Israeli TV producer’s call for Holocaust against Gaza population sparks outrage
Press TV – May 4, 2025
A recently unearthed social media post by Elad Barashi, an Israeli producer associated with Channel 14, has sparked public outrage and condemnation for advocating a Holocaust against Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.
In the controversial social media post originally published in Hebrew on February 27, Barashi called for “a cruel and harsh death” for all Gazans, including women and children.
“Who is the fool who says there are ‘innocents’ in Gaza? Who is the despicable scoundrel who wants to let them flee to Arab countries or Europe freely?” he wrote.
In his lengthy post, Barashi made the claim that the entire population of Gaza “deserve death.”
“Men, women, and children — by any means necessary, we must simply carry out a Shoah [Holocaust] against them — yes, read that again — H-O-L-O-C-A-U-S-T!”
“Without fear, without weakness — just crush. Eliminate. Slaughter. Flatten. Dismantle. Smash. Shatter,” he added.
“Without conscience or pity — children and parents, women and girls — all of them are marked for a cruel and harsh death.”
Outraged social media users have criticized Elad Barashi for his recently resurfaced post, condemning the “graphic description” of death for all Gazans and dehumanization of Palestinians.
Channel 14 is a far-right television network widely seen as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s favored platform for interviews and messaging.
Barashi, a researcher and producer for shows such as “Story Night” and “Israel Morning” on Channel 14, has been peddling Israeli propaganda to the network’s audience.
Top UN expert urges trial for EU officials over complicity in Israel’s war crimes
Press TV – May 4, 2025
The top expert on Palestine at the UN has called for senior EU officials, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas to face prosecution for their complicity in Israeli war crimes committed in Gaza.
“The fact that the two highest figures of the EU continue business as usual engagements with Israel is beyond deplorable,” said UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese in an interview ran by The Intercept on Saturday.
“I’m not someone who says, ‘History will judge them’ — they will have to be judged before then. And they will have to understand that immunity cannot equate with impunity,” she added.
Israel has killed nearly 52,500 people and destroyed Gaza’s entire civilian infrastructure. Most of the dead have been civilians, including tens of thousands of children and women.
Israel’s initial aim of exchanging captives with Hamas has turned into a US-backed vision for ethnically cleansing Palestinians from Gaza.
To that end, the Israeli military has increased its lethal attacks after breaking a 2-month ceasefire deal with Hamas on March 18.
It has enforced a complete blockade on humanitarian aid, electricity, food, and water since March 2, marking the longest aid blockade since the start of the genocide nearly 19 months ago.
Human rights organizations have repeatedly called on the EU members to boycott Israel and stop selling weapons to the regime.
Nonetheless, since taking office in December, Kallas has blamed Hamas for Israel’s decision to end the ceasefire, continued normal diplomatic relations, and vowed to “stand in solidarity with Israel.”
A complaint against Leyen, the European Commission president, was also filed at the International Criminal Court last May for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Evidence has shown that the EU has turned into a foundation upon which, the member countries contact and make deals with the Israeli regime.
Beyond demanding accountability from EU leaders, Albanese has said she has been working on a report that will expose banks, pension funds, tech companies, and universities for complicity in Gaza’s destruction.
“All those implicated and involved in the unlawful occupation, in providing it with support, are aiding and abetting violations of international law and human rights violations, and a number of these amount to crimes,” she said.
“There can be individual responsibility and individual liability for those who have been aiding and abetting or enabling such crimes,” she added.
Agent Waltz?
By Daniel McAdams | Ron Paul Institute | May 3, 2025
The Washington Post is reporting today that recently-ousted National Security Advisor Mike Waltz may have been involved in activities even more nefarious than inviting journalists onto highly sensitive Signal group chats. It appears that what really angered President Trump is less Waltz’s incompetence (or worse) in keeping sensitive military communications secure, but rather his taking an active role in doing the bidding of a foreign government.
As the Post reported, in advance of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s February visit to the United States the US National Security Advisor to President Trump…
… appeared to have engaged in intense coordination with Netanyahu about military options against Iran ahead of an Oval Office meeting between the Israeli leader and Trump, the two people said.
That means that Mike Waltz was working with a foreign government to maneuver President Trump into a situation where war seemed the only option left to deal with Iran. That kind of manipulation is a classic neocon move and one that Waltz’s ideological allies managed with great success against President George W. Bush regarding Iraq.
According to one insider quoted in the article, Waltz, “wanted to take U.S. policy in a direction Trump wasn’t comfortable with because the US hadn’t attempted a diplomatic solution.”
That means the former NSA was working with a foreign leader to limit the diplomatic and military options his boss could choose from, i.e. he was working to hobble the United States so as to achieve an objective of a foreign regime.
The WaPo piece continues…
‘If Jim Baker was doing a side deal with the Saudis to subvert George H.W. Bush, you’d be fired,’ a Trump adviser said, referring to Bush’s secretary of state. ‘You can’t do that. You work for the president of your country, not a president of another country.’
To his credit, President Trump recognized that Waltz was blowing Bibi’s smoke at him and rather than bite at the trap sprung for him the President saw through the game and became annoyed possibly at both of them. The fiasco one month later, where Waltz claimed that neocon scribbler Jeffrey Goldberg’s contact information had somehow been “sucked up” into his phone and then presumably spit out again when it came time to invite top Administration officials onto a call to discuss military strikes on Yemen, may have been the straw that broke Trump’s waning patience in the man.
Last month, the Grayzone published leaked audio of Israel lobby AIPAC’s CEO, Elliott Brandt, “describing how his organization has cultivated influence with three top national security officials in the Trump administration – Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Director Mike Waltz, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe – and how it believes it can gain ‘access’ to their internal discussions.”
Was the Waltz/Netanyahu trap for Trump the result of this “cultivated influence” that Brandt is bragging about? And if so, how much deeper does it go?
Whatever the case, it’s lucky for Waltz that he was “only” acting as an agent for our Greatest Ally ™ and Only Democracy in the Middle East ™. Otherwise he’d be soon enjoying the hospitality of Bukele’s All Male B&B rather than the rather more luxurious digs at 50 United Nations Plaza.
Sandu’s Pro-Western Regime Forces Students to Deny Moldovan Identity
By Svetlana Ekimenko – Sputnik – 04.05.2025
After President Maia Sandu, who adheres to a pro-European policy, came to power in the republic at the end of 2020, there followed political crackdowns, media purges, and a rewriting of history to fit the agenda.
A new history textbook for school claims Moldovans don’t exist – they’re just Romanians.
Moldovans do not exist as a separate nation at all, the authors state, leaning on century-old quotes from Teofil Ioncu, a member of the National Moldavian Party.
Back in 1917, he argued that “Moldova” and “Moldovans” were just geographic terms – not indicators of national identity.
Citing the 2024 census, the textbook claims that around 82% of Moldovans identify as either Romanians or Moldovans.
In fact, the official 2024 Population and Housing Census says otherwise – 77.2% call themselves Moldovans, and only 7.9% identify as Romanians.

It should be noted that the same textbook cited above calls the Battle of Stalingrad a “disaster,” and whitewashes the Romanian role in WWII.
Earlier, under the pro-EU regime of Maia Sandu, who has Romanian citizenship, “Moldovan” was scrubbed from official use and rebranded as “Romanian” – a cultural annexation rubber-stamped by Brussels.
Germany On the Path to Tyranny
By Jurij Kofner & Glenn Diesen
Glenn Diesen | May 2, 2025
AfD has polled as the most popular political party in Germany, and the political-media class has openly discussed banning the party. AfD as the main political opposition has now been designated as an “extremist organisation”, which opens up for the German intelligence service to surveil and crack down on the political opposition. This is reasonably interpreted as the first step to banning the main opposition party.
Both Marco Rubio and JD Vance have warned against Germany’s drift toward tyranny:

I discussed these issues with the economic advisor to AfD, Jurij Kofner.
Facebook Shuts Down Town Council Candidate’s Account Weeks Before Election
By Cindy Harper | Reclaim The Net | May 3, 2025
Courtney Knill, a candidate for city council in Charles Town, West Virginia, found herself abruptly cut off from her Facebook account last week, a blow that landed just weeks before voters head to the polls. Facebook accused Knill of impersonating herself and removed her page, eliminating a major outreach tool from her campaign.
The takedown came without any prior notice. When Knill attempted to access her account, she was met with a message citing violations of “community standards.” Facebook’s process for appeal offered no clarity or second chances.
“All they had me do was record a video of myself where they had me point my face in a different direction, basically just showing that you are who you say they are,” she said to the Post Millennial. But the appeal was denied.
“They reviewed it, and then just today I got the notice: We disabled your account… reviewed your account. It still doesn’t follow our community standards on account integrity. You cannot request another review of this decision, and you can download your information if you want. And that’s it,” Knill said. “Done. Campaign Facebook page shut down.”
Her accounts on Instagram and X remain live, but Facebook, a dominant force in local elections, is no longer accessible to her. The platform gave no specific explanation for what content, if any, violated its standards.
Silencing a candidate during an active election cycle, especially without justification, raises urgent questions about unchecked corporate control over public discourse. When platforms erase campaigns with no transparency or accountability, the real casualties are voters who lose access to the voices and ideas meant to represent them.
Farage’s party making big gains in local British elections
RT | May 3, 2025
The right-wing Reform UK party has won 677 out of more than 1,600 seats in England’s local elections, while the Labour and the Conservative parties suffered heavy defeats across the country.
As results began to trickle in on Friday, the party led by firebrand and Brexit proponent Nigel Farage emerged as the strongest performer in contests held in 23 local authorities across England, winning control of ten councils. These included eight taken from the Conservatives – Derbyshire, Kent, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, North Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and West Northamptonshire — along with Doncaster from Labour and Durham, where no party previously had a majority.
Reform also won hard-fought parliamentary by-elections in Runcorn and Helsby, snatching victory from Labour by just six votes after a recount. As a result, the party now controls five seats in the UK Parliament.
According to a BBC projection, if a general election were held today, Reform UK would receive 30% of the vote, ahead of Labour at 20% and the Conservatives at 15%. However, the next general election is not due until May 2029. The last one was held last year and saw Labour secure a landslide victory, riding a wave of public dissatisfaction with the economic policies of the Tories.
Commenting on his party’s strides, Farage remarked: “In post-war Britain, no one has ever beaten both Labour and the Tories in a local election before. These results are unprecedented… Reform can and will win the next general election.”
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that while he felt a “sharp edge of fury,” he said he understood the voters’ choice while promising to “go further and faster in pursuit of… national renewal.” Meanwhile, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch bluntly acknowledged that the elections were a predictable “bloodbath,” stressing that the Tories must continue work to rebuild trust in the party.
Reform UK’s rise has been driven by voter frustration over high levels of immigration, the rising cost of living, and what many see as years of mismanagement by both major parties. The party campaigned heavily on promises to cut migration – including by small boat crossings – lower taxes, and reduce council spending, positioning itself as the only alternative to what it calls “a failed political establishment.”
Here’s What’s Really Behind German Government’s Crackdown on AfD
Sputnik – 03.05.2025
Besides trying to stigmatize the conservative populist party among voters, the German domestic intelligence agency’s move to slap Alternative for Germany (AfD) with an “extremism” label has far more sinister motives, says renowned German lawyer, academic and former AfD MEP lawmaker Gunnar Beck.
The German intelligence service’s decision to recognize the AfD as a “right-wing extremist movement” is the latest step in a long history of attacks on the party, Beck told Sputnik, recalling that AfD “has been stigmatized and discriminated against, and as far as possible, really excluded from parliamentary processes” since it came into existence in 2013.
Political Ploy
The new “right-wing extremist movement” label will allow government agents to legally infiltrate the party, both to spy on it, and to act as agents provocateur, for example, by making extremist statements while pretending to be loyal party members.
“Political parties in Germany are generally in a very privileged position. They get a lot of public funding. The more votes the party gets, the more public funding it usually gets,” Beck explained.
“However, once a party is classified as extremist, and that’s now happened, the federal authorities can deprive it of public funding. Now, this decision would have to be confirmed by the German courts, but given that federal and regional ministers or federal political bodies, or regional ministries of justice appoint most judges in Germany, they are usually very obliging.”
This means that in future elections, the AfD potentially won’t have the same funding and resources available to campaign and spread its message.
Spreading Stigma
By classifying the AfD as right-wing extremists, the government will also be able to try to detract voters from voting for the party, and threaten civil servants who are members of the party with removal and loss of pensions, on the grounds that they ‘undermine’ the political order of the Federal Republic, Beck says.
Authorities will also gain more power to initiate bogus criminal prosecutions against AfD members. Beck noted that already, “a lot of AfD politicians have to spend a fair amount of their income on legal action, defending themselves against very questionable criminal and other allegations.”
It remains “an open question” whether the stigmatization strategy will work or not, Beck said, emphasizing that in the former East Germany especially, the public isn’t as likely to be influenced by the official state media and is more likely to see through government propaganda.
Steering Policy
Over time, the legal authority to infiltrate the party also means agents could eventually “naturally influence AfD policy,” either in the direction of radicalism and stoking infighting to discredit the party, or to influence it “to become more moderate and almost indistinguishable from the established parties,” the observer said.
In both cases, the goal is the same: to get people to “lose confidence in the AfD once it doesn’t really offer any real alternatives any longer.”
The power of intelligence infiltration operations cannot be overstated, Beck emphasized, pointing out that “Germany has no less than 19 secret services,” including three federal ones. “The intelligence sector in Germany is the only growth sector in the whole of the economy, together with the armaments industry now. So they have enormous public resources.”
Could AfD Just Be Banned Outright?
In theory, the government could try to outlaw the AfD, with the courts likely to rubber-stamp the process because they are appointed by the government and parliament, Beck says.
It would be “very difficult,” however, “to justify outlawing a party that currently has between 20 and 25 percent” support, “and is the second-largest party in Germany as a whole, and the largest party in east Germany.”
Therefore, Beck expects authorities to stick to the strategy of stigmatization, infiltration, and divide and rule, and ban the party later, if needed, once support drops to 10 or 15%.
Europe Losing Its Democracies
“Germany is not alone in cracking down on political criticism against the establishment,” Beck said, pointing to similar processes in Romania and France against leading non-systemic opposition.
“I think we are seeing Europe move into a much more authoritarian period. The so-called democratic states are [not] democratic because they do not respect democratic outcomes and undesirable (from their point of view) outcomes of elections, and they don’t follow the rule of law,” Beck lamented.
“We are already seeing widespread political repression in Europe. And what’s happening in Germany… is simply the tip of the iceberg. But as you know, an iceberg is usually about seven times larger than the tip of it above the surface. And I would expect it’s roughly the same with political repression in Germany and Europe. There’s much more going on than is reported in the papers and we ever get to know about it. Everything I’ve said so far shows how heavily stacked the political game in Europe is against those who do not accept the status quo, against the so-called populist or extremist parties,” the observer summed up.
Maine Lawmaker Asks Supreme Court to Reverse Speech Ban
By Dan Frieth | Reclaim The Net | May 3, 2025
A Maine legislator has turned to the US Supreme Court after being effectively stripped of her ability to represent her constituents over a controversial social media post. Republican Rep. Laurel Libby, who serves District 90, submitted an emergency request to the high court this week, seeking to overturn a disciplinary action imposed by her fellow lawmakers that has barred her from voting or speaking on the House floor since February.
The dispute stems from a Facebook post Libby made criticizing the inclusion of a transgender athlete in a statewide girls’ pole vault competition.
The post included a mention of a Maine student and questioned the fairness of allowing biological males to compete in girls’ sports categories, a stance that ignited outrage among Democratic legislators. In response, the House voted to censure Libby and conditioned her return to full legislative participation on an apology she had refused to give.
Rather than comply, Libby launched a legal fight to restore her role, arguing the punishment amounted to unconstitutional retaliation. After lower courts refused to intervene, she is now asking the Supreme Court to address what she sees as a blatant violation of the First Amendment and a denial of her constituents’ right to representation.
We obtained a copy of the application for you here.
“For over 60 days my constituents have had no say in any actions taken by their government, actions that directly impact their lives,” she wrote in a post on X. “Every vote taken on the floor of the legislature is a vote my constituents cannot get back. The good people of our district have been silenced and disenfranchised.”
Libby emphasized that the case raises serious concerns about the limits of legislative authority when it comes to penalizing elected officials for their speech.
“For more than 50 years, the Supreme Court has recognized that it violates the First Amendment to retaliate against a representative for exercising their right to free speech — and has firmly rejected immunity claims in nearly identical circumstances,” she continued. “Yet today, Maine stands alone, insisting it can silence me and deprive my constituents of representation for the remainder of my term simply because I told the truth on social media.”
US House to vote on bill criminalizing boycott of Israel
Press TV – May 3, 2025
The US House of Representatives is set to vote on a controversial bill that proposes fines or prison terms for Americans participating in boycotts of Israel or Israeli settlements, promoted by international governmental organizations such as the UN or EU.
The House is scheduled to vote Monday on the contentious anti-boycott act, which seeks to penalize American citizens with fines up to $1 million or prison terms as long as 20 years for boycotting the Israeli regime.
Sponsored by pro-Israel congressmen Mike Lawler and Josh Gottheimer, the bill will broaden the US anti-boycott law by targeting voluntary, values-based political actions undertaken by American citizens.
The underlying objective is to shield the Israeli regime from non-violent international pressure campaigns, notably the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS).
Rights groups warned that the legislation will criminalize constitutionally protected political expression.
The move, according to rights groups, is part of a broader push by the US government to suppress opposition to Israeli genocide, apartheid, and illegal settlement expansion, under the guise of fighting anti-Semitism.
The original act was introduced in 2024. Back then the Republican-controlled Congress passed this bill with broad bipartisan support, but the Senate Democrats blocked the legislation.
Now that Republicans control the Senate as well, there is a significant chance that the act will pass both Congress and Senate.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the most powerful Israeli lobby group in the US, said it “strongly supports” the act.
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) Action has already supported the legislation and broader congressional campaigns to push back against anti-Israeli boycotts.
The majority of anti-Israeli boycotts aim to force the regime to end its genocidal war on Gaza that has taken the lives of more than 52,500 Palestinians and injured at least 118,000, most of whom are children and women.
The Israeli regime has put Gaza on a total blockade for 2 months and barred the entry of all humanitarian aid, including food, which according to the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), has driven the territory’s 2.3 million population toward famine.
Melissa Jane Kronfeld: American Zionist who campaigns for demolition of al-Aqsa Mosque

By Maryam Qarehgozlou | Press TV | May 3, 2025
A viral video captures pro-Palestinian protesters chanting “war criminal” at Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a convicted terrorist supporter and advocate for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, during a confrontation at the US Capitol in Washington, DC.
The demonstrators can be heard shouting “Shame on you!”, “Free Free Palestine!” and “War Criminal!” as Ben-Gvir, who has previously called for the expulsion of Palestinians and the destruction of the al-Aqsa Mosque, aggressively screams and attempts to lunge at them.
Accompanying Ben-Gvir in the video is Melissa Jane Kronfeld, seen filming and verbally assaulting protesters, who had convened at the Capitol for Muslim Hill Days (April 28–29), an annual event organized by the US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO) and other Muslim advocacy groups.
The gathering aimed to engage members of Congress on Capitol Hill to push for a ceasefire in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip and an end to the ongoing genocidal war and blockade.
This event overlapped with Ben-Gvir’s visit to the US Congress.
But who, exactly, is Melissa Kronfeld, the woman visibly incensed by pro-Palestine protesters at the US Congress, while accompanying Ben-Gvir?
A New York native, Kronfeld boasts a résumé spanning international relations, international law, national security, and Jewish philosophy, with academic credentials from George Washington, New York University, Rutgers, and Bar-Ilan University.
She is an American-Israeli propagandist, college lecturer, and political advisor who has spoken at conferences around the globe, including at the White House and Capitol Hill. Kronfeld is also a frequent commentator across pro-Zionist print, television, radio, and podcast news outlets.
Over the years, Kronfeld has worked with, joined, or supported numerous pro-genocide Zionist organizations, including the World Jewish Congress, the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, StandWithUS, the Zionist Organization of America, and the Republican Jewish Coalition, among others.
In addition, she founded an organization named ‘High on the Har’, sponsored by the PFAP Foundation, a tax-deductible Zionist group operating out of Florida, US.
PFAP claims that it “develops and sponsors community projects advancing Israel, Judaism, Zionism, and the welfare of the Jewish people” in the occupied Palestinian territories.
High on the Har is also funded by taxpayers in the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia. It regularly organizes provocative incursions of the al-Aqsa Mosque under the guise of “tours.”
The al-Aqsa compound is Islam’s third-holiest site and a powerful symbol of Palestinian identity.
It doesn’t take deep investigation to grasp the real agenda: High on the Har, and Kronfeld herself, aim to see the Al-Aqsa Mosque replaced with a “Jewish Temple.”
The ultra-Zionist group actively incites settlers to storm the holy mosque and provoke Palestinians.
In an interview with CBS News last March, Kronfeld made her intentions clear, stating her desire to see Israel demolish the al-Aqsa Mosque compound and construct a “Jewish temple” in its place.
“The whole thing is going to go, we have to build a temple,” she said.
She has previously disclosed her involvement with the Israeli occupation army as well.
High on the Har has also been distributing “3rd Temple” patches to Israeli occupation soldiers taking part in the ongoing genocide in Gaza, where more than 52,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed since the onslaught began 19 months ago.
High on the Har has been sending patches of the “3rd Temple” to Israeli soldiers committing a genocide in Gaza.
Since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed his cabinet in 2022, Israel has been systematically eroding the status quo of the al-Aqsa Mosque with brazen audacity.
Last August, Ben-Gvir ignited outrage by declaring his intent to establish a Jewish synagogue within the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East al-Quds—should the opportunity arise.
Earlier this month, pro-settler social media accounts circulated an AI-generated video depicting the mosque engulfed in flames, eventually replaced by the so-called “Third Temple.”
The video, captioned with the message “Next Year in Jerusalem, Messiah Now,” sparked swift condemnation from several Arab countries, including Jordan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
In 2024, more than 53,600 Israelis stormed the mosque compound, marking the highest number since Israeli occupation forces first allowed Jewish access over two decades ago.
According to the al-Quds governorate, approximately 13,000 settlers entered the site during the first quarter of 2025 alone.
Israel seized East al-Quds during the 1967 war and illegally annexed the city in 1980, a move that remains in violation of international law.
Iran says US ‘not serious’ about nuclear talks after Trump imposes new sanctions
The Cradle | May 2, 2025
The Iranian Foreign Ministry affirmed on 2 May that Tehran is committed to continuing the diplomatic process and negotiations regarding its nuclear program but that it “will not accept pressure and threats that violate international law and target the rights of the Iranian people.”
In a statement, the ministry condemned the continued illegal sanctions on Iran and the “pressure on its economic partners,” viewing them as “further evidence that the United States is not serious about adopting a diplomatic approach toward Iran.”
It also stressed that the continuation of these policies “will not change Iran’s firm positions in defending its legitimate rights,” and that “testing failed methods will only lead to a repetition of past failures.”
The Foreign Ministry went on to say that the Iranian negotiating delegation, during the first three rounds, attempted to “reach a fair agreement that guarantees the rights of the Iranian people, within the specified frameworks that allow Tehran to use peaceful nuclear energy.”
Tehran entered indirect negotiations with Washington following US President Donald Trump’s letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, to “resolve a fabricated crisis through diplomacy, based on good faith,” the statement added.
The Ministry’s statement came after Trump announced on Thursday that all purchases of Iranian oil or petrochemical products must stop, warning that any country or individual continuing such trade would face immediate secondary sanctions and be barred from doing business with the US.
“They will not be allowed to do business with the United States of America in any way, shape, or form,” he wrote on Truth Social on Thursday.
Secondary sanctions are a powerful tool for the US because of the size of its economy.
Trump’s comments follow the postponement of the latest US talks with Iran over its nuclear program.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that the fourth round of talks, which were due to take place in Rome on Saturday, had been rescheduled at the suggestion of the Sultanate of Oman for “logistical reasons.”
Sources speaking with Al Mayadeen he explained that the postponement came “against the backdrop of the conflicting positions taken by the US administration regarding the talks, and Washington’s efforts to change the general framework for negotiations that had been previously agreed upon.”
In a related development, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio asserted on 1 May that Iran must “walk away” from both uranium enrichment and the development of long-range missiles.
“They have to walk away from sponsoring terrorists, they have to walk away from helping the Houthis (in Yemen), they have to walk away from building long-range missiles that have no purpose to exist other than having nuclear weapons, and they have to walk away from enrichment,” Rubio said in an interview with Fox News.
His comments came as the fourth round of nuclear negotiations between Tehran and Washington, set to take place in Rome on Saturday, were postponed.
An Iranian official cited by Reuters said a new date for the talks would be set “depending on the US approach.”
Tehran has repeatedly affirmed that both its uranium enrichment and its defense capabilities are non-negotiable in the talks with the US.
