A massive demonstration –called for by a prominent Shia cleric– has flooded the streets of the Iraq's capital Baghdad, with thousands voicing their anger at the US military presence there.  Early on Friday morning, throngs of protesters – men and women, young and old – began amassing at al-Hurriya Square in central Baghdad, near the city's main university. [...]

US President Donald Trump complained this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the United States has not been “treated fairly” by the World Trade Organization (WTO). Professor Richard Wolff joins Boom Bust to discuss Trump’s comments, and what may be in store for Transatlantic relations. [...]

Bending under the pressure from the Trump administration, major EU states have taken yet another step away from the Iran nuclear deal, say academics, suggesting that it's unlikely that Tehran will engage in new nuclear negotiations with the same actors. On 14 January, the foreign ministers of the UK, France, and Germany – the countries-signatories to the Iran nuclear deal – announced that they [...]

Three European signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as Iran nuclear deal, initiated the accord's dispute mechanism on 14 January thus threatening to put an end to the agreement's existence following the US withdrawal from it in 2018. German Defence Minister and head of a governing coalition party, the CDU, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has confirmed that the US indeed thr [...]

France, Britain and Germany have betrayed the 2015 nuclear deal after being threatened with US tariffs, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has claimed, noting that Europe has lost the moral high ground. The three European states accused Tehran of non-compliance with the accord after buckling under pressure from the United Sates, Zarif wrote in a tweet, citing a Washington Post report de [...]

Donald Trump’s threat to cut off Iraq’s access to its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York if Baghdad insists on a withdrawal of US troops from its soil is bare-faced, modern-day colonialism. Let’s set the scene. On January 5, the Iraqi parliament voted to approve a resolution calling for the removal of US troops. A day later, Donald Trump threatened to hit Iraqis with deadly ec [...]

Europe could have saved the Iran nuclear agreement. Instead, it abused the rule of law by inappropriately triggering its dispute mechanism, all but ensuring the agreement’s demise. On January 5, 2020, Tehran announced that it would no longer comply with its obligations under the Iran nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Program of Action (JCPOA). Iran’s actions are in [...]

In December, US President Donald Trump signed the National Defence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, which, among other things, stipulates sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The US also threatened to sanction any company or individual involved in providing services on the project. Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg has lashed out at the US over its push for sanct [...]

The Trump administration’s initial justification for the 3 January strike that killed Iran’s Soleimani was the threat of “imminent” attacks against American interests. That rationale proved shaky over the past two weeks, with government officials contradicting one another and even themselves. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that the assassination of Qassem Soleimani was part of [...]

Commenting on US Defence Secretary Mark T. Esper's statement that a group of US troops will remain in eastern Syria, allegedly to prevent Daesh from accessing the oil fields, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said the statement should not be a surprise. In a statement, the chief spokesman for the Russian Defence Ministry, Igor Konashenkov, noted that the US' stated goal of protecting Syrian oi [...]

The imprisoned WikiLeaks founder appeared at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on Monday, where a multipart hearing on his possible extradition to the United States was started. Journalists armed with cameras managed to catch a glimpse of Julian Assange Monday night following his extradition hearing, with the WikiLeaks founder filmed from inside a police van outside the court. [...]

US President Donald Trump has lashed out against the “fake news media” and their “Democrat partners” over criticism of his administration’s decision to assassinate Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. The president claimed in tweets marred with misspellings that it does not matter if Soleimani presented an imminent threat to the US, something he had said previously to defend the assassinati [...]

Trump said Iran is in conflict with the ‘civilized world,’ but civilized states don’t seek regime change, lead aggressive wars, and trash international law like the US has done more than once. So, who are the true barbarians? With every line, Donald Trump took the breath away from the watching audience and even some of the horseshoe of military brass behind him when he responded to the Irani [...]

The death of the senior Iranian commander, who was killed in a US drone strike shortly after midnight on Friday morning, prompted Iranian officials to vow retaliation against US interests in the region. US President Donald Trump authorised the assassination of Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force Commander Maj. Gen. [...]

The US is trying to stop Eurasia's economic and political integration in order to delay its own demise, say international observers, explaining what message the US sent to the Russia-China-Iran "triumvirate" by killing Quds Commander Qasem Soleimani. [...]

For decades, the US establishment has talked about an international community, rules-based order, the importance of NATO allies, democracy and sovereignty. Then-President Donald Trump had an Iranian general assassinated. “Snow doesn’t fall to cover the hills, but to reveal the tracks of every beast,” goes an old Serbian saying. The proverbial snow in this case is last week’s killing of Ge [...]

US officials including President Trump have formally justified the drone strike assassination of Revolutionary Guard Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in part on the basis of the “imminent threat” he allegedly posed to US interests and service members overseas. But do these claims really line up with reality? Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani was appointed commander of the Iranian Revolutionary [...]

US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, one of the Democratic Party contenders in the 2020 presidential race, said American armed forces must leave Iraq and Syria, instead of pushing towards war. "End #TrumpsWar now. Remove our troops from Iraq and Syria," the politician from Hawaii tweeted on Saturday. [...]

Tehran could block a key shipping route in the Gulf region after US attack, thus causing a terrible headache to global oil markets and the world’s economy in general, former Pentagon official Michael Maloof told RT’s Boom Bust. [...]