Tuesday, 8 November 2022

Unveiling the real face of United States

The United States has been involved in hundreds of wars, invasions, coups and conflicts around the globe, yet it claims to be the flag-bearer of the international fight for freedom, liberation and human rights.

Even a cursory look reveals that in addition to its crimes, atrocities and attempts to divide countries, Washington stands accused of seditious acts through a widespread social media campaign and its embassies around the globe have been censured for their role in destabilizing different regions of the world.

It is often alleged that the United States itself was founded on violence against the indigenous people of America and since then it has survived on instigating violence with its hegemonic dreams and hopes of global hegemony following the collapse of the British Empire.

Over the past two decades Washington has had its eyes on West Asia with the disastrous invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as its support for Takfiri terrorist groups in countries such as Syria and Libya and in particular Iran.

It has since expanded its warmongering approach towards Eastern Europe with the aim of containing rising superpowers such as Russia. It has also pinned its hopes on China’s domestic issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, Xinjiang and elsewhere with the hope of containing the rising economic and military power of Beijing. In essence, what is very clear is that wherever there is a US presence, there is also insecurity and no stability in that part of the world.

President Joe Biden claims the US will free Iran. Speaking at a campaign speech in California recently, he said, "Don't worry, we're gonna free Iran". The reality is, as noted by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Iran was freed from US captivity by toppling the Pahlavi regime. 

"I am telling Biden that Iran was freed 43 years ago," Raisi said in reference to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

It is also important to note that the Iranian people were free in 1953 before the American CIA and British MI6 orchestrated a coup that toppled the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq and replaced it with a puppet regime to loot the country’s large oil and gas resources.

This is something both Washington and its Western allies publicly acknowledge. The reality is that the US has been trying to repeat the exact same scenario in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It has no interest in freedom or the livelihoods of Iranian people. Experts say human rights are observed in Iran more than the United States where minority groups, including Black Americans, face systematic discrimination.

The US claims it wants to free the Iranian nation while at the same time it has imposed the harshest ever sanctions on Iranian people that have caused the majority of the country's population to suffer. American sanctions prevented and continue to prevent patients suffering from serious diseases, such as cancer or rare skin diseases, to gain access to vital medicines by banning money transfer from Iran. This is under the name of "US freedom".

American widespread support for riots in Iran over the past few weeks have also led to the brutal death of police forces. This is the freedom and human rights that America seeks to spread and preach about. 

The closer the United States approaches Iranian borders or any other border in West Asia and beyond, the more insecurity grows in that country. And the US has dozens of military bases surrounding Iranian borders but an independent Iran has proven it has the capability to prevent the Pentagon from toppling the Islamic Republic because of Tehran's military might.

The governments and kingdoms that have linked their own national security interests (knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or unwillingly) to the US have been toppled because of their lack of sovereignty.

In cases where they have not been toppled, the US is stirring sedition and divide nations. This policy of spreading instability helps American arms manufacturers make lucrative profits from weapons deliveries, as has been witnessed in many countries, such as Cuba and other Latin American countries and more recently to Syria, Libya, Ukraine, etc.  

The US State Department has demanded that North Korea refrain from taking any defensive measures to protect its territory, and instead engage in dialogue. This is while the United States has hundreds of warplanes buzzing around North Korean borders in joint war games that have been extended and which Pyongyang views as a rehearsal for an imminent invasion. North Korea has test-fired ballistic missiles in response to these war games and Pyongyang, unsurprisingly, has been denounced by Washington for stirring up trouble.

The US is allowed to hold the largest ever war games next to North Korea with the deployment of B-1B strategic bombers but the North is not allowed to test its own missiles to protect its territorial integrity.

The US Navy missile-guided destroyers and other warships including US warplane carriers and strike groups regularly sail in the South China Sea and expect China to remain silent, which by the way Beijing has exercised praiseworthy patience with its diplomatic approach to the US provocations. A reflection of how one country is not after seeking military confrontation and how another has a warmongering approach under the pretext of spreading freedom that nobody even requested in the first place.

Critics argue that the delusional idea that Washington can provide security guarantees for another country can’t be further from the truth. The fact of the matter is, as history has shown and proven, the US only looks after its own interests, makes lucrative profit from its military adventurism and once these America’s interests are gone, so are the alleged security guarantees that Washington once promised to provide for certain governments and rulers and kings.

 

United States seeks to militarize unrest in Iran

The former US national security advisor, John Bolton, has said that rioters in Iran are getting weapons, an allegation reminiscent of how Syria plunged into a civil war.

In an interview with the Persian service of the BBC, Johan Bolton said the recent unrest in Iran is different from what happened in previous times because this time, protesters are receiving weapons from the Iraqi Kurdistan. 

Bolton is known for his hawkish stances against Iran and has long been the fiercest advocate of regime change in Iran. He has openly called for bombing Iran.

Bolton’s remarks come at a time when the Iranian elites are warning of a Syria blueprint for Iran aimed at bringing about the disintegration of Iran into smaller states fractured along ethnic and religious lines.

On Tuesday, Mohammad Dehghan, advisor to the Iranian president on legal affairs, said the recent developments in Iran were beyond protests and that the enemy seeks to use the unrest to disintegrate Iran.

“The recent incidents in the country have been beyond protests and as was admitted by a Pahlavi regime official, the enemy, using everything in its power, especially the media, is seeking to disintegrate Iran through regime change,” Dehghan was quoted as saying on Tuesday by IRNA.

Adding substance to that is the repetitive announcements by Iranian officials in recent days that border guards have detained several shipments of weapons headed to Iran. A senior border guard commander has said that the seizure of weapons shipments has risen as compared to last year. According to the commander, more than 600 contraband rifles have been seized by border guards over the last 45 days. 

This speaks to the efforts currently underway to militarize unrest in Iran, which suffers from many hardships. Iranian officials and analysts have said that the enemies seek to turn Iran into another Syria using public grievances. 

Many Iranians from all walks of life have fallen victim to that effort. Over the course of the unrest, many Basij members and clerics, along with ordinary people, have been targeted and in some cases martyred. A case in point is Sajad Shahraki, the prayer Imam of Zahedan’s Molaye Mottaqian Mosque who was assassinated in a drive-by shooting.

The police chief of Sistan-Baluchistan province said mask-wearing gunmen, using two Pride and Peugeot 405 sedans, fired into the car of Shahraki at point-blank range, hitting him in the head and chest.

Many Iranian analysts believe such incidents are meant to foment sedition in Iran with the ultimate goal of breaking up Iran. The disintegration of Iran is now even acknowledged by those who work for foreign countries.

A recently leaked private conversation between a BBC Persian anchor with her mother showed that the enemies have placed the goal of disintegrating Iran high on their agenda.

The anchor, Rana Rahimpour, told her mother that the enemies do not want a unified Iran and that their support for the unrest in the country isn’t sincere. Instead, she said, they seek to break up Iran through the unrest because a weaker Iran will ensure their interests. 

 

Increasing risk of tanker accidents

Brokers Poten highlighted the risk in its weekly report with the dark or shadow fleet expected to grow substantially when the EU import and G7 price cap for Russian oil are implemented. The illicit trades generally involve older vessels that would otherwise be recycled, with the bare minimum of repairs or maintenance, reported Seatrade Maritime News.

The trades though for less reputable owners willing to take the risk are extremely lucrative and Poten noted that estimates from knowledgeable observers suggest that shipping rates for Venezuelan or Iranian barrels can be two or three times the market rate for legitimate voyages.

“The illegal nature of the business makes it impossible to use reputable crew managers and arranging proper insurance is difficult as well. To conceal the illicit nature of their employment, owners of these tankers frequently change the vessel’s name and ownership and flag them in jurisdictions that are known to be less strict,” Poten said.

“As a result of these factors, the risk that these vessels are involved in accidents is elevated and so is the potential harm that could be inflicted on the crews and the environment, in case of an oil spill.”

This risk has been highlighted in two recent incidents. The 21-year old, Djibouti-flagged, VLCC Young Yong which ran aground in Indonesia waters in the Singapore Strait was reported to be carrying a crude oil cargo from Malaysia to China.

“The VLCC in question was recently blacklisted by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) because it was part of the so-called ‘Dark Fleet’, involved in the illicit transportation of Iranian oil,” Poten said. 

Meanwhile a 20-year old Aframax loaded with Russian crude was briefly adrift off the Spanish coast.

The dark fleet has grown dramatically over the last two years from 70 vessels in November 2020 to 257 currently. The latest sanctions on Russian oil could result in further substantial growth and Poten noted the brisk sales of secondhand tanker tonnage despite rising prices for older tonnage. It said least 60 VLCCs, 42 Suezmaxes and 93 Aframaxes, of over 15-years of age had changed hands year-to-date.

“So far, Russian exports have only been impacted by limited sanctions. However, the average age of the Aframaxes tankers, which carry the vast majority of Russia’s exports has already increased markedly. If Russia will start utilizing more vessels from the Dark Fleet, the average age of their export tankers will rise dramatically and unfortunately, so will the risk of incidents,” Poten concluded.

 

 

Monday, 7 November 2022

Another gas reserve found off Israel shore

Energean PLC has announced a  new  commercial natural gas discovery of 13 billion cubic meters (bcm) off the shore of Israel as a result of its exploratory drilling well dubbed Zeus-1. It has also confirmed the presence of an additional 3.75 bcm at its Athena site.

These discoveries have confirmed the company’s suspicions that the so-called “Olympus area” located between the Karish and Tanin gas fields are both voluminous and commercially viable.

The company is now plotting its next steps toward capitalizing on the area’s bounty and expects to update the market on the total resource volumes within the Olympus area, taking into account the uplifted volumes in both Zeus and Athena, in early 2023.

“Following the start of production from our Karish reservoir last week, I am pleased that our drilling program, which has now delivered five successful wells from five, continues to deliver value, ensuring security of supply and energy competition across the region,” said Mathios Rigas, CEO of Energean.

“We are evaluating a number of potential commercialization options for the Olympus area that leverage both new and our existing, unique Med-based infrastructure, and we expect to commit to a development concept in 1H 2023,” he said.

In addition, Energean has moved its Stena IceMax drilling rig in order to begin drilling at its Hercules drilling site, the final well in its 2022 drilling campaign.

 

Sunday, 6 November 2022

Global Energy Trading orders methanol bunker tanker

Global Energy Trading (GET) and Stellar Shipmanagement have ordered Singapore’s first dedicated methanol bunker tanker to be built in Japan.

GET and Stellar have ordered a 4,000 dwt, IMO Type 2 Chemical and Oil Tanker, at Sasaki Shipbuilding in Japan.

The new vessel will join GET’s fleet in Singapore at the end of 2023 and will be the first Category A bunker tanker in the world’s largest bunkering port. The new tanker will allow GET to offer methanol bunkers in Singapore from 2024, and the company is also expanding its offerings with biofuel.

On the occasion, Loh Hong Leong, Group Managing Director of Global Energy Group, commented, “We have made an important step to support the industry’s effort on carbon emissions reduction by introducing alternative and green fuel bunkering supply chain solutions. The new tanker could pave the way for the next generation of a more versatile bunkering tanker.”

The two companies have partnered with Bureau Veritas which is also classing the newbuilding. A team from Stellar will supervise construction of the tanker in Japan.

Kelvin Kang, General Manager of Stellar Shipmanagement, commented, “Methanol as bunker fuel will add a new dimension to the bunkering industry in Singapore, we are pleased to work with Authorities, Class BV and relevant industry experts to develop methanol bunkering procedures and standards for the safe bunkering and STS operations.”

Top 10 donors in the US midterm elections

Rich Americans are poised to spend big amounts in this midterm election to impact down-ballot races for their candidates of choice. Eye-popping is that 10 wealthy individuals poured an aggregate US$540 million into this year’s elections. 

The 2022 midterm election cycle has seen a boom in spending in the lead-up to Election Day. Research group OpenSecrets estimates that federal election spending increased by nearly US$2 billion as compared to 2018.

These mega-donors are giving most of their money to outside groups such as super PACs that can raise and spend unlimited sums on election advertisements.  

Roughly 62% of their donations boosted Republicans, who have received far more support than Democrats from big money groups leading up to November, a reversal from recent elections where wealthy donors favored Democrats.  

Here are the 10 largest donors in the midterms, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission filings compiled by OpenSecrets: 

George Soros  

Soros, a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor who made his fortune as a hedge fund manager, has donated US$128.5 million to his own outside group, Democracy PAC, which then doled out millions of dollars to several super PACs supporting Democratic candidates.  

His group donated US$10.5 million to Senate Majority PAC, a super PAC controlled by Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer. It also gave US$1 million to J Street Action Fund, a pro-Israel group that backs Democrats, and Planned Parenthood’s super PAC. If the group makes other donations, they won’t be revealed until after the election.  

Soros has long been a target of right-wing attacks and conspiracy theories over his prolific donations to Democrats. His donations to support democracy in Hungary drew attacks from the country’s authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán that included antisemitic tropes.  

Richard Uihlein  

Uihlein is the co-founder of shipping giant Uline, one of the nation’s largest privately owned companies. The Illinois-based billionaire has emerged as a major force for Republicans in recent elections, and the 2022 election cycle marks his highest donation total. 

He’s the top donor to Club for Growth, one of the most powerful conservative super PACs, giving US$23.2 million. Uihlein also gave US$3.5 million to a group backing Sen. Ron Johnson, continuing his longstanding efforts to influence key Wisconsin races.  

Kenneth Griffin  

Griffin, the CEO of Miami-based hedge fund Citadel, is one of the wealthiest mega-donors, with an estimated net worth of US$31 billion, according to Forbes. 

He gave US$18.5 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC controlled by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, making him the top individual donor to the group that is backing dozens of House GOP challengers. He gave another US$10 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, which is affiliated with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. 

Last year, “meme stock” traders accused Citadel of colluding with trading platform Robinhood to halt trading of GameStop stock. Griffin denied that his firm was involved in the decision during a congressional hearing on the issue and lawsuits against Citadel were dismissed.

Jeff Yass  

Yass is the billionaire founder of quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group. He’s a longtime GOP donor who backs candidates favoring minimal taxes and government regulation and is vice chair of the libertarian Cato Institute’s board.

Yass donated US$15 million to the School Freedom Fund, accounting for the vast majority of the Club for Growth-aligned group’s fundraising. The super PAC aired ads attacking Democratic candidates over COVID-19 school closures and critical race theory and waded into GOP primaries.  

He donated US$5 million to a super PAC supporting Sen. Rand Paul’s reelection and gave US$1.9 million in bitcoin to Crypto Freedom PAC, a pro-crypto group that is backing GOP Senate hopeful Blake Masters in Arizona.   

Timothy Mellon   

Mellon, a longtime GOP mega-donor, is the grandson of banking tycoon Andrew Mellon and was chairman of a transportation firm that was bought by freight rail giant CSX this year.  

The Wyoming-based billionaire donated US$10 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund. He gave another US$5 million to the Sentinel Action Fund, a super PAC aligned with the Heritage Foundation’s action fund that spent most of its money on ads attacking Sen. Mark Kelly. 

A major supporter of former President Trump and his efforts to tighten immigration laws, Mellon received attention for donating US$53 million to Texas’s border wall fund last year.  

Sam Bankman-Fried  

Bankman-Fried, the founder and CEO of crypto exchange FTX, is a new addition to the list of top donors.  

The billionaire crypto executive sent most of his donations — US$28 million — to his Protect Our Future PAC, a super PAC focused on preventing the next pandemic that mostly backed Democrats facing progressives in primaries.  

That’s a fraction of the US$1 billion total Bankman-Fried previously said he would spend to support Democratic candidates in the midterms and the 2024 election. He called his previous statement a “dumb quote” in an interview with Politico earlier this month, arguing that more donations can only go so far in the general election. 

“At some point, when you’ve given your message to voters, there’s just not a whole lot more you can do,” Bankman-Fried said.  

Fred Eychaner  

Eychaner, a longtime Democratic mega-donor and supporter of LGBT causes, runs Newsweb Corporation, which owns several radio stations and newspapers in the Chicago area.  

He’s the top donor to Democrats’ House Majority PAC. He gave US$9 million to House Majority PAC and donated another US$8 million to Senate Majority PAC. Eychaner consistently gives the maximum allowed donation to the Democratic National Committee and Democrats’ other campaign committees. 

Stephen Schwarzman  

Schwarzman runs the Blackstone Group, one of the world’s largest private equity firms.  

The New York City billionaire donated US$10 million to both the Senate Leadership Fund and the Congressional Leadership Fund, providing a huge boost to Republicans’ bid to retake control of Congress. He’s been a top 10 donor in each of the last three elections.  

Peter Thiel  

Thiel, who co-founded PayPal and currently runs data analytics firm Palantir Technologies, has emerged a major GOP booster.   

Thiel is joining the list of top donors for the first time, primarily placing his bets on two GOP Senate hopefuls. He gave US$15 million to a super PAC supporting Arizona’s Blake Masters, a former executive at Thiel’s firm, and another US$15 million to a super PAC supporting J.D. Vance in Ohio.  

Larry Ellison  

With an estimated net worth of nearly US$100 billion, according to Forbes, Ellison is by far the wealthiest individual on this list.  

Oracle Corp Chairman donated US$20 million to the Opportunity Matters Fund, a super PAC aligned with Sen. Tim Scott that is backing GOP candidates in tight Senate races. 

Courtesy: The Hill

Creating unrest in Iran was American ‘Plan B’

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said Saturday that Iran’s recent unrest was ‘Plan-B’ pursued by the United States and it failed in implementing this plan.

Speaking to reporters, Amir Abdollahian said, “What our nation has seen over the last 40 days was the implementation of the very Plan B that the Americans wanted to pursue. But they failed in this regard due to the nation’s intuition and the guidance of the supreme leader.”

Iranian Foreign Minister also responded to Western allegations that Iran provided Russia with drones and missiles for use in the Ukraine war.

He said the West’s kerfuffle over the provision of missiles is entirely wrong, while the issues pertaining to the drones are right, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA.

“We provided a limited number of drones to Russia months before the start of the Ukraine war. And we agreed with the Ukrainian foreign minister that if you have any evidence of Russia using Iranian drones in Ukraine, give us the evidence,” he added.

He said this was agreed two weeks ago in a European country and a political and defense delegation from Iran went to that European country for a meeting with Ukrainian officials but the Ukrainian side called off the meeting in the last minute.

“The reason for the absence of the Ukrainian side was that the United States and some European countries, especially Germany, asked Ukraine not to participate in this meeting. They told the Ukrainian officials that while we want to impose sanctions against Iran over the provision of drones to Russia, you want to drink coffee with Iranians in a European country!” Amir Abdollahian said.

He added, “After that, in the telephone conversation that we had with the foreign minister of Ukraine last week, we agreed that if there is any evidence, they will provide us with it, and if the Ukrainian side sticks to its promise, we will be able to examine this issue in the coming days, and their evidence will be taken into consideration.”

In the phone conversation between Amir Abdollahian and his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, the two sides discussed the latest developments related to the Ukraine crisis and bilateral topics.

 Amir Abdollahian strongly dismissed the claims about the use of Iranian drones in the war in Ukraine, saying, “The Islamic Republic has had the experience of the eight-year imposed war and is thus opposed to war in Ukraine, Yemen, and elsewhere.”

The Iranian foreign minister said, “We have good ties with Russia and we have had defense cooperation from the past, but our policy toward the Ukraine war is to respect the territorial integrity of countries, not to send weapons to the conflicting parties, and to stop the war and the people’s displacement.”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s policy is fully transparent, is based on a unified standard, and is against war,” he said, according to the Iranian foreign ministry.

“We are ready for convening technical sessions with the participation of military experts between the two countries, without the need for any intermediary,” the foreign minister added.

He described the statements of some Western officials as baseless and referred to Tehran’s recurrent efforts to help bring about a ceasefire, adding, we stand ready to help establish a truce.

“I believe Ukraine had better be careful not be influenced by some radical politicians in Europe,” the top diplomat said.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, in turn, praised the Islamic Republic of Iran’s position on not dispatching arms for use in the Ukraine war, saying talks between technical military delegations of the two countries are important.

He pointed to Ukraine’s independence in its foreign relations and said his country does not take action under the influence of others.

The chief diplomat explained the consequences of war in his country and said Ukraine strives to safeguard the security and activities of embassies in accordance with international conventions.

Iran has said it does not support any side in the Ukraine war. It has said it support the settlement of the Ukraine crisis through dialogue and political ways. However, the West leveled accusations against Iran over the alleged provision of weaponry to Russia.