Tag: Region Middle East

Russian airline Aeroflot [Russian Airlines] has sent its aircraft to Iran for repairs for the first time in its history amid Western sanctions.

Source: Kremlin-aligned news outlet RBC, citing two sources close to the airline

“An Airbus A330-300 wide-body airliner with registration number RA-73700 flew to Tehran on 5 April, where the aircraft will be serviced by technicians from Mahan Air, i.e., Iran’s largest airline,” the statement said.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. Navy has deployed a guided-missile submarine capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk missiles to the Middle East, a spokesman said Saturday, in what appeared to be a show of force toward Iran following recent tensions.

The Navy rarely acknowledges the location or deployment of submarines. Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesman for the 5th Fleet based in the Gulf nation of Bahrain, declined to comment on the submarine’s mission or what had prompted the deployment.

He said the nuclear-powered submarine, based out of Kings Bay, Georgia, passed through the Suez Canal on Friday. “It is capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and is deployed to U.S. 5th Fleet to help ensure regional maritime security and stability,” Hawkins said.

Four women and 10 children have been repatriated by Canada from detention camps for foreign fighters and their families in northeastern Syria. It was the fourth repatriation operation conducted by the Canadian government of its nationals held in camps in Syria for foreigners accused of being associated with the armed group ISIL (ISIS). Three of the women were arrested in Montreal at the airport before appearing in court on a “terrorism peace bond application” – a type of restraining order, Canadian police said in a statement on Friday.

One, an unidentified 38-year-old woman, was transported to Alberta province in western Canada and released on bail pending a hearing on the conditions of her status. “This is not a criminal charge,” her lawyer Lawrence Greenspon told AFP news agency, adding the prosecutor will want to “ensure that the person follows the conditions for a period of up to one year.”

The other two, Ammara Amjad and Dure Ahmed, “will remain in custody until their next hearing, which is scheduled for Tuesday”, police said. “Everything was good” regarding the fourth woman, said Greenspon, who is representing all four women. She faces neither criminal charges nor a request for a peace bond.

“The 10 children are repatriated and are with their families here in Canada,” said Greenspon. It remains unclear whether any of those being repatriated could face prosecution for alleged involvement with the armed group.

Excerpt: Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers on Sunday announced surprise cuts totaling 1.15 million barrels per day from May until the end of the year, a move that could raise prices worldwide.

Higher oil prices would help fill Russian President Vladimir Putin’s coffers as his country wages war on Ukraine and force Americans and others to pay even more at the pump amid inflation fueled in part by that conflict.

It was also likely to further strain ties with the United States, which has called on Saudi Arabia and other allies to increase production as it tries to bring prices down and squeeze Russia’s finances.

The Saudi Energy Ministry said its own reduction of 500,000 barrels per day would be made in coordination with some OPEC and non-OPEC members, without naming them. The cuts are in addition to a reduction announced last October that infuriated the Biden administration.

The United Arab Emirates’ central bank on Friday said it will cancel the licence it granted last year to Russia’s MTS bank, which was placed under British and US sanctions in February.

Operations at the bank’s UAE branch, which is licensed in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, will be wound down within six months under UAE central bank supervision.

A statement from MTS Bank said it will fulfil all settlement obligations to existing customers and guarantee the safety of their funds for six months.

“This decision comes after considering the available options regarding the new status of the MTS Bank and taking into account the sanctions risks associated with the bank,” the UAE central bank’s statement said.

Retaliatory U.S. airstrikes in Syria targeting Iran-backed militants last week killed eight fighters, the Pentagon said Thursday.

The fighters were killed when two U.S. F-15E fighter jets struck facilities operated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) near Deir ez-Zor province in the eastern part of the country, according to Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder.

Though they were associated with the IRGC, the militants killed were not Iranian, Ryder told reporters.

The U.S. strikes were in retaliation for a drone attack last week at a Syria base that housed American personnel. One U.S. contractor was killed and another was injured along with five service members.

“Two weeks we fought with Facebook to restore the suspended page of RT Arabic, with 17 million subscribers,” Manna said on her Telegram channel. “We tried to get an explanation of what triggered the shutdown, because we never got any strikes or comments.” After several awkward non-explanations, Facebook’s customer service “simply wished us luck, closed our case, and turned over the URL to another user,” Manna wrote. “Internet democracy in all its glory!” Facebook blocked the page on March 15, without any explanation or advance warning. Attempts to access the page resulted in the message, “this content isn’t available right now.”

Speaking to journalists via conference call, Peskov was asked to comment on the arrest of the American citizen and whether Russia will cooperate with US security services on the issue. The spokesperson stated that he was not aware of the details of the case and that the matter remains in the hands of the FSB.   However, Peskov claimed that as far as he was aware, Gershkovich had been caught in the act of trying to collect intelligence about a defense facility, in violation of Russian laws on state secrets, as announced by the FSB. The correspondent, who covers news from Russia, Ukraine, and the former USSR, could face between 10 and 20 years in prison if charged with espionage.  Although Gershkovich had obtained the necessary journalistic credentials from the Foreign Ministry to work in Russia, the FSB alleges that he “acted in the interest of the US government” when he was caught during “an attempt to receive” classified intelligence. 

Asked if the incident could provoke a response from US authorities regarding Russian journalists working in America, Peskov said that Moscow hopes no such retaliation will follow because “we are not talking about allegations here. He was caught in the act.”  The WSJ has reacted to the incident by stating that it is “deeply concerned for the safety of Mr Gershkovich.”  Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said that the issue of potentially exchanging the WSJ journalist in a swap deal has not been raised.   Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has claimed that whatever Gershkovich was doing when he was detained by the FSB, it had “nothing to do with journalism.” She argued that the status of correspondent had previously been used as cover by other Western nationals attempting to obtain classified Russian intelligence.

For decades, the major banks – along with AMP – dominated the financial planning landscape, employing or authorising the vast majority of licensed advisers. The remaining 16,000 providers – most of them independent or privately owned – are insufficient in number to meet the advice needs of the millions of Baby Boomers set to retire in coming years.

And the mountains of red tape the remaining advisers must comply with – thanks largely, it must be said, to the misdeeds of the bank-owned advice providers – have made their services too expensive for most families to afford even if they wanted to.

Israel launch a new spy satellite on Wednesday, the first the country has sent to space in nearly three years as it seeks to enhance its defense capabilities and prepare for a possible escalation with Iran.

An Israeli Shavit rocket delivered the Ofek-13 satellite to space, blasting off from the Palmachim Airbase on the Mediterranean coast at 7:10 p.m. ET, according to the Israeli Ministry of Defense. The ministry confirmed that the satellite entered its designated orbit and began transmitting data after completing an initial series of inspections. Ofek-13 still has to undergo a few more inspections before beginning its full operations “in the near future,” the defense ministry wrote.

Israel’s Ofek-13 satellite is the latest to join a series of reconnaissance satellites, the first of which launched in 1988. Its latest predecessor was the Ofek-16, which launched in July 2020. Israel’s defense ministry is claiming that Ofek-13 has the most advanced capabilities of the entire series with “unique radar observation capabilities, and will enable intelligence collection in any weather and conditions of visibility thus enhancing strategic intelligence,” Boaz Levy, CEO of state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries, said in the ministry statement.

In a series of tweets shared on Tuesday night, Netanyahu noted that he has known his US counterpart for “over 40 years” and commended Biden for his “longstanding commitment to Israel.” However, he urged Washington not to meddle in his country’s internal affairs, after Biden said he was “very concerned” about the upcoming legal changes.

“My administration is committed to strengthening democracy by restoring the proper balance between the three branches of government, which we are striving to achieve via a broad consensus,” Netanyahu said, adding “Israel is a sovereign country which makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends.”

Israel is a sovereign country which makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends.

Shares of major U.S. banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co, Wells Fargo and Bank of America dropped between 1% and 2% in early trade.

Shares of regional lenders First Republic Bank, PacWest Bancorp, Western Alliance Bancorp and Truist Financial Corp fell between 1% to 5%.

The S&P 500 banking index and the KBW regional banking index, hit their lowest since late 2020 in the previous session, fell 1.6% and 1.2%, respectively.

European banks also came under pressure after a report on a U.S. probe into Credit Suisse and UBS further soured the mood. Their U.S.-listed shares were down about 5.4% and 4.1%, respectively.

U.S. shares of Deutsche Bank fell nearly 10% after the bank’s credit default swaps rose to a four-year high.

U.S. two-year Treasury yields fell sharply to their lowest levels since September on Friday.

Credit Suisse Group AG and UBS Group AG are among the banks under scrutiny in a US Justice Department probe into whether financial professionals helped Russian oligarchs evade sanctions, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Swiss banks were included in a recent wave of subpoenas sent out by the US government, the people said. The information requests were sent before the crisis that engulfed Credit Suisse and resulted in UBS’s proposed takeover of its rival.

Subpoenas also went to employees of some major US banks, two people with knowledge of the inquiries, said.

The Justice Department inquiries are focused on identifying which bank employees dealt with sanctioned clients and how those clients were vetted over the past several years.

Frankfurt (dpa) – A US court has ordered German stock operator Deutsche Börse’s Clearstream subsidiary to turn over about $1.7 billion in assets held by Iran’s central bank, Bank Markazi.

The court decision comes as part of a long-running US legal case in which victims of a terrorist attack 40 years ago have sought compensation from Iran. Clearstream said it is considering an appeal of the decision.

The assets are held in a customer account in Luxembourg by Clearstream, a wholly owned subsidiary of the German stock exchange operator. The company announced on Wednesday evening in Frankfurt that those suing Iran were granted a right to the assets attributed to the Iranian central bank held in a customer account at Clearstream.

Iranian-held assets at Clearstream, which manages securities on behalf of customers and handles purchases and sales, have been frozen on suspicion of terrorist financing and locked in several legal disputes for a number of years.

According to Deutsche Börse, that case remains pending but Clearstream maintains it is without merit.

Last week, Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Rasmussen announced that his government could corroborate a report by the Russian gas giant Gazprom, the operator of the undersea pipeline, about a strange object found near Nord Stream 2. The company sent pictures of the item to Danish authorities, while the Russian government made a formal inquiry through its embassy, the minister said. Copenhagen treats the discovery seriously and will investigate further, Rasmussen pledged at the time.

The object was mentioned last week by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a TV interview. He said it was found during a Gazprom survey about 30 kilometers away from where the pipeline was breached. The device may be an antenna used in remotely detonating a charge, the president suggested, citing experts.

Moscow asked for permission to explore further, Putin added, necessary because the object is located in Denmark’s exclusive zone. Russia could organize a mission “on its own, jointly with [the Danes], or, better yet, with an international group of experts in explosives who are trained to work at such depth.” Rasmussen said such permission would not be granted, triggering a rebuke from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

A federal court in the District of Columbia unsealed two indictments yesterday charging multiple defendants with violations of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) for their roles in separate schemes to procure and export U.S. technology to Iran between 2005 and 2013. In connection with this announcement, the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated three of the defendants and four entities for their involvement in the procurement of equipment that supports Iran’s ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and weapons programs.