Tag Archives: Sanctions

Tillerson in Thailand presses for more action on North Korea

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson shakes hands with Thailand's Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok, Thailand August 8, 2017. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

By Amy Sawitta Lefevre

BANGKOK (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday pressed Thai leaders for more action on North Korea during the highest level visit to Thailand by a U.S. official since a military coup in 2014 soured relations with the United States.

Tillerson’s top priority has been urging Southeast Asian countries to do more to cut funding streams for North Korea.

The United States believes North Korean front companies are active in Thailand and is trying to encourage the Thais to shut them down, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton told reporters aboard Tillerson’s plane.

The companies are using Bangkok as a regional hub and change their names frequently, she said.

Before meeting Tillerson, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said Thailand would support a U.N. resolution on new sanctions on Pyongyang over its missile tests. But he made no mention of specific action.

The United States was encouraging Thailand to take as many North Korean refugees as it can handle, Thornton said. Reuters reported exclusively last week that the number of North Koreans slipping illegally into Thailand has surged in recent months.

Thailand’s own politics and human rights record were also in focus, as Washington strengthens relations with its oldest ally in the region after they were downgraded following the coup.

“We want Thailand to emerge as a strengthened democracy that respects and guarantees human rights and fundamental freedoms at home and plays a leading role in advancing regional security and prosperity,” a US embassy spokesman said.

“UPS AND DOWNS”

Tillerson offered no specific message on human rights when he spoke to the American community at the ambassador’s residence and highlighted the 200-year-old relationship.

“We want to continue to grow that relationship, even in its ups and downs,” he said.

Tillerson met Thailand’s foreign minister, Don Pramudwinai, before junta chief Prayuth. Don also emphasized support for the U.N. resolution on North Korea.

Following his meeting with Tillerson, Don told reporters in Bangkok that trade between Thailand and North Korea had dropped by as much as 94 percent over the past year.

“Thailand will act as a good member of the United Nations … one result is trade which dropped significantly. It dropped 94 percent,” Don told reporters.

U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken to Prayuth by telephone and invited him to the White House, but no date has been set yet.

Human rights groups have voiced concern about the re-establishment of normal relations while Thailand’s junta continues to crack down on critics.

“It would be a practical mistake for Tillerson to not condition positive diplomatic relations on improvements in the protection of human rights,” Matthew Smith, of the Fortify Rights group, told Reuters.

Thailand’s military seized power in May 2014 after months of street protests with a promise to eventually restore democracy, but elections will not happen before next year and a new constitution retains a powerful political say for the army.

Since the coup, Thailand has aligned itself more closely with Beijing, and this year approved purchases of more than $500 million worth of Chinese submarines, tanks and helicopters, besides construction of a new rail link.

Another source of friction is Thailand’s trade surplus over the United States. It was the 11th largest last year, at nearly $19 billion, although Thai officials expect a sharp rise in U.S. imports to reduce it.

During his five-hour visit to Bangkok, Tillerson signed a condolence book for the revered late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, whose death after seven decades on the throne was felt deeply in Thailand.

Tillerson’s visit follows his attendance at a regional security forum in Manila at the weekend.

(Additional reporting by Aukkarapon Niyomyat, Juarwee Kittisilpa and Panu Wongcha-um; Editing by Matthew Tostevin and Clarence Fernandez)

Japan defense review warns of enhanced North Korea threats

Japan's Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera attends a news conference at Defence Ministry in Tokyo, Japan August 8, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato

By Kiyoshi Takenaka

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan warned on Tuesday against the acute threat posed by North Korea’s weapons programs as Pyongyang’s continued series of missile and nuclear tests, in defiance of U.N. sanctions, brings technological progress to the reclusive state.

Japan released its annual Defence White Paper after North Korea fired two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) last month on lofted trajectories to land off Japan’s west coast.

“It is conceivable that North Korea’s nuclear weapons program has already considerably advanced and it is possible that North Korea has already achieved the miniaturization of nuclear weapons and has acquired nuclear warheads,” the Defence Ministry said.

“Since last year, when it forcibly implemented two nuclear tests and more than 20 ballistic missile launches, the security threats have entered a new stage,” it added in the 563-page document.

North Korea’s latest ICBM test showed Pyongyang may now be able to reach most of the continental United States, two U.S. officials have told Reuters.

The growing threat has prompted Japanese municipalities to hold evacuation drills in case of a possible missile attack, and boosted demand for nuclear shelters.

Missiles launched on a lofted trajectory were difficult to intercept, the defense ministry said.

With North Korea pressing ahead with missile tests, a group of ruling party lawmakers led by Itsunori Onodera, who became defense minister on Thursday, urged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in March to consider acquiring the capability to hit enemy bases.

If realized, that would be a drastic change in Japan’s defense posture. Tokyo has so far avoided taking the controversial and costly step of acquiring bombers or cruise missiles with the range to strike other countries.

“North Korea’s missiles represent a deepening threat. That, along with China’s continued threatening behavior in the East China Sea and South China Sea, is a major concern for Japan,” Onodera told a news briefing in Tokyo.

The ministry said the number of Japan’s jet scrambles against Chinese aircraft hit a record in the year to March 2017. The first confirmed advancement of China’s aircraft carrier to the Pacific also came in December 2016.

“There is a possibility that their naval activities, as well as air force activities, will pick up pace in the Sea of Japan from now on,” the ministry said.

“We need to keep a close eye on the Chinese naval force’s activity,” it added.

Tokyo’s ties with Beijing have long been plagued by a territorial dispute over a group of tiny, uninhabited East China Sea islets and the legacy of Japan’s wartime aggression.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi dismissed the white paper, telling state television in Manila, which he visited for a regional security meeting, that Japan was “playing the same old tune”.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Additional reporting by Tim Kelly, and Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Editing by Paul Tait and Clarence Fernandez)

China says willing to pay the price for new North Korea sanctions

China says willing to pay the price for new North Korea sanctions

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) – China will pay the biggest price from the new United Nations sanctions against North Korea because of its close economic relationship with the country, but will always enforce the resolutions, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

The United Nations Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea on Saturday that could slash its $3 billion annual export revenue by a third.

Speaking at a regional security forum in Manila on Monday, Wang said the new resolution showed China and the international community’s opposition to North Korea’s continued missile tests, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Owing to China’s traditional economic ties with North Korea, it will mainly be China paying the price for implementing the resolution,” the statement cited Wang as saying.

“But in order to protect the international non-proliferation system and regional peace and stability, China will as before fully and strictly properly implement the entire contents of the relevant resolution.”

China has repeatedly said it is committed to enforcing increasingly tough U.N. resolutions on North Korea, though it has also said what it terms “normal” trade and ordinary North Koreans should not be affected.

The latest U.N. resolution bans North Korean exports of coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood. It also prohibits countries from increasing the numbers of North Korean laborers currently working abroad, bans new joint ventures with North Korea and any new investment in current joint ventures.

DOOR TO DISCUSSIONS?

Wang said that apart from the new sanctions, the resolution also made clear that the six party talks process, a stalled dialogue mechanism with North Korea that also includes Russia and Japan, should be restarted.

China appreciated comments earlier this month by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that the United States does not seek to topple the North Korean government and would like dialogue with Pyongyang at some point, Wang added.

The United States does not seek regime change, the collapse of the regime, an accelerated reunification of the peninsula or an excuse to send the U.S. military into North Korea, Tillerson said.

Wang said Tillerson’s “Four Nos” promise was a positive signal.

China “hopes North Korea can echo this signal from the United States”, Wang added.

Speaking at the same forum on Monday, Tillerson held a door open for dialogue with North Korea saying Washington was willing to talk to Pyongyang if it halted a series of recent missile test launches.

North Korea said the latest sanctions infringed its sovereignty and it was ready to give Washington a “severe lesson” with its strategic nuclear force in response to any U.S. military action.

The successful testing of two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) last month suggested the reclusive North was making technical progress, Japan’s annual Defence White Paper warned.

“Since last year, when it forcibly implemented two nuclear tests and more than 20 ballistic missile launches, the security threats have entered a new stage,” the Japanese Defence Ministry said in the 563-page document released on Tuesday.

“It is conceivable that North Korea’s nuclear weapons program has already considerably advanced and it is possible that North Korea has already achieved the miniaturization of nuclear weapons and has acquired nuclear warheads,” it said.

South Korea reiterated further resolutions against Pyongyang could follow if it did not pull back.

“North Korea should realise if it doesn’t stop its nuclear, missile provocations it will face even stronger pressure and sanctions,” Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told a regular news briefing. “We warn North Korea not to test or misunderstand the will of the South Korea-U.S. alliance.”

(Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka in TOKYO and Christine Kim in SEOUL; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Michael Perry)

Tillerson says U.S., Russia can settle problems, ease tension

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson answers questions during a news conference in Manila, Philippines August 7, 2017.

By Karen Lema

MANILA (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Monday he believes Washington and Russia can find a way to ease tensions, saying it wouldn’t be useful to cut ties over the single issue of suspected Russian meddling in the U.S. election.

Tillerson said Russia had also expressed some willingness to resume talks about the crisis in Ukraine, where a 2015 ceasefire between Kiev’s forces and Russian-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country is regularly violated.

“We should find places we can work together… In places we have differences we’re going to have to continue to find ways to address those,” Tillerson told reporters.

Tillerson met his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on the sidelines of an international gathering in Manila on Sunday, where he also asked about Moscow’s retaliation against new U.S. sanctions.

Tillerson said he told Lavrov the United States would respond to the Kremlin’s order for it to cut about 60 percent of its diplomatic staff in Russia by September 1.

“We have not made a decision on how we will respond to Russia’s request to remove U.S. diplomatic personnel. I asked several clarifying questions…I told him we would respond by September first,” Tillerson said.

The meeting was their first since President Donald Trump reluctantly signed into law the sanctions that Russia said amounted to a full-scale trade war and ended hopes for better ties.

Lavrov on Sunday said he believed his U.S. colleagues were ready to continue dialogue with Moscow on complex issues despite tensions.

Tillerson said he discussed Russia’s suspected meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election with Lavrov to “help them understand how serious this incident had been and how seriously it damaged the relationship” between the two nations.

But Tillerson said that should not irreversibly damage ties.

“The fact that we want to work with them on areas that are of serious national security interest to us, and at the same time having this extraordinary issue of mistrust that divides us, that is just what we in the diplomatic part of our relationship are required to do,” Tillerson said.

The United States sent its special representative on Ukraine, Kurt Volker, a former U.S. envoy to NATO, to Ukraine last month to assess the situation in the former Soviet republic.

Washington cites the conflict as a key obstacle to improved relations between Russia and the United States.

“We appointed a special envoy to engage with Russia but also coordinating with all parties. This is full visibility to all parties. We are not trying to cut some kind of deal on the side,” Tillerson said.

 

(Editing by Martin Petty and Nick Macfie)

 

Iran’s Rouhani, embarking on second term, accuses Trump over nuclear deal

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani attends his swearing-in ceremony for a further term, at the parliament in Tehran, Iran, August 5, 2017.

By Bozorgmehr Sharafedin

LONDON (Reuters) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who was sworn-in for a second term on Saturday, has accused the United States of trying to undermine Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers, telling President Donald Trump that it will be his political suicide.

Rouhani, who was decisively re-elected in May after promising to open Iran to the world, took the oath of office before parliament in Tehran in the presence of foreign dignitaries including senior European figures.

“The U.S. lack of commitment to implementation of the nuclear deal … proved it to be an unreliable partner to the world and even to its longtime allies,” Rouhani said in a ceremony broadcast live on state television.

The deal he championed with the United States and five other major powers in 2015 led to the lifting of most sanctions against Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear program.

Rouhani has intensified efforts to protect the deal – the biggest achievement of his first term – against Washington’s return to an aggressive Iran policy.

In comments aimed at Trump, Rouhani said: “Those who want to tear up the nuclear deal should know that they will be ripping up their own political life.”

The U.S. Senate voted in late July to impose new sanctions on Iran over its missiles program and human rights issues.

“Iran would not be the first to pull out of the nuclear deal, but it will not remain silent about the U.S. repeated violations of the accord,” Rouhani said.

 

PRAISE FOR EUROPEAN PRESENCE

In a meeting with European foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in Tehran in advance of the ceremony, Rouhani said the U.S. stance could hamper implementation of the nuclear deal.

Praising the presence of senior European dignitaries at the ceremony, Rouhani said it showed Europe was determined to expand ties with Tehran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was also quoted as saying by state media in his meeting with Mogherini: “Mr Trump is trying to destroy the nuclear accord at Iran’s expense, and Europe should be conscious of this.”

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, President of Iraq Fuad Masum, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe were also present at swearing-in ceremony.

Among the Western officials present were French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, State Secretary at the German Foreign Ministry Michael Roth, and British Minister of State Alistair Burt.

Security in Tehran was increased to the highest level, the police said, two months after gunmen linked to the Islamic State group attacked parliament and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, killing 17 people.

Rouhani’s deputy said on Wednesday that Rouhani would keep on two important ministers for his second term: Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh and Foreign Minister Zarif.

The powers of the elected president are limited by those of the unelected Supreme Leader who outranks him, but the scale of Rouhani’s victory can give the pragmatist president a strong mandate.

However, analysts say Rouhani may struggle to make a significant impact given sharpening divisions in the dual clerical-republican power structure in Iran, and Trump’s aggressive policy against Tehran.

 

(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Editing by Andrew Bolton)

 

U.S. Vice President Pence’s hawkish tone on Russia contrasts with Trump approach

Vice President Mike Pence delivers a speech during a meeting with U.S. troops taking part in NATO led joint military exercises Noble Partner 2017 at the Vaziani military base near Tbilisi, Georgia. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze

By Roberta Rampton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – When President Donald Trump scolded U.S. lawmakers on Thursday for clamping down on Moscow with new sanctions, his message clashed with the one that Vice President Mike Pence pushed during a four-day trip this week to Eastern Europe.

As he toured Estonia, Georgia and Montenegro, Pence said the sanctions passed overwhelmingly by Congress would send a unified message to Russia that it must change its behavior.

Trump, by contrast, took to Twitter to complain that the sanctions legislation, which he grudgingly signed, would send U.S.-Russia relations to “an all-time & very dangerous low.”

While some Republicans played down the divergence, critics said it exemplified an incoherent policy that would unsettle allies and fail to placate Moscow.

“There are some policies where a good cop/bad approach can work,” said Michael McFaul, a U.S. ambassador to Russia under former Democratic President Barack Obama.

But McFaul added that in the case of the Trump administration’s policy toward Russia, Moscow was likely to view the mixed signals as a sign of policy disarray.

If the Republican president continues to want improved relations with Russia, “he’s not achieving his goal,” McFaul said.

The White House’s two-track approach is mirrored in Moscow.

After Trump signed the new sanctions into law on Wednesday, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the No. 2 in the Russian ruling hierarchy, launched a blistering attack on the White House.

Yet Russian President Vladimir Putin — who has tried to cultivate a personal rapport with Trump in phone conversations and face-to-face meetings at a summit in Germany — has not uttered a word in public about the sanctions since Trump approved them.

Trump has repeatedly said he wants better ties with Russia. But the country has loomed large over the first six months of his administration as a special counsel and U.S. congressional panels investigate allegations Moscow meddled in the 2016 U.S. election to help Trump and also examine any potential role by Trump aides.

Moscow denies any meddling and Trump denies any collusion by his campaign.

After Congress passed the sanctions legislation with a large enough margin to override a presidential veto, Trump signed it on Wednesday but criticized it as infringing on his authority and said he could make “far better deals” with governments than Congress could.

As a countermeasure to the sanctions, Putin called for reducing the staff of the U.S. diplomatic mission by 755 people and for the seizure of two properties near Moscow used by American diplomats.

‘SMALL AND BULLYING LEADER’

Jarrod Agen, deputy chief of staff to Pence, insisted that Trump and Pence were “completely aligned” on Russia.

“It was the president’s decision to send the vice president to the region. It was the president’s decision to deliver the message that the vice president delivered,” Agen told Reuters.

He added that Pence and Trump spoke every day during his trip and sometimes multiple times a day.

The disconnect between Pence and Trump on Russia is an anomaly. Pence usually goes to lengths to emphasize his loyalty to his boss and to downplay any differences.

Their different tone on Russia dates back to the U.S. presidential campaign. While Trump often praised Putin, Pence called the Russian president a “small and bullying leader” during a vice presidential debate last October.

During his trip this week, Pence condemned Russia for its “occupation of Georgia’s soil” as he spoke to U.S. and Georgian troops engaged in joint exercises only 40 miles (64 km) away from Russian troops in South Ossetia.

In Montenegro, Pence accused Russia of trying to “destabilize” the western Balkans – a message criticized by Moscow.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it was “regrettable to note that Washington is sliding ever deeper into the primitive ideology of the Cold War era, which is completely detached from reality.”

Traditional Republican conservatives – who favor a hard line on Moscow – have taken some comfort in Pence’s message, as have foreign leaders concerned about the impact of a rapprochement between Trump and Putin.

“What he (Pence) is saying is good and helpful and should be the policy of the Trump administration – and so for those of us who want it to be that way, we’re happy to embrace it,” said Danielle Pletka, senior vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

“None of us know what Donald Trump thinks in his heart of hearts about Russia,” Pletka said. But she added: “If (Trump) were not comfortable with Pence making this trip, Pence would not be making this trip.”

Republican Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he would not “read a lot” into the different tones struck by Pence and Trump, although he welcomed Pence’s trip to the European countries.

Corker described Pence as the administration’s “ombudsman” on policy and said Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, were key to developing Trump’s foreign policy.

A former U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was at pains to explain the disconnect between Pence and Trump on Russia.

“We are dealing with a major, open split between the president and basically the rest of his administration with the possible exception of Tillerson,” the former official said.

(Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Arshad Mohammed and Christian Lowe; Editing by Caren Bohan, Peter Cooney and Alister Doyle)

Grand jury issues subpoenas in connection with Trump Jr., Russian lawyer meeting: sources

Donald Trump Jr. stands onstage with his father Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump after Trump's debate against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, U.S. September 26, 2016. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

By Karen Freifeld and John Walcott

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A grand jury has issued subpoenas in connection with a June 2016 meeting that included President Donald Trump’s son, his son-in-law and a Russian lawyer, two sources told Reuters on Thursday, signaling an investigation is gathering pace into suspected Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

The sources added that U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller had convened the grand jury investigation in Washington to help examine allegations of Russian interference in the vote. One of the sources said it was assembled in recent weeks.

Russia has loomed large over the first six months of the Trump presidency. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia worked to tilt the presidential election in Trump’s favor. Mueller, who was appointed special counsel in May, is leading the probe, which also examines potential collusion by the Trump campaign with Russia.

Moscow denies any meddling and Trump denies any collusion by his campaign, while regularly denouncing the investigations as political witch hunts.

At a rally in Huntington, West Virginia, on Thursday night, Trump said: “Most people know there were no Russians in our campaign. … We didn’t win because of Russia. We won because of you.”

Mueller’s use of a grand jury could give him expansive tools to pursue evidence, including issuing subpoenas and compelling witnesses to testify. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported a grand jury was impaneled.

A spokesman for Mueller declined comment.

A grand jury is a group of ordinary citizens who, working behind closed doors, considers evidence of potential criminal wrongdoing that a prosecutor is investigating and decides whether charges should be brought.

“This is a serious development in the Mueller investigation,” said Paul Callan, a former prosecutor.

“Given that Mueller inherited an investigation that began months ago, it would suggest that he has uncovered information pointing in the direction of criminal charges. But against whom is the real question.”

A lawyer for Trump, Jay Sekulow, appeared to downplay the significance of a grand jury, telling Fox News: “This is not an unusual move.”

U.S. stocks and the dollar weakened following the news, while U.S. Treasury securities gained.

It was not immediately clear to whom subpoenas were issued and the sources did not elaborate.

Some lawyers said it would put pressure on potential witnesses to cooperate with Mueller’s investigation.

“When someone gets a subpoena to testify, that can drive home the seriousness of the investigation,” said David Sklansky, a professor at Stanford Law School and a former federal prosecutor.

In 2005, a grand jury convened by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald returned an indictment of Lewis “Scooter” Libby, a top aide to then-Vice President Dick Cheney.

“A special counsel can bring an indictment and it has happened before,” said Renato Mariotti, a partner at the law firm Thompson Coburn and a former federal prosecutor.

DAMAGING INFORMATION

News last month of the meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer who he was told had damaging information about his father’s presidential rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, fueled questions about the campaign’s dealings with Moscow.

The Republican president has defended his son’s behavior, saying many people would have taken that meeting.

Trump’s son-in-law and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort also attended the meeting.

One of the sources said major Russian efforts to interfere in the election on Trump’s behalf began shortly after the June meeting, making it a focus of Mueller’s investigation.

Ty Cobb, special counsel to the president, said he was not aware that Mueller had started using a new grand jury.

“Grand jury matters are typically secret,” Cobb said. “The White House favors anything that accelerates the conclusion of his work fairly. … The White House is committed to fully cooperating with Mr. Mueller.”

John Dowd, one of Trump’s personal lawyers, said: “With respect to the news of the grand jury, I can tell you President Trump is not under investigation.”

A spokesman for Manafort declined to comment.

Lawyers for Trump Jr. and Kushner did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

‘NOT THINKING OF FIRING MUELLER’

Trump has questioned Mueller’s impartiality and members of Congress from both parties have expressed concern that Trump might dismiss him. Republican and Democratic senators introduced two pieces of legislation on Thursday seeking to block Trump from firing Mueller.

Sekulow denied that was Trump’s plan.

“The president is not thinking of firing Bob Mueller,” Sekulow said.

One source briefed on the matter said Mueller was investigating whether, either at the meeting or afterward, anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign encouraged the Russians to start releasing material they had been collecting on the Clinton campaign since March 2016.

Another source familiar with the inquiry said that while the president himself was not now under investigation, Mueller’s investigation was seeking to determine whether he knew of the June 9 meeting in advance or was briefed on it afterward.

Reuters earlier reported that Mueller’s team was examining money-laundering accusations against Manafort and hoped to push him to cooperate with their probe into possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia. It is not known if the grand jury is investigating those potential charges.

(Additional reporting by Noeleen Walder, Jan Wolfe, Anthony Lin, Jonathan Stempel, Tom Hals, Julia Ainsley, Joel Schectman, Yara Bayoumy, Patricia Zengerle and Eric Beech; Writing by Phil Stewart; Editing by Bill Trott and Peter Cooney)

Iran says new U.S. sanctions violate nuclear deal, vows ‘proportional reaction’

Iran says new U.S. sanctions violate nuclear deal, vows 'proportional reaction'

(Reuters) – Iran said new sanctions imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday break the terms of its nuclear deal with the United States and other world powers, and vowed an “appropriate and proportional” response.

Trump, who during his election campaign called the nuclear agreement – negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama – “the worst deal ever”, signed the new sanctions into law along with measures against Russia and North Korea.

Iran had already said it would complain to the body that oversees the 2015 deal – under which it accepted curbs on its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief – about the measures passed in Congress last week in response to a missile development program and human rights abuses.

“In our view the nuclear deal has been violated and we will show an appropriate and proportional reaction to this issue,” Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in an interview with state TV, according to the ISNA news agency.

While Russia has reacted to the sanctions by ejecting U.S. embassy staff, Iran has no diplomatic relations or direct trade links with the United States so its options are limited. Araqchi said Tehran’s response would be “intelligent”.

“The main goal of America in approving these sanctions against Iran is to destroy the nuclear deal and we will show a very intelligent reaction to this action,” Araqchi said.

“We are definitely not going to act in a way that get us entangled in the politics of the American government and Trump.”

The new U.S. sanctions, signed a day before Iranian President Hassan Rouhani takes part in a ceremony before being sworn in for a second term, are likely to embolden his hardline critics who say the nuclear deal was a form of capitulation.

The United States is one of six countries to sign up to the deal with Iran, and the others – Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany – have said they see it as a success in easing concerns that Iran might be trying to develop nuclear weapons.

The deal has also meant European countries flocking back to invest in oil-rich Iran, with France’s Total agreeing to develop a new phase of the South Pars gas field, the world’s largest.

Araqchi said the Europeans would not allow Trump to destroy the nuclear deal.

“What Total did and the contract that was signed between this company and Iran sent a message from Europe to the Americans that whatever the conditions they will continue their economic relations with Iran,” he said.

In a separate announcement, Tehran confirmed that Rouhani would keep on two important ministers for his second term: Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, who is largely credited for closing the Total deal, and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s lead negotiator in the nuclear agreement.

(Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh; Writing by Robin Pomeroy; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Russia takes over U.S. compound in Moscow in retaliation over sanctions

Russia takes over U.S. compound in Moscow in retaliation over sanctions

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian authorities on Wednesday took over a summer-house compound in Moscow leased by the U.S. embassy, five days after the Kremlin ordered Washington to slash its diplomatic presence in Russia.

In retaliation for new U.S. sanctions, President Vladimir Putin has ordered the United States to cut around 60 percent of its diplomatic staff in Russia by Sept. 1, and said Moscow would seize a dacha country villa used by U.S. embassy staff and a warehouse.

U.S. employees cleared out the dacha on Tuesday and a Reuters journalist who visited the property on Wednesday saw a large metal padlock securing the front gate.

The one-storey building and courtyard, previously used by diplomatic staff at weekends and to host embassy parties, was empty and cleared of barbecue equipment and garden furniture.

Two policemen in a car in front of the main entrance said they had been instructed to guard the property and did not expect any visits from U.S. or Russian officials.

“I don’t know when this situation will change,” one of the policemen said.

Maria Olson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy, had no immediate comment when contacted by Reuters. She was quoted by Russia’s Interfax news agency as saying the embassy had retrieved all its possessions from the villa, and from the warehouse.

Putin said on Sunday Russia had ordered the United States to cut 755 of its 1,200 diplomatic staff in its embassy and consular operations, though many of those let go will be Russian citizens, with the United States allowed to choose who leaves.

The ultimatum issued by the Russian leader is a display to voters at home that he is prepared to stand up to Washington – but is also carefully calibrated to avoid directly affecting the U.S. investment he needs, or burning his bridges with U.S. President Donald Trump.

One local Russian employee at the embassy, who declined to be named when speaking to the media, said staff were still in the dark about their future employment.

“They say they will have to cut a lot of jobs – not just diplomats and technical staff, but also in the ancillary services, including drivers, janitors and cooks,” he said. “I hope I won’t be in trouble, but who knows.”

(Reporting by Jack Stubbs and Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

EU says mulling ‘range of actions’ on Venezuela but sanctions unlikely now

FILE PHOTO: Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro talks to the media during a news conference at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, June 22, 2017. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo

By Robert-Jan Bartunek and Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union is considering a “whole range of actions” in response to rising tensions in Venezuela, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday after the head of the bloc’s parliament called for targeted sanctions against President Nicolas Maduro.

Venezuela jailed two leading Maduro critics on Tuesday in a fresh blow to the opposition after deadly protests erupted around an election last Sunday, prompting the United States to impose sanctions on the leftist president.

Washington and the EU tend to coordinate their sanctions but the bloc has been divided over how to respond. Spain has been the most vocal in advocating sanctions, while others have so far mostly been cautious.

The European Parliament head, Antonio Tajani, joined the small choir calling to punish Maduro.

In a letter Tajani said that following the “unjustified arrests” of opposition leaders Antonio Ledezma and Leopoldo Lopez, he would like to consider “freezing assets and imposing travel ban to the EU to the members of the Venezuelan government including its President, Nicolas Maduro and its entourage”.

Since the bloc needs unanimity to introduce sanctions, diplomats in Brussels said that did not seem imminent.

Catherine Ray, a spokeswoman for the EU’s executive Commission in Brussels, told a news briefing:

“Consultations with member states are ongoing to ensure an appropriate and coordinated response by the EU. Obviously the whole range of actions is (being) discussed.”

Diplomats explained the bloc was working on joint declaration on Venezuela, where clashes last Sunday marred the election of a new political body with sweeping powers to strengthen the hand of the leftist government.

The EU has suggested it might not recognize the result of the voting.

The diplomats said the declaration would threaten Maduro with more “measures” it can take against what Tajani described as a country “falling into dictatorship”, but would not mention sanctions specifically.

On Monday, the United States government slapped sanctions on Maduro, freezing his assets subject to U.S. jurisdiction, and barring Americans from doing business with him.

(Editing by Pritha Sarkar)