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Day: December 21, 2018
URGENT Iranian forces fire missiles at US aircraft carrier in Gulf
Date of release:: 2018/12/21 23:15
(AFP) – Iranian Revolutionary Guard ships fired missiles at US aircraft carrier John Stennis, who entered the Gulf for the first time since 2001, the Associated Press news agency reported.
The aircraft carrier entered the waters of the Gulf on Friday for the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington, the
agency said . The vessels of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards were closely following the aircraft carrier and its accompanying group of ships, An unmanned aerial vehicle.
The US military and the Pentagon did not comment on the news.
This is the first entry of a US aircraft carrier to Gulf waters after US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal from the agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran has already threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, which transfers about a third of the world’s oil shipments.
This comes on the background of the announcement of the ground forces of the Revolutionary Guard, on Friday, it is conducting a week of military exercises in southern Iran along the waters of the Gulf ends on Saturday, which tested medium-range missiles high-precision.
http://alforatnews.com/modules/news/article.php?storytopic=43&storyid=183010
URGENT The House of Representatives holds its meeting tomorrow and its schedule is free from completing the cab
Editorial Date: 2018/12/21 20:27
(Baghdad: Al Furat News) The House of Representatives will hold on Saturday its regular session, and during its agenda to vote on the completion of the rest of the Cabinet cab for the five vacant portfolios (Interior, Defense, Justice, Education, Migration and Displaced).
The table includes “voting on the judiciary candidates for the Federal Court of Cassation, forming an investigative committee regarding Najaf airport, and presenting the report of the Education Committee regarding the grades.”
The session is scheduled to begin at 1 pm
http://alforatnews.com/modules/news/article.php?storytopic=36&storyid=183002
Iraq takes action on the border with Syria after Washington’s sudden decision
journal News
Iraqi forces stationed on the border with Syria have stepped up their surveillance and precautionary measures, coinciding with President Donald Trump’s statements to begin the withdrawal of US troops from northeastern Syria.
The commander of the operations of the island and the desert, Major General Qasim al-Mahmoudawi told “Radio Sawa” US, said that the militants are currently present in the Syrian Sousse and Balabuz, which is monitored by Iraqi forces, has intensified readiness there to repel any attacks or attempts to infiltrate.
Al-Mahmoudawi did not hide the fact that the fighting in Syria will reduce the risk and avoid the region to fight battles, but he reiterated the emphasis on what he described vigilant and warned the security forces, especially as Syria’s democratic forces did not play a role in protecting the Iraqi border.
Important announcement of customs
Editorial date: 2018/12/21 16:01
{Baghdad: Al Furat News} The General Authority of Customs issued on Friday, an important declaration.
According to a statement received by the agency {Euphrates News} a copy of it, “and because of the end of the fiscal year 2018, the General Authority of Customs announces the beginning of the subject of all imported goods by the State Departments and the public sector and mixed or for her account for customs duties and taxes and as of 1/1/2019.
He explained that the decision was “based on the provisions of Article 80 / I / of the Customs Law No. 23 of 1984, which amended the goods imported by the state departments and the public sector and mixed and popular organizations or for their account for fees and taxes.”
He pointed out that “the decision excluded the goods received for the ministries and departments set out in the Council of Ministers Decision No. 23 of 2018 based on the investment contracts included in the investment budget in the draft federal budget law of the Republic of Iraq for the fiscal year 2018 after supporting this by an official letter issued by the Ministry of Planning.
He explained that the decision was “based on the provisions of Article 80 / I / of the Customs Law No. 23 of 1984, which amended the goods imported by the state departments and the public sector and mixed and popular organizations or for their account for fees and taxes.”
He pointed out that “the decision excluded the goods received for the ministries and departments set out in the Council of Ministers Decision No. 23 of 2018 based on the investment contracts included in the investment budget in the draft federal budget law of the Republic of Iraq for the fiscal year 2018 after supporting this by an official letter issued by the Ministry of Planning.
Washington: We are working with Baghdad to end Iraqi dependence on Iranian gas
35 minutes ago
The US State Department announced on Friday that its country was working with the government in Baghdad to end what it called Iraq’s dependence on Iranian gas.
The Foreign Ministry said today, “Washington is working with Baghdad to end the Iraqi dependency of Iranian gas.”
“The United States granted a 90-day exemption to Iraq to be able to pay its imports of Iranian electricity,” the ministry said.
The United States has extended for 90 days the deadline to allow Iraq to import electricity from Iran, allowing Baghdad to bypass sanctions imposed by Washington over Tehran over its nuclear program, a government source involved in the Hadiths said on Thursday.
On Nov. 5, Iraq was exempted from 45 days of US sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program and was supposed to devise a road map that would eliminate Baghdad’s full reliance on Iranian electricity and gas.
A few days before the deadline, a delegation of Iraqi officials went to Washington to negotiate an extension of the grace period, two sources told AFP.
Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, stressed during his press conference last week, Baghdad’s intention to send a negotiating delegation to Washington.
The government source involved in the talks in Washington to AFP that Iraq is within the extension of the deadline for a period of 90 days, so that Iraq can continue to buy Iranian electricity and gas.
Asked whether the United States had pressed the Iraqi delegation to engage in a partnership with US companies to fill the gap, the source said the issue was part of “complex discussions.”
A power shortage that often leaves homes without electricity for up to 20 hours a day is a key factor behind weeks of major protests in Iraq during the summer.
To overcome this shortfall, Iraq imports up to 28 million cubic meters of natural gas from Tehran to its factories and directly buys 1,300 megawatts of Iranian electricity.
This dependence is uncomfortable for the United States, which sought to curtail Tehran’s influence and re-impose sanctions on Iran’s financial institutions, shipping lines, the energy sector and oil products.
Last week, US Energy Secretary Rick Perry discussed sanctions with Iraqi oil and electricity ministers in Baghdad, saying Baghdad had to open doors to US companies to achieve energy independence.
“Working together, the United States and Iraq can develop oil, gas and water industries,” Perry said.
The Ministry of Electricity of Iraq to the possibility of stopping the import of Iranian electricity within two years, but the issue of gas import is the most difficult. It needs Tehran gas until it has the capacity to extract its gas or invest gas burned during the extraction of oil.
According to the World Bank, the waste of burned gas in Iraq is about 2.5 billion dollars a year, enough to bridge the gap in the generation of gas from Iraq.
International Development Bank accounts for half of e-cards issued in Iraq
Logo of the International Development Bank
Banks
Economy News Baghdad
The International Development Bank (IDB) has acquired 50% of the volume of electronic cards issued within the Iraqi market, pointing out that it has the largest network of ATMs with 250 ATMs .
The Chairman of the Board in the bank, the increase behind, in an interview with the magazine “Union of Arab banks” and his “Economic News”, that the bank has a pioneering experience at the level of the Iraqi banking sector, because it distinguished the introduction of modern technology to the banking system, “adding that “The bank invests in infrastructure, especially in the field of information technology, and today it is an associate member with major international companies such as MasterCard and Visa .
Khalaf added that the bank’s first plan was to spread locally and the second “we decided to have an official representative office in Lebanon.” Earlier this year, he opened an official representative office in the United Arab Emirates .
Oil prices jump after recording the lowest price in a year
Editorial Date: 2018/12/21 10:50
{International: Al Furat News} Oil prices jumped on Friday after falling 5% in the previous session, on signs that OPEC production cuts, which will start next month, will be larger than expected.
Oil prices were the lowest in a year.
Brent crude <LCOc1> rose 27 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $ 54.95 a barrel by 08:48 GMT, after falling $ 2.89 in the previous session.
Brent is down 9.4 percent this week.
US WTI crude futures rose 33 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $ 46.22 a barrel. WTI is heading down about 9.5 percent this week.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) plans to publish a schedule detailing cuts in the production of its members and allies in an effort to raise crude prices, FAO Secretary-General Mohamed Barkindo said in a letter seen by Reuters on Thursday.
Barkindo said that in order to achieve the target of reducing production by 1.2 million barrels per day, the actual reduction of member states will be 3.02 percent.
That is above 2.5 percent as OPEC seeks to absorb the countries exempted from the cut: Iran, Libya and Venezuela.
http://alforatnews.com/modules/news/article.php?storytopic=37&storyid=182971
