WASHINGTON: The Pentagon said Monday it has endorsed the tripartite AUKUS security pact with the United Kingdom and Australia, which would involve Canberra’s acquisition of at least three Virginia-class nuclear submarines within 15 years.
The administration of Donald Trump said earlier this year it was reviewing a 2021 deal for the nuclear-powered attack subs signed under his presidential predecessor Joe Biden.
The Department of Defense completed its five-month review, which endorsed the AUKUS agreement and determined it is “in alignment with President Trump’s America First agenda,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
“Consistent with President Trump’s guidance that AUKUS should move ‘full steam ahead,’ the review identified opportunities to put AUKUS on the strongest possible footing.”
Congressman Joe Courtney, the top Democrat on a US House subcommittee on sea power, said the review’s completion assures that the pact’s “framework is aligned with our country’s national security interest.”
“With its completion, it is important to note that the 2021 AUKUS agreement has now survived three changes of government in all three nations and still stands strong.”
Courtney is a vocal champion of AUKUS in Congress, and represents a Connecticut district that is home to the primary submarine manufacturing facility in the United States.
The AUKUS pact aims to arm Australia with a fleet of cutting-edge submarines from the United States and would provide for cooperation in developing an array of warfare technologies.
The submarines, the sale of which will begin in 2032, lie at the heart of Australia’s strategy of improving its long-range strike capabilities in the Pacific, particularly against China.
The deal could cost Canberra up to $235 billion over the next 30 years, and also includes the technology to build its own vessels in the future.
Australia had a major bust-up with France in 2021 when it canceled a multi-billion-dollar deal to buy a fleet of diesel-powered submarines from Paris and go with the AUKUS program instead.
After review, Pentagon confirms submarine sales to Australia
https://arab.news/p8s98
After review, Pentagon confirms submarine sales to Australia
- The submarines lie at the heart of Australia’s strategy of improving its long-range strike capabilities in the Pacific, particularly against China
Norway launches probe of Middle East diplomat and husband over Epstein links
- Mona Juul resigned from her position as ambassador to Jordan and Iraq
- Juul and her husband Terje Rod-Larsen played key roles in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations which led to the Oslo Accords
OSLO: Norwegian police said Monday they have launched an “aggravated corruption” investigation against a high-profile diplomat, Mona Juul, and her husband Terje Rod-Larsen, over the couple’s links to late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The police economic crime unit Okokrim said in statement that the probe began last week and that an Oslo residence was searched on Monday, as well as a residence belonging to a witness.
“We have launched an investigation to determine whether any criminal offenses have been committed. We are facing a comprehensive and, by all accounts lengthy investigation,” Okokrim chief Pal Lonseth, said.
Juul, 66, and Rod-Larsen, 78, played key roles in the secret Israeli-Palestinian negotiations which led to the Oslo Accords of the early 1990s.
Epstein left $10 million in his will to the couple’s two children, according to Norwegian media.
“Among other things, Okokrim will investigate whether she received benefits in connection to her position,” the statement said.
On Sunday, the foreign ministry announced that Juul had resigned from her position as ambassador to Jordan and Iraq.
“Juul’s contact with the convicted abuser Epstein has shown a serious lapse in judgment,” Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in connection to the announcement.
She had already been temporarily suspended last week pending an internal investigation by the ministry into her alleged links to Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
Norway’s political and royal circles have been thrust into the eye of the Epstein storm, including the CEO of the World Economic Forum Borge Brende.
Former prime minister Thorbjorn Jagland, is also being investigated for “aggravated corruption” over links to Epstein while he was chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee — which awards the Nobel Peace Prize — and as secretary general of the Council of Europe.
Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit has also come under scrutiny for her relationship with Epstein, which on Friday she said she “deeply regretted.”
On Monday, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store voiced support for the establishing of an independent commission set up by Parliament, to fully examine the nature of the ties between these figures and Epstein.
