Canada Urges Citizens To Avoid All Travel To Iran

The legislation proposes that the Pentagon works with Israel to integrate air defenses of six GCC countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates with Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq with the aim of thwarting threats from Iran and Iranian backed-militias across the region. 

The Deterring Enemy Forces and Enabling National Defenses (DEFEND) Act is a joint effort by Congress to develop a strategy for signatories of the Abraham Accords and other countries to combat Iranian destabilizing activities threatening peace and security in the Middle East.

Built on the success of previous peace agreements between Israel, Egypt, and Jordan, the Abraham Accords, signed on September 15, 2020, resulted in normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab states – namely the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco. 

“Iran has proven time and time again that they will stop at nothing to threaten the safety and security of Israel and our allies in the Middle East” said Rep Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash).

Illinois's democratic representative Brad Schneider said, “Iran is on the one yard line in their pursuit of a nuclear weapon, and is threatening our allies in the region in numerous other ways. Strengthening our allies by building unity and enhancing shared security capabilities is critical to confronting Iranian threats to the region.”

The parliament, which has still not adopted its budget for 2022, approved the law relating to "food security and development" totaling 25 trillion Iraqi dinars, approximately over $17 billion.

Of that, $2.6 billion will be allocated to settling Iraq's gas and electricity debts, as well as for buying further energy supplies from abroad, and about $3.4 billion will be used to buy cereals, including large volumes of wheat supplies from both the domestic market and abroad.

Despite its immense oil and gas reserves, Iraq remains dependent on imports to meet energy needs, especially from neighboring Iran, which currently provides a third of Iraq's gas and electricity needs. 

Iran had demanded Iraq pay $1.6 billion it owes for gas imports by the start of June to guarantee further supplies, as it is cutting or reducing supplies regularly due to its own shortages. 

The debt to Iran, which has sharply reduced its gas exports in recent days, dates back to 2020, but payment was stalled amid sanctions against Iran by the United States, which means that Baghdad cannot pay directly for energy imports in cash.

On Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi said that Iran has "promised to restore the needed supply of gas in the coming days.”

Electricity demand surges in Iraq as people seek to keep cool as the country enters the intense heat of the summer, when temperatures soar to over 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit).

Heading a political and business delegation, Maduro is due in Tehran on Saturday at the invitation of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

The Venezuelan president is scheduled to meet his Iranian counterpart and attend a session of high-level delegations from the two countries.

Iran and Venezuela have been slapped with sanctions by the US, which doesn’t currently import oil from either nation, and has in recent years reimposed sanctions on Iranian state entities, including the national oil company NIOC, and in 2019 blacklisted PDVSA.

The two countries strengthened their cooperation in 2020, with Venezuela importing condensate from Iran, key to thin its extra-thick crude oil. Iran has also stepped in to help its South American ally with engineers, refined products and spare parts for its oil industry.

Iran and Venezuela have also recently expanded a swap agreement signed last year to increase the supply of Iranian heavy crude to Venezuela's El Palito refinery and Paraguana Refining Center (CRP).

In early May, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji traveled to Venezuela to visit oil facilities and sign contracts in the energy sector.

Later in May, an oil tanker carrying about one million barrels of Iranian crude arrived in Venezuelan waters for delivery to the country's largest refinery.

Bennett's Abu Dhabi visit, his third in recent months, had not previously been announced, an Israeli statement said, adding that the two leaders, whose countries opened relations two years ago, would discuss "various regional issues" but provided no detail.

“Today, together, we will take the special bond that has been woven between our countries to the next level," it quoted Bennett as saying.

In the statement, Bennett also commended the International Atomic Energy Agency's passing of a resolution critical of Iran for failing to explain uranium traces found at three undeclared sites.

On Wednesday, of 35 members states on the IAEA board of governors, 30 voted in favor of the resolution sponsored by the ‘E3’ (France, Germany, the United Kingdom) and the United States.

Before the vote, Iran reacted by announcing that it would turn off two monitoring devices installed by the IAEA at its nuclear installations, a decision that the US condemned. Sources say Iran will also speed up installation of advanced uranium enrichment machines.

The resolution comes with year-long talks paused since March between Iran and six world powers aimed at reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), and with continuing preparations in Israel for an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites.

Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said on Wednesday that “Iran now has enough uranium to produce a nuclear weapon. This latest milestone returns us to a familiar question: At what point will the Administration acknowledge that Iran’s nuclear advances make a return to the 2015 JCPOA not in the United States’ strategic interest?” The Politico reporter who quoted Menendez did not say where he made the remarks. 

He also commended the UN’s “International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors’ approval – by an overwhelming majority – of a resolution condemning Iran, saying, “It is high time the board of governors publicly hold Iran to account for its failure to provide credible and timely cooperation with the IAEA’s inquiry into undeclared nuclear materials, which are in contravention of Iran’s safeguard agreement.” 

Of 35 member states on the board, 30 voted in favor of the resolution sponsored by the ‘E3’ (France, Germany, the United Kingdom) and the United States. India, Libya and Pakistan abstained, while Russia and China voted against.

Menendez reiterated that it is time for a comprehensive strategy to address Iran and the threat it poses, “Iran as it is, not the Iran we might hope for.”

“I commend the Biden administration, and France, Germany, and the United Kingdom for introducing this resolution as a first step to realizing such a strategy,” he added.