ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Click to see the full-size image India began paying for Iranian crude oil in rupees,  Charan Singh, executive director at Indian state-owned UCO Bank told Reuters on January 8 th . This is the first such payment since the US reimposed its second batch of sanctions on November 5 th , 2018.  This is in continuation of a previous story , in which India said it had not yet worked out a payment mechanism to circumvent the sanctions. India was one of eight countries that received a six-month waiver from the sanctions, allowing them to import some Iranian oil. Click to see the full-size image “India, the world’s third biggest oil importer, wants to continue buying oil from Iran as it offers free shipping and an extended credit period, while Iran will use the rupee funds to mostly pay for imports from India,” Reuters reported. “Today we received a good amount from some oil companies,” Charan Singh said. He did not disclose the names of the refiners or how much had ...

Click to see the full-size image On January 8 th ,  Jordan’s Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi described  the Golan Heights as occupied Syrian territory and demanded that Israel withdraw its forces from the area. Safadi’s comments came during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who landed in Amman earlier in the day. “The Golan Heights are occupied Syrian territory. International law is clear on that. It has to be treated as such,” Safadi told reporters. “Therefore, our position is that Israel needs to withdraw from that territory in the framework of a peace agreement,” he added. Elijah J. Magnier @ejmalrai # Jordan rejected the # US proposal, endorsing the # Israel /I wil, to consider the occupied Golan Heights as an Israeli territory. Jordan said clearly to @ SecPompeo that the # GolanHeights is a # Syrian territory and that # Israel should pull out immediately. 240 17:14 - 8 Jan 2019 Twitter Ads inf...

Click to see the full-size image A video showing China’s flying-saucer-like stealth drone, the Sky Hawk, was aired for the first time on  China Central Television (CCTV) on January 5 th . Global Times ✔ @globaltimesnews A video featuring China's flying saucer-like stealth drone the Sky Hawk was shown for the first time on CCTV on Sat, with experts saying the technologies mastered by Chinese developers will allow the drone fly faster, farther and escape detection. http:// bit.ly/2CSWouj   84 10:45 - 6 Jan 2019 47 people are talking about this Twitter Ads information and privacy Reportedly, the Sky Hawk conducted takeoff and landing tests at an undisclosed location and at an undisclosed time. This marks the first time the UAV was publicly shown in flight. The video is mostly computer-generated, but has approximately 10 seconds of “real-life” footage. The platform contains seven different cameras, in...

FILE IMAGE The coup attempt in Gabon on January 7 th  was thwarted and two soldiers that took part in it were killed,  Radio France Internationale reported. They were shot dead after security officers stormed the national radio building which they had taken over. Three others are under arrest. “The situation is under control,” a presidency statement said. The soldiers undertook the coup while Gabon President Ali Bongo was in Morocco recovering from a stroke. They called for people to “rise up” and bring back democracy in the country which has been ruled by Bongo’s family for about 50 years. “The situation is calm. The gendarmes who are often stationed there have taken control of the entire area around the radio and TV headquarters, so everything is back to normal”, said Guy-Bertrand Mapangou, a spokesman for the government of the central African country. RFI also confirmed that there was no curfew announced, television was back on, but internet and social n...

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE The Russian Strategic Missile Forces will conduct approximately 50% more military drills in 2019,  the Russian Ministry of Defense announced.  Throughout the year, the Strategic Missile Forces will carry out more than 200 command and personnel as well as tactical and special exercises. In total, more than 200 exercises were held in 2018 and their intensity and number will increase in 2019. The Strategic Missile Forces plan to enhance the combat readiness of the personnel in the missile regiments, protection units and subunits and to increase the duration of the tactical and special tactical exercises. Each training period throughout 2019 will involve improving the combat duty to the utmost level of more than 40 missile regiments and support and protection units. Throughout the year, work will continue towards improving the exercises. Requirements for the level of the drills for all categories of military personnel, bringing combat readiness to t...

Written by  Wayne Madsen ; Originally appeared on  strategic-culture.org Ever since it was decided to locate the headquarters of the United Nations in New York, the world body has been beset by constant meddling by the host country, that is, the United States, which is increasingly violating the letter and spirit of the 1947 treaty between the United States and United Nations regarding the headquarters of the UN. The treaty, signed on June 26, 1947 at Lake Success, New York between UN Secretary General Trygve Lie and US Secretary of State George Marshall guarantees the extraterritorial nature of the UN headquarters in Manhattan. Furthermore, it guarantees that the US will not interfere with the expeditious granting of US visas to foreigners and UN personnel transiting through US territory in furtherance of their responsibilities to their own governments and the UN. The United States has increasingly violated the US-UN Treaty by refusing to grant visas to foreign officia...