Tag Archives: sanction

US Senator says America rejects the Action of the ICC “We view this as a direct threat by an unelected, unaccountable body…”

US Senator Lindsey Graham

Important Takeaways:

  • [Here’s how the war began]
    • On Oct. 7, one day after the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, thousands of Hamas gunmen invaded southern Israel, kidnapping, raping, torturing, and killing hundreds of Israelis.
    • On Oct. 8, the Israel Security Cabinet voted to officially declare war for the first time since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
    • On Oct. 27, the IDF began its Ground Operation in Northern Gaza
    • On Nov. 24, in accordance with a ceasefire agreement for the release of hostages by Hamas, the IDF paused their operations.
    • On Dec. 1, after Hamas violated the terms of the ceasefire agreement, the pause in fighting ended. Israel resumed their operations in the north of Gaza.
    • On Dec. 3, the IDF’s ground operation moved into southern Gaza after Israel dropped leaflets to inform civilians to evacuate key areas.
    • On April 1, Israel allegedly carried out an airstrike in Damascus, killing 7 IRGC members, including the top Iranian commander in Syria.
    • On April 8, the IDF withdrew ground troops from southern Gaza, maintaining that a operation in Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold, remains imminent
    • On April 13, Iran launched 200+ missiles and drones toward Israel from Iranian soil.
    • On July 30-31, an Israeli strike killed a Hezbollah Commander and Hamas’ top leader was assassinated in Tehran.
    • On Aug. 25, the IDF launched a large-scale preemptive strike targeting thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers, thwarting a significant attack the terror group planned to immediately launch.
    • On Sept. 17-18, Hezbollah Pagers and other devices implanted with explosives simultaneously detonated in two waves, leaving 3000+ wounded and dozens of terrorists dead, in a highly sophisticated attack widely attributed to the Mossad.
    • Since Oct. 7, Over 1,600 Israelis (800 soldiers) have been killed, and over 13,000 have been injured.
    • 5,381 IDF soldiers wounded since the start of the war.
    • Still today Hamas holds 101 hostages
  • US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) responded on Monday to Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly’s comments to a news publication regarding Senator Graham’s proposal to sanction any nation or group that aids and abets the International Criminal Court (ICC) after the court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
  • In an interview with Politico, Joly was asked what is her response to Graham’s proposal, after Canada vowed to comply with the ICC order, and replied, “Canada will take its decision. Then the US will take its decision.”
  • On the possibility that Canada could face sanctions from the United States for complying with the ICC order, she replied, “We abide by international norms, including the fact that we’re a founding member of the ICC.”
  • Responding to the comments, Graham said, “I consider Canada to be one of America’s greatest allies and friends. We are not only neighbors – we also share many common values.”
  • “However, the idea that the International Criminal Court seeking arrest warrants against Israel’s Prime Minister and former Defense Minister is an act of international rules-based order is beyond the pale,” he added.
  • “To my friends in Canada and throughout the world, America rejects – in the strongest possible terms – the Court’s efforts to issue warrants for duly elected political leaders of Israel for defending their nation against barbaric terrorism. We reject the jurisdiction claims of the Court. We will make it loud and clear that those countries who assist in enforcing the arrest warrants – even if they are close allies – will hit a wall of resistance in America,” Graham clarified.
  • “America must act decisively to reject this action by the ICC because we could be next. The court threatened to go after American soldiers for their conduct in Afghanistan but wisely chose not to.”
  • “Again, we are a mature democracy just like Israel, with an independent judiciary. To Canada and all others – we do not view this action as furthering international norms. We view this as a direct threat by an unelected, unaccountable body in The Hague against American sovereignty and as an existential threat to our allies in Israel who are fighting for their very existence.”
  • “President Biden objected to the ICC ruling, and I will be discussing with President Trump and his team how to respond forcefully,” concluded Graham.

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North Korea condemns U.S. sanctions, warns denuclearization at risk

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects a constructions site of Yangdeok, in this undated photo released on October 31, 2018 by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). KCNA/via REUTERS.

By Hyunjoo Jin and Josh Smith

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea on Sunday condemned the U.S. administration for stepping up sanctions and pressure on the nuclear-armed country, warning of a return to “exchanges of fire” and that disarming Pyongyang could be blocked forever.

The North’s stinging response came after the United States said on Monday it had introduced sanctions on three North Korean officials, including a top aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, for alleged human rights abuses.

Denuclearizing North Korea has made little progress since Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump met in Singapore in June in a historic summit. The two sides have yet to reschedule working-level talks between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol, which were canceled abruptly in November.

While crediting Trump for his “willingness” to improve relations with the North, also known as DPRK, Pyongyang accused the U.S. State Department of being “bent on bringing the DPRK-U.S. relations back to the status of last year which was marked by exchanges of fire.”

North Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Washington had taken “sanctions measures for as many as eight times against the companies, individuals and ships of not only the DPRK but also Russia, China and other third countries…”

If the U.S. administration believed that heightened sanctions and pressure would force Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons, “it will count as (its) greatest miscalculation, and it will block the path to denuclearization on the Korean peninsula forever – a result desired by no one,” according to the statement.

The foreign ministry statement was released under the name of the policy research director of the Institute for American Studies.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Josh Smith; Editing by Mark Potter)

Iran vows to sell as much oil as it can despite U.S. sanctions

FILE PHOTO: Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri speaks during a news conference in Najaf, south of Baghdad, February 18, 2015. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) – Iranian vice president Eshaq Jahangiri acknowledged on Tuesday that U.S. sanctions would hurt the economy but promised to “sell as much oil as we can” and protect its banking system.

Jahangiri said Washington was trying to stop Iran’s petrochemical, steel and copper exports, and to disrupt its ports and shipping services. “America seeks to reduce Iran’s oil sales, our vital source of income, to zero,” he said, according to Fars news agency.

President Donald Trump said in May he would pull the United States out of an international nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose U.S. sanctions. Washington later told countries they must stop buying Iranian oil from Nov. 4 or face financial consequences.

Jahangiri said it would be a mistake to think the U.S. “economic war” against Iran will have no impact, but added: “We will make Americans understand this year that they cannot stop Iranian oil sales.”

The U.S. ambassador to Berlin called on the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel to block an Iranian attempt to withdraw large sums of cash from bank accounts in Germany.

Iran’s foreign ministry and the central bank have taken measures to facilitate banking operations despite the U.S. sanctions, Jahangiri said without elaborating.

The Iranian oil ministry said last week that it exported 2.2 million barrels per day of crude oil in June. The figure is not significantly lower than exports of 2.4 million bpd in April and in May.

ECONOMIC WAR

European powers still support the 2015 deal, under which Tehran agreed to limit its nuclear development in exchange for international sanctions relief. They say they will do more to encourage their businesses to remain engaged with Iran, though a number of firms have already said they plan to pull out.

Foreign ministers from the five remaining signatory countries to the nuclear deal — Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia — offered a package of economic measures to Iran on Friday but Tehran said they did not go far enough.

“We think the Europeans will act in a way to meet the Iranian demands, but we should wait and see,” Jahangiri said.

The pressure on Iran came as Washington had launched an “economic war with China and even its allies”, he said, referring to trade tensions between the United States and many of its main trading partners.

Jahangiri also accused Washington of trying to use the economic pressure to provoke street protests in Iran.

A wave of anti-government demonstrations against economic hardship and alleged corruption engulfed cities across the country in late December and early January.

(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Editing by John Stonestreet, Andrew Heavens and David Stamp)