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  1. #1
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    UK envoy to Tehran briefly detained

    UK envoy to Tehran briefly detained for ‘inciting & directing’ anti-govt protesters at Amirkabir University
    11 Jan, 2020 21:07

    British ambassador to Iran, Rob Macaire, was briefly detained outside of Amirkabir University in Tehran over his alleged role in ‘inciting and directing’ anti-government protesters, Tasnim news agency reports.

    The diplomat was among a group of people detained for seeking to “to organize, instigate and direct some radical and destructive actions,” according to the Tehran-based news agency. He was released several hours later, but will reportedly be summoned on Sunday for further questioning.

    Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called the incident with the British diplomat a “flagrant violation of international law,” insisting that Macaire was was detained without any "grounds or explanation,” for simply taking photos of a peaceful rally. Tehran has yet to issue official comments.

    UK envoy to Tehran briefly detained for ‘inciting & directing’ anti-govt protesters at Amirkabir University — RT World News

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat jabir's Avatar
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    Chatting with mates last evening, so let's see where this bounces:

    How would US/UK/EU handle a new state-hostage situation, keeping in mind a) that we've become more 'civilised' over the past 40 years, allowing b) recent hostage situations to embarrass and keep those powers on the back foot and definitely not asking for more?

    One strategy for the mullahs is to leave the US well alone, since Carter and Obama are history, and pick on its allies to complicate matters with non-military provocations. This generates diplomatic/economic/political clashes of interest with a knock-on effect across the board, while world leaders have their feet to the fire with every word and deed coming under critical scrutiny.

    Nobody on this side wants escalation, and esp not Trump in an election year, so the mullahs (among others) appear to be sitting pretty with the same old agenda to probe and poke at the soft underbelly with an occasional stab.

    And to top it all, the gloves off approach doesn't work when a) everyone including you knows you don't mean it, b) you couldn't anyway within the confines of democratic nicety, and c) the other side openly invites it.

  3. #3
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called the incident with the British diplomat a “flagrant violation of international law,”
    An hour or two's detention of a UK diplomat, is an “flagrant violation of international law,”.

    The splattering ( ™ 'arry) of an Iranian diplomat on the airport street, is acceptable.

    UK envoy to Tehran briefly detained-ea203a7aa181e03a6b6035e96c3546e6-jpg

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails UK envoy to Tehran briefly detained-ea203a7aa181e03a6b6035e96c3546e6-jpg  

  4. #4
    Thailand Expat
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    Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations

    Article 41.1:
    1.Without prejudice to their privileges and immunities, it is the duty of all persons enjoying such privileges and immunities to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State. They also have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State.

  5. #5
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    lock him up!!!

  6. #6
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    Under the precedent recently set, why didn't they just save the trouble and bomb him?

  7. #7
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    ^

    Possibly fears of "collateral damage".

  8. #8
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    The splattering ( ™ 'arry) of an Iranian diplomat on the airport street, is acceptable.
    He was a soldier you wanker, not a diplomat.


  9. #9
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    He was a soldier
    Ah, the Iranian was travelling on a diplomatic mission, allegedly, lured to Baghdad with a reply to the SA Prince's request for ....

    Hence travelling on a diplomatic passport, at the time, officially his legal status was .......... a diplomat.


  10. #10
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    Ah, the Iranian was travelling on a diplomatic mission, allegedly, lured to Baghdad with a reply to the SA Prince's request for ....

    Hence travelling on a diplomatic passport, at the time, officially his legal status was .......... a diplomat.

    Yeah, this is the News thread, you have to provide credible links to your bullshit.

  11. #11
    En route
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    WTF is a diplomat doing protesting in the country of his posting anyway. What a 'tard.

  12. #12
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cujo View Post
    WTF is a diplomat doing protesting in the country of his posting anyway. What a 'tard.
    Attending a vigil for his dead countrymen is hardly "protesting", is it?

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Originally Posted by OhOh
    Ah, the Iranian was travelling on a diplomatic mission, allegedly, lured to Baghdad with a reply to the SA Prince's request for ....

    Hence travelling on a diplomatic passport, at the time, officially his legal status was .......... a diplomat.

    Yeah, this is the News thread, you have to provide credible links to your bullshit.
    Why not to provide "credible links", something like the "credible links" provided for the intended destroying of 4 (or more?) Embassies?

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Attending a vigil for his dead countrymen is hardly "protesting", is it?
    (Why not to allow the ambassador to attend a peaceful "vigil" with the crowds ?)

    Hundreds protest against regime in Tehran after Iran admits it shot down plane (video)

    Crowds call for supreme leader to resign as anger mounts over government’s conduct; police said to use force to quell demonstration

    Hundreds protested against the Iranian regime in Tehran Saturday after the government acknowledged that it accidentally shot down the Ukrainian jetliner that crashed earlier this week, killing all 176 people aboard.

    The admission came after Iranian officials had repeatedly denied Western accusations and mounting evidence that it was responsible.

    Videos posted to social media showed demonstrators outside Tehran’s Amirkabir University chanting against the regime and urging Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei to resign. Calls included “Death to the dictator,” “Shame on you Khamenei, leave the country,” “Death to the liars,” and “Shame on the Revolutionary Guards, let the country go.”

    https://www.timesofisrael.com/hundreds-protest-against-regime-in-tehran-after-iran-admits-it-shot-down-plane/

  15. #15
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    you haveto provide credible link
    One is curious as to who else posting in TD News fora, will be asked to provide "credible links".

    I am presuming as you demand them and are possibly TD "management", you are aware of a Mods list of acceptable "creditable Links". Just to assist the mods in making the go/no go decision on allowing a particular "credible linked" post.

    Is the list public, available for all to view, suggest additions or deletions, as to what is approved as a, "credible link"?



    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Try the Iraqi Parliament's records for possibly a "credible link".

    For English here are two, possibly "credible links"/sources. They are of course quoting the same Iraqi PM's speech;



    The Deeper Story Behind the Assassination of Soleimani

    "Nobody imagined that the threat was to be applied to General Soleimani, but it was difficult for Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi to reveal the weekslong backstory behind the terrorist attack.

    I was supposed to meet him [Soleimani] later in the morning when he was killed. He came to deliver a message from Iran in response to the message we had delivered to the Iranians from the Saudis."


    The Deeper Story Behind the Assassination of Soleimani — Strategic Culture


    Iraqi PM: Trump Asked Me to Mediate With Iran Then Assassinated My Guest

    "This means the Pentagon and the White House fully knew, when they ordered the airstrike to kill him,
    that Soleimani was traveling to Baghdad in a diplomatic capacity as an emissary of Iran, and that he had a meeting planned with the Prime Minister to discuss broader de-escalation."

    Iraqi PM: Trump Asked Me to Mediate With Iran Then Assassinated My Guest

    Of course, your intimate "creditable", worldwide/ME, political contacts, may have grave doubts regarding the "creditability" of the democratically appointed Iraqi Prime Minister.

    But then that's not just restricted to Iraqi politicians, is it?
    Last edited by OhOh; 13-01-2020 at 02:00 PM.
    A tray full of GOLD is not worth a moment in time.

  16. #16
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    Pentagon chief says no specific evidence Iran was plotting to attack four U.S. embassies

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Sunday said he did not see specific evidence from intelligence officials that Iran was planning to attack four U.S. embassies, an assertion made by President Donald Trump in justifying the killing of Iran’s top general.

    While Esper said he agreed with Trump that additional attacks against U.S. embassies were likely, he said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that Trump’s remarks to Fox News were not based on specific evidence on an attack on four embassies.

    “What the president said was that there probably could be additional attacks against embassies. I shared that view,” Esper said. “The president didn’t cite a specific piece of evidence.”

    When pressed on whether intelligence officers offered concrete evidence on that point he said: “I didn’t see one with regards to four embassies.”

    Since confirming that Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani had been killed by a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad, administration officials have claimed they acted because of an imminent risk of attacks on American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.

    Democrats and a few Republicans in Congress have questioned the justification of the attacks and said they have not been given adequate, detailed briefings.

    Trump said on Friday Iran probably had targeted the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and was aiming to attack four U.S. embassies before Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike on Jan. 3.

    “We will tell you probably it was going to be the embassy in Baghdad,” Trump said in a clip of an interview on Fox News. “I can reveal that I believe it would have been four embassies.”

    Esper said in a separate interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the administration had “exquisite intelligence” that a broader attack against multiple embassies was likely but that could only be shared with the “Gang of Eight,” a group of top congressional leaders who get briefed on sensitive information that the rest of Congress does not have access to.

    National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien echoed Esper’s comment that the administration had “exquisite intelligence” on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that a threat was imminent but did not comment on evidence saying four embassies were targeted.

    House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat and member of the Gang of Eight, said on Sunday that the group was not informed about possible attacks on four embassies.

    “There was no discussion in the Gang of Eight briefings that these are the four embassies that are being targeted and we have exquisite intelligence that shows these are the specific targets,” he said.

    Republican Senator Mike Lee on Sunday said he was worried about the integrity of information the president and security briefers have provided Congress about Iran.

    “We were given somewhat general statements, and I believe that the briefers and the president believe they had a basis for concluding there was an imminent attack. I don’t doubt that. It is just frustrating to be told that and to not get the details behind it,” he said on CNN.

    Pentagon chief says no specific evidence Iran was plotting to attack four U.S. embassies - Reuters

  17. #17
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    I see this thread is now just the same knobheads spouting their same old bollocks.

    I have met enough ambassadors in my time to know that turning up to mourn their countrymen after an incident like this is de regeur.

    It's understandable that the pathetic mad mullahs would interfere with it to try and distract from their stupidity.

    Shame on the morons that don't get that.

  18. #18
    Thailand Expat
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    I have met enough ambassadors in my time to know that turning up to mourn their countrymen after an incident like this is de regeur.
    "de regeur"? Perhaps you wanted to tell us "de rigueur"​? (sorry for my poor English that disturbs you so much)

    How does your frequent meeting of ambassadors justify the ambassador's attending of riots?

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post

    I have met enough ambassadors in my time to know that turning up to mourn their countrymen after an incident like this is de regeur.
    right

  20. #20
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    I have met enough "Secretary of States" in my time to know they turn up solely for the "buffet froid, pensez aux cakes, madeleines et muffins salés" after an incident like this.
    FIFY.

  21. #21
    last farang standing
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    I'm surprised there weren't riots in England with Iranian flags burning and chants of "Death to Iran!" Then again, muslim countries do seem to stick together.

  22. #22
    Thailand Expat
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    The Day Europe Told the U.S. to Cut Out the Threats Over Iran
    31 January 2020

    U.K., Germany, France told U.S. its tactics were unacceptable

    Trump trade warning rattles beleaguered U.S.-EU relationship

    European diplomats drew a line in the sand this month, telling U.S. officials their bullying tactics wouldn’t help marshal support for President Donald Trump’s Iran policy.

    The firm response came in a conference call in early January when a senior State Department official threatened European car makers would be hit with tariffs unless the European Union backed Trump’s hard line. Diplomats from Germany, France and the U.K. said that such tactics were completely unacceptable and would not help the president achieve his goals, according to U.S. and European officials familiar with the exchange.

    The State Department team was struck by the firmness of the European line and passed their message on to the White House and officials from both sides noted the the U.S. administration dialed back the pressure on its European allies in the days that followed.

    Brian Hook, the U.S.’s special representative for Iran, declined to comment when asked about the call. A spokesman for the White House wasn’t immediately available to comment.

    The episode suggests a growing resolve among European officials to stand their ground as Trump looks to use trade policy to advance a widening range of U.S. geopolitical goals -- and it also shows their ability to pull together may survive the U.K.’s exit from the EU on Friday night.

    Trump has been turning up the heat on Europe over a range of issues that also include relations with China and Russia. The president returned to the offensive later in the month when he targeted the EU for some of his harshest criticism at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

    “They have trade barriers where you can’t trade, they have tariffs all over the place, they make it impossible,” Trump said a week later at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “They are frankly more difficult to do business with than China.”

    The video conference around Jan. 8, first reported by the Washington Post, was led on the U.S. side by David Hale, the undersecretary for political affairs at the State Department, while the Europeans on the call were ambassadors, one of the officials said. By then European policy makers had already been planning for weeks to start formal action against Iran over its uranium enrichment violations.

    A foreign ministry spokesman in Berlin declined to comment. His counterparts in London and Paris didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

    EU-3 plans for a measured increase in pressure against Tehran were upended when the U.S. killed a top Iranian general in a drone attack at the start of January. That brought the two sides to the brink of war as Iran threaten widespread retaliation against U.S. targets.

    The Europeans eventually triggered the dispute resolution of the Iran Nuclear Accord on Jan. 14, around a week after their clash with Hale. EU officials have insisted their decision was designed to force Iran to return to compliance with the accord, whereas Trump has called for the deal to be scrapped.

    At the time of the drone strike, U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said EU allies weren’t “as helpful as I wish that they could be” in supporting the strike. EU officials, in turn, have blasted the American strategy of maximum pressure against Iran, with sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy, as aimlessly aggressive and lacking a strategic objective.

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