English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For February 20/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

#elias_bejjani_news
 

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews21/english.february20.21.htm

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

Bible Quotations For today

Parable Of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector and their kind of prayers: All who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 18/09-14/:”Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.”But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Question: "Christian fasting - what does the Bible say?"
GotQuestions.org?/February 19/2021
Answer: Scripture does not command Christians to fast. God does not require or demand it of Christians. At the same time, the Bible presents fasting as something that is good, profitable, and beneficial. The book of Acts records believers fasting before they made important decisions (Acts 13:2; 14:23). Fasting and prayer are often linked together (Luke 2:37; 5:33). Too often, the focus of fasting is on the lack of food. Instead, the purpose of fasting should be to take your eyes off the things of this world to focus completely on God. Fasting is a way to demonstrate to God, and to ourselves, that we are serious about our relationship with Him. Fasting helps us gain a new perspective and a renewed reliance upon God.
Although fasting in Scripture is almost always a fasting from food, there are other ways to fast. Anything given up temporarily in order to focus all our attention on God can be considered a fast (1 Corinthians 7:1-5). Fasting should be limited to a set time, especially when fasting from food. Extended periods of time without eating can be harmful to the body. Fasting is not intended to punish the flesh, but to redirect attention to God. Fasting should not be considered a “dieting method” either. The purpose of a biblical fast is not to lose weight, but rather to gain deeper fellowship with God. Anyone can fast, but some may not be able to fast from food (diabetics, for example). Everyone can temporarily give up something in order to draw closer to God.
By taking our eyes off the things of this world, we can more successfully turn our attention to Christ. Fasting is not a way to get God to do what we want. Fasting changes us, not God. Fasting is not a way to appear more spiritual than others. Fasting is to be done in a spirit of humility and a joyful attitude. Matthew 6:16-18 declares, “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
 

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 19- 20/2021

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: 2255 new infections, 51 deaths
Lebanese Health Ministry Tries to Contain Vaccine Distribution Mess
Beirut Blast Victims' Families Protest after Lead Investigator Removed from Role
New Judge Named to Lead Probe into Beirut Port Blast
Sawwan Formally Told He's Removed from Port Blast Probe
Relatives of Port Explosion Rally Again Demanding Justice
Report: Foreign Calls to Speed Formation Blocked by Local Hurdles
Report: Israeli Defense Minister Replies to Hizbullah Chief
Chinese President to President Aoun: We attach great importance to developing relations with Lebanon
Rahi meets Souaid, Fatfat/Bukhari visits Rahi, calls for Taif implementation
UAE supports Lebanon, Mohammed bin Zayed tells Saad Hariri in Abu Dhabi meeting
Rudakov: Russia does not interfere in Lebanese judiciary work
Violence should not become commonplace for children in Lebanon. Every child must be protected at all times - UNICEF
The Worldwide Alumni Association of AUB denies false news about efforts to relocate the university
Czech Republic tied financial donation for the Rafik Hariri University Hospital
Geagea: No hope in ruling authority, early parliamentary elections a must
Three Arrested for Smuggling Migrants to Cyprus
Jumblat Urges More People to Get the Vaccine
Lebanese Pound Slumps to 10,000 to the Dollar, Bread Price Rises by 50%

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 19- 20/2021

US will continue to dissuade countries from selling arms to Iran
White House has no plan to take additional steps on Iran before conversation: Psaki
Iran reacts to US talks offer: Lift sanctions before we reverse nuclear actions
IAEA finds uranium traces at 2 sites Iran barred it from, will rebuke Tehran
Iran Renews Call to U.S. to Lift all Sanctions Imposed by Trump
US seeks ‘fallback’ Saudi bases in case of Iranian threats
Biden avoids engaging with MBS in ‘unrealistic’ reset of relations
Israel and Syria Swap Prisoners in Russia-mediated Deal
Turkey Hires Law Firm to Lobby Biden over F-35 jets, Says Report
ISIS Claims Killing of 4 Tunisia Soldiers, Beheading
Yemen: Griffiths Calls for Peace that Ends with National Elections
Shoukry: Egypt Keen On Fighting Terrorism, Extremism In Africa
Dbeibah tries to strike a balance between Egypt, Turkey in Libya
 

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 19- 20/2021

Iran, Terrorism Finance, and Money Laundering: A Status Update Before FATF Meets Next Week/Saeed Ghasseminejad and Toby Dershowitz/FDD/February 19/2021
Biden Faces a Decision on Our Presence in Iraq/Thomas Joscelyn/FDD/February 19/2021/Bradley Bowman and Maj Jared Thompson/FDD/February 19/2021
Palestinians: EU Facilitating Hamas Victory/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/February 19/2021
Britain: Sanctuary for Deadly Islamic Terrorists/Raymond Ibrahim/February 19/2021
Biden's Emerging Foreign Policy/Daniel Pipes/L'Informale/February 19/ 2021
The Iran Mediation Bazaar/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 19/2021'

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 19- 20/2021

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: 2255 new infections, 51 deaths
NNA/Friday, 19 February, 2021
The Ministry of Public Health announced 2255 new coronavirus infection cases, which brings the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 35,1048.
51 deaths have been registered over the past 24 hours.

Lebanese Health Ministry Tries to Contain Vaccine Distribution Mess
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 19 February, 2021
The Lebanese Ministry of Health is working to avoid possible chaos in the distribution of vaccines, stressing the need to register exclusively through the official platform, in accordance with its directives. This comes after a number of accredited vaccination centers publicized dedicated phone numbers, allowing the citizens to contact them directly to receive the Covid-19 vaccines, without the need to register through the official application or wait for the date specified for them in the platform. In a statement, the Health Ministry said that these practices “constitute a clear violation of the ministry’s directives and the standards of transparency and fairness set in coordination with the National Committee for Vaccine Administration.”The Ministry reminded all concerned parties to “abide by the controls and standards” set by the authorities to guarantee a fair distribution of vaccines, warning that violations would lead to halting the existing cooperation with the centers. In parallel, the ministry deployed more vaccination centers across the Lebanese regions, within a plan that aims to vaccinate at least half of the Lebanese population this year. Vaccination was launched on Thursday in the public hospitals of Tibnin and Bint Jbeil, in southern Lebanon, under the auspices of the Minister of Health in the caretaker government, Hamad Hassan. In the North, the Batroun Hospital received a quantity of vaccines against the Covid-19 from the Ministry of Health and began the vaccination campaign with the medical staff, including doctors and nurses. Dr. Abdullah Al-Rasi Governmental Hospital in Halba - Akkar, also launched its vaccination drive on Thursday, in line with a unified protocol that follows the priorities set by the Ministry of Health and the Medical Committee to combat the Corona virus.

Beirut Blast Victims' Families Protest after Lead Investigator Removed from Role
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 19 February, 20215
Families of people killed in the Beirut port explosion last August protested on Friday for a second day after a court removed the lead investigator into the blast in a severe setback to their campaign to hold those in power to account. Around 70 people gathered in front of Beirut's Palace of Justice on Friday, some burning tires to block roads or holding images of their dead relatives. "Even when the case now goes to another judge, we will not give them our complete trust...the day that we discover a judge is being too lenient with the investigation we will stand up to them no matter who they are," said Rima al-Zahed, 41, whose brother Amin died in the blast. Judge Fadi Sawwan charged three ex-ministers and the outgoing prime minister with negligence over the blast in December, but the four did not appear for questioning and accused him of overstepping his powers. On Thursday, the Lebanese court of cassation dismissed Sawwan from the investigation upon a request from two former ministers he had levelled charges against. The court cited "legitimate suspicion" over Sawwan's neutrality, partly because his house was damaged in the blast which devastated much of the capital. "No one in the political class wants an investigation like this," Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Center said. "That would open up a Pandora's box of justice and these are politicians used to getting away with major crimes since the Lebanese civil war...the judiciary is one of the most distrusted institutions in the republic."
Two hundred people died in the August blast when a huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate, stored unsafely for years, detonated at the capital's port. Before the investigation can resume, the ministry of justice will have to appoint a new judge to lead it who will also need the approval of the higher judicial council, setting the whole process back. For some the judge's dismissal is a blow, but Lebanese analyst Sarkis Naoum does not believe a domestic investigation will ever deliver any real results. "Our state has become a failed state which means failed security agencies, failed institutions, failed judiciary and failed everything so I never believed that judge Sawwan was going to reach anything," Naoum said. The Aug. 4 blast, the largest non-nuclear explosion to date, killed two hundred people, injured thousands and destroyed entire neighborhoods. Documents seen by Reuters showed both the president and prime minister had been warned just over two weeks before the blast that the ammonium nitrate, stored unsafely for years, could destroy the capital if it exploded. Around 25 people are currently in jail pending investigation over the blast so far, including the Beirut port chief and customs chief. No senior politicians have been held accountable so far. "Those in jail they are the small fish," Naoum said. With the lead investigator appointed by Lebanon's executive, and the use of a court of exception, the investigation does not lend itself to impartiality, said Lynn Malouf, Amnesty International deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa. "I wouldn't say this move took us back to square zero because we were always at square zero from the very beginning," she said. The court of exception is a special court set up to have jurisdiction over cases referred to it by the government such as assassinations of senior politicians and cases linked to political violence and terrorism. "It was set up with the view of the politicians being the victims rather than the perpetrators," Malouf said. "A domestic-led investigation cannot deliver on justice." But so far there has been little interest in an international investigation into the blast. Hage Ali sees a different kind of search prevailing. "A search by the Lebanese political class for a scapegoat...no politician will be indicted unless there is political consensus over a scapegoat," he said.

New Judge Named to Lead Probe into Beirut Port Blast
Associated Press/Agence France Presse/February 19/2021
Lebanon's top judicial body on Friday named a new judge to lead the investigation into last year's massive explosion at Beirut's port, the National News Agency said, a day after his predecessor was removed following legal challenges by former ministers he had accused of negligence that led to the blast. The Higher Judicial Council named Judge Tarek al-Bitar as the new prosecutor after he was proposed for the post by caretaker Minister of Justice Marie-Claude Najem, NNA said. "The Council summoned Judge Bitar and informed him of the decision to appoint him, and he accepted," a judicial source said.
Media reports had earlier on Friday said that Najem had proposed Samer Younes for the task and that his nomination was rejected by the Higher Judicial Council. The Council had also rejected Younes when he was nominated by Najem prior to the appointment of Judge Fadi Sawwan -- the lead investigator who was removed on Thursday. Despite the fast appointment of Bitar, who has been described by colleagues as respectable and having no political leanings, the removal of his predecessor by the country's top court this week will likely further delay the investigation into the horrific explosion that killed 211 people, wounded over 6,000 and damaged large parts of Beirut. Families of the victims and survivors of the Aug. 4 blast have accused the ruling political class of corruption and negligence that led to the explosion of ammonium nitrates, a highly explosive material used in fertilizers that had been improperly stored in the port for years. "Tarek Bitar is a young judge who is competent and enjoys a good reputation," tweeted lawyer Nizar Saghieh, who usually deals with anti-corruption cases. "The test will be whether he will be allowed to carry out his mission without interference or pressure."Earlier on Friday, families of the victims rallied near the justice ministry in Beirut, denouncing the removal of Judge Sawwan from the probe and calling it an "execution of justice" by a politicized judiciary. The families read a statement, burned tires and said the new judge will have to read "thousands of papers" in order to get up to speed on what Sawwan had done over the past six months. Sawwan's removal came after legal challenges by former ministers he had accused of negligence that led to the blast, considered one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history. Sawwan was formally notified earlier on Friday that he would no longer lead the probe.
The families' spokesman Ibrahim Hoteit, whose brother Tharwat was killed by the blast, said the removal blew up "what remains of conscience and confidence between us and this rotten judiciary." The Beirut port explosion has been one of the most traumatic national experiences the Lebanese have faced and families of those killed are skeptical that any investigation into the explosion can be transparent and independent in a country where a culture of impunity has prevailed for decades. Judge Sawwan had accused and summoned for questioning caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab and former ministers Ali Hassan Khalil, Ghazi Zoaiter and Youssef Fenianos on suspicion of negligence that led to the deadly explosion. Two of the former ministers challenged him in court in December, accusing him of violating legal and constitutional procedures and asking that he be recused, a challenge that brought the probe to a halt.
At the Beirut rally, the victims' families also warned that in the future, they would resort to the street to pressure the judiciary to do its work, as well as politicians who refuse to show up for questioning.

Sawwan Formally Told He's Removed from Port Blast Probe
Associated Press/February 19/2021
The prosecutor investigating last year's massive blast in Beirut was formally notified Friday that he would no longer lead an enquiry into last year's deadly port explosion, state-run Lebanon's National News Agency reported.
Thursday's decision by the country's highest court to remove Investigating Judge Fadi Sawwan came after legal challenges by senior officials he had accused of negligence that led to the blast, considered one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history.
The agency said Sawwan was officially informed about the Court of Cassation's decision after he arrived at his office in Beirut on Friday morning. The Court called for a new investigating judge to be appointed to lead the probe, nearly six months after it started.
The move angered families of the victims of the Aug. 4, blast, some of whom held a protest in Beirut on Thursday. More sit-ins are planned for Friday. The families of the victims said Sawwan was removed as a result of political pressure. The development is likely to further delay the investigation into the horrific explosion that killed 211 people, wounded over 6,000 and damaged much of Beirut. Families of the victims and survivors have accused the ruling political class of corruption and negligence that led to the explosion of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive material used in fertilizers that had been stored in the port for years. The explosion has been one of the most traumatic national experiences the Lebanese have faced. Family members of those killed are skeptical that any investigation into the explosion can be transparent and independent in a country where a culture of impunity has prevailed for decades. Judge 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, a challenge that brought the probe to a halt. Last month, the Court of Cassation had asked Sawwan to resume his work while it looks into the complaints. A copy of the 25-page decision leaked to the media showed the former ministers had accused Sawwan of disrespecting parliamentary immunity and argued that because his house was impacted by the explosion, he could not be impartial in the case.

Relatives of Port Explosion Rally Again Demanding Justice
Naharnet/February 19/2021
Relatives of the Beirut port blast victims held a protest for the second day on Friday and blocked traffic in Riad el-Solh highway after a decision that recused judge Fadi Sawwan off the case. On Thursday, a dozen family members held a protest and blocked traffic, burning tires outside the Palace of Justice. Lebanon's highest court on Thursday decided to remove the chief prosecutor investigating last year's massive Beirut port explosion, following legal challenges by senior officials 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 accused the ruling political class of corruption and negligence that led to the explosion of ammonium nitrate, a dangerous chemical stored in the port for years. Judge 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. People protested Sawwan’s recusal amid skepticism of a transparent and independent investigation into the Aug. 4 explosion, in a country where a culture of impunity has prevailed for decades.

Report: Foreign Calls to Speed Formation Blocked by Local Hurdles
Naharnet/February 19/2021
Despite intensifying foreign and Arab calls urging political leaders in Lebanon to speed a much-needed government, “domestic hurdles” stand in the way of any progress, al-Joumhouria daily reported Friday. “French, Egyptian, Qatari and international calls encouraging the acceleration of a government formation are still hindered by local hurdles that seem difficult to resolve,” unnamed sources following up on the formation process told the daily. PM-designate Saad Hariri, tasked with the formation mission, has recently made a foreign and Arab tour and met with country leaders of Qatar, Egypt and France. According to reports, he is also scheduled to visit the UAE. On Thursday, Hariri met the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. According to the Qatari news agency, “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.”Before Qatar, Hariri was in Egypt and France. He met Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo and French President Emmanuel Macron. 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.

Report: Israeli Defense Minister Replies to Hizbullah Chief
Naharnet/February 19/2021
The Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz replied to Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s latest remarks saying that Lebanon is going to “tremble,” and Hizbulah will pay a “terrible price" if Israel is forced to enter a military confrontation. Nasrallah said in his speech on Sunday that “Israel’s home front needs to know that if there is a war with Hizbullah, it will see things it has not seen since the establishment of Israel.”Gantz’s response reportedly came in a speech he made Thursday during a memorial service for dead Israeli army troops. “Until this very day, despite the fact that Israel is the most powerful force in the Middle East, there are those who threaten us with war and battles,” added Gantz. He concluded saying that shall a war erupt “it will be terrible first and foremost for our enemies, and this applies especially to Hizbullah and Hamas."
 

Chinese President to President Aoun: We attach great importance to developing relations with Lebanon
NNA/February 19/2021
President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, assured President General Michel Aoun of his country's interest in developing relations with Lebanon to enhance friendship and mutual cooperation in the interest of the two countries and peoples.
The Chinese president’s stance was through a written message conveyed to President Aoun by the Chinese ambassador to Lebanon, Wang Qijian, who was received by President Aoun this morning at Baabda Palace, accompanied by the attache at the embassy in Beirut, Mr. Xi Yuefei.
The message included congratulating the President of the Republic on his birthday and adding: “Chinese-Lebanese relations witnessed a balanced development in the past year. After the outbreak of the new Corona pandemic, China and Lebanon exchanged support and assistance, which embodied the pure traditional friendship between the two countries. We are keen to seize the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries this year, and to work with you together to strengthen friendly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries, which serves the interests of the two countries and peoples. I wish you good health and continued success”.

During the meeting, which was attended by former Minister Salim Jreissati, Director General of the Presidency of the Republic Dr. Antoine Choucair, and Diplomatic Adviser Osama Khashab, President Aoun thanked the Chinese President for his greeting, wishing him and the Chinese people more prosperity and success, and congratulating China for the success in besieging the "Corona" epidemic. The President expressed his hope that Lebanon, in turn, would be able to besiege the epidemic with the start of the vaccination campaign against "Corona". President Aoun also praised the existing relations between Lebanon and China, describing them as deep and solid relations, especially that with the end of this year, 50 years would have passed since the diplomatic relations between the two countries started.
In addition, President Aoun entrusted the Chinese ambassador to convey his thanks to the Chinese president for the support provided by China to Lebanon in international forums, the solidarity shown towards Lebanon after the recent crisis, the assistance provided and its participation in the two international conferences in support of the Lebanese people that were held after the Beirut port explosion, especially with regard to the contribution of the Chinese operating forces, who cleaned about 60,000 square meters of rubble in the port, three streets and the Foreign Ministry building.
Minister Raymond Ghajar:
President Aoun met Minister of Energy, Raymond Ghajar, who briefed him on the measures taken by the EDL to gradually restore electricity to the Lebanese regions after the comprehensive breakdown caused by the snowstorm that struck Lebanon in the past two days. During the meeting, ways to ensure the continued production of power plants for the current during the coming period, were discussed.
Former Minister Wiam Wahhab:
The President also received head of the Arab Unitarian Party, former minister Wiam Wahhab and deliberated with him the current political developments and the process of forming the upcoming government.
Former Minister Wahhab said that he thanked the President of the Republic, on behalf of the participants in the Khalde meeting, for his adherence to forming a government of 20 ministers to preserve the rights of the Druze because it is a charter issue to the Druze, as it is reflected in all their share in state institutions. He added that he had suggested to President Aoun to secure support for the army and security forces, in addition to their salaries, as happened in the eighties, given the nature of the work they do in the current economic conditions.
President Aoun met the family of the late Masoud Al-Ashqar who thanked him for the condolences. The delegation included the widow of the deceased Mrs. Greta, Bonader and his daughter Miss Raisa Al-Ashqar and Mr. Robert Abi Saab. -- Presidency Press Office

Rahi meets Souaid, Fatfat/Bukhari visits Rahi, calls for Taif implementation
NNA/February 19/2021
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Beshara Rahi, met Friday in Bkerki with Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Walid Bukhari, who highlighted the necessity to implement the Taif Agreement in preservation of national unity and civil peace in the country. "Saudi Arabia is looking forward the Lebanon's recuperating its pioneering role," Bukhari said following the meeting. "KSA will always be the closest friend to the Lebanese people and to the Lebanese constitutional institutions," he added.
Rahi meets Souaid, Fatfat
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, on Friday welcomed in Bkerki, former MPs Faris Souaid and Ahmad Fatfat

UAE supports Lebanon, Mohammed bin Zayed tells Saad Hariri in Abu Dhabi meeting
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/Published: 19 February ,2021
The UAE supports Lebanon and wishes for the formation of a new government, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, told Lebanese Prime Minister designate Saad al-Hariri during their meeting in Abu Dhabi on Friday. The two reviewed the latest developments in Lebanon, and efforts related to forming a new government, state news agency WAM reported. “Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed… affirmed the UAE's support for the Lebanese people and their ambitions for unity, stability and development,” the report said. Lebanon is currently experiencing a crushing economic crisis, its worst since its 1975-1990 civil war, and nationwide protests. The country has seen its currency plummet, banks paralyzed and at least half the population pushed into poverty. Still, Lebanon’s wrangling politicians have failed to agree a new government, drawing rebuke from donors and warnings of “a social catastrophe” from UN agencies. Hariri was given the task of forming a government in October but is struggling so far to cobble together a cabinet to share power with all Lebanese parties, including powerful Shia militia Hezbollah. Mohammed bin Zayed expressed sincere wishes for Lebanon to form a government that “prioritizes national reconciliation and seeks to survive differences and overcome the challenges besetting the nation.” Hariri said on Sunday Lebanon had no way out of its crisis without help from Arab countries. Gulf states have historically given financial aid to the troubled Middle Eastern country, and Hariri said late-2019 that Lebanon was promised financial assistance by the UAE during his visit there. However, Gulf countries have concerns over the growing influence of Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hariri expressed his appreciation for “the UAE's position toward Lebanon across all fronts, including its support for his country to stem the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic,” WAM said on Friday.- With Reuters

Rudakov: Russia does not interfere in Lebanese judiciary work
NNA/February 19/2021
Russian Ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Rudakov, on Friday maintained that his country does not meddle in the work of the Lebanese judiciary, stressing that it stands at an equal distance from all the Lebanese sides. "Russian does not interfere in the work of the judiciary in Lebanon, but at the same it, it is ready to offer any assistance it could be asked for in that respect," Rudakov said in remarks following his meeting with Head of the Lebanese Peace Party, Roger Edde, who, he visited at his Jbeil residence.
"Russia's position is clear regarding the necessity to solve all crises the Lebanese people is enduring by peaceful means," he said, calling political leaders to resort to dialogue in order to form a new government in the nearest time possible. On a different note, Rudakov indicated that contacts were underway with the Ministry of Public Health to bring Russia's anti-coronavirus vaccine in to Lebanon.

Violence should not become commonplace for children in Lebanon. Every child must be protected at all times - UNICEF
NNA/February 19/2021
UNICEF Representative in Lebanon, Yukie Mokuo, issued Friday the following statement:
Three children (13, 12 and 11 years old) were reportedly injured due to the explosion of a hand grenade yesterday in Hermel -Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, North-East Lebanon. Another two children, a boy and a girl aged 8 and 10, were also injured by crossfire during a dispute in Tebbeneh, North Lebanon.
Children's safety and well-being must be a primary consideration for all adults who have influence over children's lives and who are responsible for their safety and protection. UNICEF reminds caregivers, communities and the authorities of their critical responsibility to prevent children from being exposed to the risk of violence and other risks threatening their lives and wellbeing, including psychological. The Convention on the Rights of the Child states that every child has the right to be safe at all times, and free from all forms of violence. This week's sad events are not isolated, as reports on children injured during armed disputes are not unusual. Violence should not become commonplace for children in Lebanon. UNICEF appeals to families, communities and the authorities to fulfil their responsibilities and keep children safe.

The Worldwide Alumni Association of AUB denies false news about efforts to relocate the university
NNA/February 19/2021
The Advisory Board of the Worldwide Alumni Association of AUB issued the following statement:
"That they may have life and have it more abundantly" is more than a guiding principle for the American University of Beirut (AUB). It is a way of life, especially in these difficult times that Lebanon and AUB are facing with a deadly pandemic, a paralyzing economic crisis, and a post-blast apocalyptic national psyche. In the middle of the unsettling dust and thick fog, uncertainties reign and rumors unfortunately spread. Among these rumors, a particular one recently emerged about efforts to relocate AUB out of Beirut and out of Lebanon. The editorial journal floating that rumor specifically suggested that these efforts implicate AUB alumni. The Advisory Board of the Worldwide Alumni Association of AUB (WAAAUB) categorically and unequivocally denies that AUB or its alumni have ever considered or entertained any discussions about AUB relocating anywhere. As the university stated in the press release it issued on January 29, 2021, AUB is "deeply rooted and staying in Beirut." President Khuri also recently affirmed that "there are no plans to relocate AUB." He went on to note that "nothing will change our commitment to serve this country and its people."AUB remains strong in the heart of every alumnus and alumna, across all corners of the world: from South America to Asia and Australia, from North America to Europe, and in every single Arab country from the Maghreb to the Levant to the Arab Gulf. Denying the above rumors, we remind everyone that this is AUB we are talking about: The AUB, in Beirut, that not only withstood world wars, colonialism, occupation, and civil wars, but also led the country in many of its moments of crisis. The AUB, in Beirut, that treated hundreds of thousands of injured and sick across Lebanon and the region over decades. The AUB, in Beirut, with more graduates at the establishment of the United Nations than any other university in the world. The AUB, in Beirut, that will remain a beacon of hope for a beloved land and for a beloved people in moments of turbulence. The AUB, in Beirut, with a "B" in its name that stands for Beirut. In these difficult moments, AUB alumni everywhere are quietly helping AUB, as much as they can, not only to survive but to continue to thrive. We will simply continue to do so, while hoping for better days to come.

Czech Republic tied financial donation for the Rafik Hariri University Hospital
NNA/February 19/2021
The Ambassador Designate of The Czech Republic in Beirut Mr. Jiri Dolezel, accompanied by the Deputy Head of Mission Ms. Dagmar Minarikova and the Economic and Trade Counselor, Ms. Lydia Skolilova and the General Manager of Kettaneh Company Mr. Pierre Ayoub, visited today the Rafik Hariri University Hospital (RHUH) and handed over the General Manager, Dr. Firas Abiad, and the Medical Chief Dr. Rabih Chahine, a donation composed of 6 special birthing beds and 6 baby cribs for newborn babies, with 3 electrocoagulation machines to the obstetrical department of the RHUH.
The overall value of the Czech Republic gift to the RHUH is 150.000 USD, and it is delivered to the hospital as a part of the new humanitarian program from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs humanitarian budget- "A Humanitarian reaction to Covid -19 pandemic" approved in April 2020.
Czech Republic Embassy in Beirut recognized RHUH as the best candidate for a project under this program, as RHUH is the central governmental public hospital in Beirut and serving mainly the underprivileged population (Lebanese and Syrian refugees), also during the pandemic, when it has also become the main testing center, as a central hospital for the management and treatment of Covid 19 patients. The RHUH delivery suite was composed of 12 beds and had the capacity and necessity to incorporate 6 more beds. Acquisition of the 6 new special delivery beds will help to improve the quality and to facilitate the care of woman in labor at all stages of birth including the possibility to choose of birthing position. Thanks to the new birthing/delivery beds, the hospital will be able to manage the already high and still increasing demand on delivery suite services at RHUH, by the vulnerable patients from both Lebanese and Syrian communities. Previous cooperation between Czech Embassy and RHUH: The current project/ donation builds on the previous successful cooperation between the Czech Republic Embassy in Beirut and the RHUH. In 2017, under the MEDEVAC program, the Czech Republic financed the purchase of an ophthalmic device (value of 100.000, - USD) for the RHUH hospital. In 2019 a team of Czech ophthalmologists performed eye surgeries on 83 RHUH patients with cataract. Another mission of Czech ophthalmologists was planned for 2020 but was postponed because of the COVID - 19 pandemic.
After the blast in the port of Beirut in August 2020 the Czech Republic sent immediately a humanitarian aid to Lebanon. The medical equipment that was part of this aid was donated to Rafik Hariri University Hospital.

Geagea: No hope in ruling authority, early parliamentary elections a must
NNA/February 19/2021
Head of the Lebanese Forces party, Samir Geagea, delivered a statement this Friday in which he said: "Unfortunately, what we had expected indeed happened; Judge Sawan was removed from the port case after numerous obstacles put in his way.""Nobody can convince us that a local investigation would lead to any serious conclusions as to the port crime," he added, calling on the President of the Republic and the caretaker PM to "send an immediate request to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in which they should demand the formation of an international fact-finding committee to uncover the circumstances of the port crime.""I am aware that the ruling group will not take such a step, but I call for it nonetheless, as a way of lifting the blame [off ourselves]," said Geagea. "There is no hope in the current ruling group," he observed, stressing that "the only solution is to immediately reconstitute this authority, and there is no way to do that except through early parliamentary elections.""For our part, the Strong Republic bloc will sign a petition and direct it to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the same purpose," he concluded.

Three Arrested for Smuggling Migrants to Cyprus
Associated Press/February 19/2021
The Internal Security Forces arrested three suspects involved in smuggling people through Tripoli’s al-Abdeh shore area to Cyprus, the ISF said in a statement on Friday. The statement said two of the suspects are Lebanese nationals while the third is Syrian. Two of the suspects, one of whom had a gun in his possession, were arrested in the Dinnieh town, while the third was arrested in Akkar’s Bebnine, said the ISF. All three have admitted to being involved in smuggling around 60 individuals, majority were Syrians, through al-Abdeh shore in return for 2000 dollars per person. Recently, numerous boatloads of migrants have sailed to Cyprus -- approximately 172 kilometers from Tripoli, Lebanon -- alarming Cypriot authorities that say the island can't handle any more migrants seeking asylum for economic reasons.
Cyprus has come under fire by Human Rights Watch last year for allegedly pushing back migrants and refugees arriving from Lebanon aboard boats without heeding their claims for asylum while in some instances using violence and coercive tactics.

Jumblat Urges More People to Get the Vaccine
Naharnet/February 19/2021
Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat encouraged the Lebanese to take the Covid-19 vaccine amid a nearly low turnout since the inoculation campaign kicked off in Lebanon on Sunday. “The vaccine arrived to the entire Lebanese hospitals and to the Ain Wazein Hospital in the Mountain area. High demand for getting the vaccination is required according to the age groups specified by the Ministry of Health, so that the process includes all people for the sake of the safety of the mountain and the safety of citizens and Lebanon,” said Jumblat in a tweet. Lebanon administered Sunday its first jabs of COVID-19 vaccine. It launched an inoculation campaign a day after receiving the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech doses vaccine — 28,500 doses from Brussels, near where Pfizer has a manufacturing facility. More were expected to arrive in the coming weeks.
 

Lebanese Pound Slumps to 10,000 to the Dollar, Bread Price Rises by 50%
Beirut - Inas Sherri/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 19 February, 20215
The value of the Lebanese currency against the US dollar dropped to an unprecedented level on the black market on Thursday, almost reaching LBP 10,000 to the dollar. Economic expert Jean Tawileh said the sharp deterioration was the result of the increasing demand by importers for dollars from the black market over the past weeks, due to the failure of the Central Bank of Lebanon (BDL) to open credits for subsidized goods. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Tawileh noted that the BDL’s reserves in foreign currencies were no longer sufficient to maintain subsidies. Consequently, certain goods are no longer subsidized, but no official announcement was made in this regard, he said. “This method is similar to giving a sedative pill to a critically ill patient and will not last for long,” Tawileh warned, adding: “Sooner or later, the support will stop due to the depletion of reserves, especially since no dollars will enter Lebanon before a political solution is reached, and after the adoption of an economic plan based on supporting local production and attracting foreign investments.”The expert noted that that as long as the situation remains the same, the price of the dollar will continue to rise. He explained that the BDL was printing banknotes in Lebanese currency on a monthly basis, in order to secure depositors’ funds based on the platform’s exchange rate of LBP 3,900 pounds to the dollar, and to pay public sector salaries. He stressed that the solution lied in the adoption of a clear economic plan that would restore the confidence of the international community and ensure the entry of fresh dollars before an imminent social explosion. The head of the Food Importers Syndicate, Hani Bohsali, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the import of subsidized goods within the food basket has decreased significantly, due to the BDL’s delay in approving credits.
The price of gasoline, which the BDL secures 85 percent of its import on the official rate of LBP 1,500 to the dollar, rose by 30 percent over the past weeks. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, the representative of fuel distributors, Fadi Abu Shakra, noted that this increase was due to the rise of oil prices globally and the drop of the Lebanese currency against the dollar. The price of a loaf of bread, supported by subsidies on wheat imports, has increased by about 50 percent due to the increase in wheat prices worldwide.
 

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 19- 20/2021

US will continue to dissuade countries from selling arms to Iran
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/19 February ,2021
The United States will continue to persuade countries not to provide arms to Iran after it decided to reverse the Trump administration’s stance that UN sanctions against Iran snapped back due to its violation of the 2015 nuclear treaty. “Reversing the snapback position adopted by the previous administration ... strengthens our position to engage the UN Security Council on Iran,” State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters. Price said that regardless of the recent decisions, “we will continue to use our authorities to persuade countries not to provide arms to Iran.”In recent days and weeks, the Biden administration has made several moves in an apparent sign to Iran that it seeks negotiations once again. Ties between Washington and Tehran came to a halt during the Trump administration’s time in office. Under Trump, the US withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and imposed crushing economic sanctions on Iran. Although Biden and senior White House officials have stated that Iran must make the first move and come back into compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA, sanctions against Iranian proxies have been lifted, among other decisions easing the pressure on Tehran. It is unclear if Iran has made any concessions whatsoever. On Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed the Trump administration's Iran policy had failed. “We have a policy in recent years of so-called 'maximum pressure' on Iran that has not produced results. In fact, the problem has gotten worse. Iran is now much closer to being able to produce, on short order, enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon,” Blinken told BBC. But Blinken doubled down on previous comments by him and Biden: “If Iran returns to its obligations under the nuclear agreement, the United States will do the same thing,” he said.

White House has no plan to take additional steps on Iran before conversation: Psaki
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/19 February ,2021
US President Joe Biden’s administration has no plans to take additional steps on Iran before diplomatic conversation, spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday aboard Air Force One. The State Department said on Thursday it was ready to revive talks of restoring the Iran nuclear deal which former President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018. Biden reversed Trump’s determination that all UN sanctions against Iran had been restored. And the State Department eased stringent restrictions on the domestic travel of Iranian diplomats in New York. Iran’s top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday the US should “unconditionally and effectively lift all sanctions imposed, re-imposed or re-labeled by Trump” and only then would Tehran “immediately reverse all remedial measures.”Iran has set a deadline of next week for Biden to lift sanctions reimposed by Trump, or it will halt snap IAEA inspections under the deal, which lifted sanctions in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear program. Next week is also when the IAEA is expected to issue a quarterly report on Iran's nuclear activities. Reuters reported in an exclusive that the IAEA found uranium particles at two Iranian sites it inspected after months of stonewalling and is preparing to rebuke Tehran for failing to explain, possibly complicating US efforts to revive nuclear diplomacy. Iran has long denied striving to develop nuclear weapons through uranium enrichment, though its intelligence minister recently said persistent Western pressure could push Tehran to fight back like a “cornered cat” and seek nuclear weapons. The Iranian regime is likely to try to get more concessions from Washington before taking any real action, especially in light of growing pressure at home due to economic hardship worsened by the US sanctions.
“Tehran urgently needs sanctions.. Iran also holds its presidential elections in June 2021 and, for the outgoing Rouhani administration, securing a quick return to the deal would build back lost economic and political confidence, and perhaps also impact the election outcome,” according to Sanam Vakil, Senior Research Fellow at Middle East and North Africa Programme, Chatham House. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had said in a speech on Wednesday: “We’ve heard many promises which were broken and contradicted in practice. Mere words don't help. This time only action! Action! If the Islamic Republic sees action from the other side, it will act too.”Some hardliners are already crediting what they describe as the Iranian regime’s perseverance in the face of US pressure for the recent Biden administration policy announcements."They have reversed some measures ... It is a defeat for America ... but we are waiting to see whether there will be action on lifting sanctions," state media quoted Tabriz city's Friday prayer leader Mohammadali Ale-Hashem as saying.- With Reuters

Iran reacts to US talks offer: Lift sanctions before we reverse nuclear actions
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/19 February ,2021
Iran will “immediately reverse” nuclear actions once the United States lifts its sanctions, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said on Friday, after Washington announced it was ready to return to talks with Tehran over the abandoned 2015 nuclear deal. US President Joe Biden’s administration said on Thursday it was ready to revive talks of restoring the Iran nuclear deal which former President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018. Biden reversed Trump’s determination that all UN sanctions against Iran had been restored. And the State Department eased stringent restrictions on the domestic travel of Iranian diplomats in New York. Iran’s top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday the US should “unconditionally and effectively lift all sanctions imposed, re-imposed or re-labeled by Trump” and only then would Tehran “immediately reverse all remedial measures.”Earlier Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his British, French and German counterparts had urged Iran to allow continued United Nations nuclear inspections and stop nuclear activities that have no credible civilian use. They warned that Iran’s actions could threaten delicate efforts to bring the US back into the 2015 deal and end sanctions damaging Iran’s economy. “The E3 and the United States are united in underlining the dangerous nature of a decision to limit IAEA access, and urge Iran to consider the consequences of such grave action, particularly at this time of renewed diplomatic opportunity,” the ministers said in a joint statement.
Iran had said on Monday it informed the International Atomic Energy Agency of its plan to end sweeping inspection powers given to the agency under the 2015 nuclear deal. The ministers also expressed concern and condemned Iran’s latest moves to enrich uranium up to 20 percent and produce uranium metal. “These activities have no credible civil justification. Uranium metal production is a key step in the development of a nuclear weapon,” they said. Iran has long denied striving to develop nuclear weapons through uranium enrichment, though its intelligence minister said last week persistent Western pressure could push Tehran to fight back like a “cornered cat” and seek nuclear weapons. The Iranian regime is likely to try to get more concessions from Washington before taking any real action, especially in light of growing pressure at home due to economic hardship worsened by the US sanctions.
“Tehran urgently needs sanctions.. Iran also holds its presidential elections in June 2021 and, for the outgoing Rouhani administration, securing a quick return to the deal would build back lost economic and political confidence, and perhaps also impact the election outcome,” according to Sanam Vakil, Senior Research Fellow at Middle East and North Africa Programme, Chatham House. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had said in a speech on Wednesday: “We’ve heard many promises which were broken and contradicted in practice. Mere words don't help. This time only action! Action! If the Islamic Republic sees action from the other side, it will act too.”Some hardliners are already crediting what they describe as the Iranian regime’s perseverance in the face of US pressure for the recent Biden administration policy announcements. "They have reversed some measures ... It is a defeat for America ... but we are waiting to see whether there will be action on lifting sanctions," state media quoted Tabriz city's Friday prayer leader Mohammadali Ale-Hashem as saying.- With The Associated Press, Reuters

IAEA finds uranium traces at 2 sites Iran barred it from, will rebuke Tehran

Reuters/19 February ,2021

The U.N. nuclear watchdog found uranium particles at two Iranian sites it inspected after months of stonewalling, diplomats say, and it is preparing to rebuke Tehran for failing to explain, possibly complicating U.S. efforts to revive nuclear diplomacy. The find and Iran's response risk hurting efforts by the new U.S. administration to restore Iran's 2015 nuclear deal, which President Joe Biden's predecessor Donald Trump abandoned. Although the sites where the material was found are believed to have been inactive for nearly two decades, opponents of the nuclear deal, such as Israel, say evidence of undeclared nuclear activities shows that Iran has not been acting in good faith. Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Kazem Gharibabadi, declined to comment, as did the IAEA itself. A senior Iranian official said: "We have nothing to hide. That is why we allowed the inspectors to visit those sites."Iran has set a deadline of next week for Biden to lift sanctions reimposed by Trump, or it will halt snap IAEA inspections under the deal, which lifted sanctions in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear programme. Next week is also when the IAEA is expected to issue a quarterly report on Iran's nuclear activities. Seven diplomats told Reuters the agency will use that opportunity to rebuke Iran for failing to explain to its satisfaction how the uranium particles wound up at two undeclared sites. The rebuke could come either in the quarterly report or in an additional report released the same day.
OBLIGATION
U.S. intelligence agencies and the IAEA believe Iran had a secret, coordinated nuclear weapons programme that it halted in 2003, which Iran denies. The 2015 nuclear deal effectively drew a line under that past, but Iran is still required to explain evidence of undeclared past activities or material to the IAEA. The material was found during snap IAEA inspections that were carried out at the two sites in August and September of last year, after Iran barred access for seven months. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that radioactive material was found in the samples taken by inspectors at the two sites, although the newspaper did not specify what the material was. Four diplomats who follow the agency's work closely told Reuters the material found in those samples was uranium. Identifying the material as uranium creates a burden on Iran to explain it, as enriched uranium can be used in the core of a nuclear weapon. Iran is obliged to account for all uranium so the IAEA can verify it is not diverting any to a weapons programme. Two of the sources said the uranium found last year was not enriched. But nevertheless, its presence suggests undisclosed nuclear material or activities at the sites, which Iran would have had to declare. The IAEA's full findings are a closely guarded secret within the agency and only a small number of countries have been informed of the specifics. Five diplomats said that after the IAEA confronted Iran with the findings it gave unsatisfactory answers. Two of them said Iran told the agency the traces were the result of contamination by radioactive equipment moved there from another site, but the IAEA checked and the particles at the sites did not match. One diplomat briefed on the exchanges but not the detailed findings said Iran had given "implausible answers", describing Iran's response as "typical delaying tactics". The agency has said it suspects one of the sites hosted uranium conversion work, a step in processing the material before enrichment, and the other was used for explosive testing. The seven diplomats said they expect the agency to call Iran out for having failed to explain the traces found at the two sites, as well as over its continued failure to explain material found previously at another site in Tehran, Turqazabad. Diplomats said it remained unclear whether the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors, which meets the week after the quarterly report, would take action condemning Iran. Several said the focus was on efforts to salvage the 2015 deal by bringing Washington back into it."Everyone is waiting on the Americans," one diplomat said.

Iran Renews Call to U.S. to Lift all Sanctions Imposed by Trump
Agence France Presse/Friday, 19 February, 2021
Iran on Friday renewed its call for the US to lift all sanctions imposed by former president Donald Trump, after an offer for talks from new President Joe Biden's administration. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that Iran would "immediately reverse" its retaliatory measures if the US lifts "all sanctions imposed, re-imposed or re-labelled by Trump". The Biden administration on Thursday offered talks with Iran led by European allies and reversed two largely symbolic steps against Tehran imposed by Trump, as it sought to salvage a nuclear deal on the brink of collapse. Ahead of a Sunday deadline set by Iran for it to restrict some access to UN nuclear inspectors unless sanctions are lifted, new US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned jointly with European powers that the move would be "dangerous". Hours after Blinken's videoconference with his French, British and German counterparts, the European Union political director, Enrique Mora, proposed via Twitter an "informal meeting" involving Iran -- and the US accepted. "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," said State Department spokesman Ned Price. The P5 -- UN Security Council powers Britain, China, France, Russia and the US -- plus Germany sealed the 2015 deal brokered by then president Barack Obama under which Iran drastically scaled back its nuclear programme in exchange for promises of economic relief. Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018 and re-imposed sweeping sanctions, aiming to bring Iran to its knees.
Reversing Trump steps
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said there is currently no such thing as P5+1 "because of US withdrawal" from the agreement. "Trump left the room and tried to blow it up," the spokesman tweeted. "Gestures are fine. But to revive P5+1, US must Act: LIFT sanctions. We WILL respond. Here is the key sequence: #CommitActMeet." Zarif did not explicitly address the Biden administration's offer of talks. Iran has demanded an end to Trump's sanctions before reversing protest measures it began almost a year after the US withdrawal. A senior US official said the Biden administration was showing good faith and saw a meeting as the start of a "prolonged path" to restoring and building on the nuclear accord. If Iran declines to meet, "I think it would be... unfortunate," the official said on condition of anonymity. Britain swiftly welcomed the proposed talks. Russia said the US "refusal to call for sanctions is a good thing", but what was needed was the full return of the 2015 deal. Biden has insisted he will not lift Trump's sanctions until Iran returns to compliance -- but the administration Thursday undid two symbolic steps by its predecessor. In a letter to the United Nations, the US said it no longer believed that the world body had "snapped back" sanctions on Iran. Blinken's predecessor Mike Pompeo last year argued the United States was still a "participant" in the Security Council resolution that blessed the nuclear deal -- despite withdrawing later -- and therefore could reimpose sanctions. The argument had been dismissed by the United Nations and close US allies at the time. Zarif said Iran agreed with the Biden administration's decision. Washington also reversed draconian curbs on Iranian diplomats in New York, who were barred from all but a few blocks around the United Nations and their mission.
Warning over inspections
Under a bill adopted by its conservative-dominated parliament in December, Iran will restrict some inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency if US sanctions are not lifted. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi is to travel to Tehran on Saturday for talks, a day before the February 21 deadline, with restrictions set to begin two days later. A joint statement issued by the US and European top diplomats after their virtual meeting urged "Iran to consider the consequences of such grave action, particularly at this time of renewed diplomatic opportunity".The United States and Iran have had no diplomatic relations for four decades but they began frequent contact to negotiate the 2015 nuclear deal. The nuclear accord was adamantly opposed by Iran's regional rivals Israel and Saudi Arabia, which both enjoyed tight partnerships with Trump.While Iran's policy is ultimately determined by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, elections in June add another time pressure factor, with President Hassan Rouhani, a key advocate of nuclear diplomacy, set to step down.

US seeks ‘fallback’ Saudi bases in case of Iranian threats
The Arab News/February 19/2021
WASHINGTON – The US military is looking for fallback bases in Saudi Arabia to prevent its troops deployed there from becoming obvious targets in the event of tensions with Iran, a senior US military official said Thursday.
“We are not looking for new bases. I want to be clear on that,” said General Kenneth McKenzie, head of the US Army Central Command (Centcom), during a tour of the Middle East. “What we would like to do, without shutting down these (current) bases …. is to have the ability to go to other bases to operate in a period of heightened risk,” he explained. “These are things that any prudent military planner would want to do to increase their flexibility, to make it more difficult for the adversary to target them.”The Wall Street Journal reported on plans for ports and air bases in the kingdom’s western desert, which the US military would seek to develop as positions to be used if war were to break out with Iran. At the year’s end, the US military deployed the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz to the region and had two B-52 bombers overfly the area. The show of force was intended to deter Tehran from carrying out any attack on US forces on the first anniversary of the assassination by the United States of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. US President Joe Biden’s administration said Thursday it was ready to meet with Iranian officials under EU auspices to jumpstart diplomacy, and reversed Trump’s widely derided contention that the United Nations had imposed new sanctions on Iran. Even close US allies had dismissed the argument and the United Nations said that no such additional sanctions had come into force.
In response to Biden’s statements, Iran said Friday it will “immediately reverse” actions in its nuclear programme once US sanctions are lifted, reacting coolly to Washington’s initial offer to revive talks.
Tehran also said Washington’s move was not enough to persuade Iran to fully respect the accord. When sanctions are lifted, “we will then immediately reverse all remedial measures. Simple,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter.
Since Trump ditched the deal, Tehran has breached the accord by rebuilding stockpiles of low-enriched uranium, enriching it to higher levels of fissile purity and installing advanced centrifuges to speed up production.
Tehran and Washington have been at odds over who should make the first step to revive the accord. Iran says the United States must first lift Trump’s sanctions while Washington says Tehran must first return to compliance with the deal. Adding to pressure for a resolution to the impasse, a law passed by the hardline parliament obliges Tehran on February 23 to cancel the sweeping access given to UN non-proliferation inspectors under the 2015 deal, limiting their visits to declared nuclear sites only. The United States and the European parties to the accord have urged Iran to refrain from taking the step, which will complicate Biden’s efforts to restore the pact.

Biden avoids engaging with MBS in ‘unrealistic’ reset of relations
The Arab News/February 19/2021
WASHINGTON – The new US administration says that President Joe Biden is seeking to re-examine Washington’s relationship with Saudi Arabia, and for this, his interlocutor will be Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud instead of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz.
The US’s approach appears to be ordinary on the surface, but actually conceals its prior prejudice against the Saudi crown prince, whose name has been nonetheless associated with major economic reforms and Riyadh’s desire to build a new kingdom oriented towards diversifying partners and maintaining a hardline stance on Iran and its nuclear programme. “We have been clear from the beginning that we will reset our relations with Saudi Arabia,” said US presidential spokeswoman Jane Saki during a news conference on Tuesday, indicating the administration would seek to take a different approach from its predecessor in dealing with Riyadh. When asked about the possibility of Biden holding telephone talks with the Saudi crown prince, who was the US administration’s preferred interlocutor during former President Donald Trump’s term in office, Saki clearly indicated that the matter is not on the agenda.
”The president’s counterpart is King Salman and he will talk to him at the appropriate time,” she said.
Former diplomat Aaron David Miller, who has worked as a negotiator with both Democratic and Republican administrations, wrote on Twitter that “Biden is sending an unambiguous message to Saudi Arabia.”“The days when Prince Mohammed bin Salman had direct contact with the White House are over, at least for now,” he wrote. The Saudi crown prince will likely wait for the storm to pass and remain calm in dealing with the US’s escalating rhetoric, especially as Riyadh was expecting hostile lobbies to find an opportunity to settle scores with the kingdom after the new US administration took power. A scenario in which Riyadh finds itself in the crosshairs occurs every time a new American administration takes power, observers say. Gulf experts, however, consider that the Biden administration’s position is incomprehensible.
According to them, Crown Prince Mohammed has been chosen to lead the country as per understandings within the kingdom’s royal family, and he is the face of the future in Saudi Arabia, not only because he is a young man from a new generation, but also because he has devised strategic plans to develop the kingdom on multiple fronts. The crown prince, Gulf experts say, wants to transform the kingdom into a regional economic and political power. In recent years, he has pressed ahead with a modernisation process, reforming laws in order to open up the country to universal values ​​and put an end to austere conservatism, which actually brings him closer to the West and its demands.
Experts rule out the idea that the Biden administration’s position on Crown Prince Mohammed is due to his close relations with former President Donald Trump. The new administration, they say, is dealing with Saudi Arabia in light of Washington’s positions on regional files, as well as the demands it receives from rights lobbies that are seeking to escalate pressure on Riyadh by bringing the Jamal Khashoggi case back up and investing in the Yemeni conflict file.
Trump had supported Riyadh without reservation, with Riyadh being the first foreign capital he visited at the beginning of his term. He had a good relationship with Crown Prince Mohammed, as did his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
In 2018, Trump received the Saudi crown prince at the White House and the former US president stressed the “great friendship” he had with his Saudi guest. “We understand each other,” he said at the time, which was considered the first official confirmation of the Trump administration’s support for the young Saudi crown prince and his projects to develop the kingdom.
Experts argue that Washington has the right to review its position on the war in Yemen and circumvent previous agreements by US administrations to supply Saudi Arabia with weapons and ammunition used in the war, but it has no right to hold the Saudi crown prince responsible for the conflict that was imposed on his country.
The war in Yemen is a complex conflict, they say, involving different parties and agendas, some of which the Biden team seeks to draw close to, like Iran, rather than hold them accountable for training and arming Houthi militias to divide Yemen.
— Self-impoed restrictions —
The Saudi crown prince is known for his hardline stance on Iran and its proxies in the region, which was reflected in his statements to major Western media outlets, including the American CBS channel in 2018, in which he said that his country would develop a nuclear bomb if Iran were to produce one.
This hardline stance on Iran is not in line with Biden’s strategy, which aims to return the US to the nuclear agreement and gradually lift sanctions on Tehran. The Saudi crown prince is also pushing for the inclusion of new conditions to any new agreement with Iran, including that Tehran must respect regional security and end its arms race, which Riyadh says poses a threat to its neighbours and leaves them no choice but to also enter the race.
Saudi Arabia’s position was met with understanding by many countries in the East and the West, which could undermine Biden’s plans to revive the strategy of his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama to bet on Iran. Biden’s approach will also leave the door open to interference from China and Russia as the region’s countries need to obtain weapons to ensure their security and face Tehran.
Biden’s new strategy in dealing with Saudi Arabia will further reduce Middle East countries’ level of confidence in the United States, which has been declining since the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the subsequent rapprochement with Iran.
David Gardner, a senior Middle East affairs analyst at the Financial Times, said “Doubts prevail throughout the Middle East about the extent to which this US administration might risk its traditional alliances in the region,” considering that “the regional vacuum created by successive US administrations has been filled partially by Russia, Iran and Turkey.”
Other analysts further point out that the Biden’s decision runs against the grain of traditional American foreign policy realism.
According to them, using protocol considerations to circumvent the de facto top executive in Saudi Arabia will only deprive Washington, through self-imposed restructions, of a chance to influence Riyadh’ s key decisions about issues that could affect US interests in the region and the world.
 

Israel and Syria Swap Prisoners in Russia-mediated Deal
Agence France Presse/February 19/2021
Two Syrian shepherds were exchanged for an Israeli woman under a prisoner exchange deal on Thursday between the Jewish state and Syria mediated by Russia. Israel's military said the two had been arrested "a few weeks" ago, after they crossed the contested border in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The army "returned (the) two shepherds to (the International Committee of the) Red Cross representatives through the Quneitra Crossing, in accordance with an Israeli Government directive," it said in a statement. The military gave no further details on the identity of the men, but Damascus' SANA news agency confirmed the swap, identifying the Syrian prisoners as Mohamed Hussein and Tarek al-Obeidan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later confirmed the exchange was mediated by Russia, which enjoys close ties with the Syrian government and stations soldiers in the country. Thanking Russian leader Vladimir Putin after the deal, the Israeli PM said he had asked his "friend" to help "and he acted." Netanyahu said the young Israeli woman -- who had strayed over the border -- was on her way home, and that his country had freed the two shepherds as a gesture of goodwill. As part of the agreement, he said, a Syrian activist called Nihal al-Mokt currently serving community service would have her sentence shortened by three months. Earlier, SANA had said the two shepherds were released following a deal conducted through "Russian mediation", that also allowed the release of al-Mokt. Netanyahu on Tuesday evening had held an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the "humanitarian" situation in Syria. Asked to comment Wednesday shortly after SANA reported on the prisoner swap, he called it "a matter of life or death". "I am using my personal contacts with President (Vladimir) Putin to resolve the problem," Netanyahu told an Israeli military radio station. Israel seized much of the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move not recognised by the international community. The countries remain technically at war. Israel routinely carries out air strikes in Syria, mostly against targets linked to Iran, in what it says is a bid to prevent its arch foe from consolidating a foothold on its northern border.

Turkey Hires Law Firm to Lobby Biden over F-35 jets, Says Report
Agence France Presse/February 19/2021
Turkey has hired an international law firm to help it win back its spot in the US-led F-35 fighter jet programme, state media reported on Friday. The six-month contract with Arnold & Porter --- worth a reported $750,000 (620,000 euros) -- comes as Turkey seeks to find a solution with US President Joe Biden over its controversial Russian missile system purchase. The Washington-based law firm did not immediately comment. Turkey was kicked out of the F-35 fighter jet programme in 2019 as punishment for its decision to acquire the advanced Russian hardware after failing to come to terms on US Patriots used by most other NATO member states. Washington slapped Turkey's military procurement agency with sanctions after the S-400s were tested for the first time late last year. The United States fears that the S-400 systems could help Russia gather intelligence and better shoot down NATO warplanes if fully integrated in Turkish defences. The Pentagon confirmed earlier this month that it believed the Russian systems were "incompatible" with the F-35 jets and that the sanctions on Turkey would stay in place until the S-400s are removed. Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar suggested a compromise solution earlier this month that would see the S-400s boxed up and only deployed when needed. The State Department appeared to reject that suggestion by saying: "Our policy vis-a-vis the S-400s has not changed."Biden's administration has assumed a much tougher posture with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan than Ankara enjoyed when Donald Trump was in the White House. Biden has still not called Erdogan and the State Department has sharply rebuked Turkey's human rights record since his swearing in last month. Turkey was both a parts supplier and buyer of the F-35s. US officials say the sanctions will still allow the jets' prime contractor Lockheed Martin to honour its outstanding contracts in Turkey.
 

ISIS Claims Killing of 4 Tunisia Soldiers, Beheading
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 19 February, 2021
ISIS has claimed responsibility for the February 3 killing of four soldiers in a rugged region of central Tunisia, SITE Intelligence Group reported. The US monitor of militant groups said late Thursday that the soldiers were killed in three blasts ignited by its militants near Mount Mghila and that a “spy” was beheaded separately by ISIS. The defense ministry announced the losses the same day, saying the soldiers in “a military unit tasked with carrying out a combing operation of Mount Mghila looking for terrorist elements were killed by a mine” explosion. Mount Mghila, near the border with Algeria, is adjacent to Mount Chaambi, which is considered a hideout for militants. Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi said the incident “will not stop us from pursuing our efforts to fight and defeat terrorism.”ISIS also said in its Al-Naba digital newspaper that militants executed a spy for the army on December 20 near Mount Selloum in the Kasserine region, also central Tunisia. Authorities said at the time that the victim was a 20-year-old man named Oqba Al-Dhibi, identified on local radio as a shepherd tending his flock when he was attacked. The army has been battling militants in the Kasserine area since 2012. Tunisia’s central mountains are also a hideout for a local branch of militant group Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

Yemen: Griffiths Calls for Peace that Ends with National Elections
Washington - Ali Barada/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 19 February, 2021
UN Yemen mediator Martin Griffiths warned on Thursday against Houthi militias stepping up their assaults on the war-torn country’s key Marib governorate, saying that the Iran-backed group’s offensive threatens the lives of millions of Yemenis. “It puts millions of civilians at risk, especially with the fighting reaching camps for internally displaced persons,” Griffiths told the UN Security Council by video conference. “The quest for territorial gain by force threatens the prospects of the peace process,” he cautioned. The US confirmed that it is closely monitoring Iran-backed Houthi activities to assess whether additional punitive actions are warranted. “The US remains deeply troubled by continued and unacceptable Houthi attacks in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, including the recent attacks in Marib and Al-Jawf governorates,” acting US ambassador Richard Mills told the UNSC. “Likewise, we are very disappointed that the Houthis continue to delay the mission to assess the SAFER oil tanker,” he added. More so, Griffiths was faced with a host of questions around his latest visit to Iran at the UNSC closed briefing session, a well-informed diplomat told Asharq Al-Awsat. “Griffiths was particularly asked if Iranian officials had shown willingness to help in giving efforts for achieving a ceasefire in Yemen and rebooting talks a push,” said the diplomat, who requested anonymity. The diplomat added that the 15-member body’s closed session was also leaning towards issuing a position calling on the Houthis to stop all military advances and cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia, and to show their seriousness in negotiations for finding a comprehensive solution to the conflict. “I think it is important at this point if I reiterate what I believe would constitute the basic elements of a mutually acceptable end to the war and a path toward peace,” Griffiths told the UNSC. “Those elements should be guided of course by the aspirations of Yemenis and those aspirations have long been expressed – for a future marked by peaceful political participation, accountable governance, equal citizenship and economic justice,” he added. “The only way to realize these aspirations is through a genuinely inclusive, Yemeni-led political process under United Nations auspices supported by the international community here represented.” “Through this political process, Yemenis can indeed negotiate an agreement to end the conflict and start the road towards sustainable peace. Such an agreement should ensure a complete end to the use of violence for political gain. The agreement would be time-bound and would end with national elections,” Griffiths explained.

Shoukry: Egypt Keen On Fighting Terrorism, Extremism In Africa
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 19 February, 2021
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Thursday his country is keen on fighting terrorism and extremist ideologies in the African continent. Shoukry was speaking during a press conference to present details of the second edition of Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development to be held virtually on March 1-5. The press event was attended by Deputy Foreign Minister for African Affairs Hamdy Loza and director-general of Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peace-building (CCCPA) Ahmed Abdel Latif. "Terror groups’ ability to move from one place to another requires security coordination, information exchange on bilateral and multilateral levels, and capacity-building," Shoukry said. He also stressed that President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is keen to support development efforts in Africa. For his part, Loza said 40 speakers out of 70 have confirmed their attendance, clarifying that there is an orientation into having a maximum of four panelists per session to make room for interaction with the attendees. Meanwhile, Abdel Latif stated that an invitation was extended to the new US administration. "The forum wants the new US administration to take part and present its vision and priorities on certain matters like terrorism and the US military presence." The theme of this second edition is "Shaping Africa's New Normal: Recovering Stronger, Rebuilding Better."The event will see discussions on post-COVID-19 recovery; terrorism; role of women in establishing peace and security; sustaining peace through reconstruction and development; arts and culture; trade; forced displacement; cooperation for development in the Red Sea; and Sahel crises.

Dbeibah tries to strike a balance between Egypt, Turkey in Libya

The Arab News/February 19/2021
The new Libyan prime minister assuages Cairo’s fears of strong bias towards Ankara
CAIRO--New Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah visited Cairo on Thursday, in a symbolic move aimed at reassuring Cairo, given his close relationship with Ankara.
During their meeting in Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi stressed his country’s keenness to continue supporting Libya and consolidating the foundations for peace and stability in the neighbouring North African country.
Dbeibah expressed his country’s appreciation and pride over Egypt’s efforts to resolve the Libya crisis and its support for Libyan institutions in their combat against terrorism and extremist groups. He also stressed, on this occasion, his desire “to establish a comprehensive partnership with Cairo drawing inspiration from its (Egypt’s) development experience towards establishing successful models for Libya”.
Dbeibah is perceived as working to strike a balance between Egypt and Turkey, in a way that spares him the need to choose between both. At this stage, he is likely to be divided between his known loyalty to Ankara, which contributed to his rise to power in Geneva, and his interest in not sparking an early clash with Cairo, which is not without influence in Libya.
Ahmed Aliba, a researcher at the Egyptian Centre for Strategic Studies in Cairo, said that Egypt benefited from its past experience in dealing with Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj’s government. It was initially led to believe that the Sarraj government’s formation in accordance with the Skhirat Agreement would ensure stability. What happened, however, was that the situation took a dangerous turn as Sarraj succumbed to the militias’ extortion schemes and surrendered to pressure from Turkey.
Talking to The Arab Weekly, Aliba added that Cairo showed early on a great deal of readiness to cooperate with the Dbeibah government. This stance was expressed by President Sissi in his call to the new prime minister (as well as to the president of the presidential council, Mohammad al-Menfi), and then by receiving Dbeibah before he announced the formation of his government.
This, in Aliba’s view, confirms that Egypt will not repeat its past experience of keeping its political distance from western Libya, and placing its bets only on the eastern camp. It is hence likely to exert tangible influence on the new Libya government while it ensures that elections are held on time before the end of this year. The Egyptian leadership has already showed its support for Dbeibah by dispatching a diplomatic and security delegation to Tripoli a few days ago. The purpose of the delegation’s visit was to make logistical preparations for the reopening of the Egyptian embassy in the Libyan capital and the Egyptian consulate in Benghazi, so as to facilitate the movement of citizens between the two countries.
Cairo also approved, Thursday, the resumption of flights from Libya to Egypt, with service already starting from Benina airport in Benghazi to Burj Al Arab airport in Alexandria. Service will also be launched next week from Mitiga airport in Tripoli to Burj Al Arab.
Dbeibah is expected to search for common ground between Egypt and Turkey even if there is no direct communication between both countries. To do so, he will try to take into account the interests of each country and to dispel Cairo’s fears of his potential bias towards Ankara.
Observers say that both Egypt and Turkey do not want a direct clash. This choice was reflected by the willingness of Turkish forces not to violate the red line drawn by Egypt in Sirte and Jufrah in the middle of last year, after Cairo threatened to militarily intervene in Libya if that line was breached.
Aliba explained that the “two countries are able to forge a political consensus, in a way that does not pose a dilemma for the new government, or spark a new clash between them. So if Ankara harbours serious intent to escalate matters, it will not be able to do so, as both the internal and external environments are not propitious for that kind of behaviour and will oppose any disruptive action with strict measures.”
There is now talk in Egypt of the exit of all foreign forces, not just the forces affiliated with Turkey.
According to United Nations reports, there are about ten foreign bases on Libyan soil and thousands of mercenaries dispatched by Turkey, Russia and other countries
Cairo favours an end to the manifestations of armed escalation and promotes continued engagement in the political process under the auspices of the United Nations, at the same time that it wants attention paid to vital issues, such as unifying the military institution and strengthening the central state structures. Egyptian efforts are currently advancing on parallel tracks, the most important of which is exhorting Dbeibah to appoint qualified ministers who are not known for Turkish loyalties. Cairo is also keen on preserving the achievements of the Military Commission (5 + 5) and building on the ceasefire to enhance the level of security and stability. It prioritises work, as well, to make the necessary arrangements for holding elections on time.
The Arab Weekly sources learned that Cairo is greatly interested in infrastructure projects in Libya. The Libyan economic commission chaired by Egypt and the US, and emanating from the Berlin track, has been relatively successful in creating the proper atmosphere to correct many of the mistakes that led to billions of dollars being spent without beneficial results to the Libyan state. On the economic track, there were a series of reforms introduced recently, including the unification of the foreign currency rate (as there were previously six exchange rates), unifying the budget for the first time in years without waiting for the formation of a new government, and holding a meeting of the Central Bank’s board of directors to set sound monetary policies, even if it was against the will of its governor Saddek Elkaber.
Egypt expects Dbeibah to focus on the service and development sector, based on his experience as a businessman and considering the desire by Libyans to improve their living conditions and their feeling that the Sarraj government has spent huge sums of money on Turkish interests and those of armed militias and their leaders.A high-level Libyan delegation has arrived in Cairo from Tripoli, on Thursday, to discuss boosting cooperation between the two countries, with a focus on the economic aspects, and the rehabilitation of the infrastructure that was destroyed by war for over ten years.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 19- 20/2021

Iran, Terrorism Finance, and Money Laundering: A Status Update Before FATF Meets Next Week
Saeed Ghasseminejad and Toby Dershowitz/FDD/February 19/2021
Senior Vice President for Government Relations and Strategy
When the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) convenes its virtual plenary next week, while not formally on the agenda, buzz on the sidelines will concern Tehran’s constant push to be removed from the FATF blacklist. The global watchdog regards countries on the blacklist as “non-cooperative” on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT).
FATF has been concerned about what it calls Iran’s “strategic deficiencies” for more than 14 years. In October 2007, FATF first stated its concerns about Iran’s AML/CFT regime and urged FATF’s members to apply enhanced due diligence measures when dealing with Iran.
In October 2008, FATF welcomed “initial” efforts by Tehran to address those shortcomings, but stated that problems still persisted. FATF therefore urged members to strengthen preventive measures “to protect their financial sectors.” In February 2009, FATF urged its members to apply effective countermeasures in addition to enhanced due diligence to protect their financial systems against the AML/CFT risk of dealing with Iran.
In June 2016, six months after the implementation of the 2015 nuclear deal began, FATF welcomed Iran’s “high-level political commitment to,” and adoption of, an action plan to address the “strategic deficiencies” in Iran’s AML/CFT system. As a consequence, FATF suspended the countermeasures against Iran for 12 months, until February 2020. The re-imposition of those measures further isolated Iran financially, making its desired reintegration into the global financial system more difficult.
As part of the action plan, FATF requires Iran, as it does other countries, to pass two pieces of legislation that would obligate the country to join two conventions. The first is the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (CFT Convention), which aims to criminalize terror financing and to promote police and judicial cooperation to prevent, investigate, and punish it. The second, the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC, also known as the Palermo Convention), is the main international instrument in the fight against transnational organized crime.
The FATF-required bills became the subject of heated arguments in Iran. Opponents of the bills argued that they would block Iran’s path to fund its proxies, such as Hezbollah, and prevent Tehran from circumventing sanctions. Proponents of the bills responded that the legislation would not prevent Tehran from supporting its proxies or circumventing sanctions, because Tehran would find ways to circumvent the laws. The proponents also argued that refusing to pass these bills would prevent Tehran from using the global financial system and would be a self-sanctioning move.
Likewise, each time the two bills came before the Majlis, lawmakers sought to exempt organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah from the CFT bill’s definition of terrorism. Iran sought this exemption as a way to continue funding Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations even after joining the CFT Convention. FATF has repeatedly asserted that Iran must remove this exemption.
Eventually, in 2018, Iran’s parliament, or Majlis, passed the FATF-required bills. However, Iran’s Guardian Council – a 12-member body that screens legislation for fidelity to the regime’s Islamist ideology – declined to ratify them.
When the Guardian Council declines to approve a bill, an arbitration body known as the Expediency Council determines the final outcome. To date, the Expediency Council has not issued any determination on these two bills, an apparent sign of its opposition to them. Some members of the Expediency Council have said that the bills would complicate Iran’s ability to circumvent sanctions and fund its proxies.
In a stunning admission of Iran’s systemic and officially sanctioned illicit finance, Gholamreza Mesbahi-Moghaddam, head of the Infrastructure and Production Commission of the Expediency Council, said in a January 2021 televised interview:
The [business] deals we make now are covert. They are masked and not transparent. The CFT and Palermo Bills both state that any transaction in which one or both parties are not transparent would be considered money laundering and terrorist financing. We have $40 billion in exports and $40 billion in imports that are not transparent. Most of our oil is exported through informal channels. All other products that we are exporting, such as gasoline, gas, petrochemicals, etc., all are done through front companies, and from the day after joining the FATF, front companies will be identifiable by the other party, because it will no longer be possible to use front companies.
Mesbahi then quoted an official who had been in charge of foreign exchange at Iran’s Central Bank, who said: “I used to buy low-cost banks in the region for approximately $20 million for the purpose of circumventing sanctions. I would buy them and use them as intermediaries in our exchanges. When the U.S. Treasury Department identified them, we would close them and open another bank.”
In June 2019, in response to Tehran’s failure to pass the two bills, FATF asked its members to “require increased supervisory examination for branches and subsidiaries of financial institutions based in Iran,” but did not lift the suspension of countermeasures. In October 2019, FATF required further preventive measures without lifting the suspension, but announced that if Tehran did not ratify the Palermo and CFT conventions by February 2020, it would impose the countermeasures. Tehran did not comply, leading FATF to lift the suspension of the countermeasures that month.
Following the November 2020 elections in the United States, the Islamic Republic’s president, Hassan Rouhani, asked Iran’s supreme leader to allow a new review by the Expediency Council of the two outstanding FATF-required bills. The fault lines between the opponents and proponents remain the same.
According to the secretary of the Expediency Council, Mohsen Rezaee, Rouhani aimed to persuade opponents of the bill to reconsider their position, proposing the addition of a condition to the bill that Iran “would not provide the other side with information about evading sanctions.” In other words, Tehran would attempt to conceal sanctions evasion from FATF members.
Rezaee added, “Now we must deliberate on it and see whether it is possible or not to provide all the information to the FATF office minus the information about evading sanctions” (emphasis added). This would undermine the intent of the FATF-required bills. FATF should not consider Iran’s plan as valid.
Rezaee said that the bill is now in the final stages of review by the Expediency Council, which will render its decision in March.
FATF does not allow exceptions to the bills, though each time the bills have come before the Majlis, Iran has sought to include an exception excluding from its definition of terrorism organizations that “struggle against colonial dominance and foreign occupation.” Iran seeks this exemption as a way to continue funding Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations even after joining the CFT Convention. FATF has repeatedly asserted that Iran must remove this exemption. FATF has specifically called on Iran to criminalize funding for designated groups “attempting to end foreign occupation, colonialism, and racism.”
Discussions about FATF between Iranian opponents and proponents of the FATF bills show that neither group intends to stop funding terrorism and circumventing international sanctions.
Tehran has continued to finance and launder funds for both radical Shiite groups as well as Sunni terrorist groups. Democratic and Republican administrations have determined that Iran – in addition to openly supporting Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad – has allowed al-Qaeda, in the words of a State Department report, “to operate a core facilitation pipeline through Iran since at least 2009, enabling [al-Qaeda] to move funds and fighters to South Asia and Syria.”
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has documented many of these terror finance operations. In November 2017, Treasury designated an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) network for a large-scale counterfeiting operation supporting Iran’s operations in Yemen. In May 2018, Treasury designated senior officials at the Central Bank of Iran for funding the IRGC-QF and Hezbollah through a network of financial entities, including a bank in Iraq. In November 2018, Treasury designated a Russian-Iranian oil network that facilitated the transfer of oil and funds to the Assad regime, Hamas, and Hezbollah. The network included Iran’s Central Bank, the Central Bank of Syria, and Mir Business Bank in Russia. In September 2019, Treasury designated Iran’s Central Bank for funding the IRGC-QF and Hezbollah.
Tehran’s support for terrorism is not limited to the Middle East. Tehran has used money laundering to support its terror network in Europe. Earlier this month, a court in Belgium sentenced Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat and member of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, to 20 years in prison for attempting to plant a bomb in a gathering in Paris of thousands of dissidents and high-profile Western politicians, including Ambassador Bill Richardson, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, former Senator Robert Toriccelli, and former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. A court document showed that Tehran had moved hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments to agents involved in this terrorist operation.
The discussion surrounding Iran’s place on the FATF blacklist comes as Tehran has also breached its commitments under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Yet, as a technical body, FATF does not consider Iran’s compliance with the nuclear deal when assessing Tehran’s compliance with the AML/CFT action plan. Even if Iran halts its breaches of the nuclear accord, Tehran would also need to address its terror financing and money laundering to reap benefits from the action plan.
Iran’s place on the list of high-risk jurisdictions is merited until Tehran implements – without exemptions – its FATF action plan. This will require Iran’s recognition that access to the global financial system necessitates transparency as well as conduct that ensures that entities transacting with Tehran are not put at risk because of the Islamic Republic’s systemic malign financial activities.
*Saeed Ghasseminejad is a senior advisor on Iran and financial economics at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD),

*Toby Dershowitz is senior vice president for government relations and strategy. They both contribute to FDD’s Iran Program and Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP). For more analysis from Saeed, Toby, the Iran Program, and CEFP, please subscribe HERE. Follow Saeed and Toby on Twitter @SGhasseminejad and @TobyDersh. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_Iran and @FDD_CEFP. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, non-partisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Biden Faces a Decision on Our Presence in Iraq

Thomas Joscelyn/FDD/February 19/2021
Overcharged political rhetoric about 'endless wars' masks the reality of the situation.
On February 15, a series of rockets rained down on the American base in Erbil, Iraq. Though no Americans were killed, one civilian contractor perished. At least nine people were wounded, including one U.S. service member and several other American contractors. Within hours, a little-known group calling itself Saraya Awlia al-Dam (or the “Guardians of Blood Brigade”) claimed responsibility, saying in a message that the attack was intended to bring about an end to the American “occupation.”
American suspicions immediately fell on Iran, which has built a network of proxies inside Iraq and has repeatedly targeted the U.S. presence. However, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that the U.S. is still investigating the incident and would “hold accountable those responsible.”
The attack in Erbil, though relatively small in scale, highlights another key decision point for President Biden. Like former President Donald Trump, Biden has decried the so-called “endless wars” and vowed to take steps to extricate America from them. This overcharged political rhetoric masks the reality of the situation. In Iraq, as elsewhere, the U.S. maintains only a small military footprint. And the real question is whether or not the benefits of keeping that reduced presence in place outweigh the costs. The Biden team will have to consider a number of variables in this equation. Let us briefly examine several of them.
Biden will have to confront the gap between the “endless wars” rhetoric and reality on the ground.
As I’ve written previously, the days of large-scale American counterinsurgency efforts are long over. Gone are the days when the U.S. had more than 100,000 troops in Iraq or Afghanistan. Those types of missions ended during the Obama administration. President Trump did temporarily increase the size of the deployments to Iraq and Syria, as well Afghanistan, but he never came close to a Bush-style surge. In the final months of his administration, Trump ordered drawdowns across the board, halving the American presence in Iraq from about 5,000 troops to the current level of approximately 2,500.
Some of Trump’s diehard fans cheered on his anti-endless war rhetoric, but it is worth remembering that the 45th president didn’t end a single conflict. In fact, during his final year in office, Trump actually justified a continued presence in Iraq. If Biden agrees that the U.S. should retain a small contingent in Iraq, then he’d be well-served to explain why the American presence is necessary and sustainable, instead of decrying this “endless war.”
The U.S. is primarily working with partners and allies to counter terrorist threats.
Although the “Guardians of Blood Brigade” called the American presence in Iraq an “occupation,” it is nothing of the sort. A few thousand Americans are not capable of occupying a population of about 40 million Iraqis.Instead, the Americans are in Iraq to bolster local partners, including the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Masrour Barzani, the prime minister of the Kurdistan Region, was quick to decry the attack in Erbil and pledged his support to the Biden administration.
The Kurdish Peshmerga forces have played a key role in combating ISIS. The Peshmerga were part of the ad hoc coalition of fighters, backed by the U.S., who demolished ISIS’s territorial caliphate. For instance, they helped retake Mosul, one of the so-called caliphate’s twin capitals, during intense battles with the jihadists in 2016 and 2017. The Peshmerga played a leading role on the ground in multiple other battles as well. Since 2014, Kurdish fighters and other local partners have suffered the vast majority of casualties in the anti-ISIS campaign. This means that the American presence is primarily dedicated to standing up others to take the fight to the jihadists, so that their caliphate remains a thing of the past.
ISIS has been greatly weakened, but the organization is still alive and maintains a global network.
The principal reason for the American presence in Iraq is to keep a lid on ISIS. Despite losing its territory, ISIS continues to operate in and near the Kurdish regions. The jihadists have taken advantage of a seam north of Baghdad that developed out of a dispute between the KRG and Iraq’s central government, as the two sides quarreled over the oil-rich ground. This created a security vacuum that ISIS was happy to exploit in the months following the dissolution of its caliphate.
In addition to ending the caliphate, one of the Trump administration’s signature counterterrorism successes was the elimination of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October 2019. Tens of thousands of ISIS followers around the globe owed their fealty to Baghdadi. But how important was Baghdadi’s demise for the jihadists’ cause? It’s difficult to say. His successor is a man known as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi (a.k.a. Hajji Abdallah and Amir Muhammad Sa’id Abdal Rahman al-Mawla). To date, Abu Ibrahim hasn’t released a single audio or video message to the public. This has caused some in counterterrorism circles to speculate about his overall importance.
However, the counterterrorism officials I’ve spoken with think that Abu Ibrahim retains control over a global network. In their estimation, his public silence is not indicative of his private influence. Instead, they think Abu Ibrahim has chosen to remain out of public view for security reasons. He and other ISIS leaders know the U.S. is relentlessly hunting them. Any public statement would require a chain of transmission that could lead back to their hideouts. ISIS has been forced to reshuffle its chain of command, but the group still has a hierarchy.
There is plenty of evidence indicating that ISIS retains a cohesive organization. In early January, the U.S. Treasury Department estimated that ISIS has about $100 million in cash reserves and is still able to generate new cash through oil smuggling, kidnappings for ransom, looting, and other illicit finance schemes. These funds are used to pay for the group’s ongoing operations in both Iraq and neighboring Syria, as well as elsewhere. ISIS has transferred funds as far away as Afghanistan, where a branch of the group regularly conducts terrorist operations. The U.S. Treasury report notes that ISIS leaders and facilitators routinely move cash from Iraq into Syria and Turkey.
Biden’s decision point approaches.
The attack in Erbil may not have been enough to force a decision right now, but the Biden administration will have to determine its course in Iraq sooner rather than later. A more deadly attack could force the issue. President Trump took a hard line with Iran’s proxies. Trump approved retaliatory strikes against Iran and its proxies, including the January 2020 targeted killing of Qassem Suleimani, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force. Suleimani had the blood of thousands on his hands, including Iraqis, Syrians, and Americans.
It remains to be seen how Biden will respond to Iranian provocations. The Biden administration also desires a return to the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, commonly known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (or JCPOA). This could further complicate decision-making with respect to Iraq, as Biden may prioritize a version of that deal over all else.
In any event, the attack on American forces in Erbil, Iraq won’t be the last. It doesn’t appear that any Americans were killed, but that outcome easily could have been different.
*Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD’s Long War Journal. Follow Tom on Twitter @thomasjoscelyn. FDD is a nonpartisan think tank focused on foreign policy and national security issues.

We Must Work to Prevent a ‘Space Pearl Harbor’
Bradley Bowman and Maj Jared Thompson/FDD/February 19/2021
Protecting America's comparative military advantage above the atmosphere.
Twenty years ago, a congressionally mandated commission warned of a “Space Pearl Harbor” if the United States did not act urgently to protect its assets orbiting above the Earth. Despite this warning, Washington failed to take sufficient steps. Too many Americans assumed the United States would enjoy unchallenged access to the ultimate high ground indefinitely.
Not surprisingly, America’s great power competitors are unwilling to accept American supremacy in space. Since the commission’s January 2001 report, Russia and China have worked overtime to develop the means to deprive the U.S. military of its comparative advantage in space, developing capabilities that could disable or destroy American satellites. Both governments understood that the U.S. military increasingly relies on space: Satellites provide navigation, communication, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities vital to a variety of missions including missile defense.
Based on the efforts of Moscow and Beijing, the Department of Defense can no longer confidently assume that it would have reliable access to space assets in a great power conflict. In fact, just two months ago, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sounded the same alarm. “The next Pearl Harbor could happen in space,” he cautioned.
What is the goal of America’s adversaries? According to academics associated with the People’s Liberation Army, China could use anti-satellite (ASAT) capabilities to “blind and deafen the enemy,” depriving the U.S. military of key space-based capabilities. That would be a boon for authoritarian aggressors and a disaster for American national security and the warfighters who keep us safe.
This dangerous reality did not develop overnight.
As early as 2007, China showed it could shoot down satellites in low Earth orbit. In a widely publicized test, Beijing fired a ground-based interceptor at a weather satellite orbiting more than 500 miles above the Earth (apparently unconcerned about creating thousands of pieces of dangerous debris that would remain in orbit for decades). The missile successfully destroyed the satellite.
Russia has been developing a similar capability too. Moscow conducted its latest test last December of a ground-based interceptor, which the Department of Defense says is capable of destroying satellites in low Earth orbit.
Unfortunately, Beijing and Moscow are not stopping with ground-based anti-satellite missiles. As a January 2019 Defense Intelligence Agency report noted, both China and Russia are developing capabilities to disable American satellites via jamming, cyberspace, directed-energy weapons (Pentagon-speak for lasers), and so-called “on-orbit” technology.
Consider an example from November 2019. That month, Russia launched the Cosmos 2542 satellite on an otherwise unremarkable mission as an inspector satellite. But a couple weeks later, Cosmos 2542 mysteriously split into two satellites. From Cosmos 2542 a second satellite emerged—Cosmos 2543. Utilizing the classic Kremlin nothing to see here alibi, Russia’s defense ministry explained that its purpose was to assess the “technical condition of domestic satellites.”
Sounds reasonable, right?
But then Cosmos 2543 settled into an orbit next to a U.S. satellite and later released a high-speed projectile—an action the U.S. Space Command considered an anti-satellite weapons test.
That gives Washington plenty to worry about. Maneuverable Chinese or Russian killer satellites could sidle up to American satellites, conducting espionage and jamming transmissions, or launching directed energy or kinetic attacks.
These increasing threats to America’s early warning satellites are not hyperbolic horror stories swapped by paranoid Pentagon analysts at lunch. These capabilities actually have potential real-world implications.
In January 2020, Iran fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq housing U.S. troops. The Department of Defense had no ballistic missile interceptors in range, leaving the American service members vulnerable. While more than 100 American troops tragically suffered traumatic brain injuries, no Americans died.
What explains the lack of deaths? Among other things, American satellites.
Early warning satellites alerted American forces to the incoming missiles and revealed where they were headed. Strategic communication satellites then enabled leaders to transmit the warning to the troops in harm’s way. As a result, when the missiles arrived, America’s service members had already taken cover.
Imagine if Tehran had the ability to first disable or destroy American satellites. Dozens or hundreds of Americans might have been killed.
Now, instead of a single attack on a couple of bases from Tehran, imagine China or Russia launching a simultaneous swarm attack on U.S. and allied forces in multiple locations preceded or accompanied by surreptitious or direct attacks on American early warning and communication satellites.
Beijing could employ such a tactic before an assault on Taiwan. Moscow might use the same tactic before launching aggression in the Baltics. This approach could catch American and allied forces flat-footed, potentially permitting China or Russia to accomplish coveted military objectives before American forces even started to move.
Worse yet, either great power competitor could use these anti-satellite capabilities to support an attack on the American homeland.
Thankfully, the United States has started to take concerted action.
The Trump administration created U.S. Space Command in August 2019 and established the U.S. Space Force in December 2019. The establishment of the Space Force gave rise to the first new military branch since the creation of the Air Force in 1947. It remains to be seen, however, whether these changes will add military capability and deterrence or simply redundant bureaucratic infrastructure.
Congress may need to provide the Space Force robust resources and equally robust accountability – holding the new service to its pledge to be streamlined, agile, and innovative.
The Space Force needs to make America’s military space infrastructure more resilient against the attacks China and Russia might mount, retaining vital capabilities even if multiple satellites are knocked out of service. New programs for next-generation early warning or strategic satellite communications must not copy the all-eggs-in-one-basket architectures of their predecessors out of bureaucratic inertia.
Taking a page from the pioneering playbooks of companies like Planet and SpaceX, the Space Force should field larger satellite constellations made up of dozens or even hundreds of relatively inexpensive and disposable satellites. That would help ensure the U.S. could sustain multiple losses of satellites while retaining vital military capabilities.
The U.S. should also look to team up more systematically with tech-savvy democratic allies to secure shared interests in space. In December of last year, the U.S. and Japan signed a historic agreement to place Space Force space domain awareness sensors onto Japanese GPS-augmenting satellites. The year prior, Norway agreed to host U.S. strategic communication payloads on Norwegian military satellites.
Such agreements can increase U.S. and allied capability and security in space while lowering costs for taxpayers.
America’s adversaries are sprinting to secure military supremacy in space. A focused American effort in the coming years, in close conjunction with key allies, can deter Chinese and Russian aggression in space and ensure Americans do not suffer a Space Pearl Harbor.
*Bradley Bowman serves as senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Major Jared Thompson is a U.S. Air Force Officer and a visiting military analyst at FDD. Follow Bradley on Twitter @Brad_L_Bowman. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Palestinians: EU Facilitating Hamas Victory
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/February 19/2021
It is important to note that Israel did not stop the Palestinians in the past from holding presidential and parliamentary elections in 1996, 2005 and 2006.
Israel did not even stop Arab residents of Jerusalem from running in the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council election as candidates for Hamas, the Islamist movement that does not recognize Israel's right to exist and seeks to replace it with an Islamic state.
Hamas ran under the slogan "Islam is the solution" and promised to end corruption and bring good governance to the Palestinians... [and] also promised voters that it would resort to an "armed struggle" against Israel.
[W]hen Hamas participated in the 2006 election, which was also encouraged by the EU, the Islamist movement was still on the EU's list of terrorist organizations. The EU, however, did not try to stop the terrorist organization from running in that election.
The Quartet members should have set the conditions before, not after the election. They had every right to do so: the Hamas-led government was expecting the international community to continue providing financial aid to the Palestinians.
The Hamas-led government that was formed after the 2006 election was boycotted by the EU and most of the international community. Why? Because Hamas, in their eyes, is a terrorist organization. If so, why did the EU and other Western countries not object to Hamas's participation in the elections before the vote? Did Hamas become a terrorist organization only after it won the election?
The EU and other international parties perfectly well see that Hamas will run in upcoming election and again promise Palestinians to continue the "armed struggle' against Israel. They can perfectly well hear Hamas saying that its goal is to "liberate Palestine, from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea." It seems that Hamas's goal -- finishing what Hitler started, annihilating the Jews -- is precisely what the EU and the international community secretly, or unconsciously, want.
Those who are allowing Hamas to run unconditionally in the election are facilitating the terrorist group's next victory and certain rise to power.
Those who are now pushing the Palestinians to hold another "free and fair" election should check their blind spots. The EU and other international parties who are allowing Hamas to run unconditionally in the election are facilitating the terrorist group's next victory and certain rise to power. Pictured: A woman in Abu Dis, near Jerusalem, looks over sealed boxes containing documents as a European Union observer watches, in preparation for the last Palestinian Legislative Council elections, on January 24, 2006.
Facing pressure from the European Union, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last month set dates for holding general elections for the first time in 15 years.
The EU was quick to welcome Abbas's decision to hold elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council, the presidency and the PLO National Council.
"This is a welcome development as participative, representative and accountable democratic institutions are key for Palestinian self-determination and state-building," said a spokesman for the EU in Brussels. "The EU has in the past years consistently supported and funded the work of the Central Elections Commission in order to prepare for holding free, fair and inclusive elections for all Palestinians."
The EU also called on Israeli authorities "to facilitate the holding of elections across all the Palestinian territory."
The EU, in its statement, did not make a similar appeal to Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization.
It is important to note that Israel did not stop the Palestinians in the past from holding presidential and parliamentary elections in 1996, 2005 and 2006.
Israel allowed Arab residents of Jerusalem (who hold Israeli ID cards) to vote and run in previous Palestinian elections.
Israel did not even stop Arab residents of Jerusalem from running in the 2006 parliamentary election as candidates for Hamas, the Islamist movement that does not recognize Israel's right to exist and seeks to replace it with an Islamic state.
It is also worth noting that the EU and the rest of the international community did not set any conditions for Hamas prior to the 2006 election, which resulted in an overwhelming victory for Hamas.
In 1996, Hamas boycotted the first parliamentary election, arguing that the vote was being held as part of the Oslo Accords, signed between the PLO and Israel. Hamas does not recognize the Oslo Accords and is vehemently opposed to any peace process with Israel.
In 2006, however, Hamas change its mind and decided to participate in the parliamentary election, although it continued to reject the Oslo Accords and Israel's right to exist.
As far as Hamas was concerned, why not seize the opportunity and participate in the election if no one is calling you out for your hypocrisy or setting conditions for your participation?
As the 1996 election, the 2006 election was also held under the umbrella of the Oslo Accords -- the same agreements that Hamas continues to reject, dubbing them "a political catastrophe" and a "national crime."
Hamas mainly changed its mind about boycotting the election because it was confident that it would win the vote. Hamas ran under the slogan "Islam is the solution" and promised to end corruption and bring good governance to the Palestinians. The Hamas-affiliated list that ran in that election, the Change and Reform Bloc, also promised voters that it would resort to an "armed struggle" against Israel.
Hamas is now saying that it intends to participate in the upcoming Palestinian Legislative Council election, scheduled to take place on May 22. The Hamas political program will be similar to the one it used in 2006 to attract Palestinian voters.
The EU outlawed Hamas's military wing in 2001 and, under US pressure, included Hamas on its list of terrorist organizations in 2003. This means that when Hamas participated in the 2006 election, which was also encouraged by the EU, the Islamist movement was still on the EU's list of terrorist organizations. The EU, however, did not try to stop the terrorist organization from running in that election.
The same EU that is now calling on Israel to "facilitate" the upcoming election, does not seem to object to Hamas's participation. Instead of urging Israel to "facilitate" the electoral process, it would have been more helpful had the EU called out Hamas for its hypocrisy.
After Hamas won the election in 2006, the EU responded by cutting off contact with, and halting assistance, to the Hamas-led government. The EU, together with the other members of the Middle East Quartet (US, Russia and United Nations) set conditions for recognizing the Palestinian government only after Hamas won the election. The Quartet members should have set the conditions before, not after the election. They had every right to do so: the Hamas-led government was expecting the international community to continue providing financial aid to the Palestinians. It is like asking a bank for a loan. The bank has the right to set conditions for granting the loan. If you accept the conditions, you get the loan. If you tell the bank you do not accept the conditions, you can forget about the loan.
The EU needs to tell Hamas: If you want to participate in the election, you need to accept the three conditions laid out in 2010 by the Quartet for the recognition of a Palestinian government: the renunciation of violence, recognition of Israel's right to exist and a commitment to all agreements signed between the Palestinians and Israel.
The EU and other international parties, including the UN, are making a fatal mistake by failing to set conditions for Hamas's participation in the election. How will the international community react if Hamas again wins the parliamentary election and becomes the new Palestinian government?
The Hamas-led government that was formed after the 2006 election was boycotted by the EU and most of the international community. Why? Because Hamas, in their eyes, is a terrorist organization. If so, why did the EU and other Western countries not object to Hamas's participation in the elections before the vote?
Did Hamas become a terrorist organization only after it won the election? The EU and other international parties pushed the Palestinians to have a free and fair election -- one in which Hamas was allowed to participate -- and they awakened in the morning to discover that a terrorist organization (Hamas) had won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council.
Those who are now pushing the Palestinians to hold another "free and fair" election should check their blind spots. They are blinded to the fact that there is a strong possibility that Hamas will triumph in the parliamentary election. They are actually helping Hamas to achieve its goal of winning the election.
The EU and other international parties perfectly well see that Hamas will run in upcoming election and again promise Palestinians to continue the "armed struggle' against Israel. They can perfectly well hear Hamas saying that its goal is to "liberate Palestine, from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea." It seems that Hamas's goal -- finishing what Hitler started, annihilating the Jews -- is precisely what the EU and the international community secretly, or unconsciously, want.
Those who are allowing Hamas to run unconditionally in the election are facilitating the terrorist group's next victory and certain rise to power. They are also sending a message to Palestinians that the international community has no problem with the participation of a terrorist organization in an electoral process, even if that organization is openly calling for the annihilation of Israel. This message can only further embolden the extremist camp among the Palestinians and sabotage the future of any peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.
*Bassam Tawil, a Muslim Arab, is based in the Middle East.
© 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.
 

Britain: Sanctuary for Deadly Islamic Terrorists
Raymond Ibrahim/February 19/2021
Once again, the U.K. shows itself to be a safe haven for Islamic terrorists. According to a Feb. 14, 2021 report,
A terrorist who claimed asylum in Britain after he was sentenced to death in Egypt for a failed assassination plot is set to win the right to stay in this country.
Yasser Al-Sirri, 58, first claimed asylum in 1994 but was turned down and has taken the issue to court more than eight times at great cost to British taxpayers.
Al-Sirri, who was also charged in the US with assisting someone involved in the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing, has appeared in several tribunals since.
And last week a tribunal decided he was entitled to remain in the U.K. as a refugee.
Among al-Sirri’s other jihadi bona fides, he was a member of Egypt’s terrorist organization, Islamic Jihad, and it was for his activities with that group—including a failed assassination attempt on the then Egyptian prime minister which instead killed a 12-year-old girl—that he was sentenced to death in absentia. One of the founding members of Egypt’s Islamic Jihad—which eventually merged with al-Qaeda—was Ayman al-Zawahiri, the current leader of al-Qaeda. Its original mission was to overthrow and supplant the Egyptian government with an Islamic one—basically the same mission that was for a time realized by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The “Blind Sheikh” who conspired in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings that killed six, including a pregnant woman, and injured thousands, was also a graduate of Egypt’s Islamic Jihad.
Such is the jihadi background and terrorist affiliations and activities of al-Sirri, this man who was just granted “refugee status” in Britain. Of course, granting asylum and visas to “radical” Muslims is nothing new for the U.K.
For example, despite having no papers on him—and despite telling the Home Office that “he had been trained as an ISIS soldier”—Ahmed Hassan was still granted asylum two years before he launched a terrorist attack on a London train station that left 30 injured in September 2017. The Home Office also allowed a foreign Muslim cleric to enter and lecture in London, even though he advocates decapitating, burning, and/or throwing homosexuals from cliffs. According to another report, “British teenagers are being forced to marry abroad and are raped and impregnated while the Home Office ‘turns a blind eye’ by handing visas to their [mostly Muslim] husbands.”
If the U.K. is that lenient when it comes to handing out refugee status and visas, surely those who are truly persecuted are easily granted asylum. Not so. Consider the case of Asia Bibi—a Christian wife and mother of five who spent a decade of her life being abused on death row in Pakistan for challenging the authority of Muhammad; her story perhaps best sheds light on the immigration situation in the U.K. After she was finally acquitted in November, 2018, Muslims rioted throughout Pakistan; in one march, more than 11,000 Muslims demanded her instant and public hanging.
As Pakistanis make for the majority of the U.K.’s significant Muslim population—Sajid Javid, then head of the Home Office, is himself Pakistani—when they got wind that the U.K. might offer asylum to Asia Bibi, this innocent woman whose life had been ripped apart, they too rioted. As a result, then Prime Minister Theresa May personally blocked Bibi’s asylum application—“despite U.K. playing host to [Muslim] hijackers, extremists and rapists,” to quote from one headline. In other words, Britain was openly allowing “asylum policy to be dictated to by a Pakistan mob,” reported the Guardian, “after it was confirmed it urged the Home Office not to grant Asia Bibi political asylum in the U.K.…”
Indeed, while denying Asia Bibi, the Home Office allowed a Pakistani cleric who celebrated the slaughter of a politician simply because he had defended Asia Bibi—a cleric deemed so extreme as to be banned from his native Pakistan—to enter and lecture in U.K. mosques.
Incidentally, and as discussed here, the treatment Asia Bibi received from the U.K. seems to be par for the course when it comes to persecuted Christian asylum seekers and even visitors.
Discussing how “visas were granted [by the Home Office] in July [2016] to two Pakistani Islamic leaders who have called for the killing of Christians accused of blasphemy,” Dr. Martin Parsons, a human rights activist, expressed his frustration at this topsy-turvy situation: “It’s unbelievable that these persecuted Christians who come from the cradle of Christianity are being told there is no room at the inn, when the U.K. is offering a welcome to Islamists who persecute Christians.”
In other words, persecuted Christians need not apply for asylum in the U.K., whereas “radical” Muslims that only hate and seek to sabotage Britain are welcomed with open arms.

Biden's Emerging Foreign Policy
Daniel Pipes/L'Informale/February 19/ 2021
This is a translation of "Scenari e incognite: Intervista a Daniel Pipes." Davide Cavalier was the interviewer. The English-language translation is titled "Open scenarios: Interview with Daniel Pipes."
Informale: With Donald Trump's term over, please review his administration's foreign policy in the Middle East.
Daniel Pipes: As one would expect from a novice like Trump, his foreign policy was a spontaneous and quite unpredictable mix, for example toward Russia and North Korea. More surprisingly, his Middle East policy was consistent: tough toward Iran, friendly toward nearly all other actors, including Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Turkey. With the exception of Turkey, I thought well of it.
Informale: How do you see Biden Administration policy in the Middle East, especially vis-à-vis Israel?
Pipes: Again, with the exception of Turkey, I dislike it. Biden is making nice toward Iran and cooling relations with the rest of the region.
Joe Biden (L) and John Kerry, the twin Democratic geniuses working to re-enter the JCPOA.
Informale: Were Washington to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal, the JCPOA, might Israel react with a military attack on Iran's nuclear infrastructure?
Pipes: Should the Iranians get close to a nuclear break-out, Israel might attack Iran even without Washington rejoining the JCPOA. Unlike the 1981 Iraqi and 2007 Syrian precedents, such an attack would probably only delay the Iranian effort, not knock it out, implying the need for repeated attacks – thereby raising the stakes.
Informale: Should Turkey remain as a member of NATO?
Pipes: Already in 2009, I wrote an article titled "Does Turkey Still Belong in NATO?" and replied in the negative. Although NATO's bylaws lack a specific mechanism to expel a member, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties allows a unanimous majority to throw out a rogue state. Not easy to do, but possible. Short of that, an "unpopular-high-school-student" approach is emerging, where the Turks remain in NATO but are not invited to meetings, not given intelligence, and not sold armaments.
Robert Kagan's book Of Paradise and Power built on his "Power and Weakness" article.
Informale: Public opinion in Europe, including in Italy, tends to view the U.S. role in the Middle East negatively, reacting indignantly to such actions as the war in Iraq in 2003 or the killing of General Qassem Soleimani in 2020. What explains this hostility?
Pipes: Robert Kagan's profound article of 2002, "Power and Weakness" goes far to explain this. As I summarized his argument: "Americans are from Mars; Europeans from Venus. Europeans spend their money on social services, Americans continue to devote large sums to the military. Europeans draw lessons from their successful pacifying of post-1945 Germany; Americans draw lessons from their defeat of Nazi Germany and of the Soviet bloc."
Informale: Despite many threats in the Middle East – Iran vs. Israel, Turkey vs. Greece, Hezbollah powerful in Lebanon and Syria, Libyan anarchy – the European Union is nearly absent from this theater. What explains its ineffectiveness?
Pipes: Again, Europeans being from Venus hope that the methods that tamed Germany after 1945 will work in the Middle East.
Informale: What explains the EU's persistent anti-Israel bias?
Pipes: Several main factors account for this: (1) Antisemitism, a profound strain of European life going back over a millennium that survived the Holocaust. (2) Universalism, the disdain for nation-states such as Israel. (3) Mercantile interests, to win the goodwill of trading partners. (4) Appeasement, avoiding the animosity of dangerous neighbors.

The Iran Mediation Bazaar
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 19/2021'
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/96206/%d8%a3%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%b1-%d8%b7%d8%a7%d9%87%d8%b1%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b4%d8%b1%d9%82-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%88%d8%b3%d8%b7-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b2%d8%a7%d8%b1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%88%d8%b3%d8%a7%d8%b7%d8%a9/
With Donald Trump out of the White House, wannabe do-gooders have thrown their hats, or turbans, into the ring as mediators between Tehran and Washington.
First, French President Emmanuel Macron said he was ready to seize the opportunity of Joe Biden’s victory to build a bridge with Iran. Then it was the turn of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to don the mantle of honest broker. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has also made musings about mediation.
Last week, Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani traveled to Tehran to offer mediation. The latest to join the queue is Ammar al-Hakim, leader of the Iraqi National Wisdom Movement.
Interestingly, all aspiring mediators are from countries that have problems of their own with the Islamic Republic – problems they have failed to sort out after four decades of diplomatic zigzags.
In some cases, these problems amount to major hurdles for full normalization with the Khomeinist regime. In others, the problems are “underbrushes”, a diplomatic term for irritants not threatening enough to merit open hostility.
Going through all problems that Tehran has with France, Russia, Pakistan Qatar and Iraq would require far more space than a column. So, let us just focus on problems between Iraq and Iran.
Why wouldn’t Ammar al-Hakim offer mediation between Tehran and Baghdad to get rid of the “underbrushes”, repair bilateral relations, and restore normality after four decades of war, intrigue and tension? Al-Hakim is well-placed for that task.
He hails from an old Persian family and spent many years in Iran. His grandfather was the highest Marj’a al-Taqlid (Source of Emulation) of Shiites for a decade. By blood or marriage, he is related to major clerical families in Iran and Iraq. Inside Iraq his party is one of the largest, and, unlike most rival Shiite groups, gets a nod and a wink from Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani.
What are the problems he should mediate?
First, he must persuade Tehran to treat Iraq as an independent nation-state, not a glacis for the Islamic Republic in its campaign to “export revolution.”
The daily Kayhan, reflecting the views of “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei, run an editorial on Monday about a visit by Ayatollah Ra’isi, head of the Islamic judiciary, to Iraq. It concluded that “although borders are important and must be respected” the visit showed that “our revolution has dissolved nations into the ummah”.
Tehran circles talk of the Treaty of Qasr Shirin between Iran and the Ottoman Empire which gave Iran “right of supervision” on “holy shrines” in Iraq. All that may be no more than idle talk of the kind Khomeinists revel in.
What is not idle talk, however, is raising, arming and financing militias controlled by the Quds Corps. Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, an ally of Tehran, has spoken of occasions when the Quds Corps directly intervened in Iraqi affairs.
The late Gen. Qassem Soleimani spoke of how he went to Iraq often without letting the Iraqi government know what he was doing. In the case of his shenanigans in Syria, at least, he claimed he had an invitation from Bashar al-Assad.
The next issue would be for the Islamic Republic to stop bombarding Iraqi villages supposedly as a “right of hot-pursuit” against “Kurdish terrorists”. Tehran media note that Turkey is doing the same in Iraq. They forget that Turkey had permission from Saddam Hussein who headed the government at the time.
The next item on the agenda could be to re-demarcate the borders between the two neighbors according to the Algiers Accord of 1975. With goodwill, most of the changes caused by the 1980-88 war could be corrected quickly. The next item could be the creation of a mechanism to implement the United Nations’ Resolution 598 that ended the war, to resolve issues such as responsibility for starting the hostilities, payment of reparations and drafting a peace treaty to legally end the state of war.
The issue of thousands of war dead and missing in action whose fate is unknown could also be tackled, ending decades of suffering by numerous Iranian and Iraqi families who lost loved ones in that tragedy. (Last week, Russia found and buried with full military hour the mortal remains of dozens of French soldiers killed in battle during the Napoleonic invasion two centuries ago.) Another item could be the revival of a 1976 agreement on Iranian pilgrimage to Shiite “holy shrines” to end uncontrolled visits often led by black-marketers linked to security services on both sides.
President Hassan Rouhani says Iraq is now Iran’s biggest foreign market with over $10 million goods imported. A big part of that, however, is conduced within the black economy. The remaining part is handled by individual smugglers crossing the border on foot or mules.
Revival of the 1977 trade accord could help end the current chaos and enable Tehran and Baghdad to secure income from tariffs and taxation. Setting mutually accepted rules on charities could also help both curb money laundering and tax evasion through fake religious charities linked to crime syndicates and security services.
Another issue concerns dual-nationals.
An estimated 1.2 million Iraqis also hold Iranian identity papers while neither Iraq nor Iran recognize dual citizenship. This creates huge problems for many, including children of dual-nationals born in Iran or Iraq. The issue of Iraq’s unpaid bills for electricity imported from Iran could also be on the agenda while old agreements on water debit from Iranian rivers flowing into Iraq could come up for review. The ecological crisis in southern marshlands (80 percent in Iraq, 20 percent in Iran) also needs cooperation through a joint agency.
Experts claim that Majnun Islands, shared by Iran and Iraq, represent one of the largest oilfields in the world. However, despite interest by more than 30 oil companies, no large-scale exploitation is possible without normalization between Iran and Iraq.
The draft continental shelf agreement of 1977 could be quickly activated, enabling redevelopment of Um al-Qasr as a deep water port. That in turn would finalize the similar agreement that Iran, under the Shah, signed with Kuwait. The big enchilada in al-Hakim’s imaginary mediation would be the reopening of Shatt al-Arab, the border waterway closed and clogged during the war. Re-opened, the Shatt could ensure the revival of Basra in Iraq and Khorramshahr in Iran which were the region’s largest ports for centuries. Dredging and remodeling the waterway could cost some $20 billion, worth considering if both sides created a joint navigation management agency.
Ah, we dropped the word “normalization”.
If the Islamic Republic can’t normalize relations even with Iraq, how could it normalize with the American “Great Satan”? There could be no normalization with a regime whose leader publicly says “We shall never be a normal country.”If wise Ammar wants to mediate, let him start with his two homelands.
*Amir Taheri was the executive editor-in-chief of the daily Kayhan in Iran from 1972 to 1979. He has worked at or written for innumerable publications, published eleven books, and has been a columnist for Asharq Al-Awsat since 1987

A key fact the Iranian regime should heed
Mohamed Khalfan Sawafi/The Arab News/February 19/2021
Within the Iranian regime there are those who are aware that the compass of the revolution has lost its direction.
Last week, Iranians marked the 42nd anniversary of the Islamic revolution, commemorating a popular revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini from exile in France against the regime of Mohammda Reza Shah Pahlavi with the aim of improving people’s living conditions, which were abysmal despite their country’s wealth. But today, after more than four decades, have the Iranian people achieved the goals they sought through the revolution?
This question is frequently raised by observers of Iranian affairs and is also a matter of curiosity for the Iranian regime’s critics, who are tempted to compare today’s situation with the days of the shah.
For everyday Iranians, the question opens the door to bitter complaints, as they are the ones who contributed to bringing the mullahs to power. Today they relentlessly pursue protests, as discontent spreads to more and more social classes, including retired people, the unemployed and the poor.
Because of the deteriorating social and economic conditions, the situation has reached the point where people wish they had not unleashed the revolution. They believe that what the mullahs’ regime have done to them is much worse than what the shah did. At least, they feel, the monarchical regime preserved the reputation of the country before the rest of the world.
Why all of this anger? In fact, if any observer of Iranian affairs were to evaluate the experience of government rule in Iran during this recent period, they would see only two basic features marking the behaviour of the Iranian regime. The first feature is that Iran, a country that was once praised as a model of stability and development, has since the revolution become a leading instigator of chaos and destruction in the region and a threat to the stability of the world by supporting militias and extremists all over the Middle East region. Tehran also carries out assassinations of its opponents in European countries and even in its near-by region, as happened recently in Turkey, where an Iranian diplomat was arrested on charges of involvement in the assassination of an opposition member and other cases, as well as the manufacture of weapons and ballistic missiles.
The second feature concerns the situation at home. The common man on the street who helped fuel the revolution against the shah’s regime in pursuit of better living conditions and greater benefits from the country’s wealth has discovered that his revolution has been hijacked by the mullahs who rule the country and lead it from war to war, squandering its wealth.
An Iranian study published by the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) indicated that about 33% of Iran’s population are in absolute poverty, and that 6%, which is equivalent to 5 million Iranians, have no food on the table. This number is expected to increase to 16 or 20 million if the statistics were more accurately prepared.
It is clear from the policies of Iran’s current leaders that they do not care much about the living conditions of the Iranian people.
They seem to believe that what matters is that the elite at the helm of power enjoys the dividends of the great wealth of the Iranian state. It is also clear that their priority is to spend the people’s resources in order to antagonise the countries in their geographic vicinity and pursue nuclear programmes that do not serve the Iranian people. Developing missiles only sparks the concerns of the international community.
Within the Iranian regime there are those who are aware that the compass of the revolution has lost its direction. Many such voices have been muted within the country and others do not want to express themselves in front of the current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei or other influential people and beneficiaries of the situation regardless of what happens to the Iranian people.
The supreme leader and his entourage make a big mistake by ignoring the level of anger the Iranian people feel. Demonstrations take place from time to time and are led by various social categories. Over the past few days, there have been demonstrations led by retirees in Tehran, Isfahan, Kermanshah and other major cities, an indication of the Iranian people’s resentment for the revolution and its goals.
The Iranian regime’s continued escalation of disputes with the international community and the near-by region confirms that it does not want to focus on ensuring a decent life standard for the Iranian people.
Silencing critics, building a nuclear programme and fighting wars in their neighbourhood are not among the priorities of Iran’s poor. The mullahs’ regime should heed this fact as it was the spark that fueled the Iranian revolution four decades ago.