English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For December 05/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.december05.21.htm

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Bible Quotations For today
Circumcision of John the Baptist: “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.
Luke 01/57-66: When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.” They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.” Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 04-05/2021
Macron Discusses Lebanese File with Saudi Crown Prince
Saudi Arabia, France Say Lebanon Must Enact Comprehensive Reforms
Saudi Crown Prince, Macron Hold Joint Phone Call with Lebanon’s PM
Mikati Urges Lebanese Parties Not to Offend Brotherly Countries
Israel: Hamas Militia Operates In Lebanon Under Hezbollah’s Cover
Lebanese Army Arrests ISIS Militant
What's Next for Govt. after Kordahi's Resignation?
Hizbullah Says 'Open to Solutions' Leading to Cabinet Revival
U.S. Embassy Launches 'Digital Mothers' Training Program
Kordahi's resignation timed with Macron's Gulf tour but unlikely to sway Saudis
Cruising in Muddied Waters/Charles Elias Chartouni/December 04/2021
Lebanon deserves better than Aoun/Khairallah Khairallah/The Arab Weekly/December 04/2021
Lokman’s wise mother/Makram Rabah/Now Lebanon/December 04/2021
Les élections parlementaires/Jean-Marie Kassab/Decembre 05/2021
Je suis fatigué./Jean-Marie Kassab/Decembre 04/2021

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 04-05/2021
Iran's attitude brinks Vienna talks to the brink, US talks of 'other options'
U.S. Heaps Blame on Iran for Stalled Nuclear Talks
Macron Arrives in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Crown Prince, Macron Discuss Bilateral Relations
Macron Boosts French Presence in Gulf Region
Macron Thanks Qatar for Afghan Evacuations
U.S. Intelligence Finds Russia Planning Ukraine Offensive
Arab Coalition Destroys Ballistic Missile Launch Pad in Sanaa
Tunisia's Union Calls for Early Elections
US Airstrike Kills Senior Qaeda Leader In Northwest Syria
12 Killed in Iraq Attacks Blamed on ISIS
Blinken to Bennett: US Strongly Opposes Settlement Advancement
Israeli Police Kill Alleged Car-rammer in Arab Town
Sudan: Burhan Says He Will Not Run for Presidency
Francis Flies to Athens for First Papal Visit in Two Decades

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 04-05/2021
Like Obama, Biden Silent on Iran Mullahs Killing Peaceful Protesters/Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/December 04/2021
Macron in Saudi Arabia: Resolving Regional Issues/Zuhair Al-Harthi/Asharq Al-Awsat/December, 04/2021
Vienna and the United States’ Miscalculations/Mustafa Fahs/Asharq Al-Awsat/December, 04/2021
Seif al-Islam is not looking to resurrect his father’s rule/Faisal Al Yafai/The Arab Weekly/December 04/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 04-05/2021
Macron Discusses Lebanese File with Saudi Crown Prince
Agence France Presse/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
French President Emmanuel Macron met Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler in Jeddah Saturday to address regional stability, in particular Lebanon's political and economic crises. Dialogue with Saudi Arabia, "the leading Gulf country in terms of size," is necessary to "work for stability in the region," Macron said on Friday. During his discussions with Prince Mohammed on Saturday, Macron is expected to plead the case of Lebanon, where an economic crisis has been exasperated by a diplomatic row sparked in October between Beirut and some Gulf states -- in particular Saudi Arabia which had blocked imports. His efforts are likely to receive a boost by the resignation of Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi whose remarks on the Saudi intervention in Yemen's war sparked the row.
'Role to play' -
Macron on Friday welcomed Kordahi's departure, saying he hopes to "re-engage all Gulf countries in relations with Lebanon."The French president has spearheaded international efforts to help Lebanon out of its worst-ever economic downturn. The country's fragile government has been struggling to secure international aid, particularly from wealthy Arab powers. Kordahi said Friday his resignation, which he had initially ruled out, became inevitable earlier this week when he met Prime Minister Najib Miqati. "I understood from Prime Minister Najib Miqati... that the French want my resignation before Macron's visit to Riyadh because it could maybe help them start a dialogue with Saudi officials over Lebanon and the future of bilateral ties," Kordahi told reporters. Lebanon's ties with Gulf states have also grown increasingly strained in recent years due to the growing influence of Iran-backed Hizbullah. Macron said that France has a role to play in the region. "But how can we work for regional stability and on Lebanon and many other issues while ignoring the first Gulf state in terms of geography and size?" he said.

Saudi Arabia, France Say Lebanon Must Enact Comprehensive Reforms
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
Saudi Arabia and France issued a common statement on Saturday saying that the Lebanese government must implement comprehensive reforms in the fields of finance, energy, anti-corruption and border control, the Saudi state news agency (SPA) reported. The statement was issued after French President Emmanuel Macron visited Saudi Arabia and met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz. Riyadh and Paris also agreed to establish a common humanitarian mechanism to alleviate the suffering of the Lebanese, the statement added.

Saudi Crown Prince, Macron Hold Joint Phone Call with Lebanon’s PM
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz and the French president held a joint phone call with Lebanon’s prime minister during Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the Kingdom on Saturday. PM Najib Mikati expressed Lebanon's appreciation for the great efforts being exerted by the Kingdom and France to stand by the Lebanese people, the Saudi Press Agency reported. He expressed the commitment of the Lebanese government to strengthen relations with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and reject anything that would harm their security and stability, SPA said. The three countries agreed to work together to support the comprehensive reforms that are necessary for Lebanon, it added.

Mikati Urges Lebanese Parties Not to Offend Brotherly Countries
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
Lebanon’s Minister of Information George Kordahi announced his resignation on Friday saying that he has decided “to put the national interest above personal considerations.”His resignation came weeks following offensive statements he made about the war in Yemen, which sparked a diplomatic rift with the Gulf States. The Lebanese authorities are seeking to mend the relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. In this regard, Prime Minister Najib Mikati stressed that Kordahi’s resignation “was necessary after the crisis that arose with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a number of GCC countries, and would open a door to addressing the problem…Mikati called upon all Lebanese parties to put Lebanon’s interests above all considerations, and not to offend in any way the brotherly countries or interfere in their affairs. “Lebanon looks forward to the best relations with its Arab brothers and to the historical ties that bring our states and peoples together,” he stated. The premier added that the government was “keen on implementing the provisions of the ministerial statement to strengthen Lebanon’s relations with brotherly Arab States… and rejects everything that could harm the security and stability of the Gulf.”The Lebanese premier also stressed that the government “will be strict and take the necessary measures to control the maritime and land borders to prevent all kinds of smuggling operations that harm the security of brotherly Arab countries, especially the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia.”Kordahi, who is affiliated with the Marada Movement, refused to resign in the weeks that followed the crisis, despite calls by Mikati and Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai for the need to prioritize national interests. He finally signed his resignation letter on Friday, and handed separate copies to President Michel Aoun and Mikati.

Israel: Hamas Militia Operates In Lebanon Under Hezbollah’s Cover
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
Sources in the Israeli army said that a Palestinian militia has been operating in Lebanon for several months and recruiting hundreds of fighters to join the battles if new round of fighting erupts in the Gaza Strip. Quoted by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Friday, the sources said that Hamas had secretly established the militia as a military arm in Lebanon since 2014 and tried to exploit it during the military operation launched by Israel on Gaza in May. At the time, the militia fired a limited number of rockets at northern Israeli towns, but was not ready for qualitative operations. The sources added that the leader of the Hamas movement abroad, Saleh al-Arouri, supervised the establishment of the militia to trigger Israel by firing rockets from Lebanon. They noted that the members of the Hamas militia in Lebanon were currently manufacturing rocket-propelled grenades with a range of tens of kilometers. Hamas is expecting the unit to soon posses more advanced weapons, including drones. Although Israel did not immediately attach much importance to this new military force, it began to monitor its activities more closely following the launch of rocket-propelled grenades during the last attack on Gaza. In this regard, the sources expressed Israeli fears that the unit would get a green light from Hezbollah and Iran to launch a series of rocket shells from Lebanon in the event of an escalation in Gaza, which would necessitate a violent Israeli reaction. It is noteworthy that the preparations conducted by the Israeli army in recent months to combat the Iranian nuclear program are taking into account the possibility of Tehran expanding the circle of hostilities to include Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip and exploiting militias on the three fronts in response to any Israeli attack on the nuclear facilities within its territory.

Lebanese Army Arrests ISIS Militant
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
A Lebanese army intelligence patrol arrested on Friday a man in connection with the terrorist organization ISIS. The intelligence directorate arrested a man identified by the initials M.S., and nicknamed Al-Baghdadi, in an operation that followed years of tracking and monitoring, the army command said in a communique carried by the German news agency. The arrested man, who was using false identification papers, admitted that he had “pledged allegiance to the terrorist organization ISIS and participated with one of the group’s cells in carrying out security operations and manufacturing explosives.”
Al-Baghdadi was also closely associated with a suicide bomber who had carried out bombings in Lebanon, the communique said. The army added that it started questioning the man under the supervision of the competent judiciary.

What's Next for Govt. after Kordahi's Resignation?
Naharnet/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
Conflicting reports emerged Saturday on whether Najib Miqati’s Cabinet will convene next week following yesterday’s resignation of Information Minister George Kordahi. Unnamed sources told Kuwait’s al-Anbaa newspaper that the standoff over Judge Tarek Bitar’s probe into the Beirut port blast will be defused through partitioning the case and referring the accused ex-PM and former ministers to the Higher Council for Trial of Presidents and Ministers. The sources added that this would be the second part of a bargain that started with Kordahi’s resignation. “The second phase begins with the convention of Cabinet in the presence of the ministers of Hizbullah and the Amal Movement, which will likely happen on Friday,” al-Anbaa quoted informed sources as saying. Al-Joumhouria newspaper meanwhile reported that no “appropriate solution” has yet been reached despite the intensification of contacts. It, however, added that “a new attempt is seeking to revive the first initiative of the Justice Minister, which had called for forming a judicial committee tasked with laying out the foundations on which the trial of presidents and ministers should be based.”Cabinet has not convened since October 14, when a political crisis erupted over Bitar’s investigations, with Hizbullah and Amal demanding that a decision be taken in Cabinet to remove him over alleged bias. President Michel Aoun’s camp and other parties had meanwhile voiced their rejection of political interference in the judiciary.

Hizbullah Says 'Open to Solutions' Leading to Cabinet Revival
Naharnet/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
Hizbullah is “still open to all solutions that lead to reviving Cabinet sessions,” MP Hassan Fadlallah of the group’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc said on Saturday, a day after one of two crises paralyzing Cabinet was resolved with the resignation of Information Minister George Kordahi. “We in Hizbullah are seeking the success of the government in its work… and we have always expressed our support and encouragement for the ministers to carry out their missions and for the work of ministerial panels, but we also want the government to work collectively,” the MP added. He, however, noted that there is “a clear path that can be taken by those in charge” of the government in order to end the crisis. “They have solutions in their hands which they can resort to in order to exit the crisis of its meetings’ suspension, especially that the reasons have become known,” Fadlallah went on to say. Cabinet has not convened since October 14, when a political crisis erupted over the investigations of Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar, with Hizbullah and Amal Movement demanding that a decision be taken in Cabinet to remove him over alleged bias. President Michel Aoun’s camp and other parties had meanwhile voiced their rejection of political interference in the judiciary.

U.S. Embassy Launches 'Digital Mothers' Training Program
Naharnet/Saturday, 4 December, 2021 
The U.S. Embassy in Lebanon on Saturday inaugurated the Digital Mothers training program in Tripoli at the Al Nahda Mixed School. The program, which will train 68 mothers of school children on technology and English, was officially launched by U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea.
At the event, Ambassador Shea was joined by a representative of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, as well as principals and teachers from four schools in North Lebanon. During the program, Ambassador Shea distributed tablets to the 68 participants, noting that “they will be learning skills that will help them, their children, their families and their communities.” Shea continued, noting that “in these difficult times, such initiatives are more important than ever” and this program “reaffirms the U.S. commitment to helping communities across Lebanon, especially those in the North.”Over the next year, the Digital Mothers Program, which is funded by the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, will provide 200 hours of digital literacy and English language lessons to mothers of school-aged children. "The ultimate goal of this program is to equip mothers with basic English and computer skills needed to actively support their children’s learning," the Embassy said in a statement. Each participant in the program is provided a fully operational tablet, accessories, a book, and internet access, all of which they will retain after the conclusion of the program. "This initiative builds on U.S. engagement in North Lebanon, which recently included the opening of an American Corner in Tripoli for training and development, as well as the 'Pop-Up American Spaces' program for school children and youth in Akkar," the Embassy added.

Kordahi's resignation timed with Macron's Gulf tour but unlikely to sway Saudis
The Arab Weekly/December 04/2021
Lebanese political analysts said that the resignation of Information Minister George Kordahi, pre-arranged in coordination with Hezbollah, was timed to coincide with French President Emmanuel Macron's Gulf tour.
It remains to be seen whether the resignation would be sufficient to convince Macron to undertake a mediation with the Saudis so as to end the chill between Riyadh and Beirut. Analysts believe the resignation does not change much in the overall equation as Saudi Arabia continues to see the Lebanese political class as being under the thumb of Hezbollah and its patron, Iran. The analysts indicated that the timing of the resignation was a message from Hezbollah and its political allies that they are unwilling to make any concessions to Saudi Arabia but would gladly offer the French president an opportunity to boost his country's influence in Lebanon. The same analysts believe Kordahi's resignation could satisfy some of the Gulf countries, as it shows that their pressures on Lebanon have yielded results, but is unlikely to change the position of Saudi Arabia, which, they say, "can no longer be swayed by simple apologies". After Kordahi's remarks, where he described the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen as an "aggression", a number of Gulf countries took a host of measures to ratchet up pressures on Lebanon. The kingdom recalled its ambassador from Beirut and banned all Lebanese imports, affecting hundreds of businesses and cutting off hundreds of millions in foreign currency to Lebanon. Riyadh was joined in its punitive measures by a number of its Gulf allies. The row added to immense economic troubles facing Lebanon, already mired in a financial meltdown. Saudi Arabia constitutes the third largest export market to Lebanon, as it accounted for six percent of the country's exports in 2020, with a value of about $217 million, according to the Chamber of Industry and Commerce. The retaliatory measures also caused anxiety, particularly among hundreds of thousands of Lebanese who work in the Gulf Arab countries and send home millions of dollars every year.
Calculated timing
It was clear that Kordahi did not resign in the context of efforts to appease tensions with Saudi Arabia, otherwise he would have stepped down since the beginning of the crisis. His resignation was instead a card in the hands of Hezbollah to add fuel to its rivalry with Riyadh and try to bolster ties with the French president, Lebanon experts say. Kordahi made no secret in his Friday press conference that he timed his resignation before the French president's visit to Riyadh. Speaking during a press conference, Kordahi said: "Because I am keen to take advantage of this promising opportunity that Macron has... I have decided to step down from my ministerial post."He expressed the hope his decision "could open a window... towards improved bilateral ties" with Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies. "The timing is right because I am offering something that could provide Lebanon with an exit" from the crisis, the former information minister added. "I understood from Prime Minister Najib Mikati... that the French want my resignation before Macron's visit to Riyadh because it could maybe help them start a dialogue with Saudi officials over Lebanon and the future of bilateral ties," Kordahi further told reporters. Macron who arrived in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday, as part of a tour that includes Qatar and Saudi Arabia, welcomed Kordahi's announcement as a step towards revitalising Mikati's cabinet. "I remain cautious, but my wish is... to be able to re-engage all the Gulf countries in their relationship with Lebanon," both politically and economically, Macron told reporters in Dubai on Friday.
"We are not at the end of the road yet but I hope that the next hours will see us move forward," he added. Gulf affairs experts have, however, downplayed any expectations that Macron would announce by the end of his tour the resumption of Lebanese-Gulf relations as they used to be before the row started.
Experts believe that Macron himself knows that the Lebanese political class cannot abide by any commitments, and therefore Saudi Arabia is likely at least for now to maintain its position so as not to give the impression of doing favours to Hezbollah, which it sees as being at the root of Lebanon's problems.
“The Saudi view is that any initiative that does not address that core issue will not succeed nor receive its blessing,” said the risk consultancy Eurasia Group in a statement Friday. “As a result, a minister’s resignation will be viewed as somewhat constructive but largely irrelevant to the much larger issue at hand.”
Prospects of significant financial assistance to Lebanon are therefore dim, the group said. Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed Kordahi’s resignation, saying it was “necessary” and “could open the door for tackling the problem with the brothers in the kingdom and the Gulf nations.”The standoff with Saudi Arabia has further paralyzed Lebanon’s government, which has been unable to convene since Oct. 12 amid reports that ministers allied with Hezbollah would resign if Kordahi goes.

شارل الياس شرتوني: الإبحار في المياه العكرة
Cruising in Muddied Waters
Charles Elias Chartouni/December 04/2021
"When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back "Friedrich Nietzsche"
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/104540/charles-elias-chartouni-cruising-in-muddied-waters-%d8%b4%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%b3-%d8%b4%d8%b1%d8%aa%d9%88%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%a8%d8%ad%d8%a7%d8%b1-%d9%81/
The US-Iranian negotiations seem to falter since the Iranian regime is multiplying its equivocations in regard to the international inspection of the nuclear sites, the thresholds of Uranium enrichment, the pursuit of its imperial inroads throughout the Middle East and State Terrorism within Iran and on the international scene, while Hezbollah is striving to consolidate its foreclosures in Lebanon and transform it into a platform for regional and international subversion. Meanwhile, the resignation of Georges Cordahi, the Hezbollah’s mouthpiece within the manufactured and manipulated cabinet coalition in Lebanon, is instrumentalized as a minor deflection from the scripted course and a decoy to alleviate the international pressure, simulate a faked normalization at the very time when the French President is trying to stymie polarization in Lebanon and the region and put a brake on Lebanon’s sliding into hell.
The chances of success of the late French presidential diplomacy are quite controversial since the normalization of the Iranian regime and its will to reengage the international community are still problematic, let alone nought. In the meantime Lebanon is pursuing its plunging into hell and witnessing the unraveling of its socio-economic and ecological textures, financial equilibriums, civil peace and ability to retrieve back a functional statehood and an effective sovereignty. The overriding question which hovers over political debates in our country is, whether Lebanon is likely to survive this destructive course driven by a deliberate policy, devised on the intersection between the Iranian regime’s imperial policy and the open determination of the Hezbollah to take it over and overhaul its geopolitical configuration and normative political choices. There are no chances for Lebanon to address its devastating financial, socio-economic and environmental problems in a context of geopolitical volatility, systemic political instability, open domination strategy and hermetic oligarchic foreclosures.
The Lebanese left to their own devices are unable to restore the working conditions of a working statehood, jump start their economy, reset their financial pendulums, overcome the long periods of stasis, and resist the intentional demolition of their centennial social capital. Lebanon has no chances to survive short of an interim internationalization regime to restore its self determination, engage a reformist course and rebuild institutions away from a bitter legacy of endemic civil instability, limited, discretionary and subjugated sovereignty, dysfunctional governance, and oligarchic entrenchments. The deliberate obstructionism of Hezbollah and its resolve to destroy the hereditament of a liberal and Democratic Lebanon is no hazard, after a centennial of attempts to subjugate Lebanon’s sovereignty and do away with its civility and national concord. Short of this international interlude, Lebanon is going to witness a long descent into the abyss, and the destruction of its historical legacy and exceptional democratic credentials in an ocean of Sultanism, destructive authoritarianism and totalitarian islamism.

Lebanon deserves better than Aoun
Khairallah Khairallah/The Arab Weekly/December 04/2021
Lebanese President Michel Aoun has no connection to dates, even to the dates of his election as president and the end of his term in office. An interview he gave to Al-Jazeera TV channel while in Doha, where he attended the opening of the Arab Football Cup, also revealed his ignorance of geography. This means his ignorance of what is going on in the region and the regional dimensions of the Lebanese-Gulf crisis, as well as, of course, of the extent of Hezbollah's control over Lebanon.
The president of Lebanon is a stranger to numbers and dates. He does not know, for instance, among other things, that he was elected president at the end of October-October 2016. He insists that his term began in 2017. He does not know that his presidential term ends in 2022. Somehow, he believes it ends in 2012, that is, six years before it began. President Aoun does not know in what year we live and what is going on these days in Lebanon, the Middle East and the Gulf region .
Aoun has no knowledge of the numbers whatsoever. He says, for example, that he has inherited a heavy burden and that the public debt was $158 billion on the day he arrived at the Baabda Palace. The Lebanese public debt is large, but it has not yet reached the hundred billion dollar mark, even five years after the start of Aoun's term in office.
Aoun has proven, through his 20-minute interview, that he does not possess the mental qualifications to be president. It was he who said one day in August of 1988, when talking about President Suleiman Franjieh, “What does Suleiman Franjieh mean when he says he wants to go back to being president? The presidency is no joke. It requires someone who can work 20 hours a day and Suleiman Franjieh is 80 years old and cannot concentrate more than an hour or two during the course of any one day. At his age, one no longer knows when he will become senile and when he will be fully alert. The presidential office needs someone who is young and productive.”
Aoun said this when he challenged electing Suleiman Franjieh as president of the republic for a second term, after the initial term he had served between 1970 and 1976. Does the current president of Lebanon realise that what he said in 1988 literally applies to him in 2021?
Unfortunately for Lebanon, Aoun has no memory whatsoever. The only exception may be his possession of a memory of hate. Hate for anyone successful and for any form of success. The worst of it all is that he does not know anything about the region. His only concern in talking to Al Jazeera was to defend Hezbollah. He ignored the reality that, thanks to Hezbollah, which is nothing but a brigade in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Lebanon has turned into a so-called resistance state hostile to everything that is Arab in the region.
This is the tip of the iceberg of Lebanese hostile acts against Gulf states, which include, among other things, the export of narcotics with the aim of harming Gulf societies which have always shown only munificence for Lebanon and the Lebanese.
Pity Lebanon, especially its Christians, for having a president of this calibre, a president who only cares about appeasing Hezbollah so that perhaps the party will impose Aoun’s son-in-law, Gebran Bassil, as next president of the republic, just as it imposed Aoun in the fall of 2016.
Aoun found a cathartic release in going to Qatar. The visit was useful in revealing how much the man lives in a world of his own that has nothing to do with reality. It was useful in exposing the reasons that made Hezbollah bet on him and put him in the position of president of the republic.
Aoun was not satisfied with just covering up for the Lebanon war and the victory of Hezbollah in that war over Lebanon and the Lebanese people. He did everything that was required of him, including ignoring the Battle of Beirut and the Mountain in May 2008. Before that, he had joined in the sit-in in downtown Beirut in order to disrupt life in the city in preparation for its invasion. The list of Aoun's crimes against Lebanon and the Lebanese is long. But what is short is the conclusion that can be drawn five years after his accession to the presidential office. The conclusion is that Lebanon is in dire straits. The country has completely collapsed. All the foundations on which it was established, even before independence, have also collapsed. The interview with Aoun was the best reflection of the fate that has befallen Lebanon as a country where the president has no connection to regional reality nor to the facts on the ground.

مكرم رباح: والدة الشهيد لقمان سليم الحكيمة
Lokman’s wise mother
Makram Rabah/Now Lebanon/December 04/2021
https://nowlebanon.com/lokmans-wise-mother/
On the day marking ten months since publicist Lokman Slim’s murder, historian Makram Rabah pays homage to Salma Mershak, Lokman’s mother and first mentor.
A few years back, while sitting in Lokman Slim’s garden in Haret Hreik planning out one of our many joint ventures on the history of Lebanon and the preservation of memory, we were interrupted by a graceful old woman who addressed Lokman in a mix of French and Egyptian Arabic.
Naturally, I was intrigued by this encounter which led me to inquire from my friend of her identity, to find out that the woman was in fact his mother, who was born in Egypt to a protestant father and a Lebanese mother from Mount Lebanon. She met Lokman’s father, the prominent lawyer, public intellectual and lawmaker Mohsen Slim, who she married in 1958 and had three children with – Hadi, Rasha and Lokman. All accomplished in their respective fields.
Fatefully, the wider public was introduced to Salma Mershak only after the brutal slaying of her son Lokman, an ardent anti-fascist and outspoken Hezbollah critic whose intellectual endeavors and projects stemmed from the contributions of his own parents. Salma Mershak’s motherhood sought higher education after her children reached school age. She enrolled at the American University of Beirut to pursue a graduate degree, studying and rubbing elbows with greats such as the famous historian Kamal Salibi, Joe Malone, and Constantine Zurayk and many others who shaped her views, and who were equally influenced by hers.
Mershak would later edit and publish a number of publications mainly centered on the intellectual history of the Levant and the Arab world, a world which her ancestors, the “Syrians” community in Egypt, commonly referred to as al-Shawam, played a pivotal role in. Her two seminal works on Nicola Haddad and Ibrahim al-Masri both document the contribution of these trailblazing Syrian intellectuals and the role they played in creating a bridge of intellectual and cultural exchanges.
Consequently, Salma Mershak did not help only establish a home where the beautiful Mohsen Slim villa is currently located, but she also nurtured and created an incubator which allowed for Lokman and many others unrestricted access to a vast network of public intellectuals, many of whom were friends of the family. Some of these figures later published their works with Dar al-Jadid, a publishing house founded by Lokman, which his sister Rasha continues to magnificently run.
Following the murder of Lokman in February of last year, the nation was mesmerized by the noble spirit of his mother, his sister Rasha, and his partner and wife Monika Borgmann whose dignified words and grief were far removed from the hatred of his assassins.
Standing over the grave of her brave son, laid to rest in the garden of his home, Salma Mershak in her soft Egyptian accent reminded everyone of what matter:
Civilized people debate, they may differ in opinion, but resorting to arms is never the solution. We are civilized people, and we are not animals in the jungle. Animals in the jungle eat each other. Violence can never be good for this country, it did not serve me as a mother as I lost my son, my only wish is for you to use your mind not your instinct, that is if you truly wish to build a country which Lokman so rightly deserves.
While the death of her son was immensely painful, Lokman’s mother did not allow her heart or her mind to be filled with hatred, rather it reinforced her liberal and humanitarian ethics, the values her son so eloquently and vividly crusaded for throughout his career.
Perhaps, above all, Salma Mershak and her family of distinguished intellectuals are the real guardians of liberal thought, as well as of the legacy of the area she married into in 1958. Mohsen Slim was a native of Haret Hreik, a small neighborhood at the outskirts of Beirut, in the heart of what is commonly referred to now as the Southern suburbs of Beirut, an area whose vast olive and citrus groves have been replaced by high-rise concrete buildings brought about by the massive wave of internal migration starting as early as the late 1960’s.
Despite her Egyptian background and somewhat elitist character, Salma became rooted in Haret Hreik and opened her home to her diverse neighborhood, which slowly but surely was seized by the forces of darkness that replaced the Athenian model of Philosophy with that of the warmongering of Sparta.
Notwithstanding, Salma, the elegant Slim Villa, and its vast garden gave Lokman a playground as a child and it later served as the location for his publishing house and the UMAM Documentation and Research center erected to serve as a guardian of memory in a political culture that promotes and celebrates amnesia and forgetfulness. The Slims’ villa of bright minds and souls with its humanity, diversity and never-ending commitment to knowledge stands as perhaps a last bastion for liberal thought battling the enemies at its gates who wish for their own bigotry and intellectual and religious shallowness to become mainstream.
Lokman’s career and vocal championing of justice, and his commitment to preserving the realms of memory and the untold stories of victims of conflict and violence stemmed from the milieu which his mother nurtured and still promotes. It was a banner which Lokman bore on his forehead until his brutal assassination by those who gullibly believed that a child born out of Salma Mershak and Mohsen Slim can be silenced.
Lokman might have left us in body but his smile and his bright mind and legacy will burn forever like the fire that Prometheus stole from the gods and gave to humanity, a warm fire that gently radiated from the eyes and intellect of Lokman’s wise mother.
The article was published in French on Icibeyrouth.com.
*Makram Rabah is a lecturer at the American University of Beirut, Department of History. His book Conflict on Mount Lebanon: The Druze, the Maronites and Collective Memory (Edinburgh University Press) covers collective identities and the Lebanese Civil War.

Les élections parlementaires
Jean-Marie Kassab/Decembre 05/2021
Les élections parlementaires si jamais elles se passent seront supervisées, organisées, imprégnées par les trois personnes suivantes et les organismes qu’ils président :
-Michel Aoun, collaborateur des iraniens, signataire avec eux d’ un accord écrit et signé à Mar Michael.
-Najib Mikati, nommé par le parlement actuel avec une majorité reconnue, celle du Hezbollah, extension militaire de l’Iran (de leur aveu).
-Nabih Berry, auteur et compositeur du refrain Shia Shia Shia.
De ce fait les nouveaux élus, de tous bords qu’ ils soient auront reconnu et totalement légalisé l’occupation Iranienne. Leur mandat sera contresigné par les trois affreux mentionnés ci-haut. Ils leur serreront la main bien sûr. Ils seront ainsi leurs associés de facto.
Bravo Messieurs. Triste pays.

Je suis fatigué.
Jean-Marie Kassab/Decembre 04/2021
Fatigué de souffrir sans fin.
Fatigué de pleurer sans larmes, d’espérer sans espoir, de vivre sans vie.
Fatigué de trainer sans recours, de courir sans but.
Je suis fatigué.
De vivoter sans lendemain, de vivre dans la peur.
De sommeiller sans réveil, de rêver sans sommeil.
Fatigué de lire sans comprendre, d’écouter sans entendre.
Fatigué de lutter sans gagner.
Fatigué qu’on me mente sans vergogne.
Fatigué d’être humilié, miséreux, sans toit, piétiné, blessé.
Je suis fatigué.
Fatigué d’être Libanais…

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 04-05/2021
Iran's attitude brinks Vienna talks to the brink, US talks of 'other options'
The Arab Weekly/December 04/2021
Indirect US-Iranian talks on salvaging the 2015 Iran nuclear deal teetered on the brink of crisis on Friday as they broke off until next week with European officials expressing dismay at the demands of Iran's new hardline administration while Washington waving the threat of "other options". The seventh round of talks in Vienna is the first with delegates sent by Iran's anti-Western President Ebrahim Raisi. His election in June caused a hiatus in the talks of five months, heightening suspicions among US and European officials that Iran is playing for time while its makes nuclear advances. "Over five months ago, Iran interrupted negotiations. Since then, Iran has fast-forwarded its nuclear program. This week, it has back-tracked on diplomatic progress made," senior officials from France, Britain and Germany said in a statement, adding that Iran was demanding "major changes" to the text. It is "unclear how these new gaps can be closed in a realistic time frame", they added.The three European powers expressed "disappointment and concern" at Iran's demands, some of which they said were incompatible with the deal's terms or went beyond them. Also on Friday, the United States hit out at Iran, saying nuclear talks between the Islamic republic and world powers had stalled because Tehran "does not seem to be serious" about returning to the table. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that Washington would not let its adversary prolong talks while continuing to advance its nuclear ambitions, and would pursue "other options" if diplomacy failed. The rebuke came as diplomats paused a seventh round of international talks aimed at reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, with US and European participants voicing concern after five days of negotiation. "What we've seen in the last couple of days is that Iran right now does not seem to be serious about doing what's necessary to return to compliance, which is why we ended this round of talks in Vienna," Blinken told a virtual conference of world leaders. "But the window is very, very tight because what is not acceptable, and what we will not allow to happen, is for Iran to try to drag out this process while continuing to move forward inexorably in building up its program."Blinken's assessment was echoed by President Joe Biden, whose spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the first six rounds had "made progress," but that "Iran's approach this week was not, unfortunately, to try to resolve the remaining issues."Psaki said Iran had "started this new round of negotiations with a new round of nuclear provocations" reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
'Time is running out'
She also blamed Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, for unilaterally pulling the United States out of the deal, sparking a "dramatic and unprecedented expansion" of Iran's nuclear programme. Biden has said he wants to re-enter the deal, and the United States has been participating in this week's talks indirectly. The landmark accord -- initially agreed between Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia and the United States -- began unravelling in 2018 when Trump pulled out and reimposed sanctions, while Iran started exceeding limits on its nuclear program the following year. "Tehran is walking back almost all of the difficult compromises crafted after many months of hard work," said senior diplomats from the "E3" grouping of Britain, France and Germany. Delegations will now return home before talks resume in the Austrian capital next week "to see whether gaps can be closed or not," the diplomats said. The E3 "remain fully committed to a diplomatic way forward," they added, but stressed that "time is running out." The talks are aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, which was aimed at putting curbs on Iran's nuclear program to ensure it couldn't develop an atomic weapon, in exchange for sanctions relief for Tehran. The deal does not address Iran's ballistic missile development or regional destabilisation activities.
'Not too late'
Blinken had already issued a warning about the prospects for an agreement, arguing that it was "not too late for Iran to reverse course." Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had used a call with Blinken to call for the "immediate cessation" of the nuclear talks, accusing Iran of "nuclear blackmail." The talks had resumed in Vienna on Monday after Iran paused them in June following the election of ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi. During this week's talks, Iran submitted two draft proposals on sanctions lifting and nuclear-related measures, presenting them as evidence "of our serious will to reach an agreement." But European diplomats said there was "no path forward" based on the offer. The talks could resume in the middle of next week but speaking on a trip to the Gulf, French President Emmanuel Macron hinted that there could be a longer break before negotiators reconvene. In a telephone call with EU top diplomat Josep Borrell, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the talks were going well "but slowly on all tracks."Speaking after the end of the latest talks, China's ambassador to the UN in Vienna, Wang Qun, struck a more positive note, saying that "all parties have re-engaged themselves in very substantive terms." He told reporters outside the Palais Coburg hotel where the talks have been taking place that he hoped the pause in talks "will help to provide further political impetus to the negotiations."

U.S. Heaps Blame on Iran for Stalled Nuclear Talks
Agence France Presse/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
The United States has hit out at Iran, saying nuclear talks between the Islamic republic and world powers had stalled because Tehran "does not seem to be serious" about returning to the table. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that Washington would not let its adversary prolong talks while continuing to advance its nuclear ambitions, and would pursue "other options" if diplomacy failed. The rebuke came as diplomats paused a seventh round of international talks aimed at reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, with U.S. and European participants voicing concern after five days of negotiation. "What we've seen in the last couple of days is that Iran right now does not seem to be serious about doing what's necessary to return to compliance, which is why we ended this round of talks in Vienna," Blinken told a virtual conference of world leaders. "But the window is very, very tight because what is not acceptable, and what we will not allow to happen, is for Iran to try to drag out this process while continuing to move forward inexorably in building up its program." Blinken's assessment was echoed by President Joe Biden, whose spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the first six rounds had "made progress," but that "Iran's approach this week was not, unfortunately, to try to resolve the remaining issues." Psaki said Iran had "started this new round of negotiations with a new round of nuclear provocations" reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
'Time is running out' -
She also blamed Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, for unilaterally pulling the United States out of the deal, sparking a "dramatic and unprecedented expansion" of Iran's nuclear program. Biden has said he wants to re-enter the deal, and the United States has been participating in this week's talks indirectly. The landmark accord -- initially agreed between Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia and the United States -- began unravelling in 2018 when Trump pulled out and reimposed sanctions, prompting Iran to start exceeding limits on its nuclear program the following year. "Tehran is walking back almost all of the difficult compromises crafted after many months of hard work," said senior diplomats from the "E3" grouping of Britain, France and Germany. Delegations will now return home before talks resume in the Austrian capital next week "to see whether gaps can be closed or not," the diplomats said.
The E3 "remain fully committed to a diplomatic way forward," they added, but stressed that "time is running out." The talks are aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, which was aimed at putting curbs on Iran's nuclear program to ensure it couldn't develop an atomic weapon, in exchange for sanctions relief for Tehran. Iran has always insisted that its nuclear program is peaceful.
'Nuclear blackmail'-
Blinken had already issued a warning about the prospects for an agreement, arguing that it was "not too late for Iran to reverse course." Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had used a call with Blinken to call for the "immediate cessation" of the nuclear talks, accusing Iran of "nuclear blackmail."
The talks had resumed in Vienna on Monday after Iran paused them in June following the election of ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi. During this week's talks, Iran submitted two draft proposals on sanctions lifting and nuclear-related measures, presenting them as evidence "of our serious will to reach an agreement."But European diplomats said there was "no path forward" based on the offer. The talks could resume in the middle of next week but speaking on a trip to the Gulf, French President Emmanuel Macron hinted that there could be a longer break before negotiators reconvene. In a telephone call with EU top diplomat Josep Borrell, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the talks were going well "but slowly on all tracks." Speaking after the end of the latest talks, China's ambassador to the U.N. in Vienna, Wang Qun, struck a more positive note, saying that "all parties have re-engaged themselves in very substantive terms."He told reporters outside the Palais Coburg hotel where the talks have been taking place that he hoped the pause in talks "will help to provide further political impetus to the negotiations."

Macron Arrives in Saudi Arabia
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Jeddah on Saturday. Upon arrival at King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah, the French President was received by Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Governor of Makkah Region; Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, Minister of Culture; Saleh Al-Turki, Mayor of Jeddah, Major General Saleh Al-Jabri, Director of Makkah Region police; Fahd Al-Ruwaili, the Saudi Ambassador to France; Ludovic Pouille, the French Ambassador to the Kingdom; and a number of senior officials.

Saudi Crown Prince, Macron Discuss Bilateral Relations
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense met at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah on Saturday with visiting French President Emmanuel Macron, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Crown Prince welcomed the French President on his visit to the Kingdom, while the French President said he was happy to visit Saudi Arabia and meet with the Crown Prince, SPA said.
The Crown Prince conveyed to the French President the greetings of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, while Macron sent his greetings to the King, it said. During the meeting, the Crown Prince and Macron reviewed aspects of the Saudi-French relations, areas of partnership between the two countries, the prospects of bilateral cooperation, and opportunities for their development in accordance with the Saudi Vision 2030, the news agency said. The latest developments in the Middle East and efforts to achieve international stability and peace were also reviewed, SPA added.

Macron Boosts French Presence in Gulf Region
Dubai - Riyadh - Asharq Al-Awsat and Fatehelrahman Yousif/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
France has strengthened its presence in the Gulf region through agreements and political positions made by French President Emmanuel Macron in the United Arab Emirates. Macron is on an official trip to the Gulf region, visiting Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar between Dec. 3 and 4.
The UAE and France have signed major deals, including an order of Rafale fighter jets and combat helicopters, on Friday to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries. Remarkably, the French president considered it “extremely difficult” to reach an agreement with Iran if the Gulf states were not part of it, expressing hope for progress on the Lebanese crisis. During his tour of Gulf states, Macron is supposed to discuss basic strategic issues in the region, such as the fight against terrorism and extremism, the Lebanon crisis, the elections in Libya, the Iranian nuclear deal, and others.
The Elysee presidential palace affirmed that Macron “continues his commitment,” since the beginning of his presidential term in 2017, to "contributing to the stability" of the region extending from the “Mediterranean to the Gulf.”Also, the French presidency said the arms deal, signed at a ceremony between Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Macron on the sidelines of the Dubai Expo 2020, is worth $19 billion. The deal will directly support 7,000 jobs in France and guarantee the supply chain of the Dassault Aviation-made aircraft until the end of 2031. The first French warplanes will be delivered from 2027. Defense sources said the Rafale would replace the Mirage 2000 fleet the UAE acquired in 1998. "This French commitment in the region, this active cooperation in the fight against terrorism, the clear positions we have taken mean that we have increased our proximity to the UAE,” Macron said. The French President congratulated Sheikh Mohamed and the UAE on the country’s 50th anniversary. He wished the Emirates further progress and prosperity and expressed his country's aspiration to cooperate with the UAE to carry out joint initiatives that serve the interests of both countries and support peace efforts in the region. The leaders discussed friendly relations and cooperation in various sectors, including advanced technology, energy, food security and education.

Macron Thanks Qatar for Afghan Evacuations
Agence France Presse/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
French President Emmanuel Macron, on a visit to the Gulf, expressed appreciation to Qatar on Saturday for helping to organise the latest evacuation to France of more than 250 threatened Afghans. Qatar has played a significant role both in diplomacy and evacuations at the end of a 20-year war in Afghanistan by Western nations. "I thank Qatar for the role it has played since the start of the crisis, and which permitted the organisation of several evacuations," said Macron, before heading to Saudi Arabia for the final leg of his two-day Gulf tour.
Macron met on Friday evening with Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. A flight chartered by Paris flew out the 258 Afghans who were "particularly threatened because of their activities, especially journalists, or because of their links to France, including former locally-recruited civilian personnel for our armies," the French foreign ministry said on Friday. The same flight carried 11 French nationals and about 60 from The Netherlands, along with dependents. The ministry said that since September 10, 110 French nationals and their dependents as well as 396 Afghans have been evacuated on 10 flights organised by Qatar. "We are going to continue," Macron said. Around half of the 124,000 Westerners and Western-allied Afghans flown out of Afghanistan in the waning days of the US-led military involvement in Afghanistan transited through Qatar. Several European countries are considering opening a common site for diplomatic representation in the country's capital, Kabul, after the departure of their ambassadors following the capital's fall to the Islamist extremist Taliban in August, Macron said. Qatar has long hosted a Taliban political office.
After his stay overnight Friday in Qatar, the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, Macron was heading to the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah on Saturday. Macron will become one of the first Western leaders to meet the kingdom's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, since the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Speaking in Dubai, the first stop on his tour, Macron said he had not forgotten Khashoggi but it was impossible to engage with the region while ignoring the powerful Saudis. The United Arab Emirates signed a record 14-billion-euro ($15.8 billion) contract for 80 Rafale warplanes at the start of Macron's visit

U.S. Intelligence Finds Russia Planning Ukraine Offensive
Associated Press/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
U.S. President Joe Biden has pledged to make it "very, very difficult" for Russia's Vladimir Putin to take military action in Ukraine as U.S. intelligence officials determined that Russian planning is underway for a possible military offensive that could begin as soon as early 2022. The new intelligence finding estimates that the Russians are planning to deploy an estimated 175,000 troops and almost half of them are already deployed along various points near Ukraine's border, according to a Biden administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the finding. It comes as Russia has picked up its demands on Biden to guarantee that Ukraine will not be allowed to join the NATO alliance.The official added that the plans call for the movement of 100 Russian battalion tactical groups along with armor, artillery and equipment. Intelligence officials also have seen an uptick in Russian propaganda efforts through the use of proxies and media outlets to denigrate Ukraine and NATO ahead of a potential invasion, the official said. Asked about the intelligence finding as he set out for the presidential retreat at Camp David on Friday evening, Biden reiterated his concerns about Russian provocations. "We've been aware of Russia's actions for a long time and my expectation is we're gonna have a long discussion with Putin," Biden said.
The risks of such a gambit for Putin, if he actually went through with an invasion, would be enormous.
U.S. officials and former U.S. diplomats say while Putin clearly is laying the groundwork for a possible invasion, Ukraine's military is better armed and prepared today than in past years, and the sanctions threatened by the West would do serious damage to Russia's economy. It remains unclear if Putin intends to go through with what would be a risky offensive, they say. Earlier Friday, Biden pledged to make it "very, very difficult" for Putin to take military action in Ukraine and said new initiatives coming from his administration are intended to deter Russian aggression. "What I am doing is putting together what I believe to be will be the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to make it very, very difficult for Mr. Putin to go ahead and do what people are worried he may do," Biden told reporters. The Kremlin said Friday that Putin would seek binding guarantees precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine during the call with Biden. But Biden sought to head off the demand. "I don't accept anyone's red line," Biden said. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials also warned that Russia could invade next month. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told lawmakers Friday that the number of Russian troops near Ukraine and in Russia-annexed Crimea is estimated at 94,300, warning that a "large-scale escalation" is possible in January. U.S. intelligence officials estimate closer to 70,000 troops are deployed near the border, according to an unclassified intelligence document obtained Friday by The Associated Press.
The intelligence findings were first reported by The Washington Post. There are signs that the White House and Kremlin are close to arranging a conversation next week between Biden and Putin. Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters Friday that arrangements have been made for a Putin-Biden call in the coming days, adding that the date will be announced after Moscow and Washington finalize details. The Russians say a date has been agreed upon, but declined to say when. Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have also tentatively agreed to have a call next week, according to a person close to the Ukrainian president who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said administration officials have "engaged in the possibility" of a Biden-Putin call. White House officials did not respond to a request for comment on the expected Zelenskyy call. "It certainly would be an opportunity to discuss our serious concerns about the bellicose rhetoric, about the military buildup that we're seeing on the border of Ukraine," Psaki said of a potential Biden-Putin call.
Biden did not detail what actions he was weighing. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who met Thursday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Sweden, said the U.S. has threatened new sanctions. He did not detail the potential sanctions but suggested the effort would not be effective.
"If the new 'sanctions from hell' come, we will respond," Lavrov said. "We can't fail to respond." Psaki said the administration would look to coordinate with European allies if it moved forward with sanctions. She noted that bitter memories of Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that had been under Ukraine's control since 1954, are front of mind as the White House considers the way forward. "We know what President Putin has done in the past," Psaki said. "We see that he is putting in place the capacity to take action in short order." Deep differences were on display during the Blinken-Lavrov meeting, with the Russia official charging the West was "playing with fire" by denying Russia a say in any further NATO expansion into countries of the former Soviet Union. Zelenskyy has pushed for Ukraine to join the alliance, which holds out the promise of membership but hasn't set a a timeline.
Blinken this week said the U.S. has "made it clear to the Kremlin that we will respond resolutely, including with a range of high-impact economic measures that we've refrained from using in the past." He did not detail what sanctions were being weighed, but one potentially could be to cut off Russia from the SWIFT system of international payments. The European Union's Parliament approved a nonbinding resolution in April to cut off Russia from SWIFT — the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications — if its troops entered Ukraine. Such a move would go far toward blocking Russian businesses from the global financial system. Western allies reportedly considered such a step in 2014 and 2015, during earlier Russian-led escalations of tensions over Ukraine.
Then-Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said it would be tantamount to "a declaration of war."But some U.S. government officials say Putin also could be seeking attention and concessions from Biden and other Western leaders, using the military escalation to force Russia back into a central role in world affairs as it had in the days of the Soviet Union. "They are seriously envious for superpower status and ... the parity to the United States that existed during the Cold War. That's what this is all about," said John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. An invasion is possible, but more likely, "they provoke a crisis, they get concessions from us, and then they reduce the crisis. Right? And that, I think, is probably their objective," Herbst said Friday.

Arab Coalition Destroys Ballistic Missile Launch Pad in Sanaa
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
The Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen said Saturday that it destroyed a ballistic missile launch pad and a warehouse used to build drones in Sanaa.
The launch pad destruction left several experts dead, the Saudi-led Arab Coalition said. It added that a mine-making and drone-assembly workshop was also destroyed.

Tunisia's Union Calls for Early Elections
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
Tunisia's powerful UGTT union called for early elections on Saturday, saying it was concerned for the country's democratic gains because of the president's reluctance to announce a roadmap for political reforms. UGTT leader Noureddine Taboubi's comments, in a speech to thousands of his supporters, put more pressure on President Kais Saied, more than four months after he seized all political powers. "We supported July 25 because it was an opportunity to save the country and implement reforms ... but we have become afraid for Tunisians' democratic gains because of the excessive reluctance to announce a roadmap", Reuters quoted Taboubi as saying. He added that the president should call for a dialogue with political parties and national organizations that includes reviewing the electoral law and agreeing on early and transparent elections. Saied suspended parliament and dismissed the government on July 25, installing a new prime minister and announcing he would rule by decree. The president has defended his takeover as the only way to end governmental paralysis after years of political squabbling and economic stagnation. Saied also promised to end the emergency state quickly but has not given a date for this, and pressure has mounted for him to present a roadmap to return to parliamentary democracy.

US Airstrike Kills Senior Qaeda Leader In Northwest Syria
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
A Qaeda commander was killed in a US drone strike in northwest Syria Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. SOHR sources reported that the International Coalition against ISIS targeted an unidentified man on a motorcycle on the road to al-Mastuma in Idlib countryside with three missiles, killing him immediately. The London-based war monitor also said that a family of six, including women and children sustained various injuries, as the car they were traveling in was passing near the site of the drone attack. Earlier in October, the US Central Command also reported killing a senior Qaeda leader in a drone strike in northwest Syria. "Abdul Hamid al-Matar was killed in an attack by an MQ-9 Reaper drone," said Army Maj. John Rigsbee, a CENTCOM spokesman, in a statement posted on the command’s website. “Al-Qaeda continues to present a threat to America and our allies. Al-Qaeda uses Syria as a safe haven to rebuild, coordinate with external affiliates, and plan external operations,” said Rigsbee at the time. “Al-Qaeda also uses Syria as a base for threats reaching into Syria, Iraq and beyond."

12 Killed in Iraq Attacks Blamed on ISIS
Erbil - Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
At least nine Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters and three brothers were killed in northern Iraq attacks blamed on ISIS, officials and a family member said Friday. The militants attacked the village of Khidir Jija, south of the Kurdish capital of Erbil, late Thursday, killing the three civilians and two peshmerga, Kurdish security officials said. The peshmerga launched an operation in response, and seven more fighters died when "an explosive device planted by ISIS elements" blew up. The three civilians, brothers aged between 11 and 24, were children of a village official, a relative told AFP. Iraqi Kurdistan's prime minister, Masrour Barzani, later said that another peshmerga fighter died in a road accident while transporting the casualties. "We ask the (international) coalition forces and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to provide the peshmerga with weapons because they are defending the homeland," Barzani told reporters. Late last month, five Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga were killed and four wounded in a roadside bombing claimed by ISIS. That bombing, south of the city of Sulaimaniyah, underlined the "serious threat" ISIS still poses to northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, Barzani said at the time.

Blinken to Bennett: US Strongly Opposes Settlement Advancement
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has expressed dismay over Israeli plans to advance a controversial East Jerusalem housing project, sources have said.
He "strongly emphasized" Washington's objection to Israeli settlement advancement, they said. In a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Thursday, Blinken expressed the Biden administration’s vehement opposition to the 9,000-home plan in Atarot, the sources said. The State Department later issued a read-out of the conversation. It said Blinken “strongly emphasized that Israel and the Palestinian Authority should refrain from unilateral steps that exacerbate tensions and undercut efforts to advance a negotiated two-state solution, including advancing settlement activity.”

Israeli Police Kill Alleged Car-rammer in Arab Town
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
Police on Friday shot and killed a man in an Arab town in northern Israel who had allegedly been involved in a car-ramming attack that wounded two officers, Israeli officials said. The incident came after a round of violence among residents of Umm al-Fahm, including armed clashes. On Thursday, a man was shot and killed in the town. Israeli police and firefighters raced to the community as gunfire rang out and buildings were set ablaze. The chaos comes amid a wave of violent crime in Israel's Arab community that shows no sign of abating, despite far-reaching action announced in recent months by Israeli authorities, The Associated Press reported. Friday's incident began when paramilitary Border Police opened fire on a vehicle speeding toward them, fatally shooting one man and wounding the other in the car, who was arrested after receiving medical treatment, Border Police said. They said the two officers suffered light to moderate wounds. They said a gun and ammunition were found in the car, and that the two men were suspected of involvement in violent family disputes that have rocked Umm al-Fahm in recent months. Authorities said the car-ramming was not politically motivated. Arab towns across Israel have seen a major escalation in violence in recent years driven by organized crime and family feuds. At least 117 Arabs have been killed in 2021, the highest number on record, according to the Abraham Initiatives, which promotes Jewish-Arab coexistence. The crime rate among Arabs far exceeds their 20% share of the population.
Arab citizens of Israel have the right to vote, most speak fluent Hebrew, and they have a large presence in the country's universities and medical profession. But they face widespread discrimination, especially with housing.
They have close familial ties to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, and largely identify with their cause, leading many Jewish Israelis to view them with suspicion. Jewish-Arab violence erupted across Israel during the Gaza war in May. Arab activists have long accused police of ignoring crime in their communities. Israeli officials have touted a number of initiatives in recent years, including larger budgets for law enforcement in Arab communities, but police say local leaders could do more to help them. Israel's current government pledged major action against crime in Arab communities in August as it announced a wave of arrests. That was a central demand of a small party that made history this year by being the first Arab faction to join a ruling coalition. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett expressed support for the police on Friday, calling for improved security and further dialogue with Arab leaders.

Sudan: Burhan Says He Will Not Run for Presidency
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
Sudan's Sovereign Council head Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said he will not run for the presidency even if he was asked to do so, Al Arabiya TV quoted him as saying on Friday. Burhan, who is also army chief, added his mission will end with the termination of the transitional period, saying there are efforts to form a high electoral commission in Sudan. Burhan deposed the civilian-led government in October and signed a deal on Nov. 21 with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

Francis Flies to Athens for First Papal Visit in Two Decades
Agence France Presse/Saturday, 4 December, 2021
Pope Francis flew towards Athens on Saturday for the first visit by a pontiff in two decades, with the Greek capital under high security over anti-papal sentiment among Orthodox hardliners. The pope's trip will see him return on Sunday to the island of Lesbos, which he last visited in 2016 during the early years of the migration crisis. His plane took off on Saturday morning from Cyprus, where he spoke out about the suffering of migrants, and is expected to arrive in Athens at 11 am (0900 GMT). His visit to the Greek capital is the first by a pope since John Paul II in 2001, which in turn was the first papal visit to Athens since the 1054 Schism between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Francis is seeking to improve historically difficult relations with the Orthodox Church while also highlighting the plight of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers in Greece. "I ardently long to meet you all, all, not only Catholics, but all of you," he said in a message before embarking on his trip, which began on Thursday with the two-day visit to Cyprus. "By meeting you, I will quench my thirst at the springs of fraternity." Francis on Saturday will meet Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the head of the Church of Greece Archbishop Ieronymos. He is then scheduled to see members of Greece's small Catholic community, which represent just 1.2 percent of the majority-Orthodox population. "The Holy Father's presence in Greece is a boost for us... Catholics in Greece must take advantage of it," Markos Foscolos, parish priest of St Nicholas on the island of Tinos, told reporters this week.
Francis flies back to Rome on Monday.
- 'Loud' protests -
Up to 2,000 police will be deployed in Athens to monitor possible disruptions by Orthodox hardliners, who blame the Catholics for the Schism and the 1204 sacking of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. "They will be few, but loud," predicted Petros Panagiotopoulos, a theologian at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki. Relations with the Church of Greece are much better than they were ahead of John Paul's visit, Pierre Salembier, head of the Jesuit Catholic community in Greece, told AFP. But he said there were still some "known anti-Catholic fanatics" within the Church's governing body. The bishop of Piraeus called the pope's visit "immoral", according to the union of Orthodox journalists.
'Open arms' -
During his visit to Cyprus, Francis condemned "slavery" and "torture" in migrant camps, drawing parallels with World War II. The Cyprus government said Friday that 50 migrants, including two Cameroonians stuck for months in the divided island's buffer zone, will be relocated to Italy thanks to Francis.
On Sunday the pope will again visit Greece's Lesbos, a flashpoint of the 2015 refugee crisis and thereafter, "as a pilgrim to the wellsprings of humanity" to call for the integration of refugees. The island's sprawling Moria migrant camp, which the pontiff visited in 2016, burnt down last year and has been replaced by a new EU-funded facility. The new Mavrovouni camp is part of a series of "closed" facilities on Greek islands with barbed wire fencing, surveillance cameras, X-ray scanners and magnetic gates that are closed at night. NGOs and aid groups have raised concerns about the new camps, arguing that people's movements should not be restricted. Thirty-six groups active in Greece this week sent a letter to the pope, drawing his attention to the rights of people in the camps and asking for his help in halting illegal pushbacks of migrants allegedly carried out by Greek border forces. The pontiff is expected to visit the camp and will meet two "randomly chosen" families, an official said. "We await him with open arms," said Berthe, a Cameroonian asylum seeker at the camp. She said she hoped the pope "will pray for us to help us overcome the insecurities we have lived, through faith."On Wednesday, nearly 30 asylum seekers landed near the camp. On Friday, two migrants died when a speedboat overturned near the Greek island of Kos.

The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 04-05/2021
Like Obama, Biden Silent on Iran Mullahs Killing Peaceful Protesters
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/December 04/2021
"We call on President Joe Biden, Secretary Antony Blinken, and all members of Congress to stand with the Iranian people. Diplomacy with the world's leading sponsor of terrorism is never going to produce a favorable result that benefits the American people or the Iranian people. Diplomacy with the Islamic Republic was destined to fail from day one." — Iranian Americans for Liberty, reported by Benjamin Weinthal, Jerusalem Post, November 27, 2021.
"[W]hen millions of Iranians took to the streets in June of 2009, when they demanded freedom from a cruel regime that threatens the world, when they cried out, 'Are you with us, or are you with them?' – the American president was silent," — Mitt Romney, October 8, 2012.
"If the free world wants to stand on the right side of history, they should support the Iranian people who have been fighting for their freedom for the last 43 years. The Iranians need free internet because the regime has already shut down the internet in Isfahan. They want to kill the protesters ...." — Iranian dissident Sheina Vojoudi, Jerusalem Post, November 26, 2021.
Will the Biden administration stand with the Iranian people?
Recently, tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Isfahan, Iran to criticize the government over a severe water shortage. In response, the regime cut off access to the Internet, and security forces fired shotguns as well as tear gas at the protesters, resulting in deaths and hundreds of injuries. Meanwhile, the Biden administration chooses to be silent in the face of the Iranian regime's bloodshed, human rights violations, and crackdowns. Pictured: Tens of thousands of anti-regime protestors in Isfahan on November 9, 2021.
The Biden administration appears to be repeating the Obama Administration policy of choosing to be silent in the face of the Iranian regime's bloodshed, human rights violations, and crackdowns that kill and wound peaceful protesters.
Recently, huge numbers of people in the province of Isfahan rose up against the Islamic Republic. Tens of thousands of farmers and other demonstrators poured into the streets and criticized government officials over a severe water shortage. Many were heard chanting, "The people of Isfahan will rather die than give in to disgrace"; "Zayandeh Rud [river] is our undeniable right"; and "We will not go home until we get our water back."
As the regime cut off access to the Internet, security forces fired shotguns as well as tear gas at the protesters, resulting in deaths and hundreds of injuries. As #BloodyFriday began trending on twitter, Mohammad-Reza Mir-Heidari, Isfahan's Chief of Police, threatened "to deal" with protestors.
The organization Iranian-Americans for Liberty has pleaded with the Biden administration to show solidarity with the protesters:
"We call on President Joe Biden, Secretary Antony Blinken, and all members of Congress to stand with the Iranian people. Diplomacy with the world's leading sponsor of terrorism is never going to produce a favorable result that benefits the American people or the Iranian people. Diplomacy with the Islamic Republic was destined to fail from day one."
The Iranian regime does not appear to have a practical solution for the water shortage. It continues to mismanage the economy, spends the country's resources on its proxies and militia groups, and allocates a significant portion of the nation's water to the projects of the regime. "We are not in a position to provide their water needs," the minister of energy admitted in the face of the protests. Instead, the regime has resorted to its usual modus operandi of cracking down with brute force on whoever protests.
Throughout all of this, the Biden Administration stays silent -- just as the Obama Administration did during the 2009 nationwide uprisings in Iran. As Mitt Romney said in 2012:
"[W]hen millions of Iranians took to the streets in June of 2009, when they demanded freedom from a cruel regime that threatens the world, when they cried out, 'Are you with us, or are you with them?' – the American president was silent".
As the non-partisan Council on Foreign Relations described it:
"While Obama initially opted for a muted response, the Iranian regime's violent crackdown of opposition supporters complicated his administration's attempt to balance outreach with its defense of human rights."
The latest protests are not limited to farmers. In recent weeks, retirees and pensioners have staged more than a dozen protests, each spanning multiple cities. The most recent of these protests adopted slogans such as, "We have seen no justice; we will not vote anymore."
Karmel Melamed, an Iranian-American journalist and commentator, posted on Twitter:
"Horrific images of my compatriots in the Iranian city of Isfahan being slaughtered by ruthless Ayatollah regime's thugs & security apparatus for peacefully protesting against the regime! This older woman was shot in cold blood on the streets. Are you seeing this @StateDept?"
Masih Alinejad, an activist and Iranian-American journalist whom the Iranian regime plotted to kidnap from New York, tweeted:
"This is what happening in Iran right now. People took to the streets in Isfahan for a peaceful protest but they are being violently suppressed by the regime. West is busy getting a nuclear deal. You must warn the Islamic Republic that there will be consequences for such brutality."
And Sheina Vojoudi, an Iranian dissident, echoed what many Iranians believe as she told the Jerusalem Post:
"Iranians from other cities have announced that they will protest to support the people of Isfahan. Now we Iranians know exactly that the enemy of our nation has occupied our country since 1979 and we must liberate our country. This is a sure thing that will happen very soon. If the free world wants to stand on the right side of history, they should support the Iranian people who have been fighting for their freedom for the last 43 years. The Iranians need free internet because the regime has already shut down the internet in Isfahan. They want to kill the protesters like in November 2019 and that must be stopped. Soon Khuzestan, Yazd, and other cities will also come to the streets and they will face the same danger."
Will the Biden administration stand with the Iranian people? By being silent, the Biden administration is empowering, emboldening, and validating the ruling mullahs' human rights violations and brutal suppression of many people in Iran.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US foreign policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
© 2021 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Macron in Saudi Arabia: Resolving Regional Issues!
Zuhair Al-Harthi/Asharq Al-Awsat/December, 04/2021
It is natural for those concerned in the region generally to await the outcomes of the French Saudi efforts to resolve many of the regions’ outstanding issues. True, ties between Riyadh and Paris have, to some extent, been dry and cool in previous phases, however, it seems that Paris has realized and sensed the weight of Saudi Arabia’s role in the region, which is indispensable. That has pushed it to improve ties and coordinate with the Kingdom, thus making this visit amid exceptional circumstances and regional complications, considering that the two countries’ international weight is enough to push many matters onto the path of a solution. The French president’s visit to Saudi Arabia today comes within the context of the developments seen around the world, as well as their implications for the region, with its timing and the issues that will be discussed granting it particular significance.
The two countries’ geopolitical positions, whether Riyadh’s positions in the Gulf Cooperation Council or that of Paris in the European Union, give both an impetus to have a significant impact on global politics. Historically, French-Saudi rapprochement has undergone many decisive junctures, regardless of who had been in power, be they Socialist, de Gaullist, or right-wing. However, the most critical of these junctures came after Rafic Hariri’s assassination and Syria’s withdrawal from Lebanon.
France’s current discourse suggests a serious transformation and genuine political maturity. It seeks to cooperate with effective partners and friends in the Gulf, as indicated by Eliysee’s positive attitude toward the meetings and dialogue recently held between Saudi and Iranian officials, describing the reduction of tensions as a development that will push towards building a stable Middle East.
In my estimation, the visit reflects France’s belief in the Kingdom’s strategic value and the Saudi diplomacy’s role and influence as the European powerhouse seeks to make breakthroughs on crises that are escalating and aggravating. We recall that the French president had called on Iran to include Saudi Arabia in the new version of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program in an attempt to revive the nuclear agreement between Iran, the US, and the international community. Before his visit, Macron also called Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi for a second time, asking him to play a constructive role in the nuclear talks in Vienna and for Iran to fully comply with all of the obligations stipulated by the nuclear deal, in addition to its commitments to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The French say that Saudi Arabia is a massive player in the region, adding that “it is not possible to imagine an ambitious French policy without dialogue with the Kingdom.” The French statements added that President Macron, who is being accompanied by a large delegation, will discuss “during long, in-depth talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman means for reducing tensions in the region,” as well as the Iranian nuclear deal, the state of affairs in Yemen and Iraq, the fight against terrorism, and economic and trade cooperation. They see the visit as “an opportunity to strengthen French-Saudi cooperation in AlUla, where France is playing an active role.”The spokesman for French Defense Ministry also noted that “Paris and Riyadh are fighting together in the battle against terrorism,” stressing that his country “cooperates closely on defense with Saudi Arabia.” It is no secret that Paris is counting on the Gulf states’ cooperation in their fight against terrorism, especially with Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.
Macron’s visit to the Gulf, to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, will focus mainly on Libya and Lebanon, as Elysee has said. The way I see it, Saudi Arabia’s stance is clear and known to all, and it doesn’t seem like it is going to change, given that Riyadh believes there is no point or benefit in reaching out to the Lebanese state at this point. Lebanese President Aoun’s latest statements, which further demonstrated that Lebanon’s political decision is being hijacked and the deliberate effort to deepen the Lebanese crisis- to say nothing about the idea of extending his term and his silence when asked about the future of the information’s minister- have perhaps reinforced Riyadh’s view. As for Libya, France and Saudi Arabia share the same vision; elections should be held on schedule, and the mercenaries should leave.
What is important is that a Saudi-French understanding is reached. It is well known that France sees the Gulf states as critical because of their impact on its economy, as well as their importance as a forum for vitalizing its diplomatic efforts aimed at furthering its interests in the MENA region. France recognizes the political and economic weight the Kingdom has in particular, as well as its profound impact on the Arab and Islamic worlds, and it sees Saudi Arabia as the central platform through which it builds its relations with the region’s countries. If we are being frank, France and Saudi Arabia’s coordination has come to fill the void left by the US, which is no longer interested in the region, and what happens in it. Nonetheless, the two countries have similar views on an array of issues, like uniting international counter-terrorism efforts, the Iranian nuclear program, the situation in Iraq, and the political solution in Syria. All of that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, will help enhance stability in the region.
A lot more brings Riyadh and Paris together than splits them apart, as shown by their many intertwined interests in an array of fields, interests that have fostered close cooperation. The most prominent manifestations are their joint efforts to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and the scale of trade between the two countries. The enhancement of Saudi-French ties is not necessarily against anyone. It is more a case of striving to resolve the region’s issues and create balance and a balance of power regionally and globally. Besides, Saudi Arabia is not averse to any direction its compass may take, be it East or West, so long as that direction serves its supreme interests.

Vienna and the United States’ Miscalculations
Mustafa Fahs/Asharq Al-Awsat/December, 04/2021
Talks of the negotiations’ failure preceded the delegations of the participant countries’ arrival to Vienna. However, for some of the participants, the very fact that they are returning to the negotiating table inspires optimism that the two main sides of the negotiations, “the United States and Iran,” will reach some kind of settlement that will form the basis of future negotiations once intentions are gauged. But do the two sides genuinely intend to find a solution? Can they make difficult and painful concessions, or will both sides’ domestic and foreign circumstances derail the opportunity presented by the seventh round of talks in Vienna? On the Iranian side, the negotiating team’s cohesion is obvious. And, this time, it has all the pillars of the regime’s backing, with Tehran having set a series of objectives that it wants to achieve. In addition, Iranian decision-makers have already planned for the prospect of their negotiating team coming back from Vienna empty-handed. On the other hand, the US team seems confused. This confusion stems from the divergences within the administration on how to deal with Iran in general and the nuclear deal in particular. A wider schism splits the institutions of government in the US. This is particularly evident when we look at Congress, which is also split. On the one hand, there are the Republicans, who oppose any new deal or lifting sanctions. One the other, we have the Democrats, who are caught between the need to get the Iranian question out of the way and the Biden Administration’s lack of a strategic vision. That has left some of them apprehensive about any step taken by the Biden administration that could impact the midterm elections, as Trump’s administration had succeeded in turning the negotiations with Iran into a major public opinion issue domestically.
In practice, it could be said that the American side is behind the negotiation’s dysfunction. It seeks to conclude a piecemeal agreement with Tehran that sets the groundwork for a gradual return to the initial agreement, regardless of the implications on the Middle East’s collective security. However, a faction within the Biden administration seeks to grant Tehran major concessions under the pretext of containing its nuclear weapons program, promoting Republican Senator Bill Hagerty to tweet that “[It is] outrageous that Rob Malley, Biden’s negotiator, wants to go beyond JCPOA & bribe Iranian regime with total lifting of sanctions.”
Before its delegation arrived in Vienna, the Iranian leadership raised the bar, reiterating the goal it seeks to achieve through this round, the lifting of sanctions. It will thus not go along with the principle of one step for another and will not present any concessions regarding its nuclear program besides those that had been part of the previous deal. Despite its impossible demands, Tehran, given the state of its economy and its citizens’ living conditions, cannot hide its desire to reach a deal that meets some of its terms.
Nonetheless, the nature of Iran's regime makes backing down under pressure to internal liabilities and foreign pressure impossible. The Iranian decision-makers, despite their pressing need for the benefits that the deal- even if it is preliminary- would present, do not find making significant concessions to be a viable option. That pushes us to believe that this round will end like those that preceded it and that Iran will continue to insist on taking more than the other side can give. Indeed, Tehran does not seem prepared to return to full compliance with the nuclear deal before the sanctions imposed on it are lifted.
Moreover, the Iranian negotiators want assurances from the US administration that its decision to lift sanctions will be taken quickly. For Tehran, swift and full compliance with the deal must be met with US commitments to swiftly lift sanctions and guarantees that it will not withdraw from the agreement.
Despite the negotiations’ difficulty and the apprehensions around the details, Tehran did not stop blackmailing the countries of the P5+1 group. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Wednesday that Iran had started the process of enriching uranium to up to 20 percent purity, using advanced centrifuges, at the Fordow facility built inside a mountain. This plan demonstrates the extent of Iran’s defiance and the United States’ reversal of its position. And so, the simplified view adopted by some pillars of the Biden administration regarding the containment of Iran’s nuclear activity could leave the previous deal, with all the harm that would imply for the region, reinstated.

Seif al-Islam is not looking to resurrect his father’s rule
Faisal Al Yafai/The Arab Weekly/December 04/2021
The sudden appearance of Seif al-Islam Gadhafi in a southern Libyan town submitting his candidacy papers for December’s presidential election has caused street protests in the country and a flurry of analysis abroad over whether Libyans could really vote for a return to the Gadhafi era.
Certainly, his reappearance was astonishing. Most Libyans had not heard Seif’s once-ubiquitous voice for a decade before last week’s brief comments. But it was also just one more step in the return to public life of the Gadhafi clan. Imagining that Seif truly intends to become president of Libya next month is to misunderstand modern Libya and Seif’s gradual grasp for power. Far from resurrecting his father’s rule, Seif wants to lay that era to rest and lay the path for his own ascendancy.
Seif is not the only candidate to thrust himself into the spotlight. Monday’s deadline for presidential applications led to an unedifying scramble among Libya’s current political elite to put themselves forward.
Some were expected, Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army, is the highest-profile military figure to stand, while some, such as the current and supposedly interim, prime minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, who announced his candidature at the last minute, were unexpected.
Dbeibah is meant to hold the reins of power until a new president is elected, meaning he could be in the farcical situation of announcing his own victory and happily handing power to himself. By Tuesday morning, election officials said nearly 100 candidates had put themselves forward. But the most surprising and the one who will be most closely watched, is Seif al-Islam Gadhafi.
His reappearance has complicated the calculations of the other candidates. For a figure such as Haftar, who announced his candidacy not in his trademark military fatigues but in a sober suit, Seif’s involvement makes it harder to claim to be a unifying figure: why, after all, vote for a unity candidate who has waged war, when you can vote for a figure who has said nothing for ten years? Seif’s silence is his greatest weapon, always talked about but rarely heard from.
The two perspectives on Seif’s registration as a presidential candidate are that he is either seeking to appeal to those who are nostalgic for the previous regime, including young Libyans who may remember little beyond the past ten years of war and instability, or that he is seeking to be a consensus candidate, in the midst of faceless politicians and warring factions. As the sole person on the ballot who can command widespread name recognition, he certainly has a chance in a crowded field. But given that the powers of the presidential office have not yet even been decided and the constant rumours that the election may not even go ahead on December 24, it is unlikely Seif truly intends, or even desires to win.
Much more likely is that his true aim in running for the office is simply to reintroduce himself to the Libyan public, the strategy of “coming back slowly, slowly, like a striptease” to which he confessed in an infamous New York Times profile earlier this year. The big reveal may have lacked some drama, but it certainly got people talking.
In fact, Seif’s best route back to power is to lose this election. Not so badly that the spectre of the Gadhafi name is excised as a political possibility, but well enough, say perhaps third or fourth in a crowded field, that he becomes a kingmaker. Someone who has proven his popular support and is able to exert influence but remains above the brutal, chaotic fray. His supporters would claim he was newly humbled, a prince-in-waiting chastened by reality.
This, after all, is a terrible time to wield power in Libya. The government is not in full control of the country and rival militias and foreign powers still jockey for influence. The demise of his father’s rule has had widespread repercussions in neighbouring countries, which will take years to resolve. There are regular power outages and a lack of basic governance. No president could solve these issues in one term and Seif’s attraction as a candidate is not based on his credibility as an administrator, but on what he represents. Far better to remain on the sidelines than be blamed in office. The longer Seif can stay part of the political conversation while avoiding wielding power, the further away his father’s era will seem. The Muammar Gadhafi era will be mythologised as a period of stability rather than recalled as an era of repression. At that point, Libyans may well make the mistake of trusting Seif. Gadhafi’s son knows he has to lay his father’s ghost to rest, in order to create the political conditions for his own rise to power.