English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For July 15/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
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Bible Quotations For today
Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters
Saint Luke 11/14-23/:”Now he was casting out a demon that was mute; when the demon had gone out, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said, ‘He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.’ Others, to test him, kept demanding from him a sign from heaven. But he knew what they were thinking and said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? for you say that I cast out the demons by Beelzebul. Now if I cast out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your exorcists cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his castle, his property is safe. But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides his plunder. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 14-15/2021
IDF Assessment of Northern Front: Hezbollah to Wage Next War With Long-Range Drones, Thousands of Rockets Daily/Benjamin Kerstein/algemeiner/July 14/2021
'Moment of truth' as Lebanon's Hariri presents cabinet to president Aoun/Maha DahanLaila Bassam/Reuters/July 14/2021
Egypt offers support to Hairiri as tensions simmer in Lebanon
Aoun Meets French Envoy, Hopes for Positive Outcome from Hariri Meeting
Hariri Meets Aoun, Submits New Cabinet Line-Up
Egypt Reportedly Asks Hariri Not to Quit, Promises 'Solution Roadmap'
Miqati Hesitant on Succeeding Hariri despite Rising Chances
Report: Paris, Cairo, Moscow in 11th Hour Efforts to Avoid Hariri's Resignation
Hariri Begins Egypt Visit ahead of Aoun Meeting
Israel: We Will Target All Hizbullah Sites in Any Future War
EU Delegation Urges Lebanon to Form 'Fully Empowered' Electoral Commission
Most Lebanese Women Struggling to Afford Period Supplies

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 14-15/2021
Pope Francis Leaves Hospital after Operation
Rouhani Says Hopes Iran's Next Govt. Can Conclude Nuclear Talks
Iran says US will delist IRGC, lift sanctions on Khamenei, Raisi if nuke deal revived
Turkey and Israel want to improve strained relations after presidents’ call: AK party
UAE embassy opens in Tel Aviv, marking ‘new paradigm for peace’ - watch
US charges four with plot to kidnap New York journalist critical of Iran
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Kidnapping Conspiracy Charges Against An Iranian Intelligence Officer And Members Of An Iranian Intelligence Network
Revelations highlight Iranian role in Iraqi militias’ anti-US attacks
In first, US court rules Syria, Iran, IRGC, banks liable for Hamas attack
Taliban Claim Control of Key Border Crossing with Pakistan
Canada imposes sanctions on additional individuals in response to ongoing human rights violations in Nicaragua
Moqtada Sadr Demands Action over Deadly Covid Unit Fire
Virus-Hit Tunisia Brings Covid Care Home
Bush Says Afghanistan Troop Pullout a 'Mistake'

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 14-15/2021
Afghan Withdrawal Opens the Way for China/Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute/July 14/2021
The Islamists’ second fall in Algeria/Saber Blidi/The Arab Weekly/July 14/2021
The UN Votes on Syria: A Mixed Success Within a Diplomatic Deadlock/Calvin Wilder, Charles Thépaut/The Washington Institute/July 14/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 14-15/2021
IDF Assessment of Northern Front: Hezbollah to Wage Next War With Long-Range Drones, Thousands of Rockets Daily
Benjamin Kerstein/algemeiner/July 14/2021
Following the 15th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War on Monday, the IDF released its assessment of Hezbollah’s strength and the IDF’s intention to counter it in the next conflict. Walla reported that, according to the assessment, Hezbollah now has approximately 150,000 rockets of various types, including ranges between 100-430 miles, as well as drones with a range of 250 miles. The IDF estimates that Hezbollah could fire between 1,000-3,000 rockets a day at Israel. Gen. Amir Baram, head of IDF Northern Command, said that following the 2006 war, “Hezbollah learned a lesson” from Israel’s ferocious response — but that next time “they will pay a much higher price.” “We are preparing surprises [in response] to Hezbollah’s surprises,” he said. “The next war will be complex for us, but intolerable for them.”Brig. Gen. Dan Neumann, commander of the IDF’s 36th Division, said that a war with Hezbollah will not be primarily an air war like Israel’s 11-day conflict with Hamas in May. Although air strikes will be “powerful in the first hours of the fighting,” Neumann said, “in order to defeat the enemy in the operative stage, we will require a ground maneuver.”
The IDF is planning a ground operation that will be complex and aggressive, but believes it will cause serious collateral damage. In addition, the army has substantially beefed up its target bank, which is now 20 times larger than it was in 2006, including thousands of targets of various kinds.
On Wednesday, the IDF revealed that one of the targets is a Hezbollah weapons warehouse in the Lebanese town of Ebba, which is located just 25 meters from a school. “This endangers the lives of 300 children who attend the school,” the IDF tweeted.
IDF officials told Walla that there are thousands of similar targets due to Hezbollah’s tactic of deliberately placing its weapons in civilian areas in hopes of deterring IDF strikes. “The IDF and Northern Command will take all measures to reduce harm to civilians,” the officials said, but “the IDF will not hesitate to hit active targets.”In addition to offensive planning, the IDF is making major investments in defensive capabilities, spending millions of shekels on shoring up the northern border’s defense systems. However, the army believes a more comprehensive defense plan is necessary, as some of the barriers and fences along the border are in disrepair. There has also been a campaign of intense training among the IDF’s northern forces, with Baram himself assessing their readiness and demanding a high standard of competence. The IDF is increasingly concerned about the deteriorating economic and political situation in Lebanon, believing that, as a result, Hezbollah’s grip on southern Lebanon is weakening. This, it is feared, could create a vacuum that would usher in a chaotic situation that could spark another war.

'Moment of truth' as Lebanon's Hariri presents cabinet to president Aoun
Maha DahanLaila Bassam/Reuters/July 14/2021
Hariri says proposal in line with French initiative
New cabinet needed to enact reforms and unlock aid
Proposal seen as final attempt at cabinet for Hariri
BEIRUT, July 14 (Reuters) - Lebanon's prime minister-designate Saad al-Hariri has presented a new cabinet proposal to President Michel Aoun and said he was awaiting his response on Thursday in a move that could end nine months of deadlock as the country faces economic collapse. Veteran Sunni politician Hariri has presented multiple proposals to Aoun, an ally of Iran-backed Shi'ite group Hezbollah, over the past months, but they have been unable to agree on a list. "Now is the moment of truth," Hariri, who has been at loggerheads with Aoun over the naming of ministers since he was appointed in October, told reporters on Wednesday after the meeting. Aoun said in a statement he would study the proposal that contained "new names and a new distribution for portfolios and sects from what was previously agreed" to reach a decision. The proposal is for 24 specialist technocrat ministers, in line with a French initiative that envisioned a government capable of enacting reforms that could unlock much needed foreign aid to rescue the nation.
The previous proposals have also been for a technocrat team belonging to different sects. It was not immediately clear specifically how the new line-up differed or what would happen if Aoun rejected it. However, Wednesday's proposal is seen as Hariri's last attempt to form a cabinet as he was widely expected to give up on his efforts after a trip to long-time backer Egypt.Saudi-owned Al Hadath television reported earlier that Cairo had asked him not to stand down, citing its own sources. Sources in Cairo said Egypt had promised economic and political support for a new government and that a delegation would travel to Beirut soon. If the cabinet were rejected and Hariri quit, it would leave the country having to seek another Sunni willing to replace him. Under a sectarian power-sharing system, Lebanon's president must be a Maronite Christian and the prime minister a Sunni Muslim. With less than a year to an anticipated parliamentary election, few figures might be willing to step forward.Lebanon has been without a government since the last one resigned in the aftermath of the Aug. 4 Beirut port blast that killed more than 200 people, injured thousands of others and destroyed swathes of the city. The deadlock has deepened the financial crisis, dubbed by the World bank as one of the deepest depressions of modern history. "For me this government can start to rescue the country and stop the collapse," Hariri said.
*Reporting by Beirut Bureau, Writing by Maha El Dahan; Editing by Alison Williams

Egypt offers support to Hairiri as tensions simmer in Lebanon
The Arab Weekly/July 14/2021
BEIRUT – Egypt has asked Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri not to give up on forming a cabinet, regional television station Al Hadath said on Wednesday citing its sources. The network also said that Cairo would send a high-level delegation to Beirut soon to support efforts to name a government and that it would work on a roadmap to resolving the Lebanese crisis. Hariri is currently on a visit to Cairo, where Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi expressed full support for the Lebanese prime minister-designate in his efforts to resolve the country’s crippling economic and political crisis. Lebanon is battling an economic meltdown dubbed by the World Bank as one of the deepest depressions in modern history. The financial crisis, which has propelled more than half of the population into poverty and seen the value of the currency drop by more than 90% in nearly two years, has been deepened by political deadlock. Hariri has been at loggerheads for months with President Michel Aoun over forming a new government. He is due to meet Aoun at the Baabda presidential palace on his return from Cairo. Earlier on Wednesday Aoun said he hoped Hariri would carry “positive indications” to the meeting and said efforts were still under way to form a cabinet. In Egypt, Sisi welcomed the Lebanese politician, “reaffirming Egypt’s full support for Hariri’s political path which aims at restoring stability to Lebanon” and for his attempts to deal with challenges including the formation of a government, a presidency statement said. Hariri also met Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who stated Egypt’s support for Lebanon’s “exit from the current situation, and the necessity for all Lebanese parties to prioritise Lebanon’s highest interest over any narrow interests,” according to tweets from Hariri and the Egyptian foreign ministry.
Renewed tensions
Hariri’s visit to Cairo coincided with renewed tensions at home as hundreds of protesters, mostly family members of victims of the Beirut Port blast, demonstrated outside the home of Lebanon’s caretaker interior minister Tuesday. Demonstrators demanded an end to what they call the obstruction of an investigation into one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history. They marched outside the home of Mohamed Fehmi in a symbolic funeral procession with empty coffins to symbolise the victims. They then tossed the coffins into the yard of the building and pushed their way through security guards to hold a symbolic burial ceremony. The riot police responded with tear gas and scuffled with the protesters. The August 4 explosion at the port devastated the capital, killed more than 200 people and injured thousands. Hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate, an highly explosive material used in fertilizers that had been improperly stored in the port for years, ignited causing the explosion. Many blame officials for keeping the explosive material stored at the port. “He killed us another time,” said Tracy Naggear, whose three year-old daughter was one of the youngest victims of the blast. She was referring to Fehmi’s decision to reject a request by the judge investigating the explosion to question one of Lebanon’s most senior generals, the head of General Security Major-General Abbas Ibrahim.
Seeking justice
Investigating Judge Tarek Bitar said earlier this month he intends to pursue senior politicians and former and current security chiefs in the case and requested their immunity be lifted so he can prosecute them. Families of the victims and survivors praised the judge’s move as a bold step. His predecessor leading the probe was removed after he accused two former ministers of negligence that led to the explosion. Naggear said the symbolic burial outside Fehmi’s building was held at the scene of the “second crime” against the families seeking justice. The gathering turned rowdy when dozens of protesters stormed Fehmi’s building, breaking down two metal gates and scuffled with riot police who beat them with clubs. Police fired tear gas to push back against the protesters. The push set off pitched street battles with stone-throwing protesters. Many were injured and treated on the scene. The protesters sprayed the word “killer” in red at the entrance of Fehmi’s property as men pelted the building with tomatoes. “Mohamed Fehmi, we will not leave you alone. Lift the immunity,” said Ibrahim Hoteit, whose brother Tharwat, was killed in the blast. Lebanon is also experiencing one of the worst economic crises in the last 150 years, according to the World Bank. Despite the economic meltdown, politicians have been unable to form a government to lead negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a recovery package.
Threat of sanctions
In a visit to Beirut port Tuesday, a French cabinet minister criticised Lebanese leaders, warning them of upcoming sanctions from Paris that will target those believed to be blocking the formation of a new government. France’s Foreign Trade Minister Franck Riester said members of Lebanon’s political elite failed to respect their declared commitment to reforms and warned of a first wave of sanctions by France, Lebanon’s colonial ruler. He did not say whether the measures will be imposed only by France or perhaps by the European Union as well. “France respects its promises, unlike Lebanese authorities that did not implement reforms,” Riester told reporters, standing amid the ruins in the port. “Things cannot continue this way.”French President Emmanuel Macron has visited Beirut twice since the port blast, pressing Lebanese politicians to implement structural change in order to release international investments and loans worth billions of dollars. Repeated promises of reforms by Lebanon’s political elite, which has run the country since the end of the 15-year civil war in 1990, never materialised. The ruling class, including some former warlords, has been blamed for decades of corruption and mismanagement that have brought Lebanon to near-bankruptcy. Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government resigned days after the Beirut Port blast.After meeting President Michel Aoun, Riester tweeted that a year after pledging to form a government “nothing was done.”“This blockage is suicidal,” he said.

Aoun Meets French Envoy, Hopes for Positive Outcome from Hariri Meeting
Naharnet/July 14/2021
President Michel Aoun informed French President Emmanuel Macron's envoy, Patrick Durel, during his visit to Baabda on Wednesday that “efforts are still ongoing to form a new government that will prioritize achieving reforms, fighting corruption and proceeding with the forensic audit.”Aoun also briefed the French presidential envoy about the difficulties and obstacles facing the new government’s formation, expressing hope for “positive signs” in his meeting today, Wednesday, with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri. The President reiterated his support for the French initiative, thanking President Macron for his efforts and stressing on “the deep friendship uniting the Lebanese and French peoples.”“No perpetrator in the (Beirut port) crime will be politically covered,” Aoun assured, remarking that the investigations are ongoing to find the culprits and punish them. Durel emphasized from his side on France's keenness to continue supporting Lebanon, and stressed the importance of expediting the government formation and starting the reforms advocated by France and the international community.
This meeting was attended by the French Ambassador to Beirut Anne Grillo.

Hariri Meets Aoun, Submits New Cabinet Line-Up
Naharnet/July 14/2021
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri held a meeting Wednesday afternoon with President Michel Aoun at the Baabda Palace. Hariri -- who arrived in Baabda directly from a Cairo meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi -- said he submitted to Aoun a draft line-up for "a 24-minister cabinet of specialists" according to "the French initiative and Speaker Nabih Berri's initiative." "I hoped for an answer from the president by tomorrow in order to act accordingly," Hariri told reporters after the meeting. He added that such a government would be "capable of reviving the country and halting the collapse." "Now is the time of truth," Hariri went on to say. MTV had earlier reported that "Hariri might have changed his cabinet line-up after his visit to Egypt to make it more flexible and discussable.""Hariri intends to discuss with President Aoun new names," the TV network added, quoting sources close to Hariri as saying that his resignation is "not certain."

Egypt Reportedly Asks Hariri Not to Quit, Promises 'Solution Roadmap'
Naharnet/July 14/2021
Egypt has asked PM-designate Saad Hariri not to give up the mission of forming a new government, agreeing with him on a “timeframe” for consultations over the formation of the much-awaited cabinet, media reports said on Wednesday, shortly after Hariri met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. “Cairo will work on devising a roadmap for resolving Lebanon’s crisis,” Al-Arabiya’s al-Hadath TV quoted unnamed sources as saying. Egypt will “invite several Arab countries to coordinative meetings over Lebanon and will work on creating an international economic group for supporting Lebanon,” the sources added. Furthermore, a top-level Egyptian delegation will visit Beirut soon to back the government formation efforts and Cairo has informed Hariri that it will lead “an Arab dialogue aimed at supporting Lebanon and preventing the escalation of the situation,” the sources went on to say. Egypt also told Hariri that it will “fully” support the Lebanese Army and security agencies. An official statement distributed by Hariri’s office meanwhile said that al-Sisi “stressed Egypt’s full support for PM-designate Hariri’s political course that is aimed at restoring stability in Lebanon and dealing with the current challenges.” Commenting on the “government formation efforts,” the Egyptian president called on the Lebanese parties to unify their efforts to “pull Lebanon out of its current state” and to “put Lebanon’s national interest first.”Hariri for his part lauded "Egypt's strenuous and honest efforts for rallying international support for Lebanon at all levels."

Miqati Hesitant on Succeeding Hariri despite Rising Chances
Naharnet/July 14/2021
With PM-designate Saad Hariri inching further towards giving up the mission of forming a new government, the search for a successor appears to have started behind the scenes. “Although the chances of ex-PM Najib Miqati are rising, he has not yet taken a final decision,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Wednesday. “Miqati has not taken his decision under the excuse that he cannot achieve anything if the foreign forces will not help Lebanon and if the Sunni community will not provide him with a cover,” the daily added. Quoting informed sources, al-Akhbar said Miqati’s chances as a possible PM-designate candidate are nevertheless surging. “He is saying that he might not run in the upcoming parliamentary elections, which means that he is a candidate to lead a government whose mission would be holding the elections,” the sources added. “What might encourage him to accept the ‘adventure’ are French, European and Qatari promises, as well as promises from other countries, to offer Lebanon assistance should a government reflecting confidence be formed,” the sources went on to say, noting that such a government should commit to implementing a reformist program. Al-Akhbar also reported that Speaker Nabih Berri is “rejecting the nomination of any figure that Aoun and Jebran Bassil had promoted in the past.”

Report: Paris, Cairo, Moscow in 11th Hour Efforts to Avoid Hariri's Resignation
Naharnet/July 14/2021
France, Egypt and Russia are exerting eleventh-hour efforts to avoid PM-designate Saad Hariri’s resignation, media reports said on Wednesday, hours before a key meeting between Hariri and President Michel Aoun. The three powers “appear to have concerns over the repercussions that could result from Hariri’s possible resignation should Aoun reject his new draft cabinet line-up,” Annahar newspaper reported. Paris, Cairo and Moscow believe that “resignation would create dangerous gaps in Lebanon’s situation unless it is accompanied by transitional measures to find a successor with the full approval of Hariri himself,” the daily added.The three capitals have made notable efforts and consultations over the past hours in a bid to “keep the course focused on forming a Hariri-led government,” the newspaper said.

Hariri Begins Egypt Visit ahead of Aoun Meeting
Naharnet /July 14/2021
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Wednesday started a visit to Egypt ahead of a key meeting with President Michel Aoun over the new government. Hariri’s Cairo visit involves meetings with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and several senior officials. According to Hariri’s office, the talks will tackle “the latest developments and the general situations in Lebanon and the region and the bilateral ties between the two brotherly countries.”Hariri is scheduled to meet with Aoun at the Baabda Palace later in the day.

Israel: We Will Target All Hizbullah Sites in Any Future War
Naharnet/July 14/2021
The Israeli army stated on Wednesday that “Hizbullah’s military depots are being planted in residential areas,” accusing Hizbullah of “using the Lebanese residents as a military tactic to implement its plans.”The Israeli military claimed that “Hizbullah has an arms depot 25 meters away from a school in the Nabatieh town of Ebba.”The statement threatened that Israel “will take the necessary measures” regarding the “active targets” and “will hit all of Hizbullah’s sites in any future war.”“We will reveal the sites that will be targeted in Lebanon in any war with Hizbullah,” the Israeli army added.

EU Delegation Urges Lebanon to Form 'Fully Empowered' Electoral Commission
Naharnet/July 14/2021
Comment0W460Lebanon’s electoral management and supervisory bodies “need to be fully empowered ahead of the 2022 Lebanon elections,” the EU Delegation to Lebanon said on Wednesday. “A new Supervisory Commission for Elections with a properly sized budget, carrying out its mandate independently, is essential,” the Delegation added, in a tweet. The chief observer of the EU Election Observation Mission to Lebanon in 2018, Elena Valenciano, had held talks with President Michel Aoun on Tuesday. She was told by the President that “the parliamentary elections will be held on time, in the spring of 2022,” and that Lebanon “welcomes the presence of European observers to monitor them, as happened in the year 2018.”Valenciano for her part told Aoun that the European Union is willing to repeat the experience of monitoring Lebanon’s parliamentary elections next year.

Most Lebanese Women Struggling to Afford Period Supplies
Agence France Presse/July 14/2021
Three quarters of females in Lebanon are struggling to afford period supplies amid a deep economic crisis, forcing many to resort to impractical or unsafe alternatives, non-government groups said Wednesday. "76.5 percent of women and girls living in Lebanon experienced more difficulty in accessing products because of the sharp rise in prices during the past year," the groups Fe-Male and Plan International found in a survey. As Lebanon battles its worst financial crunch in history, the price of mostly imported period pads has soared. Women and girls are being forced to buy cheaper menstrual pads, wear them longer, or even replace them altogether with tissues, other textiles or cut-up baby nappies. A survey of 1,800 women and girls from the country's Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian communities found that these coping mechanisms had repercussions on everyday life. Up to 36 percent of respondents had experienced irritations or infection due to lack of access to the right feminine hygiene products. More than 35 percent, mostly younger participants, said their period had prevented them from reaching their full potential or engaging in daily activities. One school girl told the Lebanese group Fe-Male that her family could not afford sanitary pads so she used a piece of cloth and missed several days of school each month. Both non-government groups called for a broader public discussion on period poverty and the right to access to safe sanitary supplies. "Menstruation is not an option but a biological reality, and access to the products of the menstrual cycle is a human right," said Lama Naga of Plan International. Alia Awada, the co-director of Fe-Male, said raising awareness was exceptionally important as women were often reluctant to discuss the topic. "Women and girls don't speak a lot about this need, and this is one of the reasons for period poverty," she said. Keeping quiet about it leads to "dealing alone with it and using alternatives that might not be healthy."

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 14-15/2021
Pope Francis Leaves Hospital after Operation
Agence France Presse/July 14/2021
Pope Francis on Wednesday left the Rome hospital where the 84-year-old pontiff underwent an operation on his colon on July 4, an AFP photographer said. The pontiff left the Gemelli University Hospital for the Vatican in a car with darkened windows, the photographer said. Francis had been admitted after suffering from a type of diverticulitis, an inflammation of pockets that develop in the lining of the intestine. The Vatican initially said he would be in hospital for about a week, and the pope led the Angelus prayer from his hospital window on Sunday. On Monday, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said he would stay for a "few more days." Francis stayed in the same suite used by Pope John Paul II, who also lead the Angelus prayer from there. The Argentine pontiff temporarily ran a fever last week but a chest and abdomen scan and other tests revealed no particular abnormalities.

Rouhani Says Hopes Iran's Next Govt. Can Conclude Nuclear Talks
Agence France Presse/July 14/2021
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday he hopes his successor can clinch a deal to lift U.S. sanctions, implying that nuclear talks will not conclude before his term ends in August. The Islamic republic has held talks since April in Vienna with major powers on reviving its troubled 2015 nuclear agreement. The accord offered Tehran international sanctions relief in exchange for limiting its nuclear program, but was torpedoed in 2018 when former US president Donald Trump withdrew from it and reimposed sanctions. "The work was ready" to be done, the moderate Rouhani said of the talks, speaking in a televised cabinet meeting.  But "they took away the 12th administration's opportunity," he added about his government, without elaborating. "We hope the 13th administration can finish this work." Rouhani is set to hand power in early August to the ultraconservative former judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi, who last month won a presidential poll. Trump's successor Joe Biden has signaled his readiness to return to the deal and has engaged in indirect negotiations with Iran as the accord's remaining other state parties -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia -- hold talks in Vienna. They have held six rounds of talks, concluding the latest on June 20 without setting a date for a new one.
Decision time
The United States and France warned Iran in late June that time was running out to revive the deal, to which Tehran responded by saying that it expects others to "take the decisions". Iran's ultraconservative camp, which deeply distrusts the United States, has repeatedly attacked Rouhani over the failing nuclear deal, which was reached six years ago on Wednesday. Despite this, Iran's senior political figures, including Raisi, have voiced broad agreement that the country must seek an end to the punishing US sanctions. "Any negotiations that guarantee national interests will certainly be supported, but... we will not allow negotiations to be for negotiations' sake," Raisi said on June 21. He added that "any meeting must produce a result ... for the Iranian nation". Rouhani's government has insisted that Iran's basic position on the nuclear talks will remain the same. Ultimate political power in Iran rests with the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who gave the green light to both the original nuclear agreement and the efforts to revive it. In his speech, Rouhani also insisted that his government has "done what was required" to lift U.S. sanctions and that Iranians could "clearly see" their efforts in a foreign ministry report released Monday. The report mentioned in broad terms what has been agreed to in Vienna and included a note from Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who called on all political forces to work together to succeed in the talks.

Iran says US will delist IRGC, lift sanctions on Khamenei, Raisi if nuke deal revived
Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English/14 July ,2021
The United States will delist Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and lift sanctions on the country’s supreme leader and members of his inner circle if the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers is restored, the Iranian foreign ministry said on Monday. In its quarterly report to the parliament on the state of the nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign ministry said if negotiators in Vienna reach an agreement to revive the deal, the US will revoke the designation of the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) as well as revoke Executive Order 13876, under which the previous administration imposed sanctions on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, his office and appointees. This includes President-elect Ebrahim Raisi, who will take office on August 5. The US and Iran have engaged in indirect talks in Vienna since April to revive the deal, which Washington withdrew from under former President Donald Trump in 2018. The last round of talks took place on June 20, and it is not yet clear when the talks will resume. US State Department Spokesman Ned Price said on Monday that Washington would not impose a deadline for a seventh round of talks, adding that only Tehran could determine when the talks will resume. According to the Iranian foreign ministry’s report, which was published on its website on Monday, if an agreement to revive the deal is reached in Vienna, the US would also remove sanctions on “more than a thousand individuals and entities,” including “all banks and financial institutions, except one, all insurance companies, all Iranian oil and petrochemical companies and refineries … and the Atomic Energy Organization and its affiliated companies and research institutes.” In return, Iran would return to compliance with the deal, but only “after the verification of the lifting of sanctions.”Khamenei, who has the final say over state affairs in Iran, had said in February Iran would return to its commitments under the deal only after the removal of all sanctions and its “verification” by Tehran. The US has not commented on the Iranian foreign ministry’s report.

Turkey and Israel want to improve strained relations after presidents’ call: AK party
Reuters/14 July ,2021
Turkey and Israel have agreed to work toward improving their strained relations after a rare phone call between their presidents, a spokesman for Turkey’s ruling AK Party said on Wednesday. The two countries expelled ambassadors in 2018 after a bitter falling-out. Ankara has condemned Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and its treatment of Palestinians, while Israel has called on Turkey to drop support for the militant Palestinian group Hamas which rules Gaza. Both sides say the other must move first for any rapprochement. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Israel’s new president, Isaac Herzog, on Monday to congratulate him on taking office. Israel’s presidency is a largely ceremonial office. “A framework emerged after this call under which advances should be made on several issues where improvements can be made, and where steps towards solving problematic areas should be taken,” spokesman Omer Celik said after an AK Party meeting. Celik singled out the Palestinians as one of many issues Turkey wants to discuss with Israel, adding that areas such as tourism and trade should be a “win-win” for both nations. Bilateral trade has remained strong amid the political disputes. During the call, which came a day after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visited Ankara, Erdogan told Herzog he valued maintaining dialogue and said Turkish-Israeli relations were key for regional stability. Erdogan also reiterated his support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding “positive steps” would also help Turkey’s ties with Israel, his office said. In May, Erdogan called Israel a “terror state” after Israeli police shot rubber bullets and stun grenades toward Palestinian youths at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque. Israel accuses Turkey of aiding members of Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and its Western allies. Turkey has also recently been trying to repair its frayed ties with Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Monday’s call came a month after Naftali Bennett became Israeli prime minister, replacing Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom Erdogan had frequently traded barbs.

UAE embassy opens in Tel Aviv, marking ‘new paradigm for peace’ - watch
Jerusalem Post/July 14/2021
"This embassy is not just a hub for diplomats, but a base to continue in our new partnership."
The United Arab Emirates opened its embassy to Israel in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) building on Wednesday, marking a new phase in the growing relations between the countries. “This embassy is not just a hub for diplomats, but a base to continue in our new partnership,” UAE Ambassador Mohamed Al Khaja said. “It marks a new paradigm for peace and a model for a new collaborative approach for conflict resolution.”The UAE and Israel announced they were making peace and normalizing relations last August, in what was called the Abraham Accords, and Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco followed soon after. Israel opened an embassy in Abu Dhabi and a consulate in Dubai last month, when Foreign Minister Yair Lapid visited the UAE. The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange was crowded with excited guests for the embassy opening, among them President Isaac Herzog and former foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi. Lapid was in quarantine because one of his aides had tested positive for COVID-19. Al Khaja met Herzog at his car on a narrow central Tel Aviv street, outside the stock exchange building, where passers-by watched proceedings from across the street.
The ambassador escorted the president to flagpoles set up outside, where the ambassador raised the Emirati flag as his country’s anthem played. At the end of the ceremony, Al Khaja opened the day's TASE trading.  In his remarks, Al Khaja touted the planned cooperation between universities, hospitals and researchers in Israel and the UAE, as well as the agreements the countries signed in the areas of economics, air travel and agriculture, and said they are “just the beginning.” “In the post-COVID world, those who innovate will lead,” the ambassador said. “The UAE and Israel are innovative nations that will harness innovation for the future of the people of the country and the region. The people of the region are hoping for a new, prosperous Middle East.” Herzog said that “seeing the Emirati flag flying in Tel Aviv may have seemed like a far-fetched dream a year ago.”However, the president added, “nothing can be more natural or more normal,” because Israelis and Emiratis have so much in common. “We are deeply rooted in our land with eyes on the stars. We are building modern states out of desert sands and made the impossible possible,” Herzog said. The location of the ceremony at the TASE was fitting because of economic ties between the nations, he added. “With people-to-people dialogue, both of our cultures will be enriched,” the president said. Herzog thanked UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for their work on bringing the two nations together, and emphasized the former’s “opening the door to a warm friendship between our peoples.”

US charges four with plot to kidnap New York journalist critical of Iran
Reuters/July 14/2021
The four defendants planned "to forcibly take their intended victim to Iran, where the victim’s fate would have been uncertain at best.
"US prosecutors have charged four Iranians, alleged to be intelligence operatives for Tehran, with plotting to kidnap a New York journalist and human rights activist who was critical of Iran, according to a Justice Department indictment unsealed on Tuesday. In recent years, Iranian intelligence officers have tricked a number of overseas activists to travel to destinations where they were kidnapped and sent back to Iran, US authorities said. While the indictment did not name the target of the plot, Reuters has confirmed she is Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, who has contributed to the US government-funded Voice of America Persian language service and reports on human rights issues in Iran.
On Wednesday, Alinejad took to Twitter to express her thanks to the FBI for foiling the kidnapping plan: "I am grateful to FBI for foiling the Islamic Republic of Iran's Intelligence Ministry's plot to kidnap me. This plot was orchestrated under Rouhani."
Asked by Reuters to confirm that Alinejad was the target of the plot, the Department of Justice declined to comment. But Alinejad, reached by phone by Reuters after the indictment was released, said she was in a state of shock. She said she had been working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation since the agency approached her eight months ago with photographs taken by the plotters. "They showed me the Islamic Republic had gotten very close," she said. The four Iranians hired private investigators under false pretenses to surveil the journalist in Brooklyn, videotaping her family and home as part of a plot to kidnap her, according to prosecutors. The four defendants planned "to forcibly take their intended victim to Iran, where the victim’s fate would have been uncertain at best," Audrey Strauss, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said.The Iranian operatives hired private investigators in Manhattan to surveil Alinejad and her family, claiming that she was a missing person from Dubai who had fled the country to avoid paying a debt, prosecutors said Prosecutors said the Iranian operatives had researched how they might spirit the journalist out of New York on a high-speed boat headed for Caracas. Iran directed the operation against the journalist with "the intention to lure our citizen back to Iran as retaliation for their freedom of expression,” said Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. In 2019, Iranian intelligence officers lured Ruhollah Zam, a journalist living in France, out of the country, capturing and later executing him in Iran on sedition charges, prosecutors said. Representatives for the Mission of Iran to the UN could not be reached for comment. Alinejad said she had drawn the ire of Iran by publicizing women in Iran protesting laws requiring head coverings, as well as accounts of Iranians killed in demonstrations in 2019. Alinejad said Iranian operatives had tried multiple times to lure her to Turkey with threats and promises to meet family, she said. FBI agents warned Alinejad earlier this year that Iran was planning to kidnap her, moving the journalist and her husband to a series of safe houses as they investigated the case. She said she was still reeling from reading the indictment.“I can’t believe I’m not even safe in America,” she said.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Kidnapping Conspiracy Charges Against An Iranian Intelligence Officer And Members Of An Iranian Intelligence Network
United States Department Of Justice
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Tuesday, July 13, 2021
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Kidnapping Conspiracy Charges Against An Iranian Intelligence Officer And Members Of An Iranian Intelligence Network
Iranian Intelligence Services Allegedly Plotted to Kidnap a U.S. Journalist and Human Rights Activist from New York City for Rendition to Iran
Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Mark J. Lesko, the Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the unsealing of kidnapping conspiracy, sanctions violations conspiracy, bank and wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy charges against ALIREZA SHAVAROGHI FARAHANI, a/k/a “Vezarat Salimi,” a/k/a “Haj Ali,” MAHMOUD KHAZEIN, KIYA SADEGHI, and OMID NOORI, and sanctions violations conspiracy, bank and wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and structuring charges against NILOUFAR BAHADORIFAR, a/k/a “Nellie Bahadorifar.” The charges are contained in a Superseding Indictment unsealed today in Manhattan federal court. The case is pending before U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams. BAHADORIFAR was arrested on July 1, 2021 in California on charges contained in an underlying indictment. BAHADORIFAR will be arraigned on the charges in the Superseding Indictment by Judge Abrams at a date and time to be set by the Court. FARAHANI, KHAZEIN, SADEGHI, and NOORI, all of whom are based in Iran, remain at large.
U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “As alleged, four of the defendants monitored and planned to kidnap a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin who has been critical of the regime’s autocracy, and to forcibly take their intended victim to Iran, where the victim’s fate would have been uncertain at best. Among this country’s most cherished freedoms is the right to speak one’s mind without fear of government reprisal. A U.S. citizen living in the United States must be able to advocate for human rights without being targeted by foreign intelligence operatives. Thanks to the FBI’s exposure of their alleged scheme, these defendants have failed to silence criticism by forcible abduction.”
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mark J. Lesko said: “Every person in the United States must be free from harassment, threats and physical harm by foreign powers. Through this indictment, we bring to light one such pernicious plot to harm an American citizen who was exercising their First Amendment rights, and we commit ourselves to bring the defendants to justice.”
FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said: “This is not some far-fetched movie plot. We allege a group, backed by the Iranian government, conspired to kidnap a U.S. based journalist here on our soil and forcibly return her to Iran. Not on our watch. FBI special agents and analysts will continue to aggressively hunt for foreign operatives who attempt illegal action inside our borders or against our citizens. Working side-by-side with our international partners, the FBI’s reach is global. When we find you, you will be brought here and held accountable under U.S. law.”
According to the allegations contained in the Superseding Indictment, other court filings, and statements made during court proceedings:[1]
FARAHANI is an Iranian intelligence official who resides in Iran. KHAZEIN, SADEGHI, and NOORI are Iranian intelligence assets who also reside in Iran. Since at least June 2020, FARAHANI, and the intelligence network he manages – including KHAZEIN, SADEGHI, and NOORI – have plotted to kidnap a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin (“Victim-1”) from within the United States in furtherance of the Government of Iran’s efforts to silence Victim-1’s criticisms of the regime. Victim-1 is a journalist, author, and human rights activist, residing in Brooklyn, New York, who has publicized the Government of Iran’s human rights abuses.
Prior to the plot to kidnap Victim-1 on U.S. soil, the Government of Iran attempted to lure Victim-1 to a third country in order to capture Victim-1 for rendition to Iran. In approximately 2018, Iranian government officials attempted to induce relatives of Victim-1, who reside in Iran, to invite Victim-1 to travel to a third country for the apparent purpose of having Victim-1 arrested or detained and transported to Iran for imprisonment. Victim-1’s relatives did not accept the offer. Iranian intelligence services have previously lured other Iranian dissidents from France and from the United States for the purposes of capturing and imprisoning regime critics and have publicly claimed responsibility for these capture operations. An electronic device used by FARAHANI contains, among other things, a photo of Victim-1 alongside photos of two other individuals, both of whom were captured by Iranian intelligence, with one later executed and the other imprisoned in Iran, and a caption in Farsi stating, “Gradually the gathering gets bigger... Are you coming, or should we come for you?”
On multiple occasions in 2020 and 2021, as part of the plot to kidnap Victim-1, FARAHANI and his network procured the services of private investigators to surveil, photograph, and video record Victim-1 and Victim-1’s household members in Brooklyn. The extensive surveillance that FARAHANI’s network procured included requests for days’ worth of surveillance at Victim-1’s home and the surrounding area, videos and photographs of Victim-1’s family and associates, surveillance of Victim-1 outside Victim-1’s residence, and the installation of and access to a live high-definition video feed depicting Victim-1’s home. The network repeatedly insisted on high-quality photographs and video recordings of Victim-1 and Victim-1’s household members; a large volume of content; pictures of visitors and objects around the house; and depictions of Victim-1’s body language. The network procured the surveillance by misrepresenting their identities and the purpose of the surveillance to the investigators, and laundered money into the United States from Iran in order to pay for the surveillance, photos, and video recordings of Victim-1. SADEGHI acted as the network’s primary point of contact with the private investigators in the United States, and NOORI facilitated payment to the investigators in furtherance of the plot targeting Victim-1.
As part of the kidnapping plot, the FARAHANI-led intelligence network also researched methods of transporting Victim-1 out of the United States for rendition to Iran. SADEGHI, for example, researched a service offering military-style speedboats for self-operated maritime evacuation out of New York City, and maritime travel from New York to Venezuela, a country whose de facto government has friendly relations with Iran. KHAZEIN researched travel routes from Victim-1’s residence to a waterfront neighborhood in Brooklyn, the location of Victim-1’s residence relative to Venezuela, and the location of Victim-1’s residence relative to Tehran.
The network that FARAHANI directs has also targeted victims in other countries, including victims in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates, and has worked to procure similar surveillance of those victims.
BAHADORIFAR is originally from Iran and is currently a California resident. BAHADORIFAR has provided financial and other services from the United States to Iranian residents and entities, including to KHAZEIN, since at least in or about 2015, including access to the U.S. financial system and U.S. financial institutions through the use of card accounts, and has offered to manage business interests in the United States on KHAZEIN’s behalf. Among other things, BAHADORIFAR caused a payment to be made to a private investigator for surveillance of Victim-1 on KHAZEIN’s behalf. BAHADORIFAR is not charged with participating in the kidnapping conspiracy, but is alleged to have provided financial services that supported the plot and is charged with conspiring to violate sanctions against Iran, to commit bank and wire fraud, and to commit money laundering. BAHADORIFAR is also charged with structuring cash deposits totaling more than approximately $445,000.
ALIREZA SHAVAROGHI FARAHANI, 50, MAHMOUD KHAZEIN, 42, KIYA SADEGHI, 35, and OMID NOORI, 45, all of Iran, have each been charged with: (1) conspiring to kidnap, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison (Count One), (2) conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sanctions against the Government of Iran, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison (Count Two), (3) conspiring to commit bank and wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison (Count Three), and (4) conspiring to launder money, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison (Count Four). NILOUFAR BAHADORIFAR, 46, of California, is charged in Counts Two, Three, and Four, and is further charged with structuring (Count Five), which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The potential maximum sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by Judge Abrams.
BAHADORIFAR was arrested on charges contained in an underlying indictment on July 1, 2021, and was arraigned by Judge Abrams on that indictment on July 8, 2021. FARAHANI, KHAZEIN, SADEGHI, and NOORI remain at large.
Ms. Strauss praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI’s New York Field Office Counterintelligence-Cyber Division and the New York FBI Iran Threat Task Force. Ms. Strauss also thanked the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) and the NYPD Intelligence Bureau, the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office Orange County Resident Agency, and the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, for their assistance.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Lockard, Jacob H. Gutwillig, and Matthew J.C. Hellman are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney Nathan Swinton of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
The charges in the Superseding Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the Superseding Indictment, and the description of the Superseding Indictment set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Attachment(s):
Download u.s. v. farhani et al S1indictment (21 cr. 430)
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Counterintelligence and Export Control
National Security
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USAO - New York, Southern

Revelations highlight Iranian role in Iraqi militias’ anti-US attacks
The Arab Weekly/July 14/2021
BAGHDAD – A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander urged Iraqi Shia militias to step up attacks on US targets during a meeting in Baghdad last week, three militia sources and two Iraqi security sources familiar with the gathering told Reuters.
American forces in Iraq and Syria were attacked several times following the visit by an Iranian delegation led by Revolutionary Guards intelligence chief Hossein Taeb, which came after deadly US air strikes against Iran-backed militias at the Syrian-Iraqi border on June 27. While encouraging retaliation, the Iranians advised the Iraqis not to go too far in order to prevent a showdown from spinning out of control, three militia sources briefed on the meeting said. The Iranians did, however, advise them to widen their attacks by retaliating against US forces in Syria, according to one of the three militia sources, a senior local militia commander briefed on the meeting. The flare-up comes as significant differences cloud diplomatic efforts to revive the Iranian 2015 nuclear agreement, which was abandoned by former US President Donald Trump but which Iran wants reinstated to allow it to resume key exports of oil. A senior official in the region, who was briefed by Iranian authorities on Taeb’s visit, said that Taeb met several Iraqi militia leaders during the trip and conveyed “the supreme leader’s message to them about keeping up pressure on US forces in Iraq until they leave the region”.
Since the US air strikes, attacks on US troops and personnel or bases where they operate have intensified in Iraq and widened to eastern Syria. Iran’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters for this article and officials at the Revolutionary Guards public relations office were not immediately available for comment. Iran’s UN envoy this month denied US accusations that Tehran supported attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria and condemned US airstrikes on Iranian-backed militants there. There was no immediate response from the Iraqi government nor the prime minister’s office to questions about the meeting. The sources whom Reuters spoke did so on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.
Close to Khamenei
The Arab world’s biggest Shia majority country, Iraq has been a theatre of US-Iranian rivalry since the US-led invasion that toppled Sunni leader Saddam Hussein in 2003. The Shia militias have been waging a sustained and increasingly sophisticated campaign against US forces which, after withdrawing in 2011, returned to Iraq in 2014 at the head of a coalition to fight the Islamic State (ISIS) extremist group. But the attacks, including explosives-laden drones, have moved up a gear since the US air strikes, which Iran-aligned militias say killed four of their members. The two Iraqi security sources close to the activities and operations of the groups said the Iranians handed their Iraqi allies aerial maps of US positions in eastern Syria at the July 5 meeting. The Pentagon said it was deeply concerned about the attacks, including a July 7 rocket barrage on the Ain al-Asad air base in which two American service members were wounded. A senior Guards figure, Taeb is a mid-ranking Shia cleric seen by insiders and analysts of Iranian politics as close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The senior official in the region said Khamenei had sent Taeb to Iraq after visits there by Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, appointed last year as head of the Guards’ expeditionary branch, the Quds Force, had failed to achieve an escalation. An Iraqi government official said it appeared that Iran was seeking to use its allies in Iraq to apply pressure for a return to the nuclear deal, under which harsh US sanctions would be lifted in return for curbs on Iran’s atomic activities. A senior Iranian diplomat said Taeb’s visit to Baghdad indicated that Khamenei was getting directly involved in Iraq affairs after the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, the previous Quds Force chief, in a US drone strike in Iraq early last year.
A spokesman for one of the Iranian-backed militia groups hit by the US air strike last month confirmed that the recent attacks were carried out by the Iraqi Islamic Resistance, a reference to the Shia Iran-backed groups. “The military escalation against the American forces will continue until all their combatant forces leave Iraq,” Kadhim al-Fartousi, the spokesman for the Kataib Sayyed al-Shuhada faction, told Reuters. Saad al-Saadi, a senior official in the political office of the Iranian-backed group of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, said if the Americans continued to strike at militias, then more effective attacks on US forces could be expected anywhere in Iraq and Syria. The meeting was held in Baghdad’s upscale Jadiriya neighbourhood in a villa just across the river Tigris from the US embassy, two of the local militia commanders said. Iran and the United States began indirect negotiations in Vienna in early April to restore the nuclear deal. No date has been set for further talks, which adjourned on June 20. Some Western and Iranian officials have said the talks are a long way from a conclusion, as disagreements on which US sanctions should be lifted and on the nuclear commitments that Iran has to make and when still remain in place.

In first, US court rules Syria, Iran, IRGC, banks liable for Hamas attack
The Jerusalem Post/July 14/2021
This ruling is the first case in which US courts have found Banks Markazi, Melli or Saderat liable for a terror attack by a foreign terrorist organization against a US national.
In a landmark ruling, a US federal court ruled on Monday that Syria, Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and three Iranian banks were liable for the Hamas terror attack which killed Eitam and Naama Henkin in 2015.
The District of Columbia court ruled on two suits: one filed by the parents and siblings of Eitam and one filed by the Henkins' children and the Henkins' estates. The suits made claims governed by the US Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, alongside other claims.
The Justice for United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Act, which amended the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, established a fund to provide compensation to eligible claimants who hold judgments against state sponsors of terrorism.
In the suit filed by the Henkins' children, the plaintiffs claimed that Hamas relies on Iran and Syria for material support, including but not limited to training, weapons and financing. The children of Eitam and Naama Henkin filed the $360 million civil damages wrongful death lawsuit in 2019, shortly after then US president Donald Trump designated the IRGC as a terrorist group.
The plaintiffs said that Iran provides logistical and military support to Hamas through the IRGC’s Quds Force and other entities, and that Tehran funnels much of its financial sponsorship of Hamas through Bank Markazi, Bank Melli and Bank Saderat.
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The Central Bank of Iran was sanctioned in 2019 for providing billions of dollars to the IRGC, the IRGC Quds Force (which supports Hamas) and Hezbollah. Bank Melli was sanctioned by the US in the past for providing millions of dollars to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and other groups through the Quds Force. Bank Saderat was also sanctioned in the past by the US for being a terrorist financier.
None of the defendants responded to the lawsuit.
The DC court ruled on Monday that because Iran, Syria, the IRGC and the Iranian banks materially support Hamas's terrorism efforts and deployed Hamas as agents, they are liable under US law for Eitam's murder, as he was a US citizen, and liable under Israeli law for the harm suffered by Naama and their children from the murder.
The court will determine monetary damages in a later proceeding, according to a press release by Stein Mitchell Beato & Missner LLP, the legal firm which represented the Henkin children. The firm was joined by co-counsel Gavriel Mairone of MM Law, LLC, which represents victims of terrorism and war crimes.
This ruling is the first case in which US courts have found Banks Markazi, Melli or Saderat liable for a terror attack by a foreign terrorist organization against a US national.
“There is no doubt that this horrific, murderous act was sponsored by Syria, Iran, and Iranian state-sponsored organizations, and the court’s ruling yesterday sends a loud and clear message that financiers of terrorism will be held responsible for their despicable actions,” said Jonathan Missner, managing partner of Stein Mitchell Beato & Missner LLP, in a statement. “The Iranian banks, including Iran’s central bank, Markazi, have never before been held accountable so this is a huge step forward when it comes to holding foreign actors to account for the murder of Americans.”
“Financing is the oxygen needed for terrorism," said Gavriel Mairone of MM~LAW LLC. "Bank Markazi, serves as both the Central Bank of Iran and the Central Bank for financing international terrorism directed against Americans and our allies. The Treasury Dept. has sanctioned Melli and Saderat as facilitators and financiers of international terrorists such as Hamas and Hizballah.”
On October 1, 2015, Eitam Henkin and his wife Naama were driving home with their four children near Nablus when three Hamas terrorists overtook their vehicle and began firing automatic weapons towards them, driving the Henkins off the road.
The gunmen, who originally planned to kidnap the Henkins, then approached the vehicle and encountered Eitam, who began struggling with one of the gunmen. The second gunman saw the struggle, shot and killed Eitam and then shot and killed Naama at point blank range. Their four children, who were sitting in the vehicle as well, witnessed the horrific murder of their parents.
The gunmen fled the scene after murdering Eitam and Naama but were apprehended by the IDF several days later and eventually sentenced to life in prison.
*Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.

Taliban Claim Control of Key Border Crossing with Pakistan
Agence France Presse/July 14, 2021
The Taliban said Wednesday they had captured the strategic border crossing of Spin Boldak on the frontier with Pakistan, continuing sweeping gains made since foreign forces stepped up their withdrawal from Afghanistan. The situation on the ground could not immediately be verified, with Afghanistan's interior ministry denying the report even as social media was abuzz with pictures of Taliban fighters looking relaxed in the frontier town. Spin Boldak is the latest in a string of border crossings and dry ports seized by the Taliban in recent weeks, with the insurgents looking to choke off much-needed revenue from the government in Kabul while also filling their own coffers. As Kabul's grip over the country appeared to further loosen, former U.S. president George W. Bush slammed current White House incumbent Joe Biden's decision to withdraw all troops.
Civilians were being left to be "slaughtered" by the Taliban, Bush told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle on Wednesday. "This is a mistake... They're just going to be left behind to be slaughtered by these very brutal people, and it breaks my heart," he said. The Bush administration launched the U.S. invasion into Afghanistan in 2001 that toppled the Taliban government following the September 11 attacks on U.S. soil by al-Qaida militants. Along with his key security advisors, Bush was later blamed for a series of miscalculations in Afghanistan that led to the revival of the Taliban movement.
Key crossing
The seizure of the vital border crossing with Pakistan follows days of heavy fighting across Kandahar province, where the government was forced to deploy commando fighters to prevent the fall of the provincial capital even as the insurgents inched closer to taking the frontier. In a statement, insurgent spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid assured traders and residents there that their "security is guaranteed". But Afghan officials insisted they were still in control. "The terrorist Taliban had some movements near the border area... The security forces have repelled the attack," interior ministry spokesman Tareq Arian told AFP. Residents disputed the government's claims. "I went to my shop this morning and saw that the Taliban are everywhere. They are in the bazaar, in police HQ and custom areas. I can also hear the sound of fighting nearby," said Raz Mohammad, a shopkeeper who works near the border. The border crossing is one of the most strategically valuable for the Taliban. It provides direct access to Pakistan's Balochistan province -- where the insurgents' top leadership has been based for decades -- along with an unknown number of reserve fighters who regularly enter Afghanistan to help bolster their ranks. Hours after the crossing fell, an AFP reporter on the Pakistani side saw around 150 Taliban fighters riding on motorcycles, waving insurgent flags, as they demanded to be allowed to cross into Afghanistan. Balochistan is a favored destination for fighters regularly heading for medical treatment and hosts many of their families.
A major highway leading from the border connects to Pakistan's commercial capital Karachi and its sprawling port on the Arabian Sea, which is considered a linchpin for Afghanistan's billion-dollar heroin trade that has provided a crucial source of revenue for the Taliban's war chest over the years.
'What it is'
With the United States just weeks away from wrapping up its final withdrawal from Afghanistan, the hardline Islamist group has swept through much of the country, and the government now holds little more than a constellation of provincial capitals that must largely be resupplied by air. The sheer speed and scale of the insurgents' multi-pronged offensives have stirred fears that Afghan security forces are being overwhelmed. In Washington earlier this week, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said success fending off the Taliban would depend on the country's leaders, and not so much what the United States does. "They know what they need to do," Kirby told reporters. In another sign Western governments were rapidly reassessing their Afghanistan policies, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said the United Kingdom was prepared to work with the Taliban if it enters into a power-sharing government. "Whatever the government of the day is, provided it adheres to certain international norms, the UK Government will engage with it," he told the Daily Telegraph. "All peace processes require you to come to terms with the enemy. Sometimes, that's what it is."

Canada imposes sanctions on additional individuals in response to ongoing human rights violations in Nicaragua
July 14, 2021 – Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
Today, the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced sanctions against an additional 15 individuals under the Special Economic Measures (Nicaragua) Regulations in response to ongoing human rights violations in Nicaragua.
Since 2018, the Government of Nicaragua has been committing gross and systematic human rights violations against its people, including campaigns of repression and state-sponsored violence against public protests and suppression of any political opposition.
Despite continued calls from Canada, the Organization of the American States, and international partners, the Government of Nicaragua has refused to implement meaningful reforms to ensure its people can have free and fair elections in November 2021. Instead, the Government of Nicaragua has escalated its attacks on civil and political rights and has arbitrarily arrested more than 20 leading opposition figures and potential presidential candidates since June 2021.
Today’s announcement strengthens Canada’s support for the Nicaraguan people and their aspirations for a more just and democratic future. These new measures align with actions taken by Canada’s international partners and add to previously imposed Canadian sanctions.Canada continues to call for the immediate release of the arbitrarily arrested, imprisoned or detained political candidates, as well as the release of all political prisoners, and an end to the arrest and harassment of the independent media and civil society actors. The Government of Nicaragua needs to guarantee the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all its people in accordance with international law and its own constitution.
Quotes
“Canada stands with the people of Nicaragua in their call for a just and peaceful future rooted in fundamental respect for human rights, media freedom, and the right to vote in free, fair and transparent elections. We call on Nicaraguan authorities to release those unjustly detained and to respect the rule of law and international human rights obligations.”
- Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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Canada condemns arrest of political candidates and civil society leaders in Nicaragua
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Moqtada Sadr Demands Action over Deadly Covid Unit Fire
Agence France Presse/July 14, 2021
Populist Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr has warned he will hold the Iraqi government responsible if it fails to action over a devastating fire that killed at least 60 people in a Covid isolation unit. The warning comes just months before Iraq is scheduled to go to the polls in October for an early parliamentary election that was demanded by a protest movement backed by Sadr's supporters. "It is incumbent on the government to work immediately to firmly and seriously punish those to blame for hospital fires, whether in Nasiriyah or other provinces, no matter their (political) affiliation," Sadr tweeted late Tuesday. "Otherwise, this government will be held responsible from its lowest to its highest (official)." The devastating blaze, which swept through the Covid isolation unit of Al-Hussein Hospital in the southern city of Nasiriyah on Monday evening, was the second such fire in Iraq in three months. An April fire at a Baghdad Covid hospital killed 82 people and was also blamed on the explosion of badly stored oxygen bottles. That blaze triggered widespread anger and resulted in the suspension and subsequent resignation of then health minister Hassan al-Tamimi, a nominee of Sadr's powerful political bloc. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi has ordered an investigation into Monday's blaze "that will lead to those directly responsible", his office said. He already dismissed the hospital's manager, the provincial health director and the local civil defense chief. Arrest warrants have been issued for 13 officials, including the provincial health director. Sadr demanded that the findings of the official inquiry be released quickly. "It must not end up like others conducted into previous hospital fires. Or else we have other means of protecting people's safety and dignity." The health ministry said Wednesday that 60 people had been confirmed to have died in the fire. Forensics experts had identified 39 bodies while 21 were still unidentified. Demonstrations in honor of the victims were planned in Nasiriyah later after residents held a candle-lit vigil late on Tuesday.

Virus-Hit Tunisia Brings Covid Care Home
Agence France Presse/July 14, 2021
When Covid-19 hit Tunisia hard last September, the germ of an idea was born. Too many patients were overwhelming the system, so why not take medical care directly to them? 'CoviDar' -- an initiative named after Covid and the Arabic word for 'home' -- was launched in December 2020 by charities, and staffed by doctors and other health professionals. Among them is 60-year-old general practitioner Hichem Ouadi, who now spends his working week visiting and caring for coronavirus sufferers in their own homes. "When you're at home you sleep better, and your loved ones are there too. Patient morale is higher," Dr Ouadi told AFP in Tunis, as he visited a couple for a consultation that will cost them nothing. "It's a boost to our colleagues in hospitals who are overwhelmed," the GP said. "We have to get our hands dirty -- everyone must help."
Many patients in the North African country may be slow to seek treatment because they lack the means, while others head for hospital emergency rooms because they have no one else to look after them. This is where CoviDar comes in: it can supply early care that can prevent the need for hospital treatment, and provide daily monitoring so patients can be looked after at home as much as possible.
Essential service -
It now provides an essential service at a time when Tunisian hospitals face being completely overrun by the pandemic, and the authorities find themselves unable to treat all of the sick. According to Dr Yves Souteyrand, the representative for Tunisia at the World Health Organization (WHO), Covid-19 has been devastating for the country. "Tunisia has the highest death rate on the entire African continent and the whole Arab world," he told AFP. With "more than 100 deaths a day" in a country of 12 million people "that's really a lot". CoviDar has 140 medics paid for by donations.
Medical students man the phones seven days a week, taking calls on a toll-free number, and putting people who need help in contact with health professionals.One is 26-year-old student Sarah Souissi, who joined CoviDar in January. On average, she receives 25 calls during her four-hour daily shift.
"Most callers are relatives of patients with Covid-19 worried about medical care," she said. Souad Dziri, a coordinator with CoviDar, said the organization also provides post-hospitalization follow-up to allow "the early and safe return of patients to their homes." She said the group has treated 2,100 patients, 98 percent of whom "fully recovered without hospitalization." The idea for CoviDar came during Tunisia's first virus wave in September 2020. "We saw all the hospitals and clinics being overwhelmed," Dziri said. The group expanded as rapidly as it could to try to keep pace with infections, but Dziri said CoviDar was now under extreme pressure. She is happy to help out during a difficult time, but admits to being "a bit stressed", given that "the state has no means". The health ministry's latest figures on Covid-19 show nearly 500,000 confirmed cases and 16,388 deaths, with more than 100 deaths being registered every day.
"We're really overwhelmed -- all our volunteers are being inundated," Dziri told AFP.
Political problems -
Dziri said donations to CoviDar have already amounted to 350,000 dinars ($126,000, 106,000 euros). But it needs another 200,000 dinars ($72,000, 60,000 euros) to keep going in July and August, and to cover as much of the country as possible.
"CoviDar is doing its best, but the state must also do everything it can for mass vaccinations and to slow down this wave," she said. Tunisia has major political problems that disrupt decision-making and undermine confidence in the authorities.
Health care in the public hospital system has been weakened by years of mismanagement and lack of resources. On Monday, Tunisian tennis player Ons Jabeur -- who became the first Arab woman to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last week -- said she was auctioning a racquet to raise money to help medics treating Covid-19, saying she couldn't sit by and "watch my country go through difficult situations". The WHO's Dr Souteyrand said that just 11 percent of the population has had one vaccine dose and five percent two doses, "far from what it would take to have a collective immunity effect". Neila, 28, is just happy to see Dr Ouadi turn up in the mud-brick alleyway leading to her home in the capital. "I'm happy my husband can be cared for at home, with me there," she said. "I have cared for him the best as I could."

Bush Says Afghanistan Troop Pullout a 'Mistake'
Agence France Presse/July 14, 2021
Former U.S. president George W. Bush on Wednesday criticized the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan and said civilians were being left to be "slaughtered" by the Taliban. "I'm afraid Afghan women and girls are going to suffer unspeakable harm... They are going to be left behind to be slaughtered by these very brutal people and it breaks my heart," Bush told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. Asked whether he thought the withdrawal was a mistake, Bush replied: "Yes, I think it is.""I've spent a lot of time with Afghan women and they're scared. And I think about all the interpreters and people that help not only US troops but NATO troops," he said. The former Republican president, who sent troops to Afghanistan in autumn 2001 after the September 11 attacks on New York's World Trade Center, said he believed German Chancellor Angela Merkel "feels the same way". Bush said Merkel, who is set to retire from politics later this year after 16 years in power, had brought "class and dignity to a very important position and made very hard decisions". He recalled talking to Merkel about her childhood in the former East Germany. He said it was "amazing" to speak to someone who had been "trapped in a closed society" when they were young but had gone on to become "chancellor of a democratic free country". US and NATO forces began withdrawing from Afghanistan in early May and are due to completely pull out by September 11, almost 20 years after they arrived. Most of the 2,500 US and 7,500 NATO troops who were in Afghanistan when U.S. President Joe Biden detailed the final withdrawal in April have now gone, leaving Afghan troops to fight an emboldened Taliban seemingly bent on a military victory. The country is facing a crisis as the insurgents snap up territory across the countryside, stretching government forces and forcing many to flee their homes. The United Nations said on Sunday the rising conflict is causing "more suffering" across the violence-wracked country as it called for continuous financial aid. Biden has insisted, however, that it is time for U.S. involvement in the war to end and for Afghans to chart their own future.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials published on July 14-15/2021
Afghan Withdrawal Opens the Way for China
Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute/July 14/2021
China, which shares a tiny 47-mile-long border with Afghanistan, has long coveted developing closer ties with Kabul, not least because of the large, untapped reserves of mineral wealth that Afghanistan possesses.
Rich in copper, lithium, marble, gold and uranium, Afghanistan's mineral wealth has been estimated to exceed in excess of $1 trillion....
Beijing already enjoys good relations with neighbouring Pakistan, where the country's charismatic prime minister, Imran Khan, was once dubbed "Taliban Khan" for supporting the Islamist movement.
As part of Beijing's efforts to deepen and broaden its ties in Central Asia, Beijing is also concentrating its efforts on expanding its influence in Afghanistan, a policy it expects will bear fruit if the Taliban achieve their goal of seizing control of the entire country.
Mr Biden, judging by his spirited defence of his decision to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan, clearly believes that it is in America's interests to end its two-decade-long involvement in the country. But if the US withdrawal simply opens the way for China to become the new dominant power in Afghanistan, then Mr Biden will be responsible for causing, so far as the West is concerned, a strategic disaster of epic proportions.
China, which shares a tiny 47-mile-long border with Afghanistan, has long coveted developing closer ties with Kabul, not least because of the large, untapped reserves of mineral wealth that Afghanistan possesses. Pictured: China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left), Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi (center) and Afghanistan's then Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani at the China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Foreign Ministers Dialogue in Islamabad, on September 7, 2019.
The indecent haste with which the Biden administration has undertaken its military withdrawal from Afghanistan not only raises the prospect of handing control of the country over to the hardline Islamist Taliban movement. It also presents China with a golden opportunity to extend its influence over this strategically important Central Asian country.
China, which shares a tiny 47-mile-long border with Afghanistan, has long coveted developing closer ties with Kabul, not least because of the large, untapped reserves of mineral wealth that Afghanistan possesses.
Rich in copper, lithium, marble, gold and uranium, Afghanistan's mineral wealth has been estimated to exceed in excess of $1 trillion, resources that could easily make the country economically self-sufficient if ever they were to be fully developed.
From China's perspective, access to Afghanistan's mineral riches would provide it with a ready supply of valuable minerals that are deemed vital to the ruling Communist party's long-term aim of becoming the world's pre-eminent economic power.
Decades of incessant conflict in Afghanistan, dating back to the Soviet Union's invasion in 1979, has meant that, to date, little progress has been made in developing the country's natural riches. Endemic corruption among the country's ruling elite is another reason for the slow rate of progress, with the result that the Afghan government is estimated to lose around $300 million from mining each year.
Former US President Donald J. Trump at one point considered developing Afghanistan's mineral wealth to help pay for the cost of the US-led military coalition, which is estimated to have cost American taxpayers between $1-2 trillion during the past two decades.
Now, following US President Joe Biden's decision to accelerate the pace of the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, there are mounting concerns that China will move quickly to replace the US as the dominant power in this benighted country, with all the implications that could have for Western security as a number of Islamist terror groups, such as ISIS, look to use the country as a safe haven from which to plot attacks against the West.
The manner of the Americans' departure, where they clearly did not trust their Afghan allies sufficiently enough to give them prior notice of their departure, demonstrates a worrying lack of faith between the US and its allies despite the fact the two sides have been close allies for nearly two decades.
The US and other Nato allies, such as Britain, have invested billions of dollars in training and equipping the Afghan security forces to defend the country against the Taliban threat.
Nonetheless, the situation on the ground has reached the point where, without backing from Western forces, the Afghan forces will struggle to prevail against a determined and resourceful adversary such as the Taliban.
The inability of the Afghan forces to protect the country's democratically-elected government is reflected in recent figures which show that the Taliban controls one third of all 421 districts in the country, with the Taliban itself claiming it controls 85 percent of the country.
Even if the Taliban claims are grossly exaggerated, as Western observers claim, it is clear the Afghan government of President Ashraf Ghani is under enormous pressure as a result of Mr Biden's decision to speed up the withdrawal, with US combat operations ending a full two months ahead of the September deadline originally set by the American president.
As Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told the "Fox News Sunday" show at the weekend, Washington is "watching with deep concern" as Taliban insurgents take control of more and more territory.
With little realistic prospect of a negotiated settlement being reached between Kabul and the Taliban at the peace talks currently taking place in the Gulf state of Qatar, the stage is set for Beijing to step in and exert its influence in a country which has fallen within Washington's sphere of influence since the late 1980s. Beijing already enjoys good relations with neighbouring Pakistan, where the country's charismatic prime minister, Imran Khan, was once dubbed "Taliban Khan" for supporting the Islamist movement.
The Pakistani leader has also been criticised for declaring al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden a "martyr" after he was killed by US special forces as his Pakistan hideaway in 2011. As part of Beijing's efforts to deepen and broaden its ties in Central Asia, Beijing is also concentrating its efforts on expanding its influence in Afghanistan, a policy it expects will bear fruit if the Taliban achieve their goal of seizing control of the entire country.
Previous attempts by Beijing to build ties in Afghanistan have been hampered by China's appalling treatment of its minority Muslim Uyghur population in Xinjiang province in north-western China. The Uyghurs have historically enjoyed close links with the Taliban -- a number of Uyghur fighters were sent to the US Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba after they were detained by US forces in Afghanistan during the initial American military intervention in 2001 after the September 11 attacks.
In an attempt to improve relations with Beijing, the Taliban have refused to condemn China's persecution of Muslims in Xinjiang, and have declared that they will no longer harbour Uyghur militants in the territory they control.
In addition, Chinese officials have opened unofficial channels with the Taliban, aimed at ending the country's long-running civil war.
Mr Biden, judging by his spirited defence of his decision to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan, clearly believes that it is in America's interests to end its two-decade-long involvement in the country. But if the US withdrawal simply opens the way for China to become the new dominant power in Afghanistan, then Mr Biden will be responsible for causing, so far as the West is concerned, a strategic disaster of epic proportions.
*Con Coughlin is the Telegraph's Defence and Foreign Affairs Editor and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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The Islamists’ second fall in Algeria
Saber Blidi/The Arab Weekly/July 14/2021
When Brotherhood members in Algeria wanted to present to public opinion their level of openness and the obsolescence of stereotypical image of the beard and the qamis, they tried adjusting their narratives. The head of the Movement for a Society for Peace spoke of “kisses,” while the head of the National Construction Movement (Harakat Al-bina Al-watani) wanted to transform itself as he used the word “Viagra” in a political context. But the popular verdict came down harshly underlining their defeat in any political fight that takes place under normal circumstances. It appears that Islamists of all hues are trapped in the ruins of the bloody decade (1990-2000) when some of them issued a fatwa prohibiting democracy and the transition of power. They called instead for jihad for the sake of God. Now, they want to get rid of that image by going to the opposite extreme, despite the risky step of showing their great ability to adapt to all situations and so revealing publicly their true colours. It seems that the renewed polemic about electoral fraud and an active Brotherhood political force, which ranks third in terms of parliamentary representation and could even be first, were an alliance between “Hams” and Al-Bina established, rings hollow with voters. The figures published by the Constitutional Council indicated that the two Islamist formations obtained only about 300,000 votes from a total of more than 24 million Algerian electors and that every Brotherhood seat in the new parliament represents only about 3,000 Algerians.
The Islamists who are captive of their bloody past and their shattered ambitions after 2011 sought to remould themselves but the result has been the opposite.
The story of Abdelrazzak Makri dancing to the beat of the Palestinian dabkeh and his talk about kissing as well as his rival Abdelkader Bengrina’s using Viagra as a figure of speech for politics, did not achieve their purpose. In fact, the result was the opposite of what they intended.
These Islamist politicians maintained their conservative political and Da’wa-geared narratives until the last legislative elections, when Makri wanted to suggest to his supporters and public opinion that “Hams” and the Hams sympathisers are not the party of the beard and the qamis as some believe. He recalled how a female journalist was introduced to the late founder of the movement, Mahfoudh Nahnah, in the early 1990s.
The purpose of the introduction at the time what to force a handshake that would have embarrassed him in front of the audience and the media. But one of the aides of Nahnah, according to Makri, blocked her way and told her, “The sheikh does not shake hands, but we do kiss.” So the embarrassment changed camps. It was the reporter who was embarrassed not the movement’s leader.
Despite the experience of the Brotherhood and the leadership’s presumed profound scrutiny of the Algerian political landscape, it seems that the Islamists are still far from understanding the character and mindset of the Algerian voter, and from comprehending the real reasons for the reluctance of Algerians to vote at all. It seems that Makri, who wanted to tell his supporters and voters that “Hams” is a party of openness that is not trapped in a rigid past, has failed to understand that one of the reasons for reluctance of Algerians to vote was the phenomenon of politicians’ inconsistency and malleability. The Algerian voter wants the candidate or the party of his choice to be really who and what they say they are. Therefore Makri’s statements were ridiculed on social networks and were perhaps a reason that Algerians chose to punish the largest Brotherhood party by giving it only 206,000 votes.
Two great football stars Lakhdar Belloumi and Abdelhakim Sarrar once ran in elections, but did not win the popular vote. The most likely explanation for their electoral rejection was that the public in the governorates of Mascara and Setif wanted to tell the two men, ‘We want you as two football stars and not as parliamentarians and our love for you both is reserved for the football pitch and does not extend to the corridors of power’. The fall of the Islamists was not only driven home by the 300,000 votes received by their two largest parliamentary blocs, but also by the real setback of other Brotherhood offshoots. Abdallah Jaballah’s Party (Justice and Development Front) received only about 7,000 votes, while Ennahda, Reform and the New Algeria Front received only a few thousand ballots each.
And while Jaballah admitted that the party’s constituencies had abstained from voting in the first place and justified their behaviour by the boycott and the political situation in general, he avoided acknowledging that the constituencies were more aware of the circumstances of the election than their leadership. He could not admit that these constituencies and even the Algerian street at large could no longer tolerate political elites who have not changed since their parties were founded over 30 years ago, nor Islamist MPs who have kept their seats in parliament for many successive electoral terms.
Bengrina, the leader of the second Brotherhood faction, did not find any better term to describe the revival of political action except “Viagra”.
In a new party practice imitating senior politicians around the world, he introduced his wife and his teenage son Al-Bara (whom he also nominated to run in the elections). But neither convinced Algerian voters that Al-Binaa is an open movement. So the party took fifth place with a voter base of around100,000. The Brotherhood, which is pinning the failure of its project on conspiracies and hostile forces, does not want to acknowledge its own political bankruptcy, nor even to understand that in all its wavering it has lost its appeal because people have discovered its true colour.

The UN Votes on Syria: A Mixed Success Within a Diplomatic Deadlock
Calvin Wilder, Charles Thépaut/The Washington Institute/July 14/2021
Brief Analysis
The Security Council’s decision to renew the cross-border mechanism averted a humanitarian disaster, but it leaves Russia with more leverage than ever to advance its political goals in Syria.
On July 10, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2585 to renew humanitarian access to northwest Syria from Turkey for six months, with the option of extending it for an additional six months thereafter. The outcome allows both the United States and Russia to declare victory on some level. Washington and its partners have temporarily averted a humanitarian disaster, though that success hinged on the Biden administration’s decision to define limited goals and curtail its engagement on bigger-picture questions about a future political settlement. Meanwhile, Moscow has retained its position of strength in Syria, and U.S. officials have signaled their unwillingness to change that status quo. Although aid will continue to flow for now, it is unclear whether Washington can or will use the momentum to push for a broader diplomatic settlement. Moscow backed off from trying to end the UN’s cross-border mandate entirely, but the full spectrum of concessions Washington made to prevent that remains unclear.
Another Stopgap
In theory, humanitarian assistance is apolitical, and international law stipulates that such access should be unimpeded. In practice, getting aid to the Syrian people has been a recurring source of diplomatic conflict between Russia and the West.
The UN established the cross-border humanitarian program in 2014 after assistance groups warned that Bashar al-Assad’s regime was manipulating aid provision to reward allies and starve out opposition-held cities. Initially, the Security Council approved four crossings to deliver authorized aid: one from Jordan, one from Iraq, and two from Turkey. These crossings were renewed repeatedly until 2020, when Moscow used its veto power to whittle them down to two and then just one: Bab al-Hawa in rebel-held Idlib province. The closures served Russian interests by putting economic strain on opposition-held territory and bolstering the pro-Assad narrative that aid sent through non-regime channels violated Syria’s “sovereignty.” Moscow refused to acknowledge Assad’s crimes against his people or admit that state sovereignty is not a blank check for abusing human rights through denial of aid and other violations. With the exception of China, other Security Council members have rejected Moscow’s argument and noted that closing the last crossing would lead to mass starvation given the logistical and political challenges of delivering “cross-line” aid from Damascus to opposition areas.
Nevertheless, the Kremlin’s veto threats have continued—every six to twelve months, Russian officials declare that the war is “over” and that the time has come to end the cross-border mandate entirely. And each year they edge closer to this goal. Thus far, a herculean UN-led effort has staved off disaster for the 4 million Syrians crowded into Idlib, but their very lives would be at immediate risk if the last crossing were shut down. Roughly 1,000 truckfuls of aid have been delivered there every month for the past year, and basic supplies like food and potable water are sent in daily alongside medical equipment and other life-saving aid.
From a Year to Six Months
The new resolution guarantees that Bab al-Hawa will remain open for at least six months, and likely a full year once the UN secretary-general issues a “substantive report” on “transparency in operations” and “progress on cross-line operations” to deliver aid from Damascus to opposition-held areas (see below). After the resolution was adopted, U.S. ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield stated that the secondary extension in January will not require another round of voting at the Security Council.
Yet the resolution does not restore any previously closed crossings. That was a key request of the United States and other council members, but Russia’s UN ambassador has maintained since June that it is a “nonstarter.”
Another compromise was the authorization of a UN investigation into how aid is delivered to Idlib and how it is used after it arrives. Moscow often contends that cross-border aid may be mislabeled by senders or appropriated by opposition groups, and that rebels are blocking cross-line deliveries from Damascus for political reasons. Yet Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield indicated in June that the regime was largely to blame for this situation: “Since the closing of Bab al-Salam, not a single cross-line convoy has succeeded in reaching Idlib. The Assad regime has blocked at least half of the UN convoys in areas they control. There are places in Syria that haven’t seen a cross-line shipment in 18 months.” Despite being established to appease Russia, however, the UN investigation will also provide an opportunity to shed further light on the Assad regime’s politicization of aid routed through Damascus. The real question is whether Moscow will accept the secretary-general’s conclusions, since it has often rejected past UN reports on the Syria war.
In yet another concession to Russia, Resolution 2585 also endorses “early recovery” reconstruction projects that the United States and its partners had previously made conditional on progress toward a broader political settlement. More specifically, the resolution encourages the International Committee of the Red Cross “and other organizations” to begin early recovery work on providing shelter to displaced Syrians. This phrasing is vague, and no one denies the dire situation that many civilians currently face. Yet the Western countries that provide around 90 percent of UN agency funding previously opposed this move and expressed concern about diversion of aid resources by Assad.
The compromise vote was preceded by nearly four months of intense negotiations between member states as well as strategic posturing by Russia. Despite the lack of clarity about its overall Syria policy, the Biden administration has focused intently since March on securing a renewal that expanded the number of crossings. In speeches, tweets, and closed-door meetings, officials all the way up to the president pressed for continued humanitarian access to Idlib. Meanwhile, Russia attempted to make the renewal contingent on securing concessions in other sections of the Syrian file, mainly the lifting of sanctions. It also upgraded its military presence and used selective force to emphasize its coercive power. For example, a Russian airstrike killed at least one civilian near Bab al-Hawa in March, while the Assad regime intensified its artillery shelling in recent months, striking two hospitals in opposition territory, among other targets.
Policy Recommendations
Given that the Biden administration defined the negotiations as a test of Russian willingness to cooperate with the United States on areas of mutual concern, the resolution’s significance stretches beyond Syria. Yet while functional diplomacy between the two countries is beneficial to international stability, Washington should not underestimate the consequences of making too many concessions on Syria. Its diplomatic success in New York can only last if it bolsters the balance of power it strove to establish in the lead-up to Resolution 2585.
First and foremost, this means clarifying that the language welcoming “early recovery” projects does not change Washington’s overall policy of opposing reconstruction until a political settlement has been reached. In this respect, U.S. officials should not rely solely on their bilateral channels with Russia to discuss the conflict’s non-humanitarian aspects; rather, they should work more closely with European and Arab partners to reshape the diplomatic process, for instance by connecting the Small Group on Syria (i.e., the United States, Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia) to the so-called Astana process (Russia, Turkey, and Iran).
Washington should also ensure that the secretary-general’s future report on cross-line aid delivery gaps is put to good use. Moscow will likely deny the report’s accuracy if it does not assign blame to rebel groups in Idlib. In response, the United States and its partners should:
Use the report to reiterate how the regime misuses and obstructs aid deliveries.
Hold the UN’s Syria coordinator accountable for the application of humanitarian principles in his relationship with the Assad regime.
Ask the secretary-general to fight collusion between UN agencies and the regime.
Support NGOs based in Damascus as they negotiate with regime institutions to maximize their independence in selecting aid beneficiaries.
At the same time, the parties need to explore responsible alternatives to the UN’s cross-border operation. Complete reliance on this mechanism is a recipe for biannual brinkmanship, with Russia extracting more and more concessions in exchange for allowing the UN to continue its lifesaving work. Perhaps most crucially, Washington should double down on developing direct ties with grassroots NGOs in Syria so that the UN mechanism is not the only way for humanitarian organizations in Idlib or elsewhere to keep the lights on.
*Calvin Wilder is a research assistant in The Washington Institute’s Geduld Program on Arab Politics. Charles Thepaut is a visiting fellow at the Institute and a French career diplomat.