Iran
Wednesday 30 October 2019
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“The increase in the number of direct participants and countries that allegedly took part in this ‘operation’, as well as conflicting information about the details of how it was conducted, generates reasonable questions and doubts about its reality, and even more so about its success.”
Russia responded to the U.S. operation that killed al-Baghdadi with a disinformation campaign aimed at raising doubts about the success of the operation or whether it took place at all. However, there is evidence the U.S. conducted the operation and that al-Baghdadi was killed as a result. -
“The training flight of American Boeing B-52H Stratofortress strategic bombers in waters of the Black Sea ended in a provocation. One of the aircraft simulated the bombing of Crimea.”
Russian state media tweeted that the training flight of U.S. B-52 nuclear-capable bombers ended in a “provocation” when one of them simulated a bombing mission targeting Russian-occupied Crimea. However, the plane’s path discovered by a Russian flight tracker suggests the B-52 was not Crimea-bound. -
“After [the U.S. authorities denied entry visas to members of the Russian delegation] the First and the Sixth Committees of the U.N. General Assembly, in protest, suspended their work for several hours.”
The United Nations First and Sixth committees both had procedural delays in their October 14 sessions: one due to the issues with the Iranian delegations, the second – per requests from the Ukrainian and the U.S. representatives. -
“In 2009, independent research conducted by a team of international scientists discovered, after analyzing some dust samples from the debris in the area where the skyscrapers collapsed, that they all contained a red layer of active thermitic material, incorporating nanotechnology.”
The claim was debunked years ago. The “research” cited in the article did not actually find “thermitic material,” and thermite and similar compounds are not used – and, in fact, cannot be used -- in controlled demolitions. -
“According to the minister, Iran's decision to start uranium enrichment above the level of 3.67%, which is provided for by the nuclear deal, does not violate either the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons or the safeguards agreement with the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency], or the additional protocol to that agreement.”
The Russian foreign minister is correct that Tehran’s decision to enrich uranium above 3.67% does not violate the two agreements and a protocol he named. However, it breaches the one agreement Lavrov failed to mention – the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). -
The U.S. does not control SWIFT. U.S. authorities have tried to pressure SWIFT at different times, sometimes successfully, sometimes not.
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"We have been the single NATO member country that fought with Daesh in the Syrian field, man-to-man. And we were the only NATO country that devastated this terrorist organization."
The United States and several other NATO member countries have fought Islamic State on the ground or supported anti-IS operations. The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have contributed the most to the defeat of IS. -
“The new American fashion is hostages. Back at the beginning of the 21st century, only bandits and terrorists took hostages. They have a goal -- they seize a person or several and demand the fulfillment of their wishes from others.”
None of the Russian people Kiselyov names are “hostages.” One was convicted in court, another pleaded guilty, and one has not even been arrested. Reasonable protests have been made in the fourth case, but there have been no demands from the U.S. as terms for release. -
“At the age of 94, George Bush Sr. died - the man who started the Gulf War, marking the beginning of the current chaos in the Middle East.
If we say nothing but good about the dead, about Bush Sr. say nothing.”
While many have criticized President George H.W. Bush for an inconclusive outcome of the Persian Gulf War, it is simplistic and misleading to attribute Middle Eastern conflicts, or “current chaos” to Bush’s actions in 1991. -
"By using the Russian plane as cover the Israeli air pilots made it vulnerable to Syrian air defense fire. As a result, the Ilyushin-20, its reflective surface being far greater than that of the F-16, was downed by a missile launched with the S-200 system.”
The Israeli fighters did not use the Russian plane as “cover”: Israel says the missile that downed it was fired after the fighters left Syrian airspace. -
“The step (reducing U.S. Treasury Securities) is being considered a prudent approach directed towards insulating the country from the US attempt to weaponize the dollar.”
India has joined a number of other countries in reducing their holdings of U.S. Treasury securities recently. This is largely due to market factors, not “weaponization of the dollar.” -
“Russia, Turkey and Iran have managed to achieve progress. Syria is preserved as an independent state, ISIS war machine is in ashes and peace talks are underway.”
Syrian government reconstruction of ruined cities is “non-existent,” a significant portion of the country is not under government control, Islamic State is capable of launching attacks and the Assad regime is dependent on Russian and Iranian support for its survival.