English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese,
Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For June 04/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews21/english.june04.21.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
An angel of the Lord opened the prison doors,
brought them out, and said, ‘Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the
whole message about this life
Acts of the Apostles 05/12-21a: “Now many signs and wonders were
done among the people through the apostles. And they were all together in
Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them
in high esteem. Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great
numbers of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the
streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall
on some of them as he came by. A great number of people would also gather from
the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean
spirits, and they were all cured. Then the high priest took action; he and all
who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with
jealousy, arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during
the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, brought them out, and
said, ‘Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this
life.’ When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on
with their teaching. When the high priest and those with him arrived, they
called together the council and the whole body of the elders of Israel, and sent
to the prison to have them brought.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese
Related News & Editorials published on June 03-04/2021
MoPH: 165 new coronavirus cases, 7 deaths
Aoun Acts after Halt of LBP 3,900 Rate Withdrawals Sparks Uproar
President Aoun chairs financial meeting
Salameh Says Decision that Halted LBP 3,900 Withdrawals Reversed
Newly-Appointed U.N. Special Coordinator Meets Lebanese Officials
Aoun Says He's Facilitating Formation but Hariri 'Not Respecting Partnership'
Army: Tripartite meeting in Naqoura condemned constant Israeli violations of
Lebanese sovereignty
Start of Trial in Hamadeh-Hawi-Murr Case Canceled over Lack of Funds
UNIFIL Head Tackles Recent Incidents in Talks with Lebanese, Israeli Officers
Hariri says Aoun is ‘hostage to the personal ambitions’ of son-in-law
Hariri meets US Embassy Chargé d'Affairs over latest developments, receives
Senegal’s ambassador
Berri meets newly appointed UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Senegal's
Ambassador
Diab welcomes newly appointed UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon
Akar welcomes newly appointed UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, receives
credentials of three ambassadors
Ibrahim, Nouris discuss illegal migration to Cyprus
STL: Start of trial in the Ayyash case (STL-18-10) on 16 June cancelled due to
lack of funds
Underwriting Hezbollah Inc/Emanulle Ottolenghi/The Tablet Magazine/June 03/2021
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous
Reports And News published on June 03-04/2021
Sixth round of indirect US-Iran talks on nuclear deal next week: State
Department
US says expecting sixth and further rounds of Iran nuclear talks
Bennett, Netanyahu's Former Protege, Poised to Succeed Him
Lapid Says He Formed New Coalition to Unseat Netanyahu
Israeli Defense Minister Heads to U.S. to Discuss Iran Talks
Yemen Fuel Tanker Could 'Explode at Any Moment'
Macron Sees 'Difficult' Choices, Holds Back on Re-Election Bid
Telecom Head Summoned after France Emergency Line Outage Causes Deaths
Emmanuel Macron calls for end to ‘foreign interference’ in Libya
Nigerian state government confirms 136 children abducted in Niger state
Morocco draws diplomatic red line over Western Sahara sovereignty
Iraqi officials: Explosion at Baghdad restaurant kills 3, injures 16
Arab-Kurd unrest turns deadly in Syria’s Manbij
Khartoum announces ‘review’ of Sudanese-Russian naval deal
Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from
miscellaneous sources published on June 03-04/2021
Iran regime doing all it can to ensure Raisi becomes presiden/Dr. Majid
Rafizadeh/Arab News/June 03/2021
Iran wants to expand its ruthless model throughout region/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab
News/June 03/2021
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News
& Editorials published on June 03-04/2021
MoPH: 165 new coronavirus cases, 7 deaths
NNA/June 03/2021
Lebanon has recorded 165 new coronavirus cases and 7 deaths in the past 24
hours, as announced by the Ministry of Public Health on Thursday.
Aoun Acts after Halt of LBP 3,900 Rate Withdrawals Sparks Uproar
Associated Press/June 03/2021
President Michel Aoun was on Thursday meeting with Central Bank Governor Riad
Salameh and State Shura Council head Judge Fadi Elias after the Central Bank
froze a circular allowing depositors to make use of their USD accounts at the
LBP 3,900 rate. Al-Jadeed TV reported that Aoun had made contacts overnight that
led to the reversal of the bank’s decision and that the outcome would be
announced after Thursday’s meeting in Baabda. Scores of Lebanese had lined up in
front of ATM machines overnight, after the State Shura Council -- a top Lebanese
court -- suspended a Central Bank decree that allowed them to withdraw from
dollar deposits at the LBP 3,900 rate -- a rate two and a half times better than
the fixed exchange rate. In a late night burst of anger, protesters blocked main
roads in Beirut and north of the capital. A young activist told a local TV
station the protest was against the constant humiliation of Lebanese who line up
to fill their cars with fuel, increasing power cuts, search for medicine and
deal with confused banking decisions that are robbing thousands of their
savings. The Lebanese pound, pegged to the dollar for 30 years at 1,507, has
been in a free fall since late 2019. It is now trading at nearly 13,000 to the
dollar at the black market. The financial crisis has driven more than half of
the population into poverty, caused the local currency to lose more than 85% of
its value, and prompted banks to lock deposits through informal capital
controls, eroding trust in a once-thriving banking sector. The State Shura
Council on Tuesday ordered the temporary suspension of a Central Bank circular
that gave depositors a chance to withdraw at a rate better than the pegged rate.
The Central Bank announced late Wednesday it was accepting the decision,
prompting the queues outside ATMS. One man said he went from one ATM to another
to withdraw as much as he could. Another complained that people's savings are at
the mercy of corrupt politicians."This is not resilience. We got used to being
humiliated and controlled this much by the politicians," said Mustafa Taqoush, a
23-year-old who failed to withdraw more than a weekly limit imposed on
withdrawals.
President Aoun chairs financial meeting
NNA/June 03/2021
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, chaired a financial and judicial
meeting, today at the Presidential Palace. Governor of the Central Bank, Riad
Salameh, and President of the State Consultative Council, Judge Fadi Elias,
attended the meeting.After discussion and deliberation, and since the BDL has
not been notified of a valid copy of the aforementioned decision for
implementation, and had submitted a review to the State Consultative Council
which included new additional elements that were not included in the file, it
was decided that Circular No. 151 issued by the Central Bank is still valid.
Attendees also stressed the necessity of cooperation between the BDL and the
State Consultative Council for the benefit of Lebanon. -- Press Office
Salameh Says Decision that Halted LBP 3,900 Withdrawals Reversed
Naharnet/June 03/2021
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on Thursday announced the reversal of a
controversial decision taken by the bank following a meeting with President
Michel Aoun and State Shura Council head Judge Fadi Elias. The bank’s decision
had suspended a circular allowing depositors to withdraw from their dollar
accounts at the LBP 3,900 rate -- a rate two and a half times better than the
fixed exchange rate of LBP 1,500. The suspension had sparked an uproar and
street protests. The bank’s suspension of the circular had followed a State
Shura Council decision that deemed the LBP 3,900 rate as illegal after a lawsuit
was filed in this regard. Salameh announced Thursday that the Central Bank has
decided to reverse its decision in light of the fact that it has not received an
implementable version of the Council’s order. He also said that the bank has
filed an appeal before the Council that “included new elements that weren’t
before in the file.”Salameh also reassured that “Lebanon is not bankrupt” and
that “the money of the Lebanese is in banks and a circular will soon be issued
to return the money to the Lebanese.” He also stressed “the need for cooperation
between the Central Bank and the State Shura Council for the sake of Lebanon’s
interest.
Newly-Appointed U.N. Special Coordinator Meets Lebanese
Officials
Naharnet/June 03/2021
Joanna Wronecka, the newly-appointed U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon, on
Thursday held her first round of meetings with Lebanese officials. She met with
President Michel Aoun, Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri, caretaker Prime
Minister Hassan Diab and acting caretaker Foreign Minister Zeina Akar. Wronecka,
who arrived in Beirut on Tuesday, discussed with Lebanon’s leaders the key areas
of cooperation between Lebanon and the U.N., focused on Lebanon's priority
needs, including at the political, security, humanitarian and development
levels, and the latest developments in Lebanon, her office said in a statement.
Noting the urgent need for solutions to Lebanon’s accumulating crises, the U.N.
Special Coordinator underlined that solutions require functioning state
institutions, including a fully empowered reform-oriented government. “Lebanon
is in crisis at different levels and unfortunately the Lebanese people are
struggling more and more each day. Solutions are urgently needed. And they are
available. Lebanon is a country of huge promise and potential, which I am
confident the country can build on to recover and build back a better future,”
Wronecka said. Recalling the decades-long partnership between Lebanon and the
United Nations, Wronecka reiterated the U.N.'s commitment to "supporting Lebanon
and its people, its peace, security, stability and socio-economic development,"
the statement said. She also took the opportunity to thank Deputy Special
Coordinator and U.N. Resident Coordinator Najat Rochdi for her "tireless
leadership" of the U.N.'s work in Lebanon during the past months.
Aoun Says He's Facilitating Formation but Hariri 'Not Respecting Partnership'
Naharnet/June 03/2021
President Michel Aoun has said that he has “offered all the necessary
facilitations for the formation of the government” while lamenting that
PM-designate Saad Hariri “has not respected the principle of national
partnership.”“Concessions are required today from everyone and what we need is a
moment of conscience,” Aoun added, in an interview with General Security’s
magazine published Thursday.“Until the last second of my constitutional tenure,
I will seek -- together with the remaining good people in this country -- to
salvage the state from those who have corrupted and destroyed it,” the president
said. Urging an end to “blind loyalty to sectarianism and to the leaders who
have failed to build the state,” Aoun said the Lebanese must seek the birth of a
“new political class that would establish a modern civil state.”He added that
“the problem is not in the constitution, but rather in failing to implement
it.”As for the dire financial situation, Aoun said “some of those who committed
the financial collapse crime are still in power and leadership.”“They are doing
everything possible to dodge punishment,” he added. Separately, Aoun stressed
that the 2022 parliamentary and municipal election will be held on time.
Army: Tripartite meeting in Naqoura condemned constant Israeli violations of
Lebanese sovereignty
NNA/June 03/2021
The Lebanese Army Command - Directorate of Orientation issued Thursday the
following: "On 3/6/2021, an extraordinary tripartite meeting was held in Ras
Naqoura, under the chairmanship of Commander of the United Nations Interim Force
in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Major General Stefano Del Col, and in presence of a
delegation of Lebanese army officers headed by the Lebanese government's
coordinator before the UNIFIL, General Hasib Abdo. The meeting touched on the
recent incidents that took place along the Blue Line, with the Lebanese side
condemning the Israeli enemy's targeting of unarmed civilians, which led to the
martyrdom of young man Mohammad Tahhan. It also condemned the constant enemy
violations of the Lebanese land, maritime, and air sovereignty, and reiterated
commitment to UN resolutions, namely resolution 1701 with all its provisions.
Moreover, the Lebanese side underlined the obligation of the Israeli enemy to
withdraw from all the occupied lands, namely the zone contiguous to north the
Blue Line, Shebaa farms, Kfarshouba hills, the northern part of Al-Ghajar, and
Point B1."
Start of Trial in Hamadeh-Hawi-Murr Case Canceled over Lack of Funds
Naharnet/June 03/2021
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon Trial Chamber II has issued an order canceling
the commencement of trial in the Hamadeh-Hawi-Murr case on June 16, 2021 due to
“lack of funds,” the STL said on Thursday. The Trial Chamber also suspended all
decisions on filings presently before it, and on any future filings, until
further notice. The Chamber’s order was in response to the Registrar’s filing on
1 June 2021, which notified the Chamber of the “severe financial situation
currently faced by the STL.”“The imminent exhaustion of funds will impact the
Tribunal’s ability to finance the continuation of judicial proceedings and
completion of its mandate unless further contributions are forthcoming this
month,” the STL said in a statement.“The STL continues its intensive efforts to
raise the funds required to carry on its ongoing judicial proceedings and
reiterates its urgent call upon the international community for its continued
financial support,” it added. The so-called Ayyash case relates to the three
attacks against Lebanese politicians Marwan Hamadeh, Georges Hawi and Elias Murr,
on 1 October 2004, 21 June 2005 and 12 July 2005 respectively.
They were found to be connected with the bomb attack that killed former Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri and many others on 14 February 2005. The Accused, Salim
Jamil Ayyash, a Hizbullah member, is charged with five counts, including acts of
terrorism. Ayyash has also been convicted over Hariri’s assassination while
three other Hizbullah members were acquitted.
UNIFIL Head Tackles Recent Incidents in Talks with Lebanese, Israeli Officers
Naharnet/June 03/2021
UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Stefano Del Col on
Thursday chaired a special Tripartite meeting – held in a modified format due to
the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions – with senior officers from the Lebanese Army
the Israeli army at a U.N. position in Ras al-Naqoura. Discussions focused on
the situation along the Blue Line, air and ground violations, as well as other
issues within the scope of UNIFIL’s mandate under U.N. Security Council
Resolution 1701 and other relevant resolutions, a UNIFIL statement said. In view
of several events along and across the Blue Line between 13 and 25 May “in
violation of Resolution 1701,” Del Col stressed the importance of preventing the
recurrence of such incidents. He also commended the parties for their support to
UNIFIL in its efforts to de-escalate tensions. Del Col was referring to protests
on the Lebanese side of the border with Israel and attempted rocket attacks from
Lebanon that accompanied that latest war between Israel and the Gaza-based
Palestinian factions. “With relative calm having returned to the wider region, I
hope that we are able to put these latest incidents behind us, learn lessons and
keep the stability along the Blue Line,” said the UNIFIL head. “This will
require coordinated efforts between us all to intervene when necessary and
de-escalate. More importantly, our efforts must be preventative rather than
reactive,” he added. Throughout that period, the UNIFIL Head of Mission was in
“constant contact” with the top officers of the Lebanese and Israeli armies to
“clarify the evolving situation on the ground, while urging maximum restraint
and cooperation with UNIFIL to prevent a potential escalation,” the statement
said. He also noted that these events are “clear demonstrations” of how fragile
the stability along the Blue Line is. “Both parties responded positively to my
calls and worked closely with UNIFIL to contain the volatile situation and I
commend them for this,” said Major General Del Col. “Your intent to avoid
escalation was amply evident in your actions and I ask that we maintain this
approach in addressing Blue Line issues,” he added. He also lauded the role of
UNIFIL’s liaison and coordination mechanism, which gave the Mission the
opportunity to “engage with the parties to provide up to date situational
awareness.”“It allowed UNIFIL and LAF (Lebanese Army) to coordinate deployment
to the scene while also allowing UNIFIL to engage with IDF (Israeli army) to
cease firing and facilitate our response in a timely manner,” he noted. Del Col
also sought the full cooperation of the parties to UNIFIL’s ongoing
investigations into the incidents. Since the end of the 2006 war in south
Lebanon, regular Tripartite meetings have been held under UNIFIL’s auspices as
an “essential conflict-management and confidence-building mechanism.”
Hariri says Aoun is ‘hostage to the personal ambitions’
of son-in-law
The Arab Weekly/June 04/2021
BEIRUT - Lebanon’s president and prime minister-designate traded barbs
Wednesday, accusing one another of obstruction, negligence and insolence in a
war or words that has for months obstructed the formation of a new government as
the country sinks ever deeper into economic and financial crisis. The power
struggle between the premier-designate, Saad Hariri, on one side and President
Michel Aoun and his son-in-law Gebran Bassil on the other, has worsened despite
warnings from world leaders and economic experts of the dire economic conditions
tiny Lebanon is facing. The World Bank on Tuesday said Lebanon’s crisis is one
of the worst the world has seen in the past 150 years. Lebanon is governed by a
sectarian power sharing agreement but as the crisis deepens, members of the
ruling elite bicker over how to form a government that will have to make tough
decisions. Hariri, who was tasked by Aoun to form a cabinet seven months ago,
blames the president for the months-long delay, accusing him of insisting on
having veto power in the upcoming government. Aoun, an ally of the powerful
militant Hezbollah group, has said that Hariri did not shoulder his
responsibilities in forming a government on which they both can agree. There is
no legal avenue for the president to fire the prime minister-designate, who is
chosen to the post by a majority of lawmakers. The rift has paralysed the
cash-strapped country, delaying urgently needed reforms. The economic crisis,
which erupted in 2019, has been compounded by the impact of the coronavirus
pandemic on Lebanon and a massive blast at Beirut’s port last year that killed
over 200 people and defaced a big section of the capital. The crisis has driven
more than half of the population into poverty, caused the local currency to lose
more than 85% of its value and prompted banks to lock deposits through informal
capital controls, eroding trust in a once-thriving financial sector. A statement
from Aoun’s office on Wednesday accused Hariri of trying to usurp presidential
powers, and coming up with “delusional propositions and insolent expressions.”
“The prime minister-designate ‘s continuous evading of responsibilities …
constitutes a persistent violation of the constitution and national accord,” it
added. Hariri and his political group, the Future party, responded by saying the
presidency is “hostage to the personal ambitions” of Bassil, Aoun’s son-in-law,
alluding to his alleged presidential aspirations. High-level mediation efforts
from France and local powerful players have faded without a breakthrough in the
face of intransigence from the rival parties in Lebanon.
Hariri meets US Embassy Chargé d'Affairs over latest
developments, receives Senegal’s ambassador
NNA/June 03/2021
Prime Minister-designate, Saad Hariri, on Thursday welcomed at the Center House,
US Embassy Chargé d'Affairs in Beirut, Richard Michaels, in presence of his
diplomatic affairs advisor, Dr. Bassem Al-Shab. The pair broached the latest
political developments, general conditions, and bilateral relations between the
two countries. On the other hand, Hariri received Senegal's Ambassador to
Lebanon, Abdel Ahad Mbaki, who paid him a farewell visit marking the end of his
diplomatic mission in the country. Talks reportedly touched on the general
situation and the bilateral relations between the two countries.
Berri meets newly appointed UN Special Coordinator
for Lebanon, Senegal's Ambassador
NNA/June 03/2021
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Thursday welcomed in Ain El Tineh the newly
appointed United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Ms. Joanna Wronecka,
who paid him a protocol visit upon assuming her new duties as the UN Secretary
General’s Special Representative in Lebanon and the UN Special Coordinator for
Lebanon. Speaker Berri also received Senegal's Ambassador to Lebanon, Abdel Ahad
Mbaki, who paid him a farewell visit marking the end of his diplomatic mission
in Lebanon, accompanied by the Second Counselor at the Consulate, Libasse Gaye,
and Consul Zaher Makhdir.
Diab welcomes newly appointed UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon
NNA/June 03/2021
Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab today welcomed at his Tallet el Khayyat
residence the newly appointed United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon,
Ms. Joanna Wronecka, accompanied by Deputy Special Coordinator for Lebanon and
Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs, Ms. Najat Rochdi. -- Caretaker PM Press
Office
Akar welcomes newly appointed UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, receives
credentials of three ambassadors
NNA/June 03/2021
Deputy Prime Minister, Caretaker Minister of National Defense, Acting Minister
of Foreign Affairs, Zeina Akar, on Thursday received in her office the newly
appointed United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Ms. Joanna Wronecka,
accompanied by Deputy Special Coordinator for Lebanon and Coordinator of
Humanitarian Affairs, Ms. Najat Rochdi. Discussions touched on the current
Lebanese situation amid the prevailing political and economic crisis, and the
need for the international community to support Lebanon and its people to
overcome this crisis. Talks also dwelt on the situation in the region and the
issue of the displaced Syrians and related humanitarian aid. On the other hand,
Akar received copies of the credentials of three new ambassadors accredited to
Lebanon, notably the ambassadors of the Republic of Sweden, the People's
Republic of China and the Republic of the Philippines. Minister Akar also met
with Spanish Ambassador to Lebanon, José Maria Ferré, with talks reportedly
touching on the bilateral relations and means to bolster them. Akar later
received former Minister Weam Wahhab over the current general situation.
Ibrahim, Nouris discuss illegal migration to Cyprus
NNA/June 03/2021
Lebanon's General Security Chief, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, on Thursday
welcomed in his office the Cypriot Minister of Interior, Nicos Nouris,
accompanied by Police Chief Stelios Papatheodorou. Discussions reportedly
touched on the issue of illegal migration to Cyprus and how to deal with this
phenomenon in the best and most effective way. Emphasis was made on the
importance of joint cooperation between the two countries in this regard.
STL: Start of trial in the Ayyash case (STL-18-10) on 16 June cancelled due to
lack of funds
NNA/June 03/2021
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) Trial Chamber II issued an
order cancelling the commencement of trial in the Ayyash case on 16 June 2021.
It also suspended all decisions on filings presently before it, and on any
future filings, until further notice. Trial Chamber II’s order was in response
to the Registrar’s filing on 1 June 2021, which notified the Chamber of the
severe financial situation currently faced by the STL. The imminent exhaustion
of funds will impact the Tribunal’s ability to finance the continuation of
judicial proceedings and completion of its mandate unless further contributions
are forthcoming this month. Trial Chamber II was formally seized of the Ayyash
case on 21 May 2021, following the completion of the transfer of the case file
to the Trial Chamber by the Pre-Trial Judge; which concluded the Pre-Trial
phase.
Considering that the Pre-Trial Judge had set 16 June as the tentative date for
the start of trial proceedings, Trial Chamber II had scheduled a Pre-Trial
Conference on 10 June to hear the parties and the Legal Representatives of
Victims including as to the modalities of the conduct of the proceedings. The
Trial Chamber II’s order also cancelled this hearing on that date.The STL
continues its intensive efforts to raise the funds required to carry on its
ongoing judicial proceedings and reiterates its urgent call upon the
international community for its continued financial support. The Ayyash case
relates to three attacks against prominent Lebanese political figures, Mr Marwan
Hamade, Mr Georges Hawi and Mr Elias El-Murr, on 1 October 2004, 21 June 2005
and 12 July 2005 respectively. They were found to be connected with the
terrorist attack that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and
many others on 14 February 2005.
The Accused, Mr Salim Jamil Ayyash, is charged with five counts, including acts
of terrorism. Victims of the three attacks participate in the proceedings
through their Legal Representatives, one designated for each attack. -- STL
تقرير مهم للغاية يشرح اجرام وارهاب حزب الله العالمي باللغتين العربية والإنكليزية
Underwriting Hezbollah Inc/Emanulle Ottolenghi/The
Tablet Magazine/June 03/2021
الاكتتاب في شركة حزب الله/إيمانول أوتولينغي/مجلة التابلت/03 حزيران/2021
ترجمة الياس بجاني
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/99426/emanulle-ottolenghi-the-tablet-magazine-underwriting-hezbollah-inc-%d8%a5%d9%8a%d9%85%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%88%d9%84-%d8%a3%d9%88%d8%aa%d9%88%d9%84%d9%8a%d9%86%d8%ba%d9%8a-%d9%85%d8%ac%d9%84%d8%a9-%d8%a7/
By funding the failed Lebanese state and lifting sanctions
on Iran, the United States is partnering with the world’s deadliest crime
syndicate
بتمويل الدولة اللبنانية الفاشلة ورفع العقوبات عن إيران، تتشارك الولايات المتحدة
مع عصابة حزب الله الأكثر دموية واجراماً في العالم
Hezbollah’s direct involvement with organized crime is well documented, ongoing,
and a threat to U.S. national interests. Iran’s complicity in Hezbollah’s
crimes, as well as its own criminal conduct, are also public knowledge. So why
is the Biden administration preparing, as part of its return to the 2015 nuclear
deal, to release billions of dollars in funds to Iran and open business
opportunities for a global criminal enterprise?
إن تورط حزب الله المباشر في الجريمة المنظمة موثق جيدًا ومستمر ويشكل تهديدًا
للمصالح الوطنية الأمريكية. إن تواطؤ إيران في جرائم حزب الله وكذلك في سلوكها
الإجرامي معلوم للجمهور. السؤال هنا إذن لماذا تستعد إدارة بايدن كجزء من عودتها
إلى الاتفاق النووي لعام 2015 للإفراج عن مليارات الدولارات من الأموال لإيران
وتمويل مشروع إجرامي عالمي؟
On March 30, Adalberto Fructuoso Comparán Rodríguez walked into a meeting in
Guatemala City, thinking he was about to complete an arms’ deal with a Hezbollah
financier. Instead, he was arrested. This was a classic Drug Enforcement
Administration sting operation. The DEA had Comparán Rodríguez, the former mayor
of Aguililla, in Michoacan, Mexico, in its sights. Court documents allege him to
be one of the leaders of the Michoacan United Cartel. To lure him and his
associates, the DEA engaged a confidential source, who posed as a Hezbollah
representative with close ties to Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah.
The informant offered Comparán Rodríguez to buy drugs, launder money, and sell
weapons. Comparán Rodríguez fell for it, and after arranging a meth deal, he
sought to procure sniper rifles and assault weapons from the informant. The
delivery was to take place at a Guatemalan port that Comparán Rodríguez had
“greased” to let illicit merchandise elude inspections.
في 30 مارس دخل المدعو اديلبرتو فروكتوزو كمبارين رودريغز إلى اجتماع في مدينة
غواتيمالا معتقدًا أنه على وشك إتمام صفقة أسلحة مع أحد ممولي حزب الله. بدلا من
ذلك تم القبض عليه من خلال عملية كلاسيكية لإدارة مكافحة المخدرات. كان لدى إدارة
مكافحة المخدرات مخبر هو كومباران رودريغيز العمدة السابق لأغيليلا . تزعم وثائق
المحكمة أنه أحد قادة منظمة ميتشواكان المتحدة كارتل.
لإغرائه وشركائه استعانت إدارة مكافحة المخدرات بمصدر سري تظاهر بأنه ممثل حزب الله
وعلى صلة وثيقة بالأمين العام لحزب الله حسن نصر الله. عرض المخبر على كوماران
رودريغيز شراء المخدرات وغسيل الأموال وبيع الأسلحة. وقع كوماران رودريغيز في ذلك
وبعد ترتيب صفقة ميث سعى لشراء بنادق قنص وأسلحة هجومية من المخبر. كان من المقرر
أن يتم التسليم في ميناء في غواتيمالا وكانت شركة كومباران رودريغيز قد موهتها
لتتمكن من تمرير هذه البضائع غير المشروعة بالخروج دون المرور على عمليات التفتيش.
This was an elaborate ruse, but a credible one to Latin American narco
traffickers. In the past two decades, Hezbollah has earned a stellar reputation
among criminal syndicates as an efficient and reliable partner in crime. And not
just in Latin America.
كانت هذه حيلة متقنة، لكنها خدعة موثوقة لتجار المخدرات في أمريكا اللاتينية. في
العقدين الماضيين اكتسب حزب الله سمعة ممتازة بين العصابات الإجرامية كشريك فعال
وموثوق في الجريمة وليس فقط في أمريكا اللاتينية ..
Just four weeks after Comparán Rodríguez was arrested in Guatemala, Saudi
officials seized more than 5 million Captagon pills hidden in a pomegranate
shipment from Lebanon. They believe Hezbollah is behind the shipment. Captagon,
a powerful synthetic drug currently flooding both European and Gulf markets, is
increasingly produced in Syria and the Hezbollah-controlled Beqaa Valley in
Lebanon. From there, it is smuggled out through the Syrian port of Latakia or
directly from Lebanon, thanks to the ongoing cooperation between the Syrian
regime of Bashar Assad, who controls the production, and Hezbollah, which
manages the logistics. Shipments tied to this racket of Iranian proxies keep
showing up in alarming quantities all over the Mediterranean: In July 2020,
Italian authorities seized 84 million pills worth more than 1 billion euros at
street price, and in 2019, 33 million pills worth almost 600 million euros were
seized in Greece.
بعد أربعة أسابيع فقط من اعتقال كوماران رودريغيز في غواتيمالا صادر المسؤولون
السعوديون أكثر من 5 ملايين حبة كبتاغون مخبأة في شحنة رمان قادمة من لبنان يعتقدون
أن حزب الله وراء هذه الشحنة. الكبتاغون هو عقار اصطناعي قوي يغمر الأسواق
الأوروبية والخليجية ويتم إنتاجه بشكل متزايد في سوريا ووادي البقاع الذي يسيطر
عليه حزب الله في لبنان ومن هناك يتم تهريبه عبر ميناء اللاذقية السوري أو مباشرة
من لبنان بفضل التعاون المستمر بين نظام بشار الأسد الذي يسيطر على الإنتاج وحزب
الله الذي يدير الإمدادات. تستمر شحنات هذه المواد المهربة من وكلاء الإيرانيين في
الظهور بكميات مقلقة في جميع أنحاء دول البحر الأبيض المتوسط: في يوليو 2020 صادرت
السلطات الإيطالية 84 مليون حبة تزيد قيمتها عن مليار يورو بسعر السوق، وفي عام
2019 تم في اليونان ضبط 33 مليون حبة بقيمة 600 مليون تقريبًا يورو.
One key difference between Hezbollah’s business operations and those of other
criminal syndicates is that amassing wealth is not itself the end goal, but a
means to promote the revolutionary political and military ambitions of Hezbollah
and its patrons in Tehran. The same networks that generate income also provide
the infrastructure for terror attacks. Confronting Hezbollah’s criminal
syndicate is not simply part of the unending struggle against organized crime,
but rather a national and global security imperative.
يكمن أحد الفروقات الرئيسية بين أهداف التهريب لحزب الله وتلك الخاصة بالعصابات
الإجرامية الأخرى أن هذه العصابات تبغى الربح المادي وجمع الثروات، اما حزب الله
فأهدافه هي تعزيز طموحاته وطموحات اسياده الإيرانيين في تعزيز وتقوية مشاريعهم
وطموحاتهم السياسية والعسكرية والثورية وتمويل الأعمال الإرهابية. إن مواجهة عصابة
حزب الله الإجراميةليست مجرد جزء من النضال اللامتناهي ضد الجريمة المنظمة، بل هي
ضرورة أمنية وطنية وعالمية.
Crime is a core component of Hezbollah’s fundraising. Open-source studies
suggest that involvement in illicit activities generates roughly 30% of
Hezbollah’s annual operating budget of roughly $1 billion, and that Iran
provides the rest. But a closer look at Hezbollah’s narco trafficking operations
suggests its proceeds from criminal activity may far exceed prevailing
estimates.
تعتبر الجريمة عنصرا أساسيا في عمليات جمع المال عد حزب الله وتشير الدراسات إلى أن
تورط الحزب في أنشطة غير مشروعة يؤمن له ما يقرب من 30٪ من ميزانية السنوية التي
تبلغ حوالي مليار دولار في حين أن إيران توفر له ال 70% الباقية. ولكن في نظرة
فاحصة على عمليات تهريب الحزب للمخدرات يتبين أن عائداته من النشاط الإجرامي قد
تتجاوز التقديرات السائدة.
The Ayman Joumaa network,which the DEA exposed in 2011 and the Treasury
Department linked to Hezbollah in 2012, was laundering up to $200 million a
month for Mexican and Colombian cartels. Joumaa, according to the DEA, took a
hefty commission for his services—between 8% and 14%, or between $16 million and
$28 million per month. In its heyday, the Joumaa operation alone would therefore
cover at least two-thirds of Hezbollah’s annual revenue from illicit activities.
And while Joumaa’s operation was disrupted, his complex scheme of used cars to
launder drug proceeds continued to operate long after sanctions and indictments
were made public.
معلوم أن شبكة أيمن جمعة التي كشفتها إدارة مكافحة المخدرات في عام 2011 ووزارة
الخزانة المرتبطة بحزب الله في عام 2012 ، كانت تغسل ما يصل إلى 200 مليون دولار
شهريًا لعصابات مكسيكية وكولومبية. ووفقًا لإدارة مكافحة المخدرات فقد حصل جمعة على
عمولة ضخمة مقابل خدماته تتراواح بين 8٪ و 14٪ أي ما بين 16 و 28 مليون دولار
شهريًا. من هنا فإن عمليات أيمن جمعة وحدها تغطي ما لا يقل عن ثلثي عائدات حزب الله
السنوية من خلال الأنشطة غير المشروعة. وبينما تعطلت عملية جمعة، استمر مخططه
المعقد للسيارات المستعملة لغسل عائدات المخدرات في العمل بعد فترة طويلة من إعلان
العقوبات ولوائح الاتهام.
Joumaa’s money-laundering organization was not the only game in town. In a 2016
operation code-named Cedar, the DEA and its European counterparts jointly
targeted a network that, according to Europol, laundered on average 1 million
euros a week in drug money. According to a former U.S. official familiar with
the investigation, Hezbollah used the same scheme to also earn more than 20
million euros a month selling its own cocaine, in addition to laundering
hundreds of millions of euros in drug proceeds on behalf of the cartels in
exchange for a fee. During the arrests, authorities seized 500,000 euros in
cash, $9 million worth of luxury watches that Hezbollah couriers intended to
transport to the Middle East for sales at inflated prices, and physical property
worth millions. These were peanuts compared with how much the network laundered
overall. In 2019, U.S. authorities seized $50 million from a convicted Hezbollah
financier, Kassim Tajideen, as part of a civil forfeiture action against his
money laundering activities on behalf of Hezbollah.
لم تكن منظمة أيمن جمعة لغسيل الأموال هي اللعبة الوحيدة في المدينة. غفي عملية تمت
عام 2016 أوطلق عليها اسم Cedar استهدفت إدارة مكافحة المخدرات ونظيراتها الأوروبية
بشكل مشترك شبكة قامت وفقًا لليوروبول بغسل أموال المخدرات بمعدل مليون يورو في
الأسبوع. وبحسب مسؤول أميركي سابق مطلع على التحقيق فقد استخدم حزب الله نفس المخطط
لكسب أكثر من 20 مليون يورو شهريًا من بيع الكوكايين الخاص به، بالإضافة إلى غسل
مئات الملايين من اليوروهات من عائدات المخدرات نيابة عن الكارتلات بمقابل رسوم.
خلال الاعتقالات، صادرت السلطات 500 ألف يورو نقدًا و 9 ملايين دولار من الساعات
الفاخرة التي كان سعاة حزب الله يعتزمون نقلها إلى الشرق الأوسط لبيعها بأسعار
متضخمة، وممتلكات مادية بقيمة الملايين. كانت هذه مجرد كميات قليلة جداً مقارنة
بمداخيل غسيل الشبكة للأموال بشكل عام. في سنة 2019 ، صادرت السلطات الأمريكية 50
مليون دولار من ممول حزب الله المدان، قاسم تاج الدين وذلك كجزء من إجراء مصادرة
مدنية ضد أنشطة غسيل الأموال لصالح حزب الله.
Hezbollah also plays a large part in the illicit economy of the Tri-Border
region of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, which is said to generate at least $5
billion a year in illicit transactions. The group likewise helps Venezuela’s
regime launder money through multiple waypoints in Venezuela and Central
America, and it runs multiple fraudulent schemes in West Africa. There is simply
no crime that the “Party of Allah” is above committing for money: Drug
trafficking, gun running, blood diamonds, illicit timber, even human
trafficking. Whatever funds the cause, God will forgive.
يلعب حزب الله أيضًا دورًا كبيرًا في الاقتصاد غير المشروع لمنطقة Tri-Border في
الأرجنتين والبرازيل وباراغواي والتي يقال إنها تدر 5 مليارات دولار على الأقل
سنويًا من المعاملات غير المشروعة. وبالمثل تساعد المجموعة النظام الفنزويلي في
غسيل الأموال من خلال نقاط طريق متعددة في فنزويلا وأمريكا الوسطى وتدير مخططات
احتيالية متعددة في غرب إفريقيا.
ببساطة فإن حزب الله مستعد للقيام بأي عمل إجرامي ومهما كان نوعه مقابل المال.
الحزب متورط وناشط في تهريب المخدرات والأسلحة والماس الدموي والأخشاب غير
المشروعة، حتى الاتجار بالبشر والله بمفهومه يغفر له ما دام ما يفعله هو مكرس
لتمويل وخدمة قضيته.
And yet for all the cash and cases that we know about, there are still numerous
undetected active networks, servicing a global industry of crime that is worth
tens of billions of dollars in illicit transactions every year. It is big
business.
ومع ذلك، وفي كل ما يتعلق بكافة القضايا التي نعرفها عن جميع الأموال النقدية، فلا
يزال هناك العديد من الشبكات النشطة غير المكتشفة المسخرة في خدمة وتمويل الجريمة
العالمية والتي تقدر قيمتها بعشرات المليارات من الدولارات التي يتم جنيها من
العمليات غير المشروعة كل عام. إنه عمل كبير.
To play in the big leagues with Latin America’s cartels and Europe’s criminal
underworld, Hezbollah cannot afford to improvise. Its party stalwarts run a
tight ship from their safe perches in Tehran, Baghdad, and Beirut. Nicknamed the
Business Affairs Component by the DEA, Hezbollah’s fundraising directorate is
part and parcel of its External Security Operations branch, which is in charge
of terror attacks overseas. The BAC oversees overseas funding and assists in
weapons procurement. Unlike cartels, whose territorial reach is usually limited,
Hezbollah has a global footprint, thanks to its reliance on expatriate
communities.
حزب الله ولأنه يتعامل مع عصابات أمريكا اللاتينية ومع كبرى منظمات الإجرام في
أوروبا فهو ليس بمقدره تحمل تبعيات وعواقب التهور أوالتفرد.
أنصار الحزب يديرون انشطتهم الإجرامية من مواقعهم الآمنة في طهران وبغداد وبيروت.
تعتبر مديرية جمع التبرعات التابعة لحزب الله، الملقبة بمكون الشؤون التجارية من
قبل إدارة مكافحة المخدرات جزءًا لا يتجزأ من فرع العمليات الأمنية الخارجية وهي
المسؤولة عن الهجمات الإرهابية في الخارج. تشرف الديرية هذه على التمويل الخارجي
وتساعد في شراء الأسلحة.
على عكس الكارتلات، التي يكون نفوذها الإقليمي محدودًا عادةً، يتمتع حزب الله ببصمة
عالمية بفضل اعتماده على المجتمعات الإغترابية.
Like a sailor with a girlfriend in every port, Hezbollah has loyalists just
about everywhere. Since the early 1980s, under Iranian guidance (and often with
Tehran’s direct participation), Hezbollah began dispatching clerics and teachers
to establish a foothold amid Shiite Lebanese communities overseas. In time,
emissaries built miniature South Lebanons in their midst, with schools, scout
movements, mosques, mullahs, and charitable organizations that mirror
Hezbollah’s institutions in the homeland. They also found Shiite businessmen
happy to welcome them, or even to provide them with assistance. This global
program targeting the Lebanese diaspora successfully infiltrated their communal
institutions, using them to nurture loyalty and indoctrinate new generations.
وضعية حزب الله تشبة وضعية ذاك البحار الذي عنده صديقته في كل ميناء…حزب الله لديه
موالون في كل مكان. فمنذ أوائل الثمانينيات وبتوجيه من إيران (وغالبًا بمشاركة
طهران المباشرة) بدأ حزب الله في إرسال رجال دين ومعلمين لتأسيس موطئ قدم له وسط
المجتمعات اللبنانية الشيعية في الخارج ومع مرور الوقت بنى هؤلاء في وسط المغتربين
الشيعة لبنانا جنوبياً مصغراً من خلال المدارس والحركات الكشفية والمساجد والملالي
والمنظمات الخيرية التي هي استنساخ وانعكاس لمؤسسات حزب الله في لبنان. كما ساعدوا
في بروز رجال أعمال شيعة مؤيدن ومستعدن بفرح تقديم المساعدة لهم. هذا البرنامج
العالمي لحزب الله الذي استهدف المغتربين اللبنانيين الشيعة نجح في اختراق مؤسساتهم
المجتمعية وسخرها لتقوية وتعميق ولاء الأجيال الجديدة.
As a result, Hezbollah can launder money globally, through intricate networks
built not just on religious and party allegiance, but also on blood ties and
clan loyalties. Through their businesses, friendly Lebanese merchants support
trade-based money laundering schemes that move merchandise such as used cars,
electronics, brand clothing, and cosmetics to cover the transfer of illicit
proceeds. Hezbollah relies on money exchange houses, both in Lebanon and
overseas, to move currency. It also has access to Lebanon’s banking system
through a Hezbollah-controlled phantom bank, the U.S.-sanctioned Al Qard Al
Hassan.
حصاداً ونتيجة لكل هذا المجهود يستطيع حزب الله غسل الأموال عالميًا من خلال شبكات
معقدة مبنية ليس فقط على الولاء الديني والحزبي، ولكن أيضًا على روابط الدم
والولاءات العشائرية. الحزب يقوم بكل انشطته من خلال أعمال وتجارة هؤلاء وينفذ
مخططات غسيل الأموال القائمة على التجارة من خلال نقل بضائع من مثل السيارات
المستعملة والإلكترونيات والملابس ذات العلامات التجارية ومستحضرات التجميل بهدف
تغطية تحويل العائدات غير المشروعة. هذا ويعتمد الحزب على مكاتب الصرافين في لبنان
وخارجها لنقل الأموال، كما أن لديه إمكانية الوصول إلى النظام المصرفي اللبناني من
خلال بنك وهمي يسيطر عليه هو بنك القرض الحسن الذي تضعه الولايات المتحدة على قوائم
العقوبات.
Hezbollah’s militia commanders and clerics have relatives managing businesses
across the world—for example, Sheikh Khalil Rizk, the Hezbollah cleric who was,
until recently, in charge of the group’s foreign relations department, has a
brother who runs a cellphone business in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Mohamad Mansour, a
Hezbollah operative arrested in Egypt over a decade ago, also has a brother
running a business in Sao Paulo, just two blocks away from Sheikh Rizk’s
sibling. The de facto leader of Hezbollah’s financial operations in the
Tri-Border Area, Assad Ahmad Barakat, is the brother of Sheikh Akram Barakat,
another figure in Hezbollah’s clerical hierarchy. The Barakat family’s business
interests extend across Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, and Angola. Joumaa
ran his business from Colombia with his brother and his cousin, who is still
there. In short, Hezbollah relies on a worldwide network of familial ties, much
like its Christian Mediterranean counterpart, the Italian Mafia. And much like
La Cosa Nostra, loyalties to blood and kin go a long way to keep the network
tight and hard to infiltrate.
لقادة مليشيات حزب الله ورجال الدين أقارب يديرون أعمالاً في جميع أنحاء العالم.
على سبيل المثال الشيخ خليل رزق رجل الدين في حزب الله الذي كان حتى وقت قريب
مسؤولاً في الحزب عن قسم العلاقات الخارجية لديه شقيق يدير شركة للهواتف المحمولة
في ساو باولو، البرازيل. وكذلك محمد منصور الناشط في الحزب الذي اعتقل في مصر منذ
أكثر من عقد من الزمان لديه أيضًا شقيق يدير شركة في ساو باولو تقع على مسافة قريبة
من أبنية شقيق الشيخ رزق.
أما الزعيم الفعلي للعمليات المالية لحزب الله في منطقة الحدود الثلاث فهو أسعد
أحمد بركات شقيق الشيخ أكرم بركات وهو شخصية أخرى في التسلسل الهرمي الديني للحزب.
تمتد المصالح التجارية لعائلة بركات عبر تشيلي والأرجنتين وباراغواي والبرازيل
وأنغولا وقد أدار جمعة عمله من كولومبيا مع شقيقه وابن عمه الذي لا يزال هناك.
باختصار فإن حزب الله يعتمد على شبكة عالمية من الروابط العائلية مثل نظيرته
المسيحية المافيا الإيطالية بلاد حوض البحر الأبيض المتوسط، ومثل لا كوسترا نوستا
حيث الولاء للدم والأقارب يلعب دوراً اساسياً للحفاظ على شبكة ضيقة وصعبة التسلل.
As if its criminal empire was not concerning enough, there is another dimension
to Hezbollah’s racketeering that should have Washington’s attention. The same
international network that conducts Hezbollah’s business operations also
provides the infrastructure for terror attacks.
وكأن إمبراطورية الحزب الإجرامية ليست مقلقة بما فيه الكفاية، فهناك بعد آخر
لابتزازه يجب أن يحظى باهتمام واشنطن وهو أنه يستعمل شبكته الإجرامية الدولية نفسها
التي تدير عملياته التجارية وبنيتها التحتية في تخطيط وتنفيذ هجماته الإرهابية.
In just the past few years, authorities have thwarted plans to carry out
bombings in Thailand, Panama, and London, and additional plots based in Detroit,
New York, and Cyprus. Tactically, all these operations have one thing in common:
the use of massive quantities of ammonium nitrate to build bombs. This chemical
compound can be found in ice packs and fertilizer, so Hezbollah operatives
relied on local friendlies to buy and store them. These accomplices required
front companies to order large quantities under the guise of legitimate
commercial operations, and they needed to accumulate the products slowly so as
not to attract attention. (In one case, a front company bought thousands of
first-aid kits, each containing an ice pack, over the course of several years.)
Hezbollah operatives also needed warehouses to store this merchandise until the
moment they received the order to assemble the explosives and carry out an
attack. They also needed false papers and safehouses from which to operate or
lie in wait. These things cost money and require a local network.
في السنوات القليلة الماضية فقط، أحبطت السلطات خططًا لتنفيذ تفجيرات في تايلاند
وبنما ولندن، ومخططات إضافية في ديترويت ونيويورك وقبرص. من الناحية التكتيكية
تشترك كل هذه العمليات في شيء واحد: استخدام كميات هائلة من نترات الأمونيوم لبناء
القنابل.
يمكن العثور على هذا المركب الكيميائي في أكياس الثلج والأسمدة، ولهذا اعتمد عناصر
الحزب على الأصدقاء المحليين لشرائها وتخزينها.
طلب هؤلاء المتواطئون من الشركات المتعاملة معهم أن تشتري كميات كبيرة من الأمونيوم
تحت ستار العمليات التجارية المشروعة وكانوا بحاجة إلى تكديسها ببطء حتى لا تجذب
الانتباه. (في إحدى الحالات ، اشترت شركة واجهة منتعاملة معهم الآلاف من مجموعات
الإسعافات الأولية التي تحتوي كل منها على كيس ثلج وذلك على مدار عدة سنوات). كما
احتاج عناصر الحزب أيضًا إلى مستودعات لتخزين هذه البضائع التي تستعمل في التفجير
حتى اللحظة التي يتلقون فيها أمر تجميعها وتنفيذ أي هجوم يوكل لهم تنفيذه. كما
احتاجوا إلى أوراق ومخابئ مزورة للعمل أو الانتظار. هذه الأشياء تكلف المال وتتطلب
شبكة محلية.
The facilitators who provide these services are not bombmakers or sharpshooters.
They are businessmen devoted to the cause and ready to mobilize for faith,
family, and party. The assassins may come in at the last minute to execute the
plot, but it is the businessmen who raise the funds to make attacks possible,
and who, when called upon, also patiently provide the building blocks to the
operatives.
الميسرون الذين يقدمون هذه الخدمات لحزب الله ليسوا صانعي القنابل أو القناصين، بل
هم رجال أعمال مخلصون لقضية الحزب ومستعدون للتعبئة من أجل الإيمان والأسرة والحزب.
قد يأتي القتلة في اللحظة الأخيرة لتنفيذ المؤامرة، لكن رجال الأعمال هم الذين
يجمعون الأموال لجعل الهجمات ممكنة، وهم دعوتهم للمساعدة يوفرون بصبر اللبنات
الأساسية للعملاء.
A recent U.S. case against a Hezbollah operative makes it clear what Hezbollah
has in mind and why the convergence of terror and organized crime is so lethal.
In June 2017, U.S. authorities announced the arrest of Samer El Debek just
outside of Detroit. According to court documents, Hezbollah trained him to
handle ammonium nitrate and dispatched him to Thailand in 2009 to clean up a
safe house filled with ice packs left behind after a thwarted attack. Hezbollah
later sent El Debek to Panama to scout the Panama Canal, where an attack might
have disrupted global shipping.
توضِّح قضية قضائية أمريكية حديثة ضد أحد عملاء حزب الله ما يدور في عقل الحزب
وتبين لماذا يكون التقاء الإرهاب والجريمة المنظمة مميتًا للغاية. في يونيو 2017
أعلنت السلطات الأمريكية عن اعتقال سامر الدبيك خارج ديترويت، ووفقًا لوثائق
المحكمة فقد قام الحزب بتدريبه على التعامل مع نترات الأمونيوم ومن ثم أرسله إلى
تايلاند في عام 2009 لتنظيف منزل آمن مليء بأكياس الثلج خلفه وراءه بعد هجوم فاشل.
وقد أرسل الحزب في وقت لاحق الدبيك إلى بنما لاستكشاف قناتها حيث أن احتمال الهجوم
عليها قد يعطيل الملاحة العالمية.
Sometimes the terror plots succeed. In 2012, a Hezbollah suicide bomber blew up
a bus transporting Israeli tourists in Burgas, Bulgaria. The bombing killed the
Bulgarian bus driver and five Israelis, including a pregnant woman, and injured
32 others. According to the Bulgarian interior minister, the perpetrator worked
with as many as five accomplices who had been planning the attack for a year and
a half. In other words, it took not just one willing martyr, but a network with
funds and resources.
في بعض الأحيان تنجح مؤامرات الإرهاب.
في عام 2012 فجر انتحاري من حزب الله حافلة تقل سائحين إسرائيليين في بورغاس،
بلغاريا وقد أسفر التفجير عن مقتل سائق الحافلة البلغارية وخمسة إسرائيليين بينهم
امرأة حامل وإصابة 32 آخرين. ووفقًا لوزير الداخلية البلغاري فقد عمل الجاني مع ما
يصل إلى خمسة متواطئين كانوا يخططون للهجوم لمدة عام ونصف، بمعنى آخر لم يتطلب
الأمر فقط شخصاً واحداً مستعد للإستشهاد، بل شبكة من الأموال والموارد.
Bottom line: Let Iran reopen for business, and the surplus cash will fund a
global criminal enterprise. Hezbollah does all this with Tehran’s approval. And
the Iranian government, no stranger to crime, benefits from it.
خلاصة القول: دع إيران تفتح أبوابها للعمل (بتمويلها من أميركا)، وسوف يموِّل
فائضها النقدي مشروعًا إجراميًا عالميًا. يقوم حزب الله بكل أعماله الإجرامية
بموافقة طهران والحكومة الإيرانية التي تمتهن الإجرام وتستفيد منه.
The case of Hassan Hodroj and Iman Kobeissi, both investigated and prosecuted by
U.S. authorities, reveals how Hezbollah networks procure advanced weapons for
Iran. The Iranian regime has also engaged in brazen human trafficking and
exploitation of refugees. The Department of State Trafficking in Persons 2020
Report documents how the Iranian regime forces “Afghan migrants, including
children as young as 12 years old” to fight in in Syria under threat of arrest
and deportation. The report also highlights “a government policy or pattern of
recruiting and using child soldiers, and a pattern of government officials
perpetrating sex trafficking of adults and children with impunity.
تكشف قضية حسن حدرج وإيمان قبيسي التي حققت فيها السلطات الأمريكية وحاكمتهما، كيف
تشتري شبكات حزب الله أسلحة متطورة لإيران. كما أن النظام الإيراني منخرط في عمليات
الاتجار الفاضح بالبشر واستغلال اللاجئين. في هذا السياق يوثق تقرير وزارة الخارجية
حول الاتجار بالبشر لعام 2020 كيف يجبر النظام الإيراني”المهاجرين الأفغان، بمن
فيهم أطفال الذين لا تتجاوز أعمارهم 12 عامًا” على القتال في سوريا تحت التهديد
بالاعتقال والترحيل. كما يسلط التقرير الضوء على “سياسة حكومية أو نمط لتجنيد
واستخدام الجنود الأطفال، ونمط من المسؤولين الحكوميين يرتكبون الاتجار بالجنس
تطاول البالغين والأطفال مع الإفلات من العقاب”.
Iranian diplomats have facilitated the Revolutionary Guards’ terror plots
abroad, so much so that in 2019 several Iranian diplomats were expelled,
arrested and put on trial for assassinating or plotting to assassinate regime
dissidents. In some cases, Iran relied on narco traffickers—another telltale
sign of the regime’s symbiosis with organized crime. Iran has also taken
international hostages and prosecuted them on bogus espionage charges to extract
economic concessions from foreign countries.
سهّل دبلوماسيون إيرانيون مؤامرات الحرس الثوري الإرهابية في الخارج لدرجة أنه في
عام 2019 تم طرد العديد من الدبلوماسيين الإيرانيين واعتقالهم ومحاكمتهم بتهمة
الإغتيال أو التآمر لاغتيال معارضين للنظام الإيراني. في بعض الحالات، اعتمدت إيران
على تجار المخدرات – وهي علامة أخرى منبهة لتعايش النظام مع الجريمة المنظمة، كما
احتجزت إيران رهائن دوليين وحاكمتهم بتهم تجسس وهمية لانتزاع تنازلات اقتصادية من
دول أجنبية.
All that is before one probes the Iranian regime’s real specialties—illicit
nuclear technology procurement, circumvention of sanctions, money laundering,
and terror plotting.
كل هذا قبل التحقيق في التخصصات الحقيقية للنظام الإيراني وشراء التكنولوجيا
النووية غير المشروعة والتحايل على العقوبات وغسيل الأموال والتخطيط للإرهاب.
Bottom line: Let Iran reopen for business, and the surplus cash will fund a
global criminal enterprise. Restoring money flows to Tehran’s coffers means
Washington will no longer leverage sanctions, vigorously prosecute money
launderers and drug traffickers, or impose steeper penalties on their enablers
in order to disrupt the Iranian regime and its proxies’ criminal endeavors.
Neither will it use diplomatic pressure on allies who have not yet designated
Hezbollah as a terror organization. Instead, Washington will be complicit in the
survival and expansion of a band of criminals who want to harm U.S. national
interests.
خلاصة القول: دع إيران تفتح أبوابها للعمل، وسوف يمول الفائض النقدي مشروعًا
إجراميًا عالميًا. إن استعادة تدفقات الأموال إلى خزائن طهران تعني أن واشنطن لن
تستفيد بعد الآن من العقوبات أو تلاحق بقوة غاسلي الأموال وتجار المخدرات أو تفرض
عقوبات أشد على عناصر تمكينهم من أجل تعطيل النظام الإيراني والمساعي الإجرامية
لوكلائه. ولن تستخدم الضغط الدبلوماسي على الحلفاء الذين لم يُصنفوا حزب الله بعد
على أنه منظمة إرهابية. وبدلاً من ذلك، ستكون واشنطن متواطئة في بقاء وتوسيع نطاق
عصابة من المجرمين الذين يريدون الإضرار بالمصالح الوطنية للولايات المتحدة.
So give them more money, Mr. President. Guaranteed happy ending.
سيدي الرئيس بايدن: لذا امنحهم المزيد من المال والنهاية السعيدة مضمونة.
***Emanuele Ottolenghi is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies.
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/hezbollah-inc-emanuele-ottolenghi
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous
Reports And News published on June 03-04/2021
Sixth round of indirect US-Iran talks
on nuclear deal next week: State Department
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/03 June ,2021
The United States and Iran are expected to return to Vienna next week to resume
the sixth round of indirect talks over the now-defunct nuclear deal, which the
Biden administration is looking to re-enter. “We expect there will be a sixth. I
think there's just about every expectation that there will be subsequent rounds
beyond that,” State Department Spokesman Ned Price told reporters during a
briefing. Talks in Vienna are being held under the auspices of the European
Union, China and Russia. Repeating previous comments signaling Washington’s
frustration that Tehran continued to refuse direct talks with US officials,
Price said this was making the issue more complicated. “There is no lack of
distrust between and among Iran and the other partners and allies with whom
we're working on this,” Price said. Read more: Lebanon will never regain
sovereignty with Hezbollah’s current status: David Hale
US says expecting sixth and further rounds of Iran
nuclear talks
Arab News/June 03/2021
WASHINGTON: The United States expects to have a sixth round of indirect talks on
reviving compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and probably more, US State
Department spokesman Ned Price said on Thursday. The European Union envoy
coordinating the talks on Wednesday said he believed a deal would be struck at
the next round starting next week, but other senior diplomats have said the most
difficult decisions still lie ahead. Price said hurdles remained after the fifth
round of talks that concluded on Wednesday and offered a more cautious outlook
than the EU official, even as he did not rule out the possibility of an
agreement in the next round."We expect there will be a sixth. I think there's
just about every expectation that there will be subsequent rounds beyond that,"
Price told reporters. He said the hurdles included the fact that the talks are
indirect - Iran refuses direct discussions with the United States - and the
issues complex. "There is no lack of distrust between and among Iran and the
other partners and allies with whom we're working on this," he added. Former US
President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018, arguing it gave Iran
excessive sanctions relief for inadequate nuclear curbs. US President Joe Biden
wants to restore the pact's nuclear limits and, if possible, extend them.
Bennett, Netanyahu's Former Protege, Poised to Succeed Him
Associated Press/June 03/2021
For months, Naftali Bennett vexed Israel's political establishment by refusing
to say whether he and his Yamina party would get behind Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu. Now the 49-year-old tech millionaire and former Netanyahu protege is
poised to become his successor. His rise to Israel's top job is a historic turn
for the 73-year-old nation after four inconclusive elections and a brutal 11-day
war with Hamas' militant rulers in the Gaza Strip. As a fragile truce held into
its second week, Bennett finally announced his party would join with allies of
centrist Yair Lapid to form a government.
They completed the deal late Wednesday, just a half hour before a midnight
deadline, paving the way to formally oust Netanyahu in the coming days. The
"change" coalition reflects a pragmatic streak in the 49-year-old father of four
who built his career on becoming the pro-settlement, anti-Palestinian statehood
leader of the new Israeli right. It also reflects Israel's mercurial politics.
Less than two months ago, Bennett signed a pledge on national television. "I
won't let Lapid become prime minister, with or without a rotation, because I'm a
man of the right and for me values are important," he said. Yet that's exactly
what will happen under Lapid and Bennett's deal to serve as premier in two-year
shifts. Bennett was more circumspect when he announced the deal this week. "No
one will be asked to give up their ideology, but everyone will have to postpone
the realization of some of their dreams," he said. "We will focus on what can be
done, instead of arguing over what is impossible."Bennett is a modern Orthodox
Jew and lives in the upscale Tel Aviv suburb of Raanana, rather than the
settlements he champions. "The mistake," Bennett told The Associated Press in
2012, "is to categorize me as extreme." Bennett began life with his
American-born parents in Haifa, then bounced with his family between North
America and Israel, military service, law school and the private sector.
Throughout, he's curated a persona that's at once modern, religious and
nationalist. After serving in the elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit, Bennett
went to law school at Hebrew University and made a fortune in the largely
secular world of technology. In 1999, he co-founded Cyota, an anti-fraud
software company that he sold in 2005 to U.S.-based RSA Security for $145
million.
Bennett has said the bitter experience of Israel's 2006 war against the Lebanese
militant group Hezbollah drove him to politics. The monthlong war ended
inconclusively, and Israel's military and political leadership at the time was
widely criticized as bungling the campaign. Bennett made his debut as
Netanyahu's chief of staff for two years. They parted ways after a mysterious
falling out that Israeli media linked to Netanyahu's wife, Sara, who wields
great influence over her husband's inner circle. The two clashed again when
Bennett fiercely opposed Netanyahu's decision in late 2009 to slow settlement
construction in a U.S.-led effort to encourage Palestinians to renew peace
talks. Bennett briefly served as head of the West Bank settler's council, Yesha.
He marched into national politics in his own right in 2013, remaking a party of
pro-settlement advocates and later serving as cabinet minister of diaspora
affairs, education and defense in various governments. Then came a series of
inconclusive Israeli elections and corruption charges against Netanyahu. Before
the latest election on March 23, he refused to say whether he would sit as part
of a Netanyahu-led coalition. Like the other elections, the March contest failed
to produce a governing majority. Netanyahu failed to form a coalition of 61
votes in the Knesset. Then it was Lapid's turn. On Sunday night, Bennett
announced he would form a government with "my friend," Lapid. The alternative,
he said, was to force the country into more elections. "Or we can halt this
insanity," he said.
Lapid Says He Formed New Coalition to Unseat Netanyahu
Agence France Presse/June 03/2021
Israel's opposition leader Yair Lapid said he had succeeded in forming a
broad-based coalition to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the country's
longest-serving leader. Should it be confirmed by the 120-member Knesset
legislature in the coming days, it would end the long reign of the hawkish
right-wing leader known as Bibi, who has long dominated Israeli politics.
Lapid's announcement late Wednesday came in the final hour before a midnight
deadline, following marathon negotiations with a group of parties spanning the
political spectrum, united only in their desire to oust Netanyahu.
"I succeeded," Lapid, a former TV news anchor, wrote on Facebook. "I promise
that this government will work in the service of all of the citizens of Israel,
those who voted for it and those who did not."The right-wing nationalist tech
millionaire Naftali Bennett, 49, would serve first as prime minister in a
rotation agreement, with Lapid to take over after two years. "With the help of
God we will do together what is good for Israel and we'll get Israel back on
track," Bennett told Israel's President Reuven Rivlin after Lapid had informed
Rivlin of their coalition. The opposition leader and his partners now have at
least a week before lawmakers must vote to confirm their government -– a period
during which Netanyahu and his Likud party are expected to try to do what they
can to prevent it.Should last-minute defections scupper the "change" alliance,
Israel would likely have to hold yet another election, the fifth in just over
two years.
Down to the wire
Lapid, who heads the secular centrist party Yesh Atid, last Sunday won the
crucial support of Bennett, head of the Yamina "Rightward" party. To build the
anti-Netanyahu bloc, Lapid had to sign individual agreements with seven parties.
They include the hawkish New Hope party of Netanyahu's former ally Gideon Saar,
and right-wing secular nationalist Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party.
Also part of the alliance are the Labor party, the dovish Meretz party, and the
centrist Blue and White party of Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who
unsuccessfully challenged Netanyahu in three previous votes. Gantz, who tweeted
it was a "night of great hope," headed to Washington for pre-scheduled talks
Thursday on Iran with US officials including Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The change alliance also includes the Arab Israeli Islamic conservative party
Raam, whose head Mansour Abbas late Wednesday announced that he had joined in
order to secure funding and policies to benefit Israel's 20 percent minority of
Palestinian descent.
"I just signed an agreement with Yair Lapid so that he can declare that he can
form a government after reaching... agreements on various issues that serve the
interest of Arab society," he said. Other Arab lawmakers supported the late
prime minister Yitzhak Rabin from outside his coalition in the 1990s, but Abbas
was the first Arab politician in Israel to openly bargain for a role in the
coalition, said political analyst Afif Abu Much.
Abu Much noted that lawmakers with other parties representing Arab citizens of
Israel announced they would oppose the government headed by Bennett, a strong
supporter of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
'Fraud of century'
Lapid was tasked with forming a government after Netanyahu failed to put
together his own coalition following March elections, the fourth inconclusive
vote in less than two years. In an editorial, The Jerusalem Post warned that
"the hard part is just beginning" for the disparate coalition but said it "has a
chance to really change Israel for the better" after years of political turmoil.
Wednesday night's deal deepens the woes of Netanyahu, 71, who is on trial for
criminal charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust while in office --
accusations he denies. If he loses power, he will not be able to push through
changes to basic laws that could give him immunity, and will lose control over
certain justice ministry nominations. The premier, who served an earlier
three-year term in the 1990s, has long been the dominant figure of Israeli
politics and was close to former US president Donald Trump. Netanyahu clinched
historic normalization agreements with four Arab states and unrolled a hugely
successful Covid-19 vaccination campaign. But he has not engaged in substantive
peace talks with the Palestinians, who have been angered by Israel's deepening
control of areas they eye for a future state. Escalating tensions between Israel
and the Palestinians last month spiraled into a deadly 11-day exchange of rocket
fire from Gaza and devastating Israeli air strikes. Netanyahu defiantly
condemned the alliance against him as "the fraud of the century" last Sunday,
warning that it would result in "a left-wing government dangerous to the state
of Israel."
Israeli Defense Minister Heads to U.S. to Discuss Iran
Talks
Agence France Presse/June 03/2021
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz was heading to the United States for a
one-day visit on Thursday to discuss ongoing efforts to revive the Iran nuclear
deal, which Israel opposes. He was to meet his counterpart Lloyd Austin,
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan
"for strategic dialogue on the emerging nuclear agreement with Iran," his office
said. Global powers have been meeting in Vienna since early April in a bid to
bring Washington back to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which the United
States left under then president Donald Trump in 2018.
The U.S. withdrawal and re-imposition of sanctions led to Iran stepping up its
nuclear activities. US President Joe Biden, has signalled his readiness to
revive the nuclear deal. Israel opposes the deal, which it says could enable the
Islamic republic to develop nuclear arms. Tehran maintains that its nuclear
program is peaceful. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday reiterated
that Israel would not hesitate to risk its good ties with its closest ally the
U.S. to defend itself against a nuclear-armed Iran. "If we need to choose -– and
I hope it will not happen –- between friction with our great friend, the US, and
getting rid of an existential threat, getting rid of an existential threat will
prevail," he said. Following Netanyahu's remarks, Gantz said that while Iran was
a "threat to regional security and global peace," the United States was
"Israel's most important ally." Gantz -- who is now part of an alliance of
Israeli politicians seeking to topple Netanyahu -- added in a statement: "Even
if differences arise, they will be resolved through direct dialogue, behind
closed doors, not through provocative statements that serve to harm Israeli
security."During his Washington trip, Gantz was also to discuss Israel's
"qualitative military edge" and maintaining "Middle East stability", the defense
minister's office said. "The officials will further review the Israel ministry
of defense's plan for achieving long-term quiet in Gaza" and recovering Israel's
soldiers missing in action and hostages, his office said. In the latest 11-day
flare-up between Israel and the Islamist rulers of the coastal enclave, Hamas,
Israeli strikes killed 254 Palestinians, including 66 children, health officials
there said. Rockets and other fire from Gaza from May 10 to 21 claimed 13 lives
in Israel, including one child and an Arab-Israeli teenager, medics said.
Yemen Fuel Tanker Could 'Explode at Any Moment'
Agence France Presse/June 03/2021
Greenpeace warned Thursday that a long-abandoned fuel tanker off war-torn
Yemen's coast could "explode at any moment," urging U.N. action to prevent a
catastrophic Red Sea oil spill. The 45-year-old fuel vessel FSO Safer has 1.1
million barrels of crude on board, and has been abandoned near Yemen's western
port of Hodeida since 2015. "The FSO Safer is rusting at anchor and could break
or explode at any moment," said Greenpeace spokesman Ahmed El Droubi. "It's not
if, it's when," Droubi added. The U.N. Security Council are to meet later
Thursday after Huthi rebels -- who control much of Yemen's north -- said an
agreement to allow a U.N. mission to inspect the tanker had "reached a dead
end." Effectively a floating storage platform, it has had virtually no
maintenance for six years, and now environmentalists warn it could break apart.
Greenpeace said that as well as corrosion to the rusting ship, essential work to
manage explosive gases in its storage tanks has been neglected. Jennifer Morgan,
executive director of Greenpeace International, said the U.N. "must act now to
avoid what could be the region's biggest oil disaster" for decades. "The
solutions are available, the expertise and technologies to help are known,"
Morgan added. The U.N. has said an oil spill would destroy Red Sea ecosystems,
shut down the fishing industry and close Yemen's lifeline Hodeida port for six
months. The Huthis are calling for immediate inspection and maintenance of the
tanker, but the U.N. said there must be an impartial assessment before
maintenance work can safely commence. Yemen has been devastated by civil war
between the government -- supported by a Saudi-led military coalition -- and the
Iran-backed Huthi rebels since 2014, pushing the country to the brink of famine.
Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed and millions
displaced in the conflict.
Macron Sees 'Difficult' Choices, Holds Back on Re-Election Bid
Naharnet/June 03/2021
French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that he planned to make
"difficult" decisions this summer and again refused to confirm if he would seek
another five-year term in what is expected to be a hotly contested election next
year. "I can't manage this summer taking it easy," Macron told a group of
pensioners in the southern French village of Martel as part of a nationwide
tour. "I'm going to have to make some choices... some of them difficult" but
necessary so that the last year of his term is "useful," he said. Macron had
already indicated in an interview in December that he might have to take "tough
steps" that could render any re-election bid "impossible.""It's too early to
say," he replied Thursday when asked if he would run, while insisting he was
determined to "carry things out until the end." The 43-year-old centrist, whose
2017 victory upended France's political establishment, has repeatedly held his
cards close to his chest about the 2022 election, when he is again expected to
face off against far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Right-wing heavyweight Xavier
Bertrand has already declared his candidacy, and other right-wingers, including
former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and perhaps Macron's ex-premier Edouard
Philippe, could yet enter the fray. It would be a major sensation if Macron did
not run and his popularity in polls -- while not stellar -- is respectable
compared to those of his predecessors.
Pension reform plan? -
Macron was on the second day of his latest tour to "take the pulse" of the
country ahead of the vote, as well as regional elections later this month -- in
which his Republic on the Move party is widely expected to perform poorly. The
former investment banker swept to power with an upstart party and a pledge to
enact vast reforms to unshackle the French economy and right its finances. His
ambitious plans, including tax cuts and pension overhauls, nonetheless generated
fierce protests including the "yellow vests" revolt, which accused Macron of
favoring the urban elite and wealthy at the expense of the rest of the
population. The Covid crisis has further stymied his reformist drive, in
particular a highly symbolic overhaul of France's debt-burdened pension system,
which was suspended in March last year. His own party is divided on whether to
carry through with the reform in the coming months, or put off the potentially
explosive issue until after next year's vote.
"I don't think the reform that was initially planned can be revived in its
current state," Macron told a group of journalists later Thursday, calling it
"the mother of all reforms."Though he said it was "too soon" to announce his
plan for getting the system on sound financial footing, he added that "nothing
has been ruled out."'Couldn't care less' Asked about France's economic
prospects, Macron defended his policies, as well has his decision not to raise
taxes as debt mounts from efforts to curtail the pain of the Covid pandemic.
"You have to produce wealth to redistribute it, something we forget too often in
our country," he said. "We are the EU country that taxes the most.""Should we
massively tax the rich, an idea we seem to love? We can, but the rich will just
leave!" he said. "They call me 'president of the rich' -- I couldn't care less."
Telecom Head Summoned after France Emergency Line Outage Causes Deaths
Agence France Presse/June 03/2021
The French government summoned the head of the telecom operator Orange on
Thursday over a network outage that left people unable to reach emergency
services for hours, possibly causing three deaths. A person in the western
Morbihan region suffering from a heart condition was reported dead after failing
to put through an emergency call during the outage that lasted at least six
hours on Wednesday night, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. While it was
not certain that the death was caused directly by long delays in getting
through, "what is beyond doubt is that people have told us that they tried
calling several times and that they couldn't get an operator immediately," he
told reporters in Paris. Two people with cardiovascular conditions in the
overseas territory of La Reunion were also reported dead. Prime Minister Jean
Castex, who travelled to Tunisia with Darmanin and digital affairs minister
Cedric O on Wednesday, said he had asked both ministers to return to Paris
quickly to deal with the crisis.
From Tunisia, Castex on Thursday called the outage "a significant even that we
have taken seriously" and from which "we must draw all the necessary the
consequences."
Calling the breakdown a "serious and unacceptable malfunction," Darmanin said
that Stephane Richard, the CEO of Orange, France's biggest telecom company, had
been summoned early Thursday to his ministry "to tell us the current state of
play."
The government said many emergency call centers for medical services, police and
firefighters across the country were impacted by the outage.
'No panic'
Health Minister Olivier Veran said Wednesday that the incident caused "fairly
random breakdowns, with a drop of up to 30 percent in some regions," and
recommended that people call local numbers. Orange told AFP that a "technical
incident on a router had greatly disrupted VoIP [voice over internet protocol]
calls in some regions." A source close to the matter ruled out any kind of "hacking."Apologizing
for the incident, Orange said Wednesday that its teams had identified the
problem and were "fully mobilized to restore services as soon as possible." On
Thursday, the operator said the network had been up and running again since
midnight but was still being monitored, and alternative emergency numbers
remained available. Problems were reported across the country starting from 6 pm
(1600 GMT), causing havoc for emergency services.
The head of the Samu-Urgences emergency medical services union Francois Braun
said "people were unable to access the service, calls were not coming through,
others were cut off in the middle of a conversation." He said that almost all of
France's departments were affected, adding that emergency calls usually peak
around 7 pm. "This caused mayhem in the organization," said Philippe Juvin, head
of emergencies at the Georges-Pompidou hospital in Paris. "But there was no
panic, and we adapted fast, telling ourselves that it wouldn't last and that it
would be fixed in the night," he told Radio Classique. Orange's competitors
Bouygues and Altice, owner of SFR, said on Thursday that they also logged
reports of service failures, with sources at both companies ruling out foul
play. The French outage follows similar problems at Belgian operator Proximus in
early January, when emergency numbers were disrupted for an entire night.
Emmanuel Macron calls for end to ‘foreign interference’
in Libya
The Arab Weekly/June 03/2021
PARIS - The French president Emmanuel Macron has said that all foreign forces
should get out of Libya, naming in particular the Turkish and Russian
mercenaries deployed to the country.Meeting Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid
Dbeibah at the Elysée Palace in Paris on Tuesday, Macron said “As the Libyans
themselves have demanded, we must put an end to all foreign interference, which
involves the withdrawal of all foreign mercenaries’ forces on Libyan soil: the
Russians, the Turkish, the Syrian mercenaries and all the others”. He also told
Dbeibah “We are working on this with you and with all our partners. And this
pullout [of foreign troops] should go along with the creation of a unified army.
It is necessary to guarantee the success of the national elections scheduled for
the end of the year”. According to the UN Security Council, Libya has more than
20,000 foreign combatants and mercenaries, including 13,000 Turkish-commanded
Syrian mercenaries, 11,000 Sudanese, Russians, and Chadians. Macron told Dbeibah
that France is willing to provide political support to Libya. Last week, he
mentioned that his government would offer millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses to
African countries in order to help them accelerate their vaccination drives.
Macron told the Libyan premier: “You can count on France in the coming weeks and
months in all fields… We fully support Libya and a fair and transparent
distribution of Libyan wealth must be guaranteed”.Dbeibah praised France for its
essential support and vowed “effective and intense action” to “organise free,
transparent and fair elections” at the end of the year. At a press conference
afterwards with the French leader, Dbeibah said his government is looking
forward to more support from the French side in international forums, especially
the Berlin 2 conference and its outcomes. The second Berlin summit had been
announced shortly before the two men met. They agreed to revive the
Libyan-French Joint Higher Committee which Dbeibah said had not met since 2002.
He went on to welcome the support from France, along with the rest of the EU to
boost Libyan border security. Without elaborating, he said that there were joint
Franco-Libyan security projects that would be put in place as soon as possible.
One such project is certain to have been his country’s porous frontier with
Mali, the northern part of which country is in the grip of Islamist terrorists
groups affiliated with ISIS and al-Qaeda. Dbeibah’s delegation included his
interior minister Khaled Mazen. After the Libyan party had travelled on from
their talks in Italy, they first had meetings with the French foreign minister
Jean-Yves Le Drian and Florence Parly, the armed forces minister.
Nigerian state government confirms 136 children abducted in Niger state
NNA/Reuters/June 03/2021
Gunmen abducted 136 students from an Islamic school in the north-central
Nigerian state of Niger on Sunday, a state official said on Wednesday, lower
than the estimate of 200 previously offered by the federal government. An armed
gang on motorcycles attacked the town of Tegina in the state on Sunday. State
government officials in the following days said they were contacting parents to
ascertain the exact number of missing children. Nigeria's president, in a
statement issued late on Monday, said security agents were searching for around
200 students. Niger state's deputy governor, Ahmed Mohammed Ketso, told
reporters the number of missing children had been established. "We can now
confirm that a total of 136 students were abducted," Ketso said at a news
conference in the state capital, Minna. Criminal gangs carrying out kidnapping
for ransom are blamed for a series of raids on schools and universities in
northern Nigeria in recent months in which more than 800 students have been
abducted since December.
Ketso told reporters Niger state would not pay any form of ransom.
Morocco draws diplomatic red line over Western Sahara
sovereignty
The Arab Weekly/June 03/2021
RABAT - Throughout the crisis triggered by Spain admitting Polisario leader
Ibrahim Ghali for medical treatment on its soil, Morocco has seemed to draw a
red line regarding its sovereignty over the Western Sahara, in a way that would
pre-empt any future moves against its territorial integrity. Accordingly, it
sent a clear message that Rabat will not separate its sovereignty over the
Western Sahara from its economic or security interests with any regional or
international party. The recent escalation with Spain also showed that Morocco
possesses many cards that should make others think twice before any provocative
moves. The most important of these is the strategic role Morocco plays with
Europe in the fight against terrorism and illegal migration, in addition to its
important economic ties with the EU. Analysts take the view that Ghali’s hasty
exit from Spain would not have been possible without Moroccan pressure, which
prompted Madrid to search for a way out that saves face. While avoiding giving
the impression of expelling Ghali under duress, it nonetheless whisked him out
from Spain after a brief court hearing.
Moroccan foreign policy experts pointed out that the most important concern for
Rabat is to pre-empt similar moves in the future. They believe Madrid is
unlikely now-on to host any Polisario representative, whether openly or in
disguise, as was the case with Ghali
The Moroccan message was also seen as directed at Algeria, which will find
itself compelled to stop exploiting the silence of the Europeans and the
ambiguities of some of their positions.
They stress that even though no one expected the escalation to evolve into a
full-fledged confrontation, Morocco won the diplomatic showdown despite Spain’s
attempt to involve the European Union and transform the issue into a border and
migration row threatening European interests. Morocco reacted vigorously to
Europe’s siding with Spain seeking leverage from the American support for its
sovereignty over the Western Sahara and its territorial integrity. The Polisario
leader had arrived in Spain in complete secrecy on April 18 on a medical flight
that the Algerian presidency had put at his disposal as well giving him a
“diplomatic passport.” He was admitted in a critical condition to Logroño
Hospital under an assumed name for “security reasons”.
On May 19, after Rabat recalled its ambassador from Madrid, Vice-President of
the European Commission Margaritis Schinas accused Morocco of “blackmailing”
Europe through the migration issue. “No one can intimidate or blackmail the
European Union … with regard to the migration issue,” Schinas told a radio
station, in clear reference to Morocco. The Moroccan response was vehement. Its
News Agency MAP published an article entitled “When the European Union loses its
way in the crisis between Morocco and Spain”. It launched a sharp attack on the
EU accusing it of “arrogance” and of “defending colonialism.”
It added that the EU “implicated itself in the crisis between Madrid and Rabat,
not to denounce the admission of a war criminal on European soil, but to defend
the European character of the Moroccan occupied enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.”
It wondered, “How can the European Union, which is driven by insignificant
political calculations, forget even for a brief moment the efforts devoted by
Morocco to managing the migration crisis in a spirit of responsibility, wisdom
and loyalty towards its partners.”
The Moroccan position found significant support from within Europe itself, where
voices were raised calling for calm and taking into account the fact that
Morocco is a strategic partner whose role is indispensable to Europe, in
conjunction with sensitive issues such as the war on terrorism or illegal
migration. Former Spanish Defence Minister José Bono, who is also a the former
chief of Spanish intelligence services, stressed the fundamental importance of
Morocco’s role in his country’s fight against terrorist networks.
“As a former minister of defence and former head of intelligence services, I
want to emphasise that thanks to the kingdom of Morocco, Spain has been able to
arrest several radical terrorists and thanks to Morocco, we have been able to
prevent deadly attacks,” Bono said in televised statements. Lebanese political
commentator Khairallah Khairallah said that if there is a lesson to be learned
from the way Spain got rid of Ibrahim Ghali, it is that Morocco has the means of
defending itself and its interests.
Diplomatic analysts believe this does not only apply to Spain, but also to
Morocco’s neighbours and the rest of Europe. Talking to The Arab Weekly,
Khairallah asked, “Did Spain learn anything from the experience it went through
with Morocco?” He answered by saying that it is clear that Madrid must have
understood that harassing Morocco carries consequences. Khaled Cherkaoui
Semmouni, director of the Moroccan Centre for Political and Strategic Studies,
pointed out that the “Morocco of today is not the Morocco of yesterday”.
“The political and economic achievements of Morocco at the internal, regional
and international levels, as well as its security and stability in the turbulent
regional environment of North Africa, gives it a significant position within the
international community “. Semmouni added further told The Arab Weekly that
although Morocco has always extended its hand to Spain to in brotherly relations
and a partnership that serves the interests of the two countries, Spain did not
respect bilateral relations when it received an enemy of Morocco on its soil,
and more than that, it admitted him under a false identity. He pointed out that
the “wavering of the Spanish diplomatic stances and the inconsistency of its
positions towards Morocco are likely to have repercussions on the bilateral
relations between the two countries, especially in the security field and the
fight against illegal migration, because Morocco is a country with principled
positions and will not accept any type of behaviour or dealings that infringe
upon its territorial integrity and national sovereignty.
Iraqi officials: Explosion at Baghdad restaurant kills
3, injures 16
The Associated Press/03 June ,2021
An explosion at a crowded restaurant in a northwestern Baghdad neighborhood on
Thursday killed three people and injured 16, according to two Iraqi health
officials. It was not immediately known what caused the blast, which occurred in
the city’s Kadhmiyah district, close to the shrine of Imam Musa al-Kadhim,
revered by Shia Muslims. A military statement said that an unknown object
exploded near Bab-al-Murad area of Kadhmiyah and that specialized teams were
investigating in order to ascertain the type of explosion. It reported multiple
casualties without providing an immediate breakdown. Local reports said it may
have been a gas cylinder explosion, but there was no immediate confirmation. The
two health officials said some of the injured were in critical condition. They
spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Explosions in the
Iraqi capital were once almost daily occurrences but have become less frequent
in the past few years, particularly following the defeat of the Islamic State
group in 2017. In January, twin suicide bombings ripped through a busy market in
the Iraqi capital, killing more than 30 people and wounding dozens.
Arab-Kurd unrest turns deadly in Syria’s Manbij
The Arab Weekly/June 04/2021
BEIRUT – Kurdish forces have shot dead six Arab protesters in the northern
Syrian region of Manbij, a war monitor said Wednesday. The violence broke out at
a demonstration over military conscription and against a backdrop of growing
anger at a deepening economic crisis which the area’s Kurdish leadership is
struggling to contain. The latest unrest comes weeks after similar riots gripped
other parts of the autonomous zone that Kurdish forces have carved out in
north-eastern Syria since civil war broke out in 2011. In the Arab-majority
region of Manbij, which was captured by Kurdish forces five years ago, “six
protesters have been killed in the past 48 hours from live rounds fired by
internal security forces”, known as the Asayish, said the Britain-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights.Demonstrators initially took to the street to
demand an end to forced military conscription. But the protests swelled after
one of their members was shot dead on Monday. Protesters blocked roads and
attacked an Asayish checkpoint outside Manbij on Tuesday, the Observatory said,
prompting security forces to respond with live fire. The Manbij Military
Council, a governing body linked to the Kurdish administration, blamed the
violence on “criminal cells receiving their orders from external and domestic
forces”, a likely reference to the Syrian government and Turkey. It accused the
instigators of using the issue of military conscription, which has been in place
for seven years, as a pretext to spark strife. Observatory head Rami Abdul
Rahman said that after reaching 18, young men were required to perform around
one year of military service. Representatives of the Asayish and the Kurdish
administration held talks with Arab tribal leaders on Wednesday in an attempt to
restore calm, the Observatory said. They agreed to stop military conscription in
Manbij and surrounding areas until further study and discussion, according to a
joint statement released after the meeting. Last month, two people died in
clashes that broke out in parts of north-eastern Syria over a decision by the
Kurdish administration to raise fuel prices. Authorities reversed the price hike
in response to the unrest. “The Autonomous Administration of Northeast Syria (AANES)
is in economic collapse,” Nicholas Heras of the Newlines Institute think-tank
warned on Twitter. “It’ll give Turkey and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and
allies opportunities to pick the AANES apart. It will accelerate unrest. Many
Manbijs on the horizon.”
Khartoum announces ‘review’ of Sudanese-Russian naval deal
The Arab Weekly/June 04/2021
KHARTOUM/ MOSCOW – Sudan is reviewing a deal the previous regime negotiated with
Russia allowing construction of a naval base after some clauses were found to be
“somewhat harmful”, a top military official has said. For decades, Sudan was
dependent militarily on Russia because of crippling sanctions imposed by
Washington against the government of now ousted president Omar al-Bashir. But
since his 2019 overthrow, Sudan has moved closer to the United States which
removed Khartoum from its crippling terrorism blacklist last year. “This deal
was signed under the former National Salvation Government,” armed forces chief
of staff General Mohamed Othman al-Hussein said in an interview broadcast late
Tuesday. He said “talks to review the deal to serve Sudan’s interests” had been
held with a visiting Russian delegation last week. Russian President Vladimir
Putin negotiated with Bashir in 2017 on establishing a naval base in Port Sudan,
on Sudan’s Red Sea coast.
No announcement was ever made by the Sudanese side but Russia said it had signed
a 25-year agreement with Sudan in December last year to build and operate the
base. Under the deal, Russia’s navy was to be allowed to keep up to four ships
at a time at the base, including nuclear-powered vessels. The base was to be
staffed by up to 300 military and civilian personnel. Russia said it would have
the right to transport via Sudan’s ports and airports “weapons, ammunition and
equipment” needed for the naval base to function. In recent months, Sudanese
media have reported that Khartoum has suspended the agreement and demanded that
Moscow remove equipment already installed in Port Sudan. President Putin’s
spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on Wednesday that Russian and Sudanese
officials have been discussing the issue through diplomatic channels. Deputy
Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov noted in remarks carried by Russian news
agencies that Russia would like to clarify the Sudanese demands.
“We need to understand specifics,” he said. “We aren’t forcing ourselves on
anyone. If there is a desire to fix something, please tell us what you want.”
But Viktor Bondarev, the former Russian air force chief who heads a defence
committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, argued that “there are
no objective reasons” for a revision of the agreement on the base. “For the
Sudanese side, a permanent Russian naval presence with powerful weapons will
guarantee peaceful life in the long-term perspective,” Bondarev said in a
statement, adding that the deal will help protect Sudan from both a possible
“foreign intervention” and “domestic rifts and upheavals that Sudan has grown
tired of over the past decades.”
For Russia, Bondarev argued, the base in Sudan is important to ensure the
Russian navy’s presence in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean and spare its ships
the need of long voyages to reach the area. Sudan’s armed forces chief said
Tuesday that the deal “included clauses that were somewhat harmful to the
country. That’s why it is being reviewed.” “So long as this deal has not … been
ratified, then we have some freedom to discuss it,” he said. Under Sudan’s
transitional constitution, international agreements would normally be ratified
by the legislative council, which has yet to be set up.
Since August 2019, Sudan been led by a transitional administration that has
sought to end the country’s international isolation. The government has forged
closer ties with the United States and in December last year, Washington
de-listed Khartoum as a state sponsor of terrorism. In March, a US warship
visited Port Sudan in a move that “highlights the willingness” of the US
military to “strengthen their renewed partnership” with Sudan’s armed forces,
the US embassy in Khartoum said at the time. The guided-missile destroyer USS
Winston S. Churchill docked shortly after the Russian frigate Admiral
Grigorovich arrived in port. “We have begun restoring our military ties with the
US,” said Hussein. “The Americans are still groping their way after the long
boycott … but we are open to cooperation.”Moscow has long sought warm water
ports for its navy. President Putin published a decree in November saying he had
approved a Russian government proposal to set up a naval logistics hub in Sudan.
The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from
miscellaneous sources published on June 03-04/2021
Iran regime doing all it can to ensure Raisi becomes president
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/June 03/2021
In spite of the Iranian regime’s claims that it holds democratic presidential
elections, the system is fundamentally an authoritarian one disguised as a
democracy.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in February boasted about the regime’s political
system and the people’s important role in influencing and shaping the political
establishment. He said: “The Islamic revolution transformed the rule of a
country from a despotic monarchy into a popular, democratic republic run by the
people. Today, the nation of Iran rules over its own destiny. It is the people
who choose. They may make a right choice or a wrong choice, but it is they who
choose. This is very important.”
But the reality is that ordinary people do not run the system in Iran and they
have little to no influence in choosing who runs the country. To make it clear,
the supreme leader is not an elected individual. How can a country be
democratic, as Khamenei claims, when people cannot choose the overall leader,
who enjoys the final say over the nation’s domestic and foreign policy issues
and who is the chief of Iran’s military institutions, including the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), its elite branch the Quds Force, and the
paramilitary group the Basij? Since the unelected supreme leader appoints the
IRGC’s senior generals and the head of the judiciary, the regime’s military and
judicial apparatuses also have a distinctly undemocratic character.
What remains to be examined in the system are the positions of the president and
the parliamentarians. Article 6 of Iran’s constitution stipulates: “In the
Islamic Republic of Iran, the country’s affairs must be administered by reliance
on the public vote, and through elections. These will include the election of
the president, the deputies of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the members of
the councils, and other such institutions, or through a referendum in such
instances as are determined in other articles of this document.”
But the Iranian regime has a solution to circumvent this: By presenting a facade
of democratic elections while effectively eliminating people’s influence in
choosing their president and members of the parliament. This is carried out by
the regime’s clerical body, the Guardian Council. The Guardian Council is an
unelected body of 12 officials, six of whom are appointed directly by the
supreme leader and six indirectly. The latter six are nominated by the head of
the judiciary, who is himself appointed by the supreme leader.The Guardian
Council has a history of arbitrarily disqualifying reform-minded candidates,
women and those who are perceived as disloyal to the principles of the state and
the Islamic revolution from running for office. The authority to do so is
granted by the constitution, which states: “The qualifications of the candidates
for presidency, with respect to the conditions set forth by the constitution,
must be confirmed by the Guardian Council prior to the general elections and
approved by the leader for the first term.”
As a result, people only get to choose between a few individuals selected by the
regime. Despite this, Khamenei last month insisted that Iran’s elections are
flawless, saying: “All elections held by the Islamic Republic have been totally
flawless. There might have been certain issues and offenses, but none of them
had a significant impact on the result of elections. Those who raise fraud
claims do so because of being defeated.” Of course, it should not come as a
surprise that, from the perspective of Iran’s supreme leader, the elections are
flawless, as he can pick the candidates he wants to be president.
Anyone who might have had a chance of defeating Khamenei’s pick for president
has been disqualified. For this year’s presidential election, which will take
place on June 18, the regime has disqualified anyone who might have had a chance
of defeating Ebrahim Raisi, who is Khamenei’s pick for president. The Guardian
Council has even disqualified top regime insiders such as Ali Larijani, not
because it questions their loyalty to the supreme leader and the revolutionary
ideals of the Islamic Republic, but simply because Khamenei seems to want
someone else to be president of Iran this time.
The regime is cognizant of the fact that Raisi is extremely unpopular in Iran —
he lost the previous election to the so-called moderate Hassan Rouhani by a
landslide. Rouhani received about 23.5 million of the 41 million votes cast,
while Raisi received 15.7 million. This time around, the regime does not want to
risk Raisi suffering another defeat. For one thing, Khamenei is 82 years old and
it is believed that he sees Raisi as the perfect cleric to succeed him. In
addition, at these critical times, when people’s frustration toward the regime
has reached its peak, the hard-liners not only want to control the judicial and
legislative branches, but also the presidential office. Khamenei and the senior
cadre of the IRGC believe they can suppress opposition more effectively and end
the growing power struggle between the moderates and the hard-liners by having
control of all branches of the Islamic Republic.
In a nutshell, the Iranian regime is paving the way for Khamenei’s pick, Raisi,
to become the next president.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist.
Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh
Iran wants to expand its ruthless model throughout region
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/June 03/2021
A French tourist by the name of Benjamin Briere, who has been held in an Iranian
prison for the past year, is set to be prosecuted for espionage and propaganda
against the regime, along with other charges.
Briere had been on the adventure of a lifetime. He fitted out his van and in
2018 began a long journey across Europe, the Balkans, Turkey, Iraq’s Kurdistan,
and Iran. This adventure came to a brutal end in May 2020. While he was in a
desert area close to the Turkmenistan border, the Iranian authorities arrested
him and he has since then been held in a prison in the northeastern city of
Mashhad. The court filed the charges against him this week.
The Frenchman was documenting his journey via social media and is accused of
filming with a recreational drone in a restricted area. He also questioned on
social media the mandatory wearing of a veil for women in Iran. Both actions
reveal clumsiness and a lack of knowledge about the region, but certainly do not
deserve jail time. When I saw the videos on a recent news report, my initial
reaction was to remark on what a beautiful country it was — the greenery and the
landscape were just breathtaking.
People who share such sights on social media do not mean harm. In fact, it is
quite the opposite: Briere was sharing beautiful scenery from a country people
know little about. This should, in theory, not be banned but rather encouraged,
especially for the tourism economy. Regarding the post about the veil, the
authorities could have reached out to inform him that this goes against the
beliefs of their country and is not permitted, leaving him to continue his
journey with a harsh warning. I agree that ignorance of the law is no excuse,
and one should respect the laws and customs of any country one visits, but this
did not need to go so far. We have seen similar examples across the world that
have been solved within months; yet, for Iran, the promotion of tourism and good
relations is not a concern.
The reason it goes so far is because the Iranian regime’s strategy is different:
It is a hostage-taking strategy. This includes Briere, UK charity executive
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and US citizen Siamak Namazi and his father Baquer,
who have been in jail for years, as well as many others. It has been the same
ever since the regime’s inaugural hostage-taking operation at the US Embassy in
Tehran, which lasted from 1979 — when President Jimmy Carter was in office —
until Jan. 20, 1981: The first day of Ronald Reagan’s presidency. The date of
the end of this 40-year-old crisis tells you a lot about how the regime sees
leverage and the messages it sends.
Iran has been good at holding Western citizens like Briere as bargaining chips.
For each hostage’s country, one can think of many reasons and files for
negotiation. When it comes to the UK, for example, there is the $530 million
debt owed to Iran by London, which was a payment made for military equipment by
the late shah, prior to him abandoning the throne, and which was never
delivered. As the nuclear deal is about to be revived, Tehran will likely need
these bargaining chips to negotiate an advantageous agreement.
It is interesting to see the humiliation Western countries are willing to go
through to push ahead with the nuclear deal. I cannot help but see the fact that
Europe is expecting a sharp increase in trade with Iran as one of the reasons.
In an age of pragmatism over principles, this leaves many of the prisoners in a
tough situation. In 2016, less than a year after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal came into effect, the Wall Street Journal revealed
that the Obama administration had secretly organized an airlift of $400
million-worth of cash on wooden pallets to Iran to coincide with the release of
four Americans. Now, as Tehran is suffering from a sclerotic and corrupt
economy, the only fresh money its leaders can find relates to a deal negotiated
by the shah they toppled more than 40 years ago. Talk about irony.
It is interesting to see the humiliation Western countries are willing to go
through to push ahead with the nuclear deal.
But this shows how long this strategy has been working for the regime. It has
worked so well that it has even moved from taking people hostage to entire
countries. Indeed, if the West is willing to trade hundreds of millions of
dollars for their citizens, what would they be willing to offer for stability in
a key region? The Iranian regime expects a full mandate to run and control the
entire region. Nothing else. And so today the only difference between Briere
being held by wardens in a jail in Mashhad and Lebanon being held hostage by
Hezbollah is the price. French President Emmanuel Macron tries to help, but goes
back to pragmatism.
The same applies to the regime’s interference in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Tehran
has been extremely efficient at benefiting from others’ mistakes to push for
these hostage-taking and bargaining situations. Hence, the Iranian regime sees
JCPOA 2.0 not as pallets of cash but as power over these countries. It also
understands the West’s eagerness to negotiate.
This is unfortunate, as the international community is rewarding misconduct and
malign activities. The Iranian regime is not acting this way to protect itself,
as it might have done in the 1980s. Today, it is attempting to gain control and
expand its ruthless model throughout the region. The coming years will determine
how the region will move forward. The ball, as so often, is in the hands of the
Iranian regime. Will it choose appeasement and enhanced bilateral relations as
the JCPOA 2.0 sponsors imagine, or will it continue on its path of violent
expansionism?
This is all taking place amid the backdrop of the current US administration
re-examining historical pacts, especially with Israel. Regional powers
understand this new dynamic and are willing to face both options. Yet, this time
around, the second option, which would mean a continuous need to contain Iran’s
malign activities, will lead to the unknown. The early signs of what happens to
all Iran’s hostages will reveal this.
*Khaled Abou Zahr is CEO of Eurabia, a media and tech company. He is also the
editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.