Donald Trump has been accused of “playing a very dangerous game” with Iran and risking dragging the US into a new war in the Middle East that could have “devastating” consequences.
The warning came from Hamid Baeidinejad, Iran’s ambassador to the UK, with the acting US defence secretary Patrick Shanahan tabling plans to send 120,000 troops to the region if needed as tensions soar between the two nations over economic sanctions and an increased American military presence in the Persian Gulf.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s trade war with China over tariffs continues to rumble on - despite his best efforts to downplay it as “a little squabble” - with the “patriotic farmers” the president is seeking to champion already bearing the brunt of falling prices and the loss of access to vital overseas markets.
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"Saudi Arabia’s claim that two of its oil tankers have been sabotaged off the coast of the UAE is vague in detail – but could create a crisis that spins out of control and into military action.
"Any attack on shipping in or close to the Strait of Hormuz, the 30-mile wide channel at the entrance to the Gulf, is always serious because it is the most important choke point for the international oil trade..."
Read more from Patrick Cockburn here:
In other Trump news, Trump Tower has become one of New York City’s least desirable luxury buildings, a new report suggests.
Apartment prices at the 58-storey skyscraper have fallen and huge tracts of office space have been left vacant since Donald Trump was elected US president in 2016.
“Let me be as clear as I can be: a war with Iran would be an absolute disaster,” said Sanders. “Sixteen years ago, the United States committed one of the worst foreign policy blunders in the history of our country by attacking Iraq. That war was sold to the American people based on a series of lies about weapons of mass destruction. We should remember that one of the leading advocates for that war was John Bolton.
“And now, based on the disaster that he helped bring about in Iraq, it appears that John Bolton wants a war in Iran. Let’s be clear: a war with Iran would be many times worse than the Iraq war. U.S. military leaders have repeatedly told us that.
“The United States Congress must do everything it can to prevent a war with Iran. The Constitution of the United States is very clear. I am committed to ensuring that majorities of the House of Representatives and the Senate make clear that before the president takes any military action, in Iran or anywhere else, he must seek authorization from Congress. Taking us into a war without Congressional authorization would be unconstitutional and illegal.”
The Department of Homeland Security again waived environmental and dozens of other laws to allow more than 100 miles of barriers to go up along the southern border in California and Arizona.
Funding will come from the Defence Department following the emergency declaration that President Trump signed this year after Congress refused to approve the amount of border wall funding he requested.
Barriers will go up at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, a vast park named after the unique cactus breed that decorates it, and Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, which is largely a designed wilderness home to 275 wildlife species. The government will also build new roads and lighting in those areas in Arizona.
Environmental advocates who have sued to stop the construction of the wall say this latest plan will be detrimental to the wildlife and habitat in those areas.
"The Trump administration just ignored bedrock environmental and public health laws to plow a disastrous border wall through protected, spectacular wildlands," said Laiken Jordahl, who works on border issues at the Center for Biological Diversity.
At Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, row after row of cacti decorate 516 square miles of land that once saw so much drug smuggling that over half the park was closed to the public. But illegal crossings in that area dropped off significantly in the past several years, and the government in 2015 reopened the entire monument for the first time in 12 years.
While Arizona has seen an increase in border-crossers over the last year, most are families who turn themselves in to Border Patrol agents. The number of drugs that agents seize in the state has also dropped significantly.
But the government is moving forward with more border infrastructure.
The waivers the department issued on Tuesday are vague in their description of where and how many miles of fencing will be installed. The Center for Biological Diversity says the plans total about 100 miles of southern border in both Arizona and California, near Calexico and Tecate.
In Arizona, construction will focus on four areas of the border and will include the replacement of waist-high fencing meant to stop cars with 18 to 30-foot barriers that will be more efficient at stopping illegal crossings.
The government has already demolished refuge land in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and construction is set to begin any day. On one section of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge, crews have used heavy construction equipment to destroy a mix of trees, including mesquite, mulberry and hackberry. Those trees protect birds during the ongoing nesting season.
According to plans published last year, the cleared land will be filled in and a concrete wall will be installed, with bollards measuring 18 feet installed on top.
After months of public outcry, Congress forbade US Customs and Border Protection from building in the nearby Santa Ana wildlife refuge or the non-profit National Butterfly Center. But it didn't stop money from going to wall construction in other refuge lands, nor did it stop the government from building in otherwise exempted land due to the emergency declaration, said Marianna Trevino Wright, the butterfly center's director.
"They're going to have to protect us in every single spending bill going forward, and they have to protect us against the state of emergency," Wright said. "And this administration has made it clear... that they don't want any exemptions."
