English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For March 21/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today

Jesus Heals The Blind Beggar Bartimaeus the Son of Timaeus
Mark/10/46-52/Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.”Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.””Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 20-21/2021

Elias Bejjani/Visit My LCCC Web site/All That you need to know on Lebanese unfolding news and events in Arabic and English/http://eliasbejjaninews.com/
Faith, Hope And Persistence Do Miracles/Healing miracle of the blind beggar/Elias Bejjani/March 21/2021
Lebanese mothers march in protest against ruling class
AFP/20 March ,2021
Lebanon’s theft crimes increased by 144 pct amid ongoing national crisis
Bizri Says ABL, MEA Booked Vaccines, Urges Private Sector to Follow Suit
FPM Says President’s Term 'Untouchable'
Report: Nasrallah’s Rhetoric Signals More Govt Hurdles, Mustaqbal Says
Report: Once Govt is Formed, Macron to Call Intl Funders for Meeting on Lebanon
Hezbollah reneges on Lebanese government pledge/Najia Hiussari/Arab News/March 19, 2021
Lebanese protesters should beware any changes to their message/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/March 20/2021
What's next for Russia’s relations with Hezbollah?/Anton Mardasov/Al-Monitor/March 20/21

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 20-21/2021

Jailed British Iranian in solitary for 5 months
Iranian ex-president Khatami under fire for expressing regret in New Year message
Tourism to Turkey under threat due to rising coronavirus cases
Houthi militia admits tear gas behind fire at migrant detention
Saudi Coalition Strikes Advancing Yemen Rebels
Arab Coalition destroys explosive drone targeting Saudi Arabia’s Khamis Mushait
Moscow 'Strongly Condemns' Huthi Drone Strike on Riyadh Refinery
Turkey Sacks Central Bank Governor after Interest Rate Hike
Higher Gasoline Prices Fuel Canada Inflation
Syrian foreign minister visits Oman in new sign of normalised relations
AstraZeneca Exports Can Be Banned If Bloc not Supplied First, Said EU Chief
 

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 20-21/2021

Should Anything Be Off-Limits to Debate and Discuss?/Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute/March 20, 2021
A new year, but the same old failures in Iran/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/March 20/2021
How US can bolster its Middle Eastern economic ties/Luke Coffey/Arab News/March 20/2021
Iran using Yemen’s Houthis to achieve its sinister goals/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/March 20/2021
How Biden is already showing he's an old man in a hurry/David Frum/The National/March 20/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 20-21/2021

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

Faith, Hope And Persistence Do Miracles/Healing miracle of the blind beggar
Elias Bejjani/March 21/2021
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73575/elias-bejjani-faith-and-persistence-do-miracles/

John 09:39: “I came into this world for judgment, that those who don’t see may see; and that those who see may become blind.”
On the sixth Lenten Sunday, our Maronite Catholic Church cites and recalls with great piety Jesus’ healing miracle of the blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus. This amazing miracle that took place in Jericho near the Pool of Siloam is documented in three gospels:
Mark 10/46-52.
John 9/1-41
Matthew 20/:29-34.
Maronites in Lebanon and all over the world strongly believe that Jesus is the holy and blessed light through which believers can see God’s paths of righteousness. There is no doubt that without Jesus’ light, evil darkness will prevail in peoples’ hearts, souls and minds. Without Jesus’ presence in our lives we definitely will become preys to all kinds of evil temptations.
John 09:5: “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world”.
In every community, there are individuals from all walks of life who are spiritually blind, lacking faith, have no hope, and live in dim darkness because they have distanced themselves from Almighty God and from His Gospel, although their eyes are physically perfectly functional and healthy.
Meanwhile the actual blindness is not in the eyes that can not see because of physical ailments, but in the hearts that are hardened, in the consciences that are numbed and in the spirits that are defiled with sin.
John’s Gospel gives important details about what has happened with Bartimaeus after the healing miracle of his blindness. As we read in the below enclosed Biblical verses that after his healing Bartimaeus and his parents were exposed to intimidation, fear, threats, and terror. But he refused to succumb or to lie.
He held verbatim to all the course details of the miracle, bravely witnessed for the truth and loudly proclaimed his strong belief that Jesus who cured him was The Son Of God.
His faith made him strong, fearless and courageous. The Holy Spirit came to his rescue and spoke through him.
Romans 8:26: “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans”
Sadly our contemporary world hails atheism, brags about secularism and persecutes those who have faith in God and believe in Him.
Where ever we live, there are opportunists and hypocrites like some of the conceited crowd members that initially rebuked Bartimaeus, and tried with humiliation to keep him away from Jesus, but the moment Jesus called on him they changed their attitude and let him go through.
Meanwhile, at the present time, Christian believers do suffer dire persecution in many countries on the hands of ruthless oppressors, Jihadists and rulers who refuse to witness for the truth.
But despite of all the dim spiritual darkness, thanks God, there are still too many meek believers like Bartimaeus who hold to their faith no matters what the obstacles or hurdles are.
Lord, enlighten our minds and hearts with your light and open our eyes to realize that You are a loving and merciful father.
Lord Help us to take Bartimaeus as a faith role model in our life.
Lord help us to defeat all kinds of sins that take us away from Your light, and deliver us all from evil temptations.
NB: The Above Piece Is From year 2000 Achieves

Lebanese mothers march in protest against ruling class
AFP/20 March ,2021
Around one hundred women demonstrated in crisis-hit Lebanon on Saturday on the eve of Mother's Day in the country, expressing outrage at the ruling class.The mothers, some with their children, marched from an area once on Beirut's dividing line during the 1975-1990 civil war, to the city's port, which saw a catastrophic explosion last year -- blamed on official negligence -- that killed more than 200 people and injured thousands. Chanting anti-government slogans, they held signs addressing the ruling class. “You have stolen our money and our children's futures,” several placards read. “The best gift would be your leaving,” read another.Lebanon is battling its worst economic crisis in decades. The national currency has lost almost 90 percent of its value against the dollar on the black market and consumer prices have soared. Some 55 percent of Lebanese now live below the poverty line, the United Nations says, and unemployment stood at 39.5 percent late last year. The government resigned after the port explosion, but endless haggling between the main ruling parties has delayed the process of forming a new cabinet.
“They are all war criminals, warlords,” protester Nada Agha told AFP, referring to the fact that several politicians were militia leaders during the civil war. “They have been dividing up the pie among themselves (for 30 years)... and have blown us up and stolen our money. We want them to leave,” she said. Another demonstrator, Petra Saliba, in her fifties, said “no solution is possible while they are in power.”“We want to destroy them as they have destroyed us.”

Lebanon’s theft crimes increased by 144 pct amid ongoing national crisis
Tala Ramadan, Al Arabiya English/March 20/2021
Lebanon’s murder and theft crimes have increased by 144 percent amid the ongoing national crisis compared to the same period last year, according to a study conducted by the Beirut-based research and consultancy firm International Information. Data collected from the Internal Security Forces (ISF) found that homicides have increased sharply by 45.5 percent this year across the country during the months of January and February 2021. The death toll reached 32 compared to 22 in the same period in 2020. The firm also confirmed that theft crimes increased by 144 percent during January and February 2021 compared to the same period last year. “It’s not surprising at all that violent crime rates increased during world-historical public health and economic crisis, as inequality in the country, along with despair has skyrocketed,” Pierre al-Khoury, a public affairs researcher and member of the Board of Directors of the Lebanese Economic Association, told Al Arabiya English. “Lebanon now is a perfect example of systematic and planned crimes like drug dealing, money laundering, and stealing from people.”A victim of the ongoing theft saga said she had parked her car in a busy area thinking it would be safe, only to have her backpack stolen from the vehicle soon after. “I came back to find the back windows of the car smashed, and my backpack was taken,” Lama Hajj told Al Arabiya English. “This made me realize that things are rapidly changing in Lebanon, and it is no longer the country we all know and once felt safe at.”
Currency tumbles
Lebanon’s local currency has continuously crashed and lost over 90 percent of its value since October 2019. The economic crisis has pushed half the population into poverty, with stories circulating daily about fights breaking out between people in supermarkets over subsidized products, which are at an all-time low. Lebanon also has seen average salaries plummet by 84 percent over the past twelve months.
Minimum wage drops
Prior to the current economic crisis, a law passed in 2017 set the minimum wage at LBP 675,000, equivalent to $450. At this time, the dollar was priced at the old official rate of 1,500 LBP. The minimum wage has now dropped to $45. According to the Central Administration of Statistics, hyperinflation hit 84.9 percent in 2020, compared to 2.9 percent in 2019. Consumer prices jumped 145.8 percent in December in comparison to the same month of 2019. The chaos has become so pronounced that even the authorities have begun to acknowledge that the country’s lawbreakers are no longer in their control. Speaking in an interview with the local VDL News earlier this month, the Lebanese Minister of Interior Mohammed Fahmy warned of lawlessness as security forces hit rock bottom. “The country’s security forces are drained and unable to fulfil their duties as a financial meltdown and political deadlock bite,” Fahmy said as he blamed political parties that were unable to agree on a national rescue plan. The problem appears not only in the difficulty of finding a winning strategy in the long war against acts of crimes but having to face economic constraints that loom large in the public debate.

Bizri Says ABL, MEA Booked Vaccines, Urges Private Sector to Follow Suit
Naharnet/March 19, 2021
Lebanon’s head of the coronavirus vaccination committee in Lebanon, Doctor Abdul Rahman Bizri, said Saturday that several institutions in Lebanon have reserved their share of COVID-19 vaccine that will take place under the supervision of the health ministry. He said that the Association of Banks in Lebanon, the Middle East Airlines – Air Liban S.A.L. and the Industrialists Association have all booked vaccines with the ministry, said Bizri. Bizri stressed the importance that private sector workers register their name in the platform dedicated to vaccines in order to standardize data and reach accurate estimates of the percentage of community immunity.The vaccination campaign began Feb. 14 in predetermined centers in Lebanon.

FPM Says President’s Term 'Untouchable'
Naharnet/March 19, 2021
Amid calls urging the President to resign in light of an economic crisis, the Free Patriotic Movement on Saturday snapped back saying the term of the President in office “shall not be touched,” and also emphasized that the Movement adheres to the right to grant or withhold confidence to the future government. In a statement issued after its periodic virtual meeting in light of coronavirus pandemic, the FPM politburo expressed “relief” on the resumption of stalled government talks between President Michel Aoun and PM-designate Saad Hariri. “President Michel Aoun was elected by the deputies for a fixed term of six years that shall not be touched, he is the only one in the country to swear by the constitution,” said the statement. “The Prime Minister is designated by the President based on binding consultations with lawmakers and he has not yet obtained the confidence of the Parliament, and is subject to a test of that confidence throughout his governmental mandate,” added the statement, referring that it could withhold confidence from a government formed by Hariri. The Lebanese Forces had earlier called on Aoun to resign and of seeking to keep himself in power and of paving the way for his son-in-law and FPM chief Jebran Bassil to become president.

Report: Nasrallah’s Rhetoric Signals More Govt Hurdles, Mustaqbal Says
Naharnet/March 19, 2021
The latest rhetoric of Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on the controversial government formation points out to more complexities that could further delay the lineup, Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Saturday. Al-Mustaqbal Movement officials said in remarks to the daily that “Nasrallah’s words undeniably indicate that the government consultations are facing many obstacles, and that opening the door to the formation of a political or techno-political government would worsen the situation.”Moreover, a lawmaker of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said the “PM-designate Saad Hariri adheres to his standards of forming a government of experts, because the countries that express their willingness to help Lebanon in turn stipulate the formation of a government of specialists. “Therefore there will be no turning back on this,” he added. On Nasrallah’s recent stances, he said he only aggravated the problem instead of pushing for a solution.On Thursday, Nasrallah advised Hariri to form a techno-political government, contradicting Hariri and the international community’s calls to form a government of non-partisan experts. Nasrallah said that a government formed solely of specialists would not last.

Report: Once Govt is Formed, Macron to Call Intl Funders for Meeting on Lebanon
Naharnet/March 19, 2021
French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly will immediately call for a meeting of international funders to save Lebanon once a government is formed, Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Saturday. “If President Michel Aoun and PM-designate Saad Hariri reach an agreement next Monday on forming a government of non-corrupt ministers, French President Emmanuel Macron will immediately call for a meeting of international funders to save Lebanon,” a French official told the newspaper on condition of anonymity. Next Monday, Aoun and Hariri are set to meet at Baabda Palace for the 18th time on the government formation. The French official explained that Macron’s remarks Thursday evening in terms of “the time for testing the responsibilities (of Lebanese officials) is over and we must in the coming weeks change the approach and style.”“Lebanon is collapsing and the French President believes more pressure on some Lebanese leaders is needed, and to bring our partners in the region and the Gulf back to the game. We also have to discuss the matter with the Iranians,” stated the source. “As for France,” he added, “Jebran Bassil (MP and son-in-law of Aoun) is the obstructor, knowing that he bears not the whole responsibility, France is not naive,” he noted. The sources emphasized that “sanctions alone can not be the solution in Lebanon, but the behavior of some Lebanese officials is

Hezbollah reneges on Lebanese government pledge
Najia Hiussari/Arab News/March 19, 2021
Maronite Patriarchate source denounces ‘betrayal’ of demands for neutral Lebanon
BEIRUT: Hezbollah has walked away from a previous agreement to form a Lebanese government of nonpolitical specialists, claiming that any leadership not backed by political forces “will go down in a week or two.”
The militant party’s change of tack has shattered hopes that an 18th meeting between President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri scheduled for next Monday would end the long-running stalemate over the formation of the government.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s comments, made in a televised address on Thursday, also undermine French efforts launched by President Emmanuel Macron to form a government free of political forces in order to gain the confidence of the international community and help Lebanon recover from its crippling economic and health crisis. Mustafa Alloush, a leading figure in Hariri’s Future Movement, said: “There is a chance to agree on the formation of the government on Monday, but Hariri has no intention of bringing back a political government because it will inevitably fail, based on previous experience.”
Aoun remained firm in his demands for a government of 20 ministers with the blocking third, while Hariri seeks a government of 18 specialists. The disagreement between the two escalated on Wednesday after an exchange of statements, with Aoun calling on Hariri to step down if is unable to form a government. Hariri responded by asking Aoun to set a date for early presidential elections. Hopes that Monday’s meeting could end the political impasse lifted the Lebanese pound to 11,500 against the US dollar after it had earlier exceeded 15,000 on the black market.
However, the currency lost value again on Friday after Nasrallah’s address.
FASTFACT
Nasrallah’s address brought widespread anger, with a source in the Maronite Patriarchate condemning the ‘betrayal’ of Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi’s demand for a neutral Lebanon. In his speech, the Hezbollah chief criticized the International Monetary Fund, on which Lebanon relies for assistance, and attacked calls for Lebanon’s neutrality, saying that these were part of efforts to include the country in the “US-Israeli axis in the region.”Nasrallah also targeted the policies of Lebanese central bank Gov. Riad Salameh, warning him of the need to improve the dollar exchange rate. The Hezbollah leader called on Hassan Diab, the caretaker prime minister, to make his government operational “as a plan B in the event that a government is not quickly formed.”He also condemned protesters blocking roads, saying that such actions are “forbidden.”Nasrallah devoted part of his speech to defending party members who receive their salaries in dollars. He said: “The members of the military mobilization force do not receive a salary in the first place. A large part of those who work within the institutions receive their salaries in Lebanese pounds. Those who are getting paid in dollars are those whose salaries are too low to support themselves. We asked them to take a monthly initiative to help those around them.”The address brought widespread anger, with a source in the Maronite Patriarchate condemning the “betrayal” of Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi’s demand for a neutral Lebanon. Sami Gemayel, leader of the Kataeb Party, asked: “What kind of government will they form if that is the speech given before its formation?”He called on “countries to shoulder their responsibilities toward Lebanon because the problem is not only internal but external as well.” Gemayel also targeted Nasrallah, saying: “Lebanese citizens do not want a civil war. You may be seeking war, but do not threaten us with a war.”Meanwhile, after a meeting on Friday between the central bank governor and the president’s financial adviser, Charbel Cordahi, the president’s media office said: “Salameh announced that the central bank will start working on its electronic platform, so that all operations are recorded and become the main reference for the real market rate.”The central bank’s decision includes “allowing banks to trade in currencies from next week and to register transactions at their real price on the platform.”
 

Lebanese protesters should beware any changes to their message
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/March 20/2021
A few months ago, a new catchphrase describing the situation in Lebanon became popular among analysts and protesters. The words “Lebanon is ruled by a religious militia and a political mafia” quickly became a hit on television and on social media. Unnoticeably, it swiftly replaced “All means all,” which had symbolized the protesters’ demands since demonstrations broke out in October 2019. But this was a clear sign of a de-intensification of demands. No more names, you are left free to guess who the political mafia is and even who the religious militia is. What seemed like an innocent shift was, in my view, carefully crafted.
Now it seems that even this gimmick is being downgraded. The same commentators have dropped the “religious militia” part, so it has become: “Lebanon is governed by corrupt politicians.” If this were to avoid personal risk, it would be understandable, as the recent assassination of Luqman Slim reminded everyone of the dangers of speaking the truth to Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah. However, I suspect it was done to shift the focus from Hezbollah, obviously, but also some of the group’s acolytes within the ranks of the so-called opposition who might play a role in any new political deal.
Focusing on “corrupt politicians” is not only useless but also deflects from what should be the objectives of change in Lebanon. In a certain way, it is the same mistake the opposition made in 2005. After forcing then-Prime Minister Omar Karami to resign, instead of answering the call from millions in Lebanon’s squares to walk to the presidential palace and force the resignation of President Emile Lahoud, the opposition refused to take such a bold move — in fear of a sectarian backlash — and was content with the PM’s departure.
A great achievement was nevertheless realized, with the Syrian Army’s withdrawal ending decades of humiliating and violent occupation. Unfortunately, and because of the opposition’s half measures, this occupation was inherited by Hezbollah. It became the guarantor of the Iran-Syria axis, rebalancing it to Tehran’s advantage. When the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah went to fight to save the Assad regime, this became more evident.
Today, the lines between what was the 2005 opposition and the pro-Syrian regime camp are blurred in the eyes of many. The victims look more and more like accomplices and the killer that we became used to seeing at funerals is now also invited to the weddings of its victims. It is for this reason that removing Hezbollah from the slogans of the opposition is a mistake. This means forgetting all the assassinations and all the humiliations, especially when all that can be done is to say it out loud.
Indeed, the current balance of power does not allow for drastic change, so there is a necessity to keep stating who the real enemy of a free Lebanon is — even if only anonymously. Once again, we must clearly say that Lebanon is not ruled by a “political mafia and a religious militia,” it is occupied by a foreign proxy named Hezbollah. The political elite and its corruption are a side effect of this occupation. It is a continuation of the corruption that existed and started taking root in every aspect of political and public life during the Syrian occupation.
There is a state above the state, and it is Hezbollah. There is an authority above sovereignty, and it is Hezbollah. There is an armed group above the Lebanese Armed Forces, and it is Hezbollah. There is an actor that is above the law, and it is Hezbollah. Every time the recycled analysts point fingers and give us lessons on the political mafia, remind them of the unshakable truth: Lebanon is occupied by Hezbollah and this is the source of the country’s corruption.
In all transparency, I would not be surprised if the voices that are today focusing on “corrupt politicians” soon start picking and choosing who is and who is not part of this “political mafia.” They carry the hopes of the people, but misguide them and even dissipate those hopes.
To understand the regime and its working processes, a quick look at old newspaper headlines about the central bank is sufficient. Beyond the institutionalized Ponzi scheme, the central bank has been operating in clusters ever since the Syrian occupation: Each political or business force could do its deals without the others knowing and secrets were well protected as long as Syria’s interests and then Hezbollah’s were served. From rumors it facilitated money laundering from Iraq to helping politically exposed business moguls do their deals, it seems all politicians or their entourages — and, this time, all means all — have had a favor or business deal completed thanks to the central bank.
It is also clear that what ended the party for all of them were the US Justice Department’s actions against Hezbollah’s illegal financial activities. After unavoidable sanctions were set, the central bank could no longer allow Hezbollah’s banking operations. So, with a simple order, Hezbollah shut it off for everybody. This is what brought things down and is clear evidence that corruption started with the objective of accommodating Hezbollah, before subsequently permitting others to wet their beaks, just as would have happened during the Syrian occupation.
Lebanon is occupied by Hezbollah and this is the source of the country’s corruption.
So the reason why the US dollar is now hitting new highs against the Lebanese pound and the economy is destroyed is not because of a “political mafia,” it is because of Hezbollah’s occupation of Lebanon bleeding it white. The political elite are a side effect of the cursed illness that is the occupation of the country.
The rage and despair that is building in the streets might lead to violence, making all these catchphrases useless. In this context, the successive shifts from “All means all” to “Lebanon is ruled by a religious militia and a political mafia” to “Lebanon is governed by corrupt politicians” seem like only a small detail, but the protesters should beware of the intentions behind them. They should make sure they only have one message: “Lebanon is occupied by Iranian Hezbollah. When will the army join its people and bring back sovereignty and honor to our flag?”
*Khaled Abou Zahr is CEO of Eurabia, a media and tech company. He is also the editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.
Israel’s president campaigns in France against Hezbollah
Rina Bassist/Al-Monitor/March 20/21
PARIS — President Reuven Rivlin met today with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace. Macron greeted Rivlin warmly, noting that their friendship has been forged in mutual visits over the past few years. The two men had last met a year ago when Macron visited Israel, and also the year before when Rivlin arrived in France on a state visit.
Paris was the third and last stop of the Israeli president in a three-day European tour that also included Germany and Austria. But the French stopover was different. In Germany and Austria, Rivlin focused on the common battle against anti-Semitism, attending memorial ceremonies for Jews who perished in the Holocaust. He also focused on Jerusalem’s campaign against the Iranian nuclear threat and Jerusalem’s campaign against the recent decision by the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, to launch a probe against Israel.
All those issues also came up in his meeting with Macron, but the major issue was certainly that of Lebanon and Hezbollah.
Speaking at a joint press conference, Rivlin said, “We will not agree for an Iranian entrenchment in Lebanon through Hezbollah. We have no territorial dispute or any war with the Lebanese people. We want to be good neighbors. We hope that our friends, including our friends here in France, will continue demanding the Lebanese government take responsibility for Hezbollah’s terror actions committed on its territory and from its territory.”
Reportedly, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi, who accompanied Rivlin on this trip, showed Macron maps of Hezbollah sites in Lebanon, insisting that Lebanon will pay dearly if Hezbollah opens war against Israel. Kochavi told Macron that Lebanon has become a captive of Hezbollah and that it no longer controls its own security policy. The Lebanese government is not implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701 against the presence of armed militia on its territory, noted Kochavi. Diplomatic sources confirmed to Al-Monitor that Jerusalem is counting on Paris to transfer these messages to Beirut.
Macron also referred to this issue extensively, noting at the press conference that the international approach to Lebanon would surely have to change in the coming weeks. “We must do everything possible to prevent a collapse of the country (Lebanon) — in other words, accelerate the formation of a government and the necessary reforms,” stated Macron.
While Jerusalem hopes for Paris to assist on the Lebanese front, things are more complicated on the Iranian file. Israeli leadership knows that France has been coordinating with the Biden administration the renewal of talks and is pushing for a new agreement. Still, Paris shares at least partly a vision promoted lately by several top Israeli security officials for a comprehensive long-term agreement with Iran that would include limitations on its ballistic activities and prohibit support of global terrorism.
Macron expressed his concern over recent reports on Iran's nuclear activity. “I will say it very clearly, and with no ambiguity: Iran must stop escalating an already serious nuclear situation by accumulation violations of the Vienna agreement. … France is entirely mobilized for a credible process that would enable finding a solution to this crisis, which means going back to control, to supervision, of the nuclear program, while integrating, as we have been demanding since 2017, also control of Iranian ballistic activity in the region.”
With that, Rivlin can certainly note a few diplomatic achievements at the Elysee. Clearly, Paris is reluctant to support Israel in its campaign against the ICC. Rivlin referred to this issue in his remarks to the press, but Macron avoided it completely. On the other hand, the dialogue on Lebanon and Iran could certainly bear some fruit in the coming months. Macron is obviously ready to listen to what his friend Rivlin has to say.

What's next for Russia’s relations with Hezbollah?
Anton Mardasov/Al-Monitor/March 20/21
A Hezbollah delegation visits Moscow, with Lebanese politics and stability and Syria's political future atop the agenda.
A delegation from Lebanese Hezbollah, led by the head of the movement’s parliamentary bloc, Mohammad Raad, arrived in Moscow on March 14 for a four-day visit that came on the eve of the 10-year anniversary of the start of the Syrian war. On March 15, the delegation, which included Hezbollah’s foreign relations chief Ammar Al-Moussawi and his aide Ahmad Mhanna, was received by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The delegation also had separate talks with Mikhail Bogdanov, a Russian deputy foreign minister and the special presidential representative on the Middle East.
By a strange coincidence, the Hezbollah delegation’s visit to Russia occurred almost simultaneously with the visit of Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, who arrived in Moscow on March 17. Moreover, Hezbollah’s talks with Lavrov were held the same day that two Russian deputy foreign ministers — Oleg Syromolotov and Sergey Ryabkov — met with the Israeli Foreign Ministry's deputy director general for strategic affairs, Joshua Zarka. Syromolotov, a former chief of the FSB Counterintelligence Service who rose to the rank of army general, oversees measures against terrorism. So this string of meetings looks like more than just a coincidence and makes for a rather awkward situation.
Any official contacts between Moscow and Hezbollah have the potential for causing an uproar. The problem is not just the status of the movement, which many countries, including Israel, consider to be terrorists. It is also the nature of Hezbollah’s relations with the Russian diplomats, security officials and intelligence services. One can recall the scandal that broke out in December when the Russian ambassador in Israel, Anatoly Viktorov, blamed Israel for destabilizing the situation in the Middle East to an even greater extent than Tehran. Viktorov also tried to vindicate the Tehran-allied Shiite military-political organizations, most notably Hezbollah. Once a rival force that kidnapped and murdered Soviet diplomats, Hezbollah has turned into the Kremlin’s ally in "fighting terrorism." Moscow took steps to smooth out the situation around Viktorov’s comments. Yet such rhetoric — not the first such statements on Hezbollah coming from Russian diplomats — is not explained solely by the discretion of a particular ambassador but by the specifics of Russia’s presence in Lebanon and by Beirut’s role in circumventing sanctions against Damascus.
The last few years saw Moscow performing a delicate balancing act. On the one hand, it has sought to deny Hezbollah’s participation in drug trafficking; at the same time the Russian military was conducting joint missions with Hezbollah militias. A case in point is the takeover of East Aleppo, where Russian special forces and Hezbollah fighters acted together. Indeed, Russian forces were allowed to disguise themselves as Hezbollah fighters for some operations. Hezbollah units, in turn, were granted permission to raise the Russian flag for cover from Israeli airstrikes. Still, the Russians did not raise particular objections to Israeli’s airstrikes against mobile targets. Moscow also feels obliged to monitor the arms traffic from Syria to Lebanon and to constrain Hezbollah’s actions both in the Damascus airport area and in the southwestern provinces.
Hezbollah’s visit March 15 is only the movement’s second official trip to Moscow. The first came in October 2011. Both delegations included Raad, a close ally of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. Given the time lag between the two trips, it is only logical to compare the incentives for the movement's visits to Russia, especially considering that there was no lack of contacts between Moscow and Hezbollah representatives on Lebanon’s soil in the intervening period.
While the first Hezbollah delegation arrived upon the invitation of the Russian parliament, the talks were shrouded in secrecy. That clandestinity was understandable as Hezbollah was trying to gauge Russia's positions on two key points. The first was the extent to which Moscow accepted Shiite "red lines" on cooperation with the Netherlands-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which sought to investigate the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. Second — and perhaps most important — Hezbollah sought to gauge the level of Moscow's backing for the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russia’s motives at the time were unclear, especially given Moscow’s abstention on the UN Security Council vote on the Libya dossier. In 2011 Russia claimed it had no interests in Syria, while its experts pondered over the possibility of a bloodless coup in the country against Assad. According to some rumors, even Hezbollah did not have a united opinion on the extent of the support it should lend Assad, with critics concentrated in the movement’s political wing.
This time around, Hezbollah’s trip was more open to the public eye. Raad described his 40-minute talks with Lavrov as "open and frank." Perhaps that description is indeed true, although there are opinions to the contrary (and not just among Russian observers).
Journalists cite two particular reasons that warranted the Hezbollah representatives’ visit to Russia. One issue relates to the French plan for overcoming the political crisis in Lebanon. Lavrov publicly supported the initiative. In his talks with Hezbollah, the Russian foreign minister also emphasised the importance of creating a new government headed by Saad Hariri that would help the country resolve its systemic crisis. Keeping in mind the recent visit to Moscow of Amal Abou Zeid, an adviser to president Michel Aoun, the journalists argue that Moscow’s real aim was to persuade Hezbollah, Aoun and his son-in-law Gebran Bassil to stop sabotaging the state-building process in Lebanon that is now under way.
The other problem concerns the Syrian war. Moscow is growing tired of the conflict. Yet its plan for attaining peace presupposes that Iran and Hezbollah would somehow freeze their activity in the region.
Ostensibly, those arguments are appealing and logical. Yet they also oversimply the situation somewhat. First of all, it indeed looks like Russian sought to postpone Hezbollah’s visit to Moscow because of Lavrov’s trip to the Middle East, Thus, the timing of the meeting with Hezbollah is not linked to the talks with Hariri. Second, Russia has its own stake in Lebanon. Moscow seeks to grow its clout both via soft-power tools and via deploying politico-economic projects implemented by the companies Rosneft and Novatek. Yet, as is usually the case with Russia, all those projects have a goal of consolidating Moscow’s position against the backdrop of weakened competition, not much more. Third, Moscow would probably prefer to side against the French plan for Lebanon, while continuing to brief the media against French President Emmanuel Macron’s initiatives. But Moscow likely prefers not to publicly criticize any constructive offers given the rapidly deteriorating situation in Lebanon and the problems this creates for the Syrian currency. Fourth, Russia is probably trying to legitimize Assad’s regime through raising the prospect of a decline in the Iranian presence in Syria, even though both Tehran and Hezbollah realize they are firmly established in the country.
It is obvious that the current state of relations between Lebanon and Russia requires that players coordinate their positions, especially in the runup to the elections in Syria and intensifying yet groundless rumors that predict the return to the Syrian scenario of the military council headed by Brig. Gen. Manaf Tlass, who switched to backing the Syrian opposition in 2012. Russia also has yet to give a response to Lebanon's request for 200,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine.
However, the key issues uniting Russia, Iran and Hezbollah are the political impasse in Lebanon and the future of the Assad regime. Assad has managed to survive, but he cannot gain control over oil and agricultural resources in the east of the country and solve the problem of economic self-sufficiency. Both these conundrums are hard to resolve without serious compromises. And those come at a higher cost than intervening in a foreign war.
 

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 20-21/2021

Jailed British Iranian in solitary for 5 months
Arab News/March 20/2021
Workers’ rights campaigner Mehran Raoof, 64, in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison
Amnesty International: He is an arbitrarily detained ‘prisoner of conscience’
LONDON: British-Iranian workers’ rights campaigner Mehran Raoof, 64, has been held in solitary confinement for five months in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison after he was secretly recorded talking about politics in a cafe, human rights campaigners have revealed.
Raoof was arrested at his home in Tehran in October and taken to Evin, where Iran keeps political prisoners and dual nationals. There are frequent allegations of torture at the prison. Satar Rahmani, a London-based colleague of Raoof, told the UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper that the former London teacher was helping to translate English-language news articles into Farsi around the time of his arrest. “He and 15 other workers were arrested. They were using a coffee shop as a place to talk about workers’ rights,” Rahmani said. “Without their knowing, there was a spy, a young girl, in the coffee shop who secretly recorded their discussions, and that led to the arrests.”Raoof’s contact with the outside world has been limited to a brief telephone call three months ago with a distant relative in Iran. While nine other suspects have been bailed, he is being held in ward 2A of Evin, where British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other dual nationals have been imprisoned. Amnesty International said Raoof is an arbitrarily detained “prisoner of conscience,” and expressed concern that he could be given a sentence of up to 16 years. Last week, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson demanded the “immediate release” of Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other controversially detained Britons in a telephone call with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it was asked to provide consular assistance to Raoof.

Iranian ex-president Khatami under fire for expressing regret in New Year message
AFP, Tehran/20 March ,2021
Iranian former president Mohammad Khatami came under fire on Saturday after expressing regret for the “suffering and sorrow” of the country’s people, in rare public comments ahead of June elections. “Instead of offering congratulations to the people, I prefer to offer my sympathy and support for the suffering and sorrow they have endured,” Khatami said in a video message on Thursday on the occasion of the Persian New Year. “I... sincerely apologize to the people of Iran for the shortcomings in my work” while in office, he said. As Iranians celebrated the new year on Saturday, the ultra-conservative Tasnim news agency slammed the ex-president over his remarks, saying: “Mr. Khatami, you are part of the problem, not the solution.”“The current dire social and political situation is largely the result of a government that came to power... with your support, and now you are an inseparable part of its track record,” it added.
Iran is due to hold presidential and municipal elections on June 18, when the electorate will vote for a successor to President Hassan Rouhani, who is in his final four-year term. In his remarks, Khatami, who served as president from 1997 to 2005, expressed hopes that the elections would be “free and inclusive.”The moderate Rouhani government came to power in an alliance with Iran’s reformists, and Khatami is a prominent figure of the same faction. Rouhani’s signature diplomatic achievement, the 2015 nuclear deal, was supposed to end Iran’s economic isolation by lifting sanctions in return for curbs on the country’s nuclear program. But the accord has been on life support since 2018, when the former US president Donald Trump withdrew from the deal and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic republic. “Mr. Khatami, what good does sympathizing with people’s woes (now) accomplish?” Tasnim said, asking if it would “fix” problems such as the high cost of living. In November 2019, a surprise hike in fuel prices sparked a wave of protests across Iran, before they were put down amid a near-total internet blackout. Some authorities in Iran have announced 230 deaths during what they claim where “riots.”

Tourism to Turkey under threat due to rising coronavirus cases
Arab News/March 20/2021
Bars and restaurants were allowed to reopen at half-capacity in provinces with lower infection rates
They have been full of customers as the rules prove nearly unenforceable.
LONDON: Turkey’s COVID-19 infection rates are rapidly rising after the country began easing restrictions at the start of March, raising fears that its tourism industry could be hampered in the summer. Daily cases, which stood at 8,424 on March 1, have jumped to 21,030. Turkey has struggled to limit the spread of COVID-19 as it has looked to reopen the economy while maintaining some anti-virus measures. Bars and restaurants were allowed to reopen at half-capacity in provinces with lower infection rates, but they have been full of customers as the rules prove nearly unenforceable.
“The decision on opening up for the tourism season is up to the success of the vaccination campaign. In order to obtain herd immunity, Turkey needs to vaccinate 70 percent of the population,” said Vedat Bulut, secretary-general of the Turkish Medical Association. “The Aegean and Mediterranean coast currently have lower infection rates than the worst-affected areas, but when the weather gets warmer people will move there for holidays. There should be a lockdown for 14 days and then we can manage to decrease the daily cases to 100 to 200.”The loss of tourism income during the pandemic has further hit Turkey’s weakening economy. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has held mass political rallies, which epidemiologists have pointed to as super-spreader events. Thirty percent of the new cases are mutations, most of them the UK variant. The double dose of vaccinations has been given to just 5.8 percent of the population. The country aims to have vaccinated 50 million people by autumn. That figure will see 60 percent of the population inoculated, below the herd immunity levels experts have deemed necessary to allow for further easing of restrictions. Tourism workers will be prioritized for vaccinations, according to Tourism Minister Mehmet Ersoy.  His ministry has produced hygiene protocols for tourism businesses as it gambles on reopening the hospitality sector ahead of the country’s herd immunity threshold being met.

Houthi militia admits tear gas behind fire at migrant detention
Arab News/March 20/2021
The Houthis acknowledged that guards fired three tear gas canisters into a crowded hangar in Sanaa
A Houthi Interior Minister statement said at least 11 men from the security forces were detained over the incident
SANAA: Yemen’s Houthi militia on Saturday broke its silence on the cause of a fire that tore through a detention center for migrants earlier this month, killing at least 45 people, mostly Ethiopian migrants.The Houthis acknowledged that guards fired three tear gas canisters into a crowded hangar in the capital, Sanaa, trying to end a protest by the migrants.A statement by the Houthi Interior Minister said at least 11 men from the security forces were detained over the incident, along with a number of senior officials who would be tried before court. The migrant community in Sanaa has called for an international probe into the tragedy, a demand backed by international rights groups. Some 900 migrants, most of them from Ethiopia, had been detained at the facility — including more than 350 inside the hangar. The site was run by the Passports and Naturalization Authority.At least 45 people were killed in the March 7, the militia said, including one who died of his wounds on Friday. More than 200 others were wounded. The migrants had been protesting and went on hunger strike against alleged abuses and ill-treatment at the detention facility, according to survivors and local rights campaigners. The Houthis Saturday claimed that the migrants were protesting to pressure the International Organization for Migration to transfer them.

Saudi Coalition Strikes Advancing Yemen Rebels
Agence France Presse/March 20, 2021
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said Saturday it had launched air strikes in support of pro-government forces battling a quickening Huthi rebel advance on the northern city of Marib. The move came after a drone strike sparked a fire at a Riyadh oil refinery Friday, in an attack claimed by the Huthis, as the Iran-backed rebels made major advances on Marib, seizing a strategic mountain. The official Saudi Press Agency published footage of air strikes launched by the coalition, saying the campaign was designed to "thwart the Huthi militia’s attempt to advance towards Marib in Al-Kasrah".
Al-Kasrah is one of the lines of defence to the northwest of the city, which is the government's last remaining stronghold in the north and the capital of an oil-rich region. The coalition, which entered the Yemen conflict in 2015 to defend the beleaguered government, said it had succeeded in destroying Huthi military equipment, including tanks, and inflicting "heavy losses". Rebel-controlled Al-Masirah television reported 38 air strikes across various parts of Marib, while a government official told AFP that the coalition had launched at least 20 strikes. "At least 70 fighters were killed, including 22 from the government forces, and dozens were injured in clashes in the past 48 hours," the source told AFP. "The rebels launched a violent attack, including with tanks, in al-Kasrah and the attack was thwarted with aerial support from the coalition." The Huthis and the internationally recognised government have been locked in a power struggle since 2014, when the rebels overran the capital Sanaa. Since last month, the rebels have been pushing to seize Marib. Loss of the city would be a huge blow for the Yemeni government, but would also threaten catastrophe for civilians, including at least one million displaced people sheltering in the region, many in desolate camps in the surrounding desert. Despite the latest rebel advance, analysts say the city may not fall any time soon, given the coalition's overwhelming firepower.

Arab Coalition destroys explosive drone targeting Saudi Arabia’s Khamis Mushait
Joanne Serrieh, Al Arabiya English/20 March ,2021
The Arab Coalition intercepted and destroyed an explosive-laden drone launched by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia toward Saudi Arabia's Khamis Mushait, the Coalition announced on Saturday. Khamis Mushait is a southwestern city home to the King Khalid Air Base. The Coalition said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) that the Houthi militia continues to target civilians. Yemen’s Houthis regularly launche drones and missiles into Saudi Arabia, many of which Riyadh says it intercepts. Friday morning, Houthi drones targeted an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh, causing a fire which was brought under control, a Ministry of Energy official said. No injuries were reported and the attack did not affect the oil supply nor its derivatives. On March 7, the Arab Coalition said a barrage of drones and missiles had been intercepted en route to targets including an oil storage yard at Ras Tanura, the site of a refinery and the world's biggest offshore oil-loading facility. A residential compound in Dhahran used by Saudi Aramco was also targeted.
With Reuters

Moscow 'Strongly Condemns' Huthi Drone Strike on Riyadh Refinery
Naharnet/March 20, 2021
Russia said Saturday it strongly condemns a drone strike on an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia claimed by Yemen's Huthi rebels, and urged parties to the conflict to halt violence."Moscow strongly condemns the aforementioned military action," the foreign ministry said in a statment. "We urge all parties to the cconflict in Yemen to strictly abide by the provisions of international humanitarian law."

Turkey Sacks Central Bank Governor after Interest Rate Hike
Agence France Presse/March 20, 2021
Turkey fired the governor of its central bank and replaced him with economist and former ruling party lawmaker Sahap Kavcioglu, according to a presidential decree published late on Friday, in a move likely to raise concerns over the bank's independence. Former finance minister Naci Agbal, seen as a market-friendly figure, had only been in the position since November, when he was appointed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as part of an overhaul of his economic team. No official reason was given for his sacking, but his dismissal comes after the central bank sharply hiked its main interest rate by a greater-than-expected 200 basis points on Thursday, from 17 to 19 percent. Erdogan is a strong opponent of high interest rates and once called them the "mother and father of all evil".Economists blame his unorthodox belief that high interest rates cause inflation -- instead of slowing it down -- for many of Turkey's current economic problems. Erdogan wants to bring the annual inflation rate down to under 10 percent by the end of next year, and to five percent by the time he is next scheduled to face an election in 2023. Kavcioglu, who writes an economy column in the pro-government Yeni Safak daily, suggested in a February column that the central bank should not insist on a high interest rate policy, because it would lead to high inflation. He is the fourth central bank head appointed since July 2019.
- 'Against high interest rates'-
News of Agbal's replacement came after the markets closed on Friday. The Turkish lira has clawed back roughly 15 percent of its value against the dollar since Erdogan's November reshuffle, which included the resignation of his son-in-law Berat Albayrak as finance minister. Past central bank managers before Agbal have burned through most of Turkey's reserves trying to support the currency while rates remained well below that of inflation. A modest recovery in the lira's value since Agbal's appointment had given the impression he had won Erdogan's blessing to keep the rate high for some time to ward off inflation and help the lira recover. But Erdogan's dislike of high interest rates has remained consistent, with him saying as recently as January that he was "absolutely against" them. "I know our friends get angry but with all due respect, if I am president of this country I will keep saying this because I believe that high interest rates will not help develop this country," he said.

Higher Gasoline Prices Fuel Canada Inflation
Agence France Presse/March 20, 2021
Canadian inflation rose 1.1 percent in February from a year earlier as gasoline prices increased for a third straight month, the government said Wednesday. The hike in gasoline prices came amid a gradual recovery in global demand, as well as crude oil supply cuts in major oil-producing countries and shutdowns in the southern United States due to bad weather. On a monthly basis the consumer price index rose 0.1 percent in February. Analysts had expected it to rise 0.7 percent. According to Statistics Canada, low interest rates and strong demand for homes with more space continued to push prices higher for new housing, marking the largest yearly gain since February 2007. The costs of food, passenger vehicles and household appliances such as stoves and refrigerators were also up. Costs of hotel accommodations, meanwhile, remained low as public health authorities maintained restrictions on non-essential travel to slow the spread of Covid-19. Prices for telephone services and clothing were also up in the month.

Syrian foreign minister visits Oman in new sign of normalised relations
The National/March 20/2021
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad arrived in Oman on Saturday on a visit expected to last several days, Omani state media said. Mr Mekdad visited the National Museum in Muscat with a delegation of senior officials from Oman's foreign ministry, including Ambassador Khaled bin Saeed Al
Jaradi. At the museum, they viewed artefacts from the ancient city of Palmyra. Palmyra and much of its ancient heritage was destroyed by ISIS during the terror group's occupation of parts of central and east Syria. In 2019, Russia's State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg and the National Museum of Oman began an effort to restore 20 artefacts from Palmyra, which were damaged in the conflict with ISIS. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Walid Al Muallim on Sunday received the credentials of Sayyid Turki Al Busaidi, ambassador of Oman to Syria. Oman News AgencyOman's new ambassador to Syria presents credentials in Damascus Shared history: Omanis celebrate Samia Suluhu Hassan becoming president of Tanzania. Last year, Oman became the first Gulf country to fully normalise relations with Syria following nine years of tumultuous civil conflict. In October, Syria's late Foreign Minister Walid Al Muallim received the credentials of Oman’s representative, Ambassador Sayyid Turki Al Busaidi.
Regional moves toward peace
Oman has long positioned itself as a neutral country and venue for dialogue and cooperation, particularly following mounting regional tensions between the US and Iran, and worsening civil conflict in Yemen and Syria. A growing number of countries share Oman's position, following an emerging international consensus that there could be no military solution to the Syrian crisis. In 2018, the UAE's former minister of state for foreign affairs Dr Anwar Gargash announced that the UAE would be re-opening its embassy in Damascus, for "political and diplomatic work". An influx of aid followed, aiming to ease the country's humanitarian crisis which has seen as many as 12 million people internally displaced or forced to flee abroad. Jordan re-opened border crossings in 2018, part of a formal effort to restore trade ties. Debate has now moved to whether Syria will be re-admitted to the Arab League. Last week, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed called for Syria to be readmitted to the pan-Arab body to ensure a regional effort in attempting to mediate an end to the bloody civil war.

AstraZeneca Exports Can Be Banned If Bloc not Supplied First, Said EU Chief
Agence France Presse/March 20, 2021
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday threatened to halt exports of AstraZeneca vaccines if the bloc did not receive its deliveries first, in a worsening row over delayed shipments that has caused international tensions. "We have the option of banning a planned export. That's the message to AstraZeneca: you fulfil your contract with Europe first before you start delivering to other countries," von der Leyen said in an interview with Germany's Funke media group. The warning comes as the European Union struggles to speed up its Covid-19 inoculation campaign, just as many member states are battling rising infection rates that have forced renewed restrictions. Von der Leyen said Anglo-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca had delivered only 30 percent of the 90 million vaccine doses it had promised for the first quarter of the year. The company has blamed production delays at its EU plants, but European officials are furious that AstraZeneca has been able to deliver its UK contract in full while falling short on the continent. European Commission president von der Leyen had on Wednesday already threatened to invoke emergency powers to block European exports of Covid-19 vaccines to ensure "reciprocity" with other suppliers.
"All options are on the table," the former German defence minister said, adding that the vaccine situation would be addressed among EU leaders at talks next week. The EU has already set up special oversight of vaccine exports in which manufacturers contracted to supply Europe must declare if they intend to export doses outside the bloc.Most of the EU's worry is over Britain, where the inoculation campaign has progressed at a much faster pace than in continental Europe. Brussels has accused London of operating a de facto export ban to achieve its vaccine success, a claim furiously denied by Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government. The EU's export ban mechanism must first be triggered in an individual member state and then be approved by the European Commission before it can be enforced. The mechanism has so far only been applied once, with Italy blocking the export of a 250,000 dose shipment of AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia, citing "persistent shortage" and "delays in supply". Not all EU members support export bans, which could upset global supply chains, and countries like Belgium and the Netherlands have urged caution.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 20-21/2021

Should Anything Be Off-Limits to Debate and Discuss?
Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute/March 20, 2021
The fact that we even have to ask these questions demonstrates the precarious state of freedom of speech and the marketplace of ideas in the cancel culture....
Professors are being fired for private discussions of grades and race. Students are terrified of expressing politically incorrect views, especially about race, sex, sexual orientation and even politics. Even silence is not always an option.
There are several exceptions to this cancel culture rule. You can say almost anything negative about Jews, as evidenced by the recent Grammy awards, during which three overt anti-Semites were honored. These bigots did not even try to disguise their anti-Semitism behind the facade of anti-Zionism.
There has never been a time when respectful and nuanced debate has been more needed, especially about race and other taboo subjects— taboo unless you toe the line of political correctness.
Slate's decision to suspend Peska strikes a blow against diversity. Yes, diversity! —which includes diversity of views about every issue including how best to deal with racism and how best to achieve equality.
Slate should end Peska's suspension, apologize to him, and encourage debate about the issue over which he was suspended.
Professors are being fired for private discussions of grades and race. Students are terrified of expressing politically incorrect views.... Pictured: photo of Alan Dershowitz, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus at Harvard Law School. (Photo by Senate Television via Getty Images)
Slate — the online magazine known for its provocative content—has indefinitely suspended one of its star podcasters, Mike Peska, for debating with a colleague, on an inter-office messaging platform, whether it is ever appropriate for a non-Black person to use the N-word in the context of a discussion about race. It is not clear whether in the course of the discussion Peska actually uttered the word itself or just used the term "n-word."
In defending Slate's decision, a Black staffer argued that "For Black employees, it's an extremely small ask to not hear that particular slur and not have debate about whether it's OK for white employees to use that particular slur." Not have debate?
Should anything be off limits to debate and discuss? Is this issue not reasonably debatable? Can only Black people debate this issue, as my colleague Randy Kennedy brilliantly did in his book whose title is the actual word—spelled out? Can the issue be discussed in racially mixed classrooms? Should that depend on the race of the teacher? Must a teacher who wants to have such a discussion issue a trigger warning? Is a trigger warning enough? Must he obtain permission from Black students in the class to discuss the use of the word even if the word itself is not uttered? Do these restrictions apply only to this word and only to slurs against Blacks, or do they apply as well to derogatory words against other groups.
There was, for example, a recent controversy over the use of the word "kike" by a basketball player. Can that word be used in debating the proper NBA response to the use of that slur, or comparable slurs against gays, women, Asian Americans or others? Are there even comparable slurs or is the N-word in a category by itself because of its history?
Finally, have I committed a suspendable offense by asking these questions in this column? Or on my podcast (The Dershow), which I have done?
The fact that we even have to ask these questions demonstrates the precarious state of freedom of speech and the marketplace of ideas in the cancel culture which is quickly becoming the American culture.
Professors are being fired for private discussions of grades and race. Students are terrified of expressing politically incorrect views, especially about race, sex, sexual orientation and even politics. Even silence is not always an option. An adjunct professor at Georgetown law school was suspended and pressured to resign for not criticizing a fellow professor who bemoaned grade disparity based on race. His sin: bystander complicity.
There are several exceptions to this cancel culture rule. You can say almost anything negative about Jews, as evidenced by the recent Grammy awards, during which three overt anti-Semites were honored. These bigots did not even try to disguise their anti-Semitism behind the facade of anti-Zionism. They accused "the Jews" of promoting white supremacy. They denied the right of the Jewish people to national liberation. They showed support for the bigot Farrakhan who calls Judaism a "gutter religion," and blames them for the slave trade. Imagine the Grammy's honoring a David Duke acolyte or someone who was critical of Black Lives Matter! It would not happen. We should discuss why this double standard is not only tolerated -- it is promoted and applauded by those who would cancel politically incorrect expression with which they disagree. Even discussing or debating this double standard risks cancelation.
There has never been a time when respectful and nuanced debate has been more needed, especially about race and other taboo subjects— taboo unless you toe the line of political correctness. We are a deeply divided nation. We need to find common ground where such exists, while at the same time respecting conflicting views.
Slate's decision to suspend Peska strikes a blow against diversity. Yes, diversity! —which includes diversity of views about every issue including how best to deal with racism and how best to achieve equality.
Slate should end Peska's suspension, apologize to him, and encourage debate about the issue over which he was suspended. I, for one, will not be intimidated into silence. I will continue to write and speak about these issues and encourage others to join me. That is one way to fight back against cancel culture.
*Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus at Harvard Law School and author of the book, Guilt by Accusation: The Challenge of Proving Innocence in the Age of #MeToo, Skyhorse Publishing, 2019. His new podcast, "The Dershow," can be seen on Spotify, Apple and YouTube. He is the Jack Roth Charitable Foundation Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2021 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
 

A new year, but the same old failures in Iran
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/March 20/2021
Nowruz, which means “new day” in Persian and marks the first day of spring and the start of a new year in Iran, is one of the world’s oldest holidays, celebrated for more than 3,000 years.
Since the 1979 revolution, the Islamic Republic has been unsuccessfully trying to suppress Nowruz, partially because it is a secular holiday that predates Islam, while Iran’s ruling clerics heavily invest in, publicize and celebrate Shiite religious holidays. In recent years, many Iranians have also used Nowruz celebrations as a means of defiance and nonviolent resistance against the regime’s authorities.
However, this year Nowruz is very different for the Iranian people. Many are living in one of the most difficult times of their generation. Life has become unbearable as unemployment and inflation are at, or near, record highs, and the cost of living has risen to an unprecedented level. The Islamic Parliament Research Center recently reported that the poverty-line income for a four-member household in Iran has almost doubled from 25 million rials a month to 45 million, while the International Monetary Fund calculates that inflation is about 34.2 percent.
This year, many cannot even afford the nuts, sweets and pastries traditional during the 13 days of Nowruz festivities. This is partially because the value of the Iranian currency has plunged while wages remain unchanged. The rial has lost about 56 percent of its value in 2020, making it one of the least valuable national currencies in the world. Nazanin, an Iranian mother of two children, said: “This is the first year in my life that I cannot afford to make or buy any Nowruz food to offer my family members when they visit. This is the first year that I don’t have money to buy new clothes, a Nowruz custom, for my children. This is the first year that I can’t give my nieces, nephews and children money. It is very embarrassing. While many of us are in this condition, the corrupt government and their affiliates are wealthy, going on vacation to other countries, sending their children and families to Europe, Canada and America to study and live, and they do not care about the ordinary people.”
Some of Iran’s state-controlled newspapers have been issuing warnings concerning people’s dire situations. The Arman daily wrote: “The economic pressure that lower social classes endure is unbearable. We should be careful that they do not lose their tolerance because this could have social and security consequences.”
In addition to the dire economic situation, the regime’s social and political suppression is adding to people’s fury. Human rights violations, arrests, torture, executions, imprisonments, and the suppression of the freedoms of speech and expression are at record levels.
For this year’s Nowruz, disaffection and frustration with the regime is at its peak as many contend that soaring inflation and a crumbling economy are the result of underlying factors ingrained in the regime’s political and financial institutions —corruption in the theocratic establishment and across the political spectrum, mismanagement of the economy, embezzlement and money laundering in the banking system, and the hemorrhaging of the nation’s wealth on militias, terror groups and proxies across the region.
In addition to the dire economic situation, the regime’s social and political suppression is adding to people’s fury. Human rights violations, arrests, torture, executions, imprisonments, and the suppression of the freedoms of speech and expression are at record levels.
The regime’s mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic has also made this Nowruz different for the Iranian people. The regime repeatedly lied about the scope of the pandemic, and later it rejected foreign-made vaccines in favor of an unproven domestic version that was recently rushed into production. These failures have made Iran the worst-hit country in the Middle East, although the pandemic may have been a lifeline for the regime, since it temporarily distracted people’s attention from the ruined economy and many other social and political ills.
Economic disaster, Tehran’s pillaging of national funds to pay for foreign terrorism and to pursue nuclear weapons, the mishandling of the coronavirus, and outrage over a lack of accountability in the face of the regime’s crimes, have all made Nowruz more difficult this year for many Iranians.
Nevertheless, there is still a sense of optimism in Iran as many Iranians continue to hold the hope that this year will herald a new dawn — an era of freedom from the theocratic regime that has been ruling the country for more than 40 long years.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the International American Council. He serves on the boards of the Harvard International Review, the Harvard International Relations Council and the US-Middle East Chamber for Commerce and Business. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

How US can bolster its Middle Eastern economic ties
Luke Coffey/Arab News/March 20/2021
Most of the focus of US policymakers in the Middle East in recent years has been on security issues. Transnational terrorism from groups like Al-Qaeda and Daesh and rogue state actors like Iran has dominated America’s approach to the region. While security issues remain important, the economic aspects of America’s engagement in the region cannot be ignored — especially considering the negative impact the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has had.
In the wake of the rapid spread of COVID-19, most countries implemented travel restrictions and the closure of nonessential businesses. The regional economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating. In addition to the widespread loss of production and wages due to public lockdowns, the Middle East’s oil and gas exporters have been severely affected by the sharp decline in world energy prices due to the pandemic-related economic recession. The pandemic also decimated the tourism industry that plays such an important role in many regional economies.
It is in America’s interest to ensure that the region is stable, secure and prosperous. Due to the impact of the pandemic, advancing economic freedom and building US economic ties to the Middle East are more urgent than ever for the region. There are five things the US can do to bolster economic relations with the Middle East.
Firstly, it should pursue a pragmatic, region-wide trade agenda that will remove barriers to the flows of goods and services. The US has already established a network of trade pacts in the region through bilateral free trade agreements with Israel, Bahrain, Oman and Jordan. In addition to making strategic efforts to better utilize these existing deals, Washington should consider pursuing additional trade agreements that can not only lower the costs of imported goods for consumers in the region, but also expand exports to the US market.
Secondly, the US should remove unnecessary tariffs. The steel and aluminum tariffs put in place by the Trump administration have so far been kept in place by President Joe Biden. This is not good news. Over the years, countries like Bahrain and Oman have done much to diversify their economies and the steel and aluminum sectors have played a key role. Not only are these tariffs bad for the American consumer, they also needlessly complicate America’s bilateral relationships in the Middle East.
Thirdly, Washington needs to ensure that any future Middle East Strategic Alliance (MESA) includes an economic component. In 2017, the Trump administration proposed the creation of a MESA with its Arab partners in order to deepen relations, but little progress has been made. It is not clear if the Biden administration will push this initiative. But, if it does, then there must be an economic component. A good MESA will include security, economics and energy issues.
Fourthly, Biden should build on Trump’s successes in the process of normalization of relations between Arab states and Israel.
Finally, the US must work with its partners in the region to bolster the private sector’s contributions to economic recovery. Private sectors will be critical to the post-pandemic recovery. The White House should host a high-level forum convening senior government and private sector representatives from the US and the Middle East. In addition to bolstering private companies, a forum is a public way for Washington to demonstrate its commitment to the region, while reminding regional governments of the desirability of collaboration with the US.
It is in America’s interest to ensure that the region is stable, secure and prosperous.
The Middle East will remain a key focus for US policymakers for the foreseeable future. The impact of COVID-19 on the world has been far-reaching and hugely damaging to every major economy. The pandemic has been the most widespread and hard-hitting health crisis in more than a century; it must not, however, weaken or undermine US interests in the region.
Both sides need to work closely together to foster an economic recovery. This recovery must be based on the principles of economic freedom and free trade, combined with a determination and commitment to strengthen regional security and stand up to those actors — including Iran and China — that threaten stability.
America’s adversaries have sought to use the COVID-19 pandemic to divide it from its partners, sow division and disinformation, and exert greater influence. They must not be successful in doing so.
This is a key moment for the US, Israel and the Arab world to stand strong and steadfast, and to look forward to a new era of cooperation for advancing shared interests.
Luke Coffey is the director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy at the Heritage Foundation. Twitter: @LukeDCoffey

Iran using Yemen’s Houthis to achieve its sinister goals
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/March 20/2021
Not only is the Iranian regime showing no sign of backing down from its destabilizing behavior in Yemen and its support for the Houthi militia group, it is actually escalating the conflict through its proxy.
One prominent example is how the Houthis have ratcheted up their attacks on Saudi Arabia. Even US officials have acknowledged the escalation, with a senior defense official telling NBC News: “We’re certainly aware of a troubling increase in Houthi cross-border attacks from a variety of systems, including cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles).” The US, along with France, Germany, Italy and the UK, also last week condemned the “major escalation of attacks the Houthis have conducted and claimed against Saudi Arabia.”
More than 40 drones and missiles were launched at Saudi Arabia by the Houthis in February alone. The sophisticated weapons the militia group is using have most likely come from the Iranian regime. Based on a UN report released in January, there are strong signs that Tehran is a provider of weapons to the Houthis. The UN panel of experts report stated: “An increasing body of evidence suggests that individuals or entities in Iran supply significant volumes of weapons and components to the Houthis.” Iran relies mostly on the sea route to smuggle weapons to the Houthis, although several shipments bound for war-torn Yemen have been seized.
The Iranian regime has several objectives for escalating the conflict and interfering in Yemen’s domestic affairs. First of all, by sponsoring the Houthis, the regime is attempting to gain leverage over the Biden administration ahead of potential new nuclear deal negotiations.
Secondly, the modus operandi of Tehran is to control other nations through its proxies. As Massoud Jazayiri, the former deputy head of Iran’s Armed Forces, told Iran’s Tasnim News Agency early in the Yemen conflict, Tehran was ready to copy the process it adopted in Syria and use it in Yemen too.
Thirdly, Iran’s regional hegemonic ambitions direct its leaders to pursue policies that are aimed at countering the power of other state actors (mainly Saudi Arabia), weakening their strategic, economic and geopolitical significance in order to tip the Middle East’s balance of power in favor of Tehran.
While one can argue that Yemen does not pose a national security threat to Iran, it does to Saudi Arabia, since the two countries share a border.
Iran’s regional hegemonic ambitions direct its leaders to pursue policies that are aimed at countering the power of other state actors.
An important dimension of Iran’s involvement in Yemen is ideological. A core pillar of its foreign policy is anchored in its so-called Islamic revolutionary principles. The key decision-maker in Iran’s foreign policy is Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who pursues the ideology of his predecessor, Ayatollah Khomeini. One of Khamenei’s underlying "revolutionary values" is that he views himself as the leader of the Muslim world. As a result, from Khamenei’s perspective, influencing and directing the political affairs of every Muslim country, including Yemen, is his religious and ideological duty.
Another of Iran’s revolutionary ideals is anti-Americanism. Khamenei regards his rhetoric and projection of Iran’s increasing role in Yemen’s conflict as a tactic to counterbalance America’s role in the region.
Unfortunately, the Biden administration has emboldened and empowered the Houthis by reversing the militia group’s terrorist designation. It is incumbent on White House to pursue a firmer policy toward the Houthis and to block Iran’s supply of weapons to the group.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh
Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their

How Biden is already showing he's an old man in a hurry
David Frum/The National/March 20/2021
President Joe Biden walks on the South Lawn of the White House before
It’s not 100 days yet, and the administration of US President Joe Biden has already passed the most ambitious legislation in more than a decade. The huge spending package that has now passed both houses of Congress is much more than a Covid-19 relief package. It’s a major healthcare bill, a childcare bill and a state-government financial stabilisation bill. Almost all families with children will receive thousands of dollars in federal assistance, even if neither parent lost a job in the pandemic. If Mr Biden retired right now, he would already have met a full term’s worth of Democratic Party priorities.
But, of course, Mr Biden is not retiring now. He is turning to his next priorities – and those are likely to be more contentious, not only for the opposition Republican Party, but also within his own coalition of Democrats.
The exact order of what comes next will depend on Democratic leadership in the two legislative houses – the House of Representatives and the Senate. They are looking at several issues, and all of them matter not only for the US, but also the global economy.
Mr Biden has already announced principles for a big immigration bill. He wants to offer some kind of legal status in the US to people who entered the country illegally, and to make it easier and faster to gain asylum.
Mr Biden also wants to enact a big infrastructure programme: not only the traditional roads, bridges and airports spending, but also the acceleration of the drive to a post-petroleum economy. In a video interview on March 9, White House chief of staff Ron Klain pledged that an infrastructure bill would fund hundreds of thousands of new charging stations for electric vehicles.
Boosting US manufacturing and out-competing China on trade are popular policies with American voters from both major parties. Getty
Boosting US manufacturing and out-competing China on trade are popular policies with American voters from both major parties. Getty
Biden has already passed the most ambitious legislation in more than a decade
Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress are itching to challenge China on trade and manufacturing. The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, wants the party’s very next priority to be a bill that would support US supply chains and assert US control over global 5G mobile networks.
Looming behind all of these proposed legislative items is the existential challenge of climate change. Mr Biden rejoined the Paris climate accords at the very beginning of his administration. Now he has to devise ways to honour his commitments.
Those big four commitments – immigration, infrastructure, competing with China and tackling climate change – all come attended by risks and costs. Mr Biden’s early signals on immigration have already summoned a huge flow of unauthorised migration to the US: 100,000 people crossed the border with Mexico illegally in February, followed by almost 5,000 a day thus far in the month of March.
While liberal voters in pro-Democrat states generally welcome more immigration, and are unfazed even by unauthorised immigration, the prospect of a huge, unauthorised flow is very upsetting to swing voters along the border – very much including Hispanic voters. The Rio Grande Valley along the border with Mexico is majority Hispanic. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won the valley in the 2016 election by massive, double-digit margins. But in 2020, Donald Trump’s tough-on-illegal-immigration policies cut the Democratic margin in the area dramatically. Zapata County, just south of the Texan city of Laredo, is 85 per cent Hispanic, and Trump won it outright – the first Republican to win the county since the aftermath of the 19th-century Civil War. In the state of Arizona, which is split between Democrat and Republican supporters, the newly elected Democrat senator Mark Kelly faces his first re-election campaign in 2022. Uncontrolled unauthorised migration into the state could cost his party that seat – and with it, control of the Senate.
President Donald Trump will soon enter a new chapter in his career. GettyWhat Biden has to fix - and preserve - from the Trump era
Is America turning away from the Middle East?
Trump's bungling of coronavirus reshaped US politics
Mr Biden’s infrastructure programme is already behind schedule. It was originally supposed to be second in line after Covid-19 relief. But the Covid-19 bill has been signed into law now – and there is no infrastructure bill in sight. Cost issues are a worry, but an even bigger problem is the argument over who gets what, and how much. An infrastructure bill is also more vulnerable to Republican obstruction in Congress – unless Mr Biden can find ways to rent the votes of 10 Republican senators. Despite four years of promising, his predecessor Mr Trump never managed even to write an infrastructure bill, never mind bring one to a vote. Can Mr Biden do better? The clock is ticking.
If not, the anti-China bill could displace the infrastructure bill. Mr Trump started trade wars against half the world. Mr Biden has suspended the Trump administration’s punitive tariffs upon the UK, but many Democrats are in no hurry to end Mr Trump’s trade quarrels with China. During the 2020 campaign, Mr Biden repeatedly vowed to insert “Buy American” provisions into all government procurement – upsetting not only close trading partners like Canada and Mexico, but raising shadows over all world trade. Since the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, global trade has grown more slowly than world economic output. Economists have called the 2010s the era of “slowbalisation”. Mr Biden seems in no hurry to change this, to the cost of the whole planet.
Even costlier to the planet is inaction on climate change. Over the past decade, the US has moved sharply away from burning coal. By 2022, the US will burn half as much coal as in the peak year, 2007. There are early indicators that 2018 will prove to have been the peak year for US consumption of crude oil. Mr Biden wants to hurry that transition along. But how? A cap-and-trade scheme collapsed in the Democratic-controlled Congress the last time a Democrat, Barack Obama, was in the White House. Carbon taxes are obvious targets for Republican attack. Encouraging and subsidising new green technology does not get the job done anything like fast enough. Yet if Mr Biden does nothing, he’ll rip apart a Democratic party in which the base increasingly sees the environment as the important issue once Covid-19 is overcome.
William Ewart Gladstone, who dominated 19th-century British politics into his 80s, was once mocked by a political opponent as “an old man in a hurry”. That opponent was onto something. The older Gladstone got, the faster he moved. Something similar seems to be happening with President Joe Biden, another old man in a hurry. He can count on control of Congress for only two years. He’s already crammed through a lot. More, more, more seems on the way.
**David Frum is a writer at the Atlantic who was speechwriter and special assistant to former US president George W Bush