EU advisor: "If I were Iran I would want to pull out of the JCPOA as well"

"If the #EU cannot stand up against the #US, then it should not sit at any negotiating table."---Mohammad Marandi, Professor of North American Studies @ University of Tehran

Trump not in control of Iran policy, should perhaps fire Bolton – EU foreign policy chief’s adviser

RT,

17 June, 2019

US President Donald Trump does not appear to be in control of his own administration’s Iran policy and he should fire national security adviser John Bolton, special adviser to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told RT.

In an interview with RT’s Sophie Shevarnadze, Nathalie Tocci said Trump has “been led into a very different direction”than the one he might otherwise have gone in without input from Bolton.

Asked why she didn't trust Trump's claims that he does not want regime change in Iran, Tocci said Bolton clearly has a different position – and he seems to be the one writing the administration’s policy on Tehran.

Unfortunately at the moment it seems to me that the US’s Iran policy has a very clear author and that author is not the president of the United States.

Tocci noted that Bolton’s enthusiasm for regime change in Iran dates back “way further” than Trump, to “the Bush administration and even earlier.”

“Perhaps [Trump] should try and change his national security adviser that very clearly has a very different position on this one,” she said.

US President Donald Trump does not appear to be in control of his own administration’s Iran policy and he should fire national security adviser John Bolton, special adviser to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told RT.

In an interview with RT’s Sophie Shevarnadze, Nathalie Tocci said Trump has “been led into a very different direction”than the one he might otherwise have gone in without input from Bolton.

Asked why she didn't trust Trump's claims that he does not want regime change in Iran, Tocci said Bolton clearly has a different position – and he seems to be the one writing the administration’s policy on Tehran.

Unfortunately at the moment it seems to me that the US’s Iran policy has a very clear author and that author is not the president of the United States.

Tocci noted that Bolton’s enthusiasm for regime change in Iran dates back “way further” than Trump, to “the Bush administration and even earlier.”

“Perhaps [Trump] should try and change his national security adviser that very clearly has a very different position on this one,” she said.

Japan and Germany Demand US Produces Concrete Evidence Iran Attacked Tankers

Grainy videos don't quite cut it for Tokyo and Berlin

Chris Mills Rodrigo

CheckPoint Asia,

16 June, 2019

“If having expertise sophisticated enough to conduct the attack could be a reason to conclude that the attacker was Iran, “That would apply to the United States and Israel as well,” said a source at the [Japanese] Foreign Ministry”

The Japanese government has been requesting the United States for concrete evidence to back its assertion that Iran is to blame for the attacks on two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, government sources said Sunday.

The request came after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave a statement hours after the attacks blaming Iran but without offering proof. 

The Department of Defense later released a video allegedly showing an Iranian patrol boat removing an unexploded mine attached to the side of the Japanese-operated tanker Kokuka Courageous.

But Japanese government officials remain unconvinced, the sources said. “The U.S. explanation has not helped us go beyond speculation,” said one senior government official.

Japan has been seeking more concrete evidence through various channels, including Foreign Minister Taro Kono who is likely to have made the request during a call with his counterpart on Friday, the sources said.

Pompeo said in a press conference Thursday that the United States’ assessment was based on their “intelligence, the weapons used, the level of expertise needed to execute the operation, recent similar Iranian attacks on shipping, and the fact that no proxy group operating in the area has the resources and proficiency to act with such a high degree of sophistication.”

A source close to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, “These are not definite proof that it’s Iran.”

“Even if it’s the United States that makes the assertion, we cannot simply say we believe it,” he said.

If having expertise sophisticated enough to conduct the attack could be a reason to conclude that the attacker was Iran, “That would apply to the United States and Israel as well,” said a source at the Foreign Ministry.

The attacks occurred around the time Abe was meeting with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran.

“The attacks have severely affected the prime minister’s reputation as he was trying to be a mediator between the United States and Iran,” said the source close to the premier. “It is a serious concern, and making mistakes when determining facts is impermissible.”

The Japanese government has refrained so far from commenting on who is responsible for the attacks.

Source: Japan Today

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A video provided by the United States is not sufficient to prove that Iran is behind the attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Friday.

Washington released a video that it said showed Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were behind Thursday’s attacks on the Norwegian-owned Front Altair and the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous near the Strait of Hormuz shipping chokepoint.

“The video is not enough. We can understand what is being shown, sure, but to make a final assessment, this is not enough for me,” Maas told reporters during a visit to Oslo.

Source: Reuters