Trump's policy against Iran ‘costly’ failure: Ex-US diplomat

A former US under secretary of state for political affairs, who was the chief negotiator in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, has criticized President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran as an instance of his “painful” and “costly” foreign policy failures.

In an article titled “The Total Destruction of US Foreign Policy Under Trump,” Wendy Sherman enumerated the failures of the Trump administration in the face of Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.

“Trump’s approach to Iran is another painful and costly example. Over three years after the Trump administration withdrew from the nuclear deal, Iran has more highly enriched uranium …, more operating nuclear facilities, more sophisticated technology,” she wrote in her article published by The Foreign Policy magazine on Friday.

“US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Iran envoy Brian Hook advertise this as a campaign of 'maximum pressure,' but their ultimate objective—which they insist is not regime change—remains a mystery,” she added.

The US unleashed the so-called maximum pressure campaign against Iran in 2018, when it unilaterally scrapped the 2015 nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Following its withdrawal, Washington targeted the Iranian nation with the “toughest ever” economic sanctions.

It is currently dialing up efforts to kill the JCPOA completely through pushing the remaining parties to the multilateral agreement to extend a UN arms embargo on Tehran.

Elsewhere in her article, Sherman, a professor at Harvard University, said Trump lacks any “discernible objective” in its foreign policy and is only focused on obtaining foreign help for his re-election.

“As a result of Trump’s failures, the Middle East is further from peace and closer to the next Palestinian uprising than when he took office, the people of Cuba and Venezuela face a bitter future, the promise of African renewal is sidelined, and there is no real challenge to either Russia or China,” she wrote.

“The only possible conclusion is that the objective in Trump’s relations with other countries is not national security but Trump’s security. Nothing else explains the vacuous and vain approach of a foreign policy without objectives, without strategy, without any indication that it protects and advances US interests.”

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Pakistan to react strong against any Indian misadventure along LoC: FM Qureshi

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi says Pakistan will react strongly to any Indian misadventure along the Line of Control.

Talking to media persons in Multan after offering Eid prayers, he said Modi-led fascist government in India is preparing to begin construction work on Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and Pakistan condemns this act.

The foreign minister said that Youm-e-Istehsal is being observed on Wednesday across the country to give a clear message to oppressed people in Indian Illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir that they are not alone.

FM Qureshi said that Pakistan will continue to extend moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their just struggle for freedom and right to self-determination.

He said that Mosques have been closed in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and entire political leadership of Kashmir been detained.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi said entire Pakistani nation and Kashmiris all over the world will observe Youm-e-Istehsal on Wednesday.

This Eid-ul-Azha is different from the previous Eids and negligence on the festival could throw away all the hard work against novel coronavirus, he added.

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Pakistan to react strong against any Indian misadventure along LoC: FM Qureshi

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi says Pakistan will react strongly to any Indian misadventure along the Line of Control.

Talking to media persons in Multan after offering Eid prayers, he said Modi-led fascist government in India is preparing to begin construction work on Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and Pakistan condemns this act.

The foreign minister said that Youm-e-Istehsal is being observed on Wednesday across the country to give a clear message to oppressed people in Indian Illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir that they are not alone.

FM Qureshi said that Pakistan will continue to extend moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their just struggle for freedom and right to self-determination.

He said that Mosques have been closed in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and entire political leadership of Kashmir been detained.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi said entire Pakistani nation and Kashmiris all over the world will observe Youm-e-Istehsal on Wednesday.

This Eid-ul-Azha is different from the previous Eids and negligence on the festival could throw away all the hard work against novel coronavirus, he added.

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Trump's policy against Iran ‘costly’ failure: Ex-US diplomat

A former US under secretary of state for political affairs, who was the chief negotiator in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, has criticized President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran as an instance of his “painful” and “costly” foreign policy failures.

In an article titled “The Total Destruction of US Foreign Policy Under Trump,” Wendy Sherman enumerated the failures of the Trump administration in the face of Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.

“Trump’s approach to Iran is another painful and costly example. Over three years after the Trump administration withdrew from the nuclear deal, Iran has more highly enriched uranium …, more operating nuclear facilities, more sophisticated technology,” she wrote in her article published by The Foreign Policy magazine on Friday.

“US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Iran envoy Brian Hook advertise this as a campaign of 'maximum pressure,' but their ultimate objective—which they insist is not regime change—remains a mystery,” she added.

The US unleashed the so-called maximum pressure campaign against Iran in 2018, when it unilaterally scrapped the 2015 nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Following its withdrawal, Washington targeted the Iranian nation with the “toughest ever” economic sanctions.

It is currently dialing up efforts to kill the JCPOA completely through pushing the remaining parties to the multilateral agreement to extend a UN arms embargo on Tehran.

Elsewhere in her article, Sherman, a professor at Harvard University, said Trump lacks any “discernible objective” in its foreign policy and is only focused on obtaining foreign help for his re-election.

“As a result of Trump’s failures, the Middle East is further from peace and closer to the next Palestinian uprising than when he took office, the people of Cuba and Venezuela face a bitter future, the promise of African renewal is sidelined, and there is no real challenge to either Russia or China,” she wrote.

“The only possible conclusion is that the objective in Trump’s relations with other countries is not national security but Trump’s security. Nothing else explains the vacuous and vain approach of a foreign policy without objectives, without strategy, without any indication that it protects and advances US interests.”

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NDMA, Pak Army to assist Sindh in removing encroachments and clearing drains

The Sindh government, Corps Headquarters, and the National Disaster Management Authority have decided to remove encroachments from the major nullahs in the city that caused inconvenience to the public during the recent rains.

The Frontier Works Organisation has been tasked to clear the sludge from the three main storm drains of the metropolis.

The decisions were taken at a high-level meeting on Friday under the chairmanship of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah.

Minister Local Government Syed Nasir Shah, Adviser to CM on Law Wahab, Corps Commander Karachi Lt Gen Humayun Aziz, Chairman NDMA Lt Gen Mohammad Afzal, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah, Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Shahlwani, and other officers attended the meeting.

It was decided that with the help of the Army and Rangers personnel, encroachments from the drains would be removed, restoring the natural water disposal mechanism by the local government.

The meeting also decided to hand over the cleaning of three storm drains to Frontier Works Organization (FWO), including Gujjar Nallah in district Central and CBM Nallah in district Korangi, and address the drainage issues of the Green Line project.

The construction company will clear both sides of Shahrah-e-Faisal and the sludge will be taken out from the drains and discarded at the dumping sites of Jam Chakro and TP-1.

The meeting was informed that 38 nullahs were under the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) jurisdiction and they were being cleared under the World Bank's project — SWEEP.

Furthermore, the District Municipal Corporations (DMCs) have 514 smaller nullahs and the bodies were responsible for cleaning them.

The Sindh government has provided them with additional funds, for the purpose.

Talking about the rain that had lashed the city and choked the drains, CM Shah said that 63 to 86mm downpour struck in less than an hour during July.

The rain had overwhelmed the sewerage system and storm drains, he said.

The existing infrastructure can only sustain 25 to 30mm in 30 minutes of rain, which caused massive spillage and inundation of localities across the city, Shah said.

Gujjar Nallah at Liaquatabad, Shershah Suri Road, and Kashmir Colony at the tail-end of Orangi Nullah were also struck by urban flooding, Shah said.

On July 17, the major artery at Roomi Mosque was blocked due to the encroachments at Gulshan-e-Zafar, adjacent to PECHS and Shahrah-e-Faisal, following 63mm rainfall.

Korangi's Zaman Town was similarly flooded with two feet water due to encroachments.

On July 26 — after more than 86mm rain in an hour — Gulistan-e-Jauhar was inundated as a private educational institution had encroached upon the nullah, preventing it from being desilted.

Meanwhile, Nasir Shah told the meeting that the under-construction Green Line project has blocked the old drainage system, preventing water flow into the Gujjar Nalluh.

The blockage causes water to overflow and led to the accumulation of water at KDA, Sakhi Hassan, and Nagan Chowrangi, on July 27, following 74mm rainfall in an hour.

The system was already overwhelmed by flash water from hill torrents that flooded Kashmir Muhalla in Orangi Town.

CM Shah, talking about WB's intervention for improvement of solid waste collection and disposal system, said that under it, nullah cleaning had been undertaken.

The provincial government has spent nearly $8 million and has already released Rs200 million for the purpose, he said.

The corps commander Karachi and Chairman NDMA assured CM Shah that they would support the province in rectifying design defects of the nullahs and Green Line project’s infrastructure.

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NDMA, Pak Army to assist Sindh in removing encroachments and clearing drains

The Sindh government, Corps Headquarters, and the National Disaster Management Authority have decided to remove encroachments from the major nullahs in the city that caused inconvenience to the public during the recent rains.

The Frontier Works Organisation has been tasked to clear the sludge from the three main storm drains of the metropolis.

The decisions were taken at a high-level meeting on Friday under the chairmanship of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah.

Minister Local Government Syed Nasir Shah, Adviser to CM on Law Wahab, Corps Commander Karachi Lt Gen Humayun Aziz, Chairman NDMA Lt Gen Mohammad Afzal, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah, Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Shahlwani, and other officers attended the meeting.

It was decided that with the help of the Army and Rangers personnel, encroachments from the drains would be removed, restoring the natural water disposal mechanism by the local government.

The meeting also decided to hand over the cleaning of three storm drains to Frontier Works Organization (FWO), including Gujjar Nallah in district Central and CBM Nallah in district Korangi, and address the drainage issues of the Green Line project.

The construction company will clear both sides of Shahrah-e-Faisal and the sludge will be taken out from the drains and discarded at the dumping sites of Jam Chakro and TP-1.

The meeting was informed that 38 nullahs were under the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) jurisdiction and they were being cleared under the World Bank's project — SWEEP.

Furthermore, the District Municipal Corporations (DMCs) have 514 smaller nullahs and the bodies were responsible for cleaning them.

The Sindh government has provided them with additional funds, for the purpose.

Talking about the rain that had lashed the city and choked the drains, CM Shah said that 63 to 86mm downpour struck in less than an hour during July.

The rain had overwhelmed the sewerage system and storm drains, he said.

The existing infrastructure can only sustain 25 to 30mm in 30 minutes of rain, which caused massive spillage and inundation of localities across the city, Shah said.

Gujjar Nallah at Liaquatabad, Shershah Suri Road, and Kashmir Colony at the tail-end of Orangi Nullah were also struck by urban flooding, Shah said.

On July 17, the major artery at Roomi Mosque was blocked due to the encroachments at Gulshan-e-Zafar, adjacent to PECHS and Shahrah-e-Faisal, following 63mm rainfall.

Korangi's Zaman Town was similarly flooded with two feet water due to encroachments.

On July 26 — after more than 86mm rain in an hour — Gulistan-e-Jauhar was inundated as a private educational institution had encroached upon the nullah, preventing it from being desilted.

Meanwhile, Nasir Shah told the meeting that the under-construction Green Line project has blocked the old drainage system, preventing water flow into the Gujjar Nalluh.

The blockage causes water to overflow and led to the accumulation of water at KDA, Sakhi Hassan, and Nagan Chowrangi, on July 27, following 74mm rainfall in an hour.

The system was already overwhelmed by flash water from hill torrents that flooded Kashmir Muhalla in Orangi Town.

CM Shah, talking about WB's intervention for improvement of solid waste collection and disposal system, said that under it, nullah cleaning had been undertaken.

The provincial government has spent nearly $8 million and has already released Rs200 million for the purpose, he said.

The corps commander Karachi and Chairman NDMA assured CM Shah that they would support the province in rectifying design defects of the nullahs and Green Line project’s infrastructure.

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Eidul Azha being celebrated across the country with religious fervor

Eidul Azha is being celebrated today (Saturday) across the country with religious fervor to commemorate the great sacrifice of Hazrat Ibrahim and Hazrat Ismael (AS).

The day dawned with special prayers in mosques for well-being of the Ummah and progress, prosperity and security of the country.

Eid congregations are being held at mosques, Eidgahs and open places in all cities, towns and villages across the country.

In the federal capital, the main Eid congregation will be held at the Faisal Mosque. Ulema would deliver Khutbah highlighting significance of the day and philosophy of great sacrifice.

After offering Eid prayers, the faithful will sacrifice animals to follow the Sunnah of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS).

The federal and provincial governments have chalked out elaborate security plans.

The government has advised the faithful to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for containing the COVID-19 while perform the ritual of sacrificing animals. While offering Eid prayers, they should keep distance, and avoid hugging and instead extend only greetings.

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