This story publicly began yesterday. Here are more details of the U.S. using a peaceful, international law method in which private companies participate, and no military force was used, to seize oil being used for nefarious purposes. Impressive. “US seizes Iranian gas heading for Venezuela: reports,” Al Jazeera, August 14, 2020. Here’s another. “U.S. Seizes Iranian Fuel Cargo for First Time,” Benoit Faucon and Aruna Viswanatha, Wall Street Journal, August 13, 2020.
“Iran, Not Israel, Now the Unifying Focus for Much of Middle East,” Golnar Motevalli, Bloomberg, August 14, 2020.
“U.S. Seizes Iranian Fuel From 4 Tankers Bound For Venezuela,” Scott Neuman, NPR, August 14, 2020. A senior U.S. official said no military force was used in the seizures and the ships were not confiscated. Instead, U.S. officials threatened ship owners, insurers, and captains with sanctions and they hand over their Iranian cargo, which becomes U.S. property by order of the district court that issued the warrant. Iran’s ambassador to Venezuela said reports that Iranian tankers had been seized were “yet another lie and psychological warfare” by the United States. “The ships are not Iranian, and neither the owner nor its flag has anything to do with Iran,” Hojat Soltani said on Twitter in Spanish. “This is another lie and act of psychological warfare perpetrated by the US propaganda machine,” Soltani said. Soltani’s comments were not challenged by NPR.
The UN itself becomes an enabler for the Regime’s terrorism. “The Security Council “rejected a reasonable resolution to extend the 13-year old arms embargo on Iran and paved the way for the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism to buy and sell conventional weapons without specific UN restrictions in place for the first time in over a decade,” Pompeo said in a statement. “The Security Council’s failure to act decisively in defense of international peace and security is inexcusable.”” This is a quote from Sec. Pompeo, at “Pompeo lashes out as U.N. Security Council rejects extension to Iran arms embargo,” Matthew Choi, Politico, August 14, 2020.
““The Security Council’s failure to act decisively in defense of international peace and security is inexcusable,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. China’s U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun said in a statement after the vote that the result “once again shows that unilateralism receives no support and bullying will fail.” The United States could now follow through on a threat to trigger a return of all U.N. sanctions on Iran using a provision in the nuclear deal, known as snapback, even though President Donald Trump abandoned the accord in 2018. Diplomats have said the United States could do this as early as next week, but would face a tough, messy battle.” See “U.S. loses Iran arms embargo bid as Putin pushes summit to avoid nuclear deal showdown,” Michelle Nichols and Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber, Reuters, August 14, 2020.
The UN itself becomes an enabler for the Regime’s terrorism. “The Security Council “rejected a reasonable resolution to extend the 13-year old arms embargo on Iran and paved the way for the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism to buy and sell conventional weapons without specific UN restrictions in place for the first time in over a decade,” Pompeo said in a statement. “The Security Council’s failure to act decisively in defense of international peace and security is inexcusable.”” This is a quote from Sec. Pompeo, at “Pompeo lashes out as U.N. Security Council rejects extension to Iran arms embargo,” Matthew Choi, Politico, August 14, 2020.
““The Security Council’s failure to act decisively in defense of international peace and security is inexcusable,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. China’s U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun said in a statement after the vote that the result “once again shows that unilateralism receives no support and bullying will fail.” The United States could now follow through on a threat to trigger a return of all U.N. sanctions on Iran using a provision in the nuclear deal, known as snapback, even though President Donald Trump abandoned the accord in 2018. Diplomats have said the United States could do this as early as next week, but would face a tough, messy battle.” See “U.S. loses Iran arms embargo bid as Putin pushes summit to avoid nuclear deal showdown,” Michelle Nichols and Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber, Reuters, August 14, 2020.