Iran

President Trump’s administration is considering a proposal to label Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, according to U.S. officials. The IRGS are answerable to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei and play a highly capable part in Iran’s military. They wield considerable political and economic power and played a crucial role in defending Iran against Saddam Hussein’s aggression during the eighties.

Submitted by Robert Berke via OilPrice.com,

“With Tillerson's confirmation, Exxon just annexed the United States,” --anonymous blogger.

To many observers, the appointment of Tillerson to the helm the State Dept signaled the Administration’s priority of supporting the oil industry, which in recent years has been under severe pressure from OPEC’s campaign of over-production that forced prices down to a post-recession low.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has defied Benjamin Netanyahu by vowing support for Iran’s nuclear deal. After Iran test-fired a ballistic missile the Israeli Prime Minister said ‘responsible’ nations should follow President Trump’s lead to head of Iranian aggression. Despite pressure from Netanyahu who met with May at Downing Street yesterday to discuss fresh sanctions on Tehran, the prime minister stood firm in her commitment to the Iranian nuclear deal.

Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the former chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told Chris Wallace on ‘Fox News Sunday’ that President Trump was “right” in his decision to put Iran “on notice.” The Daily Caller reports: Host Chris Wallace first asked the California Democrat if “President Trump is right to say that enough is enough and to put the rulers in Iran on notice?” “I think that he is right in this,” Feinstein responded. “I think that Iran is wrong in this.

Trump's ongoing spat with Iran escalated on Tuesday, when Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed the US president's warning to Iran to stop its missile tests, saying the new U.S. president had shown the "real face" of American corruption. "We are thankful to (Trump) for making our life easy as he showed the real face of America," Khamenei said according to his website. He made the remarks in an address to the commanders of the Army Air Force on the verge of the Islamic Revolution’s victory anniversary which falls on February 10 this year.