U.S. Airstrikes Support Iraqi Efforts to Retake Tikrit from IS

WASHINGTON – The United States has begun airstrikes to support Iraqi government efforts to recapture the city of Tikrit from Islamic State jihadists, overcoming earlier resistance to its intervention.

“At the request of the government of Iraq, coalition forces are providing support to Iraqi security forces as they combat ISIL in and around Tikrit,” said Colonel Patrick Ryder, spokesperson for U.S. Central Command responsible for operations in the Middle East.

“To be clear, the coalition is only coordinating with the government of Iraq and the Iraqi security forces; we do not coordinate our operations in any way with Iran or Iranian-backed militias,” Ryder said in a statement on Wednesday.

U.S. support in Tikrit includes air raids, intelligence, and advice.

The air strikes began cautiously on Wednesday, reflecting American concerns about the presence of Iranian military in the scenario, after operations to retake Tikrit came to a standstill last week.

According to the New York Times, both the Iraqi government and Shiite militias had previously assured the United States that its intervention was not necessary.

The announcement of support from the U.S. led coalition came as the Iraqi armed forces and local Sunni tribes fight together with Iranian-backed Shiite militia for control of Tikrit.

The United States has consistently denied coordinating with or providing support to Iranian-backed militias, and reiterated that military assistance is limited to the mostly Shiite Iraqi army.

However, the offensive on Tikrit is led by about 20,000 Shiite militiamen trained and armed by Iran and, according to local sources, under the command of Iranian General Qasem Suleimani, head of Al Quds Brigade.

The Shiites, the Iraqi army and Sunni tribals have made advances in recent days but failed to regain control of the city.

Capturing Tikrit, a city located in the heart of the Sunni Iraq, is critical to advancing on Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and under IS control since June 2014.

At Least 4 Dead, 19 Wounded in Landmine Explosion in Ukraine

KIEV – At least four people were killed and 19 wounded when a passenger bus swerved over a landmine when trying to avoid a government checkpoint in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military command reported on Thursday.

Ukrainian military spokesman Anatoli Stelmaj said that the accident took place when the bus abruptly turned to avoid the security post near Artiomovsk, a town controlled by Kiev, while en route to the pro-Russian separatist-held city of Gorlovka.

According to DAN, the news agency of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk, the bus driver decided to bypass the stop after the Ukrainian military blocked the way to Gorlovka.

Deputy Chief of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry’s regional office in Donetsk region Ilya Kiva wrote on his Facebook page that shortly after the accident, separatist militias attacked the area with mortar fire, obstructing the evacuation of the wounded.

Kiva reported that the bus driver was unhurt and was apprehended by the police.

Although a cease-fire went into effect on Feb. 15 between the involved parties to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, hostilities have not ceased.

Schlumberger fined $232.7mn for breaking Iran, Sudan sanctions

AFP - 25 March 20 15 - French-US oil services giant Schlumberger Ltd. was fined $232.7 million by the Justice Department Wednesday for violating sanctions on Iran and Sudan.


Fully owned subsidy Schlumberger Oilfield Holdings Ltd. admitted guilt to one count of 'knowingly and willfully conspiring to violate' the US International Emergency Economic Powers Act, under which US sanctions are applied, the department said.
According to the charges, the company’s Texas-based drilling and measurements unit provided services to Iran and Sudan between 2004 and 2010 and tried to hide the fact from authorities.

While Schlumberger Oilfield Holdings, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, was allowed to work in both Iran and Sudan, the Department said the US Drilling and Measurements unit was not.
Justice authorities said the company as well tried to hide the fact that the US unit was doing the work.
'Over a period of years, Schlumberger Oilfield Holdings Ltd. conducted business with Iran and Sudan from the United States and took steps to disguise those business dealings, thereby willfully violating the US economic sanctions against those regimes,” said John Carlin, US assistant attorney general for national security.
'The guilty plea and significant financial penalty in this case underscore that skirting sanctions for financial gain is a risk corporations ought not to take,' he said in a statement.
The penalty includes Schlumberger forfeiting $77.6 million of the unit’s earnings from its Iran and Sudan business, and a $155.1 million criminal fine, the largest ever for a violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

US issues terror alert against possible attacks in Kampala

Iran news in brief, 24 March 2015

Maryam Rajavi: Iran regime will not give up nuclear bomb

In an interview with a German daily Mrs Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) warned that mullahs in Tehran will not give up the nuclear bomb. She also warned against the Iranian regime’s increasing interference in the neighboring Iraq.

“The mullahs' regime has never been a reliable negotiating partner and it cannot be one. This is a proven fact. We have been witnessing 30 years of concealment and deception. The Iranian Resistance divulged a secret nuclear site just in the midst of the recent talks. I think this regime will never give up its nuclear program, voluntarily,” she said in the interview published on March 6 in West Dutche Allgemeine Zeitung.

“Given the present policy of the West, especially the US, they will never forget about the nuclear bomb. They have been continuing their project to this very day, because they feel the price they pay for not abiding by international laws is much too small. This regime must be compelled through international pressure and sanctions to fully implement the UN Security Council resolutions, fully halt its enrichment activities, and accept intrusive inspections.”

On the growing interference by the Iranian regime in Iraq, Mrs Rajavi said: “Unfortunately, as a result of the wrong policy of the US and the West, the hegemony in Iraq has fallen into the hands of the Iranian regime step by step since 2003. With the fall of Nouri Al-Maliki this influence was undermined to a great extent, but the only solution for Iraq and the first step in any attempt to solve the problem of Islamic fundamentalism is the eviction of Iran's regime from Iraq.”

“The militias are fully under the control and command of the Iranian regime. They have an extremely destructive role. Under the name of fighting ISIS, they have carried out the genocide of the Sunni populace. This is a crime against humanity and fuels the Shiite-Sunni sectarian war for years to come.”

IRAN: Funeral for street vendor turns into anti-regime protest

NCRI - A number of residents of the Iranian city of Khoramshahr were arrested after taking part in a funeral service of an Arab Iranian worker that turned into an anti-regime protest with people chanting slogans against the regime.

Younes Asakereh, a 31-year-old street vendor, was a resident of the city of Khoramshahr in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan in southwestern Iran.

Younes, father to two young children, set himself on fire on March 13, to protest against the repeated attacks by security forces that prevented him from working.

He died of severe burns in hospital in Tehran on Sunday, March 22.

Younes’s self-immolation provoked rage in the people in cities across Iran, particularly in the Khuzestan Province.

Participants at the funeral chanted “We are all Younes”, “Freedom, freedom”.

According to reports, at least eight participants of the funeral were arrested afterwards - either in their homes or while returning home from the funeral.

Last week, during a soccer match on Tuesday, the security forces in Ahvaz arrested spectators who carried signs that read: “We are all Younes.”

Plainclothes agents and intelligence agents barbarically attacked the spectators and arrested a large number of people, especially those wearing traditional Arab minority clothing known as Dishdasha.

The Iranian Resistance called on all international bodies to condemn the savage repression of the people of Ahvaz who manifested on March 17 in defense of Younes and to take urgent measures to free those who were arrested.