Russia in Jerusalem: US Drone Was Shot Down Over Iran, US Case vs Iran on Tankers Is ‘Unprofessional’
Russia's Security Council Secretary has met with Bolton and the Israeli counterpart but all he has been doing is sticking up for Iran
Tensions between Iran and the US have intensified since Tehran downed an American drone, which as Iran said, had violated the country’s borders. Washington, meanwhile, has accused Tehran of allegedly attacking oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, something that the Islamic Republic denies doing.
Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev stated in negotiations with US National Security Adviser John Bolton and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that the Russian military has information that the US drone, destroyed in an incident on 20 June, was shot down in Iranian airspace thus confirming the information earlier provided by Tehran. The US, for its part, insists that the UAV was flying above neutral waters when it was destroyed.
Iranian air defences shot down the American drone, which was flying above the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran stated that the UAV had violated its airspace and failed to respond to multiple warning, later presenting maps, showing the drone’s flight path. Iran also noted that at the same time its forces detected a P-8 Poseidon spy plane, which also violated the country’s airspace, but chose not to shoot it down to avoid casualties.
The US insists that the drone was flying over neutral waters, when it was destroyed by Iranian missiles, presenting maps, allegedly proving it. Washington planned a retaliatory strike against Iran in response to the incident, but it was stopped by US President Donald Trump minutes prior to launch. Trump stated that estimated casualties for the strike were too high for a response to a downed unmanned aircraft.
Investigation Into Attacks on Oil Tankers, Instead of Appointing Culprit
Patrushev addressed Washington’s accusations that Iran allegedly attacked oil takers, damaged in the Gulf of Oman, in May and June, by saying that the information which the US presented in a bid to prove Tehran’s guilt, was of poor quality and unprofessional. He noted that a torpedo attack or sabotage would result in different damage to the vessels.
“We need to conduct a due investigation, to understand what really happened, instead of simply appointing the culprit”, he said.
A number of oil tankers have been damaged reportedly as a result of blasts in May and June in the Gulf of Oman, but none sank or resulted in an oil spill. While the exact reason for the damage has not been determined, the US was quick to accuse Iran of “attacking” the vessels. Tehran denies attacking the ships and called the incident a false-flag operation to blame it.
In a bid to substantiate its claims, Washington released videos allegedly showing Iranian forces removing unexploded limpet mines from the hull of one of the tankers. However, testimony from the crew of the tanker Kokuka Courageous cast a shadow on the US account of events. They saw an object flying towards the ship right before an explosion took place. The head of the tanker’s operator, Yutaka Katada, insisted that it was unlikely that a mine could do the damage seen on the ship’s hull.
On US-Iranian Relations
Patrushev, furthermore, called “unacceptable” US attempts to present Iran as an alleged threat to the region in line with terrorist organisations such as Daesh*.
US National Security Adviser John Bolton in turn touched upon the issue of bilateral relations between Washington and Tehran, which have been in a downward spiral of late, by saying that Iran’s “silence” regarding American offers to negotiate “has been deafening”.
“The [US] president has held the door open to real negotiations. All that Iran needs to do is to walk though that open door”, Bolton said.
Relations between the two states turned for the worse after Washington withdrew from Iran nuclear deal and imposed sanctions against Tehran’s energy, banking and shipping sectors. US President Donald Trump has demanded that Iran signed a new deal with Washington that would be better ensure the country won’t obtain nuclear weapons than the previous deal did, but Tehran has refused to negotiate under pressure.
Source: Sputnik
Bernie Sanders is the only alternative to Donald Trump, if the DNC insists on pushing a centrist like Joe Biden to lead the Democrats into battle against DT then he will likely lose even worse than Hillary Clinton did in 2016.
Bernie’s not much of an alternative.
He’s busy always talking about social programs which cannot conceivably become a reality in imperial America.
His record on the empire and the Pentagon and CIA is not terribly impressive.
What we saw from him in 2016 with Hillary was unimpressive in the extreme for the way handles powerful people, people who’ve openly cheated him.
The only genuine alternative is Tulsi Gabbard, and she is ignored or maligned by America’s press and many politicians.
No real change coming soon to America.
The country needs an entire re-think about the way things are done and about empire.
And what do you really think are the chances of that?
I definitely wasn’t happy with how he handled how Hillary cheated him out of the primary as I had $3000 on him to win. I think he was clearly threatened either harm to himself or his family as when he showed up to the convention he had a mark above his eye where he was maybe hit but I don’t judge him as he was standing up to a lot of powerful interests but I will be interested to see how he goes about challenging those same strong interests like the fossil fuel industry, the medical industry, the military-industrial complex, the CIA and FBI who no doubt are all going to want an establishment candidate elected.
I love Tulsi Gabbard but she is obviously being silenced as the polls definitely do not reflect her organic grassroots supporters who seem to love her. 2020 will be an interesting year that’s for sure but I will not be putting any money on Bernie again, I learnt my lesson there.
Russia should know.
Mossad did the tankers.
Putin is bestist butties with Nitwityahoo.