English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For May 08/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.may08.20.htm

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Bible Quotations For today
When you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go
John21/14-25/When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 07-08/2020
May 07th/2008 Hezbollah’s Bloody Invasion Of Beirut & Mount Lebanon/Elias Bejjani/May 07/2020
Hariri Hospital: Four new infected cases, number of recoveries rises to 159
A total of 34 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours
Second Batch of Lebanese Expats Return from Syria
Berri tackles overall situation with Akar, Firzli, Egyptian ambassador
Diab chairs Cabinet session, says price increases have become unreasonable
Hariri meets former PMs Mikati, Siniora, Salam
Geagea says ready to consider economic plans after reforms are made
Grand Mufti meets Kubis, Mashnouq
Arrival of American plane at Beirut airport carrying 41 Lebanese students
First flight carrying Saudis takes off from Beirut to Riyadh
Education Minister announces cancellation of Brevet official exams for 2020
Israel urges major changes in UN peacekeeping in Lebanon, as it faces Hezbollah
Israel Calls For Changes in UN Peacekeeping in Lebanon
Israel Demands Major Changes in UN Peacekeeping in Lebanon
Lebanese Cabinet Convenes to Tackle ‘Tough’ Living Conditions
Baabda Conferees: Govt. Plan Sacrifices Less Costly than Complete Financial Collapse
Kanaan Says IMF Deal, Govt. Rescue Plan Need Laws
Investigative Judge issues arrest warrants in oil import fraud
Diab's Government Is a Front for a Dangerous Task!/Hanna Saleh/Asharq Al Awsat/May 07/2020
Hezbollah and Israel’s unimaginative war/Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya/May 07/2020

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 07-08/2020
Turkey Sees Opportunity to Discuss Unresolved Matters With US
Gantz asks president to entrust Netanyahu with premiership
Netanyahu-Gantz Unity Government Receives Lawmakers' Support
Pentagon Admits US Military Killed 132 Civilians Globally in 2019
Amnesty Slams Freedom of Expression Arrests by Hamas, PA
Makhlouf’s Messages Pose Questions About Russian Position in Syria
Despite Rising Tensions, Iran and U.S. Are Negotiating a Prisoner Release
Coronavirus Death Toll Tops 150,000 in Europe
China Slams US 'Untruthful Remarks' after Trump Virus Criticism
Japan Set to Approve Remdesivir for Coronavirus Treatment

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 07-08/2020
Could Iran's New Spy Satellite Trigger an Israel-Iran War?/Michael Peck/Uncommon Defense/May 07/2020
Globalization, Pandemics and Chinese Delinquency/Charles Elias Chartouni/May 07/2020
EU should sanction Iranian airlines exporting coronavirus and terror/Benjamin Weinthal/Mikhael Smits/Washington Examiner/May 07/2020
Iran Accused of Spreading Coronavirus Throughout the Middle East/Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute./May 07/2020
The Impact of Sanctions Two Years After U.S. Withdrawal From the Nuclear Deal/Saeed Ghasseminejad/Richard Goldberg/FDD/May 07/2020
The JCPOA May Not See Its Five-Year Anniversary/Andrea Stricker/FDD/May 07/2020
Major US influence on Iranians sidelined by anti-Trump bias/Alireza Nader/FDD/May 07/2020
Coronavirus: European Leaders Cower in the Face of China/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute./May 07/2020
Only a vaccine will stop coronavirus in its tracks/Anne-Marie Trevelyan/Al Arabiya/May 07/2020
Iran using Venezuela to advance its revolutionary interests/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/May 07/2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 07-08/2020
May 07th/2008 Hezbollah’s Bloody Invasion Of Beirut & Mount Lebanon
Elias Bejjani/May 07/2020
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/74558/elias-bejjani-may-07th-2008-hezbollahs-bloody-invasion-of-beirut-mount-lebanon/
On May 07th, 2008 Hezbollah Armed Terrorist Iranian militia proxy invaded the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and some regions in Mount Lebanon at the backdrop of a government resolution regarding its illegal telecommunication network .
The Terrorist Hezbollah, backed by its pro Syrian and pro Iranian March 08 armed terrorists, broke in some Lebanese deputies’ houses, assassinated innocent citizens on the streets, burned and looted some media institutions belonging to Future Movement, and stopped by force the Future TV News Channel from broadcasting after spreading its armed men inside its studios.
Dozens of innocent civilians were killed and injured on the streets and in their houses during this criminal Iranian invasion.
The Invasion also targeted some areas of mount Lebanon few days after that of Beirut…But failed to achieve its aims.
Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah appointed Iranian leader shamelessly called the invasion a day of glory.
Sadly the Lebanese army watched the Hezbollah criminal invasion without taking any deterrent procedure while totally abandoned its obligations and national duties.
The Army’s Chief at the time of the invasion, Michael Suleiman was rewarded for his pro Hezbollah role and afterwards by the help and full support of Iran, Syria and Hezbollah was elected illegally as Lebanon’s president.
It remains that Hezbollah is not Lebanese by any means, or under any constitutional or patriotic criteria. Hezbollah is a mere Iranian Occupation tool.
This Shiite Iranian armed Militia is an Iranian Army and has been occupying Lebanon since 2005 after the Syrian Army was forced to withdraw as a result of a huge public demonstration known as the 14th Of March Demo and Revolution.
While remembering the bloody and criminal invasion, the Lebanese in both Lebanon and Diaspora, citizens, officials and politicians are all ought to never ever succumb to Hezbollah’s occupation and at the same time are urgently required to call for the implementation of the two UN resolutions 1559 and 1701.
On this day, our prayers go to the souls of the innocent Lebanese victims that were brutally killed by Hezbollah on the May, 2008 invasion in both Beirut and Mount Lebanon.

Hariri Hospital: Four new infected cases, number of recoveries rises to 159
NNA/May 07/2020
In its daily report on the latest developments of the novel Coronavirus, the Rafic Hariri University Hospital announced on Thursday that four new infected cases were reported out of 344 laboratory tests conducted today, while the remaining came out negative. It added that the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases infected with the virus that are currently present in the hospital's isolation area has reached 24 cases, noting that it has admitted 30 cases suspected to be infected with the virus, who were transferred from other hospitals.Meanwhile, the hospital report also indicated that three infected cases have recovered today after their PCR examination tests turned out negative in both times, thus bringing the total number of full recoveries to-date to 159 cases. . “All those infected with the virus are receiving the necessary care in the isolation unit, and there are no critical conditions detected," the hospital report added.
In conclusion, the Hariri Hospital stated that more information on the number of infected cases on all Lebanese territories can be found in the daily report issued by the Ministry of Public Health.

A total of 34 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours
Annahar/May 07/2020
The total number of COVID-19 patients reached 784 in Lebanon while the number of death cases is at 25.
BEIRUT: The Ministry of Health confirmed the recording of 34 new COVID-19 cases in Lebanon in the past 24 hours.
Only one new COVID-19 case was confirmed among the residents in the country. However, 33 passengers were tested positive for COVID-19 among the arrivals from Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
The total number of COVID-19 patients reached 784 in Lebanon while the number of death cases is at 25.The plan set by the Ministry of Health to ease the lockdown is still in its second phase and will reach its third phase by May 11. Restaurants are opening gradually with only 30% capacity. Minister of Health encourages the citizens to continue practicing safety measures as the lockdown easing procedure continues.

Second Batch of Lebanese Expats Return from Syria
Naharnet/May 07/2020
A second batch of Lebanese expats returned to Lebanon from Syria through al-Masnaa border crossing on Thursday, amid reports that non-Lebanese are among the returnees. On Tuesday, 96 Lebanese expats in Syria returned to Lebanon via said border crossing amid an outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. LBCI reporter from al-Masnaa said Thursday’s “returnees do not only include Lebanese nationals but Saudis and Americans as well.”Buses carrying evacuees arrived in Lebanon under tight security measures, added LBCI. But later during the day, and according to the station, the Syrian authorities refused to allow Saudi nationals out of Syria arguing that the SA foreign ministry did not coordinate the step with Syria. A team from the Lebanese Health Ministry examines returnees and any person with coronavirus symptoms will be referred to the hospital.

Berri tackles overall situation with Akar, Firzli, Egyptian ambassador
NNA/May 07/2020
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Thursday met at his Ain Tineh residence with Vice Speaker, Elie Firzli, and Deputy Prime Minister, National Defense Minister, Zeina Akar Adra. On emerging, Firzli regarded Lebanon’s banking role as one of the pillars of the advanced Lebanese role in the region, its reputation and its distinguished economic role at the regional level, indicating that the enemy to this banking role is the Israeli banks.
Firzli also indicated that talk about banks’ bankruptcy is totally inaccurate, saying this matter will be subject to discussion and accountability at the House of Parliament. He underlined that Speaker Berri’s main concern is to preserve the Lebanese people’s deposits. On the other hand, Berri met Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon, Yasser Mohamed Alawi, with whom he discussed most recent developments in Lebanon and the region, and the bilateral relations between the two countries. Berri also cabled Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, congratulating him and his government of obtaining confidence of the parliament.

Diab chairs Cabinet session, says price increases have become unreasonable
NNA/May 07/2020
The Council of Ministers convened at the Grand Serail under the presidency of Prime Minister Hassan Diab. The session was devoted to following up on living standards and rising prices.
At the beginning of the session, PM Diab stated that we were facing an enormous and dangerous challenge, as price increases have become unreasonable, especially food prices.
He expressed his surprise at high prices of Lebanese products and vegetables.
Diab added: “We are confronted with a wave of high prices, and we cannot stay idle as if we were not concerned. It is totally unacceptable for us not to act quickly, because things will further get out of control. Pricing has become random and ill-conceived, and prices have nothing to do with the high dollar exchange rate". Diab stressed that the government was responsible for protecting people against every opportunistic merchant and every attempt to starve the Lebanese out. It is unacceptable that merchants act freely, with some merchants in control of markets acting unscrupulously by fixing imaginary prices and lacking human and national conscience.
PM added: “It is true that this is the responsibility of the Ministry of Economy and Trade, but the government collectively has a duty to help and support the Ministry of Economy in addressing the high prices”.
Diab called for a quick plan to control price increases, stating that it was necessary to prevent some merchants from controlling food prices.
He underscored that the State was responsible for protecting the food security of the Lebanese people, and uttered that it was necessary to put an end to this chaos. There must be strict measures to protect people's livelihoods.
The whole Cabinet is preoccupied with following up on this issue, not just the Ministry of Economy. Even supervisory agencies, security services, and municipalities must be partners in facing the epidemic of soaring prices.
Then, the Cabinet discussed available options and measures to combat the outrageous price surge. The Minister of Economy informed the Council of Ministers of a decision to set a maximum profit margin for basic commodities, by adjusting the margins defined in a decision taken since the 1970s, as well as verifying the application of the same standards in stores, monitoring prices and matching bills to payments. 17 actions were taken in the context of controlling price increases. It was also decided that Internal Security Forces would accompany inspectors to regulate prices; inspectors will also be assisted by municipalities’ staff. The Cabinet asserted that food security constitutes a national issue, and that resolute efforts shall be exerted to suppress any attempt of tampering with the livelihoods of Lebanese people.
*Grand Serail Press Office

Hariri meets former PMs Mikati, Siniora, Salam
NNA/May 07/2020
Former Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, met this afternoon at the "Center House" with former PMs Nejib Mikati, Fouad Siniora and Tammam Salam.Talks reportedly touched on the latest developments and the general situation in the country.

Geagea says ready to consider economic plans after reforms are made
NNA/May 07/2020
Lebanese Forces leader, Samir Geagea, has indicated that his party is willing to look into all of the proposed economic plans, but that actual reforms must be carried out first. "The government must embark on reform measures, and then we are ready to consider any plan," Geagea told France 24 channel.
"There are many economic plans in the country; the problem does not lie within these plans but within their implementation," he explained. On his participation in the recent Baabda meeting, Geagea said: "The Lebanese Forces was and will remain the spearhead of the opposition."
In response to a question on whether he supports the nomination of Saad Hariri to lead an interim government, Geagea advocated a "comprehensive change" in the country. "If we keep running the country with the same way we have been doing it for ten years, we won't reach anything."Pertaining to Hezbollah, Geagea said this party was a key part of the problem and not of the solution. But he indicated that Hezbollah could help mitigate the current crisis if it ceased protecting its "corrupt allies."

Grand Mufti meets Kubis, Mashnouq
NNA/May 07/2020
Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdullatif Derian met Thursday in Dar-al-Fatwa with UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jan Kubis, over an array of Lebanese and Arab affairs. Derian later received MP Nohad Mashnouq, with whom he discussed the latest local developments. According to a statement by Dar-al-Fatwa, the pair also dwelt on the general amnesty law.

Arrival of American plane at Beirut airport carrying 41 Lebanese students
NNA/May 07/2020
An American plane landed at 5.15 p.m. this evening at Rafic Hariri International Airport - Beirut, with 41 Lebanese students on board, NNA Correspondent reported. The same plane will take off this evening from Beirut airport heading to the United States, carrying a number of US citizens who came from Syria.
On the other hand, a MEA flight carrying a number of Lebanese citizens from the capital Dakar - Senegal is scheduled to arrive in Beirut at 1:30 am tonight.

First flight carrying Saudis takes off from Beirut to Riyadh
NNA/May 07/2020
The first flight to repatriate Saudi nationals present in Lebanon has taken off with 88 passengers on board, heading to the Riyadh-based King Khalid International Airport, our correspondent reported on Thursday. Speaking from Beirut airport, Saudi Ambassador Walid Bukhari highlighted KSA's role in dealing with coronavirus pandemic, hailing the preventive measures that had been adopted."Day by day, the Kingdom is proving to the international community its worldwide status and responsibility in the humanitarian field," the Ambassador said.

Education Minister announces cancellation of Brevet official exams for 2020
NNA/May 07/2020
Minister of Education and Higher Learning, Tarek Majzoub, on Thursday announced the cancellation of the national Brevet official exams for this year. Further details will be revealed in a press conference Majzoub is scheduled to hold at 10:00 am tomorrow in the Ministry of Education.

Israel urges major changes in UN peacekeeping in Lebanon, as it faces Hezbollah
Agencies/Times Of Israel/May 07/2020
Ambassador Danny Danon insist that peacekeepers have access to all sites in southern Lebanon, questions their purpose without freedom of movement
UNITED NATIONS — Israel’s UN ambassador said Wednesday that his government is demanding major changes in the way the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon operates on the ground and has support from the United States.
Ambassador Danny Danon told a video press briefing that Israel will insist that peacekeepers have access to all sites, that they have freedom of movement and that any time they are being blocked the UN Security Council must be immediately informed.
The peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, was originally created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops after a 1978 invasion. The mission was expanded after a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah terrorists so that peacekeepers could deploy along the Lebanon-Israel border to help Lebanese troops extend their authority into their country’s south for the first time in decades.
Israel has repeatedly accused Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists of impeding the peacekeepers from carrying out their mandate.
“We have seen that slowly there are less places that the troops in the peacekeeping operation can actually travel in southern Lebanon,” Danon said. “So we want them to have full freedom of movement.”
“I have discussed it with the commander of the force and we tell them, `You are there, you cannot move and you can’t inspect, so why are you there?,”‘ he said. “`You have to be more active, you have to move freely and you have to inspect all sites.'”
UNIFIL includes more than 9,400 ground troops and over 850 naval personnel in a Maritime Task Force. Its budget from July 2018-June 2019 was $474 million.
Danon said Israel knows that on many occasions UNIFIL troops haven’t been able to enter suspicious sites, “and we proved in the past that Hezbollah are digging tunnels, they are bringing weapons to the border, and only in the last few weeks we have had a few incidents on the border.”
Danon said Israel will continue pushing for reforms before the mandate for UNIFIL is renewed during the summer and will be explaining Israel’s position to council members. He said Israel is grateful for US Ambassador Kelly Craft’s strong support.
He said the United States is raising the issue of the budget “and saying very clearly if they are not effective, why are we spending so much money on the troops?”
“We are not calling to shut down the mission tomorrow morning, but we are saying if they cannot change, if they cannot function, why you are spending so much money?” Danon said. “We don’t want to send the troops back to their countries, but we want them to become more efficient.”
On Monday, the UN Security Council met to discuss implementation of a 2004 resolution that called for the Lebanese government to extend its authority throughout the country and all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias to disband.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s latest report said Lebanon’s government continued with those efforts but Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias continue to operate outside government control in violation of the resolution and the Taif Accords that ended the country’s 1975-90 civil war.
“Several groups across the political spectrum in Lebanon possess weapons outside government control,” the UN chief said, adding that “Hezbollah is the most heavily armed militia in the country.”
Guterres said he continues to urge Lebanon’s government and armed forces “to take all measures necessary to prohibit Hezbollah and other armed groups from acquiring weapons and building paramilitary capacity outside the authority of the state.”
He also urged countries with close ties to Hezbollah “to encourage the transformation of the group into a solely civilian political party, as well as its disarmament.”

Israel Calls For Changes in UN Peacekeeping in Lebanon
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 7 May, 2020
Israel’s UN ambassador said Wednesday that his government is demanding major changes in the way the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon operates on the ground and has support from the United States.
Ambassador Danny Danon told a video press briefing that Israel will insist that peacekeepers have access to all sites, that they have freedom of movement and that any time they are being blocked the UN Security Council must be immediately informed. The peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, was originally created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops after a 1978 invasion. The mission was expanded after a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah so that peacekeepers could deploy along the Lebanon-Israel border to help Lebanese troops extend their authority into their country’s south for the first time in decades, the Associated Press reported. UNIFIL includes more than 9,400 ground troops and over 850 naval personnel in a Maritime Task Force. Its budget from July 2018-June 2019 was $474 million. “We have seen that slowly there is less places that the troops in the peacekeeping operation can actually travel in southern Lebanon,” Danon said. “So we want them to have full freedom of movement.” “I have discussed it with the commander of the force and we tell them, `You are there, you cannot move and you can’t inspect, so why you are there?,”’ he said. Danon said Israel knows that on many occasions UNIFIL troops haven't been able to enter suspicious sites, “and we proved in the past that Hezbollah are digging tunnels, they are bringing weapons to the border, and only in the last few weeks we have had a few incidents on the border.” Israel has repeatedly accused Iranian-backed Hezbollah of impeding the peacekeepers from carrying out their mandate. Danon added that Israel will continue pushing for reforms before the mandate for UNIFIL is renewed during the summer and will be explaining Israel’s position to council members. He also praised US Ambassador Kelly Craft for her strong support.

Israel Demands Major Changes in UN Peacekeeping in Lebanon
Associated Press/Naharnet/May 07/2020
Israel's U.N. ambassador said Wednesday that his government is demanding major changes in the way the U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon operates on the ground and has support from the United States.
Ambassador Danny Danon told a video press briefing that Israel will insist that peacekeepers have access to all sites, that they have freedom of movement and that any time they are being blocked the U.N. Security Council must be immediately informed. The peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, was originally created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops after a 1978 invasion. The mission was expanded after a 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah fighters so that peacekeepers could deploy along the Lebanon-Israel border to help Lebanese troops extend their authority into their country's south for the first time in decades.
Israel has repeatedly accused Iranian-backed Hizbullah fighters of impeding the peacekeepers from carrying out their mandate. "We have seen that slowly there is less places that the troops in the peacekeeping operation can actually travel in southern Lebanon," Danon said. "So we want them to have full freedom of movement." "I have discussed it with the commander of the force and we tell them, `You are there, you cannot move and you can't inspect, so why you are there?,"' he said. "`You have to be more active, you have to move freely and you have to inspect all sites.'"
UNIFIL includes more than 9,400 ground troops and over 850 naval personnel in a Maritime Task Force. Its budget from July 2018-June 2019 was $474 million. Danon said Israel knows that on many occasions UNIFIL troops haven't been able to enter suspicious sites, "and we proved in the past that Hizbullah are digging tunnels, they are bringing weapons to the border, and only in the last few weeks we have had a few incidents on the border."Danon said Israel will continue pushing for reforms before the mandate for UNIFIL is renewed during the summer and will be explaining Israel's position to council members. He said Israel is grateful for U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft's strong support. He said the United States is raising the issue of the budget "and saying very clearly if they are not effective, why are we spending so much money on the troops?" "We are not calling to shut down the mission tomorrow morning, but we are saying if they cannot change, if they cannot function, why you are spending so much money?" Danon said. "We don't want to send the troops back to their countries, but we want them to become more efficient."
On Monday, the U.N. Security Council met to discuss implementation of a 2004 resolution that called for the Lebanese government to extend its authority throughout the country and all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias to disband.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' latest report said Lebanon's government continued with those efforts but Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias continue to operate outside government control in violation of the resolution and the Taif Accords that ended the country's 1975-90 civil war.
"Several groups across the political spectrum in Lebanon possess weapons outside government control," the U.N. chief said, adding that "Hizbullah is the most heavily armed militia in the country."
Guterres said he continues to urge Lebanon's government and armed forces "to take all measures necessary to prohibit Hizbullah and other armed groups from acquiring weapons and building paramilitary capacity outside the authority of the state." He also urged countries with close ties to Hizbullah "to encourage the transformation of the group into a solely civilian political party, as well as its disarmament."

Lebanese Cabinet Convenes to Tackle ‘Tough’ Living Conditions
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 07/2020
Prime Minister Hassan Diab chaired the Cabinet meeting at the Grand Serail in a session dedicated to address the social and tough living conditions in the country, the National News Agency reported on Thursday. Lebanon’s crippling economic and financial crisis has worsened since October 17 when nationwide protests broke out against a corrupt political class and mismanagement of resources. Lebanon has seen rising poverty and despair, mainly after a lockdown to stem the spread of the new coronavirus throwing tens of thousands more people out of work. The national currency has lost more than 50% of its value, and banks have imposed crippling capital controls amid a liquidity crunch. But it appeared to be in a free fall over the last few days, selling as low as 4,000 Lebanese pounds to the dollar on the parallel market, down from a fixed peg of 1,500 pounds to the dollar in place for 30 years. Lebanon, a country of about 5 million people is one the most indebted in the world. Prime Minister Hassan Diab's government came to office in January after his predecessor, Saad Hariri, stepped down. He was quickly engulfed in a nationwide health crisis over the novel coronavirus, a crisis that deepened the country's economic recession.

Baabda Conferees: Govt. Plan Sacrifices Less Costly than Complete Financial Collapse
Naharnet/May 07/2020
The participants in Wednesday's meeting in Baabda between President Michel Aoun and parliamentary leaders said the sacrifices required to implement the government's long-awaited financial and economic reform plan remain less costly than "complete economic and financial collapse."
"The conferees welcomed the plan as a general framework consisted of several axes based on restructuring public debt and the banking sector and reforming public finances, in parallel with a plan to stimulate and grow the productive economic sectors and a social safety net plan," they said in the meeting's closing statement. Among the attendants, only Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea registered his official opposition to the statement. The statement said the plan entails "commitments linked to combating and eradicating corruption, while taking into consideration that the segments that are least immunized must be spared the repercussions of the economic and financial crisis, and that the money of depositors in banks must be protected." The conferees also noted that in order to restore confidence at all levels, an executive program for the plan must be laid out.
It should involve "the issuance of legislative and organizational texts, executive orders and mechanisms for addressing accumulated flaws," they added. They called for approving "structural reforms, controlling the rise in prices, protecting consumers, and showing keenness on implementing this plan on the short and medium terms.""The conferees agreed on the need to alleviate the concerns of citizens and on the need to secure the plan's success and accept the sacrifices, which, albeit difficult, remain less severe than the repercussions of a complete economic and financial collapse," they said. "This requires national union, profound awareness and dialogue with the private sector, especially the banking sector, in light of the threats to Lebanon's existence, entity and economic identity, which is stipulated in the preamble to the constitution," they added. The meeting was attended by President Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri, PM Hassan Diab, the MPs Talal Arslan, Asaad Hardan, Jebran Bassil, Faisal Karami, Hagop Pakradounian and Mohammed Raad, LF chief Geagea and the ministers Ghazi Wazni and Raoul Nehme.

Kanaan Says IMF Deal, Govt. Rescue Plan Need Laws
Naharnet/May 07/2020
Head of the parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee MP Ibrahim Kanaan noted that the government's economic rescue plan and any deal with the International Monetary Fund to rescue Lebanon's stricken economy will require legislative laws, media reports said on Thursday
Kanaan noted that the two issues must be debated in the parliament.
The Committee was reviewing the government’s rescue plan and will make some amendments, said the MP. The government approved an economic plan to rescue the debt-saddled economy from its worst crisis in decades.
It also signed a request for financial help from the International Monetary Fund, initiating a long process it hopes will ease the crisis.

Investigative Judge issues arrest warrants in oil import fraud
NNA/May 07/2020
Mount Lebanon's First Investigative Judge, Nicolas Mansour, issued Thursday arrest warrants against Director General of Oil Aurore Feghali, and head of the Central Oil Laboratory, Khadija Noureddine.

Diab's Government Is a Front for a Dangerous Task!
Hanna Saleh/Asharq Al Awsat/May 07/2020
The resemblance between the composition and role of the government of masks that Professor Hassan Diab was assigned to lead, and the government led by the late Omar Karami, formed while Emile Lahoud was president on October 26, 2004, and was brought down on the street on April 19, 2005, is uncanny.
Sixteen years ago, the leadership of the Syrian regime, which was directly ruling Lebanese, saw that the time was ripe for bringing the era that had begun in 1992 to an end. This era, which had Hariri's fingerprints all over it, introduced a new approach for managing the economy and established various policies, known as Political Harirism, the impact of which was beginning to stretch beyond the Lebanese borders. There is no doubt that Hariri's assassination distorted this approach and put the country in a frenzy, because the March 14 Coalition, which had won twice, in 2005 and 2009, in the parliamentary elections, lacked vision, renewal and real autonomy. Its priority was maximizing its share vis-a-vis the opposing March 8 Coalition, after the latter was concerned by the independence movement that had shaken the security apparatuses of Syria and Lebanon deeply. Thus, it pursued a policy of disregarding citizens' expectations, namely, the establishment of the pillars of an honest, accountable, transparent, and just state.
The difference between the two governments is that the parties of the previous “settlement” were the Syrian occupiers and President Emile Lahoud, who agreed to whatever decisions they had issued, and, at the time, the internal balance of power was not in favor of these two parties. On the other hand, the two parties of the current “settlement”, Hezbollah and the Aounists, and of course Aoun’s presidency, sprung from the pair’s explicit domination of the political class. It is well established that Hezbollah sets its regional agenda based on the interests of the Iranian regime, while the internal party's agenda is based on settling scores, which the Presidential Palace does not deviate from because it believes that its political opponents are the main obstacle to the fulfillment of Minister Gibran Bassil's desire to become president. In this context, Hezbollah, which has the final say on all decisions, appears, at times, like it is holding the stick from its center. It does not want to kill the Aounist ambition or give up on the necessary acquiescence of the other parties that are generally not opposed to its approach and continue to "pursue its amity". This is pursued despite these parties' conviction that Hezbollah's stance was the decisive element to change in premiership.
In other words, Hezbollah believes that as long as the other parties, especially the Future Movement, which directs its opposition to the president and his son-in-law, do not deviate from the policies pursued since the 2016 presidential settlement, it has no interest in taking the confrontation to unnecessary extremes. For this may threaten the equilibrium that it is comfortable with.
In this context, it is noticeable that Nasrallah, in his last speech, continued the reported negotiations between his aide Hussein Khalil and Hariri, saying that his party does not stand behind anyone, support anyone’s proposals or “incite a faction to clash with another for positions of influence”, adding, “to whoever thinks that we are able to do this, we stress that we cannot do that”... Then he gets to the point, declaring that Hezbollah is prepared to provide any kind of help… “we are prepared for this”. This promise’s translation is obvious, and it will definitely be reflected in the upcoming high-level appointments, allowing for the maintenance of a bare minimum of balance in the sectarian-quota systems in exchange for guaranteeing positions similar to those taken in the last session of parliament in which the government was granted confidence, when meeting the quorum was linked to the participation of the Future Movement, the Progressive Socialist Party, and the Lebanese Forces.
In fact, Nasrallah continues his approach of co-optation and deciding on each faction’s size and role, pressure others to make peace with the government that would not survive without his unlimited support, and he calls on extending that deadline that had been set for it. It is striking that the “opposition” knows very well that enabling Professor Hassan Diab’s government will reduce its chances of returning to their positions of power and these factions do not disagree in their assessment of this phase. There were two sides to Hezbollah’s decision to resort to this government. First, it is likely to implement decisions, which is guaranteed by its premier and members' lack of political cover, they will not hesitate to implement the plan that has been drawn up since none of them are concerned with political losses. The second aim, given the size of the collapse and the inability to find painless solutions, is to use it to implement policies that will exacerbate the misery of the majority of the Lebanese people, presented to the International Monetary Fund under the title of "Salvation Plan." Consequently, the party can behind it, believing that its sectarian base will not hold it directly for the burdens that it will face as all citizens will!
The pillars of the political class share, despite the absence of some from the government, a serious fear of the clean air that the “October Revolution” blew. Its influence declined because of the spread of the coronavirus and the need for quarantine, but it follows people to their homes. For the first time in Lebanon’s history, a ray of light bringing most regions and segments of society together, shined. Everyone took aim at the whole political class and held it responsible for the results of three decades of the sectarian-quota system and its corruption, with citizens coming together under the revolution’s slogan “all of them means all of them”, which they see as the chance for salvation, taking back control of the state that has been kidnapped and the dignity and rights that have been violated and regained the freedoms that have been violated to unprecedented degrees.
Based on this, we can understand that Hezbollah, attempting to eliminate all of the effects of the Political Harirism phase, did not hesitate to form this government and still has motives to meet its opponents, whom he can tempt, as what joins the two teams is substantial: the October Revolution quickly transgressed the taboos, whether by going beyond regional and sectarian divisions. What is most important is the new consciousness, language, and culture that it produced. The sectarian regime took refuge in the pandemic and is attempting to reproduce itself, beginning by distributing aid and sanitation equipment, and of course, some bribes.
It is a critical moment in Lebanon’s history and it will be difficult to predict the outcome. The gap is huge and the deterioration is substantial. A lot of time will pass before the catastrophic implications of the pandemic are realized. Inasmuch as it is difficult to predict the efficiency of the old ways of reproducing the sectarian system, it is also difficult to predict the extent to which the revolution’s impact on political change, which is still reaching the headlines but has not produced a program for the transition phase and is still lacking in its coordination on the ground. This coordination is crucial to mobilize capacities in this prolonged confrontation in which the sectarian forces have many strong cards to play!

Hezbollah and Israel’s unimaginative war
Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya/May 07/2020
Historians are trained to read archives and examine evidence provided, but more importantly, they’re trained to challenge “facts” when they fail to provide a logical narrative.
Consequently, this applies to the recent story that Hezbollah provided to explain how three of its operatives miraculously escaped an Israeli drone missile that targeted the Iran-backed group's vehicle as they made their way from Syria into Lebanon through the Jdeidet Yabous border crossing.
According to Hezbollah’s first story, the SUV carrying three of its members, one of whom was reportedly in charge of its missile program, had been targeted by a first missile that missed the vehicle. The four occupants quickly exited the vehicle that was then targeted and destroyed by a second missile.
According to the Israelis, the hit targeted a weapons transport without providing any further details or evidence of the hit, nor of the weapons it claimed to target.
Soon after a closed-circuit TV recording from the scene was leaked showing the details of the supposed air-strike, casting doubts on Hezbollah’s and Israeli’s tale. To complicate the issue further, the New York Times (NYT) later ran a story claiming that the Israeli side had in fact warned Hezbollah of this strike and allowed them to escape unharmed before they destroyed the vehicle. The international daily corroborated their story with reports from both sides who had spoken on background, claiming that Israel was using similar tactics to those used in Syria by targeting positions, and before striking, giving a heads up – a cocky, but perhaps plausible story if not properly dissected.
Naturally, the NYT gave both sides the opportunity to tell their story, and Israel reaffirmed that it was able to contain the Iranian threat in Syria, while it gave Hezbollah a chance to repair its shattered image of a supposed resistance movement that had divine providence on its side.
Yet these so-called facts listed above, as intriguing as they maybe, simply do not hold worth when juxtaposed against a simple forensic examination of the photos and videos of the incident. The video clearly shows the black Cherokee SUV pull to the side of the highway before three men scramble out to disappear to the left of the screen.
So far, this aligns with the official story, until the first two men return to the vehicle to remove black bags, which appear to be puffy and full, from the vehicle. Upon close examination, the bags cannot be military gear, which tend to make bags look heavy and collapsed. What would be so valuable for these men to return to the car knowing well that it was to be momentarily the target of a missile strike?
If the car was hit by a first missile, the passengers would surely not have dared to return to retrieve the bags, and civilians passing by would not have continued about their business, as the images indicate. Bizarrely, a few seconds before the car exploded, the driver, wearing white, appears a few meters away from the back of the car holding a backpack, indicating he knew exactly the radius of the blast – something that he would certainly not have known if the explosion came from a drone missile.
The pictures available of the blast clearly indicate that the blast did not come from an external projectile, but from something that was perhaps placed in the back of the vehicle that was on the receiving end of the most destruction. Furthermore, if the car was targeted by a missile from above, the direction of the blast would have been downward, but the car was not thrusted downward, and its tires and suspension remained relatively static. The picture below shows shrapnel going upward, where the blast goes out and smoke billowed outward in all directions.
If a drone missile did in fact hit the car, the explosion would be centered at the impact point and the smoke clutter at the impact point.
The Hezbollah squad was transporting something more valuable than weapons, perhaps payroll or contraband, and the explosion conveniently wiped out all traces of this. If Israel was as merciful as it claims, why did it not share the actual footage from the operation? Previously, it released a video of a high-ranking Syrian General visiting a Hezbollah post in the Golan Heights with the ominous phrase “We see you. Consider this a warning. We won’t allow Hezbollah to entrench itself militarily in Syria.”
Above all, if Israel let go senior Hezbollah members including Imad Karimi, the head of Hezbollah’s missile arsenal, and Mustafa Mughniyeh, the younger son of the infamous Imad Mughniyeh, then it is an intelligence blunder and an act they will live to regret.
Israel and Iran will continue to wage their wars in Lebanon and Syria, and Israel will continue to surgically and systemically destroy Iran and Hezbollah’s depleted and strained infrastructure. What this ongoing war will reveal is that both sides will fail to control public opinion, and they will continue to feed into mainstream media’s narratives. More importantly, a string of events beginning last August with the supposed Israeli drone attack in Beirut’s southern suburbs that culminated with last month’s assassination of Ali Younes show that Hezbollah is not only weaker, but also lacks imagination as is proved with its recent theatrics.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 07-08/2020
Turkey Sees Opportunity to Discuss Unresolved Matters With US
Ankara- Saeed Abdulrazek/FDD/May 07/2020
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has stated that the medical aid sent to the US contributed to creating positive ambiance at the Congress – bringing about an opportunity to discuss disputed matters between the two countries.
Key unresolved matters are the US standpoint towards Ankara purchasing the S-400 missile system, the US support to People's Protection Units, and its approach to the Service Movement – affiliated with Fethullah Gulen, a US-based cleric, accused by Ankara of plotting a failed coup in Turkey.
The Turkish FM announced that he will have a phone call with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday to discuss some issues, noting that Turkey sent two planes carrying PPEs to Washington. This step was received well by the Congress. In a televised interview on Wednesday, he stated that the latest developments in Idlib and the direct clash between Turkey and Assad regime forces helped crystalize the Turkish stance and role there. He went further stressing that the problem of US supporting People's Protection Units in Syria hasn't been resolved. The minister also spoke about the US judiciary accusing Halkbank of breaching the US sanctions against Iran between 2010 and 2012, saying that the bank agreed to attend through its representatives the hearing sessions at the Federal Court in New York.
This coincided with Omer Celik, spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, renewing criticism to the US religious freedom report that was issued last week. The report criticized Turkey in regard to arrests, suppression of freedom, and tightening the grip on religious minorities. It went beyond that and described the Turkish presence in the northeast of Syria as an ‘occupation’.

Gantz asks president to entrust Netanyahu with premiership
DEBKAFILE/May 07/2020
The Netanyahu-Gantz coalition government is scheduled to be sworn in next Wednesday, May 13, as legislation goes through. The High Court cleared the way by dismissing petitions against the coalition accord and Binyamin Netanyahu serving as prime minister under charges of corruption.
These steps have come together to finally remove the threat of a fourth election and end more than a year of political impasse and uncertainty, aggravated by the coronavirus epidemic. Benny Gantz accordingly sent a letter to President Reuven Rivlin asking him to name his former rival Netanyahu as prime minister.
After spending two days hearing eight petitions, the eleven judges led by President Esther Hayut decided unanimously that “for now,” they had no cause to intervene either in Netanyahu’s appointment or the coalition accord, given the amendments and clarifications offered by the two partners. There was no legal impediment to accord’s implementation, the judges ruled, although some of its provisions were “problematic.” They singled out the plan for Kahol Lavan ministers to pass their Knesset seats to faction members lower down on the slate, which was criticized for “retroactively changing the rules of the game and the right to vote and be elected and eroding the standing of the opposition.” However, said the judges, now is not the time to review these difficulties. This was a neat compromise by which the high court reacted obliquely to charges of inappropriate intervention in the political process without rescinding plans to intervene in the future. The lawmakers will just meet the deadline of midnight Thursday for submitting a candidate for prime minister to the President and so escape a new election. The new national emergency government must roll up its sleeves to put the economic back on track after the devastation wrought by the coronavirus. This week, business, the workforce and schools had begun struggling back on their feet as infection figures continued to slide.

Netanyahu-Gantz Unity Government Receives Lawmakers' Support
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 07 May/2020
Israeli lawmakers said they will back the formation of a unity government between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz Thursday to end a deadlock that lasted more than a year. Parliament voted by 71 votes to 37 to back the coalition deal that will see rightwinger Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, a centrist former military leader, share power. The two men have said they will swear in their new administration on May 13, with Netanyahu remaining leader for 18 months, before handing over to Gantz, AFP reported. Earlier, opponents were arguing that Netanyahu was ineligible to rule due to a series of corruption indictments and also complained that certain provisions in the coalition deal broke the law. However, the court ruled on Wednesday evening "there was no legal reason to prevent the formation of a government" led by Netanyahu. It added that by approving the coalition it "was not seeking to diminish the severity of the charges" against Netanyahu, but concluded that those could be handled in his trial, which is due to begin on May 24. Netanyahu has been written off by pundits and rivals many times since taking power in 2009, but the man sometimes dubbed "the magician" has invariably found a route to remain in power. Israel has been without a stable government since December 2018, with the country seeing three successive elections in which Gantz's centrist Blue and White and Netanyahu's Likud were near neck-and-neck. During that time Netanyahu has remained in power in a caretaker capacity. He has also been charged with accepting improper gifts and illegally trading favors in exchange for positive media coverage. According to AFP, he denies wrongdoing but if the trial goes ahead as planned will become the first serving Israeli leader to be tried. Lawmakers were expected to vote later Thursday to ask President Reuven. Rivlin to grant Netanyahu a mandate to form a government. He will then have a short period to wrap up weeks of bickering about the allocation of ministerial posts and finalize his cabinet line-up.

Pentagon Admits US Military Killed 132 Civilians Globally in 2019
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 07 May/2020
One hundred thirty-two civilians were killed last year in US global military operations, the army said Wednesday, a number far lower than those published by NGOs. The Department of Defense "assesses that there were approximately 132 civilians killed and approximately 91 civilians injured during 2019 as a result of US military operations in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and Somalia," the Pentagon said in an annual report mandated by the US Congress. The report added that the DoD "did not identify any civilian casualties resulting from US military operations in Yemen and Libya" last year.
The most civilian victims were in Afghanistan, with 108 deaths and 75 injured, the Pentagon said. In Iraq and Syria, the Pentagon took responsibility for the death of 22 civilians and the injury of another 13. Only two civilians were killed and three injured in Somalia, according to the military. Multiple NGOs regularly publish far higher death tolls of American strikes in war zones. The NGO Airwars, which tracks civilian victims of aerial bombardments around the world, estimated there were between 465 and 1,113 civilians killed in Syria alone by the US-backed coalition last year. "The Department of Defense's submission of this year's report marks some progress in terms of transparency of US military operations," said Daphne Eviatar of the US chapter of Amnesty International. "The content of the report, however, suggests that the Pentagon is still undercounting civilian casualties," she said. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also criticized the report. ACLU director Hina Shamsi echoed that US President Donald Trump's administration is "undercounting" the number of civilians killed or injured overseas. "Compared to credible independent media accounts and rights groups' investigations, it is clear that the Pentagon's investigations are still woefully inadequate," she said in a statement.

Amnesty Slams Freedom of Expression Arrests by Hamas, PA
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 07 May/2020
Amnesty International on Thursday censured Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip for detaining critics and opponents for expressing their views.
The London-based human rights group said five people were arrested in March and April, including a peace activist for holding a video call with Israelis and a writer who criticized authorities in Gaza for a deadly market fire. Amnesty called the detentions a "pattern of arbitrary arrests" of Palestinians for voicing their opinions. "The authorities in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip have violated the right to freedom of expression by arbitrarily detaining individuals solely for peacefully sharing their views on social media. This must immediately stop," said Saleh Higazi, deputy Middle East director at Amnesty International.
The group, which criticized both the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority and Hamas in Gaza, called for all those who were arrested for expressing their views to be released. The arrests happened during states of emergency imposed in both territories over the coronavirus outbreak, and Amnesty said the detentions during a pandemic "puts these individuals at an increased risk." In the West Bank, one of the detainees is a former member of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party who criticized the Palestinian leader. A second detainee had also slammed Abbas´ response to the COVID-19 crisis. Both were later released. In Gaza, which has been run by Hamas since the militant group routed pro-Abbas forces in 2007, authorities detained three Palestinians on different charges. Among them is a writer who hinted in a Facebook post at Hamas´ responsibility for a market fire that killed over 20 Palestinians in March. A second is a cartoonist who criticized the detention of the writer. Both were released. Rami Aman, a Palestinian peace activist who was arrested for organizing a video conference call with dozens of Israelis, remains in Hamas custody. Aman´s family told The Associated Press authorities turn down visit requests, citing health restrictions. Iyad al-Bozum, spokesman for the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza, rejected Amnesty´s criticism. "There are no detainees on freedom of expression and the names mentioned had committed violations punishable by law and have nothing to do with political opinion or color," he said.Since the 2007 Palestinian split, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority have repeatedly cracked down on each other´s supporters, banned their activities, and rounded up critics, although the intensity of such campaigns varies.

Makhlouf’s Messages Pose Questions About Russian Position in Syria
London- Ibrahim Hamidi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 7 May, 2020
The television debut of Rami Makhlouf, the cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, included a lot of political, economic and social symbolism and raised questions in Damascus about the Russian position. Makhlouf's appearance in two 25-minute video recordings does not deviate from the context of his declared and tacit role over the past 25 years. Makhlouf’s economic empire was built in the late 90s. Makhlouf is more than just a mere name, he is a shadow ruler of the country’s black markets, a key financial pillar of its flailing economy, and has been the target of immense pressure from a government crackdown on corruption. He was never a fan of making public appearances, but that suddenly changed for Makhlouf and he made his televised talk as a champion of the poor calling on the head of Syria’s regime to intervene and save those who were loyal from “others,” in reference to businessmen and figures belonging to the ruling narrow circles whom he criticized for their roles over the past years. His appearance came after developments that began last August, when Assad took strict measures to dismantle Makhlouf's companies and his economic, charitable, political, and military networks. Assad took crackdowns on Makhlouf's networks and companies to another level. This included dissolving Al-Bustan Association’s military wing. Soldiers on Al-Bustan’s payroll used to receive a salary of $350, more than double what a regular army soldier is paid. At the time, it was said that the Al-Bustan Association can continue to do charitable work. The association, for its part, announced that it will continue to be a part of the people and will lend a helping hand to every needy person, as a substitute for government agencies. Remarkably, Makhlouf’s appearance coincided with the blowing of harsh media winds against Damascus from Moscow, where Rami's father and brother reside. A campaign has been waged by the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary organization close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian media leaked information about economic conflict raging in Syria between Russian companies and others backed by Iran. Russian companies and organizations, some of which belong to the Wagner Group, complained of the lack of financial returns compared to Russia’s military intervention spending. While Russian research sites and experts affiliated with the Foreign Ministry stuck to defending Assad as the legitimate president of the country, other centers close to the Wagner Group continued to criticize Assad.

Despite Rising Tensions, Iran and U.S. Are Negotiating a Prisoner Release
Farnaz Fassihi/The New York Times/May 07/2020
The talks come even as the Trump administration intensifies its ‘maximum pressure’ strategy of sanctions against Iran and threatens to shoot Iranian gunboats in the Persian Gulf.
Iran and the United States are negotiating a deal that would release a United States Navy veteran held by the Iranian authorities in exchange for an Iranian-American doctor detained by the Americans, according to a senior Iranian official and a spokesman for the veteran’s family.
The negotiations are extraordinary in that they are happening at all, given the rising tensions, bombast and threats of military force that have punctuated the relationship between the Iranian government and the Trump administration.
The senior Iranian official, Abolfaz Mehrabadi, deputy director of the Iranian interests section at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington, said the negotiations aim to exchange the veteran, Michael R. White, 48, who has been held in Iran for nearly two years, with the Iranian-American doctor, whom he would not identify. Mr. Mehrabadi said “the talks have not reached a conclusion yet.”
The spokesman for Mr. White’s family, Jonathan Franks, said he also had been told negotiations were underway between the two sides, although he had no further details.
“If the Iranians have a symmetrical deal on the table we would love for the administration to take it and bring Michael home,” Mr. Franks said.
Prisoners have been an especially emotional issue in the long-estranged relationship between Iran and the United States, beginning with the seizure of Americans at the United States Embassy after Iran’s Islamic revolutionaries seized power more than four decades ago.

Coronavirus Death Toll Tops 150,000 in Europe
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 07/2020
The number of people killed by the new coronavirus in Europe has surpassed 150,000, most of them in Britain, Italy, Spain and France, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources at 0910 GMT Thursday.
With a total of 150,138 deaths out of 1,640,799 cases, Europe is the continent hardest hit by the virus which has claimed the lives of 263,573 people around the world.Britain has registered the most deaths in Europe at 30,076 along with Italy at 29,684, followed by Spain (26,070 fatalities) and France (25,809).

China Slams US 'Untruthful Remarks' after Trump Virus Criticism
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 07/2020
China criticised the US on Thursday for "disharmonious, untruthful and insincere remarks", after President Donald Trump took aim again at Beijing's handling of the coronavirus outbreak. "We urge the US side to stop shifting the blame to China and turn to facts," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying at a press briefing, after Trump said the disease could have been stopped in China.

Japan Set to Approve Remdesivir for Coronavirus Treatment
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 07/2020
Japan plans to authorise Thursday the antiviral drug remdesivir to treat coronavirus patients, the government said, with an eye to approving another medication Avigan this month. This would make Japan the second country to approve the drug after US regulators authorised it on Friday for emergency use against severe cases of COVID-19. "If there is no problem we hope to swiftly approve (the drug) today" at the health ministry's regulatory panel, top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said last week the government was getting ready to give a speedy green light to the experimental drug developed by US firm Gilead Sciences. The US go-ahead came after a major clinical trial showed remdesivir -- originally developed to treat Ebola -- shortened the time to recovery in some patients by a third. The difference in mortality rate was not statistically significant.
Remdesivir, which is administered by injection, was already available to some patients who enrolled in clinical trials around the world. As for Avigan, developed by Japanese firm Fujifilm Toyama Chemical, Suga said the government "aims to approve it this month" if a clinical trial involving 100 patients proves effective. The drug, whose generic name is favipiravir, was approved for use in Japan in 2014 but only in flu outbreaks that are not being effectively addressed by existing medications. It is not available on the market and can only be manufactured and distributed at the request of the Japanese government. Favipiravir, which can be taken orally as a pill, works by blocking the ability of a virus to replicate inside a cell. Remdesivir incorporates itself into the virus's genome, short-circuiting its replication process. Avigan has been shown in animal studies to affect foetal development, meaning it is not given to pregnant women.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 07-08/2020
Could Iran's New Spy Satellite Trigger an Israel-Iran War?
Michael Peck/Uncommon Defense/May 07/2020
Iran's Noor spy satellite was launched on April 22.
The undeclared war between Iran and Israel has reached new heights.
Or more specifically, a height of 270 miles, which is the altitude of Iran's first spy satellite. It's more than a nice vantage point for Iran to keep an eye on its arch-enemy Israel. Lacking advanced reconnaissance aircraft and drones to penetrate Israeli air defenses, a satellite may be the only way for Tehran to gather real-time intelligence on Israel.
Which raises the question: will Israel be tempted to destroy Iran's eye in the sky?
While Iran's space agency has previously placed communications and civilian imaging satellites into orbit, the Noor spy satellite launched on April 22 from the Shahroud missile range in northeast Iran is an explicitly military project run by the hardline IRGC. The satellite's Low Earth Orbit (LEO) path takes it over North Africa and the central Mediterranean (you can see the current orbital track here), which puts Israel within a space camera's field of vision.
For a beleaguered Iranian regime caught between U.S. economic sanctions and the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic, Noor was a reminder to domestic and international foes that the regime has muscle. More ominously, the satellite was lofted atop a three-stage Qased ("messenger") rocket that reportedly combines both solid and liquid fuel propulsion, which suggests that Iran has the potential to develop solid-fueled, nuclear-tipped ICBMs to replace cumbersome liquid-fueled ballistic missiles.
IRGC commander Major General Hossein Salami said that the launch of Noor "is proof that a global power is in the making," but the satellite was dismissed by U.S. officials as a "tumbling webcam in space."
Just as the beep-beep-beeping of Sputnik in 1957 announced the Soviet Union was a technological power, Noor is a signal that Iran is a player to be reckoned with. "Today we watch the Earth from the sky, and this is proof that a global power is in the making," proclaimed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Major General Hossein Salami.
To be fair, Noor is technologically unimpressive compared to other satellites. As a precursor to a nuclear-armed ballistic missile, the Qased rocket has such limited capacity that it can only deliver a satellite into low orbit rather than a higher vantage point for surveilling the Earth, Israeli newspaper Haaretz noted. More important, it's too small to carry a nuclear warhead.
Yet Iran's space shot deserved better than to be dismissed by U.S. officials as a useless "tumbling webcam in space." Recall that the early American satellite launches of the 1950s exploded on the launch pad, but NASA still managed to land humans on the Moon a decade later.
A satellite passing over Israel every couple of hours could provide useful real-time intelligence.
For Iranian strategists, the celestial snoop is heaven-sent. Iran has a formidable arsenal of ballistic missiles aimed at enemies such as Israel, while its proxy Hezbollah has 150,000 rockets in Lebanon, including GPS-guided weapons and newly developed kits that convert unguided rockets into smart munitions. What Iran and Hezbollah lack is real-time intelligence for targeting those missiles, but a satellite passing over Israel every couple of hours could provide updated imagery of Israeli troop movements, airbases and critical infrastructure.
Yet unfortunately for Tehran, Israel has an even more advanced space program that has already placed spy satellites in orbit, developed interceptors that can shoot down ballistic missiles and even conducted a near-successful attempt to land an unmanned probe on the Moon. So far, only the U.S., Russia, China and India have demonstrated anti-satellite weapons. But if a nation can launch a satellite, it can also figure out how to shoot one down. Indeed, in 2009, Israeli officials raised the possibility that the Arrow 3 – an interceptor that can shoot down ballistic missiles streaking through outer space – could be turned into an anti-satellite weapon.
Should a major clash erupt between Israel and Iran or Israel and Hezbollah – or even if there are ominous signs that a war might be coming – Israel might be tempted to neutralize Iranian satellites. However, destroying a nation's satellite is an act of war. Indeed, in 2018, the Trump administration indicated that an attack on American satellites could be grounds for nuclear retaliation.
Iran has endured Mossad assassinations on Iranian soil, airstrikes on its forces in Syria and possibly even Israeli F-35 stealth fighters flying over its territory. But destroying a satellite like Noor might be an escalation from which Tehran couldn't back down.
*Michael Peck is a contributing writer for The National Interest and a writing fellow at the Middle East Forum. He can be found on Twitter, Facebook. or on his personal web site.

Globalization, Pandemics and Chinese Delinquency
Charles Elias Chartouni/May 07/2020
The recurrent pandemic outbursts traced to China are not anymore incidental, they are the different sequences of an epidemiological pattern which has prevailed over the last two decades with the different strands of the SARS virus.
The assumptions revolve around a set of conjectures ranging between the eco-epidemiological and engineered origins of these grave viral infections (urban zoonoses and the Wuhan molecular biology lab).
Whatever might be these conjectures, they partake of the same etiology: the absence of appropriate public health standards, the inconsistencies of urban planning, the slipshod heuristics of epidemiological and medical research, the dysfunctional governance of a totalitarian leviathan, its secretiveness, hubris and imperial derivatives, account altogether for the state of obfuscation which predominates, while investigating the yet unknown sources of the repeated viral outbreaks. China seems to engage the world on its own terms, scale of interests and priorities, while exempting itself from binding multilateral treatises and epistemic epidemiological rules and consensuses. The deliberate grey zone chosen by the Chinese government is no hazard, it’s the doxa of a totalitarian regime which navigates its discretionary way towards international political hegemony, while disparaging the international regulations of governance, instrumentalizing the highways of open international trade, technology transfer and industrial spying, and their open ended externalities.
This crisis is a timely alert and a cautionary tale, which impels a radical overhauling of the international architecture of governance where strict conditionality should be enforced, accounted for and sanctioned in case of deliberate or accidental departures (the epidemiological forensics outcomes should be followed by international sanctions and a wholesale financial compensation ), the restructuring of international division of labor around the relocation of industrial strategic sectors, strict protectionism in regard to research and development, patenting and transfer of technology, international trade regulations and national discretionary protectionism, geopolitical checkmating to challenge and contain Chinese imperialism and its destructive wandering throughout the interstices of neo liberal geoeconomics, and the active support and empowerment of a rising Chinese civil society yearning for the rights and freedoms bestowed by constitutional governance, whereby the rule of law and the notions of legal and moral accountability set the standards of civic empowerment, countervailing checks and balances and powers. The Chinese technological dystopia operating beyond the rules of a nomothetic framework and professional ethics, is inevitably yielding these consecutive pandemics and destroying the basics of consensual global governance.

EU should sanction Iranian airlines exporting coronavirus and terror
Benjamin Weinthal/Mikhael Smits/Washington Examiner/May 07/2020
Amid a global coronavirus pandemic, two Iranian airlines sanctioned by the United States for “secretly ferrying operatives, weapons, and funds” to Syria have flown dozens of times between China, Iran, and some of Europe’s biggest cities. Mahan Air and Iran Air have for too long escaped scrutiny from European lawmakers eager to improve ties with the regime in Tehran. Permanently denying Mahan and Iran Air landing rights would deprive their regime minders of terror funds, and cease ferrying passengers to and from the Middle East’s coronavirus hub.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is at the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic. Some 97,000 people, including members of the regime’s senior leadership, have tested positive. According to a report from Germany’s Die Welt, Tehran’s leaders have been fabricating their official coronavirus death toll, with Western security sources and experts believing the real number is at least 4 times the reported number.
Iran, it’s worth noting, has no excuse for exposing its citizenry to added risk during this crisis. Despite a widespread U.S.-led sanctions efforts against Iran’s regime, humanitarian aid — food, medicine, and the like — is still permitted to enter the country. Reports show Iran has steadily imported aid without issue, despite regime protestations to the contrary. Iran’s health minister has admitted as much, toeing the party line but acknowledging sanctions had not hindered the import of essential medicine.
Flight records reviewed through tracking website FlightRadar24 show Iran’s explosion of cases may be linked to frequent trips between Tehran and China, where the Chinese Communist Party has for months lied about the severity of the crisis. Though the regime in Iran announced in January it would bar flights from China, that proved to be another lie. The State Department has pointed to 55 flights between Iran and China in February alone, and a review of flights early this week confirmed that Mahan Air is still flying between Tehran and cities across China. At present, flights between Iran and China are scheduled to continue into May.
The reason for these flights is no mystery. The regime in Iran prefers to fund global terror and brutally repress any domestic dissent rather than concentrate sufficient resources on this crisis. That profligate foreign spending makes maintaining good ties with the resource-rich and image-conscious autocrats in Beijing a national priority, whatever the cost. Although Iranian officials have good reason to suspect that Chinese workers in Qom are the likely source of the outbreak in Iran and that China has long lied about its case numbers, strategic considerations likely outweigh concern for local lives.
That the mullahs, like the CCP, care little for the truth or the well-being of its citizens is unsurprising. That major European nations would expose their citizens to the same flights and risks is. Though many European countries moved swiftly to curb flights from China, few acted to stop those from Iran. So long as China and Iran continue their robust air traffic, blocking one but not the other will do little good.
Mahan Air and Iran Air have been central to that spread. In March and April, the two airlines operated dozens of flights into the heart of Europe, with regular service to Spain, the United Kingdom, and Germany. In recent weeks, 50,000 Iranians traveled to Southeast Asia, Europe, or Canada, according to Die Welt. Of those, 1,000 went to Germany, and 900 to the U.K. Additional Iranians went elsewhere across Europe’s Schengen Area. In mid-April, the Italian Embassy in Iran announced Iran Air would be resuming direct flights from Tehran to Rome and Milan.
Perhaps most dangerously, the same aircrafts have flown to and from Iran, China, and Europe in rapid succession, threatening to transmit the virus between cities without requiring direct person-to-person transmission. For example, an Airbus A340 belonging to Mahan Air recently flew to and from Tehran, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Barcelona, and Istanbul. In late March, a Mahan Air pilot reportedly succumbed to the virus.
Some European nations have begun to respond to the danger posed by Mahan Air. France, in March 2019, banned Mahan Air for facilitating war crimes in Syria. Italy announced late last year it would follow suit. Germany, at U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell’s urging, announced a similar policy last year on security grounds. Yet Iran Air, no better than Mahan Air, continued to service Germany for months and is again landing in Italy.
Tides may be turning. In April, Germany’s federal minister of health finally announced an immediate ban on flights from Iran. He called the territory controlled by the regime in Tehran a “high-risk area,” where the situation is “non-transparent.” With the help of Mahan and Iran Air, that lack of transparency has long enabled Tehran to export terrorism and misery to Syria, and now pandemic across Iran and into Europe with impunity. What more will Europe need to suffer at the hands of Mahan and Iran Air before its leaders shut them out for good?
*Benjamin Weinthal (@BenWeinthal) is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where Mikhael Smits (@mikhaelsmits) is a research analyst in the Center on Military and Political Power. FDD is a Washington, D.C.-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Iran Accused of Spreading Coronavirus Throughout the Middle East
Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute./May 07/2020
At the same time that the airline [Iran's Mahan Air] was flying to China, it also continued operations to other countries in the Middle East, with the result that it has now been accused of spreading the virus to a number of countries including Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Syria and Lebanon. Mahan Air has so far declined to comment on the allegations
Sources within the airline are said to have told the BBC that dozens of Mahan Air's cabin crew were showing symptoms of Covid-19 after the flights to China, but that when staff tried to raise concerns about the airline's management of the crisis and provision of safety equipment, they were silenced.
Claims that Iran has been responsible for spreading the virus throughout the Middle East could also have a negative impact on Tehran's hopes of persuading the International Monetary Fund to provide a $5 billion bailout package. The IMF says the request is still under consideration, but it is unlikely the organisation will be prepared to provide funding to a regime whose irresponsible behaviour threatens the well-being of other countries.
There is mounting evidence that Iran has been instrumental in spreading the Covid-19 virus throughout the Middle East. According to BBC News Arabic, Mahan Air, an Iranian airline with close links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), flew between Iran and a number of Chinese destinations more than 100 times during February and March, even after Tehran had imposed a ban on such journeys. Pictured: A Mahan Air passenger jet at Sanaa International Airport, Yemen. (Photo credit should read Mohammed Huwais/AFP via Getty Images)
Mounting evidence that Iran has been instrumental in spreading the Covid-19 virus throughout the Middle East adds a whole new dimension to the regime's already well-established reputation for being a malign influence in the region.
Iran has already acquired the unwelcome distinction of becoming the country in the Middle East that has been worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic, registering more than 6,000 deaths according to official figures. There have, however, been repeated accusations that the Iranian authorities have sought to cover up the true extent of the outbreak, and that the death toll may be twice that number.
Now it has emerged that Iran may have contributed to the spread of coronavirus around the Middle East, after allegations that Iranian passenger jets continued to make regular flights to a number of Chinese cities despite a ban being imposed by the Iranian government at the end of January.
According to research undertaken by the BBC's Arabic news channel, which analysed flight tracking data, Mahan Air, an Iranian airline with close links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), flew between Iran and a number of Chinese destinations more than 100 times during February and March after Tehran had imposed a ban on such journeys.
One flight, a repatriation effort carried out for the government on February 6, brought 70 Iranian students living in Wuhan back to Tehran before flying the same day to Baghdad. At the same time that the airline was flying to China, it also continued operations to other countries in the Middle East, with the result that it has now been accused of spreading the virus to a number of countries including Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Syria and Lebanon. Mahan Air has so far declined to comment on the allegations.
Several Gulf states have accused of Iran of responsibility for spreading coronavirus in their countries, and the revelations about Mahan Air will only add to the view in the region that Iran is behind many of the infections.
Mahan Air is a private company with well-documented links to the IRGC, a fact which has resulted in the airline being subjected to sanctions by the Trump administration for helping to transport IRGC personnel and arms to Bashar Assad in Syria during the country's brutal civil war. More recently, the airline repatriated the body of slain IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani, after he was killed by a US missile outside Baghdad airport in the New Year.
The airline was first subjected to U.S. Treasury sanctions in October 2011 after it was accused of "providing financial, material and technological support to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF)" -- the organisation headed by Mr Soleimani. It has also been accused of providing transportation services to Iran's Lebanese terror proxy, Hezbollah.
Sources within the airline are said to have told the BBC that dozens of Mahan Air's cabin crew were showing symptoms of Covid-19 after the flights to China, but that when staff tried to raise concerns about the airline's management of the crisis and provision of safety equipment, they were silenced.
Accusations concerning Iran's role in spreading the infection around the Middle East come at a time when the government of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is already under enormous pressure of his handling of the pandemic.
Tehran initially tried to downplay reports of the virus, with Mr Rouhani claiming that February 19 was the first time the government knew coronavirus was in the country. This claim has been undermined by reports that Iran experienced its first outbreak in January in the holy city of Qom - where thousands of Chinese students are studying.
Mr Rouhani is now facing fresh criticism following his recent decision to allow Iranian businesses to resume trading at a time when the country is still coming to terms with the outbreak. Critics of the regime have warned that the decision could result in Iran suffering a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak.
Claims that Iran has been responsible for spreading the virus throughout the Middle East could also have a negative impact on Tehran's hopes of persuading the International Monetary Fund to provide a $5 billion bailout package. The IMF says the request is still under consideration, but it is unlikely the organisation will be prepared to provide funding to a regime whose irresponsible behaviour threatens the well-being of other countries.
*Con Coughlin is the Telegraph's Defence and Foreign Affairs Editor and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute. © 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

The Impact of Sanctions Two Years After U.S. Withdrawal From the Nuclear Deal
Saeed Ghasseminejad/Richard Goldberg/FDD/May 07/2020
Two years into President Donald Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran, U.S. sanctions – when enforced – have pushed Iran into a deep, multi-year recession, slashed the value of its currency, ratcheted up inflation, driven out foreign investors, and deprived the regime of tens of billions of dollars in revenue, especially from oil exports. This economic pressure is already translating into political pressure, which may force the regime to decide between its survival, on the one hand, and its nuclear ambitions and foreign wars on the other.
Iranian GDP surged by 12.5 percent in 2016, the first year that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was in effect, and enjoyed solid growth of 3.7 percent in the deal’s second year. A sharp reversal followed the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, with negative growth of 5.4 percent in 2018 and 7.6 percent in 2019. The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has led the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to forecast a further drop of 6 percent in 2020.
Inflation followed a similar pattern of substantial improvement while the nuclear deal was in effect, followed by a dramatic reversal after the onset of maximum pressure. After falling below 10 percent in 2016 and 2017, the inflation rate shot up to 31.2 and 41.4 percent in 2018 and 2019, respectively. The IMF forecasts an inflation rate of 34.7 percent in 2020.
Maximum pressure has also battered Iran’s currency, which was trading at 64,500 rial to the dollar on May 7, 2018 (the day before the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA) but has since fallen to 163,000 rial as of May 6, 2020, a 60 percent depreciation. Iran’s liquid reserves are also drying up quickly, which could lead to further depreciation of the rial.
The cause of the greatest damage to the Iranian regime’s finances was Trump’s decision to end all exceptions to sanctions on Iranian oil. China is now the only paying customer for Iranian crude, yet its purchases have fallen 83 percent over the last year. The United States has imposed sanctions on some Chinese importers, while Beijing’s state-owned enterprises have kept their distance.
The loss of oil revenue has had direct fiscal and political consequences for Iran. Facing a massive budget deficit, the regime raised the price of gasoline sharply last November, resulting in nationwide protests. The regime proceeded to massacre peaceful demonstrators, who blamed their own rulers, not the United States, for the country’s deprivation.
The next target for the maximum pressure campaign should be Iran’s revenue from non-oil exports, such as petrochemicals and industrial metals. While sanctions on these goods are already in place, enforcement has not been sufficient to substantially drive down exports. Iran’s roughly $40 billion in annual revenue from non-oil exports is protecting the regime from both budget and balance-of-payments crises.
Three-quarters of Iran’s non-oil exports go to China, Turkey, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Afghanistan. The United States has ample leverage over the latter three countries. A sustained crackdown would also confront Turkey and China with risks they can ill afford.
While its own malpractice is responsible for the terrible impact of the novel coronavirus, the regime is exploiting the crisis to advocate for sanctions relief on humanitarian grounds. The regime has more than sufficient reserves to deal with the pandemic, and its claims that sanctions prevent key medical imports are deeply misleading. With the plunge in oil prices, now is the time to accelerate Iran’s cash crunch via full enforcement of U.S. sanctions, especially on the non-oil sectors of Iran’s economy. There should be no relief until the regime makes credible and verifiable commitments to end its nuclear program, foreign aggression, terrorism, and grave human rights violations.
*Saeed Ghasseminejad is a senior Iran and financial economics advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where Richard Goldberg is also a senior advisor. They both contribute to FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP). For more analysis from Saeed, Richard, and CEFP, please subscribe HERE. Follow Saeed and Richard on Twitter @SGhasseminejad and @rich_goldberg. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CEFP. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

The JCPOA May Not See Its Five-Year Anniversary
Andrea Stricker/FDD/May 07/2020
Two years after the United States withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the agreement’s future hangs in the balance as Washington threatens to restore all UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic, thereby terminating the multilateral accord. The Trump administration’s threats represent a response to one of the principal flaws of the agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which is that its key restrictions start to expire, or “sunset,” this year.
The first sunset is scheduled for October, when the UN’s conventional arms embargo on Iran is set to lift. This would enable Tehran to buy advanced weapons from Russia and China despite Iran’s persistent aggression against its neighbors as well as U.S. targets in the region.
Washington could block this first sunset by invoking the JCPOA’s “snapback” mechanism, which grants any permanent UN Security Council (UNSC) member the right to revoke the deal’s implementing measure, UNSC Resolution 2231. Doing so would restore all previous UN measures against Iran, including sanctions and the arms ban. When President Donald Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018 and re-instituted U.S. unilateral sanctions, he declined to invoke the snapback mechanism.
In December, the State Department released a legal opinion to Congress stating that Washington still has the right to terminate UNSC Resolution 2231 even though it withdrew from the JCPOA. First, however, the administration is trying to prolong the arms embargo without ending Resolution 2231, by getting Russia and China to agree to the embargo’s indefinite extension.
The administration’s push has received strong bipartisan backing from Congress. On May 4, more than three-quarters of the House of Representatives submitted a letter urging Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to undertake diplomatic action to prevent the arms embargo’s expiration.
However, Russia says it will not go along, decrying Washington’s move to determine the JCPOA’s future after leaving the deal. Moscow and Beijing have lined up lucrative military pacts and arms deals with Tehran, and Iranian officials say the regime will leave the JCPOA or even the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if the UNSC extends the arms embargo.
Meanwhile, the JCPOA’s utility is diminishing, and additional sunsets loom that will unshackle Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. A phased lifting of restrictions on advanced centrifuges and an end to a UN missile import and export ban will occur in 2023 if the agreement remains in force. Iran’s ballistic missile development and launches, unrestricted by the JCPOA, permitted the program to make meaningful strides. A full accounting of Iran’s prior or possibly ongoing nuclear weapons work never occurred, and Tehran is now refusing to cooperate with international nuclear safeguards inquiries into its past. Finally, Iran has gradually and publicly rolled back its compliance with key JCPOA restrictions, enriching more uranium and deploying faster centrifuges. The net effect is a reduction in the time Tehran requires to build a nuclear weapon.
Tough choices lie ahead for the United States, underscoring that unsound strategic premises, like those underlying the JCPOA, typically result in painful policy course corrections. An enduring deal with Tehran must address the full spectrum of threats it poses. Absent a credible commitment by Iran to end its most destabilizing nuclear programs, halt its foreign aggression, and stop its grave human rights violations, the United States should intensify its maximum pressure campaign. Regardless of the victor in November’s presidential election, the United States should not surrender leverage without comparable and verifiable concessions from Iran.
*Andrea Stricker is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where she also contributes to FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP). For more analysis from Andrea and CMPP, please subscribe HERE. Follow Andrea on Twitter @StrickerNonpro. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CMPP. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Major US influence on Iranians sidelined by anti-Trump bias
Alireza Nader/FDD/May 07/2020
The Voice of America’s Persian news network was once a powerful tool in Washington’s efforts to shape public opinion in Iran. Now, it is arguably the least-watched of the Persian-language channels available to Iranians seeking an alternative to regime propaganda. The story of VOA Persian’s decline is not one of stagnation but of self-destruction at the hands of a director who is accused of poor management and running the network in opposition to the United States’s maximum pressure campaign.
During her tenure at VOA Persian, Director Setareh Derakhshesh has gutted popular shows, sidelined talented presenters, and reduced resources to the most influential programs that remain. The White House even complained that VOA amplifies the voices of America’s opponents, including that of Iran. VOA surely must report on critics of U.S. policy, but is it the job of VOA routinely to let the Iranian regime’s untruths go unchecked? Urgent and drastic changes in VOA Persian’s management and programming are necessary, especially as Iran witnesses increasing turmoil and profound shifts, making objective and timely reporting more necessary than ever.
VOA Persian used to be one of the most highly rated Persian-language television channels in the world. Iranians, deeply distrustful of the state media monopoly (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) would regularly tune in to shows such as VOA Persian’s wildly entertaining and influential Parazit (modeled after Jon Stewart’s Daily Show) or the highly professional Ofogh news program. Those days are long gone, as talented staff have been pushed aside or driven out. According to analysts and experts working on Iran, the network’s viewership has declined precipitously in recent years, overtaken by the immensely popular London-based private channels Manoto TV and the relatively new Iran International.
The situation within VOA Persian is concerning. Derakhshesh’s mismanagement has created a depressed and dysfunctional work environment according to numerous Iranian democracy activists, Iran policy analysts, and even former VOA journalists. Alarmingly, prominent journalists have accused VOA under her leadership of favoring programming in opposition to the U.S. maximum pressure campaign and promoting engagement with the regime even as the regime is virulently and openly hostile to American interests. VOA has also been accused of maintaining a list of pro-democracy activists and analysts who are forbidden from appearing on the network.
A recent major, self-inflicted wound was the firing of Ali Javanmardi, one of the most popular journalists in Iran, officially for challenging regime apologists on social media, although Javanmardi disputes it as the real reason. The sharp and eloquent Javanmardi is a scourge of the country’s religious dictatorship, attracting a large Iranian audience hungry for information and incisive analysis. Formerly based in Erbil, Iraq, Javanmardi has faced threats to his life by a regime with a long history of assassinating and kidnapping journalists and activists.
According to Javanmardi, Derakhshesh fired him due to his support for the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign. He describes VOA Persian as an “intensely politicized work environment” where “any support for the U.S. maximum pressure campaign is punished” and only programming promoting the Obama administration’s policies are tolerated.
Javanmardi’s voice is being silenced, not by the Islamic Republic but by the U.S. agency responsible for providing “accurate, balanced, and comprehensive reporting” for “a global audience denied access to open and free media.”
Javanmardi’s departure is likely to lower morale even further and cripple VOA Persian’s ability to attract and retain talented Persian-speaking staff.
U.S. Persian-language broadcasting to Iran is more important than ever, as the Islamic Republic faces an existential crisis due to a collapsing economy and widespread popular demonstrations. Iran is going through historic changes that are not adequately depicted and reported back to Iranians.
But many in both the U.S. and Iran who care deeply about the future of democracy in Iran have lost hope that VOA Persian could be reformed. Better not to have a dysfunctional agency that stifles voices of freedom, they reason. But the network is not beyond repair yet, even as it faces unprecedented competition. What it needs are new leaders with full-throated commitment to VOA’s founding vision of bringing truth to those living under dictatorships.
Alireza Nader (@AlirezaNader) is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (@FDD), a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute focusing on foreign policy and national security.

Coronavirus: European Leaders Cower in the Face of China
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute./May 07/2020
The equivocation of European leaders is a reflection not only of Europe's geopolitical weakness and economic overdependence on China, but also of a moral vacuum in which they refuse to stand up for Western values.
Meanwhile, the French government allowed the Chinese telecom company Huawei to supply parts for its 5G mobile network. The concession was made after China threatened to retaliate against European companies in the Chinese market.
"No country with a skerrick of self-respect can allow this behavior to go unpunished. I have already suggested some punitive measures designed to wound the regime's pride without harming the Chinese people: cancel the Huawei deal; pass a Magnitsky-style Act targeting senior CPC figures; champion the Uyghurs at every opportunity (e.g. rename the London street that houses the Chinese embassy after a Uyghur political prisoner); and recognize Taiwan as an independent nation. All I would add, upon reflection, is this: grant British citizenship to Hong Kongers born before 1 July 1997, their children and grandchildren." — Scottish political commentator Stephen Daisley.
"We increasingly hear words of admiration in Europe about the speed and efficiency of the Chinese market economy, the rigorous nature of its crisis management. All the time gladly ignoring the fact that China's successes rest on a highly perfected system of digital surveillance that translates the perversions of the KGB and Stasi into the 21st century." — Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer, Europe's largest publishing company.
"It is remarkable that German politics, with its love of moralizing, seems to throw its values out the window when dealing with China. What is at stake here is nothing less than what kind of society we want to live in and our concept of humanity." — Mathias Döpfner.
In Europe, where the coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 100,000 people and caused economic devastation, political leaders have been deafeningly silent on demanding accountability from China. Pictured: French President Emmanuel Macron (center) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (right) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Paris on March 26, 2019.
Australia and the United States are leading a campaign for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Senior officials in both countries are seeking to determine if the virus originated in nature or in a Chinese laboratory. They are also calling on the Chinese government to account for its handling of the initial outbreak in the city of Wuhan.
In Europe, where the pandemic has killed more than 100,000 people and caused economic devastation on a scale not seen since the Second World War, political leaders have been deafeningly silent on demanding accountability from China. While a handful of European officials have agreed in principle that there should be an investigation at some undetermined point in the future, most appear afraid to challenge China directly.
The equivocation of European leaders is a reflection not only of Europe's geopolitical weakness and economic overdependence on China, but also of a moral vacuum in which they refuse to stand up for Western values.
A few days after European officials caved in to pressure from China and watered down an EU report on Chinese efforts to deflect blame for the coronavirus pandemic, the EU ambassador to China, Nicolas Chapuis, allowed the Chinese government to edit an op-ed article signed by him and the 27 Ambassadors of EU member states, to mark the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations with China.
The EU authorized the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to remove references to the origins and the spread of the coronavirus from the article, published in China Daily, an English-language daily newspaper owned by the Communist Party of China.
An EU spokesperson said that the EU allowed China to revise the op-ed because Brussels "considered it important to communicate EU policy priorities, notably on climate change and sustainability..."
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen backed calls for an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus, but she avoided mentioning China by name and was careful not to offer specifics, such as who should lead the probe or when it might be conducted.
In a May 1 interview with the American broadcaster CNBC, von der Leyen used meaningless "diplomatese" apparently not to offend China:
"You never know when the next virus is starting, so we all want for the next time, we have learned our lesson and we've established a system of early warning that really functions and the whole world has to contribute to that."
In Sweden, Health Minister Lena Hallengren was slightly more forceful. In a reply to parliament on April 29, she called on the European Union to probe the origin of the pandemic:
"When the global situation of Covid-19 is under control, it is both reasonable and important that an international, independent investigation be conducted to gain knowledge about the origin and spread of the coronavirus.
"It is also important that the entire international community's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, including the World Health Organisation, is investigated. Sweden is happy to raise this issue within the framework of EU cooperation."
In France, President Emmanuel Macron questioned China's handling of the coronavirus outbreak. "Given the choices made and what China is today, which I respect, let's not be so naive as to say it's been much better at handling this," Macron told the Financial Times on April 16. "We don't know. There are clearly things that have happened that we don't know about." He stopped short of calling for an investigation.
Meanwhile, the French government allowed the Chinese telecom company Huawei to supply parts for its 5G next-generational mobile network. The concession was made after China threatened to retaliate against European companies in the Chinese market.
In Britain, which now has the highest coronavirus death toll in Europe, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been strangely silent on China. He continues to resist pressure from parliament to reverse his controversial decision to allow Huawei to supply parts for the UK's 5G mobile network.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab vowed to ask "hard questions" and threatened the end of "business as usual" with Beijing. He has not, however, announced any punitive measures against China.
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, when asked by LBC radio if China should be held accountable, replied:
"I think it does. But I think the time for the post-mortem on this is after we've all got it under control and have come through it and our economies are back to normal. Only by being open and transparent will we learn about it, and China needs to be open and transparent about what it learned, and its shortcomings, but also its successes."
Former Prime Minister Theresa May, in a May 6 op-ed published by The Times, called for moral equivalence when dealing with the United States and China. "A world in which a few 'strong men' square up to each other and expect everyone else to choose between them would be a dangerous one," she said, apparently referring to U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Writing for The Spectator, Scottish political commentator Stephen Daisley lamented the government's dithering approach to China. In an essay, "Our Toothless Response to China is Embarrassing," he listed a series of measures the British government could take:
"No country with a skerrick of self-respect can allow this behavior to go unpunished. I have already suggested some punitive measures designed to wound the regime's pride without harming the Chinese people: cancel the Huawei deal; pass a Magnitsky-style Act targeting senior CPC figures; champion the Uyghurs at every opportunity (e.g. rename the London street that houses the Chinese embassy after a Uyghur political prisoner); and recognize Taiwan as an independent nation. All I would add, upon reflection, is this: grant British citizenship to Hong Kongers born before 1 July 1997, their children and grandchildren. Even if just a fraction of Hong Kong's residents took up the opportunity, every one would be a small humiliation for the dictatorship. Given the government's softly-softly approach, we probably shouldn't get our hopes up for anything beyond Huawei cancellation, and even that's far from guaranteed. Even absent the ministerial gumption to impose sanctions on Beijing, there will have to be a strategic rethink of our relationship with the People's Republic. If this is how it behaves in a US-led world order, it is unlikely to be any more benevolent as a rival (or replacement) superpower.
"While abandoning global free trade and economic interdependence would prove a costly mistake, it would be just as foolish to remain in hock to a regime that, in the most generous reading of events, caused thousands of avoidable British deaths to save face. However, reshoring and rebuilding key manufacturing sectors is only a partial solution. We need to trade but our trading priorities are subject to political and security considerations. China is our second-largest trading partner while India is our sixth. It would be in the UK's interests to reverse that ordering. Of course, to make a change like that you need a government with a bit of backbone and it's not at all clear that we have one."
In Germany, Development Minister Gerd Müller said that the Chinese government "had to show complete openness in this world crisis, especially with regard to the origin of the virus." The statement was the most forceful of any German cabinet member to date. Chancellor Angela Merkel distanced herself from the remark, saying that it had not been discussed in the cabinet:
"I believe that the more transparent China is about the history of this virus, the better it is for all of us around the world who want to learn from it. But we didn't have this specific discussion."
German commentator Constantin Eckner noted that the coronavirus has exposed Germany's dependency on its trade relations with China, which Germany needs to overcome the current crisis:
"For years now, Germany has been leaning on China for cheap supply and as a market for its exports. Following the 2008 financial crisis, when most of Europe was suffering, Germany kept itself rather unscathed thanks to a strong export-orientated economy and partly thanks to China. Germany was not concerned about any geo-economic advances Beijing was making. It cared little about the 16+1 forum with Central and Eastern European countries launched in 2012 or the Belt and Road Initiative unveiled in 2013, and the 'Made in China 2025' strategy intended to establish Chinese dominance in emerging technologies....
"Publicly Berlin has positioned itself against Xi Jinping's 'mask diplomacy' since the coronavirus outbreak in Europe, condemning attempts to exploit the crisis politically or economically. But behind closed doors, senior officials acknowledge that the domestic economy needs China just like it did in the aftermath of 2008, or possibly even more. Germany has the highest export ratio among the G20 — about 47 per cent of its GDP. A demand shock of global proportion puts a lot of manufacturers in a tough spot. As China is recovering from the pandemic faster than the rest of the world, Germany might end up tying itself closer to the economic giant than before the crisis....
"These desperate times could make Merkel forge a new alliance with Xi, accepting that Germany cannot survive without the Chinese market and financial firepower, but also knowing that Beijing will not be shy to exploit such a dependency to further its geoeconomic goals. For its future prosperity, Germany may be forced to look east."
Europe's most forceful action against China has been taken by the Netherlands, which recently renamed its de facto embassy in Taiwan. The Netherlands Trade and Investment Office is now called "Netherlands Office Taipei." China responded by threatening to halt shipments of medical supplies, a threat that could ring hollow: the Netherlands recently recalled 600,000 substandard medical masks that had been imported from China.
While Europeans cower in the face of Communist China, they have found time to issue threats against the only democracy in the Middle East. On April 30, eleven European ambassadors to Israel warned Jerusalem of "severe consequences" if it goes ahead with plans to annex parts of the West Bank.
In a lengthy essay published by Die Welt, Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer, Europe's largest publishing company, argued that the time has come for Europe to choose between the United States and China:
"Once a treatment for the virus has been found, the debates about shutdown and easing restrictions have passed, and the recession has reared its ugly head, nothing less than the world order itself must be clarified. Or to be more specific: the matter of alliance. Where does Europe stand? On the side of the US or China?...
"America has clearly decided to pursue a policy of 'decoupling' from China. If Europe does not want to see its freedom subverted by Beijing, it must decide which of the two countries to ally with, and it must do so soon.
"We are told time and again that it is not a case of either-or, that it's about having the best of both worlds. The opposite is true. There is no need for finely crafted rhetoric here, we need to make a fundamental political decision. China or the US. It is no longer possible to go with both....
"Europe has been avoiding the alliance question for a long time, but it is now time to make that decision. This does not directly have to do with the coronavirus crisis. And it certainly has nothing to do with the question of where the virus originated.
"The crisis focuses the way we look at long-standing dependencies, even those in so-called vital supply chains, how we see fundamental differences in communication and crisis management, and our regard for what is ultimately a completely different concept of humanity....
"Europe has failed so far to clearly state where it stands, preferring to play piggy in the middle, able to tip the scales either way. Even believing its opportunism to be a sign of independence and courage. However, Europe will never be able to hold onto its position as everybody's darling. When it comes to questions of world order, you cannot have your cake and eat it....
"Europe's economy likes making deals with China and does not want to be interrupted in those pursuits. Politicians are dithering. The Italians have even been willing to subjugate themselves to China's ridiculous euphemism of the 'New Silk Road.'
"We increasingly hear words of admiration in Europe about the speed and efficiency of the Chinese market economy, the rigorous nature of its crisis management. All the time gladly ignoring the fact that China's successes rest on a highly perfected system of digital surveillance that translates the perversions of the KGB and Stasi into the 21st century....
"Economic relations with China might seem harmless to many Europeans today, but they could soon lead to political dependence and ultimately to the end of a free and liberal Europe. The European Union has the choice. But above all Germany, Europe's economic motor, has the choice.
"Should we make a pact with an authoritarian regime or should we work to strengthen a community of free, constitutionally governed market economies with liberal societies? It is remarkable that German politics, with its love of moralizing, seems to throw its values out the window when dealing with China. What is at stake here is nothing less than what kind of society we want to live in and our concept of humanity....
"If current European and, above all, German policy on China continues, this will lead to a gradual decoupling from America and a step-by-step infiltration and subjugation by China. Economic dependence will only be the first step. Political influence will follow.
"In the end, it is quite simple. What kind of future do we want for Europe? An alliance with an imperfect democracy or with a perfect dictatorship? It should be an easy decision for us to make. It is about more than just money. It is about our freedom, about Article 1 of Germany's Basic Law, the greatest legal term that ever existed: human dignity."
*Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
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Only a vaccine will stop coronavirus in its tracks
Anne-Marie Trevelyan/Al Arabiya/May 07/2020
Right now, the fast global spread of coronavirus means no one is safe from this pandemic until we are all safe. In countries across the world, people have made enormous personal sacrifices to slow the spread of this virus.
But only one thing will stop this pandemic in its tracks: a vaccine.
We are all contributing to the war on this disease in different ways. The United Kingdom has stepped up to become the biggest donor to the international fund to develop a coronavirus vaccine, which will save lives and livelihoods around the world.
Our scientists at the University of Oxford have begun human trials and are partnering with another British success story, AstraZeneca – one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies – to make sure we are ready to manufacture a workable vaccine at scale.
The global sense of community among nations, is remarkable as we work together toward this common goal to find a cure. The only way we will succeed is by bringing together our resources, science, and expertise to prevent a second wave of infection.
As such, the UK was very proud to co-host on May 4, the Coronavirus Global Response International Pledging Conference with Japan, Germany, France, Canada, Norway, Italy, Saudi Arabia, and the European Commission.
The aim of the event was to raise $8 billion from governments and global organizations for the research and development of vaccines, treatments, and tests to help end the coronavirus pandemic and prevent future waves of infection.
The UK has pledged significant support to achieve this aim, including the world’s largest donation to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) fund to develop a coronavirus vaccine. The more countries, businesses, and global organizations pull together to pool their expertise, the faster our scientists will succeed in finding a vaccine, accessible and affordable for all.
The international momentum to find a vaccine is growing.
Now our nations must work together to build on this by making sure when we do find a vaccine, it will reach the people who need it.
On June 4, the UK will play virtual host to the Global Vaccine Summit focused on raising funds to help Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
To kick off the international investment push, last week I announced new UK funding for Gavi to vaccinate up to 75 million children in the world’s poorest countries. We have pledged funding equivalent to 330 million pounds a year for the next five years. Gavi’s work is integral to stopping diseases spreading globally and protecting countries from future pandemics.
Gavi has a superb track record delivering life-saving vaccinations, and pledges to the Alliance will help support their work in 68 different countries. Once a coronavirus vaccine is developed, Gavi will also play an integral role to ensure global distribution.
I know that our governments can work together to get this right. Because the only way for us to defeat this global disease is through global cooperation. The UK did not only give its support to the pledging conference, but called on our international partners to do the same. We need everyone to pull together and work together.
Ministerial colleagues, whether in the UK or in other countries stood together at the pledging initiative. We urged other countries to step up and make their contributions to overcome this crisis for our common good.
As our Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said at the conference: “The race to discover the vaccine to defeat this virus is not a competition between countries, but the most urgent shared endeavor of our lifetimes. We are in this together, and together we will win.”

Iran using Venezuela to advance its revolutionary interests
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/May 07/2020
د. ماجد رافيزادا: إيران تستعمل فنزويلا للترويج لمصالح ثورتها
Although the Iranian regime is known for sponsoring and building alliances with Shiite state and non-state actors, Tehran’s alliance strategy is also based on partnering with a variety of forces, whatever their religious differences.
One example is the relationship between Iran and one of its closest allies, Venezuela. The main difference between the Islamic Republic and Venezuela is Tehran’s revolutionary ideal of exporting its theocracy to other nations and uniting the Muslim world under its desired system of governance. In fact, that mission is part of Iran’s constitution, as the preamble to the document states that it “provides the necessary basis for ensuring the continuation of the revolution at home and abroad.”
Early on, the Iranian regime sought to achieve its revolutionary ideals alone, with the Islamic Republic’s founder and first Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini advocating that Tehran should pursue a policy of “neither East nor West.” But the regime soon realized that it could not survive without cooperation with other states.
Tehran began strengthening its ties with Venezuela in the early 2000s, particularly after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became Iran’s president, for several important reasons.
First, Tehran realized that it could more effectively undermine the West on the global stage by partnering with other anti-Western states. As Ahmadinejad pointed out: “We have to develop a proper cooperation among the developing nations in order to wriggle ourselves from the domination of the Western powers. And this effort is going on among the independent developing nations today. We have to establish a collective effort with a view to create a new international independent economic system that should be on the basis of justice.”
Iran’s ultimate goal is counterbalancing the US and scuttling Washington’s foreign policy objectives around the world by exploiting state and non-state actors that have grievances against America. Venezuela shares the same anti-US agenda, with former President Hugo Chavez once saying that Iran and Venezuela would “unite and create a multipolar world. United, we are going to help defeat US imperialism, and that’s why… they get worried in Washington when they see the two of us shaking hands.”
The second reason for Iran’s outreach to Venezuela is to bring itself out of isolation and project that it enjoys legitimacy on the international stage.
The theocratic establishment has also been capable of partially skirting and undermining US or UN sanctions through its strategic alliance with Venezuela. For example, it was revealed last week that the sanctioned airline carrier Mahan Air flew to the South American nation several times in the last week of April alone. The Iranian regime reportedly delivered gasoline additives, parts and technicians, and received 9 tons of gold bars in return.
Iran is desperate for revenue, as the US sanctions, the coronavirus outbreak and plunging oil prices have decimated its economy. According to the Kepler oil tanker tracking and intelligence firm, Iran’s crude oil exports dropped to 250,000 barrels per day in February. Before the US reintroduced sanctions on Iran’s energy sector in 2018, it was exporting about 10 times that amount.
In addition, Tehran has been using Venezuela for military cooperation and to advance its nuclear program. Caracas has been accused of covertly helping Iran with the production of the raw materials required for nuclear weapons, as well as rockets. In recent years, Iran and Venezuela have signed several military and industrial agreements.
Iran has also been successful in increasing its influence in Latin and North America through Venezuela and the US has become increasingly concerned about Hezbollah’s presence in the South American nation. Nathan Sales, coordinator for counterterrorism at the US State Department, stated in January: “We’re concerned that (Venezuelan President Nicolas) Maduro has extended safe harbor to a number of terrorist groups… (including the) supporters and sympathizers of Hezbollah.” It is worth noting that Hezbollah bombed the headquarters of a Jewish community center in Argentina in 1994, killing 85 people.
Tehran realized that it could more effectively undermine the West on the global stage by partnering with other anti-Western states.
The Washington-based Center for a Secure Free Society published a 2014 paper titled “Canada on Guard: Assessing the Immigration Security Threat of Iran, Venezuela and Cuba.” It stated that Venezuela granted more than 173 passports to radical Islamists. These passports could be used for travel to North America or Europe.
Iran’s activities in Venezuela must be monitored closely, as the regime is using the South American country to skirt sanctions and advance its revolutionary and parochial interests.
*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