A Bundle Of English Reports, News and Editorials For January 05-06/2020 Addressing the On Going Mass Demonstrations & Sit In-ins In Iranian Occupied Lebanon in its 81th Day
Compiled By: Elias Bejjani
January 06/2020
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on January05- 06/2020
Nasrallah and Hezbollah Evil Organization are a cancer ravaging peace, and the entity of Lebanon/Elias Bejjani/January 06/2020
Hezbollah will avenge father’s death: Soleimani’s daughter
Hezbollah leader says Soleimani killing marks new phase for region
Lebanese Hezbollah deputy chief in Tehran to pay respects after Soleimani killed
US carried out ‘very stupid act’ by killing Soleimani: Hezbollah deputy leader
Soleimani Billboards on Airport Road ahead of Hizbullah Rally
Some Lebanon Banks Close over Angry Clients’ Demands
Hezbollah Raises Alert Level on Southern Border
Hezbollah: US soldiers to return home in coffins
Ghosn’s Appearance Before Lebanese Judiciary Awaits Interpol’s Response to Legal Loophole
Nancy Ajram Husband Kills Burglar who Enters Their Villa
Japan Lashes Out in First Comments on Ghosn Escape
Hezbollah vows retaliation against US for Soleimani killing/Timour Azhari/Al Jazeera/January 05/2020
What’s next for Iran after Suleimani’s death? The past may offer an insight/Khaled Yacoub Oweis/National/January 05/2020
Suleimani’s killing: A major step towards re-shaping the regional order/Elias Sakr/Annahar/January 05/2020
Lebanon and Expectations on the ‘Iranian Response’/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/January 05/2020
Why do Apostolic and Evangelical Armenians celebrate Christmas on January 6?/Perla Kantarjian/Annahar/January 05/2020
Details Of The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on January 05-06/2020
Nasrallah and Hezbollah Evil Organization are a cancer ravaging peace, and the entity of Lebanon
Elias Bejjani/January 06/2020
Nasrallah’s speech of today was a mere squawk, and a big bundle of hallucinations, delusions, fallacies, advocacy for terrorism and an assault on everything that is Lebanese, Arab world and peace in the Middle East.
Hezbollah will avenge father’s death: Soleimani’s daughter
The Associated Press, Beirut/Sunday, 5 January 2020
The daughter of Iran’s General Qassem Soleimani said on Sunday that she knows that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah will avenge the death of her father. Zeinab Soleimani told Lebanon’s Al-Manar TV – which is linked with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group – that the “filthy” US President Donald Trump will not be able to wipe out the achievements of the slain Iranian leader. The young woman, who spoke in Farsi with Arabic voice over, said the death of her father will “not break us” and the United States should know that his blood will not go for free. In the short interview aired Sunday, Zeinab Soleimani said Trump is not courageous because her father was targeted by missiles from afar and the US president should have “stood face to face in front of him.”
Hezbollah leader says Soleimani killing marks new phase for region
Reuters, Beirut/Sunday, 5 January 2020
Lebanese Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said on Sunday the killing of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani marked a new phase in the history of the Middle East. Referring to the date of Soleimani’s killing in a US air strike in Baghdad, Nasrallah said it was a “date separating two phases in the region … it is the start of a new phase and new history not just for Iran or Iraq but the whole region.”Nasrallah, speaking in a televised speech marking Soleimani’s death in a targeted US airstrike, said responding to the killing was not only Iran’s responsibility but the responsibility of its allies in the region too.
He said the US military in the Middle East would pay the price for the killing of Soleimani, and US soldiers and officers would return home in coffins. Nasrallah said attacks on the US military presence in the Middle East would be “fair punishment” for the killing of Soleimani, listing US bases, naval ships and military personnel. Founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982, Hezbollah is a critical part of an Iranian-backed regional military alliance. The United States has designated Hezbollah as a terrorist group. “When the coffins of American soldiers and officers begin to be transported … to the United States, (US President Donald) Trump and his administration will realize that they have really lost the region and will lose the elections,” Nasrallah said, referring to the 2020 US presidential election. Nasrallah said such an approach would force the United States to withdraw from the Middle East “humiliated, defeated and in terror … as they left in the past.”Nasrallah also said that US civilians in the region “should not be touched” because this would serve Trump’s agenda.
Hezbollah leader says he warned Soleimani of assassination threat
Hassan Nasrallah said he had warned Soleimani of the risk of assassination and met him in the Lebanese capital Beirut on New Year’s Day before he was killed in the US attack in Baghdad. In his speech commemorating Soleimani, Nasrallah said he had told Iran’s pre-eminent military commander some time ago of concern for his life.“I told him … there is great focus on you in the American media, press and magazines and they’re printing your pictures on the front page as ‘the irreplaceable general,’ this is media and political priming for your assassination,” Nasrallah said. “Of course he laughed and told me, I hope so, pray for me.”Nasrallah said Soleimani had visited him in Beirut on January 1. “He just said ‘I’ve come to say hello and have a chat,’ and I told him this was a beautiful start to the Gregorian new year,” Nasrallah said. The 62-year-old major general Soleimani was regarded as the second-most powerful figure in Iran after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Lebanese Hezbollah deputy chief in Tehran to pay respects after Soleimani killed
Leen Alfaisal, Al Arabiya English/Sunday, 5 January 2020
Lebanese Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary-General, Naim Qassem, arrived at slain IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani’s house in Tehran on Sunday to pay respects, the Iranian semi-official Fars News Agency reported. Fars also posted a video on its Twitter account showing the arrival of Qassem. Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite IRGC – Quds Force, was killed in a US airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport on Friday. Social media users have also been circulating a photo of Soleimani kissing the forehead of Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.
US carried out ‘very stupid act’ by killing Soleimani: Hezbollah deputy leader
The Associated PressSunday, 5 January 2020
The deputy leader of Lebanese Hezbollah says the United States carried out a “very stupid act” by killing Iran’s General Qassem Soleimani. Sheikh Naim Kassem made his comments on Sunday after paying a visit to the Iranian embassy in Beirut where he paid condolences. He said the attack will make Tehran and its allies stronger. Kassem told reporters “now we have more responsibilities” adding that the United States will discover that “its calculations” were wrong. Heazbollah is a close ally of Iran’s and considered part of a regional Iranian-backed alliance of proxy militias.
Soleimani Billboards on Airport Road ahead of Hizbullah Rally
Naharnet/January 05/2020
Posters of slain top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani have appeared on billboards on roads near Beirut’s international airport. The posters describe Soleimani as “The Leader of the Martyrs of the Axis of Resistance”. Soleimani, who orchestrated Iran’s interventions in the region, was killed in a brazen U.S. airstrike on Baghdad airport earlier this week. Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will speak Sunday afternoon during a Hizbullah rally commemorating the slain general in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Some Lebanon Banks Close over Angry Clients’ Demands
Asharq Al Awsat/January 05/2020
Banks in a region of northern Lebanon were closed until further notice on Saturday, the National News Agency said, after lenders balked at customer anger over a liquidity crisis. Since September banks have arbitrarily capped the amount of dollars that can be withdrawn or transferred abroad, sparking fury among customers who accuse lenders of holding their money hostage. There is also a limit on Lebanese pound withdrawals. Clients wanting dollars often have to stand in queues for hours to make withdrawals, only to be told bills have run out once they reach the counter. On Saturday all banks in the northern region of Akkar were closed, the NNA said, following a call from the Association of Banks for them to shut their doors “until further notice”. On Friday, citizens entered a bank branch in the town of Halba to protest about customers being unable to withdraw enough dollars or their salaries in Lebanese pounds in full, NNA reported. They said they would not leave until a customer — who suffered an unspecified health complaint while waiting — was given a guarantee that he would be paid in full. The 10-hour standoff — which included security forces firing teargas inside the building — ended with the man being taken to hospital and management promising to pay him in full. The Association of Banks the same day called for lenders in the area to close over the incident, which it described as an “attack” and “a threat to the lives and safety of employees”. Unprecedented anti-government protests have gripped Lebanon since October 17, in part to decry a lack of action over the deepening economic crisis. The Lebanese pound has been pegged to the dollar for more than two decades at 1,507 to the greenback, and both currencies are used in everyday interactions. But with banks limiting dollar withdrawals, the rate on the unofficial market has topped 2,000 Lebanese pounds to the dollar and the cost of living has increased. In the southern city of Sidon on Saturday, protesters moved trucks and a crane in front of a bank to force management to hand a man his dues in Lebanese pounds after he left his job, NNA said.
They removed the vehicles after the man was paid in full. In the area of Bikfaya outside Beirut, people threw eggs at a bank building overnight and scrawled “revolution” on it, the same news agency said. Tears and screaming have become common in banks in recent weeks as citizens accuse lenders of stealing their money. Some have filed law suits against banks. The head of the Bar Association Melhem Khalaf on Friday called on banks to lift restrictions on transfers and withdrawals, calling the measures “unconstitutional”.
Hezbollah Raises Alert Level on Southern Border
Beirut- Hanan Hamdan/Asharq Al Awsat/January 05/2020
Fears of a military escalation on the border between Lebanon and Israel augmented, in light of information about Hezbollah increasing its readiness in the South, in anticipation of any military development following the US killing of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad. Information circulated on social media stating that Hezbollah has raised the alert level on the southern Lebanese border and that it has taken precautionary measures by enhancing its presence and deployment there. While Lebanese sources with knowledge of the matter denied any unusual measures taken by the movement in South Lebanon and stressed that the situation there was normal, they did not deny that “under the current regional circumstances, a certain degree of alert is taken by the party,” in parallel with a vigilant atmosphere on the Israeli side since Friday. “These measures are not new, and the party is in a permanent state of readiness, especially given the developments taking place in the region,” the sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. The National News Agency (NNA) reported on Friday that Israeli forces had taken precautionary measures along the northern border with Lebanon, and Israeli patrols were absent from the occupied side adjacent to the Blue Line. Meanwhile, a military source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Lebanese Army was carrying out “normal procedures in such a situation in the entire country, and not only in the South.” The sources added that some places have seen additional measures, especially in the vicinity of the US embassy in Beirut. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is expected to deliver a speech on Sunday to comment on Soleimani’s killing and recent developments.
Hezbollah: US soldiers to return home in coffins
Associated Press/January 05/2020
BEIRUT: The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group said America’s military in the Middle East region, including U.S. bases, warships and soldiers are fair targets following the U.S. killing of Iran’s top general. Hassan Nasrallah said evicting U.S. military forces from the region is now a priority. The U.S. military, which recently killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani “will pay the price,” he added in a speech Sunday. “When the coffins of American soldiers begin to return to the United States, Trump and his administration will realize that they have lost the region and that they will lose the elections,” Nasrallah said.
Nasrallah also said the suicide attackers who forced the Americans to leave from our region in the past are still here and their numbers have increased. Iraq’s parliament has begun an emergency session and will likely vote on a resolution requiring the government to ask foreign forces to leave Iraq. The resolution specifically calls for ending an agreement in which Washington sent troops to Iraq more than four years ago to help in the fight against the Islamic State group. The resolution is backed by most Shiite members of parliament, who hold a majority of seats. The request was put forward Sunday by the largest bloc in the legislature, known as Fatah. That bloc includes leaders associated with the Iran-backed paramilitary Popular Mobilization Units, which were a major force in the fight against IS. Many Sunni and Kurdish legislators did not show up for the session, apparently because they oppose abolishing the deal. At the start of the session, 180 legislators of the 329-member parliament were present.
Ghosn’s Appearance Before Lebanese Judiciary Awaits Interpol’s Response to Legal Loophole
Beirut- khalil Fleihan/Asharq Al Awsat/January 05/2020
Carlos Ghosn managed to disable a device that was attached to his wrist when he was allowed to leave his home, Asharq Al-Awsat learned from a diplomatic report received in Beirut. The report pointed out that the investigation team was surprised how Ghosn was able to escape despite tight control by the Japanese security forces, who were constantly monitoring his movements through devices installed around his house. The report indicated that the officers, who were responsible for his security, were still under arrest. As for Japan’s contact with the Interpol, a loophole in the letter sent by Japan to Lebanon required a correction. Interpol Lyon in France – the headquarters of the organization’s general secretariat – was asked to correct the loophole. Sources said that his appearance before the Lebanese Judiciary was awaiting INTERPOL’s response to correct the gap in the letter. Then, he would be summoned by the public prosecutor who will investigate the charge against him, according to the sources. It should be noted that the Lebanese judiciary can interrogate Ghosn without arresting him, because an arrest can only take place in case of charges of a crime or drugs, which does not apply to Ghosn, according to judicial sources who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat. The sources added that as a result of the investigations with Ghosn, State Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat will submit the final report to Justice Minister Albert Sarhan, who will look at it and makes a decision to proceed with his trial in Beirut because there is no extradition agreement with Tokyo; therefore, Ghosn will be referred to the competent court in the light of the results of the investigation. A diplomatic source said that Japan has also asked Turkey to investigate with the crew of the private jet that took Ghosn to Beirut on Monday morning. The source pointed out that the meeting of the new ambassador of Japan to Lebanon with Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Salim Jreissati focused on the importance of Beirut’s cooperation, even if there was no extradition agreement between the two sides.
Nancy Ajram Husband Kills Burglar who Enters Their Villa
Naharnet/January 05/2020
The husband of Lebanese popstar Nancy Ajram shot dead a burglar who broke into the couple’s villa in the Keserwan area of New Sehayleh at dawn Sunday. The National News Agency identified the masked and armed robber as 31-year-old Syrian national Mohammed Hasan al-Moussa. Ajram’s agent, Jiji Lamara, said Ajram was lightly injured in the incident. CCTV footage shows the burglar carrying Ajram’s purse inside the villa and looking for items to steal before encountering the popstar’s husband, Fadi al-Hashem. The husband carries a chair to confront the robber at this point, as the burglar brandishes a gun and asks him to put down the chair and get inside. Al-Hashem said al-Moussa then asked him to give him money from his jacket, which he did, before the robber asked him where “the gold is stored.”“Don’t oblige me to hurt you, Mr. Fadi, let your wife come here immediately,” the husband quotes the slain robber as saying. A number of young men then arrive on the scene at Ajram’s request. CCTV footage shows them searching for the burglar before he appears and threatens them with his gun. He then enters the room of the couple’s children, as al-Hashem manages to get his own gun.
“I ran to him like a Kamikaze, I wanted to tear him apart, even if he shoots me,” al-Hashem says in remarks carried by MTV. The CCTV footage then shows what appears to be the exchange of gunfire that left al-Moussa dead. The husband has meanwhile been ordered arrested by Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun for further investigations.
Japan Lashes Out in First Comments on Ghosn Escape
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 05/2020
Carlos Ghosn’s escape from Japan is “unjustifiable” and he is thought to have left the country using “illegal methods,” the Japanese justice minister said Sunday, in the first official public comments on the case.
The 65-year-old former Nissan boss skipped bail and fled Japan where he was awaiting trial over multiple counts of financial misconduct that he denies. It was the latest twist in a saga that has gripped the business world and his escape from Japan has left authorities there red-faced and scrambling to defend their justice system from fierce international criticism. “Our country’s criminal justice system sets out appropriate procedures to clarify the truth of cases and is administered appropriately, while guaranteeing basic individual human rights. The flight by a defendant on bail is unjustifiable,” said Masako Mori.
“It is clear that we do not have records of the defendant Ghosn departing Japan. It is believed that he used some wrongful methods to illegally leave the country. It is extremely regrettable that we have come to this situation,” added the minister. She confirmed Ghosn’s bail has already been canceled and that an Interpol “red notice” had been issued. In separate comments, the public prosecutors office deemed Ghosn’s flight a “crime” and said the tycoon had “knowingly flouted” the country’s judicial procedures. In their first remarks since Ghosn’s dramatic flight just before the New Year, prosecutors said the escape vindicated their argument that he should have been kept in custody.
“The defendant Ghosn had abundant financial power and multiple foreign bases. It was easy for him to flee,” the statement said. He had “significant influence” inside Japan and globally, and there was a “realistic danger” he would destroy evidence related to the case, they added. The Ghosn case put the international spotlight on Japan’s justice system, which came under heavy fire for authorities’ ability to hold suspects almost indefinitely pending trial. Ghosn twice won bail by persuading the court he was not a flight risk — decisions seen as controversial at the time. Prosecutors argue that the lengthy detention is required to prove guilt beyond doubt and they are unwilling to charge a suspect if their case is not iron-clad. The court is fair and will only find people guilty beyond reasonable doubt, they said in their statement. “Therefore it was necessary and unavoidable to detain the defendant Ghosn in order to continue fair and appropriate criminal proceedings,” they said.’Refused to obey’ Ghosn himself did appear once in court, under a little-used procedure to ask why he was still being detained. At this appearance, he said he was eager to defend himself at a court trial and clear his name. However, the prosecutors said that by fleeing Japan, he had “violated that oath” and “refused to obey the judgement of our nation’s court.””He wanted to escape punishment for his own crime. There is no way to justify this act,” they added. Ghosn himself has said he left Japan because he was no longer willing to be “held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system.” Amid fanciful accounts of a Houdini-like escape from Japan, he appears to have simply walked out of his house, according to security camera footage seen by Japanese public broadcaster NHK — before boarding a private jet to Beirut via Istanbul. Japan has launched a probe into the humiliating security lapse and prosecutors said they would “coordinate with the relevant agencies to swiftly and appropriately investigate the matter.”The 65-year-old former Nissan boss has vowed to give his own account at a hotly awaited press conference in Beirut this week.
Hezbollah vows retaliation against US for Soleimani killing
Timour Azhari/Al Jazeera/January 05/2020
Nasrallah’s stance, analysts say, begins a new period of escalation between Iran-backed militias and US forces.
Beirut, Lebanon – Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has vowed to target US forces in the region in retaliation for the the killing of top Iranian and Iraqi commanders in a US drone strike earlier this week. On Friday, Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force, an elite branch of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy leader of the Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces. “It is the American military who killed them and it is them who will pay the price,” Nasrallah said during a speech broadcast to a large crowd in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a support base of the Iran-backed group in Lebanon. He said targets include “US military bases, soldiers, officers and warships”. The Hezbollah leader’s voice was drowned out by chants of “death to America” as thousands of flag-waving supporters clad in black jumped to their feet and pumped their fists. Nasrallah then added that civilians should not be targeted. “Touching any civilian anywhere in the world would only serve [US President Donald] Trump’s policies,” he said. But once Trump sees “the coffins of American soldiers and officers begin to return home” he would realise that “he has lost the region”, Nasrallah added.
Direct confrontation
Analysts say Nasrallah’s stance begins a new period of escalation and direct confrontation between Iran-backed militias in the region, known as the “Resistance Axis”, and the US military. “The Americans have started a new kind of conflict that will last years,” Karim Makdissi, Chair of the Public Policy and International Affairs program at the American University off Beirut’s Issam Fares Institute, told Al Jazeera. “There is now a clear, open mission for the Resistance Axis: Removal of all US bases from the region. Whether they can do that or not is a different question,” he added. The scale of the regional response to Soleimani’s killing stems form his distinct role as a link between Iran-backed militias in the region, a role that saw him regularly shuttling between Beirut, Damascus and Tehran. Soleimani’s special role, Nasrallah said during his speech, meant that his killing had to be viewed as an attack on the Resistance Axis as a whole, rather than just on Iran. “Its a moment of ‘you’ve declared war on us directly, not via Israel or another proxy’,” Makdissi said. “So let’s cut out the middle man. They are not thinking in terms of Iraq or Syria or Lebanon. It is one nation that stretches a vast distance and needs to be liberated from American military occupation.”Shortly after Nasrallah’s speech ended, Iraq’s parliament ratified a non-binding decision to end all foreign troop presence in the country, a motion clearly aimed at the US troops.
Though largely symbolic, Makdissi said the decision put US legitimacy in the region on shakier ground. “The US was never welcome in Syria and now its situation in Iraq is becoming more untenable,” he said. Still, Sami Nader, director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs, said no side wanted an all-out war. Economic crises in Iran but also in its main areas of influence, Iraq and Lebanon, cannot bear an open confrontation, Nader said. Right now, Iran needs to “save face” which it could do via a limited strike, “a firework” as Nader put it. “This doesn’t mean that we can’t drift towards all-out war – there is definitely a threat. Often wars are caused by a course of events where escalation breeds more escalation.”
‘We have all become jihadis’
In Beirut’s southern suburbs, mourners who turned out for Nasrallah’s speech said they were now more ready than ever to take the confrontation to the US and to Israel, the latter of which occupied southern Lebanon for 18 years and fought several wars on Lebanese soil, the most recent in 2006. Soleimani is reported to have played a commanding role in the 2006 war in which Hezbollah fought the Israelis to a bitter stalemate. “We lost a great commander who had a massive effect on the battles concerning Lebanon,” Hussein, a 27-year old employee at a sports store told Al Jazeera. “I hope the response comes very quick. The only response I think fits the level of the martyrdom of Muhandis and Soleimani is the liberation of Palestine, nothing else,” he added. Holding a small picture of Suleimani, made glossy in the style of martyrs, Mohammad, a 50-year old factory worker, said that the IRGC commander’s killing had succeeded in uniting those in the Resistance across the region. “If a symbol of your nation was assaulted, what would you do – throw flowers at the enemy or establish a resistance to confront that enemy? All the Lebanese and those loyal in the region should join in with this existential battle,” Mohammad told Al Jazeera. “Hezbollah does not just have 1,000, 2,000 or 10,000 in its ranks. After Soleimani’s death, the number is open. For Qassem, we have all become jihadis,” he added.
Nasrallah story.
Counter-revolutionary moment
Soleimani’s killing comes as protests against corruption and ruling parties seen as inept are ongoing in both Lebanon and Iraq. Anti-government protests in Iran late last year, sparked by fuel-price hikes, were violently suppressed. While the protests in Lebanon and Iraq are not directed against Iranian influence, they have targeted local powers backed by Iran that are seen as having either participated in or covered for corruption. In both countries, protesters have also repeatedly been attacked by supporters of Iran-backed groups. Nader said the aftermath of Suleimani and Muhandis’ killings may prove to be the biggest attempt yet at a “counter-revolution” against uprisings in both countries. At the same time, both states remain without fully functioning governments, after they resigned amidst massive protests. In Lebanon, Hezbollah and its allies, the Amal Movement and Free Patriotic Movement, tasked former minister Hassan Diab with forming a new government on December 19. Hezbollahhad pledged that the government would not be one of “confrontation” with the west. Hezbollah MP Walid Sukkarieh told Al Jazeera that this stance had not changed. “There is a popular movement in the streets that says they want a technocratic government, and we agree,” he said. “A government of confrontation would not help to rescue Lebanon from its dire economic situation, which we will need god’s help to do anyway.”
What’s next for Iran after Suleimani’s death? The past may offer an insight
Khaled Yacoub Oweis/National/January 05/2020
As possible scenarios for an Iranian response to Qassem Suleimani’s assassination continue to circulate, the last time the US killed an operative as remotely important to Tehran’s foreign operations may offer clues on how the country will move forward.
In the last, and reportedly only, television interview by Mr Suleimani, he focused on his affinity to a lynchpin figure whose killing also constituted a huge blow to Iran’s clerical rulers, depriving them of a chief regional enforcer. He was Imad Mughniyeh, the Hezbollah mastermind killed by a bomb that tore apart his golden Mitsubishi Pajero next to the Iranian Cultural Centre in Damascus in February 2008. Mr Soleimani was the de facto boss of Mughniyeh, and was much closer to the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, than his Lebanese sub-ordinate, who was not officially a member in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. But Mughniyeh’s assassination showed how much Iran weighs options carefully when it comes to the possibility of direct confrontation.
The 2008 assassination, US media reports later said, was carried out by the CIA and Israel’s Mossad. At the time, Iran and Hezbollah blamed Israel as the perpetrator. In the immediate aftermath, Iran’s IRGC said Israel would soon be destroyed by Hezbollah, which threatened Israel with open war. Mr Suleimani’s Quds Force is a division of the IRGC. But no direct hostilities by either side ensued. Two years earlier, Hezbollah had come under domestic criticism in Lebanon for starting a month-long war with Israel in which 1,200 Lebanese civilians were killed and significant infrastructure in Lebanon was destroyed. It was not until the Syrian civil war, which was ignited by the crackdown on the 2011 revolt against Bashar Al Assad that violence between Hezbollah and Israel resumed, though it remained limited. Mr Mughniyeh was Lebanese but Mr Suleimani saw him as one of Iran’s own, and unlike other Arab clients of Tehran, a near equal. In 2019, Mr Suleimani called Mr Mughniyeh a “legend”, Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV reported. A US drone attack killed Mr Suleimani in Baghdad last week, along with his Iraqi right hand militiaman Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis, in the first overt violence between Iran and Washington in decades.
President Trump warned Iranian leaders against acting on their vows for revenge, saying the American military would pulverise 52 sites in Iran, equal to the number of Americans in the 1979 hostage crisis. In the wake of Suleimani’s assassination, Iran vowed “severe revenge” for the general, later clarifying this would come in a military form. Iranian officials made similar emotional pronouncements mourning Mughniyeh in 2008. But Tehran’s thinking quickly recalibrated and focused on long-term gains. At the time, Iranian officials said they would be conducting their own investigation into Mughniyeh’s killing, prompting a rare public spat with the Syrian regime. But the assassination occurred as a potential route for compromise was emerging in the form of the US nuclear deal, despite tensions with Washington remaining high and several Iranian nuclear scientists were being assassinated.
The nuclear deal was signed in 2015. Under the Trump administration the US pulled out, and over the last year has intensified sanctions on Tehran. Mr Suleimani was a central figure in Iranian brinkmanship, whose tenet has been to avoid open ended escalations.
In a lengthy interview with Iranian television in October, Mr Suleimani recalled some of his perceived achievements with Mr Mughniyeh. He recalled how under threat from Israeli spy planes he crossed with Mughniyeh into Lebanon from Syria during Hezbollah’s 2006 war with Israel to whisk the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, to safety at an undisclosed location. Diplomats and security officials in the Middle East said Iran and Hezbollah eventually did extract their own version of revenge for the killing of Mughniyeh. The sources said Tehran and Hezbollah encouraged Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza to ratchet up rocket firing on Israel throughout 2008. The rockets contributed to the outbreak of the First Gaza War on December 27, 2008 which was followed a few days later by Israel’s invasion of the strip. Up to 1,400 Palestinians were killed, mostly civilians, compared with very few Israelis. It may have been a very indirect, almost arcane retribution for the killing of one of the most wanted men in the world. It cost thousands of Palestinian lives – people Tehran supposedly backs – and the lives of zero Iranians.
Suleimani’s killing: A major step towards re-shaping the regional order
Elias Sakr/Annahar/January 05/2020
Simply put, Iran has no choice but to stick to its original plan and to respond to the US attack in kind.
Almost six months ago, President Donald Trump was both criticized and commended for suspending a strike on Iran after Tehran downed a US drone. His decision averted an imminent military escalation with Iran but projected weakness, which emboldened Iran to step up its attacks.
Last week, Tehran’s proxies in Iraq shelled a base, killing a US contractor before directing supporters to lay siege to the American Embassy in Baghdad. To compensate for his perceived weakness especially ahead of a presidential election, Trump greenlit a largely disproportionate retaliation, ordering the killing of Iran’s top general Qassem Suleimani. Suleimani, the right hand of the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was in charge of exporting the Islamic Revolution across the Middle East, commanding armed groups throughout the region.
His assassination was always a possibility but its timing most likely took Khamenei by surprise. Theoretically, Iran now faces three choices. The first option is to agree to US terms by containing its proxies across the Middle East and scaling down its missiles program.
The second option is to softly retaliate while adopting a wait and see approach and hoping for Trump to lose the US November presidential race. The third option is to respond in kind and engage the US in a wider conflict, preferably short of a full-blown regional war, in a bid to secure a better deal with the US.
Practically, surrendering to US terms or adopting a wait and see approach were never options for Iran. The day Trump unwinded the nuclear deal and laid out his new conditions, Tehran chose to go on the offensive. And as Trump tightened the noose on the Islamic Republic, Tehran gradually upped the ante, from sabotaging oil shipments and downing an American drone to targeting Saudi Arabia and US assets in Iraq.
Iran is unlikely to concede now what it didn’t concede before, nor can Tehran afford to await the outcome of the US presidential election.Even if Trump loses the race, there is no guarantee that his successor would reverse course and ease sanctions that are fueling discontent with Iran’s leadership.
Simply put, Iran has no choice but to stick to its original plan and to respond to the US attack in kind. Suleimani’s replacement, Esmail Ghaani, warned, “wait patiently, and you’ll see the bodies of Americans all over the Middle East.”Trump appeared to take Ghaani’s statement seriously. The US president threatened to bomb 52 sites in Iran if it retaliates by attacking Americans. Hours later, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Iranian-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, echoed Ghaani’s remarks, saying military American personnel across the region are now targets.”When the coffins of American soldiers begin to return to the United States, Trump and his administration will realize that they have lost the region and that they will lose the elections,” Nasrallah said.
His threats should be taken seriously.
Does Trump have a plan?
Trump has been so unorthodox and is following his instincts, a wise friend recently told me. The president is convinced that his instincts have served him well and are behind his success all along. Will that play well in the continuing and evolving US-Iran confrontation and lead to a new regional order or to a new regional disaster?
Lebanon and Expectations on the ‘Iranian Response’
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/January 05/2020
While the Lebanese were glued to their television screens, watching the news of the killing of Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and its aftermath, a breaking news headline appeared on the screen: “Israeli planes fly at low altitudes over Sidon and the south”.
It seemed clear that the Israelis immediately started preparing themselves after they heard the news and the calls for retaliation and revenge. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short his trip to Greece and returned to Israel. The Defense Minister Naftali Benet called for an emergency meeting among his high-ranking officials, announcing that he would meet Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi and the most prominent security officials at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv. Talk of the northern front returned to the forefront.
Obviously, Israel’s involvement is no secret. It brings back flashes of the nightmare of an Iranian-Israeli war fought in the Levant. Those who hate the Iranian regime and its behavior are aware that what Israel is doing will not further their interests, that it only acts against their interests. Death and destruction are the only prospects on the horizon in the region, especially in tormented Iraq.
However, what would be worse than Israeli interference in Lebanon is if there were intentions to call on the Israelis to interfere. Amos Harel, in his Op-ed for Haaretz, which opposes Netanyahu, writes that his state “has every reason to stay out of the escalating conflict, although regime in Tehran will try to storm Israel because of its ideological grudge against us”.
However, summoning an intervention through an “Iranian response” from Lebanon would almost be suicidal. It would harm the Lebanese people, especially Hezbollah and its milieu. For this reason, regardless of the rhetoric of the enthusiastic orators, the Secretary-General of the party was keen to avoid pledging anything specific in his statement. He said: “The just retribution for those who were killed by criminals, the worst villains in the world, will be the responsibility of all the resistance fighters and Mujahedeen throughout the world.” The word “all” means everyone, but it could also be seen to concern no one. According to the same logic, the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, which is aware that the available options are limited, claimed that “the response to the crime will cover the entire region and will be heavy and painful”.
Thus, given the precedence of Iran refraining from responding to the many Israeli strikes in Syria and Iran igniting wars through its proxies, it is useful to remind ourselves of well-established facts of the Lebanese situation:
First, war is an expensive project, and Iran, the presumed funder of this project, is bankrupt; on top of that, the killing of Soleimani will not suffice to quell its internal unrest.
Second, and in contrast to the 2006 war, no post-war Arab money will be received, and the bankrupt Lebanese state will not be able to provide any emergency support.
Third, and because of Hezbollah’s political behavior, especially since 2008, there will be no substantial communal receptions for civilian victims who may be displaced northward by another Israeli war.
Fourth, which is more accurate in the case of Iraq, any appearance of an appetite for war will be interpreted unambiguously as an appetite for counter-revolution. Advocates of war will be seen wanting Lebanon and Iraq to exclusively be war zones. Allegations, shared in the past few weeks, about the link between the Iraqi and Lebanese revolutions with “embassies and Americans” may form the base of rationalizations for repressive measures.
In addition, a fighter, that is any fighter, must take his rival’s calculations into consideration.
Netanyahu, who does not lack the desire or appetite to harm Iran and Hezbollah, is facing a very complicated general election, an election in which his personal future and reputation are on the line. Donald Trump, who will automatically support Israel, is also awaiting an election before which he hopes that the killing of Qassem Soleimani, after Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, will be equivalent to Barack Obama’s killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011, especially that the latter was defeated and hidden when he was killed, while Soleimani was wandering victorious between Imperial capitals.
This is not to say that Netanyahu and Trump’s wishes are necessarily fateful. But defeating those desires requires extraordinary Iranian power which is not available today, neither economically nor militarily. It is true that this force can carry out separate terrorist acts here and there, such as killing or kidnapping Americans, and bombing oil tankers, but those same actions may become, in light of the direct confrontation with Washington, a double-edged sword.
Therefore, it is for the best that no one dies in the defense of the Iranian regime, especially that winning the war is impossible. Tehran, whether it will respond or not, has already lost many of its sources of power, and perhaps the last event was its entry point to the gradual loss of what remains of those sources of power. As for Lebanon in particular, the lower the zeal of some of its parties for the confrontation, regardless of its size, the lower the cost of pain and devastation that may follow.
Why do Apostolic and Evangelical Armenians celebrate Christmas on January 6?
Perla Kantarjian/Annahar/January 05/2020
The Apostolic Church in Armenia, however, is the only denomination that celebrates the birth, the baptism, and the manifestation of Christ on January 6.
BEIRUT: While many Christians celebrating Christmas on December 25, including Armenian Catholics, begin taking down their Christmas decorations on the “Twelfth Night” of Christmas, Armenian Apostolic and Evangelical Christians prepare themselves to celebrate the birth, baptism and manifestation of Christ on January 6.
While the current civil and Christian ecclesiastical calendar in worldwide use is the Gregorian one, various churches yet consider the Julian calendar for their religious celebrations, such as the Orthodox churches in Russia, Serbia, Ukraine and Ethiopia, and designate the 7th of January their Christmas Day.
The Armenian Apostolic and Evangelical Churches, however, are the only denominations that celebrate the birth, the baptism, and the manifestation of Christ on January 6. According to Father Zareh Sarkissian of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Lebanon, “January 6 marks the feast of the Nativity and the Theophany of Christ.”
During the first centuries of Christianity,” Fr. Sarkissian explained to Annahar, “the feast of Theophany (the revelation of God) was an eight-day celebration from the 6th to the 13th of January. This Feast was celebrated together with a number of observances, like the Annunciation, the Birth, the Circumcision, the Naming of the Lord, the Presentation to the Temple, the Baptism etc. The Birth and the Baptism being the most prominent (and both designating birth), the Church grouped them together and chose to celebrate them on the first day of this eight-day Feast.”
Fr Sarkissian added that it was only around “the second half of the fourth century” that December 25th began to be “gradually observed as the Christmas Day in many parts of the Roman Empire for several local reasons.”
“Until then,” he continued, “the Church in both the East and the West celebrated the Baptism and the Birth of Christ together. Armenia being not bound the decisions of the empire both geographically and politically, faithfully kept the tradition of the early Church and still does not feel the need to deviate from the original practice of a united celebration of nativity and theophany/epiphany.”
Fr Sarkissian explained that “since Armenians are originally and overwhelmingly Apostolic Orthodox, it is very clear why people would call January 6 the ‘Armenian Christmas’”.
As for the ceremonial celebrations, the Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates the manifestation of God on the eve of the feast (the night of January 5) through the divine liturgy of “Jrakaluts” (lightning of the lamps), and it is custom for the gathered faithful to take lit candles and lamps to their houses.
In the morning of the 6th, “the divine ceremony for the mystery of the birth and baptism of our Lord is celebrated.” Following this custom is the liturgy of “Chrorhnek” (blessing of water), conducted as a symbolic commemoration of the holy baptism of Christ, after which the holy water is distributed to the faithful. The following day is the “merelots” (the remembrance day of the departed).
Similarly, the denomination of the Armenian Evangelical Church celebrates Christmas on January 6, but through different customs.
As Pastor Sevag Trashian of the Armenian Evangelical Emmanuel Church told Annahar, “In Lebanon, our youth groups spend the eve before Christmas (January 5) visiting homes and caroling Armenian Christmas hymns, handing out a gift to every house, which is a practice called ‘Avedoum’”
He added, “On the morning of Christmas Day, our churches hold a worship service referred to as ‘Bashdamounk’ in Armenian.”
Nevertheless, a percentage of Armenians following the Roman-Catholic Church still celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25, and the Epiphany (“Asdvadzahaydnoutioun” in Armenian) on January 6.
According to Father Sebouh Garabedian of the Armenian Catholic Church in Lebanon, “January 6 is generally dubbed ‘The Armenian Christmas’ day for many, not taking into consideration the plethora of Armenians belonging to the Roman Catholic Church.”
Fr. Garabedian explained that many factors led to the coining of December 25 as the official Christmas day for the Roman Catholic Church, including “the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar”, and “the urge to provide a Christian alternative to the Pagan holiday of ‘Saturnalia’ which fell around December 25 in the Julian Calendar.”
“The Pagan holiday honored the ancient Sun-God of Saturn, and the Roman Catholic Church wanted to make a statement that the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ is what should be celebrated, because he is the light of our world,” Garabedian said.
As for the ceremonial practices of the Armenian Catholic Church on January 6, which is regarded as the day of the Epiphany and the baptism of Jesus Christ, a divine liturgy is performed, and water is blessed and distributed to the gatherers as a symbolic remembrance of the ecclesiastical meaning behind the date.
As for the giving of presents, Fr. Sarkissian explained that for the Armenians celebrating Christmas on January 6, the visit of “Gaghant Baba” (New Year’s Father) traditionally takes place on New Year’s Eve, because Christmas (January 6) is “thought of as more of a religious and divine holiday; Jesus Christ himself becoming the core and focus of this great holiday.”As they say in Armenia, Shenorhavor Amanor yev Surb Tznund! (Merry Christmas and Congratulations for the Holy Birth)
