English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For June 06/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
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Bible Quotations For today
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
John 14/27-31: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I am coming to you.” If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me;but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 05-06/2020
Ministry of Health announces 6 new COVID19 cases
Hassan, Abdel Samad meet with local authorities to tackle virus threats, awareness campaigns and misleading information
Ministry of Finance: 10th meeting with IMF tackled reforms in Real Estate, Customs directorates
Diab signs judicial reshuffling decree
Army chief meets Foucher
Army raids Al-Qasr town in search of shooters
Hitti condemns Israeli air breaches: A flagrant violation of international resolutions
Diab meets ISF entrance exams’ candidates
Berri tackles general situation with Bahia Hariri
Switzerland declines request for freezing assets Conditions for restrictions are not met
Mobilization' Extended to July 5, Aoun and Diab Slam Attacks on Govt.
Scuffle Erupts in Beirut Neighborhood
Protesting Civil Defense Volunteers Demand to Meet Minister
Israel Launches Raids on Syria Flying over Lebanon
Lebanon has only one hope to escape from total collapse - the IMF
Hezbollah frets as Lebanon braces for biggest protest since Covid-19 outbreak
Abdel Samad at conclusion of consultative sessions on media at Grand Serail: Sector faces great challenges
Demonstraters rally outside Tripoli’s Justice palace to protest activists' arrest
US dollar exchange rate: Buying price at LBP 3890, selling price at LBP 3940
Lebanon’s President, PM Lash Out at Critics
Lebanon aims to unify financial loss figures next week: Presidency
George Floyd vigil shines a light on racism in Lebanon
Expecting the collapse: Meet Lebanon’s young political party ready to take power

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 05-06/2020
Nine Syria regime loyalists killed in Israeli air strikes: Monitor
Report: Iranian Headquarters in Syria Back in Operation After Israeli Air Strikes
EU Increases Financial Support for Refugees in Syria’s Neighboring Countries
SDF Launches New Anti-ISIS Campaign on Iraq-Syria Border
Silence in Baghdad over Iran's Two-year Contract to Export Electricity
Erdogan, Sarraj Endorse Int’l Initiatives
Libya’s GNA Says Retakes Tarhouna
Turkey’s parliament strips status of three opposition MPs
Turkey tries to exploit US protests for political gain - analysis
Trump Hopeful for Iran after American Freed in Prisoner Swap
Trump Sued over Police Charge Outside White House
Brazil Virus Toll Surges to Third-Highest in World
Oil producers to meet Saturday: OPEC source

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 05-06/2020
New US sanctions on Syria mean no leniency for business with Assad/David Adesnik/FDD/June 05/2020
US says Alaska man laundered nearly $1B for Iran through UAE/JON GAMBRELL/AP/June 05/2020
Return of Nation-States Need Not be a Threat/Amir Taheri/Asharq AlAwsat/June 05/2020
Erdogan and the Recruitment of Children to Fight in Libya/Jebril Elabidi/Asharq AlAwsat/June 05/2020
Palestinians in Turkey: What Erdogan Says vs. What Erdogan Does/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/June 5, 2020
Iran regime won’t negotiate with US until after 2020 presidential election/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/June 04, 2020
Question: "Why would God leave the 99 to find 1?"/GotQuestions.org/June 04, 2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 05-06/2020
Ministry of Health announces 6 new COVID19 cases
NNA/June 05/2020
The Ministry of Public Health announced this Friday 6 new coronavirus infections, 3 of them locally detected and 3 others among returnees, thus taking the toll to 1312 cases.

Hassan, Abdel Samad meet with local authorities to tackle virus threats, awareness campaigns and misleading information
NNA/June 05/2020
Minister of Public Health, Hamad Hassan, chaired a meeting for representatives of local authorities, attended by Minister of Information, Manal Abdel Samad, to discuss ways of gearing up and coordinating the measures to be implemented in the next stage of the battle against coronavirus, with emphasis on improving readiness, especially before the launch of the fourth stage of repatriation on May 11; a step which is supposed to be followed at a later stage by the reopening of the airport and the resumption of air traffic.
Emphasis was placed on the need for close coordination between three parties: the Ministry of Public Health concerned with planning, managing plans and overseeing their implementation, international donor organizations, and local authorities, including civil society bodies.
The meeting touched on practical gaps, namely the municipalities' inability to fully monitor obligatory home quarantine, in addition to "the difficulty of equipping quarantine centers in the regions, away from media propaganda and unjustified public objections."Subsequent meetings were decided in order to set a realistic implementation process that takes into account the specificities of each district, and ensures dealing with matters with a sense of responsibility that could prevent the country's slipping into the unknown.
Minister Hassan stated that "the international rankings with regard to re-opening airports has placed Lebanon among the countries of the world in the least dangerous position, while other countries remained in the medium or high risk category."Expressing his satisfaction with this classification, achieved by Lebanon as a result of close cooperation between the government, official departments, local authorities and NGOs, Hassan stressed that "the challenge lies in maintaining this ranking in light of the gaps that appeared during the recent pandemic confrontation stage, which showed a large number of infections among the returnees. Also, the cases that have emerged in the last week have proven that there are localized epicenters that are confined and specific, but which still pose a real danger in terms of spread of the pandemic."
The Minister of Health warned that "coronavirus seriously threatens health security, so the tactic in dealing with the fourth stage of repatriation will be altered; the returnees will be in the thousands and this means hundreds of infected people. It is no longer possible to keep betting on the conscience and personal responsibility of individuals, as that may eventually lead to the spread of the virus."
Accordingly, the Minister announced that the next stage will focus on tightening procedures according to the following plan:
"1- Governors, municipality heads, and mayors will personally follow up on the results of PCR examinations for people living within the scope of their authority.
2- Positive yet asymptomatic cases will be transferred to the region's hospitals as long as there is a capacity for these hospitals. After that, work begins on the equipping quarantine centers, in cooperation with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, UNHCR, the United Nations Development Program and the nurses' union.
3- Positive cases suffering from symptoms will be admitted to the Rafic Hariri University Hospital, until the latter reaches its full capacity, under which case the infected patients will be transferred to government hospitals in the regions."
Abdel Samad, in turn, affirmed that "the Ministry of Information is a partner with the Ministry of Public Health, with the aim of promoting media awareness so that the ongoing health campaign can succeed in achieving its goal, and facing misleading and inaccurate information." She announced that the Ministry of Information had created a type of BLOG RUMOR on its website, to correct every misinformation relevant to coronavirus. "A website will be launched next week, with the aim of revising all news." "The importance of the media's role lies in transmitting the correct information. And when this information is directly linked to health security and the preservation of life, any misleading would generate major epidemic harm," she said. Abdel Samad finally urged the media to keep up with the awareness campaigns, calling for "the exercise of caution and social distancing in large gatherings, so that everyone is keen on the interest of others."

Ministry of Finance: 10th meeting with IMF tackled reforms in Real Estate, Customs directorates
NNA/June 05/2020
The Ministry of Finance announced in a statement that "The Lebanese negotiating delegation headed by Minister of Finance Ghazi Wazni has held its tenth meeting with the International Monetary Fund, in the presence of Director General of the Lebanese Customs, Badri Daher, and Director General of Real Estate Affairs, George Marawi.""The meeting focused on the reforms implemented in the two above-mentioned directorates and ways to activate their performance, with consultations to be completed on Monday," the statement said.

Diab signs judicial reshuffling decree
NNA/June 05/2020
The decree on the reshuffling of judicial positions has been signed by Prime Minister Hassan Diab, soon after its referral to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers.

Army chief meets Foucher
NNA/June 05/2020
Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, met this Friday at his Yarzeh office with the French Ambassador to Lebanon, Bruno Foucher, accompanied by Military Attaché Colonel Fabrice Chapelle. Talks reportedly touched on cooperation relations between the armies of the two countries.

Army raids Al-Qasr town in search of shooters
NNA/June 05/2020
The Army and its Intelligence Directorate are carrying out a massive raid in the border area of Al-Qasr, against the background of an armed clash between young men from the Jaafar clan on the one hand and the Kanan clan on the other, during which they exchanged shooting and shelling.
The Army set up checkpoints at the town's entrances and the different roads leading to it, in search of the shooters.

Hitti condemns Israeli air breaches: A flagrant violation of international resolutions
NNA/June 05/2020
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Nassif Hitti, on Friday condemned the recent Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace and the military strikes on targets in Syria, saying "these repeated attacks on the Lebanese sovereignty constitute a flagrant violation of the relevant international resolutions and a threat to international peace and security."

Diab meets ISF entrance exams’ candidates
NNA/June 05/2020
Prime Minister, Dr. Hassan Diab, has met today at the Grand Serail with a delegation representing the 27,000 candidates for the Internal Security Forces’ entrance exams. The delegation pleaded with Prime Minister Diab to do them justice by asking the Interior Ministry to publish the results.--PM Press Office

Berri tackles general situation with Bahia Hariri
NNA/June 05/2020
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Friday met at his Ain El-Tineh residence with Head of Education and Culture House Committee, MP Bahia Hariri, with whom he discussed the general situation and most recent political developments in the country.

Switzerland declines request for freezing assets Conditions for restrictions are not met
رفض سويسري لطلب تجميد حسابات لبنانيين في بنوكها لأنه لا يستوفي الشروط المطلوبة
Business News.com/June 05/2020
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/86968/switzerland-declines-request-for-freezing-assets-conditions-for-restrictions-are-not-met-%d8%b1%d9%81%d8%b6-%d8%b3%d9%88%d9%8a%d8%b3%d8%b1%d9%8a-%d9%84%d8%b7%d9%84%d8%a8-%d8%aa%d8%ac%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%af/
The Swiss Foreign Ministry (Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) – Directorate of International Law) has responded negatively to a request for mutual legal assistance submitted by Lebanon in January 2020.
The FDFA said that the conditions for cooperation have not been fulfilled. In a letter to the Lebanese Swiss Association (LSA), it said: “The population is still demonstrating and calling for a real change. In other words, the asset freeze… is not a tool to impose change in other countries.”
It said regarding the freeze for purposes of confiscation in the event mutual legal assistance proceedings fail, that the Federal Illicit Asset Act provides for restrictive conditions, which only apply in exceptional circumstances. “These restrictive conditions are clearly not fulfilled in the case of Lebanon,” the FDFA said.“The Swiss authorities understand the concerns of the Lebanese people about the allegations that illicitly acquired funds might have been transferred from Lebanon to Switzerland. Switzerland has an established policy on freezing, confiscating and returning illicitly acquired assets through mutual legal assistance.
Switzerland can act on the basis of a respective request for mutual legal assistance if the necessary prerequisites are given. In particular, it is vital that the Lebanese authorities provide concrete indications to the Swiss authorities relating to the presumed unlawful origin of assets and indicate where these assets have been deposited in Switzerland. The Swiss Federal Office of Justice examined this request, and found that in order to be able to respond favorably, Swiss authorities need to obtain additional information.
Therefore, the Federal Office of Justice sent a letter to the Lebanese authorities asking them to provide complementary information,” read the letter sent to the LSA.
“The FIAA contains extraordinary measures for extraordinary circumstances. These measures aim at supporting or complementing judicial cooperation in very specific situations,” it said.
The Swiss Government may order the freezing of assets, if four conditions are cumulatively met:
1) The government in the country of origin has lost power
2) The degree of corruption in the country of origin is notoriously high
3) It appears likely that the assets were acquired through acts of corruption or other felonies
4) The safeguarding of Switzerland’s interests requires the freezing of the assets.
“After careful examination of the situation in Lebanon, we consider that these conditions are not cumulatively fulfilled. In particular, we take note of the fact that the population is still demonstrating and calling for a real change. In other words, the asset freeze under the FIAA is not a tool to impose change in other countries,” the FDFA said
http://www.businessnews.com.lb/cms/Story/StoryDetails.aspx?ItemID=8664

Mobilization' Extended to July 5, Aoun and Diab Slam Attacks on Govt.
Naharnet/June 05/2020
The Cabinet on Thursday extended the so-called state of general mobilization over coronavirus to July 5, as President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Hassan Diab hit back at what they called political “campaigns” against the government.
The Cabinet decided to extend mobilization following a recommendation from the Higher Defense Council which had convened earlier in the day.
Separately, Aoun told Cabinet that there are “campaigns” targeting the government and the presidential tenure in connection with the current economic and financial crisis. “But everyone knows that neither I nor you are behind this crisis,” the president added. “This is a very regrettable issue and we cannot remain silent about it or continue to bear the accusations that are being launched against it. Yesterday I clarified my stance in a statement and asked when my approach has been unconstitutional. I'm practicing my powers to the fullest and I know everyone's jurisdiction, especially that of the Council of Ministers,” Aoun added, in reaction to accusations launched Tuesday by al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc.
The president also asked the ministers to “show solidarity and respond in an objective manner that reflects high professionalism.” Diab for his part decried the “political attacks” on the government and reassured that citizens will soon be able to sense decreases in the prices of foodstuffs and “a gradual return of the economic cycle.”Expressing his support for “the right to protest” and his “appreciation of people's scream,” the premier voiced concern that “there could be attempts to politically exploit this scream.”“People's demands and concerns might be transformed again and turned into a tool to block roads anew, sever the country's arteries, shut down institutions and impede people's businesses, which would consequently result in the laying off of employees and workers,” Diab warned. He also called for “practicing the democratic right calmly and without rioting while taking health measures against the coronavirus pandemic which is still spreading until today.”

Scuffle Erupts in Beirut Neighborhood
Naharnet/June 05/2020
A fierce brawl broke out in Beirut’s Abou Shaker Square in Tariq el-Jadideh among knife wielding groups, the National News Agency reported on Friday. NNA said a number of young men wielding knives waved them in the face of other young men from the same locality. Consequently, several shops in the region closed their doors fearing repercussions, amid loud screaming and threats traded by both sides of the fight. According to locals, the fight had broken out last night and renewed today. The reason remain unknown. Members of the Internal Security and the Army arrived at the scene and launched investigation into the incident.

Protesting Civil Defense Volunteers Demand to Meet Minister
Naharnet/June 05/2020
A group of members and volunteers of the Civil Defense continue to block the road near the Interior Ministry in Beirut since Thursday, demanding that the Cabinet recruits them as paid full-time jobs, the National News Agency reported on Friday. The campaigners slept their night in open air on the pavement facing the Ministry, said NNA. They insist on meeting Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi “to explain their demands requiring full-time employment,” said the agency.
Late in 2015 the cabinet adopted decrees for the appointment of the head and members of the Civil Defense Directorate. However it failed to pass decrees related to the full-employment of volunteers although it vowed to address the issue in coming meetings.

Israel Launches Raids on Syria Flying over Lebanon
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 05/2020
A convoy of Israeli warplanes crossed Lebanon’s airspace flying at a low altitude over Jbeil, Keserwan and Metn late on Thursday, the National News Agency said. The aircrafts conducted air raids targeting the Syrian province of Hama, a central region controlled by the Syrian army and Iranians, a monitor group said. At least nine fighters loyal to the Syrian regime were killed, reports said. Syrian forces fired anti-aircraft systems in response to the deadly Israeli attack in Hama, the Observatory reported. Israel, which did not immediately comment on the reports, has launched hundreds of strikes in Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011, sometimes using Lebanese airspace. In April, Lebanon filed a U.N. complaint against Israel after its warplanes used Lebanese airspace to fire missiles at targets in Syria’s Homs. Thursday's raids targeted government troops, allied Iranian forces and Hizbullah fighters. Israel rarely confirms details of its operations in Syria, but says Iran's presence in support of President Bashar al-Assad is a threat and that it will continue its strikes.

Lebanon has only one hope to escape from total collapse - the IMF
The National/June 05/2020
Instead of taking stock of its failures, the post-war ruling elite has continued to deny its responsibility and deflect attention. Hezbollah and its friends have attacked the governor of the Central Bank, Riad Salameh – who had been reappointed by their ally President Michel Aoun in 2017 – and accused previous governments of being the problem. The political class that has headed the country since the end of the civil war cannot escape responsibility for the consequences of three decades of mismanagement and corruption. There is no reason why the fortunes of 60 per cent of all Lebanese must be sacrificed to keep inept leaders in power. Yet this seems to be the strategy of the country’s politicians. Speaking at the Beirut Institute Summit two weeks ago, Druze leader Walid Joumblatt predicted that sectarian leaders will each go their own way, undermining efforts to reach a good deal with the International Monetary Fund.
Many have held out the hope that discussions between the Lebanese government and the IMF for a potential bailout may resolve the nation's problems. But there is no reason to believe that those same people who have wrought despair upon their nation will be the ones to save it. An IMF deal is no miracle cure to Lebanon’s long-standing woes, and will probably come with austerity measures that the current system cannot uphold. There is no reason why the fortunes of 60 per cent of all Lebanese must be sacrificed to keep inept leaders in power. The negotiations must not be used as a distraction by Hezbollah and its allies. Since the onset of the protests in October, politicians have waved magic solutions to deal with the country’s problems without compromising their rule, including the hope that Lebanon may become a wealthy oil exporter, an overblown claim that has already been deflated.
Six months of a Hezbollah-leaning government of so-called experts has failed to bring about real change. The IMF route could be the best solution for the country to stand back on its feet again, but if it is managed by the same elite, it may only add to the woes of a nation inching towards disaster.

Hezbollah frets as Lebanon braces for biggest protest since Covid-19 outbreak
Georgi Azar/Annahar/June 05/2020
Social media has erupted in recent days, with activists calling on Lebanese from all walks of life to gather in downtown Beirut to decry deteriorating living conditions.
BEIRUT: Lebanon is gearing up for the biggest gathering of protesters in months after the coronavirus outbreak stifled the popular movement that kicked late last year. Social media has erupted in recent days, with activists calling on Lebanese from all walks of life to gather in downtown Beirut to decry deteriorating living conditions. The protest is expected to attract thousands of disgruntled Lebanese, who have seen a dual monetary and financial crisis cripple the small Mediterranean country’s economy. Unemployment has reached 50 percent while some 45 percent of people are expected to drop below the poverty line.Meanwhile, the Lebanese lira, pegged to the dollar since the early ’90s, has lost more than 60 percent of its value. Mass demonstrations took Lebanon by storm late last year, prompting former Prime Minister Saad Hariri to resign. Protests endured well into the new year until the current PM Hassan Diab was nominated by Hezbollah, the Free Patriotic Movement and their allies. The government, shielding itself under the guise of a technocrat Cabinet, managed to deflate protestors’ anger while the coronavirus outbreak screeched the demonstrations to a halt. Lebanon’s current government, dominated by Hezbollah and its allies, has been slow to implement reforms required by the International Monetary Fund to unlock a potential multi-billion dollar bailout. The Iranian-backed Hezbollah is visibly fretted by the fund’s potential intervention as certain reforms would undoubtedly jeopardize its bottom line. Illegal smuggling, a downsizing of the public sector and harsher border control have all been touted as necessary conditions called for by the IMF.
“Challenges facing Lebanon are complex and addressing them will require the right diagnostic, comprehensive reforms, and unwavering implementation. This needs strong government ownership and support across Lebanon’s political spectrum and civil society,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said Thursday.
The popular uprising, which kicked off in October 2019 as a countrywide condemnation of the ruling elite, has increasingly narrowed in on Hezbollah’s role in the crisis. Hezbollah’s grip on Lebanese politics since the turn of the decade has coincided with a sharp drop in remittances, direct foreign investment and GDP growth. The Iranian-backed group has been militarily involved in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, further isolating Lebanon as a large number of once Arab supporters turned their back on Beirut. The group has also been designated by the majority of the world’s countries as a terrorist group, with the latest designations coming from the UK, Germany and Uruguay. Estimates show that smuggled oil and wheat into Syria, subsidized by Lebanon’s central bank, has been draining the bank’s already depleted reserves since 2010. The overblown public sector has also cost the state billions of dollars.
Endemic corruption in the public sector and failures of preceding governments to provide basic services such as electricity, water and sanitation led to Lebanon’s house of cards crashing down. Speaking on Thursday, Marada leader Sleiman Frangieh and Hezbollah’s staunchest Christian ally warned against the protests targeting Hezbollah’s military arsenal. “We’ll stand against the revolution if it turns its crosshairs at Hezbollah’s weapons,” he said. The protest will mark the first time different Lebanese groups from across the political spectrum, including the Kataeb party, call for Hezbollah to dismantle its military wing.

Abdel Samad at conclusion of consultative sessions on media at Grand Serail: Sector faces great challenges
NNA/June 05/2020
Minister of Information, Dr. Manal Abdel Samad Najd, on Friday said that the media sector is facing many challenges, especially amid the stifling economic situation facing the country. Minister Abdel Samad assured representatives of the electronic media websites at the closing of the consultative meetings “on the present and the future of information” organized by the Ministry at the Grand Serail: "We are partners and in a context of collaboration, not confrontation,” adding that the sector is in need of organization and is facing many challenges.
"I hope the new law will serve all parties as we try to address the gaps to find points of convergence," said the minister. “We are seeking through this meeting to collect ideas and opinions upon which we can draft a law and a plan for the public and private media and their role." She added: "The electronic website sector faces great challenges and things are not clear neither to the website owners nor to the concerned authority in this sector.” Information Ministry Director General, Dr. Hassan Falha, for his part, saw that "the problem of the media today is an existential problem represented by its survival and continuity.”Dr. Falha regretted the absence of special articles related to electronic websites in Lebanese legislation, saying electronic websites imposed their presence by power of modernization and not by the law. Dr. Falha stressed the need for coming up with flexible legislation that is compatible with technological development.

Demonstraters rally outside Tripoli’s Justice palace to protest activists' arrest
NNA/June 05/2020
A number of activists of the Popular Movement on Friday rallied outside the Justice Palace in Tripoli, in protest against the arrest of activists. Protesters chanted slogans calling for the release of activist Rabie El-Zein, amid tight security measures taken by the Internal Security Forces in front of the Palace of Justice and its surroundings. Activists have also staged a sit-in outside the Tripoli Serail in the wake of Friday prayers, chanting slogans against the corrupt and denouncing the arrest of Rabie Al-Zein, amid deployment of security forces in the vicinity of the Serail.

US dollar exchange rate: Buying price at LBP 3890, selling price at LBP 3940
NNA/June 05/2020
The Money Changers Syndicate announced in a statement addressed to money changing companies and institutions Friday’s pricing of the USD exchange rate against the Lebanese pound as follows:
Buying price at a minimum of LBP 3890
Selling price at a maximum of LBP 3940
The aforementioned decision has been issued in compliance with the recommendations of the Government’s meeting on 5/30/2020.

Lebanon’s President, PM Lash Out at Critics
Beirut/Asharq AlAwsat/June 05/2020
Lebanese President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Hassan Diab have upped their rhetoric against critics of the presidential tenure and the government. During a cabinet session held at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, Aoun pointed out at the campaigns blaming “the authority and the government for the current crisis, at a time when everyone knows that neither I (President) nor you (government) have caused it.”Aoun urged cabinet ministers for solidarity against critics. During the session, Diab also touched on the political campaigns launched against his government, which he said was busy dealing with the daily living conditions of the Lebanese people. He confirmed that the second batch of financial aid had started to be distributed after the number of the beneficiaries was expanded. “People are supposed to receive the aid within days, in addition to a noticeable decline in food prices, and a gradual return to the economic cycle,” Diab said. He stressed his support to the right of protesting and understanding the outcry of people, but “there is fear there might be attempts to exploit this outcry for political purposes and the people’s demands turning into a means that again causes a return to blocking roads, paralyzing the country, closing institutions, disrupting the people’s work, and subsequently leading to the dismissal of employees and workers.”The PM also called for practicing the democratic right with calm and without rioting, while taking health protection measures amid the coronavirus pandemic that hasn’t ended. The statements of Aoun and Diab came on the eve of a planned anti-government protest by civil society in Beirut on Saturday.

Lebanon aims to unify financial loss figures next week: Presidency
Reuters/Friday 05 June 2020
Lebanon will agree next week on unified figures for losses in its financial system, the presidency said, seeking to reconcile different approaches taken by the government and central bank that have complicated IMF negotiations. The UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Jan Kubis, said last week the discrepancy between the government and central bank figures, along with other factors, “only weaken” the country’s position in the IMF talks which began last month. Lebanon is grappling with a financial crisis seen as the biggest threat to its stability since the 1975-90 civil war.After a meeting grouping the president, prime minister, finance minister and central bank governor, the presidency said an agreement was reached on the “necessity of unifying the numbers according to one approach.”“A meeting will be held on Monday to decide on the numbers in order to facilitate the negotiations” with the IMF. For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app. A parliamentary sub-committee which has been seeking to help resolve the issue will hold closed-door meetings with the central bank and government in the next few days to narrow the gap between the figures by Monday, according to Ibrahim Kanaan, a senior MP who chairs the panel. A majority of parliamentary blocs backed an approach that deals with the losses gradually rather than in one shot, added Kanaan, who heads parliament’s budget and finance committee. “It’s important to get parliament on board as constitutionally any deal with the IMF should be validated by parliament,” he told Reuters. A government economic recovery plan sets out holes in the financial system including $83 billion of projected losses in the banking system. The banking association, which rejected the government plan, subsequently has developed its own proposals.

George Floyd vigil shines a light on racism in Lebanon
Nicholas Frakes, Al Arabiya English/Friday 05 June 2020
Following the killing of unarmed black man in the United States, demonstrations have sprung up around the world in support of the nationwide protests in the US. In Lebanon, demonstrators used a candlelight vigil as a way to shine a spotlight on racism in Lebanese society.
Several dozen people gathered in Beirut to hold a vigil for George Floyd after he was killed by a police officer in the US at the end of May. During this vigil, those present condemned racism globally, but also in Lebanon. The kafala system, under which migrant workers relinquish their passports to their employers and gives little rights to the workers themselves, was central to the Lebanese vigil. “Like the October Revolution,” Claudia Youakim, the organizer of the vigil, told Al Arabiya English, “that focused on the exploitative political structure in Lebanon, the Black Lives Matter Movement focuses on structural and systemic racism, not only in the US, as we see it here in Lebanon with such practices as the kafala system.”
Youakim explained that holding vigils is an important act so that people do not forget that those who have been killed are human beings; it’s a way to ensure they don’t become another statistic. “They had family, friends, a community, a life, one that was abruptly stolen from them at the hands of their oppressors,” she said. “As a movement we stand united, as a transnational community, who voice our disgust with their ill treatment. We are their voices and a part of their community – worldwide. If one of us can’t breathe, we all can’t breathe!”
Even though Floyd was killed in the US, Lebanese believe that it is highlighting issues that exist in their country as well. Lama El-Amine, an attendee of the vigil, specifically sited Lebanese singer Tanya Saleh, who posted a picture of herself in blackface in what Saleh said was solidarity with the protests in the US. However, she received widespread criticism for her actions. “I’m here [at the vigil] because of Tanya Saleh,” El-Amine told Al Arabiya English, “This is not acceptable in 2020. A famous singer in Lebanon posted something on Facebook and people asked her to take it down, but she didn’t want to. This is a big problem.”Youakim also spoke out against Saleh’s actions and encouraged the singer to educate herself on the issues. “I am disgusted, as are my fellow community members. I’d tell her to read history books that speak to racial issues and trends,” she said.
While many Lebanese have said that they support the demonstrations in the US, for El-Amine, they are not looking at the prejudices that exist within their own country as she is often treated differently due to her dark skin.
“I have never felt like I am Lebanese because of that [racism],” she explained. “They never treat me as Lebanese because they always say really bad words to me when I was a child or when I grew up. Whenever I’m walking in the street anywhere in Lebanon, I feel like there is racism.”
El-Amine pointed out that people always seem surprised that she speaks Arabic and will push back when she tells them that she is Lebanese. “When I tell them that I’m Lebanese they say that I’m definitely not Lebanese and that there must be something ‘wrong’ in my family” she said. “They insist that one of my parents is not Lebanese. I basically need to give people my CV in order for them to accept me. It’s not acceptable!” Emotions ran high at the vigil, with one woman being brought to tears as she and others chanted “no justice, no peace” and “black lives matter.”
As the sun began to set, everyone lit their candles, illuminating their faces and signs as cars drove past them, with some honking their horns in support.

Expecting the collapse: Meet Lebanon’s young political party ready to take power
Lauren Holtmeier, Al Arabiya English/Friday 05 June 2020
As Lebanon stands on the brink of collapse, and some say a complete overhaul of the country’s governance is needed, a young political party is fighting to emerge from the shadows to shepherd the country to a more secular future.
When I first spoke to Mounir Doumani, a representative of a fledgling Lebanese political party, he told me his party was “waiting for the complete collapse of the state” so that they could step in and begin a new era of governance for the country.
It was January 2019, nearly nine months before mass protests broke out in October.
At the time, I thought he was overly optimistic, if not to say crazy.
Catching up with him a year and a half later, he corrects me. His party Mouwatinoun wa Mouwatinat fi Dawla (Citizens in a State) aren’t waiting for Lebanon to collapse – they are expecting it.
He said “waiting” seemed passive.
“Only in moments of crisis, political or economic, can you change the power structure,” he told me during our meeting in Beirut in 2019.
I remember nodding politely, perhaps in my own naivety as a fresh journalist only in her first few months working in Beirut, with a shallow understanding of the depth of the country’s problems or the fragility of the political bedrock.
Early warning signs
Long before October 2019, experts in Lebanon had already begun to warn that the country’s shaky political foundations had led to a precarious situation.
Ziad Abdel Samad noted that experts had begun raising the alarm in 2016 as the central bank began its first in a series of unorthodox financial engineering mechanisms designed to protect the local currency that has now lost over half its value. Samad is the co-founder and executive director of the Beirut-based Arab NGO Network for Development and recently spoke during Al Arabiya English’s webinar, Lebanon's unprecedented crisis, challenges and paths forward.
In a January 2019 article in Lebanese monthly magazine le Commerce du Levant, the Citizens in a State Secretary General Charbel Nahas said: “We believe that Lebanon has entered a pre-crisis phase and that the current political system can neither avoid it nor face it … But we fear that an uncontrolled crisis will have a devastating effect on the country.”
The dollar squeeze began to hit home in mid-2019, but in January, Nahas told the French-language magazine, “Since the Lebanese economy is not competitive – producing almost nothing and importing everything – the loans in national currency induce a currency outflow.”
“The probability of a crisis occurring is extremely high. We can’t predict it mathematically, but the developments we see every day seem to point in that direction.”
On the brink
In May 2020, Doumani and I spoke again, amid a resurgence in the protests that had begun back in October. Despite a new, supposedly technocratic government headed by Prime Minister Hassan Diab, the Lebanese people had become increasingly frustrated with the worsening economic situation, rising inflation spurred by a dollar shortage, and a decades-old corrupt regime more concerned with sectarian politics than governing.
As increasingly hungry protesters took to torching banks, I asked Doumani how his party envisions securing the right to govern – and what its proposals are to guide Lebanon through a time of crisis.
“It will happen through something called negotiated peaceful transition of power,” he told me bluntly and confidently.
He pointed to examples including North Africa and General Charles de Gaulle’s rise to power through election in France. In the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011, Tunisia became what some say is a potential model for democratic transition as the country’s former ruler Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled the country within a month of the uprising’s onset, and by 2013, legislators had implemented a law to set up a transitional justice process to expose human rights abuses committed by the government and hold perpetrators accountable.
“It doesn’t mean there’s no violence,” he said. “It means that it doesn’t end with whoever wins a revolution in power.”
Citizens in a State was formed in 2016 and is led by Secretary General Charbel Nahas, who has served both as labor and telecommunications minister and is a former World Bank economist.
“The name is really long, unsexy and unmarketed, but we really wanted the name to reflect the mission of the party. The party has one objective – to establish a state,” he said.
The power of the ballot box?
Despite its grand goals, the party failed to win a single seat in the 2018 parliamentary elections.
Doumani, however, put this down to the problems with the current electoral system in Lebanon, with sectarian quotas ensuring a balance of power among Christian, Shia, and Sunni constituencies.
“Elections are a tool used by the regime to renew legitimacy; they’ll never produce a result not based on secular legitimacy,” said Doumani.
While the party did win two seats in two different municipalities in 2016, Doumani said that even then the party could see the state needed to change radically, and therefore focused on driving significant change rather than just winning seats.
“Maybe it was too early to say it, but we knew it was going to happen, so we tried to bring people together, but that takes an understanding of the reality of the situation,” he said.
And now, with Lebanon inching closer to collapse, Doumani said elections cannot be relied upon to drive change.
“Elections will not be on the table, not now, not in the near future,” he said, explaining that elections don’t work while the state is on the verge of collapse as no one party can claim true legitimacy.
In a country with stronger institutions capable of dealing with such a situation, such as in France that allowed de Gaulle to come to power, elections could work, he explained.
Doumani’s criticisms of the electoral process were shared by experts who took part in Al Arabiya English’s webinar.
Samad said that while people have called for early elections, in Lebanon the decision-making process happens outside institutions by informal groups, armed or unarmed.
One problem is the role of Iran-backed political and military group Hezbollah, which has a strong influence over Lebanese politics and backs the Diab government against protesters.
“I doubt that any election or political process can lead to change unless we really engage with the constitution,” Samad said.
An article in the Lebanese constitution calls for an elected body to be formed to abolish the “political confessionalism according to a transitional plan.”
But in reality, the country’s power-sharing system, in place since the end of the country’s 15-year civil war, allocates power to each sect. Consequently, it reinforced loyalty along sectarian, rather than national lines.
But the system developed had its limitations, one being that strong state institutions failed to materialize.
Calls for an end to the sectarian system
One of the key themes of the October protests was a move away from sectarian ties that had for so long united groups along religious lines. Historically, individuals turned to sectarian leaders, rather than the state, to address their issues.
But as people thronged the streets in fall 2019, that mindset had visibly shifted. Shias, once loyal to Hezbollah, had joined their Sunni and Christian fellow citizens, now waving Lebanese, rather than party flags. However, a few counter protests did occur. At one protest in downtown Beirut, Sunni, Christian, Druze, and Shia religious leaders joined hands and processed through the street.
Lebanese financial appointments delayed over sectarian squabble
This change could be viewed as supportive of the aims of mouwatinoun wa Mouwatinat fi Dawla. For four years the party has been developing its vision for a new type of Lebanon, a secular state that addresses citizens’ needs directly, and not through religious sectarian communities.
“The party’s objective has always been to move away from the sectarian regime model, not for ideological reasons, for very practical reasons,” Doumani, said, referring to the current system’s failures.
When asked about sectarian representation of party’s leadership, he said that it’s not something they take into consideration, but acknowledged that in Lebanon it’s often possible to identify someone’s sect by their last name or hometown.
Perverse system
Today, crises continue to mount in the small country. At the core of this, some analysts say, is the sectarian system.
And asking those in power to reform themselves is “very naïve,” said Nasser Yassin, the interim director at the American University of Beirut’s Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs.
During Al Arabiya English’s webinar, Yassin said what was needed was a complete overhaul of the system, but recognized that it’d be a bloody affair no one is prepared to engage in.
“The sectarian system is perverted,” Doumani said.
He said “perverted” wasn’t quite the right word, but defined as “a thing having been corrupted or distorted from its original course, meaning, or state,” the term aptly describes the squandered manner in which the ruling elite has governed.
“It’s a system based on looting, on redistribution. It works in good times because even people who are getting a little are getting more. It doesn’t matter because they’re getting a share, and they’re satisfied. As soon as things go wrong, and there’s nothing to loot anymore, the sects control people through loyalty and turn them against the other,” explained Doumani.
Nothing left to loot
One main catalyst for the outbreak of protests on October 17, 2019, was a new tax on voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP) apps, like WhatsApp. The move was seen as the state trying to squeeze taxpayers even more to cover losses from mismanagement and corruption, rather than address deeper issues such as its ailing electricity sector, which bleeds up to $2 billion annually and has contributed to the state’s massive debt of around $89.5 billion.
People in Lebanon were already burdened by a dollar shortage that had slowly begun to see the value of the local currency slip and the 2019 austerity state budget that saw pensions cut from the Army and public sector employees, the culmination of policies in place since the 1990s.
The new WhatsApp tax, which would charge users $0.20 a day for calls on the country’s most popular communications app, was a step too far for many.
Yassin said Lebanon had entered a state of “low-intensity collapse.”
“[The political elite are] going to adapt to this and make us adapt,” he said. “They are going to continue to gather what they can from the collapsing state.”
In Doumani’s view, most of the traditional political parties have failed to realize that the political system has failed.
Instead, the regime has tried to reinvent itself through Prime Minister Diab’s government, which came to power following the protests. While protesters demanded an independent, technocratic government, what they got was a one-color, Hezbollah-backed government chock-full of fresh faces with familiar political ties.
Years ago, it was difficult to convince people to break with political alliances, Doumani said. But now, that seems to be shifting.
When asked why the party believes they should be the group to lead Lebanon through this, he suggested that as a movement, they have people who are getting prepared every day to take the reins, when the time comes.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 05-06/2020
Nine Syria regime loyalists killed in Israeli air strikes: Monitor
AFP/Thursday 04 June 2020
At least nine fighters loyal to the Syrian regime, including four Syrians, were killed during Israeli air raids late Thursday in the Hama province a central region controlled by the Syrian army and Iranians, a monitor group said. Those killed were either “part of the regime forces or (allied) Iranian forces,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. The toll of nine dead could rise as some people were seriously injured in the raids, it added. Syrian forces fired anti-aircraft systems in response to the deadly Israeli attack in Hama, the Observatory reported. There were explosions and an unspecified number of casualties in the Masyaf area, after an Israeli air raid against regime positions, the group reported. “The area is under the Syrian army’s control and Iranians are present there,” said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman. He said the target was a factory and research center producing short-range surface-to-surface rockets. “Our air defense systems responded to an Israeli attack over Masyaf in rural Hama,” state news agency SANA reported. For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app. nIsrael, which did not immediately comment on the reports, has launched hundreds of strikes in Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011. It has targeted government troops, allied Iranian forces and fighters from the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah. It rarely confirms details of its operations in Syria, but says Iran’s presence in support of President Bashar al-Assad is a threat and that it will continue its strikes.

Report: Iranian Headquarters in Syria Back in Operation After Israeli Air Strikes
Benjamin Kerstein/Algemeiner/June 05/2020
One of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ most important headquarters in Syria is once again being used despite being hit by Israeli air strikes last year.
The United Arab Emirates daily The National described the building, called “Beit Al Zajaja” in Arabic and “The Glass House” in English, as an essential part of Iran’s continuing involvement in Syria’s civil war.
The IRGC — which has been designated a terrorist organization by the US — uses the building, located near Damascus International Airport, as an intelligence center, command headquarters and official meeting place for its officials and proxy terrorist groups.
A source told The National, “This location houses all the senior command from all units — Iranians, Afghans, Syrians, Lebanese.”
The National stated that the structure also included a medical facility reserved for top IRGC commanders and foreign terrorists employed by Tehran.
Notably, the building was the site of an emergency meeting between IRGC commanders and militia leaders following the US assassination of IRGC head Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in January.
In November 2019, the top two floors of the building were hit by Israeli airstrikes. The Israeli satellite intelligence company ImageSat International stated that the structure’s “intelligence facilities” had been destroyed.
Sources told The National, however, that the facility was now once again being employed as the IRGC’s top command center, though the IRGC had also begun to disperse its assets due to fears of further Israeli strikes.

EU Increases Financial Support for Refugees in Syria’s Neighboring Countries
Brussels - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 June, 2020
The European Commission has proposed to increase support for refugees and host communities in response to the Syrian crisis by a total of 585 million euros. Out of the proposed amount, 100 million euros will go to Jordan and Lebanon, while 485 million euros will support refugees in Turkey in 2020.
“The EU has consistently supported refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan for many years,” Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic said. “As the coronavirus threatens the most vulnerable, we cannot stop our lifesaving assistance. We are committed to helping the Syrian people and their host countries during these difficult times. EU humanitarian aid will help children attend school and support families in need.” Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said the EU continues to show strong solidarity with Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, as well as with the refugees they are hosting. “With no immediate end in sight of the Syrian crisis that continues to threaten the region, it is in the EU’s interest to increase support to reinforce the resilience of refugees and local communities that host them, especially in the current context of the coronavirus pandemic,” he said.
EU projects will provide assistance in the areas of access to education, support to livelihoods and provision of health, sanitation, waste services and social protection to host communities and refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. In Turkey, If approved by Parliament and the Council, EU humanitarian funding to partner organizations will help extend two established projects until the end of next year. They are the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) program and the Conditional Cash Transfers for Education’ (CCTE). Via the ESSN, the EU provides monthly financial assistance to more than 1.7 million refugees and the CCTE project helps over 600,000 refugee children regularly attend school. The newly announced funds will help extend the two programs until the end of next year. Leading European lawmakers welcomed the support package for Syrian refugees.

SDF Launches New Anti-ISIS Campaign on Iraq-Syria Border
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 June, 2020
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced Friday a fresh campaign to hunt down ISIS remnants near the Iraqi border. The Kurdish-led alliance that has spearheaded the ground fight against ISIS in Syria since 2015, said that the new campaign is being carried out in coordination with the Iraqi army and the US-led coalition. "This campaign will target ISIS hideouts and hotbeds," it said. It said operations will focus on the vast east Syria desert near the border with Iraq where ISIS has conducted a spate of attacks in recent months. Since the loss of its last territory in Syria in March 2019, the terrorist group’s attacks have been restricted to the vast desert that stretches from the heavily populated Orontes valley in the west all the way to Iraqi border. Last month, the United Nations accused ISIS and others in Syria of exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to step up violence on civilians, describing the situation as a "ticking time-bomb."Across the border in Iraq, ISIS has exploited a coronavirus lockdown, coalition troop withdrawals and simmering political disputes to ramp up attacks. Iraq declared ISIS defeated in late 2017 but sleeper cells have survived in remote northern and western areas, where security gaps mean the group wages occasional attacks. They have spiked since early April as militants plant explosives, shoot up police patrols and launch mortar and rocket fire at villages.

Silence in Baghdad over Iran's Two-year Contract to Export Electricity
Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 June, 2020
Baghdad remained silent over Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian's announcement of signing a two-year agreement to export electricity to Iraq. Ardakanian said his country has signed a two-year deal to export electricity to Iraq, Iranian state news agency (IRNA) reported on Thursday.
“We signed a contract with Iraq for exporting electricity in 2020 and 2021,” said Ardakanian, who traveled to Iraq on Wednesday. “With coordination of the Iranian embassy in Iraq, half of the disbursement worth $400 million was received during the trip.” No official announcement was made in Baghdad regarding the agreement or regarding transferring money to Iran at a time Iraq is undergoing a severe financial crisis. Iranian Energy Minister and an accompanying delegation recently arrived in Baghdad to meet with senior Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and President Barham Salih.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in May that Washington will grant a 120-day sanctions waiver for Iraq to continue importing electricity from Iran to help the new Iraqi government succeed. Iran provides Iraq with around 1,200 megawatts of electricity per day.
According to the Ministry of Electricity, Iraq's production of electrical energy is 13,500 megawatts, however, by introducing new generating units into service the ministry plans to add 3,500 megawatts this year.

Erdogan, Sarraj Endorse Int’l Initiatives
Ankara- Saeed Abdulrazek/Asharq AlAwsat/June 05/2020
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged additional support to Libya’s internationally recognized government against Haftar "who caused destruction in infrastructure and damaged the social fabric", adding that the conflict there can only be resolved politically under the auspices of the United Nations.
In a news conference with Head of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) Fayez al-Sarraj in Ankara, they stressed that the Libyan government will not allow negotiations in the next stages with Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Haftar.
Erdogan stressed that Turkey’s priority in Libya is to contribute to the North African country’s political unity and stability through continued support to the Tripoli government. He added that it is not possible that one person (Haftar) who poses a threat to Libya's future to sit on the dialogue table for political solutions.The president also welcomed the recent military success of the GNA forces. Erdogan said that during the meeting they discussed ways to lift embargos on Libya. “We are on the same page on the issue of the continuation of oil exports of Libya," he stated, as he called on international actors to make efforts to prevent the “illegal” oil export of Haftar. He added that Turkey also aims to cooperate with Libya to have the right to carry out oil exploration activities in the eastern Mediterranean region. For his part, Sarraj said “We will continue our struggle until we eliminate the enemy in Libya… We completely liberated Tripoli and its surroundings. Actually, this success is the victory of all of us.”Sarraj also said that Libya looks forward to the return of Turkish firms to work in infrastructure and reconstruction projects in Libya, thanking Ankara for siding with legitimacy in Libya. Erdogan and Sarraj held extensive talks at the presidential palace in Ankara on Thursday, in which they assessed developments in Libya.

Libya’s GNA Says Retakes Tarhouna
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 June, 2020
The Government of National Accord (GNA) announced Friday taking over Tarhouna, 90 kilometers southeast of the Libyan capital Tripoli, the last western stronghold of the Libyan National Army (LNA). "Our heroic forces have extended their control over the whole of Tarhouna," said GNA spokesman Mohamad Gnounou. The GNA said Thursday that its forces regained control of all of Tripoli's entrance and exit points after taking back the airport. GNA head Fayez al-Sarraj vowed that his government would impose its control over the whole of Libya. "Our fight continues,” said Sarraj who is backed by Turkey. Late Thursday, Haftar's spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari confirmed his forces' "redeployment" away from the capital after more than a year of sometimes intense fighting. He said the redeployment was a "humanitarian gesture intended to spare the Libyan people further bloodshed". US Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland expressed hope that the intensified diplomatic activity and the case-fire talks, announced this week by the UN, could help the sides reach an agreement. “What makes it different now is that the escalation is in such a dangerous stage that cooler heads can and should prevail,” he told reporters on Thursday.

Turkey’s parliament strips status of three opposition MPs
ReutersThursday 04 June 2020
Turkey’s parliament stripped two pro-Kurdish lawmakers and one MP from the main opposition party of their parliamentary status on Thursday after convictions against them became final, drawing sharp criticism from their parties.
Those stripped of their status were Leyla Guven and Musa Farisogullari from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) Enis Berberoglu. The decisions were announced in parliament after appeals courts upheld Berberoglu’s conviction for disclosing government secrets and the convictions of Guven and Farisogullari for being members of a terrorist organization. For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app. “This disregards the national will. We will continue the democratic fight to obtain justice, rights and law,” CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu wrote on Twitter. “This is the trampling and theft of the will of the voters and the Kurdish people,” HDP deputy Saruhan Oluc said in a speech in parliament. The government has repeatedly accused the HDP of ties to the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought against the state in the largely Kurdish southeast since 1984 and is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union. The HDP denies such links. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party has 291 deputies in the 600-seat assembly, while the CHP now has 138 seats and the HDP has 58 seats, keeping it as the second biggest opposition party. The AKP is planning to push measures through parliament with its nationalist MHP allies that affect how political groups may contest elections and could hamper new opposition parties taking part in any snap elections.
Those plans would not be affected by Thursday’s removal of the three politicians’ parliamentary status.

Turkey tries to exploit US protests for political gain - analysis
Jerusalem Post/June 05/2020
Turkey’s pro-government media has taken a cue from Qatar’s Al-Jazeera to try to play both sides of the US political aisle, seeking to be both far-right and far-left.
Turkey’s ruling party has sought to exploit the US protests by both supporting them and trying to portray themselves as close to US President Donald Trump by condemning “Antifa.” They have mobilized all of Turkey’s media, which is pro-government because opposition journalists are jailed in Turkey, to push Ankara’s propaganda message. As part of the messaging they reach out to friendly US journalists to try to portray Turkey as “on the same side” of the US against “Antifa,” while also virtue-signaling support for the protests to try to gain sympathy on both the left and the right.
Turkey’s pro-government media has taken a cue from Qatar’s Al Jazeera to try to play both sides of the US political aisle, seeking to be both far-right and far-left, usually far-right at home when it comes to supporting authoritarian and Islamist religious policies, while posing as progressive abroad. In the latest Ankara fusillade, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tweets one thing in English and another in Turkish. In Turkish, the Ankara regime tweets about Islamic historic conquests and its nationalist agenda. In English, Turkey’s president tweeted on May 29 about the “racist and fascist” approach of the United States which “led to the death of George Floyd in the US city of Minneapolis as a result of torture.” He claimed that Turkey was against this “unjust order” and that it would stand against it across the world. In short, he was eluding to the US being “racist and fascist” and that Turkey would stand against the US “order.” Iran used the same terminology.
While Erdogan tweets out opposition to the US on his presidential account for millions of followers, the official communications office of turkey tweets out claims that “Antifa” is “held responsible by a portion of the US public for the violence during the protests.” Then it claims that “Antifa” has “ties to the terrorist organization PKK/YPG.” The YPG in Syria were the main element fighting ISIS while Turkey was the country through which the largest number of ISIS fighters travelled to Syria and where many ISIS fighters later fled back to. Turkey claims the “YPG” are terrorists without any evidence. The US has partnered with the Syrian Democratic Forces in eastern Syria to defeat ISIS and the YPG played a key role with the SDF. Turkey has accused the US of training a “terrorist army” in Syria. It also accuses the US of hosting a dissident cleric who it says is a “terrorist.”
In short, Turkey accuses the US of supporting terrorists and of being a racist and fascist country, while it also claims to support US efforts against “Antifa” as a way to link Antifa to the YPG to try to get the US to stop its work in eastern Syria against ISIS so that Turkey can continue its operations against the Kurdish minority in eastern Syria. Under the guise of “fighting terrorism,” Turkey has ethnically cleansed parts of northern Syria of Kurds, including hunting down woman activists like Hevrin Khalaf and murdering them. Turkey’s pro-government media claimed the killing of Khalaf, an unarmed woman who was beaten and bashed to death by Turkish-backed mercenaries in October 2019, was part of a “neutralization” effort against “terrorists.” In this bizarre spin, Ankara portrays Khalaf, an unarmed woman, as a “terrorist,” but feigns sympathy with Floyd. Turkish-backed extremists in Syria have killed and kidnapped hundreds of Kurds and Yazidis, treating the Kurdish minority not unlike how George Floyd was treated.
Ankara’s regime has attempted to gain favor with the Trump administration since its earliest days, trying to portray itself as similar to the administration, while Turkey uses its media to then oppose the Trump administration by pretending to adopt progressive US causes. For instance, Turkey’s TRT reporter in the US claimed to have been a roughed up during the protests, and Turkey’s Presidential Communications director Fahrettin Altun then slammed the US and claimed that “press freedom is the backbone of democracy.” Turkey is considered the world’s largest jailor of journalists by Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists.
US Ambassador to Ankara, David Satterfield, then when on Turkey’s government propaganda channel TRT to express solidarity with Turkey’s hypocritical statement about “press freedom” being the backbone of Democracy. While Turkey slams the US treatment of minorities and calls the US racist and fascist, the US never critiques Turkey, and the US Ambassador appeared to stand in solidarity with Turkey’s jailing journalists since he didn’t mention press freedom in Turkey. Since Ankara does not mind critiquing the US treatment of protesters and journalists it was unclear why US diplomats cannot also critique Turkey. It appears Ankara has played the US like a violin in the recent protests, trying to be on the side of the protests and also on the side of the US administration, as part of a carefully crafted policy to try to get the US president to believe that Antifa is active in Syria. Turkey has believed since the fall of 2016, when Trump was elected, that the best way to get what it wants is through personal diplomacy between Erdogan and Trump, viewing Trump as a like-minded authoritarian it can “do business with.”
In May 2017 during a visit to Washington by Turkey’s president, Turkey even made the unprecedented decision to attack US protesters on American soil, assaulting US police and protesters near the Turkish ambassador’s residence. The attack was meant to show the US that not only can Turkey suppress dissent at home, it will also suppress dissent in the US. Today Turkey’s attempt to praise the US for singling out Antifa as a “terrorist” group is meant to portray Turkey and the US as on the same side regarding using the military and police to break protesters by labeling them “terrorists.” Turkey has jailed thousands of dissidents as “terrorists” by changing the definition of “terrorism” from terrorist acts to expressing criticism of the government. The concept Ankara is pushing is for the US to label opposition protests in the US as “domestic terror,” similar to how Turkey does. Oddly, Turkey also has its media supporting the protests and arguing the US is “fascist” and “racist,” which is a way to play both sides.
Some foreign media have picked up on Turkey’s attempt to link the YPG and “Antifa” posting photos of Kurdish leftist fighters who fought ISIS next to anti-fascist flags and arguing that this shows “proof” of the link. Since Antifa’s ideology is borrowed from anti-fascism and since the YPG viewed the battle against ISIS as a battle against fascism, much as those who fought Nazism were “anti-fascist,” the tenuous link is made even though there is no real link between the rioters in the US and US-trained fighters in eastern Syria who defeated ISIS.
“There’s people that are willing to take on the challenge of running a country in complete bankruptcy and through transition, and they are part of the movement,” he said. “We know what to do because we knew what was going to happen.”
Doumani added that they have been coordinating with other groups to present a united opposition front to the ruling elite.
But Yassin, a political analyst, said he hasn’t yet seen an opposition front form yet strong enough to take on the state, though he acknowledged there have been some concerted efforts.
“People often say it’s a weak state, but we also have very powerful leaders who know the rules of the game, and they know how to utilize the state and its resources,” he said. “They know how to use clientelist networks for their own gain.”
“It’s not so easy to uproot the system.”
Nahas
As protesters called for the end of sectarian politics, they chanted “Kellon yaani kellon,” or “all of them means all of them,” in reference of desire for a technocratic government, rid of any politicians with ties to existing political parties.
How does any party with a member of the old establishment – Nahas – at the helm have a chance of gaining legitimacy from the same people who chanted “kellon yaani kellon?”
Doumani offered an indirect response.
“When we talk about a new structure or society, we’re not talking about different people, we’re talking about the same people that are in this society. We’re talking about some people who had responsibilities in it, we’re talking about people who didn’t have responsibilities in it.”
Nahas, for his part, resigned from the government in 2012 rather than sign a decree related to transportation allowances for workers because he believe it violated Lebanese law and would eventually deprive them of end-of-service compensation.
“I don’t see Charbel Nahas as part of ‘kellon yaani kellon,’” Yassin said. “He was part of the government at some point, but he wasn’t part of the main stream and came from the margins.”
With Nahas at the party’s head, they have developed a four-phase plan that aims to move Lebanon through a complete collapse by appointing a transitionary government that will in the final phase hold parliamentary elections.
Transition and future vision
An interactive infographic on the party’s website lays out their political vision. In the short-term, Doumani said recouping state losses will be the most challenging hurdle. A new electoral law will have to come shortly after, as well as ensuring that individual communities are protected and are protected from each other.
In phase three, titled “formation of a cohesive society and fortified economy,” the party lists enmity with Israel, the relationship with Syria, Hezbollah’s weapons, and a census – the last of which was conducted in 1932 – as issues to be dealt with.
On paper, it’s all there.
But collapses are messy and transitions of power are rarely easily or neatly achieved. And for Lebanon, the future is uncertain. The regime has previously survived several periods of political uncertainty.
It is not clear whether this crisis will break the mold and change the system completely, allowing a non-traditional party like Citizens in a State to move in and implement its vision for a new, secular Lebanon.
Doumani is optimistic though.
“This is history in the making. It’s not business as usual.”

Trump Hopeful for Iran after American Freed in Prisoner Swap
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 05/2020
President Donald Trump voiced hope for progress with arch-rival Iran on Thursday after the clerical regime released a US Navy veteran and the United States freed two Iranians. mMichael White, who had contracted the coronavirus while in Iran, flew out on a Swiss military jet to Zurich where he was welcomed by a senior US official. "I am blessed to announce that the nightmare is over, and my son is safely on his way home," his mother, Joanne White, said in a statement.Trump said he spoke to White by telephone and voiced rare appreciation to Iran, with which the United States was close to all-out war several months ago."Thank you to Iran, it shows a deal is possible!" Trump wrote on Twitter. As White was flying home, a federal judge issued an order to free an Iranian-American doctor, Majid Taheri, allowing him to go see family in Iran. A day earlier, a more prominent Iranian -- Cyrus Asgari, a scientist arrested in 2016 while on an academic visit -- returned to Iran."This can happen for all prisoners. No need for cherry picking," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on Twitter.
"Iranian hostages held in -- and on behalf of -- the US should come home," he said.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has championed a hawkish line against the clerical regime, said Iranian authorities had been "constructive" on freeing White but urged the release of three other US citizens, all of Iranian descent, who remain detained. White, who had served 13 years in the US Navy, was arrested in July 2018 in the northeastern city of Mashhad after visiting a woman whom he had reportedly met online. He was sentenced the following year to at least 10 years in prison on charges that he insulted Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and posted anti-regime remarks on social media under a pseudonym. In March, as Iran was being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, White was handed over to the custody of Switzerland, which handles US interests in the country in the absence of diplomatic relations.
Iranians allowed to leave
Asgari, a scientist at Tehran's Sharif University of Technology, had been detained four years ago on an academic visit to Ohio and accused of stealing trade secrets.
He was acquitted last year but handed over to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which Asgari said refused to let him leave and held him in a lockup in Louisiana without basic sanitation. Denying a connection with White, senior US immigration official Ken Cuccinelli alleged that the Iranians had held up his release, tweeting: "A swap can't exactly work when we want Asgari less than the Iranians do." But the timing was even more clearly linked with Taheri, a doctor in Tampa, Florida, with a judge releasing him Thursday on time served.
He was accused of violating US sanctions by sending a technical item to Iran and in December pleaded guilty to charges he violated financial reporting requirements by deposing $277,344 at a bank, repeatedly showing up with loose cash, according to court documents. Taheri was working for a Tampa clinic, since shut down, whose owner was earlier indicted on charges of prescribing painkillers without medical purposes.
Soaring tensions
Tensions have soared in recent months as Trump pursued a "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran, imposing sweeping sanctions and in January ordering a drone strike that killed a top Iranian general. Observers have seen prisoner releases as a rare way of starting dialogue between the two countries, although few expect any serious headway before the US election in November. White's mother thanked both the US and Swiss governments for the release as well as Bill Richardson, a former US ambassador and governor from the Democratic Party. Richardson, whose efforts have been resented by the Trump administration, said he met senior Iranian officials including Zarif to arrange White's release. Richardson in a statement said that his approach relies on "personal relations and respect." "The negotiations were complicated, especially given the high tensions and exchange of violence between the US and Iran in recent months," said Richardson, who added that Qatar -- a US ally that maintains stable relations with Iran -- also provided assistance. Richardson said White, who is in his 40s and had pre-existing medical conditions, was admitted to a hospital for coronavirus treatment but otherwise stayed at a hotel in Tehran.

Trump Sued over Police Charge Outside White House
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 05/2020
US civil rights groups on Thursday filed a case suing President Donald Trump after security forces fired pepper balls and smoke bombs to clear peaceful demonstrators outside the White House. Law enforcement officers forced protestors back before Trump walked to a nearby church for a photo op on Monday that divided the United States amid nationwide protests over police brutality. The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups accused the president and top officials of violating the constitutional rights of Black Lives Matters campaigners and individual protestors.
"Police conducted a coordinated and unprovoked charge into the crowd of demonstrators and deployed several rounds of chemical irritants, rubber bullets, and sound cannons," the ACLU said. St John's Episcopal church is across the street from Lafayette Park, which faces the White House and has been the focus of protests in Washington. The church was defaced with graffiti and damaged in a fire during demonstrations on Sunday night. Trump posed with a Bible outside the building after vowing to dispatch thousands of heavily armed soldiers to stop rioting. Protesters have taken to the streets across the US in recent days to voice anger over the killing of African American George Floyd by Minnesota police. The president's "frankly criminal attack on protesters because he disagreed with their views shakes the foundation of our nation’s constitutional order," said Scott Michelman, ACLU legal director. Attorney General Bill Barr on Thursday defended security forces and said clearing the protestors was not linked to Trump walking to the church.

Brazil Virus Toll Surges to Third-Highest in World
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 05/2020
Brazil's death toll from the new coronavirus surpassed Italy's to become the third-highest in the world Thursday, as the UN's secretary-general called for a "people's vaccine" to stem the pandemic. The bleak figures from Brazil underlined the grim toll the virus is taking in Latin America, the latest epicenter in the pandemic, even as Europe seeks to reemerge from lockdown -- including with a massive new 600-billion-euro ($674-billion) economic stimulus measure announced by the European Central Bank. But on the medical side, the outlook remains blurry.
Even as researchers around the world race to develop and test vaccines, new -- sometimes contradictory -- information on the virus continues to emerge. In the latest case, the medical journal The Lancet retracted a study that raised safety fears about hydroxychloroquine, a drug touted by US President Donald Trump as a treatment for COVID-19, after the paper's authors said they were no longer confident in underlying data provided by a Chicago-based healthcare analytics firm. The paper had led the World Health Organization to suspend clinical trials of the drug, and its retraction added fuel to a politically charged debate over how to respond to the pandemic.
Brazil, Mexico hit records
Since emerging in China late last year, the virus has infected at least 6.6 million people, killed more than 390,000 and wreaked havoc on the global economy by forcing millions to stay inside their homes. Brazil reported a new 24-hour record death toll, bringing the total number killed to more than 34,000.
That is behind only the United States, with more than 108,000 deaths, and Britain, with nearly 40,000. Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has fiercely criticized coronavirus stay-at-home measures, even as the number of infections and deaths continues to soar, arguing that they are needlessly hurting the economy.
Brazil is the hardest-hit country in Latin America, though the tolls are also rising sharply in Mexico, Peru, Ecuador and Chile. Mexico reported a record number of new infections for the second straight day, with 4,442.
And in Peru, desperate residents lined up to buy oxygen tanks for their loved ones, as the government declared oxygen a "strategic health resource" amid an acute shortage.
'Global public good'
With the pandemic starting to hit the developing world with full force, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said a new vaccine had to be available to everyone across the world. "A vaccine must be seen as a global public good -- a people's vaccine, which a growing number of world leaders are calling for," he said in a message to a virtual summit hosted by Britain that aims to raise funds for Gavi, the global vaccine alliance. The talks brought together more than 50 countries and individuals such as billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates.
Governments around the world pledged $8.8 billion for Gavi's work.
Huge EU stimulus
Europe meanwhile continued its tentative return from lockdown, hoping to restart its stalled economies without sparking a second wave of infections. Looking to give the pummeled eurozone economies a massive boost, the European Central Bank added 600 billion euros to its emergency bond-buying scheme.
The program, which will maintain access to much-needed credit for companies, households and governments, now totals some 1.35 trillion euros, on par with the record emergency spending under way in the United States. Governments are especially keen to save what they can of the summer tourism season and, after easing national lockdowns, were reopening borders this week. Italy welcomed back travellers from elsewhere in Europe Wednesday, while Austria scrapped entry checks at its borders Thursday -- except for the one with Italy.
The sporting world meanwhile continued trying to chart a course back to action, with the NBA becoming the latest league to adopt a return-to-play plan. It paves the way for basketball to resume from July 31 at a single sports complex in sunny Orlando, Florida, without fans, after a three-month shutdown in the US.
Risk at US protests
The United States remains the hardest-hit nation in the world, and its economic losses continued to pile up. With new jobless claims filed last week, the number of US workers laid off by the pandemic now exceeds 42 million, the Labor Department said. And there are fears that the ongoing protests in the country over racism and police brutality could fuel the spread of the virus. That has not stopped a new wave of protests, sometimes even joined by doctors and nurses fighting the pandemic. "We took an oath to serve all communities, we took an oath to protect public health and right now excessive use of force and police brutality is a public health emergency," said emergency room doctor Kamini Doobay at a protest led by medical staff at Bellevue Hospital in New York.

Oil producers to meet Saturday: OPEC source
AFP/NNA/June 05/2020
Top oil producing countries have decided to meet Saturday via video conference instead of next week, a source close to OPEC said Friday, to assess their current agreement on output cuts amid the coronavirus crisis. OPEC’s 13 members led by Saudi Arabia and their ten allies, including Russia, had originally been due to meet June 9 and 10. But Algeria, which currently chairs the Vienna-based organisation, proposed a change of date intended, according to analysts, to better synchronise the decisions of oil producers with the timing of transactions on the oil market. The countries are discussing a deal agreed in April to cut output aimed at boosting oil prices, which have plummeted due to falling demand as countries around the world have imposed strict lockdowns to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. OPEC and the so-called OPEC+ members have pledged to cut output by 9.7 million barrels per day (mbd) from May 1 until the end of June. Under the terms of the agreement, the historic cuts would be gradually relaxed from July with 7.7 mbd taken off the market from July to December. OPEC and OPEC+ are set to discuss extending the 9.7 mbd beyond June though agreement could be difficult to reach. April’s deal was signed after days of wrangling between major players.--

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 05-06/2020
New US sanctions on Syria mean no leniency for business with Assad
David Adesnik/FDD/June 05/2020
ديفيد أدينيك: العقوبات الأميركية على سوريا لن ترحم من يتعامل تجارياً مع نظام الأسد
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/86958/david-adesnik-fdd-new-us-sanctions-on-syria-mean-no-leniency-for-business-with-assad-%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%af-%d8%a3%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%86%d9%8a%d9%83-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d9%82%d9%88%d8%a8%d8%a7/
The toughest sanctions yet on the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are set to take effect in just two weeks. No firm that wants to stay off the US Treasury’s blacklist should plan on doing business with the regime, especially in the construction, petroleum, and aviation sectors.
US President Donald Trump signed the sanctions into law last December, but they are just now taking effect after a six-month waiting period. The sanctions bear the codename of a Syrian military photographer who fled the country with 55,000 images of the corpses left behind by Assad’s interrogators. The FBI Digital Evidence Laboratory examined the images to ensure Caesar had not manipulated them.
Sanctions analysts describe the restrictions in the Caesar law as “secondary” sanctions because they apply to non-US citizens and companies, whereas “primary” sanctions apply to American individuals and entities. While this distinction is not ironclad, the bottom line for foreign investors is that secondary sanctions make them far more vulnerable than they were previously.
In addition, Congress made the sanctions mandatory rather than giving the president discretion when applying them. The mandatory nature of the sanctions puts violators in jeopardy regardless of who is in the White House. Under President Trump, the US Treasury has only intensified its enforcement of sanctions on Syria, so there is no reason to expect leniency for those who do business with Assad.
Firms should not expect the coronavirus epidemic to soften the application of US sanctions on the Syrian regime. Despite Iran’s emergence as the regional epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration has rebuffed calls by Democratic senators and a coalition of senior European statesmen to ease sanctions on Tehran.
Easing sanctions would put hard currency in the hands of Iran’s clerical regime, which it could use just as easily to fund terrorist organizations like Hamas or Lebanese Hezbollah, rather than investing in public health.
A similar logic applies to Syria. There is deep concern in the US for the people of Syria, but there is negligible support for sanctions relief since no one expects a regime that bombs hospitals and uses chemical weapons to spend any new income on fighting COVID-19.
There are ways to help the people of Iran and Syria without lifting sanctions, however. In the case of Iran, the administration has emphasized that Tehran can purchase Western medical equipment through a special channel for humanitarian trade the US set up in tandem with Swiss partners last year.
Syria has little need for a special trade channel, since it can barely afford any imports. Rather, the UN’s multi-billion-dollar aid program is the relevant channel for assistance, whether to fight COVID-19 or for other purposes; the US already contributes hundreds of millions of dollars to that effort each year.
If Tehran has any hope for sanctions relief, it is for Democrats to retake the White House in elections this coming November. The Democratic candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden, has said he would resume US participation in the nuclear deal with Iran from which Trump withdrew in 2018; the terms of the deal include extensive sanctions relief for Tehran.
Assad may be an Iranian client, but he should not expect American pressure to diminish if Biden revives the nuclear deal. The Caesar law passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. Procedural delays held up its passage for three years, yet a single isolationist senator, Rand Paul, put up most of the roadblocks. The battle in Washington is over now, and the Caesar law won.
The Assad regime has avoided collapse so far thanks to Russian and Iranian military intervention, but the Caesar law reflects Washington’s determination to hold accountable those who seek to help Assad rebuild the country he reduced to rubble.
*David Adesnik is a senior fellow and director of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow him on twitter @Adesnik.

US says Alaska man laundered nearly $1B for Iran through UAE
JON GAMBRELL/AP/June 05/2020
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Alaska man accused of laundering $1 billion held in South Korea for Iran funneled nearly all the money through the United Arab Emirates, U.S. federal court documents released early Thursday show. The court documents, filed as part of a U.S. asset seizure effort, shed further light on how Kenneth Zong allegedly created fake invoices to help Iran draw cash held by South Korea in lieu of payment for oil shipments.
It also renewed questions about financial transparency in the UAE, as the order sought to seize $20 million held by one of the country’s seven emirates.
Zong helped Iran by creating fake invoices for construction material, using them to convince South Korean banks and regulators to release the money, federal prosecutors said. In April, the Industrial Bank of Korea agreed to pay $86 million in fines over failing to stop the laundering, federal prosecutors in New York said.
Zong, earlier convicted of criminal charges in South Korea over the scheme, was due to be released from prison in March, though U.S. federal prosecutors said it was likely he’d be held there until he paid a fine of millions of dollars.
No lawyer was listed for Zong in the U.S. court filings. Federal prosecutors want to extradite him to stand trial in the U.S. as well.
Of the money laundered, nearly all of it flowed into the United Arab Emirates, a U.S.-allied federation of seven sheikhdoms home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai. War profiteers, terror financiers and drug traffickers sanctioned by the U.S. in recent years have used Dubai’s real-estate market as a haven for their assets, one report found. While saying efforts have been made to improve the UAE’s financial controls, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force in April warned that the country’s “limited number of money laundering prosecutions and convictions, particularly in Dubai, are a concern given the country’s risk profile.”
In announcing the forfeiture effort, U.S. federal prosecutors thanked authorities in Dubai and in Ras al-Khaimah, another emirate whose sovereign wealth fund holds the sought-after $20 million. That money ended up there as part of a plan by three Iranians later sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury to buy a hotel owned by the fund in the nation of Georgia. That deal was engineered by an Iranian-American gunrunner with ties to the CIA who was not named in the U.S. court documents.
Officials in Ras al-Khaimah did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Recent Aid Agreements Provide Opportunity to Support Women in Jordan
Allison Jacobs Anderson/The Washington Institute/June 05/2020
New USAID funds and a pending strategy for enhanced development cooperation could facilitate reforms that foster a better economic environment for women, and for the kingdom as a whole.
On May 5, the United States and Jordan signed three agreements that will bring a total of $340 million in development funding to the kingdom, all overseen by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Much of the aid is earmarked for projects aimed at increasing economic prosperity and self-reliance, with a particular focus on women and social gender policies. At the same time, USAID’s Jordan mission is currently formulating a new Country Development Cooperation Strategy for 2020-2025 that will likewise focus on economic development and women.
Previous USAID programs in Jordan focused on micro and small enterprises (MSEs), particularly home-based businesses, as a way to support women’s entrance into the labor force. Despite the merits of this approach, however, its overall impact was insufficient. To help women become more actively engaged in creating a stable, thriving, and prosperous Jordan, USAID should refocus on programs that challenge gender stereotypes, improve the private-sector labor market, reform the legal environment for women, and increase social services.
FOCUSING ON WOMEN CAN HAVE AN OUTSIZE IMPACT
U.S. development aid for Jordan provides much needed support to an important ally as it continues to grapple with a stagnant economy and the fallout from regional conflicts. The kingdom’s tourism economy, export markets, and foreign direct investment have all been affected by ongoing violence in Syria and Iraq, and by the massive refugee populations that remain in Jordanian camps and cities. As a result, the country faces high unemployment and underemployment along with near-zero job growth in the private sector.
U.S. development aid can have an outsize impact on these challenges by supporting Jordan’s women. Overall, the kingdom currently ranks 138th out of 153 countries in the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Gender Gap Report. Its 97 percent female literacy rate is the highest in the Middle East, but educational attainment has not translated to economic participation and opportunity for women—Jordan ranked a dismal 145th on that front, surpassing only Morocco, Iran, Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq. Similarly, it ranked 113th on political empowerment of women. The report concluded that Jordan may need a century to close these gender gaps at its current rate of progress.
Gender equality is an important goal in and of itself, since it affords women personal satisfaction in cultivating their human potential and financial independence. Yet it should also be pursued because of how it improves a country’s bottom line. Including women can help accelerate economic growth and foster an economy less susceptible to crises. For example, closing the gender gap in Jordan’s labor market could increase GDP by more than 20 percent.
The broader social benefits are crucial as well. Economically empowering women helps advance their families and communities—their fertility rates tend to decline, their children are healthier and stay in school longer, and their daughters marry later. When women are economically involved, they are often more politically involved, which contributes to a more inclusive and democratic society. Their voices can be instrumental in demanding better schools, enhanced social services, and improved health outcomes, as well as in creating stronger communities that are more resilient against extremism.
Given these benefits, U.S. development aid should be strategically targeted to support women’s entrance into the labor force. USAID’s recently completed Jordan Local Enterprise Support Project (LENS) sought to address these opportunities by promoting women’s home-based businesses and other MSEs. An August 2019 evaluation of the program found numerous intangible benefits to the MSE approach, such as increasing women’s self-esteem and normalizing the very act of them working.
Yet MSEs are only part of the solution. Although these programs are attractive to donors because of their immediate benefits for the individuals involved, they have a minimal effect on creating and multiplying prosperous new jobs or overcoming structural barriers to women participating in the labor force outside the home. Some of these barriers were detailed in a June 2018 World Bank report, such as legal restrictions, difficult transportation infrastructure, lack of acceptable jobs, low access to childcare facilities, and societal norms that cast women as homemakers and caregivers, which creates time poverty whenever they do find work outside the home.
HOW TO RETHINK U.S. DEVELOPMENT AID
To overcome the persistent impediments to women’s economic participation in Jordan, USAID should prioritize the following reforms when formulating its upcoming projects:
Challenge gender stereotypes through education and awareness about gender equality. This includes taking a careful look at gender bias in Jordan’s school curricula and providing opportunities for girls to explore nontraditional career opportunities. USAID can also support advocacy campaigns that highlight women’s important role in the economy and challenge traditional expectations of their roles at home.
Improve the labor market through increased private-sector growth and competitiveness, which could pull more women into the workforce. Toward that end, USAID should focus on helping the Jordanian government improve the business environment, develop its export markets, create more incentives for foreign direct investment, and support local provinces in attracting companies to less-developed parts of the country. Such efforts will not be easy, and they may not yield substantial results right away, especially given the potential long-term economic challenges stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. Yet Amman is aware of the need to reform its economy, as shown in its recent growth plans, and USAID can support this agenda by providing long-term technical assistance.
Encourage legal reform by advising the kingdom to remove laws and regulations that restrict women’s economic decisionmaking or access. Currently, Jordanian women are not guaranteed equal status under the law, including labor laws, and they face gender-based restrictions on their choice of occupation and hours of work.
Increase social services such as public transportation and daycare. The kingdom’s jobs are highly concentrated in Amman and other large cities, and women are often restricted by inadequate or unsafe transportation infrastructure. Similarly, accessing daycare is difficult and often costly. USAID can support the development and implementation of these vital services.
In sum, creating the necessary conditions for economic prosperity and broader participation by women takes time. USAID’s long-term commitment to Jordan is commendable and should be maintained, but with the necessary strategic adjustments to maximize its impact.
*Allison Jacobs Anderson, a former 2018-2019 Fulbright Research Fellow in Jordan, is currently completing her doctorate at the University of Washington’s Jackson School of International Studies, focusing on the Middle East, gender, and economic development.

Return of Nation-States Need Not be a Threat
Amir Taheri/Asharq AlAwsat/June 05/2020
Had things continued as before, that is to say before the twin pandemic and economic downturn, reporters would have been packing their bags to head for Washington to cover yet another of the G7 summits that have grabbed headlines since the 1970s.
This year, however, having being postponed twice, the annual ritual may not even take place at the new October date announced by the rotating host, US President Donald Trump. I doubt if anyone, perhaps apart from a few Sherpas and bureaucrats, would regret the demise of the “summit” that pretended to sort out world affairs with a mixture of motherhood-and-apple pie inanities laced with bluff and bluster.
The ritual started as an initiative of then French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing in response to the first oil-shock in the 1970s in the hope of uniting the seven major economies, five Westerners plus Japan, in coping with its consequences. Over the years the summit stealthily acquired a political dimension and with the addition of Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union became G8 and edged towards recasting itself as a kind of global Politburo. Now, however, Trump says that the whole thing is obsolete, transforming the issue into another tussle between Trumpians and anti-Trumpians. There are those who think Trump can do no wrong and those who insist that whatever he does, or says, is wrong. Thus, promoting cool and rational discussion about the relevance G7 becomes harder than it should be.
But, let us try.
An argument could be made in favor of some mechanism that allows the major economies to exchange views and harmonize aspects of policy that need to be harmonized. But in that case, the G7 isn’t representative enough. The seven member-nations together account for just over 40 percent of the global economy and, while Canada and Italy are included, larger economies such as China, India and Brazil, to name just three, are not.
On the other hand, if one were to enlarge the club where would one stop? Invite many more nations and you already have the G20 which, on some occasions has brought together more than 50 nations. Enlarge the circle further and you will have the United Nations Organization with 193 members. In both those cases, G7 would be unnecessary. However, the real problem may be elsewhere.
The trend we witness in world politics is away from the initial forms of globalization and toward a reassertion of the nation-state as one of the two key players in international economic and business relations, the other player being transnational businesses.
This does not mean that G7 and G20, which are supposed to be middling players, are no longer relevant but that the whole raft of international organizations, starting with the UN itself, are no longer able to play a meaningful role in the new emerging world order, or disorder if you like.
The disastrous performance of the World Health Organization (WHO) during the current Covid-19 pandemic is just one example of a more general malaise. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been shining in their absence in the looming economic crisis affecting every single nation on earth. As the World Trade Organization (WTO) fades into irrelevance, its director jumps ship to look for a more rewarding job.
A decade ago, forecasting the demise of the nation-state developed into a veritable industry. Jurgen Habermas, then Germany’s most fashionable philosopher even wrote a book as a sort of requiem for the nation-state. Others, French President Emmanuel Macron most prominent among them, envisaged a future in which ethno-cultural blocs, starting with the European Union would set the agenda for the future. Now, however, even Macron is forced to close his borders, hoist the tricolor, and adopt the slogan “our nation is at war.”
Apart from Trump, who won the presidency by adopting the nation-state mantra, albeit in his idiosyncratic style, nationalism has made spectacular comebacks in some other places, notably India, Brazil, Australia, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and, with Brexit, even Great Britain.
To be sure the rise of a nationalistic discourse is a cause of concern for many. That concern is justified with the usual reference to Mussolini and Hitler, and, to a lesser extent, Franco and Juan Peron. However, one must not forget that both Mussolini and Hitler, and to a lesser extent Peron, also waved a socialist flag while Franco claimed to be more of a protector of the Catholic Church than Castilian nationhood. For more than three centuries, that is to say since the Westphalian treaties, the nation-state was the normal unit of international existence. Globalist trends started in the 19th century from two apparently opposite sides.On the left, Marxists denied the existence of nations and saw social classes as units of human existence. On the other, growing capitalist multinationals saw the whole world as a reservoir of resources and a market. Lone might say the latter won the debate and paved the way for the creation of international organizations designed to manage a rule-based world order. However, over the past three to four decades, internationalism has been replaced by trans-nationalism. In internationalism, nation-states interact in pursuit of both specific and shard interests. In trans-nationalism, multinational business giants, backed by huge international bureaucracies, and sometimes even governments, go around the nation-state to secure their own sectoral interests.
The return of the nation-state, if reconfirmed in the years to come, could lead to a revival of classical international cooperation that, taking shape after World War II, created the mechanisms which have helped keep the peace, spread prosperity and foster the rule of law as never before in human history.
In other words, the return of the nation-state, rather than leading to narrow-nationalistic retrenchment, could inject new energy into internationalism and give globalization a second breath. For that to happen we must do away with trompe-l’oeil devices such as G-7 which, at best, have never been more than insipid photo-ops for politicians caving for attention. What is needed is a new spirit of international cooperation through patient, persistent and progressive diplomatic and political work by nation-states to shape a new architecture of human existence. Nations reasserting their identity need not be a threat to world order; it may actually offer a second youth to an ailing geriatric system.

Erdogan and the Recruitment of Children to Fight in Libya
Jebril Elabidi/Asharq AlAwsat/June 05/2020
Erdogan is recruiting children to fight in Libya, a process that qualifies as a full-blown war crime, a humanitarian catastrophe and a clear violation of the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries.
This crime of recruiting children has been documented on the ground after the Libyan Army captured a large number of children while others were killed after they were caught in the crossfire. Al-Monitor website published a report on Erdogan recruiting Syrian children and teenagers and deploying them alongside the Government of National Accord’s militias.
The website revealed how the ages of these children and teenagers were falsified on their identity cards, and their dates and places of birth were altered, often using their older brothers’ names to obscure the reality.
This crime was confirmed by US journalist Lindsey Snell who said, “Turkey has recruited children no older than 14 years into the ranks of Syrian mercenaries and has deployed them to fight in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.”
It was also confirmed by Arab News newspaper, which confirmed that Erdogan recruited children to fight in Libya, taking advantage of the poverty that their families live in.
These children are specifically selected from camps using substantial financial incentives reaching 3,000 dollars per month with promises to remove them from refugee camps and providing them with a Turkish nationality and money, and to return the children three months later loaded with dollars. Instead, however, the reality of the war returns them unidentified in coffins to be buried in mass graves away from the spotlight.
Syrian children are victims of Erdogan’s greed and delusions of taking over Libya and looting its riches. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated that 16 out of 150 Syrian children between the ages of 14 and 18 were killed during the most recent battles after being deployed with 10,000 Syrian mercenaries who fought among the ranks of the “political Islam” militias in Tripoli, taking part in the displacement and armed robbery of people there.
Prosecuting those involved in recruiting mercenaries and children under the International Criminal Court Statute (ICC) would serve as a future deterrent against similar crimes. According to Article 8, “Both the voluntary and forced recruitment of children” in armed forces or groups in international and local conflicts is “considered a war crime”. Prosecuting Erdogan and his partners for the conscription of children by the ICC is a national duty of the national forces in Syria and Libya.
Political opportunism, which is Erdogan’s political method, has made him use mercenaries including children to achieve political and geopolitical goals and satisfy his expansionist tendencies to fulfil his delusion of a second Ottoman Empire and taking over the riches of the sea. These interests intersect with those of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Caliphate of the Murshid to loot Libyan money and turn it into a treasury for the Brotherhood to restore its rule in Egypt.
Deploying thousands of mercenaries, both children and men, in Libya is like throwing wood and fuel into the flames. It is not only a threat to the security and interests of Libya, but also of Europe. The presence of mercenaries not more than 300 miles across the sea south of Europe is a looming danger that is inevitably coming to Europeans even if they turned a blind eye to them. Libya is certainly not these people’s endpoint.

Palestinians in Turkey: What Erdogan Says vs. What Erdogan Does
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/June 5, 2020
While Erdogan is paying lip service to the Palestinian cause and praising Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group by the US, EU, Canada and Australia, Palestinian refugees who fled to Turkey from Syria are complaining of discrimination and mistreatment by the Turkish authorities.
According to Palestinian sources, there are about 10,000 Palestinian refugees in Turkey who are suffering from discrimination and living in dire conditions.
The suffering of the Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria begins the moment they arrive at the border with Turkey, Thuri Tamim, a Palestinian refugee, told the Palestinian Refugees Portal, an independent website covering news related to Palestinian refugees.
If Erdogan really wants to help the Palestinians, he can start by ordering his government to stop arresting and harassing Palestinian refugees. If he really wants to help the Palestinians, he can stop playing host and cash cow to Hamas, a terrorist group that has brought nothing but misery to Palestinians and Israelis alike. Recently, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and assured him of Turkey's "solidarity" with the Palestinian cause, pledging to support the Palestinians in "all fields." But instead of welcoming the Palestinians fleeing from the civil war in Syria, Erdogan is humiliating them and trying to throw them into prison. Pictured: Erdogan (right) hosts Abbas in his palace in Ankara on January 12, 2015.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan excels at making statements in support of the Palestinians. His actions, however, suggest quite a different attitude about the plight of thousands of Palestinian refugees who fled to Turkey from Syria in the past two years.
For a start, Erdogan does not even recognize these refugees as Palestinian -- although they carry ID cards issued by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) as well as other documents defining them as Palestinian.
Erdogan considers these refugees Syrian, not Palestinian, because they arrived from Syria and their temporary travel documents were issued by either the Syrian government or UNRWA.
All the same, recently Erdogan chatted on the phone with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and assured him of Turkey's "solidarity" with the Palestinian cause. Erdogan reportedly told Abbas that Turkey will continue to support the Palestinians in "all fields."
Erdogan has long boasted of his support for Hamas and said he does not regard it as a terrorist organization. "Hamas," Erdogan said during an official visit to London in May 2018, "is one of the resistance movements working to liberate the occupied territories of the Palestinians."
In a May 24 video message on the occasion of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr, Erdogan repeated Turkey's support for the Palestinians. "We will not allow the Palestinian lands to be offered to anyone else," he said, referring to Israel's intention to apply sovereignty to parts of the West Bank. "Last week we witnessed that a new occupation and annexation project, which disregards Palestine's sovereignty and international law, was put into action by Israel."
In September 2019, Erdogan made yet another passionate pro-Palestinian speech at the UN General Assembly. "Turkey will continue to stand by the oppressed people of Palestine as it has always done so until today," he said as he again spouted hate against Israel and its leaders.
Erdogan even managed to impress former Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, who sent a letter thanking him for speaking "on behalf of all persecuted Muslims in the world."
When Erdogan was re-elected as Turkey's president in the 2018 general election, many Palestinians, including Abbas and Hamas leaders, were quick to congratulate him on the victory.
Izzat al-Risheq, a member of the Hamas "political bureau," expressed hope that Erdogan's success would increase Turkish support for the Palestinians. Another Hamas official, Hazem Qassem, said:
"Hamas is congratulating Erdogan for the success of the democratic experiment and for winning the presidential election. Hamas wants to build relations with regional countries such as Turkey and wants it to stand by the right of the Palestinian people to confront Israeli aggression."
Erdogan has indeed been supportive of some Palestinians -- mainly, Hamas and its Palestinian leaders, some of whom live in Turkey.
A December 2019 report in the British daily The Telegraph revealed that Erdogan was "playing host" to Hamas. From Turkey, the Palestinian terror group, according to the report, has been plotting attacks against Israel.
The activities of Hamas, the report said, include efforts to recruit suicide bombers -- with a reward of $20,000 promised to the families of the terrorists -- and to assassinate senior Israeli officials.
In the past two years, several Hamas delegations have visited Turkey for meetings with Erdogan and senior Turkish government functionaries.
While Erdogan is paying lip service to the Palestinian cause and praising Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group by the US, EU and Canada and Australia, Palestinian refugees who fled to Turkey from Syria are complaining of discrimination and mistreatment by the Turkish authorities.
While portraying himself as the defender of the Palestinians and of the holy Islamic sites in Jerusalem, Erdogan is also depriving thousands of Palestinian refugees of basic rights, including access to education and medical care.
Last week, Palestinian activists launched a campaign to try to solve the legal problems facing Palestinian refugees in Turkey. The activists said that Palestinian refugees who fled from Syria are required to report to Turkish security authorities once every two weeks. The Turkish authorities, the activists complained, were refusing to issue official documentation for Palestinian children whose parents have failed to settle their legal status in the country. As a result, the children are being denied access to schools and medical care.
According to Palestinian sources, there are about 10,000 Palestinian refugees in Turkey who are suffering from discrimination and living in dire conditions.
The biggest surprise for the Palestinians refugees, however, came when they noticed that the Turkish authorities were labeling them as Syrian citizens.
By registering them as Syrians, the Turkish authorities have put the Palestinian refugees in an impossible position. When Turkish authorities later check their documents and discover that they hold Palestinian passports although they have been labeled Syrians, the refugees are accused of forgery and face imprisonment or deportation.
The suffering of the Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria begins the moment they arrive at the border with Turkey, Thuri Tamim, a Palestinian refugee, told the Palestinian Refugees Portal, an independent website covering news related to Palestinian refugees.
"Most of [the Palestinians] who entered Turkey illegally were arrested by the Turkish border guards. When they introduced themselves as Palestinians and presented their UNRWA-issued ID cards, they were imprisoned for 30-45 days."
Tamim pointed out that Palestinian refugees who fled from to Turkey from Syria are experiencing "legal marginalization." He and other Palestinian refugees said they found it bizarre that that the Turkish authorities do not recognize Palestinian refugees carrying Syrian documents as actually Palestinian.
Another Palestinian activist, Mohammed Omar, said that Turkey's laws on refugees have made life unlivable for the Palestinians. "The Palestinian passport cannot be used for obtaining work permits, renting a home or receiving various services such as water, gas and electricity," Omar lamented. The plight of the Palestinian refugees, he added, has only intensified in the past few months, during the coronavirus pandemic.
Instead of welcoming the Palestinians fleeing from the civil war in Syria, Erdogan is humiliating them and trying to throw them into prison.
If Erdogan really wants to help the Palestinians, he can start by ordering his government to stop arresting and harassing Palestinian refugees. If he really wants to help the Palestinians, he can stop playing host and cash cow to Hamas, which has brought nothing but misery to Palestinians. As far as Erdogan is concerned, the Palestinians are just another card he seems to be using to advance his goal of becoming the "Sultan of all Muslims."
*Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem, is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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Iran regime won’t negotiate with US until after 2020 presidential election
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/June 04, 2020
د.مجيد رفيزادا: النظام الإيراني لن يتفاوض مع أميركا إلا بعد الإنتخابات الرئاسية ومعرفة من سيفوز
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/86963/dr-majid-rafizadeh-iran-regime-wont-negotiate-with-us-until-after-2020-presidential-election-%d8%af-%d9%85%d8%ac%d9%8a%d8%af-%d8%b1%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%b2%d8%a7%d8%af%d8%a7-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%86/
The Islamic Republic is experiencing one of its worst financial situations since its establishment more than four decades ago. This could bring about the collapse of Iran’s economy and endanger the hold on power of the ruling clerics.
After US President Donald Trump assumed office in January 2017, his administration began imposing a “maximum pressure” policy on the Iranian regime. Several allies, including Germany, France and the UK, expressed opposition to this strategy. And, since the US took this tougher position against Tehran unilaterally, some scholars, policy analysts and politicians believed it would be unlikely to have a significant impact. However, they underestimated its effects.
Those who initially underestimated the US maximum pressure policy, including the Iranian leaders, failed to comprehend the leverage that Washington still has over the global financial system. For example, although many countries such as China sided with Iran when the Trump administration reimposed sanctions on its energy sector, they ultimately succumbed and reduced their oil imports from Iran. Before the US Treasury Department leveled secondary sanctions against Iran’s oil and gas sectors in November 2018, Tehran was exporting more than 2 million barrels per day (bpd). In just a year, its oil exports went down to less than 200,000 bpd — a decline of roughly 90 percent.
In addition, despite the EU’s efforts to circumvent the US sanctions through its INSTEX mechanism, Iran’s revenues continued to decline. This is largely due to the fact that European companies did not want to risk their business with the US or be denied access to America’s financial systems by dealing with the Iranian regime. The Trump administration has been insistent that any move to bypass US sanctions would have severe consequences. That is why many European firms and corporations, including French energy giant Total, immediately abandoned plans to invest in Iran.
In one of the latest decisions aimed at tightening the maximum pressure policy against the theocratic establishment, Washington last week announced that it will terminate the sanctions waivers that permit Russian, Chinese and European companies to work at Iranian nuclear sites when they expire in July. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo justified the decision by pointing out: “The Iranian regime has continued its nuclear brinkmanship by expanding proliferation-sensitive activities.” He added that this “will lead to increased pressure on Iran.”
With this mounting pressure and with its economy on the verge of collapse, will the Iranian authorities finally come to the negotiating table? The history of the Islamic Republic teaches us that, whenever it has been under significant pressure economically and geopolitically, it has agreed to negotiate with the West because it realizes financial austerity could pose a threat to the power of the political establishment. Furthermore, the loss of revenue due to the US sanctions makes it extremely difficult for Tehran to continue supporting, training, sponsoring, funding and arming its proxies and militias across the Middle East.
In 2012, UN and US economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic reached their peak and, ultimately, the Iranian leaders negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal with the P5+1 world powers. As a result, the Iranian government received billions of dollars thanks to sanctions relief, joined the global financial system, gained legitimacy, and secured and ensured its hold on power.
Nevertheless, at this critical time, although the Iranian regime is cash-stripped and facing an unprecedented level of pressure domestically, it will most likely wait to negotiate until the US presidential elections are held in November and the outcome becomes clear.
This is due to the fact that any negotiation with the Trump administration would be a severe blow to the ruling mullahs. The regime has endured several years of economic austerity and it can wait another six months. From the Iranian leaders’ perspective, if they negotiate with Washington now, they are basically admitting defeat and, more importantly, handing Trump a significant foreign policy achievement, which he could capitalize on in the upcoming campaign. He would be able to state that his maximum pressure policy succeeded in bringing the Iranian leaders to the negotiating table.
If they negotiate now, they are basically admitting defeat and handing Trump a significant foreign policy achievement.
As a result, Tehran will wait another six months in the hope that former Vice President Joe Biden wins the election and reverses America’s policy on Iran to what it was under Barack Obama.
In a nutshell, it is unlikely the Iranian regime will negotiate with the Trump administration before the presidential election. But, if Trump does win in November, Iran will either have to negotiate or face a total collapse of its economy and political establishment.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

Question: "Why would God leave the 99 to find 1?"
GotQuestions.org/June 04, 2020
Answer: Both Matthew 18 and Luke 15 record Jesus’ parable about a shepherd who leaves 99 sheep in the fold to go in search of one that had wandered away. Jesus gave this illustration in response to the Pharisees who were incensed that Jesus “welcomes sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:2). The religious leaders in Jesus’ day had structured their system to exalt the self-righteous and exclude anyone who did not live up to their often arbitrary standards (Matthew 23:28). They had added so many rules and regulations to God’s law that no one could keep them all, including the ones who drafted them. When Jesus came along, His methodology confused them. He seemed to be from God, yet He rebuked the outwardly righteous and welcomed the wicked. How could this man know God?
So Jesus told them a story, as He did many times in order to explain spiritual truths: “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish” (Matthew 18:12–14). The people of Jesus’ day understood the relationship between shepherds and sheep, but the significance of a shepherd going in search of one lost sheep is sometimes lost on us. It seems strange that a shepherd would leave his flock to search for one missing sheep.
We might consider the shepherd leaving the 99 to find the 1 this way: a father and his five children are asleep in their home when the smoke detectors go off. The father awakens to find his house filled with smoke and the sound of flames and crackling timber coming nearer. Panicked, he races to his children’s bedrooms and begins to rouse them. Calling to some and carrying others, he stumbles down the stairs and out the front door. He deposits the sleepy children on the grass a safe distance away and then turns. Gasping for air, he squints through the smoke to count kids: “Tim, Sally, Angel, Jojo—where’s Lilly!” He is missing his youngest, three-year-old Lilly. Four children are safe, one is not. What will this father do?
God is a Father. He counts His kids. He rejoices that some are safely in Christ, prepared for eternity and nestled near His heart. But some are missing. Where’s Karen? Where’s Abdul? Where’s Jose? The Father sent Jesus on a rescue mission “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). God does not abandon the 99. They are already safely in His kingdom, attended by His angels, and guided by His Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14; Hebrews 13:5). But His heart aches for those not yet in the fold.
So the Good Shepherd pursues the lost sheep, woos them, calls to them, and allows circumstances into their lives designed to make them look up. It is often in the bleakest of circumstances that we finally surrender our demands to have our own way. We finally submit to our Shepherd, who carries us back to the fold (Luke 15:5). In John 10, Jesus again refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd, saying, “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd” (verses 16–17). Then in verses 27–29 He says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” The 99 are still important to Him, but He knows the flock is not complete without the lost sheep. And a good shepherd always goes after the lost sheep.
In Luke’s gospel, two other parables follow the one about the one lost sheep, and both of them reinforce Jesus’ main point, which is the value of individuals. The parable of the lost coin (Luke 15:8–10) and the parable of the lost son, also known as the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32), continue the theme of God as a pursuer of lost people. We were all lost at one time, and the Lord came after us. If He had not taken the initiative, no one could be saved (John 6:44). So, when our Good Shepherd wants to pursue another lost lamb, the 99 who are in the fold can joyfully support the rescue.