English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For February 19/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

#elias_bejjani_news
 

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews21/english.february19.21.htm

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006

Bible Quotations For today

You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
Matthew 07/13-27: “‘Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it. ‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits. ‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name? ” Then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.” ‘Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell and great was its fall!’

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 18- 19/2021

Elias Bejjani/Visit My LCCC Web site/All That you need to know on Lebanese unfolding news and events in Arabic and English/http://eliasbejjaninews.com/

Ministry of Health: 2730 new infections, 54 deaths
Gantz: Ground in Lebanon will shake in future war with Israel
Court of Cassation Recuses Judge Sawwan from Port Blast Case
Families of Port Blast Victims Rally, Vow to 'Take Justice on Their Hands'
Lebanese activists slam removal of Judge Sawan from blast probe
Activists Slam 'Charade' as Sawwan Removed from Beirut Blast Probe
Prosecution Approves Request to Release 2 Port Blast Suspects
Sawwan Postpones Questioning of Fenianos
Sawwan Reportedly Issues Arrest Warrant for ex-Minister Fenianos
ICJ says Lebanon’s criminal justice system inadequately addresses sexual, gender-based violence
Emir of Qatar Urges Fast Govt. Formation in Talks with Hariri
Report: After Qatar, Hariri to Visit UAE
Berri Presses Need for Staging by-Elections
Geagea Slams Anti-Bkirki 'Bravados' and Those Preparing Bassil for Presidency
In Virus-Hit Lebanon, Seamstresses Stitch Body Bags
Unprecedented snowfall, winter storms hit Middle East
Lebanon’s next cabinet remains in limbo as Hezbollah stalls/Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya/February 18/2021

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 18- 19/2021

Iran is biggest threat to international community, former Trump adviser Bolton says
Biden eases pressure on Iran as US announces readiness for nuclear talks
West Warns Iran against 'Dangerous' Inspections Limit, Touts 'Diplomatic Opportunity'
In signal to Iran, Israel, US begin developing Arrow-4 missile defense system
NATO will expand mission in Iraq to 4,000 personnel: Stoltenberg
Qatar postures as ‘neutral mediator’ in Yemen crisis, back channel for US-Houthi contacts
Israel says it’s developing new ballistic missile shield with US amid Iran tensions
Netanyahu and Biden Speak about Pandemic, Iran, Peace Effort
Pentagon doubles down on support for Saudi Arabia amid Houthi attacks
UAE Dismantles Eritrea Base as It Pulls Back after Yemen War
Syria Hardliners Release American Held in Idlib
Book on Hebrew law influence in Morocco highlights unique legacy
Canada imposes sanctions on Myanmar military officials in response to coup d’état
Vatican decree says staff who refuse vaccination against Covid-19 could be fired
WHO head urges nations to donate vaccines to COVAX, ensure fairness in supplies
New UNEP synthesis provides blueprint to urgently solve planetary emergencies, secure humanity’s future
Russia to resume flights to Egypt’s Red Sea airports after 5-year suspension: Report
 

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 18- 19/2021

Riyadh Seeks Biden’s Forgiveness/Varsha Koduvayu/Foreign Policy/February 18/2021
Ending vaccine nationalism is a fundamentally moral and pragmatic necessity/Sultan Althari/Al Arabiya/February 18/2021
Iran’s use of Iraq as a missile base: Threats and logistics - analysis/Seth J.Frantzman/The Jerusalem Post/February 18/2021
Iran: The Mullah's Pursuit of Obtaining Nuclear Weapons/Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/February 18, 2021
 

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 18- 19/2021

Elias Bejjani/Visit My LCCC Web site/All That you need to know on Lebanese unfolding news and events in Arabic and English/http://eliasbejjaninews.com/

Ministry of Health: 2730 new infections, 54 deaths
NNA/February 18/2021
The Ministry of Public Health announced 2730 new coronavirus infection cases, which brings the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 348,793.
54 deaths have been registered over the past 24 hours.

Gantz: Ground in Lebanon will shake in future war with Israel
The Jerusalem Post/February 18/2021
“Facing that type of threat, the IDF is prepared to use whatever force necessary. Hezbollah would take a serious hit, and Lebanon would feel it.”
If Israel has to fight with Hezbollah, “the ground in Lebanon will tremble, and the terrorist organization will be severely hit,” Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on Thursday.
“Even now, in spite of the fact that Israel has the strongest armed forces in the Middle East,” there are still elements that are threatening the country with “days of battle,” Gantz said in a speech commemorating soldiers whose burial place is unknown. “And if there will be days of battle on the different fronts, it will be difficult for the Israeli home front, but it would be considerably more difficult for our enemies. “This is true in particular of Hezbollah and Hamas, both of whom are violating international law by developing offensive capacity for operation within civilian populations,” he said.
“Facing that type of threat, the IDF is prepared to use whatever force necessary. Hezbollah would take a serious hit, and Lebanon would feel it.”
Gantz’s comments come as the IDF intelligence assessed in its annual prediction of 2021 that Hezbollah is deterred and will not drag Israel into a war, but it will try to initiate “days of battle” in which the combat is limited.
According to this assessment, Hezbollah is exercising its idea of “the equation,” whereby it must avenge the killing of its members even if it takes months or years.
Earlier this week, the Israel Air Force conducted a surprise drill in which the entire force practiced a response to an attack on an Israeli fighter jet. During the drill, the Air Force practiced an attack against some 3,000 Lebanese targets, such as bridges, power plants, and airports – all in just 24 hours.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah responded to the news of the drill saying: “Israel’s home front needs to know that if there is a war with Hezbollah, it will see things it has not seen since the establishment of the State.
“If the IDF bombs our military targets, we can also attack Israel’s military targets. If Israel bombs cities in Lebanon, we’ll bomb cities in Israel, and if it bombs villages in Lebanon, we’ll bomb Israeli settlements,” Nasrallah said. “No one can guarantee that a few days of combat won’t lead to a wider war.”
In his speech on Thursday, Gantz also mentioned the efforts that Israel is making to return captive citizens and soldiers who are being held by the enemy.
“We will not stop acting, and we won’t lose hope to get them back,” Gantz said. “We haven’t stopped working to bring back home Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, may they rest in peace. I feel a sense of personal responsibility toward them, having sent them into battle. Until that happens, Gaza will not be able to develop.“Israel is cultivating relationships with many Arab states, and we are working to mobilize them as well to this humanitarian effort. I, the defense establishment, and our whole diplomatic establishment are working alongside Egypt and other countries to bring our boys back. We will keep turning over every stone to locate every casualty, wherever they may be,” Gantz said.
The defense minister also mentioned Israel’s effort to return the citizens held in captivity by Hamas, Avera Mengistu and Hisham Hisham al-Sayed.

Court of Cassation Recuses Judge Sawwan from Port Blast Case
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/February 18, 2021
The Court of Cassation, headed by Judge Jamal Hajjar, decided to recuse Judge Fadi Sawwan from investigation into the Beirut port blast case, the National News Agency reported Thursday. Hajjar, tasked to study a memorandum submitted by former ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zeaiter on grounds of legitimate suspicion, issued the decision Thursday to remove Sawwan. Sawwan, the lead investigator into the August 4 horrific explosion at the Beirut port, filed charges against caretaker PM Hassan Diab and former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, as well as Ghazi Zoaiter and Youssef Fenianos, both former ministers of public works, accusing them of negligence that led to the death of hundreds of people. On Wednesday, media reports said Sawwan issued an arrest warrant against Fenianos. A questioning session for Faniaons was scheduled to take place Thursday by Sawwan, but the Judge postponed it until February 23 before he was recused. Rights activists condemned Thursday's ruling to remove Sawwan. Sawawn's removal "makes a mockery of justice and is an insult to the victims of the blast," Human Rights Watch researcher Aya Majzoub wrote on Twitter. "More than six months later, we are back to square one."Lawyer and activist Nizar Saghieh said he needed to see the full court decision, but feared the worst. "By refusing to be held accountable, the ministers and political class are drawing a red line in the investigation," he said, adding it was a "common occurrence in Lebanon that prevents any justice from being achieved." The development is likely to further delay the investigation into the horrific explosion that killed more than 200 people, wounded over 6,000 and disfigured much of Beirut. The explosion, one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in history, has been one of the most traumatic national experiences the Lebanese have faced. Family members of those killed had been skeptical of a transparent and independent investigation into the Aug. 4 explosion, in a country where a culture of impunity has prevailed for decades. Details of the court's decision were not made public. A judicial official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the office of the attorney general had received a copy of the decision. The official said all summoning now are off since Sawwan has been asked to step down.
According to the law, the minister of justice now has to propose a new lead investigator, before a government-appointed judicial body signs off on the nomination. Sawwan's appointment process itself was considered opaque and the investigation, so far secret, has been tainted with political interference, Human Rights Watch has said. Two judges named by the caretaker justice minister before Sawwan were rejected without an explanation by the body in charge of approving the selection. The families of the victims had welcomed Sawwan's decision to summon senior officials, saying no senior politician should be spared.
After the decision was announced, Kayan Tleis, whose 40-year-old-brother was killed in the blast, said Sawwan was up against major political actors. "We had put a lot of hope in Judge Sawwan. But there were lots of political pressure on him, and once he started summoning senior officials, it was likely they would get rid of him or take the file away," Tleis said.

Families of Port Blast Victims Rally, Vow to 'Take Justice on Their Hands'
Associated Press/February 18/2021
Relatives of the Beirut port blast victims held a protest Thursday and blocked traffic with burning tires outside the Palace of Justice in Beirut after the lead judicial investigator probing the case was removed by the Court of Cassation. “The blood of our martyrs is still on the ground, so do not turn us into killers! We are willing to take our right with our hand and we will start escalating as of tonight,” a spokesman for the families said. “We will not leave the streets… Today you killed us anew, the investigation ended and we returned to square one,” he added. "Don't be afraid. Don't leave the case," said Yousra Abou Saleh, a mother who lost her son in the explosion, pleading with Sawwan. In a reference to the ruling class, she said, weeping: "God is greater than all of them." Sawwan was removed following legal challenges by two former ministers he had accused of negligence that led to the blast. The Court of Cassation called for a new investigating judge to be appointed to lead the probe, nearly six months after it had started. The development is likely to further delay the investigation into the horrific explosion that killed more than 200 people, wounded over 6,000 and disfigured much of Beirut. Families of the victims and survivors have blamed the ruling political class for corruption and negligence that led to the explosion of ammonium nitrate, a dangerous chemical that had been stored in the port for years. The explosion, one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in history, has been one of the most traumatic national experiences the Lebanese have faced. Family members of those killed had been skeptical of a transparent and independent investigation into the Aug. 4 explosion, in a country where a culture of impunity has prevailed for decades.
Sawwan had accused and summoned for questioning Lebanon's caretaker prime minister and three former ministers on suspicion of negligence that led to the deadly explosion. Two of the former ministers challenged Sawwan in court in December, accusing him of violating legal and constitutional procedures and asking that he be recused. Last month, the Court of Cassation had asked Sawwan to resume his work while it looks into the complaints. On Wednesday, he summoned the third former minister for questioning. The minister tweeted that he would not show up.
According to the law, the minister of justice now has to propose a new lead investigator, before a government-appointed judicial body signs off on the nomination. Sawwan's appointment process itself was considered opaque and the investigation, so far secret, has been tainted with political interference, Human Rights Watch has said. Two judges named by the justice minister before Sawwan were rejected without an explanation by the body in charge of approving the selection. The families of the victims had welcomed Sawwan's decision to summon senior officials, saying no senior politician should be spared.

Lebanese activists slam removal of Judge Sawan from blast probe
The Arab Weekly/February 18/2021
BEIRUT--Rights defenders condemned a “mockery of justice” after a Lebanese court Thursday removed the judge leading a probe into the massive blast at Beirut’s port last August. Lebanese authorities have come under increasing pressure to provide answers over the August 4 explosion of hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate on the dockside that killed more that 200 people, injured thousands and ravaged large parts of the capital. But Fadi Sawan’s removal, after two former ministers he had charged with negligence in the case filed a complaint, risks bringing the whole investigation back to square one.
On Thursday, “the Cassation Court decided to transfer the investigation… from Sawan to another judge”, a judicial source said. The court ruling found in favour of the plaintiffs who had questioned the judge’s impartiality in view of his home having been damaged in the explosion, the source said. Rights activists slammed Thursday’s ruling as the latest example of an entrenched political class placing itself above the law. Sawan’s removal “makes a mockery of justice and is an insult to the victims of the blast”, Human Rights Watch researcher Aya Majzoub said.
The ruling showed “politicians are not subject to the rule of law”, she added. On December 10, Sawan had issued charges against caretaker prime minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers for “negligence and causing death to hundreds”, triggering outrage from politicians. Premier-designate Saad Hariri and the powerful Shia Hezbollah movement were among those to oppose the indictment. Among those charged were former finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil and ex-public works minister Ghazi Zaiter, who accused Sawan of violating the constitution on the grounds of immunity and moved to have him removed from the case.
“Red line”
Majzoub said: “More than six months later, we are back to square one.”“This charade needs to end… We need an international, independent investigation as soon as possible.”Lawyer and activist Nizar Saghieh said he needed to see the full court decision, but feared the worst. “By refusing to be held accountable, the ministers and political class are drawing a red line in the investigation,” he said. He said it was a typical pattern in Lebanon that “prevents any justice from being achieved”. The probe into Lebanon’s worst peace-time disaster has led to the detention of 25 people, from maintenance workers to the port’s customs director, but not a single politician. It has focused mainly on who was to blame for the fertiliser being left to languish unsafely at the port for more than six years, not how the ammonium nitrate ended up in Beirut. On Monday, however, Sawan requested information from Lebanese security forces on three Syrian businessman thought to be behind the procurement of the fertiliser shipment that arrived on a dilapidated ship from Georgia in 2013. Diab resigned after the port explosion, but the deeply divided political class has failed to agree on a new cabinet line-up. Pressure from former colonial power France, whose President Emmanuel Macron has visited twice since the explosion, has failed to end the deadlock. Lebanon desperately needs the government to launch reforms and unlock international aid to lift the country out of its worst financial crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.The value of the local currency has plummeted by more than 80 percent and around half the population live in poverty.

Activists Slam 'Charade' as Sawwan Removed from Beirut Blast Probe
Agence France Presse/February 18, 2021
Rights defenders condemned a "mockery of justice" after a Lebanese court Thursday removed the judge leading a probe into the massive blast at Beirut's port last August. Lebanese authorities have come under increasing pressure to provide answers over the August 4 explosion of hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate on the dockside that killed more that 200 people, injured thousands and ravaged large parts of the capital. But Fadi Sawwan's removal, after two former ministers he had charged with negligence in the case filed a complaint, risks bringing the whole investigation back to square one. On Thursday, "the Cassation Court decided to transfer the investigation... from Sawwan to another judge," a judicial source said. The court ruling found in favor of the plaintiffs who had questioned the judge's impartiality in view of his home having been damaged in the explosion, the source said. Rights activists condemned Thursday's ruling as the latest example of an entrenched political class placing itself above the law. Sawwan's removal "makes a mockery of justice and is an insult to the victims of the blast," Human Rights Watch researcher Aya Majzoub said.
The ruling showed "politicians are not subject to the rule of law," she added. On December 10, Sawwan had issued charges against caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers for "negligence and causing death to hundreds," triggering outrage from politicians. Premier-designate Saad Hariri and Hizbullah were among those to oppose the indictment. Among those charged were former finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil and ex-public works minister Ghazi Zoaiter, who accused Sawwan of violating the constitution on the grounds of immunity and moved to have him removed from the case.
- 'Charade needs to end' -
Majzoub said: "More than six months later, we are back to square one.""This charade needs to end... We need an international, independent investigation as soon as possible." Lawyer and activist Nizar Saghieh said he needed to see the full court decision, but feared the worst. "By refusing to be held accountable, the ministers and political class are drawing a red line in the investigation," he told AFP. He said it was a typical pattern in Lebanon that "prevents any justice from being achieved." The probe into Lebanon's worst peace-time disaster has led to the detention of 25 people, from maintenance workers to the port's customs director, but not a single politician. It has focused mainly on who was to blame for the fertilizer being left to languish unsafely at the port for more than six years, not how the ammonium nitrate ended up in Beirut. On Monday, however, Sawwan requested information from Lebanese security forces on three Syrian businessman thought to be behind the procurement of the fertilizer shipment that arrived on a dilapidated ship from Georgia in 2013.

Prosecution Approves Request to Release 2 Port Blast Suspects
Naharnet/February 18, 2021
The public prosecutor’s office on Thursday approved a request for the release of two Beirut port officials held in connection with the catastrophic August 4 explosion. State-run National News Agency identified the two officials as Hassan Qureitem, the head of the interim committee for the port’s administration and investment, who was relieved of his duties after the disaster, and Mohammed Ziad al-Aoun, the head of the port’s security and safety department. Both suspects had been officially charged by the lead judicial investigator into the case, Judge Fadi Sawwan, who was removed Thursday by the Court of Cassation following a challenge filed by two former ministers. The request for the release of Qureitem and al-Aouf had been filed by their lawyer Sakhr al-Hashem and has been returned to the judicial investigator to take the appropriate decision, NNA added.
The next move is now to be decided by the judge who will replace Sawwan.

Sawwan Postpones Questioning of Fenianos
Naharnet/February 18, 2021
The lead investigator into the Beirut port blast Judge Fadi Sawwan on Thursday postponed until Tuesday the questioning session of former transport minister Youssef Fenianos. On Wednesday, Sawwan had issued an arrest warrant for Fenianos on charges of negligence leading to the devastating explosion, TV networks had said. Earlier Wednesday, Fenianos had announced that he would not attend a questioning session scheduled for Thursday by Sawwan. He said the notice came in violation of the Code of Criminal Procedures. “I received a phone call at 7:21 pm from the Central Criminal Investigations Department, informing me that I should appear tomorrow morning as a defendant before Judge Sawwan,” Fenianos tweeted. “Seeing as the notice came in violation of the Code of Criminal Procedures, I will not be attending tomorrow’s session,” the ex-minister added.

Sawwan Reportedly Issues Arrest Warrant for ex-Minister Fenianos
Naharnet/February 18, 2021
The lead judicial investigator into the Beirut port blast catastrophe, Judge Fadi Sawwan, has issued an arrest warrant for former public works and transport minister Youssef Fenianos on charges of negligence leading to the devastating explosion, TV networks said on Wednesday.
LBCI TV later quoted judicial sources as saying that Sawwan "cannot issue an arrest warrant over the phone against ex-minister Youssef Fenianos prior to tomorrow's session." “Fenianos can object against the notice if it is not received three days before the session’s date,” the sources added.
Earlier in the day, Fenianos had announced that he would not attend a questioning session scheduled for Thursday by Sawwan. “I received a phone call at 7:21 pm from the Central Criminal Investigations Department, informing me that I should appear tomorrow morning as a defendant before Judge Sawwan,” Fenianos tweeted. “Seeing as the notice came in violation of the Code of Criminal Procedures, I will not be attending tomorrow’s session,” the ex-minister added.

ICJ says Lebanon’s criminal justice system inadequately addresses sexual, gender-based violence
NNA/February 18, 2021 
In a memorandum released today, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) published guidance and recommendations aimed at assisting Lebanon’s criminal justice actors in addressing significant gaps in evidentiary rules, practice and procedures undermining the investigation, prosecution and adjudication of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) crimes in the country. The 42-page memorandum, Sexual and Gender-based Violence Offences in Lebanon: Principles and Recommended Practices on Evidence (available in English and Arabic), aims to advance accountability and justice for SGBV, and is especially designed for investigators, prosecutors, judges and forensic practitioners.  “Criminal justice actors are indispensable to eradicating harmful practices and curbing entrenched impunity for SGBV in Lebanon,” said Said Benarbia, Director of the ICJ’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.
“Rather than buying into false, stereotyped narratives that impugn survivors’ credibility and call into question their sexual history, the criminal justice system must adopt and enforce gender-sensitive, victim-centric evidence-gathering procedures that put the well-being of SGBV survivors at the forefront.”
The memorandum provides criminal justice actors with guidance and recommendations on the identification, gathering, storing, admissibility, exclusion and evaluation of evidence in SGBV cases, as well as on their immediate applicability in practice, pending consolidation and reform of Lebanon’s existing legal framework and procedures for the investigation, prosecution and adjudication of SGBV offences.  “Lebanon’s legal framework fosters and perpetuates a systematic denial of effective legal protection and access to justice for women survivors of SGBV,” said Benarbia. “The justice system must counter harmful gender stereotypes and attitudes rooted in patriarchy, which continue to undermine survivors’ right to effective remedies.”The memorandum's release is particularly timely given the escalation of SGBV witnessed since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.—ICJ

Emir of Qatar Urges Fast Govt. Formation in Talks with Hariri
Naharnet/February 18, 2021
The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, met Thursday morning in Doha with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on the occasion of his visit to the Gulf country, Qatar’s news agency said. “The meeting dealt with reviewing the latest developments in Lebanon. HE the Prime Minister-designate informed HH the Emir of the latest developments and efforts related to forming the government,” the news agency added. The Emir “emphasized the State of Qatar's support of Lebanon and its people, calling on all Lebanese parties to prioritize national interest and swiftly form a new government that will deal with the crises and challenges facing Lebanon,” it said. The meeting also dealt with a number of issues of common interest. Hariri had met with Qatar’s foreign minister upon his arrival in Doha on Wednesday.

Report: After Qatar, Hariri to Visit UAE
Naharnet/February 18, 2021
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri is expected to visit the United Arab Emirates after concluding his visit to Qatar, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday. But according to unnamed sources, they told the daily that Hariri’s trips abroad may not have a direct impact on the controversial delayed formation of a Lebanese government. They said that Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s latest stance “could facilitate” Hariri’s mission in forming a cabinet. Nasrallah had voiced “objection” to granting a blocking one-third share in a government required by the team of the President, and voiced “support” for allocating the interior ministry portfolio for Hariri’s team. Hariri traveled to Qatar Wednesday. He met Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassem Al-Thani and held talks with him over a dinner banquet thrown in his honor, according to Hariri's office. The talks tackled “the various general situations in Lebanon and the region and the bilateral relations between the two countries,” the office added. Hariri will also meet with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani according to media reports. For months, Lebanon has been grappling with an unprecedented economic crisis and political disputes, as political forces have been unable to form a government since the resignation of Hassan Diab's government, 6 days after the Beirut port explosion on August 4, 2020.

Berri Presses Need for Staging by-Elections
Naharnet/February 18, 2021
Speaker Nabih Berri discussed with caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi via a phone call on Thursday the need to stage the parliamentary by-elections to fill vacant parliament seats as stipulated by Article 41 in the Constitution. Fahmi said directives will be given to have the elections ready to be held in March. After the colossal August 4, 2020 port explosion, eight members of parliament resigned. Two other parliamentary seats went vacant after the deaths of MPs Michel el-Murr and Jean Obeid.

Geagea Slams Anti-Bkirki 'Bravados' and Those Preparing Bassil for Presidency
Naharnet /February 18, 2021
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Thursday stressed that Bkirki will not bow in the face of “threats,” in an apparent reference to the latest remarks by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah about the “internationalization” of the Lebanese crisis.
“Bkirki has never been intimidated, even during the era of (ruthless Ottoman military ruler) Djemal Pasha, when the patriarch refused to change his stance. That’s why all these bravados will not lead to anything,” Geagea said in an interview on Radio Liban Libre.
Turning to the row between President Michel Aoun and PM-designate Saad Hariri over the formation of the new government, Geagea accused the president’s camp of seeking to inflame sectarian sentiments through focusing on the president’s jurisdiction and the “rights of Christians.”
“Which Christian rights? The rights of Christians will be fulfilled when a strong state rises. General Aoun was elected president on the basis that he is a strong president who would embark on building a strong state, but what actually happened is that the state has become weaker than ever before,” the LF leader added. “The rights of Christians are achieved through the rise of a real state in Lebanon, a state that would preserve their sovereignty, freedom and dignity,” he said. Criticizing those who are “fighting a fierce battle amid the current crisis that is burdening every Lebanese citizen,” Geagea said some are engaged in a major battle aimed at “paving the way for MP Jebran Bassil to become the next president.”“These are not the rights of Christians,” Geagea stressed.

In Virus-Hit Lebanon, Seamstresses Stitch Body Bags
Agence France Presse/February 18, 2021
In a Lebanese textile workshop, Umm Omar recalled making school uniforms and holiday garments -- before surging coronavirus cases forced her into the grim business of body bags. "We used to sew festive clothes, outfits for pilgrims, and school uniforms. We brought people joy," said the 53-year-old workshop supervisor in the southern city of Sidon. "But now, even if we don't want to, we've been obliged... to shift from joy to sadness." Around her, seamstresses in face masks were busy at work sewing black body bags as demand rises due to a spike in Covid-19-related deaths. Leaning over their machines, they placed spools of thread on holders. A young man measured fabric and used a stub of chalk to mark out patterns, under a wan neon light. Others folded the finished bags, resembling those used to store tuxedos or gowns, before packaging them in plastic covers. "Doing this kind of work is upsetting, but we're forced to do it" because of the high demand, said Umm Omar, her face framed by a floral veil. Lebanon, a country of more than six million, has recorded 343,584 coronavirus cases including 4,092 deaths since the pandemic reached it last year. In January, it recorded one of the steepest virus upticks in the world after authorities loosened restrictions over the holiday season. That has left the country's fragile healthcare system struggling to cope. For the Al-Umm textile workshop, this has meant brisk business. "The deaths have led to a rise in demand," said Umm Omar, who has worked at the factory for 27 years. Lebanon's virus outbreak has also forced her team to produce face masks and medical gowns in recent months. "Of course, we wish from the bottom of our hearts that we could change all this and go back to normal," Umm Omar said. After receiving its first doses of the Pfizer vaccine, Lebanon launched a nationwide campaign on Sunday with the goal of vaccinating more than half of the population before the end of the year. Umm Omar hopes this will change the tide. "We wish for coronavirus to disappear and for people to live well and take better care of themselves so we don't have to keep doing this kind of work," she said.

Unprecedented snowfall, winter storms hit Middle East
The Arab Weekly/February 18/2021
BEIRUT--Snow blanketed parts of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel on Wednesday, covering areas it has not reached in years, disrupting traffic and postponing vaccination campaigns against COVID-19 and even exams at some universities. It snowed for the first time in years in Marjayoun in southern Lebanon, and in Bayda in north-east Libya. Gale force winds knocked out electricity in vast parts of Lebanon, forcing many Lebanese, already used to power cuts, to rely on generators for longer hours. Rescuers pulled four motorists out of their snow-covered cars, the National News Agency said.
The first snow this winter in the Syrian capital, Damascus, did not prevent the Premier League soccer tournament from going ahead, as Army Sports Club and Al-Karamah faced off despite the snow that covered the pitch, the Syrian Al-Watan daily reported . In the mountains of Syria’s Sweida province, snow was as high as 15 cm (6 inches), according to the official state news agency SANA. Roads in some provinces were blocked. In the central province of Hama, bulldozers shoveled snow to open roads while vehicles skidded on ice, causing traffic disruption. The University of Damascus called off mid-term exams scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday in all its branches around Syria because of the extreme weather conditions. The country’s ports remained open.
In the opposition-held north-western Syria, civil defense teams have been building dirt mounds since Tuesday around camps for the displaced to prevent rain from flooding the crowded areas. Nearly 3 million displaced people live in north-western Syria, mostly in tents and temporary shelters. Heavy rainfall last month damaged over 190 displacement sites, destroying and damaging over 10,000 tents. In neighbouring Lebanon, Storm Joyce hit late Tuesday with gale force winds registering between 85 km/h (52 miles/h) and 100 km/h (62 miles/h). The storm is expected to get stronger Thursday.
Breaking a warm spell, the storm brought heavy rainfall, a sharp drop in temperatures and the heaviest snow fall in Lebanon this year. Snow is expected to cover areas of altitudes as low as 400 meters, according to the meteorological department. Nearly a dozen roads in eastern and northern Lebanon were closed to traffic because of the snow. A beachside club and restaurant were submerged in water as waves nearly 4 metres high slammed onto the shore. The Israeli Meteorological Service forecast heavy thunderstorms and cold temperatures across much of the country, with snowfall at higher altitudes expected later on Wednesday, including in Jerusalem. On Wednesday night, Israeli police closed the main road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem due to snow. Heavy snowfall covered the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights near the border with Syria. In Jordan, the COVID-19 vaccination drive was suspended due to severe weather conditions. Schools and universities also put off classes. Jordan’s Prime Minister Bishr al-Khasawneh announced that Thursday will be an official holiday for both the public and private sector due to the snow storm. Osama al-Tarifi, director of the operating room of the Arabia Weather site, said snow has reached 20 cm (8 inches) in the mountains of Ajloun in northern Jordan, where snowfall has been non-stop since Tuesday night. Heavy snow is expected in the capital, Amman, on Wednesday.
Wind exceeded 100 km/hour in some areas in Jordan. In Libya, snow blanketed the country’s north-east mountains as snowfall continued since Tuesday, covering forests and roads in some areas in the North African country. Residents of the Jabal al-Akhdar area in the far north-east part of Libya took their children out for fun, some making snowmen and others starting snowball fights. “I was surprised, actually, by the number of families who came here to take pictures to remember the snow,” said Ali al-Shairi, an amateur photographer from the eastern city of Bayda, which is known for recurrent snow in Libya but has not seen any for a couple of years. In neighbouring Egypt, heavy rain and windy weather prevailed on Wednesday and was expected to last into Thursday, the country’s meteorological agency said. Authorities in South Sinai province, which includes touristic hubs, canceled touristic activities, including safaris and cruises to weather the storm. In Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, icy roads caused multiple car accidents and authorities said up to 50 centimeters of snow have accumulated in the metropolis’ higher-altitude districts.
Elsewhere in Turkey, 22 people were injured after a passenger bus slid off a highway in the central province of Aksaray and overturned, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Heavy snowfall also closed highways and access to dozens of villages in eastern Turkey and closed schools recently reopened due to pandemic restrictions.
 

Lebanon’s next cabinet remains in limbo as Hezbollah stalls
Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya/February 18/2021
Lebanon remains in limbo as its political class continue to fail to agree on a new cabinet and Iran-backed Hezbollah slows the process down in a blatant grab for power.
Since his naming back in October as Prime Minister designee Saad Hariri has visited the Lebanese President Michael Aoun sixteen times, to ask his guidance and his council and to confer with him over the government formation as dictated by Lebanon’s constitution. While both parties claim that the government formation was their top priority, five months later they have failed to agree on a lineup of technocrats to help lead the way for much needed political and economic reforms ones which would help Lebanon escape its current predicament.
Article 64 of the Lebanese constitution clearly mandates that the Prime Minister leads the cabinet formation, which leaves the President of the Republic very few prerogatives other than suggest names to act as his bloc. In reality however, President Aoun and his son-in-law Gebran Bassil, the Maronite allies of Hezbollah, have time and again derailed this simple constitutional process under the pretext that their Christian parliamentary representation dictates that they receive a third of the cabinet seats. A concession which if Hariri grants will grant Bassil a de facto veto right over all cabinet decision thus completely rendering Hariri’s role inconsequential.
For Bassil, who sees himself as the next in line to inherit the presidency of his father-in-law, this veto power will allow him to neutralize all opposition, and buy him time to get his name removed from the US treasury sanctions list, where he had been previously placed under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act for his immeasurable corruption.
Aoun and Bassil’s tenacious attitude vis-a-vis the government formation is supported, not to say instigated, by Hezbollah, which, contrary to what it publicly declares, does not wish to facilitate the cabinet formation until Iran gets the United States to ease off on its maximum pressure campaign. Equally, Lebanon’s political elite are each trying to get their share of the cabinet portfolios, yet at the same time try to appear as altruistic and noble, something which they have failed abysmally in.
French president Emmanuel Macron’s initiative launched during his visit to the destroyed city of Beirut following the August 4 port blast have failed to convince the ruling elite to cooperate and to concede to the urgency of reform, which is the only path available for Lebanon if it wishes to receive any sort of financial bailout or loan from the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank. The Macron initiative’s main blunders are its assumption that Lebanon’s politicians are statemen that are invested in the wellbeing of their country, and that Hezbollah has two separate military and political wings that can later be rationalized with. An act of delusion not to say political lunacy.
In his recent televised speech Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary general, was clear that despite all the consequences of not having a functioning government, it was not fair to hold Aoun or Hariri responsible for its delay. While claiming that Hezbollah and the rest of the Lebanese factions are very keen to form the government, none of Nasrallah’s actions reflect this wish, but rather corroborate that Iran is using Lebanon as another bargaining chip to improve its chance to reengage the Biden administration in the forthcoming nuclear talks.
While the resumption of the nuclear deal is possible, it will not change Lebanon’s predicament nor will it pave the way for a steady political and economic recovery, but on the contrary will allow the country to sink deeper into the abyss of corruption and statehood. As it stands, not only is Lebanon in need of a miracle to escape its terrible demise, but this miracle has to have the support of the Gulf Arab states, who at the moment are more focused on containing Iran’s malicious regional expansion and recovering from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the sixteenth anniversary of his father assassination, Hariri lashed out against Aoun and Hezbollah and accused them of being responsible for Lebanon’s terrible state of affairs and assured that there “is no way out of this crisis without the Arabs and the international community, without deep reconciliation with the Arab brothers, and without stopping using Lebanon as a platform to attack the Arab Gulf and damage the interests of the Lebanese.”
Hariri’s diagnosis might be true, but the Arab states would likely not lend their support to a Lebanese cabinet which fosters the same element responsible for wreaking havoc and destruction across the country and directs Lebanese economic resources into the pockets of corrupt politicians and Hezbollah.
While Hariri can maneuver as much as he wants, and can bet on Macron’s initiative to come back to power and succeed in forming his cabinet, including Hezbollah, what is certain is that this will not change the fact that whoever is sitting across him on the government table is representing Iran’s Lebanese proxy that are responsible for killing his father and consequently, with Hariri’s help, killing Lebanon.
 

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 18- 19/2021

Iran is biggest threat to international community, former Trump adviser Bolton says
Joseph Haboush, Nadia Bilbassy & Daniel AlAkl/Al Arabiya/February 18/2021
Iran continues to pose a threat to the international community, and it would be a mistake for US President Joe Biden to ease sanctions on Tehran’s regime, former National Security Adviser John Bolton told Al Arabiya in an interview aired Thursday. The veteran US diplomat cautioned Biden and his aides against repeating the Obama administration’s errors that Iran was the region’s great power. “I’m afraid that the real inclination of the Biden presidency will be to repeat what Obama thought, which was that it was really Iran that was the great power in the region, and that it was Iran … that would ultimately be the rock of stability across the Middle East,” Bolton said in the wide-ranging interview.
“I think that’s entirely the reverse of the truth,” he said, adding that it had nothing to do with the people of Iran or the country. “So, the idea that somehow Iran, under its current regime, could be a responsible actor in the Middle East, is just badly misguided. Biden has made no secret of his intentions to reenter the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed under the Obama administration in 2015. Bolton was one of the main drivers behind convincing former President Donald Trump to withdraw from the deal three years later. A maximum pressure campaign ensued, which entailed hard-hitting economic sanctions against Iran and those who supported the regime and its proxies globally. And Bolton defended the Trump administration’s policy which he said imposed “much more” pain on the Iranian regime than people thought. “We were told that what multilateral sanctions couldn’t do, unilateral American sanctions couldn’t do either. But our sanctions turned out to be much more effective than the multilateral UN Security Council sanctions,” he said.
But he believes the US “didn’t go far enough. We didn’t put enough pressure.”
Asked what more could be done to force a change in the regime’s behavior, Bolton said the objective should be to split the regime. This doesn’t require outside or military intervention, he said. As for reentering the JCPOA, Bolton believes Biden and his team are finding it much harder than initially thought due to shifting political developments over the years. If Biden reenters the deal and there is noncompliance from Iran, “it would be total surrender,” Bolton said. “But make no mistake, his objective remains the same, and that’s getting back into the deal.” Biden’s ‘naive’ move to revoke terror designation of Houthis
Bolton launched a diatribe against the Biden administration for removing the Iran-backed Houthis from the terrorist list. On Tuesday, the terrorist designations imposed on the Houthis and its leaders, including Abdel Malik al-Houthi, were removed. “I do think it’s naive,” Bolton told Al Arabiya. He said the real danger in Yemen was Iran’s funding and providing weapons to the Houthis. Admitting that negotiating with terrorists was “nearly an impossible assignment,” Bolton said Iran and the Houthis were exploiting the situation “very effectively.” And now with the revocation of the designation, the Biden administration has lost another point of leverage. The former NSA called out Biden and his team by seeking to get back into the nuclear deal by taking actions such as eliminating the terrorist designation of the Houthis “and by threatening to cut off arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.” These moves would put all the pressure on Washington’s own friends in the region. “I think the ayatollah in Tehran understand that and I think they’re just going to continue doing what they’re doing in Yemen, and elsewhere … to see what additional concessions Biden may make,” Bolton said.

Biden eases pressure on Iran as US announces readiness for nuclear talks
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/18 February/2021
The United States announced several moves Thursday that appeared to be a sign of easing pressure on Iran, including its willingness to meet with officials from Tehran to discuss the now-defunct nuclear treaty signed in 2015. Several decisions to backtrack from Trump-era decisions against Iran were announced hours after Secretary of State Antony Blinken participated in a virtual meeting with his counterparts from France, Germany and the United Kingdom.Washington then announced that it was ready to restart negotiations with Iran over a nuclear deal. “The United States would accept an invitation from the European Union High Representative to attend a meeting of the P5+1 and Iran to discuss a diplomatic way forward on Iran’s nuclear program,” State Department Spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. This came shortly after Enrique Mora, the EU’s Deputy Secretary-General for Political Affairs, tweeted hours earlier that he was ready to make the move. “The #JCPOA at a critical moment. Intense talks with all participants and the US. I am ready to invite them to an informal meeting to discuss the way forward,” Mora said on his Twitter account. As for the talks, a senior State Department official told reporters on a phone briefing that the first meeting would not be an official one and the UN would organize it. US Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley will head the US delegation, which won’t see the participation of foreign ministers. “It remains unclear if Iran will agree to this meeting,” the official said.
Separately, the official confirmed an earlier report by Al Arabiya English that the US informed the United Nations Security Council that it was no longer recognizing a previous US claim that all UN sanctions were reimposed on Iran as part of the “snapback mechanism” from the 2015 Iran deal.
After the Trump administration withdrew from the deal in 2018, Iran began to breach the agreement and made progress on nuclear enrichment. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo then announced the return of all UN sanctions against Iran under the snapback provision of the original deal, claiming that the US had not officially withdrawn. Despite its unilateral move, Washington was met with stiff opposition from France, Germany and the United Kingdom, who said the move was “incapable of having any legal effect.” But the US will not make any concessions to Iran, the official said, adding that the purpose would be to revive diplomacy between the two. The State Department official also told reporters that the US informed Iran’s UN mission that its diplomat would have their travel restrictions eased. Under Trump, officials were allowed to travel to UN buildings only.Iran’s diplomats will still need special permission to go beyond a 25-mile radius as is the case, the official added.

West Warns Iran against 'Dangerous' Inspections Limit, Touts 'Diplomatic Opportunity'
Agence France Presse/February 18/2021
European powers and the United States on Thursday warned Iran it would be "dangerous" to limit U.N. nuclear agency inspections and asked Tehran to return to full compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal. Britain, France, Germany and U.S. said after talks based in Paris that they were "united in underlining the dangerous nature of a decision to limit IAEA access" ahead of a February 21 deadline set by the Iranian parliament. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian hosted his German and British counterparts in Paris, with America's new Secretary of State Antony Blinken joining via videoconference.
Their statement urged "Iran to consider the consequences of such grave action, particularly at this time of renewed diplomatic opportunity", adding that they all shared the aim of Iran returning to "full compliance" with the accord. Analysts say only a small window of opportunity remains to save the deal, which received a near-fatal blow when former U.S. president Donald Trump walked out of the accord in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran. The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has said it is prepared to rejoin the deal and start lifting sanctions if Iran -- whose economy has been devastated -- returns to full compliance. Iran has warned it would restrict some U.N. nuclear agency inspections by February 21 if the US does not lift the sanctions imposed since 2018. Blinken reiterated that if "Iran comes back into strict compliance with its commitments" under the nuclear deal "the United States will do the same and is prepared to engage in discussions with Iran toward that end." The powers also expressed their concerns over Iran's recent actions to produce both uranium enriched up to 20 percent and uranium metal in new violations of the accord. "These activities have no credible civil justification," the statement said, adding: "Uranium metal production is a key step in the development of a nuclear weapon."
 

In signal to Iran, Israel, US begin developing Arrow-4 missile defense system
The Arrow system serves as the upper layer of Israel’s multi-tier missile defense array and is aimed to protect Israel’s skies from long-range missiles.

The Jerusalem Post/February 18/2021
In the face of Iran’s continued development of long-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, the Defense Ministry announced on Thursday that it has started developing, alongside the US Missile Defense Agency, a new generation of the advanced Arrow missile defense system.
The new system known as the Arrow-4 will become a major part of Israel’s multilayered missile defense architecture.
The Arrow-3 currently serves as the upper layer of Israel’s multi-tier missile defense array, designed to protect Israel from long-range missiles particularly those produced in Iran.
It includes advanced radar systems, developed and produced by Elta, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries. It also includes a BMC system developed by Elbit Systems, and a Launch Array including interceptors produced by MLM, a subsidiary of IAI. Defense industries Rafael and Tomer are also involved in the development and production of the Arrow interceptor.
The development of the new generation of the Arrow is being conducted by the Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO), located within the Directorate of Defense R&D (MAFAT) of the Defense Ministry, in conjunction with the US MDA.
Arrow-4 represents the next generation of endo- and exoatmospheric interceptors in the Arrow weapon system, which currently consists of Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 interceptors. “Arrow 4 will be an advanced, innovative interceptor missile with enhanced capabilities,” the ministry said in a statement. “It will address a wide range of evolving threats in the region, and will replace the Arrow 2 interceptors over the next decades. Its development is led by the IMDO and the US MDA, with IAI as the prime contractor for the development and production of the system and its interceptors.”
Following the announcement, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that Israel’s defense establishment “is fully committed to improving its defensive and offensive capabilities against the ballistic missiles threatening our nation. Along with the development of vital offensive capabilities, the multi-layered missile defense array is being enhanced.
“The development of Arrow 4 together with our American partners will result in a technological and operational leap forward, preparing us for the future battlefield and evolving threats in the Middle East and beyond. I congratulate the Israel Missile Defense Organization, which is currently marking its 30th anniversary, as well as the US Missile Defense Agency and Israeli defense industries, for making Israel’s home front safe,” he said.
IAI general manager of the IAI/MLM Division Jacob Galifat said that “the Arrow weapon system, which was one of the first in the world to intercept ballistic missiles, will be upgraded with a significant capability, produced by IAI, in the form of the Arrow 4 interceptor. The interceptor will be the most advanced of its kind in the world, and will provide a new layer of defense to the State of Israel and its citizens.”
MDA Director Vice Adm. John Hill said the “Arrow-4 is a cooperative program between the MDA and IMDO that illustrates US commitment to assisting the government of Israel in upgrading its national missile defense capability to defend the State of Israel from emerging threats.”

NATO will expand mission in Iraq to 4,000 personnel: Stoltenberg
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/February 18/2021
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday the alliance will expand its training mission in Iraq from 500 to around 4,000 personnel. “Today, we decided to expand NATO’s training mission in Iraq to support the Iraqi forces as they fight terrorism and ensure that ISIS does not return,” he said in a press conference after the meetings of NATO Defense Ministers. “Training activities will now include more Iraqi security institutions, and areas beyond Baghdad,” Stoltenberg,” he added. Stoltenberg said on Wednesday he spoke with Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi who “expressed once again the strong support and wish from the Iraqi government to have an expanded, increased NATO presence there.” The NATO established an “advisory, training and capacity-building” mission in Iraq in October 2018, to help the Middle Eastern country quell the threat of terrorist group ISIS. Earlier expansion plans were mainly in response to a demand by then-US President Donald Trump for NATO to do more in the Middle East. This time, Kadhimi, a former intelligence chief and US ally who took office in May, is eager to have a greater NATO presence in the country at a time of rising insecurity, diplomats told Reuters. A rocket attack on US-led forces in northern Iraq killed a civilian contractor on Monday and injured a US service member, in the deadliest such incident in almost a year. Paramilitary groups aligned with Iran in Iraq and Yemen have launched attacks against the United States and its Arab allies in recent weeks, including a drone attack on a Saudi airport and a rocket attack on the US Embassy in Baghdad. The NATO mission, involving allies including Britain, Turkey and Denmark and led by a Danish commander, is seen as more acceptable to Iraqis than a US training force, diplomats told Reuters.

Qatar postures as ‘neutral mediator’ in Yemen crisis, back channel for US-Houthi contacts
The Arab Weekly/February 18/2021
LONDON- Informed political sources said Washington communicates with the Houthis through back channels most likely including Oman and Qatar. US Special Envoy for Yemen Timothy Lenderking hinted at such channels without identifying the countries in question. Sources revealed that Doha has been deploying intensive diplomatic contacts since the inauguration of US President Joe Biden, presenting itself as a “neutral mediator” entrusted by Washington with the role of a backchannel in the Yemen crisis. They indicate that the sense of urgency projected by the new administration and the new US envoy’s statements make it clear that preparations for Qatar to play such a role had already been made and were not the result of recent efforts by the Biden administration after entering office. Over the years, several meetings have taken place between US officials and Houthi leaders in the Omani capital of Muscat. Such contacts intensified during the tenure of former US Secretary of State John Kerry from 2013 to 2017. As top diplomat, Kerry promoted a settlement initiative in Yemen that was rejected by the internationally recognised government and Saudi-led Arab coalition.
Doha engaged in mediation between the Yemeni state and the Houthi rebels between 2007 and 2010. In doing so, it tried to save the Houthis from certain defeat, before former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh put an end to the Qatari drive.
At the time, Doha demanded to supervise the implementation of the provisions of the mediation. This, according to Yemeni experts, enabled it to pursue its designs.
Leaked documents later showed that in 2011, Qatar sought to abort the Gulf initiative and its implementation mechanism after it withdrew from the initiative. It also encouraged many Yemeni parties, including the Houthis and Muslim Brotherhood currents, to reject it. Yemeni analysts confirm that Qatar played a decisive role in preventing the defeat of the Houthi militias through its membership in the Arab coalition in support of the legitimacy camp before ending its participation in that coalition in mid-2017. It later began to play an overt role in support of the Houthis politically, financially and in the media. At the same time, it worked from inside the legitimacy camp itself to sow confusion and stir up conflict within the anti-Houthi camp. Over the past three years, Qatari associations have been remarkably active in Houthi-controlled areas, including within the Qatar Charity Foundation, which has opened an office in Sana’a and is believed to be a cover to finance the Houthis. Observers believe that Doha’s long history of destabilisation activities in Yemen and support for the Houthi rebellion and other radical groups does not position it to be a true mediator, but instead brings it closer to Qatar’s goal of turning Yemen into an exporter of violence to neighbouring countries.
The same sources pointed out that the visit of Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani to Iran on Monday was part of Doha’s mediation efforts on two front — the first between Washington and Tehran regarding the Iranian nuclear file; and the second as a go-between in the Yemeni file based on its close ties to the Houthis and the Muslim Brotherhood, which carries influence in the “legitimacy” camp. Qatari media said that the foreign minister carried a message from Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani related to Doha’s announcement that it is ready to help bridge the gap between Tehran and Washington on the nuclear issue. The visit also coincided with statements made by Iranian officials about the conditions needed to reach a political settlement in Yemen..Sources that spoke to The Arab Weekly did not rule out a Qatari role behind UN Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths’ visit to Tehran, which was the first of its kind. There is also speculation that Doha could be behind putting the Yemeni file on the table of final consultations to end the war in Yemen. Doha has recently avoided showcasing its direct ties to the Houthis. It has instead offered the Iran-backed militias a regional political support base and an international communication channel in the Omani capital, Muscat, with all costs covered by Qatar.
Qatar has, however, lent its media support to the Houthis through Al-Jazeera TV channel, which has opened an office in Sana’a and adopted the Houthis’ narrative against the Saudi-led coalition, including Houthi justifications for the war. The Arab Weekly previously revealed the arrival of leading Houthi figure Abdul-Malik al-Ajri to the Qatari capital, Doha, as an undeclared ambassador of the Houthis. Ajri is known to be close to top Houthi leader Abdulmalik Al-Houthi. Sources tell The Arab Weekly that Qatar is likely to soon move to a new stage in its support for the Houthis in Yemen, as it feels it enjoys a wider margin of manoeuvre after the signing the Al-Ula agreement, even if it does not seem inclined to carry out any of its provisions. Doha is working to reap the dividends of rapid transformations in the region that serve its agenda. Among these shifts are the US’s confused foreign policy stances, which observers say have contributed to encouraging the Houthis to opt for political and military escalation by intensifying their attacks on Saudi territory while continuing their offensive towards Marib.
After removing the Houthis from its list of designated terrorist organisations, Washington has continued to reaffirm its commitment to safeguarding the security of its allies in the region. On Tuesday, US State Department spokesman Ned Price urged the Houthis to halt the Marib attack, cease all military operations, end cross-border strikes on Saudi Arabia and participate in a UN-led peace process. “The Houthis’ assault on Marib is the action of a group not committed to peace or to ending the war afflicting the people of Yemen,” he said in a statement. The assault will only worsen the world’s most serious humanitarian catastrophe, Price pointed out. “Marib is controlled by the legitimate government of Yemen. This assault will only increase the number of internally displaced persons and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.”Price urged the Houthis to “constructively participate” in UN-led peace efforts and “engage seriously” with Lenderking, the recently appointed US special envoy for Yemen. The Houthis responded to the US statement with a new wave of attacks using explosive drones on Abha International Airport in southern Saudi Arabia. The US special envoy to Yemen said that his country will not allow for Saudi Arabia to be targeted and called for the kingdom to strengthen its capabilities in order to defend itself, noting that Iran plays a negative role in Yemen by arming, training and equipping the Houthis with weapons to target Saudi Arabia. Observers of the Yemeni scene point out that there is a huge gap between the US administration’s statements about Tehran and its military proxy in Yemen, and Washington’s tangible moves on the ground.

Israel says it’s developing new ballistic missile shield with US amid Iran tensions
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/18 February /2021
Israel is developing a new ballistic missile defensive shield, the Arrow-4, with the United States, amid heightened tensions with Iran, the Ministry of Defense said on Thursday. “Arrow-4 will be an advanced, innovative interceptor missile with enhanced capabilities. It will address a wide range of evolving threats in the region and will replace the Arrow-2 interceptors over the next decades,” the ministry’s statement read. Jointly manufactured by US firm Boeing Co, Arrow-3 is billed as capable of shooting down incoming missiles in space, an altitude that would destroy any non-conventional warheads safely. It passed its first full interception test over the Mediterranean Sea in 2015 and was deployed in Israel in 2017. Israel has recently stressed the importance of its “ironclad” partnership with the US and the need for Washington’s support in protecting itself from its regional rival Iran. Israeli officials discussed security cooperation with their political and military US counterparts, including Washington’s top diplomat for the Middle East David Schenker mid-January. Tel Aviv said then the discussion emphasized Israeli force build up and cooperation in the field of missile defense “in light of increasing security threats posed by Iranian activities and the proliferation of advanced weapons in the Middle East.” Israel has long described Iran’s ballistic missile program as a threat to its existence and the international community, while Tehran maintains the missile development is merely for defensive purposes. A rare address by the IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi in late January warned that Israel will respond with extreme counterattacks “in the next war” against threats from its enemies, namely Iran and its allied Shia militias in the region. US President Joe Biden has said that if Tehran returned to strict compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, Washington would follow suit and use that as a springboard to a broader agreement that might restrict Iran’s missile development and regional activities. Ruling out talks over its military capabilities, Tehran insists that Washington should take the first step by lifting all sanctions reimposed on Iran after former President Donald Trump abandoned the deal in 2018.Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may find the alliance with the US tested if Washington restores participation in the Iran nuclear deal. Biden told Netanyahu that he intends to strengthen defense cooperation with Israel and affirmed his personal history of steadfast commitment to Israel's security, the White House said on Wednesday.- With Reuters

Netanyahu and Biden Speak about Pandemic, Iran, Peace Effort
Associated Press/February 18, 2021
U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone Wednesday after a month of silence that raised concerns in Israel about a frostier relationship between the two allies. Netanyahu's office was first to announce the conversation, releasing a photo of a smiling prime minister holding a phone to his ear. The statement said the conversation was "warm and friendly" and lasted about an hour. "We had a good conversation," Biden said during a brief exchange with reporters before the start of an Oval Office meeting with labor leaders. The office of Netanyahu, who is facing a tough fight ahead of the March 23 election, was more descriptive. "The two leaders noted their longstanding personal connection and said that they would work together to continue strengthening the steadfast alliance between Israel and the U.S.," the statement said.
Topics discussed, it added, included "the Iranian threat" of developing nuclear weapons, their efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic and the desire to expand Israel's accords with Arab nations. The White House later issued a statement saying that Biden "affirmed his personal history of steadfast commitment to Israel's security and conveyed his intent to strengthen all aspects of the U.S.-Israel partnership, including our strong defense cooperation." The U.S. statement confirmed the two spoke about Iran and said Biden stated his support for the normalization agreements with Arab nations. It restated Biden's view of the importance of working to advance peace throughout the region, including between Israelis and Palestinians. That the call had happened was perhaps as significant as the words exchanged. Israelis had been complaining since Biden's inauguration in January that the new president had not reached out to Netanyahu, concerned that the silence could forecast a chillier relationship between the two close allies after former President Donald Trump's warm embrace. Netanyahu has long boasted of his close relations with American presidents and other world leaders. He's hoping to dissuade Biden from rejoining the Iranian nuclear deal, to which Israel is strongly opposed. Biden had been holding off calling Netanyahu, in part, because he first wanted to speak with key European allies as he weighs his next steps with Iran, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Many Israelis fear that Biden, who served as President Barack Obama's vice president, will revive his approach to the region, both by returning to the Iran deal and by pressing Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians. During last year's presidential campaign, Biden criticized Trump's decision to pull out of the 2015 Iran accord. But the new president publicly has insisted that Iran adhere to its commitment under the 2015 pact before his administration engage Tehran on potentially lifting Trump-imposed sanctions. The United States is Israel's closest ally, providing about $3.8 billion in annual military aid and shielding it from censure in international forums over its policies toward the Palestinians.

Pentagon doubles down on support for Saudi Arabia amid Houthi attacks
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/February 18/2021
Biden’s special envoy to Yemen says Saudi Arabia will have to play a leading role in Yemen. “After all, this is their backyard. This is the Gulf region’s backyard,” Timothy Lenderking said. The Pentagon Wednesday doubled down on its condemnation of continued attacks against Saudi Arabia and said it was committed to supporting Riyadh’s self-defense capabilities. “The Houthi attacks are a violation of international law,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon. Kirby added that the US would continue to work with Saudi Arabia to counter external threats and dangers.
Despite a recent decision by the Biden administration to revoke the terrorist designation of the Houthis and their leaders, the Iran-backed group has seemingly escalated its attacks on Saudi Arabia and within Yemen. The group claimed a rocket attack that struck a civilian airplane at Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport last week. Critics of Biden’s move have said this would embolden the Houthis. Separately, on Wednesday, Biden’s special envoy to Yemen, Timothy Lenderking, admitted that Saudi Arabia was needed to end the conflict in Yemen. “And in the Yemen conflict, you need Saudi Arabia. And they will have to play a leading role. After all, this is their backyard. This is the Gulf region’s backyard. And just as we are - follow things that happen in our backyard very carefully, so must the Saudis and so will the Saudis,” he said in an interview with US-based Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). “So, they will be a very strong partner in this effort, I’m convinced, and we will be able to maintain the president’s commitments with regard to Saudi Arabia, while ensuring that the Yemen conflict is brought to a close. That is very much the goal.”
 

UAE Dismantles Eritrea Base as It Pulls Back after Yemen War
Associated Press/February 18, 2021
The United Arab Emirates is dismantling parts of a military base it runs in the East African nation of Eritrea after it pulled back from the grinding war in nearby Yemen, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press show.
The UAE built a port and expanded an airstrip in Assab beginning in September 2015, using the facility as a base to ferry heavy weaponry and Sudanese troops into Yemen as it fought alongside a Saudi-led coalition against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels there.
But the country once praised as "Little Sparta" by former U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis appears to have found the limits of its military expansion in Yemen's stalemate conflict, experts say. After it withdrew troops from the conflict, the satellite photos show it began shipping off equipment and tearing down even newly built structures. "The Emiratis are paring back their strategic ambitions and are pulling out of places where they had presences," said Ryan Bohl, an analyst at the Texas-based private intelligence firm Stratfor. "Having that hard-power deployment exposed them to more risk than the Emiratis are now willing to tolerate."Emirati officials did not respond to questions from the AP. Eritrea, which gave a 30-year lease to the Emiratis for the base, similarly did not respond to questions sent to its embassy in Washington.
The UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, poured millions of dollars into improving the facility at Assab, only some 70 kilometers (40 miles) from Yemen. It dredged a port and improved the dusty airstrip's roughly 3,500-meter (11,500-foot) runway to allow for heavy support aircraft. The Emiratis also built barracks, aircraft canopies and fencing across the 9-square-kilometer (3.5-square-mile) facility initially built in the 1930s by colonial power Italy.
Over time, the UAE stationed Leclerc battle tanks, G6 self-propelled howitzers and BMP-3 amphibious fighting vehicles at the airport, according to United Nations experts. Those types of heavy weapons have been seen on Yemeni battlefields. Attack helicopters, drones and other aircraft have been seen on its runways. Barracks on the base housed Emirati and Yemeni troops, as well as Sudanese forces filmed disembarking in Yemen's port city of Aden. Records show the ship carrying them, the SWIFT-1, traveled back and forth to Assab. The vessel later came under attack by Houthi forces in 2016 and the Emirati government asserted it carried humanitarian aid, a claim for which U.N. experts later described themselves as being "unconvinced of its veracity."
The base also aided wounded soldiers by housing "one of the best field surgical hospitals anywhere in the Middle East," said Michael Knights, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near-East Policy who has studied the Assab base.
As Yemen's war dragged on, the Emiratis also used the base for holding prisoners as the Saudi-led coalition faced increasing international pressure over detainee abuse and airstrikes killing civilians. The UAE announced in the summer of 2019 it had begun withdrawing its troops from the war, which still rages today. "There's only so far that they can punch above their weight, which they do militarily and economically," said Alex Almeida, a security analyst at Horizon Client Access who has studied Assab. "Once they figured out Yemen wasn't worth it for them, they decided, 'We're going to end it,' and they ended it pretty suddenly."Satellite pictures from Planet Labs Inc., analyzed by the AP, show that decision appears to extend to Assab as well. In June 2019, around the time the Emiratis made their withdrawal announcement, workers apparently razed structures believed to be barracks alongside the port, the satellite images show. Workers gathered neat rows of materiel just north of the port, apparently waiting to be shipped off. In early January of this year, another photo showed what appeared to be vehicles and other equipment being loaded onto a waiting cargo ship. By Feb. 5, the ship and that equipment were gone.
The deconstruction included newly built canopies along a new tarmac near the facilities' runway as well. In the Feb. 5 images, another set of canopies that analysts earlier linked to the drones being flown out of the base had been dismantled as well. The UAE has used Chinese-made armed drones in the Yemen war to kill leaders among the Houthi rebels.
Destruction of the drone hangars come after rebels in Ethiopia's Tigray region in November alleged that Emirati drones from Assab had been used against their positions. The UAE hasn't commented on the allegation for which the rebels offered no evidence.
The U.N.-backed government in Libya also has alleged the UAE has flown weapons through Assab on its way there. U.N. experts have accused the UAE among other nations of funneling weapons into Libya amid its yearslong civil war.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian-registered Antonov An-124 cargo plane flew several flights in late January back and forth to the Emirati city of Al Ain from Assab, according to flight data from FlightRadar24.com.
That aircraft, once linked to the Emirati military, now flies for an Ukrainian-Emirati company called Maximus Air. The firm did not return a request for comment left at its Abu Dhabi office.
Despite the dismantling work, Emirati attack helicopters still have been seen at the base. It remains a strategically important point as well, sitting just off the crucial Bab el-Mandeb strait connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
But the UAE may face more-pressing concerns. Since 2019, tensions between the U.S. and Iran have seen a series of escalating incidents, including attacks on ships off the Emirates. Those threats closer to home may take precedence over an expanded military footprint abroad.
"I think what 'Little Sparta' is doing is to keep its powder dry for whatever it needs to do next," Knights said.

Syria Hardliners Release American Held in Idlib
Agence France Presse/February 18, 2021
A hardline militant group running Syria's last major opposition bastion released on Wednesday an American self-described journalist accused of having ties to jihadists, a war monitor said. "The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) alliance has released Bilal Abdul Kareem, who has American nationality," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. HTS in August detained Abdul Kareem in Idlib province after the self-styled journalist published an interview with a woman who accused the group of torturing her husband in detention, the Observatory said. The jihadist-led alliance had sentenced Abdul Kareem to a year and a half in detention but agreed to an early release after receiving "guarantees" from local leaders who petitioned HTS to drop charges, according to the Britain-based Observatory. Born Darrell Lamont Phelps, Abdul Kareem converted to Islam before moving to the Middle East in 2002.
He arrived in Syria in 2012 from Libya, curious about the rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad's forces in a conflict which at that point was just a year old. He has reported from shrinking rebel territory in Syria's north, filming the aftermath of air strikes, interviewing hardline fighters, even meeting Al-Qaeda members. His contacts in the jihadist-led HTS alliance have granted him extensive access at a time when the risk of abduction makes much of Syria too dangerous for journalists from mainstream news outlets.
But it has also prompted allegations that Abdul Kareem is a "jihadist propagandist" and would not have survived in the area had he been an impartial journalist -- particularly given HTS's history of harsh crackdowns against perceived foes. The jihadist group and its allies now control roughly half of the northwestern province of Idlib and slivers of adjacent governorates.
 

Book on Hebrew law influence in Morocco highlights unique legacy
The Arab Weekly/February 18/2021
A presentation on the book, “When Morocco Gives Meaning to its Diversity: the Singularity of Hebrew Law in Morocco,” published by the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation, was held at the “Bayt Dakira” in Essaouira.

RABAT - A book exploring the influence of Hebrew law in Morocco has drawn attention to the country’s history of diversity and religious coexistence. A presentation on the book, “When Morocco Gives Meaning to its Diversity: the Singularity of Hebrew Law in Morocco,” published by the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation, was held at the “Bayt Dakira” in Essaouira. The publication contains numerous articles by leading researchers and scholars on the nature impact of Hebrew law in the kingdom and its role in promoting peace, harmony and coexistence. “In Morocco, the Jewish tradition and its coexistence with Islam is based on a long history. The two cultures have been intimately linked for centuries,” Konrad-Adenauer Foundation Country Director Steffen Krüger wrote in the book’s foreword. Abdellah Ouzitane, founding president of the Center for Studies and Research on Hebrew Law in Morocco, likewise noted that “understanding the challenges of this Moroccan singularity and its promotion is a responsibility we all share because every culture is enriched by its historical roots.”Apart from the book presentation, a cooperation agreement was signed between the Center for Studies and Research on Hebrew Law in Morocco and the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation. Morocco has historically had a significant Jewish population, peaking at 250,000 in 1940, and the kingdom maintains solid ties with its diaspora Jewish community.

Canada imposes sanctions on Myanmar military officials in response to coup d’état
 Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada/February 18, 2021
The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that in response to the coup d’état in Myanmar, Canada is imposing sanctions against 9 Myanmar military officials, under the Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations.
Since seizing control, the Myanmar military and the newly established State Administrative Council have been engaged in a systemic campaign of repression through coercive legislative measures and use of force, including mass arbitrary detentions, restrictions on access to information and the right to freedom of opinion and expression, association and assembly.
Following recent measures by the United States, and in coordination with the United Kingdom, the sanctions announced today are part of a united response to send a clear message that Canada will not accept the actions of the Myanmar military and their complete disregard for the will and democratic rights of the people of Myanmar. These new actions are part of a broader diplomatic effort by Canada to find a way towards a positive change in Myanmar. We stand in solidarity with the people of Myanmar, and their aspirations for a democratic future.
Since the Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations came into force in December 2007, Canada has maintained sanctions against certain listed individuals and entities in order to respond to the gravity of the human rights and humanitarian situation in Myanmar, which continues to threaten peace and security in the entire region.
Today’s announcement brings the total number of individuals sanctioned by Canada to 54. A trade embargo on arms and related material, as well as on related technical and financial assistance, also remains in place.
Quotes
“Canada stands with the people of Myanmar in their quest for democracy and human rights. We work alongside our international partners who call for the restoration of the democratically-elected government, and we echo their calls for the Myanmar military to release those who have been unjustly detained in the military takeover. Canada will always be an advocate for democracy and human rights around the world.”
- Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Vatican decree says staff who refuse vaccination against Covid-19 could be fired
AFP, Vatican City/February 18/2021
Vatican staff who refuse to be vaccinated against Covid-19 could be sacked under a decree made public on Thursday by the city state, which employs around 5,000 people. An employee must have a documented medical reason for refusing a jab or face “consequences of various degrees which may go as far as the termination of employment”, according to the text. The document, which cites a 2011 Vatican law, also concerns job applicants, saying the Holy See may not hire them if they refuse to be vaccinated. “Refusing vaccination could also be a risk for others (and) seriously increase risks to public health,” it says. The same document also details fines of between 25 and 50 euros ($30-60) for failing to wear a mask or to observe social distancing, and up to 1,500 euros for breaking quarantine rules. The Vatican began vaccinating its employees for free last month. Pope Francis, 84, and his 93-year-old predecessor pope Benedict XVI have both received the jab.

WHO head urges nations to donate vaccines to COVAX, ensure fairness in supplies
Reuters, Zurich/Al Arabiya/February 18/2021
The World Health Organization on Thursday urged nations producing COVID-19 vaccines not to distribute them unilaterally but to donate them to the global COVAX scheme to ensure fairness.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the plea as China hashes out agreements across Africa, Russia distributes shots in Latin America and the European Union eyes giving vaccines to poorer countries, all outside of the COVAX facility.
Tedros said nations striking one-on-one deals undermine COVAX’s goal of equitable access, adding the WHO’s scheme can even accommodate requests from governments that “prefer to give their donations to certain countries, because they are their neighbors or because they have some relationship.”
“What we can do, if that comes through COVAX, is the earmarked donation can go to those countries and the COVAX stocks can go to other countries,” Tedros said during a virtual press conference from Geneva.
“So we can strike a balance.”
COVAX, also backed by Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, is due to ship small volumes of vaccines from AstraZeneca and Pfizer, even as wealthier countries have snapped up most Western doses.
Meanwhile, vaccine diplomacy is ascendant, with Russia talking with Croatia over deliveries while the first shipments of its Sputnik V shots are bound for Mexico.. In recent weeks, China has also offered hundreds of thousands of doses to Namibia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea.
The European Union is working on its own vaccine-sharing mechanism, potentially undercutting the WHO’s push.
WHO adviser Bruce Aylward said wealthier EU countries and Canada had approached COVAX about sharing doses, though so far without result.
“There was a lot of interest,” Aylward, also speaking at Thursday’s press conference, said. “Unfortunately, we have not seen yet the translation of that interest ... to (vaccination donations) to COVAX.”

New UNEP synthesis provides blueprint to urgently solve planetary emergencies, secure humanity’s future
NNA/UNIC/18 February 2021
The world can transform its relationship with nature and tackle the climate, biodiversity, and pollution crises together to secure a sustainable future and prevent future pandemics, according to a new report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) that offers a comprehensive blueprint for addressing our triple planetary emergency.
The report, Making Peace with Nature, lays out the gravity of these three environmental crises by drawing on global assessments, including those from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, as well as UNEP’s Global Environment Outlook report, the UNEP International Resource Panel, and new findings on the emergence of zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19.
The authors assess the links between multiple environmental and development challenges, and explain how advances in science and bold policymaking can open a pathway towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and a carbon neutral world by 2050 while bending the curve on biodiversity loss and curbing pollution and waste. Taking that path means innovation and investment only in activities that protect both people and nature. Success will include restored ecosystems and healthier lives as well as a stable climate.
“By bringing together the latest scientific evidence showing the impacts and threats of the climate emergency, the biodiversity crisis and the pollution that kills millions of people every year, [this report] makes clear that our war on nature has left the planet broken,” UN bSecretary-General António Guterres said in the report’s Foreword. “But it also guides us to a safer place by providing a peace plan and a post-war rebuilding programme.
“By transforming how we view nature, we can recognize its true value. By reflecting this value in policies, plans and economic systems, we can channel investments into activities that restore nature and are rewarded for it,” he added. “By recognizing nature as an indispensable ally, we can unleash human ingenuity in the service of sustainability and secure our own health and well-being alongside that of the planet.”
Amid a wave of investment to re-energize economies hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the blueprint communicates the opportunity and urgency for ambitious and immediate action. It also lays out the roles that everyone – from governments and businesses to communities and individuals – can and must play. 2021 is especially crucial, with upcoming climate and biodiversity convention meetings - UNFCCC COP 26 and CBD COP 15 – where governments must come up with synergistic and ambitious targets to safeguard the planet by almost halving greenhouse gas emissions in this decade, and by conserving and restoring biodiversity.
Tackling three planetary threats together
Economic growth has brought uneven gains in prosperity to a fast-growing global population, leaving 1.3 billion people poor, while tripling the extraction of natural resources to damaging levels and creating a planetary emergency. Despite a temporary decline in emissions due to the pandemic, Earth is heading for at least 3°C of global warming this century; more than 1 million of the estimated 8 million plant and animal species are at substantially increased risk of extinction; and diseases caused by pollution are currently killing some 9 million people prematurely every year. Environmental degradation is impeding progress towards ending poverty and hunger, reducing inequalities and promoting sustainable economic growth, work for all and peaceful and inclusive societies.
The report shows how this trio of environmental emergencies interact and have common causes, and thus can only be effectively addressed together. Subsidies on fossil fuels, for instance, and prices that leave out environmental costs, are driving the wasteful production and consumption of energy and natural resources that are behind all three problems.
Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, said the report highlighted the importance of changing mindsets and values, and finding political and technical solutions that measure up to the Earth’s environmental crises.
“In showing how the health of people and nature are intertwined, the COVID-19 crisis has underlined the need for a step-change in how we view and value nature. By reflecting that value in decision-making – whether we are talking about economic policy or personal choices – we can bring about a rapid and lasting shift toward sustainability for both people and the environment,” she said. “‘Green recovery’ plans for pandemic-hit economies are an unmissable opportunity to accelerate the transformation.”
Released ahead of the fifth UN Environment Assembly, the report presents a strong case for why and how urgent action should be taken to protect and restore the planet and its climate in a holistic way.
It presents examples of what transformative change can look like, and how it can create prosperity, employment and greater equality. Far-reaching change involves recasting how we value and invest in nature, integrating that value into policies and decisions at all levels, overhauling subsidies and other elements of economic and financial systems, and fostering innovation in sustainable technologies and business models. Massive private investment in electric mobility and alternative fuels show how whole industries recognize the potential gains from shifting quickly.
The authors point out that ending environmental decline in all its forms is essential to advancing many of the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular poverty alleviation, food and water security and good health for all. An example is how intensifying agriculture and fishing in sustainable ways, allied with changes in diets and lower food waste, can help end global hunger and poverty and improve nutrition and health while sparing more land and ocean for nature.
Reinforcing the call for action, the report stresses the need for stakeholders at all levels of society to be involved in decision-making, and identifies dozens of key actions that governments, businesses, communities and individuals can and should undertake in order to bring about a sustainable world.
For instance:
• Governments can include natural capital in measures of economic performance, put a price on carbon and shift trillions of dollars in subsidies from fossil fuels, non- sustainable agriculture and transportation towards low-carbon and nature-friendly solutions
• International organizations can promote One Health approaches and ambitious international targets for biodiversity, such as expanded and improved protected area networks
• Financial organizations can stop lending for fossil fuels and develop innovative finance for biodiversity conservation and sustainable agriculture.
• Businesses can adopt the principles of the circular economy to minimize resource use and waste and commit to maintaining transparent and deforestation-free supply chains
• Non-government organizations can build networks of stakeholders to ensure their full participation in decisions about sustainable use of land and marine resources
• Scientific organizations can pioneer technologies and policies to reduce carbon emissions, increase resource efficiency and lift the resilience of cities, industries, communities and ecosystems
• Individuals can reconsider their relationship with nature, learn about sustainability and change their habits to reduce their use of resources, cut waste of food, water and energy, and adopt healthier diets.
A sustainable future also means learning from the COVID-19 crisis to reduce the threat of pandemic diseases. The report underlines how ecosystem degradation heightens the risk of pathogens making the jump from animals to humans, and the importance of a ‘One Health’ approach that considers human, animal and planetary health together.
UNEP is the leading global voice on the environment. It provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.
UNEA is the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment. The Environment Assembly meets biennially to set priorities for global environmental policies and develop international environmental law. Through its resolutions and calls to action, the Assembly provides leadership and catalyses intergovernmental action on the environment.—UNIC

Russia to resume flights to Egypt’s Red Sea airports after 5-year suspension: Report
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/18 February 2021
Russia will resume flights to Egypt’s Red Sea airports near resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada on March 28 after a five-year suspension, state newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Thursday. Russian authorities approved the resumption of tourism flights to Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada after a delegation of security inspectors from the Russian Ministry of Transport inspected the airport, Al-Ahram said citing the head of Egypt’s Civil Aviation Authority. There was no immediate confirmation from Russia’s officials or state media. Russia halted civilian air traffic to Egypt in October 2015 after militants detonated a bomb on a Russian Metrojet flight departing the tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, leading to the plane crashing in Sinai and killing all 224 people on board. Russian flag carrier Aeroflot restarted flights to Egypt’s capital Cairo in April 2018. The flight suspension hit Egypt’s tourism industry, a key source of hard currency. It also reduced holiday options for Russian tourists who were drawn to Egypt’s all-inclusive accommodation, Russian-speaking staff and relatively affordable prices.- With Reuters

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 18- 19/2021

Riyadh Seeks Biden’s Forgiveness
Varsha Koduvayu/Foreign Policy/February 18/2021
Saudi Arabia has freed activists and announced reforms, but must do more to win the new team’s favor.
Saudi Arabia is extending an olive branch to the Biden administration. On Feb. 10, the kingdom released women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul after 1,001 days in prison, a detention marked by allegations of sexual abuse and torture. Earlier this year, Riyadh released other political prisoners while announcing judicial reforms and revisions to state-approved schoolbooks that promoted martyrdom and anti-Semitism.
In Washington, Democratic control of both the White House and Congress has put the kingdom in a precarious position. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s jailing of dissidents, careless prosecution of the war in Yemen, and reported ordering of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi provoked bipartisan backlash, but the rift with Riyadh runs deeper on the Democratic side. As a candidate, U.S. President Joe Biden promised to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah,” knocked the crown prince as someone with “little social redeeming value,” and vowed to reassess the bilateral relationship.
Despite Biden’s fiery rhetoric, there is an opportunity for a historic reset of bilateral ties here—if both leaders play their cards right. The bond between Riyadh and Washington may be frayed by Mohammed bin Salman’s actions, but their shared strategic interests remain: pushing back against Iranian expansionism, balancing energy markets, countering a revanchist China, and stabilizing the region by expanding Arab-Israeli peace. Washington and Riyadh can pursue them together—but only if Saudi Arabia curbs its human rights outrages.
Al-Hathloul was one of the highest-profile detainees in a crackdown against activists launched in May 2018. She was convicted on baseless charges of inciting regime change and working to advance foreign agendas and was given a six-year sentence. A Saudi court suspended almost half of that, prompting speculation that she could be released this year. In early February, two U.S.-Saudi dual citizens and activists detained since April 2019, Salah al-Haidar and Bader al-Ibrahim, were released on bail. Just days before Biden’s inauguration, a Saudi appeals court reduced the sentence for another dual citizen, Walid al-Fitaihi, and suspended the remainder of it so he will not have to serve any more prison time. Additionally, three young men who faced death sentences for participating in anti-government protests while they were minors were given 10-year prison sentences instead, among them Ali al-Nimr, the nephew of executed Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
Saudi Arabia also announced significant judicial reforms that would codify a legal regime long seen as unpredictable, where judges have traditionally had wide latitude for individual interpretation. This routinely led to rulings that seemed capricious and unreasonable. The reforms include four new regulations on criminal law, rules of evidence, commercial transactions, and family law. The last will especially impact women, governing issues like marriage, child custody, and divorce.
As a candidate, Biden promised to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” and knocked the crown prince as someone with “little social redeeming value.”
In another noteworthy change, the kingdom excised some offensive content from its textbooks, long a concern for U.S. officials who feared they worsen radicalization and extremism. Positive references to jihad and extremist martyrdom were sharply reduced—the books no longer support the death penalty for homosexuality, apostasy, adultery, and alleged sorcery—and many anti-Semitic references are gone.
All these moves are welcome signs of progress. They are clearly intended to portray Saudi goodwill to an administration that has made no secret of its desire to take a sledgehammer to the bilateral relationship—with Biden already making good on his campaign promises by ending U.S. support for offensive operations in Yemen. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Jan Psaki told reporters that Biden plans to bypass Mohammed bin Salman and work directly with the aging King Salman, a clear snub to the young royal.
But as is often the case with Saudi Arabia, it’s two steps forward and one step back. Though al-Hathloul is released, she will be under a five-year travel ban and must serve three years of probation. Al-Fitaihi is also subject to a 38-month travel ban. Al-Haider and al-Ibrahim have only been released temporarily and still face terrorism-related charges.
Then there’s Raif Badawi, who has languished in prison for eight years for running a blog. He remains in his cell, though he will be permanently spared the remaining 950 of the 1,000 lashes that were part of his sentence after Saudi Arabia abolished flogging in April 2020. Samar Badawi, Raif’s sister, has been detained since 2018 with little progress in her case.
If Saudi Arabia truly wants to right its image and repair its standing with the current U.S. administration, it must pursue more permanent and lasting reforms that go beyond calculated gestures. A travel ban is just a different form of state coercion and control. Temporary releases of innocent activists are not true progress. These are simply face-saving steps for Mohammed bin Salman that stop far short of what is needed to kick-start a course correction with Biden, congressional Democrats, and a growing number of disenchanted Republicans.
Mohammed bin Salman can begin by unconditionally releasing all prisoners of conscience and activists. He should continue progress on judicial reform, especially the dismantling of the draconian guardianship system that strips Saudi women of their autonomy and leaves them vulnerable to abuse.
On the geopolitical front, the Saudis should be more responsive to Washington’s concerns about their relationship with China. Conducting covert nuclear and missile cooperation with Beijing and deepening 5G telecommunication links with Chinese companies like Huawei will only worsen the kingdom’s standing in the White House, on Capitol Hill, and in the U.S. State Department. Continued Saudi outreach to Israel and encouragement of normalization from other Arab countries would reap ample bipartisan goodwill. Indeed, with their influence, wealth, and soft power, the Saudis could also play a significant role in encouraging normalization among Muslim-majority countries in South Asia and East Asia and help bolster existing peace agreements that are still fragile, such as Israel’s latest deals with Sudan and Morocco.
For all his rhetoric, Biden is an experienced foreign-policy hand who appears to understand the value of the U.S.-Saudi relationship and Riyadh’s standing as the linchpin of security in the region. At the same time, Biden’s campaign placed an emphasis on the role of values in U.S. foreign policy, so Saudi Arabia should not expect the transactional approach of the past four years to continue.
For all his rhetoric, Biden is an experienced foreign-policy hand who appears to understand the value of the U.S.-Saudi relationship.
If Mohammed bin Salman can make that adjustment, he and Biden could initiate a profound reset in U.S.-Saudi ties. For his part, Biden can restore—as he has already begun to do—a more normal order to the conduct of bilateral ties, away from former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Twitter diplomacy. The crown prince can deliver on long-awaited civic reforms and a better record on human rights. Whether this reset materializes—and with it, a reinvigorated partnership that buttresses the long-term security and stability of the region—depends on the actions and priorities of both leaders. Despite his initial volley of gestures, the ball is still in Mohammed bin Salman’s court.
*Varsha Koduvayur is a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where she focuses on the Persian Gulf. Follow Varsha on Twitter @varshakoduvayur. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Ending vaccine nationalism is a fundamentally moral and pragmatic necessity
Sultan Althari/Al Arabiya/February 18/2021
Access to COVID-19 vaccines is crucial for ending the continued suffering caused by the global pandemic. Transnational challenges demand multilateral solutions – the COVID-19 pandemic, like climate change, has made that fact glaringly clear. However, far from supporting equitable global vaccine distribution, countries continue to undermine it, to the detriment of developing nations, as well as themselves, in a self-defeating phenomenon known as vaccine nationalism.
This protectionist bent, enacted in the name of safeguarding domestic vaccine-centric interests at the expense of collective ones, is almost universal. Since March, the United States, China, South Korea, India, and Germany, among others, have pursued various avenues to protect domestic research, treatments, and medical equipment.
Data paints a clearer picture: 60 percent of the world’s vaccine supply has been reserved for just 15 percent of its population – almost invariably citizens in high-income countries, with recent modeling by The Economist Intelligence Unit predicting that substantive vaccine coverage in more than 85 low-income countries may not be possible until 2023 if current distribution trends persist.
The rationale behind vaccine nationalism seems to make sense. Governments are first and foremost responsible for the well-being of their own citizens, so domestic vaccine procurement and distribution should take precedence over equitable global access, right? Not quite. Data reveals the fact that vaccine nationalism is a moral and practical failure: It’s epidemiologically self-defeating and economically counterproductive. Here’s why:
According to modeling by the Rand Corporation, vaccine nationalism could cost the global economy $1.2 trillion a year in GDP, or about $103 billion a month. The International Chamber of Commerce isn’t as optimistic, attributing a global loss of $9.2 trillion to vaccine nationalism and unequal vaccine access. This pales in comparison to the $25 billion estimated by Oxfam International to supply enough vaccines for low-income countries.
If economic incentives aren’t convincing enough, increased geopolitical leverage may tip the balance: Countries that share vaccines through strategic vaccine diplomacy will come out of the pandemic with stronger regional and international ties, as well as sustained geopolitical influence.
The post-pandemic recovery goes beyond quantitative metrics – there is a clear moral argument for equalizing vaccine distribution around the world. A recent study by Northeastern University finds that proportional vaccine distribution can avert approximately twice as many deaths as a vaccine distribution restricted to high-income countries. This means that ineffective vaccine allocation will lead preventable deaths – a visceral reason for multilateral cooperation that transcends any economic rationale.
Last but not least, public health implications reveal the short-sighted nature of vaccine nationalism: Even if high-income countries manage to vaccinate everyone at home, new virus variants will emerge in less-fortunate countries where COVID-19 will continue to run rampant. This would paradoxically undermine vaccine nationalism’s basic premise by eventually exposing high-income countries to new mutations that the initial vaccine may not respond to. The only way to break this cycle is to combat unequal vaccine distribution through coordinated, multilateral action.
It is therefore evident that a collective, multilateral approach to the vaccine doesn’t just make moral sense – it makes economic, social, and geopolitical sense as well. States in the GCC – particularly the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE – are acutely aware of this reality, and have taken substantive steps to reflect their faith in multilateralism.
Saudi strategic intent was made clear early in the pandemic by committing to a $500 million package to support emergency and preparedness response, deploying new diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines, as well as fulfilling unmet needs for international surveillance and coordination – $150 million was specifically dedicated to GAVI, the global vaccine alliance.
Under Saudi Arabia’s presidency, the Kingdom spurred fellow G20 nations to equalize vaccine distribution through coordinated multilateral action. Top-down multilateral commitment is coupled with innovative altruism from the bottom-up: Gamers Without Borders (GWB), an initiative of Saudi Arabian Federation for Electronic and Intellectual Sports (SAFEIS), raised more than $1.5 million for GAVI through an online gaming competition last year. More recently, during an online session of the World Economic Forum, Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed al-Jadaan made clear that the Kingdom is in serious talks with vaccine producers to supply low-income countries, including Yemen and various nations in Africa.
Abu Dhabi is following a similar route: The UAE was one of the first countries to collaborate with China and Russia in their vaccine trials – shortly after approving Sinopharm’s vaccine in the UAE, an Emirati flight transported the first shipment of the Chinese vaccine to Egypt.
Dubai also announced the Vaccine Logistics Alliance to facilitate an equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccine shots across the globe. Launched under the directives of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the UAE's Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, the Dubai Vaccines Logistics Alliance unites the expertise of Emirates airlines, DP World’s global network of ports, the infrastructure of Dubai Airports and the International Humanitarian City to help meet COVAX’s 2021 vaccine distribution objectives. Abu Dhabi’s Hope Consortium was similarly launched in conjunction to handle the logistics of over six billion doses of the vaccine manufactured in cold and ultra-cold conditions this year.
By any measure, making and distributing enough vaccines to protect the world’s 7.8 billion people is a herculean task, but multilateral coordination is imperative. The Kingdom and the UAE have showcased principled moral leadership by extending a helping hand to less fortunate nations – countries around world should follow suit. Vaccination should ideally be accessible to high- and low-income nations alike, allocated by efficacy and clinical need. That can be hard to reconcile with the certain political realities animating the globe’s post-pandemic recovery.
Multilateral avenues for equitable COVID-19 vaccine distribution already exist, with COVAX, a global initiative backed by the World Health Organization, acting as a prime example. But while the organization has raised $6 billion so far, the initiative will require an additional $2 billion to hit its 2021 targets. Signatories are also not precluded from striking their own bilateral vaccine deals, paradoxically undermining the initiative’s strategic intent in the process.
Policymakers must therefore internalize and relay the economic, ethical and epidemiological efficacy of equitable vaccine distribution: Direct donations from high-income countries to low-income ones, and enforceable frameworks for vaccine development and distribution led by international forums, could all be invaluable avenues to pursue. Following that understanding with action-oriented leadership will lead the world to a brighter future, and an end to the pandemic – sooner rather than later.

Iran’s use of Iraq as a missile base: Threats and logistics - analysis
Seth J.Frantzman/The Jerusalem Post/February 18/2021
Tensions with Iran appear underpinned by similar discussions about deterrence
Iran could move up to 200 long-range missiles to Iraq, a report noted earlier this week, a move that would be designed to put in place missiles that could reach Israel. The reason Iran might do this is to prevent a direct IDF retaliation against targets within Iranian territory if there is a confrontation with Iran or Hezbollah in Syria or Lebanon.
In a sense, Iran’s concept of using ballistic missiles based in Iraq is similar to the planning concepts that underpinned US-Soviet tensions over missile bases and strike capability during the Cold War. There was a question in the 1950s over the military logic of using preemption, according to a documentary on US strategic nuclear policy. There was pressure to preempt war through a first strike, which Curtis LeMay called anticipatory retaliation. The notion was that since war was unavoidable one must get the first blow in. Later the doctrine changed to examine how nuclear weapons might be used. Deterrence became a key word in the debate. The development of ballistic missile submarines ensured strategic stability because it was survivable in the case of war.
Tensions with Iran appear underpinned by similar discussions about deterrence. Iran’s use of Iraq provides the country not only with strike capabilities, but deterrence as well. However, this is not as simple as it may look on paper. Iran has been sending weapons for Iraq for years. In the 1980s, it mobilized Iraqi Shi’ites alongside its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to fight Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. The Badr corps and leaders – like Hadi al-Amiri and the late Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis – learned their trade in the 1980s. Later, Iran sent explosive device technology to Iraq. These were called “explosively formed penetrators,” which killed at least 196 Americans. In 2014, when Iran began advising the Iraqis to fight ISIS, they also sent weapons and know-how. Drones, missiles and other munitions followed.
IRAN USED the weakness of Iraq’s state structure to build a militia army in Iraq called the Hashd al-Shaabi, or PMU. This group includes the Badr Organization, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Harakat Hezbolah al-Nujaba, Kataib Hezbollah and other groups. In 2017, Qais Khazali, head of AAH, went to Lebanon to showcase Iraqi militia support for Hezbollah. By the summer of 2018 a Kataib Hezbollah headquarters, in a villa near Albukamal, was coordinating Iranian weapons trafficking from Iraq to Syria. This was part of the road to the sea network that links Iran to Lebanon: first through Iraq, then to Syria via Deir Ezzor and T-4 airbase and finally reaching Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran also moves weapons via Damascus airport and has tried to set up weapons factories. Iran has also sought to provide Hezbollah with precision guided munitions. Iran also moved drones to T-4 and, in April 2018, tried to move its 3rd Khordad air defense there as well. An airstrike destroyed the 3rd Khordad, according to Ynet. An airstrike also destroyed the KH villa in Albukamal in June 2018. Pro-Iran voices in Iraq have blamed the US-led coalition and Israel for some airstrikes. In July and August 2019, a series of airstrikes hit pro-Iranian militia warehouses in Iraq. These included Camp Falcon near Baghdad.
IN AUGUST 2018, Iran moved ballistic missiles to Iraq, according to Reuters. Iran secretly moved more missiles to Iraq in November 2019, reports indicate. Iran also constructed the Imam Ali base near Albukamal. In May 2020, it built new storage tunnels at the Imam Ali base. Iraqi-based militias linked to Iran have also vowed to support Hezbollah in a war with Israel. In February 2018, as the PMU was being incorporated into the Iraqi Security Forces, Akram al-Kaabi of Harakat Hezbollah vowed to support Hezbollah. After the US killed IRGC Quds Force head Qasem Soleimani, Hezbollah sent Sheikh Mohammed Kawtharani to Iraq to help coordinate the PMU in February 2020.
This is the complete picture of Iranian involvement in Iraq and potential Iraqi militia support for Hezbollah. This picture is also how the pro-Iranian militias in Iraq have helped festoon Syria with their networks and supporters. The ballistic missile issue has been raised in the past. Iran has moved 107 mm. short-range Katyusha rockets to Iraq to target American forces. It has also moved 122 mm. grad rockets and the Fajr 1 rocket, which have a range of nearly 60 km. The Fajr 5 has also been moved to Iraq, with a range of 75km. We also know the Fateh 110 was sent to Iraq in 2015. Iran has supplied Hamas in the past with technology such as the 240 mm. Fajr 3 rocket that has a 43km range. A CSIS report noted that Iran has shipped the Zelzal, Fateh 110 and Zolfagher to Iraq. These have ranges of 150 km. to 700 km. Iran has used precision rockets against Kurdish dissidents in Koya in 2018, against ISIS in Syria and against the US in Ayn al-Assad base in January 2020 in Iraq. Its latest attack was likely against
US forces in Erbil using short range 107 mm. rockets fired near Erbil at US forces at the airport.
IRAN’S ARSENAL of rockets is well known. It has a plethora of them and keeps increasing their abilities. A quick rundown, aside those mentioned above, include the solid-fueled Fateh 313, the liquid-fueled Shahab 1 and Qiam, as well as the Shahab 3, and the solid-fueled Sejjil. There are also the Ghadr, Khorramshahr and Emad missiles. Many of these can be mounted on trucks, making them mobile. The rockets that are solid fueled can be wheeled out and fired immediately, such as from a Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL). Iran has a large arsenal of missiles to choose from as it seeks to move some to Iraq.
The past indicates the threat the missiles in Iraq can pose to Israel. During the ‘Great Scud Hunt’ of 1991, US-led Coalition air power flew 2,493 missions trying to find Scud missiles that were supposedly out in Iraq’s western desert. 42 Scuds were launched at Israel from Iraq. At the time it was believed they were being moved on large trucks that require some time to disassemble before or after launch in order to be hidden from airstrikes. Overall the mission to find the Scuds was a disaster. Iraq’s fleet of TELs was able to disperse and the use of F-15s and U-2 spy planes, as well as A-10s, didn’t work in finding the launchers. That was back in 1991, and technology has improved since.
The Iranian base at Albukamal is around 540 km. from Israel. Missiles in Iran’s inventory with that range include the Fateh 313, the Zolfagher, Ghadr, Khorramshahr, Sejjil, the Shahab 3 and perhaps the Shahab 2 if its range can be extended. Iran has vastly increased the precision of its missiles over time, and it has added drones and other munitions to its arsenal. This makes the setup very different from 1991. Iran has shown sophisticated capabilities in the past, such as the drone and cruise missile swarm attack on Saudi Arabia in September 2019. However, it has also proved that in Syria the rockets it supplied to groups intended to be used against Israel – such as in the salvo in May 2018 or the four rockets fired in November 2019 – were not as sophisticated.

Iran: The Mullah's Pursuit of Obtaining Nuclear Weapons
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/February 18, 2021
The IAEA at first did not take these reports of a secret Iranian atomic warehouse seriously. This should not be surprising: the IAEA has a long history of misreporting the Iranian regime's compliance with the deal and declining to follow up on credible reports about Iran's illicit nuclear activities.
Iran's nuclear deal has dangerous fundamental flaws, specifically the ability to enrich uranium in the first place -- as the preeminent US nuclear negotiator Ambassador John R. Bolton wrote a few years ago, without it, no bomb -- and the deal's notorious sunset clauses that remove restrictions on Iran's nuclear program after the deal soon expires.
After a significant amount of pressure was imposed on the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, inspecting the suspected site that the Israeli Prime Minister referred to was implemented two years later, in the fall 2020. Even then, although Iran's leaders certainly had enough time to clean up the facility, the IAEA's inspectors nevertheless reported that traces of radioactive uranium had been detected by examining remaining samples.
It should also not come as surprise that the ruling mullahs of Iran are declining to answer the IAEA's questions.
It is also important to point out that one of the most basic requirements of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to which Iran is a party, as well as one of the terms of the 2015 "nuclear deal," was that the Iranian regime is required to reveal its nuclear activities to the IAEA -- a condition with which it also failed to comply.
The detection of radioactive particles in Turquz Abad not only points to the high probability that Tehran has been undertaking work on nuclear weapons in secret; it also points to the high probability that Iran's ruling mullahs have most likely been violating the nuclear deal since it was reached in 2015.
In spite of the Iranian leaders' claim that their nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, evidence reveals that the Iranian regime has long sought to acquire nuclear weapons. The regime's ballistic missile program to deliver nuclear warheads, a core pillar of its foreign policy, is closely linked to the nuclear program. Pictured: A Shahab-3 ballistic missile on display in Tehran, Iran on September 26, 2019. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
In spite of the Iranian leaders' claim that their nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, evidence reveals that the Iranian regime has long sought to acquire nuclear weapons.
A recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency pointed out that "Samples taken from two sites during inspections in the fall by the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) contained traces of radioactive material".
This case was first brought to the world's attention in 2018 when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Yukiya Amano to inspect an "atomic warehouse" in Iran. Netanyahu pointed out in his speech to the UN General Assembly that the Iranian government had a "secret atomic warehouse for storing massive amounts of equipment and material from Iran's secret nuclear weapons program." In addition, in 2018, two non-partisan organizations based in Washington, DC -- the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) -- released detailed reports about Iran's undeclared clandestine nuclear facilities, as well. Iran's leaders claimed that the warehouse, in a village, Turquz Abad, in the suburbs of Tehran, was simply a place where carpets were cleaned.
The IAEA at first did not take these reports of a secret Iranian atomic warehouse seriously. This should not be surprising: the IAEA has a long history of misreporting the Iranian regime's compliance with the deal and declining to follow up on credible reports about Iran's illicit nuclear activities. Generally, other state or non-state actors -- not the IAEA or the UN -- have been the first to reveal Iran's clandestine nuclear sites. Iran's secret nuclear sites in Natanz and Arak, for instance, were first disclosed by an opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran in 2001.
After a significant amount of pressure was imposed on the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, inspecting the suspected site that the Israeli Prime Minister referred to was implemented two years later, in the fall 2020. Even then, although Iran's leaders certainly had enough time to clean up the facility, the IAEA's inspectors nevertheless reported that traces of radioactive uranium had been detected by examining remaining samples.
It should also not come as surprise that the ruling mullahs of Iran are declining to answer the IAEA's questions.
It is also important to point out that one of the most basic requirements of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to which Iran is a party, as well as one of the terms of the 2015 "nuclear deal," was that the Iranian regime is required to reveal its nuclear activities to the IAEA -- a condition with which it also failed to comply.
The detection of radioactive particles in Turquz Abad points to the high probability that Tehran has been undertaking work on nuclear weapons in secret. It also points to the high probability that Iran's ruling mullahs were most likely violating the nuclear deal since it was reached in 2015.
Despite this critical revelation, however, the Biden administration -- with the seeming prescient objections of Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Biden's nominee for Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines -- still seems to be pushing for the return of the US to the nuclear deal.
Iran's nuclear deal has dangerous fundamental flaws, specifically the ability to enrich uranium in the first place -- as the preeminent US nuclear negotiator Ambassador John R. Bolton wrote a few years ago, without it, no bomb -- and the deal's notorious sunset clauses that remove restrictions on Iran's nuclear program after the deal soon expires. The deal, rather than preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, in fact paves the way for Tehran to become a legitimized nuclear state. The deal, furthermore, exempted Iran's military sites, such as Parchin which is reportedly where nuclear development and research is conducted, from the reach of the International Atomic Energy Agency's inspectors. The deal, which the Iranian regime understandably loves, also fails to refer to the ability of Iran's ballistic missile program to deliver nuclear warheads, a core pillar of its foreign policy and closely linked to the nuclear program. The nuclear deal also gives Iran's regime a global legitimacy that makes it even more difficult to hold its leaders accountable for any malign behavior, predatory aggression or terror activity.
The nuclear deal also allows the flow of billions of dollars into the treasury of Iran's leaders, thereby providing the revenues for their militia, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that they needed to escalate their military adventurism in the region. This includes financing, arming and supporting their terror and militia groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and the Gaza Strip, as well as South America. Finally, the nuclear deal increases Iran's meddling, interventions in the region and its funding of militia groups.
The Biden administration would do well for both American and international security to take the recent revelations about Iran's clandestine work on nuclear weapons more seriously -- especially to halt the regime from obtaining nuclear weapons before it is too late.
**Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US foreign policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
© 2021 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.

It is very clear that Biden's administration is a replicate of that of Obama. A global disastrous one especially on the Middle East countries