Connect with us

World News

Rouhani insults Trump as Iran nuclear deal hangs in balance

Published

on

Iran eyes US presidential elections, devising strategies on how to approach winner

…Isis trying to foment a wave of migration to Europe, says UN official***

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday dismissed Donald Trump as unqualified to deal with important international issues amid U.S. threats to potentially walk away from the landmark nuclear deal with Tehran.

Rouhani spoke on state TV after French leader Emmanuel Macron flew to Washington to meet with the U.S. president. Among Macron’s aims was convincing Trump to stick with the 2015 pact, which saw Iran sharply curtail its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

Rouhani, a reforming cleric, unleashed a series of insults during his speech.

“You don’t have any background in politics,” Reuters quoted him saying in comments directed at Trump. “You don’t have any background in law. You don’t have any background on international treaties.”

Rouhani added: “How can a tradesman, a merchant, a building constructor, a tower constructor make judgments about international affairs?”

Leaders in both countries have engaged in an escalating war of words over the Obama-era nuclear accord, which Trump has derided as a “terrible deal.”

On Tuesday, Trump said it was “insane” and “ridiculous” that the agreement between Iran and the U.S., China, Russia, France, U.K., Germany and the European Union did not cover Tehran’s possession of ballistic missiles or its destabilizing actions in places like Yemen or Syria.

Trump also warned that if Iran restarts its nuclear program it would “have bigger problems” than ever before.

The White House has hoped to enlist European allies in new negotiations with Iran, but Europeans — including Macron — have warned that doing so would alienate Iran.

Meanwhile, Islamic State commanders fleeing Syria are conspiring with extremist groups in Africa to foment and infiltrate a new migration wave destined for Europe, the head of the UN World Food Programme has said.

David Beasley, a former Republican governor of South Carolina, said Europe needed to wake up to the extremists’ strategy in the Sahel region.

Those forced out of Syria were uniting with local terrorist groups to use a lack of food as both a recruitment tool and a vehicle to push millions of Africans towards Europe, he said.

Speaking to the Guardian during a visit to Brussels for a two-day Syria summit, Beasley said: “You are going to face a similar pattern of what took place years ago, except you are going to have more Isis and extremist groups infiltrating migration.

“What we are picking up is that they are partnering with the extremist groups like Boko Haram and al-Qaida to divvy up territory and resources and to continue to infiltrate and destabilise in the hope of creating migration into Europe where they can infiltrate and cause chaos.

“My comment to the Europeans is that if you think you had a problem resulting from a nation of 20 million people like Syria because of destabilisation and conflict resulting in migration, wait until the greater Sahel region of 500 million people is further destabilised. And this is where the European community and international community has got to wake up.”

A four-year campaign against Isis has destroyed much of the group’s so-called caliphate, confining it to a tract of land in the Euphrates valley near the border with Iraq and decimating the cities of Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor. But officials involved in the campaign say at least 2,200 fighters remain entrenched in the east of Syria.

Beasley, who supported Donald Trump’s US presidential campaign and was nominated by Trump for the World Food Programme role, said the White House and Capitol Hill were “stepping up” their funding of the agency’s work, with $3bn (£2.15bn) expected this year, compared with $1.9bn in 2016, but there was huge hole in his budget.

The agency has had to reduce the provision of rations elsewhere in the world, including in North Korea where children and pregnant women are having to be prioritised. Beasley is to travel to Pyongyang in the next few weeks to formulate a strategy with Kim Jong-un’s regime.

Beyond the exploitation of the food crisis in the Sahel region, Beasley said there was a catastrophe in the making on Syria’s southern border, where about 5.6 million refugees were struggling to survive.

“Inside Syria we are €310m short. Our goal is to reach 4 million people, out of the 6.5 million who are seriously food insecure. And at this stage we are only meeting approximately 3 million due to lack of resources,” he said.

“Outside Syria, in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt, our funding needs for January to December 2018 are $1.38bn and we are $340m short of that. At this stage we will have to cut 500,000 people’s food in Jordan starting [in] June.”

Beasley said of the cash shortfall: “It is not a spike in demand, it is donor fatigue. You have got Yemen, you have got Iraq, you have got Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria. There are 19 or 20 countries in protracted conflict, and then greater Sahel is percolating.

NBC with additional report from Guardian UK

Latest News

WTO Hosts Seminar On Green Supply Chains

Published

on

WTO Hosts Seminar On Green Supply Chains

A seminar on “Building greener and more Resilient Supply Chains” was held in Geneva as part of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Public Forum 2024.

It was co-hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the International Trade Centre (ITC).

The four-day public forum would feature over 130 sessions with nearly 4,400 participants from government, business, academia, and civil society.

CCPIT Chairman Ren Hongbin said that today’s globalised economy created both opportunities and challenges.

He emphasised the need to embrace openness and inclusiveness while upholding true multilateralism.

He also stressed that building greener and more resilient supply chains was crucial to addressing global challenges.

ITC Deputy Executive Director Dorothy Tembo underscored the ITC’s commitment to collaborating with partners to offer technical assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

It would offer assistance, especially to those in developing countries, to tap into the potential of cross-border e-commerce.

She said the goal was to build greener supply chains and reduce the carbon footprint of e-commerce, thereby contributing more to sustainable development.

In its Digital Economy Report 2024, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) emphasised the urgent need to adopt an environmentally sustainable and inclusive digital strategy, said UNCTAD’s head of E-Commerce and Digital Economy.

Torbjorn Frederick stressed that China had issued innovative guidelines promoting the sustainable development of the digital economy. 

– Xinhua

Continue Reading

Latest News

U.S. strikes 2 targets in Syria in response to ‘continued attacks’

Published

on

The U.S. military struck two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran-affiliated groups in response to “continued attacks” against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria, the Pentagon said on Sunday.

The strikes were conducted against a training facility in Abu Kamal and a safe house in Mayadin in the eastern governorate of Deir Ezzor, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a brief statement.

The U.S. struck similar targets in eastern Syria in October and earlier in November.

Pro-Iranian militias have intensified their attacks on U.S. military bases in Syria and Iraq in recent weeks as a response to the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.

The security situation in the entire region has been particularly tense since Oct. 7, when Hamas militants staged deadly attacks in southern Israel.

Israel is responding with an overwhelming air and ground offensive in Gaza.

As a deterrent, the U.S. has moved more weapons systems, warships and air squadrons to the Eastern Mediterranean, and is deploying several hundred troops to the Middle East to support US units there.

U.S. President Joe Biden had ordered Sunday’s action to make it clear that the U.S. was defending itself, its personnel, and its interests, Austin stressed.

The U.S. is prepared to take further necessary measures to protect its own people and interests.

  • dpa
Continue Reading

Latest News

Russia writes off $23bn debt for Africa – Putin

Published

on

Russia sends almost 12m tons of grain to Africa says Putin

…Pledges additional $90 million***

Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, says the Russian Government has written off $23 billion debt burden of African countries.

Putin spoke at the plenary session of the ongoing second Russia–Africa Summit 2023 held from July 27 to July 28.

He said Moscow would allocate an additional $90 million for these purposes.

Putin said Russia was advocating the expansion of representation of African countries in the UN Security Council and other UN structures.

“Russia and Africa strive to develop cooperation in all areas and strengthen ‘honest, open, constructive’ partnership.

“Russia will also assist in opening new African embassies and consulates in Russia,” he said.

According to him, the reopening of embassies in Burkina Faso and Equatorial Guinea is going as planned.

He said sovereignty was “not a one-time achieved state,” and it must be constantly protected.

Putin also offered assistance to Africa in countering threats such as terrorism, piracy, and transnational crimes adding that it would continue to train personnel from African countries.

He assured that Russian businesses have a lot to offer partners from Africa.

Putin said transition to national currencies and the establishment of transport and logistics chains would contribute to the increase in mutual trade turnover.

“Russia is ready to provide trade preferences to Africa, support the creation of modern production sectors, agricultural sector, and provide assistance through relevant international structures and agencies.

“Russia will always be a responsible international supplier of agricultural products,” he said.

Continue Reading

Editor’s Pick

Politics