IRAN TENSIONS: Pompeo meets US troops in Saudi visit focused on Iran

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited American troops in Saudi Arabia Thursday after talks with King Salman on the second day of a visit focused on countering Iran.

The United States began building up its military presence at the Prince Sultan airbase, south of Riyadh, last year following a series of attacks in the Gulf that Washington and Riyadh have blamed on their common foe Iran.

“Pompeo’s visit to Prince Sultan airbase and a nearby US Patriot battery highlights the longstanding US-Saudi security relationship and reaffirms America’s determination to stand with Saudi Arabia in the face of Iranian malign behaviour,” the State Department said in a statement.

It said the US deployment of missile defence systems and fighter jets was part of “a defensive mission to deter and protect against any future attacks”.

Pompeo’s three-day visit to close US ally Saudi Arabia comes in the wake of a US-ordered drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, Iran’s most powerful general, in Baghdad on January 3.

The killing sparked a surge in regional tensions and Iran responded with missile strikes on bases hosting US forces in Iraq.

US President Donald Trump and his oil-rich ally Riyadh have accused Iran of attacking tankers in the Gulf and Saudi oil installations, incidents which roiled global energy markets last year.

Tehran denies involvement in the attacks and Riyadh has since appeared keen to engage in cautious diplomacy to ease friction.

Before visiting the airbase, Pompeo held talks with King Salman in Riyadh.

Later, the top US diplomat met de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and is also expected to meet deputy defense minister Prince Khalid bin Salman.

Pompeo faces a tough balancing act in Saudi Arabia as he said he would also discuss “human rights” alongside economic issues during his visit.

The 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which sparked global condemnation of the powerful crown prince, has tested relations between the two allies.

Five US senators have urged Pompeo to press Saudi Arabia for a resolution of a case against dual US-Saudi national Walid Fitaihi, a Harvard-trained doctor who was allegedly tortured and detained without charge for nearly two years, with his family banned from traveling.

The kingdom also faces criticism over the jailing and trial of women activists, some of whom have accused interrogators of sexual harassment and torture in detention.

“The Saudis share our strategic objectives, they are an important ally,” Pompeo told reporters, without saying whether any specific cases were raised with Saudi leaders.

“At the same time we continue to make clear our expectations with respect to a broad range of human rights issues which include the return of people… that aren’t being held in a way that we think is consistent with the rule of law,” he said.

Source: Agence France-Presse

IRAN TENSIONS: Pompeo lands in Saudi for talks focused on Iran

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in Riyadh Wednesday for talks with Saudi leaders focused on countering Tehran, his first visit since a top Iranian general’s killing sent regional tensions soaring.

The top US diplomat, whose visit follows his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa, will hold talks with King Salman and his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as well as Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, State Department officials said.

“We’ll spend a lot of time talking about the security issues with the threat from the Islamic Republic of Iran in particular,” Pompeo told reporters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa before heading to Riyadh.

Pompeo said the United States was “prepared to talk anytime” to Iran but emphasized that the Iranian regime has “got to fundamentally change their behavior.”

“The pressure campaign continues. It’s not just an economic pressure campaign, its diplomatic pressures, isolation through diplomacy as well,” he said.

US President Donald Trump, who is closely allied with Saudi Arabia, in 2018 withdrew from a nuclear accord with Iran and imposed sweeping sanctions aimed at reducing Tehran’s regional clout.

Pompeo’s three-day visit to close ally Saudi Arabia comes in the wake of a US-ordered drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, Iran’s most powerful general, as he visited Baghdad on January 3.

‘Unjust detention’

Regional tensions rose following the killing and Iran responded with missile strikes on US forces in Iraq.

US officials blamed Iran for a September attack on Saudi oil installations, although Riyadh has since appeared keen to engage in cautious diplomacy to ease friction.

Pompeo, who is also expected to meet deputy defense minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, faces a tough balancing act in Saudi Arabia as he said he would also discuss “human rights” alongside economic issues during his visit.

The 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which sparked global condemnation of the crown prince, has tested relations between the two allies.

Five US senators have urged Pompeo to press Saudi Arabia for a resolution of a case against dual US-Saudi national Walid Fitaihi, a Harvard-trained doctor who was allegedly tortured and detained without charge for nearly two years, and end a travel ban on his family.

“It has been a consistent priority of the United States —- throughout Democratic and Republican administrations — to free Americans abroad from unjust detention,” the senators wrote in a letter to Pompeo.

After Riyadh, Pompeo will fly to Oman to meet the new sultan, Haitham bin Tariq, on Friday.

Pompeo will offer condolences over the death of his predecessor Qaboos, who was the Arab world’s longest-serving leader and served as a go-between for Iran and the United States.

Source: Agence France-Presse

IRAN TENSIONS: Over 100 US troops suffered brain injury in Iran attack: Pentagon

More than 100 US troops sustained “mild” traumatic brain injury, far more than originally announced, when Iran launched missiles at their base in Iraq last month, the Department of Defense said Monday.

“As of today, 109 US service members have been diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury, or mTBI, an increase of 45 since the previous report,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

Of them, 76 have returned to duty while most of the rest are still undergoing evaluation and treatment.

President Donald Trump had initially said that no Americans were injured in the strike on the Ain al-Asad base in western Iraq on the night of January 7-8, although authorities later reported that 11 troops were injured.

Iran fired ballistic missiles at the base to retaliate for the January 3 US drone strike that killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani while he was in Baghdad.

Trump was understood to downplay the impact on US troops to help ratchet down tensions between the two countries, amid concerns that a full war could break out.

It was only a week later that reports surfaced that US troops had experienced concussions and other brain injuries.

But the US leader then dismissed the reported injuries as “headaches” and “not very serious.”

“We are grateful to the efforts of our medical professionals who have worked diligently to ensure the appropriate level of care for our service members, which has enabled nearly 70 percent of those diagnosed to return to duty,” said Pentagon press secretary Alyssa Farah in a statement Monday.

“We must continue to address physical and mental health together,” she said.

Source: Agence France-Presse

IRAN TENSIONS: UN watchdog sees no new Iranian violations of nuclear deal

Iran has not taken further steps to violate its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers since it renounced last month all restraints imposed by the agreement, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency said on Wednesday.

“After the fifth step, there hasn’t been any follow-up,” said Raphael Grossi on his first official visit to Washington since becoming director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in December. “Of course, they continue to enrich.”

Tehran in July began stockpiling more low-enriched uranium than allowed by the nuclear deal in the first of five breaches that it has declared in response to US President Donald Trump’s 2018 decision to pull the United States out of the accord and re-impose harsh sanctions that have strangled Iran’s petroleum exports, battering its economy.

Iran says it would reverse the violations, which have included enriching uranium to a higher level than set in the agreement and operating prohibited advanced centrifuges, the machines that purify uranium, if the sanctions were removed.

The breaches were aimed at pressuring European powers to help Iran weather the impact of the US sanctions and perhaps also at pressuring the United States to ease sanctions and open talks with Iran.

After Iran last month announced it no longer would observe any of the deal’s restraints, Britain, France and Germany triggered the deal’s dispute mechanism, opening the door to a possible re-imposition of international sanctions. Russia and China also are parties to the deal.

Grossi said he discussed Iran’s nuclear program on Tuesday with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo but declined to elaborate. During a think tank appearance on Wednesday, Grossi said the IAEA continues to monitor the Iranian nuclear program.

The deal was designed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The IAEA and the US intelligence community separately concluded that Tehran shuttered a nuclear weapons development effort in 2003. Iran denies it ever pursued a nuclear weapon.

Source: Reuters

IRAN TENSIONS: Ukraine wants larger compensation for its citizens killed in plane shootdown in Iran

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Kiev was not satisfied with a size of compensation Iran had offered to families of Ukrainians killed in the downing of a plane near Tehran last month and would seek larger payments.

“As for the Iranian side, they immediately offered us $80,000 for each family… It is too small. We will press for a larger amount,” Zelenskiy told Ukrainian “1+1” TV.

The airliner was struck by a missile on Jan. 8 shortly after it left Tehran en route to Kiev. Iran admitted its forces had shot down the Ukraine International Airlines plane in error, after initially denying it had a role in the incident. All 176 people aboard, including 11 Ukrainians, were killed.

Zelenskiy also said that Ukraine still was waiting for Iran to hand over the black boxes of the plane.

Source: Reuters

IRAN TENSIONS: Despite pressure, US renews exemptions for Iran nuclear deal

The United States on Thursday extended exemptions to let an internationally-backed nuclear deal with Iran go forward, even as it announced new sanctions to step up the pressure.

President Donald Trump in 2018 pulled out of the accord negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama, sending tensions soaring with Iran and leading Tehran to curb compliance, but European powers still back the deal.

Brian Hook, the US point man on Iran, said that the United States would for another 60 days issue exemptions in its sweeping sanctions to let Russian and other companies implement it without fear of punishment by Washington.

The extension will “permit the continuation of nonproliferation projects that constrain Iran’s nuclear activities,” Hook told reporters.

“We will closely monitor all developments in Iran’s nuclear program, and Secretary (Mike) Pompeo can end these projects as developments warrant,” he said.

The exemptions affect the Bushehr nuclear power plant and the Arak heavy water reactor, with the nations in the accord working to ensure they are not put to military use.

The Trump administration has repeatedly extended the waivers but stopped doing so in November for another site, Fordo, in retaliation for Iran’s lifting its level of uranium enrichment.

Iran’s step, which still leaves its uranium well below weapons-grade, aimed to pressure Europeans to show tangible benefits of the nuclear deal despite the US imposition of sanctions.

Just as it extended waivers, the United States announced new sanctions on the head of Iran Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi.

The nuclear chief “personally inaugurated the installation of new, advanced centrifuges to expand its uranium enrichment capacity,” Hook said.

The new sanctions freeze any US assets Salehi may have — a move with little practical effect as Iran is already under severe sanctions.

Hook also announced the first transaction with Iran under a new financial channel aimed at easing humanitarian trade, with the sale to the country of cancer and transplant drugs.

Since Trump imposed sanctions on Iran, the United States has insisted that humanitarian goods are exempt. But with the United States vowing to end virtually all trade with Iran, many companies have been hesitant, fearing they could get caught up in US sanctions.

The United States announced the humanitarian channel in a joint initiative with Switzerland last year.

Critics voiced skepticism over the move as the United States was seeking exhaustive paperwork for each transaction and warning that it could use the documentation to impose sanctions if it finds wrongdoing.

Trump, a close ally of Iran’s rivals Saudi Arabia and Israel, has vowed to fight Iran’s regional role and earlier this month ordered the killing of Iran’s most powerful general.

Source: Agence France-Presse

IRAN TENSIONS: US says 50 troops now diagnosed with traumatic brain injury after Iran strike

The Pentagon said on Tuesday 50 US service members were now diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury after missile strikes by Iran on a base in Iraq earlier this month, 16 more than the military had previously announced.

President Donald Trump and other top officials initially said Iran’s Jan. 8 attack had not killed or injured any US service members.

“As of today, 50 US service members have been diagnosed” with traumatic brain injury, Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Campbell said in a statement about injuries in the attack on the Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq.

Symptoms of concussive injuries include headaches, dizziness, sensitivity to light and nausea.

Thirty-one of the 50 were treated in Iraq and returned to duty, including 15 of those diagnosed most recently, Campbell said.

Eighteen of the total have been sent to Germany for further evaluation and treatment, and one was sent to Kuwait and has since returned to duty, he said.

“This is a snapshot in time and numbers can change,” Campbell said.

In its previous update on Friday, the Pentagon had put the number of those injured at 34.

Trump last week appeared to play down the injuries, saying he “heard that they had headaches and a couple of other things.”

That prompted criticism from a US war veterans group. William Schmitz, national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said on Friday the group “expects an apology from the president to our service men and women for his misguided remarks.”

According to Pentagon data, about 408,000 service members have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury since 2000.

Iran fired missiles at Ain al-Asad in retaliation for the US killing of a top Revolutionary Guard general, Qassem Soleimani, in a drone strike at Baghdad airport on Jan. 3.

The missile attacks capped a spiral of violence that had started in late December, and both sides have refrained from further military escalation.

Source: Reuters

IRAN TENSIONS: Iranians should not let Trump harm national unity, Rouhani says

Iranians should not allow US President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” approach to harm national unity ahead of parliamentary elections, President Hassan Rouhani said in a speech broadcast live on his official website.

Iran’s clerical rulers face challenges in keeping the economy afloat under increasingly tough US sanctions imposed by Washington after it withdrew in 2018 from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. Vital oil exports have been slashed.

“We should not let Trump succeed in creating gaps between the establishment and people … We should remain united … Don’t turn your back on (Feb. 21) elections. Let’s have a high turn out,” Rouhani said.

Iran’s hardline Guardians Council, which vets all election candidates, has disqualified about 9,000 of the 14,000 who registered to run in the elections. Moderates say in most cities they have no candidates to enter the race.

Since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, its rulers have swept aside challenges to their grip on power. But the gap between them and the people has widened since last year, when hundreds were killed in anti-government protests.

Tehran also risks a legitimacy crisis amid mounting public fury and international criticism over the belated admission of blame by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards for shooting down a Ukrainian passenger plane by mistake.

Angry Iranians took to streets to protest against the delayed admission by the Guards.

The distrust between the rulers and the ruled, combined with economic hardship, bodes ill for the parliamentary vote in February, when Iran’s rulers typically seek a high turnout to show their legitimacy, even if the outcome will not change any major policy.

“I am calling on our nation to vote,” Rouhani said. “Even if you have criticism over issues and problems, please cast your vote.”

Source: Reuters

IRAN TENSIONS: Trump agrees US-Iraq ‘security partnership’

President Donald Trump and his Iraqi counterpart Barham Saleh agreed on Wednesday on the need for a continued US military role in the country, the White House said.

In Davos, Switzerland, the two presidents held their first meeting since the United States killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad, sparking an Iraqi parliament call for expulsion of US troops.

“The two leaders agreed on the importance of continuing the United States-Iraq economic and security partnership, including the fight against ISIS,” the White House said.

“President Trump reaffirmed the United States’ unwavering commitment to a sovereign, stable, and prosperous Iraq.”

Tensions between Washington and Tehran boiled over onto Iraqi soil this month, with the US killing top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad and Iran striking back at an Iraqi base hosting American soldiers.

Furious at the US hit, Iraq’s parliament voted January 5 to oust all foreign troops, including some 5,200 American soldiers deployed alongside local forces.

A source from Saleh’s office told AFP he had discussed with Trump the US drone strike as well as the withdrawal of forces.

Trump told Saleh that he “does not want to stay in Iraq”, the source said, and would draw down forces in an “unprecedented way”.

Saleh told world leaders in Davos the parliamentary vote was “not a sign of ingratitude or hostility”, but a response to a violation of his country’s sovereignty.

“It is not in our interest to choose to ally with one side at the expense of others, as long as both respect our sovereignty and independence.”

He added that “no country should seek to dictate to Iraq” the nature of its relationships.

Saleh condemned acts of violence against the months-long protests movement rocking Baghdad and Iraq’s Shiite-majority south, which has left hundreds dead since October.

He met Trump on the Davos sidelines, hosting a brief press conference but brushing off questions on parliament’s vote

Trump left the annual World Economic Forum get-together in Davos later Wednesday to return to Washington.

Source: Agence France-Presse

IRAN TENSIONS: Eleven US troops injured in Jan. 8 Iran missile attack in Iraq

The United States treated 11 of its troops for symptoms of concussion after an Iranian missile attack on an Iraqi base where US forces were stationed, the US military said on Thursday, after initially saying no service members were hurt.

The attack was retaliation for a US drone strike in Baghdad on Jan. 3 that killed Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

President Donald Trump and the US military had said there were no casualties after the strike on the Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq and a facility in its northern Kurdish region.

“While no US service members were killed in the Jan. 8 Iranian attack on Al Asad air base, several were treated for concussion symptoms from the blast and are still being assessed,” Captain Bill Urban, spokesman for US Central Command, said in a statement.

As a measure of caution, some service members were taken to US facilities in Germany or Kuwait for “follow-on screening,” he added.

“When deemed fit for duty, the service members are expected to return to Iraq.”

As many as 1,500 Americans were deployed at the vast base deep in Iraq’s Anbar desert.

Source: Reuters

IRAN TENSIONS: Iran crown prince predicts regime will collapse within months

The heir of Iran’s deposed monarchy predicted Wednesday that the clerical regime will collapse within months and urged Western powers not to negotiate with it.

Reza Pahlavi said that major protests which erupted in November and again this month, after the accidental downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet, reminded him of the uprising that ousted his father in early 1979.

“It’s just a matter of time for it to reach its final climax. I think we’re in that mode,” the former crown prince told a news conference in Washington, which he lives near in exile.

“This is weeks or months preceding the ultimate collapse, not dissimilar to the last three months in 1978 before the revolution,” he said.

While exiled activists have routinely predicted the fall of the regime, Pahlavi said that Iranians could “smell the opportunity for the first time in 40 years this time.”

The 59-year-old heir to the Peacock Throne, who has not been to Iran since he was a teenager, cited as evidence what he called an easing of fear among protesters and the growing distancing of self-described reformists from the Islamic regime.

In an address to the Hudson Institute, Pahlavi largely supported President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign that has sought to isolate the Iranian regime through severe sanctions, saying that past negotiations have failed.

“It has long been time to recognize that this is not a normal regime and that it will not change its behavior,” Pahlavi said.

“My compatriots understand that this regime cannot be reformed and must be removed.”

Iranians “expect the world to show more than just moral support. They expect not to be thrown under the bus in the name of diplomacy and negotiation.”

Trump previously held out hope of negotiations but has recently said he was unconcerned with talks and ordered the killing of a top Iranian general, Qasem Soleimani.

Pahlavi, whose Western-oriented father was closely allied with the United States, has played down prospects for restoration of the monarchy.

He says instead that he wants to support a broad coalition of Iranians who will replace the regime with a secular democracy.

Asked whether he can represent all Iranians, Pahlavi said: “It’s not about me, it’s about the people of Iran.”

“You may not like the messenger, but is there something wrong with the message?”

Source: Agence France Presse

IRAN TENSIONS: Ukraine plane struck by two missiles: NYT

Two Iranian missiles struck down a Ukrainian passenger jet, the New York Times reported Tuesday, posting verified security camera footage showing double projectiles gliding through the sky before hitting their target.

The missiles were fired 30 seconds apart and help explain a mystery as to why the plane’s transponder was not working — it was disabled by the first strike, before being hit by a second, the Times said.

The Ukraine International Airlines plane was brought down shortly after takeoff on Wednesday, killing all 176 passengers and crew on board.

Tehran had for days denied Western claims based on US intelligence that the Boeing 737 had been downed by a missile.

It came clean on Saturday when Revolutionary Guards aerospace commander Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh acknowledged a missile operator had mistaken the plane for a cruise missile and opened fire independently.

The blurry footage shows the plane on fire and circling back to Tehran’s airport, the Times said. Minutes later, it exploded and crashed.

The footage was shot from a rooftop in Bidkaneh, a village four miles from an Iranian military site, the Times said.

Hundreds of angry protesters, most of them student, have taken to the streets in the wake of the tragedy, chanting slogans against the Islamic republic.

Iran announced its first arrests over the accidental shooting on Tuesday, without naming who or how many people had been detained.

Source: Agence France-Presse

IRAN TENSIONS: US troops in Iraq got warning hours before Iranian attack

American troops were informed of an impending missile barrage hours before their air base in Iraq was struck by Iran, US military officials said Monday, days after the attack that marked a major escalation between the longtime foes.

At 11 p.m. on Jan. 7, US Lt. Col. Antoinette Chase gave the order for American troops at Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq, to go on lockdown. Military movements froze as her team, responsible for emergency response at the base, sent out alerts about the threat. At 11:30 p.m., she gave the order to take cover in bunkers.

The first strike landed sometime after 1:35 a.m. on Jan. 8 and the barrage continued for nearly two hours. Half way through the attack, Chase learned the missiles were being launched from Iran.

No American soldiers were killed or wounded, the US has said, although several troops were treated for concussions from the blast and are being assessed, said Col. Myles Caggins, a spokesman at the base for the US coalition fighting the Islamic State group.

“The reason why we pushed it at 2330 is because at that point in time all indications pointed to something coming,” she told reporters touring the base. “Worst case scenario — we were told was it’s probably going to be a missile attack. So we were informed of that.”

The Iranian attack was in retaliation for the US. drone strike near Baghdad airport that killed top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3.

An Associated Press crew touring the Ain al-Asad base saw large craters and damaged military trailers. Forklifts lifted rubble and loaded it onto trucks from an area the size of a football stadium. US soldiers inspected portable housing units destroyed in the attack.

The sprawling complex in western Anbar province is about 180 kilometers (110 miles) west of Baghdad and is shared with the Iraqi military. It houses about 1,500 members of the US military and the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State militant group.

The Iranian attack — the most direct assault on America since the 1979 seizing of the US Embassy in Tehran — raised fears of a wider conflict although both sides have since indicated that they won’t seek further retaliation, at least in the short term.

“There were more than 10 large missiles fired and the impact hit several areas along the airfield,” Caggins said. At least 15-30 minutes passed between successive strikes, Chase said.

The attack destroyed facilities that house dozens of soldiers and one missile hit near an airstrip where six drones were parked but caused no damage, he said.

The base received a notification that the missiles were on their way, thanks to early warning systems, Caggins said, and troops were moved out of harm’s way. He described soldiers who lived through the attack as “warriors.”

Because of the long intervals between barrages, a few curious soldiers peered out to inspect the damage.

“After the first boom, I was confused and so I stuck my head out to see what it was,” said Capt. Jeffrey Hansen, 30, from North Carolina. “The second boom blew a bunch of debris on my face.”

The Ain al-Asad air base was first used by American forces after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. Facilities at the base were split with Iraqi forces when US troops returned in 2014 leading a multi-national coalition to defeat IS militants.

President Donald Trump went to the air base in December 2018, making his first presidential visit to troops in the region. Vice President Mike Pence has also visited.

On Monday, most soldiers walked around the base without any body armor, amid large tents and street signs written mostly in English. The base was ringed by large concrete barriers blackened by the bombardment.

Chase said troops had conducted a drill the week before the attack and that they had received some warnings earlier in the day that had prompted them to move troops around the base.

“I had zero casualties and everybody is alive to tell the tale. So as far as I’m concerned, I couldn’t be happier and I couldn’t be prouder of the actions that the soldiers and the coalition forces took that night,” she added.

Source: The Associated Press

IRAN TENSIONS: US condemns latest missile attack on Iraqi base

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday he was “outraged” by another missile attack on an Iraqi airbase where US forces have been stationed, as neighboring Iran signaled a wish to de-escalate tensions.

“Outraged by reports of another rocket attack on an Iraqi airbase,” Pompeo tweeted. “These continued violations of Iraq’s sovereignty by groups not loyal to the Iraqi government must end.”

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Sunday’s rocket attacks, in which the Iraqi military said eight missiles wounded two Iraqi officers and two airmen.

The US has previously blamed such attacks on Iran-backed groups in Iraq.

The Al-Balad base had held a small US Air Force contingent as well as American contractors, but most were evacuated following a sharp rise in friction between the US and Iran over the past two weeks, military sources told AFP.

Al-Balad is the main airbase for Iraq’s F-16s, which it bought from the US.

Military bases hosting US troops have been subject in recent months to rocket and mortar attacks that have mostly wounded Iraqi forces, but also killed one American contractor last month.

That death set off a series of dramatic developments, with the US carrying out deadly strikes against a pro-Iran paramilitary group in Iraq as well as a convoy carrying top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani outside the Baghdad airport.

Pro-Iran factions in Iraq have vowed revenge for those raids.

Source: Agence France-Presse

IRAN TENSIONS: US believes Iran military accidentally shot down Ukraine airliner

US President Donald Trump said Thursday he had “suspicions” about the crash of a Ukrainian airliner outside Tehran that killed all 176 people aboard, as US officials reported it had been mistakenly shot down by Iran.

Unnamed officials told US media that Iran fired two surface-to-air missiles at the aircraft as it took off on Wednesday morning, bringing it down in a blaze of flames before it exploded on the ground.

The US conclusion was reportedly based on satellite, radar and electronic data indicating a tragic error.

The disaster unfolded just hours after Tehran launched ballistic missiles at US military targets in Iraq to retaliate for the January 3 US drone strike in Baghdad that killed a top Iranian general.

ABC News said an unnamed official called the two-missile scenario “highly likely.”

Trump didn’t directly confirm that conclusion, but strongly hinted at it.

“I have my suspicions,” Trump said. “It was flying in a pretty rough neighborhood and somebody could have made a mistake.”

“Some people say it was mechanical. I personally don’t think that’s even a question,” Trump said, adding that “something very terrible happened.”

But the Iranian government ruled out a missile strike, saying such a scenario made “no sense.”

“Several internal and international flights were flying at the same time in Iranian airspace at the same altitude of 8,000 feet (2,440 meters),” Iran’s transport ministry said.

“This story of a missile striking a plane cannot be correct at all,” it said in a statement

– Canada calls for access –

Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 went down just minutes after takeoff from Tehran airport in the dark early Wednesday, with no radio message from the pilot to indicate distress, the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization said.

“According to eyewitnesses, a fire was seen on board the plane which grew in intensity,” the organization added in an initial statement Wednesday.

The Boeing 737 carried 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans and three British.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called Thursday for a “full, credible and transparent” investigation into the crash, and Canada demanded that its own experts be allowed to join the probe.

Canada’s Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif that Canadian officials need “to be quickly granted access to Iran to… take part in the investigation of the crash,” a foreign ministry statement said.

Champagne told Zarif that “Canada and Canadians have many questions which will need to be answered.”

Ukraine has already sent 45 crash investigators to Tehran to take part in the inquiry being led by the Iranian authorities.

They arrived in the Iranian capital on Thursday and aim to help analyze the black box recordings from the plane, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“We are calling on Ukraine’s Western partners: If you have evidence to assist the inquiry, we call on you to provide it,” the Ukraine presidency said in a statement.

At the UN, a Ukrainian minister called for “unconditional support” for its investigators.

– Mounting evidence –

Ali Abedzadeh, head of Iran’s civil aviation organization and deputy transport minister, said Iran and Ukraine were in the process of “downloading information” from black boxes retrieved from the crash site.

“But if more specialized work is required to extract and analyze the data, we can do it in France or another country,” he added.

Despite Iranian denials, evidence appeared to mount of an accident involving Iran’s air defense units.

Analysts pointed to pictures shared widely online of the wrecked fuselage of the aircraft showing multiple apparent puncture holes consistent with a rocket that detonated just outside the plane, blasting shrapnel into it.

The marks closely resembled those on the fuselage of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, which was shot down in 2014 over Eastern Ukraine by a Russian-designed surface-to-air missile during fighting between Russian-backed rebels and Ukraine government forces.

“I think this has a very good possibility of being accurate,” John Goglia, a former US aviation safety expert on the National Transportation Safety Board, told AFP.

“Airplanes that have just taken off and have made a climb to 8,000 feet, that’s entering the safest period of time in the flight. So even an engine failure at that altitude should not cause the type of event we’ve just observed,” he said.

The Ukrainian airline crash brought back memories of another tragedy involving a US military error.

In 1988, an Iran Air flight was shot down over the Gulf by a surface-to-air missile fired from the US warship USS Vincennes.

All 290 people aboard, most of them Iranians, were killed, sparking outrage across the country.

The US Navy mistook the aircraft for an Iranian fighter jet.

Source: Agence France-Presse

IRAN TENSIONS: Trump pulls back from more military action in Iran crisis, promises new sanctions

President Donald Trump has stepped back from new military action against Iran after its missile strikes on Iraqi bases housing US troops caused no casualties but he told Iran he would tighten already crippling US sanctions.

Trump and Iranian officials looked to defuse a crisis that on Wednesday had threatened to spiral into open conflict after the killing of a prominent Iranian general in Iraq on Jan. 3 in a US drone strike was followed by Iran’s retaliatory attack.

The tit-for-tat military action, after months of rising tension since the United States withdrew in 2018 from Iran’s nuclear pact with world powers, had stoked global concerns that the Middle East was heading towards another war.

But both sides drew back from the brink, while Arab and other international leaders called for restraint. In Iraq, Muslim Shi’ite groups, opposed to the US presence in Iraq, also sought to cool passions.

“The fact that we have this great military and equipment, however, does not mean we have to use it. We do not want to use it,” Trump told the nation after saying Iranian ballistic missiles fired in the early hours of Wednesday caused no casualties and limited damage.

He said Iran “appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned” but he said the United States would impose additional sanctions on Iran, adding to measures that have slashed its oil exports and crippled its economy.

Trump, who faces re-election this year and who accused predecessors of dragging the United States into unnecessary regional wars, did not say what new sanctions would involve.

His comments came hours after Iran’s foreign minister said Iranian missile strikes “concluded” its response to the killing of Qassem Soleimani, a powerful general who masterminded Iran’s drive to build up proxy armies abroad.

The minister, Javad Zarif, said on Twitter that Iran did not “seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression”.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had called Iran’s missile attack a “slap on the face” for the United States and said Iran remained determined to drive US forces out of the region, a policy that analysts say it has pursued via its proxy forces.

But Washington said it had indications Tehran was telling its allies to refrain from new action against US troops.

CALLS FOR PATIENCE

US Vice President Mike Pence told CBS News the United States was receiving “encouraging intelligence that Iran is sending messages” to its allied militias not to attack US targets.

Moqtada al-Sadr, an influential Shi’ite cleric opposed to US and Iranian interference in Iraq, said the Iraq crisis was over and called on “Iraqi factions to be deliberate, patient, and not to start military actions”.

Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia the United States blamed for an attack in Iraq in December that killed a US contractor, said “amidst these conditions, passions must be avoided to achieve the desired results” of expelling US.forces.

That contrasted with fiery comments early on Wednesday from Qais al-Khazali, leader of another Iran-backed militia, who said Iraqi forces should respond to the killing of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who died with Soleimani in the Jan. 3 US strike.

Arab states, which lie across the Gulf from Iran and feared their region was being dragged into another conflict, also called for cooler heads to prevail in Iraq and beyond.

“The brotherly Arab nation of Iraq today is in need of solidarity among its people to avoid war and becoming the site of a battle in which it would lose most,” Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan wrote on Twitter.

In Trump’s address on Wednesday, he repeated his promise not to allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon – an ambition it denies ever having – and called for world powers to quit the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran that he abandoned.

Trump said world powers should negotiate a new nuclear deal with Iran to replace the one set in place under Barack Obama.

Iran has rejected new talks and said negotiations could not be held without an end to sanctions, which have sent Iran’s currency plunging and slashed vital oil revenues.

There has been no immediate reaction from Iranian officials to Trump’s address. The semi-official Fars news agency described the US president’s remarks as a “big retreat from threats”.

Analysts have said Iran, despite its strident words, has wanted to avoid a conventional war with superior US forces.

US and European government sources said they believed Iran had deliberately sought to avoid US military casualties in its missile strikes to prevent an escalation.

An Iranian army spokesman denied “foreign media reports” suggesting there was some kind of coordination between Iran and the United States before the attack to evacuate bases.

Source: Reuters

Getting to know about Dubai's craziest lifestyle

Ah, Dubai, one of the biggest cities in the Middle East and a paradise for the rich and famous. Where water fountains taste like Perrier water, you can withdraw gold from an ATM, sportscars reining over the streets, limousines as buses, helicopters as taxis, and everything their hearts desire. It really is a billionaires' paradise and if you are one of the super wealthy few, chances are you are one of the people who are spending their time at this desert megapolis where everyone can be the envy of everyone.

A certain someone e-mailed me about the secrets of Dubai's opulent wealth from supercars to the outrageous private plate market no one saw it coming. So, what's it all about this billionaires' paradise and why everyone's spending their astronomical budget to almost everything this oasis has?

From a barren desert to the home of thr world's tallest building, Dubai bears 40% of the world's gold trade in 2013, which weighs more than 354 elephants, and such wealth is caused by its booming oil economy which has enough capacity to fill 4.5 Olympic-sized swimming pools per day. Dubai's founding father, Sheikh Rashid, once said “My grandfather rode a camel, my father rode a camel, I drive a Mercedes, my son drives a Land Rover, his son will drive a Land Rover, but his son will ride a camel”. Of course, with Dubai's in a middle of an energy strife, he tried so hard to build Dubai into the megapolis we are familiar with with infrastructures like Port Rashid, Al Shindagha Tunnel, Jebal Ali Port, Dubai World Trade Centre and Dubai Drydocks, making Dubai the regional hub for trade.

Even though it faced the worst of times, especially the 2008 world financial crisis, Dubai still has a bright future in the world economy and because it was one of the driving forces of the gold trade, looks like they're really onto something here.

As we all know, the Burj Khalifa is the world's tallest building which stands at 828 meters (2,716.5 feet) tall when it was coronated in 2010 but for the current Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, there are bigger plans for this paradise as this city is working on a mega project that will exceed Burj Khalifa. Known as "The Tower", it will be the centerpiece of the 3.7 square mile Dubai Creek redevlopment project and it will be "a notch taller" than the Burj Khalifa. It is expected to finish before the 2020 Dubai World Expo. With stuff like these, no wonder everybody in Dubai is throwing astronomical amounts of cash for big things no one ever imagined!

Then, there was the private plate market and for the rich boys of Dubai, a single or a double digit number plates are a status symbol and they are slapped through their luxury cars and exotics just to show the world who's the king of the road. According to sources, the most expensive number plate sales are;

• VIP 1 - 400,000 US Dollars / 300,000 GBP
• M1 - 440,000 US Dollars / 330,000 GBP
• F1 - 580,000 US Dollars / 440,000 GBP
• 5 - around 5.7 million US Dollars / 4.3 million GBP
• D 5 - around 8.7 million US Dollars / 6.6 million GBP
• 1 - around 9.6 million US Dollars / 7.25 million GBP

Of course, the license plate bearing 1 remains the most expensive private license plate of all time when Saeed Al Khouri payed 52.2 million Dirhams (around 9.6 million US Dollars or 7.25 million GBP) for the number "1" plate in Abu Dhabi in 2008 and most of the proceeds going to charity. That's how private plates in Dubai are for. For ordinary people, a license plate is just a license plate but for the Arab rich boys, they're investments as much as expensive silverware in the fancy kitchen at a fancy mansion.

Fancy living aside, Dubai is the home of the supercars, so much, even the Dubai police are adding supercars to their fleets such as Ferraris, Lamborghinis, McLarens, even Bugattis! The vast fleet of superfast pursuit vehicles make the world's police force look like child's play and just imagine if you were being chased by those just like in the Need For Speed games.

Apart from that, Dubai is home of the world's biggest showrooms of luxury vehicles. Last year, Lamborghini, Bugatti, and Bentley opened their biggest car dealerships in Dubai and with that kind of level, no car dealership we're familiar with comes close when it comes to its level of awesomeness Dubai's luxury car dealerships possess.

For petrolheads, Dubai is considered their home because with their astronomical wealth, they can afford big garages to store their cars as if they were toys and apart from exotics, they even possess legendary machines as well as the rarest of them all like someone who possess the ultra-rare Sergio sportscar, a car that was named in honor of Sergio Pininfarina. They even possess vintage classics like in the case of Hamad Bin Hamdan al Nahyan, the Rainbow Shiekh who possesses legendaries like the Ford Model T that was restored to mint condition.

Ask everyone where they will spend outrageous amounts of money for gold, cars, even everyday objects that will shun everyone on sight, it has to be Dubai because with all the extravagant stuff only the rich and famous can lavish on, especially the fat man who controls out lives, it's hard to say that no other city that has the craziest ideas and the craziest lifestyles more than this Arab town and we are getting salivated to visit this place someday, just to get a taste of what bigshots do in Dubai.

URL: https://absolutereg.co.uk/news/dubai-opulent-supercars-the-100m-private-plate-market

Forza Motorsport 6: Rise of the Lykan

The star attraction of Forza Motorsport 6's Ralph Lauren Polo Red Car Pack is the hypercar we are closely familiar with, probably thanks to its shot at fame from Furious 7. It's called the W Motors Lykan Hypersport and we are one of the lucky ones to sample Arab's first supercar in the world of Forza Motorsport. So, what's it all about?



W Motors is an Arab-based supercar company founded in 2012 and this is their maiden voyage into the supercar realm; the Lykan Hypersport.

After spending two years in development, the Lykan Hypersport made its first appearance at the Top Marques Monaco Auto Show. While this is truly Arab's first supercar, the engine is a boxer-six engine sourced from Ruf, developing 780HP of power, and with the seven-speed PDK equipped, it is capable of doing 0-100kph in 2.8 seconds and onwards to 395kph. Apart from its performance, the Lykan Hypersport comes with carbon-fiber bodywork, an active spoiler system, and six-piston aluminum monobloc calipers with ventilated, cross-drilled ceramic composite discs.

This car is limited to seven units, making it one of the rarest cars in the world. Exclusivity aside, the LED headlight in the Lykan is encrusted with 220 diamonds or a combination of any other precious or semi-precious stones chosen by the customer. A Lykan Hypersport owner is entitled to a private concierge provided by Quintessentially Group as well as ownership of a very exclusive Franck Muller Lykan watch.

This car rose to stardom when it appeared in Furious 7, the seventh installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise, where Dom and Brian hijacked one and iconically leaped through a tall building, making it one of the most insane car stunt moments in cinematic history and so insane, experts wanted to test this film theory at their own risk.



Anyway, while we are not in the mood to leap this car from one building to another like we saw in the film, the chance to enjoy the rare delicacy is much as enjoyable as reminiscing the days of you and I playing a nice game of Ridge Racer. While this may look similar to any of the Ridge Racer cars, the Lykan Hypersport is one heck of a crazy beast not to be meddled with. I mean, sure, it was bewildering to push forward on the straights because of such raw power, but when handling this one, best to be sure you've done this perfectly because it's going to feel like taking on your unheard Love Live song in expert level difficulty. It's a struggle but with such skill, you can tame this feral beast with surgical precision.



Speaking of which, I decided to give one a try by driving the Lykan Hypersport around the entire Yas Marina Circuit to see how good Arab's first supercar is...



Like I mentioned before, the Lykan is a brute on the straights but it's terrifyingly hard to handle on the corners after full braking and such extremes set me a lap time of just 2:27.862. Perhaps I can do better than that but rest assured that the Lykan Hypersport is a fun addition to the FM6 car roster and anyone who watched Furious 7 last year can score a chance to drive one in the world of Forza. You can count on it.

Leopaul's Heaven and Hell: I want to visit the Burj Khalifa!

Burj Khalifa

Those who've watched Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol should remember the part where Tom Cruise, as Ethan Hunt, doing the most death-defying stunt at the world's tallest building. That building turned out to be the Burj Khalifa, located in Dubai, UAE. Well, if you are an OFW working in Dubai, guess this how your dream job will be; working at the world's tallest building in Dubai. Precisely, just what is the Burj Khalifa and why this building turned out be the perfect adventurers' heaven.

Opened to the public in early 2010, Burj Khalifa is definitely 828 meters (2,716.5 feet) tall and it's more than 160 floors. It's known to be the tallest building in the world, tallest free-standing structure in the world, highest number of stories in the world, and the rest. If you were someone as annoying as the Annoying Orange who is brave enough to visit the Observation deck on the 124th floor, you might end up saying "Hey! I can see my house from up here!", which sounds annoying if anyone in the business suit heard what you said. Most people in their business suits are just one of a many people are exploring through the world's tallest building and if you were one of the people working on this building, you should never realize how lucky you are to be part of the heritage.

This is just one of the places that made me stuffed and if I have the cash, I want to go there because this is the BEST place to go for an action and adventure in Dubai. If only someone as brave as Tom Cruise could brave through the endless floors of Burj Khalifa, maybe this building should have been called "Palace in the Sky" because such tall building will take you to the skies. Imagine if I could jump through the top of the Burj Khalifa? That's one cool adventure but I should better need a parachute on that altitude because pretty soon, my body would be ripped off from such high speeds. This is what happens when "Speed vs. Gravity" comes full circle.

I wanna go there! I wanna go to Dubai! This building is immensely cool! This is the best adventure heaven you can only seen in the United Arab Emirates.

More info about the Burj Khalifa: http://www.burjkhalifa.ae/language/en-us/home.aspx

How the world's fastest roller coaster feels like...

The Ferrari World theme park in Abu Dhabi, UAE, is just one of the many reasons how car enthusiasts from across the globe want to spend cold hard cash for some treats and surprises. And yes, the world's fastest roller coaster, the Formula Rossa, is the star of the theme park.

Imagine how would you feel in Formula Rossa? Just ask Ferrari F1 racers; Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso.

Massa and Alonso experienced how the Formula Rossa would feel like, and yes, they actually love that ride!

OFWs working in Dubai, best to save up and when its Philippine Summer Time in April and May, bring your family and friends to Ferrari World.

I never though that Dubai packs a lot of surprises.