Some of the things we are watching for are things indicating a riff between
the US and Turkey and things showing tension between the US vs Iran and Turkey
"The US Senate has passed a 10-year extension of existing sanctions against Iran, sending the measure to the White House for President Barack Obama to sign into law.
Senators on Thursday unanimously backed the renewal of the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) by a vote of 99 to 0.
The House of Representatives voted 419 to 1 last month to reauthorize ISA, which was first introduced in 1996 to punish investments in Iran's energy industry based on accusations that Tehran was pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program."
"Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, a hawkish Republican from Tennessee, said the extension of ISA ensures President-elect Donald Trump can reimpose sanctions Obama lifted under the nuclear agreement."
"Iran is ready to respond if the US violates the landmark nuclear agreement signed between Tehran and the group of six countries known as the P5+1 by renewing sanctions against the Islamic Republic, says the top Iranian nuclear official.
“Iran has made necessary preparations for potential US decisions about the extension of sanctions,” Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), told reporters on Monday."
"Salehi noted that Iran is ready to respond to any US breach of the JCPOA, saying Tehran, however, will make necessary decisions at the appropriate time and after the assessment and analysis of Washington’s moves.
He said Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has already provided guidelines to Iranian officials about standing ready to considerably increase the country’s nuclear enrichment capacity."
"Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the renewal of sanctions against the Islamic Republic by the US is tantamount to the violation of commitments under the landmark nuclear deal between Iran and the group of six countries known as the P5+1.
"During the [nuclear] negotiations there was a lot of debate about the sanctions, but now they raise the issue of extending the sanctions in the US Congress and claim that these are not [new] sanctions but renewal [of old ones]," the Leader said in a meeting with a group of Iranian Navy commanders and officials in Tehran on Sunday on the occasion of National Navy Day.
"'Initiating sanctions' is no different from 'renewing them after their expiration,' and the latter is also [an instance of imposing] sanctions and violation of the previous commitments by the opposite side," Ayatollah Khamenei said."
"“We have addressed these issues; discussed them with President Obama and Vice President Biden. They failed to rise to the occasion and handle these issues seriously. This is quite upsetting for us,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told CBS program 60 minutes."
"Turkey’s relations with the US have soured over several issues, including Washington’s support of Kurdish militias in Iraq and Syria and refusal to extradite self-exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan accuses of masterminding July’s failed military coup in Turkey."
"Alexander Fomin, the head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, said on Nov. 7 that Russia planned to discuss the issue of deliveries of air defense systems to Turkey as it is on the agenda of Russian-Turkish military cooperation."
"The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, the country’s elite military force, is sending assets to infiltrate the United States and Europe at the direction of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, according to recent Farsi-language comments from an Iranian military leader."
"The IRGC “will be in the U.S. and Europe very soon,” according to the Iranian military commander, who said that these forces would operate with the goal of bolstering Iran’s hardline regime and thwarting potential plots against the Islamic Republic."
"Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the United States has supplied more weapons to Kurdish fighters in northern Syria whom the Ankara government deems hostile to itself."
"“If you think you can finish off Daesh with the YPG and PYD, you cannot, because they are terrorist groups, too,” Erdogan said, calling out the US.
He said he had raised the issue of the alleged arms delivery with US Vice President Joe Biden in a meeting on Wednesday, but Biden had said that he had no knowledge of such a development."
"The US and Turkey are at odds over a range of issues, including Washington’s refusal to extradite Turkish opposition figure Fethullah Gulen, who is wanted by Ankara over his alleged role in a failed coup back in July. The two countries also differ on how Kurdish fighters in the region should be treated."
"But his tone was markedly different when he arrived in Ankara on Wednesday, weeks after a failed coup in Turkey that has strained relations between the two countries, and he appeared to be in diplomatic damage-limitation mode. "
"A weakening of the U.S.-Turkish alliance is a concern for the United States, which is counting on support from Turkey - which has NATO’s second-biggest military - in the battle against Islamic State.
American worries may have been compounded by Erdogan restoring ties with Russia and even discussing military cooperation with President Vladimir Putin."
Sept. 19, 2016
Persia [Iran] and Media [Turkey]
are to push to the north, west, and south. Turkey pushes to the south.
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Jan. 15, 2017
A king (President) is to become
higher than Khamenei
Watch Erdogan! He's becoming very powerful in Turkey. Turkish lawmakers pass first reading of constitutional amendments "The system, also known as executive presidency, will allow the president to serve two five-year tenures. Erdogan could thus end up staying in office for two more terms until 2029, with the next elections scheduled for 2019."
