WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV Newsroom's headlines from 0900 GMT to 1700 GMT, August 19, 2018.

Stop politicizing OPEC

Iran tells OPEC no member of the oil exporting group should be allowed to take over another member's share of exports. Iran’s ambassador to OPEC expressed concern about Saudi Arabia's offer to pump more oil following US sanctions on Iranian crude sales. Kazem Gharibabadi was speaking in a meeting with the organization’s Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo. Gharibabadi said Iran believes OPEC must defend its members and resist those who seek to politicize the group. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly assured the US it will compensate oil shortages in the market if Washington imposes sanctions on Iran.

Female Palestinian prisoners

Israeli authorities issued the so-called Administrative Detention order against a female Palestinian prisoner just hours before her scheduled release. Twenty-one year old Fida Ekhlayyel, who was arrested in the West Bank city of al-Khalil in late May, was charged with incitement against Israel on social media. Fida is facing trauma just like dozens of other Palestinian women languishing in Israeli jails.

Italy-Malta tensions  

The dispute between Italy and Malta gets deeper as Rome accuses Malta of not rescuing refugees in the Mediterranean. Italian Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli has added that Malta has left the burden to Italy. Toninelli said that the EU should impose sanctions against Malta for its refusal to aid a boat carrying around 200 refugees. Malta said the boat was crossing international waters. The boat later reached the Italian island of Lampedusa where Italian coastguards helped it. Despite that no refugee has left Italy’s coastguard ship for the past four days as Malta and Italy quarrel where the vessel should dock. Malta says as there are on board an Italian military vessel, they should get off in Italy.

Slamming US move

Iran’s foreign minister says the United States’ dream of subjugating the Iranian nation through pressure and sanctions will never materialize. In the comments on his Twitter page, Mohammad Javad Zarif denounced the US-British-orchestrated coup that toppled the democratically elected government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosadegh back in 1953. He said the so-called Iran Action Group set up recently by the US will not see its dream of pulling off a similar coup d'état through pressure and misinformation come true. Zarif also touched upon the developments surrounding the Iran nuclear deal. He said Europe has not shown its willingness to “pay the price” of defying Washington to save the agreement. He said Europe should put forward proposals to maintain oil and banking ties with Iran after the second phase of US sanctions return in November.

US Iraq presence

The US military will stay in Iraq as long as necessary, says the spokesman for the American-led combined joint task force. Army Commander Sean Ryan said US forces will remain in the regions previously controlled by the Daesh terrorist group. Ryan added that the main reason for the US military presence is to continue stabilization efforts. American forces have been carrying out military operations in Iraq and Syria since 2014. The US army claims that its air and artillery units mainly target terrorist positions as part of the fight against Daesh. International rights groups, however, say thousands of civilians have fallen victim to such raids. US military officials, on many occasions, acknowledged the civilian casualties but considered them as unavoidable incidents.

India floods

Israel has closed the besieged Gaza Strip's only pedestrian crossing into the coastal enclave. Tel Aviv says it took the punitive measure at the Israeli-controlled Erez Crossing in response to weekly Palestinian protests. The regime has routinely closed the crossing. It has also banned the entry of humanitarian supplies and other goods into Gaza. Palestinians have waged weekly Friday rallies near a heavily militarized Israeli fence in protest against the siege. Since the mass demonstrations began in late March, Israeli snipers have shot dead 170 protesters.

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