WarSclerotic

Source: Iran conducts new missile tests defying US sanctions

Tehran (AFP) – Iran conducted multiple ballistic missile tests Tuesday in what it said was a display of “deterrent power,” defying US sanctions imposed earlier this year aimed at disrupting its missile programme.

State media announced that short-, medium- and long-range precision guided missiles were fired from several sites to show the country’s “all-out readiness to confront threats” against its territorial integrity.

Pictures of the launches were broadcast and reports said the armaments used had ranges of 300 kilometres (190 miles), 500 km, 800 km and 2,000 km.

The United States hit Iran with fresh sanctions on its missile programme in January, 24 hours after separate sanctions related to Tehran’s nuclear activities had been lifted under a landmark deal with world powers.

The latest tests, during an exercise named “The Power of Velayat”, a reference to the religious doctrine of the Islamic republic’s leadership, were undertaken by the Revolutionary Guards and its Aerospace wing.

Sepah News, the Guards’ official media service, carried a statement confirming the tests, which come less than two weeks after elections in Iran delivered gains to politicians aligned with Hassan Rouhani, the country’s moderate president.

The Revolutionary Guards report to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, not Rouhani, and their influence dwarfs that of the army and other armed forces.

Ballistic missile tests have been seen as a means for Iran’s military to demonstrate that the nuclear deal will have no impact on its plans, which is says are for domestic defence only.

Major General Ali Jafari, the Guards’ top commander, and Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, spoke about the tests on television, with the latter downplaying the effect of US efforts to disrupt its activities.

“Our main enemies, the Americans, who mutter about plans, have activated new missile sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran and are seeking to weaken the country’s missile capability,” Hajizadeh said.

“The Guards and other armed forces are defenders of the revolution and the country will not pay a toll to anyone… and will stand against their excessive demands.”

Iran’s ballistic missile programme has been contentious since the nuclear deal with the United States and five other powers was struck in Vienna on July 14 last year.

– ‘Destabilising activities’ –

On October 11, Tehran conducted the first of two ballistic missile tests which angered Washington. State television weeks later aired unprecedented footage of underground missile storage bunkers.

A UN panel said in December that the tests breached previous resolutions aimed at stopping Tehran from developing missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

Iran has always denied seeking an atomic weapon and argues that its missiles would never be designed to, nor ever carry, the bomb.

The nuclear deal was heralded by moderates such as Rouhani, who staked his reputation on the negotiations, but hardliners in Tehran said it damaged national interests.

Announcing the new missile sanctions on January 17, one day after the nuclear deal was implemented, US President Barack Obama said “profound differences” with Tehran remained over its “destabilising activities”.

Five Iranians and a network of companies based in the United Arab Emirates and China were added to an American blacklist.

The White House had first threatened to impose the measures in December but withdrew them after Rouhani hit out at both their timing and intent. Missiles were not part of the nuclear agreement.

Asked before the missile sanctions were announced how Iran would react to fresh measures against it, Rouhani said: “Any action will be met by a reaction.”

Those measures came after four Iranian-Americans, including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, left Tehran following their release in a prisoner swap with the United States. The exchange took place on the same day the nuclear deal came into force.

Iran conducted ballistic missile tests across the country Despite American threats according to which ballistic missile threats will be met with a harsh response, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards launched today ballistic missiles in a number of sites across the country.

Mar 8, 2016, 2:14PM

Rachel Avraham

Source: Iran conducted ballistic missile test | JerusalemOnline.com

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards conducted ballistic missile tests in the framework of an exercise within the country, ISNA Iranian News Agency reported: “The experiment was designed to show the Islamic Republic of Iran’s deterrence power.”

“Missile fire demonstrates Iran’s capability to fend off any threat posed to the Islamic Republic’s sovereignty as a nation,” another message stated. The missiles were launched from several sites across the country.

EU, Turkey Agree To Keep Talking On Refugee Crisis, Will Reconvene Next Week

By Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 18:46 -0500

Source: EU, Turkey Agree To Keep Talking On Refugee Crisis, Will Reconvene Next Week | Zero Hedge

Update: Monday came and went, and here, courtesy of Bloomberg’s bullets, is what we got in terms of what amounts to a “draft of a draft”:

• Draft doesn’t refer to additional 3 billion euros for Turkey as had been requested
• EU leaders warmly welcomed additional proposals made by Turkey today to address migration issue
• Draft refers to agreement to work on basis of following principles:
  • to return all new irregular migrants crossing from Turkey to Greek islands with EU covering costs
  • to resettle, for every Syrian readmitted by Turkey from Greek islands, another Syrian from Turkey to EU
  • accelerate visa liberalization roadmap with view to lifting visa requirements for Turkish citizens by end June at latest
  • speed up disbursement of EU 3bln to ensure first projects funded before end March, and decide on additional funding for Refugee Facility for Syrians

Next pretend “D-Day”: March 18, the last day of the European Summit. Martin Selmayr, chief-of-staff to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, tweeted: “Deal. Breakthrough with Turkey.”

Yeah, sure.

*  *  *

On Monday, officials from the EU and Turkey are gathered in Brussels to do some talking about the refugee crisis that threatens to tear Europe apart at the seams. And make no mistake, “talk” is probably all they’ll do.

Last year, Europe and Turkey agreed on a so-called “joint action plan” which essentially amounted to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan extorting €3 billion from Brussels in exchange for a promise to curb people smuggling and stem the flow of migrants into Western Europe. As The Guardian notes, “several months on, the pact remains little more than a piece of paper.”

Although the check has been cut, it’s not entirely clear where the money went (surprise) and now that the effective closure of the Balkan route has created a severe bottleneck of refugees in Greece, Athens is very near to losing its mind.

As of Sunday, as many as 14,000 men, women, and children were stranded on Macedonia’s border which has been sealed and which migrant men have at various times tried to breach with homemade battering rams.

Now, Macedonia wants to extend the 19-mile, Orban-style razor wire fence to a 200-mile barrier complete with guards armed with tasers, a plan unveiled in Brussels over the weekend detailed.

Needless to say, Alexis Tsipras is at wit’s end.

First Brussels forced Athens to accept a third sovereign bailout that carried draconian terms and all but guaranteed the country will remain a debt serf of Berlin for the next five decades. Now, Austria has effectively conspired with the Balkan countries to close the route north to Germany leaving Greece on its own to handle the influx. “Europe is in the midst of a nervous crisis, primarily for reasons of political weakness,” said he said on Sunday.

(A man looks at the Greek island of Lesbos from the Turkish coastline)

“About 13,000-14,000 people are trapped in Idomeni, while another 6,000-7,000 are being housed in refugee camps around the region,” Al Jazeera reports, citing Apostolos Tzitzikostas, governor of Central Macedonia province.

“It’s a huge humanitarian crisis. I have asked the government to declare the area in a state of emergency,” he said during a visit to Idomeni on Saturday to distribute aid to the Red Cross and other non-governmental organisations.

For her part, the Iron Chancellor claims “rumors” that the Balkan route has been closed “do not conform to the facts” (to quote China’s NBS):

Coming back to Monday’s summit, “the crucial point is to know if Turkey is a player on our side, because up to now they declare they are on our side, but they don’t do anything to prove that,” Miltiadis Kyrkos, a Greek MEP who is the vice-chair of the European parliament’s joint committee with Turkey, said.

As for Turkey, you can say what you will about Erdogan’s belligerence, but the country is not only on the frontlines of the refugee crisis, but on the frontlines of the war itself. The pressure is palpable to say the absolute least.

Take the tiny town of Kilis for instance, which has more than doubled in size from the refugee influx. Incidentally, the town (which WSJ notes was previously “best known as a place for truckers to pick up pistachio-encrusted pastries before crossing the nearby Syrian border”), is up for a Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts.

“To encourage refugees to stay, Ankara is now allowing millions of Syrians to legally work in Turkey, ending a policy in place since the start of the war. But the new regulation comes with restrictions,” WSJ goes on to document. “The restrictions, along with the often-convoluted bureaucratic challenges, make it hard for Syrian families to stay.”

In other words, some Turkish towns with big hearts are doing their part (and more), but Ankara hasn’t even begun to implement the type of measures that will stop refugees from fleeing to Western Europe and besides, Turkey isn’t that much safer than Syria these days. “Using Turkey as a ‘safe third country’ is absurd,” said Amnesty’s director for Europe and Central Asia, Gauri van Gulik. “Many refugees still live in terrible conditions; some have been deported back to Syria and security forces have even shot at Syrians trying to cross the border.” And that’s if they don’t get blown up by the very same groups blowing them up in Syria, groups that are armed and funded by Erdogan.

As The Guardian goes on to say, “resettlement was Angela Merkel’s last gambit for solving the refugee crisis. In mid-February, the German government confidently presented a plan in which a “coalition of the willing” – including Austria, Germany, Sweden and the Benelux trio – would take 300,000 refugees from Turkey a year [but] the renegade actions of Austria and the western Balkan states have forced Merkel into a rethink.”

“It’s our damned duty,” she insisted last week. “And no I don’t have a Plan B.”

Well, she had better get one, before the German electorate goes with “Plan B” for chancellor.

As for whether Erdogan will suddenly step up to the plate – don’t hold your “damned” breath. “Turkey’s diplomacy [is like] an eastern bazaar,” the aforementioned Miltiadis Kyrkos said. And it’s not just money Ankara wants. Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu is looking to trade concessions on migrants for fast-track membership to the EU. “I am sure these challenges will be solved through our cooperation and Turkey is ready to work with the EU,” Davutoglu said. “Turkey is ready to be a member of the EU as well. Today I hope this summit will not just focus on irregular migration but also the Turkish accession process to the EU.”

But Europeans aren’t exactly thrilled about Ankara’s latest move away from democratic norms. “Media freedom is a non-negotiable element of our European identity,” European Parliament President Martin Schulz said he had told the Turkish Premier, referring to Erdogan’s move to seize control of The Daily Zaman.

And sure enough, as FT reports, Turkey is asking for more concessions: “Ahead of crunch summit between EU leaders and the Turkish prime minister on Monday, Ankara has called for an increase on the €3bn in aid previously promised by the EU, faster access to Schengen visas for Turkish citizens and accelerated progress in its EU membership bid.” One imagines a long list of eleventh hour demands could well cause the whole thing to collapse.

Perhaps Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte put it best: “[This] is not the summit that will change anything.”