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Israel’s Netanyahu Claims ‘Proof’ Iran Sought Nuclear Weapons

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country has obtained copies of tens of thousands of files purportedly containing “incriminating” information about Iran’s nuclear program, including evidence that Tehran was seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

In a press conference in Tel Aviv on April 30, Netanyahu said that, after signing an agreement with international powers that curbed its nuclear program in 2015, Tehran hid the archives of its nuclear program, including information about a plan to develop the equivalent of “five Hiroshima bombs to be put on ballistic missiles.”

“Iran planned at the highest level to continue building nuclear weapons,” Netanyhu said.

Iran has always said its nuclear program was entirely peaceful and has denied seeking nuclear weapons.

Netanyahu said the 2015 nuclear deal was “based on lies.”

In all, Netanyahu said Israel has obtained “exact copies” of some 55,000 files from the purported Iranian archive.

He also showed a video that he said showed a previously unknown Iranian nuclear facility.

‘Propaganda Show’

Iran’s state IRNA news agency said Netanyahu was “famous for his ridiculous shows,” while the semiofficial Fars agency called the press conference “a propaganda show.”

Before the presentation, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called Netanyahu “the boy who can’t stop crying wolf.”

Netanyahu also said that Israel has shared its information with the United States.

U.S President Donald Trump has criticized the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which was negotiated under his predecessor, Barack Obama.

He has called for the deal to be renegotiated or scrapped and has said he is considering withdrawing from it.

At his Tel Aviv press conference, Netanyahu said he is certain Trump will do “the right thing” regarding the nuclear deal.

Netanyahu met on April 29 with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to discuss Iran and the nuclear deal.

After the talks, Pompeo said Trump had “a comprehensive Iran plan that is designed to counter the full array of threats emanating from Tehran.”

He added that the United States was “deeply concerned about Iran’s dangerous escalation of threats to Israel and the region.”

Rob Malley, a former official in the Obama administration, posted on Twitter that “for those who have followed the Iranian nuclear file, there is nothing new” in Netanyahu’s presentation.

“All it does is vindicate the need for the [2015] nuclear deal,” Malley added. “But the Israeli prime minister has an audience of one: Trump.”

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and dpa

ISIS claims coordinated attacks in Tehran which left at least five dead

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isis claims attackThe Islamic State group claimed its first attacks in Iran on Wednesday, June 7 as gunmen and suicide bombers killed at least five people in twin assaults on parliament and the tomb of the country’s revolutionary founder in Tehran, AFP reports.

Dozens of people were also wounded in the attacks, with continuing gunfire several hours after they began.

A security guard and one other person were killed when four gunmen burst into Tehran’s parliament complex with rifles and a pistol, according to the ISNA news agency.

One of the attackers blew himself up on the fourth floor of the parliament office building as a standoff with police continued for several hours.

In the coordinated mid-morning attack, a gardener was reported dead and several more injured when armed assailants entered the grounds of Ruhollah Khomeini mausoleum in the south of the city.

Two attackers — at least one female — blew themselves up outside the shrine, according to local media.

Iran’s emergency services said they were dealing with 33 injured from the attacks and that two people had died from their injuries in hospital.

IS claimed the attacks in a report from its Amaq propaganda agency which said: “Fighters from the Islamic State attacked the Khomeini mausoleum and the parliament building in Tehran.”

It also claimed two suicide bombers had blown themselves up at the shrine.

Parliament was in session as the attacks unfolded, with live footage showing members continuing with routine business even as gun battles were reported in surrounding office buildings and snipers took position on nearby rooftops.

Speaker Ali Larijani dismissed the attacks, saying they were a “trivial matter” and that security forces were dealing with them.

Intensified gunfire was heard from the neighbouring offices as Fars news agency reported police had launched an assault. A picture on social media showed police helping staff escape through windows.

Related links:

Interfax: Ответственность за нападения на парламент и мавзолей в Тегеране взяло ИГ
AFP. IS claims coordinated attacks in Tehran, at least five dead

Ruling RPA claims a landslide victory at Parliamentary elections in Armenia

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The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) wins the  Parliamentary elections held on Sunday in Armenia with a big lead, according to the preliminary official results summed up by the country’s Central Electoral Committee (CEC) after processing the protocols received from all precincts.

According to these results, presented on Monday by the CEC Chairman Tigran Mukuchyan, four political forces enter the parliament with the ruling Republican party obtaining 49.12% of the votes.  “Tsarukyan” bloc comes the second with 428, 965 votes that constitute 27.32%.

“Yelq” (Exit) bloc comes the third with 7.77% of the votes, while the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun scores 6.57% of the votes.

The four mentioned political forces will be represented in the new parliament under the new Electoral Code, that sets a threshold of five percent of the votes to secure representation in the parliament, while blocs require at least seven percent.

Other parties and blocs running for the elections failed to meet the threshold with Armenian Renaissance Party scoring 3.71%, “ORO” bloc – 2.07%, “Armenian National Congress – HZhK” bloc- 1.65%, Party of Free Democrats – 0.94% and the Communist Party – 0.75%.

According to the CEC-released preliminary results, 1, 5777, 323 voters or 60,86% of the total number of the citizens eligible to vote participated in Armenian parliamentary elections on Sunday. The number of invalid ballot papers is 6701

Insurance claims for Ottoman Greek policy holders

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policy_800In 2008, an attempt was made by New York Life Insurance Company to locate the descendants/heirs of unpaid insurance policies held by Greeks living in the Ottoman Empire prior to 1915. A similar effort in 2004 resulted in a payout of $53 million to Armenians who held such policies.

New York Life Insurance Company, headquartered in New York City since its founding in 1845, began selling policies in the Ottoman Empire in 1882 and withdrew from the region during World War I. During the Greek Genocide, attempts were made by the Turkish state to profit from those individuals who they had massacred. In his memoirs, Henry Morgenthau Snr, American Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, recounted a meeting he had with Mehmet Talaat Pasha, the Ottoman Minister of the Interior. Morgenthau wrote:

“One day Talaat made what was perhaps the most astonishing request I had ever heard. The New York Life Insurance Company and the Equitable Life of New York had for years done considerable business among the Armenians. The extent to which this people insured their lives was merely another indication of their thrifty habits.
‘I wish,’ Talaat now said, ‘that you would get the American life insurance companies to send us a complete list of their Armenian policy holders. They are practically all dead now and have left no heirs to collect the money. It of course all escheats to the State. The Government is the beneficiary now. Will you do so?’
This was almost too much and I lost my temper.
‘You will get no such list from me,’ I said, and I got up and left him.”

Click here to download the list of the 1031 Ottoman Greeks whose insurance policies were eligible for payment by New York Life.