Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 27 augusT 2019
Lebanon: Israeli air force hits Palestinian base in Lebanon

By BASSEM MROUE apart, that struck a base
BEIRUT (AP) — Israeli drones for a Syrian-backed group
bombed a Palestinian known as the Popular Front
base in eastern Lebanon for the Liberation of Pales-
near the border with Syria tine - General Command,
early Monday amid rising an ally of Hezbollah.
tensions in the Middle East, Abu Wael Issam, an official
the Lebanese state-run Na- with the Palestinian group
tional News Agency and a in Lebanon, told The Asso-
Palestinian official said. ciated Press that the strike
The strike came a day af- was carried out by Israeli
ter an alleged Israeli drone drones and did not inflict
crashed in a stronghold any casualties. He accused
of the Lebanese militant the Israeli Prime Minister
group Hezbollah in south- Benjamin Netanyahu is us-
ern Beirut while another ing such attacks to boost
exploded and crashed his credentials ahead of
nearby. Israel's parliamentary elec-
Lebanese President Michel tions next month.
Aoun told the U.N. Special He said the Palestinian
Coordinator for Lebanon, group's "alternatives are
Jan Kubis, that the attacks open in confronting the
violate a U.N. Security Zionist enemy" but didn't
Council resolution that end- Spanish U.N peacekeepers patrol the Lebanese side of the Lebanese-Israeli border in the south- specify how or if it would re-
ed the 2006 war between ern village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon, Monday, Aug. 26, 2019. taliate. A statement issued
Israel and Hezbollah. Associated Press later by the group said "the
"What happened is equal Zionist aggression" will not
to a declaration of war people who seek peace that the U.N. took note of ties to exercise maximum stop the group and its allies.
and gives us the right to de- and not war, and we don't Aoun's statements and re- restraint, both in action and There was no immediate
fend our sovereignty, inde- accept that anyone to iterated the U.N. appeal to in rhetoric," Dujarric said. comment from Israel on the
pendence, and the safety threatens us though any stop violations of the Secu- The Lebanese state news strike, which the Lebanese
of our land," Aoun said in means." rity Council resolution and agency report said there news agency said hit near
comments released by his U.N. spokesman Stephane implement all its provisions. were three strikes after mid- the village of Qusaya in the
office Monday. "We are Dujarric said later Monday "The U.N. calls on the par- night on Sunday, minutes eastern Bekaa Valley. q

Iran says oil on tanker pursued by US sold; buyer unnamed

By NASSER KARIMI ence.
Associated Press In the time since, Iran has
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran lost billions of dollars in busi-
on Monday announced ness deals allowed by the
that the 2.1 million barrels deal, as the U.S. re-imposed
of crude aboard an Iranian and escalated sanctions
oil tanker pursued by the largely blocking Tehran
U.S. has been sold to an un- from selling crude abroad,
named buyer as the ship, a crucial source of hard
at the center of a crisis roil- currency for the Islamic Re-
ing the region, continued public.
its voyage in the Mediterra- In U.S. federal court docu-
nean Sea. ments, authorities allege
The announcement by the Adrian Darya's true
government spokesman Ali owner is Iran's Revolution-
Rabiei represent just the lat- ary Guard, a paramilitary
est twist in the saga of the organization answerable
Adrian Darya 1, which had only to Supreme Leader
been known as the Grace 1 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
when authorities seized the The U.S. declared the Rev-
vessel off Gibraltar on July A supertanker hosting an Iranian flag is seen on the water in the British territory of Gibraltar, Sun- olutionary Guard a foreign
4, on suspicion of breaking day, Aug. 18, 2019. terrorist organization in
European Union sanctions Associated Press April, the first time America
targeting Syria. named a military force of
The seizure of the ship, and declined to name the oil's cides where its destination to the growing tensions a nation as such, giving it
Iran's subsequent seizure of buyer, nor terms for the is," Rabiei said, adding that between Washington and the legal power to issue a
a British-flagged oil tanker, sale. At market rates, the the world is "witnessing the Tehran, after President warrant for the vessel's sei-
came amid heightened crude oil aboard the Adri- wrong policy by the U.S. in Donald Trump unilaterally zure. However, that would
tensions between the U.S. an Darya would be worth monitoring and interven- withdrew America from require another nation to
and Iran over the collapse about $130 million. Howev- tion in others' internal af- Iran's 2015 nuclear deal acknowledge the writ.
of Tehran's nuclear deal er, anyone buying it likely fairs." with world powers over a The Adrian Darya initially
with world powers. would be targeted by U.S. The Adrian Darya's deten- year ago over concerns put its intended destination
Speaking to journalists financial sanctions. tion and later release by about Iran's ballistic missile as Kalamata, Greece, and
Monday in Tehran, Rabiei "The buyer of the oil de- Gibraltar have added fuel program and regional influ- later as Mersin, Turkey.q