LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 27/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
Jesus Orders An Unclean Demon to leave a man in the Synagogue and Demons also came out of many, shouting, ‘You are the Son of God!’
Luke 4,31-44.He went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and was teaching them on the sabbath. They were astounded at his teaching, because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Let us alone! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ When the demon had thrown him down before them, he came out of him without having done him any harm. They were all amazed and kept saying to one another, ‘What kind of utterance is this? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and out they come!’And a report about him began to reach every place in the region. After leaving the synagogue he entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her. Then he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them.As the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various kinds of diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on each of them and cured them. Demons also came out of many, shouting, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Messiah. At daybreak he departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowds were looking for him; and when they reached him, they wanted to prevent him from leaving them. But he said to them, ‘I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose.’ So he continued proclaiming the message in the synagogues of Judea.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 26-27/2020
Video from VDL: Inhabitants of the of Al-Qusayba village in Mount Lebanon Welcoming The Sacred Icon of Our Lady of Deliverance.
Hariri Hospital: 23 recoveries overall, 72 patients quarantined
35 new COVID-19 cases confirmed, bringing total to 368
Higher Defense Council Urges Quarantine Extension
Govt. Extends General Mobilization, Orders 7PM-5AM Closure, Curfew
Lebanon to extend lockdown as coronavirus spreads/Georgi Azar/Annahar/March 26/2020
Diab: Current 'General Mobilization' Resembles 'State of Emergency'
Aoun: Government hospitals must be equipped to fight coronavirus
Diab meets with ‘Loyalty to Resistance’ MPs Sherri, Moussawi
Hitti confirms endeavors to provide aid, says embassies abroad ready to exert necessary efforts
Safieddine: Hizbullah Set Plan to Fight Coronavirus
Israeli Army Says Downed Small Hizbullah Drone
Berri: Cabinet, Defense Council Resolutions Step in Right Direction
Lebanon Records 35 New Coronavirus Cases
Coronavirus Delivers Tough Blow to Lebanon's Dying Economy/Associated Press/Naharnet/March 26/2020
Coronavirus: Lebanon's shops and institutions told to limit opening hours/Sunniva Rose/The National/March 26/2020

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 26-27/2020
US imposes fresh sanctions on Iranian individuals, companies amid coronavirus
Iran says it has ‘no knowledge’ of ex-FBI agent Robert Levinson
Coronavirus: Iran death toll reaches 2,234, total infections top 29,406
Iran has handled coronavirus better than ‘many’ other countries, says Larijani
Middle East flights down 45 percent this week amid coronavirus: Data firm
G20 will do whatever it takes to overcome coronavirus pandemic: Statement
Israeli government opens up nuclear bunker in war on coronavirus
Israel’s Benny Gantz nominates himself as parliament speaker
US to indict Venezuelan President Maduro for 'narco-terrorism'
WHO Europe Sees 'Encouraging Signs' in Coronavirus Spread
London Hospitals Facing 'Tsunami' of Virus Patients
Pope Reportedly Tests Negative for Virus after Vatican Scare
Rockets Hit Iraq's Green Zone, U.S.-Led Coalition Leaves Base

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 26-27/2020
Iran using time of crisis to increase its regional meddling/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/March 26/2020
Khamenei Securitizes the Pandemic as the IRGC Mulls Regional Action/Farzin Nadimi/The Washington Institute/March 26/2020
Coronavirus response could be a turning point for G7/Andrew Hammond/Arab News/March 26/2020
Pompeo’s high-stakes gamble on Afghan unity/Michael Kugelman/Arab News/March 26/2020
Coronavirus: Inside the global war for ventilators/Matthew Amlôt/Al Arabiya English/March 26/2020
Coronavirus augurs the inevitable collapse of a global economy in ‘overshoot’/Ugo Bardi/Al Arabiya/March 26/2020
Is Syria unable, or unwilling, to fend off Iran coronavirus contagion?/Amberin Zaman/Al Monitor/March 25, 2020
How Would You Explain the Recent Spate of Arrests in Saudi Arabia?/Michael Young/Carnegie MEC/March 26/2020
Globalists gone wild/Clifford D. May/The Washington Times/FDD/March 26/2020
Coronavirus Dashes Iranian Hopes of Emerging from Multi-Year Recession
Saeed Ghasseminejad/FDD/March 26/2020
As U.S. Struggles with Coronavirus, Moscow Probes American Defenses/Bradley Bowman/Mikhael Smits/Major Liane “Trixie” Zivitski/FDD/March 26/2020
German court sentences Iranian regime agent to prison for treason/Benjamin Weinthal/The Jerusalem Post/March 26/2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 26-27/2020
Video from VDL: Inhabitants of the of Al-Qusayba village in Mount Lebanon Welcoming The Sacred Icon of Our Lady of Deliverance.
Elias Bejjani/March 26/2020
Inhabitants of the of Al-Qusayba village in Mount Lebanon welcoming with love, faith and reverence the sacred icon of Our Lady of Deliverance. To place it in their Church. Let us remember that in such difficult time to badly need to adhere to the true faith and to return to God and to all the evangelical teachings that calls for love, humility, forgiveness, prayer, penance, and the expiation of sins and faults. The Virgin Mary, the mother of Lebanon and the mother of the Lord, was and will remain the protector of the country of holiness and the saints .. the homeland of the blessed cedars .. Lebanon
Picture Enclosed: Maronite Nuns chanting happily at Al-Qusayba village in Mount Lebanon while welcoming the sacred icon of Our Lady of Deliverance to place it in their Church.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4jbIi_NGHU/Click On The Link to Watch The video

Hariri Hospital: 23 recoveries overall, 72 patients quarantined
NNA/March 26/2020
The Rafic Hariri University Hospital released its daily report on the latest coronavirus updates. It read as follows:
"The total number of laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases in patients isolated in the hospital's quarantine unit has reached 72, including 6 patients transferred from other hospitals. Three new patients have fully recovered; their PCR came negative twice, and all the symptoms of the disease have disappeared. In total, 23 patients have recovered completely from coronavirus, since the beginning of the outbreak. The condition of those suffering from coronavirus is stable, except for 4 patients who remain in critical condition, all of whom receiving the necessary care at the isolation unit. To find out the total number of infections across Lebanon, please refer to the daily report issued by the Ministry of Public Health."

35 new COVID-19 cases confirmed, bringing total to 368
Earlier today, Lebanon’s cabinet approved a two-week extension of the lockdown to help with the fight against the virus.
Mohamad Shour/Annahar/March 26/2020
BEIRUT: Thirty-five new COVID-19 were identified Thursday, according to the daily report issued by the Rafic Hariri University Hospital, raising the total number of cases to 368. The report also revealed that a total of 20 people have recovered since the start of the outbreak, while six others are deceased and three in critical condition. Earlier today, Lebanon’s cabinet approved a two-week extension of the lockdown to help with the fight against the virus. “We are still at a dangerous point in the outbreak,” said Information Minister Manal Abdel-Samad at a news conference, adding that the extension is required due to COVID-19’s incubation period. A decision was also set forward that urges all shops, with few exceptions, to close between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Higher Defense Council Urges Quarantine Extension
Naharnet/March 26/2020
The Higher Defense Council on Thursday recommended an extension of the “general mobilization” period until April 12 to curtail the spread of the novel coronavirus. The nationwide lockdown period was supposed to end March 29. The Council met at Baabda Palace in a meeting chaired by President Michel Aoun and attended by Prime Minister Hassan Diab, the permanent members and other officials. The Cabinet is expected to approve the extension in a meeting held shortly after the Council’s meeting. The Higher Defense Council also discussed the latest developments in the country and the general response regarding coronavirus. Interlocutors discussed additional measures to confront the pandemic.

Govt. Extends General Mobilization, Orders 7PM-5AM Closure, Curfew
Naharnet/March 26/2020
The Lebanese government on Thursday extended the so-called state of general mobilization until April 12 and ordered a general closure from 7pm until 5am with some exceptions, in an amplification of the anti-coronavirus measures, the information minister said. The Premiership later said in a statement that only mills, bakeries, pharmacies and medical factories will be exempt from the 7pm-5am closure order, adding that citizens and residents will be barred from being on the streets. The extension of general mobilization followed a recommendation from the Higher Defense Council which convened earlier in the day.“Prime Minister Hassan Diab noted that we are still in the extreme danger phase and it is necessary to extend general mobilization because the containment period of the disease requires five week,” Information Minister Manal Abdul Samad said. “The economic challenges need a mobilization that should perhaps exceed the health mobilization,” Diab added, according to Abdul Samad. The premier urged “residents and expat Lebanese to contribute with the state to the support of needy families,” she said. President Michel Aoun for his part reiterated the need for citizens to abide by the taken measures, especially home quarantine and limiting movement pending the retreat of the outbreak, the minister added. The Cabinet also formed a committee to look into the issue of the Lebanese who want to return from abroad in light of the global coronavirus crisis.“It will hold its first session today,” Abdul Samad said. The government had first declared the state of general mobilization on March 15, asking citizens to stay home unless it is necessary, shuttering non-essential public and private institutions and closing the air, land and sea ports of entry. Lebanon has so far confirmed 368 coronavirus cases among them six deaths and 20 recoveries.

Lebanon to extend lockdown as coronavirus spreads
Georgi Azar/Annahar/March 26/2020
The Higher Defense Council held a session chaired by President Michel Aoun Thursday, arguing for an extension of the "general mobilization" which was put in place on March 15.
BEIRUT: Lebanon is expected to extend its lockdown, which expires on March 29, for another two weeks in line with the recommendation of the Higher Defense Council. The Higher Defense Council held a session chaired by President Michel Aoun Thursday, arguing for an extension of the "general mobilization" which was put in place on March 15.  The lockdown will now run until April 12, with Lebanon's security apparatus tasked with its implementation. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Hassan Diab, a number of ministers, Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun and other heads of security and military apparatuses. The Minister of Public Health "presented the latest developments while stressing the importance of preventing gathering to control the spread of the virus," a statement released by the presidency said. As of Wednesday, Lebanon has recorded 333 cases of the novel coronavirus and six deaths. Almost all public and private institutions have been shut down, grinding Lebanon's already struggling economy to a halt.

Diab: Current 'General Mobilization' Resembles 'State of Emergency'
Naharnet/March 26/2020
Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced Thursday that Lebanon’s current state of “general mobilization” in the face of the coronavirus crisis is a state of emergency to some extent, noting that Lebanon lacks the ability to implement a complete state of emergency at the moment. “What’s currently happening is a state of emergency in the framework of general mobilization, but the declaration of a state of emergency according to law requires measures involving a curfew and a general closure and we do not have such intentions,” Diab told reporters in a chat after a cabinet session. He also noted that the declaration of a state of emergency “requires parliament’s approval eight days in advance,” pointing out that “the state of emergency some are demanding has difficult stipulations that cannot be implemented in Lebanon.” Separately, Diab said there are no disagreements over the administrative appointments file, adding that he has asked each minister to provide him with the CVs of three candidates for each post. “They will be submitted on Monday and put on cabinet’s agenda on Thursday and all those who will be appointed are new and competent figures,” he said.

Aoun: Government hospitals must be equipped to fight coronavirus
NNA/March 26/2020
President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, stressed in the wake of the Cabinet session in Baabda, "the need to prepare government hospitals in all regions."After the meeting of the council of ministers which focused on Covid-19 and its repercussions, the Head of State announced 53 new coronavirus cases, indicating that there was only one equipped government hospital in Metn, that of Dahr el-Bachek, and that a need emerges from this fact, that of providing all the equipment necessary for the fight against Covid-19.

Diab meets with ‘Loyalty to Resistance’ MPs Sherri, Moussawi
NNA/March 26/2020
Prime Minister Dr. Hassan Diab on Thursday met with Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MPs, Amin Sherri and Ibrahim Moussawi.
The latter stated, following the meeting: “We visited the Prime Minister on behalf of our parliamentary bloc, and reviewed a number of important, exceptional, and critical files in light of the situation. We initially discussed matters related to expatriates and students outside Lebanon, namely those who have faced numerous difficulties in Turkey, Italy, and Africa. A great number of Lebanese people wish to return home, in light of the instability they are witnessing in their countries of residence. His Excellency stressed that an inter-ministerial committee was formed for this purpose, and that the Minister of Foreign Affairs is closely following up on the situation of expatriates through diplomatic missions.” “The options are under consideration, with the aim of finding a solution to the problems faced by the Lebanese, however this matter requires time. The crisis is now at a global scale and all countries are fighting it with exceptional and urgent measures. The Prime Minister is particularly concerned with this matter”, he added.  He also noted that the subject of prison overcrowding in these critical times was brought to attention. “We have raised the matter of the amnesty law, as well as the necessity that the Government adopts a draft law in this scope, to hasten the proceedings relative to this matter. We are aware of the numerous obstacles, and that concerns regarding this issue are abundant. Nevertheless, this must not hinder the work of the Government and relevant authorities. In this context, the Prime Minister indicated that he will be following this matter with the Minister of Justice.” M. Moussawi finally praised the Government for the measures adopted in view of supporting the most vulnerable families, noting that coordination between Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, the Government, and relevant committees shall be maintained, with the aim of achieving the envisioned objectives.-- Grand Serail Press Office

Hitti confirms endeavors to provide aid, says embassies abroad ready to exert necessary efforts
NNA/March 26/2020
In an interview with the “Voice of Lebanon" radio station on Thursday, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Nassif Hatti, said that the Lebanese state awaited the arrival of medical assistance.
He explained that he had discussed the matter with the European Commissioner for Neighborhood Affairs, who in turn promised to provide Lebanon with the necessary aid after having been provided by France and China. “We are working on all fronts to secure aid to Lebanon,” the Minister affirmed. He highlighted ongoing cooperation with embassies to ensure assistance and to support students and citizens who wished to return to Lebanon. He finally stressed that Lebanon's embassies abroad were very cooperative. “Since the first day of this serious crisis, our embassies have dedicated a hot line to communicate with citizens to stay away from public places and stay in isolation.”

Safieddine: Hizbullah Set Plan to Fight Coronavirus
Naharnet/March 26/2020
Head of Hizbullah’s Executive Council Hashem Safieddine said on Thursday that the party has allocated 3.5 billion Lebanese pounds for a plan “consistent with the government’s policies” to limit the spread of coronavirus. In an interview with Hizbullah’s al-Manar TV, Safieddine said: “The plan has started and is operating according to need and danger,” noting that “4,500 health care workers,” are assisting with the plan in addition to “members from the Union of Municipalities and AMAL Movement.”“In our plan, we have laid down the worst case scenarios and prepared to confront it with all available capabilities. We also created a committee whose mission is to monitor the situation of Lebanese communities in expatriate areas in order to meet their needs according to our capabilities,” he added. Safieddine noted that “private hospitals have been rented and equipped for use when needed. We have established medical diagnostic centers to evaluate and examine cases and determine the procedures required. We have prepared 32 medical reserve centers to confront coronavirus in all Lebanese regions.”The Hizbullah official said that a cadre of 24,500 doctors and paramedics is working to implement Hizbullah’s plan. “We are fighting coronavirus with capabilities initially put to confront war and aggression,” he said, pointing out that a total of 3.5 billion Lebanese pounds have been allocated for the purpose.

Israeli Army Says Downed Small Hizbullah Drone
Naharnet/March 26/2020
The Israeli army brought down a small drone belonging to Hizbullah after it entered Israel’s airspace on Thursday morning, a spokesman said. “The drone is now in the possession of the Israeli army,” Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a tweet. The Israeli army “will continue to foil attempts by the Hizbullah organization to violate the state’s sovereignty through various offensive and defensive means in order to protect Israel’s residents,” Adraee added. He also warned that the Israeli army sees the incident as a dangerous development, describing it as “a violation of the sovereignty of the state of Israel.”“The Lebanese government is responsible for anything that happens from its territory,” Adraee cautioned.

Berri: Cabinet, Defense Council Resolutions Step in Right Direction
Naharnet/March 26/2020
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday lauded the latest decisions taken by Cabinet and the Higher Defense Council in the face of the coronavirus crisis. “What has been issued by Cabinet and the Higher Defense Council as to the state of health emergency, which I have been demanding from the very beginning, is a positive step in the right direction,” Berri said in a statement. Earlier in the day, the Higher Defense Council recommended the extension of the so-called state of general mobilization. The Cabinet later endorsed the recommendation and extended general mobilization until April 12 while ordering a general closure from 7:00 pm until 5:00 am with some exceptions for highly essential shops and institutions.

Lebanon Records 35 New Coronavirus Cases
Naharnet/March 26/2020
The Health Ministry said that 35 new coronavirus cases have been registered on Thursday raising the tally to 368 in Lebanon. The Ministry said in its daily report that 35 new laboratory-confirmed cases had been recorded in the governmental Rafik Hariri University Hospital, the accredited university hospital labs and private laboratories. “Two more individuals suffering from chronic diseases” have died, said the Health Ministry without specifying whether they were infected with coronavirus. “One of the deceased was in his 50s. He died at the RHUH. The second person, in his 70s, died at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Notre Dame de Secours,” added the Ministry in its statement.

Coronavirus Delivers Tough Blow to Lebanon's Dying Economy
Associated Press/Naharnet/March 26/2020
Through 15 years of civil war and various bouts of violence since, Lebanon's Barbar eatery never closed its doors, serving up sandwiches to customers even if it meant doing so from behind sandbags.
The coronavirus pandemic, however, has managed to do what various wars could not: Close bars, restaurants and entertainment spots across the tiny Mediterranean country. It's an economic gut punch at a time when Lebanon is already mired in the worst financial crisis in its history.
While residents of many other countries are counting on a government bailout, that's not an option in the country teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.
"We have never gone through something like this — ever," said Barbar owner Ali Ghaziri, standing outside his shop on Beirut's normally busy Hamra street, now completely deserted.
Earlier this month, heeding orders from the government amid the spread of the new coronavirus, Ghaziri closed the iconic chain's two branches in Beirut, leaving only its delivery service operating.
Nearby, in Beirut's Gemayzeh neighborhood, pubs and restaurants usually spilling onto the street with noisy, beer-toting youngsters are shuttered. Even Lebanon's famous corniche, usually dotted with coffee vans, corn-on-the-cob vendors and people doing their morning exercise, is now empty.
Lebanon has suffered in recent years from a lack of economic growth, high unemployment and a drop in hard currency inflows from abroad. But the financial crisis erupted after nationwide protests over widespread corruption and decades of mismanagement by the ruling political class engulfed the country in October. That in turn has led to bank closures and crippling capital controls on cash withdrawals and transfers, raising fears about depositors' savings in U.S. dollars. The local currency has already lost up to 60% of its value on the dollar on the black market.
Earlier this month, as the crisis deepened, the government announced it would no longer pay its foreign loans, marking the country's first-ever default amid ongoing popular unrest.
Among the sectors hardest hit by the crisis has been the food and beverage sector, a mainstay of Lebanon's economy.
Between September and December 2019, more than 800 food and beverage institutions closed and around 25,000 people — or 17% of those who work in the sector — lost their jobs, according to various estimates. In January, a further 200 institutions closed.
The Lebanese government ordered the lockdown in mid-March, closing its only international airport as well as ports and land border crossings until March 29. Restaurants and night clubs were also ordered closed in a severe blow to one of the most vital sectors in Lebanon, known for its cuisine and bustling night life. "We reached a point where we were hit by one catastrophe after the other, and when we reached the coronavirus crisis we had no more reserves at all," said Maya Bekhazi Noun, general secretary of the syndicate for restaurant owners.
"We were at the bottom, bottom, bottom, taking the last breath," she said. "This now was a mortal blow to the sector."
Unlike in other countries under lockdowns, where banks remained open, the banking association in Lebanon decided to defy government orders and close for two weeks, in an apparent effort to preserve liquidity.
"It's going to be devastating on the economy in the short-term and the long-term," said economist Kamel Wazni, speaking about businesses that have closed. "There's going to be a lot of pain among many sectors of the economy."
He said the government will also be affected since it will not be able to collect taxes, further increasing the budget deficit.
Lebanon's prime minister has acknowledged that the state is struggling to tackle the coronavirus fallout amid the crippling crisis. In a report this week, Human Rights Watch said Lebanon's financial crisis and dollar shortage has resulted in a scarcity of medical supplies necessary to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak. While governments abroad scramble to approve stimulus packages to compensate for lost businesses, experts here warn of extremely dire times ahead with no potential for bailouts. Government officials have said they are not seeking an IMF bailout for now, fearing it would come with conditions that would be too painful. Ghaziri, the owner of Barbar, said he is worried about his staff, 75% of whom he had to send home after sales dropped 75%.
His father founded the Barbar chain — a household name in Lebanon — in 1979, four years after the country's 15-year civil war erupted. The eatery continued to serve up kebabs, shawarma and other treats throughout the conflict and various other wars. They closed for a few hours only when Ghaziri's grandfather passed away and in 2005 for the funeral of the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri after he was assassinated.
"During the civil war, there were street battles. So, you could talk yourself out of problems. Now you cannot do anything," Ghaziri said of the coronavirus.
Some 220,000 people have lost their jobs in Lebanon since October, according to a survey released last month by information provider InfoPro.InfoPro said the number of companies that have closed increased by 20% between November and January. One third of all companies have reduced their work force by 60%. The World Bank had projected 0.2% negative growth in 2020 before the protests began in October but more recent estimates suggest the contraction in the country's economy could be more than 1% of GDP.
Prime Minister Hassan Diab, whose government is negotiating debt restructuring, said Lebanon's debt reached $90 billion or 170% of GDP, making it one of the highest in the world.
According to government estimates, about half of Lebanon's population could end up living below poverty levels.
Ali Badran lost his job at the restaurant where he worked for 11 years in October as a result of the crisis. He was left jobless just as he was preparing to marry his longtime fiance in a few months.
With no income, the 36-year-old stopped renovation work in the apartment he bought and started looking for a new job as of late October. That was days after massive nationwide protests broke out against the country's political elite.
On March 1, he started a new job at another restaurant in Beirut but now he is worried the lockdown means he could be laid off again.
"I am worried that if things stay as they are I might lose my new job," he said.

Coronavirus: Lebanon's shops and institutions told to limit opening hours
Sunniva Rose/The National/March 26/2020
The country's shutdown has been extended for two weeks due to Covid-19
ese capital Beirut's Martyrs Square almost deserted on March 26. AFP
The Lebanese government announced on Thursday that all shops and institutions must be closed between 5pm and 7am in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed 6 people up to now. Speaking after a Cabinet meeting, Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad said that a “general closure between 5pm and 7am, with some exceptions,” had been decided. She did not specify the exceptions. Mrs Abdel Samad also announced a treasury advance of 75 billion Lebanese Pounds ($50 million) to the Higher Relief Council, an institution that deals with public emergencies.
In effect, most shops have been closed since March 15, with only supermarkets and pharmacies open. Public institutions have limited their working hours.
In the past week, the Lebanese police have fined people for jogging along Beirut’s corniche as well as cars transporting more than three passengers. The state of “general mobilisation”, which was announced on March 15, would be extended to April 12, said Mrs Abdel Samad, quoted by the state-run National News Agency. “General mobilisation”, which allows for the army’s increased involvement in managing the health crisis but remains ambiguous, allowing politicians to manoeuvre without declaring a full state of emergency, said Khalil Helou, a retired general.
“This is not a general mobilisation in the strict military sense,” he said. Though the army has been charged with warning people that they should not congregate, it cannot arrest or fine them for being outside, he said.
“A state of emergency would need much more mobilisation. For example, the army would announce every morning how long people could stay outside or use their car,” said Mr Helou. The last time Lebanon declared a state of emergency was in 1973 after clashes between the Lebanese Army and Palestinian factions, he said. Two years later, a 15-year long civil war began. A Spanish soldier stands next to beds set up at a temporary hospital for vulnerable people at the Fira Barcelona Montjuic centre in Barcelon. AFP President Michel Aoun “reiterated the necessity for citizens to adhere to the measures taken to limit the spread of the coronavirus, especially adhering to home quarantine and restricting movement until the severity of the epidemic lessens,” said Mrs Abdel Samad on Thursday.
She highlighted that Prime Minister Hassan Diab warned of severe “economic challenges” and appealed for “Lebanese residents and the diaspora to participate in helping the State to support needy families.”On Wednesday, the government announced that it would distribute 100,000 food and hygiene packages worth 18 billion Lebanese Pounds (Dh 44 million) to the country’s poorest. Months before Lebanon was hit by the coronavirus, it was already struggling with its worst economic crisis in history. Hundreds of thousands of people have recently lost their jobs.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 26-27/2020
US imposes fresh sanctions on Iranian individuals, companies amid coronavirus
Reuters/March 26/2020
WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday blacklisted 20 Iran- and Iraq-based companies, officials and individuals, accusing them of supporting terrorist groups and ramping up pressure on Tehran even as the Islamic Republic battles the coronavirus outbreak. The US Treasury Department said in a statement that the individuals and entities supported Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and its elite foreign paramilitary and espionage arm, the Quds Force, as well as transferred lethal aid to Iran-backed militias in Iraq, including Kataib Hezbollah and Asaib Ahl Al-Haq. Treasury said the people and entities were involved in smuggling weapons to Iraq and Yemen and selling US-blacklisted Iranian oil to the Syrian government, among other activities. The sanctions freeze any US-held assets of those designated and generally bar Americans from doing business with them.
“Iran employs a web of front companies to fund terrorist groups across the region, siphoning resources away from the Iranian people and prioritizing terrorist proxies over the basic needs of its people,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement.

Iran says it has ‘no knowledge’ of ex-FBI agent Robert Levinson
AFP, Tehran /Thursday 26 March 2020
Iran said on Thursday it had “no knowledge” of the whereabouts of a former FBI agent missing since 2007, after his family said he had died in Iranian custody. US President Donald Trump did not confirm Bob Levinson’s death, saying that Iran had not communicated any news on the former agent, who would have turned 72 this month. “Iran has always maintained that its officials have no knowledge of Mr. Levinson’s whereabouts, and that he is not in Iranian custody,” said Alireza Miryousefi, chief press officer at Iran’s mission to the United Nations. “Those facts have not changed.”Levinson’s family said that it had learnt that he was dead, although it gave no information on how or when. “We recently received information from US officials that has led both them and us to conclude that our wonderful husband and father died while in Iranian custody,” said a statement from the family.
The family said Levinson died before the coronavirus pandemic, which has hit Iran hard and led authorities to release thousands of prisoners temporarily. Levinson is one of a number of Americans who have disappeared in arch-enemy Iran, but his case has been among the most perplexing, with his family until now insisting he was alive. The father of seven vanished in March 2007 in Kish, an island that has more lenient visa rules than the rest of Iran, and was said to have been investigating cigarette counterfeiting. But The Washington Post reported in 2013 that Levinson, who had retired from the FBI, was working for the CIA and had gone on a rogue mission aimed at gathering intelligence on Iran. Iranian officials have repeatedly said they had no information about him. Iran’s foreign ministry said in 2018 that Levinson had “travelled to Iran at a certain point and then left” and that it had no information about anything that might have happened after he left.

Coronavirus: Iran death toll reaches 2,234, total infections top 29,406
Reuters, Dubai/Thursday 26 March 2020
Iran reported 157 new coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, Iranian Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told state TV on Thursday, taking the death toll to 2,234 in the Islamic Republic with 29,406 infected people. “The number of new infected cases was 2,389 in the past 24 hours,” Jahanpur said, calling on Iranians to stay at home.

Coronavirus: After rejecting US aid, IRGC chief offers to help America
Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English/Thursday 26 March 2020
Iran does not “need” any US help to combat coronavirus but is ready to help the US against the virus, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami said on Thursday.
As of Thursday, 2,234 in Iran have died from coronavirus, and there are 29,406 confirmed cases. “The Americans’ remarks of wanting to help Iran are nothing but deception and lies,” said Salami. “I say to [US officials] that if the people of America need help, we are ready to help them, but we do not need their help,” he said. “America has always been our enemy and has never had our nation’s best interests at heart,” added Salami. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that the Islamic Republic will reject any US help to combat coronavirus.

Iran has handled coronavirus better than ‘many’ other countries, says Larijani
Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English/Thursday 26 March 2020
Iran has handled the coronavirus better than “many other countries,” Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani claimed on Thursday. As of Thursday, 2,234 in Iran have died from coronavirus, and there are 29,406 confirmed cases. “Thanks to the measures taken by the health ministry and the armed forces, Iran is ahead of many countries in the world in the fight against coronavirus,” Larijani was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency. Despite how developed they are, the US and European countries find themselves in a difficult predicament due to coronavirus, he said. “When we check the news from these countries, we see how panicked they are in the fight against coronavirus,” said Larijani. His remarks come as the Iranian regime has been accused of mishandling its response to the coronavirus outbreak in the country, including deliberately covering up details of the outbreak to maximize turnout in parliamentary elections. Documents obtained by an Iranian exile-run news site show that a senior Iranian official instructed authorities to only implement public health measures after the elections on February 21. In contrast, the regime has insisted it acted as soon as it became aware of the problem. According to The Associated Press, the days in which the regime denied the presence of the virus allowed it to spread, as the regime prioritized the legitimacy it sought from elections over public health.

Middle East flights down 45 percent this week amid coronavirus: Data firm
Reuters, Dubai/Thursday 26 March 2020
Flights in the Middle East are down 45 percent this week, compared with the same week last year, aviation data firm OAG said on Thursday. European flights are down 60 percent this week, equal to 92,000 fewer services, and there are 30 percent fewer services in the Asia Pacific region, according to an OAG presentation.The global coronavirus outbreak has shattered demand for air travel, forcing several major airlines to ground their fleets.

G20 will do whatever it takes to overcome coronavirus pandemic: Statement
Leen Alfaisal and Ismaeel Naar, Al Arabiya English/Thursday 26 March 2020
The G20 leaders say the world's leading economies will do whatever it takes to overcome the coronavirus pandemic, adding that tackling the pandemic and its intertwined health, social, and economic impacts is the “absolute priority,” according to the summit's final statement.
The leaders will commit to sharing epidemiological and health data, strengthening health systems globally, and expanding the manufacturing capacity of medical supplies, said the statement issued after an emergency virtual summit on coronavirus. The leaders also said they were committed to resolving disruptions to global supply chains and asked finance ministers and central bank governors to coordinate regularly together and with international organizations to develop an action plan in response to the pandemic. “We are injecting over $5 trillion into the global economy, as part of targeted fiscal policy, economic measures, and guarantee schemes to counteract the social, economic, and financial impacts of the pandemic,” the statement added. The leaders expressed concern “with the serious risks posed ... particularly on developing and least developed countries, and notably in Africa and small island states,” adding that refugees and displaced persons face “particular risk.”The final communique of the virtual G20 emergency summit chaired by King Salman said that the body would also focus on providing “bold and large-scale fiscal support.”
“Collective G20 action will amplify its impact, ensure coherence, and harness synergies. The magnitude and scope of this response will get the global economy back on its feet and set a strong basis for the protection of jobs and the recovery of growth. We ask our Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to coordinate on a regular basis to develop a G20 action plan in response to COVID-19 and work closely with international organizations to swiftly deliver the appropriate international financial assistance,” the final communique read.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states have been relatively successful in containing the virus, but infections have spiraled out of control in Iran, much of Europe and the United States. On top of the economic hit from lockdowns to slow the spread of coronavirus, Saudi Arabia has been hurt by a dramatic fall in oil prices. The G20 summit has said it would also work to support extraordinary measures taken by central banks consistent with their mandates during the coronavirus pandemic crisis. “Central banks have acted to support the flow of credit to households and businesses, promote financial stability, and enhance liquidity in global markets. We welcome the extension of swap lines that our central banks have undertaken. We also support regulatory and supervisory measures taken to ensure that the financial system continues to support the economy and welcome the Financial Stability Board’s (FSB) announced coordination of such measures,” leaders of the G20 said in the joint final communique. With agencies

Israeli government opens up nuclear bunker in war on coronavirus
Reuters, Jerusalem/Thursday 26 March 2020
The Israeli government has opened up a war bunker in the Jerusalem hills to help coordinate its campaign against the spread of the coronavirus, Israeli officials said on Thursday. The bunker, called the “National Management Center,” was built more than a decade ago because of concern about Iran’s nuclear program and missile exchanges with Lebanese Hezbollah or Palestinian militant group Hamas. According to Israeli officials, it includes living quarters and command facilities and can be accessed from the government complex in Jerusalem and the western foothills leading to Tel Aviv.
“This (bunker) is another tool for managing, controlling, oversight and tracking” the coronavirus, said an Israeli official who requested anonymity. “We understand that this crisis will accompany us for an extended period of time yet.”Defense Minister Naftali Bennett appeared to play down the move, telling an Israel Radio reporter during a news conference that the bunker “is not so relevant (to the crisis). We are not under a missile attack that would require us to be underground.” Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz had earlier joked in an interview with Tel Aviv radio station 102 FM that the bunker had limited usefulness now as “it protects from bombs, but not from microbes”.Israel has reported 2,666 coronavirus cases and eight fatalities. After restricting people’s movements as a precaution, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that a nationwide lockdown could be ordered within days.

Israel’s Benny Gantz nominates himself as parliament speaker
AFP, Jerusalem/Thursday 26 March 2020
Israel’s ex-military chief Benny Gantz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main rival, submitted himself on Thursday as a candidate for speaker of parliament, a move that could lead to an emergency alliance between the two. The parliament announced that Gantz was the only candidate to succeed Netanyahu ally Yuli Edelstein, who resigned as speaker under pressure on Wednesday. A formal vote electing Gantz is expected later on Thursday.

US to indict Venezuelan President Maduro for 'narco-terrorism'
Agencies/Thursday 26 March 2020
The US Justice Department is planning to indict Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for "narco-terrorism," US Senator Marco Rubio said Thursday. The Trump administration will announce indictments against Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and members of his inner circle for effectively converting Venezuela’s state into a criminal enterprise at the service of drug traffickers and terrorist groups, according to four people familiar with the situation. The indictments from prosecutors in Miami and New York, which will encompass money-laundering and drug-trafficking charges, will be announced at a news conference by US Attorney General William Barr on Thursday, according to the four, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the indictments ahead of their unsealing. The US is also expected to announce $25 million in rewards for information leading to the arrest or prosecution of Maduro and Diosado Cabello, head of the ruling socialist party. That’s according to two US officials familiar with the matter. The State Department is expected to announce the reward offers at the same time the Justice Department goes public with the indictments, the officials said.
The indictment of a functioning head of state is highly unusual and is bound to ratchet up tensions between Washington and Caracas as the spread of the coronavirus threatens to collapse a health system and oil-dependent economy driven deep into the ground by years of corruption and US sanctions.

WHO Europe Sees 'Encouraging Signs' in Coronavirus Spread
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 26/2020
The World Health Organization's European office said Thursday it saw "encouraging signs" as Italy reported a lower rate of infections of the new coronavirus, cautioning it was too soon to say whether the worst had passed. "While the situation remains very serious, we are starting to see some encouraging signs," WHO regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, told a press conference. "Italy, which has the highest number of cases in the region, has just seen a slightly lower rate of increase, though it is still too early to say that the pandemic is peaking in that country," he added. WHO Europe said that to date over 220,000 cases of COVID-19 had been reported on the continent, along with 11,987 deaths.  That means that globally, roughly six out of every 10 cases and seven out of 10 deaths have been reported in Europe, with the number of confirmed infections worldwide now over 400,000.
As the new coronavirus has spread across the continent, many European countries have adopted severe measures to curb the outbreak, including imposing lockdown measures and closing businesses and borders, as well as limiting public gatherings. According to Kluge they will soon be able to determine the degree to which those measures have had an impact. But Kluge also cautioned governments and citizens to be aware of the "new reality" created by the pandemic and prepare for the long term impact. "This is not going to be a sprint, this is going to be a marathon," Kluge said.

London Hospitals Facing 'Tsunami' of Virus Patients
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 26/2020
London hospitals are overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, the head of an organization representing bosses in the state-run National Health Service said Thursday. The chief executive of NHS Providers, Chris Hopson, told BBC radio that hospitals in the British capital have seen an "explosion of demand... in seriously ill patients", likening it to a "continuous tsunami", with numbers predicted to surge in the next fortnight. "They talk about wave after wave after wave," he said. "The word that's often used to me is a sort of continuous tsunami."According to the latest figures, 463 people have died from the virus and more than 9,500 people have been infected. London's population is about one-third of Britain's total. However, the official statistics are thought to represent only a fraction of the actual number of infections across Britain. The government is to open a temporary 4,000-bed hospital at an exhibition center in London next week to treat COVID-19 patients. British media reported that 10 similar facilities could be set up around the country. London has found itself at the epicenter of the country's epidemic as controversy rages over the adequacy of protective measures.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who last week recommended social distancing, on Monday ordered a national lockdown, telling people to stay at home and asking all non-essential shops and services to shut down. But he has allowed people who cannot work from home to keep working, notably in the construction industry, resulting in some crowded London Underground trains. The government has urged the capital's mayor, Sadiq Khan, to run more services so that passengers can maintain social distancing guidelines. But Khan has said the Underground is running a limited service because of staff illnesses and shortages, urging only essential frontline workers to use the transport. He has also called on government ministers to halt construction work. Public transport use was down 13 percent on Thursday, according to the mayor, who tweeted: "The more we stay at home the more lives we can save."
'Lambs to the slaughter' Meanwhile, frontline healthcare workers in the capital and elsewhere have complained of a lack of equipment as well as insufficient testing of staff for COVID-19 infection. "Since coronavirus struck the hospital where I work in the south of England, chaos has descended," an anonymous NHS doctor wrote in the Daily Mail. "If hospitals are to survive this, we urgently need adequate protective clothing. Otherwise we are lambs to the slaughter." Hopson said the challenge of dealing with the increased number of patients in London was exacerbated by the "unprecedented absence rate" of medical staff. "We're now seeing 30, 40 and even some places 50 percent sickness rates," he said, adding that there was also a "real problem" with ventilator capacity in hospitals. His comments came as the government announced it had ordered 10,000 emergency ventilators to help tackle the pandemic from billionaire entrepreneur James Dyson. In an email to staff, the inventor said his company designed the "CoVent" at Johnson's request, and promised to donate 5,000 to the international relief effort. Dyson, a high-profile Brexiteer, said teams of engineers had been working on the design since receiving the call 10 days ago.
"We have received an initial order of 10,000 units from the UK government," he said. The design must receive regulatory approval before production can begin. "The race is now on to get it into production," Dyson wrote.

Pope Reportedly Tests Negative for Virus after Vatican Scare
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 26/2020
Pope Francis was reported Thursday to have tested negative for the novel coronavirus after a person in his residence was said to have contacted COVID-19. Several Italian newspapers with reputable sources in the Vatican said the Italian clergyman who got sick had lived for years in the pope's Saint Martha's residence. Il Messaggero said the person is "one of the pope's closest collaborators, an official of the Secretariate of the State, who was found to have a slight temperature after going in for a routine check". The daily La Stampa said the unnamed person has been hospitalised in Rome and that his office has been disinfected. Il Messaggero later reported that the pope himself was tested for the virus and came out clean. The 83-year-old pontiff has remained largely secluded at his residence since coming down with a cold late last month. La Stampa said he has been "eating alone in his room for some time" and has food brought to him on a tray by secretaries. "He spends much of his time in his apartment, and when he moves inside the residence, he keeps the necessary safe distances," La Stampa wrote.
"The anti-contagion cordon has been tight around the pope for weeks." The official Vatican News site said the number of people infected in the city state has risen to four. The ANSA news agency said the Italian clergyman in the pope's residence was a fifth case not reported by official sources.
Unexpected
Life in the Vatican has been shrouded in secrecy and little in known about how popes spend their days. But the Argentine-born pontiff has tried to connect more with the people and do away with some the Vatican's more formal traditions.
He refused to move into the luxurious papal palace upon being elected to succeed pope Benedict XVI in March 2013. His Saint Martha's residence is a simple building erected next to Saint Peter's Basilica in 1996. It is also the place where cardinals stay when they gather for conclaves to elect new popes. Francis stayed there for the 2013 election and then never moved out when he was picked.Il Messaggero said only about 30 people live at the residence and "no one would have expected" for one of them would get sick because their circle of contacts was so small. The Argentine-born pontiff has enjoyed a life of good health despite losing part of a lung as a young man and suffering from sciatica -- a nerve condition that causes pain in his hip. Italian news reports said he was not currently considering moving to a more isolated location because of the four cases in the Vatican.
"In any case, the pope is constantly surrounded by a staff equipped with disinfectant products," La Stampa wrote. The pope's daily prayer Thursday touched on people's fears in the face of the new disease.
"Each one knows what their own fears are," Francis said.

Rockets Hit Iraq's Green Zone, U.S.-Led Coalition Leaves Base
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 26/2020
Two rockets slammed into the Iraqi capital's high-security Green Zone early Thursday, hours before US-led forces were set to pull out of a second base in the country. Some 7,500 foreign troops are in Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition helping local troops fight jihadist remnants, but those numbers are being significantly drawn down this month. The alliance is temporarily bringing some trainers home as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus pandemic and is also leaving some Iraqi bases altogether. Those bases and foreign embassies, particularly the American mission, have been targeted in more than two dozen rocket strikes since late October. The attacks, which the U.S. has blamed on an Iran-backed armed group, have prompted fears of a proxy war on Iraqi soil. Before dawn on Thursday, two rockets punched into an empty square near an Iraqi security headquarters in the Green Zone, where government buildings and foreign embassies are based, Iraqi security forces said in a statement. An Iraqi security source told AFP the intended target appeared to be the U.S. embassy, a sprawling compound a few hundred meters (yards) further south on the banks of the Tigris.
There were no reports of casualties, but other attacks have been deadly.
Coalition transfers base
Earlier this month, two U.S. military personnel and a British soldier were killed in a rocket attack on Taji airbase north of Baghdad, that was hit again two days later. The 5,200 U.S. troops stationed across Iraqi bases make up the bulk of the coalition force helping hunt down Islamic State group sleeper cells across the country. Iraq declared IS defeated in late 2017, and the coalition is now implementing plans developed last year to consolidate its troop presence across the country. Around 300 coalition troops left the western Qaim base in mid-March, handing it over in full to Iraqi troops.
On Thursday, around 800 troops were set to leave the northern Qayyarah air base, used in 2016 and 2017 to help plan the fight against IS in the nearby city of Mosul. "Today the coalition transferred Qayyarah airbase to the full control of the Iraqi security forces," Myles Caggins, a coalition spokesman, told AFP.
"The coalition had a small area inside the base and we will have several hundred troops departing this base and eventually leaving Iraq," Caggins said. The departing forces include U.S. and French troops as well as civilian contractors, according to a coalition statement.
In the coming weeks, they will also leave an expansive base in Kirkuk. Rockets have rained down on both Qayyarah and Kirkuk in recent months, with one late December attack killing a U.S. contractor stationed in Kirkuk. The US has blamed those attacks on Kataeb Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group within the Hashed al-Shaabi military network. The Hashed has been formally integrated into the Iraqi state's security forces but more hardline groups continue to operate independently.
'Same actors'
This month's attacks, however, have been claimed by a previously unknown group identifying itself as Usbat al-Thaereen (League of the Revolutionaries). In online videos set to music, masked men carrying weapons rail against the "American Satan" and pledge to avenge "victims" of U.S. air strikes on Iraqi forces. The coalition, however, expects the group is an amalgamation of more well-known, anti-U.S. groups. "It's the same old actors, and they're organizing themselves slightly differently," a senior coalition official told reporters. The global alliance has simultaneously been redeploying training forces who had been coaching Iraqi troops. Trainers amount to a third of the total coalition force. British, French, Australian and Czech troops coaching Iraqi counterparts were being temporarily sent home as Baghdad had put a hold on training operations to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The US embassy on Thursday also said it was drawing down staff "due to a combination of security conditions and restricted travel options as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic." At least 36 Iraqis have died from the respiratory illness and more than 380 other cases have been confirmed, according to the latest toll from Iraqi authorities. But there are fears the real number of sufferers is much higher, as only around 2,000 of Iraq's 40 million people have been tested.
A spike in cases could overwhelm the country's dilapidated health system, ravaged by years of conflict and slim investment by government authorities.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 26-27/2020
Iran using time of crisis to increase its regional meddling
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/March 26/2020
Iran is facing one of the worst public health crises in its modern history. Tens of thousands of people there have been infected with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and more than 2,000 have lost their lives.
Many members of the country’s medical staff and health officials keep calling on the government to take the necessary steps to disrupt the spread of the virus. Kianush Jahanpur, the spokesperson for Iran’s Health Ministry, revealed the depth of the crisis by tweeting: “Based on our information, every 10 minutes one person dies from the coronavirus and some 50 people become infected with the virus every hour in Iran.”
But the Islamic Republic and its proxies appear to be prioritizing the regime’s revolutionary ideals, military adventurism and pursuit of regional hegemony over the public health crisis that the nation is facing. For example, Iran-backed militias in Iraq are ratcheting up their rocket attacks amid the coronavirus crisis. One attack killed several members of the US-led anti-Daesh coalition at Iraq’s Camp Taji base on March 11. Eighteen 107 millimeter Katyusha rockets slammed into the base, killing two Americans and one British soldier.
The US took retaliatory measures by conducting precision strikes against Kata’ib Hezbollah bases across Iraq, including targeting five of their weapons storage facilities. Iran is a major supplier of weapons and rockets to Shiite militias across the region. The US Navy and allied nations have previously intercepted several shipments of weapons heading to Yemen from Iran, while a UN report conclusively revealed a connection between Iran’s short-range ballistic missiles and the Houthis.
The Tehran regime has long been trying to boost its ballistic missile capacity throughout the region, in defiance of international norms and sanctions. Iran’s transfer of ballistic missiles to other countries raises the question of whether Tehran is violating UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which stipulates that: “Iran is called upon not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.” Most likely, Tehran’s long-term ballistic missile strategy is not limited to arming militias and terror groups, but also includes having the capacity to manufacture short-range and long-range ballistic missiles in other countries. Since Iran possesses the technology, it will be much more efficient and cost-effective to produce missiles in other nations.
Iran also appears to be setting up new militia groups in Iraq. One such Shiite militia group, which calls itself Usbat Al-Thayireen, or League of Revolutionaries, was likely established and armed by Tehran. In a video it released, a masked man holding a Kalashnikov-style assault rifle warned that attacks on Camp Taji and the Basmaya military base were only the beginning of a larger offensive. In another video, the group declared: “The Islamic resistance of Usbat Al-Thayireen vows to strike the occupation forces’ bases and embassy in the coming days and will continue striking the occupation until it exits the country, and the matter will be taken further if the occupier does not leave.” The militia also described itself as “a martyrdom project whose mission is striking the American occupation forces, striking its bases, striking (its) embassy and avenging the martyred leaders and their companions.”
Through its influence in the Iraqi government, the Iranian regime previously pushed Iraq into recognizing a conglomerate of Shiite militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces as “legitimate” groups, incorporating them into the state apparatuses and making the Iraqi government allocate wages and ammunition for them. Iranian forces and aligned Syrian militias have recruited about 9,000 young fighters from Shiite communities.
In another Arab country, Syria, the Iranian regime has ratcheted up its efforts to recruit young Shiite fighters. Iranian forces and aligned Syrian militias such as Saraya Al-Areen have recruited about 9,000 young fighters from Shiite communities in Sayda, Da’el and Izraa and sent them for military training, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Mass recruitment can also be witnessed in the northeast of the country, around the Euphrates River and Deir Ezzor province.
Iran is exploiting the economic situation by offering financial incentives to the fighters. “Those young people hurry to join the ranks of Iranian-backed militias because of the deteriorating living conditions and lack of job opportunities,” the SOHR reported.
Iran’s modus operandi is also anchored in exploiting religion and using sectarianism as a powerful tool to gain power and further the regime’s parochial, religious and political ambitions. The young people recruited by Iran are generally forced into carrying out various crimes against civilians, including torture, kidnapping, the use of child soldiers, widespread demolition of buildings, indiscriminate attacks, and unlawful restrictions on the movement of people fleeing the fighting.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is an Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the International American Council. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

Khamenei Securitizes the Pandemic as the IRGC Mulls Regional Action
Farzin Nadimi/The Washington Institute/March 26/2020
With the regime leadership accusing the United States of using bioweapons and fomenting other hateful disinformation, the potential for violence against U.S. forces and interests will likely escalate. Taking advantage of his annual Nowruz speech on March 22, Iran’s increasingly paranoid Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei aimed sharp criticism at the United States by accusing it of waging a genetically engineered biowarfare campaign against his nation. Besides raising concerns about his mental state, such rhetoric may signal a new chapter of hostilities between the two countries, especially in light of recent moves by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
HUMAN-JINN CONSPIRACY THEORIES
Citing chapter 6, verse 112 of the Quran, Khamenei categorized Iran’s enemies into two groups, demonic (jinn) and human, claiming that they have close “intelligence cooperation” with each other. Even allowing for sarcasm and rhetorical flourishes, such language from the commander-in-chief of a well-armed, demonstrably hostile regime is quite unsettling and dangerous. He also accused Washington of genetically engineering a strain of coronavirus in order to use it on Iranians and “study the effects.”Even more important than his rhetoric were the regime’s actions: Khamenei directed the government to reject any American aid, while the IRGC expelled a team of French doctors representing Medecins Sans Frontieres after they were accused of performing non-medical activities. Then, following Khamenei’s lead, Iran’s Health Ministry announced on March 23 that scarcely available manpower and resources were being diverted to investigate whether the country had been subjected to biowarfare. Khamenei’s speech went into further detail about this supposed conspiracy. According to him, enemies “are said to have used various means to collect data on the Iranian genetic makeup and have used this data to design strains specifically for Iran.” He was probably referring to scientific projects such as Iranome, which sought to map the genomes of various Iranian ethnic groups. Headed by the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences in Tehran, the project was completed in 2019 in collaboration with two German institutes: the Cologne Center for Genomics and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin. Beyond scoring rhetorical points, Khamenei’s remarks are dangerous from a wider security standpoint. He characterized the supposed U.S. involvement in spreading coronavirus as a “terrorist” act, raising the potential that Iran may seek to retaliate by military means or “in kind,” if it still has such capabilities (e.g., the regime reportedly experimented with biological agents during the 1980s).
IRAN’S CORONA CONTAINMENT EFFORT
Khamenei’s controversial remarks came amid continued uncertainty over who is leading the country’s efforts to stem the pandemic. The IRGC-affiliated National Passive Defense Organization (NPDO) was traditionally in charge of countering biological threats and established a biological defense network across all provinces years ago, headed by provincial governors with IRGC commanders as their deputies. According to NPDO chief Gen. Gholam Reza Jalali, however, his organization was completely sidelined when the government formed a national command center to combat coronavirus, with President Hassan Rouhani sitting at the top. And on March 12, after “considering the evidence that points to a biological attack,” Khamenei put the Armed Forces General Staff and its commander, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, in charge of coordinating the military’s biological defense efforts, creating a “welfare and treatment headquarters” in the process.
TEHRAN IS NOT DETERRED
The old problems of the Middle East linger even amid the unprecedented local and global effects of the pandemic. Tehran shows no sign of backing down from its defiant posture despite having to dedicate a great deal of its resources to containing the virus. Its proxy forces in Iraq continue to launch deadly rocket attacks at U.S. bases. For its part, Washington is determined to continue its “maximum pressure” campaign. It is also quietly strengthening its regional military posture with new deployments and joint exercises. A second aircraft carrier (the USS Eisenhower) has joined the USS Truman in the region, and for the first time in many years, Patriot missile defense systems have been sent to protect at least some U.S. personnel and assets in Iraq. None of these developments are escaping the attention of IRGC strategists, who likely regard such measures as either insufficient (missile defense) or temporary (the second carrier). They will be keen to resume the “old normal” sooner rather than later, reasserting the IRGC’s recent momentum even as much of its domestic capacity—and that of the Artesh—is busy dealing with the effects of the virus and seasonal floods across the country. That is presumably why Khamenei is so keen on focusing the regime’s wrath back on the old enemy in the middle of a national crisis. In place of strategic patience, one can expect an even more significant escalation in proxy violence against American military forces and interests in the region. Such attacks might seek to cause American casualties and force a direct military response against Iran—this in turn could initiate a round of actions and reactions in which the IRGC seems confident it can prevail, both militarily and rhetorically. Notably, all of these developments could cause domestic political problems. Military escalation may widen the Rouhani government’s rift with the IRGC, further crippling governance. And Khamenei’s stark demon remarks—which exceeded his past mentions of the subject—could backfire by convincing people inside and outside the regime that the eighty-year-old leader is indeed losing his mind.
CONCLUSION
Given the increasing securitization of Iran’s anti-virus measures, information pertaining to the spread and containment of the pandemic will likely be classified going forward, even if this approach hampers the wider international effort. Moreover, in light of the Supreme Leader’s hateful tone and the IRGC’s propensity to follow his lead, the United States needs to consider the possibility of retaliatory attacks by the IRGC and prepare proper deterrent measures. Potential acts of Iranian terrorism could include conventional attacks on biological facilities that result in the release of pathogens, or even direct bioterrorism in the worst-case scenario. Finally, the pandemic’s serious effects inside Iran should not be regarded as evidence that the Iranian military threat has decreased. Washington should continue taking the IRGC threat to its regional military presence seriously, deploying a viable air and missile defense capability in Iraq and perhaps even Afghanistan in order to deter any attacks. And while it cannot maintain a two-carrier force posture in the region indefinitely, it still needs to maintain a demonstrated qualitative and quantitative advantage in Iran’s neighborhood—and, perhaps more important, credibility that it will respond at the right time and place.
*Farzin Nadimi is an associate fellow with The Washington Institute, specializing in the security and defense affairs of Iran and the Gulf region.

Coronavirus response could be a turning point for G7
Andrew Hammond/Arab News/March 26/2020
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday convened the first ever virtual meeting of G7 foreign ministers amid the mounting coronavirus crisis. While the G7 may appear a body ill-suited to tackling the health emergency, with disagreements surfacing during the conference, it has always been at its best when reacting to the big issues of the moment.
The fact that it was founded in 1975, in the aftermath of the geopolitical and economic shocks following Washington’s withdrawal from the gold standard, underlines that it was designed for turbulent times. Back then, President Richard Nixon had resigned and there was a clear and imminent danger of currency wars. The G7 proved fit for purpose, playing a key role in the management of the most important exchange rates. It also brought Japan into the Western policymaking community, and we need a similarly far-sighted approach today.
Another example of the G7’s capacity for action was shown when it played an important role in convincing the Russians to pull the remnants of the Red Army out of the Baltic States in the 1990s — even though this issue was not on the formal schedule of discussion. This action was just one part of the lynchpin function the body played in the 1970s and 1980s in helping coordinate Western strategy toward the then-Soviet Union.
So the body has a proven record of stepping up to the plate when needed, and it could potentially play a significant role in coordinating an international response to the pandemic. This is especially so as the body is so well represented by European states, particularly Italy, France and Germany, which are currently at the center of the health emergency.
As well as this week’s foreign minister session and a parallel engagement on Tuesday between G7 finance ministers and central bankers, Donald Trump will convene the G7 leaders via video teleconference in April and May, and has also replaced the in-person G7 summit at Camp David in June with a videoconference. So there is now a clear pathway to coordinated action being taken in the weeks to come.
The key actions emerging from this week’s foreign minister session — despite disagreements between Pompeo and his counterparts over the former’s insistence that the pandemic be called the “Wuhan virus” — reinforced those from last week, when world leaders “committed to doing whatever is necessary to ensure a strong global response through closer cooperation and enhanced coordination of our efforts.”
The actions going forward will be fourfold. Firstly, a commitment to coordinate on public health measures to protect people at risk from coronavirus; secondly, to restore confidence and growth and protect jobs; thirdly, to support global trade and investment; and finally to encourage science, research and technological cooperation.
Take the example of the first and fourth pillars, where there is agreement to enhance efforts to strengthen health systems globally and work with the World Health Organization to foster its global mandate to lead on disease outbreaks and emergencies, as well as the private sector to assist global efforts such as the Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan. There is also a commitment to increase coordinated research efforts, including through support for the global Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation.
On the second pillar, the G7 will mobilize monetary and fiscal measures to support the workers, companies and sectors that are most affected. At the same time, central bank coordination will provide the monetary measures to support economic and financial stability, and to promote recovery and growth. To this end, the G7 finance ministers will now liaise weekly to coordinate and implement this agenda.
There is clearly a role for international organizations . The G7 is therefore also working with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and others to support a coordinated global response, including designing and swiftly implementing the international financial assistance that is appropriate to help countries, including emerging and developing economies, face the health and economic shock of the coronavirus pandemic.
It could potentially play a significant role in coordinating an international response to the pandemic.
On the third pillar, there are work streams underway around facilitating international trade and investment, “not only to restore the level of growth anticipated before the pandemic but also to build the foundation for stronger future growth.” As the G7 leaders acknowledge, this will require coordination not just across the G7, but also the G20, to support and amplify these efforts.
This is a big agenda and it is to be hoped that the G7 will put aside recent divisions, particularly (but not exclusively) those between Trump and the other six leaders. These reached their nadir at the Canadian summit in 2018, but tensions still exist.
The coronavirus chaos allows the G7 to take an important step back and try to concentrate once again on the big strategic questions facing the West. There is no bigger short-term challenge than coronavirus and, if Western leaders can do this, it could help make the body relevant again, while also helping to neutralize the argument put forward by some developing countries that the G7 lacks the legitimacy of the UN, or even G20, to engage in these international issues and/or is a historical artefact given the rise of new powers such as China and India.
*Andrew Hammond is an Associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics.

Pompeo’s high-stakes gamble on Afghan unity
Michael Kugelman/Arab News/March 26/2020
It is hard to overstate the significance of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s surprise visit to Afghanistan on Monday. With his country in the throes of the coronavirus, and no one — not even senior officials — traveling anywhere, Pompeo boarded a plane and took the long flight to Kabul. It was his first announced trip outside America in nearly a month and his first outside Washington since a brief trip to New York in early March. Pompeo went to Kabul to try to help end an ugly political spat between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah. Ghani was last month declared the winner of the Afghan presidential election, which was held in September. Abdullah rejected the result, declared himself the winner and followed up on a threat to set up a separate government. He held a presidential inauguration for himself on the same day as Ghani’s.
This crisis has prevented the launch of formal peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. These talks were meant to begin soon after the inking of a Feb. 29 troop withdrawal deal between the US government and the Taliban. But the Ghani-Abdullah spat has prevented the formation of the inclusive negotiating team that is necessary to hold talks with the Taliban. A dispute between Kabul and the Taliban over the release of Taliban prisoners — a stipulation in the US-Taliban deal — is the other major obstacle to launching talks.
Why would Pompeo leave America during its most serious crisis in years and try to end a political spat in a faraway nation? The answer is simple: The Trump administration badly wants a peace deal in Afghanistan — or at least the launch of peace talks.
Washington doesn’t want the agreement that it so painstakingly negotiated with the Taliban to have been in vain. It doesn’t want to face the prospect of initiating a final withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan with no prospects for peace — or even peace talks — in sight. Such a scenario would not only imperil the stability of Afghanistan, it would also give the Trump administration’s critics ample ammunition to accuse it of surrender.
The White House’s fervent desire to see talks begin between the Afghan government and the Taliban isn’t just the explanation for Pompeo’s visit; it is also the reason for the dramatic step Pompeo took immediately after his visit. His trip to Kabul didn’t end the Ghani-Abdullah impasse. After he left Afghanistan — and after a stopover in Doha for a meeting with Taliban officials — his office released a statement announcing that the US government would be cutting $1 billion in assistance to Afghanistan. This is no small sum, especially for Afghanistan, which is heavily dependent on US support.
The aid cut is not meant to be punishment. It is meant to be a form of persuasion. In effect, the Trump administration deployed its most potent tool of leverage — the nuclear option, so to speak — in the hope that this will finally compel Ghani and Abdullah to end their stalemate and enable peace talks to begin. The statement announcing the aid cut suggested that it would be reversed if the crisis was resolved.
The question now is whether or not Washington’s bold move will pay off. Up to now, both Ghani and Abdullah have dug their heels in and been unwilling to compromise. Abdullah, who believes he lost the last three presidential elections because of fraud, including the last two to Ghani, is particularly aggrieved and defiant. It comes down to this: Will the two leaders set aside their differences for the sake of peace, stability and the country’s overall welfare? Or will their jealously guarded political interests — some would call this selfishness — preclude such a concession?
The risk of deploying your most potent tool of leverage is that, if it doesn’t work, you will likely have nothing else in your toolkit, and you will be out of luck. If the Ghani-Abdullah spat continues, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad, who has essentially been camped out in Kabul over the last few weeks, may make one last-gasp mediation effort. Additionally, Washington may announce additional aid cuts. Or it may resolve to pull more than the 3,000-plus troops that the US-Taliban agreement says must be withdrawn in the coming weeks.
The Trump administration badly wants a peace deal in Afghanistan — or at least the launch of peace talks.
But if none of these options break the Ghani-Abdullah stalemate, the pressure will be on for an American withdrawal in the absence of peace or peace talks — the very option that Washington seeks to avoid.
The window of opportunity for launching peace talks may soon be closing. Coronavirus is rapidly spreading across Afghanistan and an already capacity-constrained Afghan government will need to deepen its focus on curbing it before it gets out of control. This will leave little bandwidth or policy space to redouble efforts to end the Ghani-Abdullah impasse. It truly is now or never in Afghanistan.
*Michael Kugelman is deputy director of the Asia Program and senior associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Twitter: @michaelkugelman

Coronavirus: Inside the global war for ventilators
Matthew Amlôt/Al Arabiya English/March 26/2020
Ventilators, life-saving pieces of medical equipment which help coronavirus patients to breath, have become a political commodity as governments and individuals scramble to obtain them amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Ventilators are crucial for providing care to people critically ill with coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, who often struggle to breathe naturally, explained Dr. Fadi Hamed, Pulmonologist & Critical Care Physician, Critical Care Institute, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.
“Ventilators do not cure COVID-19, however, they are able to keep a severely ill patient alive until they recover enough lung function to breathe on their own again,” he added.
But with around half a million people infected by coronavirus globally and hundreds of thousands more cases infected, demand has far outstripped supply – a situation worsened as governments and individuals hoard ventilators or offer them in return for favor.
Data analytics company GlobalData estimated on Monday that there is a supply gap of around 880,000 ventilators globally due to the virus’s outbreak.
“Ventilator shortages are a crucial reality as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to worsen globally. All ventilator manufacturers have full order books and hold little in stock – receiving orders not only from regular customers such as hospitals, but also directly from governments,” said GlobalData Medical Devices Analyst Tina Deng.
One study by the American Hospital Association said that the US would need around 960,000 ventilators for coronavirus hospitalizations. The country has only around 160,000, with another 12,700 in the National Strategic Stockpile, according to reports from the New York Times.
In a news conference earlier this week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency for sending the state 400 ventilators.
“FEMA says, ‘we are sending 400 ventilators.’ Really? What am I going to do with 400 ventilators, when I need 30,000? You pick the 26,000 people that are going to die because you only sent 400 ventilators,” he said.“You cannot buy them, you cannot find them. Every state is trying to get them, other countries are trying to get them,” Cuomo added.
Countries ban ventilator export
A report from information firm Global Trade Alert on Monday found that 54 governments had enacted export curbs on medical supplies since the beginning of the year.
“Access to medical ventilators is a matter of life and death for many patients that have a severe bout of COVID-19… export curbs on ventilators deny access to this medical equipment to foreign buyers and citizens. Export curbs on related parts and components can slow down or stall production of ventilators,” the report said.
The EU, where half of the world’s ventilators exports are based, has already put in place a pseudo-ban on their export.
The overall trend towards banning ventilator export puts many countries at risk, including in the Middle East, as access to the life-saving technology becomes more limited.
“The human cost of export bans of medical equipment are not something any policymaker wants to have on their conscience,” the report added.
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The rich hoard
The wealthy have begun to look to buy their own ventilators in case of a shortage in the general healthcare system.
A report by The Moscow Times found that Russian oligarchs have been setting up clinics in their own homes, complete with ventilators.
“We’ve been able to get one so far and are trying to get two more … But there’s an eight-month waiting list,” a source told The Moscow Times.
Medical device company Medtronic estimates that a hospital grade ventilator costs between $25,000 and $50,000 – out of reach for all but the super wealthy.
With widespread shortages across the planet, each regulator is crucial for those that need it.
Private sector support
Companies have begun to ramp up production to fill shortage. On Wednesday, UK vacuum cleaner-maker Dyson, founded by billionaire James Dyson, said the government had ordered 10,000 prototype ventilators, which the company had designed at a break-neck pace, following a plea from the UK government for private sector involvement.
Car manufacturers Ford, Tesla, and General Motors, have all announced that they have moved production to producing ventilators and masks, after factories shut down due to the effect of the coronavirus on demand.
“We are encouraged by how quickly companies from across industries have mobilized to address the growing challenge we collectively face from COVID-19,” said GE Healthcare President & CEO Kieran Murphy in a statement.
The car manufacturers were similarly responding to a US government request for help in procuring ventilators.
The human resource problem
Healthcare workers have been on the frontlines of combating the coronavirus pandemic, with shortages of workers and extra precautions for safety being in place for them to allow continued work.
However, ventilators require additional training to use, and there simply aren’t enough trained clinicians to provide the support needed, according to Deng.
“To deliver safe and appropriate patient care, healthcare providers need to achieve a thorough understanding of the mechanism of ventilation and operate equipment correctly… In many instances, insufficient training and education result in ineffective use of the devices and greatly threaten patient safety,” she said.

Coronavirus augurs the inevitable collapse of a global economy in ‘overshoot’
Ugo Bardi/Al Arabiya/March 26/2020
It is a commonly observed fact that overloaded systems are sensitive to small perturbations.
The world’s economy is strained by at least two tremendous burdens: one is the increasing costs of production of mineral resources (don’t be fooled by the current low prices of oil: prices are one thing, costs are another).
Then, there is pollution, including climate change, also weighing on the economy. These two factors define the condition called “overshoot,” when an economic system is consuming more resources than nature can replace. Sooner or later, an economy in overshoot has to come to terms with reality. It means that it can’t continue to grow: it must decline.
These considerations can be quantified. It was done for the first time in 1972 with the famous report The Limits to Growth sponsored by the Club of Rome. Widely discredited at the time, today we recognize that the model used for the study correctly identified some key trends of the world’s economy. The study found that the double burden of resource depletion and pollution would bring economic growth first to a halt and then cause it to collapse, probably at some moment during the first decades of the 21st century. Even with optimistic assumptions on the availability of natural resources and of new technologies, the calculations showed that the collapse could at best be postponed, but not avoided. Later studies confirmed these results: collapse turns out to be a typical feature of systems in overshoot, a phenomenon called the “Seneca Cliff”, derived from a sentence of the ancient Roman philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca.
The coronavirus, in itself, is a minor perturbation, but the system is poised for collapse and the pandemic could trigger it. We already saw how the world’s economy is fragile: it nearly collapsed in 2008 under the relatively small perturbation of the crash of the US subprime mortgage market. At that time, it was possible to contain the damage but, today, the fragility of the system has not improved and the coronavirus pandemic may be a stronger perturbation. The collapse of entire sectors of the economy, such as the tourism industry (more than 10 percent of the world’s gross product), is already under way. It may be impossible to stop collapse from spreading to other sectors.
So, what exactly is it going to happen to us? Are we destined to leave an era of unprecedented prosperity to one defined by poverty? Will the coming crisis turn out to be so bad that it pushes us back to the Middle Ages?
It is true that all major epidemics in history have seen a robust rebound after the collapse. Consider that, in mid-14th century, the Black Death killed perhaps 40 percent of the population of Europe but, a century later, Europeans were discovering America and starting their attempt to conquer the world. It may be that the Black Death was instrumental in this rebound: the temporary reduction of the European population freed up the resources necessary for a new leap forward.
Could we see a similar rebound of our society in the future? Why not? After all, the coronavirus could be doing us a favor by forcing us to abandon the fossil fuels we use today. The current low market prices are the result of a contraction in demand and could be the straw that breaks the back of the oil industry. That will leave space for new and more efficient technologies. Today, solar and wind energy has become so cheap that it is possible to think of a society fully based on renewable energy. It won’t be easy, but recent studies show that it can be done.
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That doesn’t mean that we can avoid a collapse in the near term. The transition to a new energy infrastructure will require enormous investments, which will likely be absent during the period of economic contraction we expect for the near future. But, in the long run, the transition is unavoidable and there is hope for a rebound toward a new economy based on clean and renewable energy, no more plagued by the threats of depletion and climate change.
*Ugo Bardi is a member of the Club of Rome and he teaches chemistry at the University of Florence, in Italy. He is the author of the book “Before Collapse” (Springer 2019).
Illustration by Steven Castelluccia.

Is Syria unable, or unwilling, to fend off Iran coronavirus contagion?
Amberin Zaman/Al Monitor/March 25, 2020
ARTICLE SUMMARY
While close links between Damascus and Tehran put the former at great risk of an influx of COVID-19 cases, Syria's reliance on Iran for political and military support may make stemming the spread more difficult.
REUTERS/Omar SanadikiA street cleaner rests at empty Souk al-Hamidieh, as restrictions are imposed as a measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Damascus, Syria, March 24, 2020.
The UN special envoy for Syria has called for “a complete, immediate nationwide ceasefire to enable an all out-out effort to suppress COVID-19,” warning that Syrians are “acutely vulnerable” to the global pandemic. Geir Pedersen’s call on Tuesday followed the Syrian government’s announcement of its first case of novel coronavirus, a 20-year-old woman, who flew in from the UK and is currently undergoing treatment. But the greatest menace to Syria comes from Iran, which —alongside Italy, China and Spain — is among the worst hit by the disease and where the death toll stood at 2,077 as of Wednesday, according to Iranian officials.
Syria reported four more COVID-19 cases Wednesday, for a total of five.
While the Syrian government has introduced a host of preventive measures, including the closure of most state institutions, schools, parks and restaurants — along with a freeze on conscription — it lacks the will and ability to deflect the threat from Iran. Analysts say this is because of its huge dependence on the Islamic Republic in its ongoing war against Sunni rebels, particularly in Idlib, where, despite recent setbacks, the radical al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham continues to hold sway, albeit in shrinking space.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that Syria’s "fragile health systems may not have the capacity to detect and respond” to an outbreak. The UN body’s Syria representative, Nima Said, told the Rojava Information Center, a research group in Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syria, “The capacity of the health system to respond — and I am taking Syria as a whole here, whether in the south, north or northeast — during these nine years, the health system has suffered a lot. We assess the capacity of the health system to respond at 40%."Iran has, since the start of Syria’s nearly decade-long conflict, played a critical role in helping to keep Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in power, with thousands of its own men from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and multiple Shiite proxies, including Afghan and Pakistani militias.
“Iran is one of the main pillars of support for the Syrian regime,” said Fabrice Balanche, a geographer at France’s Lyon II university who closely monitors the Syrian conflict from the ground. “It cannot accuse Iran of spreading the virus in Syria. Any decision to halt contact with Iran [over coronavirus] would be highly political and strategically perilous,” Balanche told Al-Monitor in emailed comments.
A Western diplomat based in Tehran contacted via Signal today told Al-Monitor that flights operated by Mahan Air, the notionally private airline that is believed to be linked to the IRGC, were continuing between Tehran and Damascus.
“It’s the flights coming in from Tehran and Qom that are furnishing the [Syrian] regime with cash, with fighting men and a lot of other pieces that help keep the regime in power,” said Phillip Smyth, a Soref fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the author of “The Shiite Jihad in Syria and its Regional Effects.”
Smyth told Al-Monitor in a telephone interview, “Without those guys, there are no real offensive operations that you can carry out and if you are maintaining a military effort on the ground you are going to need to supply those guys with food, ammunition and with just basic materiel.”
Rebuilding Shiite-dominated neighborhoods in Damascus, Homs, Aleppo, Latakia and Tartus is a key element of Iran’s strategy of bolstering its influence in Syria. This includes not only returning Shiites who fled their homes during the civil conflict, but also bringing in others from Lebanon and Iraq, all part of an alleged demographic engineering scheme to entrench the Islamic Republic’s influence.
Similar efforts are under way in Deir ez-Zor, where growing numbers in the Baggara tribe are converting to Shiism after being encouraged to do so by Iranian proselytizers, Smyth said.
The reconstruction drive — the contracts are a form of payback from the regime to Iran for its military assistance — requires flying in materiel and men as well. So does repairing the Imam Ali base, the large IRGC-run military complex in the Syrian desert bordering Iraq, which is periodically bombed by Israel and the United States.
Even if Syria were to ban flights from Iran, its unclear that Iran would care. Lebanon has barred flights from Tehran but they have continued to arrive, allegedly at the behest of Hezbollah.
Smyth contends the Iranian approach is very similar to that of the Chinese “whereby Iran says, ‘You are part of our circle now, and because of that, if we want to put people on the ground we don’t care what your national laws say, we don’t care what restrictions you put in place, we are going to do it any way, try and stop us’ and as we saw in Lebanon, [Syria] really can’t.” Raz Zimmt, an Iran expert with the Institute for National Security Studies, an Israeli think tank, said Mahan Air was currently flying smaller planes to Syria. “The volume of air traffic has dropped, but we can’t say it's stopped entirely,” he told Al-Monitor in a telephone interview.
This apparently is not out concern of infecting Syria but rather because Mahan Air is ferrying in medical supplies to Iran from China to combat the virus.
Suspicions that Syria had already been infected grew following reports that Pakistan had detected the virus in various individuals who had traveled from Syria separately, according to an investigation carried out by Syria in Context, a specialist publication, that was shared via Twitter on March 17.
Sunni opposition activists had already been claiming that Shiite militiamen had carried the virus to Syria while others have blamed Shiite pilgrims visiting Shiite holy shrines, the Shrine of Sayyida Zeinab and the Sayyida Ruqayya mosque, both in the Damascus area.
“Interviews with two doctors at Tishreen Military Hospital in Damascus” further corroborated those claims, Syria in Context reported. And while the local representative of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared that both shrines had been closed, “These steps only led families to take their children to public gardens and places to try and escape their cramped living quarters.”
Tellingly, while the Syrian government said it had sealed its land border crossings with Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey to contain the risk of contagion, it made no mention of the al-Bukamal crossing from Iraq through which Shiite militias are believed to flow, allegedly dressed up as pilgrims.Zimmt reckons that the regime’s Russian allies, much like Turkish forces and their Sunni rebel allies who occupy swaths of northern Syria, are also at risk of contagion, particularly in Idlib, where over a million internally displaced Syrians are living in desperate conditions near the Turkish border. Local hospitals have been destroyed by Russian and regime warplanes. “Russia is doing a good job hiding their statistics at home,” Zimmt said. (Russia has been accused of classifying COVID-19 deaths as regular pneumonia ones, among other things.) “All of those liars, Iran, the regime, can do the same in Syria. No doubts.”
*Amberin Zaman is a senior correspondent reporting from the Middle East, North Africa and Europe exclusively for Al-Monitor. Zaman has been a columnist for Al-Monitor for the past five years, examining the politics of Turkey, Iraq and Syria and writing the daily Briefly Turkey newsletter. Prior to Al-Monitor, Zaman covered Turkey, the Kurds and conflicts in the region for The Washington Post, The Daily Telegraph, The Los Angeles Times and the Voice of America. She served as The Economist's Turkey correspondent between 1999 and 2016, and has worked as a columnist for several Turkish language outlets. On Twitter: @amberinzaman

How Would You Explain the Recent Spate of Arrests in Saudi Arabia?
Michael Young/Carnegie MEC/March 26/2020
Madawi Al Rasheed | Visiting professor at the Middle East Center, London School of Economics
The arrests of senior Saudi princes and civil servants reflect the growing anxiety of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. They are evidence of his suspicion that his own kin may withdraw their oath of allegiance after the death of his father, King Salman. While the royal palace has remained silent about the detention of his two most senior rivals—Prince Ahmad and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, both of them potential future kings or crown princes—rumors flourish about a possible coup.
However, a coup is unlikely given that both detained princes have been deprived of all military and intelligence powers—Prince Ahmad had none—rendering them mere symbols around which other disgruntled and marginalized royal voices may unite. The arrests are a stark reminder that Mohammed bin Salman has utterly failed in coopting the royal family, containing the aspirations of its sidelined senior members, and extracting undisputed allegiance from them.
It is likely that the crown prince will continue to initiate such random arrests simply because he is overwhelmed by fear and suspicion. He has failed to maintain royal consensus over policies that undermined the previous tradition of power-sharing among important lineages within the House of Sa‘ud.
“Salman’s Kingdom” is not what many senior royal branches, such as the Al Mit‘eb, Al Nayef, Al Sultan, Al Fahd, and others who have played a central role in royal politics and the state administration for over half a century, envisaged under King Salman. Crown Prince Mohammed will struggle to negotiate a power-sharing arrangement that keeps other princes relevant and acquiescent. Consequently, he is destined to pursue an erratic and dangerous policy of detention and humiliation.
At a time of falling oil princes, budget cuts, and now the pressures of a global pandemic, he will continue to act on coup rumors. He will also confiscate the wealth of rival princes, as he did during the Ritz Carlton episode of 2017, when he forced princes to pay ransom money in return for being released from detention. The future of Mohammed bin Salman can only be maintained through the extreme repression of his own kin.
Jean-François Seznec | Scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C., nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Center for Global Energy, adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
The arrests of civil servants and military officers for corruption, as well as the earlier arrests of senior princes for “treason,’’ are symptomatic of the same fundamental urge. Mohammed bin Salman will not tolerate any impediment to his vision for Saudi Arabia. He is not interested in negotiating with the various factions of the royal family, which would require lengthy palavers and a sharing of the kingdom’s wealth.
In the same manner, the crown prince will not allow corruption by civil servants to limit investment in and modernization of the economy. Mohammed bin Salman has a vision for a modern, powerful country that is a world leader in technology. He wants to replace the kingdom’s dependence on oil by turning Saudi Arabia into a leader in such sectors as tourism, mining, or military hardware and software. Anyone or anything that gets in his way will be leveled. He is not interested in including the views and actions of others he deems to be obstructive, whether they might be right or not. He is running a ship in troubled waters and “damn the torpedoes!”
Simon Henderson | Baker fellow and director of the Bernstein Program on Gulf and Energy Policy at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Since 2017, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has annoyed so many members of the House of Sa‘ud that it is hardly surprising that he is almost paranoid that there will be a plot by members of the royal family against him. Those detained recently, including Prince Ahmad and former crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef, are no longer judged as being serious threats to him. However, they could front for a wider movement to stop him from becoming king. His ruthless ambition has disturbed many.
An interesting aspect of the arrests is how they became known, as they have yet to be reported by Saudi media. Perhaps the news was deliberately leaked by a foreign government with the intention of stopping further excesses. Even the kingdom’s allies, who may not like Mohammed bin Salman’s style, probably accept he is the likely face of the kingdom for many years to come. He often seems impervious to accepting wise counsel, therefore discreet action to temper his behavior may be justified.
Yasmine Farouk | Visiting scholar in the Carnegie Middle East Program
The senior princes who were arrested on March 6 weren’t reported to be engaged in disruptive actions. Still, their legitimacy may remain a source of concern to the young Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The crown prince’s policies have garnered him popularity, centralized power around his court, but have also marginalized some Saudi constituencies. In addition to his known intolerance for dissent, his reliance on repression has nurtured muted discontent that could be a source of support for older contenders for power who have more established traditional and legal legitimacy in the kingdom.
One of the prominent princes arrested, Mohammed bin Nayef, a former crown prince himself, is a familiar figure among security agencies. Another, Prince Ahmed bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz, was one of the rare princes to voice his disagreement with the current leadership and is looked upon as a viable alternative. The royal arrests reminded the international and Saudi publics of Mohammed bin Salman’s sometimes worrisome intransigence. They were followed by the arrest of 298 civil servants and military personnel accused of corruption. This revived one of Mohammed bin Salman’s important sources of popularity, his landmark fight against corruption.

Globalists gone wild
Clifford D. May/The Washington Times/FDD/March 26/2020
A transnational prosecutor puts American soldiers in her crosshairs
The International Criminal Court has closed its doors but only temporarily. When the coronavirus pandemic subsides, the ICC will be back in business. And a bad business it is.
If you’re not familiar with the ICC, let me enlighten you: It began life 18 years ago, established by the Rome Statute, a multilateral treaty. Its promoters promised it would be a court of last resort, bringing to justice perpetrators of such heinous crimes as genocide. Skeptics predicted it would become another expensive international bureaucracy, usurping power, accountable to no democratic entity.
A fundamental principle of international law: A treaty binds only those parties that consent to it. The U.S. did not ratify the Rome Statute. Therefore the U.S. is not bound by the Rome Statute, and is not subject to the ICC.
The U.S. government has repeatedly emphasized this point. One example: “The United States respects the decision of those nations that have chosen to join the ICC, and in turn, we expect that our decision not to join and not to place our citizens under the court’s jurisdiction will also be respected.”
Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor for the ICC, has told the U.S. to shove its expectations. In 2017, she announced her intention to investigate alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan. This month, after drawn-out deliberations, the ICC announced that the investigation would go forward.
A few words about Ms. Bensouda: In the 1990s, she was the legal advisor to Gambian dictator Yayah Jammeh. A junior military officer who took power in a coup, he soon garnered a reputation as a brutal abuser of human rights who helped himself to millions of dollars from government coffers. Ms. Bensouda later became the country’s minister of justice. Today, according to Freedom House, the tiny African country’s judiciary “is hampered by corruption and inefficiency,” and its constitutional “guarantees of due process remain poorly upheld.”
I’ll be blunt: What we’re witnessing here is globalism gone wild.
Do not confuse globalism with globalization. The latter implies a process of increasing interdependence, for better or worse. Globalism, by contrast, is an ideology. Globalists, also known as transnational progressives, are establishing institutions of supranational governance to which they demand Americans surrender sovereignty.
Prosecutor Bensouda is bringing a case against another nation that has declined to join the ICC. Did you guess? She’s targeting Israelis fighting the Hamas terrorists who took over Gaza after Israel’s withdrawal from that territory.
Also pertinent: Under the Rome Statute, the ICC is only to investigate nations “unable or unwilling” to fairly prosecute wrongdoing on their own. The U.S. and Israel have among the most credible judicial systems in the world. So why doesn’t that rule them out? Because the ICC says so. You got a problem with that? Tell it to the judge.
Over its almost two decades of existence, the ICC has spent billions of dollars, and achieved less than a dozen convictions. Most of those indicted have been African despots.
You won’t be surprised to learn that there have been no investigations regarding Russia or China (not among the ICC’s 123 members), nor any involving Syria and the Islamic Republic of Iran (which have signed but not ratified the Rome Treaty).
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently called the ICC “an unaccountable political institution, masquerading as a legal body.” He vowed to “take all necessary measures to protect our citizens from this renegade, so-called court.”
The ICC, he added, has now “stumbled into a sorry affirmation of every denunciation made by its harshest critics over the past three decades.” As an initial response, he said, ICC prosecutors and judges involved in the investigations of American forces may not be permitted to enter the U.S. The same may restriction may be applied to their families.
Mr. Pompeo added: “These visa restrictions will not be the end of our efforts. We’re prepared to take additional steps, including economic sanctions, if the ICC does not change its course.”
Globalists went ballistic. Human Rights Watch called the Secretary’s statement “a thuggish attempt to penalize investigators.” Amnesty International called it a “threat,” and “a new low, even for this administration.”
Think about that. To come to America is a privilege, not a right. To access America’s financial system is a privilege, not a right. By what logic does the denial of privileges constitute a penalty or threat?
The Quincy Institute chimed in, too. This new, non-governmental organization springs from the minds and wallets of George Soros, a globalist of the left, and Charles Koch, a pillar of the libertarian right.
Sarah Leah Whitson, a Quincy executive, railed against Mr. Pompeo’s response, calling it “unlawful collective punishment.”
I’m sure Prosecutor Bensouda agrees as, I’d guess, does Mr. Soros. But is it possible that Mr. Koch would not object to American soldiers being arrested and incarcerated in European countries that American forces protect and defend? Would he not be appalled to see them put on trial by foreign prosecutors lacking both jurisdiction and legitimate authority?
Dear Reader, if you happen to be in touch with Mr. Koch, or know someone who is, would you please bring this column to his attention? It would be a pity if, while he was focused on the pandemic or the economy or something, his money was being spent to promote values contrary to his own.
On the other hand, if this uber-wealthy philanthropist is now in harmony with the globalist, blame-America-first chorus, that would be bad news at time when bad news is hardly in short supply.
*Clifford D. May is founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and a columnist for the Washington Times.

Coronavirus Dashes Iranian Hopes of Emerging from Multi-Year Recession
Saeed Ghasseminejad/FDD/March 26/2020
After a catastrophic year in which Iran’s clerical dictatorship watched the country’s economy shrink by 9.5 percent under pressure from U.S. sanctions, the first weeks of 2020 brought some hope that Iran might pull out of its multi-year recession. Then the regime, through its criminal malpractice in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, inadvertently set off a coronavirus bomb on Iran’s own economy. While the regime has rarely told the truth about either public health or the state of the economy, data from Iran’s Customs Organization provides the first concrete evidence that the economy is once again reeling.
The Trump administration reinstated most U.S. sanctions on Iran during the latter half of 2018. That year, GDP fell by 4.8 percent, while the rial plummeted and inflation shot upward. 2019 brought even worse news, yet the IMF forecast no further GDP contraction in 2020. That was before the pandemic unleashed chaos inside Iran, disrupted trade, and – with help from the Russian-Saudi oil war – cut oil prices in half.
Now Iran is facing simultaneous negative supply and demand shocks, which inject uncertainty into the investment decision-making process. Under such conditions, a slowdown is unavoidable. Additionally, the epidemic will increase the trade deficit, at least in the short term, as Iran’s ability to export decreases while its need to import medical and essential goods grows. Thus, Tehran will have to tap into its substantial but decreasing currency reserves.
Early reports from Iran’s Customs Organization provide the first confirmation of this expected impact. Before the pandemic hit, Iran’s non-oil exports had begun to stabilize, decreasing only 5 percent from March 2019 to February 2020 (the first eleven months of the Persian year 1398). Yet from February 18 to March 3 of this year, Iran exported $1.28 billion of non-oil goods, a 30 percent reduction in comparison with the same period in 2019. Tehran’s imports during the same period were $1.91 billion, 5.1 percent more than a year earlier. This resulted in a trade deficit of $630 million, four times the $160 million deficit of the previous year.
In the case of Iran, plunging oil prices actually push down non-oil exports as well, since the latter include petrochemical products, whose price depends upon that of oil. From March 2018 to March 2019 (Persian year 1397), Iranian exports of petrochemical products amounted to $14.1 billion, or 32 percent (by value) of all non-oil exports. While the short-term effect of declining prices will depend on the type of contracts Tehran has with its customers, the long-term effect will be a decline in revenue.
The oil and gas extraction sector will suffer, too, although it has already sustained extraordinary damage from U.S. sanctions, which by some accounts have cut Iranian crude exports by as much as 90 percent. From March 2019 to December 2019, the oil and gas extraction sector was responsible for 15 percent of Iran’s GDP. Thus, there is room for further contraction.
The epidemic is also likely to hit very hard in the service, manufacturing, and construction sectors. Services account for almost half of the country’s GDP. A study by Iran’s Ministry of Industries and Mines estimated the effect of the outbreak on 22 fields of business. 15 of them experienced more than a 60 percent decrease in demand, while the rest faced a 35 to 50 percent decrease. The timing is devastating, since the Persian New Year, Nowruz, which began on March 20, is the equivalent of America’s Black Friday for many in the service sector.
In the manufacturing sector, which accounts for roughly 20 percent of Iran’s GDP, Saipa, one of two major automobile production companies, announced in early March that it had halted its car production. The government in Iran has not yet ordered a mandatory closure of non-essential businesses, but various reports show that many manufacturing companies are operating below their usual capacity. Manufacturing activities traditionally slow during Nowruz holidays, so if the outbreak does not start to flatten by the second week of April, the effect on the manufacturing sector will be painful.
Even though the entire sector was under U.S. sanctions, construction was a bright spot for Iran last year, growing 9.6 percent from March through December and accounting for 4.2 percent of GDP. The sector’s growth was key to the resilience of Iran’s non-oil and gas economy, which Tehran hoped would push the country out of recession. Yet now, absent a massive stimulus package that the regime can hardly afford, the sector will sustain significant damage.
It is still too early to provide a meaningful forecast of the depth of Iran’s recession. However, it is very likely that Iran will face at least 1.5 to 2 percent of GDP contraction. Still, one cannot confidently rule out a more severe depression. In the absence of sanctions relief, loose enforcement, or cash injection into Iran’s economy by the IMF or World Bank, a 5 percent contraction like that of 2018 is a serious possibility. The picture will become clearer as time passes and more data becomes available. Regardless of its size, the third year of recession will shake the Islamist regime to its bones.
*Saeed Ghasseminejad is a senior Iran and financial economics advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where he also contributes to FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP). For more analysis from Saeed and CEFP, please subscribe HERE. Follow Saeed on Twitter @SGhasseminejad. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CEFP. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

As U.S. Struggles with Coronavirus, Moscow Probes American Defenses
Bradley Bowman/Mikhael Smits/Major Liane “Trixie” Zivitski/FDD/March 26/2020
As the Coronavirus crisis escalated earlier this month in the United States, Moscow repeatedly sent Tu-142 long-range reconnaissance aircraft to probe America’s homeland defenses. The incursions into the North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) air defense identification zone (ADIZ) demonstrated Moscow’s continued aggressive policy toward the United States and underscored the need to maintain U.S. military readiness, even in the midst of an historic pandemic.
This month, Moscow tested U.S. and Canadian homeland aerospace threat detection and reaction three times over a one-week period. First on March 9, and then twice on March 14, Russian aircraft used two different avenues of approach toward Alaska. Each time, NORAD responded by sending F-22 Raptors to escort the Russian aircraft, with KC-135 Stratotankers and E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft airborne for support.
An ADIZ is an area of airspace that extends past a nation’s sovereign airspace but is monitored in the interest of national security. The Alaskan ADIZ extends approximately 200 nautical miles, depending on the range to other international borders.
NORAD is responsible for monitoring the air and maritime approaches to the United States and Canada and executing air defense operations where necessary. For any aircraft entering the Canadian or American ADIZ without authorization, NORAD executes an identification process both to determine whether the aircraft is a threat and to determine an appropriate response.
Moscow’s incursions this month are notable for two reasons. First, the United States may be witnessing an uptick in such incidents. Since 2007, according to NORAD, the United States has identified such incursions and sent fighter aircraft to intercept the Russian aircraft an average of six to seven times per year. NORAD has already conducted four such intercepts of Russian aircraft this year.
Second, these Russian incursions come as the United States struggles with the Coronavirus. The White House has declared a national emergency; members of the Senate and House of Representatives have tested positive for the virus; and the American economy, which underwrites American military strength, is sputtering.
The Department of Defense (DoD) has physically separated its top service chiefs from one another; servicemembers assigned to the Pentagon have tested positive; and deployed troops have fallen ill. Key defense contractors are uncertain of policy changes, and Boeing announced Monday it was suspending production across its Puget Sound facilities, where the KC-135 Stratotanker was first produced and where the P-8 surveillance plane and KC-46 tanker are currently produced.
Governors nationwide have mobilized components of their Army and Air National Guard to combat COVID-19, which the U.S. surgeon general warned will worsen in the coming weeks. DoD admitted last week that its capabilities to aid the domestic health care system during the Coronavirus pandemic are limited. While DoD retains the ability to defend the U.S. homeland and American interests abroad, if this or a future pandemic dramatically intensifies, core U.S. defense capabilities could be compromised. While the United States and other great power militaries are moving quickly toward robotics and autonomous systems, human beings – susceptible to viruses such as COVID-19 – still must perform key defense-related tasks.
Congress should encourage DoD leaders to review pandemic and biological warfare contingency plans to assess how they have been implemented and how they must be improved. Where plans or recommendations were ignored, or key warnings and indications missed, leaders should codify lessons learned and implement systems and exercises going forward to ensure that DoD can maintain readiness and conduct vital operations.
For now, the Trump administration should send a clear message to the Kremlin that the United States can and will defend itself – even in the midst of a pandemic.
*Bradley Bowman is senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP) at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where Mikhael Smits is a research analyst and Maj. Liane Zivitski is a visiting military analyst. Views expressed or implied in this commentary are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Air University, the U.S. Air Force, the Defense Department, or any other U.S. government agency. For more analysis from the authors and CMPP, please subscribe HERE. Follow Bradley and Mikhael on Twitter @Brad_L_Bowman and @mikhaelsmits. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CMPP. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

German court sentences Iranian regime agent to prison for treason
Benjamin Weinthal/The Jerusalem Post/March 26/2020
German authorities have conducted criminal investigations into Iran for 22 cases of espionage, second only to Russia.
A court in the city of Koblenz on Monday sentenced a German-Afghani military translator to prison for treason for handing over state secrets to Iran’s intelligence agency.
The court said in a statement that Abdul Hamid S. “abused his position of responsibility as a translator and passed state secrets to an employee of the Iranian intelligence service, and his wife Asiea S. supported him in the treasonous activity.”
German federal prosecutors cited the army linguist only as Abdul Hamid S. His last name was not publicized due to privacy rules in Germany. Abdul confessed to the espionage crimes.
The Koblenz court imposed a six-year, 10-month sentence on the Kabul-born Abdul. His wife received a 10-month suspended sentence for aiding his espionage.
The public was barred from attending the trial due to the protection of state intelligence secrets.
Abdul met with agents of the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic of Iran (MOIS) between 2013 and 2017 in various European cities. He delivered site plans of the German armed forces, as well as analysis material of the German defense department covering certain “countries and topics,” to the ministry.
The Iranian intelligence agency paid him $37,000. According to the court, Abdul was involved in at least eight meetings with MOIS. The court could not determine what motivated Abdul to transfer state secrets to the agency. Abdul’s wife had knowledge of his espionage activities from early 2016, and supported him by booking his trips. The German authorities arrested Abdul in 2019 in the south-west state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Abdul and his wife can appeal the court ruling.
Germany is widely considered a hot spot for Iranian espionage activities. Iran’s regime has conducted murders and planned assassination attempts in Germany over the years.
The Jerusalem Post previously reported that the German Interior Ministry said that Iran had been one of the most active espionage nations in the Federal Republic between 2007 and 2017, including assassination attempts on Israel advocates.
German authorities conducted criminal investigations into Iran for 22 cases of espionage, second only to Russia’s illicit spy activity with 27 cases. China and Turkey both registered 15 spy cases. Syrian agents were involved in eight espionage operations.
In 2017, a Berlin court sentenced 31-year-old Pakistani citizen Mustufa Haidar Syed-Naqfi to four years and three months in prison for working for Iran’s intelligence service to spy “against Germany and another NATO member.”
According to German prosecutors, Haidar Syed-Naqfi was assigned to identify Israeli and Jewish institutions and Israel advocates in Germany, France and other unnamed Western European countries for possible attacks. He monitored a German-Jewish newspaper’s headquarters in Berlin, as well as Reinhold Robbe, former head of the German-Israel Friendship Society.
Syed-Naqfi spied on French-Israeli business Prof. David Rouach, who teaches at the elite Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris and served as head of the French-Israeli Chamber of Commerce. According to German authorities, his actions were “a clear indication of an assassination attempt.”
The Quds Force – a US-classified terrorist entity that is part of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps – paid Syed-Naqfi at least €2,052 from July 2015 through July 2016.
The German government declined to expel Iranian diplomats for the planned murder attempts and spying. Instead, Germany summoned Iran’s ambassador to warn the Islamic Republic against spying on individuals and groups with ties to the Jewish state.
In 1992, Iran’s regime and its chief proxy Hezbollah murdered Kurdish dissidents in a West Berlin restaurant.
*Benjamin Weinthal is a European correspondent at The Jerusalem Post and a fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.