Latest news with #US-sanctioned
Gulf Insider
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Gulf Insider
Iran Claims Access to Israel's Nuclear Secrets
Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib is claiming Tehran has acquired a 'treasure trove' of sensitive Israeli documents, including information on Israel's secret (but long not-so-secret ) nuclear weapons program, as well as apparent evidence of US and European knowledge and support. 'The transfer of this treasure trove was time-consuming and required security measures. Naturally, the transfer methods will remain confidential, but the documents should be unveiled soon,' Khatib said. He vowed to make them public, at which point this could force either an Israeli or US official statement. Iranian state TV unveiled the alleged clandestine operation on Saturday, though no evidence was provided. Additionally, Israel has yet to acknowledge anything regarding theft of its files, which may have occurred through a cyber-breach. The Associated Press reporting on Khatib's words strongly points to cyber espionage, given the US-sanctioned intelligence chief's background: Khatib said members of the Intelligence Ministry 'achieved an important treasury of strategic, operational and scientific intelligence of the Zionist regime and it was transferred into the country with God's help.' He claimed thousands of pages of documents had been obtained and insisted they would be made public soon. Among them were documents related to the U.S., Europe and other countries, he claimed, obtained through 'infiltration' and 'access to the sources.' He did not elaborate on the methods used. However, Khatib, a Shiite cleric, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2022 over directing 'cyber espionage and ransomware attacks in support of Iran's political goals.' Israel has for decades had an undeclared nuclear weapons program, which the United States has never formally acknowledged, also with the State Department consistently refusing to answer questions on it. The nuclear arsenal is commonly estimated to be somewhere in the range of 90 to 300 warheads, and it being undeclared means it remains completely outside international oversight. Regional Muslim-majority nations have long called out Western hypocrisy on the issue. Iran's nuclear energy program has been tightly monitored under the prior Obama JCPOA nuclear deal, and current talks with Washington aim to reestablish a similar monitoring regimen. Certainly Tehran will attempt to leverage these alleged documents as it deals with Washington on the issue. #BREAKING EU helps Israel with nuclear weaponsIran MFA says the files Iran obtained from Israel will expose active involvement of some European states in Israel's military nuclear says the same states that constantly preach non-proliferation & question Iran's… — War Intel (@warintel4u) June 9, 2025 The US has also fought entire wars on the basis that an Arab regime might have WMD (weapons of mass destruction) – with Iraq and Libya being notable cases. Gaddafi was convinced by the Bush administration to 'come in from the cold' and give up any nuclear or chemical weapons aspirations, only to be overthrown by NATO-backed and al-Qaeda linked rebels a decade later, with the help of US, French, and UK warplanes. Also read: Iran Extends Ban on Dog-walking for 'public Order, Safety and Health'
Glasgow Times
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Glasgow Times
Gangland violence 'out of control' John Swinney is told
The First Minister was challenged about justice policy following the killing of two Scottish drug gang leaders in Spain. Eddie Lyons jnr and Ross Mnaghan were shot dead at a bar in Fuengirola last Saturday night. READ NEXT: Glasgow's drug consumption centre is working says health secretary At First Minister's Questions, Conservative leader, Russell Findlay, said gangs have been allowed to operate as 'the Scottish Parliament has failed to tackle organised Crime' He branded the gang leaders parasites and cowards and highlighted policing and sentencing policy that he claimed led to a failure to tackle the problem. Findlay said: 'Two Scottish drug dealers have now been shot dead in Spain.' Referring to the ongoing, decades long, feud between the rival Daniel and Lyons gangs in Glasgow, he said: 'Their gang has waged a turf war on Scotland's streets since the dawn of devolution. 'And this has mutated to include proxy groups, including the US US-sanctioned Kinahan cartel. 'These parasites grow rich by preying on societies most vulnerable, these cowards cause terror and death with guns, knives and firebombs. 'These thugs go after journalists, politicians, businessmen, police and prison officers. 'Organised Crime is out of control and communities are living in fear.' READ NEXT: 'Don't blame us': Taxis hit back in Glasgow city centre transport row Findlay said police numbers have been cut by almost 1000, Under 25 sentencing guidelines are part of the problem and proceeds of crime law failed to recover the rtrue wealth drug dealers accumulate. He said police say 'Organised crime groups' are 'coercing young and vulnerable people to carry out some of these crimes because they are under reduced risk of imprisonment.' On Proceeds of crime, he added: 'According to the Crown Office, one drug dealer made £126m but they can only find £118,000 of assets' and called for a review. The First Minister said the government and justice authorities were tackling organised crime, which he said was 'intolerable' and 'unacceptable'. He said he did not agree it was 'out of control' and said , 'Tt requires the forensic attention of our police and criminal justice authorities to tackle it and that is being undertaken within Scotland on a relentless basis.' Swinney said there were 'flaws' with Findlay's arguments. He said: 'There are a high number of organised crime participants who are currently incarcerated for a very long time in the jails of Scotland, contributing to the significant congestion that is in our prison system just now.' On sentencing, he said he could not allow the remarks to stand. He said:' It is misleading to say to the public there are no consequences for criminal activity under the age of 25. 'There are very serious consequences which involve imprisonment.' He added: 'Scottish Crime Campus is viewed across the world as one of the most innovative and successful measures of bringing together all of the intelligence gathering in one place. And he said: 'It has to be acknowledged that the criminal justice authorities have been successful in apprehending, imprisoning, interrupting and disrupting organised crime in this country. 'That will be sustained in the years to come.'
The Star
30-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Oil tankers going dark off Malaysia as Iran trade draws scrutiny
SOUTH-EAST ASIA (Bloomberg): Tankers involved in a vital hub of the Iran-to-China oil trade are disappearing from digital tracking systems, as the threat of US sanctions forces tactical changes to keep crude flowing. Over recent months, more vessels have started switching off their transponders as they near waters off eastern Malaysia, a hotspot for the transfer of Iranian oil from one to ship to another for transport to China. Previously, systems were rarely disabled, signaling when tankers anchored next to each other. While the tactic of going dark is not new, it's being used more regularly off Malaysia to avoid scrutiny. The White House says the Iranian oil trade generates revenue that supports Tehran-backed militia groups including Hamas, and has sought to hobble flows through sanctions on ships, ports and refiners. "Ship-to-ship transfers have been used to mask the origin of those cargoes,' said Muyu Xu, a senior crude oil analyst at Kpler in Singapore. "Now they're switching signals off for longer, so that it's now even harder trace those flows back to the source, which is Iran.' A recent example is the Vani, an unsanctioned very large crude carrier that was built in 2004 and has the capacity to carry 2 million barrels. The empty vessel signaled its position off eastern Malaysia on May 15, before going dark then and reappearing fully laden in the region five days later, according to ship-tracking compiled by Bloomberg. While Vani was missing from digital tracking systems, the tanker conducted a ship-to-ship transfer on May 18 with the Nora, a US-sanctioned vessel that had collected Iranian crude from the Kharg Island export terminal, according to Kpler and Vortexa. Vani is now signaling Qingdao in China as its destination, data from the two analytics companies show. Avani Lines Inc., based in the Marshall Islands and the registered owner of Vani, doesn't have a listed phone number or email address for contact on the Maritime Portal run by S&P Global Inc. China's independent refiners are the biggest buyers of Iranian crude, attracted to the discounted barrels because they help buffer typically razor thin margins. While official Chinese data shows the nation hasn't imported oil from the OPEC producer since 2022, third-party figures signal robust flows. China imported around 1.46 million barrels a day from Iran last month, down from a five-month high in March, according to Kpler. Flows started to slip late last year but have since recovered. Other methods being used to keep the Iran-to-China trade in business include the use of zombie ships - vessels that take on the identities of scrapped tankers to appear legitimate. In April, at least six ship-to-ship transfers off Malaysia were conducted with vessels that had disabled their transponders, including one with the Celine, a US-sanctioned ship, that had loaded Iranian oil from Kharg Island, according to Kpler. In the same month last year, only one tanker went dark. Ships can be identified conducting oil transfers by analyzing satellite imagery, but the process is labor intensive and picture quality depends on the weather. It requires matching tankers to photos of vessels with known identities, a method that needs more time and can be prone to human error. "It's getting more and more difficult to track those sanctioned flows,' Emma Li, senior market analyst at intelligence firm Vortexa Ltd., said during a client presentation in Singapore in early April attended by Bloomberg News. -- ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
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Business Standard
30-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Oil tankers going dark off Malaysia amid Iran-China trade scrutiny
Tankers involved in a vital hub of the Iran-to-China oil trade are disappearing from digital tracking systems, as the threat of US sanctions forces tactical changes to keep crude flowing. Over recent months, more vessels have started switching off their transponders as they near waters off eastern Malaysia, a hotspot for the transfer of Iranian oil from one to ship to another for transport to China. Previously, systems were rarely disabled, signaling when tankers anchored next to each other. While the tactic of going dark is not new, it's being used more regularly off Malaysia to avoid scrutiny. The White House says the Iranian oil trade generates revenue that supports Tehran-backed militia groups including Hamas, and has sought to hobble flows through sanctions on ships, ports and refiners. A recent example is the Vani, an unsanctioned very large crude carrier that was built in 2004 and has the capacity to carry 2 million barrels. The empty vessel signaled its position off eastern Malaysia on May 15, before going dark then and reappearing fully laden in the region five days later, according to ship-tracking compiled by Bloomberg. While Vani was missing from digital tracking systems, the tanker conducted a ship-to-ship transfer on May 18 with the Nora, a US-sanctioned vessel that had collected Iranian crude from the Kharg Island export terminal, according to Kpler and Vortexa. Vani is now signaling Qingdao in China as its destination, data from the two analytics companies show. Avani Lines Inc., based in the Marshall Islands and the registered owner of Vani, doesn't have a listed phone number or email address for contact on the Maritime Portal run by S&P Global Inc. China's independent refiners are the biggest buyers of Iranian crude, attracted to the discounted barrels because they help buffer typically razor thin margins. While official Chinese data shows the nation hasn't imported oil from the OPEC producer since 2022, third-party figures signal robust flows. China imported around 1.46 million barrels a day from Iran last month, down from a five-month high in March, according to Kpler. Flows started to slip late last year but have since recovered. Other methods being used to keep the Iran-to-China trade in business include the use of zombie ships — vessels that take on the identities of scrapped tankers to appear legitimate. In April, at least six ship-to-ship transfers off Malaysia were conducted with vessels that had disabled their transponders, including one with the Celine, a US-sanctioned ship, that had loaded Iranian oil from Kharg Island, according to Kpler. In the same month last year, only one tanker went dark. Ships can be identified conducting oil transfers by analyzing satellite imagery, but the process is labor intensive and picture quality depends on the weather. It requires matching tankers to photos of vessels with known identities, a method that needs more time and can be prone to human error. 'It's getting more and more difficult to track those sanctioned flows,' Emma Li, senior market analyst at intelligence firm Vortexa Ltd., said during a client presentation in Singapore in early April attended by Bloomberg News.
Malaysian Reserve
30-05-2025
- Business
- Malaysian Reserve
Oil tankers going dark off Malaysia as Iran trade draws scrutiny
TANKERS involved in a vital hub of the Iran-to-China oil trade are disappearing from digital tracking systems, as the threat of US sanctions forces tactical changes to keep crude flowing. Over recent months, more vessels have started switching off their transponders as they near waters off eastern Malaysia, a hotspot for the transfer of Iranian oil from one to ship to another for transport to China. Previously, systems were rarely disabled, signaling when tankers anchored next to each other. While the tactic of going dark is not new, it's being used more regularly off Malaysia to avoid scrutiny. The White House says the Iranian oil trade generates revenue that supports Tehran-backed militia groups including Hamas, and has sought to hobble flows through sanctions on ships, ports and refiners. 'Ship-to-ship transfers have been used to mask the origin of those cargoes,' said Muyu Xu, a senior crude oil analyst at Kpler in Singapore. 'Now they're switching signals off for longer, so that it's now even harder trace those flows back to the source, which is Iran.' A recent example is the Vani, an unsanctioned very large crude carrier that was built in 2004 and has the capacity to carry 2 million barrels. The empty vessel signaled its position off eastern Malaysia on May 15, before going dark then and reappearing fully laden in the region five days later, according to ship-tracking compiled by Bloomberg. While Vani was missing from digital tracking systems, the tanker conducted a ship-to-ship transfer on May 18 with the Nora, a US-sanctioned vessel that had collected Iranian crude from the Kharg Island export terminal, according to Kpler and Vortexa. Vani is now signaling Qingdao in China as its destination, data from the two analytics companies show. Avani Lines Inc., based in the Marshall Islands and the registered owner of Vani, doesn't have a listed phone number or email address for contact on the Maritime Portal run by S&P Global Inc. China's independent refiners are the biggest buyers of Iranian crude, attracted to the discounted barrels because they help buffer typically razor thin margins. While official Chinese data shows the nation hasn't imported oil from the OPEC producer since 2022, third-party figures signal robust flows. China imported around 1.46 million barrels a day from Iran last month, down from a five-month high in March, according to Kpler. Flows started to slip late last year but have since recovered. Other methods being used to keep the Iran-to-China trade in business include the use of zombie ships — vessels that take on the identities of scrapped tankers to appear legitimate. In April, at least six ship-to-ship transfers off Malaysia were conducted with vessels that had disabled their transponders, including one with the Celine, a US-sanctioned ship, that had loaded Iranian oil from Kharg Island, according to Kpler. In the same month last year, only one tanker went dark. Ships can be identified conducting oil transfers by analyzing satellite imagery, but the process is labor intensive and picture quality depends on the weather. It requires matching tankers to photos of vessels with known identities, a method that needs more time and can be prone to human error. 'It's getting more and more difficult to track those sanctioned flows,' Emma Li, senior market analyst at intelligence firm Vortexa Ltd., said during a client presentation in Singapore in early April attended by Bloomberg News. –BLOOMBERG
