, the State Department said it was exempting projects set up through the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated under former president Barack Obama.
The international activities at Bushehr, Iran’s only nuclear power station, as well as the Fordow enrichment plant and the Arak heavy water reactor will be allowed “to continue under the strictest scrutiny to ensure transparency and maintain constraints on Iran,” the State Department said in a statement.
“This oversight enhances our ability to constrain Iran’s program and keep pressure on the regime while we pursue a new, stronger deal,” it said.
The State Department said the waivers were “temporary,” without specifying a timeframe, and “conditional on the cooperation of the various stakeholders.”
The 2015 agreement promised that world powers would assist Iran in developing civilian nuclear energy — the clerical regime’s stated goal for its atomic program.
The European Union has so far failed to find a country to host a special mechanism to trade with Iran and circumvent the newly reimposed U.S. sanctions that went into effect Monday, according to three EU diplomats, who said European governments fear being targeted by U.S. countermeasures.Erdogan: US Iran sanctions are aimed at ‘upsetting global balance’
The EU on Monday reissued its Nov. 2 statement, saying it was still setting up the so-called "special purpose vehicle," or SPV, which is designed to circumvent the sanctions.
The EU, which opposes the sanctions, had hoped to have the SPV ready by the time the sanctions came into force.
However, no EU country has so far volunteered to host the entity, the diplomats said. Several states have been asked by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to consider hosting the SPV headquarters, as the bloc tries to uphold the nuclear accord from which U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew in May.
While the European Commission declined to comment on Monday, European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said that "the European Union does not approve" of the reimposition of U.S. sanctions, which were lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday hit out at new sanctions on Iran imposed by the administration of US President Donald Trump, saying they were aimed at upsetting the global balance and against international law.U.S. Embassy Jerusalem: The Iranian Regime Protects Itself
Washington on Monday renewed sanctions on the Islamic republic that aim to isolate the country’s banking sector and slash its oil exports. Turkey was one of eight countries exempted from the demand to stop buying Iranian oil.
“We don’t find the (Iran) sanctions appropriate,” Erdogan was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu news agency.
“Because to us, they are aimed at upsetting the global balance,” he added. “They are against international law and diplomacy. We don’t want to live in an imperial world.”
Erdogan’s comments came after his Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned that isolating Iran was “dangerous.”
As the new round of sanctions against the Iranian regime goes into effect, regime officials are lying about the targets and consequences. The sanctions exempt humanitarian goods such as medicine and food, but the regime chooses to allow suffering among its people for political and financial purposes.
Don't believe us?
— The Mossad (@TheMossadIL) November 6, 2018
Filmed in Iran:
Who wants to trample on a flag of Israel? Nobody! pic.twitter.com/qQrPYwIblC
