Iran claims to have shot down US spy drone - CNN

Iran's state-run Press TV said the US-made RQ-4 Global Hawk was shot down in the country's southern coastal province of Hormozgan, near the Strait of Hormuz.

CNN cannot independently verify the details in the Iranian state media report.

Press TV quoted Cap. Bill Urban, a spokesman for the US Central Command, as saying "no US aircraft were operating in Iranian airspace" Thursday. CNN has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

The Trump administration said Monday it would send 1,000 additional troops and more military resources to the Middle East in response to what Washington called "hostile behavior by Iranian forces that threaten United States personnel and interests across the region."

US officials blame Iran for conducting attacks against oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, and the US President himself last week accused Iran of being behind the provocation, telling Fox News: "It was them that did it."

Tehran has categorically denied the accusations, and President Hassan Rouhani said the country does not seek war but "is determined to show its hopefulness and vitality and defeat the enemy's plot."

Iran has previously been accused of targeting US drones.

In the hours before the attack on the two tankers earlier this month, the Iranians spotted a US drone flying overhead and launched a surface-to-air missile at the unmanned aircraft, a US official told CNN.

In 2014, the Iran's armed forces revealed what it claimed was a copy of a stealth American drone "commandeered" by Tehran in 2011.

Northrop Grumman, the weapons manufacturer that builds the RQ-4 Global Hawk, describes the aircraft as a "premier provider of persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information."

It can fly more than 30 hours at a time at a maximum altitude of 60,000 feet (about 18,000 meters) and with a range of 12,300 nautical miles.

Since joining the US Air Force fleet in 2001, the Gobal Hawk has amassed more than 250,000 flight hours in support of military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, North Africa and the Asia-Pacific.

Relations between Iran and the United States have deteriorated since May 2018, when Washington chose to leave the 2015 nuclear deal the Iranian regime negotiated with world powers and reimpose crippling sanctions on Iran's economy.

Trump and many conservatives in the US had long criticized the deal, which allowed Iran to stockpile limited amounts of enriched uranium and heavy water produced in that process, exporting any excess.

Doing so has become extremely difficult after the US revoked waivers that allowed Iran to export those excess stockpiles, effectively forcing Iran to halt enrichment or ignore the limits, which it is now doing.

After a year of waiting, Rouhani announced last month that it would reduce its "commitments to the deal," but not fully withdraw from it.

Iran then announced this week that it would resume nuclear enrichment activities, accelerating uranium enrichment to 3.7% -- above the 3.67% mandated by the nuclear deal. Enrichment at this level is enough to continue powering parts of the country's energy needs, but not enough to construct a nuclear bomb.

CNN's Daniel Allman contributed to this report.

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2019-06-20 06:54:00Z
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MH17 crash investigators say four suspects face murder charges - CNN

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) said it would issue national and international arrest warrants for the four suspects. Three Russians, Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy and Oleg Pulatov, were named, along with Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko.

The flight was on its way from Amsterdam to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur in July 2014, when it was shot out of the sky over territory held by pro-Russian separatists.

According to investigators, Girkin is a former colonel of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), Dubinskiy was employed by Russia's military intelligence agency GRU and Pulatov was a former soldier of the Russian special forces, Spetsnaz-GRU.

Ukraine's Kharchenko had no military background, but is believed to have led a combat unit in Donetwsk in July 2014.

While the suspects are not accused of firing the missile at MH17, they are "just as punishable as the person who committed the crime," Dutch prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said.

All four are charged with "causing the crash of MH17, leading to the death of all the people on board ... and murdering 298 passengers of flight MH17," Westerbeke said.

He added that they are suspected of obtaining the Buk missile "with the goal to shoot a plane."

The trial of the four men will take place on March 9, 2020 at the Schiphol Judicial Complex in Badhoevedorp, investigators said, adding that the accused will be tried in absentia if necessary.

Investigators said they would not ask for the suspects to be extradited because the Russian and Ukrainian constitutions prohibit extraditing nationals. However added that they would ask Russia to cooperate with the investigation, and both countries to question the suspects about the charges.

During a Q&A following the briefing on Wednesday, Ukraine said it would try to arrest Kharchenko.

Later on Wednesday Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the findings were "absolutely unfounded accusations," and that the JIT press conference was aimed at "discrediting" Russia.

"No concrete evidence this time was shown to back up such unlawful statements," the MFA said in a statement posted online. It also disputed that Russia has refused to fully cooperate with the investigation.

"We strongly reject such accusations," the statement read. "From the first day of the tragedy, the Russian Federation was highly interested in establishing the truth and is ready to provide all-round assistance to the investigation."

Meanwhile Girkin -- one of the suspects who acted as defense minister for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic -- said separatists in eastern Ukraine were not responsible for downing the Boeing aircraft, adding that investigators had not contacted him about the case.

"The (separatist) rebels did not down the Boeing, and I cannot comment further or clarify," he told Russia's Business FM radio.

Asked if the JIT had contacted him -- which is made up of five countries: Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine -- Girkin said, "No, they have not contacted me."

Investigators announced in 2018 that the flight had been brought down by a missile fired from a launcher belonging to Russia's 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade. Russia has repeatedly denied involvement in the incident, suggesting instead that Ukrainian forces shot down the plane.

CNN's Tomas Etzler, Nathan Hodge, Nick Paton Walsh, Richard Allen Green and Duarte Mendonca contributed reporting.

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2019-06-19 16:11:00Z
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Khashoggi Killing Inquiry Should Look Into Saudi Prince’s Role, U.N. Expert Says - The New York Times

GENEVA — Saudi Arabia is responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in its Istanbul consulate last year, and there is “credible evidence” justifying an investigation into the role of the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, a United Nations expert said in a report released on Wednesday.

The expert, Agnes Callamard, also said that the United Nations secretary general should establish an international criminal investigation to ensure accountability for the crime.

“There is credible evidence warranting further investigation of high-level Saudi officials’ individual liability, including the crown prince’s,” Ms. Callamard said in a 100-page report, issued after a five-month investigation.

Prince Mohammed, the day-to-day ruler of Saudi Arabia, was already widely suspected of having ordered the killing, a conclusion reached by Western intelligence agencies.

But the report by Ms. Callamard, the special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions for the United Nations human rights agency, is the most complete set of findings yet made public on the death of Mr. Khashoggi, a dissident Saudi writer who lived in the United States.

“Evidence points to the 15-person mission to execute Mr. Khashoggi requiring significant government coordination, resources and finances,” Ms. Callamard wrote. “Every expert consulted finds it inconceivable that an operation of this scale could be implemented without the crown prince being aware, at a minimum, that some sort of mission of a criminal nature, directed at Mr. Khashoggi, was being launched.”

Mr. Khashoggi disappeared after visiting the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to obtain papers that would have enabled him to marry his Turkish fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, who was waiting outside.

[Here is what we know about the details of Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance.]

Saudi officials said at first that Mr. Khashoggi had left the consulate alive and denied any knowledge of his whereabouts, but they later admitted that he had been killed in the building after what they said was a botched mission to bring him back to Saudi Arabia. A “local collaborator” disposed of his body, Saudi officials have said, but it has not been found.

Image

Western intelligence agencies have concluded that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, ordered the killing of Mr. Khashoggi.CreditSergio Moraes/Reuters

“Mr. Khashoggi’s killing constituted an extrajudicial killing for which the state of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is responsible,” and may also have been an act of torture under international treaties, Ms. Callamard wrote. “His attempted kidnapping would also constitute a violation under international human rights law.”

Saudi Arabia has put 11 officials identified as being linked to the killing on trial, but has conducted the proceedings in secret.

[Many of the suspects had ties to Prince Mohammed. Read more here.]

Ms. Callamard said that the trial failed to meet international standards. She called for Saudi Arabia to suspend the trial and cooperate with the United Nations in conducting further investigations and in deciding on the format and location of a trial. Failing that, she said, it should carry out further investigations and allow international participation in the trial.

Ms. Callamard coupled her recommendation with a scathing assessment of Saudi Arabia’s actions after the murder. She said that Saudi Arabia’s investigation of the crime had not been conducted in good faith and that it may have amounted to obstruction of justice, citing evidence that officials hindered the work of Turkish investigators, including having the murder scene forensically cleaned before it could be examined.

She said that Saudi Arabia had not cooperated with her inquiry, failing to respond to her requests to visit the kingdom.

She urged the F.B.I. to open an investigation, if it has not already done so, and she asked the United States to make a determination under American law on the responsibility of the crown prince for Mr. Khashoggi’s death.

[Prince Mohammed has close ties to President Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The Khashoggi case puts them in an uncomfortable position.]

Ms. Callamard also called on the international community to impose targeted sanctions on Saudi officials said to have been involved in the murder, including Prince Mohammed. The sanctions should focus on the prince’s personal assets abroad “until and unless evidence has been produced that he bears no responsibility for the execution of Mr. Khashoggi.”

Ms. Callamard is to present her findings to the Human Rights Council in Geneva next week in a session that will also be addressed by Ms. Cengiz, Mr. Khashoggi’s fiancé.

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2019-06-19 14:44:54Z
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Khashoggi Killing Inquiry Should Look Into Saudi Prince’s Role, U.N. Expert Says - The New York Times

GENEVA — Saudi Arabia is responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in its Istanbul consulate last year, and there is “credible evidence” justifying an investigation into the role of the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, a United Nations expert said in a report released on Wednesday.

The expert, Agnes Callamard, also said that the United Nations secretary general should establish an international criminal investigation to ensure accountability for the crime.

“There is credible evidence warranting further investigation of high-level Saudi officials’ individual liability, including the crown prince’s,” Ms. Callamard said in a 100-page report, issued after a five-month investigation.

Prince Mohammed, the day-to-day ruler of Saudi Arabia, was already widely suspected of having ordered the killing, a conclusion reached by Western intelligence agencies.

But the report by Ms. Callamard, the special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions for the United Nations human rights agency, is the most complete set of findings yet made public on the death of Mr. Khashoggi, a dissident Saudi writer who lived in the United States.

“Evidence points to the 15-person mission to execute Mr. Khashoggi requiring significant government coordination, resources and finances,” Ms. Callamard wrote. “Every expert consulted finds it inconceivable that an operation of this scale could be implemented without the crown prince being aware, at a minimum, that some sort of mission of a criminal nature, directed at Mr. Khashoggi, was being launched.”

Mr. Khashoggi disappeared after visiting the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to obtain papers that would have enabled him to marry his Turkish fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, who was waiting outside.

[Here is what we know about the details of Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance.]

Saudi officials said at first that Mr. Khashoggi had left the consulate alive and denied any knowledge of his whereabouts, but they later admitted that he had been killed in the building after what they said was a botched mission to bring him back to Saudi Arabia. A “local collaborator” disposed of his body, Saudi officials have said, but it has not been found.

Image

Western intelligence agencies have concluded that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, ordered the killing of Mr. Khashoggi.CreditSergio Moraes/Reuters

“Mr. Khashoggi’s killing constituted an extrajudicial killing for which the state of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is responsible,” and may also have been an act of torture under international treaties, Ms. Callamard wrote. “His attempted kidnapping would also constitute a violation under international human rights law.”

Saudi Arabia has put 11 officials identified as being linked to the killing on trial, but has conducted the proceedings in secret.

[Many of the suspects had ties to Prince Mohammed. Read more here.]

Ms. Callamard said that the trial failed to meet international standards. She called for Saudi Arabia to suspend the trial and cooperate with the United Nations in conducting further investigations and in deciding on the format and location of a trial. Failing that, she said, it should carry out further investigations and allow international participation in the trial.

Ms. Callamard coupled her recommendation with a scathing assessment of Saudi Arabia’s actions after the murder. She said that Saudi Arabia’s investigation of the crime had not been conducted in good faith and that it may have amounted to obstruction of justice, citing evidence that officials hindered the work of Turkish investigators, including having the murder scene forensically cleaned before it could be examined.

She said that Saudi Arabia had not cooperated with her inquiry, failing to respond to her requests to visit the kingdom.

She urged the F.B.I. to open an investigation, if it has not already done so, and she asked the United States to make a determination under American law on the responsibility of the crown prince for Mr. Khashoggi’s death.

[Prince Mohammed has close ties to President Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The Khashoggi case puts them in an uncomfortable position.]

Ms. Callamard also called on the international community to impose targeted sanctions on Saudi officials said to have been involved in the murder, including Prince Mohammed. The sanctions should focus on the prince’s personal assets abroad “until and unless evidence has been produced that he bears no responsibility for the execution of Mr. Khashoggi.”

Ms. Callamard is to present her findings to the Human Rights Council in Geneva next week in a session that will also be addressed by Ms. Cengiz, Mr. Khashoggi’s fiancé.

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2019-06-19 14:25:38Z
52780316893549

Khashoggi Killing Inquiry Should Look Into Saudi Prince’s Role, U.N. Expert Says - The New York Times

GENEVA — Saudi Arabia is responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in its Istanbul consulate last year, and there is “credible evidence” justifying an investigation into the role of the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, a United Nations expert said in a report released on Wednesday.

The expert, Agnes Callamard, also said that the United Nations secretary general should establish an international criminal investigation to ensure accountability for the crime.

“There is credible evidence warranting further investigation of high-level Saudi officials’ individual liability, including the crown prince’s,” Ms. Callamard said in a 100-page report, issued after a five-month investigation.

Prince Mohammed, the day-to-day ruler of Saudi Arabia, was already widely suspected of having ordered the killing, a conclusion reached by Western intelligence agencies.

But the report by Ms. Callamard, the special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions for the United Nations human rights agency, is the most complete set of findings yet made public on the death of Mr. Khashoggi, a dissident Saudi writer who lived in the United States.

“Evidence points to the 15-person mission to execute Mr. Khashoggi requiring significant government coordination, resources and finances,” Ms. Callamard wrote. “Every expert consulted finds it inconceivable that an operation of this scale could be implemented without the crown prince being aware, at a minimum, that some sort of mission of a criminal nature, directed at Mr. Khashoggi, was being launched.”

Mr. Khashoggi disappeared after visiting the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to obtain papers that would have enabled him to marry his Turkish fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, who was waiting outside.

[Here is what we know about the details of Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance.]

Saudi officials said at first that Mr. Khashoggi had left the consulate alive and denied any knowledge of his whereabouts, but they later admitted that he had been killed in the building after what they said was a botched mission to bring him back to Saudi Arabia. A “local collaborator” disposed of his body, Saudi officials have said, but it has not been found.

Image

Western intelligence agencies have concluded that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, ordered the killing of Mr. Khashoggi.CreditSergio Moraes/Reuters

“Mr. Khashoggi’s killing constituted an extrajudicial killing for which the state of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is responsible,” and may also have been an act of torture under international treaties, Ms. Callamard wrote. “His attempted kidnapping would also constitute a violation under international human rights law.”

Saudi Arabia has put 11 officials identified as being linked to the killing on trial, but has conducted the proceedings in secret.

[Many of the suspects had ties to Prince Mohammed. Read more here.]

Ms. Callamard said that the trial failed to meet international standards. She called for Saudi Arabia to suspend the trial and cooperate with the United Nations in conducting further investigations and in deciding on the format and location of a trial. Failing that, she said, it should carry out further investigations and allow international participation in the trial.

Ms. Callamard coupled her recommendation with a scathing assessment of Saudi Arabia’s actions after the murder. She said that Saudi Arabia’s investigation of the crime had not been conducted in good faith and that it may have amounted to obstruction of justice, citing evidence that officials hindered the work of Turkish investigators, including having the murder scene forensically cleaned before it could be examined.

She said that Saudi Arabia had not cooperated with her inquiry, failing to respond to her requests to visit the kingdom.

She urged the F.B.I. to open an investigation, if it has not already done so, and she asked the United States to make a determination under American law on the responsibility of the crown prince for Mr. Khashoggi’s death.

[Prince Mohammed has close ties to President Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The Khashoggi case puts them in an uncomfortable position.]

Ms. Callamard also called on the international community to impose targeted sanctions on Saudi officials said to have been involved in the murder, including Prince Mohammed. The sanctions should focus on the prince’s personal assets abroad “until and unless evidence has been produced that he bears no responsibility for the execution of Mr. Khashoggi.”

Ms. Callamard is to present her findings to the Human Rights Council in Geneva next week in a session that will also be addressed by Ms. Cengiz, Mr. Khashoggi’s fiancé.

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2019-06-19 14:08:12Z
52780316893549

Khashoggi Killing Inquiry Should Look Into Saudi Prince’s Role, U.N. Expert Says - The New York Times

GENEVA — Saudi Arabia is responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in its Istanbul consulate last year, and there is “credible evidence” justifying an investigation into the role of the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, a United Nations expert said in a report released on Wednesday.

The expert, Agnes Callamard, also said that the United Nations secretary general should establish an international criminal investigation to ensure accountability for the crime.

“There is credible evidence warranting further investigation of high-level Saudi officials’ individual liability, including the crown prince’s,” Ms. Callamard said in a 100-page report, issued after a five-month investigation.

Prince Mohammed, the day-to-day ruler of Saudi Arabia, was already widely suspected of having ordered the killing, a conclusion reached by Western intelligence agencies.

But the report by Ms. Callamard, the special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions for the United Nations human rights agency, is the most complete set of findings yet made public on the death of Mr. Khashoggi, a dissident Saudi writer who lived in the United States.

“Evidence points to the 15-person mission to execute Mr. Khashoggi requiring significant government coordination, resources and finances,” Ms. Callamard wrote. “Every expert consulted finds it inconceivable that an operation of this scale could be implemented without the crown prince being aware, at a minimum, that some sort of mission of a criminal nature, directed at Mr. Khashoggi, was being launched.”

Mr. Khashoggi disappeared after visiting the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to obtain papers that would have enabled him to marry his Turkish fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, who was waiting outside.

[Here is what we know about the details of Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance.]

Saudi officials said at first that Mr. Khashoggi had left the consulate alive and denied any knowledge of his whereabouts, but they later admitted that he had been killed in the building after what they said was a botched mission to bring him back to Saudi Arabia. A “local collaborator” disposed of his body, Saudi officials have said, but it has not been found.

Image

Western intelligence agencies have concluded that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, ordered the killing of Mr. Khashoggi.CreditSergio Moraes/Reuters

“Mr. Khashoggi’s killing constituted an extrajudicial killing for which the state of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is responsible,” and may also have been an act of torture under international treaties, Ms. Callamard wrote. “His attempted kidnapping would also constitute a violation under international human rights law.”

Saudi Arabia has put 11 officials identified as being linked to the killing on trial, but has conducted the proceedings in secret.

[Many of the suspects had ties to Prince Mohammed. Read more here.]

Ms. Callamard said that the trial failed to meet international standards. She called for Saudi Arabia to suspend the trial and cooperate with the United Nations in conducting further investigations and in deciding on the format and location of a trial. Failing that, she said, it should carry out further investigations and allow international participation in the trial.

Ms. Callamard coupled her recommendation with a scathing assessment of Saudi Arabia’s actions after the murder. She said that Saudi Arabia’s investigation of the crime had not been conducted in good faith and that it may have amounted to obstruction of justice, citing evidence that officials hindered the work of Turkish investigators, including having the murder scene forensically cleaned before it could be examined.

She said that Saudi Arabia had not cooperated with her inquiry, failing to respond to her requests to visit the kingdom.

She urged the F.B.I. to open an investigation, if it has not already done so, and she asked the United States to make a determination under American law on the responsibility of the crown prince for Mr. Khashoggi’s death.

[Prince Mohammed has close ties to President Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The Khashoggi case puts them in an uncomfortable position.]

Ms. Callamard also called on the international community to impose targeted sanctions on Saudi officials said to have been involved in the murder, including Prince Mohammed. The sanctions should focus on the prince’s personal assets abroad “until and unless evidence has been produced that he bears no responsibility for the execution of Mr. Khashoggi.”

Ms. Callamard is to present her findings to the Human Rights Council in Geneva next week in a session that will also be addressed by Ms. Cengiz, Mr. Khashoggi’s fiancé.

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2019-06-19 13:57:57Z
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Limpet mine used in oil tanker attacks 'bears striking resemblance' to similar Iranian Mines, US Navy says - Fox News

The limpet mine used on a Japanese-owned oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz “bears a striking resemblance” to other Iranian mines, U.S. Navy officials said Wednesday.

Cmdr. Sean Kido of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet claimed Wednesday that the damage done to the tanker was “not consistent with an external flying object hitting the ship.”

The remark contradicts the claim made by the ship’s owner who insisted that eyewitnesses aboard saw “flying objects” before the attack in the Gulf of Oman.

The Navy official added that investigators have recovered fingerprints and a handprint from the side of the ship after the attack.

GULF TANKER ATTACK: IRAN HAS FORM FOR USING CLINGY, COVERT 'LIMPET MINES' WHICH INSTANTLY DISABLE VESSELS

The limpet mine used on a Japanese-owned oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz “bears a striking resemblance” to other Iranian mines, U.S. Navy officials said. (U.S. Navy)

The revelation follows ever-increasing tensions in the region. The Iraqi military said three rockets hit an installation north of Baghdad on Monday that was used by Iraqi troops American trainers.

The attack on camp Taji, about 17 miles north of Baghdad, was the second on a military post housing U.S. personnel. An attack on an airbase, also housing U.S. trainers, north of Baghdad on Saturday caused a small fire.

The limpet mine used on a Japanese-owned oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz “bears a striking resemblance” to other Iranian mines, U.S. Navy officials said. (U.S. Navy)

The U.S. claimed the Iranian regime was responsible for the “blatant assault” on two oil tankers last week, bringing the Middle East on a brink of a military conflict.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran’s culpability was based on “intelligence, the weapons used, the level of expertise needed to execute the operation, recent similar Iranian attacks on shipping, and the fact that no proxy group operating in the area has the resources and proficiency to act with such a high degree of sophistication.”

Cmdr. Sean Kido of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet talks to journalists at a 5th Fleet Base near Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, June 19, 2019. Cmdr. Kido said Wednesday that damage done last week to the Kokaku Courageous was "not consistent with an external flying object hitting the ship." (AP)

The so-called limpet mines got the name from the real limpets, small sea snails that easily cling to hard surfaces and rocks.

The weapon was first developed by the British during World War 2 and is often used in covert action in order to damage ships because they are easily attachable.

There are certain variations, with some detonated by a time fuse while others explode only after the vessel to which the mine is attached travels a specific distance.

In most cases, the mines are magnetic and are easily attachable to the hulls of a ship. They normally just disable rather than sink a vessel.

This wouldn’t be the first time Iran used the mines to attack oil tankers. In the 1980s, the “Tanker War” erupted in the midst of the eight-year conflict between Iran and Iraq, threatening to disrupt the global oil supply.

RAND PAUL WANTS CONGRESS INVOLVED IN IRAN DECISION, SAYS WAR WOULD BE 'A BIGGER MISTAKE' THAN IRAQ

The U.S. government has been working to provide enough credible evidence linking Iran with the oil tanker attacks. Pictures of pieces of a limpet mine were released as part of that effort by the U.S. Navy on Tuesday.

Last week, U.S. officials released a video last week supposedly showing Iran’s Revolutionary Guard removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the vessels.

The black-and-white footage, as well as still photos released by the U.S. military’s Central Command on Friday, appeared to show the limpet mine on the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous, before a Revolutionary Guard patrol boat pulled alongside the ship and removed the mine, Central Command spokesman Capt. Bill Urban said.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) also released additional images Monday showing the aftermath of mine attacks against the oil tankers, including some images purporting to show Iranian forces removing an unexploded device from the hull of one of the vessels.

Iranians dismissed the allegations, with Iranian Defense Minister Gen. Amir Hatami saying they were unfair and aimed at tarnishing the country’s image.

“The accusation against Iran is totally a lie and I dismiss it firmly.”

— Iranian Defense Minister Gen. Amir Hatami

“The accusation against Iran is totally a lie and I dismiss it firmly,” he said, according to the semi-official Fars news agency on Wednesday.

While the U.S. claims of Iran’s responsibly are viewed cautiously in Europe, with Britain being a notable exception, some European countries are warning that the risk of war cannot be ruled out.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the risk of war in the Persian Gulf region is not ruled out amid the heightened tensions and said the “the situation is serious” and “everything must be done” to avoid further escalation of the tensions in the region.

Iran, meanwhile, said Wednesday that Europe won’t be granted extra time beyond the July 8 deadline to come up with improvements in the nuclear deal to protect the Iranian economy amid U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported.

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The spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said Iran will begin enriching uranium to a higher level if Europe did improve the nuclear accord.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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2019-06-19 13:39:14Z
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