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U.S. Sanctions Damaging Iran, Spokesman Says

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Referring to Washington’s new, additional sanctions on Tehran, the spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said on Monday that “these decisions and sanctions have caused serious monetary and financial damages to Iran.”

At his weekly press conference on Monday, Khatibzadeh announced, “We have been working for months to stop such shocks.”

However, he warned that “the United States must make up for all the damage it has done to Iran. Iranian people should not doubt that we will cash compensation for all damages cent by cent.”

“The damage incurred on Iran is filed in the bill submitted to the International Court of Justice,” he added

Following its “maximum pressure” policy on Iran, the U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted 18 Iranian banks that were previously exempt from some Washington restrictions. (Read more from “U.S. Sanctions Damaging Iran, Spokesman Says” HERE)

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Donald Trump to Iran: ‘If You F**k Around with Us’ We Will Respond 1,000 Fold

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President Donald Trump warned Iran against funding terrorism against Americans, dropping the f-bomb in a “radio rally” with talk radio legend Rush Limbaugh on Friday.

“They know if they do anything against us, they will pay 1,000 fold,” Trump said, adding, “They’ve been put on notice: If you f**k around with us, if you do something bad to us, we are going to do things to you that have never been done before.”

The audio was censored before it went to radio stations across the country, but it was caught on the live “Dittocam” of Limbaugh for his subscribers. . .

[Warning: video contains explicit language.]

(Read more from “Donald Trump to Iran: ‘If You F**k Around with Us’ We Will Respond 1,000 Fold” HERE)

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Report: Protests Erupt in Iran Backing Azerbaijan in Armenia Conflict (VIDEO)

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Protests erupted across several Iranian cities on Thursday in support of Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The demonstrations took place in cities including Tehran, the capital, and Tabriz, a city in Iran’s northwest near the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.

Videos posted online on October 1 appear to show dozens of people demonstrating in city streets while chanting slogans in Azeri, a Turkic language. Some of the chants included, “Karabakh is ours. It will remain ours,” Radio Free Europe (RFE) reported on Friday, adding that it could not verify the authenticity of the protest footage. . .

Azeris constitute Iran’s largest ethnic minority, with an estimated population of up to 20 million. Like Iran, Azerbaijan is nearly 99 percent Muslim, and both countries have a majority Shia population. Azeris are ethnically Turkic and have been incorporated into Iran’s population since at least the 19th century when a treaty divided Azerbaijan into a northern Russian portion and a southern Iranian portion.

According to RFE on Friday, over “100 people, including many civilians, have been killed since heavy clashes erupted on September 27” between Azerbaijan and Armenia in their disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. While the region legally belongs to Azerbaijan, its population is made up of majority Christian Armenians. (Read more from “Report: Protests Erupt in Iran Backing Azerbaijan in Armenia Conflict (VIDEO)” HERE)

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U.S. Will Trigger ‘Snapback’ Mechanism to Reimpose Iran Sanctions

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President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he would demand that the United Nations reimpose all of the body’s sanctions on Iran, triggering a so-called snapback mechanism that could end the nuclear deal that he withdrew from in 2018.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he would travel to New York on Thursday to meet with several key UN figures to inform them of the demand issued by Trump.

“I’ll meet with the Security Council president, and then the secretary general will provide notification of the snapback and then 30 days from now, all the sanctions that were in place will resume,” Pompeo said in an interview on Fox News.

“They have been temporarily paused because of the ridiculous nuclear deal, and the world will be a safer place.” (Read more from “U.S. Will Trigger ‘Snapback’ Mechanism to Reimpose Iran Sanctions” HERE)

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‘Maximum Pressure Campaign’: U.S. Confiscates Iranian Fuel From Four Tankers

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The Trump administration has successfully seized Iranian fuel from four tankers sailing to Venezuela, increasing their “maximum pressure campaign” against Tehran, a senior U.S. official confirmed for Fox News on Thursday evening.

Iran and Venezuela have tried to outmaneuver sanctions that the U.S. has placed on both countries by forming an oil partnership.

The confiscated cargo, first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, was a direct violation of U.S. sanctions. A senior official clarified that the tankers were not seized but the oil is now in U.S. possession.

Federal prosecutors reportedly filed a forfeiture complaint and warrant in Washington, D.C. alleging that all “petroleum products” aboard the four vessels referred to as the Bella, the Bering, the Pandi and the Luna were a “source of influence” for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch in the Iranian armed forces.

The U.S. has designated the Guard a terrorist organization and therefore claimed that the sale of oil from Iran to Venezuela financially sponsors the The Guard and their militant actions. (Read more from “‘Maximum Pressure Campaign’: U.S. Confiscates Iranian Fuel From Four Tankers” HERE)

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Iran Cover-Up of COVID-19 Deaths Revealed by Data Leak

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The number of deaths from coronavirus in Iran is nearly triple what Iran’s government claims, a BBC Persian service investigation has found.

The government’s own records appear to show almost 42,000 people died with COVID-19 symptoms up to 20 July, versus 14,405 reported by its health ministry.

The number of people known to be infected is also almost double official figures: 451,024 as opposed to 278,827. . .

There have been irregularities in data between national and regional levels, which some local authorities have spoken out about, and statisticians have tried to give alternative estimates.

A level of undercounting, largely due to testing capacity, is seen across the world, but the information leaked to the BBC reveals Iranian authorities have reported significantly lower daily numbers despite having a record of all deaths – suggesting they were deliberately suppressed. (Read more from “Iran Cover-Up of COVID-19 Deaths Revealed by Data Leak” HERE)

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Iran Threatens ‘Crushing’ Retaliation as Pompeo Lauds U.S. Pressure Campaign; Iran Uses First Military Satellite to Map, Publish U.S. Base in Qatar

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By Newsweek. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has threatened a “crushing” response to any perceived U.S. aggression, following the conclusion of large military exercises that prompted a high alert at two regional U.S. bases.

The IRGC issued a statement Thursday claiming to have sent a potent message to the U.S. with the combined armed drills, which included ballistic missile launches and an attack on a mock U.S. aircraft carrier. U.S. troops in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates were temporarily put on high alert during the missile launches.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has never started a war, but in case of any aggression against Iran, IRGC and other powerful defenders of the country will give a decisive and crushing response,” the elite force—designated a terrorist organization by President Donald Trump’s administration—said, according to the Mehr News Agency. . .

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday that the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” strategy on Iran was working and stressed that the White House would continue pushing Tehran. (Read more from “Iran Threatens ‘Crushing’ Retaliation as Pompeo Lauds U.S. Pressure Campaign” HERE)

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Iran Uses First Military Satellite to Map, Publish U.S. Base in Qatar

By Newsweek. Iran claims to have used its first military satellite—the launch of which was condemned by President Donald Trump’s administration—to publish detailed images of a U.S. air base in Qatar, according to state media.

The state-backed Press TV channel reported Wednesday that Iran’s Nour-1 satellite—operated by the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRCG)—took photos of the Al Udeid air base in Qatar, which hosts the forward headquarters of U.S. Central Command and the headquarters of U.S. Air Forces Central Command.

Press TV said the images covered the “full expanse” of the base, which it said hosts some 13,000 “terrorist” troops. Tehran has classified all U.S. forces as terrorists in retaliation for the Trump administration designating the IRGC a terrorist organization last year. (Read more from “Iran Uses First Military Satellite to Map, Publish U.S. Base in Qatar” HERE)

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Iran Launches Mock U.S. Aircraft Carrier for Target Practice (VIDEO)

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By Townhall. Iran staged attacks on a diminished replica of a U.S. aircraft carrier into the Straits of Hormuz in the “Prophet Mohammad 14” military drills on Tuesday.

A spokesman for the operation told the IRNA, a state news agency, that exercises involve navy and aerospace forces and are “aimed at safeguarding air and sea lines, continuing supports, and readiness for every scenario.”

On Monday, a tugboat maneuvered the vessel into position. It floated in contested waters for a day while the U.S. and other nations speculated over Iran’s intent. Roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil output passes through the Straits of Hormuz on its way to export destinations across the globe.

The vessel resembles the U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, often deployed to the Gulf area. One ship, the USS Dwight. D. Eisenhower, traveled through the strait last week. (Read more from “Iran Launches Mock U.S. Aircraft Carrier for Target Practice” HERE)

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Iran Launches Underground Ballistic Missiles During Exercise

By Associated Press. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched underground ballistic missiles as part of an exercise involving a fake aircraft carrier in the Strait of Hormuz, state television reported Wednesday, the latest barrage in a drill that saw two American bases temporarily go on alert over the launches. . .

A semiofficial news agency close to the Guard published a graphic overnight that photoshopped the image of an American carrier into the shape of a casket, with a caption quoting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pledging to seek revenge for the U.S. drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in January.

The drill — and the American response to it — underlined the lingering threat of military conflict between Iran and the U.S. after a series of escalating incidents last year led to the January drone strike. Tehran responded to that strike by firing ballistic missiles that wounded dozens of American forces in Iraq.

While the coronavirus pandemic has engulfed both Iran and the U.S. for months, there has been a growing confrontation as America argues to extend a yearslong U.N. weapons embargo on Tehran that is due to expire in October. A recent incident over Syria involving an American jet fighter approaching an Iranian passenger plane also has renewed tensions. (Read more from “Iran Launches Underground Ballistic Missiles During Exercise” HERE)

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‘The Great Uprising’: Iranian Dissident Group Holds Global Summit Calling for Regime Change

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Rudy Giuliani, former Sen. Joe Lieberman, and a slate of other prominent U.S. figures joined thousands of dissidents at a virtual summit calling for regime change in Iran.

The Friday event marked the annual gathering of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a leading opposition group that works to topple the government of Iran. Usually, the gatherings are held in Europe and bring together dozens of speakers and thousands of attendees, but this year, because of the coronavirus pandemic, it was held online through the popular communication platform Zoom.

Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, Lieberman, a former senator from Connecticut, and former Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli of New Jersey, all appeared side by side to address the large gathering, which organizers said included viewers from more than 100 countries. The three men have a history of advocating for the NCRI, which is an umbrella organization for the People’s Mujahedin of Iran, or Mojahedin-e Khalq, or MEK. The names are frequently used interchangeably to refer to the Albania-based organization.

The group is led by the 66-year-old Maryam Rajavi along with her husband, 71-year-old Massoud Rajavi. Despite officially being one of the leaders of the organization, Massoud has not been seen publicly since his disappearance in 2003.

Maryam Rajavi addressed the virtual crowd and called for an end to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime. She hailed the organization of her group and also expressed solidarity for protesters and dissidents working within Iran, who have been subject to imprisonment or worse. (Read more from “‘The Great Uprising’: Iranian Dissident Group Holds Global Summit Calling for Regime Change” HERE)

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Iran Official Jokes About U.S. Navy Fire, Alludes to Nuclear Site Attack

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A senior Iranian official has joked about the “interesting” fire that ravaged a U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship in San Diego, quipping that the incident may be claimed by a supposed domestic dissident group like recent explosions in Iran.

. . .According to Iran’s state-controlled PressTV channel, [Foreign ministry spokesperson Seyed Abbas] Mousavi added, “It’s interesting how quickly U.S. destroyers catch fire,” referring to the Bonhomme Richard, which is capable of carrying a mix of fighter jets and helicopters.

“I have no stance,” Mousavi told reporters. “But just search news sources to see if ‘American Panthers’ have claimed responsibility.”

This remark alluded to a series of recent mysterious explosions in Iran that have prompted suggestions of a broad sabotage campaign by a foreign power or a domestic dissident group. One group calling itself the “Homeland Cheetahs” claimed responsibility for an explosion at a sensitive nuclear site in Iran earlier this month. (Read more from “Iran Official Jokes About U.S. Navy Fire, Alludes to Nuclear Site Attack” HERE)

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