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Thursday May 10, 2018

WORLD powers involved in the Iran nuclear agreement expressed regret at President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the landmark pact amid concern the move will undermine efforts to stop the spread of atomic weapons.

Signatories to the 2015 deal to curb the Islamic republic’s nuclear ambitions urged Trump not to fundamentally undermine the U.N. Security Council-endorsed agreement so that the other parties — Brit-ain, France, Germany, Russia, China and Iran — can continue to respect it.

“Together, we emphasize our continuing commitment to the deal. This agreement remains important for our shared security,” French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May said in a joint statement Tuesday after discussing the move.

The three called on Wash-ington to “ensure that the structures of the agreement can remain intact, and to avoid taking action, which obstructs its full implementation by all other parties to the deal.”

China regretted the U.S. decision to leave the Iran deal, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said yesterday. Geng said that all parties should seriously implement it and main-tain the integrity and seriousness of the deal.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the U.S. president’s decision as “a historic move.”

In New York, Russia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyansky, said “we are disappointed” at the U.S. announcement.

U.N. Secretary-General Anto-

nio Guterres called the nuclear deal “a major achievement” that “has contributed to regional and international peace and secu-rity” and said he was “deeply concerned” by the U.S. decision. He called on the other signatories “to abide fully” by their commit-ments.

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who helps supervise the way Iran and the six world powers implement the deal and settle any disputes, expressed concern about Trump’s suggestion that new sanctions might be slapped on Iran.

“I am particularly worried by

the announcement tonight of new sanctions,” Mogherini told reporters in Rome, adding that she would consult with Europe’s partners about any new measures “to assess their implications.”

“In any case, the European Union is determined to act in accordance with its security inter-ests and to protect its economic investments,” she added.

In a message directed to Iran itself, Mogherini said: “Do not let anyone dismantle this agree-ment. It is one of the biggest achievements diplomacy has ever delivered, and we have built this together.” (SD-Agencies)

World powers regret US pullout from Iran deal

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to North Korea yesterday to fi nalize plans for a

historic summit between Presi-dent Donald Trump and the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un.

U.S. offi cials said Pompeo will also press North Korea for the release

of three detained American citizens, whose imminent release Trump has been hinting at.

Pompeo discussed the agenda for a potential summit in a meet-ing with Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of the central com-mittee of North Korea’s ruling party.

Later, at a lunch of poached fi sh and duck hosted by Kim Yong Chol, Pompeo said the senior offi cial had been a great partner in working to make the summit a success.

“For decades, we have been adversaries. Now we are hope-ful that we can work together to resolve this confl ict,” Pompeo said, adding that “there are many challenges along the way.”

Kim noted the improved rela-tions between the Koreas, as well as the North’s policy to “concen-trate all efforts into economic progress” in the country.

“This is not a result of sanc-tions that have been imposed from outside,” he added, citing the will of the Korean people. Trump has said that his pres-sure tactics brought North Korea to the negotiating table.

Pompeo, who fi rst traveled to North Korea as CIA chief in early April, is only the second sitting secretary of state to visit the nation.

The fi rst was Madeleine Albright, who went in 2000 as part of an unsuccessful bid to arrange a meeting between then-President Bill Clinton and Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il.

(SD-Agencies)

Pompeo in N. Korea to finalize summit THE Syrian army intercepted two

Israeli missiles fi red towards a dis-trict near Damascus on Tuesday night, Syria’s offi cial SANA news agency said, but a monitor said nine pro-government fi ghters died in the strike.

According to SANA, “anti-air-craft defenses intercepted two Israeli missiles launched against the district of Kissweh and destroyed them.”

The agency had earlier reported “explosions” in the southern suburb, while state television broadcast images of fi res in the area targeted by the strikes.

Rami Abdel Rahman, direc-tor of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that the missiles had targeted a weapons depot in Kissweh, “pre-sumably belonging to Hezbollah and the Iranians.”

Abdel Rahman said the strike had killed at least nine pro-gov-ernment fi ghters, “including members of the Iranian Revo-lutionary Guard and other pro-Iranian Shiite militiamen,” but it was not possible to independently confi rm any toll.

Sanaa quoted a medical source saying that two civilians had died on a highway linking Damascus with the southern city of Deraa as a result of an explosion linked to “the Israeli aggression,” without providing details.

This is not the fi rst time that the area in the southwest of Damascus has been targeted. In December, Israel reportedly bombed military positions in Kissweh, including a weapons depot. (SD-Agencies)

Syria downs two Israeli missiles

RUSSIA rolled out its latest military hardware on Moscow’s Red Square yesterday for the annual parade to mark Soviet victory over the Nazis as Presi-dent Vladimir Putin begins his fourth Kremlin term.

“Our people fought to the death. Not one country faced such an invasion,” Putin said in a speech as veterans and some 13,000 troops marched past in a perfectly choreographed military spectacle marking 73 years since victory in World War II.

Much of the new military equipment on display has been tested out in Syria, the defense ministry said. Altogether the parade featured 159 types of

hardware including 75 aircraft.For the fi rst time, the parade

included drones, as well as a de-mining robot used by the military in Syria’s Palmyra and Aleppo and an unmanned tank.

The major new equipment on display included a Termina-tor tank designed to be used in war zones involving nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction, and a MiG-31 supersonic interceptor jet car-rying a high-precision Kinzhal (Dagger) missile.

Putin presented the Kinzhal missile system in March during his state of nation address, saying it could “overcome all existing and, I think, prospective

air and missile defense systems.”Around 1.6 million people rec-

ognized as World War II veterans are still alive in Russia, the labor ministry said.

Referring directly to the cur-rent political situation, Putin warned against a repeat of World War II, saying that “behind new threats are the same ugly traits: egotism, intolerance, aggressive nationalism and claims to be unique.”

“Russia is open to dialogue on all questions of ensuring global security” and is “ready for con-structive, equal partnership,” he said in a speech that concluded with shouts of “Hurrah!” from the assembled forces. (SD-Agencies)

Russian servicemen march during the Victory Day parade, marking the 73rd anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, at Red Square in Moscow yesterday. SD-Agencies

Russia shows off military hardware in parade

THE government of the Democratic Republic of Congo declared an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, a rare and deadly disease, Tuesday, the World Health Organization reported. The declaration came after laboratory results con-fi rmed two cases of the disease in the province of Bikoro.

“Our top priority is to get to Bikoro to work alongside the

Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and part-ners to reduce the loss of life and suffering related to this new Ebola virus disease outbreak,” said Dr. Peter Salama, WHO deputy director-general for emergency preparedness and response.

“Working with partners and responding early and in a coordinated way will be vital to

containing this deadly disease.”This is Congo’s ninth outbreak

of Ebola virus disease since the discovery of the virus in the country in 1976. In the past fi ve weeks, there have been 21 sus-pected cases of viral hemorrhagic fever, including 17 deaths.

Ebola virus disease, which most commonly affects people and nonhuman primates (mon-keys, gorillas and chimpanzees),

is caused by one of fi ve Ebola viruses.

The WHO said it is working closely with the government to rapidly scale up its opera-tions and mobilize health part-ners, including Medicin sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), using the model of a successful response to a similar Ebola outbreak in 2017.

(SD-Agencies)

Ebola outbreak declared in Democratic Republic of Congo

Mike Pompeo