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Monday, February 19, 2024

Here’s a Look Inside Donald Trump’s $355 Million Civil Fraud Verdict as an Appeals Fight Looms

 

On the witness stand last year, Donald Trump proclaimed: “I have a lot of cash.”

After Friday’s eye-popping penalty in his New York civil fraud trial, he’s going to need it — and maybe more.

A judge ordered the former president to fork over $355 million of his fortune, plus interest, finding he lied for years about his wealth on financial statements he used to secure loans and make deals as he built the real estate empire that vaulted him to fame and the presidency.

“The frauds found here leap off the page and shock the conscience,” Judge Arthur Engoron wrote in a 92-page decision that spares Trump’s company from closure, but forces it into years of court supervision, among other sanctions.

The ruling, after a 2½-month trial in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit cuts to the core of Trump’s image as a wealthy, shrewd real estate mogul turned political force.

The financial penalty — staggering even for a businessman who’s seen casinos, an airline and other ventures fail — adds to Trump’s mounting legal debts and could put the Republican presidential front-runner in a serious cash crunch as he campaigns to retake the White House.

Trump, who’s also dealing with four criminal cases, decried Friday’s ruling as “election inference” and has vowed to appeal.

Here’s a look at the case, the penalties and what’s next for Trump.

Sunday, February 18, 2024

The death of free shipping


You know how sometimes you’re the jerk? Maybe you’re a little aggressive with a lane change to make your exit on the highway. Or you get a little heated with a customer-service rep who has nothing to do with the thing you’re mad about. It happens to the best of us.

Well, if you’ve ever bought stuff online and received free shipping or returns, you’ve also been a little bit of a jerk — and now it’s time to pay up.

Fast, free shipping and easy, no-cost returns have become a baseline expectation in the modern online shopping experience. Many consumers have grown accustomed to treating their bedrooms like store dressing rooms, confident they can regularly buy 20 items of clothing, try them on, and then send all but one back, no questions asked. Waiting even two days for a purchase to arrive seems like forever, and anything greater than $0 for shipping is a robbery. A December 2022 survey by the National Retail Federation and Appriss Retail found a 16.5% return rate for that year, estimating $816 billion worth of merchandise would be sent back.

Belgium Invites Imam That Calls for Killing and Taking Jews Captive to Address Parliament

 An Imam at the Belgian parliament last week began reciting a verse from the Quran that explicitly calls on Muslims to kill and take Jews captive.

The Quran excerpt is verse 33:26 from the Al-Ahzab Surah (chapter). It translates to,

 “ And He brought down those from the People of the Book who supported the enemy alliance from their own strongholds, and cast horror into their hearts. You ‘believers’ killed some, and took others captive.”

Within the Quran, Jews are referred to as the “People of the Book.”


The event on Tuesday was not organized by the parliament, but rather at the initiative of Hasan Koyuncu, a member of parliament within the socialist party and vice president of the Francophone Parliament in Brussels, along with the Friends Of Brussels Association. 

Leftists Spending Tens of Millions of Dollars to Defeat Netanyahu "Sowing nothing but incitement, discord and division"

 

At the conclusion of his press conference Saturday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked the reporters in the room over the enormous campaign displaying huge ads against him on Ayalon Highway and other major roads, as well as in the media and social networks, that claim Netanyahu is guilty of the colossal failure of October 7, and the Hamas attack and the massacre that followed.

“There are huge ads on Ayalon and throughout the country and I see advertisements in all the media worth tens of millions of dollars. And I want to ask you – did you not think to investigate this? Did you not think to check who is doing this? Where does it come from? What are the funding sources? Who is behind this huge amount of money which is about nothing but incitement, discord, and division?”

Did Israel Agree to Freeze Settlements in Exchange for American Arms?

 

Maariv’s Anna Barsky on Saturday night cited officials in Judea and Samaria who claimed there’s a settlements construction freeze and as a result, no construction plan has been approved in the past six months in area E1 (the area between Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim), which had been promoted by the Lapid-Bennett government, as well as other plans.

According to the sources, Netanyahu and other government officials believed that due to the preoccupation with the war in Gaza, they would be able to push the plans forward more easily under the radar, but the Americans did not approve of this and conditioned the supply of ammunition on freezing construction in Judea and Samaria.

The planned shipment, estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars, includes about 1,000 MK-82 bombs, KMU-572 Joint Attack Direct munitions that add precision guidance to the bombs, and FMU-139 bomb fuses. Israeli and American sources are saying the shipment is still under internal review, and details could change before final approval by various congressional committees.

The precision-guided weapons will allow Israel to better target Hamas leaders and attack areas where enemy forces are fortified underground. However, a growing contingency in both houses of Congress, as well as the White House, insist that Israel complete the removal of civilians from Rafah before giving their approval to the latest military aid.

Peace Now has posted an extensive list of Israeli outposts in Judea and Samaria which have been legalized in 2023: Avigail, Beit Hogla, Givat Ha’Roeh, Givan Arnon, Mitzpe Yeuda, Malachei HaShalom, Asa’el, Sdeh Bo’az, Shacharit, Mevo’ot Yericho, Nofei Nechemia, Pnei Kedem, Zeit Ra’anan, and Netiv Ha’Avot.

In addition, according to Peace Now, the Israeli government has completed several roads that bypass Arab towns in Judea and Samaria that are renowned for murderous attacks on Israeli vehicles that were forced to drive through on their main road, most notably Huwara.

David writes news at JewishPress.com.

Trump’s historic civil fraud trial ruling will spur a NY business exodus

 

The men and women who run New York's big banks and financial firms have had a long and somewhat tortured history with the former president dating back from his days as a real estate mogul.

Yet they see what’s happening to Donald Trump in the byzantine Letitia James bank-fraud prosecution and the over-the-top penalties issued by a state judge that could bankrupt Trump over relatively little.

They know they could be next — unless of course, they get out of New York , and fast.

That’s the word I’m getting from top executives at financial services firms, who paid close attention to the Trump case because of its broad implications for their businesses.

For years they’ve eyed the New York State Attorney General’s Office as a nuisance, its occupant using state laws, like the Martin Act, that give it wide latitude to prosecute financial crimes (and some petty crimes) for ­political advancement.

Recall: Before he was known as “Governor Socks,” Eliot Spitzer was the much-feared New York AG, the so-called sheriff of Wall Street, cracking down mostly on minor offenses that forced financial firms to fork over billions.

James’ power plays

James has taken Spitzer’s methods to more dangerous levels, Wall Street executives concede.

She has a well-earned rep for using her bully pulpit for political gain — see the “report” on her rival, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, over sex-abuse allegations that never materialized in prosecution, but did force Cuomo from office.

In Trump, James went further.

Leftist caught on camera punching a woman in the face during a protest against the government

 


Unbelievable! An extreme left-wing activist went to protect Arab shepherds from settlers ..Watch What happens!

 At the end, the Arab shepherds threw her out of the vehicle and stole her car ! 


Red Cross assisted Hamas terrorists at the Erez Crossing on October 7

 
TRUE FACE OF THE RED CROSS


Israel Was Behind Recent Crippling Attacks On Iran’s Gas Infrastructure

 

The New York Times reported on Friday that Israel is behind multiple recent explosions affecting Iranian gas pipelines, citing sources including two Western officials and a military strategist associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iran’s oil minister, Javad Owji, addressed the reported attacks, describing them as sabotage and terrorist acts aimed at disrupting gas flow during the winter season.

“The enemy’s plan was to completely disrupt the flow of gas in winter to several main cities and provinces in our country,” he said.

Despite the disruption caused by the attacks, Owji downplayed their impact. However, reports from Iranian governors and officials at the state gas company indicate widespread outages across five provinces due to the attacks, leading to the closure of government buildings.

The targeted natural gas pipeline originates in Iran’s western Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, extending north to cities on the Caspian Sea. Measuring approximately 790 miles, the pipeline starts in Asaluyeh, a crucial hub for Iran’s offshore South Pars gas field.

Notably, the targeted province lacks known insurgent groups that have taken responsibility for other similar attacks and is primarily inhabited by the Bakhtiari, a branch of Iran’s Lur ethnic group.

The Times also said Israel was involved in a separate incident on Thursday involving an explosion at a chemical factory on the outskirts of Tehran. Local officials initially attributed the blast to an accident in the factory’s fuel tank.

Footage Of UN Staffer Kidnapping Body Of Israeli From Kibbutz Beeri Revealed


 


 For the first time, footage of a UNRWA staff member assisting in kidnapping the body of an Israeli from Kibbutz Beeri on October 7th has been published, proving Israel’s claim that members of the relief agency were actively involved in the atrocities committed by Hamas. The footage was published by the Washington Post.


The worker is captured on video removing the limp body of an Israeli man who had been shot at Kibbutz Beeri and driving off with it, according to information released Friday by Israeli authorities.

Israel told UNRWA last month that Faisal Ali Musalam Naami, 45, and 11 other UNRWA employees participated in or lent support to the Hamas assault on October 7th. Israeli authorities have said Hamas and allied gunmen killed 1,200 Israelis and took some 253 people hostage back in Gaza.

Israel claims to have evidence that some 30 other UNRWA employees were directly or indirectly involved in the Hamas attack.

Candace Owens Goes on Tirade Against some Jews ... Is she right??

 



 Candace Owens, posted a lengthy rant on Instagram this week, in which she blasted America’s support for Israel and accused “political Jews” of creating anti-Semitism.

The Daily Wire host accused Jews of fueling antisemitism, compared some Jews to BLM, and seemed to equate Israeli hostages with Palestinian children who grow up with “the threat of bombs being dropped” around them.

It should be noted that the leadership at Daily Wire has defended keeping Owens on their platform, saying that every host has freedom of speech, and they do not cancel, fire, or censor others because of their views.

On Wednesday, Owens shared a post from Daily Wire host Matt Walsh raging against foreign aid. She then weighed in with the following: “I grew up in a town that had a large Jewish community. For whatever reason my best friends throughout my childhood and early adulthood were always Jewish,” She then mentioned her personal connections to the Jewish community, having nannied for a Jewish family in Manhattan and working for two Jewish men at a private equity fund.

“So why am I telling you this? Never once in all of those years, ever, did I hear ANY of those people accuse others of being antisemitic or a “Jew Hater”.

“That all changed when I got into politics and met what I would describe as political Jews–who operate almost exactly like Black Lives Matter.

“These people-regarding which they are a small, fringe faction, are some of those most vile, dishonest, manipulative people that I have ever met. Under the guise of fighting antisemitism, they actually create it.”

Owens continued her rant: “Just as Black Lives Matter radicals would threaten and intimidate white people’s lives by constantly smearing and libeling people into submission, these radicals do the same.”

“BLM ultimately hurt the black community. The Jewish fringe are hurting the Jewish community by misrepresenting who they are,” she continued, before focusing on Israel:

“My political philosophy has always been that we should not be using taxpayer dollars to support foreigners. I am therefore against the welfare programs for illegal immigrants. I’m against illegal immigration as a whole as it burdens taxpayers. I was against sending money to Afghanistan and Ukraine and therefore I am, of course, against sending a single dime to Israel.

“America is a country that is trillions dollars in debt. Why on earth are we sending money to a nation that has less debt than us?” she continued, adding: “This is common economic sense. Not antisemitism.”

“Ultimately what this particular fringe group of radical Jewish people are, are thugs and Marxists. They want power, and they are willing to harm their Jewish peers to get it.”

“Have the courage to call these people out. To my Jewish friends: you are not a monolith. You do not have to support their Marxism or believe their nasty lies.”

Owens concluded by saying she hopes all the Israeli hostages are “found” and that “I also cry and mourn for the little children in Palestine who are growing up with the threat of bombs dropped on them every day.”

Owens has a long history of controversial and outlandish rhetoric including saying Adolf Hitler’s “nationalism” inside Germany was “fine”, defending the sale of “Mein Kampf”, and justifying her stance against Israel by accusing Charedi Jews of being anti-Zionist.

Saturday, February 17, 2024

How Biden’s General With A Jacket full of Medals Tried Desperately to Stop the IDF from Entering Gaza, Predicted 20 Daily Casualties


Yedioth’s Amit Segal describes the shirt of US Marine Lieutenant-General James Glynn, commander of Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command from June 2020 to May 2022, as crammed with 23 medals, from the Bronze Star to the Purple Heart. The shirts of US military officers are a jarring sight to Israelis, whose IDF Generals wear modest insignia marking the wars in which they participated, and on occasion their paratrooper’s wing, that’s it. The rest is mostly shirt.

Glynn, the war hero who fought on three continents, liberated Kuwait, and led US units in Iraq, was sent by President Joe Biden in mid-October, 2023, “to help the commanders of the IDF think about the difficult questions before them.”

Fani Willis 'out-trumped' Trump during 'mind-blowing' testimony

 




Why aren’t Arab leaders calling on Hamas to end the war?

 

This week, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas called on Hamas to reach a deal to free the Israeli hostages and spare Gaza additional death and destruction.

The move was brazen — because while Hamas is distressingly popular among Palestinians, Pres. Abbas (who’s plagued by corruption charges) is not.

Either way, it’s a call that the rest of the Middle East’s supposedly moderate Sunni Arab leaders could clearly learn from.

Most Arab leaders know that despite Hamas claims, the militant organization is actually the enemy of the Palestinian people.

For more than 30 years Hamas has deployed terrorism to derail a two-state solution.

And Arab leaders are well aware that regional peace will remain elusive until the group is sidelined.

So why pretend otherwise?

Why did Jordan’s normally reasonable King Abdullah direct his words at Israel and not Hamas when he declared this week that the Gaza war must end?

A poll released last month of 8,000 respondents from 16 Arab countries helps explain why.

80% of Americans test positive for infertility-linked chemical


  Americans are being exposed to a chemical found in oat-based foods, including Cheerios and Quaker Oats, that can pose a risk to reproductive and developmental health, according to a new study.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that four in five, or 80%, of Americans, tested positive for a harmful additive called chlormequat — linked to reduced fertility, altered fetal growth and delayed puberty.

Additionally, EWG’s tests found higher levels and more frequent detection of chlormequat in 2023 samples, compared to those from 2017 through 2022. This suggests consumer exposure to chlormequat could be on the rise, researchers said.

Startup’s AI breaks global weather forecasting accuracy record

In 2017, chlormequat was detected in 69% of study participants. The number increased to 74% between 2018 and 2022 and spiked to 90% in 2023.

“Just as troubling, we detected the chemical in 92% of oat-based foods purchased in May 2023, including Quaker Oats and Cheerios,” the EWG said in a report published alongside their findings.

Since chlormequat typically leaves the body within 24 hours, these findings suggest Americans are regularly being exposed to the chemical, according to the report.

EWG also tested 20 more oat-based foods for chlormequat — seven organic, 13 nonorganic, and nine wheat-based products; however, it didn’t specify which brands’ foods it tested.

Detectable levels of chlormequat were found in 92% of nonorganic oat-based foods, while only two samples of wheat-based foods — both bread — had low levels of of the chemical.

Only one of the seven organic samples had low levels of chlormequat.

Until the government puts parameters around the use of chlormequat, the EWG urged consumers to opt for products with organic oats growth without synthetic chemicals like chlormequat.

Yishay Gertner 23, from Modi'in Illit Murdered in Shooting Attack

Yishay Gertner, 23, from Modi'in Illit, is one of the two people who were murdered in the terrorist attack at the Re’em Junction on Friday, it was cleared for publication. He was a bochur from Modi’in Illit who was heading to learn at Yeshiva Meor HaTalmud in Malachi when he was killed.

Four people were injured in the shooting attack, including a 16-year-old who is critical condition and is being treated at Schneider’s Children Hospital in Petah Tikva.

The others were evacuated to Assuta Hospital in Ashdon and Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot.

An armed civilian battled the terrorist and eliminated him.

A source in the police stated that the terrorist arrived at the scene in a vehicle, sporting an "ISIS style" beard and a large white skull cap. He made a U-turn at the junction since he saw a large number of people standing there. He exited the vehicle and began shooting with a pistol. A civilian at the scene eliminated the terrorist.

 

Friday, February 16, 2024

Zera Shimshon Parshas Teruma



press on link below 

Biden Will reward Hamas Rape, Murder and Torture with a Palestinian state

 

It’s amazing how long bad ideas take to die. That’s certainly the case with one of the least successful ideas in the world. The idea of the two-state solution in the Middle East.

How do we know it is unsuccessful? Because it has been tried for decades and never works.

Generations of US Presidents have wasted energy on the idea. All based on a falsehood.

Which is the idea that a two-state solution would “unlock the problems” of the Middle East.

In this song — sung by Republicans and Democrats alike — if the Palestinian people had another state then all the other problems of the Middle East would be solved.

The economy of Yemen would suddenly boom. The Ayatollahs in Iran would suddenly grant equal rights to women. There’d be gay pride in Saudi Arabia.

It is a fairytale, of course. None of the rest of the Arab world gives a damn about the Palestinians.

Most actively hate them — seeing them as bringing terror wherever they go (as the Palestinians did when they went to Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Lebanon — to name just a few).

Besides which, the Palestinians doggedly refused a state every time they were offered one. They refused in 1948 and every other time right up to 2000.

Putin endorses Biden for president in 2024

 


DIN: Wow!!! I thought that Trump collaborated with Russia ? Didn't Hillary and the DemonRats claim that Trump was a Russian plant. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Russian media about his preferred candidate in the 2024 US elections.

He stated that he would prefer incumbent President Joe Biden to continue his tenure, noting that Biden was more experienced and "from the old school of politics."

He also stated, “Russia will work with any leader that earns the trust of the American public.” His statement comes only a day after Biden accused Trump of “bowing down to a Russian dictator” by encouraging Republicans to vote against aid to Ukraine

Regarding Biden's age and mental competency, Putin stated: “This criticism is growing more and more unforgiving” and claimed that he did not see any evidence that Biden was unfit to continue to serve. He would later mention his last meeting with Biden, at the end of 2021, and said, “They told me that Biden was unfit to serve, but I did not see any such evidence. Perhaps he did look at a written list, and to be honest, I did too. It's not such a big deal. Perhaps he did hit his head on the way out of the helicopter - but haven't we all hit our head on something?”


Republican Senate Candidate Says Jews Control U.S., Have Sinister Plan Spanning Thousands Of Years

 


Jim Marchant, a Republican contender for the Senate in Nevada, has been perpetuating antisemitic conspiracy theories over the past two years, Jewish Insider reports. Marchant, who is seen as an outsider in the race for the Republican nomination, has lagged in fundraising behind notable figures such as Army veteran Sam Brown and former U.S. Ambassador to Iceland Jeff Gunter. Despite this, his assertions, echoing centuries-old antisemitic tropes about a secretive group of “Khazarians,” “the cabal,” “globalists,” and “central bankers” manipulating global events, have drawn significant attention.

Marchant’s statements suggest a belief in a secret power structure that has manipulated global and U.S. politics for centuries, a narrative he has shared in various public forums since 2022. In one notable instance, he claimed just last month that “They’ve taken control of everything through the money system… it started with the Khazarians.” This group, he alleges, has had a sinister agenda spanning thousands of years, targeting historical figures like Presidents Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Richard Nixon due to their opposition to this shadowy plan.

Israeli Satire Program About Charedim's lack of IDF Enlistment, Raising Sharp Reactions

 



The Eretz Nehederet satire program included a clip about two death notification officers in the Israeli army who mistakenly knock on the home of a charedi person.

 The charedi, confused as to why two IDF officers are at his door, says that he is not willing to enlist in the army. He claims that he is an “only child” (with five brothers), says he studies in kollel and is therefore exempt from service, and tells the soldiers to “go and draft the Eritreans”. 

He adds that “its not possible by force, only through conversation.”

The officers realize that they have made a mistake and state that they have come to inform of the death of a soldier. The charedi says: “What a relief!”, and then berates them for making a mistake between an address in Bnei Brak and Ramat Gan, adding that it is “a sensitive time”. He then tells them to “inform them that we prayed for him- we did all that we could.”

The obvious insinuation is that charedim will not have a death notification officer at their doors – and that their sensitivity is only for their own feelings and not for those of the soldiers of their families. 

However,  some 20 of the soldiers and civilians killed in the current campaign are from charedi families and many other soldiers continue to serve at the front line. Moreover the charedi public has mobilized in many ways to assist the soldiers- from providing critical equipment and food supplies to giving first medical responses on October 7th. A charedi ambulance driver was killed in Ofakim while rushing to treat wounded, while others bravely drove to Kfar Azza and Beeri to help evacuate the many wounded.

Thousands of charedim have enlisted in the Chetz and Netzach Yehuda brigades in recent years. Even though they wear different kippot, they are all from charedi families and their parents worry about them like any other soldiers. 

Some secular journalists were horrified by the clip. Ran Boker, Ynet’s entertainment reporter, wrote that: “If you want to criticize charedim, go for it, it may be important and correct to do so, but between that and belittling religion itself- there is a huge difference and Eretz Nehederet missed the mark completely.

“Worse still- putting in the most tragic moment for so many families in Israel- the knock on the door and notification- is shocking, sad and superfluous. There are borders which shouldn’t be crossed even for satire. Enjoy the fact that you managed to ‘kick’ a lot of broken hearts.”

Yinon Magal, channel 14’s anchor, questioned how many of Eretz Nehderet’s own staff had served in combat units: “Check out all the cast of the program, how many of them were in combat? Did their parents not sleep at night? Do they have the right to open their mouths about knocks on the door? What nerve!” Magal queried

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Personal-care aides are milking New Yorkers — and taking the state for billions


 Talk about a racket! And one sponsored by the state, no less.

Albany is actually handing out billions to people claiming to be in-home “personal care” aides with little training and practically no oversight.

And — surprise, surprise — people are racing to milk the system for all they can get. They’re getting paid to care for their own parents.

The abuse began ramping up in 2016, when the state expanded its Medicaid program for “personal aides” — those who provide non-medical care to an elderly or disabled person who remains in his or her home, earning up to $21 an hour from the state.

The expansion allowed family or friends — nearly anyone, really — to qualify as an aide with little to no special training and no background checks required.

Indeed, Albany actually advertises the program as a way for young New Yorkers to stay home and get paid.

What could go wrong?

Sure enough, spending on personal care surged 178% from 2015 to 2021 —10 times faster than the growth of its elderly population — topping $12 billion a year, or “almost as much as the other 49 states’ spending combined,” the Empire Center’s Bill Hammond reports.

The number of home health aides in New York soared from about 250,000 to almost 480,000, as of 2022, over the previous decade.

To be sure, the program’s rationale — keeping those who need help at home instead of moving them to a facility, for their benefit and to save costs — makes sense.

Yet loose eligibility requirements have fueled skyrocketing growth, yet demand for nursing-home beds hasn’t fallen proportionally, a sure sign of fraud and abuse.

What did Albany expect? The program provides little supervision, so who know what these “aides” are doing during billed hours?

In 2020, federal prosecutors nabbed 10 people for home-health-aide fraud, including one said to have billed for time she spent on a Caribbean cruise.

Then again, all of this is typical where progressives offer insanely generous and poorly policed welfare and health-care benefits compared to even other blue states.

New York’s per-capita spending for personal-care alone, Hammond reports, is eight times higher than the national average.

Meanwhile, Albany will face a monster $15 billion budget gap in three years, per the Citizens Budget Commission, despite its nation-high taxes.

What will it take to put an end to such abuse and stem the fiscal bleeding?

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

The Veep From Hell

You would think that after three years of Joe Biden’s misbegotten presidency, Americans would have suffered enough and fate would cut us a break. 

But Kamala Harris has other ideas.

As a reminder that things can always get worse, the veep from hell said the four most terrifying words in the English language: “I’m ready to serve.” 

Oh, God, please, not that! 

If she gets control of the Oval Office, the last three tumultuous years will be fondly recalled as the good old days.

References to a Harris tenure would be spat out as a curse.

No doubt she raised her hand in hopes of reassuring the party faithful by reminding them of her presence when the White House is reeling from the special counsel’s finding that Biden is basically bonkers.

Out-of-touch veep

But nobody was reassured, and beyond revealing how out of touch Harris is about her own standing, her offer to help perfectly captured the Democrats’ dilemma.

LOL >>>> Iran claims terrorists blew up gas pipeline

 

DIN: " Terrorists blew up a gas pipeline?" "Terrorists?" 

Explosions struck a natural gas pipeline in Iran on Wednesday, with an official blaming the blasts on a “sabotage and terrorist action”.

Details were scarce, though the blasts hit a natural gas pipeline running from Iran's western Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province up north to cities on the Caspian Sea. The roughly 1,270-kilometer (790-mile) pipeline begins in Asaluyeh, a hub for Iran's offshore South Pars gas field.

The news comes in the country as tensions remain high in the Middle East amid Israel‘s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Saeed Aghli, the manager of Iran's gas network control center, told Iranian state television that a “sabotage and terrorist” action caused explosions along several areas of the line.

There are no known insurgent groups operating in that province, home to the Bakhtiari, a branch of Iran's Lur ethnic group. Aghli did not name any suspects in the blasts.

Iran's Oil Minister Javad Owji, also speaking to state TV, compared the attack to a series of mysterious and unclaimed assault on gas pipelines in 2011 — including around the anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Tehran marked the 45th anniversary of the revolution on Sunday.