English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For April 15/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.april15.22.htm

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Bible Quotations For today
The Death of Jesus/Good Friday
John 19/28-37: Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty. A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 14-15/2022
Thursday of the Holy Mysteries & the Last Supper: Rituals, Traditions, Values & Principles/Elias Bejjani/April 14/2022
We are very skeptical about our 2022 poll results/Camil Chamoun/President of /Thursday, 14 April, 2022
Report: French ambassador met with Hizbullah over GCC envoys' return
Aoun stresses that elections will be held on time
Salameh says ready to meet with Swiss prosecutors
Govt. agrees to demolish port silos, approves funds for wheat, medicine
UNIFIL patrol intercepted by residents in Blida
Qassem: Hizbullah wants national unity govt., has no plans to change system
Human rights as a luxury/Nicholas Frakes/Now Lebanon/April 14/2022
47 Years Since April 13: Victory of October Revolution Brings Lebanon Back/Hanna Saleh/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/April, 14/2022

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 14-15/2022
Israeli air strikes target sites in Syria’s Damascus countryside: State TV
Russia accuses Ukraine of helicopter strike on border town
IAEA: Iran Opens New Centrifuge-parts Workshop at Natanz
UN Watchdog Installs New Cameras at Iran Centrifuge Workshop
US Navy adds new task force to patrol Red Sea
Qaani: Iran Will Harshly Confront Israel 'Wherever It Feels Necessary'
Iran Quds Force commander lauds Israel attacks
Iran urges Iraq against hosting 'disruptive security presence'
Iraq Urges Iran to Resolve Security Issues through Diplomacy
Iraqi Interior Ministry to Enforce Law to Deter Those Seeking ‘Sedition’
OPEC loans $100 million to Morocco to promote financial inclusivity
2 Palestinians killed in Israeli raid in Jenin
Progressive’ Egyptian Newspaper Publishes Fatwa Banning Muslims from Selling Food to ‘Infidels’ (Non-Muslims) During Ramadan
Canada/Minister Joly concludes successful visits to Indonesia and Vietnam

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 14-15/2022
Delisting IRGC as terror group would send 'terribly wrong message,' says Israel's US ambassador/Elizabeth Hagedorn/Al-Monitor/April 14/2022
Israel, Iran…'War between Wars'/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/April, 14/2022
Islamic State uses dust storm as cover for desert attack on Iraqi soldiers/Shelly Kittleson/Al-Monitor/April 14/2022
Iran's new Iraq ambassador affiliated with Quds Force/Mustafa Saadoun/Al-Monitor/April 14/2022
It is not too late to punish Iran for its crimes against humanity/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/April 14, 2022
Can Europe and Turkey crowd Russia out of the Caucasus?/Nikola Mikovic/The Arab News/April 15/2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 14-15/2022
Thursday of the Holy Mysteries & the Last Supper: Rituals, Traditions, Values & Principles
Elias Bejjani/April 14/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73938/elias-bejjani-thursday-of-the-holy-mysteries-the-last-supper-rituals-traditions-values-principles/
On the Thursday that comes before the "Good Friday, when Jesus was crucified, Christian Catholics all over the world, including our Maronite Eastern Church celebrates with prayers and intercessions the "Thursday of the Holy Mysteries", which is also known as the "Washing Thursday ", the "Covenant Thursday", and the "Great & Holy Thursday". It is the holy day feast that falls on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with His 12 Apostles as described in the four New Testament gospels. It is the fifth day of the last Lenten Holy Week, that is followed by the, "Good Friday", "Saturday Of The Light and "Easter Sunday".
Christianity in its essence and core is Love, Sacrifice, honesty, transparency, devotion, hard work and Humility. Jesus during the last supper with His 12 Apostles reiterated and stressed all these Godly values and principles. In this holy and message proclaiming context He executed the following acts :
He, ordained His Apostles as priests, and asked them to proclaim God's message. “You have stayed with me all through my trials; 29 and just as my Father has given me the right to rule, so I will give you the same right. 30 You will eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom, and you will sit on thrones to rule over the twelve tribes of Israel. (Luke 22/28 and 29)
He, taught His Apostles and every body else, that evil temptation and betrayal can hit all those who detach and dissociate themselves from God, do not fear Him, lack faith, lose hope and worship earthly treasures. He showed them by example that even a disciple that He personally had picked and choose (Judas, the Iscariot) has fell a prey to Satan's temptation. “But, look! The one who betrays me is here at the table with me! The Son of Man will die as God has decided, but how terrible for that man who betrays him!" Luke 22/21)
He, washed His Apostles' feet to teach them by example modesty, devotion and humility. “So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, "Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me 'teacher' and 'master,' and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do. Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him” (John 13/12-16).
Modesty was stressed and explained by Jesus after His Apostles were arguing among themselves who is the greatest: "
"An argument broke out among the disciples as to which one of them should be thought of as the greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the pagans have power over their people, and the rulers claim the title ‘Friends of the People.’ But this is not the way it is with you; rather, the greatest one among you must be like the youngest, and the leader must be like the servant. Who is greater, the one who sits down to eat or the one who serves? The one who sits down, of course. But I am among you as one who serves." (Luke 22/24 till 27)
Thursday of the "Holy Mysteries", is called so because in His Last Supper with the 12 disciples, Jesus Christ established the Eucharist and Priesthood Sacraments when "He received a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, “Take this, and share it among yourselves, for I tell you, I will not drink at all again from the fruit of the vine, until the Kingdom of God comes.” "He took bread, broke it and gave it to the disciples saying: This is my body which is given for you. Do this in memory of me. And when He Likewise, took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you".
Thursday of the Holy Mysteries (Secrets-Sacraments) is the heart of the last Lenten holy week, in which the Maronite Catholic Church lives with reverence and devotion the Lord's Last Supper spirit and contemplation through prayers and deeply rooted religious rituals and traditions:
The Patriarch prays over and blesses the chrism (Al-Myroun), as well as the oil of baptism and anointing that are to are distributed on all parishes and churches.
During the mass that is held on this Holy Day, the priest washes the feet of twelve worshipers, mainly children (symbolizing the apostles numbers). Jesus washed His disciples feet and commanded them to love each other and follow his example in serving each other.
Worshipers visit and pray in seven Churches. This ritual denotes to the completion of the Church's Seven sacraments (Secrets) : Priesthood, Eucharist, Holy Oil, Baptism, Confirmations, anointing and Service.
This tradition also denotes to the seven locations that Virgin Mary's went to look for Her Son, Jesus, after she learned about His arrest. The detention place, The Council of the Priests, twice the Pilate's headquarters, twice the Herod Headquarters, till She got to the Calvary.
Some Christian scholars believe that this tradition was originated in Rome where early pilgrims visited the seven pilgrim churches as an act of penance. They are Saint John Lateran, Saint Peter, Saint Mary Major, Saint Paul-outside-the-Walls, Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls, Holy Cross-in-Jerusalem, and traditionally Saint Sebastian Outside the Walls. Pope John Paul II replaced St. Sebastian with the Sanctuary of the Madonna of Divine Love for the jubilee year of 2000.
The Mass of the Lord's Supper is accompanied by the ringing of bells, which are then silent until the Easter Vigil. Worshipers used to kneel and pray the rosary in front of the Eucharist (Blessed Sacrament) all Thursday night. The Blessed Sacrament remains exposed all night, while worshipers are encouraged to stay in the church as much as they can praying, meditating upon the Mystery of Salvation, and participating in the “agony of Gethsemane” (Garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives) in Jerusalem where Jesus spent his night in prayer before His crucifixion on Good Friday.
After the homily washing of feet the service concludes with a procession taking the Blessed Eucharist (Sacrament) to the place of reposition. The altar is later stripped bare, as are all other altars in the church except the Altar of Repose.
Thursday of the "Holy Mysteries", is called so because in His Last Supper with the 12 disciples, Jesus Christ established the Eucharist and Priesthood Sacraments when "He received a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, “Take this, and share it among yourselves, for I tell you, I will not drink at all again from the fruit of the vine, until the Kingdom of God comes.” "He took bread, broke it and gave it to the disciples saying: This is my body which is given for you. Do this in memory of me. And when He Likewise, took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you".
Jesus ordained His disciples as priests of the New Testament when he said to them during the Last Supper: "But you are those who have continued with me in my trials. I confer on you a kingdom, even as my Father conferred on me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. You will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Before Celebrating the Resurrection Day (Easter) worshipers live the "Paschal Mystery" through the Thursday Of the Sacraments, Good Friday and Saturday Of The Light.
Because He loves us and wants us to dwell in His Eternal Heaven, Jesus Christ for our sake willingly suffered all kinds of torture, pain, humiliation and died on the Cross to pave our way for repentance and salvation.
Let us pray on this Holy Day that we always remember Jesus' love and sacrifices and live our life in this context of genuine, faith, love, meekness and forgiveness.

We are very skeptical about our 2022 poll results
Camil Chamoun/President of the National Liberal Party of Lebanon/Thursday, 14 April, 2022
Following the fraudulent outcome of Lebanon's 2018 parliamentary elections and despite many irregularity complaints that were sent to EU observers without any effect or reaction, we are very skeptical about our 2022 poll results due to the following reasons:
*All opposition party delegates are threatened and forbidden to monitor in most of the poll stations situated in Hezbollah neighborhoods.
*The confirmed disappearance of several voting ballots that were never accounted for , specially those that came from the USA, Canada, Africa and Europe.
*Blatantly corrupt bribery is still occurring in most areas sometimes reaching 500$/voter.
In view of all the above reasons, we strongly demand the international supervision and sanctioning of Lebanon's 2022 elections and the verified accounting of every poll locally and abroad and announcement of the results prior to sending any of the ballots .

Report: French ambassador met with Hizbullah over GCC envoys' return
Naharnet/Thursday, 14 April, 2022
French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo met recently with Hizbullah officials to put them in advance in the picture of the return of the Saudi and Kuwaiti ambassadors to the country, a media report said on Thursday. She told them that “this step is not related to the parliamentary elections and is not aimed at aggravating tensions in the country, specifically with Hizbullah,” ad-Diyar newspaper reported. “She revealed to them that the return had been coordinated with France and that the Saudi ambassador would visit all senior Lebanese officials and would meet with March 8’s Sunni forces,” the daily added. Grillo also reassured the Hizbullah officials that the Saudi-French fund for helping Lebanon would begin its work after the elections and that “France will not exclude any Lebanese from assistance.”

Aoun stresses that elections will be held on time
Naharnet/Thursday, 14 April, 2022
President Michel Aoun on Thursday reassured that the May 15 parliamentary elections will be held on time. “We’re a month away from the parliamentary elections, and some are still questioning whether the vote will be held or not. I reiterate that the vote will be held on time and that the additional funds for it have been approved,” Aoun said at the beginning of a Cabinet session in Baabda. Separately, he said that Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Lebanon in June “carries major importance at the national, spiritual and humanitarian levels.”“We will finalize the preparations for it in cooperation with the church committee emanating from the Assembly of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon, and a national committee will be formed to prepare for the visit,” the President added.

Salameh says ready to meet with Swiss prosecutors
Naharnet/Thursday, 14 April, 2022
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh has said that he is willing to meet with Swiss prosecutors over a money-laundering investigation. "I have already informed the Swiss justice that I am ready to go," he told Swiss television SRF. "Because they asked the question in February 2020 whether they can (interview) me in Lebanon or in Switzerland. I said I am ready to go to Switzerland... I am waiting for them to call for me," Salameh added. Asked about properties he owns in Switzerland, Salameh said he used investment advisers and bank loans to buy property, adding: "I don't see where is the crime in that."Lebanon opened a local probe into Salameh's wealth last year, after the Swiss top prosecutor's office requested assistance in an investigation into more than $300 million which he allegedly embezzled out of the central bank with the help of his brother. Salameh also faces lawsuits in other European countries, including France and Britain. Lebanon's top banker of three decades is blamed for policies that contributed to the country's financial collapse, a charge he has repeatedly denied.

Govt. agrees to demolish port silos, approves funds for wheat, medicine
Agence France Presse/Thursday, 14 April, 2022
Cabinet on Thursday agreed to demolish the blast-hit silos at Beirut’s port, which according to a technical report are facing the threat of collapse, as it approved the use of funds from the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights for importing wheat and incurable disease medicines.
“The banking secrecy law will be re-discussed at the next Cabinet session,” Information Minister Ziad Makari said after the meeting. “The Council for Reconstruction and Development has been tasked with overseeing the demolition of wheat silos at Beirut’s port,” Makari added.
Al-Jadeed TV meanwhile reported that Cabinet agreed that Special Drawing Rights funds can only be used for urgent matters and that any such move would require a Cabinet decision. Makari said the government's decision to demolish the silos was based on a report by Lebanon's Khatib and Alami Engineering Company, which warned that the silos could collapse within months. "Repairing them will cost a lot," Makari said. Last year, Swiss company Amann Engineering also called for their demolition, saying the most damaged of the silos were tilting at a rate of two millimeters per day. Once boasting a capacity of more than 100,000 tons, the imposing 48-meter-high structure has become emblematic of the catastrophic August 4 port blast, that killed around 231 people, injured 7,000 and damaged swathes of the capital in 2020. The silos absorbed much of the blast's impact, shielding large swaths of west Beirut from its ravaging effects. Activists and some relatives of blast victims have called for the grain silos to be preserved as a memorial site. "The silos are a witness to the massacre you committed against us," said a statement last month by the victims' families, referring to authorities. "They will not be demolished, no matter how hard you try." To assuage potential anger over the decision, the Cabinet on Thursday tasked the interior and culture ministries with erecting a monument commemorating the victims of the explosion. Authorities say the blast was caused by a shipment of ammonium nitrate fertilizer that caught fire after being impounded for years on end in haphazard conditions. Investigations into the tragedy have been paused for months over what rights groups and relatives of the victims have decried as political interference. Human Rights Watch last year accused top officials in government, parliament and the country's security agencies of deadly negligence that led to the tragedy.

UNIFIL patrol intercepted by residents in Blida
Naharnet/Thursday, 14 April, 2022
A UNIFIL patrol belonging to the French contingent was intercepted Wednesday in the southern town of Blida, al-Jadeed TV said. The patrol was passing in a narrow internal road, accompanied by a Lebanese Army vehicle, when it got stuck in an alleyway, the TV network said. One of the UNIFIL vehicles then passed over the surface of a water well near the town’s mosque, which resulted in its collapse, al-Jadeed added. “Consequently, residents gathered and intercepted the patrol, demanding a compensation for the damage,” the TV network said, adding that the UNIFIL patrol was allowed to continue its trip after pledging to compensate for the damaged well.

Qassem: Hizbullah wants national unity govt., has no plans to change system
Naharnet/Thursday, 14 April, 2022
Hizbullah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has announced that his party wants a “national unity” government to be formed after the upcoming parliamentary elections. “Our project is partnership with everyone and a national unity government,” Qassem said in an interview with Hizbullah’s al-Nour radio station. “We don’t have any plan to change the (political) system and we don’t propose any modifications. As for those who have changes that they consider to be appropriate, there are legal mechanisms for that,” Hizbullah’s number two added. Commenting on the latest return of the Saudi and Gulf ambassadors to Lebanon, Qassem said the envoys who returned “realized that their absence would not put pressure on Hizbullah but would rather deprive them of the possibility of” making use of their presence in the country.

Human rights as a luxury
Nicholas Frakes/Now Lebanon/April 14/2022
Lebanon has not had the best history when it comes to human rights, and the economic crisis has only made things worse with fewer and fewer speaking out about violations since just being able to survive has become the priority, writes Nicholas Frakes.
In 2020, a man stood outside the Dunkin Donuts on Hamra Street in Beirut and shot himself.
He left only a copy of his clean criminal record and a note saying “I am not a heretic,” speculated as being a reference to a Ziad Rahbani song whose lyric states “I am not a heretic, but hunger is a heretic… poverty is a heretic and humiliation is a heretic.”
The 61-year-old man was facing the same poverty that so many others in Lebanon have increasingly faced since the start of the economic crisis and had reached his breaking point.
Lebanon has seen an increase in suicides due to the economic crisis, caused by decades of financial and economical mismanagement and endemic corruption by the country’s politicians.
Corruption was one of many topics covered in the United States State Department’s annual report on human rights that was released yesterday.
The report’s section on Lebanon contains exactly what many in the country would expect: widespread corruption, political interference in the judiciary leading to a lack of justice and a growing crackdown on freedom of speech and expression.
“Although the legal structure provides for prosecution and punishment of officials who committed human rights abuses and corruption, enforcement remained a problem, and government officials enjoyed a measure of impunity for human rights abuses, including evading or influencing judicial processes. The country suffered from endemic corruption,” the report stated.
None of these issues are new to the Lebanese. They have existed in Lebanon for decades and have become more of an unfortunate fact of life than anything else.
This was a huge reason for the October 17 popular uprising in 2019. The people were tired of the status quo and knew that it would bring the country to a collapse if nothing changed.
And that is exactly what happened.
The start of the economic crisis intensified the people’s disdain for Lebanon’s politicians, leading to more violent confrontations during protests.
But, now, nearly three years since the crisis began, people are more focused on simply being able to survive than anything else.
The cost of basic goods has skyrocketed. Fuel and electricity are scarce. Students are becoming increasingly unable to pay for university. With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there is fear that there will soon be bread shortages.
This is not to say that human rights should take a backseat, nor that Lebanon should get a free pass for its numerous violations in 2021 alone. But, for many Lebanese, who are becoming growingly uncertain where their next meal might come from, it is not particularly high on their list of priorities.
The crisis is their priority, and this has grave consequences.
Bigger problems.To say that the Lebanese people are apathetic to the issue of human rights, however, is false.
For years, prior to the start of the crisis, there were countless local NGOs that looked to tackle the issue from various vantage points. Kafa fights for women’s rights and combatting violence against women. Helem stood for the LGBTQ+ community. The Lebanese Center for Human Rights focused on the issue of arbitrary detention and forced disappearances.
Even the 2019 uprising was, in a way, about human rights. The right of Lebanese to live in a functional society where the politicians do not use the government budget as their own expense account. The right to live their lives without fear just because they are gay or a woman. The right for their education to actually mean something in their country instead of having to travel abroad because there are no opportunities at home. The right to have their justice system work independently of the political establishment instead of for it. This is something that many Lebanese continue to fight for despite the worsening economic crisis that has taken over so many people’s lives.
However, this number is shrinking. When it comes to the August 4 Beirut Port explosion, it has primarily been the families of the victims who are continuing the fight for justice and for Judge Tarek Bitar to continue his investigation. The circumstances brought about by the crisis have made it increasingly hard for people to come out and protest.
The assassination of Lokman Slim, a staunch critic of Hezbollah and writer, on February 4, 2021 saw a fair amount of outrage from the public, especially as it recalled the killings of so many before him, like Samir Kassir and Rafik Hariri. But there were already signs that people’s appetite to demand justice was beginning to die down.
Over a year later and, still, no one has been charged with Slim’s murder. 20 months on and Bitar’s investigation is stalled indefinitely with two of the people that he was calling in for questioning, Ghazi Zeaiter and Ali Hassan Khalil, running in the May 15 elections that would give them immunity from prosecution.
In Ansar, a village in South Lebanon, a mother and her three daughters were kidnapped and brutally killed in March of this year. In the wake of the murders, social media was awash with condemnation of the killings but, then, within days, silence. No more talk about protecting women and the little being done by the government to tackle killings such as these.
None of this silence has anything to do with an intrinsic lack of concern for human rights or justice. More immediate problems of mere survival have taken precedent. Paying for university. The value of their salaries being slashed as the value of the Lebanese Lira plummets. The rising cost of basic goods. It is completely understandable that such matters are the focus of so many people right now.
But the inability to address pressing human rights issues will have long-term effects on Lebanon, and make it that much harder to better them in the future. This report by the US is nowhere near the first about the human rights failures in Lebanon.
Human Rights Watch also publishes an annual report on the state of affairs in Lebanon in addition to its year-round coverage of human rights violations.
HRW acknowledges that the issue of human rights is not a priority for many Lebanese right now and is therefore calling on candidates in the upcoming election to answer a questionnaire and make human rights more of a priority if they are elected.
The current establishment parties have made it clear that they are not interested in changing the status quo, nor in the various issues of human rights. That leaves it up to the opposition candidates running to take the pledge and continue raising the topic, even if they are only elected in the minority. Unless that happens, few are likely to talk about it, and increasingly, people will feel compelled to take justice into their own hands.
The unintended consequences
In August 2021, just before the one-year anniversary of the port explosion, clashes broke out in Khalde between Hezbollah and a Sunni tribe. Supposedly, Hezbollah members had killed a young man from that tribe, leading to them taking revenge by attacking a funeral procession. At least four people were killed but no one was arrested.
If crimes are able to be committed without consequence, then there is no rule of law in Lebanon.
Critics of politicians can be silenced, either through libel cases brought to the court, by intimidation or by the gun.
Even less bloody issues will have serious consequences.
According to a November 2021 UNICEF report, the number of children dropping out of school in order to work has increased as the economic crisis has worsened, with the report estimating that around 500,000 Lebanese and refugee children will drop out of school without planning to return.
Child labor laws in Lebanon say that you have to be at least 13-years-old in order to work, but I have spoken with people in Tripoli, one of the most impoverished and neglected cities in Lebanon, who have told me that they have been working since well before they were 13.
One person, now 18, said that he has been working since he was nine.
Families can no longer afford to send their children to school or afford the required books for their classes.
This growing lack of education will, in the years to come, have a significant impact on the country. Right now, there are still plenty of students looking to attend university and travel abroad, but what will those numbers look like when hundreds of thousands of people have not even been able to finish their basic schooling because they had to work and support their families?
If the decades of corruption are not addressed, then the billions of dollars potentially coming to Lebanon through the IMF will mean nothing.
Human rights, like much in Lebanon at this point, have become a luxury that few can afford anymore.
*Nicholas Frakes is a multimedia journalist with @NOW_leb. He tweets @nicfrakesjourno.

47 Years Since April 13: Victory of October Revolution Brings Lebanon Back!
Hanna Saleh/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/April, 14/2022
Almost a month before 15th of May, the day parliamentary elections will be held, Lebanon appears to face its most dangerous juncture. These elections will either take the country towards consolidating the Iranian mullah regime’s hegemony or, despite difficulties, it will put the country on a path of recovery. This is if the parliamentary elections are seen as a crucial turning point in which the solidarity of the Lebanese people can curtail the trend of the Lebanese state being hijacked, and restore the state and its sovereign decision.
It is useful to note that April 13 this year marked exactly 47 years since the start of the Civil War. The Lebanese remember this date well, but there is no consensus on the date that civil strife ended because, with each moment of domestic turmoil, the fragility of civil peace becomes clearly evident. This is despite our vivid memory of the war which wrought 150,000 lives, left about 20,000 disabled and 20,000 missing with fates unknown, and brought about forced demographic change that affected a quarter of the Lebanese people and displaced abroad a third of the population. All positions converge on the fact that the roots of that conflict can be traced back to the Cairo Agreement of 1969, when Parliament legislated the official renunciation of Lebanese sovereignty, with the only objection coming from Raymond Eddé!
As a reminder, the period of defective civil peace began in the fall of 1990, when the political class cloned from the pre-war parliaments united with those who until then were behind barricades, and with the addition of a class of financial mafiosos. At the time, these hid behind the strength of the occupying military of the Syrian regime and fabricated an amnesty law for their war crimes, and as such, they carried out a political coup that served as the introduction to the confessional system in partnership with the Syrian regime. The most prominent feature of the stage was the obstruction of implementing the constitution, while the implementation of legislation was also conducted in a discretionary manner.
The corruption spread, nepotism and clientelism prevailed, liberties were violated, and there emerged a “stock exchange” to buy and sell parliamentary and ministerial positions, competencies were discarded, and new “concepts” were invented to cover up the real aims of the Syrian regime. These included empty slogans such as “One people in two countries,” and “what is between Syria and Lebanon was not man-made!” The country returned to being a platform for the emigration of young people and talents, as the financial boom of the time was artificial and the scope of poverty expanded, with remittances covering some of the country’s needs. Nearly a decade ago, more and more people began yearning for the dark years of war, during which not a single citizen found themselves without any way out and self-immolated after being destroyed by destitution, as George Zureik did in early 2019, several months before the “October Revolution,” an act that was repeated several times after the revolution in rejection of the current state of humiliation!
The “Independence Uprising” of 2005 had succeeded in expelling the Syrian regime’s military from Lebanon by taking advantage of international conditions. However, those who controlled that uprising soon came to fear their own people, and thus leapt towards a quadripartite agreement with Hezbollah to renew the state’s sharing of spoils. Only after that, sometime between Doha 2008 and the "black shirts" government of 2011, the Lebanese state metastasized as an agent of the Iranian regime's hegemony. The same faces would return, or be reproduced, in government seats, but the main constant was the persistent inefficiency, subordination, and dependency all of which were entrenched. These parliaments, with their marginal position, formed a political umbrella for a banking-political cartel, but one of “resistance,” which achieved astronomical profits resulting from looting the state’s resources as ministries turned into “Ali Baba’s cave” then, when the proverbial teat of the state had been milked dry, bank deposits were then robbed. As such, they accumulated large sums of illegal profit, provided funding for their mini-states, a parallel economy boomed, unemployment was exacerbated and poverty figures increased!
After 32 years of this deficient civil peace, and after the political class handed over its leadership to Hezbollah in 2016, the system of plundering accelerated the wear and tear, and successive collapses engulfed the Lebanese people who, in a blink of an eye, moved from affluence and prosperity to hardship and beggary. The authoritarians were horrified by what the October 17 Revolution crystallized in terms of the possibility of reconciliation bringing consensus among those suffering in the face of their oppressors. The response was to invest in hatred and sectarian grudge, the primary weapon of survival for the sectarian system, and the state continued to be a weak and fragile structure, in response to the cup that overflowed on October 17.
The political elites of Lebanon were not given pause by the balance of payments deficit that started in 2011, and the performance of official institutions did not change. They claimed that the so-called “compromise” of 2016, which handed the country over to Hezbollah by electing its candidate as president, would lead to stability, achieve economic recovery, and restore prosperity. Lebanon lost stability and prosperity when Hezbollah plunged it into its wars against other countries of the region, acting on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. As such, and with the militia’s hegemony, Lebanon was turned into a platform of aggression against Gulf states, and for exporting narcotic poisons deliberately targeting Gulf societies. The belated awakening of “sovereignty” by some does not absolve them of responsibility for policies that have led to Lebanon’s subjugation by the “axis of resistance,” or the repercussions that this had left. Today, as parliamentary elections draw near, and after the presidential elections next fall, the conflict between two axes has taken shape: One represented by October 17 and another by the system of sectarian alliances, i.e. the bloc responsible for the crime of Beirut Port Blast on August 4, 2020, on one hand, and the popular uprising that followed the crime, to unite those scarred by it, treat their wounds, and insist on accountability and making the perpetrators pay the price for their crimes. This is the context in which the electoral battle is taking place, and only the October 17 project to restore the state is the opposite of the mini-state project and the dangers it poses to the Lebanese state as an entity, and to its people!
Away from the organized media campaigns to accept that Hezbollah and its bloc will likely win the parliamentary majority, and even increase it from 72 to 75 MPs, their real goals seem to be securing a two-thirds majority in Parliament, and undertaking a move that is even more dangerous than what the parliament did in 1969 when it relinquished Lebanon’s sovereignty! Today, after making constitutional amendments and legitimizing its militias, these moves would enable the party to consolidate its control and turn into a parallel Lebanese army. However, Hezbollah’s rosy expectations were undermined as the forces of change dared to confront it in its so-called “strongholds,” and today’s instability could lead to tomorrow’s positive change, following a political recovery of the Sunni community after its frustration with the performance of Saad Hariri that served only Hezbollah’s grinder!
This is not to underestimate the power of Hezbollah which, in the 2018 elections, secured nearly 265,000 votes and expanded its base by about 20,000 votes, but enough intimidation. Hezbollah is apprehensive and afraid of the consequences of the policies it has imposed which have widened the scope of poverty even in its own “strongholds.” This party has resorted to intimidation, incitement, and bribery, as the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE) revealed the extent to which Hezbollah relies on bribery through campaigns to “combat unemployment,” “build homes” and “marriages for the poverty-stricken,” campaigns which have so far affected 93,000 people, in addition to its allocation of $18 million and 18 billion Lebanese pounds as “livelihood assistance that reaches 215,000 families!” Despite all, Hezbollah remains strong and capable, but its stakes are high and placed on a wide range of bribes, while there are valid statistics that suggest a decline of Hezbollah’s base of support by about 30%. The protest vote in favor of the forces of change is an opportunity to enable the October Revolution to begin formulating a political alternative to restore the country, and it is certain that the new forces of change will not lose their way.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 14-15/2022
Israeli air strikes target sites in Syria’s Damascus countryside: State TV
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/Published: 15 April ,2022
Israel carried out airstrikes on sites in Syria’s Damascus countryside, state news agency SANA said on Thursday, without reporting any casualties. “The Israeli enemy launched an aerial assault from the direction of northern occupied Syrian Golan, targeting a number of positions in the western countryside of Damascus,” SANA reported, citing a military source. The news agency added that air defenses intercepted a number of missiles and there was only material damage with no loss of life. Explosions were heard in Syria’s capital Damascus, state TV reported earlier. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Israeli missiles targeted “military sites” in Damascus’ southwestern countryside where Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have a presence.

Russia accuses Ukraine of helicopter strike on border town
Agence France Presse/Thursday, 14 April, 2022
Russian officials on Thursday accused Ukraine of sending helicopters to bomb a town in the southern Bryansk region about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the border, after reporting seven injured in shelling. "Using two military helicopters carrying heavy weaponry, Ukrainian armed forces illegally entered Russian air space," Russia's Investigative Committee -- which probes major crimes -- said in a statement. "Flying low, acting deliberately, they carried out at least six air strikes on residential buildings in the settlement of Klimovo," investigators said. As a result, they said, "at least six residential buildings were damaged... and seven people received injuries of varying severity including one small child born in 2020." This appeared to be the first time that Moscow has officially accused Ukrainian armed forces of flying helicopters into Russia to carry out an attack. Previously the governor of Belgorod region in southern Russia, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said two Ukrainian military helicopters had carried out a strike on a fuel depot on April 1, while this was not directly confirmed by Ukraine or Moscow. Thursday's shelling was announced earlier by governor Alexander Bogomaz, who said on Telegram that "two residential buildings were damaged and some of the residents were injured". A Russian health ministry official, Alexei Kuznetsov, told the RIA Novosti news agency that the seven injured were in hospital, adding that two were in serious condition and required surgery.  The governor of Russia's Belgorod region, Gladkov, later said on Telegram that the village of Spodaryushino close to the border "came under shelling from the Ukrainian side" and residents from this and a nearby village had been evacuated as a precaution. Also on Thursday, Russia's security agency the FSB told TASS news agency that Ukraine fired at border checkpoint where over 30 Ukrainian refugees were crossing into Russia. It added that there were no injuries. AFP could not independently verify the claims.

IAEA: Iran Opens New Centrifuge-parts Workshop at Natanz
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 14 April, 2022
Iran is starting to operate a new workshop at Natanz that will make parts for uranium-enriching centrifuges with machines recently moved there from its mothballed Karaj facility, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a report on Thursday seen by Reuters. "On 12 April 2022, the Agency completed the installation of the surveillance cameras at this location and then removed the seals from the machines," the International Atomic Energy Agency said in the confidential report to member states without describing where at Natanz that location was. "On 13 April 2022, Iran informed the Agency that the machines would start operating at the new workshop the same day," it added, without saying whether it had verified that the machines had started operating.

UN Watchdog Installs New Cameras at Iran Centrifuge Workshop
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 14 April, 2022
The United Nations atomic watchdog said Thursday it installed surveillance cameras to monitor a new centrifuge workshop at Iran's underground Natanz site after a request from Tehran, even as diplomatic efforts to restore its tattered nuclear deal appear stalled. The start of work at the new workshop comes after Iran's centrifuge facility in Karaj found itself targeted in what Iran described as a sabotage attack in June. Natanz itself has twice been targeted in sabotage attacks amid uncertainty over the nuclear deal, assaults that Tehran has blamed on Israel, The Associated Press said.
The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said it installed cameras and removed seals from machines at the workshop on Tuesday. Those machines will be used to make centrifuge rotor tubes and bellows, crucial parts for the devices that spin at very high speeds to enrich uranium gas. On Wednesday, “Iran informed the agency that the machines would start operating at the new workshop the same day,” the IAEA said in a statement. It did not elaborate on the location of the workshop at Natanz, a vast facility that includes laboratories and enrichment halls buried underground to protect them from airstrikes. Iran has been holding footage from IAEA surveillance cameras since February 2021 as a pressure tactic to restore the nuclear deal as well. Iran did not immediately acknowledge the cameras' installation, but previously said it would be moving the plant at Karaj to Natanz.
Natanz became a flashpoint for Western fears about Iran’s nuclear program in 2002, when satellite photos showed Iran building an underground facility at the site, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of the capital, Tehran. Iran long has insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. However, US intelligence agencies and the IAEA believe Iran had an organized military nuclear program up until 2003.In July 2020, Natanz found itself targeted in sabotage that blew up a centrifuge assembly building. In April 2021, a sabotage attack in its underground halls destroyed centrifuges. Iran since has begun building a new extension to Natanz in a nearby mountain, likely to further harden the site. Israel, also suspected in the killing of a scientist who found Iran's nuclear military program, has hinted it carried out the Natanz attacks.
The camera installation comes as efforts to restore the nuclear deal, which saw Tehran limit its enrichment for the lifting of economic sanctions, appear deadlocked over an Iranian demand for America to delist the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. Despite repeated Iranian claims that a separate deal would see billions of dollars in assets unfrozen, the State Department reiterated that no deal is imminent on either a prisoner swap or the nuclear deal. “Our partners have not released these restricted funds to Iran, nor has the United States authorized or approved any such transfer of restricted funds to Iran,” the State Department said late Wednesday.

US Navy adds new task force to patrol Red Sea
Al-Monitor/April 14/2022
Task Force 153 will patrol the Red Sea and waters around Yemen, as Iran shows no sign of relinquishing support for the Houthis. The US will establish a new multinational task force to patrol the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the commander of US Navy forces in the Middle East said today. Task Force 153 of the US-led Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) will patrol the waterway between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait to the waters off the Yemen-Oman border, Fifth Fleet commander Vice Adm. Brad Cooper told reporters in a call from his headquarters in Bahrain. The new task force will include two to eight vessels at any given time, and while Cooper said he doesn’t expect it to add to the number of ships focused on security in Middle Eastern waters, it will help make patrols more efficient. Combined Task Force 153 will be the fourth joint task force of the CMF, which was established in 2002 as an international naval coalition to combat trafficking, terrorism and piracy in the region. CTF-152 patrols the Persian Gulf, while CTF-150 has until now been spread across Middle Eastern sea lanes outside the Gulf (CTF-151 focuses specifically on piracy). The new unit will allow CTF-150 to focus its efforts to the open waters of the northern Arabian Sea. Why it Matters: The reorganization comes as Iran shows no sign of dropping its support to Houthi rebels in Yemen, and as US strategic rival Russia makes inroads with the military junta in Sudan, where Moscow awaits a possible deal for a naval base on the Red Sea. The Houthis are currently in a fragile truce with the Yemeni government backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, which is eyeing an exit to the war. The rebels in the past have sent explosives-laden remote-controlled boats into the Red Sea to attack Saudi targets, and as recently as last month launched missiles into the kingdom from Yemen. US officials believe the Houthis’ drone and missile technology was supplied by Iran. Cooper on Wednesday declined to specify whether CTF-153’s patrols would specifically target smuggling bound for the Houthis, but US-led efforts have struggled to catch such arms shipments in recent years. The creation of the new task force “reflects a regional consensus on the importance of maritime security in these bodies of waters,” Cooper said today, noting that it will combat the smuggling of arms, drugs, humans and coal – the latter a reference to a once-prominent revenue source for Somalia’s al-Shabaab jihadist group. Cooper’s reference to human trafficking comes as migrants from the Horn of Africa have sought to travel to the Arab Gulf. “The area is so vast that we just can't do it alone, so we're going to be at our best when we partner” with regional navies, he said.
What’s Next: CTF-153 will first be led by the Fifth Fleet’s Capt. Robert Francis before command rotates to a partner nation. Know More: Read Elizabeth Hagedorn's report on the Biden administration’s latest sanctions on the IRGC’s supply networks for the Houthis.

Qaani: Iran Will Harshly Confront Israel 'Wherever It Feels Necessary'
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 14 April, 2022
Iran will harshly confront Israel "wherever it feels necessary", Esmail Qaani, the head of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, said on Thursday, according to the semi-official Nour News agency. In March, Tehran targeted what it called "secret Israeli bases" during a missile attack on Iraq's northern Kurdish regional capital of Erbil. The assault was meant to avenge Israeli air strikes that killed Iranian military personnel in Syria. "Wherever we identify a Zionist threat, we will harshly confront them, they are too small to confront us," said Qaani, whose unit is in control of the Revolutionary Guards' foreign operations.
According to Reuters, the commander pledged to support any group that fights the "Zionist regime" and added that "the destruction of this regime is gaining ground." Tensions deepened at a time when Iran and world powers were engaged in talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, which Israel opposes.
While not a party to the nuclear negotiations between Iran and world powers in Vienna, Israel has conferred with the US administration in hope of wielding more clout over any revival of a deal with Tehran that was reached over its objections.

Iran Quds Force commander lauds Israel attacks
Al-Monitor/April 14/2022
The head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' overseas missions expressed admiration for the assailants behind the recent attacks in Israel, which he took as a sign of the Jewish state's vulnerability. After a chain of deadly attacks inside Israel, commander of Iran's Quds Force Esmail Ghaani declared that Tehran will support any group fighting Israel. "We have made it clear to the occupying Zionist regime that any group fighting it will have our blessing," the hard-line commander added, praising new generations of "Palestinian youths who have shaken the occupied territories." Several Israeli cities have been under tightened security after four deadly shooting, stabbing and car-ramming attacks in only three weeks. "This means the Zionists are too weak to stand against the Islamic Republic," the commander said about Iran's arch-enemy. Ghaani, who replaced slain Gen. Qasem Soleimani in 2020, made the comments at a ceremony in Tehran commemorating another commander, Mohammad Hejazi, whose sudden and mysterious death sparked widespread speculation. Iran said the commander succumbed to old chemical injuries he sustained during the war with neighboring Iraq back in the 1980s. Tensions between Iran and Israel have been high over the past two years. The pair have reportedly targeted one another's interests at sea and have repeatedly exchanged cyber attacks. The latest escalation occurred last month, when Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles inside Iraq's Kurdish territory to target what it claimed was an Israeli espionage center, an assertion Iraqi officials have dismissed.  "We do know where you are," the Iranian commander told Israeli official with regard to the Erbil attack, which in his view was an indication that Iran has been closely monitoring Israel's regional activities.
Ghaani further warned Israeli authorities, "Our hands are not tied and we will respond robustly wherever in the world our interests come under [Israeli] aggression." The commander reasserted the Iranian line that Israel is inching closer to collapse, but refrained from issuing direct threats of annihilation. He noted that Israel's decline is being accelerated by the "incumbent fragile government" of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. In the wake of the recent attacks in Israel, Iran's ultraconservatives have been openly supportive of the assailants and their anti-Israeli cause. "The Zionist regime is experiencing a horrible time," reported Kayhan, a newspaper with ties to the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "The occupied land is tremendously destabilized," read the April 14 front page editorial, admiring Palestinian youths for their "multiple unprecedented suicide attacks that have inflicted massive fatalities upon them." The overall security situation, according to Kayhan, has prompted many Israelis to contemplate a "reverse exodus" and leave the country, a situation the paper said is tantamount to "the end of Israel.

Iran urges Iraq against hosting 'disruptive security presence'
Agence France Presse/Thursday, 14 April, 2022
Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi warned neighboring Iraq on Thursday not to allow its soil to be used for activities that disrupt the Islamic republic's security, his office said. His comments follow accusations by Iran last month that Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region had hosted a "strategic center" used by Tehran's arch enemy Israel. "The president emphasized that Iran strongly expects neighboring countries, especially Iraq, not to allow any presence that is disruptive to the security of the Islamic republic," a statement by Raisi's office said. The president accused Iraq's Kurdistan region of "negligence", adding that Iran is closely monitoring the movements of Israel and will not allow it to endanger the security of the region through any country, including Iraq. The Iranian president made the remarks in Tehran during a meeting with visiting Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein. Iraq's top diplomat pledged that his country will not be a base for actions against Iran's security, the statement added. "We are ready for extensive cooperation, including in the field of security, to prevent any threat to the interests of Iran," Fuad said, according to Raisi's office. Last month, Iran targeted the northern Iraqi city of Arbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region, with a dozen ballistic missiles that lightly wounded two civilians. Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the country's military, confirmed at the time that they fired the projectiles and targeted a "strategic center" used by Israel. Arbil governor Oumid Khouchnaw dismissed as "baseless" any notion of Israeli sites in and around Arbil, saying "there are no Israeli sites in the region." The Iraqi foreign ministry condemned the attack and summoned Iran's ambassador to protest the strikes. Iran holds considerable influence over the federal government in Baghdad. "Iraq considers itself not only a neighbor but also an ally and a friend of the Islamic Republic of Iran," the Iranian presidency further quoted Baghdad's top diplomat as saying on Thursday.

Iraq Urges Iran to Resolve Security Issues through Diplomacy
London, Tehran- Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 14 April, 2022
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein urged his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran to “solve the security problems that occur between their countries” through dialogue. Speaking at a joint press conference with Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran on Wednesday, Hussein said that he had “important” and “frank” talks in which he stressed that “the security of Iraq and Iran is linked to the security of the region.” “When there is a security problem, dialogue is the way to the solution,” Hussein said, calling for “addressing these issues through diplomatic means and dialogue.”“Doors for dialogue are open in Baghdad, and we hope that they will also be in Tehran, and that we have a dialogue on this issue,” said the Iraqi top diplomat.“It is clear that the Iranian brothers have complaints about some security issues and points of view, which we must talk about frankly so that they are resolved through diplomatic means,” added Hussein. It is noteworthy that this is the first meeting between Hussein and Amir-Abdollahian after Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards bombed on March 13 a site in the outskirts of Erbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan region. In turn, the Iraqi News Agency reported that Hussein and Amir-Abdollahian “discussed regional relations and the Iranian-Saudi dialogue.” “The Iranian-Saudi dialogue is continuing and is still within the framework of international representatives,” said Hussein while stressing Iraq’s role in bringing the visions closer between the Iranian and Saudi sides. The state-run ISNA news agency quoted Hussein as saying that he hopes “the dialogue between Iran and Saudi Arabia will resume soon.” For his part, Amir-Abdollahian revealed that a preliminary agreement has been reached on releasing the Iranian assets currently frozen in a foreign bank due to US sanctions, the official news agency IRNA reported.
He added that a foreign delegation had negotiated on Tuesday with officials from the Central Bank of Iran and the Foreign Ministry to make the arrangements. An initial agreement has been achieved on the timing and method of releasing the assets, the Iranian foreign minister noted.

Iraqi Interior Ministry to Enforce Law to Deter Those Seeking ‘Sedition’
Baghdad - Fadhel al-Nashmi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 14 April, 2022
The Iraqi Interior Ministry on Wednesday said it will enforce law and order to deter those it described as “seeking to fuel sedition” in the Levantine country.
Over the last couple of days, the ministry and security forces took several measures against the followers of Shiite cleric Mahmoud Abdul-Ridha Muhammad. A scholar affiliated with Muhammad had stirred controversy after preaching against any exaggeration in building religious shrines.
Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council announced that the Al-Amarah Investigation Court issued an arrest warrant for Muhammad, nicknamed Al-Sarkhi.
A statement by the Supreme Judicial Council, received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), stated that " Al-Amarah Investigation Court issued an arrest warrant against the accused (Mahmoud Abdul-Ridha Muhammad), aka (Mahmoud Al-Sarkhi)." The statement added that “the issuance of the arrest warrant came in accordance with the provisions of Article (372) penalties, which stipulates the punishment of anyone who publicly assaults a belief of a religious sect or degrades its rituals.”Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry released a statement in which it affirmed it was closely and carefully following up on the case to enhance security and stability. Riots had erupted in protest at Al-Sarkhi's recent calls for demolishing Shiite shrines across the country. The protesters called on the security forces “to prosecute all those who abuse religious symbols.” Security authorities said in a statement that it had shut all the headquarters of the Sarkhi religious authority. Moreover, the Interior Ministry confirmed that the law is the only way to punish a stray and perverted group that takes the guise of religion, and that any undisciplined individual or collective in this regard constitutes an unacceptable attack on the law and order.
The ministry called on citizens to cooperate in all governorates with security forces to maintain security and protect peace.

OPEC loans $100 million to Morocco to promote financial inclusivity
Al-Monitor/April 14/2022
Financial technology (fintech) is expanding across the Middle East and enabling more people to use financial tools. But some cultural barriers remain. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has announced a loan to Morocco aimed at promoting financial inclusivity.
OPEC’s Fund for International Development signed a $100 million loan to the government of Morocco to “build an inclusive financial sector,” the fund said in statement April 11. The agreement, which is named the Financial and Digital Inclusion Program, stipulates that Morocco provide individuals, families and small businesses with affordable financial services such as insurance, credit and banking. The program will focus on using technology to promote alternative financing models to traditional banks. Regarding the businesses, it will target digital entrepreneurs. The World Bank is co-financing the program with OPEC, according to the statement. Why it matters: OPEC aims to help Morocco recover from COVID-19 and promote economic modernization with the loan. Strict antivirus measures had a negative effect on the Moroccan economy, severely hurting the tourism industry, for example. OPEC’s loan is the latest example of efforts in the Middle East and North Africa to promote financial inclusivity. Financial technology, or fintech, is growing throughout the region. There are many efforts by regional startups to digitally provide financial tools, such as banking services, to new communities that may lack access to traditional banks. The Dubai-based startup Xare enables users to share funds with anyone — regardless of whether they have a bank account — in an effort to help migrant workers share their earnings. Aydi, a startup in Cairo, is capturing data for farmers to help them track their earnings and gain access to financing, Al-Monitor reported last month.  Know more: The Moroccan government is promoting the expansion of technology by way of the Digital Morocco initiative, which began in 2016. Internet and cell phone access has increased significantly in recent years. Online financial tools are lagging behind, though, in part because Moroccans “predominantly prefer cash,” the Oxford Business Group reported in 2020.

2 Palestinians killed in Israeli raid in Jenin
Agence France Presse/April 14/2022
Two Palestinians were killed early Thursday as Israeli forces raided the West Bank district of Jenin on the sixth day of operations in the occupied territory, the Palestinian health ministry said. "Two youths died of injuries sustained in an Israeli attack in the Jenin district," the ministry said in a statement.
The Israeli army said it had been "continuing recent counterterrorism activities", a week after a Jenin man killed three people in Tel Aviv, without commenting on the latest Palestinian deaths. Israel has poured in additional forces and is reinforcing its wall and fence barrier with the territory after four deadly attacks have claimed 14 lives in Israel, most of them civilians, in the past three weeks. A total of 20 Palestinians have been killed since March 22, including assailants in the anti-Israel attacks, according to an AFP tally. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has given Israeli forces a free hand to "defeat terror" in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since the 1967 Six Day War, warning that there would "not be limits" for this war. Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh charged Wednesday that Israeli soldiers "murder for the sake of murder ... without the slightest regard for international law." The latest major attack Israel suffered was the shooting rampage last Thursday in a busy nightlife area of the coastal city of Tel Aviv, that claimed three lives and wounded over a dozen more. The gunman, a 28-year-old man from Jenin, died in a shootout with Israeli forces following an all-night manhunt. The escalation of violence comes during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and ahead of the start of the Jewish festival of Passover on Friday, an overlap that can heighten tensions around sacred sites in Jerusalem's Old City. Last year Hamas, the Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip, fired rockets toward Jerusalem following disturbances at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, setting off a devastating 11-day war.

Progressive’ Egyptian Newspaper Publishes Fatwa Banning Muslims from Selling Food to ‘Infidels’ (Non-Muslims) During Ramadan
Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity/April 14/2022
Sheikh Muhammad Salih Munajjid: No food for “infidels” during Ramadan daytime.
On April 12, 2022, the popular Egyptian daily newspaper and website, al-Masry al-Youm (“the Egyptian Today”), published a fatwa by the Syrian cleric, Sheikh Muhammad Salih Munajjid, under the title, “What Is the Ruling on Selling Food to Infidels during the Daylight [Hours] of Ramadan?”After offering the usual caveat—that such rulings do not apply to those who are sick, etc.—the fatwa concluded that selling food to those who might eat it during the daylight hours of Ramadan was forbidden, “and there is no difference [in this ruling] between the Muslim and the infidel.”For supporting evidence, Munajjid quoted the popular Muslim jurist, Abu Zakaria al-Nawawi (b.1233), who wrote that “the true madhab that has been confirmed and agreed upon by the majority is that infidels are addressed by the branches of sharia, so that, what is forbidden to Muslims is forbidden to them.”
Munajjid also quoted Koran 74:42-47, which indicates that, because infidels go to hell for not believing in or following the rules of Islam, they are, therefore, clearly governed by them. Thus, in the nation of Egypt—where more than ten million Christians, its most indigenous inhabitants, live—al-Masry al-Youm wants to make clear that they, the “infidels,” must also be prevented (by good Muslim grocers) from acquiring food in the daylight hours. (So much for the (Christian) idea that it is only for those who have faith to make sacrifices for their faith.)
While this fatwa ruling is not altogether surprising, what did shock many Egyptians is that al-Masry al-Youm —long seen as a secular, reformist daily newspaper that thrives on exposing and combatting Islamist intolerance—published it. The uproar from its readership, which includes not a few Coptic Christians, was such that hours after its publication, the Egyptian daily deleted the fatwa from its website, suspended the editor responsible for publishing it, and formally apologized. The hardcopy newspaper, however, still carries it. Despite al-Masry al-Youm’s actions and apology, many Egyptians remain skeptical. As Adel Guindy, a founding member of Coptic Solidarity, and author of the indispensable book, A Sword Over the Nile, observed: The privately owned paper, long heralded as a flagship for “liberal” ideas (in the old, European sense of the term, not the current American sense meaning “leftist”) was recently taken over by Egypt’s “Deep State” as part of the regime’s frantic efforts to muzzle media and/or turn them into mere mouthpieces. This implies that all published news and opinion articles are carefully scrutinized prior to publishing, more so if it is for the print version. That fatwa is typical of hardline Islamists. For it to be published means that the journalist, the editor, and “censor” saw nothing wrong with it. And that’s precisely the sad part of the story: How the regime views non-Muslims as Kuffar [infidels], with all the ugly connotations that Arabic word carries.

Canada/Minister Joly concludes successful visits to Indonesia and Vietnam
April 14, 2022 - Hanoi, Vietnam - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today concluded a successful visit to Indonesia and Vietnam. The visit focused on deepening our countries’ already strong relationships and advancing shared priorities, including global security, gender equality, and fighting climate change.
During her visit, Minister Joly also underscored Canada’s commitment to pursue active engagement with partner countries throughout the region as part of the forthcoming Canadian Indo-Pacific Strategy.
In Jakarta, Indonesia, Minister Joly met with Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo and Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi regarding shared priorities, including a new Plan of Action that will strengthen the bilateral relationship, especially for post-pandemic recovery. The Ministers also shared perspectives on the importance of exploring a way for the G20 to address the war in Ukraine. Minister Joly also met with officials from ASEAN, to emphasize Canada’s commitment to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, with ASEAN at its core and to reaffirm our intent to raise our engagement to the level of Strategic Partner. The Minister also met with feminist leaders supporting gender equality and women empowerment in Indonesia.
In Hanoi, Vietnam, Minister Joly met with Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính, Foreign Affairs Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn, and Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyễn Hồng Diên, to highlight the growing bilateral relationship underpinned by shared commitment to multilateralism, global security, and combatting climate change. Ministers Joly and Sơn also spoke about regional challenges as well as the increasing importance of the Indo-Pacific and Southeast Asian region. In meeting with the Industry and Trade Minister, both Ministers discussed growing trade and investment particularly through the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the newly established Joint Economic Committee. Minister Joly met with Vietnamese alumni from Canadian francophone universities, where she noted Canada and Vietnam’s longstanding relationship through La Francophonie, notably through the Canadian Francophonie Scholarship established in 1987.
Minister Joly also visited the province of Thai Nguyen, Vietnam, to gain insights into the challenges faced by ethnic minority women and girls as well as women-led businesses, and hear first-hand how Canadian development assistance is helping to empower women-led business, promote innovation and address the impacts of climate change. Minister Joly also met Ms Nguyen Thanh Hai, Party Secretary of Thai Nguyen Province.
In Vietnam, Minister Joly announced $4.4 million in new funding for The Advancing Women’s Economic Empowerment in Vietnam project, implemented by Care Canada in association with CARE International in Vietnam and local partners. This project will promote the rights of ethnic minority women by increasing their participation in paid economic activities, and strengthen their voice and leadership.
Quotes
“As the prosperity, security and well-being of Canadians become increasingly linked to the Indo-Pacific region, Canada is deepening our partnerships and expanding our engagement in the region. Canada shares close ties with Indonesia, Vietnam and ASEAN partners. This week, we were able to build on that foundation and discuss the ways we can advance our shared priorities moving forward.”
- Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Quick facts
In 2022, Canada and Indonesia are celebrating the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
Canada and Vietnam will celebrate their 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2023.
In 2022, Canada is celebrating 45 years of cooperation with ASEAN.
Vietnam has been Canada’s largest trading partner in ASEAN since 2015.
On January 10, 2021, Canada and Vietnam established the Canada-Vietnam Joint Economic Committee, which will enhance Canada’s presence in the Indo-Pacific and create opportunities for businesses to scale up and grow internationally.
Since 1990, Canada has contributed approximately $1.73 billion in international assistance to supporting Vietnam’s development and poverty-reduction efforts.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 14-15/2022
Delisting IRGC as terror group would send 'terribly wrong message,' says Israel's US ambassador
Elizabeth Hagedorn/Al-Monitor/April 14/2022
Michael Herzog, Israel's ambassador to the United States, discussed the looming Iranian nuclear accord, chances of a Palestinian political process, the war in Ukraine, Arab-Israeli normalization and more, at a breakfast hosted by Al-Monitor.
Israel is concerned it will bear the consequences of a restored nuclear agreement with Iran that fails to build on the original tattered deal, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog said Thursday.
Herzog spoke during a breakfast briefing hosted by Al-Monitor at the National Press Club in Washington, where the Israeli envoy discussed his government's views on the stalled nuclear talks, prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace, Israel's response to the war in Ukraine and its deepening ties with Arab states.
IRGC’s FTO removal would send ‘wrong message’
Talks to salvage the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) are held up over Tehran's demand that Washington drop the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a powerful branch of Iran’s military, from its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO). US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley has indicated the IRGC would remain subject to broad American sanctions even if it were taken off the terror blacklist, making the FTO designation largely symbolic.
“Since the IRGC is on the terror list, delisting it now as part of a nuclear deal sends a terribly wrong message to our part of the world,” Herzog, who previously served as a general in the Israel Defense Forces, said. “I think it’s no coincidence that [Iran] insists and they define it as a red line that they want to delist the IRGC.”Herzog said Israel would support an accord that’s “longer and stronger,” referencing a term previously used by the Biden administration to describe plans for a more encompassing agreement that would address Iran’s ballistic missile program, support for terrorist proxies and other non-nuclear issues. But "we no longer hear any talk of ‘longer and stronger,’” Herzog said.
“We would support a diplomatic outcome that rolls back Iran’s nuclear capabilities significantly and for a long time," said Herzog. "Our concern is that the deal negotiated doesn’t meet these criteria.”
"[Iran] should face either a diplomatic outcome that we can live with or deterrence so that they don't push the envelope," he said, elaborating on a point he made in a 2014 article for Al-Monitor.
On differences with the Biden administration over Iran, “I cannot complain that we are not being heard,” Herzog said. “We know exactly where we differ, but it’s an ongoing dialogue.”
‘Clear position’ on Russia’s war in Ukraine
Herzog said Israel has taken a “very clear position” against Russia’s war, while also balancing its security interests in the region.
Israel has sent significant humanitarian aid and welcomed thousands of refugees, but hasn’t provided military equipment to Ukraine or imposed sanctions on Russia.
Russia's military supports the regime in Syria, where Israel has carried out a campaign of airstrikes on Iran-linked targets. Russia and Israel maintain a “deconfliction mechanism” to avoid unintended clashes between their forces.
“The only constraint we have is not providing weapons systems to Ukraine, and that is because the Russian military deploys in our neighborhood in Syria,” Herzog said. “Short of that, we’re doing everything we can do to assist Ukraine.”
“We are not a superpower, and we don’t play with this critical element in our national security,” he said, adding that the Biden administration understands Israel’s delicate position.
US, Saudi Arabia should mend ties
“It is important in my view to fix relations between the US and Saudi Arabia,” Herzog said. “I understand the US concerns, but I think Saudi Arabia is a hugely important actor in our part of the world and the Islamic world.”Ties between the two countries have frayed over US policy in the Gulf and the Biden administration’s pledge to “recalibrate” the US relationship with Saudi Arabia, a major oil producer and strategic partner in the region whose human rights record has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle. Asked about prospects for normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Herzog was optimistic but acknowledged the kingdom’s long-held view that recognition of Israel should be offered only in exchange for Israel’s complete withdrawal from the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.
“We would like to see Saudi Arabia join others in normalizing relations with Israel,” he said. “We understand that this is a complex issue in terms of the Saudi traditionalist views of how to go about Israeli-Arab peace.”
Herzog described the agreements struck with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan as a “gamechanger for the region” and says there’s “huge potential” for further deals with other Arab and Muslim-majority countries.
Political process with Palestinians a nonstarter
A political process with the Palestinians is out of the question for the foreseeable future, Herzog said, pointing to differences within Israel’s politically diverse coalition government and dysfunction in the Palestinian Authority. Israel’s conservative prime minister, Naftali Bennett, opposes the creation of a Palestinian state. The idea is to “keep the window open for political opportunities in the future. But right now I don’t see in the cards that we can really convene the parties to launch such a process.”
Herzog said Israeli leaders still have sought to improve the situation on the ground, including by increasing the number of work permits for Palestinians and boosting financial support to the Palestinian Authority.

Israel, Iran…'War between Wars'
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/April, 14/2022
Israel has carried out more than 400 airstrikes in Syria and other parts of the Middle East since 2017 as part of a wide-ranging campaign targeting Iran and its militias, according to The Wall Street Journal. The daily reported that Israeli leaders refer to the campaign as the “war between the wars,” which they say is aimed at deterring Iran and weakening Tehran’s ability to hit Israel in the event of an open war between the two regional adversaries. The published story contains important information that helps readers understand the reality and the foreseeable future in the Middle East.
It also includes quotes by Iranian and Syrian officials, whereby the newspaper reported on an official close to the Iranian security services saying that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards drew a red line.
“If you attack us, we will retaliate, an eye for an eye,” the Iranian official said about the Guards’ approach. But what we see from Iran is the exact opposite, and its summary is: “If you attack us, we will respond in Iraq and the Gulf states, not in Israel.”
In the rare event that Iran directly retaliates against Israel, it may be by burning Gaza as usual, or what we see of terrorist operations attributed to ISIS that Iran uses from Syria to Iraq, the whole region, and even Israel. Moreover, a Syrian government adviser told The Wall Street Journal that the Israeli strikes hadn’t significantly dented Iran’s military influence in Syria. The Iranians “are strengthening their presence” across the country, they said. “It is quite difficult to undermine their position,” the adviser added. Such a statement slams any possibility of distancing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from Iran.
The newspaper also shed light on the hotline Israel and Russia are using to avoid Russian casualties from Israeli airstrikes in Syria. Israeli officials said they have used the line to warn Russia before targeting military bases in Syria when Russian forces work with Iranians.
This could explain why the Russians remained silent against the backdrop of Israeli strikes in Syria.
According to the story, Israel did not take a declared pro-Ukrainian position in order not to anger Moscow and ultimately affect its operations in Syria. Another interesting piece of information is the analysis conducted by Red Six Solutions of two Iranian drones that were shot down by Israel; They were the largest, had a wingspan of 23 feet, and could fly more than 1,200 miles. The analysis conducted by the private consulting firm concluded that the drone was an Iranian version of the US RQ-170 Sentinel that Iran brought down in 2011. Red Six identified the engine of the second downed drone as a Chinese-made model that was used frequently by fighters in Yemen, Iraq, and Syria whom the US says Iran supplies. The above mentioned facts dangerously indicate US intelligence failure in dealing with Tehran, especially the process of cloning US drones. This “war between wars” story reveals several important points, namely that Israel is targeting Iran, while the latter retaliates by targeting the security of the region. It also means that the region must prepare well. In the event of a confrontation, Iran will target our security more, and not Israeli security.
The story also shows us that the US has long failed to monitor and deal with Iranian sabotage.Therefore, our region must be prepared without being completely dependent on Washington. We must remember that our security concerns us more than it means to an unpredictable Washington.

Islamic State uses dust storm as cover for desert attack on Iraqi soldiers
Shelly Kittleson/Al-Monitor/April 14/2022
An Islamic State cell operating in Iraq’s largely desert province of Anbar killed two Iraqi soldiers the day after an armed drone allegedly from Iran-linked armed groups was shot down at a major base hosting coalition forces in the same area.
BAGHDAD – Islamic State (IS) fighters took advantage of reduced visibility resulting from a massive dust storm blanketing large parts of Iraq in recent days to carry out an attack on Iraqi Army soldiers in the country’s westernmost province. IS later claimed responsibility for the April 9 attack, which occurred on a road near the town of Hit, about 50 kilometers northwest of the regional capital Ramadi. The attack killed two soldiers who were part of the Jazeera and Badia Operations Command.
IS reportedly claimed 120 attacks in Iraq in the first quarter of 2022, and another 77 were claimed by the group across the border in Syria.
The Anbar province is divided into two military operations areas, with the eastern part covering the regional capital of Ramadi and Fallujah and the western part stretching to the Syrian border.
The western part is mostly uninhabited except for the fertile Euphrates River Valley and cities flanking it and is known as the Jazeera and Badia. Hit is the first major urban center on the main highway after entering the western part of the large province.
The Ain al-Asad Air Base (AAAB) lies in a strategic area sometimes called the Hit-Haditha Corridor, just off the road between the two cities.
US air defense systems at AAAB shot down at least one armed drone early on April 8. Iraqis present on the base that day claimed two had targeted the base but only one had arrived inside the perimeter. Iran-linked factions are thought to have been behind the attack.
The base is used by Iraqi forces but also hosts trainers from the US-led international coalition against IS and others.
A coalition official contacted by Al-Monitor denied reports of rockets shot at the base as part of the attack and said that around 1,500 coalition personnel were currently at AAAB.
Though Anbar has long been as a key area for IS and other insurgent groups to hide in, fewer attacks have occurred there in recent years than in regions disputed between the Iraqi central government and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, often attributed to a lack of proper coordination between the various forces operating on the ground and gaps in security.
Local security sources say that a network within the local Sunni Arab community in the Anbar region, including shepherds in the desert, enables many attacks to be prevented.
A Twitter account close to the Shiite-dominated Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMU) reported on April 9, the same day as the attack that killed the two Iraqi soldiers in the same province, that,“The Hashd al-Shaabi mourns the martyrdom of the heroic Ali al-Jassani of the 13th Brigade, who was martyred this evening performing his sacred jihad in Anbar, as a result of an explosive device left behind by ISIS terrorists, which also led to the injury of 2 other fighters.”
Unexploded ordnance from the years of the war against IS remains an issue across much of Iraq and has killed other soldiers in Anbar in recent months.
Hashd al-Shaabi is the Arabic name for the PMU. Many of the factions within the PMU started out as Iran-trained and backed militias and see their fight as being a sacred jihad.
The loyalty of some these factions to the Iraqi government is often questioned.
The 13th Brigade of the PMU is part of what is also known as Liwa al-Tufuf, the name normally used for the brigade by Anbar residents. The commander of Liwa al-Tufuf was arrested in May 2021 but released almost two weeks later. The US-led coalition contributed significant support to the war against IS in Iraq, which started in 2014, but officially transitioned to a non-combat mission in late 2021. Though officially declared defeated in Iraq in December 2017, IS continues to operate clandestinely in the country.
Some see tensions between the local community in Anbar and some of the non-local PMU forces deployed to the area as aggravating risks already posed by IS.
IS cells now generally target Iraqi security forces and those seen as collaborating with them in relatively small incidents, with mass attacks in urban areas rare.
On April 12, the Anbar regional police said that they had arrested “a terrorist group that was planning to carry out assassinations using toxic substances” against community leaders and commanders of security forces.

Iran's new Iraq ambassador affiliated with Quds Force
Mustafa Saadoun/Al-Monitor/April 14/2022
Iran appointed the country’s fourth ambassador to Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, and similar to his predecessors he is part of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry announced on April 10 that Mohamad Kadhim al-Sadiq was appointed Tehran’s ambassador to Baghdad, succeeding Iraj Masjedi, who served in this post since April 2017.
The appointment comes at a time when Tehran is engaged in important negotiations with Washington in Vienna, with Iraq being considered as a pressure and negotiations card. It also coincides with the Saudi-Iranian negotiations in Baghdad in coordination with the Iraqi government.
Journalists close to the Iranian embassy in Baghdad reported that the new ambassador is of Iraqi origin. He was born in the city of Najaf and is fluent in Arabic, specifically the Iraqi dialect.
Sadiq held the post of deputy Iranian ambassador to Baghdad for years, and worked in the Iraqi file since 2003. He is a member of a religious family and he is the brother of cleric Mohammed Reza al-Sadiq (1945-1994).
Remarkably, the new ambassador is affiliated with the elite Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, which carries out missions outside Iran, similar to all ambassadors to Iraq since 2003.
Since 2003, Iran has appointed its ambassadors to Iraq with military — not diplomatic — backgrounds, especially from the Quds Force, starting with its first ambassador after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, followed by Hassan Danaiefar, Iraj Masjedi and now Sadiq.
The background of Tehran’s ambassadors to Baghdad confirms that the Iraqi file is in the hands of the elite Quds Force, not the Foreign Ministry, which may be marginalized in this regard.
Speaking to Al-Monitor, political analyst Qusay Mahbouba said, “All Iranian ambassadors to Iraq since 2003 were nominated by the IRGC, because the Iraq file, in all its details, is in the hands of its Quds Force. The other staff members of the embassy are also affiliated with the Quds Force.”
He added, “The new ambassador has worked in the Iranian embassy in Baghdad since 2003 and is very close to all Iraqi files and their intersections with the political components. He witnessed their successes and failures, and has a major experience in Iraqi affairs. He is familiar with the successful and failed experiences in the past 19 years.”
He noted, “The Iraq file will continue to be under the supervision of the Quds Force for the next five years. There are intersections between Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC over areas of influence in Iraq. But under the directives of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the file will remain in the hands of the IRGC, although the IRGC’s influence diminished after the killing of Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani.”
Iran perceives Iraq as a battlefield against its foes, especially the United States. Since 2003, it has supported, financed and established groups that oppose the US presence and Washington's interests in Iraq. These groups have always served as pressure cards used by Tehran in its negotiations with Washington.
The greatest Iranian influence in Iraq over the past 19 years has been its military influence, and it will inevitably need someone in the country to control and coordinate with these armed groups.
Perhaps, Tehran wants to reduce the role of Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani, who, according to experts and specialists, was unable to fill the void left by his predecessor. That is why a friend and confidant of the former general who is familiar with the Iraqi file was appointed.
Arash Azizi, a visiting Iranian scholar at Stanford University and the author of Shadow Commander, told Al-Monitor, “Iran considers Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, as major battlefields in its indirect war with the US, Israel and the main Gulf Cooperation Council countries.”
He added, “The appointment of Sadiq seems to be a continuation of the status quo. He is a somewhat ambiguous figure who has served earlier with Masjedi as an advisor. He worked out of Iran’s embassy in Baghdad earlier, but not publicly.”
Azizi added, “Iran’s policy in Iraq has been ongoing in a bid to retain significant influence in the central government through the presence of pro-Tehran figures, including Hadi al-Amiri. Tehran certainly helps coordinate the policies of Amiri and other Coordination Framework leaders such as Nouri al-Maliki. Yet, Iran also maintains its large military and intelligence presence which will be used in many ways when needed.”
When President Ebrahim Raisi took office, the IRGC’s role was expected to increase at the expense of the Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic role, as his policies go in line with those of the IRGC.
Speaking to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, sources at Iran’s Foreign Ministry noted, “The new ambassador was the main player in the Iranian embassy over the past years. He was in charge of the Iraqi file and preferred back then to stay away from the spotlight and to work behind the scenes.”
The source added, “Sadiq will be the actual official in charge of the Iraqi file in Iran, because he has an experience in this file, which is one of the most important files for Iran.”
Iran’s message behind appointing members of the Quds Force as its ambassadors to Baghdad, although they do not have diplomatic backgrounds, are not addressed to Iraqis only, but also to the US and its allies in the region. The message is that Iraq is an arena for the ongoing conflict and influence for Tehran, which permeates Iraqi affairs.

It is not too late to punish Iran for its crimes against humanity
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/April 14, 2022
When it comes to the Iranian regime and its role in crimes against humanity, there are many incidents that remain unresolved after the passage of many years or even decades.
Some of them, like the bombing of civilian infrastructure in Syria, are likely attributable to the Iranian regime and its proxy militia and terror groups. Human rights lawyers are currently attempting to bring Iranian and Syrian military officials before the International Criminal Court to be held accountable for war crimes. Gissou Nia, a lawyer who is on the legal team, said: “Up until now, little public attention has been paid to the legal responsibility of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the decade-long Syrian conflict, despite the significant intervention of Iranian officials in Syria and perpetration of atrocities. The Islamic Republic of Iran has provided a vast range of military and non-military support to achieve its objectives, chiefly to prevent the fall of disgraced Syrian President Bashar Assad at any cost. Unfortunately, that goal has been fought at the cost of hundreds of thousands of killed, injured and displaced Syrian civilians.”
During the Syrian conflict, Iran sought the help of its Shiite proxies, primarily Hezbollah, in support of Assad’s forces. When the number of Syrian opposition groups increased, Tehran hired Shiite fighters from other countries, including Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In addition, the Iranian regime is yet to be held accountable for another major crime against humanity. In 1988, Iran was the site of what many human rights experts and scholars of international law have labeled as genocide and the single worst crime against humanity to take place in the second half of the 20th century. Between July and September of that year, about 30,000 political prisoners were executed following sham trials that often lasted less than five minutes. The “death commissions” responsible for those trials were empaneled in the wake of then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini issuing a fatwa that targeted opposition activists from the principal Iranian opposition movement, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which declared them all guilty of the capital crime of “enmity against God.”
In comparison to other similar atrocities, the 1988 massacre of Iranian prisoners took place relatively far from the public eye. But even in the absence of social media’s influence on the speed with which such information is disseminated, it was revealed to Western policymakers almost immediately. As a result, the sharp rise in executions was referenced in a UN General Assembly resolution on Iran’s human rights situation that same year. Unfortunately, however, none of the relevant UN bodies followed up on that resolution — a fact that was acknowledged by UN human rights experts in September 2020, when they sent a letter to the Iranian authorities calling for transparency about the massacre and its still-unfolding legacy.
The letter detailed the “devastating impact” that inaction had upon the massacre’s survivors and the families of victims, as well as on the overall situation of human rights in Iran. By extension, the letter served as a general warning about the danger of allowing crimes against humanity to go unpunished, especially after they have been publicly acknowledged and condemned on the international stage.
If such acts are not confronted and punished at an early stage, the underlying evil is sure to fester and spread.
Although one former Iranian prison official is currently facing trial in Sweden under universal jurisdiction laws for his part in the 1988 massacre, no one has so far been held accountable. In Iran, the higher authorities have been systematically rewarded for their involvement, with the most egregious example coming just last year, when Ebrahim Raisi was installed as president of the Islamic Republic. In 1988, he was one of four officials who served on the Tehran death commission, whereupon he developed a reputation for particular dedication to Khomeini’s demand that clerical authorities “annihilate the enemies of Islam immediately.”If that were not bad enough, Raisi was in charge of Iran’s judiciary in 2019, when the regime’s crackdown as a result of a nationwide uprising killed at least 1,500 people and landed thousands of others in jail. The incident reinforced his reputation as the “butcher of Tehran” and illustrated an essential fact about the long-term impact of crimes against humanity: If such acts are not confronted and punished at an early stage, the underlying evil is sure to fester and spread, becoming embedded in the system that allowed the crimes to occur in the first place.
The violent repression of dissent and the export of “revolutionary” principles of Islamic extremism are core features of the clerical regime’s strategy for maintaining power. But it is never too late to act. It is high time to end the impunity that the ruling ayatollahs have enjoyed for three decades and hold them accountable for their crimes against humanity.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

Can Europe and Turkey crowd Russia out of the Caucasus?
Nikola Mikovic/The Arab News/April 15/2022
Now that the Kremlin is preoccupied with its war in Ukraine, Turkey is seeking to change the dynamic and normalise ties with Armenia, despite a bitter history between Ankara and Yerevan.
Over the past 30 years, Russia has been one of the biggest foreign powers operating in the turbulent South Caucasus region. But the invasion of Ukraine means the two regional archenemies, Armenia and Azerbaijan, are now attempting to distance themselves from Moscow.
Other global and regional actors, namely the European Union and Turkey, are aiming to replace Russia as the major arbiter in the decades old dispute between the two countries. Turkey has previously backed Azerbaijan against Armenia, which Russia has treated as a nominal ally. Now that the Kremlin is preoccupied with its war in Ukraine, Turkey is seeking to change the dynamic and normalise ties with Armenia, despite a bitter history between Ankara and Yerevan. The European Union, meanwhile, is attempting to increase its influence in the South Caucasus.
On April 6, Charles Michel, the European Council president, initiated a meeting between Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The two leaders met in Brussels and discussed the implementation of a ceasefire agreement signed in Moscow in 2020. The deal effectively ended a 44-day war that the two countries fought over Nagorno-Karabakh region, although sporadic clashes continue to this day.
As a result of the meeting, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to establish a joint border commission that will delimit the border between the two countries and “ensure a stable security situation along and in the vicinity of the borderline.” In other words, Pashinyan de facto accepted Baku’s five-point plan to normalise relations with its energy-rich neighbour. Azerbaijan’s document calls on each side to recognise the other’s territorial integrity, abstain from threats, demarcate the border and open transportation links.
It is, however, rather questionable if the two countries will reach a lasting peace deal any time soon. Armenian opposition parties strongly oppose any agreement that defines Artsakh (the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh) as part of Azerbaijan. More importantly, even though Russia’s position in the global arena is not nearly as strong as it was before Moscow launched its war in Ukraine, the Kremlin still has significant leverage over Yerevan.
As a result of the 2020 Moscow-brokered ceasefire deal, some 2,000 Russian troops have deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh to protect ethnic Armenians who are still living in the region. It is not surprising, therefore, that Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan travelled to Moscow on April 8 to meet his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. In the coming days, Pashinyan is expected to meet President Vladimir Putin, as the Kremlin will undoubtedly attempt to preserve its role as a mediator in the South Caucasus.
Aliyev, on the other hand, was quick to make a phone call to his ally, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Following the Second Karabakh War, Turkey has managed to increase its presence in the South Caucasus. At the same time, Moscow and Ankara have established a joint Russo-Turkish observation centre to monitor the cease-fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
However, given a new geopolitical reality, Russia will have a hard time preserving the status quo in the region. Although Armenia is the Kremlin’s ally in both the Collective Security Treaty Organisation and the Eurasian Union, an Armenian representative did not take part in the United Nations vote to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council. Armenia is also actively working on normalising relations with Turkey, even though more than two thirds of the Armenian population strongly opposes establishing diplomatic ties with Ankara.
Armenian political analyst Areg Kochinyan, however, warned that “Armenia’s statehood will be under threat in the medium term, if the country does not normalise relations with Ankara and Baku.” Indeed, under the current circumstances, Armenia cannot count on Russia’s serious support, which is why the land-locked nation of around three million people is expected to make painful unilateral concessions to Azerbaijan, the clear winner in the 44-day war.
Baku is now looking to exploit Russia’s primary focus on its military operation in Ukraine to make gains in Nagorno-Karabakh. On March 25, following clashes between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces in the mountainous region, Azerbaijan established control over the village of Farrukh, which had been under the protection of the Russian peacekeeping force since November 2020. In Brussels, Pashinyan and Aliyev reportedly discussed Azerbaijan’s actions, although talks “did not lead to a joint assessment of the situation.”
From Yerevan’s perspective, the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be the subject of negotiations, while for Baku that issue has been resolved in 2020 when Azerbaijan restored its sovereignty over a significant portion of the region, as well as surrounding areas. Given that Azerbaijan is firmly backed by Turkey, while Yerevan’s ally Russia cannot help itself, let alone Armenia, a future peace deal between the two countries is unlikely to include the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh.
One thing is for sure: if a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan is signed in Brussels, rather than in Moscow, it will be another Russian geopolitical defeat.
*Nikola Mikovic is a political analyst in Serbia. His work focuses mostly on the foreign policies of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, with special attention on energy and “pipeline politics.”