US root cause of all problems in Middle East: Iran
Chief spokesman for Iran's Armed Forces says the United States is the most important reason behind all the current problems in the Middle East, stressing that Washington must accept its strategic mistakes and leave the region.
“The root cause of all the problems in the West Asia region is the US hegemony,” Deputy Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri said on Sunday.
He added that bloody wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen, the continuation of the Israeli regime’s occupation of Palestine, the Iraqi imposed war on Iran in the 1980s, the Lebanese and Bahraini conflicts and other events that have killed and wounded thousands of people and left behind destruction are only some consequences of measures taken by the evil US government in the region.
“The US presence in the region is [like] a malignant cancerous tumor and the only way to treat it is to remove this infected tumor and kick the US out of the region,” Jazayeri added.
He urged the US to own up to its strategic mistakes and shoulder responsibility for the thousands of criminal acts it has committed and leave the region to relieve the regional nations of the malevolence of the Great Satan.
Jazayeri made the remarks in reaction to recent claims by the US Secretary of State John Kerry, who had questioned the Islamic Republic’s policies in the region, particularly in Syria and Yemen, and said Iran is “firing missiles that people deem to be threatening.”
In an interview with the American magazine
Foreign Affairs published on Friday, Kerry claimed that Washington has carried out all of its obligations under last year’s nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries, and sought to blame Iran’s “banking system, business practices, and transparency” for the complications arising in the implementation of the deal.
While major European banks have been reluctant to do business with Iran for fear of US retribution, smaller banks have already approached the country in search of post-sanctions business opportunities.
In May, the US secretary of state told a meeting of top EU bankers that they will not be penalized for conducting or facilitating business with Iran. However, major European banks have already emphasized that Kerry’s assurances are not enough and a series of confusions that remain over transactions with Iran need to be cleared by Washington.
Iran has been persistently urging European countries to take the required measures to encourage their banks to facilitate transactions with Tehran now that the sanctions have been removed.
https://www.facebook.com/RTAmerica/videos/10152990412791366/
Eva Bartlett is a Canadian activist/freelance journalistst. Eva has lived cumulative ~3 years in Gaza, spent time in Lebanon and visited Syria 3 times since April 2014. Anti-zionist, anti-imperialist, pro-justice.
You can find out more about Eva’s trips to Syria on Eva’s Websites:
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https://InGaza.WordPress.com
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http://www.SyriaSolidarityMovement.org
UN arrives in Aleppo to escort al-Qaeda to safety
Sputnik
Sat, 15 Oct 2016 20:00 UTC
UN staff arrived in Syria's Aleppo on Saturday to carry out militants' evacuation from the eastern part of the city, a source on the ground told Sputnik.
On October 6, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura offered to accompany Jabhat Fatah al Sham (also known as Nusra Front, or Jabhat al-Nusra) militants if they decided to leave Aleppo with arms and to head for the city of Idlib or somewhere else. Russia supported this offer. The source said that the UN employees had arrived to Bustan Qasr district where the buses to take the militants away were already waiting.
The evacuation may begin later in the day, however, the total number of evacuees remains unknown. Fighting in Aleppo has recently escalated with the Syrian army and local militia forces having managed to encircle large groups of militants in the eastern districts of Aleppo. Government troops began to advance after the September 12 ceasefire collapsed.
Comment: Desperate times, desperate measures? Even though the UN has authorized and called for the destruction of al-Nusra, and the Russians are the only ones doing just that (along with Syria and Iran), the Russians support this deal. It's kind of the least worst option. The rebels have refused to leave Aleppo and the ceasefire (designed in part to facilitate their movement out of Aleppo) has failed. If this works, it will be a small victory. But what are the chances that the terrorist organization al-Nusra will follow through? Not very, but we'll just have to wait and see.
Update: Fars News Agency is reporting that some 2,000 militants are
ready to stop fighting in eastern Aleppo, allegedly due to "rising public protests against the presence of Jeish al-Fatah terrorists" in the encircled city:
"In an unprecedented move, a least 2,000 militants have contacted their families and announced their readiness to lay down arms and join the peace plan in Aleppo city," Arabic-language
al-Watan reported on Saturday,
quoting militants' relatives and family members.
"In the meantime,
renowned figures and tribal leaders in Aleppo districts
have formed local committees to identify those militants who want to join the peace agreement to introduce them to the national reconciliation committees,"
al-Watansaid, adding, "Popular protests against militancy and the Syrian government forces' advances have caused a rising despair among the militants and a recent growth in their surrender to the government forces."
"A large number of militants in Seif al-Dowleh, Salahuddin, Bostan al-Pasha, Karam al-Jabal, Bostasn al-Qasr have laid down arms and surrendered to the authorities," the Syrian paper added.
FNA adds that the Russians are ready to ensure safe passage for gunmen and civilians, and Syrian planes are dropping thousands of leaflets telling militants to surrender. The Syrian government, too, "expressed full readiness to ensure the safety of those who wanted to leave the area," as they have
always done.