Tag Archives: Tension

U.S. plan to move Israel embassy sign of ‘failure’, Iran’s leader says

BEIRUT (Reuters) – U.S. plans to move its Israel embassy to Jerusalem are a sign of incompetence and failure, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to announce that the United States recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and will move its embassy there, breaking with longtime U.S. policy and potentially stirring unrest.

“That they claim they want to announce Quds as the capital of occupied Palestine is because of their incompetence and failure,” Khamenei said, using the Arabic name for Jerusalem, according to his official website.

He made the remarks to a group of top Iranian officials, regional officials and religious figures attending a conference in Tehran.

Iran has long supported a number of Palestinian militant groups opposed to Israel.

“The issue of Palestine today is at the top of the political issues for Muslims and everyone is obligated to work and struggle for the freedom and salvation of the people of Palestine,” Khamenei said.

At the same gathering, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said, “Quds belongs to Islam, Muslims and the Palestinians, and there is no place for new adventurism by global oppressors,” according to Mizan, the news site for the Iranian judiciary.

Iran wants “peace and stability” in the region but will not tolerate the violation of Islamic holy sites, Rouhani said.

“No Muslim population, including Iran, will tolerate the violation of oppressors and Zionists against Islamic holy sites,” Rouhani said, according to Mizan.

The United States has not been able to reach its goals and seeks to destabilize the region, Khamenei said.

“On the issue of Palestine, (U.S.) hands are tied and they cannot advance their goals,” Khamenei said, saying the Palestinian people would be victorious.

“American government officials have said themselves that we have to start a war in the region to protect the security of the Zionist regime (Israel),” Khamenei said.

Certain rulers in the region are “dancing to America’s tune” Khamenei said, an indirect reference to Iran’s main regional rival Saudi Arabia.

“Whatever America wants, they’ll work against Islam to accomplish it,” he said.

(Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh, editing by Larry King)

Iran denies U.S. accusation of destabilizing the region

Iran denies U.S. accusation of destabilizing the region

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Iran’s foreign ministry denied on Wednesday U.S. accusations that the Islamic Republic is playing a destabilizing role in the region, state media reported.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had said on Tuesday that Iran is carrying out “destabilizing actions” by supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon, supplying missiles to Houthi forces in Yemen and sending weapons and militia fighters to Syria.

“Repeating the groundless accusations and lies will not help solve the large and strategic mistakes America has made in recent decades against Iran and the region,” foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi was quoted as saying by state media.

“While there’s time remaining, Mr. Tillerson should become more familiar with the realities and history of the region and American policies, and its effects which has led to serious instability and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent women, children and people.”

Tillerson also said during a visit to Brussels on Tuesday that Iran must comply with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal under which the Islamic Republic agreed to curbs on its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of a number of sanctions.

U.S. president Donald Trump dealt a blow to the pact in October by refusing to certify that Tehran was complying with the accord even though international inspectors said it was.

(Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Iran asks Muslims to disrupt Israeli ties in region: TV

Iran asks Muslims to disrupt Israeli ties in region: TV

ANKARA (Reuters) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged Muslims on Tuesday to disrupt what he called a plot by unnamed countries in the region to build ties with Israel.

He gave no more details on the states. But an Israeli cabinet minister said last month that his government had covert contacts with Saudi Arabia linked to their common concerns over Tehran.

“Some regional Islamic countries have shamelessly revealed their closeness to the Zionist regime (Israel),” Rouhani said in a speech broadcast live by state TV.

“I am sure that the Muslims around the world will not let this sinister plot bear fruit.”

Both Saudi Arabia and Israel view Iran as the main threat to the Middle East. Increased tension between Tehran and Riyadh has fueled speculation that shared interests may push Saudi Arabia and Israel to work together.

The Saudis have not publicly responded to the reports and Riyadh maintains that any relations with Israel hinge on Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war – territory Palestinians seek for a future state.

Regional rivalry between Sunni Muslim monarchy Saudi Arabia and Shi’ite Iran has overflowed into conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

A Saudi-led military coalition has also been fighting in the Arabian peninsula’s poorest country, Yemen, on behalf of a government based in the south against the Houthis, a Shi’ite movement backed by Iran.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Warnings mount over Trump’s Jerusalem declaration, Turkey sees ‘red line’

Warnings mount over Trump's Jerusalem declaration, Turkey sees 'red line'

By Ercan Gurses and Arshad Mohammed

ANKARA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Turkey threatened on Tuesday to cut diplomatic ties with Israel if U.S. President Donald Trump recognizes Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, joining a mounting chorus of voices saying the move would unleash turmoil.

Senior U.S. officials told Reuters some officers in the State Department were also deeply concerned and the European Union, the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia and the Arab League all warned any such declaration would have repercussions across the region.

A senior U.S. official told Reuters last week that Trump was likely to make the announcement on Wednesday, though his adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner said over the weekend no final decision had been made.

Such a decision would break with decades of U.S. policy that Jerusalem’s status must be decided in negotiations.

Israel captured Arab East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. It later annexed it, declaring the whole of the city as its capital. The declaration is not recognized internationally and Palestinians want Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

“Mr. Trump, Jerusalem is the red line of Muslims,” Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan told a parliamentary meeting of his ruling AK Party.

“This can go as far as severing Turkey’s ties with Israel. I am warning the United States not to take such a step which will deepen the problems in the region.”

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far declined to speculate on what Trump might say.

But Israel Katz, Israel’s minister of intelligence and transport, took to Twitter to reject Turkey’s threat and reiterate Israel’s position on the ancient city, which is one of a long list of stumbling blocks in years of failed peace talks with the Palestinians.

“We don’t take orders or accept threats from the president of Turkey,” he wrote.

“There would be no more righteous or proper an historical move now than recognizing Jerusalem, the Jewish people’s capital for the past 3000 years, as the capital of the State of Israel.”

“PLAYING WITH FIRE”

Two U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity that news of the plan to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital had kicked up resistance from the State Department’s Near Eastern Affairs bureau (NEA), which deals with the region.

“Senior (officials) in NEA and a number of ambassadors from the region expressed their deep concern about doing this,” said one official, saying that the concerns focused on “security”.

The State Department referred questions to the White House. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A fourth U.S. official said the consensus U.S. intelligence estimate on U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was that it would risk triggering a backlash against Israel, and also potentially against U.S. interests in the Middle East.

U.S. allies added their warnings.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, said on Tuesday that “any action that would undermine” peace efforts to create two separate states for the Israelis and the Palestinians “must absolutely be avoided”.

Speaking alongside U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Brussels, she said Jerusalem’s status would have to be agreed through negotiations.

The EU’s 28 foreign ministers will discuss the matter with Netanyahu in Brussels next Monday, to be followed by a similar meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas early next year, she added.

Nabil Shaath, adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told journalists gathered on the outskirts of Jerusalem near Bethlehem that any announcement along those lines would wreck peace efforts.

“If Mr. Trump really tomorrow or the day after tomorrow comes up and says that ‘I recognize united Jerusalem to be the capital of the state of Israel’ he has destroyed every chance that he will play to get the deal of the century that he has been talking about”.

The Arab League and Saudi Arabia repeated past warnings, following statements by France and Jordan in recent days.

The diplomats and leaders did not spell out what the consequences might be of any announcement. Past Israeli-Palestinian rifts have deteriorated into protests, attacks and fighting and further destabilised the region.

A fifth U.S. official said concerns of Palestinian and other Arab leaders about endorsing Israel’s claim to Jerusalem were being taken into account but no final decisions had been made.

Daniel Benjamin, a former U.S. counter terrorism official now at Dartmouth University, had a simple message: “This is playing with fire.

(Additional reporting by Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Daren Butler and Ezki Erkoyun in Turkey; Yara Bayoumy, Matt Spetalnick and John Walcott in Washington and Ingrid Melander in Paris; Writing by Arshad Mohammed and Andrew Heavens; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Alison Williams)

Israel to appoint new envoy to Jordan in bid to heal ties – source

Israel to appoint new envoy to Jordan in bid to heal ties - source

By Dan Williams

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel plans to appoint a new ambassador to Jordan in a bid to calm Amman’s anger over the current envoy’s handling of a shooting by an embassy guard in July that has strained relations, an Israeli diplomatic source said on Wednesday.

But Israel has shown no sign of meeting Jordan’s demand that it launch criminal proceedings against the guard, who killed two Jordanians in what he called self-defence. He was repatriated along with Ambassador Einat Schlein a day after the incident.

Jordanian authorities say they suspect the shooting was unprovoked but could not investigate the guard due to his diplomatic immunity. A televised welcome he and Schlein received from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outraged Amman.

Since Schlein’s departure on July 24 the embassy has been shuttered, casting a pall over Israel’s ties with Jordan, a U.S.-backed regional security partner and one of only two Arab countries that recognise Israel.

The 1994 peace deal with Israel is unpopular among many Jordanians, who often identify with the Palestinians.

An Israeli diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Schlein would not return.

“The Jordanians don’t want her back, and this has been a big obstacle in patching things up,” the source said. “We’re looking for a replacement.”

Emmanuel Nahshon, spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, said: “We are working on a solution that will bring the relations back on track.”

Israel says the guard opened fire after being attacked and lightly wounded by a workman, killing him and a Jordanian bystander. Israeli officials have said they were looking into the possibility of compensating the family of the second man.

They say it is highly unlikely Israel would prosecute the guard, as demanded by Jordan. His prospects of continued work in Israeli diplomatic security abroad were in doubt, however, after a Jordanian newspaper published his name and photograph.

Israel’s consulates in Turkey have been handling Jordanian applications for Israeli visas since the incident.

(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Gareth Jones and Ken Ferris)

North Korea calls terror relisting ‘serious provocation’ by Trump: state media

North Korea calls terror relisting 'serious provocation' by Trump: state media

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea denounced on Wednesday U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to relist it as a state sponsor of terrorism, calling it a “serious provocation and violent infringement”, North Korean state media reported.

Trump put North Korea back on a list of state sponsors of terrorism on Monday, a designation that allows the United States to impose more sanctions and risks inflaming tension over North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs.

In North Korea’s first reaction to the designation, a spokesman for the foreign ministry denied in an interview with the state media outlet KCNA, that his government engaged in any terrorism.

He called the state sponsor of terrorism label “just a tool for American style authoritarianism that can be attached or removed at any time in accordance with its interests”.

The U.S. designation only made North Korea more committed to retaining its nuclear arsenal, the official said.

“As long as the U.S. continues with its anti-DPRK hostile policy, our deterrence will be further strengthened,” he said, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“The U.S. will be held entirely accountable for all the consequences to be entailed by its impudent provocation to the DPRK.”

The designation came a week after Trump returned from a 12-day, five-nation trip to Asia in which he made containing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions a centerpiece of his discussions.

Announcing the designation, Trump told reporters at the White House: “In addition to threatening the world by nuclear devastation, North Korea has repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism, including assassinations on foreign soil.”

(Reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Erdogan says Turkey pulls troops out of NATO exercise, Stoltenberg apologizes

Erdogan says Turkey pulls troops out of NATO exercise, Stoltenberg apologizes

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey is pulling 40 soldiers out of a NATO exercise in Norway, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, after his name was included in a list of enemies on a poster at the drill, an incident that drew an apology from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Turkey has the second-largest army in the alliance and borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran, giving it great strategic importance for NATO. But the relationship has become fractious as Ankara drifts away from the alliance and the European Union, alarming the West.

Erdogan said an “enemy poster”, featuring his name on one side and a picture of modern Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, on the other, was unfurled at the training exercise in Norway, prompting a decision by Turkey’s military chief and European Union minister to pull the troops out.

“They said they had decided to pull our troops out and will do so, so we told them to not stop and go ahead … take our 40 soldiers out of there,” Erdogan told members of his ruling AK Party in Ankara.

Commenting on the incident at NATO’s Joint Warfare Centre in Stavanger, Norway, Stoltenberg said: “I apologize for the offense that has been caused.”

“The incidents were the result of an individual’s actions and do not reflect the views of NATO,” he said in a written statement.

The individual involved, a civilian contractor seconded by Norway and not a NATO employee, was immediately removed from the exercise, Stoltenberg said. It would be up to the Norwegian authorities to decide on any disciplinary action, he said.

“Turkey is a valued NATO Ally, which makes important contributions to Allied security, Stoltenberg added.

The Norwegian ministry of defense and the joint war center command both declined to comment.

(Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels and Terje Solsvik in Oslo; Writing by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Daren Butler, Larry King)

Mattis, in Seoul, says U.S. can’t accept nuclear North Korea

Mattis, in Seoul, says U.S. can't accept nuclear North Korea

By Phil Stewart

SEOUL (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Saturday that he could not imagine United States ever accepting a nuclear North Korea, warning that its rapidly advancing nuclear and missile programs would undermine, not strengthen, its security.

Mattis has been at pains during his week-long trip to Asia to stress that diplomacy is America’s preferred course, a message he returned to after top-level military talks in Seoul on Saturday and at the tense border area with North Korea on Friday.

Still, he warned Pyongyang that its military was no match for the U.S.-South Korean alliance, and that diplomacy was most effective “when backed by credible military force.”

“Make no mistake – any attack on the United States, or our allies, will be defeated. And any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is both effective and overwhelming,” Mattis said.

Mattis’s South Korean counterpart, Defense Minister Song Young-moo, dismissed the idea of deploying tactical nuclear weapons to the peninsula as a response to the North’s advances.

But the U.S.-Korean alliance had the ability to respond, even in the event of a nuclear attack from the North, Song added.

Tension between North Korea and the United States has been building after a series of nuclear and missile tests by Pyongyang and bellicose verbal exchanges between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump.

The CIA has said North Korea could be only months away from developing the ability to hit the United States with nuclear weapons, a scenario Trump has vowed to prevent.

Mattis, too, said Kim’s behavior had left no room to imagine accepting Pyongyang’s nuclear status.

“I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States can accept North Korea as a nuclear power,” Mattis told a news conference.

Trump – who has threatened to destroy the North if necessary – leaves on his first trip as president to Asia next week, including a stop in South Korea to meet President Moon Jae-in.

Moon, after talks with Mattis on Friday, said the “aggressive deployment” of U.S. strategic assets in the region, which have included overflights by U.S. bombers, had been effective in deterring the North Korean threat.

DENUCLEARIZE?

U.S. intelligence experts say Pyongyang believes it needs the nuclear weapons to ensure its survival and have been skeptical about diplomatic efforts, focusing on sanctions, to get Pyongyang to denuclearize.

Mattis suggested, however, that Pyongyang needed to understand that its weapons programs would not strengthen its defenses. The North says it wants a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the United States.

“If it remains on its current path of ballistic missiles and atomic bombs, it will be counter-productive,” Mattis said, adding North Korea would be “reducing its security.”

Still, any attempt to force the North to denuclearize could have devastating consequences, thanks in part to the large amount of artillery trained on Seoul.

During Mattis’ trip to the inter-Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on Friday, he was briefed on the posture of North Korean artillery.

Defense Minister Song suggested that U.S. and South Korean missile defenses simply could not stop all of the weapons trained on the South.

“Defending against this many LRAs (long-range artillery) is infeasible in my opinion,” Song told Mattis at the DMZ, citing a need for strategies to “offensively neutralize” the artillery in the event of a conflict.

Mattis replied: “Understood.”

Still, Mattis reaffirmed to reporters in South Korea that military options do exist to deal with the North Korean threat that spare the South’s capital, Seoul. Mattis, who has made such assurances in the past, did not disclose what those options were.

(Additional reporting by James Pearson in Seoul; Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Russia, digesting U.S. diplomatic retaliation, pledges ‘harsh’ response

The entrance to the building of the Consulate General of Russia is shown in San Francisco, California, U.S., August 31, 2017. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

By Andrew Osborn

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Friday it would respond harshly to any U.S. measures designed to hurt it, a day after the United States told Moscow to close its San Francisco consulate and buildings in Washington and New York.

The warning, from Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, came as Russia said it was weighing a response to the U.S. move that will force it to shutter two trade missions in the United States as well as the San Francisco consulate by Sept. 2.

“We’ll react as soon as we finish our analysis,” Lavrov told students in Moscow. “We will respond harshly to things that damage us.”

Separately, a top Kremlin aide complained the U.S. demarche pushed bilateral ties further into a blind alley and fuelled a spiral of tit-for-tat retaliatory measures.

U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, saying he wanted to improve U.S.-Russia ties which were at a post-Cold War low. But since then, ties have frayed further after U.S. intelligence officials said Russia had meddled in the presidential election, something Moscow denies.

Trump, himself battling allegations his associates colluded with Russia, grudgingly signed new sanctions on Moscow into law this month which had been drawn up by Congress.

When it became clear those measures would become law, Moscow ordered the United States to cut its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia by more than half, to 455 people.

Lavrov hinted on Friday that Russia might look at ordering further reductions in U.S. embassy staff, suggesting Moscow had been generous last time by allowing Washington to keep “more than 150” extra people.

He said Russia had cut the U.S. numbers to tally with the number of Russian diplomats in the United States, but that Moscow had generously included more than 150 Russian staff who work at Russia’s representation office at the United Nations.

Lavrov said Moscow still hoped for better relations and blamed Trump’s political foes for the deteriorating situation.

“I want to say that this whole story with exchanging tit-for-tat sanctions was not started by us,” Lavrov said.

“It was started by the Obama administration to undermine U.S.-Russia relations and to not allow Trump to advance constructive ideas or fulfil his pre-election pledges.”

Barack Obama, then outgoing president, expelled 35 suspected Russian spies in December and seized two Russian diplomatic compounds. President Vladimir Putin paused before responding, saying he would wait to see how Trump handled Russia.

“We thought this administration could exercise common sense, but unfortunately the Russophobes in Congress are not allowing it to,” said Lavrov, who complained that the United States had only given Moscow 48 hours to comply with its latest demands.

(Additional reporting by Denis Pinchuk; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

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)