VIENNA, Sept 7 (Reuters) – Iran’s stock of uranium enriched to up to 60%, close to weapons-grade, has grown to enough, if enriched further, for a nuclear bomb, a report by the United Nations nuclear watchdog showed on Wednesday. Passing that threshold is a milestone in the unravelling of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, which capped the purity to which Iran was allowed to enrich uranium at 3.67%, well below the 20% it achieved before the deal and the roughly 90% that is weapons grade. Washington’s withdrawal from the deal under then-President Donald Trump and its reimposition of sanctions against Tehran that had been lifted under the deal prompted Tehran to breach the deal’s nuclear restrictions. “Iran now can produce 25 kg (of uranium) at 90% if they want to,” a senior diplomat said in response to Wednesday’s International Atomic Energy Agency report seen by Reuters when asked if Iran had enough material enriched to 60% for one bomb. The report said Iran’s stock of uranium enriched to 60% and in the form of uranium hexafluoride, the gas that centrifuges enrich, was estimated to be 55.6 kg, an increase of 12.5 kg from the previous quarterly report.
It would take Iran roughly three to four weeks to produce enough material for a bomb if it wanted to, the diplomat said, adding that it would take the IAEA two to three days to detect a move in that direction. Iran denies intending to.
Indirect talks between Iran and the United States have made only stuttering progress towards reviving the deal, which would take the many advanced centrifuges Iran is now using offline since the deal only allowed it to enrich with first-generation IR-1 centrifuges. A revived deal would also slash its stock of uranium enriched to various levels, currently roughly four tonnes, back to within the deal’s cap of 202.8 kg
One stumbling block in those talks, however, has been Iran’s continued failure to explain the origin of uranium particles found at three undeclared sites. Iran has been calling at the talks for the IAEA’s years-long investigation into the issue to be scrapped.
Western powers and the IAEA, however, say Iran has a duty to clear up the issue as a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the issue has nothing to do with the 2015 deal. “The Director General is increasingly concerned that Iran has not engaged with the Agency on the outstanding safeguards issues during this reporting period and, therefore, that there has been no progress towards resolving them,” a second IAEA report also issued on Wednesday and seen by Reuters, said. U.S. intelligence agencies and the IAEA believe Iran had a secret, coordinated nuclear weapons programme that it halted in 2003. Iran, however, insists it never had such a programme. Most of the sites are thought to date back to around 2003 or earlier. NN: It makes sense, leaders believe in magic renewable energy sources that do not exist…. On the other hand they deny the assistance of Iran’s weapons grade uranium that does exist….
Major stocks on Wall Street saw significant gains at the end of Wednesday’s session following the day marked by Apple’s annual event and the Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book report, a summary of past economic developments. Earlier today, Apple Inc. presented a broad lineup of new products, including multiple iPhone 14 versions, three Apple Watch Series 8 models as well as the new AirPods Pro earbuds. The Dow Jones soared 1.40% or 436 points at the closing bell, while the Nasdaq 100 climbed 2.07% or 248 points, and the S&P 500 grew by 1.84%. The euro jumped 1.05% against the greenback to return just above parity levels and trade for 1.00092 at 4:01 pm ET. NN: i saw this rally back coming after 3 weeks of drops. So we took the fucking money and ran. I live making money the old fashioned way….. Stealing it from Wall Street!
U.S. economic activity was unchanged since early July, according to the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book report released on Wednesday. That compares with the “modest pace” indicated in the central bank’s previous snapshot of the U.S. economy in July. Five districts of the 12 that comprise the Federal Reserve system reported “slight to modest growth” and five others reported “slight to modest softening.” Inflation is clearly taking a toll. “Most districts reported steady consumer spending as households continued to trade down and to shift spending away from discretionary goods and toward food and other essential items,” the report said. Perhaps more telling, the “outlook for future economic growth remained generally weak, with contacts noting expectations for further softening of demand over the next six to twelve months.”
Here are some of the key points:
Auto sales remained muted, due to limited inventories and elevated price.
Hospitality and tourism contacts saw “solid leisure travel activity” and some “uptick in business and group travel.”
In real estate markets, home sales in all 12 districts fell and residential construction remained constrained by input shortages. Demand for office space softened.
Labor markets remained tight for the six weeks from the previous report, but almost all districts saw some improvement in labor availability, especially in manufacturing, construction, and financial services.
Prices remained elevated, but nine districts reported some degree of moderation in the rate of increase. Substantial increases were reported across all districts, particularly in food, rent, utilities, and hospitality. Lower fuel prices helped ease cost pressures and several districts saw some tapering in prices for steel, lumber, and copper. Most contacts expected price pressure to remain for the rest of the year. Earlier this month, the U.S. unemployment rate increased to 3.7% in August and job gains moderate. NN: NO SURPRISES HERE
VIENNA, Sept 6 (Reuters) – The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on Tuesday issued a report on the situation in Ukraine including at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant where it has established a presence. Below are highlights from the roughly 50-page text.
OVERALL
“The IAEA is still gravely concerned about the situation at the ZNPP – this hasn’t changed.”
“Despite challenging circumstances, the IAEA has continued to implement safeguards in Ukraine … and the IAEA has not found any indication that would give rise to a proliferation concern.”
PROTECTION ZONE AT ZAPORIZHZHIA
“Pending the end of the conflict and re-establishment of stable conditions there is an urgent need for interim measures to prevent a nuclear accident arising from physical damage caused by military means. This can be achieved by the immediate establishment of a nuclear safety and security protection zone.
“The IAEA is ready to start immediately the consultations leading to the urgent establishment of such a nuclear safety and security protection zone at the ZNPP.”
DAMAGE AT ZAPORIZHZHIA
“The (IAEA) team closely witnessed shelling in the vicinity of the ZNPP, in particular on 3 September when the team was instructed to evacuate to the ground level of the Administrative Building. Moreover, the team observed damage at different locations caused by reported events with some of the damage being close to the reactor buildings, including damage to the following:
• One turbine lubrication oil tank;
• The roofs of various buildings such as the building for the spent fuel transporter vehicle;
• The special building that houses, among other items, the fresh nuclear fuel and the solid radioactive waste storage facility;
• The new training building;
• The building where the Central Alarm Station of the physical protection system is located; and
• The container where the radiation monitoring system is located, in the vicinity of the dry spent fuel storage facility.
“Some repair work had already been carried out or was in progress for some of the damage and noted that further work would be needed to repair all the damage caused. The team was informed that the radiation levels in the area remained normal.”
RUSSIAN MILITARY PRESENCE
“The team observed the presence of Russian military personnel, vehicles and equipment at various places at the ZNPP, including several military trucks on the ground floor of the Unit 1 and Unit 2 turbine halls and military vehicles stationed under the overpass connecting the reactor units. The team also observed the presence of an expert group from (Russian nuclear body) Rosenergoatom. It was explained to the team by the Ukrainian plant staff and managers that the role of this expert group was to provide advice on nuclear safety, security, and operations to the management of the ZNPP.”
UKRAINIAN STAFF OPERATING ZAPORIZHZHIA
“The team established that the operating staff did not have unrestricted access to some areas, such as the spray cooling ponds, roofs of the buildings, and structures in the area of the water intake, and that access to the cooling ponds area was required to be granted by the military personnel at the site. Following the (IAEA mission to Zaporizhzhia), the Director General raised concerns that such restrictions may limit the access of operating staff to some locations in case of an emergency and, thus, jeopardize the effectiveness of normal operation and the emergency response.
“The Ukrainian plant staff and managers reported to the team that 40% of positions in the area of physical protection were not currently staffed, which significantly increased the workload for existing staff to ensure continued physical protection at the site.” NN: Done your radiation suits and masks. Be sure to take your iodine tablets if your downwind. It is standard ops to hide your military equipment at schools and hospitals to avoid your enemy bombing you. But a nuclear power plant….. No so stupid a idea…….. If your so inclined!!!
Ravil Maganov, the chair of Russia’s Lukoil, has died under mysterious circumstances.
His death comes just months after voicing opposition against the invasion of Ukraine.
Seven other Russian energy oligarchs have died in unusual circumstances in the months following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The chairman of Russia’s Lukoil oil giant, Ravil Maganov, has died after allegedly falling from a hospital window. According to Russian media, Maganov, aged 67, was being treated at Moscow’s Central Clinical Hospital and died of his injuries. What makes his death controversial is the fact that it’s the eighth and latest among several high-profile business executives to die in mysterious circumstances. Lukoil is Russia’s second-largest oil company, produces more than 2% of the world’s crude oil and employs over 100,000 people. Russian investigating authorities have said that they are working at the scene to establish how he died. Meanwhile, Tass news agency quoted sources as saying he had taken his own life by jumping out of a sixth-floor window. The death comes just months after Lukoil emerged as a rare high-profile voice of dissent against the invasion of Ukraine, expressing its sympathy to victims of “this tragedy.” In a joint statement to shareholders, staff, and customers, the company’s board of directors said that it was “calling for the soonest termination of the armed conflict. We express our sincere empathy for all victims, who are affected by this tragedy. We strongly support a lasting ceasefire and a settlement of problems through serious negotiations and diplomacy.” Seven other Russian energy oligarchs have died in unusual circumstances in the months following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine:
In April, the body of former Kremlin official and Gazprombank vice-president Sergey Protosenya was found alongside his wife and daughter at a Spanish villa
Again in April, former vice-president of Gazprombank, Vladislav Avayev, was found dead with his wife and daughter in their Moscow flat, also in April
In May, a former Lukoil tycoon Alexander Subbotin died of heart failure, reportedly after seeking alternative treatment from a shaman.
Very few businesses and executives have dared speak out against the invasion of Ukraine with the Kremlin moving to severely crack down on any form of dissent. According to independent Russian human rights organization OVD-Info, an estimated 16,000 people have so far been detained by Russian police for expressing or sharing anti-war sentiments. NN: Putin is not a man to fuck with. And these people should have know that…. You don’t curse a kind… And you certainly do not want to wound him
A new nuclear deal between Iran and world powers is off the table and will not be signed in the foreseeable future. Attributed to President Joe Biden and other administration officials. The nuclear agreement that was being negotiated since Biden entered the White House in January 2021 focused on removing sanctions on Iran in exchange for limiting Tehran’s ability to reach the capability to build a nuclear weapon. The Americans said that under the framework of the new nuclear deal, Iran would not be able to enrich uranium above 3.67 percent and could not reach a level at which it would be possible to produce a nuclear weapon. This limitation on Iran’s nuclear program would continue until 2031 under the proposed deal. Iran would need to give up all uranium enriched to 20% and 60% in its possession as part of the agreement. Hundreds of kilograms of enriched uranium would need to be removed from Iran or diluted. The centrifuges to enrich uranium would be removed and stored on Iranian soil at a warehouse under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran would not be able to carry out any plutonium processing, which can be used for weapons purposes, and would redesign the plutonium reactor at Arak so it cannot produce material for a nuclear bomb. The Americans pledged that if a deal were signed, the International Atomic Energy Agency would be able to renew its strict monitoring of nuclear facilities in Iran, after it was significantly curtailed by the Iranians. The Iranians refused to let the IAEA continue its activities. Now a deal appears to be off the agenda.
“This agreement will send approximately a quarter of a trillion dollars to the Iranian terror administration’s pocket and to its regional proxies, and will enable Iran to develop, install and operate centrifuges, with almost no restrictions, in a mere two years,”
Hundreds of billions of dollars would flow to Iran after the removal of sanctions. The money would serve to strengthen terror groups. The Iranians would accelerate their vision of a “Shia crescent” running from their border with Iraq to the Mediterranean, strengthening the Houthis in Yemen and pro-Iranian militias in the region.
Three Months ago EU Commission Chief urges Midcat Restart of France-Spain Pipeline
TODAY: The European Commission decided to officially refuse to finance the MidCat gas pipeline connecting Spain and France, European Commission Spokesperson for Climate Action and Energy Tim McPhie said on Tuesday. Previously, Spain said the pipeline could be ready in the next 8-9 months, while Germany recently spoke in favor of a pipeline from Portugal to Central Europe, which could also position Portugal as ”new gateway for gas,” as stated before by the country’s Energy Minister Matos Fernandes. However, French President Emmanuel Macron stated yesterday that using and funding a new pipeline would not be necessary, as the two existing ones have not been operating at maximum capacity. NN: Bullshit… This pipeline brings natural gas from North Africa through Spain to Central and Norther Europe…… And its cheap to build an additional one along the same right of way. Its been in the planning stage for years……Crazy shit!!
Just hours after Iran said on Thursday evening that it had sent a “constructive” response to the final draft of the nuclear deal to the Biden administration, the White House counter-responded by saying Tehran’s response was “not constructive” at all, lowering optimism that a deal will be finalized soon. The latest back-and-forth comes shortly after a European Union diplomat suggested that a deal could be signed soon, and after Iran’s indications that it was looking forward to finalizing the agreement that would see Iranian oil back on the market. A U.S. State Department spokesman has now said that while Iran’s response is still being studied, it was not viewed as constructive, CNN reports. “We are studying Iran’s response, but the bottom line is that it is not at all encouraging,” a senior Biden administration official told POLITICO on Thursday evening. No details have been given as to the exact nature of Iran’s response, but the same administration official said “based on their answer, we appear to be moving backwards”. The same sentiment was echoed by a European diplomat who told Bloomberg that the Iranian response seemed “negative and not reasonable”. The markets are now speculating over what this means for the fate of the nuclear deal, which the Biden administration was hoping to secure before the midterm elections. “With this opportunity squandered, it is now hard to imagine that a deal can happen before the midterms,” Ali Vaez, a top analyst with the International Crisis Group, told Bloomberg. The markets have been anxious over a revival of the nuclear deal, which could significantly impact prices. “Should the nuclear deal be revived, 1-2 million barrels per day of extra oil could hit the market in a comparatively short period of time,” a commodities analyst told CNBC.
Iran There Will Be No Nuclear Deal Unless IAEA Ends Probe
Raisi: IAEA must drop nuclear probe or Iran won’t sign nuclear deal.
Raisi still sees no need to meet with U.S. President Biden.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has referred to the traces of nuclear materials as a “safeguards” issue.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi says there can be no revival of a nuclear deal with global superpowers unless the UN’s nuclear watchdog drops its probe into the origins of nuclear material found at three undeclared Iranian sites. In a news conference in Tehran to mark his first year in power on August 29, Raisi also said that he still sees no reason to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden, even though the two will be at the UN General Assembly next month. “Without the settlement of the safeguards issue, speaking about an agreement [on a revamped nuclear pact] has no meaning,” Raisi said. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has referred to the traces of nuclear materials as a “safeguards” issue. Raisi succeeded two-term president Hassan Rohani after winning an election in August 2021. Upon his election, Raisi responded to a question on whether he would meet Biden, who succeeded Donald Trump, the U.S. president who unilaterally pulled his country out of the 2015 nuclear deal, by simply answering, “No.”Asked the same question on August 29, Raisi added a few more words to his answer, though the bottom line remained the same. “There is no benefit for a meeting between us and him,” Raisi said. “Neither for the Iranian nation nor for the interests of our great nation.” Since the United States withdrew from the pact in 2018 and started reimposing crippling sanctions on Iran, Tehran has progressively rolled back its own commitments to the deal. The deal was designed to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only. NN: As far as i am concerned its a fait accompli. They already have nukes. Its now down to shutting down the assembly line and destroying the weapons it has already made
Contrary to fears expressed publicly by European politicians, the flow of natural gas via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline looks set to restart today after a three-day unscheduled maintenance that Gazprom announced last month. European leaders voiced the same fears in July, when Nord Stream 1 was shut down for its annual planned maintenance. The resumption of flows now will be at the same level as before the temporary shutdown, at 20 percent of capacity. In a report from earlier today, Bloomberg cited grid data as suggesting the flow of gas will restart tomorrow. However, Nord Stream would need more frequent maintenance in the coming months as it only has one functioning turbine at the entry point to Germany. According to Gazprom the turbine needs to undergo maintenance every 1,000 hours, which is once every 42 days. Earlier this year, another Nord Stream 1 turbine rose to notoriety after it got stuck in Canada because the local government had just introduced new sanctions on Russia preventing it from returning the piece of equipment after repairs. The turbine was eventually shipped to Germany and Siemens Energy, which is in charge of the maintenance. It got stuck there again and is still stuck while Siemens Energy and Gazprom argue over the necessary documentation that would see the turbine go home. Europe has stepped up its imports of U.S. LNG and LNG from anywhere else to replace Russian flows, even before Nord Stream 1 was reduced to 20 percent of capacity but it seems those wouldn’t be enough to last the winter so European governments are urging consumption cuts. Last month, the EU approved a bloc-wide 15-percent gas consumption reduction plan, which is voluntary but if the cuts do not materialize could become obligatory. Energy rations are also a possibility in many European countries, especially if the winter is harsh. NN: They are having a hissi fit in Europe. The Lefty Liberals that fucked things up in the first place are still fucking things up…. They just can’t help themselves. Panic spread across Europe when the announcement was made that Nord Stream I was shut. My dick got hard (much more fun then a titty bar) as i watched the Euro and pound get pounded. So doing what i do i bought MORE Euro’s…… If the lefty liberals in essence are selling in a panic i just got to buy. And as i was finishing operations Russia passed the gas. As in reopening the vital gas pipeline to Europe…… surprise surprise. How did I know? Well it gets down to differences. While my ha ha ha colleagues were going to those Ivy League mind destruction centers, Having toga parties, lunch at daddy’s country club and driving brand new mussel cars and Euro go slow sports cars. I was fighting junkies, gangsters and struggling to educate myself and survive in Hells kitchen. I lived through the drug wars. And i will live though the energy and food war we are in now. Funny thing most people do not even know its a war, And i will turn the global warming myth mankind is doomed myth into a great payday, So its a matter of perspective. I understand predator thinking and societal myths. Putin has to not freeze Europe out completely, Not totally starve them. He has to make them cold enough and hungry enough. I saw the drug dealers keep the junkies in line. If they could not pay they would beat the shit out of them…. And then supply them again. The loan sharks and people in the protection business as did the pimps know how to push their prey to the limit…. Then back away a little bit. As to make them desperate but not to desperate….. Europe and the US will have all the food and energy it needs at a price. And the world will be colder in the winter, hotter in the summer and hungrier.. But most important poorer. They want to believe the world is ending because of global warming… Ok they will pay the price… Like throwing virgins into volcanoes, sacrificing your children to Molech. Worshiping your leaders as infallible GODS. The myths great societies believe eventually destroys them great and small… Stupidness is the deadliest most infectious disease of them all!!
The unpredictable Shi’ite leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, s in a dramatic statement, he warned his followers that he would disown them if they didn’t stop rioting inside parliament and other government buildings inside Baghdad’s Green Zone, put down their weapons and return home within the hour. Al-Sadr’s threat to his followers was issued on Tuesday, following the deaths of 30 people the evening before in clashes between his supporters on one side and government security forces and pro-Iranian Shi’ite militias on the other. So far, the cease-fire is mostly holding, but only until the next spark is ignited, which will no doubt not take long. Iraq is in the midst of the longest and most difficult power struggle it has endured since the U.S. invasion in 2003. Ten months after elections were held in October 2021, the politicians have failed to reach an agreement on the choice of a president or prime minister. Under the constitution, at the head of the state presides a presidential council composed of the Kurdish president, a Sunni deputy and a Shi’ite deputy. The president, chosen by parliament, then appoints a prime minister that the Shi’ite factions have agreed upon. The speaker of parliament is a Sunni Muslim. The structure closely resembles Lebanon’s. The chief obstacle to naming a president lies in the inability of the two big Kurdish factions – one led by the Barzani family, which controls the presidency of Iraq’s Kurdish enclave, and the other led by the Talabani family, whose members have customarily served as presidents of Iraq (currently Barham Salih) – to reach an agreement on a candidate. This year, the Barzani family decided to disrupt the process by demanding that the next president come from within its ranks. Without an agreed-upon president, there’s no prime minister and no cabinet; the country is ruled by a caretaker government headed by Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, an effective leader and former journalist who once headed Iraqi intelligence. Al-Kadhimi maintains good ties with the United States, Saudi Arabia and Iran and has succeeded in navigating through Iraq’s complicated domestic politics. Al-Kadhimi even played a role in this year’s dialogue between Iran and Saudi Arabia regarding the possibility of restoring relations.
But the dispute between the Kurdish factions is only a sideshow to the main struggle. On the face of it, it’s war between Shi’ite and Shi’ite: between the coalition of pro-Iran Shi’ite parties that go under the name the Coordination Framework in partnership with the Talabani family, and a coalition constructed by al-Sadr that won 73 of the 329 seats in parliament in the last election. The largest political bloc in Iraq, it has found allies in the largest Sunni movement and the Barzani family.
Iraq’s chaos is eroding Iran’s role as the region’s puppet master
Iraq is fed up with relying on Iran, but has no alternative for now
As Israeli-attributed strikes rattle Syria, Russia and the U.S. are losing interest
Aged 48, al-Sadr’s power rests on his religious and family pedigree. He is the son of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad al-Sadr, who was the revered leader of young Shi’ites and the lower classes and was assassinated, along with two of his sons, by Saddam Hussein. Muqtada al-Sadr is the nephew of the Shi’ite philosopher and legal scholar Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr, who was also murdered by Saddam’s agents, in 1980. Muqtada al-Sadr sees himself as the heir to the family dynasty, the national and religious leader of Iraq’s “downtrodden and the oppressed” Shi’ites, the one who will actualize his father’s teachings and his uncle’s philosophy. However impressive his pedigree may be, al-Sadr doesn’t have the supreme religious authority conferred on the designated grand ayatollahs. The time he spent on religious studies in Iran was insufficient to achieve that status, as much as he aspired to it, let alone to capture the prize of senior Shi’ite spiritual leader, which today is held by the 92-year-old Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Whatever al-Sadr lacks in formal religious credentials is compensated for by his political power, which he deploys through the private militias he has cultivated since the U.S. invasion. Back then, his political agenda centered on opposition to the American presence in Iraq, with Iran acting as his key supporter. Eventually, he changed sides, positioning himself as opposed to all foreign interference in Iraq, including Iran, which challenged al-Sadr’s power by using its own militias that eventually became a parallel military competing with Iraq’s official one. Al-Sadr’s armed forces have often clashed with the other Shi’ite militias, especially during violent clashes with Iraqis in the south of the country protesting the lack of water and electricity. The protestors not only blamed the government in Baghdad for the power shortages, but also Iran, which supplies about 40 percent of Iraq’s natural gas and electricity. The protesters claimed that Tehran was rationing supplies to pressure the Iraqi government. Al-Sadr understood how to mobilize anti-Iran sentiments and direct them against the Shi’ite political parties in Iraq that rely on Iranian support. His overwhelming victory in October’s election made it clear to Tehran that it risked losing control of its most important asset if al-Sadr succeeded in his goal of appointing a prime minister from his bloc. Iraq’s Supreme Court ruled that the current parliament had been elected legally and that there was no reason to dissolve it, al-Sadr ordered his lawmakers to resign and leave their offices while hundreds of his supporters broke into the Green Zone and seized control of the parliament building and other government offices. They staged a sit-in strike and clashed with government forces and rival Shi’ite militias. After several days, al-Sadr ordered his followers to leave the parliament building, partly in order to enable a parliamentary debate on legislation ensuring nutritional needs – al-Sadr didn’t want to be seen as blocking a law that aims to help his constituents and, no less, to help himself and his movement. Without an approved state budget for the 2022/23 fiscal year, the government of Iraq can’t touch the $115 billion of oil earnings it is expected to earn this year. Legally, each month the government can spend only one-twelfth of the money it spent in the previous year’s budget. The law being weighed by parliament would have authorized a new budget to help compensate Iraqis for the surge in global food prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and would have made a $1.6 billion payment owed to Iran for electricity and gas purchased by Iraq. The on al-Sadr was particularly high because Iran had threatened to cut off supplies of power and gas, and had even begun the technical procedures to do so, if it wasn’t paid. While parliament approved some $17 billion for the special budget, only half of the sum was allocated for the purposes specified in the law. The rest will, in theory, go to funding current operations in the provinces, but in practice it will be used by local officials to boost their support and pay for the private militias. Al-Sadr, who is also sharing in the financial benefits of the law, authorized his lawmakers to support it. Only after it was approved on June 13 did his 73 members of parliament quit. NN: Syria is getting close by the day to an all out Shiite Sunni civil war. And oil exports by both sides will be attacked.