Iranian missiles hit Israeli port city

According to CNN, nearly two dozen people were wounded in parts of Israel on Friday after Iran unleashed a fresh barrage of missiles. Foreign ministers from the Britain, France, and Germany met their Iranian counterpart in Geneva on Friday.

The talks come as US President Donald Trump says he will decide within two weeks whether to join Israel’s ongoing military campaign against Iran, amid reports that Washington is actively considering intervention.

Iran said the latest attack targeted “military objectives, defense industries, and command centers” in Israel, a spokesperson for the country’s Revolutionary Guard said.

Haifa's mayor stressed need for peace after the Iranian missile barrage on Friday.

The “name of the game is peace,” Yona Yahav, mayor of the northern Israeli city, told CNN. He said the two-week deadline set by President Donald Trump to decide on whether the US will join Israel’s military action on Iran is too long.

Speaking to CNN’s Nic Robertson from the city in the aftermath of a fresh Iranian missile barrage, Mayor Yona Yahav confirmed that no one had been killed in the attack.

According to Israeli emergency services, a total of 21 people were injured in Haifa during the attacks, including three with severe injuries.

Yahav also said “I don’t like wars,” after having personally experienced 10 of them, adding that the “name of the game is peace.”

He said his culturally mixed city has been a mostly peaceful home to both Jews and Arabs for over 100 years.

When asked about the talks that are being held in Geneva between Iran and European countries, Yahav said he hoped that a peace treaty would be the ultimate end result.

The mayor said that the two-week deadline President Trump had given to decide US actions on Iran was “too much,” as he said it is difficult for residents to live while wrapped up in war.

“A fixed answer I can’t get from Trump, and this bothers me,” he said.

“Because I like stability, and I think that he has to give me this stability.”

More sanctions imposed on Iran ahead of Mahsa Amini first death anniversary

The United States, Canada, Britain and some other European Union countries on Friday imposed more sanctions on Iran ahead of the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini.

“Countries that have regularly committed the harshest violence against their own citizens, especially against women and minorities, people of color, aboriginals, natives and immigrants and have never had the least courage to strongly protest or condemn the crimes of the child-killing Zionist regime have no right to shed crocodile tears for the Iranian nation,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said in a press release.

In a statement on Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, "Mahsa’s tragic and senseless death in the custody of Iran’s so-called 'Morality Police' sparked demonstrations across Iran that were met with unspeakable violence, mass arrests, systemic internet disruptions and censorship by the Iranian regime." 

Kanaani described such moves and meddlesome remarks as “laughable and hypocritical shows”.

“Unfortunately, certain sides that have a dark historical record on human rights issues and women in a coordinated move and despicable efforts have issued worthless political statements to provoke sedition in the Islamic Republic of Iran by beating the drums of repetitive and ineffective sanctions,” Kanaani pointed out.  

The Foreign Ministry official despised the unlawful and undiplomatic moves of these countries and said it is better for the Europeans to acknowledge that the continuation of such unconstructive behaviors will never meet their interests and should adopt a new policy based on respect toward the great and civilized Iranian nation and the national sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran.  

The ministry spokesman concluded his remarks by saying that it is quite clear that the far-sighted Iranian people and the government as well as responsible security bodies will not waver in upholding collective security under the negative propaganda and biased moves of the Western sides. 

In a separate statement, The US Treasury Department also said it imposed sanctions on more than two dozen people and entities it said were connected to what it called violent suppression of protests in the wake of Amini's death.

The action targets 29 people and groups, including 18 key members of the IRGC and Iran's Law Enforcement Forces, as well as the head of Iran's Prisons Organizations, the department said. They also target officials linked to Iran's internet blockade and several media outlets.
Douran Software Technologies CEO Alireza Abedinejad as well as media organizations Press TV, Tasnim and Fars news agencies were also among those sanctioned.

The British government also announced sanctions against several Iranian officials, including the culture minister, his deputy and the mayor of Tehran.

 

 

Turkey doubles Russian oil imports

Turkey has doubled its import of oil from of Russia this year, shows Refinitiv Eikon data. Both the countries are set for broader cooperation in business, especially energy trade despite western sanctions against Moscow.

Trade between Turkey and Russia has been booming as Turkish companies did not stop from dealing with Russian counterparts and stepped in to fill the gap created by EU businesses leaving Russia after being of war in Ukraine earlier this year. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine 'a special military operation.'

Turkey increased oil imports from Russia, including Urals and Siberian Light grades, beyond 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year as compared to just 98,000 bpd for the same period of 2021.

Turkey did not sanction Russia due to its actions in Ukraine, saying it remains reliant on Russian energy supplies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan met early in August and agreed to boost business cooperation.

Turkey's main refiners Tupras and Azerbaijan's SOCAR's STAR refinery significantly increased intake of Russian Urals and Siberian Light oil this year, while decreasing purchases of North Sea, Iraqi and West African grades.

Over the last few years, STAR refinery increased purchases of Norway's Johan Sverdrup and Iraqi oil grades, which are close in quality to Urals as Russian oil has been growing in price.

This year, Russian oil prices fell to historical lows against Brent benchmark, while North Sea and Iraqi oil grades prices increased.

STAR refinery is expected to purchase about 90,000 bpd of oil from Russia during January to August 2022 as compared to 48,000 bpd during the same period of the last year.

Tupras refineries will buy about 111,000 bpd of oil from Russia in January to August this year compared to just 45,000 bpd during the same period last year, according to the data.

"The choice for Turkey's refiners was obvious as they have no limits on Russian oil buying", a trader in the Mediterranean oil market said, who declined to be named as he is not authorized to speak to the press.

He added that good Urals oil refining margins supported profits of Turkish refiners.