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President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday reimposing many sanctions on Iran, three months after pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, saying the US policy is to levy “maximum economic pressure” on the country.
In a statement, Trump said the 2015 international accord to freeze Iran’s nuclear program in return for lifting sanctions was a “horrible, one-sided deal” and said it left the Iranian government flush with cash to use to fuel conflict in the Middle East.
“We urge all nations to take such steps to make clear that the Iranian regime faces a choice: either change its threatening, destabilising behaviour and reintegrate with the global economy, or continue down a path of economic isolation,” Trump said.
Trump warned that those who don’t wind down their economic ties to Iranian “risk severe consequences” under the reimposed sanctions.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says renewed US sanctions on Iran will be rigorously enforced and remain in place until the Iranian government radically changes course.
Speaking to reporters en route from a three-nation trip to Southeast Asia, Pompeo said Monday’s re imposition of some sanctions is an important pillar in US policy toward Iran.
He said the Trump administration is open to looking beyond sanctions but that would “require enormous change” from Tehran.
“We’re hopeful that we can find a way to move forward but it’s going to require enormous change on the part of the Iranian regime,” he said Sunday. “They’ve got to behave like a normal country. That’s the ask. It’s pretty simple.”
European foreign ministers said Monday they “deeply regret” the re imposition of US sanctions.
A statement by European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom insisted that the 2015 Iran nuclear deal “is working and delivering on its goal” of limiting Iran’s nuclear program.
The ministers said the Iran deal is “crucial for the security of Europe, the region and the entire world.”
A senior administration official said the United States is “not particularly concerned” by EU efforts to protect European firms from the re imposition of sanctions.
The official was not authorised to discuss the matter by name and spoke Monday on condition of anonymity.
The European Union issued a “blocking statute” Monday to protect European businesses from the impact of the sanctions.
The official says the US will use the sanctions aggressively and cited Iran’s severe economic downturn this year as evidence the sanctions would prove to be effective despite opposition from the EU, China and Russia.
Pompeo called the Iranian leadership “bad actors” and said Trump is intent on getting them to “behave like a normal country.”
A first set of US sanctions that had been eased by the Obama administration under the terms of the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal took effect on Monday, following Trump’s May decision to withdraw from the accord. Those sanctions target Iran’s automotive sector as well as gold and other metals.
A second batch of US sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sector and central bank will be reimposed in early November.
Pompeo noted that the US has long designated Iran as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism and said it cannot expect to be treated as an equal in the international community until it halts such activities.
“Perhaps that will be the path the Iranians choose to go down,” he said. “But there’s no evidence today of a change in their behaviour.”
In the meantime, he said, “we’re going to enforce the sanctions.”
PTI Chairman Imran Khan, through his counsel Babar Awan, on Monday submitted an appeal before the Supreme Court to challenge the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision where it had restrained the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from issuing the victory notification of the PTI chief from NA-131, Lahore.
The LHC issued the directives on Saturday after hearing the petition filed by PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique and ordered the returning officer to hold a recount of all ballot papers.
Justice Mamoonur Rashid directed the ECP to withhold the notification announcing Khan's win from the constituency until the recount is completed. According to the order issued by the judge, recounting must take place within three days of receiving the court's order.
Rafique, the former railways minister, had lost the poll to the PTI chief in NA-131 constituency (Lahore-VII) by a margin of only 680 votes, receiving 83,633 votes against Khan's 84,313, according to the Form-47 available on the ECP website.
The 2,835 rejected votes from the constituency were then recounted on Rafique's request, which resulted in slight changes to the final count but Imran Khan still remained the winner by a few hundred votes.
After losing the recount, Rafique had applied for yet another recount, this time seeking the fresh counting of all votes cast in the constituency. However, this request was rejected by the Returning Officer.
Rafique subsequently approached the high court, requesting it to order a full recount of the constituency.
Rafique's lawyer, Azam Nazir Tarar, argued before the court that the RO, when first approached for a recount, had said that the rejected votes would be examined first.
"After the rejected votes were examined [and] when we asked for the bags of ballot papers to be opened for a full recount, our request was rejected," he said.
To support his arguments, Advocate Tarar said that a recount on a provincial seat from the same constituency had led to a rise in the number of votes for Rafique.
"My client claims that 2,800 votes have not been made part of the final count," he told the court.
In a note of appreciation for the prime minister-in-waiting, the lawyer said: "I was deeply affected by Imran Khan's victory speech in which he showed willingness to open up any constituency for recounting for which there were objections."
However, "if Imran Khan had backed his statement with concrete action, then there would have been no need to approach the high court," he said.
On the other hand, Babar Awan, who was representing Khan, claimed that the RO had ordered the recounting of votes without hearing his side of the argument.
"He should have issued the order after having heard from all parties involved. We only received a notice asking us to appear for the recounting," he claimed.
Justice Rashid after hearing arguments from both Rafique as well as Khan's lawyers announced the decision in the PML-N leader's favour.
The recounting will begin after a notification is sent to all the candidates, the written court order states.
The court order also states that the Form 49 issued by the RO shall stand suspended while recounting takes place, after which a new Form 49 will be issued.
Mehrunnisa Hayat, the daughter of Imran Khan's wife Bushra, on Monday joined the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, DawnNewsTV reported.
Mehrunnisa joined the party following a meeting with Khan, who was today officially nominated the PTI's prime minister candidate.
Her mother was also present during her meeting with the PTI chief.
Khan had married Bushra — his third wife — in Lahore in February.
Bushra has largely remained out of the public eye and not assumed an active role in politics following her marriage with Khan. Following the July 25 polls in which PTI secured a lead over other political parties, Bushra had felicitated the nation on the party's victory.
In her message to the nation, she had said that God has given the nation a leader who will look after them. She specially congratulated oppressed women, widows and orphans, telling them that their newly elected leader will protect them.
A respected Pir (faith healer) in Pakpattan, Bushra is from the Wattoo clan, of which the Manekas are a sub-clan.
Jean Francois Cautain, the ambassador of the European Union to Pakistan, on Monday congratulated Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan on his party's recent electoral victory, and assured the PM-in-waiting that the Union is keen to work with his soon-to-be-formed government.
Cautain met Khan at his Banigala residence in the presence of party vice-chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar and other party leaders.
"The European Union is deeply interested in working with the PTI government," the ambassador said. "We are ready to collaborate in the fields of security, economy, education and rural development.
"We will assist the newly elected government in securing investments from EU's member countries as we wish to see stability and development in Pakistan. The EU is also ready to help Pakistan escape the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force."
"The EU also does not have any objections to the Pak-Iran gas pipeline project," Cautain added.
PTI chairman, in reciprocation, welcomed the ambassador's felicitations.
With Khan on the cusp of becoming the new PM of the country, Banigala is being frequented by foreign dignitaries and envoys.
British High Commissioner to Pakistan Thomas Drew, Japanese Ambassador Takashi Kurai and Iranian Ambassador Mehdi Honardoost have all had meetings with Khan in recent days.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Monday, while hearing a case pertaining to money laundering through fake bank accounts, suggested the formation of a Panama-style joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the allegations against former president Asif Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur.
A Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) JIT has been investigating a 2015 case regarding fake accounts and fictitious transactions conducted through 29 ‘benami’ accounts in Summit Bank, Sindh Bank and UBL.
Seven individuals, including Zardari and Talpur, were said to be involved in using those accounts for suspicious transactions which totalled Rs35 billion. The accounts were allegedly used to channel funds received through kickbacks.
The siblings have failed to appear before the FIA JIT on multiple occasions, and have also petitioned the court to form a fresh JIT due to their reservations against the FIA's Najaf Mirza ─ whom Zardari earlier filed a case against ─ and Bashir Memon, who the former president accuses of holding a grudge against the PPP.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Nisar today indicated that a fresh JIT would be formed in a later hearing.
The CJP, commenting on the matter, said that a JIT similar to the one constituted to probe corruption allegations against incarcerated former prime minister Nawaz Sharif would be set up to investigate the case.
FIA Director General Bashir Memon suggested that the JIT include officials from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, chartered accountants and other experts.
'Zardari, Talpur wrongly declared absconders'
The FIA in an interim charge sheet earlier submitted to a sessions court included Zardari and Talpur's names among 20 people absconding in a Rs4.14bn money laundering.
The interim charge sheet stated that opening of a bogus account, placement of illegitimate funds in it, layering of funds in different accounts and integration of funds in the shape of reporting of equity of Summit Bank to the SBP were major indicators of money laundering.
The brother-sister duo's lawyer Barrister Farooq H. Naek argued in court today that the FIA had termed them absconders during their respective election campaigns, which he claimed was tantamount to pre-poll rigging. He added that his clients were wrongly declared absconders by the court.
The CJP, responding to Naek, remarked: "It is a tradition in Pakistan for the losers to always blame others."
The top judge ordered Zardari and Talpur to allow themselves to be investigated by the FIA in order to prove their innocence. "If they are proven innocent, I will order a case to be registered against the FIA, Bashir Memon and the National Accountability Bureau," CJP Nisar added.
Naek said he would clarify everything before the court. "Then we will accept whatever orders the court gives," he said.
The lawyer claimed that the case was creating a negative impression of Pakistan abroad.
"Forget the impression, let's talk about the law," the CJP asserted. "The impression of Pakistan keeps changing."
Naek subsequently said he would stick to talking about the law.
"This case is being investigated since 2003 and the SC has ordered that no one should interfere in it," he said.
"The question is not whether any money was transferred or not, but whether any crime was committed or not," Naek argued.
"Before the election, you ordered that no one should be summoned before July 31. But the FIA summoned my clients on July 25 and then declared them absconding suspects."
"Asif Zardari and Faryal Talpur were contesting an election. How can they be declared absconding suspects?" Naek asked.
"This amounts to pre-poll rigging," he asserted.
"Should we then halt the investigation?" asked Justice Ijazul Ahsan.
"Not at all. No one can interfere in the investigation," Naek responded.
He contended that the investigation that Zardari and Talpur had been named in was being conducted under a law pertaining to public servants. However, he claimed, neither of the two was a public servant.
"By all means, continue investigating, but a negative impression should not be given," Naek said.
"Farooq Naek sahab, why are you worried? We won't allow anyone to live off of ill-gotten gains," the CJP assured the lawyer.
"If your clients are innocent and they have no involvement at all in this matter, then you will be exonerated," Justice Nisar said.
"You are aware of your client's relationship with Anwar Majeed," the judge observed, referring to the chairman of the Omni Group, and a close associate of Zardari.
"My clients are innocent," the lawyer maintained.
"Those who are guilty will be revealed, and we will see who they are," the CJP said.
FIA submits report
Later in the day, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) submitted a report in the apex court regarding the use of fake bank accounts to launder money.
According to the report, seven individuals and corporations were involved in opening 29 accounts in six different branches of three banks.
The report suggests that money was allegedly transferred from Zardari’s accounts to the fake accounts, however, the nature of Asif Ali Zardari and Faryal Talpur's crimes has not been ascertained yet.
Rs4.34 billion were transferred through a Summit Bank account while Rs3.9 billion were transferred to Omni group through other alleged fake bank accounts.
'All 29 accounts fake'
DG FIA Bashir Memon told the court today that the Financial Monitoring Unit had submitted a report regarding the 29 'benami' accounts, and that a first information report had been registered in the case.
In addition to the Zardari Group, money has been transferred from the accounts of various companies, Justice Ahsan observed.
Rs20.082 billion has been transferred from the accounts of the Omni Group, the DG FIA said.
The court asked why the FIA suspected the accounts were fake if the Omni Group had accepted the amount in question.
"Are all 29 accounts fake?" Justice Ahsan asked, to which the DG replied in the affirmative.
"You should have provided the details of all the accounts," the CJP said.
The DG FIA said he believed the amount transferred illegally amounted to greater than Rs35bn. "For this we need a comprehensive investigation," he added.
The CJP then turned his attention towards Omni Group Chairman Anwar Majeed, who was missing from court today.
Although Majeed had been summoned on Aug 13, his lawyer Raza Kazim said his client had been admitted to a hospital in London, where he is undergoing medical treatment.
"Whatever his condition, he must be presented in court," the CJP said, ordering that Majeed and his family members named in the case appear in court coming Monday.
The court maintained that if there were no cases against them, they should not be arrested .
Justice Nisar also asked about the whereabouts of Bahria Town Executive Director Zain Malik and what he had been suspected of.
The DG FIA responded that Malik had been suspected of collecting Rs7.2bn in fake accounts.
The court has summoned him to appear on August 19.
'Police terrorism needs to stop'
A Summit Bank employee also appeared in court today.
"The FIA is conducting an inquiry, but it is the police who have made my life miserable," she said.
"I've been fired from my job, and the police has raided my home," she said, adding that she had played no role apart from opening the account, and that the account had been operated by someone else.
The employee claimed she had been pressured by someone ─ without naming who ─ to give a statement in court of their choosing.
Sindh Inspector General Police (IGP) Amjad Saleemi, in the last hearing, had been directed by the court to ensure the appearance of all witnesses in court.
Saleemi, who appeared in court today, was ordered to investigate the claims of harassment and provide a report to the court on the matter.
The court also ordered the IGP to take action against the police officer responsible for the harassment, and separately ordered that Deputy Inspector General Mushtaq be separated from the inquiry.
"I am aware on which minister-to-be's directions these witnesses are being harassed," the CJP said. "It is even said that when the chief justice retires, he will also be taken care of."
"They ask with which authority the Supreme Court has taken notice of the Rs35bn. Is it possible that Rs35bn is looted and the Supreme Court does not lift a finger?" he asked.
"Naek sahab, this police terrorism needs to stop," the CJP said, adding, "We know who is behind this terrorism."
"Sindh has been turned into a police state," the CJP said. "As soon as an inquiry begins into an influential individual, the police terrorism starts."
The court ordered that all witnesses be given security and said that the conduct of Sindh Police official would be brought to the notice of the prime minister.
MATARAM TENGGARA: A major earthquake on the Indonesian holiday island of Lombok killed at least 37 people and injured several, officials said on Sunday, damaging homes and triggering panic among tourists and locals.
The powerful quake was also felt on the neighbouring island of Bali, one of Indonesia’s most popular attractions, where people ran onto the streets in terror.
The shallow seven-magnitude tremor struck just 10 kilometres underground, according to the US Geological Survey, followed by further secondary quakes and nearly two dozen aftershocks.
It was the second quake to hit Lombok, whose beaches and hiking trails draw holidaymakers from around the world, in a week.
Rescue officials said much of the damage had hit Lombok’s main city of Mataram.
Agung Pramuja, a senior official with the Mataram search and rescue agency, said the death toll had climbed to 37.
Residents of the city described a strong jolt that sent people scrambling to get out of buildings.
“Everyone immediately ran out of their homes, everyone is panicking,” Iman, who like many Indonesians has one name, said. Electricity was knocked out in several parts of the city and patients were evacuated from the main hospital, witnesses and officials said.
Pictures showed patients lying on their beds outside the clinic while doctors in blue scrubs attended to them.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency, said most of the damaged buildings in the city were built with substandard construction materials.
Singapore’s Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam, who was in Lombok for a security conference when the earthquake struck, described on Facebook how his hotel room on the 10th floor shook violently. “Walls cracked, it was quite impossible to stand up,” he said. Officials issued a tsunami warning, which was later cancelled, but seawater poured into two villages, senior disaster agency official Dwikorita Karnawati told local TV.
The quake caused light damage as far away as the Javanese city of Bandung, some 955 kilometres from Mataram, but was felt strongly on the neighbouring resort island of Bali. People could be heard screaming as locals and tourists ran onto the road.
