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U.N. Moves to Lift Sanctions on Iran After Nuclear Deal

Photo The resolution passed by the Security Council on Monday lays out the steps required for the lifting of United Nations sanctions, but not the sanctions imposed separately by the United States and the European Union. Credit Seth Wenig/Associated Press UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations Security Council on Monday unanimously approved a resolution that creates the basis for international economic sanctions against Iran to be lifted, a move that incited a furious reaction in Israel and potentially sets up an angry showdown in Congress. The 15-0 vote for approval of the resolution — 104 pages long including annexes and lists — was written in Vienna by diplomats who negotiated a landmark pact last week that limits Iran’s nuclear capabilities in exchange for ending the sanctions. Iran has pledged to let in international monitors to inspect its facilities for the next 10 years and other measures that were devised […]

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Kerry says Iran vow to defy U.S. is ‘very disturbing’

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talks to the media after a meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir at the State Department in Washington July 16, 2015. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said a speech by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday vowing to defy American policies in the region despite a deal with world powers over Tehran’s nuclear program was "very disturbing". "I don’t know how to interpret it at this point in time, except to take it at face value, that that’s his policy," he said in the interview with Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television, parts of which the network quoted on Tuesday. "But I do know that often comments are made publicly and things can evolve that are different. If it is the policy, it’s very disturbing, it’s very troubling," he added. Ayatollah Khamenei told supporters on Saturday that U.S. policies in the region […]

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Iranian General Criticizes U.N. Resolution on Nuclear Deal

TEHRAN — The commander of Iran ’s Revolutionary Guards objected on Monday to the United Nations Security Council resolution that is part of the landmark nuclear agreement, asserting it crossed some “red lines” concerning Iranian defenses. The objection, by Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, was not expected to derail the nuclear agreement reached last week between Iran and world powers. But it appeared to open a new point of contention within Iran’s political hierarchy. General Jafari’s remarks amounted to the most authoritative criticism from the leader of an influential faction in Iran since diplomats announced the agreement in Vienna. “He and others just want to be registered as critics of this agreement so that in case things go wrong they can say, ‘We told you so,’ ” said Farshad Ghorbanpour, a political analyst close to the government. Others said General Jafari’s remarks appeared mainly intended to bolster the image […]

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Nuclear deal could herald major change within and beyond Iran

Iranians celebrate on the streets following a nuclear deal with major powers, in Tehran July 14, 2015. An unlikely group in the Middle East has found common ground in recent days: Saudi Arabia, Israel and hardliners within Iran have all made clear they consider the landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers a very bad idea. All of these players feel a direct threat to their power and influence as a result of last Tuesday’s agreement. For the first time in more than three decades, Iran, a country with a highly educated population of some 80 million and huge oil and gas reserves, is poised to rejoin the international community and the result could be profound change both inside and outside the country. "The geopolitical structure of the Middle East is changing,” said Saeed Leylaz, a prominent economist based in Tehran who worked as an advisor to former […]

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Is ISIL running out of oil?

Iraq though has had significant success in taking down ISIL’S smuggling operation [File: ISIL] It has been alleged that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has made millions in Iraq, smuggling oil from various sites that they control around the country. According to the US, the figures could run into millions of dollars a week. While it is true that ISIL had control of Iraq’s largest oil refinery, Beiji, until recently, it also controls a number of oil wells and continues to exploit them. When ISIL fighters arrived in June 2014, they found themselves in possession of rich oil wells in Nineveh province, south of Mosul. This allowed them to establish smuggling operations, following criminal routes long established and join them up with smuggling routes in Syria. A common route came into being. Husham al-Brifkani, the head of the energy committee of Nineveh’s provincial council, said: […]

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ISIS Leader Is Delegating His Powers in Case He Is Killed

WASHINGTON — The Islamic State’s reclusive leader has empowered his inner circle of deputies as well as regional commanders in Syria and Iraq with wide-ranging authority, a plan to ensure that if he or other top figures are killed, the organization will quickly adapt and continue fighting, American and Iraqi intelligence officials say. The officials say the leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi , delegates authority to his cabinet, or shura council, which includes ministers of war, finance, religious affairs and others. The Islamic State’s leadership under Mr. Baghdadi has drawn mainly from two pools: veterans of Al Qaeda in Iraq who survived the insurgency against American forces with battle-tested militant skills, and former Baathist officers under Saddam Hussein with expertise in organization, intelligence and internal security. It is the merger of these two skill sets that has made the organization such a potent force, the officials say. But equally important […]

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Suspected Islamic State suicide bombing kills 27 in Turkish border town

A wounded man sits on a step following an explosion in Suruc, in the southeastern Sanliurfa province, Turkey, July 20, 2015. An explosion outside a cultural center in the Turkish town of Suruc near the border with Syria killed at least 27 people and wounded many more on Monday, in what senior officials said may have been a suicide bombing by Islamic State militants. Television footage showed bodies lying beneath trees outside the building in the mostly Kurdish town in southeastern Turkey, some 10 km (6 miles) from the Syrian town of Kobani, where Kurdish fighters have been battling Islamic State. "Our initial evidence shows that this was a suicide attack by Islamic State," one senior official in Ankara told Reuters. A second official also said Islamic State appeared to have been responsible and that the attack was a "retaliation for the Turkish government’s efforts to fight terrorism". NATO […]

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Saudi crude oil exports fall to lowest in five months in May

A fisherman pulls in his net as an oil tanker is seen at the port in the northwestern city of Duba April 20, 2013. Picture taken April 20. Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports fell to their lowest in five months in May despite near record production, as the OPEC kingpin turns itself into a major refined-fuels power and as domestic consumption rises. Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude oil exporter, shipped 6.935 million barrels per day (bpd) on average in May, down from 7.737 million bpd in April and the lowest since December, official data showed on Sunday. As crude exports slide, the OPEC producer is offering customers millions of barrels of diesel from new refineries as it turns itself into a major supplier of refined oil products, potentially triggering a price war with Asian competitors as its exports feed into a glut. Saudi Arabia’s massive refineries are now […]

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Eni finds more natural gas in Egypt

Italian energy company Eni said it will get new gas moving in Egypt within two months. File Photo by project1photography/Shutterstock MILAN, Italy, July 20 (UPI) — Italian energy company Eni said Monday it made what it considers to be an important discovery of natural gas in the Egyptian Nile Delta. Eni said it made a discovery in the Nooros exploration prospect in the Abu Madi West license area, about 75 miles northeast of Alexandria. "Preliminary estimates of the discovery account for a potential of 530 billion cubic feet of gas in place with upside, plus associated condensates," the company said in a statement. Eni in January signed two new agreements in the deep waters of the Mediterranean Sea following an auction held by the Egyptian government in 2013. In March, the company said it signed a framework agreement to develop Egyptian oil and gas reserves that calls for as […]

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Venezuela orders producers to divert food to state stores

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Private companies in Venezuela say the government has ordered them to distribute food staples to a network of state-run supermarkets amid chronic shortages of basic goods. The Food Industry Chamber said Monday that authorities ordered producers of milk, pasta, oil, rice, sugar and flour to supply between 30 percent and 100 percent of their products to the state stores. The chamber says there are 15 times as many private stores in the socialist South American country as state-run ones. Chamber President Pablo Baraybar says the order could cause major supply problems. Government officials could not be reached for comment. Rigid currency controls and a shortage of U.S. dollars make it difficult for Venezuelans to find imported goods. Companies say controls make it hard to turn a profit and justify production.

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