... from Press TV, Tehran
[ Editor’s Note: This was a curve ball story today as it came on the heels of the US pushing the envelope even more against Iran and its major oil importers. Trump spokesmen said today that any country importing Iranian oil will be sanctioned.
Are we really to assume this will include S. Korea and Japan? And what would their reaction be from their people? Would they accept becoming political vassals of the US?
The reason given for the shift is that the UAE wants more troops at home now during the heightened US-Saudi Arabia-UAE tensions with Iran. This seems strange. What would more troops be used for, to defend against an Iranian invasion? I don’t think so.
The Iran threat headline grabbing has switched over to the oil sanctions a few days until the next “event” is cooked up and deployed. But Iran is not sitting on its behind.
Today we have the new story that getting the Russian S-400s card is in play, but with no one posing how Iran could pay for them when under a full court sanctions press. Can Russia afford to deliver then on credit, as it is for Turkey… Jim W. Dean ]
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– First published … June 28, 2019 –
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has withdrawn large numbers of troops from the embattled country of Yemen allegedly in fear of escalating tensions between the United States and Iran.
The withdrawal took place because Abu Dhabi wanted to have forces and equipment “on hand” following recent tensions in the Persian Gulf region, Reuters cited four unnamed Western diplomats as saying on Friday.
The tensions come after the United States ratcheted up its rhetoric against Iran, announcing the deployment of additional troop deployments to the Persian Gulf region in order to counter an unspecified “threat” from Iran in early May.
A week later, four oil tankers were sabotaged in the UAE sea-port of Fujairah. Earlier this month, two other oil tankers were damaged by explosions in the Gulf of Oman.
On Wednesday, the UAE said there is no “clear, scientific and convincing” evidence to assign blame for the attacks, splitting with the United States and Saudi Arabia which held Iran responsible without any foundation.
The UAE says investigations into recent tanker attacks in the Sea of Oman were not enough to convincingly blame them on any country.
The UAE’s split came after Iran shot down a multi-million dollar US spy drone for violating its airspace, which surprised American military officials as well as the country’s allies in the region.
Speaking of the recent tensions and the UAE withdrawal, one Western diplomat said the Arab country had effectively withdrawn “a lot” of its forces in the past three weeks.
However, confirming only “some troop movements” from Yemen, an unnamed senior Emirati official claimed that Abu Dhabi was not seeking to withdraw from the country and was committed to the Saudi-led military “coalition”.
The official declined to provide further information on the number and location of the troop movements. The troop withdrawal comes as the Saudi-led coalition has recently come under much pressure from Yemen’s Houthi movement and armed forces.
In the past two months, the Yemeni forces have launched an array of missile and drone attacks on vital Saudi facilities, including oil installations, airports and air defense batteries in response to incessant Saudi-led strikes on the country.
Saudi air defense forces and their allies have shot down the fourth Saudi-led reconnaissance drone in past week.
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing Houthis.
The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the Saudi-led war has claimed the lives of over 60,000 Yemenis since January 2016.
The war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.
Jim W. Dean is VT Editor Emeritus. He was an active editor on VT from 2010-2022. He was involved in operations, development, and writing, plus an active schedule of TV and radio interviews. He now writes and posts periodically for VT.
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I’d call this a clue. Simple observable truths all war is deception & chess pieces. Astounding & stupefying will full nescience on so many levels of deception.
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