Spy Chief: China, Russia, Iran Are Biggest Threats to UK

LONDON (KI) — China, Russia and Iran pose three of the biggest threats to the UK in a fast-changing, unstable world, the head of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency claimed Tuesday.
In his first public speech since becoming head of the Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, in October 2020, MI6 chief Richard Moore said China is the intelligence agency’s “single greatest priority” as the country’s leadership increasingly backs “bold and decisive action” to further its interests.
China, he said, conducts “large-scale espionage operations” against the UK and its allies, and tries to “distort public discourse and political decision-making”.
Moore said the UK also continues “to face an acute threat from Russia.” He charged that Moscow has sponsored killing attempts, such as the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal in England in 2018, mounts cyberattacks and attempts to interfere in other countries’ democratic processes.
“We and our allies and partners must stand up to and deter Russian activity which contravenes the international rules-based system,” the MI6 chief said.
Moore said Iran also poses a major threat. He accused the Islamic Republic of trying to fuel political turmoil in neighboring countries.
As a co-invader of Iraq and Afghanistan, British troops are accused of the most inhuman crimes in the two countries. Britain’s intelligence services are also widely known to have helped establish some of the most violent terrorist groups in the Middle East.
Iran, however, has helped defeat Daesh and other extremist groups in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere.
Moore argued that Britain’s spies must give up some of their deep-rooted secrecy and seek help
 from technology firms to win a cybersecurity arms race.
The top spy, speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, said the disruptive potential of artificial intelligence and other rapidly developing technologies means the spy agency has to “become more open to stay secret” in a world of destabilizing technological change.
“According to some assessments, we may experience more technological progress in the next 10 years than in the last century, with a disruptive impact equal to the Industrial Revolution,” he said. “As a society, we have yet to internalize this stark fact and its potential impact on global geopolitics.
British spies, he said, “are now pursuing partnerships with the tech community to help develop world-class technologies to solve our biggest mission problems.”
“Unlike Q in the Bond movies, we cannot do it all in-house,” Moore added, referring to the fictional MI6 gadget-maker in the 007 thrillers.
Moore said working with the private sector is a “sea change” for an organization enmeshed in secrecy. Until 1992, Britain’s government refused to confirm the existence of MI6.
MI6 began publicly naming its chief, who uses the code name C, in the 1990s.

Top Iran negotiator: West does not seek to implement a deal

By Hamid Reza Babaee

Experience shows that the west does not seek to implement a deal. Rather, it seeks to score public perception points by announcing one while stealthily “dis-implementing” the agreement in every possible way, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri wrote in an op-ed in The Financial Times.

This week, Iran and five global powers gather in Vienna for so-called “nuclear negotiations”. This very term — which is used to refer to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement — is rife with error.

Western countries, in particular the US, work tirelessly to portray “negotiations” as merely a process to restrict Iran’s legitimate and peaceful nuclear programme, which is enshrined in international treaties and watched by oversight organisations. From Iran’s perspective, however, “negotiations” must pursue real objectives, observed by all parties.

In this vein, we have two goals: the first is to gain a full, guaranteed and verifiable removal of the sanctions that have been imposed on the Iranian people. Without this, the process will continue indefinitely. “Negotiations” without an airtight solution benefit no one.

The second is to facilitate the legal rights of the Iranian nation to benefit from peaceful nuclear knowledge, especially the all-important enrichment technology for industrial purposes, according to the terms of the international Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Previous attempts to close the “trust gap” between parties of the nuclear talks have failed mainly because the west regards any agreement solely as an established platform from which to launch more pressure against Iran. In English, you call it “moving the goalposts”.

This is the crux of the dispute that has forced us, six years after the initial agreement, to the table yet again. We will be starting these new discussions under circumstances influenced by the unfortunate fate of the JCPOA, when US president Donald Trump unilaterally decided to abandon this deal. This was a terrible betrayal of trust for Iran and Iranians.

Experience tells us that the west does not seek to implement a deal. Rather, it seeks to score public perception points by announcing one while stealthily “dis-implementing” the agreement in every possible way. From our experience, this is followed by actions to “hijack” the JCPOA platform to force Iran to make more concessions in areas unrelated to the nuclear issue. As a result, the Iranian people trust neither the process, nor its outcome.

It would be naive to attribute these problems solely to the Trump administration and to his “maximum pressure campaign”. Constant US efforts to deny Iran any economic benefits for reducing its nuclear activities are why many once-passionate Iranian defenders of the agreement have now changed their minds: they no longer trust either its tangible benefits or its intent. Trump merely removed the velvet gloves from the cast-iron hand of the previous US administration.

From our viewpoint, past blunders should not be repeated. We have all, respectively, learned over the past six years what and who can be trusted. To ensure any forthcoming agreement is ironclad, the west needs to pay a price for having failed to uphold its part of the bargain. As in any business, a deal is a deal, and breaking it has consequences.

Iran remains committed to the process and we will adhere to our commitments. From our perspective, the principle of “mutual compliance” cannot form a proper base for negotiations since it was the US government which unilaterally left the deal. The US should therefore demonstrate that it is serious this time, and that it possesses the necessary competence to fulfil its commitments.

In Iran’s recent presidential elections, voters decided to invest their confidence in a paradigm that espouses a more realistic engagement with the west. Actions now matter more than mere words. We should be offered a clear and transparent mechanism to ensure that sanctions will be removed. For what other conceivable reason would we compromise regarding Iran’s technological advances and nationally-precious domestic nuclear programme?

Iran did not succumb to the use of either military threats, economic sanctions or “maximum pressure” under Trump and it will not do so under Joe Biden. In order to secure the rights and interests of our nation, we are ready for a fair and careful discussion, based on the principles of “guarantee” and “verification”. This must prioritise compensation for the violation of the deal, which includes the removal of all post-JCPOA sanctions.

In return, Iran is ready to voluntarily fulfil its nuclear commitments in accordance with the agreement. We remain prepared to react proportionately to any pressure and reciprocate any goodwill gesture.

We have made our choice. We will now find out whether or not the west has the will to enter real negotiations.

Super-Terrorists’ Vain Bid to Starve Lebanon into Submission

By: Kayhan Int’l 

Lebanon was created for empowering the Maronite minority to serve as a base of the West in the Islamic heartland, and now the western powers are trying to destroy it through a political-economic stranglehold because their plans have gone awry as a result of the Muslim-Christian national unity.
This is evident by the terrorist label being used by the super-terrorist US and its comrades-in-crimes against humanity – in the European capitals, Canada, and now Australia, as well as the rootless and unrepresentative Arab regimes of the Persian Gulf – in the vain hope of tarnishing the humanitarian image of Lebanon’s legendry anti-terrorist movement, the Hezbollah.
Why do they consider Hezbollah and also the Palestinian liberation movements of Hamas and Islamic Jihad as ‘terrorists’?
The answer is obvious, because these grassroots movements do not follow the neo-colonialist dictates of the West and have an iron-resolve to confront the terrorism of the illegal Zionist entity.
Moreover, they are aligned with their Christian compatriots, whether amongst the Palestinians or amongst the Lebanese, in view of deep-rooted cultural, lingual, and historical bonds that warrant putting up a united front against the US and its accomplices, which desire nothing but to plunge the region into civil wars.
Now we better understand why President Michel Aoun and his Christian party stand firmly with Lebanon’s largest single denomination (over 40 percent of the national population), the Shi’a Muslims, who are represented by Hezbollah and Amal and play an active role in the functioning of a stable government that requires resisting outside pressures from either the West or the Arab potentates, in addition to the terror threats from Israel.
All this is not only proof of the Muslim-Christian bond to the chagrin of the West’s mercenaries but a testimony to Islamic solidarity between Shi’a and Sunni Muslims, who have exposed their opponents in Lebanon in their true treasonous colours.
As a matter of fact, the ‘terrorist’ label bandied about by the real terrorists in the West and the Arab states, is a badge of honour for Hezbollah and Hamas, who like the Hashd ash-Sha’bi of Iraq, the Shabiha of Syria, the Ansarullah of Yemen, and the Bahraini people, are grassroots movements supported by their respective nations and opposed to the imposition of the Imperialist-Zionist yoke.
It should be recalled that following end of World War 1 and the defeat of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in 1917, Britain and France, as the two main winners of the 4-year war against Germany and its allies, had manipulated the League of Nations to issue a mandate for legitimizing their occupation of Iraq and the Levant (or more properly Greater Syria).
In the early 1920s, the Levant was dismembered into four parts, with the British creating Jordan to install an imported king from Hijaz (similar to Iraq), and imposing direct rule on Palestine to facilitate the illegal influx of European Jews for the eventual planting of the illegal Zionist entity – as per the scandalous Balfour Declaration of 1917.
France for its part precariously held on to Syria while separating Lebanon in the hope of turning it into a Maronite nation where Muslims would be considered 2nd class citizens.
France, unlike Britain’s demographic plot in Palestine, lacked craftiness and did not transport European Christians in tens of thousands into mountainous Lebanon, since its main focus was the vast land of Algeria in North Africa, a short distance across the Mediterranean Sea, to be permanently annexed as a French province.
This was indeed a blessing in disguise for Lebanon, because the Christians were neither outsiders nor foreign settlers, but Arabic-speaking natives of the land, sharing the same culture, language, and history with their Muslim compatriots.
And moreover, unlike Palestine, which was forcibly Judaized into alien Israel by European Zionist migrants who seized control of all the state apparatuses and drove a million Muslims and Christians into exile, Lebanon adopted a constitution that guaranteed sharing of powers (although not flawlessly fair) by the three main segments of the population – the president a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of the parliament, a Shi’a Muslim.
In view of these facts, if the US and its Arab accomplices think their starving of the Lebanese people would make them give up their honour, sovereignty and national rights, they are grossly mistaken.
People’s power will eventually triumph, not just in Lebanon, but all over the region, including Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Bahrain.

Iran's nuclear knowledge has positive effect on Palestinian resistance

: Italian scholar told Qodsna

 Iran's progress in its nuclear program positively influences the Palestinian resistance, precisely as a weapon of deterrence against the Israeli threat, says an Italian scholar and historian.

Tehran (Qodsna) - As Iran’s nuclear talks were resumed after a three-month hiatus on Monday in Vienna, it would be a crucial matter for future regional developments particularly regarding the Palestinian issue. In an exclusive interview with Qods News Agency, Italian professor and historian Claudio Moffa talked about the possible effects of the talks on the regional upheavals.

Referring to former US president Donal Trump’s “horrific misdeeds”, Prof. Moffa said that “Joe Biden who softens the position of the United States on Iran” caused a certain cooling of Washington’s ties with Tel Aviv.

The Italian scholar pointed to the negative position of the Zionist regime towards the nuclear talks, saying that there are two reasons that justify Israel’s opposition to the talks with Iran. “In the short term because Israel fears a Western distancing from Biden, even on this specific terrain, see for example the contacts of the EU representative for foreign affairs and security policy Federica Mogherini with Tehran,” he said.

He went on to say that Secondly, Israel’s fear of Iran’s nuclear talks is also related  “to the profound nature of Israel in colonialism, which I have personally called several times as the last colonial state that survived the great season of decolonization.”

“Israel was founded not by indigenous Jews in Arab Palestine, but by Jews from Europe, unscrupulous invaders - as Ben Gurion's terrifying admissions remind us - to the point of causing the great crime of the Nakba, hundreds of thousands of Arabs expelled from their land,” Prof. Moffa said.

Talking about the future effects of Iran’s nuclear knowledge on the Palestinian resistance groups, he stressed that “it positively influences the resistance, precisely as a weapon of deterrence against the Israeli threat. And so here are the criminal assassinations of nuclear scientists of the Islamic Republic by the Mossad, but also - conversely - the attention of the peoples of the Middle East to Tehran's self-defense project.”

He also answered a question about the similar position of some Arab regimes in opposing the nuclear deal with Iran, saying that “it is a stance that is both absurd and dramatic at the same time. How can we oppose the Iranian nuclear and at the same time remain silent on the Israeli nuclear arsenal? It is a betrayal, not only against Iran but also and above all against the Palestinian cause, which the Islamic Republic has always defended and still defends in alliance with the Axis of Resistance, Syria, Hezbollah.

The right path is this, the other plunges the Middle Eastern chessboard into a situation in which Israel will always be able to continue with its usual policy.”

Report: 200mn Children Living in War Zones

Highest in Decade

SANA’A (MEMO) – The number of children living in war and conflict zones around the world has increased by 20 percent, a new report by Save the Children has revealed. Yemen and Syria are on the list of countries accounting for this rise, which is said to be the highest in over a decade.
The NGO’s sixth report examining conflict trends for children found that the number of youngsters living in the middle of lethal conflicts in thirteen countries rose by nearly 20 percent in 2020, up to just under 200 million from 162mn a year earlier. It’s the second highest increase on record since 2008, when the total was 208mn.
This spike was driven partly by outbreaks of violence in Mozambique, as well as ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Yemen, where a Saudi-led invasion in 2015 has led to one of the worst humanitarian disasters since the Second World War.
Along with Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and the Philippines, Yemen has the highest percentage of children living near an armed group or force that has recruited children, leaving them at greater risk of recruitment.
Poverty and not being able to attend school — factors that have only worsened during the coronavirus pandemic — are among the reasons why children are more vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups and forces, said Save the Children. Their duties can range from fighting on the front line to manning checkpoints. Many are also drawn to such groups in search of a sense of belonging, protection from abuse, status or revenge.
Children who are used by armed groups and forces are at greater risk of injury, disability, chronic mental or physical illness, PTSD, sexual violence and, of course, an early death.
“It’s simply horrifying that in the shadow of Covid-19 and the UN’s call for a global ceasefire, more children than ever before are caught in the crosshairs of the deadliest war zones,” said Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children International.
“Millions of children have known nothing but war with appalling consequences for their mental health, ability to go to school, or access to life-saving services. This is a stain on the international community and cannot go on.”

Economy Not Tied to Results of Vienna Talks

 Top Official Reiterates

TEHRAN -- The head of the Plan and Budget Organization said Tuesday the Iranian administration will not wait for the Vienna negotiations to revive the economy which is being geared up for a growth rate of 8%.

Masoud Mirkazemi said during a meeting with Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian that Iran’s state budget for the fiscal Persian year of 1401, which starts on March 20, 2022, has been devised with the provision of sanctions being in place.
“The 1401 budget bill has been drafted on the assumption that the sanctions would continue. From the beginning, the government has said it has a plan for the economy and will not tie the people’s livelihood to the negotiations,” he said.
Vice President for parliamentary affairs Muhammad Husseini went even further, saying Iran “will not tie” solving its problems to membership in the Paris-based Financial Action Taskforce (FATF).
The former government staunchly advocated joining the FATF, arguing that it could ease foreign trade with Europe and Asia and offset US sanctions. Opponents say passing legislation to join the FATF could expose Iran to even more coercive measures.
The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 by the West to purportedly combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
In the past, the U.S. and the Europeans have even tried to link fulfilling their obligations under the nuclear deal to Iran’s enactment of FATF standards, prompting the Islamic Republic’s vehement rejection.
The new administration has set economic growth, stagnating around zero in recent years, as a priority. Its main goal, officials have said, is to control inflation and achieve an economic growth rate of 8%.
Mirkazemi sees economic recovery on the way given that the country is emerging from the stagnation under the previous government and the COVID-19 impact.
“Based on our land use planning and domestic capacities, the goal of achieving an economic growth of 8% is feasible,” Mirkazemi wrote on his twitter page Monday.
“We will not keep the country waiting for the negotiations,” he said, referring to the talks that resumed in Vienna Monday to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal and remove all sanctions imposed on the country under former U.S. president Donald Trump.
President Joe Biden has signaled that he wants to rejoin the deal, but he has shown a bizarre interest in having the key elements of Washington’s most draconian sanctions regime ever intact.
“Despite the formation of a new government in the United States, not only have the illegal and unilateral sanctions remained in place, but the policy of imposing sanctions on Iran has continued to exist,” Amir-Abdollahian said Monday.
A delegation appointed by the new Iranian president is joining the negotiations for the first time. Iran has called for the U.S. to unfreeze $10 billion in assets as an initial goodwill gesture.
Diplomats have said Washington has suggested negotiating an open-ended interim accord with Tehran as long as a permanent deal is not achieved. Iranian officials have made it clear that Tehran has no intention of accepting an interim deal.
“The United States still fails to properly understand the fact that there is no way to return to the deal without a verifiable and effective lifting of all sanctions,” Amir-Abdollahian said in a statement shortly after the talks resumed.
The former Iranian administration exhausted all its diplomatic assets on the nuclear deal which miserably failed to profit the country’s economy. The new government is entering the talks with open eyes, having reiterated that it would not tie Iran’s economy to the results of the negotiations.
According to the World Bank’s Macro Poverty Outlook (MPO) report for spring 2021, the Iranian economy is projected to grow by 2.1 percent in the current fiscal year of March 2021-March 2022.
Iran’s gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to grow through the 2022 2024 fiscals by 2.2% and 2.3%, respectively.
A strong rebound in mid-2020, the report says, led to a modest economic expansion in 2020/2021 despite an initial COVID-19 induced shock to GDP.
The COVID-19 output loss since February 2020 was less pronounced in Iran than in other countries, according to the report.

Vienna meeting left everyone optimistic

TEHRAN — While Iran, the United States and P4+1 resumed the Vienna talks on Monday, the whole world was eagerly waiting what would come out of Palais Coburg.

While the negotiations concluded in the evening, Russian envoy to the Vienna talks Mikhail Ulyanov tweeted that the meeting was “quite successful.”

He then said that the sides agreed on “further immediate steps.”

Later, the European Union coordinator Enrique Mora spoke to reporters waiting outside Palais Coburg. 

He said that the meeting took longer than usual, since Iran’s top negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani discussed his points at length, clarifying where the new administration stands politically.

He further informed the press that Iran has agreed to resume the talks where it stopped on June 20th, yet has insisted to incorporate the new Iranian administration’s “political sensibilities” into the talks. 

Late on Monday, the Chinese envoy to the talks posted a series of tweets, clarifying Beijing’s position.

“WANG Qun, at today's Joint Commission meeting of the #JCPOA, stressed that dialogue & negotiations are the only right way to solve the #Iran #nuclear issue, & the US should lift all sanctions, inconsistent w/ JCPOA, against Iran & 3rd parties, including #China. 

#China has always been committed to upholding the JCPOA & has worked hard to promote the early resumption of the above negotiations.

China hopes that all parties will seize the opportunity, adhere to the direction of political & diplomatic solutions, fully reflect goodwill & flexibility, respect each other’s interests, create a good atmosphere & creatively resolve outstanding issues through negotiations.

#China will continue to practice genuine #multilateralism, participate in the next phase of negotiations in a constructive manner, and work with all parties to promote the early achievement of results in this negotiation.”

Reporters present in Vienna asked Ulyanov about the mood in the meeting and he said that the mood was different.
 
“Different. Different. Sometimes heated debates, sometimes very amicable discussion. But...the result is...the work will continue from where we left off on 20th June,” Ulyanov stated.

When Iran’s chief negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, came out of the hotel, a reporter loudly asked him, “Mr. Bagheri, are you optimistic?” He said “yes” and he got into the car. 

Later, he gave a brief video statement to the Iranian foreign ministry reporter present in Vienna, saying that the Iranian delegation clarified that addressing the “oppressive and illegal” sanctions should be the first top issue on the agenda of the JCPOA Joint Commission, which a working group meeting is scheduled to be held on it on Tuesday.

Regarding the future perspective of the negotiations, Bagheri Kani noted the point that they emphasized was that the indicators, criteria and criteria that Iran should consider in order to reach a fruitful and lasting agreement should be considered.

Many of the criteria and indicators that Iran briefly outlined at the Monday meeting were welcomed by other parties, including the fact that the United States must ensure that new sanctions that have already been imposed are lifted and not re-imposed, Bagheri underlined.

He also highlighted the need for guarantees for non-withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

According to reporters present in the media tent set up in front of Palais Coburg, the Western diplomats looked optimistic as well, yet, they spoke off the record. 

The ground is prepared for a “good agreement”. It’s time for Rob Malley to step up his game. 

TAGS

• Vienna
 
• Vienna talks
 
• JCPOA
 
• Mikhail Ulyanov
 
• Ali Bagheri-Kani
 
• U.S.
 
• Iran