Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. SUBSCRIBE Nov. 10, 2018 / 11:00 AM GMT By Dan De Luce, Robert Windrem and Abigail Williams WASHINGTON — Senior officials in the Trump administration are convinced the Iranian regime is vulnerable to collapse and that tough U.S. economic sanctions could hasten its demise, foreign diplomats and former U.S. officials told NBC News. President Donald Trump himself has questioned if the regime can last. "When I came in here, it was a question of when would they take over the Middle East," Trump said in an August interview with Bloomberg News. "Now it's a question of will they survive. It's a big difference in one and a half years." But European allies and intelligence experts disagree, and see Washington's forecast as a case of wishful thinking. While acknowledging the regime's growing economic and political troubles, European governments believe the … [Read more...] about The Trump admin thinks U.S. pressure could sink Iran’s regime, but allies have doubts
Iran
U.S. grants Iraq 45-day waiver over Iran sanctions to import gas, electricity -U.S. Embassy
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq can continue to import natural gas and energy supplies from Iran for a period of 45 days, the United States has said, several days after reimposing sanctions on Tehran's oil sector. "The United States has given Iraq a temporary relief from the sanctions for 45 days to continue purchasing natural gas and electricity from Iran," the U.S. Embassy in Iraq said in a video published on its official Facebook page on Thursday. "This relief gives Iraq time to start taking steps towards energy independence," the video said. Iraq central bank officials said in August that the country's economy is so closely linked to Iran that Baghdad would ask Washington for exemptions from some of the sanctions. The current temporary waiver is conditional on Iraq not paying Iran for imports in U.S. dollars. Sanctions, which had been lifted under a 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by President Barack Obama's administration and five other world powers, were reimposed on Nov 5. They cover 50 … [Read more...] about U.S. grants Iraq 45-day waiver over Iran sanctions to import gas, electricity -U.S. Embassy
UK must keep its distance from Trump’s US over Iran – Brian Wilson
0 Have your say After the UK Foreign Office says it supports expanding trade with Iran despite Donald Trump’s sanctions against the country, Brian Wilson says he hopes Britain will avoid following America’s lead given the ‘rabid ideologues’ currently running the US State Department. This week’s US elections suggested Donald Trump is unlikely to disappear any time soon and the longer he stays, the more erratic he will become in attacking domestic liberties and picking fights abroad.The latter consideration makes it critical to develop a foreign policy that does not merely follow the American lead, as has been our custom through many decades in the name of a Special Relationship which Trump has minimal interest in.Against that backdrop, I welcome a clear statement from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in response to Trump’s counter-productive sanctions against Iran. The UK view, shared by EU partners, is entirely … [Read more...] about UK must keep its distance from Trump’s US over Iran – Brian Wilson
Report: Trump May Designate Yemen’s Iran-Allied Houthis as Terrorists
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is considering branding the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), the Washington Post (WaPo) reported on Thursday. Citing anonymous individuals familiar with the discussions, the Post noted:The terrorist designation, which would inject an unpredictable new element into fragile diplomatic efforts to initiate peace talks, has been discussed periodically since at least 2016, according to several of the individuals. But the matter has received renewed examination in recent months as the White House seeks to stake out a tough stance on Iranian-linked groups across the Middle East, they said. A formal terrorist designation by the State Department could further isolate the rebels, members of a minority Shiite Muslim sect who seized control of Yemen’s capital in late 2014, but critics warn that such a move might also worsen already dire humanitarian conditions without pushing the conflict closer to a … [Read more...] about Report: Trump May Designate Yemen’s Iran-Allied Houthis as Terrorists
Trio arrested in Denmark for praising Iran parade attack
Police raid an address in Ringsted on Wednesday morning. Photo: Mathias Øgendal/Ritzau Scanpix Three members of an Iranian separatist group that Tehran blames for a deadly attack in Iran and who were targeted by a foiled assassination plot in Denmark have been arrested, Danish police said Wednesday. "Three people have been arrested suspected of violating the Danish law... on condoning terrorism," a police statement said. The three arrested individuals live in Ringsted, a town 60km to the southwest of Copenhagen, Ritzau reports. The three members of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz (ASMLA) are accused of praising the five commandos who attacked a military parade in the Iranian city of Ahvaz on September 22, spraying the crowd with gunfire and killing 24 people. Iran has blamed the attack on the ASMLA, which advocates for an Arab state in a southwestern Iranian province. Tehran calls it a terrorist organisation. The Danish intelligence service … [Read more...] about Trio arrested in Denmark for praising Iran parade attack