https://dailycaller.com/2019/06/21/tucke...JYjiOGaCmVGThPk

Trump Confronts Iran—Without Allies, a Defense Secretary, or a Coherent Policy
... The crisis comes at a moment when relations between the US and its traditional allies are under strain. Trump has repeatedly bashed multilateral institutions such as NATO and has criticized European countries for not paying their fair share to support the alliance. The Europeans resent Trump’s unilateral decision to abandon the nuclear deal and, more recently, have felt economic pain from the administration’s efforts to reduce Iranian oil exports to zero. Iran, experts say, is trying to take advantage of the situation to further drive a wedge between Trump and European leaders. ...

... No policy consensus has emerged from the Trump’s ramshackle team, which has not included a permanent Defense secretary for more than 170 days. In that vacuum, uniformed military officers have spearheaded the administration’s Iran work, alongside Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton, who both argued repeatedly before joining the administration for the possibility of a first strike against Iran. Just this week, Bolton told the Washington Free Beacon that Iran “would be making a big mistake if they doubted the president’s resolve on this.” ...

... Even after Trump walked away from the nuclear deal and ratcheted up sanctions, the administration has continued to insist that Iran uphold its end of the bargain. When Iran announced recently that it would increase its uranium stockpiles above the limits set forth in the Obama-era agreement, Pompeo spokesperson Morgan Ortagus told reporters that the United States wanted Iran to “abide by their commitments to the international community.”

“It sort of reminds me of someone divorcing their spouse and then going back to the ex-spouse and saying, ‘You can’t be unfaithful to me. You have to uphold your commitments,'” Ariane Tabatabai, an associate political scientist at the RAND Corporation and an Iran researcher at Columbia University, said. “It’s difficult to do that when you left.”

US allies are similarly skeptical. “Every single European government believes that the increased threat we’re seeing from Iran now is a reaction to the United States leaving the Iran nuclear agreement and trying to force Iranian capitulation on other issues,” Kori Schake, a Pentagon official under Obama, told the New York Times. “They believe that the US is the provocateur and they worry that the US is reacting so stridently to predictable Iranian actions in order to provide a pretext for a US attack on Iran.” ...

What happens next is anyone’s guess, including, it seems, Trump’s.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/201...TROxPvvhUqCeHM0

Dem Iran geht es GUUUT.
Inflation liegt NUR bei 37%.

Peter Daou@peterdaou
I got into politics to oppose a Republican president who was concocting excuses to make war in the Middle East.
Here I am nearly two decades later with another Republican president concocting excuses to make war in the Middle East.
And JohnBolton is behind both.
9:09 AM - 20 Jun 2019

Contradicting Trump, Top Putin Adviser Says U.S. Drone Downed in Iranian Airspace
At first-ever trilateral meeting in Jerusalem, National Security Adviser Bolton says U.S. ready for Iran to engage in 'real negotiations'

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/at-i...-iran-1.7408293

Ist das jetzt schon Größenwahn?

https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/iran-usa-175.html

Der iranische Präsident Hassan Rouhani hatte die neuen Strafmaßnahmen gegen hochrangige Vertreter seines Landes am Morgen als unverschämt bezeichnet. Er sprach von einem "Zeichen geistiger Behinderung".


Der Iran erneuerte allerdings seine Drohung, sich weiter aus dem Vertrag zurückzuziehen. Man habe genug von der "Unverschämtheit" der Europäer, die ihn zur Einhaltung des Vereinbarung drängten, ohne ihren Teil zu erfüllen, erklärte der Vorsitzende von Irans Nationalem Sicherheitsrats. Ab Donnerstag wird der Iran voraussichtlich die im Abkommen vereinbarte Menge niedrig angereicherten Urans überschreiten.

Die USA wird den Iran nie besetzen können, aber sie können ihn zweifelsohne ins frühe Mittelalter bomben. Es ist nicht besonders weise, einen Narzisten wie Trump als geistig behindert zu bezeichnen, gleichzeitig den Europäern Unverschämtheit vorzuwerfen und bekannt zu geben, dass man zielstrebig auf eine A-Bombe hinarbeitet. Vor allem nicht, wenn das gerade noch die Kräfte sind, die sich gegen die Falken in der USA, Israel und auch Europa positionieren.
Speziell Rohani und Chamenei werden einen Krieg mit der USA nur schwerlich überleben. Was rauchen die, oder besser gesagt, wo haben die das Koks her?

Zitat von ghassan im Beitrag #331

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Ist das jetzt schon Größenwahn?

https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/iran-usa-175.html

Der iranische Präsident Hassan Rouhani hatte die neuen Strafmaßnahmen gegen hochrangige Vertreter seines Landes am Morgen als unverschämt bezeichnet. Er sprach von einem "Zeichen geistiger Behinderung".


Der Iran erneuerte allerdings seine Drohung, sich weiter aus dem Vertrag zurückzuziehen. Man habe genug von der "Unverschämtheit" der Europäer, die ihn zur Einhaltung des Vereinbarung drängten, ohne ihren Teil zu erfüllen, erklärte der Vorsitzende von Irans Nationalem Sicherheitsrats. Ab Donnerstag wird der Iran voraussichtlich die im Abkommen vereinbarte Menge niedrig angereicherten Urans überschreiten.

Die USA wird den Iran nie besetzen können, aber sie können ihn zweifelsohne ins frühe Mittelalter bomben. Es ist nicht besonders weise, einen Narzisten wie Trump als geistig behindert zu bezeichnen, gleichzeitig den Europäern Unverschämtheit vorzuwerfen und bekannt zu geben, dass man zielstrebig auf eine A-Bombe hinarbeitet. Vor allem nicht, wenn das gerade noch die Kräfte sind, die sich gegen die Falken in der USA, Israel und auch Europa positionieren.
Speziell Rohani und Chamenei werden einen Krieg mit der USA nur schwerlich überleben. Was rauchen die, oder besser gesagt, wo haben die das Koks her?

---

Trump casually threatens 'obliteration' of Iran after its leader calls him 'idiotic
'Trump's response to personal insults from a foreign leader is to threaten a massive war.

Trump threatened Iran with "obliteration" hours after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called Trump "mentally crippled" and insulted Trump's foreign policy as "idiotic."

Rather than address the nation from a stately location such as the Rose Garden or Oval Office, Trump unleashed his violent tirade against Iran on Twitter.
"Iran leadership doesn't understand the words 'nice' or 'compassion,' they never have," Trump tweeted. "Sadly, the thing they do understand is Strength and Power, and the USA is by far the most powerful Military Force in the world, with 1.5 Trillion Dollars invested over the last two years alone."

"Iran's very ignorant and insulting statement, put out today, only shows that they do not understand reality," Trump went on. "Any attack by Iran on anything American will be met with great and overwhelming force. In some areas, overwhelming will mean obliteration. No more John Kerry & Obama!"
https://shareblue.com/trump-threatens-obliterate-iran/

Aufhebenswert. Denn darauf wird man in Zukunft sicherlich noch mal zurueckkommen.

Trump on possible war with Iran: 'I don't need exit strategies'
President Trump said Tuesday the U.S. is "not going to need an exit strategy" if war broke out with Iran.

“You’re not going to need an exit strategy," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, prompting laughter. "I don’t need exit strategies."
https://thehill.com/homenews/administrat...exit-strategies

Auch das ist aufhebenswert.

Zitat von Willie im Beitrag #334

---

Trump on possible war with Iran: 'I don't need exit strategies'
President Trump said Tuesday the U.S. is "not going to need an exit strategy" if war broke out with Iran.

“You’re not going to need an exit strategy," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, prompting laughter. "I don’t need exit strategies."
https://thehill.com/homenews/administrat...exit-strategies

Auch das ist aufhebenswert.

---

Zitat von Leto_II. im Beitrag #335

---

Zitat von Willie im Beitrag #334

---

Trump on possible war with Iran: 'I don't need exit strategies'
President Trump said Tuesday the U.S. is "not going to need an exit strategy" if war broke out with Iran.

“You’re not going to need an exit strategy," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, prompting laughter. "I don’t need exit strategies."
https://thehill.com/homenews/administrat...exit-strategies

Auch das ist aufhebenswert.

---

Symmetrisch hat er Recht, asymmetrisch könnte es interessant werden, bei Übertreibung aber mit fatalen Folgen für den Iran.

---

Ein guter Artikel der "Financial Times", der das Wesentliche zusammenfaßt:

<<Tehran confident that resisting Trump is working>>

Iranian leaders see little downside from standing up to US
....

“Recent tensions have made the Islamic republic more determined not to retreat under pressure,” said Saeed Laylaz, a reform-minded analyst of Iran’s political economy. “This strategy has worked very well so far and Iran has realised that the US’s approach toward Iran is more bark than bite.”

Mr Trump has swung back and forth between emollient offers of negotiations and belligerent rhetoric and sanctions. Asked if a war was brewing on Wednesday, Mr Trump told Fox Business: “I hope we don’t but we’re in a very strong position if something should happen . . . If something would happen, it wouldn’t last very long.”

Notwithstanding uncertainty over the US president’s intentions, one regime insider in Iran said the country had correctly calibrated its response. “We behave like a child who is unfairly beaten . . . but is able to jump up and slap the US in the face and immediately go back to the victim position,” said the insider.

The shooting of the drone and Mr Trump’s aborted air strike were the most perilous moments since the US president last year pulled out of a nuclear deal Tehran signed with world powers in 2015, ushering in a new era of tensions. Iran said it decided not to hit another aircraft which had also allegedly entered Iranian airspace in a bid not to kill 35 US service members onboard.

In the past six weeks the US has blamed Iran for two sets of attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, charges Tehran denies. This week Mr Trump signed an executive order to impose sanctions on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, and US officials said foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif would be the next target.

But there are few signs of panic in Tehran.The value of the rial currency has remained relatively stable this year and businesses have adjusted to higher sanctions-related costs. Politicians appear more united against Mr Trump than they have been since he arrived in the White House. And city residents are not overly worried about the threat of war.

Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that any public pressure to open negotiations with the US had lessened due to the White House’s “confused” approach toward Iran. “They themselves proved [to Iranians] that they talk nonsense,” said Mr Rouhani. “One day they say they want to negotiate unconditionally . . . and another day they impose sanctions.”

Mr Rouhani said Mr Trump was suffering from a “mental disorder”, recalling Mr Khamenei’s comment amid nuclear tensions in 2008 that George W Bush and his advisers were acting as if they were “mentally ill”. Mr Khamenei did not address the sanctions imposed on him in a public speech on Wednesday.

But while some have suggested Mr Trump is bluffing, Iranian leaders are not assuming his military threats are empty. Instead they are seeking to show they do not fear a conflict with the US, despite the huge imbalance in the size of their militaries — Iran’s annual defence budget of $20bn is just 3 per cent of the US’s.

“Any war against Iran would have massive consequences. Iran will level to the ground countries around the Persian Gulf,” said Mr Laylaz, referring to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, two close US allies.

The regime insider said: “Our message in recent weeks to the US and its regional allies was clear: our finger is on the button. If you hit three targets in Iran, we will respond by hitting three targets in Dubai.”

In response to Mr Trump’s offer of talks, Iran has said it will only come to the negotiating table if the US rejoins the nuclear agreement. But Tehran is now reducing its own level of commitment to the deal and is set to breach limits on the size of its enriched uranium stockpile on Thursday.

The latest anti-Iran sanctions have fuelled suspicions among both hardliners and reformists that Mr Trump would turn any negotiations into a propaganda opportunity rather than seek a real deal.

Iran’s leaders believe that if they rein in the regional policies that rile Washington, the Trump administration would be emboldened to push for regime change in Tehran in alliance with Israel and Saudi Arabia, say analysts."

https://www.ft.com/content/9eaedf64-9804...fb-30c211dcd229

Indo, habe Dich schon vor etlichen Tagen erwartet.

Zitat von Indo_HS im Beitrag #337

---

Ein guter Artikel der "Financial Times", der das Wesentliche zusammenfaßt:

<<Tehran confident that resisting Trump is working>>

Iranian leaders see little downside from standing up to US
....

“Recent tensions have made the Islamic republic more determined not to retreat under pressure,” said Saeed Laylaz, a reform-minded analyst of Iran’s political economy. “This strategy has worked very well so far and Iran has realised that the US’s approach toward Iran is more bark than bite.”

Mr Trump has swung back and forth between emollient offers of negotiations and belligerent rhetoric and sanctions. Asked if a war was brewing on Wednesday, Mr Trump told Fox Business: “I hope we don’t but we’re in a very strong position if something should happen . . . If something would happen, it wouldn’t last very long.”

Notwithstanding uncertainty over the US president’s intentions, one regime insider in Iran said the country had correctly calibrated its response. “We behave like a child who is unfairly beaten . . . but is able to jump up and slap the US in the face and immediately go back to the victim position,” said the insider.

The shooting of the drone and Mr Trump’s aborted air strike were the most perilous moments since the US president last year pulled out of a nuclear deal Tehran signed with world powers in 2015, ushering in a new era of tensions. Iran said it decided not to hit another aircraft which had also allegedly entered Iranian airspace in a bid not to kill 35 US service members onboard.

In the past six weeks the US has blamed Iran for two sets of attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, charges Tehran denies. This week Mr Trump signed an executive order to impose sanctions on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, and US officials said foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif would be the next target.

But there are few signs of panic in Tehran.The value of the rial currency has remained relatively stable this year and businesses have adjusted to higher sanctions-related costs. Politicians appear more united against Mr Trump than they have been since he arrived in the White House. And city residents are not overly worried about the threat of war.

Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that any public pressure to open negotiations with the US had lessened due to the White House’s “confused” approach toward Iran. “They themselves proved [to Iranians] that they talk nonsense,” said Mr Rouhani. “One day they say they want to negotiate unconditionally . . . and another day they impose sanctions.”

Mr Rouhani said Mr Trump was suffering from a “mental disorder”, recalling Mr Khamenei’s comment amid nuclear tensions in 2008 that George W Bush and his advisers were acting as if they were “mentally ill”. Mr Khamenei did not address the sanctions imposed on him in a public speech on Wednesday.

But while some have suggested Mr Trump is bluffing, Iranian leaders are not assuming his military threats are empty. Instead they are seeking to show they do not fear a conflict with the US, despite the huge imbalance in the size of their militaries — Iran’s annual defence budget of $20bn is just 3 per cent of the US’s.

“Any war against Iran would have massive consequences. Iran will level to the ground countries around the Persian Gulf,” said Mr Laylaz, referring to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, two close US allies.

The regime insider said: “Our message in recent weeks to the US and its regional allies was clear: our finger is on the button. If you hit three targets in Iran, we will respond by hitting three targets in Dubai.”

In response to Mr Trump’s offer of talks, Iran has said it will only come to the negotiating table if the US rejoins the nuclear agreement. But Tehran is now reducing its own level of commitment to the deal and is set to breach limits on the size of its enriched uranium stockpile on Thursday.

The latest anti-Iran sanctions have fuelled suspicions among both hardliners and reformists that Mr Trump would turn any negotiations into a propaganda opportunity rather than seek a real deal.

Iran’s leaders believe that if they rein in the regional policies that rile Washington, the Trump administration would be emboldened to push for regime change in Tehran in alliance with Israel and Saudi Arabia, say analysts."

https://www.ft.com/content/9eaedf64-9804...fb-30c211dcd229

---

Seth Abramson@SethAbramson
THE PRE-ELECTION GRAND BARGAIN
Trump drops Russia sanctions. Putin dumps Iran, joins US-Saudi-UAE-Egypt anti-ISIS axis, joins US to build Iran-deterring Saudi-UAE-Egypt nuclear programs. Saudi-UAE-Egypt axis backs Israel in Palestinian peace deal, gets Israeli tech.

NOTE/ The Grand Bargain isn't a theory, it's reported fact—with all sourcing coming from major media in the US, the UK, Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. I'm sorry for those who haven't read the stories confirming the Bargain—they exist with or without you reading them.

NOTE2/ Yes—I didn't list the US getting anything in the Bargain.

To TRUMPS: Billions in bribes, laundered money, future deals.
To US: War with Iran; new Russian aggression in Europe; possible Mideast nuclear war by '35; an end to two-state solution/chance of another Arab Spring.
....
2:36 PM - 25 Jun 2019


Der gesamte Umfang nachlesenwert hier:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1143634085677600769.html

Proof of Conspiracy: How Trump's International Collusion Is Threatening American Democracy
Seth Abramson shows how Trump has conspired and colluded with leaders from Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, from even before he won the presidency

In late 2015, convicted pedophile, international dealmaker, and cooperating witness in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation George Nader convened a secret meeting aboard a massive luxury yacht in the Red Sea. Nader pitched Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Emirati Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and other Middle Eastern leaders a plan for a new pro-U.S., pro-Israel alliance of Arab nations that would fundamentally alter the geopolitics of the Middle East while marginalizing Iran, Qatar, and Turkey. To succeed, the plan would need a highly placed American politician willing to drop sanctions on Russia so that Vladimir Putin would in turn agree to end his support for Iran. They agreed the perfect American partner was Donald Trump, who had benefited immensely from his Saudi, Emirati, and Russian dealings for many years, and who, in 2015, became the only U.S. presidential candidate to argue for a unilateral end to Russian sanctions and a far more hostile approach to Iran.

So begins New York Times bestselling author Seth Abramson’s explosive new book Proof of Conspiracy: How Trump's International Collusion Threatens American Democracy, a story of international intrigue whose massive cast of characters includes Israeli intelligence operatives, Russian oligarchs, Saudi death squads, American mercenary companies, Trump’s innermost circle, and several members of the Trump family as well as Trump himself―all part of a clandestine multinational narrative that takes us from Washington, D.C. and Moscow to the Middle Eastern capitals of Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Jerusalem, Cairo, Tehran, and Doha. Proof of Conspiracy is a chilling and unforgettable depiction of the dangers America and the world now face.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/15179096...t=group_comment

‘Angry’ Rex Tillerson Says Jared Kushner Hijacked U.S. Foreign Policy
The former secretary of state accused the president’s son-in-law of setting up his own private State Department, according to a congressional transcript seen by The Daily Beast.

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson claims the State Department was kept in the dark about key U.S. foreign-policy decisions during his time in the Trump administration because the president’s son-in-law had effectively set up his own shadow operation.

Jared Kushner was privately working on strategic partnerships with foreign countries and meeting discreetly with world leaders outside the formal structures of the U.S. government, according to Tillerson, who told the House Foreign Affairs Committee behind closed doors last month that he was left “angry” by one situation in particular. Because Kushner at times went around Tillerson and his staff, the State Department was not able to efficiently manage U.S. diplomacy.

A transcript of the interview obtained by The Daily Beast covers his time working with President Trump and his views on how the administration approached its relationships with officials in countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Russia.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/rex-tiller...y-of-state-says

Trump says what happens in Putin meeting is 'none of your business'
Ahead of a planned meeting with Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Japan, President Donald Trump on Wednesday said what he talks about with the Russian president is "none of your business."
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-pu...ory?id=63967271

Not Even Trump Has Any Idea What His Iran Policy Is
The president canceled a strike because it was “not proportionate,” and then vowed “obliteration.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...hwgRigAD13HNEOk

Zitat von Nante im Beitrag #338

---

Indo, habe Dich schon vor etlichen Tagen erwartet.

---

<<Mohammed Dschawad zu Donald Trump: Die Vorstellung eines „kurzen Krieges mit dem Iran ist eine Illusion“>>

Epoch Times29. Juni 2019 Aktualisiert: 29. Juni 2019 14:19

Irans Außenminister hat die Aussagen von US-Präsident Trump zurückgewiesen, dass ein Krieg zwischen beiden Ländern "nicht lange dauern" würde.

"Die Vorstellung eines „kurzen Krieges mit dem Iran ist eine Illusion“, schrieb Sarif am Donnerstag im Kurzbotschaftendienst Twitter. Zudem betonte er, die Sanktionen gegen den Iran seien keine „Alternative zum Krieg, sie sind ein Krieg“ [...].
https://www.epochtimes.de/politik/welt/i...s-a2927187.html

Recht hat er, der gute Mann.

<<Zahlungssystem für Iran-Geschäfte läuft>>

29. Juni 2019

"Das europäische Zahlungssystem für den Handel mit dem Iran ist betriebsbereit"

Das teilte die EU gestern Abend mit. Die ersten Transaktionen auf der „Instex“ genannten Einrichtung würden bereits abgewickelt. Die Leitung hat der frühere Commerzbank-Manager Fischer. Sitz ist in Paris. Das System soll europäische Firmen vor US-Sanktionen schützen und damit das Atomabkommen retten. In einer ersten Phase werden humanitäre Güter in den Iran geliefert, später auch andere Produkte."
https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/eu-zahlun...news_id=1022301

Das genügt zwar noch nicht, ist aber ein erster positiver Schritt in die richtige Richtung.

<<Ermittlungen : Bislang kein Beweis für Verwicklung des Iran in Attacken auf Schiffe>>

"Nach den Angriffen auf vier Schiffe vor der Küste der Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate gibt es bislang keine Beweise für eine Verwicklung des Iran. Bei einer Vorstellung der bisherigen Ermittlungsergebnisse vor dem UN-Sicherheitsrat erklärten die Emirate, Saudi-Arabien und Norwegen am Donnerstag lediglich, die Sprengstoffangriffe seien vermutlich von einem “staatlichen Akteur” verübt worden. Die Attacken seien Teil einer “ausgeklügelten und koordinierten Aktion” gewesen, für die “bedeutsame operative Fähigkeiten” nötig gewesen seien."
https://www.24matins.de/topnews/pol/ermi...-schiffe-171065

<<Treffen in Wien: Fortschritte bei Rettung von Iran-Atomabkommen – aber kein Durchbruch>>

"Das Schicksal des einst als historisch gefeierten Atom-Abkommens mit dem Iran hängt am seidenen Faden. Noch laufen Rettungsversuche. Aber die Zeit wird knapp."
https://www.stern.de/politik/ausland/ira...source=standard

Es bleibt zu hoffen, dass dieses Abkommen doch noch gerettet werden kann. Die Wahrscheinlichkeit hierfür ist "dank" der dümmlich-aggressiven anti-iranischen Außenpolitik der gleichermaßen unerfahrenen wie völlig undiplomatischen Trump-Administration allerdings sehr gering.

Iran nuclear deal: Enriched uranium limit breached, IAEA confirms
Iran has breached the limit on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium set under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, a watchdog has confirmed.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said its inspectors had verified the 300kg (660lb) cap had been exceeded.

Iran stepped up production of enriched uranium, used to make reactor fuel but also potentially nuclear bombs, in May.

It said it was responding to sanctions reinstated by the US after President Donald Trump abandoned the deal.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-ea...5SnfN8kRQRtTja8

Trump Blew Up The Iran Nuclear Deal. Now He Wants Allies To Help Him Get An Iran Nuclear Deal.
But first he managed to insult and attack just about everyone at the G-20 summit who could help him defuse the tensions with Iran he created in the first place.

Having estranged allies with threats and false accusations, President Donald Trump now faces dealing with the latest crisis he has generated, Iran, without any allies at all.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-ira...hPqhK7Zc67equ9B