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Selasa, 09 April 2019

Trump rips firms linked to Iran Revolutionary Guard despite his own suspicious ties - AOL

President Donald Trump on Monday blasted any company doing business with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as “bankrolling terrorism.” But Trump’s own business partners were suspected of helping launder money for the guard at his Trump Tower Baku in Azerbaijan, The New Yorker has reported.

Trump made his comments as he declared the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a “foreign terrorist organization.” It’s the first time in U.S. history that part of another government has been classified by America as a terrorist group. The declaration comes with sanctions, including a ban on Americans doing business with the corps.

Such sanctions weren’t in place for his own business venture. The Trump Organization learned in 2015 that guard funds were suspected of being laundered in the construction of Trump International Hotel & Tower Baku, according to The New Yorker. Ivanka Trump, the lead Trump family member on the project, visited the site and made design recommendations on the building, New Yorker journalist Adam Davidson reported in 2017.

Davidson tweeted Monday after the president’s “terrorist” declaration that more than ever he wanted to “scream” that Trump “was a knowing partner in a likely Iranian Revolutionary Guard money-laundering scheme.”

The Trump Organization in 2012 signed multiple contracts with developers of the “ultra luxury” Baku tower. They were relatives (including the son and brother) of Azerbaijan’s billionaire transportation minister, Ziya Mammadov, considered by U.S. officials to be “notoriously corrupt,” The New Yorker reported. In his political role, he had awarded several multimillion-dollar construction contracts to a company run by Iran’s Darvishi family, which has strong ties to the Revolutionary Guard.

Anyone paying any attention to the Trump Tower Baku project would have been suspicious about money laundering, Davidson noted. The $200-million-plus construction project appeared to be strangely ill-conceived right from the start. And a contractor told The New Yorker that he was paid $200,000 and witnessed a payment of $2 million in cash, which couldn’t be traced.

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Trump pulls US from Iran nuclear deal

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US President Donald Trump signs a document reinstating sanctions against Iran after announcing the US withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear deal, in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on May 8, 2018. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump announces his intention to withdraw from the JCPOA Iran nuclear agreement during a statement in the Diplomatic Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 8, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. President Donald Trump reacts to a question from the media after announcing his intention to withdraw from the JCPOA Iran nuclear agreement during a statement in the Diplomatic Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 8, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. President Donald Trump announces his intent to withdraw from the JCPOA Iran nuclear agreement in the Diplomatic Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 8, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 08: U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a memorandum that re-instates sanctions on Iran after he announced his decision to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in the Diplomatic Room at the White House May 8, 2018 in Washington, DC. After two and a half years of negotiations, Iran agreed in 2015 to end its nuclear program in exchange for Western countries, including the United States, lifting decades of economic sanctions. Since then international inspectors have not found any violations of the terms by Iran. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

US President Donald Trump announces his decision on the Iran nuclear deal in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on May 8, 2018. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

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Trump Organization lawyer Alan Garten conceded to Davidson that company officials learned in 2015 about the “possibility” that the Mammadovs had ties to the Revolutionary Guard. But the Trump Organization didn’t pull out of the Baku project until December 2016, a month after Trump was elected president. Despite the money spent on the project, the tower was never opened. The Trump Organization was paid millions by the operation to use the Trump name. The company was to manage the building when it opened.

American companies are expected to carry out due diligence before dealing with potentially corrupt foreign partners. Allison Melia, a former CIA lead analyst on Iran’s economy, told Davidson she could have put together a damning dossier on the Mammadovs and their connection to the Revolutionary Guard in a “couple of days.” Garten has insisted that the Trump Organization investigated its Baku partners.

Trump has been involved with a number of shady business partners. No evidence has emerged that Trump or his organization were directly involved in bribery or money-laundering in the Baku project, but the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act made it a crime for a U.S. company to even unknowingly benefit from a partner’s corruption if it could have discovered illicit activity but avoided doing so.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

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2019-04-09 09:42:14Z
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Revolutionary Guard Corps: Iran hits back at US terrorist claim - BBC News

Iran's leaders have responded angrily to US President Donald Trump's designation of its elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organisation.

It is the first time the US has labelled another nation's military in this way.

President Hassan Rouhani said the US was the "leader of world terrorism".

Washington-Tehran tensions have risen since Mr Trump withdrew the US from the international Iran nuclear pact.

Profile: Iran's Revolutionary Guards

Iran's government took retaliatory action against the US move by naming US Central Command (Centcom) as a terrorist organisation and the US government as a sponsor of terror.

Centcom is the Pentagon wing that oversees Washington's security interests across the central area of the world map, most notably Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Syria.

What did Iran's leaders say?

President Rouhani condemned the US move in a speech broadcast live on state television.

"Who are you to label revolutionary institutions as terrorists?" he asked. "You are the leader of world terrorism."

"This mistake will unite Iranians and the Guards will grow more popular in Iran and in the region.

"America has used terrorists as a tool in the region while the Guards have fought against them from Iraq to Syria."

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the IRGC had confronted enemies at home and abroad, state TV reported.

They were "in the frontline of confronting enemies of our revolution and had always defended the country... America has failed to block our advancements".

Why has the US done this?

Labelling the Guards as a terrorist organisation will allow the US to impose further sanctions - particularly affecting the business sector, given the IRGC's involvement in Iran's economy.

A number of IRGC and affiliated entities have already been targeted by US sanctions for alleged proliferation activities, support for terrorism and human rights abuses.

Mr Trump's statement on Monday said: "This unprecedented step, led by the Department of State, recognises the reality that Iran is not only a state sponsor of terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft."

The president added that the move was meant to "significantly expand the scope and scale" of pressure on Iran.

"If you are doing business with the IRGC, you will be bankrolling terrorism," Mr Trump said.

The measure will take effect early next week, according to the state department.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton, both Iran hawks, championed the decision.

BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Marcus says that few Western commentators would disagree that the IRGC is responsible for all sorts of disruptive activities in the region and beyond.

But he adds that many - including it seems some officials in the state department and the Pentagon - fear that this step could simply backfire as it could encourage the IRGC or its proxies to take action against US personnel or other targets in places where they might be vulnerable, for example in Iraq.

What is the IRGC?

Iran's most elite military unit, the IRGC was set up shortly after the 1979 Iranian revolution to defend the country's Islamic system, and to provide a counterweight to the regular armed forces.

It has since become a major military, political and economic force in Iran, with close ties to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and many other senior figures hailing from its ranks.

The IRGC is estimated to have more than 150,000 active personnel, boasts its own ground forces, navy and air force, and oversees Iran's strategic weapons, including its ballistic missiles.

The IRGC exerts influence elsewhere in the Middle East by providing money, weapons, technology, training and advice to allied governments and armed groups through its shadowy overseas operations arm, the Quds (Jerusalem) Force.

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2019-04-09 10:50:10Z
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Iranian lawmakers convene with chants of 'Death to America' - Fox News

FILE - In this Feb. 3, 2019 file photo, an Iranian clergyman looks at domestically built surface to surface missiles displayed by the Revolutionary Guard in a military show marking the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, at Imam Khomeini Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran. On Monday, April 8, 2019, the Trump administration designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a “foreign terrorist organization” in an unprecedented move against a national armed force. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps went from being a domestic security force with origins in the 1979 Islamic Revolution to a transnational fighting force. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

TEHRAN, Iran – Iranian lawmakers dressed in paramilitary uniforms chanted "Death to America" as they convened Tuesday for an open session of parliament after the White House designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard a foreign terrorist organization.

President Hassan Rouhani declared that the force's popularity would only surge in the wake of the designation, saying guard members would be dearer "than any other time in the hearts of Iranian nation."

The move by Washington on Monday was an unprecedented declaration against a foreign government entity — one that could prompt retaliation and make it harder for Americans to work with allies in the region who have contact with members and affiliates of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC.

It marks the first time the United States has designated an entire entity of another government as a terrorist organization, placing a powerful and expansive armed force with vast economic resources that answers only to Iran's supreme leader in the same category as al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.

Iran's rival, Saudi Arabia, welcomed the U.S. decision, describing it as a "serious and practical step to combat terrorism." A Foreign Ministry official said the designation "translates Saudi Arabia's repeated demands for the international community to confront terrorism supported by Iran."

Within hours of the Trump administration's declaration, Iran's Supreme National Security Council responded by designating the U.S. Central Command, also known as CENTCOM, and all its forces as terrorist, and labeling the U.S. a "supporter of terrorism."

In Tehran on Tuesday, many of the lawmakers wore the uniform of the guard in a show of support as they convened for a parliament session marking the National Day of the Revolutionary Guard, which follows the lunar calendar. This year it coincides with the April 9 holiday known as Nuclear Day.

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani denounced the U.S. decision as the "climax of stupidity and ignorance." The Supreme National Security Council's spokesman, Keivan Khosravi, said that going forward, "any unusual move by American forces in the region will be perceived as the behavior by a terrorist group." He did not elaborate.

Iranian newspapers carried reports of the U.S. move along with bellicose commentary on their front pages.

The Guard-affiliated Javan daily said any attack on Revolutionary Guard bases and facilities will be "recognized as a right" for Iran to respond. The hard-line Kayhan newspaper said it gave Iranians "permission" to kill American military personnel.

State-owned IRAN daily went a step further, saying the U.S. move was a "designation of the entire Iranian nation" as terrorist.

The pro-reform Shargh daily described it as "the last card" of President Donald Trump against Iran. Trump last year pulled America out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and re-imposed sanctions on the country, mainly targeting Iran's vital oil sector.

Marking Nuclear Day, Rouhani unveiled dozens of unspecified "achievements" in nuclear technology, something he does every year. This time he touted the beginning of an installation of a chain of advanced centrifuges at the uranium enrichment facility in the central town of Natanz as well as an addition at the Fordo underground facility.

He called the Revolutionary Guard a "devoted" force that fought militant groups in Iran as well as in Iraq and Syria. The guard has fought Islamic State group's militants, who view Shiites as heretics, in Syria and has assisted Syrian President Bashar Assad's government forces.

The U.S., Rouhani said, is "head of global terrorism" and Trump's sanctions have only inspired Iran to make more strides in new missiles and weapons technology. America will not be able to "block Iran's progress," he said.

On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the designation of the Revolutionary Guard is intended to increase pressure on Iran, isolating it further and diverting some of the financial resources it uses to fund terrorism and militant activity in the Middle East and beyond.

But, in addition to the potential for Iranian retaliation, it complicates a delicate balance for U.S. personnel in at least two key countries— Iraq and Lebanon. Iraq has prominent Iranian-affiliated Shiite militias and its government has strong ties to Iran. In Lebanon, the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group is in parliament and the government.

___

Associated Press writer Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

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2019-04-09 09:22:45Z
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Iranian lawmakers convene with chants of 'Death to America' - Fox News

Iranian newspapers carried reports of the U.S. move along with bellicose commentary on their front pages.

State-owned IRAN daily went a step further, saying the U.S. move was a "designation of the entire Iranian nation" as terrorist.

___

Associated Press writer Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

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2019-04-09 09:17:50Z
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Libya's UN-backed government calls airport airstrike a 'war crime' - CNN

Mitiga airport, in the eastern quarter of Tripoli, was shuttered after it was attacked by Haftar's so-called Libyan National Army (LNA). Libya's United Nations-backed government, the Government of National Accord (GNA), quickly condemned the aerial bombardment, calling it a war crime.

There is also fighting around Tripoli's international airport, 15 miles south of the city center, which has not been operational for years. The GNA admitted Monday that it temporarily lost control of the site to Haftar's fighters.

"Haftar forces attacked Tripoli four days ago, mainly from the south and got as far as controlling Tripoli international airport," a GNA official told CNN Monday. "As of yesterday and today, Monday, Haftar forces have been pushed back and Tripoli secured."

The same official said militias from the coastal towns of Misrata and Zawia -- which are not under the GNA's direct control -- deployed troops to the capital as part of the counter-offensive against the LNA.

Luggage trolleys lie in front of the gate of the Mitiga airport after it was attacked Monday.

Years of fighting among various militias in the war-torn country have reached a crescendo in recent days, as Haftar pushes to take control of the capital.

The UN said that 3,400 people have been displaced in the upsurge of violence since Haftar ordered LNA forces to march on Tripoli Thursday. Twenty-one people have been killed and 27 injured in the conflict, according to Libya al Ahrar TV, quoting Libya's Ministry of Health.

The UN and France made shows of support Monday for the GNA's leader, Fayez al-Sarraj, whom Haftar is seeking to unseat.

The UN Secretary General's Special Representative, Ghassan Salame, met Sarraj in his office in Tripoli to discuss ways the UN Support Mission in Libya "can assist at this critical and difficult juncture," UNSMIL said on Twitter.

France, meanwhile, said that it wanted Sarraj to remain a "key player" in ongoing efforts to negotiate peace between the GNA and Haftar's forces.

"France would like Sarraj's government to remain a key player and to try and conclude the peace process negotiated in Abu Dhabi," a spokesperson for French President Emmanuel Macron told CNN.

The European Union pleaded for a humanitarian truce on Monday, a day after warring parties ignored a UN call for a two-hour halt to fighting.

US pulls troops from Libya amid a surge in violence

Departing from the EU's prepared agenda to express concerns about Libya, the EU's top foreign policy official Federica Mogherini called for "full implementation of the humanitarian truce to allow the civilians and the wounded to be evacuated from the city and to avoid any further military action and any further military escalation."

Emergency services have so far been unable to reach casualties and civilians amid the violence. Refugees and migrants in detention centers are particularly at risk, according to the UN. Clashes are affecting residential areas, trapping civilians, and fighting has damaged electricity lines, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement Monday.

The flare in fighting in Libya forced the United States military to pull a contingent of its troops from the country over the weekend. On Sunday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement calling on Haftar to stop the offensive.

"We have made clear that we oppose the military offensive by Khalifa Haftar's forces and urge the immediate halt to these military operations against the Libyan capital," he said in a statement Sunday.

In the eight years since Moammar Gadhafi was deposed and killed in the 2011 conflict, Haftar has been one of a handful of strongmen to take advantage of the nation's descent into disarray.

Based in the city of Benghazi, Haftar wields control over much of eastern Libya, and has his sights set on Tripoli.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was in Benghazi last week for talks with Haftar to push for an international peace deal, but left empty handed. Following their meeting, Guterres said he was leaving Libya "with a heavy heart and deeply concerned. I still hope it is possible to avoid a bloody confrontation in and around Tripoli."

The UN repeated Guterres' calls for a political solution on Monday.

CNN's Nada Bashir in London and Saskya Vandoorne in Paris contributed to this report.

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2019-04-09 08:33:00Z
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Senin, 08 April 2019

Brexit: Significant obstacles for cross-party talks - BBC News

"Are they serious?"

Labour and the Conservatives are separately pondering that same question tonight - wondering whether their political rivals really are genuine about finding common cause.

Guess what, just for a change, the leaderships of both of the main Westminster parties are dealing with boiling tensions on their front and back benches.

And they both have reasons to tiptoe towards each other in these cross-party talks, but both sides too have reasons to tread carefully.

In truth, both sides are serious that they could possibly get serious about a deal, but the obstacles are significant.

The Tories have still not, and may never feel able to offer a clear promise of pursuing a customs union.

What sources familiar with the talks say the focus is right now, is trying to point out to Labour that the existing deal contains the possibility of shaping that kind of arrangement in the future.

Irony upon irony, the backstop which the government has been protesting about for so long provides the ingredients for exactly that kind of relationship with the EU in the long term.

That is precisely why Brexiteers hated it so much - because they feared (correctly perhaps) it might be used as the basis on which to build the kind of tight trading deal with the EU they seek to avoid.

For the prime minister to overtly pursue such a deal is already provoking fury in parts of her party - although it's also striking now how frustrated some middle of the road Tory MPs are - fed up of what they see as both "extremes", hogging the oxygen and holding everything up.

But unless and until Theresa May is ready to give a firmer commitment on customs, it is hard to see how Labour would be ready to sign on the dotted line.

Although the two sides will meet again in the next 24 hours, Jeremy Corbyn again has expressed his view that the government hasn't shifted any of those red lines.

And even if that were to happen, there are (at least!) two other big blocks to success.

There is deep anxiety in the Labour Party about being able to trust anything that is agreed.

The government's already promised that they could change the law to give guarantees in the Brexit implementation bill.

But both sides admit privately even if they came up with some kind of "lock", it's just not feasible to rule out any future prime minister ever unpicking the deal.

In a different era this might not be such a problem.

But the prime minister has already said that she will quit, and quit once the deal is done.

So of course, Labour MPs are very nervous about how the promises made in these talks could last.

That's whether the next leader were to be Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab , Jeremy Hunt or frankly, the Queen of Sheba - it's about the permanence of any promise.

And, as I understand it, the two groups, even with serious intention, have not as things stand been able to come up with a formula that guards against this.

Second of all, officials and politicians in the discussions have talked about the possibility of another referendum on the EU - whether you call it a "confirmatory vote", a "ratificatory referendum", or a "people's vote" - another chance for all of us to have a say.

This has not though yet been a big focus of the talks - it seems like an issue that has been danced around the edges.

Here's the thing: a hefty chunk of the Labour Party is adamant that they will only back a deal if it comes with a promise of another referendum.

And that opinion among Labour backbenchers has been hardening, not softening in recent weeks.

So even if the talks can find away find a way around the customs conundrum, and then find a "lock" to make Labour comfortable with any promises that are made, there is a third profound dilemma.

Number 10 has always made it abundantly clear that the prime minister believes that's a nightmare not worth contemplating.

The problem for these talks is that for a big chunk of the parliamentary Labour Party that's the dream they are pursuing.

There are others who disagree, and disagree profoundly.

But in terms of making this process work, the Labour Party's votes can't be delivered in one big chunk.

With huge political imagination, invention, (whose mother after all they say is a necessity, and there's certainly a necessity right now), it is of course possible that this process could get there.

In this long tangled process a lot of things that have seemed impossible can in the end come to pass.

But just as both sides in these talks are serious, the problems are serious too.

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2019-04-08 21:26:37Z
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Why Iran just listed US military personnel as terrorists - Washington Examiner

Responding to the Trump administration's decision to list the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group, Iran on Tuesday officially listed U.S. military personnel in the Middle East as terrorists.

Iran's hardliner faction intends for that response to deter the U.S. from continuing its pressure campaign against Iran. It wants the U.S. to fear attacks on its forces in the Middle East. But while it is likely that the IRGC will lash out in some fashion, their fury is really a function of fear, not confidence.

The Iranian hardliners know that Trump's action will hamper the IRGC's ability to earn foreign capital. That's because foreign companies, and European ones in particular, will fear doing business in Iran lest they face new U.S. sanctions. Considering that the IRGC controls critical industries in the Iranian economy, such as the telecommunications and energy sectors, Trump's listing is a big problem for the organization.

IRGC commanding officer Mohammad Ali Jafari proved as much Sunday when he warned that “If (the Americans) make such a stupid move, the U.S. Army and American security forces stationed in West Asia will lose their current status of ease and serenity." Trying to placate the hardliners, the more-moderate foreign minister Javad Zarif called for the U.S. military's Central Command to be listed as a terrorist organization. Pro-hardliner media have also hinted at Iranian terrorist reprisals, warning that Trump's action will mean more chaos in the Middle East.

Nevertheless, it's clear the hardliners feel increasingly encircled. This situation is unstable.

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2019-04-08 18:25:00Z
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