Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the man who has the last word in the Islamic Republic has put an end to all optimistic forecasts about changes in the Islamic Republic policies.

By his remarks Wednesday on forbidding more Iran-US talks, at the same time that Iranian moderate officials were talking about the next steps after the nuclear deal, Khamenei made clear that no more steps would be on the horizon.

Signing the nuclear deal was the finish line of the negotiations’ marathon and if moderates insist on the next steps and more talks with US -which has “many disadvantages and no advantages” according to Khamenei- the deal itself may be go under question.

“However the Iranian negotiators were vigilant in the nuclear talks but Americans could anyway take a moment on some occasions to carry out their plots against Iran’s national interests,” Khamenei said.

The Supreme Leader’s remarks can be considered to be the most serious criticism of the nuclear deal. This is while some conservative politicians in Iran previously claimed on numerous occasions that Khamenei was against the agreement.

It is a fact that Khamenei has never expressed positive words about the nuclear talks. He even once forecasted, “the talks will not lead anywhere.”

On various occasions he has announced that the Iran-US disputes are beyond the nuclear case. Just days before reaching the nuclear agreement the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, argued that the struggle against the US will continue even if nuclear deal is signed.

For those who follow Iran’s political developments, Khamenei’s recent emphasis on no more Iran-US talk is no surprise. It was a surprise when he agreed to start direct talks with the “Great Satan” breaking a long-held, hard-shell taboo.

Of course the recent developments in the region including Russia’s deployment in Syria and the West’s passive stance have encouraged Tehran to insist on its regional policy. Now the Islamic Republic clearly threatens its regional rival-Saudi Arabia with military intervention.

The Islamic Republic now has the upper hand not only in Yemen but also in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon and has no reason to withdraw its regional influence. According to some Iranian politicians, Sanaa is now the fourth Arab capital in Iranian hands – after Beirut (through Hezbollah), Damascus (through President Bashar al-Assad) and Baghdad (through Iraq ’s democratically elected Shia-led government).

Returning to Khamenei’s recent remarks, they should be understood as a three dimensional message: to domestic hardliners- saying no change in principle policies following the nuclear deal, to regional allies- ensuring them about no deals on regional issues, and to moderates at home- reminding them of no further steps towards normalizing ties with the US.

It seems the nuclear deal was the first and last privilege that Khamenei granted to Iranian moderates headed by President Hassan Rouhani, at least for the present time.

So, the “flexibility” period in Iran’s diplomacy that started months ago with Khamenei’s words at the beginning of the nuclear talks is over. His latest remarks closed the Islamic Republic doors to further cooperation.

But who knows, maybe sooner or later other political and economic conditions will force Iran to start another diplomatic “heroic flexibility”. Twenty-four hours is a long time when we are talking about politics.

Former Chief of the General Staff of Turkey İlker Başbuğ has declared that an independent Kurdish state will become a reality in the future.

According to the Turkish Anadolu Agency, Başbuğ believes that Kurdish nationalists in Turkey wish to secede from the country and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is attempting to create an independent state in Syrian Kurdistan.

He also expressed regret that Iraqi Kurds will achieve independence soon, reports Anadolu.

Başbuğ believes that Turkey must improve its military capacity in order to prevent the Kurds from creating their own country in southern Turkey. “We are going to need a more powerful army soon,” he warned.

Başbuğ was appointed as Commander of the Turkish Armed Forces on 30 August 2008 and served until 27 August 2010.

The Pentagon said Russian aircraft is no threat for the U.S. drones in Syria. The comment comes after Russian fighter jets were reported to have shadowed U.S. predator drones on at least three occasions in a week.

Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Michelle Baldanza said the U.S.-led coalition did not feel threatened by the Russian jets. “At no time did the [US-led anti-ISIL] Coalition [in Syria] feel our remotely piloted aircraft were threatened and we expect Russian pilots to act in a responsible, professional manner if they encounter any coalition aircraft,” Baldanza told RIA Novosti Wednesday. “Coalition forces remain focused and committed to our mission to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL.”

U.S. Navy Captain Jeff Davis earlier said a U.S. aircraft had to be rerouted to avoid a Russian fighter jet in Syria. While he did not reveal what kind of U.S. aircraft was involved, he said actions had been taken to “maintain safe separation.”

“We have taken action to maintain safe separation,” Fox News quoted Davis as saying.

The U.S.-led coalition started its operation against Islamic State group in September 2014. Russia has been critical about the operation in Syria as the Assad regime did not approve of it. Moscow, on the other hand, started airstrikes against ISIS in Syria last week. Russia’s operation, unlike the coalition’s, has been approved by Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Baldanza said the U.S.-led coalition had kept on making clear to Russia that it was “deeply concerned about any actions taken against moderate Syrian elements.” U.S. authorities have been backing “moderate” rebels in Syria in its fight against ISIS and Assad.

Iraqi security forces have launched an operation to retake the city of Ramadi from ISIS militants and for the first time in months have taken control of part of the city, Iraqi and U.S. officials said, according to NBC News.

A senior Iraqi security official told NBC News that Iraqi forces began advancing toward the city — a key battleground in Anbar province in the western part of the country — about midnight Tuesday to take advantage of an impending sandstorm.

A U.S. defense official agreed that the Iraqi forces had made some rare gains, telling NBC News Wednesday that they had retaken several kilometers of Ramadi, including the University of Anbar, a frequent and bloody battleground.

The fall of Ramadi in May was considered a humiliating loss for the Iraqi military, prompting U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to accuse the Iraqis of lacking the will to fight.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said immediately after ISIS took Ramadi in May that it would be only a matter of days before the city was liberated. But criticism grew as the battle dragged on for months.

“Ramadi has been a difficult fight,” acknowledged Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman in Baghdad, describing what he called an “operational pause” forced by extreme weather, the arrival of Muslim holidays and ISIS’ unorthodox tactics.

The United States and its allies trained Iraqi forces to fight a counterinsurgency, Warren said, but ISIS has “defended Ramadi almost in an early 20th-century style, with belts of defenses,” a more conventional tactic than Iraq and the U.S.-led coalition had anticipated.

That meant preparations stalled while the coalition retooled how it trained Iraqi forces, he said.

With the summer and the holiday season ending, “we believe that this will all come together, and hopefully we’ll see the Iraqis move forward,” Warren said last week. 
Read more on UNIAN: http://www.unian.info/world/1146525-iraqi-military-launches-operation-to-retake-ramadi-from-isis.html

Yemen’s Iran-supported Houthi rebels and their allies signalled acceptance of a UN peace plan Wednesday aimed at ending a months-long conflict in the impoverished country.

UN envoy on Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that the Houthis had agreed to implement a UN resolution which demands that the rebels withdraw from areas under their control in Yemen and hand over their weapons to state institutions.

“The Houthis have agreed in writing to implement the UN resolution 2216,” the Mauritanian diplomat said on his Facebook page without giving details.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Salam said that his group was committed to a UN-brokered peace deal including acceptance of the Security Council resolution passed in April.

He added that the plan was the result of talks held last month under the auspices of the UN in the Gulf country of Oman and boycotted by Yemen’s internationally recognized government.

“We sent a letter to the UN secretary-general four days ago emphasizing this stance,” Abdel-Salam wrote on his Facebook page.

There was no comment from the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, which has repeatedly refused to participate in any peace talks with the rebels unless they accept the UN resolution.

The General People’s Congress Party of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is aligned with the Houthis, Wednesday called for the start of negotiations on devising an “implementation mechanism” for the UN resolution.

The Houthis and military units loyal to Saleh seized large parts of Yemen including the capital Sana’a in a territorial sweep.

In March, Saudi Arabia and its fellow Sunni partners started an air campaign in Yemen after the rebels advanced on the southern city of  Aden, forcing President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi, a Sunni, to flee the country.

In June, Hadi’s loyalists, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, regained Aden and drove the rebels out of most parts of southern Yemen.

Hadi’s government returned to Aden last month.

Previous UN attempts to end Yemen’s war have failed amid worsening humanitarian conditions in the country.

More than 2,300 civilians have been killed in Yemen’s violence since March, according to UN agencies

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned that the involvement of Hizbullah and other Lebanese fighters in the war in Iraq and Yemen puts more dangers on Lebanon.

In his report to the Security Council on the implementation of Resolution 1559, Ban also said that the participation of Lebanese nationals in the conflict in Syria is in violation of Lebanon’s dissociation policy.

“The involvement of Hizbullah and other Lebanese factions in the fighting in Syria seriously destabilizes the security and stability of Lebanon,” he said.

The U.N. chief urged the Lebanese government and the army to take the necessary measures to stop Hizbullah and other armed groups from possessing weapons in violation of 1559.

According to experts, Hizbullah has sent between 5,000 and 8,000 fighters to Syria to help the regime of President Bashar Assad.

There are reports that Hizbullah fighters are also helping Shiite militias in Iraq and the Huthi rebels in Yemen.

In his report, Ban lauded the efforts exerted by the Lebanese army to confront extremist groups on the eastern border, mainly al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State.

He called for unity among the Lebanese in supporting the military, which he considered as the “only legitimate institution in charge of defending Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Islamic State (IS) militants fired mortar rounds containing mustard agent at Kurdish peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq, Kurdish officials say, according to BBC News.

The Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs said blood samples from about 35 fighters revealed traces of sulphur mustard. It did not say if any of the peshmerga had died as a result of the attack, or how severely they had been wounded.

Mustard gas can burn skin and cause severe respiratory problems, and is banned under international law.

The exposure took place along the front lines near the northern Iraqi towns of Makhmour and Gwer, the ministry said in a statement.

Roughly 37 mortars were fired in the attack, the statement added, “releasing white smoke and a black liquid”.

The ministry called on countries fighting IS to give peshmerga fighters equipment for protection against chemical attacks. Several countries including the United States are already giving military assistance to the Kurdish fighters.

Russian warships have attacked “Islamic State” (IS) targets in Syria, Sputnik International quoted Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as saying Oct. 7 at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

“Besides using aviation to destroy militants, this morning ships from the Caspian Flotilla were brought in, four destroyers launched 26 cruise missiles at 11 targets from the Kalibr Marine Base,” Shoigu told Putin in a meeting televised by Rossiya-1.

All targets were destroyed, Shoigu said.

“The attacks showed that our missiles are efficient at long range, up to 1,500 meters [932 miles],” he added.

On September 30, Russia began air strikes on IS in Syria following Syrian President Bashar Assad’s request for military assistance.

Iraq may request Russian airstrikes against ISIS on its soil soon and wants Moscow to have a bigger role than the United States in the war against the group, the head of parliament’s defence and security committee told Reuters on Wednesday.

“We might be forced to ask Russia to launch air strikes in Iraq soon. I think the upcoming few days or weeks Iraq will be forced to ask Russia to launch air strikes and that depends on their success in Syria,” said Hakim al-Zamili.