Saudi Arabia welcomes US withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal
Trump announced the US will pull out of the landmark nuclear accord with Iran. (AP)
Updated 54 sec ago
ARAB NEWS
May 09, 201800:36
5864
- Saudi Arabia: The Iranian regime took advantage of the economic benefits afforded by the lifting of sanctions and used them to continue its destabilizing activities in the region
- The Kingdom reaffirms its support of the strategy previously announced by President Trump towards Iran
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia welcomed the announcement on Tuesday by President Donald Trump that the United States is withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal. The government said it also supports the reinstatement of economic sanctions on the Iranian regime, which were suspended under the agreement.
The Kingdom’s previous support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — signed in 2015 by Iran and the P5+1 group of countries China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany — was based, it said, on the conviction that all possible steps must be taken that might help to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, and the wider world.
“The Iranian regime however, took advantage of the economic benefits afforded by the lifting of sanctions,” the government said in a statement released by Saudi Press Agency, “and used them to continue its destabilizing activities in the region, especially by developing its ballistic missiles and supporting terrorist organizations in the region, including Hezbollah and the Houthi militias.” It said the groups used these capabilities, provided by Iran, to target civilians in the Kingdom and Yemen, “as well as repeatedly targeting international shipping lanes in a blatant violation of UN Security Council resolutions.”
The statement continued: “The Kingdom reaffirms its support of the strategy previously announced by President Trump towards Iran, and hopes the international community will take a firm and unified stance against the Iranian regime, and its destabilizing aggression in the region, its support to terrorist groups, particularly Hezbollah and the Houthi militias, and its support of the Assad regime — which has committed heinous crimes against its people that led to the death of more than half a million civilians, including through the use of chemical weapons.”
It concluded: “Based on this position, the Kingdom asserts its commitment to work with its partners in the United States and the international community to reach the goals announced by President Trump, and the necessity to address the dangers posed by the policies of Iran on international peace and security through a holistic approach that is not limited to its nuclear program, but addresses its hostile activities, including Iran's interference in the internal affairs of countries in the region, its support of terrorism, and to prevent Iran from ever possessing weapons of mass destruction.”
Boeing says it will follow US policy on Iran after Trump withdraws from nuclear deal
File photo showing a Boeing B777 passenger aircraft taking off. (Reuters)
Updated 08 May 2018
ARAB NEWS
May 08, 201819:14
1048
New York: Boeing said Tuesday it will continue to take its cue from US government policy on sales to Iran after President Donald Trump announced the US would withdraw from the Iran nuclear pact.
“Following today’s announcement, we will consult with the US government on next steps,” said Gordon Johndroe, a vice president of government operations communications.
“As we have throughout this process, we’ll continue to follow the US government’s lead.”
The statement was released by the aerospace giant shortly after Trump’s remarks again lambasting the 2015 agreement as “defective at its core.”
Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg said last month the company has delayed deliveries of 777 planes to Iran amid the Trump administration’s reconsideration of the nuclear deal.
After lengthy negotiations and tight oversight by the Obama administration, Boeing in December 2016 announced a landmark agreement to sell Iran Air 80 aircraft valued at $16.6 billion.
The aircraft had been expected to be delivered starting in late 2018. However, Muilenburg said financial targets this year had not accounted for plane deliveries to Iran.
Boeing also had announced a contract in April 2017 to sell Iran Aseman Airlines 30 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for $3 billion, with purchase rights for another 30 aircraft. Deliveries were to begin in 2022.
Shares of Dow member dropped 0.8 percent to $337.72 in afternoon trading.
Iran rial plunges to new low after Trump decides to leave nuclear deal
Iran’s various Rial banknotes, bearing a portrait of Iran’s late founder of Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, next to the United States 100-dollar bills bearing the portrait of US statesman, inventor and diplomat Benjamin Franklin. Iran’s rial plunged to new low after US President Donald Trump decided to leave the nuclear deal. (AFP)
Updated 40 sec ago
REUTERS
May 09, 201811:23
198
DUBAI: The Iranian rial plunged to a record low against the US dollar in the free market on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump decided to withdraw from a deal on Tehran’s nuclear program, fueling fears of an economic crisis in Iran.
The dollar was being offered for as much as 75,000 rials, compared to around 65,000 just before Trump announced his decision on Tuesday night, according to foreign exchange website Bonbast.com (
https://www.bonbast.com), which tracks the free market.
Dealers in Tehran quoted similar levels on Wednesday, according to an Iranian economist outside the country who is in touch with them. One dealer said the rial had hit 78,000, while another said he had made two sales of dollars at 80,000.
The currency has been sliding for months because of a weak economy, financial difficulties at local banks and heavy demand for dollars among Iranians who feared a pullout by Washington from the nuclear deal, and renewed US sanctions against Tehran, could shrink the country’s exports of oil and other goods.
The rial has tumbled from around 57,500 at the end of last month and 42,890 at the end of last year — a freefall that threatens to boost inflation, hurt living standards and reduce the ability of Iranians to travel abroad.
In an effort to halt the slide, Iranian authorities announced last month they were unifying official and free-market exchange rates at a single level of 42,000, and banning any trade at other rates under the threat of arrest.
But this step failed to stamp out the free market because authorities have been supplying much less hard currency through official channels than consumers are demanding. Free market trade simply went underground, dealers said.
Tehran residents told Reuters on Wednesday that activity in the free market had decreased considerably, because people feared getting arrested and the wild volatility of exchange rates increased the risk for dealers.
Nevertheless, the dealer who reported dollar sales at 80,000 said one of his sales was to a person who had sold his apartment a week ago. This person had now decided to buy dollars instead of another apartment in Iran, he said.
It means you shoulda made your nukes while you still had the chance instead of turning coat and stabbing a brotha in the back!
A nuclear Iran would be nightmare for GCC and Pakistan.
