KTFA Members "News and Views" Thursday AM 1-9-2020
KTFA:
Samson: Iran: End of revenge on America "our operations were equivalent"
9th January, 2020
Iran has openly declared to the United Nations the end of its reprisals against the United States in response to the assassination of Qassem Soleimani.
Iran's permanent representative to the United Nations, Majeed Rawanji, said that his country will not take any steps or measures against America if the latter does not do so.
Indicating that the operations and escalation were equal and ended. LINK
Samson: Iraqi lawmaker: Iran may enter new negotiations with America in exchange for two conditions
11:35 - 09/01/2020
Al-Fateh MP Haneen Al-Qaddo, on Thursday, favored Tehran's response to the invitation of US President Donald Trump to enter new negotiations on the nuclear file, stating that Iran would put two basic conditions in exchange for its acceptance to negotiate.
In a statement to Al-Maalouma, Al-Kiddo said, "Yesterday's Trump speech contributed to creating an atmosphere of calm after the world was worried about Trump's recklessness by issuing a decision to respond to the Iranian bombing of his bases in Anbar and Erbil, even though the speech contained a kind of clear methodology.
Noting that "Trump's call for Iran to return to negotiations was to win the American people because of the proximity of the American elections."
He added that "indications indicate that Tehran will agree to enter into new negotiations on its nuclear program with Washington, but it will lay down two basic conditions, the lifting of the blockade of it and the second that its acceptance will be with European guarantees" and Al-Qudo indicated that “if Tehran accepts to enter into new negotiations with Washington, it will reflect positively on the implementation of The decision of the House of Representatives and the government to evacuate foreign forces will facilitate their exit from Iraq. LINK
**************
Pmac: When the cabal goes down... the IQD will go up
Samson: : This is the video Frank shared on youtube today (thanks Rommy)
Iranian Woman Speaks Truth On Recent Attacks https://youtu.be/1C888mSyD7s?t=4
Samson: Oil falls about 5% as US-Iranian tensions recede and stockpiles rise
9th January, 2020
Oil futures fell by about 5%, after sharp fluctuations, as they approached a four-month peak in early transactions due to an Iranian missile attack on American forces in Iraq, and then retreated as the two countries rushed to calm tensions
Prices went down after it became clear that the missile attack did not harm any oil facilities or harm any Americans, and under additional pressure from a sudden increase in US stocks of crude
US President Donald Trump took a step back after angry statements for days against Iran as the two countries attempted to defuse the crisis over the United States' killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani
"The fact that we have this great army and equipment ... does not mean we have to use them," Trump said in a speech from the White House, noting that Iran appeared to be retreating
And before Trump's speech, prices were already retreating from the peaks last night after tweets by the US President and Iranian Foreign Minister hinted at least a temporary lull
Brent futures fell $ 2.83, or 4.2 percent, to settle the settlement price at $ 65.44 a barrel, its lowest closing level since December 16. In early trade, the contract peaked since mid-September at $ 71.75
The global benchmark was on the rise since hitting $ 56.15 a barrel in October; its peak in today's session was 28 percent above that level
US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.09 dollars, or 4.9 percent, to close at 59.61 dollars a barrel, its lowest close since December 12. The highest session price was $ 65.65, the highest since late April
"Volatility is the best characteristic of price action today, with record crude falling ... about nine percent from the peaks of last night," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Co. in Galena, Illinois, speaking in a report
The difference between today's highest and lowest session price is the widest for West Texas since November 2014 and for Brent since September 2019
The US Energy Information Administration said that crude stocks increased by 1.2 million barrels last week. The increase surprised the market, which was expecting a decline of 2.6 million barrels, and contrasted with preliminary data for the sector, which showed a decrease of 5.9 million barrels
Samson: Al-Fatlawi: Iraq spent more than $ 100 billion on armaments, but it went to the "corrupt"
09:43 - 09/01/2020
On Thursday, MP from the Alliance of Fath, Fadel Al-Fatlawi, said that Iraq spent more than $ 100 billion on armament, but this money went into the pockets of the corrupt, pointing out that Iraq needs to diversify the sources of armament and provide its security system with the latest weapons to preserve sovereignty.
In a statement to Al-Maalouma, Al-Fatlawi said, "The parliamentary decision to remove foreign forces obliges the government to implement and not extend the survival of these forces or negotiate their stay in Iraq."
He added that "foreign forces entered Iraq at the request of the government to support the various security forces in combating the criminal ISIS in 2014, and today the need for these forces has been neglected and Iraq no longer needs them, so the government must lead in its turn to end the presence of these forces."
He explained that "the discussion took place a year ago today about arming Iraq by creating weapons and air defense systems from various producing countries, in order to preserve sovereignty and defend Iraq , but that was not done and previous governments spent tens of billions, but they went in vain and were placed in corruption files only ”
He noted that "Iraq spent more than 100 billion dollars on armament projects, but there is nothing on the ground, and corruption is prevalent in arms deals." LINK
**************
Samson: 33 Bombs and two ISIS caves were found and destroyed in Kirkuk
11:04 - 09/01/2020
The Security Media Cell announced, on Thursday, that 33 explosive devices were found and two caves and three nests were destroyed by the "ISIS" criminal organization in the Kirkuk governorate.
The cell said in a statement received / information /, a copy of it, that "a joint force within the advanced headquarters of joint operations / Kirkuk, and through the third and sixth divisions of the federal police, a search operation that included" the Mama mountain range and the maintenance of the previous Peshmerga line and the inspection of the villages of Kibbeh, Mzirir and Mansourieh "These came The process to purge the area of terrorist elements and arrest the wanted.”
The statement added, "From the operation, we found 32 different explosive devices from the ISIS terrorist remnants, which were handled by the engineering effort, and found two caves and 3 dens of terrorists, and they were destroyed by the task force." LINK
************
Samson: The disclosure of the entry of 3,200 military personnel from 19 European countries to Iraq in late 2019
11:15 - 09/01/2020
The European Observer website of the European Union announced on Thursday that 3,200 military personnel from 19 countries in the European Union and 10 other countries under the umbrella of NATO have been deployed in Iraq in late 2019.
"Since the escalation of tensions between the United States and Iran in the wake of the air strike that claimed the lives of General Qassem Soleimani and Deputy Chairman of the Popular Mobilization Authority , Abu Muhandi, the engineer, the European Union is seeking to use diplomacy to quell the escalating conflict and the possibility of war in the region," the report said, translated by the information .
"Whatever the European response to the incident, and what followed it from an Iranian response to bombing the Al-Asad base in western Iraq and the Harir base in the north of the country, it is likely that the number of European forces and their eventual withdrawal from the process (the inherent solution) in Iraq will cast a long shadow on its target," he added. Announced to defeat ISIS and prevent its re-emergence in the region.
He added that “the largest European military presence in Iraq comes from Italy with 600 soldiers, followed by Spain with 500 soldiers and France with 400 soldiers, while the United States has about 6000 soldiers deployed in Iraq amid plans to send 3,800 US paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade to the east The middle. ”
He continued that "within the NATO forces, Norway has 200 military personnel, 65 Poland and 12 from the Netherlands, and an additional 70 military personnel from Spain, while NATO announced earlier that it is withdrawing some of its forces and personnel, including the Croatian and Romanian guard forces that will leave the country."
For its part, European Commission President Ursula von der Lin said that "the US-Iranian conflict may have potential consequences for the European Union, in the areas of transport, energy and immigration, as well as in economic development, stabilization and reconstruction carried out by the European Union in those areas". LINK
**************
Samson: China: We will sign a trade agreement with America next week
9th January, 2020
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced today, Thursday, that the Deputy Prime Minister and head of the negotiating team in the trade talks between Washington and Beijing will sign the "one phase" agreement in Washington next week.
Gao Feng, a spokesman with the Ministry of Commerce, said Vice President Liu He will visit Washington from January 13 to 15. Gao told reporters at a regular press conference that the negotiating teams from both sides are still in close contact on specific signing arrangements.
US President Donald Trump said on December 31 that a one-stage agreement with China would be signed on January 15 at the White House. Trump also said he would sign the agreement with "high-level representatives of China" and that he would later travel to Beijing to start the next-level talks.
A one-stage agreement reached last month is expected to reduce customs duties and increase China's purchases of agricultural, industrial and energy products from the United States, while addressing some disputes over intellectual property rights. LINK