English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For 05 August/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.august05.22.htm

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Bible Quotations For today
Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 11/52-54/:"Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.’ When he went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile towards him and to cross-examine him about many things, lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say."

Titels For English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on 04-05 August/2022
Hezbollah the Terrorist organization is totally responsible for the Beirut Port Explosion, and justice will not be achieved before Lebanon is liberated from it's occupation/Elias Bejjani/August 04/2022
Sign the petition from the Families of the Martyrs of the Beirut Port Fire Brigade that will be sent to António Guterres Secretary-General of the United Nations
Al-Rahi presides over Mass devoted to the Beirut Port explosion victims: We reject that some of the accused are guilty & free,..
Bishop Elias Aoudi at a funeral for the comfort of the souls of the victims of the port in St. George Hospital: Political power impedes the work of the judiciary and prevents justice
Al-Rahi voices anger against 'all officials', says port blast may be 'crime against humanity'
Macron 'won't let Lebanon collapse', says country can't bear new war with Israel
Aoun says committed to non-selective justice on port blast anniversary
New part of port silos collapses as hundreds march in Beirut
Hezbollah urges 'fair probe' in port case, slams 'incitement'
Berri says justice path in port case is through 'implementation of constitution'
Ship Ukraine says is carrying stolen grain leaves Lebanon
Where is the Justice for the August 4th Beirut Explosion/Amer Fakhoury Foundation/August 4, 2022
Thousands of Protesters Mark 2 Years Since Beirut Port Blast as Part of Silos Collapse
UN chief reiterates call for 'impartial' Beirut port blast probe
EU, Member States urge accountability in Beirut port blast case
Beirut port blast: the two-year quest for justice
Two years after Beirut mega-blast, Lebanon hits new lows
Ukraine Urges Lebanon to Reverse Decision to Clear Grain Shipment for Travel
Lebanon's Geagea Vows to Prevent Election of Pro-Hezbollah President

Titles For Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on 04-05 August/2022
Iranian Nuclear Talks Resume amid Low US Expectations
Iran nuclear talks set to restart in Vienna
Sullivan Expresses Concern over Iranian-American Journalist's Safety
Iran Says it Arrested Militants Planning Attacks on Religious Gatherings
US Firm: Likely Iranian Threat Actor in Albania Cyberattack
Israeli Police Arrest Two Emirati Tourists by Mistake
UN Envoy to Yemen Urges Exchange of Detainee Lists
Taliban Claim They Unaware of Qaeda Leader in Afghanistan
Taipei Scrambles Jets as Chinese Fighters Cross Taiwan Strait Median Line
China begins major Taiwan military drills after Pelosi visit

Titles For LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on 04-05 August/2022
Biden sold America the false narrative that Al Qaeda was ‘gone’ from Afghanistan. Zawahiri’s death proves he was dangerously wrong./Bill Roggio/ Daily Mail/August 04/2022
Turkey-Backed Terrorists Bomb Hagia Sophia Church Replica/Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity/August 04/2022
EU: Last-Ditch Effort to Salvage Iran Nuclear Deal/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/August 04/2022
August 4, Justice is Coming!/Hanna Saleh/Asharq Al Awsat/August 04/2022
Iran Talks of a Changing Situation in Which Tehran Plays an Active Role/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/August 04/2022
From FDD, Video, audio, and transcript: "Flying Under the Radar: Iran’s Illicit Activities and Networks in Latin America, ," featuring Toby Dershowitz, Mariano Federici, The Hon. Ricardo López Murphy, Emanuele Ottolenghi, and The Hon. Carlos Paparoni/August 04/2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on 04-05 August/2022
Hezbollah the Terrorist organization is totally responsible for the Beirut Port Explosion, and justice will not be achieved before Lebanon is liberated from it's occupation.
Elias Bejjani/August 04/2022
حزب الله الإرهابي هو المسؤول عن تفجير مرفأ بيروت، والعدالة لن تتحقق قبل تحرير لبنان من رجس احتلاله
Prophet Isaiah 33/01: "Woe to you, destroyer, you who have not been destroyed! Woe to you, betrayer, you who have not been betrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying, you will be betrayed".
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/101087/elias-bejjani-hezbollah-the-terrorist-organization-is-totally-responsible-for-the-beirut-port-explosion-and-justice-will-not-be-achieved-before-lebanon-is-liberated-from-its-occupation/
In reality and practically, justice in Lebanon will remain a mirage and a dream while Lebanon is still occupied by the Iranian Hezbollah, and governed by a bunch of local puppets and Trojans.
Sadly, justice in our beloved occupied Lebanon is currently far from reach, and even impossible, whether in regards to the Beirut Port explosion horrible crime, or the assassinations of dozens of sovereigns, patriotic and free Lebanese figures.
Justice in the occupied Lebanon is currently ignored, muzzled, marginalized and down trodden, and will not be achieved in any way before the country is liberated from the occupation, domination, hegemony, barbarism and the Mafiosi of the Iranian terrorist organization, Hezbollah.
In this Trojan framework that Hezbollah is enforcing, all that is circulated in the media about judicial investigations into the Beirut Port Explosion crime in particular, revolves only around ignoring the real perpetrator, and on distracting the Lebanese people with names of political and security officials who are charged on mere negligence basis. The occupier, Hezbollah who has been since 2005 in complete control of Beirut's airport and port, brought the shipment of ammonium nitrate to Lebanon in full partnership and co-operation with the Syrian Criminal Assad Regime.
Hezbollah stored the ammonium nitrate in the Beirut Port, used it inside and outside Lebanon in terrorism explosions, and transported most of it to Syria, where Assad regime transformed it into bombing barrels of death and destruction. Due to the fact that Hezbollah is an "assassination machine "and an Iranian terrorist organization that occupies and terrorizes the Lebanese, all the Lebanese security officials and politicians, including and foremost, the President, House Speaker, PM, ministers, MP'S and all high ranging government employees would not have dared to utter a word about the ammonium shipment, even if they were aware of it. This enforced silence would be either because of fear for their lives, or due to their treason affiliation with Hezbollah. Meanwhile, the terrorist Hezbollah, and through its ruling puppets and officials in all positions continues viciously to distract the judicial investigation, and the peoples' focus from the truth, that actually and plainly points towards its sole criminal role in exploding Beirut's Port on August 04, 2020.
Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah has been openly and loudly threatening the Lebanese judiciary, and questioning its credibility, in a replicate to his evil role with the Special Tribunal For Lebanon (STL), that was investigating the assassination of the late PM, Rafik Al Hariri.
In summary, Hezbollah, which occupies Lebanon and controls its rulers, officials and political parties' without even one exception, is fully accountable for the Beirut Port Explosion crime, and accordingly justice will not be fully achieved before the liberation of Lebanon, and before charging, arresting and before putting on all it's leaders on trial. And until the day of liberation comes, this Terrorist and criminal armed militia, will continue to systematically and viciously to devour our beloved Lebanon, The Land Of The Holy Cedars, piece by piece, intimidating its people and assassinating its patriotic leaders.

Sign the petition from the Families of the Martyrs of the Beirut Port Fire Brigade that will be sent to António Guterres Secretary-General of the United Nations
وقع العريضة المقدمة من أهالي تفجير المرفأ (فوج الإطفاء) إلى الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة
Justice for the Victims of the Beirut Port Explosion
https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-the-victims-of-the-beirut-port-explosion?recruiter=false&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_medium=whatsapp&utm_content=washarecopy_34112464_en-US%3A7&recruited_by_id=c7f89b80-143e-11ed-a839-dfab79604ecf&share_bandit_exp=initial-34112464-en-US
The Families of the Martyrs of the Beirut Port Fire Brigade started this petition
His Excellency António Guterres Secretary-General of the United Nations
Honourable Permanent Members of the United Nations Security Council August 4th, 2022
Your Excellencies,
August 4th, 2022 marks the second anniversary of the largest non-nuclear explosion in history which devastated large parts of Beirut, resulted in more than 200 fatalities, thousands of other casualties, and hundreds of thousands of displaced persons. The psychological, social, and financial costs of this tragedy continue to exact a large toll on the surviving victims, their next of kin and the population at large.
The undersigned are relatives of the first responder volunteer firefighters who rushed to extinguish the first blaze at the port, without having been informed of the hazardous materials contained in the hangar. The names of these ten heroes, one woman and nine man who all perished in the Beirut Port Explosion are: Joe Bou Saab, Sahar Fares, Mithal Hawa, Charbel Hitti, Najib Hitti, Rami Kaaki, Charbel Karam, Elie Khouzami, Ralph Mallahi and Joe Noun.
Shortly after the explosion, numerous requests, including petitions signed by hundreds of thousands of Lebanese citizens, called for a United Nations-mandated independent investigation into the Beirut Port Explosion. These were motivated by a lack of confidence in the Government of Lebanon’s and the Lebanese Judiciary’s respective abilities to deal with this crime, given the significant existing conflicts of interest, as well as Lebanon’s historical inability, and lack of technical expertise, in solving past significant crimes.
Unfortunately, these concerns have proven all too well founded. Two years after the tragedy, neither truth nor justice are forthcoming.
Although several former Ministers (and current Members of Parliament) have been indicted, they and their political parties have successfully managed to hinder the investigation through the blatant abuse of the political and judiciary processes. The current investigative magistrate, Judge Tarek Bitar, has been prevented from carrying out his duties since December 2021 through spurious legal challenges.
The undersigned have no confidence that the truth about this tragic event, and the determination of responsibilities, will take place without intervention from the United Nations.
We have been more than patient in awaiting the outcome of the Lebanese judicial process. The United Nations and the international community must now recognize that the local process is irremediably flawed and cannot lead to truth or justice.
As such, unless the investigative judge is reinstated and able to perform his duties without further hindrance, and confirms his ability and willingness to issue his final report, within 90 days from the date of this letter, then the undersigned hereby respectfully urge the Security Council to consider and, if appropriate, adopt the following resolutions:
i) establishing and providing funding for a professional and independent commission with a mandate to investigate the causes of the Beirut Port Explosion and determine responsibility for this tragedy; and
ii) directing the Government of Lebanon, the investigative judge, and all other parties in Lebanon to turn over to the commission all information, documents and data in their possession regarding the Beirut Port Explosion and otherwise to cooperate fully with the independent commission.
The surviving victims, the next of kin of those who perished, and the people of Lebanon have suffered greatly and waited patiently for relief and closure. Their hopes now lie with the United Nations. We look forward to your speedy actions.
Respectfully yours
Elie Bou Saab
Karlen Hitti
Elie Mallahi
Maria Fares
Safaa Kaaki
William Noun
Mohamad Hawa
Rita Karam
Georges Hitti
Nancy Khouzami

Al-Rahi presides over Mass devoted to the Beirut Port explosion victims: We reject that some of the accused are guilty & free,...
NNA/August 4, 2022 
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, presided over a Mass service in memory of the fallen martyrs and victims of the Beirut Port explosion and devoted to the intention of healing the wounded, marking the two-year anniversary of the explosion, which was held at St. George’s Maronite Cathedral in downtown Beirut this morning. In his homily, the Patriarch said: “We gather to hold this Divine Liturgy on the second anniversary of the Beirut Port blast. We offer the Divine Sacrifice for the comfort of the souls of the two hundred and twenty-one martyrs, and for the consolation of their families and relatives, and for the recovery of the wounded who were permanently disabled among the six thousand male and female citizens and some non-Lebanese, and we demand compensation for them and those affected by the demolition of their homes, institutions, shops, schools, hospitals, and places of worship.”
He added: “On this second anniversary, his Holiness Pope Francis shares with us the appeal he made yesterday to the families of the martyrs and the Lebanese people. We thank him for his fatherly love and pray for his total recovery, and for the fulfillment of his wishes for Lebanon, as he said, and for its rebirth. That is why we believe in the resurrection of Beirut, and with it all of Lebanon, so we return to being the ‘Beacon of the Orient’, the ‘Hospital & Bank of the East’, the homeland of convergence and the dialogue of civilizations and religions, with its active and positive neutrality...”
The Patriarch expressed the people’s anger and dismay against those responsible for obstructing the investigation into the port crime as if what happened were just a trivial and fleeting incident, saying: “We ask state officials: What do they want more than this crime, the crime of the era, in order to act? What does the judiciary want more than this in order to rise up for its dignity and resume its role?”
“Today, we are facing two crimes: the crime of the port explosion, and the crime of freezing the investigation, for the latter is no less serious than the blast itself because it is a deliberate and voluntary act that has reached the point of sowing discord among the families of the victims,” al-Rahi underlined, considering that the ruling and dominant authorities cannot disavow what happened.
The Patriarch went on to stress that “what is required is that the judicial investigative judge resumes his work in order to reach the truth. We do not accuse anyone nor exonerate anyone...People want justice...Freezing the investigation equates the innocent with the guilty. We reject the fact that some of the accused are guilty and free, while others are innocent and detained, and among them are those who wrote to the relevant authorities, cautioning them with no response, but rather have been detained for two years without trial!”He added that in wake of the “politicized judiciary” in Lebanon, calls were made from the very first day of the blast “for an international investigation, as the crime may be a crime against humanity if it turns out that it was pre-planned...”
“The complexities of the local investigation and the political obstacles came to acknowledge the right to renew the demand for an international investigation if the situation persists,” he said, adding that “no state has the right to refrain from conducting a Lebanese investigation and, in return, prevent an international investigation.”“Surprisingly, the crime of the port explosion is absent from the government's concerns before and after its resignation. Rather, some of its ministers ignore it and others impede the course of justice unjustly, and without the cabinet taking the initiative to act and address this matter,” al-Rahi maintained.
“With this memorial service, we wish to add our voice to that of the families of the victims and martyrs, to the voice of the wounded and disabled, and to the voice of those affected,” he said, pledging “commitment before the Lord, the homeland, the families of the martyrs, the injured and those affected, and before the wounded capital, Beirut, to strive hard and sincerely to resolve this national and humanitarian issue that is above all issues.”
“Only in the light of truth and justice can we stand before God, glorify and give thanks to the Lord Almighty,” al-Rahi concluded.

Bishop Elias Aoudi at a funeral for the comfort of the souls of the victims of the port in St. George Hospital: Political power impedes the work of the judiciary and prevents justice
NNA/August 4, 2022 
The Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Beirut Archbishop Elias Aoudi presided over the mass that was held, on the occasion of the second anniversary of the Beirut Port bombing and the a funeral for the repose of the souls of the victims who fell because of Beirut Port explosion.
After the Gospel, he delivered a sermon in which he said: “We gather today as one family, the family of St. George University Hospital, to pray with one spirit and one soul for the comfort of the souls of our loved ones who fell in this hospital, which was like them from the victims of the August 4 explosion, which left hundreds of victims, and thousands The wounded and the homeless, and the bereaved capital is still crying for its children, and crying itself because of the orphan it feels. The horror of the afflicted, we were and still say with the Prophet David: “I praise the Lord in my life, and sing praises to my God as long as I exist” (Psalm 146:2), and we say to our sons and daughters what David said in the old days: forever” (Psalm 55:22).
He added: "Our salvation, my beloved, is in the Lord alone, because the officials in human times do not care about the welfare of the citizens, so again with the Prophet David we call on everyone to "do not trust in the leaders or the son of Adam, where there is no salvation for him, his soul goes out and returns to his soil." . On that very day his thoughts shall perish” (Psalm 146:3-4). I wish all officials, ministers, representatives, security officials, and judges, ponder this saying: “His spirit departs, and he returns to his dust; on that very day his thoughts perish. Death is the share of every human being, no matter how high his rank, or how great his position, or how great his wealth, and no matter how big, coercive, exploitative and brutal he is. His next life is determined by his actions on this earth. How will those who were responsible for the Beirut disaster stand before the dreaded pulpit of God? And what will they answer? And how do they face their children and grandchildren when they ask them about the dawn of Beirut? And why? How do they face their conscience?"
He continued: "Two years have passed for a crime that no one would accept for Beirut, the capital of science, light, freedom and creativity. Two years have passed for the pain of the people of Beirut and the wounds have not yet healed, because the perpetrators of the crime still enjoy their freedom, while the people of Beirut, this hospital, and all the institutions that were pride The region is still suffering, and has not yet recovered from its wounds.Two years and the judiciary has not been able to reveal the truth, not because the judiciary is inaction, but because political power impedes the work of the judiciary and prevents justice. Or himself or his property, we only want one thing, which is to know the truth about what happened in the port of Beirut, and to punish all those who deliberately planned, or unintentionally contributed, and those who turned a blind eye despite knowing the danger of the materials found there. Knowing the truth will not bring any victim back to life. And it will not heal the wounds of the injured, it will not calm the broken souls, and it will not build destroyed houses, but it will certainly reassure the hearts of the families of the victims and the injured because the criminal has been revealed, and justice has been achieved, and the punishment will be a deterrent to anyone who begs himself to do a destructive act in the future.
He said: "On this second anniversary of the brutal assassination of the city of Beirut, with the accompanying victims, damage and pain, we raise a prayer to the Lord who overcomes death to lift the distress from this wounded country, and enlighten the minds of the officials so that they come out of their selfishness, transcend their pride, transcend their interests, and release the The investigation instead of obstructing it, so that the truth may appear, and the perpetrator be punished. We also ask him to enjoy patience, strength and firm faith in every citizen who loves this beloved country. Also, we do not tire of praying for those who are still suffering in their bodies and souls from this ominous explosion, and we recently heard about the transmission of Some of them went to the heavenly abyss after two years of torment due to their severe injuries. We also pray for all those who are still outside their destroyed homes, searching for a roof and a decent life. As for our loved ones who fell into this edifice, and all the victims of this sinful explosion, our prayers continue so that they may be In the place of rest, where there is no pain, no sadness, no sighing, but rather an endless life.In order to commemorate our nurses and the victims who fell with them in this institution, we wanted to engraving their names on this wall opposite the main door of the hospital for everyone who enters to this edifice to see, and ask them to Mercy, while our state, instead of preserving nonsense as a witness to the crime of the age, may be planning to demolish it to erase the memory of the tragedies that Beirut and its people experienced, or to erase the evidence and make the perpetrators unknown.
And he concluded: "May God protect you and protect Beirut and Lebanon from all evil and dwell our victims in his heavenly paradise."

Al-Rahi voices anger against 'all officials', says port blast may be 'crime against humanity'
Naharnet/August 4, 2022
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Thursday said he raises the “voice of anger against all officials, whoever they may be, wherever they may be and no matter their status,” in remarks marking the second anniversary of the tragic Beirut port blast. “They are obstructing the investigation, as if everything that happened was a silly and trivial accident,” al-Rahi said during a mass commemorating the victims. “We ask the state officials about what they want more than this crime in order to act? What does the judiciary want more than this in order to rebel for its dignity and restore its role?” al-Rahi asked. He accordingly lamented that “today we are before two crimes: the port blast crime and the crime of freezing the investigation.”“The suspension of the investigation is not of a lower magnitude than the explosion, because it is a deliberate act that reached the extent of sowing discord among the families of the victims,” al-Rahi added. “What’s needed is for the investigative judge to resume his work in order to reach the truth… We do not accuse anyone and we do not acquit anyone. Citizens want justice and we reject that some of the defendants are on the loose while other defendants are innocent and detained,” the patriarch went on to say. “From our experience, we know about the politicized judiciary in Lebanon, and from the first day of the port blast we demanded an international investigation, because the crime might be against humanity if it turns out to be a deliberate act,” al-Rahi said. He accordingly emphasized that “the state cannot refrain from conducting a local probe while simultaneously obstructing the conduct of an international investigation.”

Macron 'won't let Lebanon collapse', says country can't bear new war with Israel
Naharnet/August 4, 2022
French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged that he “will not let Lebanon collapse and vanish,” as he warned against a new conflict with Israel. In an interview with Lebanon’s French-language daily L'Orient-Le Jour, Macron also stressed that justice must be fulfilled in the Beirut port blast case. “I will never surrender and I won’t let Lebanon collapse and vanish. Despite the opposing winds and difficulties, I will maintain this approach with firmness, realism and pragmatism,” Macron said. As for the sea border demarcation file, the French president warned that Lebanon “will not bear a new conflict on its southern border” with Israel. “It will be more lethal and destructive than (the war of) 2006,” he cautioned. Such a conflict “will not be in the interest of any Lebanese side. Everyone must realize this. And in this regard, it is very important not to politicize the very difficult issue of border demarcation with Israel,” Macron added.

Aoun says committed to non-selective justice on port blast anniversary
Naharnet/August 4, 2022
President Michel Aoun marked the second anniversary of the Beirut port blast on Thursday by saying that he shares “the grief of the victims’ families and the suffering of the detainees’ families.”“I stress to them my commitment to fulfilling justice that is based on full truth, which should be unveiled by an honest judicial course that would go until the end, away from any falsification, selectivity or injustice, in order to hold accountable anyone whose involvement is verified,” Aoun said in a tweet. “No one is above the law,” the President added.

New part of port silos collapses as hundreds march in Beirut
Associated Press/Agence France Presse/August 4, 2022
A large section of Beirut's giant port grain silos, shredded by a massive explosion two years ago, collapsed on Thursday as hundreds marched in Beirut to mark the second anniversary of the blast that killed scores. The northern block of the silos consisting of four towers has been slowly tilting for days and collapsed causing a huge cloud of dust that covered the structure that shielded Beirut's western neighborhoods when the blast occurred on Aug. 4, 2020 killing nearly 220 people, injuring over 6,000 and causing damage worth billions of dollars. Thursday's collapse of roughly a fourth of the structure occurred an hour before hundreds of people were to gather outside the facility to mark the 2nd anniversary of the blast. Authorities have evacuated parts of the port earlier this week -- after an initial section of the silos collapsed on Sunday -- as a precautionary measure and there was no indication that anyone was hurt. The 50 year-old, 48 meter tall silos had withstood the force of the explosion two years ago that destroyed much of the port. Many in Lebanon, including families of the victims, have been demanding that the silos be kept for future generations to witness the result of one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history caused by widespread corruption and mismanagement in the small Mediterranean nation. Experts had been warning for days that the silos could collapse imminently after recording unprecedented inclination rates. Lama Hashem, a 30-year-old who took part in Thursday's protest march said the incident reignited her blast trauma. "I'm seeing the same sight, from almost the same place, after two years," she told AFP, holding back tears. "Its traumatic."The heavily damaged silos have become a grim reminder of the August 4, 2020 explosion of a stockpile of ammonium nitrate fertilizer that had caught fire.
The anniversary came amid calls for an international investigation into one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history. The domestic investigation has been stalled since December following legal challenges by charged and accused officials against the judge leading the investigation.
Hundreds of people, including families of the victims, marched from three locations in Beirut toward the main road outside the port to mark the blast that occurred at 6:07 p.m. two years ago. Some carried white coffins with name of some of the victims while others carried gallows demanding punishment for those responsible."Two years later the pain is still the same," said one of the family members who lost his brother. The protests also involved a sit-on outside the French embassy in Beirut. French President Emmanuel Macron "has not fulfilled his promises and we call on France to form an international fact-finding mission," a spokesperson for the families said. And outside parliament in downtown Beirut, security forces fired three stun grenades after some protesters hurled coffins and firecrackers at one of Nejmeh Square's entrances.
Two years after the explosions, none of the top politicians have apologized to the Lebanese and the government called for a day of mourning leading many businesses to close. "The silos are our memory" said Wafaa Zaher, a 60-year-old whose son died at the port during the explosion. "We are waiting for the truth to cool our hearts," she said from the protest.

Hezbollah urges 'fair probe' in port case, slams 'incitement'
Naharnet/August 4, 2022
Hezbollah on Thursday marked the second anniversary of the Beirut port explosion by expressing its “warm condolences” to “the families of all martyrs -- Christians and Muslims, Lebanese and non-Lebanese.”“Over the past two years, we witnessed a huge wave of intensive political and media campaigns that included false accusations and a large amount of incitement that led to very dangerous domestic tensions that almost undermined the country’s security and stability, especially after the bloody incidents in Tayyouneh,” Hezbollah said in a statement. It added that its “great keenness on foiling strife and blocking the way of those seeking civil war” is what prevented further deterioration, after “the fall of a number of aggrieved martyrs.”Accordingly, Hezbollah called for “an honest, fair and transparent probe according to the legal norms and while respecting the unity of standards, away from political exploitation, sectarian incitement and populist overbiddings.”“We honestly believe that only justice is what would achieve fairness, reassure spirits, mend wounds, consolidate domestic stability and push us all to calm dialogue and joint action to overcome the dangerous crisis that our country Lebanon is going through,” the party added.

Berri says justice path in port case is through 'implementation of constitution'
Naharnet/August 4, 2022
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri announced Thursday that “the martyrs of August 4, the martyrs of entire Lebanon, are the victims of a crime that hit the core of every Lebanese.” “I reiterate that the path that would definitely lead to justice and to unveiling the truth would be the implementation of the constitution and the law,” Berri said in a statement marking the second anniversary of the catastrophic Beirut port blast. “Today we all need to shoulder national responsibility. May God have mercy on the martyrs and give patience and condolence to their families and every Lebanese, and may God preserve Lebanon,” the Speaker added. Two ex-ministers from Berri’s Amal Movement have refused to appear before the judge probing the disaster, instead filing a series of lawsuits that led to several suspensions of the investigation. Other politicians and current and former security officials have also been charged in the case, most of whom have also refused to appear before the judge.

Ship Ukraine says is carrying stolen grain leaves Lebanon
Naharnet/August 4, 2022
A Syrian ship that Ukraine says is carrying stolen Ukrainian grain has left a Lebanese port after officials in Lebanon allowed it to sail following an investigation, Lebanon's transport minister tweeted on Thursday. The Syrian-flagged Laodicea had been anchored at the port of Tripoli since it arrived last Thursday, carrying 10,000 tons of wheat flour and barley. Ukraine says the grain was stolen by Russia, a claim it denies. On Wednesday, Ukrainian Ambassador to Lebanon Ihor Ostash urged Lebanon not to allow the vessel to leave the port. A judge on Wednesday said the Laodicea can sail, a day after Lebanon's prosecutor general decided the ship could leave after an investigation showed it was not carrying stolen Ukrainian grain. Caretaker Public Works and Transport Minister Ali Hamiyeh tweeted that "Syrian-flagged Laodicea is now outside Lebanon's territorial waters."
It was not immediately clear where the ship is heading but Marine Traffic, a website that monitors vessel traffic and location of ships on seas, showed it moving toward the Syrian coast. Laodicea's departure is likely to anger Ukraine. Russia's diplomatic mission in Lebanon praised the move, accusing Ukraine of lying about the cargo and trying to damage relations between Moscow and Beirut. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the Syrian ship in 2015 for its affiliation with the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad, a close political and military ally to Moscow. The spat over the Laodicea came as the first grain ship left Ukraine since Russia's invasion in late February. The Sierra Leone-flagged Razoni, carrying 26,000 tons of Ukrainian corn, was passing through Turkey on route to Lebanon. A Lebanese official told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the ship is expected to take about four days to arrive to Lebanon from Istanbul after it was searched. Lebanon condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, which angered Moscow and its allies in Beirut. The shipments come at a time when Lebanon is suffering from a food security crisis, with soaring food inflation, wheat shortages and breadlines. Three-quarters of its population lives in poverty.

Opinion: Where is the Justice for the August 4th Beirut Explosion
Amer Fakhoury Foundation/August 4, 2022
It has been two years since the Beirut explosion on August 4, 2020 and the Lebanese people are still looking for justice and accountability. The Beirut blast was one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions recorded in the world, yet high Lebanese officials succeeded in halting the investigation for two years now to avoid holding accountable officials found to be suspects in this horrible crime. Immediately following the blast, Judge Fadi Sawan led the investigation behind the August 4th blast but was then removed in December 2020 due to pressure from ex-ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zeitar. Judge Tarek Bitar was then appointed to take over the investigation. Once Judge Bitar sought to question senior officials in the government, including Ali Hassan Khalil, Ghazi Zeitar, and Major General Abbas Ibrahim, he was threatened and the investigation came to a halt.
The Amer Fakhoury Foundation condemns the constant suppression of the truth by the hezbollah backed Lebanese government. We call on the United Nations to look into who was responsible for the Beirut explosion and hold these individuals accountable. Lives were lost, people were injured, and houses were destroyed. With respect to the victims of the Beirut explosions, AFF calls for accountability.

Thousands of Protesters Mark 2 Years Since Beirut Port Blast as Part of Silos Collapse
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 4 August, 2022
Thousands of protesters marched in the Lebanese capital on Thursday to mark the second anniversary of a cataclysmic explosion at the Beirut port, with chants denouncing the government's failure to uncover the truth behind the blast. In a grim reminder of the disaster, several grain silos that were left heavily damaged by the blast collapsed on Thursday afternoon, only hundreds of meters away from where crowds were gathering at the city's waterfront. The concrete silos cracked and fell, sending a cloud of smoke into the sky. Protesters covered their mouths in disbelief. The silos had shielded Beirut’s western neighborhoods in the Aug. 4, 2020 explosion that killed nearly 220 people, injured over 6,000 and caused damage worth billions of dollars. One of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, it was caused by massive stores of ammonium nitrate kept at the site in the port and neglected since 2013. The 50 year-old, 48-meter-tall silos had withstood the force of the 2020 explosion that destroyed much of the port. Many in Lebanon, including families of the victims, have been demanding that the silos be kept for future generations as a testament to a blast they say was caused by widespread corruption and mismanagement in the country. The protesters, wearing t-shirts stamped with blood-red handprints, were marching from Lebanon's justice ministry to the city's waterfront and then to parliament in the center of Beirut. Several senior officials have been accused of responsibility but, to date, none have been held to account - symptomatic, critics say, of a governing elite hamstrung by corruption and on whose watch Lebanon has descended into a political and economic crisis. “There is no justice under the rule of militia and mafia,” read one banner carried during Thursday's march, an apparent reference to Hezbollah that has been calling for the removal of Tarek Bitar - the judge leading the Lebanese investigation - whom it describes as biased. Families of victims have also pressed the UN Human Rights Council to establish an international enquiry and on Thursday protested outside the French embassy in Beirut, urging Paris to back an external investigation. Speaking alongside demonstrators, Human Rights Watch researcher Aya Majzoub said France has blocked efforts to set up an external investigation for political reasons. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Thursday marked "two years without justice", and called in a tweet for "an impartial, thorough and transparent investigation" - a plea echoed by the European Union's delegation in Beirut.

UN chief reiterates call for 'impartial' Beirut port blast probe
Agence France Presse/Thursday, 4 August, 2022
U.N. chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday reiterated his call for an "impartial, thorough and transparent investigation" into the disastrous 2020 Beirut port explosion. U.N. experts and groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch had on Wednesday relaunched an appeal to the United Nations to send a fact-finding mission. The rights groups jointly declared that "it is now, more than ever, clear that the domestic investigation cannot deliver justice." Aya Majzoub of HRW said that an international investigation "may be the only hope for the millions of Lebanese people... to get the answers they deserve."

EU, Member States urge accountability in Beirut port blast case
Naharnet/Thursday, 4 August, 2022
On the second anniversary of the Beirut port explosion, the European Union and its Member States extended their "sympathy and thoughts to families who lost their loved ones on that tragic day, as well as to all those who were impacted.""We also reiterate our solidarity with the residents of Beirut and the people of Lebanon, and our commitment to continue our support in response to the explosion, alongside civil society actors, who have played a critical role in these efforts," they said in a statement. After two years, those affected by the explosion are "entitled to accountability," the statement added.
"Therefore, we reaffirm the need for the investigation into the explosion to continue in an unimpeded way and free from political interference. The investigation must be impartial, credible, transparent and independent. It must deliver results without further delays, in order to bring to light the causes of the tragedy and hold those responsible accountable," it said. It also stressed that the EU and its Member States stand "ready to continue supporting the Lebanese as neighbors, friends, and partners."

Beirut port blast: the two-year quest for justice
Agence France Presse/Thursday, 4 August, 2022
Lebanon marks two years Thursday since an apocalyptic blast in Beirut port killed over 200 people, destroyed a large chunk of the city and deepened a painful economic crisis.
Below is a glance at the legal and political battles that have raged ever since.
August 2020 mega-blast
On August 4, 2020, one of history's biggest non-nuclear explosions destroys much of Beirut port and wrecks swathes of the capital. The blast was caused by a fire in a warehouse where a vast stockpile of the industrial chemical ammonium nitrate had been haphazardly stored for years, authorities said. The huge explosion leaves more than 200 people dead, over 6,500 injured and the city in a state of shock. The tragedy strikes as Lebanon is mired in what the World Bank later calls one of the world's worst financial crises in 150 years.
Macron rushes to Beirut
Two days after the blast, French President Emmanuel Macron visits the ruined Gemmayzeh neighborhood, where he is greeted by residents sickened by their own political class, seen as corrupt and inept. Macron calls for an international probe into the disaster, which President Michel Aoun rejects.On August 8, thousands of people demonstrate against Lebanon's leadership.The next day, a donor conference raises around $300 million in aid for the victims. The donors insist the money be distributed directly to the Lebanese people, not entrusted to the government.
Aug-Sept 2020: wave of resignations -
On August 10, the prime minister, Hassan Diab, resigns amid further demonstrations.
At the end of the month, diplomat Mustafa Adib is named as Lebanon's new premier.
But on September 26, after weeks of political deadlock, he bows out.On October 22, three-time prime minister Saad Hariri is nominated to lead the country again. He promises to form a government of experts to stop the economic collapse. Diab stays on as caretaker PM until a new cabinet is formed.
Dec 2020: PM Diab charged -
A week later, the lead investigator into the explosion, Fadi Sawwan, charges Diab and three ex-ministers with negligence. But the probe is soon suspended and a court removes Sawwan in February 2021.
July 2021: parliament stalls probe
In July 2021, the new magistrate in charge of the investigation, Tarek Bitar, takes steps towards indicting four former ministers but parliament stalls on lifting their immunity.
On July 15, Hariri steps down, having been unable to form a government. Billionaire Najib Mikati -- Lebanon's richest man and already twice premier -- manages to form a new government on September 10, ending a 13-month power vacuum.
Oct 2021: deadly protests
The new government is shaken by demands from Hezbollah and Amal Movement for Bitar, investigating two ex-ministers from Amal, to be removed. Bitar is forced to suspend the probe following a series of court challenges. Hezbollah and its ally Amal call for demonstrations to demand Bitar's dismissal, accusing him of bias. Seven people are killed in gun battles during the rally.
Dec 2021: probe halted again -
At the end of 2021, Bitar resumes his investigation but less than two weeks later he is forced to suspend work for a fourth time following more legal challenges.
In April, the International Monetary Fund announces a conditional deal to provide Lebanon with $3 billion in aid over four years. Chile arrests a Portuguese man wanted in connection with the port blast.
May 2022: voters punish establishment -
Hezbollah and its allies lose their outright majority in May 15 parliamentary elections, in which independent candidates make record gains. Mikati is tasked with forming a new government. In July, victims of the Beirut blast file a $250-million lawsuit against U.S.-Norwegian energy services company TGS over its alleged links to the ammonium nitrate that exploded in the port. TGS denies any responsibility.
July 2022: Silos collapse -
Parts of Beirut port's huge grain silos, which withstood the explosion, collapse in a huge cloud of dust after a weeks-long fire that broke out when remaining grain stocks fermented and ignited in the summer heat.

Two years after Beirut mega-blast, Lebanon hits new lows
Agence France Presse/Thursday, 4 August, 2022
Crisis-hit Lebanon marks two years Thursday since a massive explosion ripped through Beirut, with victims' relatives planning protest marches as they keep demanding truth and justice. The portside blast of haphazardly stored ammonium nitrate, one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions ever, killed more than 200 people, wounded thousands more and decimated vast areas of the capital. Yet an investigation into the cause has been stalled amid political interference and no state official has yet been held accountable over the August 4, 2020 tragedy. Several heavily damaged grain silos that became a grim symbol of the disaster collapsed last week, and more are dangerously close to coming down, experts warn. "I hope that seeing the silos fall will give people the will to fight for justice, to battle with us," said Tatiana Hasrouty, who lost her father in the blast. Politicians "are doing everything in their power to stop the investigation" into the explosion of the fertilizer, she said. The mega-blast was a nightmarish moment in the chaotic history of Lebanon, which is mired in its worst-ever economic crisis marked by blackouts, runaway inflation and widespread despair. When protesters in three separate marches starting from 1200 GMT Thursday later converge at the port, they will smell the smoke wafting from the silos where fermenting grain is smoldering in the blistering summer heat.
'A nightmare' -
The enormous explosion two years ago was felt as far away as Cyprus and sowed the kind of devastation normally caused by wars and natural disasters. It further scarred the crisis-tested population and accelerated a massive exodus that recalls the flight during the 1975-1990 civil war. Lebanon's ruling class, accused of misrule, graft and gross negligence, has however clung firmly to power even as the people endure shortages of fuel, medicine and clean water. "This ruling class is killing us every day," Hasrouty said. "If we did not die in the blast, we are dying of hunger, from a lack of basic human rights."Power cuts last up to 23 hours a day, streets are dark at night and traffic lights out of service, leaving some districts illuminated mainly by the silo fires. Lara Khatchikian, 51, whose apartment was badly hit two years ago, has watched the blazes, calling the sight "a nightmare.""My neighbors and I were stressed all the time," she said. "I have felt fear, we couldn't sleep. It takes superhuman strength to live when you are constantly reminded of the blast."
No justice
The government in April ordered the silos' demolition -- but this has been suspended, partially because of objections from victims' relatives who want them preserved as a memorial. French civil engineer Emmanuel Durand, who monitors the silos with sensors, has warned that he expected four more towers to collapse Thursday. Meanwhile, the probe is also at risk of falling apart, as officials have curtailed the work of the lead investigator Tarek Bitar with a series of lawsuits. A judicial official close to the investigations said judge Bitar's work had been paused since December 23. Victims' families are divided, with a few of them accusing Bitar of bias and others regarding him as their only hope. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other groups Wednesday relaunched an appeal to the United Nations to send a fact-finding mission. They jointly declared that "it is now, more than ever, clear that the domestic investigation cannot deliver justice."

Ukraine Urges Lebanon to Reverse Decision to Clear Grain Shipment for Travel
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 4 August, 2022
Ukraine called on Lebanon on Thursday to reverse a decision by a court in Tripoli to authorize the departure of a seized Syrian ship carrying what Kyiv says is stolen Ukrainian grain.In a statement, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said it was disappointed by the court's decision to clear the Syrian-flagged Laodicea for departure and said that Kyiv's position had not been taken into account. Earlier, transport authorities have allowed the ship to depart Lebanon despite the Ukrainian embassy asking Beirut to reopen a probe into the matter after presenting what it said was new evidence. Lebanese Transport Minister Ali Hamie told Reuters on Wednesday afternoon that port authorities in the northern city of Tripoli had cleared the ship to depart. A tweet from his account said the decision was "in accordance with Lebanese legal principles, based on our sovereignty over our land, sea and sky."On Wednesday, Ukraine had asked Lebanon's top prosecutor to reopen a probe into the Syrian-flagged ship, the Laodicea, which it says is carrying some 10,000 tons of flour and barley plundered by Russia following its February invasion. Ukraine's ambassador to Lebanon, Ihor Ostash, told a news conference at the embassy near Beirut that the request to investigate further was based on new evidence gathered by a Ukrainian judge and handed over to Lebanon on Monday. The Lebanese prosecutor, Ghassan Oueidat, lifted a first seizure order on the Laodicea, issued last week, on Tuesday after finding no criminal offence committed. A judge in Tripoli told Reuters that a second 72-hour seizure order issued on Monday was no longer in place and the ship could now depart. Moscow has previously denied stealing grain. Russia's Embassy in Lebanon said it had no information on the vessel or the cargo, which was shipped to Lebanon by a private company.

Lebanon's Geagea Vows to Prevent Election of Pro-Hezbollah President
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 4 August, 2022
The head of the Lebanese Forces party, Samir Geagea, has rejected the election of a president from the so-called pro-Hezbollah March 8 Alliance, saying that his bloc might boycott the sessions to name a president to prevent the nomination of a candidate from the “Axis of Resistance.”Geagea said that he is a "candidate for the presidency" but that his bid would only be valid if opposition MPs agreed to run a single candidate of their own. Speaking at a press conference at his residence in Maarab on the presidential elections scheduled for next September, within the constitutional 60-day period to elect the head of state before President Michel Aoun's term expires, Geagea said: "we must elect a president capable of addressing the crisis and not avoiding it." He added that Hezbollah is the leading actor behind the crisis in Lebanon, which confiscated the state’s strategic decision-making. "The main factors that have brought upon us the current crisis are the confiscation of the state's strategic decisions, mismanagement, and corruption. It is also directly responsible for mismanagement through smuggling, for example, and through its alliance with the corrupt (individuals) in the country to cover its actions." Geagea indicated that the presidential election should be the first step on the path to salvation, otherwise, the country will face the worst. According to Geagea, the presidential elections include four possibilities: an opposition candidate or a candidate backed by the Axis of Resistance gets elected, warning that Lebanon will be isolated and lose all investments and international and Arab support.He added that the third possibility is "a consensual President" who would "extend the hell we are living into six more years.”The fourth option, asserted Geagea, is having a reformist president, stressing that "the opposition groups are the only ones capable of bringing such president” to power. Geagea addressed the opposition and the independents, saying: "the ball is in our court [..] and we must form a coordination committee that will discuss the president who has the requirements."He addressed the 67 opposition lawmakers, urging them to discuss the coordination committee required to agree on a single name for the presidency. Geagea said Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun refuses to discuss the presidency. Geagea has long criticized the March 8 team's disruption of the presidential election sessions in 2016, which led to naming President Michel Aoun.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on 04-05 August/2022
Iranian Nuclear Talks Resume amid Low US Expectations
Berlin, London - Raghida Bahnam, Adil Al-Salmi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 4 August, 2022
The US and Iranian delegations will return to Vienna this week, nearly five months after the suspension of the indirect talks aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between international powers and Iran. Top European Union official Enrique Mora announced on Twitter Wednesday that he was heading to the Austrian capital to discuss returning to full implementation of the nuclear agreement on the basis of a proposal put forward by EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell in recent weeks. A senior European source told Asharq Al-Awsat that only the Iranian and US sides would participate in the new round of indirect talks, while the other parties to the nuclear agreement (France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China) would not be present. For his part, Rob Malley, the US special envoy for Iran, said Wednesday that he was preparing to travel to Vienna for discussions based on Borrell’s proposal.
“Our expectations are in check, but the United States welcomes EU efforts and is prepared for a good faith attempt to reach a deal. It will shortly be clear if Iran is prepared for the same,” Malley wrote on Twitter. On the other hand, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said that the ball was in the US court to save the 2015 nuclear deal. “Heading to Vienna to advance the negotiations,” Bagheri tweeted. “The Onus is on those who breached the deal and have failed to distance from ominous legacy. The US must seize the opportunity offered by the JCPOA partner’ generosity; ball is in their court to show maturity and act responsibly.”Meanwhile, the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, reiterated Tehran’s conditions for restarting surveillance cameras at its nuclear facilities. “As long as the other party is not in the nuclear agreement and has not fulfilled its obligations, there is no reason to continue with an expired text,” he said, adding: “As long as they do not return to their commitments, and do not drop the false accusations, the cameras will not be installed. The announcement of a return to indirect negotiations came two days after Iran operated hundreds of advanced centrifuges at the Natanz facility, said Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, on Monday. In parallel, the US administration unveiled a new set of sanctions targeting illicit support for the Iranian oil industry. According to Blinken, Monday’s sanctions target “six entities facilitating illicit transactions related to Iranian petroleum as well as petroleum and petrochemical products, key sources of revenue for the Iranian government.”

Iran nuclear talks set to restart in Vienna
Agence France Presse/Thursday, 4 August, 2022
Negotiators were due to kick off a fresh round of talks over Iran's nuclear program in Vienna on Thursday, seeking to salvage the agreement on Tehran's atomic ambitions. Officials from world powers and Iran were set to meet in the Austrian capital for the first time since March, when negotiations, which began in 2021 to reintegrate the United States into the agreement, stalled. In late June, Qatar hosted indirect talks between Tehran and Washington in the hope of getting the process back on track -- but those talks failed to make a breakthrough. In a last-ditch effort, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell submitted a compromise proposal last month and called on the parties to accept it to avoid a "dangerous nuclear crisis." Borrell said the draft text includes "hard-won compromises by all sides" and "addresses, in precise detail, the sanctions lifting as well as the nuclear steps needed to restore" the 2015 pact. Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia and the United States signed the JCPOA in July 2015. Delegations from all will partake in Thursday's talks, but officials from the US and Iran are not expected to meet face to face. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action aims to guarantee the civilian nature of Iran's nuclear program in exchange for a gradual lifting of sanctions. But following the unilateral withdrawal of the United States in 2018 under former president Donald Trump and the re-imposition of US sanctions, Tehran has backtracked on its obligations. Iran subsequently exceeded the JCPOA's uranium enrichment rate of 3.67 percent, rising to 20 percent in early 2021. It then crossed an unprecedented 60-percent threshold, getting closer to the 90 percent needed to make a bomb. The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, on Tuesday warned Iran's program was "moving ahead very, very fast" and "growing in ambition and capacity."
Cautious optimism -
Ahead of Thursday's talks, officials expressed cautious optimism, all the while cautioning that the parties remained far apart on key issues. The head of US delegation, Rob Malley, and the head of Tehran's delegation, Ali Bagheri, said on Twitter ahead of the talks that they were coming in good faith but put the onus on each other. Analysts meanwhile said reviving the JCPOA remained the best option. "The last thing the United States needs is a nuclear crisis with Iran that could easily escalate to a broader regional conflict," Suzanne DiMaggio, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said in a statement. Ellie Geranmayeh, an analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), said that "at the end of the day, Tehran and Washington know the alternatives to a JCPOA collapse are terrible.""This is unlikely to be a meeting that resolves the outstanding issues" but "it could create the breakthrough necessary to push the talks towards a finishing line rather than a collapse," she said.

Sullivan Expresses Concern over Iranian-American Journalist's Safety
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 4 August, 2022
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke with Iranian-American journalist and opposition activist Masih Alinejad on Wednesday and expressed his concern over her safety following the arrest of a man with a rifle outside her home in New York last week, an NSC spokesperson said in a statement. The man, Khalid Mehdiyev, spent two days last week outside the home of Alinejad in the Brooklyn neighborhood, and at one point attempted to open the door, an FBI agent wrote in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court last week. Police stopped him after he ran a stop sign and found the gun in the back seat of the car, according to the complaint. Alinejad, who saw the incident as an attempt on her life by Tehran, said: "what the Iranian regime did, first trying to kidnap me and now sending someone here trying to kill me, it's a pattern. It's a continuation of their way of oppressing dissidents inside and outside Iran."
On Wednesday, Sullivan said US President Joe Biden will continue to receive updates on her situation, and added that the administration will continue to protect its citizens and dissidents from threats from Iran. "...the US Government will use all tools at its disposal to disrupt and deter threats from Iran, including those which target US citizens and dissidents living in the United States," the NSC statement said. Last year, Alinejad was said to be the target of a Tehran-backed kidnapping plot. She has promoted videos of women violating Iran's head covering law to her millions of social media followers. Alinejad, who worked for years as a journalist in Iran and became a US citizen in 2019, has long been targeted by Tehran after fleeing the country following its disputed 2009 presidential election and crackdown. She’s known as a prominent figure on Farsi-language satellite channels abroad that criticize Iran.

Iran Says it Arrested Militants Planning Attacks on Religious Gatherings
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 4 August, 2022
Iran has arrested a group of 10 ISIS militants who were planning attacks on religious gatherings, the Iranian intelligence ministry said on Thursday.The 10 were captured in possession of explosive equipment, communication devices and weapons, a ministry statement said, adding the arrests took place over the past three days in two locations in western and southern Iran. The militants injured two Iranian intelligence agents in an exchange of fire before being arrested, the ministry said, without specifying where or when the clash took place. According to Reuters, the ministry said the 10 were planning to attack religious processions taking place during the Islamic month of Muharram, which started on July 30.

US Firm: Likely Iranian Threat Actor in Albania Cyberattack
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 4 August, 2022
A cyberattack that temporarily shut down numerous Albanian government digital services and websites in mid-July was likely the work of pro-Iranian hackers seeking to disrupt an Iranian opposition group's conference in Albania, a leading US cybersecurity firm said Thursday. In a report, Mandiant expressed “moderate confidence” the attackers were acting in support of Tehran's anti-dissident efforts based on several factors: The timing, the content of a social media channel used to claim responsibility, and similarities in software code used with malware long used to target Farsi and Arabic speakers.
The July 23-24 conference by the Iranian dissident group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq was in fact canceled following warnings from local authorities of a possible terrorist threat. Some 3,000 Iranian dissidents from the group, best known as MEK, live at Ashraf 3 camp in Manez, 30 kilometers west of Albania’s capital, Tirana. The Free Iran World Summit was to have been held at the camp with US lawmakers among the invitees, The Associated Press reported. A group calling itself “HomeLand Justice” claimed credit for the cyberattack, which used ransomware to scramble data. Ransomware is best known for its use in for-profit criminal extortion but is being increasingly wielded for political ends, particularly by Iran. The claim by “HomeLand Justice" came on a Telegram channel in which documents purported to be Albanian residence permits of MEK members were posted, along with video of the ransomware being activated. The channel alleged corruption in the Albanian government and used hashtags including #Manez. “This activity poses an active threat to public and private organizations in other NATO member states,” Mandiant said. “As negotiations surrounding the Iran nuclear deal continue to stall, this activity indicates Iran may feel less restraint in conducting cyber network attack operations going forward.”At the time, the Tirana government said the hackers’ method was identical with attacks last year in other NATO states including Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Belgium.

Israeli Police Arrest Two Emirati Tourists by Mistake
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 4 August, 2022
The Israeli police said two Emirati tourists were arrested and then released after shots were fired on central Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Street. The police wrongfully thought the two men were involved in the incident, however, it quickly released them after their identity became clear. Tel Aviv witnessed a wave of panic after two anonymous individuals opened fire at an unknown target on Wednesday. People at the scene assumed it was another Palestinian operation and started running in panic. The two tourists were held by Israelis because of their Arab looks, and were handed to the police for investigation. An hour later, the Police apologized to them and released them. The police said the incident was crime-related and that it left no casualties. An initial investigation found that two suspects who were riding a motorcycle fired shots at a third persona, who was standing next to his Mercedes on the street.
The apparent target of the shooting is a known criminal, who has a history of serious violent crimes, and served a 22-month prison term.

UN Envoy to Yemen Urges Exchange of Detainee Lists
Aden - Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 4 August, 2022
The UN eThe UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg (Reuters)nvoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, called on Wednesday to expedite the exchange of the lists of prisoners and detainees to ensure their release under the agreement of last March. According to a statement issued by Grundberg's Office, the government and the Houthi militias agreed to establish a joint team to verify the identity of the detainees and prisoners on each party's list. "A proposal was put forward to form a committee that brings together both parties under a joint framework to support the process of verifying the identities of the names of detainees included in their respective lists, provided that agreement is reached on details following consultation with relevant authorities," read the statement. It said that the parties agreedto intensify efforts to finalize and consolidate lists of detainees from all sides as soon as possible. They also agreed to facilitate visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to detention centers to assist with verifying the identities. The parties also agreed to establish a joint committee to support verifying detainees' identities in the lists. A previous statement issued by the Office stated that the Supervisory Committee on the Implementation of the Detainees Release and Exchange Agreement concluded its sixth meeting in Amman following six days of discussions to identify the names of detainees who will be released based on the numbers agreed upon by the parties in March.Grundberg asserted that he would intensify his "engagements with the parties to ensure the full implementation of all the parties' obligations in the truce."The statement expressed Grundberg's regret that an agreement to release detainees and prisoners has not yet been completed, which leads to more suffering. He hoped the lists would be finalized as soon as possible, with priority given to the unconditional release of sick, wounded, children, arbitrarily detained, political detainees, and journalists.

Taliban Claim They Unaware of Qaeda Leader in Afghanistan
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 4 August, 2022
The Taliban broke its silence Thursday, days after a US drone strike killing al-Qaeda’s top leader in Afghanistan’s capital, acknowledging his slaying and pledging to launch an investigation. The killing of Ayman al-Zawahri on the balcony of a Kabul safehouse Sunday has further strained relations between the Taliban and the West, particularly as it seeks an urgent infusion of cash to handle an economic catastrophe there following the US withdrawal from the country a year ago. “The government and the leadership weren’t aware of what is being claimed, nor any trace there,” Suhail Shaheen, the head of the group’s political office in Doha, Qatar, told The Associated Press in a text message. That claim, however, directly conflicts with what US officials have said about the strike. They say al-Zawahri was staying at the home of a top aide to senior Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani. Haqqani is the deputy head of the Taliban, serves as interior minister in its government and heads the Haqqani network, a powerful faction within the movement. The Taliban had promised in the 2020 Doha Agreement with the US that they would not harbor al-Qaeda members or those seeking to attack the US.
An “investigation is underway now to find out about veracity of the claim. The leadership is in constant meeting in this regard. Findings will be shared with all,” Shaheen added. The strike early Sunday shook awake Shirpur, once a district of historic buildings that were bulldozed in 2003 to make way for luxury homes for officials in Afghanistan’s Western-backed government and international aid organizations. After the US withdrawal in August 2021, senior Taliban moved into some of the abandoned homes there. The Haqqani network is an Afghan insurgent group, built around the family of the same name. In the 1980s, it fought Soviet forces and over the past 20 years, it battled US-led NATO troops and the former Afghanistan government. The US government maintains a $10 million bounty on Sirajuddin Haqqani for attacks on American troops and Afghan civilians. But the Haqqanis, from Afghanistan’s eastern Khost province, have rivals within the Taliban leadership, mostly from the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar. Some believe Sirajuddin Haqqani wants more power. Other Taliban figures have opposed the Haqqanis’ attacks against civilians in Kabul and elsewhere during the insurgency. During the first half of 2022, al-Zawahri increasingly reached out to supporters with video and audio messages, including assurances that al-Qaeda can compete with the ISIS group for leadership of a global movement, a report by the United Nations’ Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team said.

Taipei Scrambles Jets as Chinese Fighters Cross Taiwan Strait Median Line
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 4 August, 2022
Taiwan scrambled jets on Thursday to warn away 22 Chinese aircraft in its air defense zone, the Taiwanese defense ministry said. All 22 Chinese aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, a ministry statement said. China also fired live missiles near Taiwan on Thursday in its biggest drills in the Strait, a day after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a solidarity trip to the self-ruled island. China's military confirmed multiple firings of conventional missiles in waters off Taiwan as part of planned exercises in six zones set to run until noon on Sunday. It activated more than 100 planes, including fighter jets and bombers, and over 10 warships, state broadcaster CCTV said. Responding to the Chinese drills, President Tsai Ing-wen said Taiwan would not provoke conflicts but would firmly defend its sovereignty and national security. "Taiwan will never be knocked down by challenges," Tsai said in a recorded video message to the people of Taiwan. "We are calm and not impetuous, we are rational and not provocative, but we will also be firm and not shirk."To avoid escalating tensions with Beijing any further, the United States postponed a routine test launch of an Air Force Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing US officials. One official said the delay might last 10 days, the report said. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called Pelosi's visit to Taiwan a "manic, irresponsible and highly irrational" act, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Wang, speaking at a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Cambodia, said China had tried to avert crisis by diplomatic means but would never let its core interests be hurt.

China begins major Taiwan military drills after Pelosi visit
Agence France Presse/Thursday, 4 August, 2022
China's largest-ever military exercises encircling Taiwan kicked off Thursday, in a show of force straddling vital international shipping lanes after a visit to the island by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi left Taiwan Wednesday after a trip that defied a series of stark threats from Beijing, which views the self-ruled island as its territory. Pelosi was the highest-profile elected US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years, and said her trip made it "unequivocally clear" that the United States would not abandon a democratic ally. It sparked a furious reaction from Beijing, which vowed "punishment" and announced military drills in the seas around Taiwan -- some of the world's busiest waterways. The exercises, which began around 12 pm (0400 GMT), involve "live-firing", according to state media. "Six major areas around the island have been selected for this actual combat exercise and during this period, relevant ships and aircraft should not enter the relevant waters and airspaces," state broadcaster CCTV reported. AFP journalists in the border island of Pingtan saw several small projectiles flying into the sky followed by plumes of white smoke and loud booming sounds. AFP was not in a position to identify the projectiles, which were fired from the proximity of nearby military installations, nor their precise direction. The exercises are taking place in multiple zones around Taiwan -- at some points within just 20 kilometers (12 miles) of the shore -- and will conclude at midday on Sunday. Taiwan's defense ministry said it was closely watching the drills.
"The Ministry of National Defense stresses that it will uphold the principle of preparing for war without seeking war, and with an attitude of not escalating conflict and causing disputes," it said in a statement. Beijing's nationalist state-run tabloid Global Times said, citing military analysts, that the exercises were "unprecedented" and that missiles would fly over Taiwan for the first time. "This is the first time the PLA will launch live long-range artillery across" the Taiwan Strait, the newspaper said using the Chinese military's formal name, the People's Liberation Army. The Group of Seven industrialized nations has condemned the drills, saying in a statement there was "no justification to use a visit as pretext for aggressive military activity in the Taiwan Strait".
'Preparation for actual combat'
Taiwan's Maritime and Port Bureau issued warnings on Wednesday to ships to avoid the areas being used for the Chinese drills. The Taiwanese cabinet said the drills would disrupt 18 international routes passing through its flight information region (FIR).
Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific said it had ordered its aircraft to "avoid going through the designated airspace zones around the Taiwan region". The maneuvers will take place along some of the busiest shipping routes on the planet, used to supply vital semiconductors and electronic equipment produced in East Asian factory hubs to global markets. Beijing has defended the drills as "necessary and just", pinning the blame for the escalation on the United States and its allies. "In the current struggle surrounding Pelosi's Taiwan visit, the United States are the provocateurs, China is the victim," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing Wednesday. A Chinese military source also told AFP the exercises would be staged "in preparation for actual combat". "If the Taiwanese forces come into contact with the PLA on purpose and accidentally fire a gun, the PLA will take stern countermeasures, and all the consequences will be borne by the Taiwanese side," the source said.
- 'Some limits' -
Taiwan's 23 million people have long lived with the possibility of an invasion, but that threat has intensified under President Xi Jinping, China's most assertive ruler in a generation.The island is once again a flashpoint between the United States and a Chinese leadership keen to project strength ahead of a crucial ruling party meeting this autumn at which Xi is expected to be given an unprecedented third term. On the mainland, at what is said to be China's closest point to Taiwan, AFP saw a batch of five military helicopters flying at a relatively low altitude near a popular tourist spot. "China's announced military exercises represent a clear escalation from the existing baseline of Chinese military activities around Taiwan and from the last Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1995-1996," said Amanda Hsiao, senior analyst for China at the International Crisis Group. "Beijing is signaling that it rejects Taiwan's sovereignty."Nevertheless, analysts have told AFP that China is not aiming to escalate the situation beyond its control -- at least for now. Titus Chen, an associate professor of political science at the National Sun Yat-Sen University in Taiwan, said: "The last thing Xi wants is an accidental war."

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on 04-05 August/2022
Biden sold America the false narrative that Al Qaeda was ‘gone’ from Afghanistan. Zawahiri’s death proves he was dangerously wrong.
Bill Roggio/ Daily Mail/August 04/2022
One year ago this month, President Biden told Americans that Al Qaeda was ‘gone’ from Afghanistan. On Monday, we learned that clearly was not the case. ‘We went to Afghanistan for the express purpose of getting rid of al Qaeda in Afghanistan as well as getting Osama bin Laden. And we did,’ he told reporters on August 20, 2021, as American and allied forces hastily prepared to pull out of the country. President Biden had set August 31st as the last day for U.S. troops to leave Afghanistan after 20 years of war and the deadline had caught the world by surprise. ‘Look, let’s put this thing in perspective,’ he insisted amid calls to delay the evacuation, ‘What interest do we have in Afghanistan at this point, with al Qaeda gone?’Days after those remarks, on August 26, 2021, a suicide bomb ripped through a crowd of soldiers and civilians at Hamid Karzai Airport in Kabul.By that point, the Afghan military had melted away and the Taliban had overrun the country. Desperate people – American and Afghan – crowded outside the airport gates, as U.S. Marines stood guard on its concrete walls.The world watched as Afghans stormed the runaways. Some clung to the landing gear of departing planes and fell to their deaths after the aircraft left the ground. The suicide bomber’s blast killed nearly 200 people, including 13 members of the United States military.And still, Biden declared ‘extraordinary success,’ even as he recognized the loss of life. According to Biden, after two decades of war, America’s mission had been accomplished.
It hadn’t. It would have been more difficult to sell that narrative to American people if Al Qaeda’s close ties to the new Taliban ‘government’ had been fully acknowledged.
But officials from the Biden administration, as well as the Trump administration, had assured us that the Taliban had cut ties with bin Laden’s fanatics. On Monday, the White House revealed a CIA drone strike killed Al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Zawahiri wasn’t found cowering in the remote, mountainous regions of northern or eastern Afghanistan, or camped out in the far-flung provinces of the south. The 71-year-old was killed on the balcony of a house owned by a top aide to senior Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, arguably the most powerful and influential Taliban official.
Haqqani is one of two deputy Taliban emirs and the Taliban’s interior minister. His Haqqani Network played a key role in the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. To put it simply, the top tier leadership of the Taliban sponsored the top leader of Al Qaeda at a safe house in the heart of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
Far from being ‘gone’ from Afghanistan – Al Qaeda’s Number One was being sheltered by the very government to whom Biden ceded control of the country. Stunningly, Biden – once again – declared mission accomplished. ‘Justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more,’ he announced from the White House balcony on Monday night. ‘People around the world no longer need to fear the vicious and determined killer.’If there wasn’t champagne popping, there was undoubtedly plenty of congratulatory backslapping in the White House.
But peel back the layers and you cannot overlook the irrefutable fact that Al Qaeda – the terrorist group that carried out September 11th – is once again entrenched in the country from which it attacked America.Biden had assured America that Afghanistan wouldn’t again become a safe haven for terrorists.
But it has.
In fact, three successive American administrations have told the American people that Al Qaeda in Afghanistan has been ‘decimated,’ or ‘degraded’ or ‘on the path to defeat.’The Obama administration first sold that story to justify its secret negotiations with the Taliban.
The Trump administration did so for the same reason and eventually signed a deeply flawed deal that negotiated the pullout of U.S. troops and helped seal that nation’s fate.Eventually, the narrative was put forth to justify the Afghanistan withdrawal.
The Taliban repeatedly said that it wouldn’t harbor Al Qaeda and they gave each administration the political ammunition they needed to justify washing their hands of the whole mess.
The Taliban lied.
The truth is that Al Qaeda has been operating in Afghanistan all along. While each administration negotiated with the Taliban, top Al Qaeda leaders were sheltered. As the U.S. military killed terrorists in operations over the years, Al Qaeda was brazen enough to run training camps with the support and approval of the Taliban. You wouldn’t know any of this if you listened to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Tuesday. He swept aside legitimate concerns about how the U.S. withdrawal emboldened Al Qaeda, which is now operating freely in the country. Kirby insisted that Al Qaeda leaders will now ‘think again’ about hiding out in Kabul.
I doubt it.
Even now, Zawahiri’s death does not signal the death of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. He wasn’t the only Al Qaeda leader in Kabul and he wouldn’t have been hiding out in the capital city alone without his staff and support network. History shows that, like the Taliban, Al Qaeda is a well-oiled machine that can continue to hum along despite the head being cut off the snake. Many questions remain to be answered. Does the U.S. have the capability – and more importantly, the will – to execute a sustained campaign against Al Qaeda’s command? Will President Biden order strikes against Al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan? Will he countenance the targeting of more Al Qaeda associates in Kabul and beyond? Doing so would force U.S. officials to admit they were wrong about the tight bonds between the Taliban and Al Qaeda. It is impossible to properly address the threat that emanates from Afghanistan until U.S. political, intelligence and military leaders admit these mistakes of the past. They must recognize that the Taliban – the very group the U.S. relented to – is just as big a part of the problem as Al Qaeda. As we approach another September 11th – in many ways – America finds itself back where it started 21 years ago. So let me ask you President Biden: What interest do you have in Afghanistan now?
*Bill Roggio is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and editor of FDD’s Long war Journal. From 1991 to 1997, Roggio served as a signalman and infantryman in the U.S. Army and New Jersey National Guard. Follow him on Twitter @billroggio. FDD is a nonpartisan research organization focused on foreign policy and national security issues.

Turkey-Backed Terrorists Bomb Hagia Sophia Church Replica
Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity/August 04/2022
An underreported but fatal terrorist attack on a symbolically important church recently took place in Syria.
During an inauguration celebration on Sunday, July 24, 2022, an Islamic terror group fired rockets at a newly constructed church, the Hagia Sophia, in the predominantly-Greek Orthodox city of al-Suqaylabiyah, Syria.
Initial reports indicated that at least one or two of the many Christians gathered to celebrate the opening of the new church were killed and about a dozen seriously wounded in the Sunday attack.
A report from July 29, 2020—nearly two years to the day before this attack—offers background on the significance of this development:
[T]he construction of a church dedicated to Divine Wisdom [English translation of hagia sophia] could soon enter the operational phase, erected with the declared intention of reproducing, albeit at a reduced size, the architectural profile of Hagia Sophia, the ancient Byzantine Basilica of Constantinople—today Istanbul—recently converted into a mosque by the Turkish authorities…. [T]he operation [is seen] as a sort of Russian-Syrian response to the Turkish choice to reopen Hagia Sophia to Islamic worship…. [T]he laying of the first stone of the future church apparently has already taken place in al Suqaylabiyah (a town in the governorate of Hama inhabited before the war by about 20 thousand Orthodox Christians), in the presence of representatives of the Moscow Duma (the Russian Parliament) and with the placet of the hierarchies of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch (based in Damascus). According to reports, Russian soldiers stationed at the base near Latakia are already preparing plans for the construction of the new church.
Nadel al-Abdullah, who is “known for leading a militia that presented itself as a self-defense force composed of Orthodox Christians” deployed against “the militant jihadists of the Islamic State or of Jabhat al Nusra,” had provided the land on which the church was recently erected.
The initiative to build a “mini” Hagia Sophia, as it was locally known in Syria, was especially supported by Russian parliamentarian Vitaly Milonov, who is known for trying to restore “the ancient name of Constantinople in Russian official publications to indicate the current Turkish city of Istanbul, and for having worn shirts with the inscription ‘Orthodoxy or death,’ according to which the Russian Orthodox are ready to generously support the construction in Syria of a church with the features of Hagia Sophia.”
In other words, the new Hagia Sophia church was supposed to be a defiant response to the Erdoğan regime’s slap in the face of millions of Orthodox Christians, when he declared, and then transformed, the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople—which was originally built, and for a millennium functioned, as a Christian cathedral—into a trophy mosque again.
(L) Bombing of the church; (R) Some of the attendees at its inauguration
The new Hagia Sophia church was also erected in record time: two years. The extent of damage to the church was not immediately clear from reports.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, the Muslim terrorist group responsible for bombing the church, is believed to be backed by Turkey. As one report explains,
Although designated a terrorist organization by the Turkish government in 2018, in recent years the relationship between Turkey and HTS [Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham] has dramatically shifted. HTS has fought alongside the Turkish-backed and funded Syrian National Army (SNA) and several Turkish military outposts have been constructed inside HTS-controlled Edleb.
In other words, it seems that Turkey has, once again, managed to kill Christians and devastate yet another Hagia Sophia, while the West looks the other way.

EU: Last-Ditch Effort to Salvage Iran Nuclear Deal
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/August 04/2022
The European Union has presented Iran with a new draft text that aims to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. The document, which has not been made public, presumably offers additional concessions to coax Tehran into rejoining the agreement.
In May 2022, for instance, Iran reached a new dangerous and destabilizing threshold: its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% reached 42 kilograms, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
In June, Iran removed 27 surveillance cameras from its nuclear facilities. The move came after the IAEA censured Iran for not answering questions about uranium traces found at three undeclared sites.
The EU's continued appeasement of Iran also comes amid a violent crackdown against civil society in the country. Human rights groups have blasted the EU for its unwillingness to hold the Iranian government to account.
The EU appears to be sacrificing human rights on the altar of financial gain.
"If we simply cling to the idea that continued negotiations will somehow lead to resolution, we'll be sleepwalking as we did with Russia, allowing a hostile power to take advantage of diplomacy while pursuing increasingly aggressive actions against us and our allies.... " — Nicola Beer and Peter Neumann, "Iran: Time for a Plan B," Politico, July 21, 2022.
The EU's continued appeasement of Iran comes amid a violent crackdown against civil society in the country. Human rights groups have blasted the EU for its unwillingness to hold the Iranian government to account. Pictured: Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (R) meets with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in Tehran on June 25, 2022.
The European Union has presented Iran with a new draft text that aims to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. The document, which has not been made public, presumably offers additional concessions to coax Tehran into rejoining the agreement.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, in a July 26 essay published by the Financial Times, wrote that time was running out to revive the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA):
"After 15 months of intense, constructive negotiations in Vienna and countless interactions with the JCPOA participants and the US, I have concluded that the space for additional significant compromises has been exhausted. I have now put on the table a text that addresses, in precise detail, the sanctions lifting as well as the nuclear steps needed to restore the JCPOA.
"This text represents the best possible deal that I, as facilitator of the negotiations, see as feasible. It is not a perfect agreement, but it addresses all essential elements and includes hard-won compromises by all sides. Decisions need to be taken now to seize this unique opportunity to succeed, and to free up the great potential of a fully implemented deal. I see no other comprehensive or effective alternative within reach."
Iranian officials responded with derision. Iran's lead nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, tweeted: "We, too, have our own ideas, both in substance & form, to conclude the negotiations which would be shared."
U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that the Biden administration was reviewing the EU's draft text: "We'll engage privately with our European allies, but again, we have been willing to accept the deal that has been on the table for some time now and Iran has not."
Since U.S. President Joe Biden assumed office in January 2021, the Islamic Republic has advanced its nuclear program to the point where it can, within a few months, enrich enough uranium for at least five atomic bombs. Iran's progress is a direct result of an American and European fixation with reversing, at any cost, the Trump administration's "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran.
U.S. President Donald J. Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions because, he argued, the deal gave Iran a pathway to nuclear weapons.
In April 2019, the Trump administration designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an elite branch of the Iranian military, as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). He also imposed crippling sanctions that targeted more than 80% of Iran's economy. The "maximum pressure" campaign was aimed at forcing Iran to accept more comprehensive restrictions on its nuclear program.
In March 2020, Joe Biden, as a presidential candidate, pledged to rejoin the 2015 deal if he were elected president.
The negotiations to revive the JCPOA have been stalled since March 2022. The main stumbling block to a final deal is Iran's demand that the Biden administration delist the IRGC, and its elite Quds attack force, as an FTO. Although the Biden administration says it has no intention of delisting the IRGC, it has repeatedly lifted sanctions to coax Iran back to the negotiating table.
Biden's reversal of the economic sanctions imposed by the Trump administration has produced alarming results.
In May 2022, for instance, Iran reached a dangerous and destabilizing threshold: its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% reached 42 kilograms, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The Arms Control Association explained the significance:
"Crossing the threshold of 40 kilograms of 60 percent enriched uranium is significant because that is sufficient material to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a bomb, about 25 kilograms of uranium enriched to above 90 percent. Being able to go directly from 60 percent to 90 percent further decreases Iran's breakout, or the time it would take to produce a bomb's worth of weapons-grade uranium, likely to be below 10 days. This puts Iran near the threshold where it could attempt to breakout between inspections by the IAEA. If Iran were to breakout, it would still take another 1-2 years to build a bomb, but that process would be more difficult to detect and disrupt."
In June, Iran removed 27 surveillance cameras from its nuclear facilities. The move came after the IAEA censured Iran for not answering questions about uranium traces found at three undeclared sites. On July 25, Iran said that the cameras would remain turned off until the 2015 nuclear deal is restored.
In July, Iran escalated its uranium enrichment with the use of advanced IR-6 centrifuges at its Fordow underground facility. The new setup allows Iran more easily to increase enrichment levels, according to the IAEA.
Also in July, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan revealed that Iran plans to supply Russia with potentially hundreds of drones, some with combat capabilities, for its war in Ukraine.
The EU's continued appeasement of Iran also comes amid a violent crackdown against civil society in the country. Human rights groups have blasted the EU for its unwillingness to hold the Iranian government to account.
The EU appears to be sacrificing human rights on the altar of financial gain. A revived nuclear deal would result in the lifting of economic sanctions on Iran and present European companies with an economic windfall. A restored deal would also allow for resumed exports of Iranian gas and oil at a time when Europe is seeking alternatives to energy supplies from Russia.
Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), called on Borrell, Biden and other world leaders, to speak out forcefully and publicly against the Islamic Republic's violent suppression of civil society:
"The silence on human rights on the part of Borrell and the EU is deafening.... Hundreds of peaceful protesters are being arrested, with many placed in solitary confinement without access to a lawyer, while global leaders express their earnestness for a return to the JCPOA. The international community needs to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time — the nuclear negotiations should not preclude attention to the growing human rights catastrophe in Iran."
In an interview with Al-Monitor, Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, said the EU proposal falls short of Iran's expectations and is unlikely to bridge the remaining gaps between the two sides:
"It's really hard to imagine that any kind of mutually acceptable formula could be found at this stage. Although the parties are not willing to admit that the talks have failed, effectively I don't think there is a way forward. I'm almost certain that Iran will not accept the revised proposal."
In a July 21 article — "Iran: Time for a Plan B" — published by Politico, Nicola Beer and Peter Neumann argued that the EU needs a back-up plan to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon:
"After 10 months of negotiation, attempts to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — also known as the Iran Nuclear Deal — have stalled and may well end in failure....
"Europe now needs to weigh up its alternatives. If we simply cling to the idea that continued negotiations will somehow lead to resolution, we'll be sleepwalking as we did with Russia, allowing a hostile power to take advantage of diplomacy while pursuing increasingly aggressive actions against us and our allies....
"Indeed, under the hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, Iran is increasingly out of control....
"Of course, all diplomatic efforts should still be used to facilitate a deal all parties can agree on. Lasting and sustainable peace in the region will only be possible with Iran buying in. But the European Union can't turn a blind eye to the country's current unwillingness to engage in constructive talks while escalating aggression at the same time.
"It is, therefore, time to reevaluate our approach.
"This might involve the reimposition of multilateral sanctions, which is difficult but not impossible. And, equally important, under the leadership of High Representative Josep Borrell, European governments and the EU must do much more to curb Iran's activities right here in Europe, where their government is spreading propaganda, raising money, persecuting opposition activists, and even plotting terrorist attacks.
"As long as Iran continues to oppress its own people, foment terrorism, and aid and abet Russia in breaking international law, relying on negotiations alone won't be enough.
"Europe needs to have a plan B."
*Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
© 2022 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.

August 4, Justice is Coming!
Hanna Saleh/Asharq Al Awsat/August 04/2022
On this day two years ago, on August 4, a massive blast destroyed Beirut’s port, flipped the city on its head, and left a genocide in its wake. Not a single official pleaded for forgiveness or apologized to the people. No one was held accountable; they are all still in their seats, leaning on the statelet and its weapons. Lebanese citizens remember how they were left to fend for themselves that dark evening. The victims who had been in or around the port, in the streets, on the road, and in their homes, the wounded left to bleed out amid the destruction, Beirut is no longer Beirut. However, from under the rubble and ashes emerged young men and women. Rushing to the area from across the country, they came to treat the wounds of the capital and its people.
The people also remember that the Nitrate regime hastened to evade accountability. They remember that the President, who “knew” what had been in Hangar 12, claimed that there had been nothing he could do but promised the Lebanese that investigations would be launched immediately and that the truth would come out within five days! To be fair, he did not tell us when the five-day countdown would begin. Still, 730 days have passed since the promise, and unless “fulfilling the promise” means launching a “preliminary investigation” and replacing Abu Adass (the scapegoat of the Hariri assassination) with “negligence” and “welding work!”
The authorities tried to contain the mass fury by referring the case to the Judicial Council, and they were confident that the winds of the investigation would not knock them down because they knew that they had not allowed the judiciary to be independent. However, the judicial process led by Judge Tarek Bitar terrified them, and so they woke up to the veracity of the statement he made the day he was given the case: “Nothing will stop me… I will not allow for the deviation of the course of justice.” And so, a Hezbollah-led charge targeted him, accused him of acting with “discretion,” hid behind their “immunity,” and decided to destroy all remnants of the crime as they fled justice.
To this end, they sought to bring down the silent witness to the blast, the silos that absorbed the force of the blast and protected the Western half of Beirut. We have to accept that they have succeeded. On the evening of July 31, negligence and collusion brought down segments of the silos (two of them, on the northern side) after they had been left to burn for several weeks, which it seems sufficed to crumble up the cement and bend the iron! They are betting that getting rid of this witness would erase the horrific events of that day from the traumatized Lebanese people!
Before setting their sights on the silos, they succeeded in totally disrupting the investigation around eight months ago. They launched lawsuits “in response” to the courageous steps taken by the Judge, who summoned those who had received written reports highlighting the threats that the Ammonium Nitrate posed to the capital and failed to fulfill their responsibility to protect citizens’ lives. Prime Minister Hassan Diab, and the ministers: Nohad Mashnouk, Ali Hassan Khalil, Ghazi Zuaiter, Youssef Fenianos, Major General Tony Saliba, and GS General Director Abbas Ibrahim, were called in, and Bitar left the door open to summing others based on the defendant's statements.
This is a precedent in the history of Lebanon’s judiciary, which never pinned the blame for major crimes on those responsible; indeed, the perpetrators were not summoned as witnesses but were charged with the felony of “possible intent to murder” and criminal negligence. “Possible intent” is covered by Article 189 of the Lebanese Criminal Code, which stipulates that the relevant officials must anticipate such crimes and that if they see the risks and ignore them, they are criminally responsible for this negligence allowing the lethal threat to materialize. Here, the threat left 230 casualties and wounded over six thousand others. One question is in the back of all of our minds: What higher authority compelled the officials, politicians and security officials alike, to turn a blind eye and accept the risks? Is it true that some of them were informed that the material had been needed for the barrels bombs killing the Syrian people? Did they ignore the ammonium because they saw Syrians as dispensable (...) and were subsequently shocked to see what remained of this ammonium blew up in Lebanon? If it was not for the silos, we would have seen double the damage, so are they furious with Judge Bitar and the silos for witnessing the crime?!
It dawned on them that a time may come when a judge would dare to persecute those who had put themselves above the law. Unable to point to errors or find loopholes, they came up with stories and spread fake news. Bitar ignored the attempts to sideline him, satisfying himself with a brief response to Hezbollah security official Wafiq Safa’s threat to “pluck him out,” saying: I can depend on him. Nasrallah then personally demanded that the Judge be “plucked out” by either the Judicial Council or the government. He turned the government into a corpse forbidden from both adjourning and dissolving until it complies with his dictates! Hezbollah escalated further, taking the country to the brink with its escalation and launching a brief civil war rerun of the civil war with the Tayouneh crime of November 14, leaving the government paralyzed for three entire months, with the resumption of its sessions conditioned on burying the investigation! And so the people paid the costs, and the goals were not achieved!
The divisions in this country over justice for the victims and Beirut are deep and sharp. Achieving justice would open the floodgates to holding those who defrauded and humiliated the Lebanese accountable and allow the judiciary to become part of the battle to retrieve the hijacked state. Thus, nothing deters the authorities from continuing to take the course of criminality; in Parliament, they followed their play of appointing the members of the Supreme Council for the Trial of Presidents and Ministers, slamming citizens’ ambitions against the wall as a majority of the deputies in Parliament voted to protect those accused of blowing up the port and the capital.
When Judge Bitar was handed the port blast case, he said that “Justice, in such cases, can only be achieved through the conviction of the senior political and security officials.” The course that the investigation would then take demonstrated just how right he had been. With the elections that saw the October revolution yield a bloc of 13 deputies, the revolution reaffirmed its keenness on actualizing change through institutions, but not all the change materialized. The people who took to the streets on October 17 reiterated their commitment to impose change on May 15, when hundreds of thousands voted for the revolution’s candidates, declaring their willingness and ability to go further.
There is only one path to change and ensuring that justice is not delayed further: The street becoming a politically influential force once again, which would elevate the work of the revolution’s deputies by synergizing the efforts made in Parliament and the energy of the streets. A “historical bloc” would thereby emerge, with new parties representing the country’s cities and regions and creating a political alternative. Only then will it become possible to break the cycle of impunity,” safeguard justice, reject subjugation, and begin the process of accountability. These goals can only be achieved through the reflection of the strength and the impact of the revolution and its scale; only with hoards of people in the streets can the hijacked state be retrieved.

Iran Talks of a Changing Situation in Which Tehran Plays an Active Role
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/August 04/2022
Iran’s ILNA news agency quoted Major General Rahim Safavi, the top military adviser to the Supreme Leader, saying that his country’s forces were ready for a “hybrid” war.
“The political, economic, cultural, and security situation in West Asia is changing and evolving, and Iran must play an active role in this change,” he said. West Asia includes Arab countries in the Levant and extends to the shores of the Red Sea.
As Tehran inches closer to strengthening its nuclear capabilities, its hostile mentality escalates. In the last few weeks, Tehran has once again repeated that it is not planning on building a nuclear bomb but is rather content with achieving a state of readiness to produce one. Willingness here means that Iran has enough enriched uranium, production equipment, and knowledge to make it an imminent nuclear power at any moment without getting entangled in the web of international sanctions. It also reduces the justifications of a potential Israeli attack feared by Tehran. It aligns with an earlier article I wrote about how the Iranian regime does not plan to stop but is instead intent on expanding and waging wars against our countries. Recent statements by Iranian officials further elucidate this bellicose mindset.
Speaking recently to a crowd of military leaders at an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps conference in Qom, Major General Safavi conveyed the regime’s directions, saying:
“Comprehensive relations between Iran, Russia, China, and India can be developed within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to form an Asian or Eurasian power that creates a new perspective of a multipolar world.”
Of course, it is unlikely that the regime will be able to form such a significant bloc against the United States and its allies, given the difficulty of bringing India, Russia, and China, each having different objectives and interests, under the same umbrella. Yet Safavi’s explicit belligerent statements targeting West Asia do not come out of thin air.
Iran’s regime is on the verge of having a deterrent nuclear framework that will reinforce its confidence on the ground, given the protection it grants Tehran from any significant counterattack. Before this nuclear readiness, Iran had been content in past confrontations with using proxies, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, its militias in Iraq, and the Islamic Jihad in Gaza, to realize its aggressive projects without risking a direct war.
In the West Asian system, the Tehran regime’s primary target will be Iraq, then the Gulf states. It indeed does not threaten other countries any less. King Abdullah II of Jordan warned last week of Iran’s threat, saying that Tehran’s increased influence in Iraq is putting it directly on his country’s borders. As for Israel, throughout Iran’s years of activity in Lebanon. The regime never aimed to attack Israel in Syria and Gaza because the Israeli nuclear arsenal could decimate Iran’s regime. It instead aimed to cripple Israel’s capabilities to prevent it from becoming a regional player against Tehran on the region’s battlefields and neutralize it in confrontations in Iraq, the Gulf and Syria.
By “hybrid warfare,” Major General Safavi means, in addition to military force, the “economy, culture and new technologies,” all geared toward war efforts, not local development.

فيديو ونص وبالصوت من مؤسسة الدفاع عن الديموقراطية/حلقة نقاش تتناول انشطة إيران غير المشروعة وشبكاتها في أميركا اللاتينية.
المشاركون: توبي ديرشوفيتز، ماريانو فيديريتشي، ريكاردو لوبيز، مورفي وإيمانويل  وتولينغي  وكارلوس باباروني 
From FDD, Video, audio, and transcript: "Flying Under the Radar: Iran’s Illicit Activities and Networks in Latin America, ," featuring Toby Dershowitz, Mariano Federici, The Hon. Ricardo López Murphy, Emanuele Ottolenghi, and The Hon. Carlos Paparoni, 
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/110983/from-fdd-video-audio-and-transcript-flying-under-the-radar-irans-illicit-activities-and-networks-in-latin-america-featuring-toby-dershowitz-mariano-federici-the-hon-ricardo-lop/
August 04/2022
https://www.fdd.org/events/2022/08/03/flying-under-the-radar-irans-illicit-activities-and-networks-in-latin-america/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXvNaoVFm9M&feature=emb_imp_woyt&ab_channel=FoundationforDefenseofDemocracies
Introductory Remarks:
The Hon. Carlos Paparoni, Venezuelan Member of Parliament
Toby Dershowitz, FDD Senior Vice President for Government Relations and Strategy
Speakers (from left to right):
Emanuele Ottolenghi, FDD Senior Fellow
Mariano Federici, Senior Managing Director, K2 Integrity; Former Head, Argentina’s Financial Intelligence Unit'
The Hon. Ricardo López Murphy, Argentinian Member of Parliament
Toby Dershowitz, FDD Senior Vice President for Government Relations and Strategy
TRANSCRIPT
DERSHOWITZ: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I’m Toby Dershowitz, Senior Vice President for Government Relations and Strategy at the Foundation for Defensive Democracies. Welcome.
FDD is a non-partisan research institute exclusively focused on national security and foreign policy. We have three centers of excellence in the areas of military and political power, economics and financial power, and cyber and technology innovation. We do not accept funds from foreign governments.
Iranian penetration into Latin America has been a challenge for decades for those concerned about regional stability, financial integrity, rule of law, human rights issues, and our own national security. It’s also challenged those in the region who want to see democratic institutions as the foundation for their societies. This goes beyond voting booths and extends to issues that are addressed in everyday life like transparency and accountability.
FDD is pleased to host today’s event that looks at the Islamic Republic of Iran’s malign activities in the region. For reasons that will become even more clear as the event unfolds, it could not be more timely of a conversation. Our panelists today have unique vantage points that will help us delve into the challenges. They will talk about where our respective governments have done well and where they have fallen short. I want to mention that FDD does not take a position on electoral politics, but we hope today’s conversation will shed light on important issues posed by Iran’s malign activity in the region.
Our first speaker is the Honorable Carlos Paparoni. Mr. Paparoni served as the Presidential Commissioner Against Corruption and Terrorism for the Venezuelan government. Today, he is the leader of Primero Justicia or Justice First, a Venezuelan political party. He is a member of the Venezuelan Parliament’s National Assembly. Mr. Paparoni was one of the State Department’s 2021 Anti-Corruption Champion awardees. The State Department said Paparoni produced financial intelligence and analysis that proved essential to constricting the illicit financial flows of the Venezuelan regime.
He is known for his outspokenness when it comes to corruption and as a lawmaker who has had led several investigations into corruption and organized crime tied to the Nicolás Maduro regime. He has done this at great personal risk to himself and to his family. And while he could not be with us in person today, it’s a real honor to have him share his thoughts with us on this topic today.
PAPARONI: To understand the relationship between Iran and Venezuela it is necessary to understand that this relationship has been much more than a diplomatic alliance than what was woven during the government of President Hugo Chávez. It [Iranian and Venezuelan relations] has been more than logistical support to subversive and terrorist groups like Hezbollah, where one of the key operators was the chargé d’affaires at the Venezuelan embassy in Syria, Ghazi Nasr Al-Din, who today is designated by OFAC, as a member of this terrorist group.
It is important to emphasize that it is not only these military agreements for unmanned armed drones that have been under construction in Venezuela and that more and more of them have been. We see images of these drones in Nicolás Maduro’s military parades. It is important to emphasize that it is not only the oil exchange operation and violation of sanctions through this exchange, but what we have seen and what it shows us is that the plane was detained in Argentina on June 6.
The relationship between Iran and Venezuela logistically has become much tighter. We are talking about an airline where part of its crew members, not the Iranians, but the Venezuelans, have an important connection in terms of the trust they enjoyed from the Venezuelan regime. We are talking about a crew that counted more than five members in the Venezuelan military in which Captain Cornelio Antonio Trujillo Candor appears, who was part of the 1992 coup d’état with President Chávez. Until Chávez’s death, he [Candor] was in his main circle of trust.
We are talking about Jorge Gabriel Perez Lopez, who has a diplomatic passport but who took multiple trips to Cuba as well as Santo Domingo, the United States, and of course, to Iran and Russia. We are also talking about Carlos Ramon Anseume Merchan, an official of Nicolás Maduro’s security and intelligence services, who held a diplomatic passport, is a member of the PSUV [United Socialist Party of Venezuela] and who surprise, and also took multiple trips to Cuba, Iran, and Nicaragua. He [Anseume Merchan] also flew for Nicolás Maduro’s prosecutor.
There’s also Tarek William Saab, who went on a trip from Russia to Venezuela, transporting security, the Presidential Honor Guard, who is Nicolás Maduro’s security. We are also talking about Emilio Jose Salazar Velasquez, with the Venezuelan Air Force, who is also an elite pilot. We are also talking about Mario Jose Arraga Urdaneta, who has a service passport and who being in the military was for a long time assigned to intelligence functions. There’s also Victor Manuel Perez Gomez, with a service passport but who has also made multiple trips to people nationalized as Venezuelans, as well as Syrians, Lebanese, and Iranians.
Today, we see that all of these officials had or have an important condition in this similarity – they are either security or military officials, and two, all of them [crew members] had either service passports or diplomatic passports that accredited them as trustworthy officials of today in the regime of Nicolás Maduro.
Today, what we believe and what it gives us is how to relate the incident between Emtrasur and Mahan Air. It is also worth noting that this is a Boeing 747 aircraft which does not have any transfer of purchase and sale documents. This shows us that Emtrasur or Venezuela begins to be a bulkhead for Iran’s logistical activities and related groups throughout our continent.
DERSHOWITZ: Thank you, Deputy Paparoni, and now let me turn to our other three outstanding panelists who are here with us in Washington, DC on our stage.
First, the Honorable Ricardo López Murphy, who is a member of Argentina’s parliament. He previously served as Minister of Defense and Minister of Economy and has been instrumental in demanding that Argentina’s intelligence services determine why an IRGC, an Iranian Revolutionary Guardsman would be piloting a routine cargo flight into Argentina. More on that later.
We’re also pleased to have with us Mariano Federici, a Senior Managing Director at K2 Integrity. Mariano is the leading expert in anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing. He’s also served as head of Argentina’s Financial Intelligence Unit, FIU, during which time he held numerous international positions at global AML and CFT organizations. Mariano has also worked as senior counsel for the International Monetary Fund’s legal department.
And finally, I’m very delighted to be joined by my colleague, Emanuele Ottolenghi, a senior fellow here at FDD and an expert at FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power focused on Hezbollah’s illicit activities in Latin America. A warm welcome to all of you.
LOPEZ MURPHY: Thank you.
FEDERICI: Thank you.
DERSHOWITZ: Let me begin with you, Congressman. Mr. Paparoni spelled out how Iran has had nefarious influences in his country. A country, he is hoping will not succumb, as he said, “to having his country turning to a homeland for an Iranian military base.” I think he has said that in the past. But before we talk about Iranian penetration into Argentina, I wonder if you could comment a little bit on Mr. Paparoni’s remarks, and what concern do you have, first, about having a neighboring country be so influenced by Iran?
LOPEZ MURPHY: The truth is, in Argentina, we have been very worried about this development not only because Venezuela is a country where there is almost a country gangsters in government, in the sense they are linked to organized crime. But also because of the relations of Venezuela with Iran and with other countries that, well, are against the open society, to mean something more than the liberal democracies.
From that point of view, in Argentina, we are very worried because we suffered two of the biggest terrorist attacks that any country in the world suffer from Hezbollah. And Hezbollah, as you know, depends on right now both things and the cooperation with Venezuela. Remember that last time Maduro from Tehran congratulated our President because he’s speaking favorably of Venezuela in a Los Angeles meeting.
And, well, for a long period of time, I have been against this type of political organization and political alliance. The risk is not only because of the narrative against open societies, but the risk is also because we suffered two terrorist attacks. I want to point out this because it’s explaining, more than any other thing, my behavior. The attacks were in my city. I am Member of the Congress for my city. It’s in the neighborhood of my home. I mean, it’s something that we suffer deeply in our hearts, and we will be ready to do things that, perhaps, that require a lot of courage to. But it’s necessary for our work for our life and for our freedom.
DERSHOWITZ: Are there ways that Iran has used Venezuela to influence Argentina in a way that concerns you?
LOPEZ MURPHY: Well, Venezuela is linked to Cuba, to Iran, and this relationship is very dangerous for the argument I gave before. The case that we are facing now shows you very clearly the cooperation between them. The flight was hiding in Queretaro, Mexico. It has to fly to Argentina but went to Caracas and incorporated more people into the plane. The plane was a cargo plane with 19 people aboard, and that is something that worries me a lot. And the truth is, finally, this type of behavior between Venezuela and Iran and the government of Argentina was worrying me a lot.
DERSHOWITZ: Thank you for that. And we’re going to get into the details of the plane, which, as we speak, is grounded. But before we get to that, Mariano, let me ask you, could you reflect on Mr. Paparoni’s comments and also the congressman’s comments? Zooming out 30,000 feet, what concerns you about Iranian penetration into Latin America?
FEDERICI: Well, thank you very much, and thank you very much for having me. I couldn’t agree more with what the Congressman just described. I think we’re facing here a threat, not only to the democratic stability of our societies, to our individual freedoms to be open and free societies as the Congressman described it, but also a threat to the national security of our countries and to global peace and security, to be honest as well.
Sometimes the risks that we experience in our part of the world may materialize as dangers and then concrete acts of terror in our latitudes, but sometimes they may also be related and connected with attacks that take place elsewhere. We know that Latin America has been fertile ground for Hezbollah’s financing operations and for executing attacks in other parts of the world. That is why what happens in South America should be of deep concern, not only to Latin American countries, but also to the entire world. It’s a threat to global peace and security.
I think this alliance between Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, also Nicaragua, let’s not forget that in the latest assumption of Ortega and Murillo, we had one of the suspects of the AMIA attacks attending the inauguration. Mr. Rezaei was standing there next to Ortega.
LOPEZ MURPHY: The AMIA attack is the second terrorist attack.
FEDERICI: Second terrorist attack, exactly. So let’s not forget that we have here three dictatorships in Latin America that are opening the doors, are opening the gateways for a deeper penetration than we have seen before.
I’m also worried with the inclination of some of Latin American democracies to, our populist, autocratic type of governments that find, let’s say, empathy or sympathy towards these dictatorships with deep anti-American sentiments that make it very attractive for Iran also to import the export of its revolution, let’s say. Which basically means a serious threat to our nations and to our people.
DERSHOWITZ: And contrasting it with just, say, 20 years ago, post-9/11, you see the trend moving in the wrong direction.
FEDERICI: Correct. Because at the time of 9/11, let’s remember, we only had one dictatorship in the region, whereas all the rest were democracies. There were many countries aligned also with the importance of democratic values, free markets, and open society. Unfortunately, the trend in the region is going in the wrong direction, in an opposite direction now. That makes it more attractive for autocratic regimes, for dictatorships to find ways to penetrate deeper into our societies and alter our way of living.
DERSHOWITZ: I think it also makes a compelling case as to why this is such an important issue. It’s not something we can just take for granted. I want to just pick up on one thing that you said. When you headed up the Financial Intelligence Unit in Argentina at the time that Hezbollah was designated a terrorist entity, it was actually on the 25th anniversary of the bombing of the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Argentina. Help us understand, what was the reason that Argentina ended up designating Hezbollah? What trends did you see? What was the most important reason that that happened? Why did Argentina think it was so important to do that?
FEDERICI: We promoted that designation. My office promoted that designation, which was supported by the government of President Macri and allowed us to become the first country in Latin America to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. The rationale was, first of all, we assessed that the threat of Hezbollah and Iran in our country had been irresponsibly underestimated by previous governments, particularly by the two previous governments of the Kirchners in Argentina that had even gone as far as entering into a deal with the Iranian government.
So, we began with an assessment of the threat working cooperatively with other countries, particularly with the U.S. government, with whom we entered into a dialogue called the Argentina-U.S. Dialogue on Illicit Finances. This allowed us to conduct fact-finding missions, to conduct deep assessments of the level of the current threat. We identified and confirmed the presence of elements related with Hezbollah, particularly in the Tri-Border area that unites our country with Brazil and Paraguay. So we were faced here with a situation. Not only was Hezbollah and Iran a threat related with the past in Argentina, two terrorist attacks as the Congressman described, but also a current and prospective threat to our national security, our financial integrity, and global peace and security.
So, we felt it was time to act. A lot of years collecting intelligence and collecting information. The intelligence must be collected to act upon at a certain moment. We felt the time had come. We made a proposal to designate this organization because the designations are the modern means of mitigating these risks and preventing these threats to materials. Think of it this way, Toby. Up until the designation, there was nothing, nothing that would turn it illegal for Hezbollah to actually move money from or to Argentina because it was not considered a terrorist organization for our country. Now it is. It is publicly registered as such, along with its leadership, so any transaction connected to it should and would be considered as terrorist financing.
DERSHOWITZ: Emanuele, you have done a tremendous amount of research on Hezbollah’s illicit activities in Latin America. And I want to stay with Hezbollah for a minute, and then we’ll come back to Iranian activities. But what does it actually look like on the ground? What does Hezbollah’s illicit activity look like in the Tri-Border area as Mariano mentioned?
OTTOLENGHI: Hezbollah became the main player within the Shia community in Lebanon very early on during the civil war soon after the establishment of the Islamic Republic. It was an extension really of the Islamic Republic. Its first guards were trained by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The ideology of Hezbollah embraces the ideology of the Islamic Republic and pledges allegiance to the leader.
And one of the ways that they established, cemented, spread their influence in Lebanon over the years was through the building, not just of a powerful, effective militia with a terrorist extension overseas, but also with –
a terrorist extension overseas, but also with cultural religious, social, economic, and health institutions that cater to the community in exchange for loyalty. When you move to South America or other places in the world where you have Shia expatriate communities. Hezbollah basically, from the very start, took the Lebanon model and exported it and reproduced it in miniature fashion, wherever these communities were to be found. Now the Tri-Border area is a perfect example of that. You have a community of Shia Lebanese expatriates. Most of them arrived between the 1970s and the 1980s, so much later than most of the Lebanese immigration to Latin America, which predates actually the establishment of Lebanon, which was mostly Christian. In this case, it’s Shias who come out of Lebanon. Many of them come out already during the Civil War. They have already been radicalized and joined either Amal or Hezbollah.
They arrive to the Tri-Border area. They insert themselves into an economy that is driven by illicit activities, contraband, counterfeit merchandise, and so on. Hezbollah arrives and establishes the same very structure it has in Lebanon, mosques schools, Scouts, movements, and charitable organizations. It also inserts, of course, within the community, a small but important number of senior operatives from the external security organization, what some people refer to at the military wing of Hezbollah, who can control the community, who can extort the merchants, and who can cajole people into joining. But over time, the presence of these institutions, the clerics are Hezbollah, the Scouts instructors are Hezbollah, the school curriculum in the school is Hezbollah. You walk into the school and you have the portraits of Khomeini and Khamenei in the schools. The mosque is named after Khomeini, it has his portrait in it, and it is a Hezbollah mosque.
So over time, these structures, which by the way, you find in Maicao, Colombia, another hotspot, Colombia, of Hezbollah presence. You find the Marcory Mosque in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast. So this is a model that they have adopted and exported all over the world, wherever Shia expatriates are to be found, to conquer the communities and their loyalty. Of course, this builds on deeper ties that exist, more primordial, of clan, of village of origin, of marriage, of kinship, that allow each and every one of these nodes around the world to be connected. These networks are based on all of the above. So that’s what Hezbollah has done.
The Tri-Border area, as I said, was already a center of illicit finance, porous borders – one key element. Another key factor, which touches upon what my two colleagues were saying before, the widespread corruption. One of the cancers of Latin America, which has undermined the efforts of democracies to establish themselves and has played into the hands of organized crime and terror financiers, is corruption. These networks thrive on their ability to buy off officials to turn the other way. So these networks have established themselves. They have colonized the communities, they have ensured their loyalties, and then they have built leaders in the community who buy influence and access with local politicians.
In some cases, they themselves run for politics or acquire honorific type such as honorary consuls, with all the diplomatic immunities that come along with them, to be able to engage in illicit activities. The result is that, when they are present in places like the TBA, Colombia, or Venezuela, where you have an enormous amount of illicit financial criminal activities going on with billions of dollars a year, moving and requiring money laundering services, these communities become critical and converge and cooperate with the local criminal syndicates. That’s where their strength lies. They’re indispensable for crime. They control the community and they are plugged into the political systems. And, that’s why they manage to raise funds and they perpetuate the problems that exist in the region as a consequence.
DERSHOWITZ: That was a great description of what’s actually happening on the ground, what it actually looks like. The Congressman mentioned that there were two bombings in Argentina – two terrorist attacks. I think it behooves us just to remind our listeners that together, more than a hundred people were killed in both of the attacks, so –
LOPEZ MURPHY: 114.
DERSHOWITZ: Pardon?
LOPEZ MURPHY: 114.
DERSHOWITZ: 114 people. And we’re talking about the connection between Hezbollah and Iran, Hezbollah being the sort of proxy of choice for Iran. Alberto Nisman, the special prosecutor who investigated the AMIA bombing for the better part of a decade, issued several exhaustive reports, thousands and thousands of pages long, where he described in quite granular detail how Iran recruited and radicalized the local population. First, Mohsen Rabbani came into Argentina as the representative for the Ministry of Meat. Then he became head of a mosque. Then he became the cultural attaché at the Iranian embassy in Argentina, where he had diplomatic immunity. I mention this because I wanted to sort of pull on that thread. It was people like Mohsen Rabbani who has an Interpol Red Notice in connection with the bombing of the AMIA. It was people like Mohsen Rabbani who they used to radicalize the population.
One of the things that Nisman did is he also described, not only how people like Rabbani radicalized the local population, but how Iran used its own embassy in Argentina and in other places in Latin America to help plan the bombing of the AMIA. With that, Emanuele, you talked about how Hezbollah uses front companies. I want to ask, do we know something about how Iran uses front companies to engage in illicit activity? I just want to touch on that for a moment because I want to tie it to the next question that I have for you.
OTTOLENGHI: Well, that’s a great question. And of course, the model that has uses is a model that Iran also developed. You mentioned very correctly, Rabbani, he was kind of the bridgehead, the forefront of this operation. He was the first cleric sent to Latin America by Iran with the specific task of spreading the revolution, as Mariano said, and he did what he did in Argentina. He was not the only one. When you go around Latin America today, you discover that what Rabbani did in Argentina, arrived under the guise of being a meat inspector, then sort of took over a mosque, then started the work of bringing the secularized, Shia Lebanese and others and Syrians to embrace the ideology, become radicalized, and then spread the network to actually convert local Latin American Christians to become Muslims on the basis of a radical ideology. Something that Iran has done pretty much in every country in Latin America.
The two key figures involved in this project, by the way, are an Argentinian Lebanese who came back to religion through Rabbani, trained in Lebanon and then in Iran, and is now responsible for establishing centers and recruiting people, and Rabbani’s son-in-law, who is an Iranian cleric. So, you have an operation that today has centers in Colombia, in Brazil, in Ecuador, in Peru, in Chile, in Argentina, in Uruguay, in Panama, in Costa Rica, in Cuba even, a country that is not usually friendly to religious and missionary activities, all sponsored, financed, and supported by Iran.
What we see is that this soft power activity has been used, not just in Argentina, to send, for example, meat inspectors with visas all over the region. The Southern Cone is a great producer of high quality meat that it exports all over the world, the halal market, two billion Muslims wanting halal meat around the world. So there is a good cover to do that, but these are agents oftentimes, that come in under the guise of inspectors. That leads also to the establishment of businesses that ostensibly are just involved in the trade and certification of halal meat, but oftentimes transcend that ostensibly benign purpose and are involved in illicit activities, alongside the charities and the cultural centers that are also conveyor belts, potentially, for illicit financial activities.
DERSHOWITZ: I thought that this would be an important backdrop to talking about the elephant in the room. As we sit here today, there is a Boeing 747 on the tarmac at Buenos Aires’s International Airport. As has been sort of mentioned here briefly, but just for the audience’s knowledge, this is a plane that seemed to be, or that positioned itself as a regular cargo plane. Talk, Emmanuele, about what was suspicious about this plane and why – what was suspicious about the plane? I’ll leave it at that.
OTTOLENGHI: Well, so for most people, the story starts on June 6th when the plane tries to land in Buenos Aires. There is fog, dense fog, can’t land, it’s diverted to Córdoba, but by the time it comes back to Buenos Aires, the plane has not enough gasoline to continue its onward journey. It’s bringing cargo. The plane remains stuck for two days in Buenos Aires, then tries to leave. By then, it is heading to Uruguay to refuel, but the Uruguayan government blocks its airspace. The plane comes back to Buenos Aires, the crew descends for, I think by then the third or fourth time, and checks into a hotel. There are five Iranians and 14 Venezuelans on board, and an investigation begins.
But the back story is that this aircraft arrived in Paraguay on May 13th, 2022, three days after the foremost anti-corruption, anti-organized crime, anti-narcotics prosecutor of Paraguay, Marcelo Pecci, was assassinated during his honeymoon on a beach, in a private resort in Cartagena, Colombia, just in front of his wife. It was a highly sophisticated operation, carried out by a team of hired Colombians and Venezuelans, potentially linked to the Cártel del Golfo, an organized crime based there, but commissioned by somebody in Paraguay. So, three days later, the plane arrives and this plane is arriving empty. It belongs to a newly established cargo airline subsidiary of Conviasa, the Venezuelan state airline that is sanctioned by the United States.
The plane used to belong to Mahan Air, the Iranian ostensibly private airline, sanctioned by the United States for over a decade of material support to the IRGC Quds Force, transporting militias and weapons to Syria. More recently managing Fars Qeshm Air, another airline transporting weapons to Syria and to Russia. So, something already is highlighting a cooperation between Venezuela and Iran in a cargo operation that looks anomalous. And why is that? Because in both cases, a plane that should usually be operated by a crew of four or five people had 18 in Paraguay and 19 in Argentina. When they arrived in Paraguay, the 18 members of the crew are flying an empty plane to pick up cigarettes produced by the former president of Paraguay. Perhaps the foremost contraband man of cigarettes in the entire Western hemisphere, just sanctioned recently by United States for being significantly corrupt.
The crew does not stay on the ground just for the time necessary to pick up the cargo and fly, but they stay there for three nights, and nobody knows what they’re doing, but they’re there three days after the assassination of Pecci. The people on board are not just pilots and mechanics and logistics operators, they’re senior members of both the Iranian and the Venezuelan regime. The Paraguayans do nothing. They just leak the information to the press, and that’s how we find out initially about this plane.
The plane goes back to Caracas after delivering the cigarettes in Aruba, starts flying around again, but then it shows up in Buenos Aires and it’s low on fuel. I think that’s where the public story begins because at that point, someone in Argentina realizes, here we have senior Venezuelans and senior Iranian officials. Foremost among them, the captain of the plane, Gholamreza Qasemi, former CEO of Iran Naft Airlines, belonging to the Minister of Petroleum, later named Taban Airlines, member of the board and shareholder of Qeshm Fars Air, involved, implicated in the logistic operation that Iran has been running for years in Syria. So involved in material support for the IRGC, linked to Mahan Air and just too senior to be a pilot, although he is a pilot.
It’s a bit like getting Jeff Bezos to drive around Prime Amazon trucks for deliveries for two months. It just makes absolutely no sense. The size of the crew, the quality and value of the cargo, the amount of days that each time the plane stops on the ground, none of it suggests this is a purely commercial operation. The question is still not answered. What are they doing there?
DERSHOWITZ: Yeah. I mean, you gave us a lot of details and there are even more details that you wrote about in a piece in The Dispatch, which I encourage everybody to read. It has a lot of twists and turns. Congressmen, I want to ask you, when was the first time you learned about this suspicious plane? And do you have any reason to believe that Venezuela asked Argentina not to inspect the plane?
LOPEZ MURPHY: First of all, I discovered it like the other Congressmen, after Uruguay rejected the landing of the 747 in the international airport. After that, we discovered the problem. They had been in Argentina for many days. Well, with the information we have, why Uruguay rejected them and the number of people in the plane and all the secrets they did.
The other reason that I paid attention was that all providers were not ready to feed the cargo because they were under sanctions. With all these elements that perhaps were not to miss more, we decided to go to the justice and denounce them. The judge and the prosecutor began to look for information. The explanation of the government officer was not satisfactory, to say the least. They said we’re – or they he was teaching how to –
OTTOLENGHI: Fly.
LOPEZ MURPHY: –fly the Venezuelan people.
DERSHOWITZ: That’s why he needed an IRGC person. That’s what you said, right?
LOPEZ MURPHY: Yeah.
DERSHOWITZ: Just so our audience understands there was an IRGC pilot, and it was his job to train the regular cargo crew how to fly the plane. Okay.
RICARDO LOPEZ: Well, that is unbelievable for us. But we, with other members of our society, make the demand for justice. And the judge and the prosecutor reacted to that right away, and asked maybe who may be taking our services, justice made mistakes in the process but we asked for information on what they are doing. Knowing that where you receive the information, depending on where we received the information about the plane, and about the flight, we cannot have not received a warning. For that reason, we asked the judge to find out what has happened.
The truth is, in a sense, we did not have a lot of information. But if you put together all the thing we know, and as one of the members of the panels t said, “We know the problem in the three countries’ border.” And we knew that there have been happening things that are not very beneficial for our countries. For all that reason, we went to justice. And the process is going on.
DERSHOWITZ: The process is going on. Mariano, I want to sort of look at this issue of the plane through a slightly different lens. The Wall Street Journal’s Mary O’Grady covered the cargo plane crisis about two weeks ago, and O’Grady writes, I’m going to quote from it, O’Grady writes that, “Material used for military cyber-defense operations was found on the plane. Argentina’s leaders,” she writes, “may be part of the problem. And yet Argentina is strapped for cash and is lobbying hard in Washington for a new $500 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank. That’s an unconditional loan.”
O’Grady continues, “Argentina’s lousy debt service record is one reason not to turn over the money. A second, and perhaps greater reason,” she says, “is the reason has to do with the Venezuelan-flagged plane parked on the tarmac at a Buenos Aires airport.” And she goes on to describe that. And then she writes, “If Argentina is playing footsy with Iran, that ought to be of interest to the U.S. Treasury Department. The U.S. owns 30% of Inter-American Development Bank, and wields power over bank loan disbursements, credit rating agencies, and auditors hold it accountable. It has to absorb losses when borrowers fail to repay.”
That looks at this issue really through a whole different lens. Talk a little bit about that. Should something like the plane scandal, or the plane crisis, be a consideration when it comes to loans Argentina is requesting? What, in fact, are requirements that some of the international financial institutions have when loaning money to countries?
FEDERICI: Well, absolutely. I think there is no doubt that international financial institutions have to conduct an analysis on the risks of financial integrity that may be involved in a country that is going to be a recipient of loans. There are policies and there are procedures within mostly all international financial institutions these days, related with governance, with anti-corruption issues, with financial integrity, anti-money laundering, and counter-terrorist financing issues.
So, the case of the plane, which may very likely fit into a potential terrorist or a terrorist financing operation, if we understand terrorist financing as providing material support, any kind of material support, to a terrorist organization. Then we have here clear links that there were people in the plane connected with terrorist organizations, and with terrorist activities. There is a potential for charges related with terrorism financing. I think that’s something the prosecutor is exploring seriously in the case.
Well, certainly then, an international financial organization deciding on whether or not to provide a loan has to assess these elements. I frankly think that international financial institutions here in Washington, DC, particularly the IMF and the development banks, have not really lived up to that challenge very seriously up to now. But this week, we had a new precedent, I think, a new development, which was the decision of the IADB’s president, Mauricio Claver-Carone, to deny the $500 million loan to Argentina, on the basis of risks to financial integrity, as Mary O’Grady had anticipated. And I think –
DERSHOWITZ: Is that precedent-setting? Should it be a precedent?
FEDERICI: I think it should be. I think it definitely is. I think it has shaken the IFI community. Many of the bureaucrats may not know how to handle or approach this, in terms of the policies and procedures. But if the policies and procedures do not allow clearly for this to happen at a particular IFI, then there is a problem with the policies and procedures. Because taxpayers’ money, the funds that are handled by international organizations, should not be provided to governments that do not take these issues seriously.
This plane, I’d like to go back to the involvement of Argentine authorities in connection with it, was authorized to land in Argentina. When a plane lands in a country, it has to present a flight plan, and it’s authorized. It was authorized by the civil aviation authorities of our country to land in our country. The crew was authorized to enter our territory. They were stamped on their passports. They were allowed to run freely for 48 hours in our city, the city of Buenos Aires, and perhaps in other places. We don’t know where else they moved around during those 48 hours.
And then they were authorized to leave. All of this was done with official authorizations of the Argentine government, whether the Venezuelans asked the government –
DERSHOWITZ: You say they were allowed to leave. They haven’t left yet.
FEDERICI: They were allowed to take off and depart Argentina.
DERSHOWITZ: The plane was allowed to.
FEDERICI: The plane was allowed with the crew. They were not successful in their attempt because the Uruguayan government prevented them to fly into their airspace, and they were not able to refuel, so they did not have the sufficient fuel capacity to make their way back. But had it not been for the issue of the fuel, they would’ve been able to leave, and the Argentine authorities would have authorized that to happen.
So, I think there is a responsibility that deserves to be assessed there, to hold Argentine officials accountable for this. And I believe, Congressman, in your criminal complaint, you denounced the responsibility of Argentine public officials that allowed these things to happen.
OTTOLENGHI: Mariano, can I ask a follow-up question on this? Forgive me for interrupting.
FEDERICI: Of course, of course.
OTTOLENGHI: In the midst of the airplane saga, the Paraguayan government took credit for alerting other governments in the region, suggesting that it was their alert that led Uruguay to shut the airspace. Actually, just two days ago, a few days ago, the President of Paraguay and his Minister of Intelligence received an award from the U.S. embassy for, “alerting countries in the region about the plane.”
Do you think that the Paraguayans alerted Argentina, and the Argentinian government ignored their alert or that the Paraguayans may have alerted only some governments, or are claiming credit for something that they didn’t do? In other words, did Argentina know, on June 6th, about the threat this plane potentially posed or they learned it only after Uruguay shut the airspace?
FEDERICI: Well, first of all, let me say, Emanuele, that having worked in the intelligence community, or close to the intelligence community in Argentina, that there is no way on earth the Argentine intelligence community did not know that this plane was coming. Okay? They knew the plane was coming, and they authorized the plane to land. The plane was authorized to land. Contrary to what happened in Europe, where look, you have a contrast there, very clearly.
Uruguay did not authorize the plane to go through their airspace. This plane was authorized to land. These people were authorized to come in. They were stamped in their passports, and they were authorized to leave as well, unsuccessfully, then, at the end of the day, but they were authorized.
I think if the Argentine intelligence community did not know about this, then we have the worst intelligence services in the world, and I don’t believe that. I think this situation was known whether or not the Paraguayans informed, they came out very clearly outspokenly afterwards, saying that they had alerted.
OTTOLENGHI: But they let the plane cross their airspace on its way to Argentina.
FEDERICI: True. So, I am just basing it on the facts, then. The fact is that the plane was authorized to land, whether they had a warning from Paraguay or not, it was authorized to land. And look, the Argentine national oil company, YPF, which is run by government officials, by people that work for, are appointed by our government, refused to refuel this plane. They refused to refuel it because they knew the plane was sanctioned. The airline was sanctioned.
OTTOLENGHI: Somebody knew.
FEDERICI: Somebody knew. If the intel community did not know, but the Argentine oil company that is not an expert in intelligence, or should not be knew, there is something wrong there.
I know also there is intelligence suggesting that the Venezuelan government had alerted the Argentine authorities that this was on their way and that it had intentionally requested to able to look the other way. That has yet to be proven, I believe, in the case. I believe your fellow Congressman Gerardo Milman has requested the court to investigate this particular –
RICARDO LOPEZ: And I myself, also.
FEDERICI: And you, yourself, as well.
RICARDO LOPEZ: We accused exactly the member of the intelligence community, and all the people linked to the information of the plane, and to the landing, the takeoff of the plane, and the opportunities. My point is, I discovered that after Uruguay rejected us. I am not a specialist on this. I do not follow the information. I discover the problem. I said, “This cannot be the right procedure.”
DERSHOWITZ: Something is –
RICARDO LOPEZ: Something is wrong, and we went to the justice, the secret presentation, under secret, to avoid any problems that it put before criminals the information. But something happened that nobody reacted to that. And because of that, we are going after, week after week, we went to the judge to demand more action on the issue. The truth is, the plane is there on the tarmac and that is enough proof for myself, that something very wrong happened.
Now maybe the international cooperation has not worked exactly perfectly and that explains why the judge has not been able yet to accuse in criminal ways, a member of the crew.
DERSHOWITZ: I wanted to, first of all, let me just summarize. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like there was a mission taking flight, and that the mission, whatever it was, was interrupted sort of mid-flight, if you like. Does anybody want to quickly speculate what the mission could have been that clearly was foiled, anybody?
OTTOLENGHI: Well, what I find most plausible, is that the cargo, the content of the merchandise that the plane carries around the world, is not what we should be focusing on. It doesn’t mean that they are not ever carrying anything wrong, but I think we should focus mostly, or first and foremost, on why the crew is composed of such senior people? Why are they there?
The cargo operation allows crews to fly around the world, and get into countries under guise of being pilots, and stewards, and technicians, and so on, and the visa restrictions are waived, basically, for the time they’re on the ground. So, it allows them to connect with local people, meet people, to maybe exchange information, or carry funds, materials, equipment, what have you. So, we should look into why they’re going around countries.
It’s obvious that at least some of the flights that Emtrasur did to Nicaragua, to Cuba, to Myanmar, and to Moscow, are political in nature. They are not making money out of transporting merchandise. They are there for political reasons. So, the question is, what were they doing in Ciudad Del Este three days in mid-May, three days after Pecci was assassinated? What are they doing three weeks later in Buenos Aires?
DERSHOWITZ: Well, we are all going to watch this space. In the remaining time that we have, I want turn to something that had been touched on in the panel and that is the AMIA bombing. The New York Times had a piece recently that made headlines not only in Argentina, but also, not surprisingly, around the world, after all, it’s The New York Times. The article, if I may say, had some internal inconsistencies that I think careful readers would have maybe noticed, making them question whether the article was fully accurate, but the headlines are often what grabs people’s attention.
As a student of the AMIA bombing myself, I humbly note that I found the article had many gaps and ran counter to the facts at least what I had learned over many years that were shown in the case. I’m not sure what happened with this particular article. But on July 28th, it was another article that had, I would say, a little bit more fulsome accounting. That was an article in Infobae, which is the most widely read Spanish language publication. And essentially, the article said that there apparently is no new information that contradicts what Alberto Nisman’s investigations found.
This is my question to the panel. Why, so many years later, are these sorts of things so important to correct? What’s at stake here in fully understanding Iran’s role in the AMIA? That’s why I’m pointing to these stories. Why is it so important to correct the record on things that happened 28 and 30 years ago today? Is it because approximately half of the, I should say, half a dozen or so people indicted in the plot to cover up Iran’s role in the AMIA serve in the current government? Or is it just something else?
By the way, I should mention that the people who were indicted have not been convicted. That the case is still going through the courts, and they assert their innocence. I think it’s important to say that. But what’s the reason that getting clarity on this issue is so important? Mariano?
FEDERICI: I’m happy to take that question. I think it’s important because there is no doubt according to the evidence and the facts in the case of Iran’s responsibility in these attacks. Prosecutor Nisman conducted serious efforts to collect information that is now incorporated into the case on this involvement.
We talked a little bit about that here. Rabbani’s role at the end of the day as an attaché of the Iranian embassy in Argentina, he was responsible for things. For instance, he was responsible for things such as collecting money that was wired from Iran and that touched upon different financial centers landed in Argentine banks days or maybe a couple weeks before the attacks took place. There is absolutely no doubt, I think, from the evidence collected, that Iran masterminded the attacks, coordinated possibly also finance and, in my view, participated in operational aspects as well, receiving money, providing money, buying the van, and purchasing the van that perpetrated the attacks. Aren’t those operational aspects of the execution of the attack?
Yes, the suicide bomber was a member of Hezbollah, and it was Hezbollah who executed them, but there is no doubt about Iran’s involvement here, and I think it’s important to get those facts correct, particularly as the world also discusses the possibility of entering into a new nuclear deal with Iran.
Iran is not only a potential nuclear threat to the world, but it’s also a terrorist threat. It’s a state sponsor of terrorism. Its malign activities involve threats that are not only related with an intelligence aspect, but also with the terrorist angle, with the threat to global peace and security from the terrorist side. It’s important to establish that correctly as we contemplate all the potential concessions that the potential new deal for Iran could involve.
LOPEZ MURPHY: My point there is maybe clarify one point that at least I, myself, have not heard before, is that Hezbollah displays and disseminates all through Lebanon. That was not so clear before. And now, we have clear that fact and the development of cultural and religious action, and then social action. And then the network that goes through families through, friends or other mechanisms is a very dangerous thing for our countries.
And, you have to have in mind that the ideology of an autocratic country, not only an authoritarian country that the relation is identified with the state, it’s just impossible=to open a free society, because if the state is in the ownership of a religion, you cannot be against that and that is a key development, because that explains why we have to be so careful. We’re not intentional–
We discovered the problem after the Uruguayans rejected the air space to the plane, but when we put together all the things, and we remember what has happened in our countries, we have to act, and that displays why we are demanding the government if they collaborated or not, but the evidence is very clear that something very wrong happened in Argentina and that is what explains our behavior and our position before the judge.
FEDERICI: Toby, if I may just to compliment the – in the AMIA case, you mentioned correctly the defendants have not yet been found guilty, but they are designated as terrorists for the Argentine government. They [Iranian INTERPOL red notice holders] are registered people. The Iranians with the red notices out there, some of whom are members of the current Iranian administration, are designated as terrorists under the public registry of terrorist suspects in Argentina.
That’s an important thing to say, and also, in relation with what the Congressman was just saying in the context of the case, I think if we are able to establish that this mission, this transaction, was connected with, in some way or another, the provision of material support to the IRGC, to Hezbollah in particular, because it’s a terrorist organization for us, or to any of these terrorists that are designated by our country as such, we have a case there that cannot hold and sustain an accusation for at least for terrorist financing.
And, in my view, the evidence already collected in the case, which could be, of course, supported with further international corporation, but the evidence collected already in the case is very close to being able to establish that.
DERSHOWITZ: I have a closing question. I was in Argentina when the JCPOA was being negotiated, and I was told by an American official in Argentina that Iran did not need to be tried in a court of law in Argentina for the bombing of the AMIA, only in a court of public opinion. Honestly, I gasped because I talk to people who are family members of those who were killed.
And, and here’s my question, whatever the merits or pitfalls are of a nuclear deal, does it concern you that the U.S., and perhaps others who want to see a nuclear deal inked with Iran will look the other way when it comes to non-nuclear malign activities? In other words, is Iran sort of testing the world to see whether the passage of time for terrorist attacks it committed in Argentina and for malign activities elsewhere has eroded its commitment to accountability and transparency? Is that what Iran is counting on, that the passage of time will erode our sense of commitment to this?
And, by the way, I should say, you can answer this, or use this as an opportunity to provide a minute of sort of closing comments, things you haven’t had a chance to say.
FEDERICI: I’ll answer that and close for the rest of the day for my part. It does concern me a lot. It concerns me a lot, because Iran represents different levels of threats. It represents a potential nuclear threat for sure. And, I understand the good intentions behind the idea of a nuclear deal in that respect, but it also represents a terrorist threat. It represents a threat to global peace and security.
It also represents a threat to financial integrity, to the contamination of our global financial markets with money that could be connected with these terrorist activities. It represents a threat to the stability of the democratic order of regions, in this case, of Latin American countries.
So, I think those issues should not be underestimated and should not be left out of the assessment. I am an expert on financial integrity issues, and I’ve participated in several discussions related with the threat that Iran represents to the integrity of global financial markets. Our government under the leadership of President Macri interacted with the U.S. administration, the previous one, in working at the FATF, the Financial Action Task Force, to reinsert, to reestablish the countermeasures against Iran.
In other words, to get Iran back on the blacklist of the FATF, because under the previous nuclear deal, one of the consequences of that deal was that Iran had been removed from the blacklist into a sort of gray list type of situation, or some people called it dark gray.
Hopefully, hopefully this will not happen again, because that threat to the financial integrity of our global financial markets is there. Bringing Iran out of the blacklist would allow Iran to regain access to global financial markets, to finance itself and its operations freely without any obstacles, and that would empower also the other threats that the regime represents, particularly on the terrorist side.
So, I think these are issues that should be seriously taken into consideration and assessed comprehensively when we discuss the potential of a new nuclear deal.
DERSHOWITZ: Congressman, and then Emanuele. Closing remarks.
LOPEZ MURPHY: Yes. I want to make three concluding remarks. First of all, it’s a problem of national defense for all the countries in Latin America to be careful about all the relations between Iran and Venezuela, as well as Iran and Nicaragua. I have to remind everyone that in the inauguration of the regime of Ortega one of those that does the under investigation in Argentina was in the ceremony.
FEDERICI: Rezai.
LOPEZ MURPHY: Yes. And, unfortunately, our ambassador was present as well. The key for our national defense is, in my view, to think, first of all, to control very well the financial leakage. That is more simple. That is the bottleneck of the terrorist action, and we have to go there to be very careful.
And, second, to control our borders and mainly our trade and in harbors or in airports. That is the main task of our intelligence service, because it’s a national defense against a threat that in our case, we suffer to terrorism.
The second point that I want to underline is these ideas of a theological theocratic society link with a very authoritarian and totalitarian ideas in Latin America. I cannot understand why after so many famous, and so terrible performances in Cuba, in Venezuela, in Nicaragua, people in our countries believe that this can be a way for the future.
I cannot understand but it is very clear for us that we have to highlight, in this case, the relationship between this type of threats that’s out there.
Third, the fight for freedom is not a fight that you can put aside. You have to fight for freedom every day, and you have to fight for freedom because it’s only way to have a real life, and freedom is not only affected by your own government and for your own problems inside the country, but also by terrorist organizations that have linkages with closed societies that are against freedom and against the values that we defend during all our lives.
I am very old now, but I can say for a very long period of time, all through Latin America, I have been fighting for freedom, and freedom is perhaps the main message for modernity. If you look what make the country prosper and develop, it’s freedom. Without freedom, it’s impossible to be successful. And that is my final word.
DERSHOWITZ: Thank you. And Emanuele, you have the closing word.
OTTOLENGHI: Well, it’s hard to match what’s just been said by my two colleagues. I can only second what they said. I’d just like to add that if history is prologue, then we do need to worry that under the guise of an agreement that should be narrow and focused only on non-proliferation and arms control, we may actually get a completely different posture by Western governments, vis-a-vis Iran, opening of commerce, opening of trade, loosening up of controls, and a wider tolerance for those aspects of Iran’s malign behavior that have nothing to do with the nuclear file.
The nuclear file would make those aspects more dramatic, as one of the foremost experts on non-proliferation, an expert from France, always used to say, “if you like the way Hezbollah behaves now, you’re going to love it when Iran has nuclear weapons, because that would give Iran even more deterrence to protect.”
But, if we create a tradeoff for Iran where we put some obeyed limited constraints on its nuclear program and allow it to continue with its malign activities, then we’re going to end much, much worse off. We need not lose sight of those activities.
We did it in the Cold War. We reached non-proliferation and armed control agreements with the Soviet Union without losing sight of the fact that the Soviet Union was the heart of darkness, was an empire of evil. It had engineered famines and deported millions of people and committed cultural genocide and was supporting oppression all over the world, and we continued to combat its advance while negotiating those treaties and we can do the same with Iran. And that is my hope.
DERSHOWITZ: Thank you very much for those very thoughtful, informative, and compelling remarks. I really appreciate that. Let me just tell our audience that this is what the FDD does throughout the year. I encourage people to visit our website, fdd.org, to learn more about our work on Iran’s penetration into Latin America, all aspects really of U.S.-Iran policy. And with that, thanks very much for joining us.