Tehran | InsideOjodu https://www.insideojodu.com ...conecting the community Sun, 19 Jan 2020 12:21:39 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.9.10 http://www.insideojodu.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/favicon.ico Tehran | InsideOjodu https://www.insideojodu.com 32 32 Iran backtracks on plan to send flight recorders to Ukraine https://www.insideojodu.com/iran-backtracks-on-plan-to-send-flight-recorders-to-ukraine/ https://www.insideojodu.com/iran-backtracks-on-plan-to-send-flight-recorders-to-ukraine/#respond Sun, 19 Jan 2020 12:21:39 +0000 https://www.insideojodu.com/?p=10201 The Iranian official leading the investigation into the Ukrainian jetliner that was accidentally shot…

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The Iranian official leading the investigation into the Ukrainian jetliner that was accidentally shot down appeared to backtrack Sunday on plans to send the flight recorders abroad for analysis, a day after saying they would be sent to Kyiv.

Hassan Rezaeifar was quoted by the state-run IRNA news agency as saying “the flight recorders from the Ukrainian Boeing are in Iranian hands and we have no plans to send them out.”

He said Iran is working to recover the data and cabin recordings, and that it may send the flight recorders – commonly known as black boxes – to Ukraine or France. “But as of yet, we have made no decision.”

The same official was quoted by the semi-official Tasnim news agency on Saturday as saying the recorders would be sent to Ukraine, where French, American and Canadian experts would help analyze them. Iranian officials previously said the black boxes were damaged but are usable.

It was not immediately possible to reconcile the conflicting accounts. Iran may be hesitant to turn over the recorders for fear that more details from the crash – including the harrowing 20 seconds between when the first and second surface-to-air missiles hit the plane – will come to light.

The Guard’s air defenses shot the plane down shortly after it took off from Tehran on Jan. 8, killing all 176 people on board. Hours earlier, the Guard had launched ballistic missiles at U.S. troops in Iraq in response to the U.S. airstrike that killed Iran’s top general in Baghdad. Officials say lower-level officers mistook the plane for a U.S. cruise missile.

Iranian officials initially said the crash was caused by a technical problem and invited countries that lost citizens to help investigate. Three days later, Iran admitted responsibility after Western leaders said there was strong evidence the plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile.

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Trump warns Iran’s leader to be ‘careful with his words’ https://www.insideojodu.com/trump-warns-irans-leader-to-be-careful-with-his-words/ https://www.insideojodu.com/trump-warns-irans-leader-to-be-careful-with-his-words/#respond Sat, 18 Jan 2020 21:46:32 +0000 https://www.insideojodu.com/?p=10192 President Donald Trump on Friday warned Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to be…

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President Donald Trump on Friday warned Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to be “very careful with his words.”

“The so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ of Iran, who has not been so Supreme lately, had some nasty things to say about the United States and Europe,” Trump tweeted of Khamenei’s comments earlier Friday in Tehran.

According to Trump, Khamenei’s blistering speech, in which he attacked the “vicious” United States and described Britain, France and Germany as “America’s lackey’s,” was a mistake.

“Their economy is crashing, and their people are suffering. He should be very careful with his words!” Trump tweeted.

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Iran’s Revolutionary Guard seizes two UK-operated tankers in Strait of Hormuz https://www.insideojodu.com/irans-revolutionary-guard-seizes-two-uk-operated-tankers-in-strait-of-hormuz/ https://www.insideojodu.com/irans-revolutionary-guard-seizes-two-uk-operated-tankers-in-strait-of-hormuz/#respond Fri, 19 Jul 2019 20:53:28 +0000 https://www.insideojodu.com/?p=5977 Iran captured two British-operated oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, marking…

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Iran captured two British-operated oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, marking a fresh escalation of tensions between Tehran and the West.

The U.K.-flagged Stena Impero, which has a crew of 23 aboard, “was approached by unidentified small crafts and a helicopter during transit of the Strait of Hormuz while the vessel was in international waters,” Stena Bulk, the shipping company that owns the vessel, said in a statement. “We are presently unable to contact the vessel which is now heading north towards Iran.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard forces, in a statement on their website, say the ship was seized for “non-compliance with international maritime laws and regulations” and is being brought to an unnamed Iranian port, according to the Associated Press. Websites tracking the ship’s path showed it turning sharply in the direction of Iran’s Qeshm Island, instead of its intended destination of Saudi Arabia.

“We are urgently seeking further information and assessing the situation following reports of an incident in the Gulf,” a U.K. government spokesperson told Fox News.

At about an hour later, a Liberian-flagged tanker operated by a British company was also seized by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and was seen on maritime tracking services making a turn toward Iran.

“I’m extremely concerned by the seizure of two naval vessels by Iranian authorities in the Strait of Hormuz,” British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said in a statement on Friday adding that the crews of both ships “comprise of a range of nationalities, but we understand there are no British citizens on board either ship.”

“Our Ambassador in Tehran is in contact with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to resolve the situation and we are working closely with international partners,” Hunt said. “These seizures are unacceptable. It is essential that freedom of navigation is maintained and that all ships can move safely and freely in the region.”

United States President Donald Trump said on Friday that Iran is “nothing but trouble” and that “we heard one, we heard two,” tankers were seized.

“Iran is showing their colors,” the president told reporters before departing the White House to spend the weekend at his golf club in Bedmister, N.J. “Iran is in big trouble right now. Their economy is crashing, it’s coming to a crash … It’s very easy to straighten out or it’s very easy for us to make it worse.”

“This is the second time in just over a week the UK has been the target of escalatory violence by the Iranian regime,” National Security Council Spokesman Garrett Marquis said. “The U.S. will continue to work with our allies and partners to defend our security and interests against Iran’s malign behavior.”

The Pentagon had no official statement on the situation, but Fox News has learned that there are no current plans for U.S. naval vessels to escort commercial ships through the strait.

Stena Bulk says “there have been no reported injuries and their safety is of primary concern to both owners and managers.”

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