English LCCC Newsbulletin For Le

English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For December 18/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.december18.22.htm

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Bible Quotations For today
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection
Letter to the Romans 12/09-21: “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 17-18/2022/
Hezbollah assassinates in cold blood a UNIFIL soldier in southern Lebanon/Elias Bejjani/December 16/2022
Ralph Sioufi: Open letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, addressing the Hezbollah vicious attack that target the UNIFIL in S. Lebanon
Security forces seeking arrest of two suspects over attack on UNIFIL
Nasrallah says Hezbollah keen on MoU with FPM
Mikati holds consultative meeting with 19 ministers
Ministerial panel to meet today in bid to settle govt. differences
Moawad visits Ras Baalbek, Al-Qaa regions to inaugurate two guest houses: We look forward to building bridges of love between the Lebanese
MP Jumblatt regrets Aqbiya incident, calls for rallying around army & security services, strengthening dialogue means
Karam: Woe betide us if crime of attacking UNIFIL ends without serious investigation, transparent trial
Iran's ambassador meets a group of media professionals: We respect the will of the Lebanese, we do not interfere in any way in its internal affairs
LIC STATEMENT ON THE ATTACK ON THE UNIFIL

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 17-18/2022/
US Congress Approves Bill against 'Assad's Captagon Trade'
Iran authorities arrest actress of Oscar-winning movie
Iran Says Enriched Uranium Capacity Hits Record
Social Media Report Protests by Iranian Oil Workers for Higher Wages
European MPs sponsor Iranian detainees in bid to stop executions
Iran central bank governor blames protests for currency's fall
Iranians chant ‘death to dictator’ in Zahedan
Fate of Belgian aid worker jailed in Tehran linked to Iranian prisoner in Belgium
Fog-shrouded Kyiv recovers after Russia strikes, power restored to 6 million
Jordan arrests 44 after deadly fuel protests
Jordan bans TikTok after police officer killed in protests
IMF approves deal with Egypt for $3 billion support package
More questions than answers as EU corruption scandal unfolds
Turkiye’s Erdogan: Courts will fix any mistakes after Istanbul mayor’s sentencing
UN envoy: Signs of Libya’s partition grow, election needed
Ex-UK PM David Cameron to teach politics in Abu Dhabi

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 17-18/2022/
The West Needs To Fully Cut Ties with Iran’s Ruling Mullahs/Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/December 17, 2022
What lessons does the Iranian uprising offer for the region?/Mohammed Abu Dalhoum/Arab News/December 17, 2022
From climate justice to climate liability/Nick Butler/Arab News/December 16, 2022
How the Turkish incursion is causing chaos/Maria Maalouf/Arab News/December 17, 2022
Isolating the Murderous Iranian Regime Is Both Just and Necessary/Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani/The Daily Beast/December 17, 2022

on December 17-18/2022/
Hezbollah assassinates in cold blood a UNIFIL soldier in southern Lebanon
Elias Bejjani/December 16/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/114102/elias-bejjani-hezbollah-assassinates-in-cold-blood-a-unifil-soldier-in-southern-lebanon/
The young and innocent UNIFIl, soldier, Pierre Deny, 23 years old, from Newton County in north-west Ireland, is the latest Hezbollah victim in southern Lebanon. The victim's car was ambushed by civilian Hezbollah gunmen in the town of Al-Aqibiya near Sarafand. For camouflage and deception, Hezbollah calls these terrorist" the people.. Also in the attack Another soldier, (Shane Karni, aged 22) was seriously wounded.
We offer our heartfelt condolences to the family of the victim, to the Irish government, to the friendly Irish people, to the UNIFIL forces, and we pray for the quick recovery of the wounded soldiers
It is worth mentioning, that the terrorist armed Hezbollah, that occupies Lebanon, is completely affiliated to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and blindly carries out its orders.
Meanwhile, it has carried, and do carry out dozens of horrible criminal acts of murder, assassination, smuggling, and money-laundering operations etc, inside Lebanon and in many other countries all over the globe. So far it has escaped accountability, in regards to all the crimes it committed because the Lebanese judiciary did not investigate these crimes, due to the fact that it is politicized, terrorized and under Hezbollah's mere hegemony.
In this context, the so called "people" by Hezbollah have attacked the UNIFIL forces many times, and they have not been held accountable, because of the influence, occupation and terrorism of Hezbollah, who is on the lists of terrorism in dozens of countries.
It is a Must to change the rules of engagement related to the authorities of the UNIFIL forces, operating in southern Lebanon. The UNIFIL needs to be put legally under the seventh international clause, so that these peace keeping forces can at least protect their soldiers, and deter Hezbollah’s blatant and brazen attacks, otherwise the need for their presence is negated, as they are in their current situation, hostages to Hezbollah, crippled, and unable to carry out it tasks related to the implementation of UN Resolution No. 1701.
In analysis, and based on many previous similar Hezbollah bloody attacks on UNIFIL forces operating in southern Lebanon, the main aim is often, Iranian fiery messages to Western countries, the United Nations, and the European countries. It is most likely, that yesterday's bloody message was related to the stances of the European countries and USA, in regards to the stumbles the nuclear deal is going through.
Definitely, the investigation into this new crime will not lead to any results, as was the case with all the Hezbollah crimes. A good example is the Hezbollah's explosion of the port of Beirut, and the obstruction of the investigation by force and terrorism. Another example, is Hezbollah's assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, where the assassins are seen by Hezbollah as saints, and still on the run despite their conviction by the Special Court For Lebanon.
In conclusion, there will be no solutions in Lebanon, big or small, at any level, and in any field, as long as the Persian and terrorist Hezbollah occupies the country, controls its decision making process, and by force appointing its officials and rulers.
The solution: Putting Lebanon under the seventh UN clause, declaring it a failed and rogue country, and implementing by force all the UN resolutions (Armistice Agreement, 1559, 1701, and 1680), otherwise the occupation will continue and every thing will get worse.

رسالة مفتوحة من رالف سيوفي إلى الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة تلقي الأضواء على جريمة اغتيال حزب الله الجندي الإيرلندي في جنوب لبنان
Ralph Sioufi: Open letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, addressing the Hezbollah vicious attack that target the UNIFIL in S. Lebanon
December 17/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/114150/%d8%b1%d8%b3%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a9-%d9%85%d9%81%d8%aa%d9%88%d8%ad%d8%a9-%d9%85%d9%86-%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%81-%d8%b3%d9%8a%d9%88%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%a5%d9%84%d9%89-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%85%d9%8a%d9%86-%d8%a7/
Before anything, I join most of my compatriots in presenting my warmest condolences to Private Rooney's loved ones and the UN family, and wish all injured a speedy recovery.
I waited a couple of days before reacting to this heinous crime, only to find what I feared: a shy response of the #UnitedNations and the international community to #Hezbolla 's message to every player enjoying #Lebanon as his own chess board.
The message is also directed internally to the Lebanese, reaffirming this militia's state-within-the-state untouchable status, which has been going on since the 80s, preventing the rise of a true sovereign and independent nation. One that is a founder of your esteemed institution's human rights chart.
Needless to say, the political mafia in power does not represent me, nor any free Lebanese. So whatever comes out of them regarding this crime or any other subject, doesn't concern us. They were elected under the rule of the armed militia, therefore illegal.
Mr. #AntonioGuterres, what will you say to Sean's family and fiancee? How will you bring them justice? By launching one more investigation in our #bananarepublic where witnesses and their families are held at gunpoint?
Sean's justice is now another building block of Lebanon's free people fight for a strong state, where the only party capable of bearing arms should be the #LebaneseArmy, with no need for any peacekeeping forces, should all militias hand in their weapons according to #resolution1559. And by way, why isn't it put into effect yet?
Is Hezbolla and its circle of friends such a powerful lobby, turning your noble message of peace into a mere slogan?
Lebanon has been crumbling under their dictatorship, run by the threat of their guns (as you have now experienced yourselves once more), shaded by the false impression of a ridiculous democracy.
Will the great nations defending the right to live in dignity and freedom, under the rule of law, for every human being, sit back and watch while my country falls deeper into the abyss of darkness?
A lot can be done. We all know it. All it takes is will.
You can. Will you?
Respectfully,
An independent Lebanese citizen
#lebanon_mourns_freedom
#1559_now
https://www.facebook.com/722510367/videos/5498818653578392

Security forces seeking arrest of two suspects over attack on UNIFIL
Agence France Presse/December 17/2022
The evidence suggests the involvement of two shooters in the deadly attack on UNIFIL near al-Aqbiyeh and security forces are now seeking the arrest of the two suspects, a Lebanese judicial source said. The UNIFIL convoy came under fire late Wednesday, which left one Irish peacekeeper dead and three others wounded, the Irish military said. UNIFIL acts as a buffer between Lebanon and Israel. The force operates in the south near the border, a stronghold of Iran-backed Hezbollah. Force spokesman Andrea Tenenti called it "a very serious incident" and told reporters it was "important" for the Lebanese authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. It is the first death of a UNIFIL member in a violent incident in Lebanon since January 2015, when a Spanish peacekeeper was killed by Israeli fire. UNIFIL was set up in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon under the excuse of a Palestinian attack. Israel withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000 but fought a devastating 2006 war with Hezbollah.UNIFIL was beefed up to oversee the ceasefire that ended the 2006 conflict, and now counts nearly 10,000 troops.
- Bullet to the head -
Witnesses said villagers in the al-Aqbiyeh area blocked the Irish peacekeepers vehicle after it took a road along the Mediterranean coast not normally used by the United Nations force. Al-Aqbiyeh is just outside UNIFIL's area of operations, the force said. A Lebanese judicial source told AFP that the driver was killed by a bullet to the head, one of seven that penetrated the vehicle. The three passengers were wounded when the vehicle hit a pylon and overturned. The Irish army is to send military police to Lebanon on Saturday to help with the investigation. Over the years, there have been a number of incidents between Hezbollah supporters and U.N. peacekeepers but they have rarely escalated. Wafiq Safa, Hezbollah's security chief, told Lebanon's LBCI television on Thursday that the incident was "unintentional" and called for investigators to be given time to establish the facts.Relations between UNIFIL and communities in south Lebanon have always been "very positive," the force's spokesman Tenenti said Friday. "The support of the communities is paramount in order for us to implement our mandate," he added.

Nasrallah says Hezbollah keen on MoU with FPM
Naharnet/December 17/2022
Hezbollah is keen on its 2006 memorandum of understanding with its ally the Free Patriotic Movement and "will not withdraw" from it "unless the FPM wants so," Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said. "All the allegations that the latest cabinet session was a political message or a blow or another thing are baseless," Nasrallah said in a lengthy meeting with Hezbollah's governmental work team days ago, according to al-Akhbar newspaper. The cabinet session was the reason behind the unprecedented tensions between the two allies. As Hezbollah, caretaker PM Najib Mikati and their allies considered the session an urgent one aimed at approving emergency issues, the FPM argued that the meeting was unnecessary and amounted to an attack on the constitution and the president's powers amid an ongoing presidential vacuum. Nasrallah defended the session in his remarks, saying his party decided to take part in it after it was briefed by its relevant officials about the dangerous situations in hospitals and in the telecom and internet sectors. "We held contacts with MP Jebran Bassil, who was categorical in rejecting the session based on his stance, which considers the government as resigned," Nasrallah said.

Mikati holds consultative meeting with 19 ministers
Naharnet/December 17/2022
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and nineteen caretaker ministers held a “consultative meeting” Friday at the Grand Serail, the National News Agency said, in the wake of the controversy over the latest caretaker cabinet session which was boycotted by the Free Patriotic Movement ministers. The meeting was attended by the caretaker ministers of foreign affairs, education, information, justice, telecom, energy, sports, defense, displaced, social affairs, industry, tourism, interior, culture, environment, labor, agriculture, public works and economy. It was also attended by the director general of the Presidency and the secretary general of the Council of Ministers. Deputy PM Saade al-Shami, Finance Minister Youssef Khalil, Administrative Development Minister Najla Riachi and Health Minister Firass Abiad did not attend the meeting. MTV meanwhile reported that “without prior notice, media outlets were prevented from covering the consultative meeting.”The meeting was attended by all the ministers who had boycotted the December 5 cabinet session. Mikati and other parties had argued that the Dec. 5 meeting had been necessary in order to approve urgent matters including a decree related to cancer and dialysis patients. The FPM meanwhile described the session as unnecessary, unconstitutional and an attack on the president’s powers amid an ongoing presidential vacuum. MTV had reported Thursday that the consultative ministerial meeting would discuss the issue of “mending the governmental rift and finding solutions for the current disputes.”The TV network added that the discussions would also tackle the issue of who is entitled to “sign the decrees that were issued by the government in its December 5 session.”

Ministerial panel to meet today in bid to settle govt. differences
Naharnet/December 17/2022
It was agreed in the cosultative ministerial meeting that was held Friday at the Grand Serail to form a ministerial panel in an attempt to heal the rift between the government's quarreling camps, media reports said. The panel will be comprised of the caretaker ministers who are retired judges -- Bassam Mawlawi (interior), Henri Khoury (justice), Mohammed Wissam al-Murtada (culture) and Abbas al-Halabi (education), the reports said. It is scheduled to meet today, Saturday. "The panel will convene to distinguish between the necessary and unnecessary matters and to also agree on a mechanism for signing and issuing decrees and for agreeing on cabinet agendas," MTV said. "Khoury initially rejected to take part in the panel before agreeing to participate after being pressed by the ministers," MTV addedز It also revealed that, during Friday's meeting, caretaker Defense Minister Maurice Slim and caretaker Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar "proposed resorting to roaming decrees and extraordinary resolutions to run citizens' affairs" as an alternative to cabinet sessions.Hajjar also said that the Free Patriotic Movement camp rejects any cabinet session unless it is for "utmost necessity."

Moawad visits Ras Baalbek, Al-Qaa regions to inaugurate two guest houses: We look forward to building bridges of love between the Lebanese
NNA/December 17/2022
MP Michel Moawad, accompanied by MP Bilal Al-Hashimi, visited Saturday the towns of Ras Baalbek and Al-Qaa, to inaugurate two guesthouses that were funded by the Rene Moawad Foundation, as part of the launching of the “Paths of Lebanon” project implemented by the “North 33 Association”.
In his word on the occasion, Moawad considered that launching the “Paths of Lebanon” project has become real thanks to the hard work and assistance of the municipalities, the people and the army. “This project has double importance, first in benefiting from the local capabilities and human wealth to transform the relationship between the Lebanese into one of sustainable development, so that it does not remain under the rentier economic system; and secondly in allowing the Lebanese to get to know their regions and by doing so, they demolish the walls of hatred that some have planted among the Lebanese, between whom we aspire to build bridges of love,” he said. “These projects are part of the strategy of the Rene Moawad Foundation. We support the most disadvantaged families, but we refuse to turn into a charitable organization. The Lebanese people are not beggars, but rather they must be transformed into producers, and just as the Lebanese are successful in all countries of the world, they must succeed in their homeland, but they need an opportunity to work,” Mouawad underlined. He concluded by calling for “administrative decentralization law, building sustainable capacities and the economy in cooperation with municipal and local councils, as they are the ones working hard for local development.”

MP Jumblatt regrets Aqbiya incident, calls for rallying around army & security services, strengthening dialogue means
NNA/December 17/2022
Head of the "Democratic Gathering" Parliamentary Bloc, MP Taymour Jumblatt, expressed his deep regret over the incident that the "UNIFIL" forces were subjected to in the area of Aqbiya in the South, offering his sincerest condolences to the family of the soldier who died in the accident, the international forces and the Irish state, and wishing a speedy recovery for the injured. Jumblatt called on the concerned apparatuses to "complete a transparent investigation and take the necessary measures." In an issued statement today, Jumblatt stressed "the importance of the role assigned to the United Nations forces as stipulated within International Resolution 1701," underlining "the necessity of maintaining stability in the south, as in all of Lebanon, and thus rallying around the army and the rest of the security forces to play their role, in parallel with strengthening the means of dialogue to resolve thorny issues, both constitutionally and institutionally.”

Karam: Woe betide us if crime of attacking UNIFIL ends without serious investigation, transparent trial
NNA/December 17/2022
MP Fadi Karam tweeted today, "Where there is no state, an organized crime is not revealed, regardless of the reasons; and where there is a state within the state, a criminal is not prosecuted, regardless of the investigation...Woe betide us if the crime of attacking the United Nations force, UNIFIL, ends without a serious investigation, a transparent trial, and the achievement of justice, which would mean accepting the logic of the non-state!"

Iran's ambassador meets a group of media professionals: We respect the will of the Lebanese, we do not interfere in any way in its internal affairs
NNA/December 17/2022
Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, met at the embassy's headquarters in Beirut, a group of Lebanese media professionals. During the meeting, conferees discussed various current issues and regional and international topics, including Iran's foreign policy towards the countries of the region and the latest developments in the Vienna negotiations regarding lifting unjust and illegal sanctions against the Iranian people. Ambassador Amani expressed the Islamic Republic of Iran's keenness to "respect the will of the brotherly Lebanese people and not to interfere in any way in its internal affairs."
Regarding the fate of the nuclear negotiations, the Iranian ambassador affirmed "the permanent readiness of the Islamic Republic of Iran to reach a good, sustainable and strong agreement," stressing at the same time that his country will not back down from its red lines, represented in guaranteeing the interests of the Iranian people.

LIC STATEMENT ON THE ATTACK ON THE UNIFIL
Washington, DC-/December 16, 2022
The Lebanese Information Center (LIC) strongly condemns the attack on the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and calls on the Lebanese government to promptly investigate the incident and hold those involved responsible.
On the evening of December 14, 2022, unknown assailants killed a UNIFIL Irish peacekeeper and wounded three others during an attack. According to the Irish Defense Forces, a group of people surrounded one vehicle in a Beirut-bound convoy and opened fire with small arms. As of December 16, the attack claimed the life of one peacekeeper and critically wounded another.
UNIFIL has long played a critical role preventing the outbreak of large-scale hostilities and supporting the sovereignty, security, and integrity of Lebanon. Tragedies such as Wednesday’s attack show just how deep that support and sacrifice can be. The LIC offers its sincerest condolences to UNIFIL Command, the Irish government, and the families of those affected by the attack. The LIC is also grateful for the continued efforts of UNIFIL and for the sacrifices of the peacekeepers who put themselves at risk far from their home to support the Lebanese people.
The LIC calls for an immediate investigation into the incident and for those who are responsible for this attack to be brought to justice. This is just the latest in a series of attacks and incidents that have targeted UNIFIL personnel, material, and operations. Armed elements have repeatedly sought to unlawfully restrict the movement and activities of the UNIFIL, threaten peacekeepers with violence, and spread disinformation maligning the UN mission. These ongoing actions restrict the ability of UNIFIL to complete its mandate and put its personnel at risk. This latest attack demonstrates the consequences of allowing unlawful groups to operate with impunity. The LIC urges the government to stand up for the UN mission, investigate this egregious violence, and hold the perpetrators and their enablers accountable.
Additionally, the LIC urges all parties to fully respect UN Resolution 1701 that established UNIFIL. Despite its stated support for the resolution, the Lebanese government has failed to actively back the UN mission, investigate the ongoing campaign of disinformation, intimidation, and violence, and prosecute those responsible for these malicious and violent actions. The LIC also asks the international community to maintain its support for Resolution 1701 and to call on the Lebanese government to fulfill its commitments.
These tragic events give a deeper and more tangible meaning to the sacrifices, challenges, and efforts of the UN troops and demonstrate the real human costs of inaction in the face of continued threats. The Lebanese government must investigate this reprehensible attack and bring those responsible to justice, not only for the sake of those who gave their lives and health, but for the effectiveness of the UNIFIL mission and the future, security, and sovereignty of the Lebanese people.
The Lebanese Information Center in the U.S. is the largest grassroots organization of Americans of Lebanese descent, committed to building a free, sovereign, and democratic Lebanon for the good of the Lebanese people and in the interest of the United States of America

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 17-18/2022/
US Congress Approves Bill against 'Assad's Captagon Trade'
Washington - Rana Abtar/Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 17 December, 2022
The US Congress approved a draft resolution that lays down a US strategy to stop drug production and trafficking and dismantle networks linked to the Syrian regime and President Bashar al-Assad. Lawmakers introduced the bill into the 2023 Department of Defense budget, passed by the Senate last Thursday, with the support of 83 senators and the opposition of 11. The bill, introduced by Democrats and Republicans, said that "the Captagon trade linked to the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria is a transnational security threat" and called on President Joe Biden's administration to develop and implement a strategy to "deny, degrade, and dismantle Assad-linked narcotics production and trafficking networks." Republican Representative French Hill, who first introduced the bill last year, said: "In addition to regularly committing war crimes against his people, the Assad regime in Syria is now becoming a Narco-State." Hill noted that "the current epicenter of the drug trade is in territory controlled by the Assad regime," warning that "Captagon has already reached Europe, and it is only a matter of time until it reaches our shores." The Representative also warned that "if we do not work with our like-minded partners to first hinder the narcotics trade and replace it with a working system of institutions that serve the Syrian people, then Assad will add the title ‘Drug Kingpin’ to his recognized global status as a leading mass murderer." Senior Analyst and Program Head of the Human Security Unit at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy Caroline Rose stressed the importance of the bill being approved. Rose told Asharq Al-Awsat that the approved bill is an important and necessary first step to address the Assad regime's connection to the Captagon trade and the harmful impact on security in the Middle East. She noted that after the bill's approval, US agencies needed to collaborate and monitor Captagon trafficking and coordinate with export countries.
Project details
The bill demands presenting the required strategy to Congress for review within a period not exceeding 180 days of its approval, provided that the method includes providing support to partner countries of the region that receive large quantities of smuggled Captagon. The lawmakers urge the administration to employ the sanctions effectively, including the Caesar Act, to target drug networks affiliated with the regime. The strategy includes a public communication campaign to increase awareness of the extent of the connection of the Assad regime to the illicit narcotics trade, a description of the countries receiving or transiting large shipments of Captagon, and an assessment of the counter-narcotics capacity of such countries to interdict of disrupt the smuggling of the Captagon. Lawmakers called for the strategy to include a plan for leveraging multilateral institutions and cooperation with international partners to disrupt the narcotics infrastructure of the Assad regime. The strategy must include a list of countries that receive large shipments of Captagon, evaluating their capabilities to stop smuggling operations.
Pressuring the White House
Congress is increasing pressure on the Biden administration to address the narcotics issue. The two top Republicans in the Congressional Foreign Relations Committees called on the White House to submit a detailed report highlighting the Syrian president's role in trafficking, underscoring the repercussions of the issue on regional stability. Lead Republican Mike McCaul and Senator Jim Risch sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken warning that Jordan is increasingly threatened by the flow of Captagon across its border and has had several dangerous skirmishes with drug traffickers on its border with Syria. The letter warned that Saudi Arabia is also "under assault from flows of Syrian Captagon" and "has been forced to increase security resources for interdiction efforts." A group of Democratic and Republican lawmakers had called the US administration last week to include Syria as a "major illicit drug producing countries" or "major drug-transit countries." In a letter they wrote to Blinken, the legislators urged the ministry to assess the activities carried out by the regime in the field of drug manufacturing and trafficking to determine its category.
"In addition to its gross human rights violations and regularly committing war crimes against his own people, the Assad regime in Syria has now become a narco-state. The production and trade of the drug, Captagon, is not only a critical financial lifeline to Assad, but it cripples local populations, serves to undermine families and local communities, and finances Iran-backed groups in the region." The lawmakers called on the US government to do all it could to disrupt the industrial drug production in Syria. "If we do not act, then we risk permitting the narco-state of Assad to become a permanent fixture in the region," they concluded.

Iran authorities arrest actress of Oscar-winning movie
AP/December 17, 2022
CAIRO: Iranian authorities arrested one of the country’s most famous actresses on charges of spreading falsehoods about nationwide protests that grip the country, state media said Saturday. The report by IRNA said Taraneh Alidoosti, star of the Oscar-winning movie “The Salesman,” was detained a week after she made a post on Instagram expressing solidarity with the first man recently executed for crimes committed during the nationwide protests. According to the report published on the state media’s official Telegram channel, Alidoosti was arrested because she did not provide “any documents in line with her claims.”“His name was Mohsen Shekari.” she said in her post. “Every international organization who is watching this bloodshed and not taking action, is a disgrace to humanity.” Shekari was executed Dec. 9 after being charged by an Iranian court with blocking a street in Tehran and attacking a member of the country’s security forces with a machete. Iran has been rocked by protests since the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being detained by the morality police. The protests have since morphred into one of the most serious challenges to Iran’s theocracy installed by the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi, two other famous actresses in Iran, were arrested by authorities for expressing solidarity with protesters on social media. Both have been released. At least 495 people have been killed in the demonstrations amid a harsh security crackdown, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has been monitoring the protests since they began. Over 18,200 people have been detained by authorities.

Iran Says Enriched Uranium Capacity Hits Record
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 17 December, 2022
Iran said Saturday its uranium enrichment capacity has increased to record levels, a day before UN nuclear monitors are set to visit the country. "Currently, the enrichment capacity of the country has reached more than twice the entire history of this industry," Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA. "Nuclear energy and atomic power production have great economic savings for the country and are effective in reducing fossil and non-renewable fuel consumption and environmental problems," he added, according to AFP. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Wednesday that a technical team will visit Iran on Sunday to try to resolve a deadlock over the detection of traces of radioactive material at sites not declared as having hosted nuclear activities. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi is not expected to be part of the delegation. The UN nuclear watchdog has long called on Iran to explain the presence of man-made uranium found at three undeclared sites, requesting "access to locations and materials" as well as the collection of samples. Eslami said on December 9 that the material detected at the three sites had been brought into Iran from abroad. The issue has seriously hindered efforts to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers, which has hung by a thread since the United States unilaterally withdrew in 2018 under then-president Donald Trump. An IAEA delegation had initially planned to travel to Tehran last month, but the visit was postponed as the agency's board of governors censured Iran for failing to provide "technically credible" answers. Under the 2015 deal, Iran agreed to restrict its enrichment of uranium to just under four percent, well below the 90 percent level considered necessary for a nuclear warhead. In return for that and other curbs on its nuclear activities, Iran was promised relief from international sanctions.

Social Media Report Protests by Iranian Oil Workers for Higher Wages
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 17 December, 2022
Social media posts on Saturday purported to show a group of protesting oil workers in southern Iran demanding higher wages and retirement bonuses. The reported oil workers’ protests, which Reuters could not verify, comes amid an uprising across Iran, the boldest challenge to the republic since the 1979 revolution. The nationwide protests were triggered by the Sept. 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old from Iran's Kurdish region, for wearing "inappropriate attire”. Iran's oil ministry was not immediately available to comment. The activist HRANA news agency said on Saturday that a group of oil workers protested outside the Pars Oil and Petrochemical Company in Asaluyeh in the southern Bushehr Province on the Gulf coast. It said in addition to wage increases and pension bonuses, the removal of high income taxes and salary cap, improved welfare services and health conditions were among the protesters’ demands. A combination of mass protests and strikes by oil workers and Bazaar merchants helped to sweep the clergy to power in the Iranian revolution four decades ago.

European MPs sponsor Iranian detainees in bid to stop executions
Arab News/December 17, 2022
London: As many as 30 politicians from Europe are sponsoring detainees in Iran in a bid to protect them from persecution by the regime for taking part in widespread protests that have rocked the country. Two demonstrators have been executed in recent days, with thousands of others potentially facing the death sentence or punitive prison terms. However, the release of a number of people from jail following pressure from activists and relatives has given hope that the regime could bow to pressure over fears of more unrest and increasing international ostracism. The European sponsors lobby on behalf of detainees, pressuring Iranian ambassadors, raising awareness about the conditions people are kept in, discussing Iran’s violations of its own laws, and demanding information on the whereabouts and publicizing the plight of their detainees. Among those known to be sponsors are German Social Democrat Martin Diedenhofen, who has become the sponsor of 19-year-old Mohammad Broghni, who faces the imminent threat of execution; Diedenhofen’s SDP colleague Ye-One Rhie, who is sponsoring rapper Toomaj Salehi; and SDP MP Carmen Wegge, who is sponsoring 20-year-old Armita Abbasi, who was hospitalized on Oct. 18 with injuries consistent with repeated beatings and rape. The Christian Democratic Union’s former government minister Norbert Rottgen is sponsoring lawyer Mostafa Nili, who has regularly represented Iranian political prisoners. Austrian Social Democrat Harald Troch is sponsoring Mohammad Hosseini, who is accused of killing a member of the regime’s Basij militia. Dutch liberal MP Sjoerd Wiemer Sjoerdsma is sponsoring radiologist Hamid Qara Hasanlu, who faces the death penalty. Left-wing French MP Elsa Faucillon is sponsoring another prisoner facing execution, Reza Aria, while French Green MP Sophie Taille-Polian is campaigning on behalf of imprisoned brothers Farhad and Farzad Tahazedeh. Protests have been nearly constant in Iran since the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini at the hands of the country’s morality police in September. Tens of thousands of people have been arrested, but the deaths of protesters at the hands of the regime, as well as the start of executions in a bid to cow the population, have led to renewed anger and pressure, with further protests breaking out nationwide. On Thursday, a 17-year-old woman, Sonia Sharifi, who has been sponsored by Katja Leikert, a German CDU MP, was released in Abdanan and greeted by cheering crowds. A few days prior, 15-year-old Amir Hossein Rahimi was released after his mother Elham Najaf was interviewed by local media in which she captured public attention when saying she could not afford his bail.
Iranian activists abroad have taken to publicizing individual detainees on social media, again in a bid to stop the regime executing them, on the advice of international human rights organizations.

Iran central bank governor blames protests for currency's fall
DUBAI/Reuters/December 17, 2022
Iran's central bank governor on Saturday partly blamed recent anti-government unrest for the fall of the Iranian currency to record lows, while authorities detained a prominent actress who had voiced support for protesters. The unrest, which poses one of the biggest challenges to theocratic rule in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, also saw groups of oil workers holding protests on Saturday to demand higher wages, according to reports on social media. The wider unrest currently gripping Iran was triggered by the Sept. 16 death in detention of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was arrested for wearing "inappropriate attire" under Iran's strict Islamic dress code for women. Authorities on Saturday detained Taraneh Alidoosti, star of "The Salesman" which won an Academy Award for best foreign language film in 2016, after she voiced support for the protests and posted a photo of herself without a head scarf with a sign reading "Woman, life, freedom" - a main slogan of demonstrators. "Alidoosti, who did not provide documents backing up some of her claims, was arrested hours ago by an order of the judicial authority," the official news agency IRNA quoted a judiciary statement as saying.
Alidoosti was the latest of dozens of artists, journalists and lawyers detained over the past three months for speaking out against a violent security crackdown on the protesters, some of whom have been released on bail. Separately, Central Bank governor Ali Salehabadi acknowledged that "the events of the past two months" had contributed, along with U.S. sanctions, to a record fall of the Iranian currency, but suggested dollars could be injected into the market to shore up the troubled rial. "To make adjustments in the (foreign exchange) market, we in the Central Bank will act both as a market-maker and as a hard currency policymaker," Salehabadi told state TV. "Whichever hard currency is more in demand, we will offer that in the market."Iran's troubled currency fell to a new low against the U.S. dollar on Saturday as Iranians desperate to find safe havens for their savings have been trying to buy dollars, other hard currencies or gold. The dollar sold for as much as 395,600 rials on the unofficial market, up from 386,800 on Friday, according to foreign exchange site Bonbast.com. The economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad’s website gave the dollar rate as 382,300, up 1.2% from Friday. The rial has lost nearly 20% of its value since the nationwide protests erupted three months ago. In May 2018, the currency was trading at about 6,500 per U.S. dollar just before the United States withdrew from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed sanctions on the country. A video shared on Twitter by 1500tasvir, an account that has 400,000 followers, showed what it said was a metro station in Tehran on Saturday with the crowd chanting, "Political prisoners must be freed!" According to the activist HRANA news agency, 495 protesters had been killed as of Friday, including 68 minors. Sixty-two members of the security forces have also been killed. It said 18,450 people are estimated to have been arrested.

Iranians chant ‘death to dictator’ in Zahedan
Arab News/December 17/2022
JEDDAH: Hundreds have taken to the streets in Iran’s restive southeast, footage shared by human rights groups showed, beginning a fourth month of protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death. The country has seen waves of demonstrations since the Sept. 16 death in custody of Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women. Protesters in Zahedan, the Sistan-Baluchestan provincial capital, chanted “Death to the dictator,” taking aim at supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a video shared by Oslo-based Iran Human Rights.
Other images from Zahedan showed crowds of men, some raising posters with anti-regime slogans, and a group of black-clad women marching down what appeared to be a nearby street, also chanting slogans. Sistan-Baluchestan, on Iran’s border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, had been the site of often deadly violence even before nationwide protests erupted. The province’s Baluchi minority, who are Sunnis, have long complained of discrimination.
FASTFACT
Taraneh Alidoosti, 38, a prominent Iranian actor and supporter of protesters, was arrested for ‘publishing false and distorted content and inciting chaos.’Meanwhile, a prominent actor was arrested on Saturday after she voiced support for the protests. Taraneh Alidoosti, 38, was detained for “publishing false and distorted content and inciting chaos,” the Tasnim news agency reported. She is best known for her role in the Oscar-winning 2016 film “The Salesman.”In Germany, a group of Iranians reached the final day of a hunger strike while camped in tents outside the Iranian Consulate in Frankfurt in support of the protests. Elsewhere, groups of oil workers held protests in southern Iran, demanding higher wages and retirement bonuses.

Fate of Belgian aid worker jailed in Tehran linked to Iranian prisoner in Belgium
Jan van der Made/RFIRFI/ December 17, 2022
Iranian authorities have imposed a 28-year sentence on jailed Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, a spokesman for his family said. His fate is linked to that of an Iranian diplomat accused of masterminding a 2018 foiled bomb plot in Paris. The 43-year-old aid worker was arrested in Iran at the end of February on suspicion of spying. Both Belgium and Vandecasteele's family insist he is innocent. Vandecasteele had lived in Iran since 2015, working as country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council and then for Relief International, before returning to Belgium last year. He was quoted on several occasions by Iran's official press in his capacity as a relief worker. His case became closely linked to that of Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi, who was accused of masterminding a plot to bomb a gathering of an opposition group of Iranian exiles in Paris in 2018. The group, the National Council Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and which also goes by the name of "People's Mujaheddin" or "MEK", has bases in Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris, and in Albania. In July 2018, the NCRI, led by Maryam Rajavi, held its annual gathering in Villepinte conference centre north of Paris. During the meeting, police arrested a Belgian-Iranian couple carrying explosives, which investigators say were intended to be used to attack the NCRI gathering.

Fog-shrouded Kyiv recovers after Russia strikes, power restored to 6 million
KYIV/Reuters/December 17, 2022
Basic services were being restored in Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Saturday after the latest wave of Russian air strikes on critical infrastructure, as residents navigated a city gripped by fog and girded for a holiday season marked by uncertainty. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a quarter of Kyiv remained without heating but that the metro system was back in service and all residents had been reconnected to water supply by early morning. Only around one-third of the city remained without electricity, he said, but emergency outages would still be implemented to save power. "Because the deficit of electricity is significant," he wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Ukrainian officials said Russia fired more than 70 missiles on Friday in one of its heaviest barrages since the Kremlin's Feb. 24 invasion, forcing emergency blackouts nationwide. Ukraine has managed to restore power to almost 6 million people in the last 24 hours, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address. "Repair work continues without a break after yesterday's terrorist attack. ... Of course, there is still a lot of work to do to stabilize the system," he said. "There are problems with the heat supplies. There are big problems with water supplies," Zelenskiy added, saying Kyiv as well as Vinnytsia and Lviv further to the west were experiencing the most difficulty. Earlier this month, Kyiv Mayor Klitschko had warned of an "apocalypse" scenario for the capital if Russian air strikes on infrastructure continued, though he also said there was no need yet for people to evacuate. "We are fighting and doing everything we can to make sure that this does not happen," he told Reuters on Dec. 7.In a gloomy winter haze on Saturday, officials reopened a popular pedestrian bridge that had been damaged during an earlier air strike and were setting up a smaller-than-usual Christmas tree in a central square.
The vast space in front of the centuries-old St. Sophia Cathedral is traditionally anchored by a hulking evergreen at Christmas. But officials this year opted for a 12-metre (40-foot) artificial tree festooned with energy-saving lights powered by a generator. Orthodox Christians make up the majority of Ukraine's 43 million people. Klitschko said the tree was funded by donors and businesses, and that no public celebrations would take place. "I doubt this will be a true holiday," said Kyiv resident Iryna Soloychuk, who arrived with her daughter to see the tree just hours after another round of air-raid alerts wailed across the country. "But we should understand that we're all together, that we should help one another."

Jordan arrests 44 after deadly fuel protests
AFP/December 17, 2022
AMMAN: Jordan has arrested dozens of people accused of involvement in protests against rising fuel prices in which a senior police officer was gunned down, the country’s security agency said Saturday. Col. Abdul Razzaq Dalabeh, the deputy police chief of Maan province, died of a gunshot to the head in the town of Al-Husseiniya on Thursday while confronting what the authorities called “riots.” “Forty-four people who participated in the riots in a number of regions in the kingdom have been arrested and they will be brought before courts,” the Public Security Directorate said in a statement. It said reinforcements had been sent to the provinces, and accused “vandals and outlaws” of being behind violence in Maan, in the country’s south. Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned on Friday that “anyone who raises a weapon against the state will be dealt with firmly.” Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya, also on Friday, said “the security services are working to arrest the perpetrator and bring him to justice as soon as possible.” Two other policemen were shot and wounded, also in Al-Husseiniya, the security directorate said. Cab and truck drivers in several provinces of southern Jordan began strike actions more than a week ago. They were joined by bus drivers, and merchants who closed their shops on Wednesday to protest higher fuel costs. Protests broke out this week when demonstrators blocked roads with burning tires and confronted security forces in some areas. Fuel prices have nearly doubled in Jordan compared with a year earlier, particularly the diesel used by trucks and buses, and kerosene for heating. The government has proposed relief measures including financial aid for the most-affected families.

Jordan bans TikTok after police officer killed in protests
Associated Press/December 17, 2022
Jordan has announced it was imposing a "temporary ban" on the social media platform TikTok, a day after a police officer was killed during clashes with protesters that broke out over high fuel prices. Truck drivers launched a strike last week to protest high fuel prices in the Arab kingdom. The strike and protests have spread to several cities across Jordan. Clashes erupted in multiple cities on Thursday, with police using tear gas to disperse them. Videos from the strike and protests flooded TikTok and Jordan's Public Security Directorate said Friday it was suspending the popular short-form video application "after its misuse and failing to deal with publications inciting violence and disorder." Internet service was also disrupted in the cities of Maan, where the police officer was killed, and Karak. Both have seen protests against fuel hikes. On Friday, the truck drivers were still on strike but the protests have subsided. Meanwhile, King Abdullah II of Jordan vowed to "deal firmly" with outlaws. "We will not tolerate violence against our security personnel, who work day and night to protect Jordan and Jordanians," he said in a statement released by the Royal Court. The king spoke during a visit to extend condolences to the family of Abdul Razzaq Abdel Hafez Al Dalabeh, deputy police director in the city of Maan who was fatally shot Thursday.Jordan is a close Western ally and has long been seen as an island of stability in a turbulent region.Authorities did not say how long the ban would last.

IMF approves deal with Egypt for $3 billion support package
Associated Press/December 17, 2022
The International Monetary Fund has approved a deal that will provide a $3 billion support package to cash-strapped Egypt over a period of almost four years, with the agreement expected to draw in additional $14 billion in financing for the Middle East country. The announcement from the IMF's executive board late on Friday comes after a preliminary agreement was reached in October between Egypt and the fund, hours after Egypt's central bank introduced a series of reforms, including a hike in key interest rates by roughly 2 percentage points. The Egyptian economy has been hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine, events that have played havoc with global markets and hiked oil and food prices worldwide. The Egyptian pound has lost 36% of its value against the dollar since March. Egypt is the world's largest wheat importer, most of which came from Russia and Ukraine. The country's supply is subject to price changes on the international market. The deal announced Friday — known as an Extended Fund Facility Arrangement — is expected to cover a period of 46 months and will give the Egyptian government immediate access to about $347 million, which will help the debt-ridden economy nation bolster its balance of payments and budget, the IMF said. The statement said the package is expected ''to catalyze additional financing of about $14 billion from Egypt's international and regional partners. According to the IMF, the package will introduce wide-sweeping economic reforms, including a ''durable shift to a flexible exchange rate regime'' and a ''monetary policy aimed at gradually reducing inflation.'' It also envisages structural changes to the Egyptian economy to rebalance ''the playing field'' between the state and private sector, IMF said. For months, Egypt has been battling spiraling inflation, with its yearly rate reaching over 18% in November. For decades, most Egyptians have depended on the government to keep basic goods affordable through state subsidies and other similar schemes. About a third of Egypt's 104 million people live in poverty, according to government figures.

More questions than answers as EU corruption scandal unfolds
Associated Press/December 17, 2022
No one answers the door or the phone at the offices of the two campaign groups linked to a cash-for-favors corruption scandal at the European Union's parliament, allegedly involving Qatar. No light is visible inside. No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ), a pro-human rights and democracy organization, and Fight Impunity, which seeks to bring rights abusers to book, share the same address, on prime real estate in the governmental quarter of the Belgian capital. The heads of the two organizations are among four people charged since Dec. 9 with corruption, participation in a criminal group and money laundering. Prosecutors suspect certain European lawmakers and aides "were paid large sums of money or offered substantial gifts to influence parliament's decisions." The groups themselves do not seem to be under suspicion. Qatar rejects allegations that it's involved. The Gulf country that's hosting the soccer World Cup has gone to considerable trouble to boost its public image and defend itself against extensive criticism in the West over its human rights record. The lawyer for Fight Impunity President Pier Antonio Panzeri is not talking. He declined to comment about his client's role in an affair that has shaken the European Parliament and halted the assembly's work on Qatar-related files. The secretary-general of NPWJ, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, has left jail but must wear an electronic monitoring bracelet. On its Italian website, after he stepped down, the group praised his work, saying it hopes "the ongoing investigation will demonstrate the correctness of his actions."
Charged along with them are Eva Kaili, who was removed as an EU parliament vice president after the charges were laid, and her partner Francesco Giorgi, a parliamentary assistant. Pictures they've posted on social media project the image of an attractive and ambitious Mediterranean jet-set couple.
Following months of investigations, police have so far launched more than 20 raids, mostly in Belgium but also in Italy. Hundreds of thousands of euros have been found in Brussels: at an apartment and in a suitcase at a hotel not far from the parliament. Mobile telephones, computer equipment and the data of 10 parliamentary assistants were seized. Taking to Twitter, Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne described what he calls the "Qatargate" investigation as a "game changer." It was achieved, he said, "partly thanks to years of work by State Security," the country's intelligence agency.
According to what Italian newspaper La Repubblica and Belgian daily Le Soir said were transcripts of his Dec. 10 statements to prosecutors, Giorgi allegedly confessed to managing money on behalf of an "organization" led by Panzeri that dealt with Qatari and Moroccan representatives. "I did it all for money, which I needed,'' Giorgi told prosecutors, according to La Repubblica. He tried to protect his partner Kaili, a 44-year-old Greek former TV presenter with whom he has an infant daughter, asking that she be released from jail. Kaili's lawyer has said she knew nothing about the money.
Giorgi arrived in Belgium in 2009. He made a career at the parliament with the center-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group. He met Panzeri, at the time an EU lawmaker, at a conference. "I asked him to give me an internship, and he did,'' Giorgi said in his statement.
Panzeri became his mentor, made him an assistant and introduced him around, the Italian newspaper said. Giorgi expressed relief that the scheme had been uncovered. He described himself as a simple person who got in over his head due to a moral obligation he felt toward Panzeri. Up until his arrest, Giorgi worked as an assistant for another S&D lawmaker, Andrea Cozzolino. Italy's center-left Democratic Party suspended Cozzolino on Friday while the probe goes on. He temporarily withdrew from the S&D.
In Italy last weekend, Panzeri's wife, Maria Dolores Colleoni, and daughter, Silvia Panzeri, were taken into custody on a European arrest warrant. A court in Brescia ordered them to be placed under house arrest, one of their lawyers told AP.
On Friday, a Milan judicial source confirmed to AP that 17,000 euros ($18,075) were seized during a search of Panzeri's house, where his wife is staying, in Calusco d'Adda in the Bergamo province northeast of Milan. Police also seized computers, cell phones, watches and documents. Police separately found a key to a safe deposit box in the house of Giorgi's parents in the Milan suburb of Abbiategrasso, leading investigators to discover 20,000 euros ($21,260) in cash.
Panzeri's wife is expected to appear in court again on Monday, when a panel of judges will decide whether to extradite her to Belgium. A similar hearing will be held Tuesday for their daughter. Kaili is due to face court in Brussels on Thursday. The source in Milan, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, said Italian investigators were looking at other people but declined to identify them. The source said they were not EU lawmakers or people associated with the campaign groups. Many questions remain unanswered about the scandal. What Qatari officials, if any, were involved? Why target the EU's parliament? How wide is the investigators' net? What was the role of Panzeri, the former lawmaker and president of Fight Impunity? No light shines in his office, but Panzeri's own words on his group's website could point the way: "Martin Luther King Jr. once said, 'let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.' If we are to continue to move towards justice, accountability must be our guiding light."

Turkiye’s Erdogan: Courts will fix any mistakes after Istanbul mayor’s sentencing
Reuters/December 17, 2022
ISTANBUL: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that the courts would correct any mistakes in an appeal process after the jailing of Istanbul’s opposition mayor, and in the meantime Turks had no right to ignore legal rulings. In his first direct comments on Wednesday’s conviction of Ekrem Imamoglu — a potential challenger to Erdogan who was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison and handed a political ban — Erdogan said he did not care who is the opposition candidate in next year’s elections. Imamoglu was prosecuted for insulting public officials in 2019, when he criticized a decision to cancel the first round of municipal elections that he won against the 25-year incumbent government of Erdogan’s AK Party. “There’s still no final court decision yet. The case will go to the Court of Appeals and the Court of Cassation,” Erdogan said. “If the courts have made a mistake, it will be corrected. They’re trying to pull us into this game.”Imamoglu’s conviction has rallied the opposition bloc around what it sees as a fight for democracy, the rule of law and justice. Thousands have gathered at rallies led by Imamoglu, who has said he plans to appeal his conviction. “There have been many court rulings that we have harshly criticized ourselves, but that doesn’t give anyone the right to insult judges or to ignore court rulings,” Erdogan told a rally at Mardin in Turkiye’s southeast. Critics say Turkiye’s judiciary has been bent to Erdogan’s will to punish his critics. The government says they are independent.

UN envoy: Signs of Libya’s partition grow, election needed
AP/December 16, 2022
UNITED NATIONS: The UN special envoy for Libya warned Friday that signs of partition are already evident in the troubled North African nation and urged influential nations to pressure Libya’s rival leaders to urgently finalize the constitutional basis for elections. The first anniversary of the vote’s postponement is coming up later in December, said Abdoulaye Bathily, who stressed that if there is no resolution, an alternative way should be found to hold elections. Oil-rich Libya plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. In the chaos that followed, the county split into two rival administrations, each backed by different rogue militias and foreign governments. Bathily told the UN Security Council that the continuing disagreement between the two rivals — specifically, the speaker of Libya’s east-based parliament, Aguila Saleh, and Khaled Al-Mashri, the president of the High Council of State based in the country’s west, in the capital of Tripoli — on a limited number of provisions in the constitution “can no longer serve as a justification to hold an entire country hostage.” If the two institutions can’t reach agreement swiftly, Bathily said, “an alternative mechanism” , can and should be used “to alleviate the sufferings caused by outdated and open-ended interim political arrangements.” He did not elaborate on what that mechanism could be. Bathily also said the Security Council needs “to think creatively about ways to ensure that free, fair, transparent and simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections are organized and held under a single, unified and neutral administration, and that those who wish to run as candidates resign from their current functions to create a level playing field.”Libya’s latest political crisis stems from the failure to hold elections on Dec. 24, 2021, and the refusal of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah — who led a transitional government in Tripoli — to step down. Subsequently, Libya’s east-based parliament, which argues that Dbeibah’s mandate ended on Dec. 24, appointed a rival prime minister, Fathy Bashagha, who has for months unsuccessfully sought to install his government in Tripoli. The presidential vote was postponed over disputes between rival factions on laws governing the elections and controversial presidential hopefuls. The Tripoli-based council insists on banning military personnel as well as dual citizens from running for the country’s top post. That is apparently directed at east-backed military leader Khalifa Haftar, a divisive commander and US citizen who had announced his candidacy for the canceled December election. Bathily said individuals and entities that “prevent or undermine the holding of elections” must be held accountable, stressing that “this applies to acts committed before, during and after the election.” He warned that the unresolved political crisis in Libya “impacts people’s wellbeing, compromises their security, and threatens their very existence.”Signs of Libya’s partition, Bathily said, are ample — including two parallel governments in the east and west, separate security operations, a divided central bank, and growing discontent throughout the country “over the unequal allocation of the huge revenues of oil and gas of the country.”The protracted political crisis “also carries a serious risk of further dividing the country and its institutions,” he added.
Bathily told the council that Saleh and Al-Mashri had earlier agreed to meet under UN auspices in the city of Zintan on Dec. 4 to try and find a way out of the crisis but regrettably, the meeting was postponed “due to unforeseen logistical reasons as well as emerging political obstacles.”
He said the UN is working to identify a new date and location for the meeting. US deputy ambassador Robert Wood said Libya’s political transition “remains stuck” since the failure to hold elections.The past year has seen “continued manipulation of Libya’s oil resources and the diversion of revenues to fund militias in both east and west, instead of being used to benefit the Libyan people through building infrastructure, promoting a diversified economy, or improving services like health care and education,” he said,
Leaders of institutions have been threatened and technocrats have been sidelined “in favor of a rotating cast of cronies,” he said.
“Powerful Libyans have undermined the roadmap to elections, seeking only to protect their spheres of influence, presiding over turf battles among militias, criminal enterprises and foreign fighters, the horrific treatment of migrants, and the declining living standards of the Libyan people,” Wood said.
He said it is imperative that all parties participate in discussions facilitated by Bathily and the UN political mission in Libya toward establishing a constitutional framework and a timetable for elections. Libya’s UN ambassador, Taher Elsonni, speaking last, told the Security Council that Bathily’s briefing was “only diagnosis, with no medication or healing in prospect.” “The international community should respect the desire of the Libyan people to put an end to the conflict, and it should support national initiatives in order to lay down a constitutional basis to conduct parliamentary and presidential elections as soon as possible and to spare no efforts or resources in order to end transitional periods,” Elsonni said. He called on the Security Council to support national efforts to bring all key players around one table in Libya to discuss the constitutional framework and a timetable to elections.

Ex-UK PM David Cameron to teach politics in Abu Dhabi
Arab News/December 17, 2022
LONDON: Former UK Prime Minister David Cameron is set to take up a position teaching politics at New York University Abu Dhabi in January. The former leader of the Conservative Party, who oversaw the 2016 Brexit referendum, will teach a three-week course on “practising politics and government in the age of disruption.” The course will be open to all students across the university both in Abu Dhabi and New York, and is part of a series of short courses offered throughout the year “by renowned scholars, writers, artists, journalists, practitioners and policy analysts.”
He was also prime minister during the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, and led the UK’s first coalition administration since Winston Churchill during the Second World War. Cameron went on to win the general election in 2015. The course will cover topics including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, though it is unclear if Brexit or Scotland will be on the curriculum. It will also cover mass global migration. In 2018, Cameron appeared at the Abu Dhabi Ideas Festival, an event run by NYUAD, where he called it the “number one political issue, year after year.” A friend told the Financial Times: “He led the Tory party for 11 years and the country for six years and will draw on his experience in teaching the course about politics and government in the age of populism and disruption.”

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 17-18/2022/
ماجد رفي زاده من معهد جيتستون: ما يحتاجه الغرب هو قطع اعلاقاته بالكامل مع حُكم الملالي في إيران
The West Needs To Fully Cut Ties with Iran’s Ruling Mullahs
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/December 17, 2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/114164/majid-rafizadeh-gatestone-institute-the-west-needs-to-fully-cut-ties-with-irans-ruling-mullahs%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%ac%d8%af-%d8%b1%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%b2%d8%a7%d8%af%d9%87-%d9%85%d9%86-%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%87/
The sister of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Badri Hosseini Khamenei, came out criticizing the whole establishment and calling for the overthrow of her brother’s “despotic caliphate”.
“The regime of the Islamic Republic of Khomeini and Ali Khamenei has brought nothing but suffering and oppression to Iran and Iranians. I hope to see the victory of the people and the overthrow of this tyranny ruling Iran soon.” — Badri Hosseini Khamenei, in an open letter.
Even though a large number of high level public figures, celebrities, athletes are supporting the protesters and turning against the regime, calls for international support by many Iranians are being totally ignored.
“O free people, be with us and help us, and tell your governments to stop supporting this murderous and child-killing regime. This regime is not even loyal to any of its own religious principles, and does not know any laws or rules except force and maintaining power in any way possible. ” — Farideh Moradkhani, niece of Ayatollah Khamenei.
It is shocking and reveals worlds about the rank hypocrisy of Western governments — both in Europe and the United States — that, in spite of all the human rights violations committed by Iran’s regime, not a single Western country, except for Ukraine, has — at the very least — recalled its representatives from Iran, closed its embassies and cut diplomatic ties with Iran’s murderous and child-killing regime.
In spite of the Iranian regime’s brutal crackdown on protesters, many Western governments are maintaining their diplomatic relationships with the ruling mullahs and turning a blind eye to the regime’s sickening human rights violations.
In spite of the Iranian regime’s brutal crackdown on protesters, many Western governments are maintaining their diplomatic relationships with the ruling mullahs and turning a blind eye to the regime’s sickening human rights violations. Where, also, are the women’s movements of the West?
The regime recently executed a 23-year-old protester after a hasty and unfair trial. He was convicted of the vague charge of “enmity against Allah”. According to Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa:
“We are horrified that the Iranian authorities have executed Mohsen Shekari, less than three weeks after they convicted and sentenced him to death in a grossly unfair sham trial. With the Iranian authorities brutally acting on their public threats to expedite capital proceedings and carry out executions swiftly, we fear that other protesters under death sentences or charged with capital offences are at imminent risk of being sent to their deaths.”
According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Iranian regime has recently killed at least 300 people and arrested 14,000.
Even though a large number of high level public figures, celebrities, athletes are supporting the protesters and turning against the regime, calls for international support by many Iranians are being totally ignored.
The regime has threatened the protestors, particularly actresses who have been appearing without the mandatory headscarf. Mohsen Mansouri, governor of Tehran Province, warned that the government would be dealing with “celebrities who fanned the flames of riots and with those who sign [lucrative] contracts with radio and television, but in a time of riots take a stand against security and order. Of course, we may not deal with some cases immediately due to material reasons, but without a doubt we will deal with them after a few days and at the right time.”
Some family members of Iran’s top officials are protesting against the leadership as well. The sister of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Badri Hosseini Khamenei, came out criticizing the whole establishment and calling for the overthrow of her brother’s “despotic caliphate”:
“The regime of the Islamic Republic of Khomeini and Ali Khamenei has brought nothing but suffering and oppression to Iran and Iranians. I hope to see the victory of the people and the overthrow of this tyranny ruling Iran soon.”
She added that her brother, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei does not “listen to the voice of the people of Iran and wrongly considers the voice of his mercenaries and money-grubbers to be the voice of the Iranian people.”
Ayatollah Khamenei’s niece, Farideh Moradkhani, also urged the United Nations, governments, and human rights organizations to act:
“O free people, be with us and help us, and tell your governments to stop supporting this murderous and child-killing regime. This regime is not even loyal to any of its own religious principles, and does not know any laws or rules except force and maintaining power in any way possible. How long do we have to witness oppression by political autocrats in any part of this world”.
Moradkhani drew a comparison between the Iranian regime and Hitler’s regime:
“Isn’t the experience of Hitler, Mussolini, Ceausescu, Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Khomeini, and this last one Khamenei enough to make the world think of a new way? We expect that the United Nations and all the organizations that derive their value and credibility from the goal of freedom and justice for all humanity, take practical steps and implement deterrent and effective activities against the stark, horrible crimes that are going on in Iran against the women, men and children. Stop being indifferent and prevent this horrible genocide. Free and brave Iranians will overthrow this autocratic and repressive regime. What is urgently needed is not to support this regime that killed thousands of Iranians in four days in November 2019, while the world was only watching. This event and similar events are a disgrace for every free and conscientious person.”
It is shocking and reveals worlds about the rank hypocrisy of Western governments — both in Europe and the United States — that, in spite of all the human rights violations committed by Iran’s regime, not a single Western country, except for Ukraine, has — at the very least — recalled its representatives from Iran, closed its embassies and cut diplomatic ties with Iran’s murderous and child-killing regime.
Picture Enclosed: Farideh Moradkhani, niece of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, denounces the Iranian regime in a video posted on YouTube.
*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
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https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19236/cut-iran-ties

What lessons does the Iranian uprising offer for the region?
Mohammed Abu Dalhoum/Arab News/December 17, 2022
In early November, the chief Iranian investigator in charge of interrogating youth detainees said that he had spent his entire life questioning political figures, but found the recent interrogations the most difficult because he was unable to understand the responses.
His remarks were in line with recent reports suggesting that the Tehran regime cannot comprehend the reasons behind the mass protests that have swept the country. Putting aside the regime’s violent response to the demonstrations, the authorities’ inability to understand what is driving citizen dissent is indicative of their failure. While Mohammed Jafar Montazeri, Iran’s attorney-general, has said that the morality police have been abolished, uncertainty remains as to whether their duties were transferred elsewhere, or if Iranians can begin to dictate their own social behavior, without fear of severe judicial repercussions.
Nevertheless, protests ignited by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the morality police continue, without a clear end in sight. But the Iranian regime’s apparent belief that simply abolishing the morality police would put an end to the anger on the street is symbolic of the widening gap between the state and society.
This posits questions of how integral it is for governments to understand citizens as a basis for effectively addressing their demands. Data from the most recent World Values Survey shows that most young people surveyed indicated between “some” and “little” when asked about the extent to which the political systems in their countries allowed them to have a say in decision-making.
The same survey also showed that among those aged 30 or younger, the average satisfaction level with the performance of the political system and the way governments carry out their duties was low.
This data highlights the gap between citizens and decision-makers. If governments are oblivious to or, worse, simply wrong about citizens’ needs because they do not engage them in their decision-making processes, then their policies will likely be tuned to a different wavelength. As a result, governments and societies will find it difficult to understand each other because they will not be having the same conversation. There are two important factors to consider. First, the understanding between governments and societies is a fundamental component of the social contract. When societies refuse to acknowledge the reality that they are not the same as before, and when governments view societies in the same way they did in the past, progress becomes all but impossible. Second, the performance of the economy has become increasingly more important when it comes to determining the efficacy of political systems, especially in the Arab world. In fact, data from the Arab Barometer suggests that Arabs assess the success of systems, including democracies, on the basis of their economic progress.
By this logic, when governments understand their citizens’ needs and demonstrate economic progress, citizen confidence in decision-making is likely to be higher. Contrary to what Western liberal schools assert, a state need not be a democracy to achieve this objective.
When governments understand their citizens’ needs and demonstrate economic progress, citizen confidence in decision-making is likely to be higher.
Over the past decade, two main types of governance have been sustained in the Arab world: Democracies, or democratizing states, on the one hand, and what can be referred to as “effective governance” on the other.
While democratization processes have been stagnant or failing in many Arab states, the effective governance module is becoming economically more successful regionally. Effective governance in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar is demonstrating tangible growth for their citizens. Conventional discussions tend to point to the prevalence of natural resources as the driver for the success of the system. But digging deeper offers more depth to the discussion.
This is because clarity and harmony between governments and citizens go hand in hand with economic growth. We cannot overlook how governments communicate with citizens in comparison with how they communicate with foreign leaderships and international multilateral organizations.
At face value, we see economically struggling states constantly sending liberal messages to external audiences as part of the search for foreign aid, yet their domestic policies rarely line up with such messages. From a citizen’s point of view, it is cognitive dissonance in a sense that what they see implemented does not always resemble what they hear their governments claim. Over time, it becomes increasingly difficult for people to overlook these contradictions, especially when they are more aware of different, more effective measures elsewhere. Unless governments improve the transparency of the drivers behind their policies, citizen dissent is unlikely to subside. On the other hand, Arab states that adopt the effective governance module rarely deliver different messages to their citizens compared with their rhetoric with foreign governments and multilaterals. This consistency of communication, regardless of the audience, is contributing to a sustained positive level of mutual trust between the state and society.
Ultimately, governments ought to effectively manage their available resources, regardless of their scarcity, while also effectively communicating with their citizens — clearly, transparently and in a way that is consistent with how they communicate externally. The protests in Iran have shown that no system is entirely immune to citizen dissent, but effective governance and open, consistent communication with citizens can preemptively address the warning signals.
• Mohammed Abu Dalhoum is the president of MENAACTION and a senior research analyst at NAMA Strategic Intelligence Solutions.

From climate justice to climate liability
Nick Butler/Arab News/December 16, 2022
Many people have dismissed last month’s UN Climate Change Conference, COP27, as a failure, owing to the lack of progress on pledges made during the COP26 summit in 2021, and the absence of clear commitments to phase out fossil fuels.
More broadly, the COP process itself has been criticized as inadequate and ultimately unworkable, given its reliance on unanimity among all parties. But COP27 did produce one notable breakthrough: The world’s advanced economies, including the US and the EU, finally accepted some responsibility for the “loss and damage” caused by climate change. In the bureaucratic language of the conference’s final communique, they agreed “to establish new funding arrangements for assisting developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change in responding to loss and damage.”
A special committee comprising 24 countries was established to determine how the new fund will be financed, managed and distributed. Their conclusions are due to be presented at the COP28 summit in the UAE toward the end of next year.
Yet, given that the Republicans will soon have control of the US House of Representatives, it is hard to believe that the US will be putting much cash on the table. There is also uncertainty about whether China will be a major contributor — although it is now a leading source of emissions, the UN still considers it a “developing” country. COP27 produces one notable breakthrough: The world’s advanced economies finally accepted some responsibility for the “loss and damage” caused by climate change. Finally, while the EU has accepted, in principle, that the countries most responsible for climate change should help to bear its costs, Europe is heading into a recession, which will most likely limit contributions from EU member states.
China’s involvement is especially important because the EU has set Chinese contributions as a condition for its own participation. Therefore Gordon Brown, the former British prime minister, has warned that we could end up with a “fund without funders.”
As real as that danger is, however, it should not diminish the importance of what governments agreed to during COP27. The developed world’s acceptance of responsibility for the effects of climate change establishes grounds for reparations, and indicates a degree of liability that will now be tested in courts around the world. “Climate justice” will evolve from a powerful slogan into a live legal issue.
If climate change is the result of emissions, past and present, and if it is driving the increased incidence and severity of extreme weather, it means, for example, that the flooding this year in Pakistan and creeping desertification in North Africa can be attributed to the actions of those who caused the emissions.
But who, exactly, is liable? The governments of the developed world have accepted that they are partly accountable. But responsibility, and therefore liability, might also be attributed to the companies that produced, sold, and profited from the products that generated the emissions.
Energy companies can try to argue that until the 1980s or 1990s, there was no scientific consensus on the adverse climatic effects of burning hydrocarbons. But from the 1990s onward, that defense cannot stand.
The age of potential liability therefore began about 30 years ago, when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and other bodies began to build a body of credible scientific research. Now, the age of real climate liability is upon us.
For the companies involved — particularly those subject to the laws and political decisions of advanced economies — such liability is an existential threat. It is analogous to the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement that resolved the conflict between the tobacco industry and 46 US state attorneys general over responsibility for the medical costs associated with smoking. But where that settlement required the companies to pay a total of $206 billion over 25 years, the bill for climate change and its associated costs will be much higher. The risks are global and they continue to grow because emissions continue to rise. In fact, the worst is yet to come — and the potential costs are almost beyond calculation.
There will be ferocious legal battles, to be sure. But simply by accepting responsibility for the global costs of climate change, in principle, the parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change have let the genie out of the bottle. Fossil-fuel companies and their investors will not be able to claim that they were not warned. True, COP27 left many participants and observers disappointed. Climate scientists, activists and others are understandably dismayed that the urgency of climate change is still being ignored, and that more immediate issues such as the cost-of-living crisis and Russia’s war in Ukraine are crowding out the attention of policymakers and the public. But the reality is that COP27 will probably be remembered as a watershed moment. Now that the developed world has finally accepted a degree of financial responsibility for the loss and damage caused by climate change, the broader climate debate will henceforth turn on the question of liability. And that, in turn, could fundamentally change the main protagonists’ incentives.
*Nick Butler, a visiting professor at King’s College London, is founding chair of the King’s Policy Institute and Chair of Promus Associates. Copyright: Project Syndicate

How the Turkish incursion is causing chaos
Maria Maalouf/Arab News/December 17, 2022
Turkiye launched airstrikes against targets in northern and eastern Syria on Nov. 19. The bombardment by warplanes, drones and artillery killed many civilians and members of the Syrian Democratic Forces, the leading partner of the US in the multilateral anti-Daesh coalition.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that the strikes “are just the beginning.” There was well-documented cooperation during the operation between the Turkish National Intelligence Agency and Syrian Islamists.
Since 2016, nearly 60,000 fighters from more than 100 countries have passed through Turkiye to enter Syria. The Turkish intelligence agency provided them with logistical support, money, weapons and even arranged for Islamists wounded on the battlefield to receive medical care in Turkish hospitals.
In contrast to Turkiye’s duplicity, the Kurds are indispensable allies of the US. The SDF, at the heart of which are Kurds, was the spearhead against Daesh. Now, Turkiye is massing additional forces along the Syrian border and threatening a massive cross-border operation — and wants to inspire a prison break so that Daesh members can join this phase of the fight.
Al-Hol camp in northern Syria is a hotbed of Islamists ready to fight. It was established in 1991, during the Gulf War, as a haven for Iraqi refugees. It is located 12 km from the border with Iraq and 70 km from areas occupied by the Turkish army east of the Euphrates River. About 55,000 relatives of Daesh fighters live there, including 25,000 Iraqi refugees, 20,000 Syrians and 8,000 from other countries. Residents of the camp include more than 10,000 extremist fighters from 52 countries, and Turkiye seeks to achieve its own goals by creating chaos so that these fighters can escape.
In 2019, Turkiye invaded the town of Tal Abyad and bombed the area near the Ain Issa camp. Daesh members and their families took advantage of the chaos to flee toward Turkiye but the SDF arrested them. In January this year, Turkish-backed extremists organized a prison break from Al-Hasakah camp but, once again, the SDF thwarted the attempt.
The area around Cirkin Prison in Qamishlo was also targeted by Turkish airstrikes that helped Daesh fighters escape and join the Syrian National Army, a terrorist force under Turkish control.
There is a belief that by labeling the Kurds as terrorists, the ruling party will mobilize the Turkish nationalist base to rally around the AKP.
SDF members from Syrian villages along the border with Turkiye fear for the safety of their wives and children and therefore feel obligated to protect their loved ones. The Turkish armed forces are massing along the border in preparation for an invasion, and will attack the SDF unless the US can deter them.
The SDF expects the US to warn Ankara that there will be a heavy price to pay for any aggression against the SDF.
We can speculate about Erdogan’s motives in all of this. Domestic support for his Justice and Development Party has been declining significantly in the run-up to national elections in June next year and there is a belief that by labeling the Kurds as terrorists, it will mobilize the Turkish nationalist base to rally around the party. A complete and independent investigation will clear the Kurds of involvement in the terrorist bombing in Istanbul on Nov. 13 this year. Meanwhile, the US should support the SDF to help maintain order in the camps where Daesh members and their families reside.
The US and the SDF are natural allies, committed to democratic federalism, the empowerment of women, and environmental sustainability. Turkiye is a NATO ally but the Kurds are good friends of the US in its fight against violent extremism.
• Maria Maalouf is a Lebanese journalist, broadcaster, publisher and writer. She has a master’s degree in political sociology from the University of Lyon.
Twitter: @bilarakib

Isolating the Murderous Iranian Regime Is Both Just and Necessary
Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani/The Daily Beast/December 17, 2022
“For every one killed, a thousand more of us will rise up.”
That is the latest defiant rallying cry from protesters inside Iran, hundreds of thousands of whom have been engaged in a brave and unprecedented revolutionary movement since the September killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini while in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s custody.
That chant is all the more astounding when you consider the context in which it’s being shouted—the public hanging of political prisoners.
In three months, the Islamic Republic of Iran regime has indiscriminately arrested more than 18,000 and killed at least 483 people, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, an independent non-profit. That death toll includes 68 children, and is likely an underestimate because of the difficulty of verifying information inside the country. The regime has repeatedly restricted internet access in an attempt to quell uprisings, prevent the flow of information, and strangle the ability of the Iranian people to assemble freely. Iran tops this year’s list of countries with the most imprisoned reporters, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Women and girls, who have been at the forefront of this revolution since it began, have been subject to horrific levels of barbarism. Reports from medics inside the country have documented numerous occasions where female protesters have been sexually assaulted, and deliberately shot in the genitals, breasts, and faces. Mothers and grandmothers have taken to social media weeping and begging the regime to spare the lives of their children. Videos from inside Iran show families furiously banging on prison doors around the country, demanding that the regime release their loved ones.
Yet this month, the Islamic Republic of Iran stepped up its already impossible levels of brutality against protesters when it began meting out capital punishment.
Executions have been rapid—almost summary—and have followed sham trials where the accused are denied legal representation. These trials are taking place after the accused have allegedly been tortured, some coerced into forced confessions, while others have had their families threatened by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) if they dare to speak out.
On Dec. 8, the regime executed Mohsen Shekari on a charge of “moharebeh”—a Farsi word meaning “waging war against God”—which carries the death penalty.
Shekari’s “crime,” according to the regime, was blocking a street and injuring a Basij guard (the volunteer militia arm of the IRGC). His family and eyewitnesses have countered what they call a false narrative being peddled by the regime, arguing that Shekari saw security forces attacking protesters, and moved a guardrail into the middle of the street to impede the IRGC from being able to continue their assault on everyday Iranians. Shekari was denied the right to choose his own lawyer, and his uncle claimed he had been visibly tortured. Amnesty International has urged the world to take action; at least two dozen other young men are at imminent risk of being killed in a similar fashion.
The Revolutionary Court proceedings that have taken place so far can perhaps best be described as a terrifying blend of kangaroo and kafkaesque. We’ve seen situations in the past month where the prosecutor also literally plays the role of sentencing judge, as happened in the case of Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, the second young man to be arrested and hanged within a three-week timespan. His family reportedly only learned of his death after he was executed in near-secrecy.
As I write, concerns are mounting for Mohammad Boroughani, a 19-year-old protester who was sentenced to death last month, and who has this week reportedly been transferred from prison to an unknown location.
The executions are widely seen by the international community as a barely veiled revenge response from the regime toward protesters who have dared publicly dissent against its draconian theocratic rule, with many on the streets and online calling for the regime’s end. But even with this acknowledgement, there is a level of urgency missing in the international response towards these acts of cruelty by the Islamic Republic. That must change now.
Some may argue that we’ve already seen the international community step up in the 90 days since the protests began—in meaningful but relatively narrow ways.
This week, members of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women rightly voted overwhelmingly to boot Iran off the women’s rights body, in a motion that passed with 29 nations in support (eight voted against, 16 abstained). The United States led the charge, with Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. Representative to the United Nations, issuing a stern rebuke to the IR in her opening remarks, calling the Islamic Republic of Iran’s membership a “stain on our credibility.”
An overwhelming number of members of the UN Human Rights Council voted in November to create an independent mechanism to investigate the regime’s alleged crimes against its people—including extrajudicial killings, imprisonments, and murders of children. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called the situation inside Iran painful to watch.
“The old methods and the fortress mentality of those who wield power simply don’t work,” Turk said. “Change is inevitable. The way forward is meaningful reforms.” But part of that change has to include a swift rebuke and shift in approach from nations like Germany and the U.K. in response to the executions.
There is some division on how to proceed. Hannah Neumann, a German Member of European Parliament and prominent outspoken critic of the current Iranian regime—so much so that she was added to an IR sanctions list this month—has expressed reluctance to heed the call from some to shut down embassies. She recently tweeted: “I don’t think it helps protesters in #Iran, if we turn the country into a second North Korea by closing all our embassies.”
Neumann argues that embassies act as a foreign government’s eyes and ears overseas, and are necessary to provide propaganda-free, verifiable information about what’s happening inside Iran, an important task given the country has expelled nearly all international journalists, and continues to imprison its own journalists. Gissou Nia, the director of the strategic litigation project at the Atlantic Council and one of the prominent human rights lawyers who helped spearhead this week’s UN vote, agrees in part with Neumann’s concerns against a total severance of all diplomacy. But Nia argues that there are ways to apply pressure without shuttering embassies, including the temporary downgrading of diplomatic ties. That means nations with existing relationships with Iran must immediately recall their ambassadors.
“It has to be a coordinated approach and it’s a really tall ask,” Nia explained as she made her way to D.C. from New York this week. “It would have to be ideally not only EU and European countries, and also explicitly tied to the end of executions of these protesters. It’s an immediate, urgent action. It needs to happen now.”
Recalling ambassadors would send a strong political signal that the executions must stop. Embassies can still function with a chargé d'affaires, and still have the capacity to monitor trials (though the Iranian regime typically resists and prevents nations from meaningfully doing so).
In 1992, Sadegh Sharafkandi, an Iranian Kurdish opposition leader, was assassinated along with three other people on German soil, by henchmen of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The case caused a major diplomatic schism between Germany and Iran. Prosecutors at the time argued that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and then-president Hashemi Rafsanjani ordered and approved the killings. After the 1997 verdict in the so-called Mykonos case trial, Germany expelled four Iranian diplomats and recalled its ambassador from Tehran. The EU suspended “critical dialogue” with Iran in response.
More recently, in September 2021, France recalled its ambassador to the U.S. for the first time in a show of fury over the scrapping of a longstanding billion-dollar Franco-Australian nuclear submarine deal in favor of a technology alliance between Canberra and Washington, D.C. Some observers argued that the move gave French President Emmanuel Macron leverage over his relationship with Biden; since the sub spat, the U.S. has been generally vociferous in its praise of Macron, particularly his handling of Ukraine, and Macron scored the first state visit of Biden’s presidency this month.
France has a unique role in utilizing a similar methodology to indicate its own anger and intolerance for the Iranian regime’s behavior now.
Want to Help Iranian Protesters? Lift the Sanctions. Macron has already characterized the uprisings inside Iran as a “revolution,” and could help coordinate a collective European response to the executions and lead his fellow EU bloc members and non-EU nations in the West to temporarily downgrade diplomatic ties until the Iranian regime commits to stop executing protesters. Of course, there are other ways that the international community can flex its collective muscle to send a united message to the regime that executions of its own people in this manner is contrary to international law, and will not be tolerated. The EU has already issued a tranche of sanctions against Iran for its role in supplying drones to Russia as part of the ongoing war in Ukraine, as well as its human rights violations. More sanctions are likely to come.
But with the ongoing capital punishment threat in Iran to so many protesters, we need to see more action from the international community beyond economic condemnations which have yet to slow the regime’s deadly reaction to the popular uprisings across Iran.
Nia, for one, feels that there is some momentum to be built on after the UN vote this week. “We’re at a turning point,” she said.