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

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Bible Quotations For today
Jesus said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself
Saint Luke 04/22-30/:”All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’He said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in your home town the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.” ’And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.’ When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 19-20/2021
MoPH: 215 new coronavirus cases, one death
President Aoun chairs Supreme Defense Council meeting devoted to address security situation
Lebanon says consultations on new government will start next week
Presidency issues parliamentary consultations schedule
President Aoun chairs meeting devoted to address drug crisis
President extends Adha greetings to the Lebanese
US officials in Beirut as new sanctions await Lebanon’s politicians and Iran
Berri meets Ohanian, Arslan and US Ambassador, receives Adha congratulatory cables
U.S. Officials Visit Lebanon for Talks on 'Corruption, Counterterrorism'
FPM Denies Bassil Pushing to Name Aoun Adviser as PM
Hariri Says 'This Horrible Collapse' Could Have Been Halted
Army chief meets Russian Ambassador
Western nations count on army to pull Lebanon out of crisis
Dr. Raymond Sawaya from MD Anderson appointed as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs at AUB
With Rising Influence, Hezbollah Stands Ready to Exploit Chaos in Lebanon/Steven Emerson/Algemeiner/July 19/2021
Saudi Journalist, Fahim Al-Hamed, Why Does The World Keep Silent Over Hizbullah's Drug Trafficking And Money Laundering Activities?/MEMRI/July 19/2021
Key Dates in the Carlos Ghosn Saga
Japan Court Jails U.S. Duo over Carlos Ghosn Escape

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 19-20/2021
Tensions flare as Erdogan heads to breakaway north Cyprus
King Abdullah of Jordan seeks strategic dividends from White House visit
Syrian air defenses intercept Israeli attack over Aleppo
Israel’s defense minister, Palestinian president, discuss ‘trust-building’
US blames China for hacks, opening new front in cyber offensive
Canada will open its borders, first to Americans, beginning August 9
Canada/Statement on China’s cyber campaigns
Reports: 50,000 Phone Numbers Worldwide on List Linked to Israeli Spyware
Turkey Plans Talks with Taliban over Kabul Airport
Second filling of Ethiopia's giant dam nearly complete - state media
US transfers Guantanamo prisoner to Morocco: Pentagon
13 Policemen Killed In Northwest Nigeria
French company makes first Sale of artificial heart

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 19-20/2021
How Iranian Intelligence Hunts Down Dissidents While Protecting Al-Qaeda/Thomas Joscelyn/The Dispatch-FDD/July 19/2021
The Impact of the Ahwaz protests in Iran/Dr. Brenda Shaffer/Policy Brief-FDD/July 19/2021 Jeff Flake as ambassador to Turkey is a chance for my home country to heal/Aykan Erdemir/Deseret News-FDD/July 19/2021
Article In Pro-Hizbullah Daily: Violence Against U.S. Forces In Eastern Syria Is Likely To Increase, With Attacks On Patrols, Supply Convoys/MEMRI/ُJuly 19, 2021
Tensions flare as Erdogan heads to breakaway north Cyprus/The Arab Weekly/June 19/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 19-20/2021
MoPH: 215 new coronavirus cases, one death
NNA/July 19/2021
Lebanon has recorded 215 new coronavirus cases and one death during the past 24 hours, as announced by the Ministry of Public Health on Monday.

President Aoun chairs Supreme Defense Council meeting devoted to address security situation
NNA/July 19/2021
The Supreme Defense Council convened this afternoon at 2:30pm, at Baabda Palace, in a meeting chaired by President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, and attended by Prime Minister, Dr. Hassan Diab. The meeting was devoted to address the security situation in the country. Attending were: Deputy Prime Minister, Acting National Defense and Foreign Affairs Minister, Mrs. Zeina Akar, Interior Minister, Mohammed Fahmy, Finance Minister, Ghazi Wazny, Economy Minister, Raoul Nehme, Supreme Defense Council Secretary General, Major General Mahmoud Al-Asmar and Presidency Director General, Dr. Antoine Choucair.
Statement:
“At the invitation of His Excellency, the President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, the Supreme Defense Council convened in a meeting today at the Presidential Palace.
The meeting was attended by Prime Minister, Dr. Hassan Diab, and members: Acting Defense and Foreign Affairs Minister, Interior Minister, Finance Minister, and Economy Minister. The security situation was addressed, with the advent of the blessed Al-Adha feast holiday, in addition to the necessity of readiness of military and security apparatuses to maintain security and stability during this period. The Defense Council also tackled several agenda topics and took appropriate decisions. Decisions were kept secret in accordance with the law”.

Lebanon says consultations on new government will start next week
Reuters/July 19/2021
Lebanon's presidency said parliamentary consultations to choose a new prime minister will begin on July 26, in another attempt to push Lebanon’s fractious political class to form a government to rescue the country from financial meltdown. Lebanon has been run by a caretaker administration for nearly a year, while its currency has collapsed, jobs have vanished and banks have frozen accounts in what lenders have called one of the most severe financial crises of modern times. Veteran Sunni Muslim politician Saad al-Hariri abandoned his effort to form a new government last week after nearly 10 months of failing to agree its makeup with President Michel Aoun, a Maronite Christian allied with the Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah. Hariri and Aoun blamed each other. A statement by the presidency on Monday said Aoun would be holding formal consultations in the presidential palace to designate a new premier.
Under Lebanon's sectarian system, the prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim.Aoun is required to choose the candidate with the greatest support from lawmakers in parliament, where Iran-backed Hezbollah and its political allies have a majority.Hariri, Lebanon's leading Sunni Muslim politician, was designated in October to assemble a government after Prime Minister Hassan Diab resigned in August, in the wake of the Beirut port explosion that killed nearly 200 people. Donor countries say Lebanese politicians must form a government to reform the corrupt state before it can receive any bailout funds.
*Reporting by Maha al Dahan Editing by Andrew Heavens, William Maclean, Peter Graff

Presidency issues parliamentary consultations schedule
NNA/July 19/2021
The General Directorate of the Presidency of the Republic issued the following statement:
Pursuant to the provisions of Article 2 of Text 53 of the Constitution, His Excellency the President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, will conduct parliamentary consultations to name the Prime Minister designated to form the new Government, on Monday 26 July, 2021, at the Presidential Palace, in Baabda, according to the following:
-Prime Minister, Najib Mikati (10:30am).
-Prime Minister, Saad Al-Din Hariri (10:45am).
-Prime Minister, Tammam Salam (11:00am).
-Deputy Parliament Speaker, Elie Ferzli (11:15am).
“Future Movement” bloc (11:30am), including MPs:
Saad Al-Din Al-Hariri, Bahia Al-Hariri, Henry Chedid, Samir Al-Jesr, Asim Araji, Mohammed Al-Qaraawi, Nazih Najem, Bakr Al-Houjeiry, Sami Fatfat, Tarek Al-Merhebi, Walid Al-Barini, Mohammed Suleiman, Dima Jamali, Othman Alameddine, and Roula Tabesh Al-Jaroudi.
“Loyalty to the Resistance bloc (11:45am) including MPs:
Mohammad Raad, Hassan Fadlallah, Hussein Hajj Hassan, Ali Ammar, Ali Fayyad, Ali Al-Moqdad, Hassan Ezz al-Din, Anwar Jumaa, Amin Sherri, Hussein Jashi, Ibrahim Al-Mousawi, and Ihab Hamada.
“National Gathering” bloc (12:00pm) including the MPs:
Farid Al-Khazen, Tony Franjieh, Estephan Doueihy, Fayez Ghosn, and Mustafa al-Husseini.
“Socialist Progressive Party” bloc (12:15pm) including MPs:
Taymour Joumblat, Wael Abou Faour, Akram Chehayeb, Nehme Tama, Bilal Abdullah, Hadi Abu Al-Hassan, and Faisal Al-Sayegh.
“Independent Central” bloc (12:30pm) including MPs:
Najeeb Mikati, Nicolas Nahas, and Ali Darwish.
“National Social” bloc (12:45pm) including MPs:
Asaad Hardan, Salim Saadeh, and Albert Mansour.
“Consultative Gathering” bloc (1:00pm) including MPs:
Al-Walid Sukkariyah, Faisal Karami, Adnan Traboulsi, and Abdul Rahim Murad.
“Powerful Republic” bloc (3:00pm) including MPs:
George Adwan, Sethrida Tawk, Pierre Bou Assi, Imad Wakim, Majed Eddy Abi Al-Lama, Shawqi Al-Dakash, Ziad Al-Hawat, Joseph Isaac, Fadi Saad, Wehbe Katicha, George Oqais, Cesar Al-Maalouf, Antoine Habshi, and Anis Nassar.
Independent MPs:
Eddy Demirjian (3:20pm).
Nohad Al-Machnouk (3:25pm).
Osama Saad (3:30pm).
Fouad Makhzoumi (3:35pm).
Michel Daher (3:40pm).
Shamel Roukoz (3:45pm).
Jamil Al-Sayed (3:50pm).
Jihad al-Samad (3:55pm).
Jean Talozian (4:00pm)
“Development and Liberation” bloc (4:15pm) including MPs:
His Excellency Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, Anwar Al-Khalil, Ayoub Hmayed, Ali Bazzi, Ali Hassan Khalil, Ali Khreis, Ali Osseiran, Ghazi Zaaiter, Michel Musa, Hani Qubaisi, Yassin Jaber, Kassem Hashem, Inaya Ezzedine, Muhammad Khawaja, Fadi Allama, Muhammad Nasrallah, and Ibrahim Azar.
“Strong Lebanon” bloc (4:35pm) including MPs:
Gebran Bassil, Ibrahim Kanaan, Alain Aoun, Hikmat Deeb, Ziad Aswad, Simon Abi Ramia, Nicolas Sehnaoui, Elias Bou Saab, Roger Azar, Asaad Dargham, Salim Khoury, Edgar Traboulsi, Mustafa Hussein, Antoine Pano, George Atallah, Edgar Maalouf, and Salim Aoun.
“Armenian Representatives” bloc including MPs:
Hagop Pakradounian, Hagop Terzian, and Alexander Matossian.
“Mountain Guarantee” bloc including MPs:
Talal Arslan, Mario Aoun, Farid Al-Boustany, and Cesar Abi Khalil.

President Aoun chairs meeting devoted to address drug crisis
NNA/July 19/2021
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, chaired a meeting devoted to tackle the drug crisis, after the decision issued to lift 75% of medicine subsidies, and keep support only on essential medicines.
The meeting was attended by Prime Minister, Dr. Hassan Diab, Head of the Syndicate of Pharmacists in Lebanon, Dr. Ghassan Al-Amin, Representatives of companies, Carole Hassoun, Marie-Therese Sawaya, Rowad Jebrayel, President of the Syndicate of Pharmaceutical Importers, Karim Gebara, Mrs. Carole Abi Karam, Nabil Gharib and Tarek Tabbara.
Also attending were, former Minister, Salim Jreisatti, Director General of the Presidency, Dr. Antoine Choucair, and the Premier’s Advisor for health affairs, Dr. Petra Khoury.
At the beginning, the President emphasized the necessity of addressing the causes which led to the crisis of medicines, “Since the safety of citizens takes priority in all treatments, and it is not allowed to harm health security, which is equally important to safety in other fields such as security, economy, education and others”.President Aoun pointed out the need to reach procedures in coordination between various stakeholders to secure medicine in Lebanon for citizens and reduce the existing crisis, starting with the Health Ministry to pharmacies, drug importers, representatives of drug manufacturing companies and agents of international companies.For his side, the Prime Minister addressed the needs to tackle the cost of medicine and evaluate the measures taken so far under the title of maintaining the importance of securing medicine on an ongoing basis, and cooperation between all sectors concerned with medicine. In addition, Prime Minister Diab emphasized the need to focus on the topics of studying drug pricing and parallel import, pointing out to the need to reach practical solutions.
On the other hand, the Health Minister presented the measures taken by his Ministry and the procedures which are supposed to be adopted to ensure the continuation of securing medicines. Minister Hasan also explained some of the difficulties facing the ministry’s work in securing medicine on an ongoing basis, including the BDL’s setting a limit of 50 million US Dollars per month of drug subsidies.To that, the meeting discussed a series of proposals which would address the crisis, in coordination between the Health Ministry and representatives of concerned authorities participating in the meeting, aiming to secure medication permanently for citizens according to standards which take into account the laws and regulations which especially guarantee the safety, effectiveness and durability of all medicaments.
Statement:
After the meeting, the following statement was issued:
1-Participants expressed the necessity that the Central Bank commits to scheduling the dues for the benefit of importing companies, including raw materials for the local industry, which are accumulated since the beginning of 2021.
2-The drug policy, and its future, are closely linked to the BDL’s commitment to subsidize the amount of 50 million US Dollars per month.
3-Emergency and parallel import within quality standards and regulations in force through the approved technical committees, at a rapid pace, which is one of the means of solving this issue.
4-Maintaining the relationship based on the history of trust with international pharmaceutical companies.
5-The local pharmaceutical industry and its activation are an urgent necessity in both national and economic senses, within the context of adopting a productive economic approach.
6-Seeking to find a patient subsidy fund from international bodies.
7-Working on dispensing subsidized drugs through the automated drug card, and the project is funded by international companies. -- Presidency Press office

President extends Adha greetings to the Lebanese
NNA/July 19/2021
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, congratulated the Lebanese in general, and Muslims in particular, on the occasion of Al-Adha feast. The President wished that “The meanings of this spiritual occasion brings hope, tranquility and a spirit of forgiveness to Lebanese hearts, in addition to solidarity in these difficult and unprecedented circumstances which Lebanon passes through”.In addition, President Aoun affirmed the continuation of exerting every possible effort to seek an exit out of the stifling economic crisis which threatens social security and Lebanese human dignity. President Aoun also called on the Lebanese to “Adhere to hope and the spirit of struggle to open a new page in Lebanese history, which turns the black page which we live in today, and gives its children the opportunity to live in the homeland which they deserve”. Moreover, the President sent congratulation cables to leader of Arab and Islamic countries, wishing that God would repeat this feast bringing goodness safety and stability. ---Presidency Press Office

US officials in Beirut as new sanctions await Lebanon’s politicians and Iran
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/19 July ,2021
Treasury Department officials are in Lebanon for a three-day visit to discuss “corruption, illicit finance, and counterterrorism,” the US Embassy in Beirut said Monday. The delegation comprises officials from the Treasury Department’s Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes (TFFC) office. They will meet with “financial sector interlocutors and civil society groups,” a statement from the embassy read. It is unclear if the visit and its timing are a prelude for sanctions in the pipeline following the latest failure by Lebanese politicians to form a new government. “It’s routine working-level visit,” one former US official, familiar with the details of the visit, told Al Arabiya English.A US diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, echoed this sentiment. “I don’t know about new sanctions … things are already really bad [in Lebanon],” the diplomat said.
But analysts and individuals on the think-tank scene in Washington are questioning the timing of the trip to Beirut. France and the European Union have said they hope to agree on a framework for a sanctions regime by the end of the month on Lebanese politicians for rampant corruption and blocking the formation of a new government.
Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran
Iran-backed Hezbollah is designated as a terrorist organization by the US and many European and Gulf capitals. Hezbollah officials and allies came under crushing economic sanctions during the Trump administration’s time in office. When President Joe Biden eased US pressure on Tehran, Iran’s proxies, including the Lebanese militant group, saw it as a chance to breathe. But in May, the Biden administration imposed sanctions on seven individuals for evading sanctions and funneling millions of dollars to Hezbollah. When the sanctions were announced, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Hezbollah continued to pose a threat to the US, its interests in the Middle East and globally. Blinken called on the international community to take steps to restrict Hezbollah’s activities and “disrupt its facilitation networks.”In recent weeks, Hezbollah’s backers decided to halt indirect talks with the US over a nuclear deal until the new Iranian government takes over next month.
US officials have repeatedly said they will wait for Iran to return to the talks in Vienna but that they could change their approach if needed.
On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US was planning ways to “tighten” sanctions on Iran’s oil sector due to increased concern and frustration that a new nuclear deal may not be agreed to. Citing US officials, the WSJ reported that one plan being drafted "would choke off Iran’s swelling crude-oil sales to China, the country’s main client, through fresh sanctions targeting the shipping networks that help export an estimated one million barrels a day and bring critical revenue to Iran.”A second US diplomat, based in the Middle East, could not confirm or deny that potential sanctions were the reason for the Treasury Department delegations’ trip to Beirut. US officials do not preview upcoming policy decisions related to sanctions. The Treasury Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment. “Who knows? Maybe they’ll find [individuals] to sanction,” the second diplomat said.
Syria and the Caesar Act
It is also worth noting that Egypt and Jordan, in tandem with the World Bank, are working to convince the US to allow for the export of natural gas and electricity to Lebanon. Both exports would need to pass through Syria and could expose Cairo and Amman to US sanctions under the Caesar Act law. Jordan's King Abdullah II is in Washington for meetings with top US officials, including Biden, this week. He is expected to raise the issue of easing ramifications of the Caesar Act on Jordan, which borders Syria. According to the White House, Alice Tobin, the director for Jordan and Lebanon at the National Security Council, was present during the expanded bilateral meeting between Biden and Abdullah.

Berri meets Ohanian, Arslan and US Ambassador, receives Adha congratulatory cables
NNA/July 19/2021
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Monday welcomed at the Second Presidency in Ein El-Tineh, Caretaker Sports and Youth Minister, Vartine Ohanian, with talks reportedly touching on the current general situation and affairs relevant to the Ministry.
Speaker Berri also met with Head of the Lebanese Democratic Party, MP Talal Arslan, in the presence of former Minister, Saleh Al-Gharib, and MP Ali Hassan Khalil.
Discussions touched on the latest political developments and the general situation.
Former Minister Arslan left Ain El-Tineh without making any statement.
This afternoon, Berri received US Ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy C. Shea.
On the other hand, and on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, Speaker Berri received a phone call from President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, congratulating him on the blessed Eid. Berri also received similar phone calls on the occasion of al-Adha Feast, namely from former PMs Saad Hariri, Nejib Mikati, Tamam Salam and Fouad Siniora, as well as from Caretaker PM Hassan Diab. Berri also received congratulatory cables on the occasion of al-Adha Eid, notably from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Tunisian House Speaker Dr. Rached Ghannouchi.

U.S. Officials Visit Lebanon for Talks on 'Corruption, Counterterrorism'
Naharnet /July 19/2021
A delegation from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes (TFFC) office is visiting Beirut from July 19-21, the U.S. Embassy said on Monday. "They will meet with financial sector interlocutors and civil society groups to engage on issues related to corruption, illicit finance, and counterterrorism," the Embassy added in a statement.

FPM Denies Bassil Pushing to Name Aoun Adviser as PM
Naharnet/July 19/2021
The Free Patriotic Movement on Monday denied a media report that claimed that FPM chief Jebran Bassil is seeking the nomination of an adviser to President Michel Aoun for the PM-designate post. In a statement, the FPM’s media department said it “categorically denies” a report in the Nidaa al-Watan daily that alleged that Bassil was “promoting the name of Mr. Fadi Assli,” the President’s adviser for Gulf affairs.
The media department also said that the FPM chief is not trying to promote “any other name.”The newspaper reported Monday that Bassil has raised Assli’s name with Hizbullah and that the Iran-backed party told him that it “prefers not to rush to the confrontation choice.”

Hariri Says 'This Horrible Collapse' Could Have Been Halted
Naharnet/July 19/2021
Resigned Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri noted Monday that the country’s current “collapse” could have been avoided, days after he quit the mission of forming a new government over deep disagreements with President Michel Aoun and his camp. “Eid al-Adha comes while dear Lebanon and its good people are being lashed by these crises,” Hariri said in a tweet marking Eid al-Adha. “We could have put an end to this horrible collapse, had it not been for some parties’ obstinacy and selfishness,” the ex-PM lamented. Extending Adha greetings to the Lebanese, Hariri pleaded to God to bring “urgent relief.”

Army chief meets Russian Ambassador
NNA/July 19/2021
Lebanese army chief, General Joseph Aoun, met Monday with Russian Ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Rudakov, over the means to bolster bilateral military cooperation. Afterwards, General Aoun respectively met with Lebanese Ambassador to Morocco, Ziad Atallah, and MP Ali Darwich.

Western nations count on army to pull Lebanon out of crisis
The Arab Weekly/June 19/2021
Lebanese and Arab political sources underlined on Monday the significance of statements by Lebanon’s army chief General Joseph Aoun, who said earlier last week that “everyone knows that the military institution is the only one that is still effective.”Some of the sources, who spoke to The Arab Weekly, noted General Aoun’s comments amounted to a very clear indication about the future role that the Lebanese Army might play, at least when it comes to maintaining security in a country that has been on the brink of social explosion. A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, ruled out a military coup in Lebanon, pointing out that the country's conditions do not allow for this scenario, despite the collapse of all other Lebanese institutions, starting with the presidency and a cabinet formation deadlock. "The Lebanese military command does not intend to enter into a direct confrontation with Hezbollah, which boasts a combination of military might and political influence,” the source said, noting that “the Iran-backed Shia group has gained extensive ground experience from its participation in the ten-year-long war in Syria." Preserving the Lebanese army has become a priority and a focus of American and European countries, particularly France. Meeting in Riyadh, earlier this month, American and French ambassadors to Beirut discussed aid to the Lebanese Armed Forces and Internal Security Forces. Lebanese diplomatic sources said that Saudi Arabia, which is coordinating with the American and French ambassadors through its ambassador in Beirut, Walid al-Bukhari, is open to the idea of supporting the Lebanese Army by providing monthly allowances for soldiers and officers.
This comes at a time when Lebanese soldiers are facing difficulties in providing food for their families and paying for transport to their barracks.
Discontent has been brewing in the security forces as Lebanon’s currency has lost more than 90% of its value against the dollar, driving down soldiers’ wages. Many have taken extra jobs. Some have quit. The sources who spoke to The Arab Weekly, revealed Hezbollah had been complicating the army’s mission in Sunni areas, notably in Tripoli. Sunni or Alawite groups affiliated with the Shia party, the sources said, have managed to infiltrate Tripoli, taking advantage of the deteriorating social and economic situation there. Hezbollah remains wary of any role the Lebanese Army might play in the future, especially since most of the officers and soldiers are Sunnis. Washington and its European allies, however, think the army constitutes the only reliable institution that can pull Lebanon out of its many crises. This comes as Lebanon’s leaders have failed to overcome differences and end a political stalemate that has been dragging on for months. The political class in Lebanon, observers say, has failed to address key security issues, the thorniest of which is the issue of Hezbollah's weapons.
The political players in the country, in fact, have merely been struggling to preserve their interests and political gains under their party's control. And to this end, everyone appears satisfied with the status quo, including those who present themselves as opponents of Hezbollah and its ties with Iran. Over recent months, the army has been caught in confrontations with Lebanese protesters who have been demonstrating against failure of the political class. The pressure on the army particularly increased after massive protests forced veteran Sunni politician Saad al-Saad to announce his resignation and that of his cabinet in January 2020. General Aoun’s statements last Friday came one day after Hariri abandoned efforts to form a new government, plunging Lebanon deeper into crisis. The Lebanese army chief said the situation in the country was worsening and would further escalate as a financial crisis stokes political and social tensions. “Our responsibility is large in this period and we need to preserve the security of the nation and its stability and prevent chaos,” he said in a speech to army personnel posted on the army’s official Twitter account. Lebanon is in the throes of an economic meltdown that is threatening its stability and has been dubbed by the World Bank as one of the deepest depressions of modern history. “Our nation trusts us and so does the international community,” General Aoun said. He added the responsibility for the army was great at a time when its personnel were “living with the anxiety of providing for the basics of a good life,” for their families. “Everyone knows that the military institution is the only one that is still effective.”

Dr. Raymond Sawaya from MD Anderson appointed as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs at AUB
NNA/July 19/2021
The President of the American University of Beirut (AUB), Dr. Fadlo Khuri, issued a message to the AUB community in which he announced the appointment of Dr. Raymond Sawaya as Raja N. Khuri Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs, effective October 1, 2021.
Dr. Sawaya’s appointment follows an international search by a committee representing AUB trustees, faculty, staff, and alumni community, co-chaired by Trustees William Zoghbi and Viviane Tabar. “We thank the committee for their outstanding selection of a renowned and visionary academic and medical leader, determined to serve the AUB community at a time of unprecedented challenges in Lebanon and the region,” said Khuri.
He added, “Dr. Sawaya’s appointment comes at a critical time for medical education, biomedical research, and clinical care in Lebanon and the region. He brings a wealth of experience as a principled leader with a remarkable track record of mentoring and empowering individuals and building world class teams. Ray has often been described as a servant leader of the highest caliber, one whose effortless grace under pressure, and treatment of patients and colleagues with respect, compassion, and integrity, mark him as a role model for generations of physicians to follow.”
Raymond Sawaya earned his MD from Université Saint-Joseph in 1974, receiving mentorship from AUB’s preeminent neurosurgeon Dr. Fouad Haddad, before he traveled to the US for postgraduate training. Dr. Sawaya joined the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and rose in the ranks until 1990, when the call came to establish the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Over the next 28 years, Dr. Sawaya developed what is now the premier neurosurgical oncology unit in the world—described by then MD Anderson President Ronald DePinho as “MD Anderson’s crown jewel” among many great departments. For ten of those years, he concurrently chaired the Department of Neurosurgery at the Baylor College of Medicine, helping simultaneously establish the culture of excellence that characterizes that stellar department today. The field of cancer neurosurgery has been transformed in large part thanks to Dr. Sawaya’s world-leading team of surgeons, clinicians, and scientists treating some of the most complex and difficult cancer cases and he has made his own groundbreaking contributions to enhancing the accessibility and safety of brain tumor surgery, with more than 380 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, 45 book chapters, 11 books, and 27,000 scholarly citations to his name.
A member of AUB’s International Advisory Council, Dr. Sawaya has received many major awards, including the Joseph P. Evans Award in Neurosurgery at the University of Cincinnati, the Charles Wilson Award from the National Brain Tumor Society, and the Charles LeMaistre Outstanding Achievement Award in Cancer from MD Anderson Cancer Center. He sits on the editorial boards of numerous medical journals and is frequently requested as a national and international lecturer. He is currently holder of the Anne C. Brooks & Anthony D. Bullock III Distinguished Chair in Neurosurgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Khuri ended his message by saying, “the provision of world-class medical education and state-of-the-art health care to the people of this region has been a keystone of AUB’s sacred mission since its foundation 155 years ago, providing guidance, comfort, hope, and healing to generations of the best and brightest students and most vulnerable patients. Dr. Raymond Sawaya brings unmatched accomplishments and steadfast determination critical to lead the Faculty of Medicine’s vital educational, research, and healthcare enterprises. There are few men or women anywhere that have Ray’s enormous sense of purpose and generosity, and even fewer who are admired and respected more. Please join me in congratulating and welcoming Dr. Sawaya on his appointment and wishing him every success as he embarks on this new chapter of his distinguished career.”

With Rising Influence, Hezbollah Stands Ready to Exploit Chaos in Lebanon
Steven Emerson/Algemeiner/July 19/2021
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/100744/steven-emerson-with-rising-influence-hezbollah-stands-ready-to-exploit-chaos-in-lebanon-%d8%b3%d8%aa%d9%8a%d9%81%d9%86-%d8%a5%d9%8a%d9%85%d8%b1%d8%b3%d9%88%d9%86-%d9%85%d8%b9-%d8%aa%d8%b5%d8%a7/
Lebanon is going through one of the gravest economic depressions in modern history. More than half of the country’s population now lives in poverty, and the country’s currency has plummeted by 90%. Fuel shortages have led to fights at gas stations and the shutdown of critical power stations.
The Middle Eastern state is now on the brink of a “social explosion.” This dire warning from caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab was issued on July 6 as he desperately called for international help to save “the Lebanese from death” and “prevent the demise” of his country.
Instead of taking some responsibility for Lebanon’s economic crisis, Hezbollah — the country’s most dominant political force — is looking to exploit the crisis and further expand its influence.
Israel has answered Diab’s call for help and formally offered humanitarian assistance to Lebanon through the United Nation’s peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL). But Hezbollah is expected to block any form of Israeli assistance to Lebanon, further illustrating the terrorist organization’s obedience to Iran’s extremist Shia ideology, to the detriment of the Lebanese population.
As an Israeli, as a Jew, and as a human being, my heart aches seeing the images of people going hungry on the streets of Lebanon,” Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz said earlier this month, adding that Israel is “ready to act and to encourage other countries to extend a helping hand to Lebanon so that it will once again flourish and emerge from its state of crisis.”
Instead of focusing on how to remedy his country’s woes, Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah deflected blame towards the United States during a July 6 event called “Palestine is Victorious,” and highlighted his group’s main goal of fighting Israel, the Jerusalem Post reported.
“When in the Axis of Resistance, we talk about the ‘liberation of Palestine,’ we are not talking about dreams or fantasies,” Nasrallah said, adding “we do not exaggerate our goals, and this is one of the most important elements of the resistance force.”
Nasrallah also dehumanized Jews and Israelis: “There are no people in the Israeli entity, they are all occupiers and settlers.”
As a terrorist organization that is heavily involved in Lebanon’s governance, Hezbollah reaps the benefits of receiving state-like legitimacy while lacking accountability to its people. This is the assessment of a new report published last month by Lina Khatib at the United Kingdom-based think tank Chatham House.
Hezbollah has gradually increased its power and influence over Lebanese institutions and society, taking advantage of various crises and vulnerabilities in the state system in recent years. Should the Lebanese state collapse, Hezbollah is in a strong position to assume even more control.
Other political parties similarly jockey for power, Khatib wrote, but Hezbollah is better at exercising control among its political partners.
Unlike other power brokers, Hezbollah has de facto control over key border crossings and critical infrastructure. On Saturday, Israeli security authorities announced that they foiled an effort to funnel 43 weapons and ammunition (worth roughly $820,000) through a Lebanese border crossing that Hezbollah controls into northern Israel.
Hezbollah also uses Beirut’s port to facilitate drug trafficking and arms shipments, including explosives material, without state oversight of its activities or storehouses.
Last August, a massive quantity of ammonium nitrate detonated in Beirut’s seaport, killing more than 200 people and injuring more than 6,000. Hezbollah has been accused of corruption and negligence following the blast, given that the group maintains significant control over Lebanon’s ports. A Lebanese government investigation into the blast has failed to bring any senior official to account, and is marred by a justice system plagued by corruption.
Beyond territorial and institutional control, Hezbollah has attained the unique right to keep its own arsenal of weapons and is enabled to “use force at its own discretion under the pretext of national security,” Khatib wrote.
In May 2008, for example, the Lebanese government attempted to disband Hezbollah’s independent telecommunications network. The terrorist organization responded with an armed takeover of Beirut, which lead to a government crisis and a new unity administration.
For the first time, Hezbollah and its partners were given formal veto power in government affairs. Since then, Hezbollah has regularly relied on force to suppress its political opponents, and increasingly pursued independent operations that serve its narrow interests. A prominent activist who was openly critical of Hezbollah, Lokman Slim, was assassinated recently in an attack widely seen as the terror group’s way of silencing its critics.
Hezbollah’s decade-long intervention in Syria’s civil war is another case in point. The terror group sent fighters to Syria largely at Iran’s behest, seeking to secure its regional arms supply route. The organization has consolidated an arsenal of more than 130,000 rockets and missiles that directly threaten Israeli national security. The IDF anticipates that Hezbollah could launch between 1,000-3,000 missiles daily for over a week in the first week of a future war between Israel and the terrorist group.
But intervening in Syria has invited jihadist attacks and higher refugee flows into Lebanon, further destabilizing an already fragile country. Instead of prioritizing Lebanese domestic concerns, Hezbollah expanded its external operations across the region, including in Iraq and Yemen.
Hezbollah similarly continues to strengthen its presence internationally, using regions in Latin America and Europe as a base for drug trafficking, arms smuggling, fundraising, recruitment, espionage, and terrorist operations.
Hezbollah does not have an incentive to formally seize control over the Lebanese state, despite having the capabilities to do so, Khatib’s Chatham House report concluded. Hezbollah prefers maintaining a calibrated level of indirect influence to avoid full accountability.
However, as Lebanon continues to descend towards potential state collapse, Hezbollah’s incentives could change. The group’s leadership could take even more power instead of standing by. Western governments therefore need to prepare seriously for a scenario whereby an Iran-backed terrorist organization consolidates further control over a country on Israel’s doorstep.
Steven Emerson is the director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism.
The opinions presented by Algemeiner bloggers are solely theirs and do not represent those of The Algemeiner, its publishers or editors. If you would like to share your views with a blog post on The Algemeiner, please be in touch through our Contact page.
Lebanon is going through one of the gravest economic depressions in modern history. More than half of the country’s population now lives in poverty, and the country’s currency has plummeted by 90%. Fuel shortages have led to fights at gas stations and the shutdown of critical power stations.
The Middle Eastern state is now on the brink of a “social explosion.” This dire warning from caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab was issued on July 6 as he desperately called for international help to save “the Lebanese from death” and “prevent the demise” of his country.

Saudi Journalist,  Fahim Al-Hamed, Why Does The World Keep Silent Over Hizbullah's Drug Trafficking And Money Laundering Activities?
MEMRI/July 19, 2021
Lebanon, Saudi Arabia | Special Dispatch No. 9450
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/100744/steven-emerson-with-rising-influence-hezbollah-stands-ready-to-exploit-chaos-in-lebanon-%d8%b3%d8%aa%d9%8a%d9%81%d9%86-%d8%a5%d9%8a%d9%85%d8%b1%d8%b3%d9%88%d9%86-%d9%85%d8%b9-%d8%aa%d8%b5%d8%a7/
Intro In a June 13, 2021 article, Fahim Al-Hamed, deputy editor of the Saudi state daily 'Okaz, described the steps taken by Hizbullah to make up for the current decline in its funding. This decline stems from the financial collapse of Iran – the chief source of funding for this organization and other terrorist groups – due to the strict sanctions imposed on this country. According to Al-Hamed, Hizbullah has responded to the crisis by turning to its network of drug dealers, businessmen and bankers, who, deceiving the global oversight systems, transfer drug money from South America through Europe to Lebanon and Syria; moreover, the organization also manufactures and sells drugs in Lebanon and Syria themselves.
Stating that the entire world is knows exactly what Hizbullah is – a murderous terrorist organization which also engages in drug trafficking and money laundering, and which holds Lebanon hostage – Al-Hamed asks why the superpowers remain silent over the crimes of this organization.
It should be noted that, in April 2021, Saudi customs authorities at the port of Jeddah announced that they had intercepted a large shipment of drugs hidden inside pomegranates arriving from Lebanon. Many political elements in Lebanon, and in the Lebanese and Saudi press, held Hizbullah responsible for the smuggling attempt.[1] Since then the Saudi authorities have intercepted many other drug shipments, hidden inside oranges, medical equipment, and more.[2]
The following are excerpts from Al-Hamed's article.[3]
"After its funding sources dried up, and the economy of Iran – the chief financier of the militias and agents of terror in the region – collapsed, Hizbullah started looking for other, unusual sources of funding to deal with the extreme financial crisis it was suffering, and therefore turned to [its activities of] drug trafficking, money laundering and the amassing of explosives in South America and Africa. But the question that arises in the face of this farce and this terrorist militia is the following. If everyone knows that [Hizbullah] is an organization that relies on violence, killing, bloodshed and terror, and if the entire world is convinced that it controls Lebanon, which has become a hostage of the organization's mini-state – why do the powers remain so silent in the face of its terrorist crimes? And why the eager attempts to pamper the Ayatollah regime [in Iran] and remove the sanctions from it, given that it is the chief source of funding for Hizbullah?
"The actions of the militias loyal to the Qom regime [i.e., Iran] are diverse, and include drug trafficking, money laundering and the cultivating of terror and sectarian projects... As the Iranian aid receded, the militias turned to ensuring their sources of funding by smuggling and trading in drugs throughout the world. Hizbullah businessmen turned to the illegal gem trade, as well as to money laundering and drug trafficking… According to observers, the organization, deceiving the SWIFT and IBAN financial systems , transfers funds from South America, where its businessmen are active, to certain European countries that are lax in their oversight of funding sources, and eventually to Lebanese banks owned by businessmen loyal to the organization. This activity relies on [Shi'ite] businessmen in various countries who believe in [the ideology Iran's] Rule of the Jurisprudent. The Columbian drug cartel and the Nigeria-Niger-Chad triangle have become the nexus of this activity, being an essential route through which the organization transfers its profits to banks in Europe and from there to Lebanon, for the Captagon[4] factories are located in Lebanon and Syria and that is where the drug trade takes place.
"The [British] Independent daily in Persian published an article on senior figures in Hizbullah and other Iran[-backed] militias who are involved in drug manufacture and trafficking in Syria. The network they formed, which manufactures drugs, launders the proceeds and uses them to purchase arms for the terrorist Hizbullah, started to emerge in the 1990s, when Imad Mughniyeh, head of the External Security Organization,[5] which is responsible for laundering drug money, worked to establish this route, in coordination with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps [IRGC], as a primary funding source, in addition to the funds provided to Hizbullah by the Ayatollah regime. The Iranian regime, which is under the sword of sanctions, has no choice but to rely on aid from Hizbullah, which grows drugs, smuggles them to neighboring countries, launders the drug money and transfers it to the IRGC, thus strengthening the terror culture which is rooted in drugs and money laundering."
[1] See MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis Series No. 1573 - Saudi And Lebanese Accusations: Hizbullah Is Operating A Network For Smuggling Drugs To Saudi Arabia And The Region; It Has Turned Lebanon Into A Base For Exporting Drugs And Terrorism – April 28, 2021.
[2] Elnashra.com, June 15, 2021; Al-Jumhouriya (Lebanon), June 18, 2021, June 29, 2021; Al-Nahar (Lebanon), June 26, 2021; Alarabiya.net, June 30, 2021.
[3] 'Okaz (Saudi Arabia), June 13, 2021.
[4] Captagon is a brand name for the amphetamine drug fenethylline hydrochloride.
[5] Hizbullah's External Security Organization is responsible for planning, coordinating and carrying out terror attacks outside Lebanon, primarily against Israeli and American targets, and operates cells worldwide. In October 2017 the U.S. offered a reward of up to $7 million for information leading to the capture of its current head, Talal Hamiyah.

Key Dates in the Carlos Ghosn Saga
Agence France Presse/July 19/2021
From his shock detention to an audacious escape from Japan, the rollercoaster saga of former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn made headlines around the world. As a Tokyo court sentences a U.S. father-son duo to jail for helping Ghosn flee, here are the key dates to know:
November 2018: Ghosn arrested -
Ghosn and his aide Greg Kelly are arrested on suspicion of financial misconduct on November 19, after arriving in Tokyo on separate private planes.They are accused of devising a scheme to under-report the salary of Ghosn -- then Nissan chief and head of an alliance between Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors.The pair deny wrongdoing. Ghosn is swiftly removed from his role at all three firms in a stunning fall from grace for one of the world's best-known businessmen.
- December 2018: More allegations -
Ghosn and Kelly are charged with under-reporting Ghosn's salary between 2010 and 2015, then are immediately rearrested on allegations of under-reporting up to 2018.On December 21, Ghosn is arrested again on fresh allegations that he transferred losses from personal financial investments to Nissan.
His detention, in conditions far removed from his flashy lifestyle, is extended.
- March 2019: Bail for Ghosn -
Ghosn attends his first court hearing in January, insisting the accusations are "meritless and unsubstantiated."His first bail request is denied, and on January 11 two new charges of financial misconduct are filed against him. The disgraced tycoon tells AFP from prison that his detention would "not be normal in any other democracy."On March 5, the court approves Ghosn's third request for bail, set at one billion yen ($9 million).
- April 2019: Rearrest, bailed again -
Ghosn is rearrested in a dawn raid of his Tokyo apartment in April.
Authorities hit him with a charge of aggravated breach of trust, alleging he siphoned money for personal ends from cash transferred from Nissan to a dealership in Oman.
On April 25, the court grants Ghosn a second bail of $4.5 million. He is banned from leaving Japan and requires court permission to see his wife.
- September 2019: U.S. charges -
On September 9, Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa resigns amid allegations that he also padded his salary. He denies wrongdoing but apologizes.
Ghosn and Nissan are accused by US securities regulators of hiding more than $140 million in his expected retirement income from investors.
Ghosn is fined $1 million, and Nissan says it will pay $15 million.
- December 2019: Ghosn jumps bail -
Just before New Year's Eve, Ghosn gives authorities in Japan the slip, hiding in an audio equipment case to flee on a private plane.
He eventually lands in Lebanon, which does not have an extradition treaty with Japan.
A week later, Ghosn says Nissan colluded with prosecutors to have him arrested because he wanted to deepen the Japanese firm's alliance with Renault. He says he fled because he did not believe he would get a fair trial.
- 2020: Accomplices held, Kelly on trial -
Two men accused of helping Ghosn flee Japan -- former U.S. special forces member Michael Taylor and his son Peter -- are arrested in the United States in May.
In September, a U.S. judge rules extradition proceedings can move forward, as the trial against Kelly begins in Tokyo on a single charge of under-reporting Ghosn's compensation.
Kelly denies wrongdoing and pleads not guilty, while Nissan, on trial as a firm on the same charge, pleads guilty.
- July 2021: Taylors sentenced -
Michael and Peter Taylor lose their battle against extradition and are handed over to Japanese prosecutors, landing in the country in March. The pair appear in a Tokyo court for the first time on June 14 and they later apologize for their role in the escape.
Facing up to three years, the pair are sentenced on July 19 to 20 months for Peter and two years for Michael, slightly less than prosecutors had sought.

Japan Court Jails U.S. Duo over Carlos Ghosn Escape
Agence France Presse/July 19/2021
An American father-son duo who helped former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn flee Japan were sentenced to jail by a Tokyo court on Monday, one for two years and the other 20 months.The sentences are the first to be handed down in Japan in the Nissan saga, which began with former auto tycoon Ghosn's shock arrest in 2018 on financial misconduct allegations. Former U.S. special forces operative Michael Taylor was jailed for two years, while his son Peter received a sentence of 20 months for their role in smuggling Ghosn onto a private jet inside an audio equipment box.
"This case enabled Ghosn, a defendant of serious crime, to escape overseas," chief judge Hideo Nirei said. "Both defendants pulled off an unprecedented escape." Nirei said there was "no prospect" of Ghosn's trial resuming because he is now a fugitive in Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with Japan. The Taylors, who faced up to three years in prison, did not contest involvement in what U.S. prosecutors described as "one of the most brazen and well orchestrated escape acts in recent history". The pair both apologized in previous hearings at which Japanese prosecutors had sought a sentence of two years, 10 months for Michael, and two years, six months for Peter. Their defence lawyers had argued that a suspended sentence was appropriate given their remorse, and asked that the 10 months they were in US detention before being extradited should be considered in sentencing. But Nirei said that detention period was not related to the crime and should be treated differently. He informed the men, who wore dark suits and white shirts with no tie and remained silent as he spoke, that they could file an appeal within 14 days.
Compensation 'motive' -
The Taylors arrived in Tokyo in March after losing a battle against extradition. At their first hearing, in June, prosecutors described the almost-cinematic details of the operation -- including that Ghosn was hidden in a large case with air holes drilled into it to slip past security at an airport. Describing the experience recently to the BBC, Ghosn said the half-hour in the box waiting for the plane to take off was "probably the longest wait I've ever experienced in my life". A third man, identified as George Antoine Zayek, is also accused of involvement in the escape but remains at large. According to the prosecution, the Ghosn family paid the Taylors more than $860,000 for preparation and logistical costs, and $500,000 in cryptocurrency for lawyers' fees."The main motive for this case was compensation," Nirei said. Ghosn's escape started with him simply walking out of the luxury central Tokyo residence where he was out on bail on December 29, 2019, and taking a shinkansen bullet train to Osaka in western Japan. "There were dozens of people in the carriage, but I was wearing a cap, a facemask and sunglasses. You'd have had to be a real expert to recognize me under all that," Ghosn wrote in a book published last year.
He met Michael Taylor in a hotel in Osaka and was smuggled onto the private jet, transiting in Turkey before arriving in Lebanon.
Kelly trial
Ghosn, who holds French, Lebanese and Brazilian passports, says he fled Japan because he did not believe he would receive a fair trial. He has always denied the charges against him, arguing they were cooked up by Nissan executives who opposed his attempts to more closely integrate the firm with French partner Renault. The fallout from the saga has been vast, with Nissan's CEO forced out after his own financial irregularities were uncovered in a probe that followed Ghosn's arrest. A former Nissan aide to Ghosn, Greg Kelly, is awaiting the verdict in his trial in Japan. He could face 10 years or more in prison if convicted of financial misconduct. And two pilots and another employee of a small private airline in Turkey have been sentenced to four years and two months for their role in Ghosn's escape. In May, Ghosn was questioned by French investigators in Lebanon over a series of alleged financial improprieties. But he was only heard as a witness, and would need to be in France to be formally indicted.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 19-20/2021
Tensions flare as Erdogan heads to breakaway north Cyprus
The Arab Weekly/June 19/2021
Varosha, Cyprus - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan heads to breakaway north Cyprus Tuesday, to mark the anniversary of Turkey’s 1974 invasion, a visit infuriating Greek Cypriots with island reunification talks in limbo. Erdogan’s visit is seen as a show of strength to support a two-state solution to the island’s decades-long division, but also to bolster his ambitions to dominate the strategic eastern Mediterranean. In a gesture set to send tensions soaring, Erdogan will review some of the thousands of Turkish troops in the self declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in the abandoned beach resort of Varosha, which the invasion emptied of its Greek-Cypriot inhabitants. Varosha, the southern suburb of Famagusta in which there was heavy fighting in August 1974, is on the UN-patrolled Green Line which separates Greek and Turkish controlled communities. “It is not only a symbolic visit … but one that will affect the Cyprus problem,” said Giannis Ioannou, of the Geopolitical Cyprus think tank. Tensions are already running high, fuelled by an influx of undocumented migrants into the south that the government there sees as a pressure tactic by Ankara. On Friday, Cyprus government spokesman Marios Pelekanos condemned Turkey’s “aggressive behaviour” after Cypriot police said the Turkish coastguard fired warning shots at one of its vessels off the island’s north coast, a report denied by Ankara.
‘Red line’
The Turkish invasion, launched in response to an Athens-engineered coup in Nicosia designed to unite Cyprus with Greece, was followed in 1983 by the proclamation of the TRNC, still recognised only by Ankara. Varosha, once the playground of celebrities and dubbed a “Jewel of the Mediterranean”, was left a fenced-off ghost town, where former luxury hotels have become overgrown by weeds. The Turkish army restored public access to parts of the beachfront last year and Erdogan is expected to extend this area during his visit. “He will announce the opening of new parts of the city. His message is clear: he wants to change the paradigm for the future negotiations,” Ioannou said.
“Varosha is a red line not to cross for the Cypriot government,” he added. The majority Greek-speaking Republic of Cyprus, a European Union member with effective control over the southern two-thirds of the island, condemned Erdogan’s last visit in November 2020 as a “provocation without precedent”. UN-backed talks on reunifying the island as a bi-communal federation collapsed in 2017 and efforts to revive them have hit a new, tougher line from Ankara demanding a two-state solution. In April, a UN summit in Geneva failed to broker a deal to start a new round of talks. “Erdogan … believes Greek Cypriots do not want the peace, but to keep the status quo,” Ioannou said, accusing the Turkish president of exploiting Varosha as a “card” for “retaliation”. When Erdogan last visited Varosha in November, he said “compensation would be paid” to Greek Cypriots who lost properties in the resort.
‘Harsh bargaining’
But Ahmet Sozen, a Turkish Cypriot at the head of the Cyprus Policy Centre at the Eastern Mediterranean University, argues Erdogan has only made this proposal so as to blame “bad will” for its refusal. “Turkey wants to start the future negotiation cycle with a higher position and to impose the two states solution,” Sozen said. “It is a harsh bargaining period.”Proponents of the two-state solution argue that it would allow the economy of northern Cyprus to diversify and be viable without the constant financial backing of Ankara. Earlier this month, however, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Brussels would “never, ever accept a two-state solution.”
Erdogan “knows well this solution won’t fly, no country will support it,” Sozen said. But for Kemal Baykalli, a Turkish Cypriot analyst and an activist for Unite Cyprus Now, the island of some one million people is no match for the power of near neighbour Turkey, which lies just 70 kilometres (44 miles) to the north. “What the EU forgets is that Cyprus is too small to be divided,” Baykalli said. “If you let Turkey have the upper hand too long, it will end up dominating this European island.”Erdogan’s visit is also being scrutinised for what it could say about Turkish regional ambitions and the search for oil and gas in disputed eastern Mediterranean waters.“Turkey is fighting against the new block formed around Cyprus on the gas issue,” Sozen said. “Turkey feels isolated and is ready to use any means to pressurise Cyprus, and it can use Varosha.” Israel, Greece and Cyprus last year signed the EastMed deal for a huge pipeline to ship gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe, triggering objections from Ankara. “It’s a poker game,” said Baykalli, adding that there is “no doubt that Cypriots, especially people from Varosha, will be the big losers.”

King Abdullah of Jordan seeks strategic dividends from White House visit
The Arab Weekly/June 19/2021
WASHINGTON/ AMMAN - President Joe Biden will host Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House, Monday, as the monarch hopes to see his relationship with the United States return to its former lustre while reaping strategic dividends from the visit. Relying on good personal ties to Biden, the Arab king is ambitious to play a more influential role in the region and overcome the long, cold spell encountered in the US-Jordanian relationship under the Donald Trump administration. “Restoring the relationship to its traditional strength will itself bolster Jordan’s stability, both by sending an unmistakable signal of US support and by creating a fruitful environment to advance the extensive bilateral agenda,” said Ghaith al-Omari and Ben Fishman senior fellows at the Washington Institute in a recently-published analysis. US-Middle East experts expect Jordan’s king to try to bolster his country’s credentials as a strategic ally of the United States, in the context of Washington’s planned redeployment of troops in the region. Abdullah, who will be the first Arab leader to visit the White House under Biden, is likely to argue that the kingdom is the best bet for Washington as a base for US troops in the Middle East, instead of their current dispersal around the region and the hostility they face in a place like Iraq.
US military newspaper Stars and Stripes said earlier this month the United States has already closed two Sayliyah camps and the Falcon ammunition supply base in Qatar and transferred the military supplies to Jordan. The newspaper quoted analysts as saying the move to Jordan “positions Washington to deal better with Iran and reflects the military’s changing priorities in the region.”Closing the bases and moving the mission to Jordan could benefit the US in potential disputes with Iran, Kamran Bokhari, a national security and policy expert focusing on the region at the Washington-based Centre for Global Policy told the paper. On Thursday, King Abdullah met the commander of the US Central Command, General Kenneth F McKenzie Jr and the commander of the Special Operations Command, General Richard Clarke. Sources say the meeting discussed ways to enhance strategic cooperation between the two countries, especially in the military and security fields in view of the military basing shifts.
The Jordanian monarch relies on defence agreements between the two countries. The latest was signed January 31 and approved by the government of Bishr al-Khasawneh.The agreement provides for allocating facilities and areas on Jordanian territory for the exclusive use of the United States forces, without a lease.It allows the US forces to carry out the transfer, the pre-positioning and storage of equipment and supplies in agreed areas. This deal could therefore pave the way for Jordan to become a major military basing location for the United States in the region.
This would strengthen to the US and bolster Jordan’s strategic importance in the region. It will also offer the kingdom an insurance policy against being sidelined as was the case during the Trump administration. Ever since he was a member of Congress, Biden has kept a good personal relationship with King Abdullah. The US president stressed, during a phone call with the Jordanian monarch last April, that Abdullah had a “friend” in the United States on whom he could rely.
The king is betting on this special relationship to play a more active role in the peace process and improve relations with neighbouring Israel. The kingdom has been the recipient of $1.275 billion per year on average under a five-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed in 2018. The White House said last week Abdullah, Queen Rania and Crown Prince Hussein will visit with the Bidens to “highlight the enduring and strategic partnership between the United States and Jordan.”The visit comes after Jordanian authorities in April broke up an alleged plot by the half brother of the king. Prince Hamzah was not put on trial but his purported co-conspirators were sentenced to long terms in jail after appearing before the state security court behind closed doors in a rare moment of domestic turmoil. White House press secretary Jen Psaki says the visit “will be an opportunity to discuss the many challenges facing the Middle East and showcase Jordan’s leadership role in promoting peace and stability in the region.”

Syrian air defenses intercept Israeli attack over Aleppo
Reuters/20 July ,2021
Syria’s air defenses on Monday intercepted an Israeli attack on Al-Safirah area in the southern countryside of Aleppo, Syrian state media reported. Syrian opposition forces said in a statement the attack targeted Iranian Revolutionary Guard bases and a weapons plant in an area where Iranian military research and development activities have been disrupted by repeated Israeli strikes in the last year. A Syrian military spokesman said missiles targeted several locations in the area, air defenses downed most missiles, and the damage was being assessed. An Israeli army spokesperson said the Israeli military does not comment on foreign reports but Israeli officials had said their country’s previous missile strikes had slowed Iran’s entrenchment in Syria. Western intelligence sources say Israeli strikes on Syria are part of a shadow war approved by the US and part of a policy the last two years to undermine Iran’s military power without triggering a major increase in hostilities. Thousands of Iranian-backed militias have had a growing presence across Syria in the last year after helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad regain territory once lost to insurgents.

Israel’s defense minister, Palestinian president, discuss ‘trust-building’
Reuters/19 July ,2021
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said he spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday and that the two agreed there was a need to make trust-building steps. It was the first high-level contact made public by the new Israeli government, which was sworn in last month, unseating the country’s longest-serving leader, Benjamin Netanyahu. The ruling coalition is made up of left-wing, centrist, right-wing and Arab parties with little in common on the diplomatic front. Officials have said they would focus on domestic reforms and largely avoid sweeping moves on hot-button international issues such as policy toward the Palestinians. Gantz said he shared with Abbas good wishes for Eid al-Adha holiday on Tuesday, one of the two most important festivals of the Islamic calendar. “The discussion was positive and the two cited the need to advance trust-building steps between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which will benefit the economy and security of the entire region,” Gantz’s office said in a statement. Abbas’ office confirmed the call but did not give details.Israel’s new president, whose role is largely ceremonial, said he spoke last week with Abbas, who congratulated him on the new role.

US blames China for hacks, opening new front in cyber offensive
CNN/July 19, 2021
The United States and its foreign allies on Monday accused China of widespread malfeasance in cyberspace, including through a massive hack of Microsoft's email system and other ransomware attacks, a dramatic escalation in the increasingly urgent attempt by the Biden administration to stave off further breaches. In a coordinated announcement, the White House and governments in Europe and Asia identified China's Ministry of State Security, the sprawling and secretive civilian intelligence agency, with using "criminal contract hackers" to conduct a range of destabilizing activities around the world for personal profit, including the Microsoft hack, according to a senior US administration official. The administration official also said China was behind a specific ransomware attack against a US target that involved a "large ransom request" — and added that Chinese ransom demands have been in the "millions of dollars."

Canada will open its borders, first to Americans, beginning August 9
CNN/July 19/2021
The long wait will soon be over for foreigners who have been banned from entering Canada for nearly 16 months. Beginning August 9, fully vaccinated citizens and permanent residents of the United States currently residing in the US will be permitted to enter Canada. Non-essential travel into Canada has been banned since March 2020, something the Canadian government said was necessary to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.International travelers may also be allowed to enter Canada beginning September 7, provided that the "COVID-19 epidemiology remains favorable," the Canadian government said in statement released Monday. Entry to Canada will continue to be prohibited for all foreign travelers who are not fully vaccinated.

Canada/Statement on China’s cyber campaigns
July 19, 2021 – Ottawa, Ontario – Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of National Defence, and the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, issued the following statement:
“Today, Canada joins its allies in identifying People's Republic of China’s (PRC) state-backed actors for the unprecedented and indiscriminate exploitation of Microsoft exchange servers.
“In early March 2021, Microsoft disclosed vulnerabilities in its exchange servers that were exploited by state actors. This activity put several thousand Canadian entities at risk—a risk that persists in some cases even when patches from Microsoft have been applied. Globally, an estimated 400,000 servers have been affected.
“Canada is confident that the PRC’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) is responsible for the widespread compromising of the exchange servers.
“Canada believes it is highly likely that this cyber activity was intended to gain access to networks worldwide for the theft of intellectual property and to acquire vast quantities of personally identifiable information.
“Several cyber groups from the PRC are believed to have taken part in this operation, including Advanced Persistent Threat Group 40 (APT 40). These actors are highly sophisticated and have demonstrated an ability to achieve sustained, covert access to Canadian and allied networks beyond the compromising of Microsoft exchange servers.
“APT 40 almost certainly consists of elements of the Hainan State Security Department’s regional MSS office. This group’s cyber activities targeted critical research in Canada’s defence, ocean technologies and biopharmaceutical sectors in separate malicious cyber campaigns in 2017 and 2018.
“Canada and its allies remain steadfast in their unity and solidarity in calling out irresponsible state-sponsored cyber activity. Canada will continue to release public attributions to make clear to perpetrators that it will expose malicious cyber activity conducted against Canada and its allies. Canada will continue to work in concert with partners on this crucial security issue.
“Canada remains committed to working with partners to support the open, reliable and secure use of cyberspace and calls on China to act responsibly and cease this pattern of irresponsible and harmful cyberspace behaviour. These kinds of reckless actions cannot be accepted and tolerated by responsible state-actors. “To further protect Canadians, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security has put out guidance on mitigating the ongoing threat posed by Microsoft exchange server vulnerabilities

Reports: 50,000 Phone Numbers Worldwide on List Linked to Israeli Spyware
Agence France Presse/July 19/2021
An Israeli firm accused of supplying spyware to governments has been linked to a list of tens of thousands of smartphone numbers, including those of activists, journalists, business executives and politicians around the world, according to reports.
The NSO Group and its Pegasus malware -- capable of switching on a phone's camera or microphone, and harvesting its data -- have been in the headlines since 2016, when researchers accused it of helping spy on a dissident in the United Arab Emirates.
Sunday's revelations -- part of a collaborative investigation by The Washington Post, The Guardian, Le Monde and other media outlets -- raise privacy concerns and reveal the far-reaching extent to which the private firm's software could be misused.
The leak consists of more than 50,000 smartphone numbers believed to have been identified as connected to people of interest by NSO clients since 2016, the news organizations said, although it was unclear how many devices were actually targeted or surveilled. NSO has denied any wrongdoing, labelling the allegations "false."
On the list were 15,000 numbers in Mexico -- among them reportedly a number linked to a murdered reporter -- and 300 in India, including politicians and prominent journalists. Last week, the Indian government -- which in 2019 denied using the malware to spy on its citizens, following a lawsuit -- reiterated that "allegations regarding government surveillance on specific people has no concrete basis or truth associated with it whatsoever."The Post said a forensic analysis of 37 of the smartphones on the list showed there had been "attempted and successful" hacks of the devices, including those of two women close to Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in 2018 by a Saudi hit squad. Among the numbers on the list are those of journalists for Agence France-Presse, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, The New York Times, Al Jazeera, El Pais, the Associated Press, Le Monde, Bloomberg, The Economist, and Reuters, The Guardian said. The use of the Pegasus software to hack the phones of Al Jazeera reporters and a Moroccan journalist has been reported previously by Citizen Lab, a research center at the University of Toronto, and Amnesty International. Forbidden Stories, a Paris-based journalism nonprofit, and Amnesty originally shared the leak with the newspapers.
Pocket spy
The Post said the numbers on the list were unattributed, but other media outlets participating in the project were able to identify more than 1,000 people in more than 50 countries. They included several members of Arab royal families, at least 65 business executives, 85 human rights activists, 189 journalists and more than 600 politicians and government officials -- including heads of state, prime ministers and cabinet ministers.
Many numbers on the list were clustered in 10 countries: Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Hungary, India, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Pegasus is a highly invasive tool that can switch on a target's phone camera and microphone, as well as access data on the device, effectively turning a phone into a pocket spy. In some cases, it can be installed without the need to trick a user into initiating a download. NSO issued a denial on Sunday that focused on the report by Forbidden Stories, calling it "full of wrong assumptions and uncorroborated theories," and threatening a defamation lawsuit. "We firmly deny the false allegations made in their report," NSO said. It said it was "not associated in any way" with the Khashoggi murder, adding that it sells "solely to law enforcement and intelligence agencies of vetted governments". Roughly three dozen journalists at Qatar's Al-Jazeera network had their phones targeted by Pegasus malware, Citizen Lab reported in December, while Amnesty said in June the software was used by Moroccan authorities on the cellphone of Omar Radi, a journalist convicted over a social media post. Founded in 2010 by Israelis Shalev Hulio and Omri Lavie, NSO Group is based in the Israeli hi-tech hub of Herzliya, near Tel Aviv.

Turkey Plans Talks with Taliban over Kabul Airport
Agence France Presse/July 19/2021
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said Turkey was planning talks with the Taliban over the hardline Islamist group's refusal to let Ankara run Kabul airport after U.S. troops withdraw from Afghanistan. "God willing, we will see what kind of talks we will have with the Taliban and see where these talks take us," Erdogan told journalists in Istanbul.

Second filling of Ethiopia's giant dam nearly complete - state media
Reuters/July 19/2021
Ethiopia has nearly completed the filling of a huge dam on the Blue Nile river for a second year, state media reported on Monday, a move that has already angered Egypt. The $4 billion hydropower dam on the Blue Nile has stoked concerns over water shortages and water safety in Egypt and Sudan, which also depend on the Nile's waters.

US transfers Guantanamo prisoner to Morocco: Pentagon
AFP/July 19/2021
The Biden administration has transferred its first detainee out of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, the Pentagon said Monday, repatriating a Moroccan man whose release had been advised in 2016 but whose detention continued under Donald Trump's presidency."The Department of Defense announced today the transfer of Abdul Latif Nasir from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the Kingdom of Morocco," a Pentagon statement said, adding that 39 prisoners remain in the controversial facility. Nasir was never charged with any crime. His transfer out of Guantanamo was first recommended by the Obama administration "subject to security and humane treatment assurances," according to the Pentagon, but had not taken place by the time Trump took office in 2017. Former president Barack Obama failed in his bid to close the prison at a US military base in Cuba, which became a symbol of excesses in the "war on terror" launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Republican Party blocked Obama's plans to shut the prison by 2009 by restricting the ability of the United States to move prisoners from Guantanamo to the US mainland. Obama's successor Trump mused about sending more suspects to Guantanamo Bay but effectively kept it in place in the same form. President Joe Biden's White House in February launched a study into how to close the prison but has been careful not to overpromise after the failure of Obama's vow. The Biden administration "is dedicated to following a deliberate and thorough process focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population of the Guantanamo facility while also safeguarding the security of the United States and its allies," the State Department said in a statement Monday. It praised Morocco's role, saying that the kingdom's "leadership in facilitating Nasir's repatriation, alongside its past willingness to return its foreign terrorist fighters from northeast Syria, should encourage other nations to repatriate their citizens who have traveled to fight for terrorist organizations abroad."Tarred by accusations of extra-legal imprisonment, denial of rights and torture, Guantanamo was opened in 2002 for suspects captured around the world on the understanding that they would not be entitled to the constitutional right to due process guaranteed on US soil.

13 Policemen Killed In Northwest Nigeria
AFP/July 19/2021
Thirteen policemen were killed in an ambush by cattle thieves in northwest Nigeria's Zamfara state, in the latest spate of violence in the region, police said late on Sunday. A police unit was ambushed in Kurara Mota village in Bungudu district while "responding to a distress call" from residents of nearby villages about an impending attack by bandits, local police spokesman Mohammed Shehu said. "Unfortunately, 13 personnel paid the supreme price," Shehu added. Northwest Nigeria has been terrorised by criminal gangs who raid villages, steal cattle, kidnap for ransom and burn homes after looting supplies.
The police said a manhunt has been launched to track the assailants in a nearby forest where they are believed to have hideouts, Shehu said. Residents said the bandits had earlier attacked nearby Magami community, but were thwarted by troops stationed in the town. "The bandits then stormed a neighbouring village where they killed one person and looted some shops before proceeding to Kurar Mota where they fought with the policemen," resident Bature Dan-Malam said. Military deployments and peace deals with the bandits have failed to end the violence. In recent months, the criminals have focused on attacking schools and kidnapping hundreds of students to squeeze ransom payments from relatives. The bandits are known to hide in camps in the Rugu forest which straddles Katsina, Kaduna, Zamfara and Niger states. The violence has forced 80,000 people to flee into neighbouring Niger over the past two years, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.--AFP

French company makes first Sale of artificial heart
AFP/July 19/2021
French prosthetics maker Carmat said on Monday (July 19) it had sold one of its artificial hearts for the first time since its 2008 founding, for implantation into an Italian patient awaiting a transplant. The operation “was performed by the team headed by heart surgeon, Dr Ciro Maiello, at the Azienda Ospedaliera dei Colli hospital in Naples, one of the centres with the greatest experience in the field of artificial hearts in Italy”, Carmat said in a statement. The company secured a European CE marking in December 2020 for sale of the Aeson prosthetic heart as a “bridge to transplant”.CE marking indicates that a product has been assessed by the manufacturer and deemed to meet European Union safety, health and environmental protection requirements. Carmat’s certification was based on results from a study known as PIVOTAL, launched in 2016 and still under way. In November 2019, results from the first 11 patients in the study showed that 73 per cent survived for six months with the prosthetic or made it to a successful transplant within the same period. Carmat said the first commercial sale of its artificial heart marked “a major milestone that opens up a new chapter in the company’s development”, adding that it hoped to find more customers in France and Germany by the end of the year. A spokesman told Agence France-Presse that it was the first time one of the hearts had been used outside of a clinical trial. Costs for the operation – more than 150,000 euros (S$240,567) – were paid by the regional health system, as Italy’s national system will not cover the treatment until it has been in use for several years. On July 15, Carmat had announced the first implantation of an Aeson heart into a patient in the United States, in a clinical study at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina. It is searching for 10 suitable patients to take part in a study approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials published on July 19-20/2021
How Iranian Intelligence Hunts Down Dissidents While Protecting Al-Qaeda
Thomas Joscelyn/The Dispatch-FDD/July 19/2021
Court documents show that the regime has long been trying to kidnap an Iranian journalist living in Brooklyn.
The Department of Justice made a stunning announcement this week. Four Iranian nationals have been charged with plotting “to kidnap a Brooklyn journalist, author and human rights activist.” A fifth individual is facing related charges.
The indictment doesn’t name the intended victim. But Masih Alinejad, a well-known human rights campaigner, quickly made it known that she was the target. Alinejad’s revelation was hardly surprising. She’s dedicated her life to exposing the horrors of the Iranian regime, refusing to bow to pressure even as Iranian authorities locked up and harassed her family members.
According to court documents, the Iranian regime has been trying to net Alinejad for years. In 2018, Iranian operatives tried to persuade her family to lure her to an unspecified location outside of the U.S. At that point, the Iranians planned to detain and extradite her back to Iran, where she would have been imprisoned and likely killed.
The Iranians are well-practiced in such operations. They’ve hunted down dissidents around the globe. But Alinejad’s family refused to entrap her, so this early plot was evidently abandoned.
At some point in 2020, Tehran’s tyrants moved onto another idea—a more elaborate plot to kidnap Alinejad from her Brooklyn home and then abscond with her either to Venezuela (which maintains friendly relations with the Iranians) or elsewhere.
In devising the kidnapping scheme, Iranian intelligence allegedly relied on a 50-year-old named Alireza Shahvaroghi Farahani. According to the indictment, Farahani “manages a network of sources for Iranian intelligence.” He is accused of serving as the ringleader for the plot against Alinejad. Farahani’s network includes three others charged by the U.S. government: Mahmoud Khazein, Omid Noori, and Kiya Safeghi. A fifth suspect, Niloufar (“Nellie”) Bahadorifar, who resides in California, is also charged with helping to finance the operation.
More details about this terrifying plan will undoubtedly be revealed in the months to come. But at least four observations immediately come to mind.
First, it’s telling that the Iranians did not cease their plotting on American soil after President Biden was inaugurated in January. Everyone knows that the Biden team seeks a less confrontational path forward with Tehran and is willing to grant concessions, including the removal of various American sanctions, in exchange for a return to the nuclear accord negotiated in 2015. Tehran’s kidnapping operation began in 2020, during President Trump’s last year in office, but it did not end there. The Biden administration’s diplomatic approach did not lead the Iranians to abort what would have been an especially provocative act.
One can imagine the spectacle that would have occurred had Alinejad gone missing from her Brooklyn home in the middle of the night. It says much about how the Iranian regime views the U.S. that it did not really fear any reprisals, or even a modest disruption in the nuclear negotiations.
Second, the court filings make clear that the kidnapping plot was overseen by the Iranian state—not some rogue actors. U.S. officials have fingered Iran’s main intelligence arm, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), as the hidden hand behind the operation against Alinejad. Dissident hunting is only one of the MOIS’s specialties.
In 2012, the U.S. Treasury Department designated the MOIS for committing countless human rights abuses in Iran and Syria, as well as for supporting terrorism. MOIS “agents are responsible for the beatings, sexual abuse, prolonged interrogations, and coerced confessions of prisoners, particularly political prisoners, which occurred in Ward 209 of Evin Prison,” Treasury explained at the time. The notorious Evin Prison is used to house leading anti-regime activists, including those who protested the June 2009 elections inside Iran. Its prisoners are subjected to horrific treatment. As Treasury reported, the “MOIS is known to have used abhorrent methods of interrogation such as mock executions and forms of sexual violence.”
It’s chilling to think of the fate that awaited Alinejad had Iranian intelligence succeeded in kidnapping her.
The criminal indictment references an “electronic device” that was apparently recovered from Farahani. It contains “a graphic showing a photograph” of Alinejad alongside “Iranian nationals Ruhollah Zam and Jamsid Sharmahd,” both of whom were vocal critics of the Iranian regime. Zam was “lured by Iranian intelligence services” to leave his residence in France in October 2019, captured, and executed inside Iran in late 2020. Sharmahd, “a lawful resident of the United States,” was similarly tricked into leaving the U.S. in July 2020. Sharmahd remains imprisoned inside Iran.
The graphic of all three of them contains a caption that reads: “Gradually the gathering gets bigger … Are you coming, or should we come for you?” Eventually, the MOIS decided to come for Alinejad in Brooklyn.
The MOIS has boasted of its prowess in kidnapping dissidents. On August 1, 2020, Mahmoud Alavi, the Iranian minister of intelligence and MOIS chief, appeared on Iranian television. Alavi crowed that the capture of Sharmahd was just one in a series of “complex operations in striking dissidents.”
Indeed, according to the indictment, Farahani’s network not only surveilled Alinejad’s home in Brooklyn, but also potential victims in Canada, the U.K., and the UAE. Farahani and his men allegedly hired private investigators to investigate Iranian dissidents “under false pretenses,” claiming that they are delinquent debtors or wayward employees.
Third, al-Qaeda operatives living and working inside Iran often receive far better treatment than Iranian dissidents. Although al-Qaeda has complained about Iranian mistreatment at times, the jihadists are typically afforded a much better lifestyle. And along with other arms of the Iranian regime—namely, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)—the MOIS is directly responsible for housing and harboring al-Qaeda’s men.
The DOJ’s indictment specifically cites the same 2012 U.S. Treasury Department designation of the MOIS discussed above. In that designation, Treasury reported that in addition to assisting Hamas and Hezbollah, the MOIS “has facilitated the movement of al Qaeda operatives in Iran and provided them with documents, identification cards, and passports.” The MOIS has “also provided money and weapons to al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI)…and negotiated prisoner releases of AQI operatives.”
Again, this is telling with respect to the Iranian regime’s behavior. While Iranian dissidents are lured to their death, al-Qaeda’s men receive passports from the MOIS to go about their international terrorist business.
Fourth, it is likely that this won’t be the last Iranian plot on American soil. In 2011, the DOJ announced that two individuals had been charged with planning to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States. And in 2017, the DOJ revealed that two Hezbollah operatives had been arrested after it was discovered that they were laying the groundwork for possible terrorist attacks on key New York City landmarks and other locations.
It’s no wonder Alinejad was targeted by Iranian intelligence. She’s on the side of freedom, while the Iranian regime sponsors terrorists.
*Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD’s Long War Journal. Follow Tom on Twitter @thomasjoscelyn. FDD is a nonpartisan think tank focused on foreign policy and national security issues.

The Impact of the Ahwaz protests in Iran
Dr. Brenda Shaffer/Policy Brief-FDD/July 19/2021
Iran’s Ahwazi Arab minority on July 7 launched extensive anti-regime protests centered in the country’s western Khuzestan Province. Extreme water shortages affecting the Ahwaz were the catalyst for the demonstrations. They escalated on July 15, with activists blocking major roads in the province. Last week, demonstrators stormed the municipality office in Ahvaz City. Regime security forces have fired live rounds against the demonstrators. Local activists report that three demonstrators have been killed. The regime has acknowledged one death. Iran has reportedly intercepted illegal weapons shipments to Khuzestan province, indicating that the showdown with the regime forces is likely to escalate further.
Iran faces chronic water shortages. These shortages are especially severe in Iran’s border provinces, which are home to the ethnic minorities. They have amplified the grievances of these minorities, which view the shortages as part of an intentional policy of favoring the needs of the Persians. Among their complaints, the Ahwazis decry the deviation of the Karun River that runs through Khuzestan. Indeed, Ahwazis claim that Tehran purposefully diverts water from the regions where Ahwazis live, and builds dams and industry in their marshlands, to force Ahwazis to leave.
While water may be a trigger, the current protests are undeniably ethno-national. The chants and banners are in Arabic, aiming to mobilize more Ahwazis. A popular chant at the protests is, “We shall redeem you, Ahwaz, with our spirit and blood.”
Iran’s Ahwazis number approximately 5 million people. They live in two strategically important locations: the Khuzestan province (home to Iran’s primary oil and natural gas production and major ports), and the Persian Gulf region between Busher and Bandar Abbas, which sees significant maritime traffic. Ahwazis are among the least assimilated of Iran’s ethnic minorities. According to surveys, 82 percent of the Ahwazis speak Arabic at home.
For decades, Tehran has deliberately endeavored to dilute the ethnic Ahwazi majority in Khuzestan, due to the strategic importance of this province. The regime runs programs to encourage Persian and other non-Arabs to move to the province for the sake of demography. In his spring 2021 report, Javid Rehman, the UN Human Right’s Council special rapporteur on Iran, cited “reports of forced evictions in ethnic minority areas” impacting Ahwazis. The Ahwazi Arabs face employment discrimination in the oil and gas industry in Khuzestan; Persian residents hold the high-paying jobs, while Ahwazis are mostly blue-collar workers. On January 6, 2021, Mohsen Haidari, representative of the supreme leader in Ahwaz, ceded that ethnic Arabs hold just 5 percent of the province’s management-level jobs in the oil industry.
In recent years, violent confrontations between the regime and Ahwazis have erupted. Ahwazi groups have conducted several audacious violent attacks on Iranian military and IRGC units in Khuzestan. The most daring recent attack occurred on September 22, 2018, when an armed group attacked a military parade in Ahvaz city, killing more than 30 Iranian security forces, as well as attendees. Following the attack, the regime executed more than 20 Ahwazis and arrested hundreds more in Khuzestan province.
The UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur for Iran reported that the regime crackdown on the Ahwazi following a broader wave of protests in 2017 and 2018 was particularly harsh, leading to 84 deaths in Khuzestan. In winter 2019, amidst a crackdown on protests that erupted across Iran, the regime killed dozens of Ahwazis who escaped to Khuzestan’s marshlands.
Tehran has enlisted foreign Arab militias to squash Ahwazi unrest. In the spring and summer of 2019, floods in Khuzestan caused widespread death and destruction. To quell the subsequent protests, Tehran deployed foreign fighters from Lebanon and Iraq, including Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (Hashd al-Shaabi) and Lebanese Hezbollah.
Tehran also targets Ahwazi leaders living outside Iran. In November 2017, Ahwazi activist Ahmad Mola Nissi, a Dutch citizen of Iranian origin, was shot dead at his doorstep in The Hague. The Dutch government officially fingered the regime. In October 2020, the regime kidnapped Sweden-based Iranian Arab activist Habib Chaab in Istanbul and brought him to Iran.
On July 16, a State Department spokesperson acknowledged “reports of Iran shortages and resulting protests, and we continue to urge the Iranian Government to support the Iranian people as they exercise their universal rights to freedom of expression as well as freedom of peaceful assembly.” Amidst ongoing and sensitive nuclear negotiations, it’s unlikely that Foggy Bottom will press the issue much further.
At present, other anti-regime forces are unlikely to join the Ahwazi protests. Indeed, most of Iran’s mainstream opposition does not support the political activity of Iran’s ethnic groups, which they fear could undermine the integrity of Iran. The impact, for now, is likely to remain isolated to the oil and gas industry sector, where ongoing protests could disrupt production. Regime crackdowns will almost certainly continue.
*Brenda Shaffer is a senior advisor for energy at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where she also contributes to FDD’s Iran Program. She is the author of the FDD monograph Iran is more than Persia, which examines ethnic politics in Iran. She is also a faculty member at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. For more analysis from Brenda and the Iran Program, please subscribe HERE. Follow Brenda on Twitter @ProfBShaffer. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_Iran. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Jeff Flake as ambassador to Turkey is a chance for my home country to heal
Aykan Erdemir/Deseret News-FDD/July 19/2021
President Joe Biden on Tuesday nominated former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake as ambassador to Turkey, a longtime NATO ally that has increasingly strained relations with the United States and other members of the transatlantic alliance. Biden’s choice of a political appointee rather than a career diplomat ruffled the feathers of some Turkey watchers, who felt a professional envoy would be better prepared to handle the challenges the Turkey portfolio poses. These critics may underestimate Flake, whose unique traits could prove to be a valuable asset in navigating Ankara’s diplomatic scene and starting to heal bilateral relations.
To begin with, Biden’s move to appoint a religious individual — Flake is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — sends an important message about religious freedom, the rule of law and pluralism. Religious minorities in Turkey, including members of Flake’s own faith, were targets of unwarranted accusations in March 2018, when Turkish prosecutors repeatedly mentioned them in conjunction with charges brought against an unrelated North Carolina Pastor Andrew Brunson — a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Latter-day Saint volunteers eventually left Turkey, and, after a two year ordeal in Turkish prisons, Turkish authorities — prompted by U.S. sanctions — allowed Pastor Brunson to return to the United States.
Flake’s appointment to Ankara is an opportunity to make amends and once again foster cordial relations with minority faiths of all stripes.
Flake’s ambassadorship also sends a strong message about the virtues of nonpartisan engagement and values-based dialogue to Turkey, a nation torn apart by polarization at home and drifting away from its NATO allies by belligerent posturing abroad. Flake, of course, is a Republican who broke with his party to support Biden last year, thus earning this appointment. Whatever one thinks of Flake’s decision, it does show that partisanship need not consume us. In announcing his nomination on Medium, Flake said, “U.S. foreign policy can and should be bipartisan.”
Flaked added, “I understand and appreciate the role Congress plays in U.S. foreign policy, and I look forward to that partnership.” This comment demonstrates an awareness of the unique juncture at this moment in U.S.-Turkish relations, as an overwhelming bipartisan majority in both chambers of Congress pushes for a firm response to various transgressions of Turkey’s Islamist-ultranationalist ruling bloc headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The next U.S. ambassador to Ankara will have to walk a tightrope balancing cues from the pragmatic White House and State Department with the values-oriented focus of a proactive Congress.
Flake’s profile as a conservative who took a principled stand even though it likely cost him the prospect of reelection also sends a powerful signal to Turkey, where many local conservatives have been deserting, often at great personal risk, Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian Justice and Development Party (AKP) and lending their support to the opposition. Through Flake, Biden will be able to send a subtle message to the Turkish public that reversing Turkey’s democratic backsliding requires healing partisan divides deepened by harsh rhetoric and polarizing policies. The fact that both Biden and Flake can offer this message based on personal experience will add to their credibility in the eyes of the Turkish public.
Earlier this year, in an op-ed he penned for the Deseret News, Flake praised the “healing art of persuasion” and recommended turning down the volume of partisan politics. If he gets confirmed, Flake will head to Ankara, increasingly dominated by deafening vitriol and hostility. But Turkey is also a nation in need and desire of healing, both at home and in its relations with the United States and other NATO allies. As ambassador, Flake would have a powerful opportunity to demonstrate the importance of values-based leadership and speaking truth to power in his restrained and respectful manner — a form of personal conservatism that contributes to civility for all.
*Aykan Erdemir is a former member of the Turkish parliament and senior director of the Turkey Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow him on Twitter @aykan_erdemir. FDD is a nonpartisan think tank focused on foreign policy and national security issues.

Article In Pro-Hizbullah Daily: Violence Against U.S. Forces In Eastern Syria Is Likely To Increase, With Attacks On Patrols, Supply Convoys
MEMRI/ُJuly 19, 2021
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
In the past two weeks, in response to the June 28, 2021 U.S. attack on positions of the Iran-backed Shi'ite militias on the Syria-Iraq border, there have been several attacks on two bases housing U.S. troops in eastern Syria: the Omar oil field base and the Conoco gas field base. The attacks were reportedly carried out using rockets or drones,[1] and so far no element has claimed responsibility for them. It should be noted that, in the recent years, the Syrian regime has employed what it calls "popular resistance" against the U.S. forces in eastern and northern Syria.[2] Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad stated on numerous occasions that such resistance is the only way to drive the U.S. forces out of Syria and that the Syrian regime encourages it.[3] However, the frequency of the recent attacks suggest that they were carried out by Iran-backed militias in eastern Syria or by Syrian elements operated by these militias, in coordination with the Syrian regime.
Until the June 28 U.S. attack on their positions, the Iran-backed militias responded to such attacks by targeting U.S. interests in Iraq, not Syria. If these militias are indeed responsible for the recent attacks in eastern Syria, this activity may be intended to convey to the Americans that a new phase has begun in the confrontation between the U.S. forces and the Iranian proxies in the region, in which U.S. troops in Syria will be targeted as well.
On July 14, 2021, Syrian journalist Ayham Mare'i wrote in the pro-Hizbullah Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar that, until recently, the Syrian regime and its allies preferred to employ "popular resistance" against the U.S. in order to avoid confronting it directly. But now, a new phase has begun, and violence against the U.S. forces in Syria us likely to escalate, with attacks not only on bases but also on U.S. patrols or supply trucks, "based on the model of resistance in Iraq."
Mare'i's article is in line with reports in the last two weeks on Syrian opposition websites, that the Iran-backed Shi'ite militias have brought more rockets and launchers into areas they control on the western bank of the Euphrates, across from areas on the eastern bank controlled by the U.S. troops and by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), apparently for both offensive and defensive objectives.[4]
The following are translated excerpts from the report by Ayham Mare'iin the Al-Akhbar daily threatening an escalation in attacks on the U.S. forces in eastern Syria:[5]
Mare'i writes: "The five [recent] operations against the bases of the Washington-led international coalition in Syria were the beginning of a new phase, meant to increase the pressure on the U.S. to change its policy in Syrian and end the occupation of extensive areas east of the Euphrates." Mare'i explains that, in light of America's military might, the Syrian regime and its allies previously preferred to employ popular resistance against it while avoiding direct military confrontation: "The Syrian state and its allies are fully aware of America's military might and the difficulty of launching an open, all out confrontation against it in Syria. That is why they adopted the idea of launching popular resistance that can defeat the occupation and force it to withdraw by means of relentless attacks. In the recent months the regime urged the people in the areas east of the Euphrates to organize popular action against the occupier by impeding U.S. patrols on the ground, throwing stones at them and protesting against them."
Mare'i notes that these efforts failed, however, for "there was no significant change on the ground." Therefore, "there was a significant development, and the resistance assumed a new form," namely the recent attacks. He speculated that "the coming period is likely to see further escalation, in the form of direct attacks on U.S. patrols or even on trucks carrying vehicles, ammunition and food over the border, modeled on the resistance in Iraq."
Mare'i explains that "naturally, Damascus and its allies have not claimed responsibility for the last attacks, so as to avoid giving Washington a reason to retaliate. [They prefer] to say that these incidents, even if they are launched from government-controlled areas, are the work of unofficial popular groups. Damascus can reasonably justify these limited operations [by saying that] they are expressions of popular resistance to the direct U.S. occupation, and to America's economic pressure on the Syrian people and the organized and systematic theft of its oil and flour…
"[However], the similarity of the attacks on the U.S. bases in Syria and those in Iraq gives us a clear idea of what is happening, and [shows] that the forces of the resistance axis are acting in concert to create a new equation on the ground that will undermine the U.S. presence in the region, in [both] Syria and Iraq…"
[1] For example, according to a July 7 report on the Sada Al-Sharqieh Facebook page, affiliated with the Syrian opposition, one of the attacks on the Omar oil field base was carried out using a drone operated by an Iranian team on the western bank of the Euphrates (Facebook.com/SadaAlSharqieh, July 7, 2021).
[2] See e.g., JTTM reports: Pro-Syrian Regime Group Releases Video Threatening U.S. Base In Al-Tanf; Urges Popular Resistance To U.S. Presence In Syria, September 23, 2020;
Pro-Syrian Regime Group Claims Rocket Attack On U.S. Base In Deir Al-Zour, Threatens To Launch More Attacks, August 19, 2020.
[3] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 8994, Syrian Regime Continues To Encourage Popular Tribal Resistance Against U.S.; Assad: This Is The Only Way To Force The Americans To Leave, October 28, 2020.
[4] See e.g., Syriahr.com, July 9, 2021; naharmedia.net, July 4, 2021.
[5] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), July 14, 2021.

Tensions flare as Erdogan heads to breakaway north Cyprus
The Arab Weekly/June 19/2021
Making sure Khadimi’s visit to the White House serves a purpose
Khairallah Khairallah/The Arab Weekly/June 19/2021
It is not important for Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi simply to go to Washington to meet President Joe Biden, within the much vaunted framework of “strategic partnership” between the United States and Iraq.
What is important is what the US administration can do for Iraq in order for this country to regain its balance and its regional role and to shield itself from the Iranian expansionist project which has changed the nature of Iraq and its position in the region.
A great responsibility lies with the United States in Iraq. Kadhimi bears little responsibility for the status quo that he inherited as premier in April 2020. Both he and President Barham Salih are trying to do everything they can to ensure that Iraq becomes a country with normal relations with its neighbours, including “ The Islamic Republic.”
However, it is clear that the extent of the damage inflicted on Iraq is difficult to repair in light of the existing balance of power, considering Iranian hegemony over the state institutions that were established after April 9 2003. There needs to be an American role that helps Iraq return to the Iraqis which is the desire of the majority of the people of Iraq, including the Shia of Iraq. Before any American talk about any kind of “partnership” with Iraq, it is necessary to get to know Iraq and what is happeneing on the ground there and to carry out a self-critique. It is uncertain whether the Biden administration is able to carry out such a process, which would have to be based on the recognition that the US invasion of Iraq, 18 years ago and the establishment of the Interim Governing Council there were both fatal mistakes. These errors cannot be corrected by traditional or diplomatic means, such as receiving Kadhimi in Washington or not receiving him, as the second Arab leader, after King Abdullah II, to visit the White House since the inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20.
The US refuses to acknowledge that the administration of George W. Bush handed Iraq over to Iran on a silver platter and that Barack Obama’s administration came to complete this process. This was evident when Iran agreed with the Obama administration to have Nuri al-Maliki serve as prime minister, even though his list did not come first in the legislative elections.
It is no secret that the Islamic State (ISIS) was able to control several parts of Iraq at a certain point. Nor is there a secret about the role that the Maliki government played in helping the expansion of ISIS. There can be a resurgence of the Islamic State again, but the biggest threat to Iraq is not ISIS. The greatest danger to Iraq lies in the Iranian goals that successive US administrations have ignored.
Can the United States, if it really wants to help Iraq, understand that there is little benefit from any assistance to Iraq if there is a parallel army to the Iraqi army called the “Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF)”? These are nothing more than a huge facade under which a group of sectarian militias affiliated with Iran operate.
It is impossible to forge a US-Iranian “partnership” in the shadow of the PMF. Kadhimi can feel proud of the arrest of the Iranian operatives accused of the assassination of Hisham al-Hashemi about a year ago. Available information shows that one of the most prominent figures behind the Hashemi murder was a member of the narrow circle surrounding the Iraqi prime minister, an officer, Ahmed al-Kinani, who belongs to the Iraqi “Kata’eib Hezbollah.” What about other crimes and what about the frank admission that Iraq is a prisoner of Iran and that the United States is responsible for Iraq’s capture?
If there is an American role in Iraq, then this role must be characterised by courage first. The courage to admit that the administrations of Bush Jr and Barack Obama have made Iraq a mere pawn of Iran. Iraq is no longer more than a card used to pressure the US in the negotiations that Washington is currently conducting with Iran. Yes, there is a point from which the process of formulating an American policy towards Iraq can begin. But the question remains, is there an American willingness to formulate an Iraqi policy?
Nothing indicates that this is possible in the absence of a clear position towards the Iranian expansionist project, which took on a new dimension in 2003 and is still ongoing. This project is not limited to Iraq, but extends also to Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.
What will America do to make sure that genuine use made of Mustafa Kadhimi’s visit to Washington? It remains to be seen what the US can do to ensure that Khadimi’s trip to the White House serves a really useful purpose.