Will not hesitate to hit US, Israel targets if attacked: Iran

Agencies
August 23, 2018

London/Jerusalem, Aug 23: Iran warned on Wednesday it would hit U.S. and Israeli targets if it were attacked by the United States after President Donald Trump's security adviser said Washington would exert maximum pressure on Tehran going beyond economic sanctions.

A U.S.-Iranian war of words has escalated since Trump withdrew Washington from the world powers' nuclear deal with Iran in May, blasting it as flawed and reimposing sanctions to choke Iran's economy and force it to renegotiate or change direction.

The U.S. turnaround, which scrapped a wary detente between Iran and the United States after decades of hostility, has drawn defiance from Tehran despite renewed unrest over economic privations, and has unnerved other big powers where businesses have been debating whether to divest from Iran.

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton told Reuters the return of U.S. sanctions was having a strong effect on Iran's economy and popular opinion.

"There should not be any doubt that the United States wants this resolved peacefully, but we are fully prepared for any contingency that Iran creates," Bolton said during a visit to Israel, Iran's enemy in the Middle East.

U.S. sanctions dusted off this month targeted Iran's car industry, trade in gold and other precious metals, and purchases of U.S. dollars crucial to international financing and investment and trade relations. Farther-reaching sanctions are to follow in November on Iran's banking sector and oil exports.

European powers have been scrambling to ensure Iran secures enough economic benefits to persuade it to stay in the deal. This has proven difficult, with many European firms keen to avoid financial penalties by the Trump administration.

"We expect that Europeans will see, as businesses all over Europe are seeing, that the choice between doing business with Iran or doing business with the United States is very clear to them," Bolton said.

"So we will see what plays out in November. But (Trump) has made it very clear - his words - he wants maximum pressure on Iran, maximum pressure, and that is what is going on."

Asked at a news conference later whether the United States had discussed any plans with ally Israel on how to capitalise on economic protests in Iran and if these posed any tangible threat to the Tehran government, Bolton said:

"Just to be clear, regime change in Iran is not American policy. But what we want is massive change in the regime's behaviour ... We are going to do other things to put pressure on Iran as well, beyond economic sanctions." He did not elaborate.

"Price of war"

A senior Iranian cleric seen as close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told worshippers at Eid holiday prayers in Tehran: "The price of a war with Iran is very high for America.

"They know if they harm this country and this state in the slightest way the United States and its main ally in the region, the Zionist regime (Israel), would be targeted," Ahmad Khatami said.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have said it could strike Israeli cities with missiles if it were threatened. Iran also has proxies in the region including Lebanon's Hezbollah.

The Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday they would continue increasing Iran's defensive capabilities not surrender to U.S. pressure to scrap its ballistic missile programme.

Last week, Khamenei - who has the ultimate say on Iranian policy - said the United States would avoid outright conflict because of Iranian military might.

"There will be no war...We have never started a war and they will not confront Iran militarily," he said.

Trump's campaign to isolate Iran and cripple its economy has put the old adversaries back on a collision course that European signatories to the nuclear accord fear will raise the risk of a broader Middle East war.

Deal 'soft on Iran'

Under the 2015 deal, Iran curbed its contested uranium enrichment programme under U.N. monitoring and won an end to global sanctions in return.

Trump has condemned the deal as too soft on Tehran and would not stop it developing a nuclear bomb, though U.N. nuclear non-proliferation inspectors have repeatedly certified Iranian compliance with its terms.

Khatami, the prominent Iranian cleric, also said Trump's offer of talks was unacceptable as he was demanding Tehran give up its ballistic missile programme and scale back regional influence. Neither issue was covered by the 2015 agreement.

"Americans say you should accept what we say in the talks. So this is not negotiation, but dictatorship," Mizan news agency quoted Khatami as saying.

Trump has said Iran must stop meddling in wars in Syria and Yemen, part of a foreign policy supporting regional allies in conflict with proxies of U.S.-backed Gulf Arab kingdoms.

Tehran has not given an inch to Trump's pressure despite an economy beset by high unemployment and inflation and a rial currency that has lost half its value since April.

Thousands of Iranians have protested against price rises of some food items, a lack of jobs and state corruption. The protests over the cost of living have often turned into anti-government rallies.

"I think the effects, the economic effects certainly, are even stronger than we anticipated," Bolton said.

"But Iranian activity in the region has continued to be belligerent: what they are doing in Iraq, what they are doing in Syria, what they are doing with Hezbollah in Lebanon, what they are doing in Yemen, what they have threatened to do in the Strait of Hormuz."

The Strait is a strategic waterway for oil shipments which Iran's Revolutionary Guards have threatened to block in response to Trump administration calls to ban all Iranian oil exports.

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News Network
September 16,2024

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The Israeli regime is recruiting African asylum seekers to kill Palestinians in the Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in exchange for permanent residency status, according to a report.

The report, ran by the Israeli paper Haaretz on Sunday, revealed that the project is conducted in an organized manner, with the guidance of military establishment legal advisers.  

In Gaza, the death toll passes 41,200 with close to 100,000 more injured in almost a year since the Israeli regime forces launched their genocidal war. However, the continued violence is prompting some Jewish Israelis to leave the occupied Palestinian land.

To make up for the loss, Tel Aviv is offering the incentive of permanent residency status to asylum seekers who agree to join the Israeli regime forces ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Haaretz has learned that some people have expressed objections to the practice, arguing that it exploits people who have fled their countries due to war. However, according to those sources, these voices have been silenced.

“This is a very problematic matter,” one source was quoted as saying by Haaretz.

According to the report, there are currently some 30,000 African asylum seekers living in the occupied territories, most of them young men. Around 3,500 are Sudanese citizens with temporary status granted by the court because the regime has not processed and ruled on their applications.

Unnamed sources who spoke with Haaretz also revealed that while there were some inquiries about granting status to asylum seekers who assisted in the genocidal war in Gaza, none were actually given status.

Haaretz also learned that the Interior Ministry explored the possibility of drafting the children of asylum seekers, who were educated in schools in the occupied territories, into the Israeli military.

In the past, the regime allowed the children of foreign workers to serve in the military in exchange for granting status to their immediate family members.

African refugees, who came to the occupied territories seeking asylum, were previously kept in internment camps and deported without their own consent.

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News Network
September 25,2024

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court today closed proceedings against Karnataka High Court Judge Justice Vedavyasachar Srishananda, following his public apology for controversial comments made during court sessions. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, leading a five-judge bench, stated that the decision was made in the interest of justice and the dignity of the judiciary.

Justice Srishananda during a recent court hearing. Justice Srishananda, while addressing a landlord-tenant dispute, referred to a Muslim-majority area in Bengaluru as "Pakistan" and made a misogynistic comment involving a woman lawyer. His comments, which went viral on social media, prompted the Supreme Court to seek a report from the Karnataka High Court, which was submitted shortly after the incident.

"No one can call any part of territory of India as 'Pakistan'," Chief Justice Chandrachud said. "It is fundamentally against the territorial integrity of the nation. The answer to sunlight is more sunlight and not to suppress what happens in court. The answer is not to close it down."

The Supreme Court had taken up the case on its own and had sought a report from the Karnataka High Court over the controversial remarks. A five-judge bench led by CJI Chandrachud, along with Justices S Khanna, B R Gavai, S Kant, and H Roy, had on September 20 expressed the need for establishing clear guidelines for constitutional court judges regarding their remarks in court. 

"Casual observational may indicate personal biases especially when perceived to be directed at a certain gender or community. Thus one must be wary of making patriarchal or misogynistic comments. We express our serious concern about observations on a certain gender or a community and such observations are liable to be construed in a negative light. We hope and trust that the responsibilities entrusted to all stakeholders are discharged without bias and caution," CJI Chandrachud said today. 

The Supreme Court bench said that when social media plays an active role in monitoring and amplifying courtroom proceedings, there is an urgency to ensure judicial commentary aligns with the decorum expected from courts of law.

Videos of Justice Srishanananda were viral on social media.

In one video, he refers to a Muslim-dominated locality in Bengaluru as "Pakistan" and in another video he was seen making objectionable comments against a woman lawyer. In the second incident, Justice Srishanananda can be heard telling the woman lawyer that she seemed to know a lot about the "opposition party", so much so that she might be able to reveal the colour of their undergarments.

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News Network
September 20,2024

Starting in the 2025-26 academic year, private universities in Karnataka offering professional courses will no longer conduct separate entrance exams. This decision follows a directive from the state’s Higher Education Department, prompting private universities to form an association and agree to this significant change.

In a recent meeting with Higher Education Minister Dr. M. C. Sudhakar, representatives from 17 private universities confirmed their decision to discontinue individual entrance tests. Of the 27 private universities in the state, 17 offer professional courses, and they have collectively agreed to accept scores from existing national or state-level entrance exams.

“Some universities will consider JEE scores, others will rely on KCET, and a few are inclined towards COMEDK,” Dr. Sudhakar stated, leaving the choice of examination to the universities themselves. However, the department has also suggested that the universities consider a unified entrance test for admissions.

Looking ahead, Dr. Sudhakar hinted that the government may introduce a common entrance test for general degree courses at private universities as well. "As government colleges and universities currently don’t require entrance exams for general degree courses, we haven’t made any decisions on this yet," he explained.

The meeting also addressed concerns over the high fees charged by private universities. To regulate this, the universities were instructed to establish fee fixation committees, headed by retired judges, as required by law. These committees will be responsible for determining tuition fees. Additionally, the government will continue to regulate fees for 40% of seats in professional courses that are filled through KCET.

In an effort to bring greater uniformity among private institutions, the government is considering enacting a common law for all private universities, which would replace the individual acts currently governing each university. This would place all private universities under a single regulatory framework.

This move is expected to streamline the admissions process and create a more standardized system for both professional and general degree programs across Karnataka's private universities.

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