English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For 27 July/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household
Acts of the Apostles 16/25-34:"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.’ The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They answered, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God."

Titels For English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 26-27/2022
From The 2002 Archive: Interview of ex-PM Michel Aoun with MTV Station’s Elie Nakouzi.
Gantz accuses Hezbollah of hindering border negotiations
Hochstein to visit Lebanon by the end of the week
President Aoun meets U.N. Special Coordinator
Aoun says new govt. still possible, urges against escalation over Hajj case
Lebanon’s Parliament resorts to makeshift solutions to prevent collapse
Parliament convenes in first legislative session
Berri: We're going to Naqoura and we may get more than Line 29
Parliament approves $150 mn World Bank Wheat loan
Jumblat urges Nasrallah to avoid war, calls for 'president with program'
Circus in parliament: Berri insults Qaaqour, MP slams 'roaches', Khazen rejects use of 'patriarchal'
Hawat laments MPs were barred from raising Hajj case in parliament
After Nasrallah's remarks, Fayyad says any fuel grant needs cabinet decree
'Condoms' and 'Playboy magazines': Zarazir decries being given 'filthy' parliament office
New U.S. coast guard cutters visit Lebanon for 1st Middle East stop
Lebanon Approves $150 Million World Bank Wheat Loan
In occupied countries such as ours, crime pays./Jean-Marie Kassab/July 26/2022
Hezbollah's Nasrallah renews threats against Israel's maritime gas plans
Nasrallah: Hezbollah has all of Israel in its missile range -report/Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/July 26/2022
Lebanon's Syrian Refugees/Joseph Hitti/July 25, 2022
Maroun El Hakim uses painting and sculpture in a ‘salute’ to Lebanon/Mimoza Al-Arawi/The Arab Weekly/July 26/2022

Titles For Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 26-27/2022
Mother of teenage protester slain by Iranian authorities to face 100 lashes
IRGC Prepares to Launch New Satellite Carrier
Russia’s Defense Ministry: Grain Coordination Center Launched in Istanbul
Russia Aims New Air Strikes at Black Sea Coastal Targets
Macron, in Cameroon, Says Food Is Russian Weapon of War
Nuclear treaty conference to focus on deterrence, disarmament: US official
Morocco intercepts more than 350 migrants off coast
Russia Raps Israel on Ukraine but Plays Down Jewish Agency Court Case
Latest Russian Gas Cuts ‘Politically Motivated’, EU Energy Chief Says
Trump Returning to Washington to Deliver Policy Speech
Iraq to Free Briton Jailed in Antiquities Case, Says Lawyer
Tunisia President Hails Vote Set to Bolster Rule
Conflict Resumes in the West Bank During IDF Operations in Nablus

Titles For LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 26-27/2022
Arabs: 'US President Decided to Tamper with [Middle East] Security for No Reason/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute./July 26, 2022
Failed Initiative To Establish Middle East NATO – Arab Countries Clarify: There Will Be No Regional Military Alliance Against Iran; We Seek To Improve Our Relations With It
H. Varulkar, Y. Yehoshua, and Z. Harel*/'MEMRI/July 26/2022
Biden blunders on refugees/Jonathan Schanzer and Asaf Romirowsky/Washington Examiner/July 26/2022 |
Russia and Iran Keep Growing Closer/Anna Borshchevskaya/The Washington Institute/July 26/2022
Predatory birds of a feather plotting mayhem together/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/July 26/2022
The shadowy economics of ISIS resurgence in Syria/The Arab Weekly/July 26/2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 26-27/2022
From The 2002 Archive: Interview of ex-PM Michel Aoun with MTV Station’s Elie Nakouzi.
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/110712/%d9%85%d9%86-%d8%a3%d8%b1%d8%b4%d9%8a%d9%81-2002-%d9%85%d9%82%d8%a7%d8%a8%d9%84%d8%a9-%d9%85%d8%b9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b1%d8%a6%d9%8a%d8%b3-%d8%b9%d9%88%d9%86-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%84%d8%ba%d8%aa%d9%8a/

Gantz accuses Hezbollah of hindering border negotiations
Naharnet/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Tuesday that Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is getting in the way of reaching a solution regarding the border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel. "Nasrallah is obstructing the attempt to reach a solution," Gantz said, as he accused Hezbollah's chief of "harming the Lebanese and the energy sector."Gantz added that Israel is seeking a solution with Lebanon, hoping that the situation wouldn't "devolve into a war or days of fighting." We must defend our right to extract gas without harming the Lebanese," he said.

Hochstein to visit Lebanon by the end of the week
Agence France Presse/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab confirmed Tuesday ahead of a parliament session that U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein will visit Lebanon by the end of the week. The MPs will discuss in their first legislative session today the maritime border demarcation with Israel. "We will not give up our rights and there will be no partnership with the enemy," Bou Saab said, as he sensed "positivity" in the negotiations. He added that Lebanon is negotiating "from a strong position" and that there is hope for a solution to be reached. "Line 29 is a choice and it is not negotiable," Bou Saab said. Lebanon and Israel, separated by a U.N.-patrolled border, had resumed negotiations over their maritime border in 2020 but the process was stalled by Beirut's claim that the map used by the United Nations in the talks needed modifying. Lebanon initially demanded 860 square kilometers of territory in the disputed maritime area but then asked for an additional 1,430 square kilometers, including part of Karish. The maritime border dispute returned to the fore last month after Israel moved a production vessel into Karish, parts of which are claimed by Lebanon. The move forced the Lebanese government to call for the resumption of U.S.-mediated negotiations, while Hezbollah threatened Israel against proceeding with extraction. Lebanon is now waiting for a response from Israel after relaying its maritime border position to Hochstein who visited Beirut last month at the request of authorities.

President Aoun meets U.N. Special Coordinator
Naharnet/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
President Michel Aoun on Tuesday told U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka that Lebanon is committed to Resolution 1701, while Israel is constantly violating the Lebanese sovereignty by land, sea and air. Aoun stressed the importance of the collaboration between the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese Army, as he affirmed his willingness to carry out reforms and resume the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.

Aoun says new govt. still possible, urges against escalation over Hajj case
Naharnet/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
President Michel Aoun on Tuesday voiced concern that a new government might not be formed in the few remaining weeks of his tenure as he noted that there is still “hope” to see that happening. Aoun added that PM-designate Najib Mikati had called him prior to his vacation to tell him that he would visit him upon his return, something that “has not happened.”“Until now, any communication has not taken place,” Aoun told his visitors, according to the al-Intichar news portal. As for the line-up that was submitted by Mikati, Aoun lamented that the PM-designate did not discuss it with him “according to norms, rules and partnership necessities.”Turning to the controversy over the interrogation and summoning of Archbishop Moussa al-Hajj following his return from Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, the President said that the issue is being resolved. “Some stances launched by some parties made the case take another direction and the case must be returned to its real context instead of deviating it to other things,” Aoun added. “The issue is in the hands of the judiciary and no one should interfere in it, pending the outcome of the ongoing investigations,” the President went on to say, rejecting “the launching of any treason or collaboration accusations before the crystallization of all details.”As for the issue of sea border demarcation with Israel, Aoun expressed optimism that a solution that would “satisfy Lebanon” is imminent.

Lebanon’s Parliament resorts to makeshift solutions to prevent collapse
Najia Houssari/Arab News/Huly 26/2022
The session highlight was the approval of an amendment to the banking secrecy law, which had been discussed in the presence of US ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea
BEIRUT: Tuesday’s legislative session reflected the chaos and confusion that Lebanon is experiencing, with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri tossing the issue of scrapping subsidies on wheat like a hot potato.
The session highlight was the approval of an amendment to the banking secrecy law, which had been discussed in the presence of US ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea, as it falls within the reforms demanded by the international community as a condition for helping the country. “Approving the amendment to the banking secrecy law should be perceived positively by the international community,” said MP Ibrahim Kanaan. “We expect the government to restructure the banks to go in line with what we have adopted. The capital control law also needs to be amended and the government is required to work seriously in this regard.”During the session, which included several debates and fiery responses, Mikati addressed an item on the agenda regarding an approval request for a $150 million World Bank loan agreement to implement an emergency response project to secure wheat supplies. “Most of the bread bundles that are produced with subsidized flour go to non-Lebanese, and everyone knows that.”
He told MPs: “If you want to lift subsidies on wheat, and you want the government to do so, issue a recommendation from parliament in this regard.” Berri refused to do so.
Caretaker Economy Minister Amin Salam said if subsidies on wheat were lifted that the price of a bread bundle would range between LBP30,000 LBP (around $1) and LBP35,000. “Under the agreement with the World Bank, the mechanism for implementing the loan will begin in the coming weeks to secure the necessary funds, and thus secure a social safety net,” he noted. Dozens of bakeries ran out of bread on Tuesday due to the lack of flour, which is now being sold on the black market at exorbitant rates. What bread was available was snapped up by people who rushed to bakeries in the early hours of the morning, depriving others of the hope of finding any during the day. People often insult the state or Syrian refugees, blaming them for what is happening. Salam said Syrian refugees consumed about 40 percent of the imported subsidized wheat: 500,000 bundles of bread a day.
Mikati told MPs: “The government is seeking to address the issue of public sector employees who have been on strike for over a month to provide solutions within the available capabilities. “We are spending within limits amid the lack of resources. We are waiting for the finance minister’s report on the cost of the salary increases. We do not want to give with one hand and take with the other to avoid inflation.”
MP Hadi Abu Al Hassan said: “The ongoing strike is paralyzing the country. Parliament ought to discuss the 2022 draft budget, otherwise, we are heading toward more inflation. If the issue is the absence of a unified exchange rate, then the government ought to suggest to parliament a fixed rate for it to discuss. We want a draft budget law and a recovery plan, instead of spending while having no revenues and thus worsening the crisis.”MP Waddah Al-Sadiq said: “Tuesday’s session was about coming up with temporary solutions while the ship sinks further. The entire country is facing economic collapse. The rescue process begins with an economic plan, followed by a budget emanating from the plan, and finally approving laws. Our governments work backward.”Among the items approved by parliament was forming a supreme council for the trial of presidents and ministers, consisting of seven MPs from different sects. Berri insists that this council, not the judiciary, try the defendants, including former ministers and current MPs, accused of being involved in the Beirut port explosion. This followed a protest organized by the families of the victims in the vicinity of parliament, in opposition to forming this council.
They also demanded that the partially destroyed wheat silos be preserved as a silent witness to the crime. “Forming this council is an attempt to escape from the judicial investigation, to prevent the prosecution of defendants in any crime,” the families of the victims said.
Caretaker Minister of Environment Nasser Yassin, a member of the ministerial committee in charge of reviewing the silos’ status, told Arab News: “The silos are tilting. We put sensors in coordination with French experts to study this tilting movement, which began with the explosion in 2020 and increased with time, especially with the ongoing fires erupting inside the structure due to the summer heat and humidity. The silos are tilting more now, about 2.5 millimeters per hour. We fear part of the remaining structure could cave in and result in catastrophic consequences.”On Monday evening, the Ministry of Health warned people living within a 500-meter to 1,500-meter radius that “in the case of any collapse or a partial collapse of the silos, dust that is the result of construction leftovers and some fungus from rotten grains will be released and will spread in the air.”

Parliament convenes in first legislative session
Naharnet/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
Parliament convened Tuesday, in its first legislative session, to vote on 40 draft laws, including a reformed bank secrecy law and a wheat loan from the World Bank, in the presence of U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea who attended the session. Parliament's approval of a reformed bank secrecy law is required by the International Monetary Fund to financially support Lebanon. The aim is to fight corruption and detect and investigate financial crimes. Parliament will discuss the maritime border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel and vote on two laws that aim to protect the Beirut port silos against demolition. Meanwhile, activists and "Change" MPs protested in front of the Parliament to urge Parliament to approve the laws that would protect the silos as a memorial for the tragic incident. They also argue that the silos may contain evidence useful for a judicial probe. Earlier this year, the Lebanese government had moved to demolish the silos, but was forced to suspend the decision following protests from families of the blast's victims and survivors, who have yet to see justice served.

Berri: We're going to Naqoura and we may get more than Line 29
Naharnet/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Tuesday said that “the framework agreement which they are trying to disavow does not talk about lines, but rather about demarcation and indirect negotiations in Naqoura” with the Israelis. “We agreed during the Baabda meeting with the President and the prime minister to go to Naqoura according to the framework agreement and we might get more than Line 29,” Berri said in parliament.“We did not talk about lines. We are awaiting the arrival of the U.S. mediator within days and we’re going to Naqoura. This was also discussed by the Development (and Liberation) bloc and we are committed to this matter,” the Speaker added.

Parliament approves $150 mn World Bank Wheat loan
Naharnet/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil suggested Tuesday a parliamentary recommendation to lift subsidies amid a recurring wheat crisis forcing Lebanese to queue in front of bakeries to get their flat Arabic bread. The suggestion was welcomed by Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati but rejected by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri who said that the government must take such decisions and that the lifting of subsidies is not within the Parliament's duties. The discussion took place in a Parliament session during which the PMs approved a $150 million wheat loan from the World Bank. "We take the Parliament's will into consideration," Mikati said, urging the Parliament to issue a recommendation in case it wants to lift subsidies. "This is an undesirable obedience," Berri responded. Any lifting of subsidies would sharply increase the price of bread and a bread bundle would reach LBP 35,000.

Jumblat urges Nasrallah to avoid war, calls for 'president with program'
Naharnet/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on Tuesday urged Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to avoid a war with Israel, as he called for electing a new president who has a “clear program.”“There are rockets but will the Lebanese eat rockets?” Jumblat said in an interview on LBCI television.“We tell (Hezbollah chief) Sayyed Hassan (Nasrallah) that he can send drones and missiles but must try to think of the (Israeli) reaction. Even if you think that you have a military balance, you should be careful in these moments, and you should try to avoid war,” he added. “No one can prevent war. If it erupts we have to accept it and what we can do is to draw Nasrallah’s attention to the negative repercussions of war on us,” Jumblat went on to say. Describing a future war with Israel as “mutual self-destruction,” the PSP leader noted the Lebanese people would still show solidarity with each other in the event of a new conflict. As for the upcoming presidential election, Jumblat said the PSP “wants a clear program in all files.”“If no candidate has a clear program, we won’t elect anyone,” he added. “I appreciate the Franjieh family and if Suleiman Franjieh presents a complete program we might accept him,” Jumblat said. Commenting on Archbishop Moussa al-Hajj’s case, the PSP leader said: “Perhaps there has been a mistake in the timing of Archbishop Moussa al-Hajj’s detention, but the latter was carrying money from families present in occupied Palestine who at a certain time collaborated with the enemy and the Israelis.”“We do not need the money of Israel’s Druze because this money is suspicious,” Jumblat added. And warning that the calls for sacking Judge Fadi Akiki would “give Hezbollah an excuse to demand the firing of (Beirut port blast investigator Judge) Tarek Bitar,” Jumblat said that Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea “does not have the right to call Judge Akiki a traitor.”

Circus in parliament: Berri insults Qaaqour, MP slams 'roaches', Khazen rejects use of 'patriarchal'
Naharnet/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
Slurs flew as parliament witnessed several heated exchanges between MPs during Tuesday’s legislative session. At the beginning of the session, the so-called ‘change MPs’ demanded that lawmakers vote verbally through their microphones and not by raising their hands, which prompted Speaker Nabih Berri to accept the suggestion.MP Halima Qaaqour however interrupted the voting and decried “not being able to know who voted for this article and who voted against it.”“Sit down, wait till the end and be quiet,” Berri told Qaaqour at that point, to which she responded: “This is a patriarchal response!”Qaaqour’s use of the word ‘patriarchal’ infuriated some MPs, who considered it an insult to the Maronite patriarchate in Bkirki. “This is not a way to respond in, you have to respect those present here,” MP Qabalan Qabalan shouted at Qaaqour, who repeated the word at that moment. MP Farid al-Khazen meanwhile intervened addressing Qaaqour. “I reject the use of the word ‘patriarchal’. You can use the word sultanic or imperial,” Khazen added. Berri then agreed to a suggestion from Khazen to drop the word ‘patriarchal’ from the session’s records. MP Paula Yacoubian meanwhile stepped in defending Qaaqour, decrying that her colleague was told to shut up while being prevented from saying the phrase ‘patriarchal approach’. “A patriarchal approach means an authoritative approach,” Yacoubian explained. And as MP Alain Aoun interfered to ask Qaaqour to “calm down,” MP Cynthia Zarazir stood up for her colleague, prompting Qabalan to make fun of the latter’s family name and slam the three female MPs as “cockroaches.”Yacoubian then asked Berri how could he allow such expressions in the session, which pushed Qabalan to insist on his insult. Commenting on the commotion, Berri said: “Some people have come here to stir problems and some people do not want this session to be completed.”

Hawat laments MPs were barred from raising Hajj case in parliament
Naharnet/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
MP Ziad Hawat of the Lebanese Forces-led Strong Republic bloc on Tuesday decried that Speaker Nabih Berri prevented lawmakers from raising the case of Archbishop Moussa al-Hajj during a legislative session. “The normal and right place to voice opinion… is parliament and what has been happening since years in this regard is blocking parliament’s supervisory role over the ongoing violations,” Hawat said.“What happened with Archbishop al-Hajj had nothing to do with a legal violation; it was rather the translation of a political decision to subjugate Bkirki and its free patriotic decision as well as an attempt to silence its voice,” the MP added.

After Nasrallah's remarks, Fayyad says any fuel grant needs cabinet decree
Naharnet/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
Caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayyad on Tuesday said his ministry welcomes “any grant from any friendly country in the world,” hours after Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said he is willing to secure free fuel from Iran for Lebanon’s power plants. “In this regard, we have prepared the specifications of the fuel needed for power plants,” Fayyad said. Commenting on Nasrallah’s remarks, the minister said “the power plants need every liter of fuel.”“Everyone knows this, especially with the high temperatures in summer and the additional pressure from tourists, expats and refugees,” Fayyad added. He, however, noted that “Article 52 of the public auditing law stipulates the norms for accepting grants.”“This happens under a decree taken in Cabinet and not at the Ministry of Energy and Water,” he pointed out. Nasrallah announced Monday that he is “ready to bring free Iranian fuel for the Lebanese power plants if the Lebanese government agrees to this.”“But unfortunately there is no political courage in Lebanon for such a step, because they fear U.S. sanctions on individuals and their families,” Nasrallah added. His announcement came in response to a statement by Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil, who on Friday called on him and on the energy ministry to “request free Iranian fuel.”“We would have 10 hours of electricity as of tomorrow,” Bassil added.

'Condoms' and 'Playboy magazines': Zarazir decries being given 'filthy' parliament office
Naharnet/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
MP Cynthia Zarazir of the ‘change’ bloc on Tuesday decried the “disrespect” and “bullying” she has faced ever since entering parliament’s building for the first time. “Ever since I entered parliament, I have not been shown any respect that suggests that those whom I will be present with for four years are firstly humans and secondly respectable people,” Zarazir said on her official Twitter and Facebook accounts, shortly after she faced several bullying and name-calling instances in parliament. “Below are some examples that point to their high manners:
- Catcalling by pro-government MPs whose misogyny outweighs their manhood.
- Being given a filthy office where I found Playboy magazines and used condoms on its floor and in it drawers.
- Bullying over my family name.
- Not being given a car parking spot!” Zarazir added in a tweet.
“These people are dealing with an elected MP in this manner, so how will they deal with the people who have no voice!” she lamented.
Speaking to MTV, Zarazir said she found files at the office carrying the name of “Hajj Mohammed” and that she is yet to determine the “full identity” of the MP or former MP who used to occupy the office. “There was total chaos. The files were on the floor and the erotic magazines were on the tables. Even rotten food was forgotten on the table and used and unused condoms were inside the drawers and on the table,” MTV quoted Zarazir as saying.
“Every day I communicate with the employees at parliament so that I get a parking spot for my car. In the first two sessions, I had to use the small car of a friend to be able to park it, and when I requested that from them several times, I was told by MP Ali Hassan Khalil: ‘Go buy a small car. You have money,’” the MP told MTV.
As for what happened with her on Tuesday, Zarazir said a journalist handed her a poster of the port blast victims upon her arrival at parliament.
“Parliament Police arrived immediately and prevented me from stepping out of the car unless I hand them over the poster, at the orders of Speaker Nabih Berri, and a verbal clash ensued,” Zarazir added. “When I entered the session, two MPs sitting next to MP Ali Hassan Khalil started bullying me over my family name,” Zarazir went on to say, noting that she frequently faces sexual catcalling from fellow MPs. “You’re not the neighborhood’s thugs anymore, you have become the MPs of the nation! Be ashamed of yourself!” the MP quoted herself as telling those MPs.

New U.S. coast guard cutters visit Lebanon for 1st Middle East stop
Naharne/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
Two U.S. Coast Guard fast response cutters have arrived in Beirut, Lebanon for a scheduled port visit, marking their arrival to the Middle East after departing the United States and transiting the Mediterranean Sea. Fast response cutters USCGC John Scheuerman (WPC 1146) and USCGC Clarence Sutphin Jr. (WPC 1147) are the newest additions to a slate of Coast Guard ships supporting U.S. 5th Fleet from Bahrain, the U.S. Navy said in a statement. "The John Scheuerman crew is excited to begin operations in U.S. 5th Fleet where we will have the opportunity to collaborate with our partners in the region," said Lt. Trent Moon, commanding officer of John Scheuerman. "I am extremely proud of this crew and they have proved that we are ready for the opportunities ahead." The visit comes on the heels of the Lebanese Armed Forces completing an annual maritime exercise with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, July 23. Approximately 60 U.S. personnel from the Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Coast Guard participated in bilateral exchanges focused on maritime security operations, mine countermeasures and explosive ordnance disposal. "The crew and I are thrilled to arrive in Lebanon en route to our new operating station," said Lt. David Anderson, commanding officer of Clarence Sutphin Jr. While in Beirut, crewmembers will meet with Lebanese Navy counterparts on subjects related to shipboard operations, safety and damage control. Coast Guardsmen will also participate in cultural exchange opportunities planned ashore.
The U.S. Navy went on to say that the Sentinel-class cutters are the final two of six that are overseen by Patrol Forces Southwest Asia, the Coast Guard's largest unit outside of the United States. "The new cutters feature advanced communications systems and improved surveillance and reconnaissance equipment," the statement said.It added that the ships are forward-deployed to U.S. 5th Fleet to help ensure maritime security and stability across the Middle East. "The U.S. 5th Fleet operating area includes 21 countries, the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean and three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, Bab al-Mandeb and Suez Canal," the statement said.

Lebanon Approves $150 Million World Bank Wheat Loan
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
Lebanon's parliament approved on Tuesday a $150 million World Bank loan to import wheat, as shortages of subsidized bread intensify in the cash-strapped country, local media reported. Long lines have formed in front of bakeries and supermarkets where people wait hours for a bag of subsidized Arabic bread -- in short supply as a years-long economic crisis depletes state coffers. Lebanon imports 80 percent of its wheat from war-torn Ukraine, according to a representative of Lebanon's wheat importers. But wheat-exporting powerhouse Ukraine has struggled to sell and sow its crops since Russia's invasion in February, putting consumers in poorer countries at risk of poverty and even famine. Lebanon's capacity to store large quantities of wheat has also taken a blow after a deadly mega-blast at Beirut's port in August 2020 heavily damaged the country's main grain silos. The price of subsidized Arabic bread has gone up since the onset of an unprecedented economic crisis in Lebanon in 2019. Lebanese bakeries have begun rationing subsided bread, with the government and bakeries trading blame for shortages. Bakeries accuse cash-strapped authorities of failing to provide enough subsidized flour, an accusation the economy ministry denies. Caretaker Economy Minister Amin Salam accuses bakeries of hoarding subsidized flour and using it for unsubsidized products such as sweets. Lebanon is grappling with an unprecedented financial crisis, branded by the World Bank as one of the planet's worst since the 1850s. The small Mediterranean country defaulted on its debt in 2020, the local currency has lost around 90 percent of its value on the black market, and the UN now considers four in five Lebanese to be living under the poverty line.

In occupied countries such as ours, crime pays.
Jean-Marie Kassab/July 26/2022
A penny for the thoughts of the US ambassador while she was attending today's morons show during the illegal parliament session this morning.
I was personally ashamed while not expecting less of this crowd.
And by the way , congratulations to Jameel Sayed now elected in the commission in charge of judging presidents and ministers. A long way since the day when he drove Michel Samaha with 250 kilos of explosives across the border in the trunk of his car.
In occupied countries such as ours, crime pays.
Bravo...

Hezbollah's Nasrallah renews threats against Israel's maritime gas plans
Jamie Prentis/The National/July 26/ 2022
US-mediated talks about Lebanon and Israel's maritime boundaries have made little progress.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Monday renewed his threats against Israel's plan to extract oil and gas from a disputed gasfield in the Mediterranean Sea.In June, Israel moved a vessel, operated by London-listed drilling company Energean, to the Karish field. It is expected to go into operation by September.
That offshore field in the eastern Mediterranean is claimed in part by Lebanon. Israel rejects that claim. “If the extraction of oil and gas starts in September before Lebanon retains its rights, we are heading towards a confrontation,” Mr Nasrallah told Al Mayadeen television.
The interview was part of an event marking 40 years of the founding of Lebanon's Hezbollah, the Iran-backed political party and armed group. “We have set a goal that we will seek to achieve no matter what, and we will resort to anything to this end,” Mr Nasrallah said. “The Lebanese state is incapable of making the right decision that would protect Lebanon and its riches, therefore the resistance must take this decision,” Mr Nasrallah said. There has been a long-running dispute over the gasfield, which was discovered a decade ago. US-mediated talks about the countries' maritime boundaries began in 2020, but have made little progress. The talks had been on hold until US energy envoy Amos Hochstein arrived in Beirut last month. Lebanon is awaiting a response from Israel after relaying its position to Mr Hochstein. The dispute over Karish reared its head again in June when Israel moved the Energean ship to the gasfield in a move that angered Lebanon. This month, Israel shot down three unarmed drones flown by Hezbollah that were heading towards Karish field. Israel and Hezbollah are long-time enemies that fought a month- long war in 2006 and frequently threaten each other. Israel believes the field, about 80 kilometres west of Haifa, is part of its exclusive economic zone, while Lebanon says it lies within the disputed waters. In the negotiations, Lebanon had initially demanded 860 square kilometres of territory in the disputed area.
But the talks were complicated last year when Beirut expanded its claim in the zone by about 1,400 sq km, including part of Karish. An economic crisis that first became apparent in 2019 has plunged much of Lebanon into poverty, with widespread shortages of bread, electricity, water, medicines and other essentials. Last Friday, dozens of activists, clerics, Hezbollah officials and media professionals descended upon the border in south Lebanon for an event called Our Wealth, a Red Line. With Lebanese army soldiers watching and what appeared to be an Israeli vessel in the distance off the coast, those present sought to send a message that they would not allow Lebanon’s maritime wealth to be plundered. Abdel Malik, who described himself as a Lebanese citizen from the Bekaa Valley, told The National he was there to “assist the rights of Lebanon”. “There are very severe sanctions against Lebanon to prevent Lebanon [from being] rich. The sanctions towards Lebanon [are] to make Lebanon poor.”He criticised “American sanctions, American efforts to prevent Lebanon to produce gas and petrol from the sea — Lebanon’s sea. “We are here to say it’s our right and we have the right to produce. Because Lebanese people deserve to live in peace and prosperity.”

Nasrallah: Hezbollah has all of Israel in its missile range -report
Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/July 26/2022
Nasrallah said that Hezbollah has the ability to prevent Israel or companies from extracting gas from the Karish gas field.
“All land and sea targets of Israel are within the range of Hezbollah missiles,” he said, adding that Hezbollah has created “active deterrence” against Israel.
Nasrallah also boasted about a recent drone operation Hezbollah carried out, targeting Israel’s Karish gas field. Israel downed the drones, but Nasrallah told Al-Mayadeen media that Hezbollah has used drones over Israel many times in the past.
Nasrallah threatened Israel against using the Karish field. He also said US President Joe Biden’s trip to the region illustrated how the US does not want a new conflict in the Middle East. He suggested that Hezbollah could gain from this by bringing Iranian oil and gas to Lebanon and that Hezbollah can exploit Lebanon’s crisis and the US desire for stability in the region. Nasrallah’s threats and statements against Israel ran the usual gamut of claims. Israel was afraid to enter Lebanon’s territory, which showed that Hezbollah had deterred Israel, he said. Nasrallah spoke to the media on the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Hezbollah and spelled out its accomplishments and future endeavors. He praised Iranian support for the “axis” of resistance. Israel had withdrawn from Lebanon in the past, and it could not even maintain the “security belt” inside Lebanon, which it maintained until 2000, he said.
Israel has been afraid to confront Hezbollah since the 2006 war, Nasrallah said. “We are capable of deterrence and, if needed, we will respond, even if it leads to war,” he said. “Due to Europe’s need to replace Russian oil and gas, Lebanon is facing a historic opportunity. Biden came to the region because of oil and gas. But the additional oil of Saudi Arabia and the UAE will not solve Europe’s needs either. The war between Ukraine and Russia has made them look for alternatives to Russian oil and gas.”“We are capable of deterrence and if needed, we will respond. Even if it leads to war.”Hezbollah hopes to gain from the Ukraine crisis, Nasrallah said.“This is a historic and golden opportunity for us to push for our oil,” he said. “Regarding NATO in the Middle East, I must say that many people talk about their dreams. Biden only traveled to the region for oil. The priority of Biden and America is to confront Russia in Ukraine. For this reason, they are against any war… They do not want a war that will cause an explosion in the region.”
Hezbollah’s abilities
Nasrallah spoke about Hezbollah’s capabilities, including its precision-guided missiles, which give it the ability to prevent Israel or companies from extracting gas from the Karish field. “The ball is now in Lebanon’s territory... [but Israel] is not allowed to extract oil and gas in an area that is not subject to conflict,” he said. “Now, Lebanon has given concessions that the enemy should not refuse.”Hezbollah is increasing its drone threats to Israel, and it would make decisions for Lebanon in the future, Nasrallah said. Iran’s Fars News Agency reported: “The secretary general of Hezbollah stated that the Lebanese government is not able to make a proper decision to protect this country and its resources, and he stated: ‘Therefore, the resistance is forced to make a decision. Our goal is for Lebanon to extract oil and gas, because this is the only way to save Lebanon. This is an action that must be taken. We will not accept any deception, and we must take back our right. Our goal is to make Lebanon extract oil and gas and to draw the maritime borders of this country correctly.’”

دراسة مهمة للناشط جوزيف حتي، تلقي الأضواء على ملف "اللاجئين السوريين في لبنان، وعلى وخطرهم الوجودي على الديموغرافيا، وتحديداً على المسيحيين
Lebanon's Syrian Refugees/Joseph Hitti/July 25, 2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/110724/110724/
Welcome to a new Lebanese War between Lebanon's Christians and the Syrian refugees who may not want to return to Syria, and who may try to seize power with the aid of Hezbollah and the pro-Syrian regime of Michel Aoun. On the part of the Christians, I hope they have learned the lessons of 1975, namely the need to win the war first and foremost in the media where they utterly failed in 1975 by meeting Palestinian savagery with their own savagery. If the Christians this time around want to win the war, both militarily and in the media, they have to remain within the bounds of decency and wage a clean and truly 'Christian' war.
أهلا بكم في حرب لبنانية جديدة بين مسيحيي لبنان واللاجئين السوريين، الذين قد لا يرغبون في العودة إلى بلادهم، والذين قد يحاولون الاستيلاء على السلطة اللبنانية بمساعدة حزب الله ونظام ميشال عون الموالي لسوريا. من جانب المسيحيين، آمل أن يكونوا قد تعلموا دروس عام 1975، وهي ضرورة كسب الحرب أولاً وقبل كل شيء في وسائل الإعلام، حيث فشلوا تمامًا في عام 1975 من خلال مواجهة الوحشية الفلسطينية بوحشيتهم. إذا أراد المسيحيون هذه المرة كسب الحرب، عسكريًا وإعلاميًا، فعليهم البقاء ضمن حدود الحشمة وشن حرب "مسيحية" نظيفة وحقيقية.
Lebanon's Syrian Refugees
Joseph Hitti/July 25, 2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/110724/110724/
The Palestinian Precedent
In 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians crossed the borders of Palestine into the neighboring countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt, chased by the Jewish Zionist terrorist organizations Haganah, Lehi, Irgun, Stern and others (later to coalesce and become the "most moral army of the world", the Israeli Army. Perhaps the 'moral' qualifier was a typo error whereby the intended word was 'mortal'). These Jewish terrorist organizations had been conducting a campaign of terror against the native Palestinian population and against the British mandatory power.
Irgun bombed the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946, killing 91 people and injuring dozens. But most tragically, these European Jewish terrorists, having "trained" under the Nazi regime in Germany before invading Palestine, supposedly as refugees fleeing Europe, became the butchers of their Palestinian hosts.
Lehi assassinated in 1948 in Jerusalem Count Folke Bernadotte, the Swedish envoy of the UN trying to mediate the civil war between the native Palestinians and the foreign Jewish colonists.
More than 600 Palestinian villages were attacked, their inhabitants killed, raped and forced to flee (just as Joshua was commanded to do by his God Yawheh: every man, woman and child of the native Canaanites were to be killed whilst Yahweh gave the Hebrews the Promised land), and while many of these villages became Jewish colonies with new names, the vast majority with their old stone houses and their olive orchards were burned, destroyed, demolished and razed to the ground.
Today, the millions of Palestinian refugees who descend from the original refugees live in the squalor of refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, in the West Bank and in, ironically, Israel itself. Jewish colonists from Brooklyn New York move to Israel, kill a few Palestinians in the West Bank, uproot their olive orchards, claim the lands of the Palestinians by virtue of obsolete and suspicious Ottoman and British laws, and build themselves high-end houses overlooking the very same refugee camps in which they herded the Palestinian owners of the land. Just as white British colonists did in the nascent America of the 1800s with the native Indian population, herded into reservations after their lives, livelihoods and lands were taken from them. No wonder the US and Israel are as united as they are: They share the same barbarity and indecency of their birth and growth at the expense of the millennial native populations.
In 1965, less than two decades after their eviction from their ancestral Palestine, the Palestinians founded the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) which proceeded with US and Western collusion to undermine Lebanon. Henry Kissinger, who had sealed the truce between Syria and Israel after the October 1973 war, enrolled the two countries into a programmed destabilization of Lebanon with the goal of making Lebanon a substitute homeland for the Palestinian refugees. All Arab countries joined Syria and Israel in undermining Lebanon, sending money, weapons, mercenaries and terrorists to fan the flames of wars. Those Arab countries included Saudi Arabia, Libya, Irak, Jordan, Kuwait and others, all of whom sided with the Palestinians against the Lebanese Christians.
If the Palestinian refugees settle permanently in Lebanon, they will no longer claim the Right of Return to their ancestral Palestine, thus relieving Israel of that problem. Since the vast majority of the Palestinian refugees are Sunni Muslims, their settlement in Lebanon would demographically favor the Sunni Muslims of Lebanon and by extension the Arab countries. And so it was that, in the aftermath of the Lebanese War between the Palestinians and the Christians of Lebanon, the Lebanese Sunnis came out as victors, a victory personified by one Rafik Hariri who proceeded to Islamize the country and sideline the historic role of the Christians.
The Current Syrian Refugee Crisis
Fast forward to 2011 when millions of Syrian refugees cross their country's borders into Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Jordan, fleeing not a foreign invader but their own government, the Assad dictatorship. Bashar Assad, aided by the equally barbaric Russian military, destroyed city after city of his own country and murdered close to 600,000 of his own people. Close to half the country's population lives today in tents and refugee camps in the countries adjacent to Syria. In Lebanon, an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees have settled 'temporarily' with the hope of returning some day to Syria, nearly all of them Sunni Muslims. Same pattern as with the Palestinian refugees, thus furthering the demographic collapse of Lebanon's diversity in favor of the Sunnis. But Bashar Assad, the dictator in Syria, is not Sunni; he is an Alawite Muslim, an offshoot sect of Shiite Islam comprising about 12% of Syria's population before the Syrian War of 2011. Which means he has no interest in the return of these Sunnis to Syria because, without them, the Alawites now represent 40% of the population after the exodus of the Sunnis.
In Lebanon, the Syrian refugees represent a third of the country's total population. In addition to 4 million native Lebanese, there are 1.5 million Syrian refugees, and another 0.5 million irregular non-refugee Syrians who cross the border daily, smuggling cheap Lebanese government-subsidized goods (flour, gasoline, medicine, etc.) into Syria where they bolster the decrepit Syrian economy while bleeding the Lebanese economy. Moreover, each Syrian refugee in Lebanon receives $100 a month in aid from Western countries and colluding non-governmental organizations whose sole concern is not the welfare of Lebanon or the welfare of the refugees for that matter; their sole concern is to prevent a wave of emigration to Europe, thus doing all they can to keep the refugees in Lebanon. The argument for not encouraging them to return to Syria is that the Syrian dictator will seek revenge on them, even though the vast majority of the refugees adore Bashar Assad and demonstrate in the streets of Lebanon in favor of the Syrian dictator.
The Syrian refugees receive the same services (electricity, water, Internet, etc.) as the Lebanese population but they do not pay for these services. Not only does this deny the Lebanese Treasury much needed revenue, but it also curtails the availability of these services to the Lebanese the population. This is in part why Lebanon is in the throes of a major economic crisis: The burden of the Syrian refugee population. The refugees have settled in camps, but they also live and work in nearly every municipality of the country. They receive all manner of assistance off the back of the Lebanese population. The refugees have no environmental concerns for their host country, literally trashing the country everywhere they happen to be. Environmental standards in Syria are abysmal to say the least, and the refugees have brought with them an absolute carelessness when it comes to garbage and waste disposal. Lebanon's roads, streets, and rivers are littered with plastic, which further exacerbates the garbage problem of Lebanon. The Syrian refugees are responsible for the skyrocketing crime rates (theft, kidnappings for ransom, rapes, murders, etc.), including stealing electric cables off the electricity grid and manhole covers and every possible source of metal they can resell. In addition, having being brainwashed by the Baathist regime of Damascus to hate Lebanon as a renegade country they describe as a former Syrian province that was detached from Syria by the French mandate, the Syrian refugees viscerally hate their Lebanese hosts. Having also ridden the Islamic fundamentalist wave of the past 3 decades, they hate the Lebanese because it has a large Christian population and has a Christian president. The Syrian refugees work in all sectors of the economy, open businesses, smuggle goods across the border, and overall live better off than the average Lebanese whose income has dwindled to about $75 per month. Finally, we must not forget that the Lebanese people have been more than courteous and generous with a Syrian population whose parent generation constituted the Syrian army of occupation that smothered Lebanon for 30 years, killing and stealing, kidnapping and torturing, shelling and bombing just as it does today in Syria, only to be evicted by an angry populace in 2005.
It has now been 11 years since the Syrian refugees arrived in Lebanon. If the Palestinian refugee saga is any guide, I predict that the Syrian refugees will soon organize into social-political-military groupings to demand their "rights" and a war will ensue between, on one hand, the refugees and their Lebanese allies (Hezbollah and President Michel Aoun's populist party), and the other political and religious components of the country on the other, thus repeating the War of 1975. There already is a lot of seething anger among the Lebanese, and there are daily reports of local fights and skirmishes in which the Lebanese demand their local authorities to deny entry and housing to Syrians living among the population. Flyers have been found in the mountain villages in the Christian hinterland in which people are demanding that the Syrians leave their villages.
The Lebanese government, essentially Hezbollah and President Michel Aoun's party, the Free Patriotic Movement, are caught in a bind. On one hand, they love Bashar Assad and do not want to embarrass him by demanding that he take back the refugees, but on the other hand, they know their own governance of the country is in absolute disarray because of what the Syrian refugees are doing to Lebanon and its people. Meanwhile, foreign governments refuse to pressure Assad to take back the refugees.
Since 1972, Lebanon has been in this sordid state of affairs for close to 5 decades. It is disintegrating in a slow death that neither the local politicians - half of whom are traitors affiliated with foreign countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia - nor the foreign governments seem to want to stop. When one thinks of how an armada was assembled in the Indo-Pacific to help 200,000 East Timorese secede from 250 million Indonesians, or of when NATO led by the US forcibly sliced off Muslim Bosnia and Muslim Kosovo from the old Yugoslavia to create two new Muslim nations in the heart of Europe, or how the Europeans are welcoming millions of Ukrainian refugees and NATO is supplying Ukraine with all manner of advanced weapons, while abandoning Lebanon, a founding member of the UN and a co-drafter of its Human Rights Charter, especially its Christians, to 50 years of torment, wars and instability, it becomes difficult to ignore the conspiratorial view that the West is deliberately killing Lebanon with its complex makeup of Christians and Muslims of 18 sects, in order to reduce the entire Middle East to an easy to understand (by dumb Americans and Europeans) simplistic Jewish-Sunni duality that is already on the mend with the ongoing normalization of relations between Israel and virtually all Sunni Muslim Arab countries.
When the West used to interfere in the Middle East, back from Crusader times through the Ottoman occupation, it would cite Lebanon's Christians as the minority to be protected. Nowadays, the deliberate killing of Lebanon by a colluding West is simply because they no longer need Lebanon's Christians as a Trojan horse to meddle in the region; today the Middle East question has its newer, more European "victim" in need of protection, and that is the Israeli colonists. While Lebanon's Christians have been in Lebanon for millennia, before and after they became Christians, Israeli Jews were never a part of historic Palestine, they don't even descend from the original Hebrews: They converted to Judaism in the 16th and 17th centuries, and with their blond/red hair and blue eyes (Central European Jews), or their African looks (Ethiopian and Egyptian Jews), or the many different ethnic Jewish groups in India, China and elsewhere, cannot have any serious claims to be genetic descendants of the Hebrews or to own the land of Palestine, except perhaps by some horrific tenuous religious claim from the Bronze Age that no sane human being should countenance in this 21st century.
What exit for Lebanon? How can the country return to some normality? Many hypothetical answers to one question that only the history unfolding before our eyes will answer. In the meantime, suffer you miserable Christians of Lebanon. But when war erupts, beware the wrath of the Lebanese Christians. They were patient for 10 years with the mayhem and plunder that the Palestinian refugees did to the country in the late 1960s and 1970s, trying to accommodate their presence with a number of agreements that the Palestinians kept violating. But finally, in a spontaneous uprising they waged a war of liberation that ultimately sent the Palestinians back into their camps. Nowadays, the Christians have been patient with the Syrian Muslim refugees for a decade now, welcoming them into their villages and towns, working and living with them side by side. But tensions are building, the Syrian refugees are casting a shadow over any sense of humanitarian feelings by a destitute Lebanese population that increasingly sees the refugees as thieves, criminal, rapists, and worse, as supporters of the very Syrian regime that chased them out of Syria.
Welcome to a new Lebanese War between Lebanon's Christians and the Syrian refugees who may not want to return to Syria, and who may try to seize power with the aid of Hezbollah and the pro-Syrian regime of Michel Aoun. On the part of the Christians, I hope they have learned the lessons of 1975, namely the need to win the war first and foremost in the media where they utterly failed in 1975 by meeting Palestinian savagery with their own savagery. If the Christians this time around want to win the war, both militarily and in the media, they have to remain within the bounds of decency and wage a clean and truly 'Christian' war.

Maroun El Hakim uses painting and sculpture in a ‘salute’ to Lebanon
Mimoza Al-Arawi/The Arab Weekly/July 26/2022
The artist, who returns to the art scene after a four year absence, is exhibiting a collection of 36 new paintings created between 2017 and 2022 along with 13 sculptures mostly created between 2016 and 2022.
“Art on 56th Street” gallery in Beirut hosts until August 6 an exhibition by Lebanese plastic artist and sculptor Maroun El Hakim under the title “A Salute to My Country”.
The artist, who returns to the art scene after a four year absence, is exhibiting a collection of 36 new paintings created between 2017 and 2022 along with 13 sculptures mostly created between 2016 and 2022.
The paintings fall in two different groups that differ in content but are interconnected in the sense of the artist’s attachment to Lebanon. His bond links him to a country where deep crises are intertwined with the sweetness of the land and its natural splendour.
The first group of the artworks depicts a tragedy-stricken city that is none other than Beirut, especially after the port blast of August 4, 2020, and its aftershocks and scandals that still explode everyday in the faces of Lebanese citizens.
The second group of artworks paints the natural beauty of Lebanon and all that the country was able to shield from harm and distortion for more than 40 years.
Also on display is a large collection of sculptures. The artist was in fact initially a sculptor before he moved on to exchange his chisel and knife for the brush. But his artworks integrate a long experience with different materials and multiple techniques.
In his introduction of the exhibition, the artist writes, “I am clothed with the soil of my country, I will not abandon the soil, I will not abandon my country.”
“I gather my personal pain, gather the sorrows of my slain country. Take refuge in a dream with hope, with beautiful patience, with wisdom, and with will, and prevent tragedy, prevent disaster and the disappointments of time, from achieving victory over me.”
He describes the current works as "characterised by their bright colours and bright lights".
But he goes on to say that, “Darkness prevails, and death reaps crowds of loved ones in my country. Bodies mingle with doors and windows, stones, dust and darkness, and all paths lead to the unknown, to the crushing darkness.
“Hope becomes a mirage before the ruins of the surrendered city and its angry entrances.
“Dreams fade over the ruins, in the fall of disappointments, the darkness of the roads, and the bottom of the abyss.
"In this era, my feelings freeze, my creative abilities stagnate, and my desire to formulate artworks that embody the horror of the tragedy is paralysed.
“In the struggle of reflections, obsessions, and suffering, in the bitterness and horrors of bereavement, my brushes, paints, and chisels await the moment that leads me to the white paper, to the cloth, to the stone.
"And when the terrors of emotions and storms subside, when the land of ashes gathers its sorrows, to declare that it is a land of peace and love in a time of wars, and when they decide to rise up from the depression of their disappointments and heal their wounds, and when they are armed with hope so that the homeland does not become cemetery or exile, I regain my creative health, and I decide to express in colour through movement this critical stage in the history of our country, but without tension, without direction, leaving my artistic to frame this solemn event with feelings that remain purposeful aesthetic witnesses.”
But it is not all gloom. Hakim says, “From the heart of this hurricane, hope creeps into this darkness, expanding the space for some light so that hope and resurrection can breathe in the spirit of the homeland and its components, in an optimism view aimed at cooling souls and calming congestion, hoping that this aesthetic and human moment will be our opportunity for new beginnings.”
Born in 1950, Hakim has had a long artistic career, which spans the decades since 1980. He has so far held presented 35 solo exhibitions and taken part in many group exhibitions inside and outside of Lebanon.
Originally from Mazraat Yachouh, in Mount Lebanon, he is known for his mastery of different artistic techniques and adaptation of several artistic materials. He uses with the same dexterity Chinese ink, oil paints and aquarelles. He mixes colour textures with wood and sand. He practices sculpting with iron, stone and ceramics. The artist has also transformed his house in Mazraat Yachouh into an exhibition space for his works where he he has presented several shows. He recently published a book about his artistic experience.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 26-27/2022
Mother of teenage protester slain by Iranian authorities to face 100 lashes
Arab News/July 26, 2022
LONDON: The mother of a teenager killed by Iranian authorities during the country’s fuel protests in 2019 is reportedly facing 100 lashes. Mahboubeh Ramezani, mother of Pejman Gholipour, was detained earlier this month, convicted for protesting the killing of her son, and is being held in Evin prison in Tehran, the UK’s Daily Mail reported. Gholipour was fatally shot in the heart by security forces on Nov. 18, 2019, and was one of more than 300 people killed in the week-long protests, according to Amnesty International. Ramezani has faced a campaign of intimidation at the hands of the Iranian regime, her surviving son Peyman said on Instagram. “My mother was under pressure for a long time. They constantly intimidated her, and she had been summoned several times,” he wrote. “What do we have to lose after Pejman? What is left after November 2019? They were looking for an excuse to silence my mother. “(Her) only crime is that she seeks justice. This is the most important reason they fear her. They fear her because she has not even put down Pejman’s picture for a moment.” Ramezani’s recent arrest was not her first. She was detained on Nov. 18 last year after she attended a commemoration event in the village of Malat, where her son is buried, to mark the second anniversary of his death. The Iranian regime has been slammed by human rights groups for not holding perpetrators to account in its crackdown on the protesters, who state television portrayed as foreign-backed “rioters” or “insurgents” posing a threat to military posts, oil tanks and the public.

IRGC Prepares to Launch New Satellite Carrier
London, Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh unveiled Monday plans to send a new homegrown satellite carrier into space. Hajizadeh told Iran’s official news agency IRNA that Iran will put new satellites into orbit with its Qaem satellite carrier, which runs on solid fuel. The Iranian state television indicated that Qaem rocket was first displayed before 2010, in the presence of Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, the “architect” of the country’s missile program. Moghaddam was killed on November 12, 2011 in a massive explosion at a munitions base outside the capital Tehran. The blast killed 36 IRGC elements, according to figures presented by Iranian authorities. The television also showed a picture of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei with Moghaddam, saying that Khamenei was on an inspection tour to be briefed on Qaem rocket’s project. In January, the IRGC revealed testing solid-fuel rocket engines, the television noted. Hajizadeh said then that the new missiles “are made of composite materials, rather than metal, and their engine is immobile.” He explained that this “increases the missile’s power and that the technology is not expensive,” which enables it to transport heavy loads such as satellites. Iran has previously launched liquid-fueled rockets into space. On June 26, Iranian state television said that Tehran had launched a solid-fuel rocket into space. Ahmad Hosseini, spokesman for Iran's Defense Ministry, said Zuljanah, a 25.5 meter-long rocket is capable of carrying a satellite of 220 kilograms (485 pounds) that would gather data in low-earth orbit and promote Iran's space industry. Its launching process extends to three phases, two phases using solid fuel and one using liquid fuel. Satellite images taken in March by Maxar Technologies showed scorch marks at a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran’s rural Semnan province. A rocket stand on the pad appears scorched and damaged, with vehicles surrounding it. The rocket involved appears to have been Iran’s Zuljanah satellite launch vehicle, said experts at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies who first noticed the attempted launch with colleagues. Earlier in March, the IRGC's Aerospace Force successfully launched the Noor-2 reconnaissance satellite at an altitude of 500 km, using the Qased carrier. Noor-2 is Iran's second military satellite sent into Low Earth orbit following its predecessor Noor-1, which was carried by the Qased rocket in April 2020 to an orbit of 425 km above the earth's surface.

Russia’s Defense Ministry: Grain Coordination Center Launched in Istanbul
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
The Joint Coordination Center (JCC), established as part of a landmark deal to resume grain exports from Ukraine, has started work in Istanbul, Russia's defense ministry said on Tuesday. The Russian delegation to the JCC will arrive in Turkey today and begin work in a four-way format, alongside Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations, the ministry said in a statement posted on social media. Russia and Ukraine signed a landmark deal last Friday, brokered by Ankara and the UN, to unblock grain exports from Ukraine's Black Sea ports and ease an international food crisis. The deal was almost immediately thrown into jeopardy after Russia fired cruise missiles on the port of Odesa, Ukraine's largest, on Saturday morning, just 12 hours after the signing ceremony in Istanbul. But both Moscow and Kyiv have said they will try to push forward with the agreement - the first major diplomatic breakthrough in the conflict now in its sixth month. Ukraine and Russia accounted for around a third of global wheat exports before Russia's Feb. 24 invasion. The Russian delegation to the JCC will be headed by rear admiral Eduard Luik, Moscow said. "The main task of Russian specialists in the JCC will be the prompt resolution of all necessary issues for the initiative to enter the stage of practical implementation," the defense ministry said. The Kremlin on Monday called for the UN to secure the removal of curbs on Russian fertilizer and grain exports as part of the deal, saying it was still too early to say whether the agreement would be a success.

Russia Aims New Air Strikes at Black Sea Coastal Targets
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
Russia targeted Ukraine’s Black Sea regions of Odesa and Mykolaiv with air strikes Tuesday, hitting private buildings and port infrastructure along the country's southern coast. the Ukrainian military said. The Kremlin’s forces used air-launched missiles in the attack, Ukraine’s Operational Command South said in a Facebook post. In the Odesa region, a number of private buildings in villages on the coast were hit and caught fire, the report said. In the Mykolaiv region, port infrastructure was targeted. Hours after the renewed strikes on the south, a Moscow-installed official in the southern Kherson region said the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions will soon be “liberated” by the Russian forces, just like the Kherson region further east. “The Kherson region and the city of Kherson have been liberated forever,” Kirill Stremousov was quoted as saying by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. The developments came as Ukraine appeared to be preparing a counteroffensive in the south. Russia previously attacked Odesa’s port at the weekend. The British military said Tuesday there was no indication that a Ukrainian warship and a stockpile of anti-ship missiles were at the site, as Moscow claimed. The British Defense Ministry said Russia sees Ukraine’s use of anti-ship missiles as “a key threat” that is limiting its Black Sea Fleet. “This has significantly undermined the overall invasion plan, as Russia cannot realistically attempt an amphibious assault to seize Odesa,” the military said. “Russia will continue to prioritize efforts to degrade and destroy Ukraine’s anti-ship capability.”It added that “Russia’s targeting processes are highly likely routinely undermined by dated intelligence, poor planning, and a top-down approach to operations.”

Macron, in Cameroon, Says Food Is Russian Weapon of War
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
French President Emmanuel Macron described the global food crisis as one of Russia's "weapons of war" during a visit to Cameroon on Tuesday, dismissing suggestions Western sanctions were to blame. Cameroon, like many developing countries, is grappling with sharp increases in prices for oil, fertilizer and foodstuffs. Severe fuel shortages hit the capital Yaounde last week leading to long queues at petrol stations. Macron is on a three-leg tour of Africa, a trip meant to strengthen political ties with the continent and help boost agricultural production amid the growing food insecurity linked to the war in Ukraine.
African governments have largely avoided taking sides and refused to join Western condemnation and sanctions. At the same time, anti-French sentiment is rising in France's former West African colonies, where security concerns following a string of coups are stoking frustration and swinging public opinion in favor of Russia. "We are blamed by some who say that European sanctions (on Russia) is the cause of the world food crisis, including in Africa. It is totally false," Macron said during a meeting with the French community in Cameroon. "Food, like energy have become Russian weapons of war ... We must help the African continent to produce more for itself," Macron said. Many African nations are dependent on Russian grain and energy, but they also buy Ukrainian grain that has been disrupted by the conflict. Moscow denies responsibility for the food crisis, blaming Western sanctions for slowing its food and fertilizer exports and Ukraine for mining the approaches to its ports. Cameroon, a mineral-rich central African nation, is a major food producer for the region and Macron's delegation will seek investment opportunities in the agricultural sector through a Food and Agriculture Resilience Mission initiative launched in March with the African Union to boost food production. Macron's met 89-year-old President Paul Biya who has ruled Cameroon for nearly 40 years. The meeting comes after a period of strained relations following Macron's comments in 2020 that he will put "maximum pressure on Paul Biya" to put an end to human rights violations in the country. The government denied the allegations at the time. Asked during their news conference if he planned to seek another term in 2025, Biya said his decision to "seek another or return to his village" would be known at the end of this term.
The trip - Macron's first in Africa since his re-election in April - coincides with visits by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Mike Hammer to different countries across the continent.

Nuclear treaty conference to focus on deterrence, disarmament: US official
Ali Younes/Arab News/July 26/2022
AMMAN: Next month’s conference on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons will focus on deterrence and the long-term goal of eliminating atomic weapons, the US special representative for nuclear non-proliferation said on Tuesday. “The treaty provides the framework and some momentum for the nuclear-weapons states to work on stabilizing their nuclear deterrence, relationships, and limiting or reducing nuclear stockpiles,” Adam M. Scheinman said in a press briefing attended by Arab News. “The treaty gives the International Atomic Energy Agency the tools it needs to ensure that countries aren’t pursuing nuclear weapons contrary to their treaty obligations.”The conference will take place on Aug. 1-26 after a two-year delay due to the coronavirus pandemic. Scheinman described the “three pillars” of the treaty as disarmament, non-proliferation, and peaceful uses of nuclear technology.
The treaty entered into force in 1970, and 191 states have signed it. Scheinman said the US hopes to establish a consensus among signatories to advance the treaty’s goals.He acknowledged, however, that the Russia-Ukraine conflict may impact the climate of deliberations, but expressed hope for “the right balance of ambition and realism and perhaps compromise.”Scheinman said the non-proliferation regime has been successful in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons worldwide with the exception of a few countries such as North Korea and Iran. Unlike North Korea, Iran has not reached the status of a nuclear state, but it does have a robust nuclear program that many fear could soon produce an atomic weapon. The “vast majority” of countries abide by their treaty commitments, said Scheinman. “The Iran program was one that was uncovered over time, and of course we’ve sought a negotiated process to ensure that Iran remained in compliance with its obligations.”

Morocco intercepts more than 350 migrants off coast
Agence France Presse/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
Morocco's navy intercepted more than 350 illegal migrants, including four children, in waters off its coast, a military official said on Tuesday. The 359 people rescued between Saturday and Monday had been "aboard makeshift boats, kayaks or swimming" in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, the unnamed official said, quoted by MAP news agency. Mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, the migrants, who also included 10 women, received first aid aboard navy vessels before being transported to the nearest Moroccan ports, according to the same source. On Monday, the Moroccan authorities said the bodies of eight migrants were recovered off the southern shores of the North African kingdom. Morocco is a key transit point on routes taken by migrants seeking better lives in Europe. The Caminando Fronteras charity says almost 1,000 migrants died or were reported missing at sea in the first half of the year as they tried to reach Spain.

Russia Raps Israel on Ukraine but Plays Down Jewish Agency Court Case
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
Russia criticized Israel's stance on the war in Ukraine but said on Tuesday that a dispute over a Jewish emigration agency was a legal matter that should not spill over into bilateral ties. "There is no need to politicize this situation and project it onto the entire range of Russian-Israeli relations," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "It's necessary to take a careful approach here, but also to realize that all organizations must comply with Russian law." Russia's justice ministry is seeking the liquidation of the Russian branch of the non-profit Jewish Agency which helps Jews move to Israel. Authorities have alleged breaches of privacy laws by the Agency, and are expected to present more details before a Russian court on Thursday. The case has stirred worries in Israel about a crisis with Russia, which is home to a large Jewish community and wields major influence in next-door Syria. Peskov and foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova both appeared keen to minimize the diplomatic repercussions by stressing it was a legal matter. But Zakharova, in comments to Russian TV, said Israel's leadership had taken a biased, anti-Russian stance over Ukraine. "Unfortunately, in recent months we have heard, at the level of statements, completely unconstructive and, most importantly, biased rhetoric from Tel Aviv. It has been completely incomprehensible and strange to us," Zakharova said. Relations between the two countries have been strained by Israeli condemnation of Russia's invasion. In May it summoned the Russian ambassador over comments made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about Adolf Hitler. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement on Sunday that a closing of the Agency branch would be "grave, with ramifications for (bilateral) relations". But on Tuesday, Lapid's office said that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had exchanged "written greetings". The office did not immediately expand on that correspondence. Lapid has put a team of Israeli jurists on standby to fly out to resolve the Agency issue, once Moscow agrees to admits them. As of Tuesday morning, they had not departed. Israel's immigration minister voiced hope they would not prove crucial. "We will resolve this matter through the diplomatic channel, even if they (delegates) do not go," the minister, Pnina Tamano-Shata, told Ynet TV. There are 600,000 Russians eligible to immigrate to Israel, she said. She added there had been a rise in applications since the Russian justice ministry's announcement about the Agency, which is based in Jerusalem and is the world's largest Jewish non-profit organization.

Latest Russian Gas Cuts ‘Politically Motivated’, EU Energy Chief Says
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
Russian gas giant Gazprom's announcement that it will further slash deliveries to Europe this week is politically motivated, European Union energy policy chief Kadri Simson said on Tuesday, disputing the company's claim that it had cut supply because it needed to halt the operation of a turbine. "We know that there is no technical reason to do so. This is a politically motivated step, and we have to be ready for that. And exactly for that reason, the pre-emptive reduction of our gas demand is a wise strategy," Simson said on her arrival to a meeting of EU countries' energy ministers in Brussels. Simson said she expected the ministers to reach a deal on emergency EU rules requiring countries to curb their gas demand.

Trump Returning to Washington to Deliver Policy Speech
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
Former President Donald Trump will return to Washington on Tuesday for the first time since leaving office, delivering a policy speech before an allied think tank that has been crafting an agenda for a possible second term. Trump will address the America First Policy Institute's two-day America First Agenda Summit as some advisers urge him to spend more time talking about his vision for the future and less time relitigating the 2020 election as he prepares to announce an expected 2024 White House campaign.
“I believe it will be a very policy-focused, forward-leaning speech, very much like a State of the Union 5.0," said Brooke Rollins, AFPI's president. Composed of former Trump administration officials and allies, the nonprofit is widely seen as an “administration in waiting” that could quickly move to the West Wing if Trump were to run again and win. Trump's appearance in Washington — his first trip back since Jan. 20, 2021, when President Joe Biden was sworn into office — comes as his potential 2024 rivals have been taking increasingly overt steps to challenge his status as the party's standard-bearer. They include former Vice President Mike Pence, who has been touting his own “Freedom Agenda” in speeches that serve as an implicit contrast with Trump. “Some people may choose to focus on the past, but I believe conservatives must focus on the future. If we do, we won’t just win the next election, we will change the course of American history for generations,” Pence had planned to say in a speech at the Heritage Foundation in Washington on the eve of Trump’s visit. Pence's appearance was postponed because of bad weather, but he will be delivering his own speech Tuesday morning before the Young America’s Foundation not far from the AFPI meeting. Trump has spent much of his time since leaving office fixated on the 2020 election and spreading lies about his loss to sow doubt about Biden's victory. Indeed, even as the Jan. 6 committee was laying bare his desperate and potentially illegal attempts to remain in power and his refusal to call off a violent mob of his supporters as they tried to halt the peaceful transition of power, Trump continued to try to pressure officials to overturn Biden's win, despite there being no legal means to decertify the past election.
On Tuesday, he plans to focus on public safety.
“President Trump sees a nation in decline that is driven, in part, by rising crime and communities becoming less safe under Democrat policies," said his spokesman, Taylor Budowich. “His remarks will highlight the policy failures of Democrats, while laying out an America First vision for public safety that will surely be a defining issue during the midterms and beyond.”Beyond the summit, staff at the America First Policy Institute have been laying their own groundwork for the future, “making sure we do have the policies, personnel and process nailed down for every key agency when we do take the White House back,” Rollins said. The nonprofit developed, she said, from efforts to avoid the chaotic early days of Trump's first term, when he arrived at the White House unprepared, with no clear plans ready to put in place. As Trump was running for reelection, Rollins, then the head of Trump's Domestic Policy Council, began to sketch out a second-term agenda with fellow administration officials, including top economic policy adviser Larry Kudlow and national security adviser Robert O'Brien. When it became clear Trump would be leaving the White House, she said, AFPI was created to continue that work “organized around that second term agenda that we never released.”The organization, once dismissed as a landing zone for ex-Trump administration officials shut out of more lucrative jobs, has grown into a behemoth, with an operating budget of around $25 million and 150 staff, including 17 former senior White Houses officials and nine former Cabinet members. The group also has more than 20 policy centers and has tried to extend its reach beyond Washington with efforts to influence local legislatures and school boards. An “American leadership initiative,” led by the former head of the Office of Personnel Management, Michael Rigas, launched several weeks ago to identify future staff loyal to Trump and his “America First” approach who could be hired as part of a larger effort to replace large swaths of the civil service, as Axios recently reported. The group is one of several Trump-allied organizations that have continued to push his polices in his absence, including America First Legal, dedicated to fighting Biden's agenda through the court system, the Center for Renewing America and the Conservative Partnership Institute. The summit is intended to highlight AFPI's “America First Agenda,” centered around 10 key policy areas including the economy, health care and election security. It includes many of Trump's signature issues, like continuing to build a wall along the southern border and a plan to “dismantle the administrative state.” In a speech Monday, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose “Contract with America” has been credited with helping Republicans sweep the 1994 midterm elections, praised the effort as key to future GOP victory. “The American people want solutions,” he said.nTurkey Tells Ukraine it Is Important for First Grain Shipment to Take Place Soon

Iraq to Free Briton Jailed in Antiquities Case, Says Lawyer
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
An Iraqi court has overturned the conviction and 15-year sentence handed to a British pensioner last month for antiquities smuggling, the retiree's lawyer said Tuesday. The conviction of James Fitton has been "overturned today by the Court of Cassation and my client will soon be free", lawyer Thaer Saoud told AFP. "We are very pleased by the decision, but we are still waiting for his release," his son-in-law, Sam Tasker, told AFP in a phone call. Fitton had been charged under a 2002 law against "intentionally taking or trying to take out of Iraq an antiquity". He stood trial alongside German national Volker Waldmann, who was acquitted. Both men had pleaded not guilty. According to statements from customs officers and witnesses, Fitton's baggage contained about a dozen stone fragments, pieces of pottery or ceramics. When the judge in the original trial asked Fitton why he tried to take the artifacts out of Iraq, the retired geologist cited his "hobby" and said he did not mean to do anything illegal. But the judge concluded there was criminal intent. The maximum penalty for the offense is death by hanging, but Fitton was sentenced to 15 years because of his "advanced age", the judge in the original trial said.Fitton's lawyer launched the appeal just over a month ago.The case comes at a time when the war-ravaged country, whose tourism infrastructure is almost non-existent, is tentatively opening to visitors.

Tunisia President Hails Vote Set to Bolster Rule
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 26 July, 2022
President Kais Saied said Tuesday that Tunisia was moving "from despair to hope" after a referendum almost certain to approve a new constitution that concentrates nearly all powers in his office. But his rivals accused the Saied-controlled ISIE electoral board of "fraud" and said his referendum -- which was marked by a turnout of little more than a quarter of the 9.3 million electorate -- had "failed". Monday's vote came a year to the day after Saied sacked the government and suspended parliament in what was perceived as a blow to the gains made after the 2011 revolution. For some Tunisians, his moves sparked fears of a return to autocracy, but they were welcomed by others, fed up with high inflation and unemployment, political corruption and a system they felt had brought few improvements. There had been little doubt the "Yes" campaign would win, and an exit poll suggested that votes cast were overwhelmingly in favor. Most of Saied's rivals called for a boycott, and while turnout was low, it was higher than the single figures many had expected -- at least 27.5 percent, according to the electoral board. "Tunisia has entered a new phase," Saied told celebrating supporters after polling closed. "What the Tunisian people did... is a lesson to the world, and a lesson to history on a scale that the lessons of history are measured on," he said. The National Salvation Front opposition alliance accused the electoral board of falsifying turnout figures. Its head, Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, said the figures were "inflated and don't fit with what observers saw on the ground".ISIE "isn't honest and impartial, and its figures are fraudulent," he said.
'New step'
Saied, a 64-year-old law professor, dissolved parliament and seized control of the judiciary and the electoral commission on July 25 last year. His opponents say the moves aimed to install an autocracy, while his supporters say they were necessary after years of corruption and political turmoil. "After 10 years of disappointment and total failure in the management of state and the economy, the Tunisian people wanted to get rid of the old and take a new step, whatever the results are," said Noureddine al-Rezgui, a bailiff. A poll of "Yes" voters by state television suggested "reforming the country and improving the situation" along with "support for Kais Saied/his project" were their main motivations. Thirteen percent cited being "convinced by the new constitution". Rights groups have warned the draft gives vast, unchecked powers to the presidency, allows him to appoint a government without parliamentary approval and makes him virtually impossible to remove from office. Said Benarbia, regional director of the International Commission of Jurists, told AFP the new constitution would "give the president almost all powers and dismantle any check on his rule". Moreover, low turnout means "any resulting constitution would not reflect the views of the majority of Tunisians and would lack democratic legitimacy and national ownership," he added. "The process was opaque and illegal, the outcome is illegitimate." Saied has repeatedly threatened his enemies in recent months, issuing video diatribes against unnamed foes he describes as "germs", "snakes" and "traitors". On Monday, he promised to hold to account "all those who have committed crimes against the country".
'Back on the rails'
Analyst Abdellatif Hannachi said the results meant Saied "can now do whatever he wants without taking anyone else into account.""The question now is: what is the future of opposition parties and organizations?" As well as remaking the political system, Monday's vote was seen as a gauge of Saied's personal popularity, almost three years since the political outsider won a landslide in Tunisia's first democratic direct presidential election. Hassen Zargouni, head of pollster Sigma Conseil, said that off 7,500 participants questioned, 92-93 percent voted "Yes". He said turnout was "quite good" given some two million people have been automatically added to electoral rolls since the 2019 legislative election. Participation in elections has gradually declined since the 2011 revolution, from just over half in a parliamentary poll months after Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's overthrow to 32 percent in 2019. Those who voted "Yes" on Monday did so primarily to "put the country back on the rails and improve the situation," Zargouni said. Tunis resident Aziz Benrizq, 22, agreed. "God willing, things will get easier and the situation in the country will improve," he said.

Conflict Resumes in the West Bank During IDF Operations in Nablus
Joe Truzman/FDD's Long War Journal/July 26/2022
On Sunday morning, Israeli forces conducting counterterrorism operations in Nablus clashed with militants, resulting in the deaths of two members of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and the injury of a number of other gunmen.
According to local reports, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops entered Nablus around 2:00 a.m. and surrounded the home of the al-Azizi family located in the al-Yasimna neighborhood of Nablus. An armed clash ensued that resulted in the deaths of Muhammed Bashar al-Azizi and Abdul Rahman Jamal Subh, both members of Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
It’s unclear if Azizi and Subh were the primary targets of the IDF’s raid. Unconfirmed Palestinian reports say the target of the IDF’s raid in Nablus was Ibrahim Nabulsi, a militant who survived a firefight with the IDF in February. Since his escape, Nabulsi has been wanted by the IDF and has eluded several attempts to capture him.
While Nabulsi was not at the residence at the time of the IDF’s raid, he was later seen at the funeral of the slain militants hours after clashes ended.
Following the event, Katibat Nablus (Islamic Jihad umbrella group in Nablus) issued a statement claiming it engaged IDF troops in Nablus alongside al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades fighters. The statement also claimed the group received assistance from its counterpart Katibat Jenin.
“Al-Quds Brigades, and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades fighters confronted the Zionist occupations forces, which at two o’clock in the morning stormed the Old City of Nablus and besieged some of the homes of our honorable fighters where armed clashes took place. We also confirm, in Al-Quds Brigades, that some of our fighters from the valiant city of Jenin succeeded in reaching the confrontation arena in Nablus and joined forces with their brothers in the field who rained direct bullets on the occupation forces,” the statement said.
While the statement by Katibat Nablus was mostly unremarkable, the claim that militants from another formation in the West Bank joined the fighting appears to be the first time Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) has acknowledged its network of groups support one another during conflict. In this case, Katibat Jenin militants traveled approximately 43 kilometers south to aide Katibat Nablus as it engaged IDF troops in a firefight.
FDD’s Long War Journal has closely tracked the rise in militant activity in the West Bank since last year. In a concerning trend, formations made up of mostly PIJ militants have been established in several West Bank cities including Jenin, Tubas, Nablus and Tulkarm. [See FDD’s Long War Journal: Palestinian Islamic Jihad Purportedly Establishes New Formation in the West Bank.]
Sunday morning’s clashes indicate that a recent lull in fighting has not deterred militants in the West Bank from engaging IDF troops operating in the area. Coupled with the establishment of PIJ umbrella groups in various West Bank cities, it does not appear the IDF’s operations have had a serious effect in stemming the tide of rising militancy in the area.
*Joe Truzman is a contributor to FDD's Long War Journal.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 26-27/2022
Arabs: 'US President Decided to Tamper with [Middle East] Security for No Reason...'
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute./July 26, 2022
Arabs point out that one of Biden's biggest mistakes was that he took America's Arab allies for granted while embarking on a policy of appeasement towards Iran's mullahs.
"The behavior of the Obama and Biden administrations regarding Iran and Afghanistan served as a wake-up call for the countries of the region." — Ali Hamadeh, Lebanese Journalist, Annahar, July 20, 2022.
"Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Libya were stable countries until the US president decided to tamper with their security for no reason other than his fascination with the discourse of the left and the extremist [Muslim] Brotherhood...." — Saudi political analyst Mohammed Al-Saed, Okaz, July 18, 2022.
"I remember a little over a year ago how Biden described his relations with Riyadh when he said that they were partners and not allies, then removed the [Iranian-backed] Houthis from their designation as terrorists and then returned to the Iranian nuclear agreement." — Mohammed Al-Saed, Okaz, July 18, 2022.
The Arabs are telling Biden that they do not appreciate or respect weak leaders and remain concerned about his appeasement policy toward the mullahs and their proxies in the Middle East.
Many Arabs believe that US President Joe Biden's recent visit to the Middle East was a failure, and point out that one of his biggest mistakes was that he took America's Arab allies for granted while embarking on a policy of appeasement towards Iran's mullahs. Pictured from left to right: Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa, US President Joe Biden and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Jeddah Security and Development Summit in Saudi Arabia on July 16, 2022.
Many Arabs believe that US President Joe Biden's recent visit to the Middle East was a failure, mainly because the Arab countries still do not have confidence in his administration's policies. The Arabs point out that one of Biden's biggest mistakes was that he took America's Arab allies for granted while embarking on a policy of appeasement towards Iran's mullahs.
The Arabs are saying that Biden failed to promote normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, convince the Saudis to increase oil production, and establish a security alliance to confront the threats from Iran and its proxies. He also failed to achieve a breakthrough in the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, they note.
"The Biden administration made major mistakes in its relations with its historical allies in the region, which came in the context of the legacy of the era of former President Barack Obama and his strange bias towards the so-called Iran Option," wrote Lebanese journalist Ali Hamadeh. "The Biden administration made this option a priority in its foreign policy in order to reach a nuclear agreement with Iran."
Hamadeh said that the credibility of the US administration remains at stake, especially in light of its policies in the region and attitude towards America's historical and traditional Arab allies whose national security and vital interests have been compromised.
"The Americans viewed the allies as a mere 'back- yard' of the US... Today, however, the situation has changed, and the allies have an excellent foreign policy that is based on trying to build diverse relationships and strategic alliances with different powers in the world, such as America, China and Russia. The region is no longer the monopoly of Western decision-making, although those countries that are allies of the US have always considered the latter the first and most important strategic ally. Now, the US is no longer the only strategic ally or partner."
Biden's intention, the Lebanese journalist pointed out, was to fix the flaw in relations with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and even with Israel.
"However, Biden found leaders of a new type with new perceptions of the interests of their countries... America's credibility in the region has declined. The behavior of the Obama and Biden administrations regarding Iran and Afghanistan served as a wake-up call for the countries of the region. Hence, the Arabs are very cautious in their optimism about the results of the Biden visit."
Although the Arabs "appreciate" the Biden administration's efforts to correct its mistakes, they see that this effort came too late, said Hamadeh.
"The presidential term is almost in the middle, the mid-term elections for Congress are around the corner (November 2022), and the popular approval rating for President Joe Biden according to major polling institutes is very low (30 percent)... This reality reflects the fact that the president and his administration are weak. As such, it is difficult for major countries in the region to consider the current US official discourse as a stable one."
Egyptian author and economic expert Mustafa Abdel Salam wrote that Biden failed to achieve the two main goals of his visit.
"The visit had two goals," Abdel Salam wrote.
"The first was political, namely, to besiege Iran and increase the pressure on it through the establishment of an alliance or a regional security axis with the aim of securing Israel and preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear program weapons. The second was an economic goal, to reduce the prices of oil, petroleum and other energy products in international markets. In my estimation, Biden failed to achieve both goals, in addition to the statements issued by some of the countries participating in the summit rejecting the policy of alliances."
According to Abdel Salam, the US president returned to Washington empty-handed because he did not "besiege" Iran or reduce the prices of gasoline and oil in his country. Instead, he said, the opposite happened, as oil prices increased by 2.5% after a US official confirmed that Washington does not expect Saudi Arabia to increase oil production immediately.
Sayed Zahra, deputy editor of the Gulf newspaper Akhbar Al-Khaleej, wrote that the Arab leaders who attended the summit in the Saudi city of Jeddah together with Biden sent a message to the US and the rest of the world that the Arabs alone can determine what their interests are and how they should be protected and defended.
"No one else has the right to tell us what to do," Zahra wrote.
"The Jeddah summit represents the beginning of a new era in the Arab region. The summit, with the positions expressed by the participating Arab leaders, marks the beginning of a new era of Arab-American relations and the relations of the Arabs with the various world powers. Our position in the new world order is taking shape...
"At the Jeddah summit, the Arab leaders set forth great principles that represent the foundations of the new era in the region. They demonstrated that the Arab countries have their own independent vision of the region's issues, what threatens its security and stability, and how to confront and deal with the challenges. On the basis of this point of view, the Arabs rejected the so-called Arab NATO. Accordingly, the relations between the Arab countries and America and any other global power must be based on mutual respect, exchange of interests and non-interference in internal affairs. Based on these rules and foundations established at Jeddah, it can be said that the summit represents the beginning of exploring the future of relations American Arabic."
Saudi political analyst Mohammed Al-Saed wrote that he too shared the view that Biden's visit to the region came too late. "In the wake of Joe Biden's visit, a very important question arises: Did Biden arrive in the region a year and a half late?" Al-Saed asked.
"The answer is yes. He arrived very late. He could have bridged the huge gap not only between him and Riyadh, but also with Cairo and Abu Dhabi, the most important Arab capitals active and able to help America in its current political and economic crisis. He should have come weeks after entering office instead of allowing smoke screens to block visibility and impede communication."
The Saudi analyst said that Biden has become lame in politics. "He is trying to please the leftist extremists from the Democratic Party and follow in their footsteps," he argued.
"Biden came bearing the grave mistakes he and his party committed against the region since 2009, the year Obama took office. America's allies remained faithful to that relationship, and when Washington unilaterally decided to abandon them, no one blamed it. The Arabs only searched for their interests and built strategic relations with other countries. The Middle East paid a heavy price in terms of security, stability and the economy because of America's drift behind hostile policies. Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Libya were stable countries until the US president decided to tamper with their security for no reason other than his fascination with the discourse of the left and the extremist [Muslim] Brotherhood. The White House did not stop there, but rather tried to tamper with the security of its traditional allies in the Gulf, and today Biden wants things to return to the way they were. The Arab countries are still bleeding. I remember a little over a year ago how Biden described his relations with Riyadh when he said that they were partners and not allies, then removed the [Iranian-backed] Houthis from their designation as terrorists and then returned to the Iranian nuclear agreement. It was expected that everyone would celebrate the return of the victorious leader Biden to the Middle East, but the souls are no longer the same souls, nor the people the same people, nor is the atmosphere the same."
Yemen's official news agency also labelled Biden's visit to the Middle East a failure.
"US President Joe Biden failed to achieve what he wanted from the Jeddah summit, which brought him together with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, the Egyptian president, the king of Jordan and the Iraqi prime minister," the agency commented.
"American foreign policy has been witnessing a continuous decline for some time due to America imposing its interests on the countries of the world without taking into account the national interests of each country. Biden returned to his county empty-handed. The failure of the visit came due to international variables that have become a fait accompli at the international level. These variables were imposed by Russia and China, which have positioned themselves to occupy a prominent place in a world that is no longer governed by a unipolar policy."
The Yemeni agency pointed out that the Arab leaders who attended the Jeddah summit rejected the idea of establishing a security alliance against Iran.
Lebanese author Hassan Hardan wrote that the Biden administration "revealed the extent of the decline in American prestige and power." Biden, he said, "appeared as a weak president who appeased the Saudi Crown Prince and offered him concessions in the murder case of [slain Saudi journalist Jamal] Khashoggi."
"The adherence of the Gulf states to the OPEC Plus agreement reflected their insistence on taking a distance from the conflict between the US and Russia, which reflected the transformation taking place in international relations and the increasing feeling of Gulf governments of the need to stand neutral in this conflict and take into account their oil interests."
Professor Abdullah Shayji of the Department of Political Science at Kuwait University wrote that it is difficult to talk about great achievements and breakthroughs made during Biden's visit to the region.
"It has become clear that no major transformations have occurred or are on the way to being achieved, whether regarding the Palestinian issue, solving and the Iranian nuclear file, or obtaining pledges from the Arab and Gulf states to stop the expansion of China and Russia... Did the visit by Biden, a reluctant ally, achieve its goals in the region? The US president did not present bold initiatives, which complicates his chances of success."
Shayji noted that Biden had set a number of goals, which included integrating Israel and expanding the scope of normalization, restoring confidence with the Gulf allies, improving US relations with Saudi Arabia, increasing oil production, containing the expansion of Russia and China, and lining up against Iran.
"The bottom line is that Biden had only partial and modest successes, and failures more than successes in achieving those goals on his visit," he wrote.
"The most important failure of Biden's visit is the failure to integrate Israel into the Arab region. The real challenge for the US remains to present bold strategic initiatives, reassure and build confidence with its Gulf allies, achieve breakthroughs in the region's crises, move the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, guarantee Gulf security, end the war in Yemen and contain Iran and its proxies."
Judging from the reactions of the Arabs to Biden's visit, it is clear that the Arab countries think that the US president needs to work harder if he wants to regain their confidence and restore America's credibility among its traditional and historical allies.
The Arabs are telling Biden that they do not appreciate or respect weak leaders and remain concerned about his appeasement policy toward the mullahs and their proxies in the Middle East.
*Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
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Failed Initiative To Establish Middle East NATO – Arab Countries Clarify: There Will Be No Regional Military Alliance Against Iran; We Seek To Improve Our Relations With It
H. Varulkar, Y. Yehoshua, and Z. Harel*/'MEMRI/July 26/2022
Iran | Inquiry & Analysis Series No. 1645
In the weeks preceding the visit of U.S. President Joe Biden to Saudi Arabia for the July 16, 2022 Jeddah Security and Development Summit, Arab and international media published numerous reports claiming that one of the main topics slated to be discussed at the summit – attended by Biden and the leaders of the nine Arab countries – was the establishment of a regional military alliance against Iran. According to the reports, this alliance was to include Israel alongside the moderate Arab countries, among them Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, and Jordan. Many were referring to this initiative as the establishment of a "regional NATO."[1] Remarks by Jordan's King Abdullah II in a June 24 interview with an American channel, that he would be the first to join a regional NATO, intensified the debate around this issue even further, and the Arab and international press published numerous items about it.
However, as the Jeddah summit approached, Arab countries began to clarify – either officially and explicitly or via articles in the press – that they had no intention of joining a regional military alliance against Iran. For example, before he left for the summit, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said that Iraq "is not party to any alliance or coalition in the region," and that it "maintains a balanced policy toward its neighbors and its surroundings."[2] Anwar Gargash, an advisor to the UAE president, explained that his country would not join such an alliance and that it was in fact considering sending an ambassador to Iran. Reports indicate that in the days leading up to the Jeddah summit, Egypt and Jordan also conveyed secret messages of reassurance to Iran, via Iraq and Oman, in which they stressed that they would not join a regional alliance against it and that they were not interested in escalating the conflict with it.
Eventually, the Jeddah summit indeed concluded with no mention of a regional alliance, either with or without Israel. Moreover, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan declared at the close of the summit that "dialogue and diplomacy are the only way to deal with the Iranian nuclear [program]" and that Saudi Arabia extends its hand to Iran.
U.S. President Biden and Arab heads of state at Jeddah summit (Source: Al-Jazirah, Saudi Arabia, June 17, 2022)
It appears that, even if at some point several Arab countries had considered forming a regional alliance against Iran, a series of considerations and insights led them to discard the idea and to stress that they do not seek a military confrontation with this country. The main consideration is their understanding that the Biden administration is committed to achieving a nuclear agreement with Iran and that it views diplomacy as the best option, if not the only option, for contending with Iran’s nuclear program. Therefore, these countries assess that they cannot depend on the U.S. to protect them from Iran, and fear that the U.S. will not come to their aid in the event of a military confrontation with it, just as it did not come to the aid of Ukraine when it was attacked by Russia.
Moreover, Arab countries apparently fear that the U.S. will sign a new nuclear agreement with Iran which will not address their concerns regarding the conduct of Iran and its militias in the region, and have therefore deemed it prudent to open a direct channel of communication with Iran, rather than move toward military escalation with it. It appears that these countries have taken a strategic decision to maintain calm relations with Iran and seek dialogue with it. In fact, in recent months five rounds of talks, mediated by Iraq and Oman, have been held between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The UAE is likewise maintaining contacts and dialogue with this country, and, as mentioned, Egypt and Jordan have done the same in the recent weeks.
An editorial in the London-based Qatari Al-Quds Al-Arabi daily, titled "Did the 'Arab NATO' Initiative Fail?", concluded that the initiative had “stopped in its tracks."[3] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat columnist Suleiman Jawda wrote, in a similar vein, that the idea of establishing an Arab NATO against Iran had been "stillborn." According to him, it failed because it was a American initiative, and was therefore like a plant that had been “uprooted and replanted in foreign soil, so that it withered and died.” The Arab countries, he added, believe that the only way to deal with Iran is via dialogue, not confrontation, so Biden was forced to take his idea of an Arab NATO back to Washington with him.[4]
This report reviews Arab countries' messages of reassurance to Iran prior to and following the Jeddah summit, as well as their statements that they will not join an alliance against Iran.
UAE: We Won't Be Part Of Any Alliance Against Iran; We Are Working To Improve Relations With It
The UAE no doubt still views Iran as a significant threat, as evident from statements by senior Emirati officials and from articles in the country’s press. At the same time, in the recent months it seems to be maintaining calm relations with Iran and even a steady dialogue with it. As stated, this appears to be the result of a strategic decision taken by the UAE in light of the Biden Administration’s ongoing pursuit of a nuclear agreement with Iran and rejection of a military confrontation with it, a position that could leave the UAE exposed to Iranian threat. The Emirati position was reflected in a June 19 telephone call between UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, during which the two diplomats emphasized the shared interests of their countries and the mutual desire to develop the relations and continue the dialogue between them. The Iranian foreign minister even invited his Emirati counterpart to visit Iran.[5]
As Biden’s visit and the Jeddah summit drew near, and as reports about the possibility of an Arab NATO proliferated, Emirati officials began voicing reservations about the idea. For example, on June 26, after the Wall Street Journal reported about a secret meeting, initiated by the U.S., that had been held in March in Sharm Al-Sheikh between high-ranking military commanders from Israel and Arab countries, including the UAE, to discuss cooperation against areal threats from Iran, the UAE issued a clarification. It stated that “The UAE is not party to any regional military alliance or cooperation targeting any specific country… nor is it aware of any formal discussions relating to any such regional military alliance.”[6]
In the two weeks leading up to Biden’s visit, the London-based Emirati daily Al-Arab published a series of reports and articles that, while acknowledging the regional threat posed by Iran, came out against the idea of a regional military alliance against it. For example, on July 11 the daily’s editor, Haitham Al-Zubaidi, published an article titled “An Arab NATO Will Cause More Problems than It Will Solve,” and columnist ‘Ali Al-Sarraf wrote that “the call to establish an Arab NATO against Iran should now be buried.”[7]
On July 15, one day before the Jeddah summit, Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic advisor to the Emirati president, explicitly addressed this issue, telling reporters that his country opposed any regional military alliance against Iran and was working to reestablish relations with it. He added: "Our conversation [with Iran] is ongoing... We are in the process of sending an ambassador to Tehran. All these areas of rebuilding bridges are ongoing… We must reduce the escalation, find solutions and employ economic cooperation in all spheres.” He noted that the UAE still had concerns about Iran’s regional activities but wanted to make efforts towards finding diplomatic solutions. Asked about the option of an alliance against Iran, he replied an Arab NATO was a "theoretical" concept and confrontation was not an option for his country, and added: "We are open to cooperation, but not cooperation targeting any other country in the region and I specifically mention Iran. The UAE is not going to be a party to any group of countries that sees confrontation as a direction.” He clarified that the UAE could be part of anything that protects it from drones and missiles as long as it did not target a third country.[8]
Articles published in the UAE press after the Jeddah summit stressed that the UAE had informed the U.S. that joining alliances and axes targeting specific countries was contrary to its strategic policy, which seeks to maintain open channels of communication and diplomacy vis-à-vis Iran, end the tensions in the Middle East and complete the peace process.[9]
Egypt In Reassuring Message To Iran Ahead Of Biden Visit: We Will Join No Regional Alliances; We Do Not Seek Confrontation
Egypt conveyed reassuring messages to Iran even before Biden’s visit, during President ‘Abd Al-Fattah Al-Sisi’s visit to Oman on June 27, 2022. According to reports in a Qatari daily, during Al-Sisi's visit a meeting was held between senior Egyptian and Iranian officials, at which the Egyptians conveyed that Egypt opposes regional alliances and seeks to improve its relations with Iran. The report also claimed, citing Egyptian sources, that the opposition within Egypt to the notion of an Arab-Israeli alliance against Iran was led by figures in the Egyptian army and General Intelligence Directorate. The sources assessed that the rapprochement with Iran was meant to prevent it from forming ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, which opposes Al-Sisi's regime.[10]
In a July 17, 2022 article in the Egyptian Al-Masri Al-Yawm daily, journalist Mohammed Amin explained that "Egypt’s refusal to join an Arab military alliance does not stem from any willingness to leave the security of the Gulf open to threats, but is based on a consistent position dating back to [the days of] the Baghdad Pact.”[11] He added: “So far, the threats against the Gulf have been merely verbal, so [Egypt] has no intention of joining any pact sponsored by the West!...”
"This,” he explained, “does not mean that Egypt is leaning toward Iran. Iran knows that the security of the Gulf is a red line in Egyptian politics. But the important point, as I see it, is that Egypt does not follow the herd… and its decision-making is independent and cannot be bought or sold… Egypt also refrained from joining the coalition [fighting] in Yemen. It does not fight for anyone and does not fight beyond its borders. These have been Egypt's principles for generations. The participation of the [Egyptian] army in the [1990-1991] Gulf War was an exception. The objective [back then] was to liberate an independent Arab country, i.e. Kuwait, from the Iraqi invasion, and that was part of [ensuring] the security of the Gulf…
"There is no cause for alarm. There is no disaster or any suspicious behavior, at least on Egypt's part. Every country has the right to determine its own interests as it pleases. Certain countries had an interest in a military alliance, but Egypt explained that an Arab NATO was contrary to its principles. These countries, as well as America, understood that Egypt would not do this and that no one could force it to join [such an] alliance."[12]
Jordan In Messages To Iran Ahead Of Jeddah Summit: There Will Be No Military Alliance With Israel; Despite Threats On Our Borders, We Want Normal Relations With You
As for Jordan, the days and weeks leading up to the Jeddah summit saw a notable shift in its declared policy towards Iran. Only two months ago, in a May 18, 2022 interview with the Hoover Institution public policy think tank at Stanford University, King Abdullah II restated his concern about the Iranian presence on the Syria-Jordan border.[13] Nor was this the first time that these concerns – which were also expressed in the Jordanian media over the past weeks[14] – have been voiced. For many years now King Abdullah has been warning about Iran’s attempts to expand its presence in the region and to form a geographical continuum from its own territory to Lebanon through Iraq and Syria, a continuum he referred to in 2004 as “the Shi’ite Crescent.” Following the civil war in Syria and the Iranian penetration of this country, Jordan’s concerns about the Iran and about the presence of the pro-Iran militias on the Syria-Jordan border grew even further. The Jordanians have clarified on more than one occasion that they view this Iranian-Shi’ite presence on their border as a strategic threat.[15] In fact, in the recent weeks the Jordanians reported thwarting a series of attempts to smuggle drugs, weapons, and ammunition into Jordan via the border with Syria, in which Iran-backed militias in southern Syria had been involved.[16] These concerns may have been the motivation for King Abdullah’s statement in a June 24, 2022 interview on the American CNBC network, that he “would be one of the first people that would endorse a Middle East NATO.” [17]
Although he did not explicitly mention either Israel or Iran, the King’s statements in this interview were understood as an official expression of Jordan’s willingness to join a military alliance against Iran that would include Israel. Hence, the remarks sparked an uproar in the Arab world and prompted Jordan to qualify them. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi, sent to clarify the king’s position, told Al-Jazeera on June 28 that “there has been no discussion of a military alliance of which Israel is a part, and we have heard no such proposal to date.”[18] Reports subsequently published in the Jordanian press also expressed reservations about entering an alliance with Israel against Iran.[19]
The Al-Quds Al-Arabi daily speculated that Al-Safadi had conveyed these reassurances to Iran due to Jordan’s fear of a harsh Iranian response that would threaten its interests, and also due to Jordan’s realization that other Arab countries were not interested in joining such an alliance or in launching a military confrontation with Iran. The daily stated that Jordan had decided to convey a message to Iran that it was not interested in confrontation with it.[20]
Furthermore, reports in the Arab press indicate that, in the days leading up to the Jeddah summit, indirect dialogue took place between Jordan and Iran, mediated by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi and his associates, with the aim of reducing the tension between the countries. According to these reports, the exchange of messages resulted in general understandings. The online daily Raialyoum.com stated that Iran had urged Jordan to refrain from taking an extreme position towards Iran under the influence of America, Israel or the Gulf states, while clarifying that it was not interested in a crisis with Jordan and that it respected its security and sovereignty. Jordan, for its part, expressed its growing concern about the involvement of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and of the Iran-backed militias in the smuggling of drugs and weapons from Syria into Jordan, and received assurances from Iran that it would not allow this and would keep the militias 40 km away from the Jordanian border.[21]
This dialogue, and the understandings it yielded, led Jordanian officials to make surprising and very conciliatory statements on the eve of the Jeddah summit. Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh and Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi said that Jordan was open to normal relations with Iran.[22] Al-Khasawneh even added, “we have never regarded Iran as a threat to our national security.”[23]
The Jordanian press also published several articles calling for rapprochement with Iran. In a July 6 column in Al-Dustour, Journalist Fares Al-Habashneh called for dialogue between the two countries, for improving their relations, and for establishing a new political-economic axis comprising Jordan, Iran and Iraq, in light of the shifting power-balances and the “interest-driven” American policy in the region.[24]
On July 18 journalist Hussein Rawashdeh, a columnist for Al-Ghad, addressed the Jordanian prime minister’s conciliatory statements about Iran, writing: “Amman understands that Iran does not pose any direct threat to Jordan’s national security, and that it is time to heed the messages it has conveyed more than once about improving and warming the relations, [especially considering] the inclination of Arabs, and in particular of the Gulf, to calm [the situation vis-a-vis] Tehran… Jordan has an interest in softening its attitude towards Tehran, whether in order to secure its northern border with southern Syria, where several pro-Iranian militias are deployed – especially now that clashes with drug dealers have increased – or in order to facilitate Jordan’s diplomatic efforts in Iraq, where several pro-Iranian Iraqi politicians and religious authorities have prevented the Iraqi government from [promoting] economic openness towards Jordan… It appears that the option of mutual understandings between the Arabs, including Jordan, and Iran are now clearly the need of the hour, not just in order to adjust to the shifting power balances but because the region cannot become stable unless the historical neighbors reach mutual understandings based on common ground that will allow them to coexist in security and stability…”[25]
However, despite this exchange of reassuring messages and these conciliatory press articles, following the Jeddah summit King Abdullah reiterated that Jordan still felt threatened by Iran, and especially by the pro-Iranian militias deployed near Jordan’s border with Syria, which are involved in smuggling drugs and weapons into the kingdom. He expressed these concerns in a July 20 meeting with tribal leaders in norther Jordan near the Syrian border, and in a July 24 interview with the Jordanian state daily Al-Rai.[26]
Saudi Foreign Minister Following Jeddah Summit: Iran Is Still A Source Of Concern; No Arab NATO Or Military Cooperation With Israel
Statements against an Arab NATO and against military cooperation with Israel were also heard from Saudi Arabia at the conclusion of the Jeddah summit. The kingdom expressed that, although Iran was still a source of concern, Saudi Arabia preferred finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict with it. At a press conference at the close of the summit, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said that "dialogue and diplomacy are the only solutions to [the issue of] Iran's nuclear program."[27]
Addressing the issue of a military alliance against Iran that would include Israel, the Saudi foreign minister denied any intention of forming one. He said that "no kind of military or technical cooperation with Israel was suggested" at the Jeddah summit, and added, "There is no such thing as an Arab NATO, and the issue is not on the agenda." Bin Farhan mentioned that, five years ago, Saudi Arabia had proposed establishing a joint Arab defense mechanism to raise the level of security coordination, but said that this plan, too, had not been discussed at the summit.
Regarding the relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran he said that Saudi Arabia’s hand was extended to Iran in a bid to attain normal relations, and explained: "We seek to find a path to conduct normal relations with our neighbor Iran, which involves reaching understandings that will address the concern regarding the Iranian activity. This concern is felt not only by Saudi Arabia but by all countries of the region." Reiterating his country’s commitment to the dialogue taking place between Saudi Arabia and Iran with Iraqi mediation, he expressed hope that it "will yield positive developments and that the Iranian neighbors will move in that direction as well." Bin Farhan leveled criticism at Iran in the context of the crisis in Yemen, saying that "the Iranian weapons are part of the reason for the continuation of the conflict” in that country. He also said that Saudi Arabia was making earnest efforts "to bring about a comprehensive and final ceasefire" in Yemen and added, hinting at Iran, that "the Houthis must understand that the welfare of Yemen lies in peace and dialogue, and not in regional agendas."[28]
A pithy expression of the Saudi position, and of the Arab position at large, was provided by Egyptian journalist Suleiman Goda in his column in the Al-Sharq Al-Awsat daily. He wrote that the idea of forming a regional NATO against Iran, which many thought would be declared during Biden’s visit to the region, was “stillborn.” The initiative, he elaborated, was essentially an American one that started circulating among the countries in the region, but it gradually became apparent that none of them was willing to endorse it. “Official Arab declarations politely declining the idea came one after the other, despite the tempting proposals that had accompanied it,” he said. “This idea, in all of its stages, was like a plant that someone uprooted and tried to plant in foreign soil, and every time it withered and died…”
Goda added: “The countries that openly declared their rejection of the Arab NATO [initiative] did not do so out of a desire to express support for Iran, God forbid, but out of a belief that the [Iranian] problem can only be resolved via dialogue, not through war or confrontation. By openly rejecting this initiative, they conveyed to the government of Iran’s [Supreme] Leader that it should take note their rational approach to their relations with Iran and that they expected it to take a similar approach…” He concluded: “This is why the Arab NATO idea never stood a chance in the region. If the Biden administration floated it as a trial balloon ahead of his visit, the master of the White House no doubt ended up taking it back with him on his plane to Washington!...”[29]
Iran In Response: Egypt’s Position Is Commendable; We Welcome Saudi Arabia’s Openness
Iran, for its part, welcomed the conciliatory tone of the Arab officials’ statements. Mohammad Hossein Soltanifard, the head of Iran's Interests Section in Egypt, thanked Egypt for its position, tweeting: “The position of Egypt, which voiced opposition to America’s ludicrous fantasy of forming an alliance against Iran, while other countries participating in the Jeddah summit kept silent, is commendable and understandable. This plan, just like the ‘Greater Middle East’ plan and ‘the Deal of the Century,’ will be stillborn, Allah willing.”[30]
In an interview on Qatar’s Al-Jazeera, Kamal Kharazi, the head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, welcomed Saudi Arabia’s statements about extending a hand to Iran, and said that Iran was ready to talk and to renew its relations with the kingdom. Iran and Saudi Arabia are important regional countries, he said, and resolving the disagreements between them will bring about change throughout the region. He added that a Middle East NATO was a superficial idea and that Saudi Arabia had emphasized that it had not even come up in the Jeddah summit.[31]
* H. Varulkar is Director of Research at MEMRI; Y. Yehoshua is Vice President for Research and Director of MEMRI Israel; H. Harel is a research fellow at MEMRI.
[1] For example, on June 26, 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that in March 2022 the U.S. had organized a secret meeting in Sharm Al-Sheikh, Egypt, attended by officers from the IDF and Arab armies, to discuss the threat posed by Iranian drones and rockets. According to the report, the meeting included IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi; Saudi Chief of Staff Fayyad bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili; then-CENTCOM commander Kenneth McKenzie, and senior figures from the armies of Egypt, Jordan, the UAE and Qatar. It was also reported that the participants had reached an agreement in principle for rapid notification when aerial threats are detected. Wsj.com, June 26, 2022.
[2] Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), July 15, 2022.
[3 Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), July 17, 2022.
[4] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), July 21, 2022.
[5] Al-Arabi Al-Jadid (London), isna.ir, June 19, 2022.
[6] Wsj.com, June 26, 2022. The journal stated that Israel and the Arab states had declined its request to respond to the report, with the exception of the UAE, which issued the clarification quoted above.
[7] Al-Arab (UAE), July 6, 11, 14, 2022.
[8] Arabic.cnn.com, reuters.com, June 15, 2022.
[9] See e.g., Al-Ittihad (UAE), July 19, 2022.
[10] Al-Arabi Al-Jadid, (London) June 28, 2022, July 6, 2022.
[11] The Baghdad Pact was a political and military alliance between Britain, Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan and Iran between 1955 and 1979. Initiated by the U.S., it was meant to form a barrier along the Soviet Union’s southwestern frontier and prevent Soviet expansion into the Middle East. The U.S. urged and even pressured the Arab countries to join it while promising them economic benefits, but most of them declined. In fact, the U.S. itself never officially joined the pact, which is considered to be one of the less successful alliances of the Cold War era.
[12] Al-Masri Al-Yawm (Egypt), July 17, 2022.
[13] Raialyou,com, May 18, 2022; Al-Arabi Al-Jadid (London), May 19, 2022.
[14] See e.g., ammonnews.net. May 22, 2022; Al-Dustour, Al-Ghad (Jordan), June 27, 2022; Al-Rai (Jordan), June 29, 2022.
[15] See MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis Series No. 1359 - Concern In Jordan Over Pro-Iranian Forces On Border - 11/16/17.
[16] See e.g., alarabiya.net, May 22, 2022; Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), May 23, 2022; Al-Rai (Jordan), June 16, 2022; almamlakatv.com, May 23, 2022.
[17] Cnbc.com, June 24, 2022.
[18] Aljazeera.net, June 29, 2022.
[19] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 10064 - Strong Opposition In Jordanian Press To Kingdom’s Participation In Regional Military Alliance With Israel Against Iran - 07/06/22.
[20] Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), July 4, 2022.
[21] Raialyoum.com, July 16, 2022. Jordanian officials did not conform the existence of this indirect, Iraqi-brokered exchange of messages, but Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein confirmed the reports in a June 30, 2022 interview on Al-Arabiya. Former Jordanian information minister Samih Al-Ma’aytah likewise addressed this issue in a July 14 article, claiming that the communication between Jordan and Iran was meant to calm the situation on the Jordan-Syria border and put an end to the smuggling of drugs into the kingdom over this border. Ammonnews.net, July 14, 2022.
[22] Raialyoum.com, July 11, 2022; Al-Arabi Al-Jadid (London), July 15, 2022.
[23] Raialyoum.com, July 11, 2022. Despite these remarks from the prime minister, a senior Jordanian source said it was early to speak of appointing a Jordanian ambassador to Iran and that this issue was not yet on the agenda. Raialyoum.com, July 18, 2022.
[24] Al-Dustour (Jordan), July 6, 2022.
[25] Al-Ghad (Jordan), July 18, 2022.
[26] Al-Ghad (Jordan), July 21, 2022; Al-Rai (Jordan), July 24, 2022.
[27] Arabnews.com, July 16, 2022.
[28] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), July 17, 2022.
[29] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), July 21, 2022.
[30] Irna.ir, July 14, 2022.
[31] Aljazeera.net, July 17, 2022.

Biden blunders on refugees
Jonathan Schanzer and Asaf Romirowsky/Washington Examiner/July 26/2022 |
President Joe Biden earned deserved modest praise for his visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia last week, restoring confidence in core Middle East alliances. But the president made at least one major misstep: He pledged $201 million to the corrupt and bloated United Nations Relief and Works Agency, a step back into the failed policies of the past on a trip dedicated to continuing the forward progress made in the region in recent years.
Biden’s move was wildly out of step with the current global refugee crisis, sparked by Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine in February of this year. Nearly half a year later, the epicenter of the world’s refugee crisis today is unquestionably in Europe. UNRWA, by contrast, serves only a small segment of the Middle East. In fact, UNRWA is the only agency dedicated to serving one specific refugee population. For seven decades, the Palestinians have received special treatment, while the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees is tasked with handling every other refugee problem on the planet. Worse, UNRWA has adopted the unjustifiable policy of recognizing the descendants of the original refugees from the 1948-1949 war with Israel. This means that the agency’s roster of dependents continues to grow each year, even as the number of original refugees continues to shrink because of their aging population. In other words, UNRWA has ensured that the services will always be needed; the agency that originally had no more than 715,000 refugees from the first Arab-Israeli war now has 7 million clients. Under the current policy, that list will only grow.
Biden’s support for UNRWA is also odd given that the agency has been under fire in recent years owing to credible allegations of corruption, mismanagement, and extremism, to name a few. A recent study on agency textbooks just validated again the shocking extent of the antisemitism found in the materials that Palestinian students are required to learn.
It gets worse. The agency has a bloated roster of employees. Its payroll is a whopping 30,000 or more. And UNRWA has been increasingly infiltrated by members of radical groups, primarily the Iran-backed Hamas terrorist group that runs the Gaza Strip. Terrorists are believed to hold jobs as teachers and administrators within the agency’s bureaucracy, thanks to poor vetting and oversight procedures. Hamas has cynically wielded UNRWA facilities as shields to protect its underground commando tunnels that were deliberately built beneath or alongside the agency’s buildings. Hamas and other militant groups have a history of firing unguided rockets at Israel from sites adjacent to UNRWA buildings for similar reasons. It’s a practice commonly known as “human shields,” which is recognized as a war crime in the United States and the U.N., among others.
Supporting an organization so deeply beset with problems is a glaring misallocation of American and United Nations resources at any time. But it’s especially egregious when those resources are sorely needed elsewhere as the refugee crisis in Ukraine spirals out of control.
By one conservative estimate, 7 million Ukrainians are internally displaced as a result of the war. No fewer than 5 million refugees have already fled Ukraine. The U.N. predicts a total of approximately 8.35 million refugees by the end of this year. According to one British House of Commons report on Ukraine, “29% of Ukraine’s 44 million population (12.8 million people) have been forcibly displaced within the country or beyond it. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said it is the fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II.”
Poland, Moldova, Hungary, and Slovakia are among the front-line states in this crisis. They will need significant international assistance to absorb the massive numbers of refugees streaming across their borders. The president’s decision to throw more money at UNRWA is downright bizarre in this context.
A responsible policy would be to divert some of these resources, if not most of them, to the escalating refugee crisis gripping Europe.
Throwing good money after bad at the U.N. is nothing new, of course. The massive refugee crisis stemming from the civil war in Syria should have prompted a shift in policy. The same goes for the internal displacement of Yemenis from that country’s civil war, prompted primarily by the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist groups. But those crises may soon pale in comparison to the misery from the war in Ukraine.
With an acute refugee crisis already underway, coupled with a food scarcity predicted to hit next year, the time has come for a shift in global refugee policies. UNRWA sits at the top of the list of agencies that divert funds from needy refugees worldwide.
Donors from the Arab world have reportedly curtailed support to UNRWA in recent years, even before the Ukraine crisis. So have Britain and Austria. The result has been a scramble at the U.N. to make up the shortfall — without giving thought to why there’s a shortfall in the first place. In fact, the message is unmistakable: The world’s confidence in this agency has fallen.
For now, the damage is done. Biden is not likely to reverse course. In fact, his allocation of funds to UNRWA looks like he is doubling down on this controversial policy. His own State Department recently hired Elizabeth Campbell , formerly UNRWA’s Washington lobbyist who notoriously helped disseminate bigoted education lessons to Palestinians via agency textbooks.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has already highlighted what the United Nations can’t do: It has little to deter Vladimir Putin’s war machine. But the U.N. can and should continue to coordinate refugee relief; it’s an area in which it has demonstrated relative competence. As the Ukrainian refugee crisis worsens, the Biden administration should conduct a review of its refugee assistance policies, with an eye toward optimizing them. Congress can play an important role in spurring this oversight. Better efficiency is urgently needed. So is purging hate and vitriol. This should not inhibit assistance to the refugees who need America’s help the most. Neither should it mean an end to assistance programs that support Palestinians. But it should prompt a long-overdue review of the efficacy of the refugee initiatives America supports, with the goal of much-needed change.
*Asaf Romirowsky is executive director at Scholars for Peace in the Middle East. Jonathan Schanzer is senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). Follow Jonathan on Twitter @JSchanzer. FDD is a nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Russia and Iran Keep Growing Closer
Anna Borshchevskaya/The Washington Institute/July 26/2022
Given their proven capacity for jointly disrupting Western imperatives in the Middle East, both countries should increasingly be treated as part of the same strategic set.
Vladimir Putin’s visit to Tehran earlier this month was his first trip outside the former area of the former Soviet Union since his military invaded Ukraine. The Russian president’s choice reflects the importance he places on improving ties with the Islamic Republic.
During his visit, Putin met with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi, as well as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Putin visited to join the Tehran summit in the context of the 2017 Astana Process. Established between Turkey, Russia, and Iran in Kazakhstan’s capital in 2017, the forum is Moscow’s alternative to the Geneva peace process on Syria. Logically, Syria—more specifically, Russian and Iranian consent for another Turkish incursion into the country’s northwest—stood at the top of the leaders’ agenda.
More Than a Message to the West
For now, a Turkish invasion is staved off. For Putin the summit had another, especially important outcome: Khamenei’s public support for the war in Ukraine. Iran’s Supreme Leader echoed Putin’s own narrative practically to the word. “If you hadn’t taken on the initiative yourself, another side would have taken on the initiative and caused the war,” Khamenei said. “NATO is a dangerous entity.”
The summit showed that a close relationship with Iran is now going to be even more important for Moscow. This convergence is a natural next step, and not only because of Russia’s isolation from the West. Indeed, the bilateral relationship was already growing before the war in Syria brought it to unprecedented heights.
Putin’s trip, then, was not solely about sending a message to the West that he is not alone. Russia and Iran are set to develop their political and economic ties. Earlier, senior Russian officials had highlighted that the country’s wheat is available to friendly nations, and Russia is probably set to supply more wheat to Iran. The countries also continued to discuss ways to circumvent sanctions through a land-sea north-south transport corridor, connecting Russia to the Persian Gulf, that would carry Russian goods to India.
After the summit, Putin also ratified a free-trade protocol between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union—Putin’s alternative to the European Union—thus taking another step toward establishing a free-trade zone between Russia and Iran. That possibility first came under discussion more than three years ago. Lastly, Iran and Russia’s state-owned Gazprom reportedly signed an oil and gas deal, though details remain murky. While some reports claimed a potential value of $40 billion, Gazprom’s own announcement did not announce a set figure.
A Strategic Set
Commentators will rightly point out that the official Russian and Iranian rhetoric over the economic deals is overblown, and it remains unclear to what extent Russia and Iran can help each other’s economy. But this is somewhat beside the point.
Russia will not split from Iran—in Syria or elsewhere. Putin, for his part, will continue to bank on long-term disunity in the West, whose leaders have not known war on European soil of the scale and magnitude that Ukraine is experiencing today. No one should have been shocked that Russian forces attacked the Odesa port only a day after Moscow signed a deal that was supposed to lift Russia’s Black Sea blockade and ease the world’s food crisis. This is how Russia does war.
Meanwhile, Tehran’s nuclear program is galloping ahead, according to International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi. Kamal Kharrazi, Khamenei’s foreign policy advisor, says Iran is now a nuclear threshold country. All along, Western leaders continue to rely on Russia in negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, despite Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
When it comes to the Middle East, dismissing Russia and Iran as weak actors gives the two countries strategic initiative in places such as Syria. Together, they can still thwart Western interests and threaten regional security. Even more than before, Russia and Iran are integral parts of the same strategic set.
*Anna Borshchevskaya is a senior fellow in The Washington Institute’s Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Program on Great Power Competition and the Middle East and author of Putin’s War in Syria: Russian Foreign Policy and the Price of America’s Absence. This article was originally published on the 19FortyFive website.

Predatory birds of a feather plotting mayhem together
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/July 26/2022
For his first major foreign visit since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (excluding a trip to Turkmenistan), what destination did Vladimir Putin select to demonstrate that he still possesses powerful, prosperous and popular friends on the global stage? He was, of course, lavishly hosted in Russia’s own backyard by the foremost state sponsor of terrorism and militancy — Iran!
As US President Joe Biden’s National Security Council spokesman John Kirby put it, this trip to Tehran reeked of “desperation,” illustrating how isolated and ostracized Russia has become. “Iran is the center of dynamic diplomacy,” Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian proclaimed on Twitter, with no apparent irony. Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib hubristically declared that “the Tehran summit showed Iran’s astuteness and its mighty foreign policy in the region, and that it can act as the main axis of a new regional and global multilateral order.”
Although Putin and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei put on their best grimaces for the world’s cameras, Putin didn’t come to Tehran looking for love — he came for weapons. US officials confirmed that Moscow was seeking hundreds of Iranian drones to fill a critical battlefield gap, and that Tehran would soon start training Russian troops on how to use them.
Iran has meanwhile been seeking to purchase Russian S-400 air defense systems, Sukhoi Su-30 fighters, Yak 130 training jets and T-90 tanks. Until recently, the Kremlin had refused the ayatollahs’ requests for weapons deals and closer economic cooperation, but Russia’s humiliating fall from international grace in 2022 fundamentally changes the dynamic of this relationship.
Iran went from sitting on the fence regarding Ukraine, to Kremlin cheerleader. “If the road had been open to NATO, it wouldn’t have recognized any limit or boundary,” Khamenei frothed, speculating randomly that Western powers would otherwise have “waged war” to recapture Crimea.
“Russia and Iran still don’t trust one another, but now need each other more than ever … This is no longer a partnership of choice, but an alliance of necessity,” said Ali Vaez from the International Crisis Group. Comparisons to Biden’s participation in the Jeddah summit couldn’t have been starker — a broad-based alliance of flourishing and advanced states, with common security and economic interests.
Russia and Iran are fierce commercial rivals, and Tehran has been losing out as Moscow continues slashing oil prices to win unprincipled new buyers. Over three months Iranian monthly exports of oil by-products dropped from 430,000 to 330,000 tons, according to Iranian statistics. East Asian buyers of Iranian steel have likewise been shifting to discounted Russian steel, Iranian newspapers begrudgingly reported. Although Putin noted that Iran-Russia bilateral trade had increased 81 percent over the past year, this was from a low base.
Gaffe-prone Russian ambassador to Tehran, Levan Dzhagaryan, upset the Iranian public by claiming ahead of the visit that “Iran owes us hundreds of millions of euros and doesn’t pay.” Some Iranians speculated that this statement prepared the ground for the further plundering of Iran’s resources, given that the debt reportedly related to Russia’s construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant. Dzhagaryan earlier provoked offence by claiming that the non-availability of vodka and the enforcement of the hijab, were among the reasons Russian tourists weren’t flooding to Tehran. One could easily imagine him offering far less diplomatic justifications!
Russia and Iran are fierce commercial rivals, and Tehran has been losing out as Moscow continues slashing oil prices to win unprincipled new buyers.
Although Iranian politicians obediently characterized Russia as Iran’s “most strategic partner,” for many Iranians this glossed over a bitter one-way historical relationship in which Russia had repeatedly occupied and ravaged Iranian territory, most recently during the Second World War. Iranians have meanwhile voiced concerns about being shackled into a 25-year $400-billion cooperation program with China, triggering fears that their leaders have mortgaged the national economy and infrastructure to Beijing. Iranian bloggers voiced the sentiment that with friends like Russia and China, who needed enemies?
The participation of a stone-faced Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan poured gasoline over all this awkwardness. An excruciating video of Putin being kept waiting to meet Erdogan — characterized as revenge for a similar previous slight — added to perceptions that these three countries were scarcely bothering to keep mutual suspicions and enmities under wraps.
Exemplifying these tensions while the summit was underway, Turkey fired missiles into northern Iraq, reportedly hitting a tourist resort and killing numerous citizens. Hours later, pro-Iran militias struck back against Turkish bases in Iraq, in just the latest flare-up in a pattern of ongoing proxy skirmishes.
Once Turkey embarks upon its long-heralded operation in Syria, such tensions will soar to new levels. Erdogan pledged to “drive out the centers of evil” which target Turkey’s security. Along with the long-suffering Kurds, Erdogan will be seeking to cut pro-Iranian militias down to size. He demanded that Russia and Iran “support Turkey in this fight,” warning that parts of Syria had turned into a “bed of terror.” A new Turkish incursion in Syria will “harm Turkey, Syria and the entire region and will benefit terrorists,” Khamenei belligerently countered.
Meanwhile, a Turkey-brokered deal for Putin allowing Ukrainian wheat to be exported, to stave off worldwide grain shortages, was immediately thrown into disarray when Russia bombed the Black Sea port from which the wheat would have been exported.
There have also been strange goings-on in Tehran, with reports surfacing that Mossad agents inside Iran had captured an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp operative and forced him to provide information about weapon shipments to Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen. Such elements are acting with damning impunity inside Iran, sabotaging strategic targets and assassinating nuclear scientists and IRGC officials. Such events serve as a reminder of the fragility and shortcomings of these countries.
*Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.

The shadowy economics of ISIS resurgence in Syria
The Arab Weekly/July 26/2022
Unless ISIS’s ability to fund its deadly operations is disrupted, its resurgence is all but assured.
Despite ISIS’s territorial defeat in Syria more than two years ago, the group has continued to terrorise people, particularly in the northeast. In June, ISIS sleeper cells were linked to 18 attacks and 16 deaths, on par with ISIS-linked violence in May, when 14 died in 26 attacks.
The group’s survival is due, in part, to its ability to extort business owners to finance their operations and regrow their networks.
For months, ISIS has been using the threat of violence to operate extensive protection rackets in Raqqa and Deir Ezzor governorates. The inability of local authorities to provide sufficient protection from ISIS has left many people with no choice but to pay.
More importantly, fear of retaliation from both ISIS and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has allowed these extortion activities to go largely undetected, making it more difficult to counter. Unless the conditions that enable the group to finance itself are addressed, the group’s survival will almost certainly be guaranteed. ISIS is reliant on its extensive knowledge of local communities to identify targets and determine the amount of tribute. The group typically flags professionals (such as doctors and pharmacists) and business owners (including prominent farmers, shepherds, shop owners, traders and investors) who are considered well off. In a series of interviews that I conducted in recent months, those affected told me that ISIS uses a well-informed human intelligence network to track targets and estimate their income.
The scale and frequency of these forced payments varies. Some of the group’s victims said they pay between $700 and $1,500 annually, while investors overseeing oil fields in eastern Deir Ezzor reportedly pay more than $5,000 per well per month (or between ten percent and 20 percent of the well’s monthly profits). Once targets are selected, ISIS uses various methods to communicate demands. Victims told me that the group relies primarily on messaging applications, particularly WhatsApp, which uses end-to-end encryption and provides ISIS affiliates with anonymity. But ISIS also delivers written notices stamped with the group’s logo to the homes of its targets, an intimidation tactic that is arguably more effective.
Regardless of how people are coerced, ransom demands typically include the name of the target, the required amount in US dollar denominations and where the payment should be dropped. The messages also contain clear and explicit warnings to deliver the money quickly and discreetly to avoid punishment. Failure to comply has resulted in ISIS attacks on businesses, kidnappings and targeted killings. In January, ISIS reportedly destroyed several oil wells when those in charge refused to pay.
Nonetheless, there seems to be wide latitude in how ISIS enacts its retribution for non-compliance and is dependent on the personality of the ISIS commander and the profile of the targeted individual.
For example, not all ISIS targets are able to pay and victims told me that the group leaves room for negotiation. A doctor in the rural Deir Ezzor governate said he received a WhatsApp message from a foreign number demanding payment of $1,200. Attached to the message was a photo of an invoice stamped with the ISIS logo with details on where to send the cash. But when the doctor replied that he was internally displaced and treats patients who cannot afford medical care, the ISIS operative agreed to reduce the fee to $800. Once details are agreed, ISIS members typically meet their targets in person. Cash drops do not always occur in remote areas, suggesting that ISIS members feel unthreatened by local authorities. ISIS even provides receipts to their prey, which not only makes the transaction more formal, but offers proof of payment if other ISIS members try to collect.
ISIS’s ability to deliver on its threats, which have been amplified by the general lack of security in the northeast, particularly in Deir Ezzor, makes people I spoke with reluctant to ignore the payment demands.
Estimating ISIS’s earnings from illicit shakedowns is difficult, but media reports suggest the group is generating several million dollars a year this way. While far less than the $80 million a month the group was generating in 2015, it is more than enough to make the group dangerous. ISIS’s territorial defeat in 2019 reduced its state-like financial responsibilities, and its current cash flow is more than sufficient to finance its hit-and-run operations and ensure its survival. Preventing ISIS from extorting from local populations will require Syrian and regional officials to beef up security and crack down on the pay-for-protection schemes. It will not be easy. But unless ISIS’s ability to fund its deadly operations is disrupted, its resurgence is all but assured. ISIS was once known as the world’s “richest” terrorist organisation. Syria cannot afford to let it reclaim that title.