RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/07/28/decades-soft-iran-has-emboldened-ayatollahs/

Seizing another state’s vessel on the high seas is an aggressive act – arguably an act of war. Britain’s interception of American shipping in pursuit of its blockade against Napoleon, for example, led to the War of 1812, the burning of the White House and the Battle of New Orleans. So when Iran boarded a British-flagged tanker in the Straits of Hormuz this week, it was, at the very least, trampling on international norms and flouting maritime law. 

The attack was evidently intended as retaliation for the detention of an Iranian vessel in Gibraltar – with the critical difference that the earlier seizure was carried out in Gibraltarian waters, was authorised by local law, and was ordered in pursuit of internationally recognised sanctions against Syria.

Then again, the ayatollahs can hardly be blamed for trying their hand. From the moment they seized power in 1979, they have shown utter contempt for the accepted rules of national sovereignty, yet have paid little price.

What was the overture with which the Iranian Revolution announced itself in 1979? That’s right: the use of US diplomats as hostages. Think, for a moment, about quite how shocking it is to violate the sanctity of a diplomatic compound. When, to pluck an almost random example, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, staff at the British legation in Buenos Aires knew that they had nothing to fear. Even during the Second World War, when mutually hostile ideologies sought to extirpate each other, embassy personnel were peacefully evacuated through neutral states. Safe passage for ambassadors has been the basis of relations among states since the earliest civilizations. By disregarding that ancient taboo, the mullahs were signalling that they did not play by the same rules as the rest of us. They would not recognise the concepts of territorial jurisdiction and international law that bound other countries. They answered, in their own eyes, to a higher power.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/prominent-russian-activist-hospitalized-after-more-than-1-000-arrested-in-protest-11564326555

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was transferred Sunday to a hospital from jail, where he was being held for calling for unauthorized protests the day before that led to a police crackdown and the detention of more than a thousand protesters.

Mr. Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh, tweeted that the staunch Kremlin critic had suffered “acute allergic reaction, severe swelling of the face and redness of the skin,” and was receiving the necessary medical assistance, under police guard.

Ms. Yarmysh said the cause of the allergic reaction was unclear, but “for all his life, Alexei had never experienced an allergic reaction before.”

Speculation swirled on social media over whether Mr. Navalny, who last Wednesday was jailed for 30 days, might have been poisoned.

The situation drew comparisons to activist Pyotr Verzilov, who fell ill last September after attending proceedings against a fellow member of the Pussy Riot protest group. Mr. Verzilov was subsequently flown to Germany where doctors treating him said he had likely been poisoned.

Officials at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and officials at the hospital in Moscow where Mr. Navalny is being treated couldn’t immediately be reached to comment. There was no evidence that Mr. Navalny’s illness was anything other than an allergic reaction.

Leonid Volkov, one Mr. Navalny’s top lieutenants, tweeted that he had firsthand knowledge about unsanitary conditions at the jail.

https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/134023/british-legislator-johnson-will-withdraw-

British legislator Matthew Offord said on Tuesday that new British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will withdraw the United Kingdom from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which the United States left in May 2018, reimposing sanctions lifted under it alongside enacting new financial penalties against the regime.

“We’ve now got to face that the nuclear deal is all but dead,” Offord told i24 News after Johnson won the Conservative Party leadership race, which also made him prime minister with his party in the majority.

However, Offord said that a new agreement “can be a way forward by looking at what we can provide the Iranian regime without them losing face, but ensuring that they ratchet down their actions.”

Late last week, Iran seized two U.K.-owned oil tankers amid ongoing tensions in the region.

Earlier this month, Johnson warned Iran to “cease this madness” over violating the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, adding that he’s “prepared” to reimpose sanctions on the regime.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/hong-kong-police-fire-tear-gas-at-demonstrators-as-tensions-flare-11564319424

Police and demonstrators clashed in Hong Kong this weekend in some of the fiercest confrontations to rock the semiautonomous Chinese city, fueling apprehension that a summer of protests against the encroachment of Beijing is veering into dangerous new territory.

Late Sunday, a normally bustling commercial district was fogged over in tear gas as police with shields and gas masks fought to contain thousands of protesters, many clad in black and wearing yellow hard hats.

The day before, similar clashes unfolded in an outlying district of Hong Kong where a week earlier a group of thugs with sticks and rods beat up subway passengers, some of whom were returning from a mass march that day.

The sustained clashes at opposite ends of the territory marked the first time since protests began in June that such intense confrontations took place on back-to-back days. Adding to a sense of disorder, the demonstrations gained momentum even as police resorted to more aggressive tactics to tamp them down. That included making more arrests, deploying more tear gas, charging with riot sticks and firing nonlethal projectiles into crowds now adept at erecting barricades from dismantled fencing. Hong Kong police announced early Monday that they had made at least 49 arrests Sunday.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong demonstrators, previously known for civility, are now experimenting with more dangerous tactics like setting small fires in occupied roadways.

“For Hong Kong this is very serious, among the worst we have seen,” said Kin-ming Liu, a longtime Hong Kong journalist and opinion writer. “It looks very bad and I honestly don’t know how it will play out.”

Compounding the apprehension gripping this city is the widespread perception that its Beijing-backed leadership is unable to provide a political resolution to the unrest, which began two months ago in opposition to a planned law that would make it easier for Beijing to extradite Hong Kong residents for trial in mainland China.

With hundreds of thousands of marchers on the streets in June, the city’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam put the controversial extradition law on hold. But demonstrators, who want it scrapped entirely, were unsatisfied with what they saw as a half measure.

In the weeks since, the intensity of the protests has grown, adding to calls for Mrs. Lam to resign. Mrs. Lam has called for an end to violence and has said she has no plans to step down.

The embattled leader, who hadn’t been seen in public since last Monday, attended the graduation ceremony of the Military Summer Camp for Hong Kong Youth on Sunday, according to a government press release.

“Young people are the driving force of the development of Hong Kong,” Mrs. Lam said in the speech, while thanking the Hong Kong garrison of China’s People’s Liberation Army for its support of the camp.

The Chinese central government’s office responsible for Hong Kong and Macau said it would hold a news conference Monday to address the protests, which have stretched into their eighth weekend.

Foreign companies appear to be suffering. In a survey published Monday in Asia, the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong found that more international businesses are feeling pessimistic about short-term prospects for the city. Respondents said increased violence and political brinkmanship fueled the perception that Hong Kong is a riskier place to do business. The survey, which polled sectors in financial services, logistics and technology, found disrupted supply chains and consumption have caused short-term revenue hits for some companies.

The protesters’ rallying cries have become broader—including chants for a freer Hong Kong after Beijing chipped away at the rights and freedoms cherished by local citizens, making potential resolution more elusive. The city’s government has in the past few years outlawed a political party that advocated independence, ousted legislators, and prosecuted opposition activists.

Ray Chan, who is 28 years old, said the local government’s inability to find a resolution spurred him to take to the streets on Sunday night in Hong Kong. “We’re out here trying to force the action,” he said. CONTINUE AT SITE

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274419/russian-train-terror-stephen-brown

After airplanes, Islamic terrorists seem most fixated on attacking trains in their worldwide rampage to kill as many infidels as possible.

This was again evident in a Russian courtroom this month where seven jihadists were sentenced to “lengthy prison terms” of between 15 and 21 years in maximum-security prison colonies for plotting to stage a collision on a high-speed railway line between Moscow and St. Petersburg.

“…they were suspected members of the extremist group Islamic State and …they were being directed from abroad via the messaging app Telegram,” stated a Radio Free Europe report.

According to the evidence presented in court, the jihadists “attached a brake holder block on the tracks aiming at crashing the high-Speed, German-built Sapsan train so that it collided into another train.” The Sapsan train carries the “business elite between Russia’s two largest cities at speeds up to 155 miles per hour.”

Fortunately, the plan didn’t work. The train “rammed through the obstacle” without the engine derailing. But five railroad cars suffered damages totaling $850,000.

The terrorists were arrested mid-2017 in the midst of carrying out a new plot to again bomb the same railway line. They said they were protesting Russia’s military involvement in Syria.

The seven were citizens of Tajikistan living in St. Petersburg. Tajikistan is a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, but is now an independent, Muslim-majority country.