Nepal Rastriya Dainik
May 18, 2024 ,
TRENDINGS
Nine thousand victims of human rights violations in 2023 General committee meeting to make Congress strong and united: Deuba Those who pushed the country to violence are in power: Former President Bhandari Indefinite curfew order in Birgunj Permission for mineral extraction to 156 mining companies in Nepal Finance Minister Mahat’s request to focus on meeting the target of revenue collection

US deploys nuclear sub to Middle East

Posted on by नेपाल राष्ट्रिय दैनिक

The US Navy has broken with its regular protocol in announcing the deployment to the Middle East of a nuclear submarine capable of launching 154 Tomahawk missiles. The show-of-force move comes amid ongoing tensions with Iran.

“[The submarine] is capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and is deployed to US 5th Fleet to help ensure regional maritime security and stability,” said Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesman for the 5th Fleet based in Bahrain, on Saturday.

Hawkins added that that submarine had passed through the Suez Canal on Friday on its route to an undisclosed location in the Middle East. He declined to comment on the specifics of the submarine’s mission or what had led to its deployment.

The US Navy rarely discloses information about the locations or deployments of its submarines. Its 5th Fleet operates in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea and some parts of the Indian Ocean. The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passageway through which around 20% of all oil is transported, is also under the fleet’s remit.

The US and UK, and others, have accused Iran in recent years of attacks on commercial oil tankers, including the 2019 assaults on Norwegian and Japanese vessels, which forced both crews to abandon ship. Tehran has vigorously denied the allegations.

The US has also accused Iran of “dangerous and harassing approaches” towards its navy in recent years in the Persian Gulf. Tensions between the two were renewed last month after the US launched missile attacks on Iran-backed forces in Syria. This was in retaliation for the killing of a US contractor in a rocket attack in the northeast of the country. Seven other Americans were injured in the attack.

The rise in tensions was then fueled after then-President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 accord to provide Iran with sanctions relief, and despite the Biden administration’s attempts to seek a diplomatic remedy.

Washington has also expressed concern at Tehran’s support for Russian forces in Ukraine. The US also objects to Iran’s position as it relates to Israel – with whom it has a so-called proxy conflict – and to China, who brokered the restoration of diplomatic ties last month between Iran and Saudi Arabia.RT

Nuclear warning issued to Ukraine over Crimea

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Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned that any Ukrainian attempt to capture Crimea could be met with a nuclear response by Moscow. He insisted, however, that Kyiv’s claims that it could seize the peninsula are nothing more than hollow threats.

Speaking to journalists on Friday, Medvedev dismissed the likelihood that Ukraine would carry out an attack on Crimea, asserting that “this is propaganda and should be treated that way, during the war it always exists.”

Medvedev, who currently serves as the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, added that “if we talk about some sort of serious offensive that is associated with an attempt to retake Crimea, it is quite obvious that this is the basis for the use of all means of protection, including those provided for by the fundamentals of the Doctrine of Nuclear Deterrence when the use of any types of weapons against Russia threatens the existence of the state itself.”

Crimea became part of Russia in 2014 after the local population voted overwhelmingly in favor of the move following a Western-backed coup in Kiev. Ukraine and its Western supporters have refused to recognize the step, and Kiev has repeatedly vowed to retake the peninsula by force.

Medvedev stressed that any attempt to break off part of Russia would be considered as a threat to the nation’s existence. “Therefore, draw your own conclusions. There are absolutely grounds for using any weapon here. Absolutely any kind. And I hope our ‘friends’ across the ocean understand this,” the former president said.

He also stressed that the prospect of a nuclear conflict has not faded, but instead continues to grow. Every day that Western weapons are delivered to Ukraine, the closer the world moves towards a “nuclear apocalypse,” Medvedev cautioned, adding that “it doesn’t mean that this will happen, but the horsemen of the apocalypse continue to move.”

The former Russian leader also claimed that without military aid and “direct cash injections” from NATO, the “Kiev regime would not have survived even a week” against Russian forces. The greater the supply of weapons, the more difficult the situation becomes, Medvedev added.

He stated that it is “obvious” Kiev is preparing some sort of new offensive, although Russia’s General Staff is making its own assessments and planning a response. Medvedev insisted that Russia would prefer to resolve all issues peacefully, but that the West seems uninterested in such a resolution.RT

Ukraine’s referendum challenges NATO and the West

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The referendum held by Ukrainians in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions from September 23 to 27 on joining Russia has ended.

A referendum held in these four regions of Ukraine will undoubtedly include those regions in Russia. Despite the opposition of the European Union and the Western countries, this referendum has sent a message to the Western countries and especially the United States that are indirectly fighting with Russia by pushing Ukraine forward, that Russia will not back down from the war under any circumstances. Taking precedent of the fact that the United States and NATO recognized Kosovo as an independent country in 2008, Russia annexed Crimea to its territory in 2014 and again will include four regions of Ukraine in its territory giving an example of Kosovo.

Ukraine’s referendum has become a serious challenge to the US and Western countries, which are indirectly fighting the Ukraine war to weaken Russia. If the Western countries, which are continuously supporting Ukraine with arms and money, wanted to stop the Russia-Ukraine war and move forward with the peace talks, yesterday they could have done so only on the condition that Russia would withdraw its troops and Ukraine would not join NATO. But today the conditions for peace talk might include the four regions of Ukraine annexed by Russia to be returned, which Russia will never agree with.

By promising to help Ukraine to fight the war against Russia, America is prolonging the Russia-Ukraine conflict and now it has reached a situation where the war will not stop even if it wants to. In the meantime, the issue of how to help Ukraine and what to help has become a challenge for America. In this sense, the Ukraine war was a conflict between Russia and America and even today this war is indirectly a war between Russia and America. Because Ukraine did not have the power to fight a war against Russia yesterday and still does not have it today. Therefore, the US wants to prolong the war to weaken Russia on the one hand, and on the other hand to increase its arms sales. But after the referendum, Russia has openly challenged the use of nuclear weapons to protect the territories annexed by Russia. After this incident, Russia has decided to deploy weapons and troops in full capacity, considering the territory as Russia’s border.

Ukraine’s next path is to seek help from Western countries to return the lost territory or to give up the lost territory and negotiate peace. But the US still wants to prolong the Russia-Ukraine conflict and weaken Russia. Therefore, the possibility of peace talks is very low. Also, Europe and America have declared that the referendum and its results are not valid. But that declaration will not make any difference to Russia and Russia will now provide full security to that territory. Now, in this scenario, if the US still wants to prolong this war, the US and NATO countries, which have been fighting the Ukraine war against Russia in the background until now with weapons and financial support, will have to come directly to the war and if that happens, the next direct war will not be Russia vs. Ukraine, but Russia vs. America and NATO nations.

If indeed NATO nations and the US join forces against Russia, Russia will have no choice but to start a nuclear war. But the possibility of direct military intervention against Russia by the NATO countries that understands America’s war policy is very low, and America does not have the ability to fight a war with Russia alone without the support of NATO countries. Another thing is that as the US mid-term elections approach closer, the US itself is less likely to join the war directly. In order for the US to join the war directly or stand up more aggressively in favor of Ukraine, the US Senate and its majority members and the American people will have to approve . In American politics, a unilateral decision by the president can make no big difference. But in the case of President Putin and Russia, this scenario is completely reversed. Therefore, if the Russia-Ukraine war continues, Ukraine will have to face more crisis.

Image: Global Times

West Urges to remove Russia & Belarus from sports governing board

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Western Countries have called on international sports federations to remove Russians and Belarusians involved in the Ukraine invasion from the sports governing board.

The 35 nations of the West and Japan and South Korea have issued a joint statement saying not to hold any international sports events in Russia or Belarus and ban their citizens from international competitions.

The statement also called for the suspension of Russian and Belarusian governing bodies by international sports federations.
Meanwhile, international governing bodies have banned Russia and Belarus from participating in the World Ice Hockey Championships.