English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For May 15/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.may15.22.htm

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006

Bible Quotations For today
When you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go
John21/14-25/When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 14-15/2022
Ballot boxes distributed across Lebanon as security deployment begins
Lebanon holds its breath as 3 million set to vote in pivotal poll
Corona - Health Ministry: 94 new Corona cases, 2 two deaths
Rahi: Neutrality is the solution
Rahi receives EU delegation
President Aoun addresses the Lebanese on eve of parliamentary elections
President Aoun to 'Qatar News Agency': Lebanon is in the process of moving actively & intensively at the International level to...
Defense Minister: We want the election day to be a national democratic day par excellence
Mawlawi: One day makes all the difference...Vote for Lebanon 2022!
Lebanon and the Bermuda Triangles/Charles Elias Chartoun/May 14/2022

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 14-15/2022
US: Reviving Iran Deal 'Far From Certain' Despite EU Mission
Released Aid Worker Tells UK’s Johnson His Error Worsened Her Iran Detention
Putin coup is underway and 'impossible to stop,' says Ukraine's military intelligence chief
Russia suspends electricity to Finland amid tensions
Ukraine could win war by year-end, intel chief says
Moscow Says Will Respond if NATO Moves Nuclear Forces Closer to Russia
G7 Foreign Ministers Vow to Continue Economic Pressure on Russia
Bennett Fears Mansour Abbas Will Be Assassinated
Reports: 2,000 Wagner Mercenaries Remain in Libya
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Elected UAE President
Khalifa bin Zayed: The Man of Development, Initiatives, Empowerment

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 14-15/2022
Leading Religious Figures Meet in Riyadh… What’s Going On?/Zuhair Al-Harthi/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/2022
Kamala Harris Is Breaking a Whole Lot of Ties/Jonathan Bernstein/Bloomberg/May 14/2022
A Call for Comprehensive Change in Education/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/2022
Saving the Planet Is More Important Than Saving Some Birds/Tyler Cowen/Bloomberg/May 14/2022
The EU and the Biden Administration Give in to Iran's Mullahs/Majid Rafizadeh/ Gatestone Institute./May14/2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 14-15/2022
Ballot boxes distributed across Lebanon as security deployment begins
Associated Press/Saturday, 14 May, 2022
Ballot boxes for Sunday’s parliamentary elections were distributed Saturday to polling stations across Lebanon, as security forces began their deployment around voting centers. President Michel Aoun will meanwhile make an address to the nation at 8pm to tackle “the importance of the electoral juncture and the need that the Lebanese take part in it, in light of the role that the legislative authority will play in the coming junctures,” the National News Agency said. Sunday’s elections are not expected to yield a seismic shift despite widespread discontent with a graft-tainted political class blamed for the painful economic crisis and the deadly Beirut port disaster. Given Lebanon's sectarian-based politics, it will likely "reproduce the political class and give it internal and international legitimacy," said the expert Rima Majed of the American University of Beirut. "Maybe candidates from the opposition will clinch some seats, but I don't think that there will be a change in the political scene," said Majed, an expert in sectarianism and social movements. The small country's political system has long distributed power among its religious communities, entrenching a ruling elite that has treated politics as a family business. In the current parliament, the Shiite Hizbullah party and its allies, including the Christian Free Patriotic Movement, command a majority.The system has held back the emergence of non-sectarian political parties and civil society representatives. The elections will be the first since a youth-led protest movement broke out in October 2019 against a political class seen as inept, corrupt and responsible for a litany of woes, from power blackouts to piles of uncollected garbage. The anger exploded into months of street rallies but lost momentum as the Covid-19 pandemic hit, together with a financial crash that the World Bank has labeled one of the world's worst in modern times. Popular fury flared again after a huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate that had languished in a Beirut port warehouse for years exploded in August 2020, killing more than 200 people and devastating entire neighborhoods. Successive governments have since failed to chart a path out of Lebanon's worst crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war that has sparked runaway inflation, deepened dire poverty and fueled a mass exodus. Where the Lebanese state has failed to provide basic services, traditional political leaders have tended to step in with their decades-old patronage networks -- a trend more alive than ever during the current crisis.
"The elections are not meant to assess the performance of politicians," said Majed. "They are more a game of loyalty to whoever provides... the most basic services."Public sector jobs have long been among the main handouts, but now fuel and cash assistance also feature high on the list, giving an advantage to established parties over new opposition groups that lack funds and foreign support. While bolstered by the 2019 protest movement, new independent candidates have also failed to build a coherent front that could energize a dispirited electorate, observers say.Nearly 44 percent of eligible voters plan to abstain, according to a survey last month of more than 4,600 voters by British charity Oxfam. Polling expert Kamal Feghali said many voters had hoped the newcomers would run "with a unified list and program" but said that instead their competing electoral lists "will scatter the vote."While independents will likely do slightly better than in 2018, when only one of them won a seat, said Feghali, the winner once more is likely to be Hizbullah, Lebanon's biggest political and military force, and its allies. Iran-backed Hizbullah, first formed as a resistance force against neighbor Israel, is now often described as a state within a state that is all-powerful in regions under its control. Its pre-election intimidation tactics are "salient", said Oxfam, warning that such behavior tells voters "that change might be denied, and in turn might lead to either a reduction in turnout or a distortion in voting behavior." In east Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, three Shiite candidates were running on an anti-Hizbullah list but withdrew last month, despite the expiry of a legal deadline to do so.The move stripped the anti-Hizbullah list of essential Shiite representation and was widely seen by local media as a result of pressure by the powerful movement.

Lebanon holds its breath as 3 million set to vote in pivotal poll
Najia Houssari/Arab News/May 14/2022
The elections will be under an Arab, European, US and Russian microscope as well. A five-member Russian delegation is observing the Lebanese poll for the first time
Ballot boxes were delivered to all governorates on Saturday morning in preparation for their distribution to the polling stations
BEIRUT: Lebanon is holding its breath as 3 million Lebanese prepare to head to polling stations from 7 a.m. on Sunday to elect 128 MPs after a fiercely contested and divisive electoral battle.
The elections are taking place amid sectarian incitement and blatant bribery in all regions by various political forces, the pace of which has increased in recent weeks.
On Saturday, the online armies of the competing forces worked to spread rumors on social media about some candidates withdrawing. It remains to be seen whether the sharp polarization will succeed in encouraging voters to head to the polls.
The elections will be under an Arab, European, US and Russian microscope as well. A five-member Russian delegation is observing the Lebanese poll for the first time. About 80 European observers will also be present in all constituencies. Around 18 Arab observers within the Arab League delegation and about 40 from the American National Standards Institute are also participating.
However, the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections has the largest share of observers: A total of 1,000 will cover 16 percent of the polling stations, in addition to several itinerant observers.
Ballot boxes were delivered to all governorates on Saturday morning in preparation for their distribution to the polling stations. Meanwhile, security forces were deployed to all regions.
About 14,000 polling stations cover voters inside Lebanon and expats overseas, who voted a week ago. These elections are crucial because, for the first time, civil society movements are competing against the conventional political forces accused of failing to administer the country for decades, in the hopes of saving Lebanon from the deepening financial and economic crises.
Regional and international forces are looking to see what the elections will produce in terms of the balance of power, as the country struggles to stay afloat.
Before the electoral battle, the forces of change had intended to form only 15 electoral lists. However, they ended up with 60 lists out of 103 competing lists. Following the expat voting, some lists affiliated with the forces of change withdrew in favor of similar lists in Akkar, northern Lebanon and the western Bekaa-Rashaya in order to secure victory for certain candidates.
Public affairs expert Zina Helou told Arab News: “This step may be because these candidates have realized their weakness and they may have been subjected to some pressure, or the voters may have let them down, or they may have been paid off to withdraw from the competition.
“In any case, they either do not have the slightest responsibility toward their country or have been bribed. It is known that there is no value for withdrawals after the deadline, as all electoral lists will be displayed in the polling stations. “I think that those in charge of the electoral law should later impose a fine on everyone who withdraws after the deadline. The elections were an opportunity that these forces of change have unfortunately missed out on.”
She added: “I believe the voter turnout on Sunday may not exceed 40 percent, which is very low, and I may be wrong. But given the campaigns and alliances, this round of elections is similar to the one that took place in 2005 after the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri and the subsequent political division between rival forces. Despite all the polarization at the time, the voter turnout did not exceed 40 percent.”
Helou said: “Normally after crises and revolutions, voting rates are low, and this is what we have witnessed in several Arab countries. In addition, there is a logistical obstacle in Lebanon in terms of the voters’ ability to physically go to polling stations. As a result, many will give up their right to vote.”She added: “The speech by President Michel Aoun, even if it constituted a violation of the electoral code of conduct, may contribute to raising or lowering the percentage of voter turnout on Sunday.”Helou said: “The mood of the Lebanese voter was fragile ahead of the elections and could be affected either negatively or positively by any speech. “The expat vote may create enthusiasm among local voters, but we have to wait to find out. Either way, the forces of change must carry on with their mission after the elections.”The new parliament will have to elect a new speaker amid opposition to the re-election of Nabih Berri, and also elect the next Lebanese president in October. Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi addressed Lebanese voters and candidates on Saturday, saying: “Change remains dependent on the density and quality of voting, respect for democracy and the constitution, and the formation of a new government quickly so as not to disrupt other elections.”He added: “Whatever the results, the formation of the next government, implementing reforms and adopting a system of active neutrality remain the pivotal solution that guarantees Lebanon’s existence, and preserves its independence, stability, and unity.”

Corona - Health Ministry: 94 new Corona cases, 2 two deaths
NNA/May 14/2022
In its daily report on the COVID-19 developments, the Ministry of Public Health indicated on Saturday that 94 new Corona virus infections have been registered, thus raising the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date to 1,097,956. The report added that two deaths were recorded during the past 24 hours.

Rahi: Neutrality is the solution
NNA/May 14/2022
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, wished for a new ray of hope in Lebanon after the legislative elections which will be held tomorrow, so that May 15 would be different..."but this wish depends on the vote, the right choice and respect for democracy and the constitution, as well as the formation of a new government as soon as possible.""The people should go to the elections tomorrow spontaneously and patriotically, without interference and without financial inducement or security intimidation. Dignity is the embodiment of sovereignty, and decision-making independence stems from a sense of national responsibility," he said. “We know the difficulty and complexity of the situation, and we know that change does not come with a magic wand. Therefore, let these elections be the beginning of the right path that will lead Lebanon out of the abyss,” Rahi said, indicating that the state must assume its responsibilities and save the people. He continued: "No matter the results of the elections, the form of the next government and the type of reforms, the adoption of active neutrality remains the pivotal solution that guarantees the existence of Lebanon and preserves its independence, its stability and its historical and national unity."On the other hand, the Patriarch offered his condolences for the passing of the President of the United Arab Emirates, as well as for the Palestinian journalist, Shirine Abu Akleh.

Rahi receives EU delegation
NNA/May 14/2022
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, wished for a new ray of hope in Lebanon after the legislative elections which will be held tomorrow, so that May 15 would be different..."but this wish depends on the vote, the right choice and respect for democracy and the constitution, as well as the formation of a new government as soon as possible.""The people should go to the elections tomorrow spontaneously and patriotically, without interference and without financial inducement or security intimidation. Dignity is the embodiment of sovereignty, and decision-making independence stems from a sense of national responsibility," he said. “We know the difficulty and complexity of the situation, and we know that change does not come with a magic wand. Therefore, let these elections be the beginning of the right path that will lead Lebanon out of the abyss,” Rahi said, indicating that the state must assume its responsibilities and save the people. He continued: "No matter the results of the elections, the form of the next government and the type of reforms, the adoption of active neutrality remains the pivotal solution that guarantees the existence of Lebanon and preserves its independence, its stability and its historical and national unity." On the other hand, the Patriarch offered his condolences for the passing of the President of the United Arab Emirates, as well as for the Palestinian journalist, Shirine Abu Akleh.

President Aoun addresses the Lebanese on eve of parliamentary elections
NNA/May 14/2022
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, addressed the following speech to the Lebanese on the eve of the parliamentary elections:
My dearly beloved Lebanese,
I am addressing you today, on the eve of the parliamentary elections, to invite you to participate massively, to express your opinion, to choose those whom you trust and whom you find worthy of defending your rights and passing the laws that safeguard and protect them, especially that tremendous legislative responsibilities and constitutional deadlines lie ahead of the next House of Representatives.
My dearly beloved,
Voting is not merely a right; it is also a duty for every citizen, and it is the correct and actual road to change. The moment has come to hold officials accountable… and to define one’s choices…
And accountability is always achieved through ballot boxes.
This is your chance; do not waste it, especially in light of the facts that have been unveiled in the past two years, and the lies that have been exposed, and now that corruption and embezzlement have faces and names. You have a huge responsibility today in order for the dismantling of the complex corruption establishment that has controlled the junctions of the country for decades not to be halted, but rather to continue, in view of holding accountable the corrupt and the embezzlers.
For 30 years, they made us live a huge lie, they put us under the illusion that the Lebanese Lira was well, that we had money and that we were well-off… Certainly, that was a beautiful and convenient lie, but there would come a time and we would pay for it; and the longer it lasted, the more expensive and the harsher it got. A while ago, the lie ended, and it had to end. The hard truth surfaced and we have become able to face the reality in order to find a way out. Today, there is a campaign to instill despair, under the motto: “Lebanon is broke and bankrupt: Run and flee”.
No… I said it two years ago and I reiterate it: Lebanon is neither broke nor bankrupt, it is plundered. Ever since we put up a budget for the first time after 12 years, and since the State finance were regulated, the gaps started to appear and we started to make sure, with figures, that Lebanon is plundered. Yes, it is plundered and looted, jointly and severally, funds have been smuggled out, and they are trying to throw the consequences on you and the responsibility on me… me, who have been guarding for more than 25 years against financial policies that encumbered the country, and against economic policies that would engulf it in future crises…Today, in order for Lebanon to recover and in order to put an end to mutual recriminations and finger-pointing, the judiciary must fulfill its role. It must name and pursue the corrupt, some of whom having become known.
It is not up to the President of the Republic to pursue, prosecute and incarcerate the corrupt and the thieves. I can show the path that enables us to identify the looters. Indeed, I have pointed out the forensic audit and I have told you to start there. I have assured the judiciary: “I am your protector, I am your steel ceiling, but I am not in your place, and it is not up to me to interfere in your role. Do your job to save the country!”The judicial police as well are required to carry out their duty because without them, the rulings of the judges remain unheeded.
I have repeatedly told the deputies: “There are some laws that protect people’s rights and prevent the smuggling of their assets; had you adopted them in due time, we would not have got here.”
To you I say: “We have resources, we have potentials, capable of lifting the economy and holding up the country. Do not yield to despair. If you know how to select deputies who make and present the necessary laws for the rescue and strive to pass them and protect your rights, then we will have a real chance.”
My dearly beloved,
After the first lie has been disclosed, they are trying to nurture a new lie and a dangerous fad, sowing them in the minds of the Lebanese, in particular the youth, suggesting in brief that we can eliminate one of the components of our society and the country would still preserve its stability and calm.
This thinking is very dangerous and has a very high cost. The cost is strife… The cost is civil war. Lebanon can only live with all its components and all its daughters and sons. Exclusion attempts have been tried before and have drowned Lebanon in a sea of blood and tears. Is anyone willing to have their children and grandchildren experience the same fear, the same pain, the same tragedies??? Stop the rhetoric of hatred, the slogans of incitement and the dreams of exclusion.
Stop them all.
Stop inventing rumors and making people fear each other. This approach is destructive and not constructive; it is capable of destroying a society and a nation.
Tomorrow, once elections are over, you will go back to live together and nobody can get rid of anybody. It is not Michel Aoun, the man who spent his life fighting for Lebanon’s unity and sovereignty on every inch of its territory and water, and the first to have presented a national defense strategy, who will allow today or any other day that this sovereignty would be undermined, sold on the black market or become the object of a compromise or bargain.
Two days ago, the UN report recommended that Syrian displaced and Palestinians refugee be given the right to work and benefit from social security.
Here, I would like to reiterate out loud:
The right of the Lebanese people is a priority, and our country is no longer able to shoulder the burden of the refugees and displaced. We reject every form of integration and settlement, and I repeat, once more: No one can have my signature except for the safe return of the refugees and displaced to their countries.
My dearly beloved,
Exploiting your pain and the need of some of you is your biggest foe in the elections, and a desperate attempt to consecrate the influence of those who have made you reach this point, in order for them to blackmail you again on every occasion.
I hope that you raise your voice at the “Temple traders”, those who bargain on humans and on the nation. Shut your doors in their face and tell them: “our conscience is not for sale, we are not for sale.”Remember the commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ: “Do not serve two masters: God and money.”Remember as well that those who ‘buy’ you today at a low price shall ‘sell’ you tomorrow at a high price. Funds are being massively spent, from suspect sources and with suspect goals. Do not let them fulfill their goals. We have uncovered the corruption establishment to be able to build the system and the institutions, and this has cost us dearly. Do not allow this establishment to regain life.
You stand before a great opportunity, the opportunity to express your rebellion behind the voting screen.
In the privacy of the polling booth, rise up against electoral funds,
rise up against every person who regards you as a commodity,
rise up against political blackmail,
rise up against moral decay and loss of values,
rise up against external subordination,
rise up against those who have looted your assets and your lifetime’s savings,
rise up against those who have obstructed and are obstructing every measure that would protect your remaining rights or expose the looters,
rise up against those who are fomenting sedition and possibly civil war.
Revolution through ballot boxes must be the cleanest and truest of all revolutions. Do not sell it to anyone.
Be free inside the polling booths for a few minutes and you shall gain your nation where you can spend all your life in freedom and dignity. ----- {Presidency Information Office}

President Aoun to 'Qatar News Agency': Lebanon is in the process of moving actively & intensively at the International level to...
NNA.May 14/2022
President Aoun: We hope that the new MPs will do their full work in terms of monitoring the work of the government and implementing the necessary legislation to put Lebanon on the path of recovery, and electing a new president of the republic who will complete the road map that we have set, which will ensure an end to the difficult situation we are living in
Aoun: Solving the economic crisis requires a comprehensive reform program and achieving economic and financial stability by establishing effective policies and building confidence by all parties involved in the losses of the financial system
Aoun: I will achieve what I have called for, and in the event that time is not enough, I would have left a road map for those who will succeed me
Aoun: Lebanon is in an active and intense international context, let's establish a unified position that we hold on
Aoun: The Israelis know that the loss will be great if they attack Lebanon, knowing that Lebanon is committed to international resolutions. Preceding from not giving up the right to oil and gas and not normalizing relations with Israel, even through the sharing of oil fields
Aoun: Addressing the defense issue, by consensus and comprehensively by all parties...I called for a comprehensive national meeting to tackle this matter after discussing the economic and financial situation
Aoun: Lebanon does not find itself far from its Arab neighbors, nor do the Arabs find a way to dispense, but strengthening relations between Lebanon and the Arab countries is essential to its political and economic stability
Aoun: Lebanon has friendly relations with all of Russia and Ukraine and encourages talks between the two parties as the only way for peace
NNA - The President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, hoped that the new Parliament, which will emerge from the parliamentary elections, "would live up to the hopes of the Lebanese, and the new MPs will do their full work in terms of monitoring the work of the government, implementing the necessary legislation to ensure that Lebanon is placed on the path of financial and economic recovery, and electing a new president to complete the road map that we have set, which will ensure an end to the difficult situation in which we are all living through.”
He noted that “the parlaiment has the responsibility to keep pace with moving Lebanon to another stage by approving many legislations that help lay the foundations for a productive and permanent economy, and a financial strategy that preserves the rights and savings of the Lebanese. The most important thing is to hold accountable all those who committed financial crimes and brought the country and the people to this dire reality.”President Aoun gave an exclusive interview to the Qatar News Agency (QNA). He expressed his regret for not securing the necessary representation for the Lebanese expatriates in Parliament, expressing his hope that this would take place as of the upcoming elections, and at the same time expressing his content thatLebanon was able to pass an electoral law in 2018, it took into account the need to adopt proportionality, although it is not up to the ambitions, but it is much better than the old law.The President of the Republic stressed that "the Lebanese security and military forces have set up a tight plan to ensure the security of the parliamentary elections that will be held Sunday, and in order to avoid major problems that may lead to the postponement or failure of the voting operations."President Aoun explained, "The parliamentary elections for the Lebanese in the countries of the diaspora, which took place last Friday and Sunday, showed two important things: the first is the fall of the false allegations and accusations against us by working to disrupt or obstruct the parliamentary elections, knowing that I have personally been keen to overcome all the difficulties and I was the most insistent on respecting their constitutional dates. The second matter was the enthusiasm of the Lebanese scattered abroad to participate in this constitutional right, and their desire to make their voice heard and had not forgotten their country.”He saluted all those who contributed to the first phase of the elections, despite all the unprecedented difficulties, hoping that the second phase in which the residents will be voting, will be similar to the previous one, “so that a new Parliament will emerged and will meet the aspirations and ambitions of the Lebanese, wherever they are inside or outside the country.”
Economic crisis:
Regarding the economic and financial crisis, President Aoun said: "the agreement with the International Monetary Fund is the beginning of the path towards recovery."He believed that "the long-term accumulations have brought Lebanon to the current situation, in addition to relying on the rentier economy, not the product, and the failure to put in place sufficient laws to activate oversight and reduce waste and corruption, all of which have combined to throw their weight on the shoulders of the Lebanese."He added, "Today, resolving the crisis requires a comprehensive reform program and achieving economic and financial stability." President Aoun revealed that “the goal of reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund is not only to obtain an amount of three billion dollars, or any other amount, as much as it is to lay down a valid road map for a valid economic and financial future vision that secures stability on these two levels and allows the Lebanese to recover and be reassured about the future.” He promised that "the Lebanese government has developed a plan, which it called the "Economic Recovery Plan". He said: "The problem does not lie in whether Lebanon is able to stand on its feet again, but rather in the time period for this matter," adding: "Lebanon, during its ancient and contemporary history, experienced very complex problems that threatened its entity, identity and existence, and this is something that the Lebanese have become aware of knowing the futility of engaging in confrontations and problems that destroy them all.”
Obstacles:
Asked about the obstacles he faced in implementing the reforms, President Aoun said: “Unfortunately, I faced many obstacles by some beneficiaries to keep the situation as it is in Lebanon, and what should have been accomplished very quickly, required years to do, similar to the issue of the forensic audit that was approved and then suspended of implementation before I work again to move the wheel. It was not targeting one institution in itself, but rather stems from the Banque du Liban to include all public institutions and administrations, because the fact that money has been smuggled outside Lebanon in a difficult circumstance for the Lebanese must not be overlooked, and it must be known who did this and who facilitated and participated in this conspiracy against the people. He added: "Yes, there are people who are perpetrators, but they receive protection from influential people in Lebanon, but I have not given up and will not despair, and I will continue to work to achieve goals in this context even after the end of my presidential term.” He affirmed: “I will work during the remaining of my presidential term to achieve what I have called for, and in the event that time is not enough for that, I will at least have left a road map that my successors can emulate."
The security situation:
The President of the Republic pointed out that "it was not easy to maintain security and stability in Lebanon while the region was raging with conflicts, and in light of the fierce war that Syria."
He explained that "despite the great differences of opinion among the Lebanese, they all agreed that the security factor is the main common demand for the survival of the country and the preservation of its identity, otherwise they will all lose and enter an unknown fate.” He added: "Therefore, we worked to strengthen this cohesion among the Lebanese first, and facilitated the rally around the Lebanese army and the security services, which played their full role.” He pointed to “the concern about terrorist operations that remains present at all times, a matter that threatens all countries of the world, as we have unfortunately seen. It is the duty of the security forces and the military establishment to take all necessary measures to control sleeper terrorist cells by conducting proactive security operations and exchanging information with the intelligence services of brotherly and friendly countries.”
Syrian refugees:
The President of the Republic renewed his position on the "necessity of returning the displaced Syrians to their homes in light of Lebanon's inability to bear the economic consequences of this displacement." He said: "My position has been announced since the first day of the war in Syria, when I said that it is necessary to receive displaced persons who are injured or who really need to flee from Syria in order to preserve their lives. As for the rest, Lebanon has no ability to accommodate and receive them, which is the smallest country in terms of space among countries of the region," noting that "his calls did not receive the required response, so the influx got hundreds of thousands of displaced Syrians to Lebanon, to reach the largest number of population density per square kilometer, of 600 people."He revealed, "The foreign countries did not accept their return to their country, and put pressure on the displaced to stay, which is an unfamiliar matter and raises suspicion." He declared that "Lebanon is in the process of moving actively and intensively on the international level in order to raise this issue, and “we will not accept the threat of Lebanon's fate to satisfy anyone. We will have a unified Lebanese position that we will carry to the world during the coming period in more than one regional and international forum.”
Israeli ambitions:
The President of the Republic warned against the ambitions of the Israelis in the Lebanese wealth of oil, gas and water, ruling out at the same time the Israel would launch an aggression against Lebanon, expressing his belief that "the enemy will not seek such an adventure now because the price will be very high, and Lebanon will stand united in the face of it." He revealed, "Lebanon has started from not giving up its right to oil and gas, and not normalizing with Israel, even through the sharing of oil and gas fields is open to offers that reach it within this ceiling. It may serve as a platform from which to launch." He added, "Thanks to the American mediation that negotiations remain in place in an indirect way, even though they have practically stopped due to the time required to study options and proposals, but this does not mean that the negotiations have ended and that the file has been closed," noting that "any preliminary or final agreement should be issued by the concerned authorities, i.e. the President of the Republic, the Council of Ministers and the Parliament.
Defensive Strategy:
On Lebanon's implementation of the unified defense strategy that is based on confining arms to the Lebanese army in light of the criticism directed from abroad about the presence of arms in the hands of Lebanese parties, President Aoun said: "Tackling an issue of this magnitude requires a comprehensive consensus by all parties. The defense strategy cannot be adopted and applied by one party,” noting that “he had previously presented to the Lebanese parties his objective vision to reach a suitable ground for discussion on the issue of weapons and how to confront Israeli threats and ambitions in particular.”He explained, "There are currently developments that have imposed themselves in the world and the region, and they cannot be ignored when talking about a defense strategy, so I called for a comprehensive national meeting to discuss this matter, but after discussing the most vital issue of the economic and financial situation, and while agreed to agreed the call, others decided to ignore it."
Relations with Arab countries:
While the President of the Republic warned of the danger of inter-Arab differences and their negative impact on all Arab countries, he "expressed Lebanon's commitment to the position of solidarity and unity among Arab countries", stressing "Lebanon's keenness to establish the best relations with Arab countries in general and the Gulf countries in particular." He said: "Lebanon is an Arab country, from the core of the Arab nation, and it is an essential pillar in the permanent call for cohesion, solidarity and unity among the Arab countries, because of the belief that this is in the interest of all these countries, and we have all witnessed the impact of Arab division and disputes and their negative repercussions on all other countries and people.”
President Aoun valued Qatar's "permanent standing by Lebanon in the difficult times noting that "this relationship has been strengthened at the level of leaders in the two brotherly countries and peoples over time." He pointed to"the depth of the Qatari-Lebanese relations as the relationship between Lebanon and Qatar is not new, but rather is old and reflects the brotherly ties that unite the two countries and peoples.”He stressed on “the keenness of the Lebanese and Qatari sides to continue and develop this relationship due to the common desire to preserve it."
The war in Ukraine:
On the war in Ukraine, President Aoun said, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned this war, and it is a principled Lebanese position that reflects Lebanon's commitment to the foundations of dialogue and understanding away from arms, which has suffered from catastrophic repercussions as a result of resorting to arms to solve problems." He explained, that “Lebanon's position on the Russian-Ukrainian crisis stems from the need to adopt the language of dialogue to solve problems between countries. Therefore, we see that the principles of the Human Rights Bill and the principles of the United Nations are based on dialogue and not on violence." He said,”Lebanon has friendly relations with both Russia and Ukraine, and therefore it pains to watch the outbreak of war between them. The President of the Republic reiterated that “Lebanon does not wish to compromise its relations with anyone, but believes that there is no alternative to understandings, and encouraging the ongoing negotiations between the two countries because it is the only way that will lead to the desired results, while the war will only delay this solution and cause grief and loss to everyone."
{Presidency Information Office}

Defense Minister: We want the election day to be a national democratic day par excellence
NNA/May 14/2022
In an interview with "MTV" Channel on Saturday, Minister of National Defense Maurice Selim considered that "the citizen regains his personal democratic authority on the day of the election to delegate his representative in the parliament council."He explained that "the army is ready in all regions to preemptively prevent any operation that would prejudice the security and safety of the elections." "We want Sunday to be a national democratic day, par excellence, and for people to exercise their electoral right without being subjected to any pressure or any breach of security," Selim underlined. He stated that "the army, as well as the other security forces, are charged with protecting the electoral process, and they have an integrated plan," adding that "as of Saturday, they have become fully ready on all Lebanese territory to protect this electoral process, which is of great importance at the national level."“The army forces are ready to implement the order of the President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, regarding the arrest of the briber and the bribed alike,” the Minister asserted.

Mawlawi: One day makes all the difference...Vote for Lebanon 2022!
NNA/May 14/2022
Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Judge Bassam Mawlawi, sent out a message to the Lebanese on the eve of the parliamentary elections, saying via Twitter: "One day can make all the difference...Vote for the sake of Lebanon 2022"- #Lebanon_Elections_2022_Ministry of Interior#

شارل الياس شرتوني: لبنان ومثلثات برمودا
Lebanon and the Bermuda Triangles
Charles Elias Chartoun/May 14/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/108663/108663/
“Il n’y a point de plus cruelle tyrannie que celle que
l’on exerce à l’ombre des lois et avec les couleurs
de la justice”. Montesquieu
The damning curse of Lebanese Politics is the brunt of foreign interventions and their impact on shaping their clashing agendas, and the transformation of the Lebanese political scene into a shadow theater, and its reigning oligarchs into table puppets. The bad news, under the ongoing tragic circumstances, are the lack of novelty since the country was never able to extract itself from the repeating cycles of foreign interventions with alternating regional power brokers. The actual sense of helplessness owes mainly to the state of structural breakdown impelled by the manufacturing of a mortal financial crisis throughout the last thirty two years, the mounted coup d’état by the Shiite coalition (Hezbollah and Amal) and their enlisted clientele (Michel Aoun and a trans-communal coalition weaved by the Shiite duo), the well seated oligarchic foreclosures and the instrumentalisation of Lebanon as a platform for Iranian political subversion and its Sunnite reciprocations in an imploding regional order.
The burning issue is whether we have a chance to extricate ourselves from the regional imbroglios, deal with our ruinous financial crises and their destructive consequences, and move unto a stage of structural overhaul of our governance. The answer is quite sobering, since the Shiite fascist coalition is moving along a set of exclusive priorities articulated on the very basis of the Iranian subversion strategy at the regional level, the protection of its rents, clientelistic mapping of the public sector, worldwide structured criminal economy, domination narrative and its religious warrants. Whereas, their allied oligarchs who control the banking sector (the political class and its business partners own 18/20 Alpha banks), the Central Bank and the parliament are quite busy
securing the monumental robbery, and preventing the politics of conditionality set by the IMF and the donor countries from being enforced, as a prelude to economic normalization and the reconstruction of its nomothetic and regulatory frameworks.
The procrastination politics are no hazard since the unleashing of the crisis last October 2019, it’s a deliberate sabotaging of international reformist arbitrations, determination to put an exclusive hold on governance, unravel the consensual script of Lebanese pluralism, and destroy the foundations of the democratic polity through demographic permutations, and the inflection of urban, economic, social and educational dynamics. The terrorist explosion of the Beirut Harbor was quite symptomatic of all the subterranean dynamics that have destroyed the basics of sovereignty, national security, reformist governance and constitutional statehood.
The interlocking crises of Ukraine, the self defeating Vienna haggling, and the imbroglios of the Lebanese political scene (Aoun’s subservience to Hezbollah, the idiotic and self centered cynicism of Saad Hariri, the undulating politics of Sunni oligarchs and the shenanigans of Walid Jumblatt and his druze nemeses, the kaleidoscopic features of the civic movements, the nihilistic and totalitarian ravings of the Charbel Nahas sect, make them objective allies to Hezbollah…,.) are golden opportunities for the sabotaging politics, the undermining of a common civic and national narrative and the ultimate destruction of the Lebanese National entity.
Nonetheless, the regional pitfalls are down the road and Lebanese have no other chance to avoid them but returning to their civil religion script, institutional game, reasonable power calculations, and moral sense. Hezbollah’s arrogance is self deluding and his regional bartering games are short sighted, he cannot “ have the butter and the butter’s money”. In the meantime, Lebanon is bleeding and it seems that’s what he is looking for, but guess what, the cost is exacting and the outcome lethal. Nihilistic ideologies and their repertoire are not careful about consequences, and it takes the hard way to draw the lessons and shift the course, while the rest of Lebanese are picking up the tab.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 14-15/2022
US: Reviving Iran Deal 'Far From Certain' Despite EU Mission
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 14 May, 2022
The United States said Friday it remained uncertain if a nuclear deal with Iran can be revived after the European Union gave an upbeat assessment of a trip to Tehran. A State Department spokesperson voiced appreciation for envoy Enrique Mora's visit but added: "That said, at this point a deal remains far from certain." "Iran needs to decide whether it insists on extraneous conditions and whether it wants to conclude a deal quickly, which we believe would serve all sides' interests," the spokesperson told AFP. "We and our partners are ready, and have been for some time. It's now up to Iran." EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell earlier told reporters in Germany that stalled negotiations with Iran have been "reopened" after Mora's trip.President Joe Biden favors returning to the accord scrapped by his predecessor Donald Trump but he has rejected a number of demands of Iran, notably removing the Revolutionary Guards from a US terrorism blacklist.

Released Aid Worker Tells UK’s Johnson His Error Worsened Her Iran Detention
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 14 May, 2022
British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe on Friday told Prime Minister Boris Johnson that an incorrect comment he made as foreign secretary had a big impact on her six-year detention in Iran, saying she lived in the shadow of his error. Zaghari-Ratcliffe returned to London in March when she was released along with another dual national after Britain repaid a historic debt. It was the first time she had met Johnson, who was foreign secretary in 2017 when he erroneously said she had been teaching people journalism before her arrest in April 2016. His comment contradicted statements made by Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her employer, who said she had been on holiday visiting family. She was subsequently convicted of plotting to overthrow the clerical establishment. Johnson later apologized and retracted any suggestion that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was there in a professional capacity. Her local member of parliament, who attended the meeting, said Zaghari-Ratcliffe had told Johnson to his face about the problems his mistake had caused. "She told him very clearly and categorically that his words had a big impact on her and that she lived in the shadow of his words for the best part of four-and-a-half years," Tulip Siddiq told reporters after meeting Johnson with Zaghari-Ratcliffe's family. "I had to say the prime minister looked quite shocked." The aid worker's husband, Richard Ratcliffe, said Johnson's comments were even brought up by interrogators during Zaghari-Ratcliffe's last days in Iran as she waited to come home.
He said Johnson did not explicitly apologize for his error but the encounter had not been "abrasive". Zaghari-Ratcliffe did not speak to reporters herself, instead playing with the couple's daughter Gabriella outside Johnson's Downing Street office while her husband and Siddiq addressed the media. "It was an honor to welcome Nazanin, Richard and Gabriella to Downing Street today," Johnson wrote on Twitter, but he did not address his mistaken comment in 2017. "We discussed the UK’s work to secure the release of unfairly detained nationals in Iran and I commended Nazanin for her incredible bravery during her ordeal." Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested by Iran's Revolutionary Guards at Tehran airport on April 3, 2016, while trying to return to Britain with her then 22-month-old daughter from an Iranian New Year's trip to see her parents.Her family and her employer, the Thomson Reuters Foundation, denied the charges against her. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is a charity that operates independently of Thomson Reuters and its news subsidiary Reuters.

Putin coup is underway and 'impossible to stop,' says Ukraine's military intelligence chief
Joshua Zitser/Business Insider/Sat, May 14, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin leaves Red Square after the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin leaves Red Square after the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow on May 9, 2022KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images
A coup to overthrow Russian President Vladimir Putin is underway, according to Ukraine's military intelligence chief. The coup is "impossible to stop," Major General Kyrylo Budanov told Sky News. The Russian leader is in "a very bad psychological and physical condition," Budanov said. A coup to overthrow Russian President Vladimir Putin is underway and can't be stopped, according to Ukraine's military intelligence chief. Speaking to Sky News, Major General Kyrylo Budanov said that a Russian military defeat would result in Putin's removal and the country's eventual collapse. "It will eventually lead to the change of leadership of the Russian Federation," Budanov said, per Sky News. "This process has already been launched."Budanov said "yes" when pressed by Sky News international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn on if this means that a coup attempt is currently in motion."They are moving in this way and it is impossible to stop it," he added. Insider previously reported that all of the grievances that traditionally motivate a coup in Russia are in place, but Putin has spent decades making his regime "coup-proof." A poor military performance, floundering morale, and a struggling economy make a coup against the Russian dictator more likely, Insider reported, but the existence of the FSB, the FSO, and The Rosgvardia serve to protect him. In the exclusive Sky News interview, Budanov claimed that Putin is in "a very bad psychological and physical condition and he is very sick."It follows a report that an unnamed Russian oligarch linked closely to the Kremlin was recorded saying that Putin is "very ill with blood cancer."There has been a great deal of speculation on whether the Russian leader is unwell. Video footage emerged in late April, showing Putin shaking "uncontrollably," sparking suggestions that he might have Parkinson's disease. Commentators have also pointed to his unusually puffy face as a sign of steroid use, and possible illness, as well as the use of a blanket to keep warm during Russia's Victory Day military parade last week.

Russia suspends electricity to Finland amid tensions
Agence France Presse/Sat, May 14, 2022
Russia suspended electricity supplies to Finland overnight after its energy firm RAO Nordic threatened to cut off supplies over payment arrears, an official for Finland's grid operator told AFP on Saturday. "It is at zero at the moment, and that started from midnight as planned," Timo Kaukonen, manager for operational planning at Fingrid, said. RAO Nordic had Friday said it would suspend supplies, citing problems with payments, as Helsinki prepares to announce its application for NATO membership in the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. But the shortfall was being made up by imports from Sweden. Finland imports about 10 percent of its power from Russia. RAO Nordic says it has not been paid for electricity since May 6 but has not spelt out if this was linked to European sanctions against Russia. Moscow's February 24 invasion has swung political and public opinion in Finland and Sweden in favor of NATO membership as a deterrent against Russian aggression. Both countries have long cooperated with the Western military alliance and are expected to be able to join it quickly. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has repeatedly said they would be welcomed "with open arms."

Ukraine could win war by year-end, intel chief says
Agence France Presse/Sat, May 14, 2022
The war in Ukraine could reach a "breaking point" by August and end in defeat for Russia before the end of the year, Kyiv's head of military intelligence told the UK's Sky News on Saturday. Major General Kyrylo Budanov, 36, told the news network that he was "optimistic" about the current trajectory of the conflict. "The breaking point will be in the second part of August," he said. "Most of the active combat actions will have finished by the end of this year. "As a result, we will renew Ukrainian power in all our territories that we have lost including Donbas and the Crimea," he said. Intense fighting is currently raging in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, where Russia has recently been concentrating its forces without making significant progress. Budanov said that Ukraine knows "everything about our enemy. We know about their plans almost as they're being made."The intelligence chief also made unverified claims that a coup was already under way in Moscow to depose President Vladimir Putin, and that the Russian leader was "very sick" with cancer.

Moscow Says Will Respond if NATO Moves Nuclear Forces Closer to Russia
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 14 May, 2022
Moscow will take adequate precautionary measures if NATO deploys nuclear forces and infrastructure closer to Russia's border, Russian news agencies quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko as saying on Saturday. "It will be necessary to respond ... by taking adequate precautionary measures that would ensure the viability of deterrence," Interfax agency quoted Grushko as saying. Moscow has no hostile intentions towards Finland and Sweden and does not see "real" reasons for those two countries to be joining the NATO alliance, Grushko added. He also reiterated the Kremlin's earlier statement that Moscow's response to NATO's possible expansion will depend on how close the alliance moves military assets towards Russia and what infrastructure it deploys. Finland's plan to apply for NATO membership, announced on Thursday, and the expectation that Sweden will follow, would bring about the expansion of the Western military alliance that Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed to prevent. Meanwhile, the bodies of Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine were brought to a rail yard outside Kyiv and stacked with hundreds of others in a refrigerated train, waiting for the time when they can sent back to their families. “Most of them were brought from the Kyiv region, there are some from Chernihiv region and from some other regions too,” Volodymyr Lyamzin, the chief civil-military liaison officer, told Reuters on Friday as stretcher-bearers in white, head-to-toe protective suits lifted bodybags into the box cars. He said refrigerated trains stationed in other regions across Ukraine were being used for the same grim purpose. While there have been no reliable estimates of the scale of Russia's losses, the scene filmed by Reuters provided a bitter taste of the price President Vladimir Putin is paying since ordering the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

G7 Foreign Ministers Vow to Continue Economic Pressure on Russia
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 14 May, 2022
Group of Seven foreign ministers vowed on Saturday to reinforce Russia's economic and political isolation, continue supplying weapons to Ukraine and work to ease global food shortages stemming from the war. After meeting at a 400-year-old castle estate in the Baltic Sea resort of Weissenhaus, senior diplomats from Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the United States and the European Union also pledged to continue their military and defense assistance for "as long as necessary". They would also tackle what they called Russian misinformation aimed at blaming the West for food supply issues around the world due to economic sanctions on Moscow and urged China to not assist Moscow or justify Russia's war, according to a joint statement. Key to putting more pressure on Russia is to ban or phase out buying Russian oil with EU member states expected next week to reach an agreement on the issue even if it remains opposed by Hungary. "We will expedite our efforts to reduce and end reliance on Russian energy supplies and as quickly as possible, building on G7 commitments to phase out or ban imports of Russian coal and oil," the statement said. On Friday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba appealed to friendly countries to provide more military support to Kyiv and increase the pressure on Russia, including by seizing its assets abroad to pay for rebuilding Ukraine. Kuleba said his country remains willing to talk to Russia about unblocking grain supplies stuck in Ukraine's silos and also about reaching a political agreement to end the war itself, but had so far received “no positive feedback” from Moscow. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview published Saturday that he had not detected any change in Russian President Putin's stance recently. Scholz, who spoke at length by phone with the Russian leader Friday, told German news portal t-online that Putin had failed to achieve the military objectives he set out at the start of the war while losing more Russian soldiers than the Soviet Union did during its decade-long campaign in Afghanistan. “Putin should slowly begin to understand that the only way out of this situation is through an agreement with Ukraine,” Scholz was quoted as saying.

Bennett Fears Mansour Abbas Will Be Assassinated
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 14 May, 2022
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that the head of the Islamist Arab Ra'am party, Mansour Abbas, might be murdered. Bennett made this statement in private talks with two political figures, a source close to the premier revealed on Friday. Bennett did not elaborate on the basis of his assessment and whether there was intelligence on the matter. However, he said the concern is that Israeli Arab citizens who oppose the United Arab List’s participation in the coalition will be influenced by what the prime minister called “wild incitement” against the party’s chairman. His interlocutors believed Bennett’s concern was genuine. Abbas said on Tuesday he would continue his party’s membership in the coalition after suspending it following tensions at a key Jerusalem holy site in recent weeks. “Ra’am decided to give an additional opportunity to the coalition and the government in order to move the wheels of decisions and implement them in a practical manner,” he told reporters in parliament, flanked by his three party members and speaking in Arabic. Ra’am is one of eight parties that make up the country's ideologically disparate coalition, which runs the gamut from dovish factions to nationalist ones.
Ra’am made history last year when it became the first party representing Arab citizens of Israel to join a coalition. The parties were brought together over their opposition to former leader Benjamin Netanyahu and they have little else in common. While they agreed to put aside divisive issues such as Palestinian statehood to keep the coalition stable, the parties have frequently butted heads over their differences. Weeks of Israeli-Palestinian violence, much of it fueled by tensions and fighting at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, prompted Abbas to suspend cooperation.
Abbas has been highly praised by Israeli politicians following his decision to rejoin the coalition.

Reports: 2,000 Wagner Mercenaries Remain in Libya
Cairo - Jamal Jawhar/Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 14 May, 2022
At least 1,500 to 2,000 Wagner Group mercenaries are still in Libya after dozens were transferred to fight in Ukraine, multiple sources told Italy's Nova news agency. A UN team of experts reported that about 2,000 fighters remained in Libya with Pantsir S-1 anti-aircraft defense systems, MiG-29 fighters, and Su-24 tactical bombers. The Financial Times cited Western and Libyan officials saying last month that 5,000 mercenaries remain in Libya on behalf of Moscow after several were withdrawn following the war in Ukraine, the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Many Libyans complain that the "mercenaries" and foreign forces did not leave their country, despite the steps taken by the Joint Military Committee (5 + 5) under the Geneva Agreement signed in October 2020. Libyan politicians believe tensions prompted the conflicting parties to keep foreign forces and "mercenaries" on the fronts, which reduced the demand for these elements to leave the country. Conflicting reports about the number of "mercenaries," whether they are affiliated with "Wagner" or pro-Turkish elements, claim about 20,000 fighters are in Libya. Libyan affairs researcher Jalal Harchaoui said that Russia took control of four major military bases in Libya before February 24 and still controls them to date.Harchaoui noted that there was no significant withdrawal of Russian personnel from Libya in the wake of the war in Ukraine, but only modest adjustments. In a recent press interview, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov revealed that the authorities invited the Wagner Group to Tobruk on a "commercial basis."It is believed that the Russian "mercenaries" entered Libya when the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, waged war on Tripoli in April 2019.
However, Libya's Prime Minister-designate Fathi Bashagha said in an article in The Times that "since 2014, thousands of mercenaries from Wagner, a private military group close to Vladimir Putin, have been in my country." Meanwhile, the Brigade 444 of the Defense Ministry arrested a man it believes is involved in the killing and kidnapping of several victims in the mass graves in Tarhuna. The brigade disclosed that members of its forces arrested Hatem Ali Mohammed, involved with the notorious Kaniyat militia in cases of murder and kidnapping. Mass graves suspected to hold hundreds of bodies began to unfold after the Kaniyat militia - also known as the 9th brigade of Haftar's forces. During the past months, the brigade announced the arrest of several suspects accused of killing, kidnapping, banditry, human trafficking, and fuel smuggling. Earlier, the Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Libya (SASG), Stephanie Williams, visited Tarhuna accompanied by officials from the Public Prosecution Committee and the Criminal Investigations Department. Williams said that the UN and international justice mechanisms had made significant efforts to investigate violations in Libya, including the mass graves in Tarhuna, adding that the UN will support the pursuit of justice, accountability, and an end to impunity so that the perpetrators do not go unpunished.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Elected UAE President
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 14 May, 2022
The United Arab Emirates' federal supreme council elected on Saturday Abu Dhabi ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the new president of UAE, state news agency (WAM) reported. “We congratulate him, and we pledge allegiance to him, and our people pledge allegiance to him," Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, said on Twitter after the vote. “The whole country is led by him to take it on the paths of glory and honor, God willing.”WAM said the rulers of the country's seven sheikhdoms made the decision at a meeting held in Al Mushrif Palace in Abu Dhabi. It comes after the late President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan died Friday.

Khalifa bin Zayed: The Man of Development, Initiatives, Empowerment
Abu Dhabi - Mosaed al-Zayani/Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 14 May, 2022
The late Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the eldest son of the founder of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, is the second president of the country. He was elected on Nov. 3, 2004 as President of the Gulf state that was founded on Dec. 2, 1971.
His mother is Sheikha Hessa bint Mohammed bin Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He was born on Sept. 7, 1948 in Al Muwaiji Castle in the city of Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. He lived with his family in the castle, and received his school education at the Al-Nahyaniya School established by Sheikh Zayed. He spent most of his childhood in the oases of Al Ain and Al Buraimi, along with his father, who ruled the Al Ain region at that time.
Sheikh Khalifa remained loyal to his father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, in his mission to improve the lives of the tribes in the region and establish the authority of the state, which had a great impact on his education.
He was appointed as the representative of the ruler of Abu Dhabi in the eastern region, and head of its legal system in August 1966. He later assumed the position of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi on the first of February 1969.
Sheikh Khalifa assumed the presidency of the first local council of ministers of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi on July 1, 1971, as well as the defense and finance portfolios. He became Deputy Prime Minister of the Federal Council of Ministers on Jan. 20, 1974, then Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces in 1976.
When Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan moved to Abu Dhabi to become the ruler of the emirate in August 1966, he appointed his son, Sheikh Khalifa - who was 18 years old at the time - as his representative in the Eastern Province and head of the courts.
On the first of February 1969, Sheikh Khalifa was nominated Crown Prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and assumed the duties of the Defense Ministry. He established the Defense Department in Abu Dhabi, which later became the nucleus that formed the UAE armed forces.
On the first of July 1971, as part of the restructuring of the Abu Dhabi government, he was appointed the Ruler of Abu Dhabi and the local minister of defense and finance in the emirate.
On December 23, 1973, Sheikh Khalifa assumed the position of Deputy Prime Minister in the second cabinet. Shortly after, on Jan. 20, 1974, he took on the presidency of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, which replaced the local government in the emirate.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed supervised the Executive Council’s endeavor to achieve comprehensive development programs in Abu Dhabi, and ordered the establishment of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority in 1976, with the aim of managing financial investments in the emirate.
He was elected President of the State on Nov. 3, 2004, following the passing away of his father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan on Nov. 2, 2004.
Sheikh Khalifa was known to practice a number of hobbies, including fishing and falconry (hunting). He supported a number of environmental projects, including breeding and liberation programs for falcons and houbara bustards in the Arabian Peninsula and Central Asia.
He has also been appointed a Minister of Environment in the first government that was formed during his tenure. Sheikh Khalifa was a sports fan, and his other hobbies include literature and history.
Under Sheikh Khalifa’s tenure, the country witnessed a wide development renaissance. In 2005, he directed the development of a comprehensive infrastructure, and the allocation of 16 billion dirhams ($ 4.3 billion) to develop infrastructure and service facilities in the northern emirates to advance economic and social progress in these areas. Until 2013, the Emirates had seen the completion of more than 24 ports, the construction of Sheikh Khalifa Hospital in Ras Al Khaimah, the building of thousands of homes, in addition to several highways, intersections, and tunnels. His era of empowerment began in 2006, with the establishment of the Federal National Council, which is an advisory council comprising 40 members, including women. Foreign policy under the tenure of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed saw balance in relations with the countries of the region and the world. The UAE also worked to raise dealings with countries to the levels of comprehensive partnership, and to strengthen relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council and Arab countries. His era was also marked by the historic agreement between the UAE and Israel to establish direct and full bilateral relations. At the end of January 2014, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed fell ill as a result of a stroke.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 14-15/2022
Leading Religious Figures Meet in Riyadh… What’s Going On?
Zuhair Al-Harthi/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/2022
Despite the presence of hostile voices intent on fortifying animosity between peoples and nations, the voices of moderation, fortunately, prevail today. That is evident in calls for dialogue, coexistence, and respect for the value of religions and the importance of culture. To give an example, the new Saudi Arabia under King Salman hosted a few days ago the Muslim World League’s Common Values Among Religious Followers forum.
Religious leaders from all over the world, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, and Jewish, attended and took part in the first forum of its kind in the history of the Kingdom, weighing major themes like human dignity, curtailing inequality, moderation, and understanding the other. The message was unequivocal. Cooperation, as the League says, is aimed at “fortifying what brings people together and creating a more tolerant world and harmonious societies, starting from the land of Saudi Arabia, the land of illumination and Islamic and human dialogue.” Secretary-General Dr. Muhammad Al-Issa, affirmed this message, saying, “We reject any erroneous or deliberately misleading interpretations that undermine coexistence between religious groups, and we must avoid taking volatile positions for the sake of short-term objectives.”
We all know that human suffering has been sharpened by the lack of a culture of tolerance, which feeds on ignorance and clings to convoluted and ideological convictions. This intolerance has left our world unbalanced and fragmented, making social life schizophrenic, a life separate from life. It thus loses its flavor and beauty, everything that gives value to our lives. Flavor and beauty are what the world needs today, especially in light of the conflicts, disputes, and wars that it has witnessed and is witnessing.
The world needs a moment to contemplate and relax, one that pushes us to really think about the state of humanity and the value of humanity and the planet that unites us without imposing barriers or restrictions. The literature of ideological radical religious movements and their actions on the ground have left Shariaa (Islamic law) misunderstood in the West, creating dangerous stereotypes based on the actions of terrorist groups. In my estimation, moderate Islam does not push for hostility toward the West. Rather, it advocates coexistence, tolerance, and dialogue. Islamic law has held and advocated these values for over a thousand years. Western civilization endorses these same values today, in a world that has become more cohesive.
In truth, I see the profound message sent from Riyadh having a significant impact on the Islamic world as a whole. The mother state, the reference to all Muslims, made its statement, stopping opportunists and ideologues in their tracks. Saudi Arabia used to be described as an ultra-conservative country, but today, it declares its alignment with the world- that it cannot be isolated from it. It leads the Islamic world and engages with the entire planet economically, politically and culturally as it strives to spread tolerance, coexistence, respect for cultures, and building bridges, so that these can become building blocks for civilized human interaction between countries and peoples.
Saudi Arabia is also fighting an internal battle as it undergoes a political, economic and social transition to becoming a modern and civil state. This transition launched by the Saudi leadership is driven by their awareness that it is a strategic need. It must be made if the country is to put itself on the international map and realize its full potential. Moving forward with this transition is the single most significant decision taken by the current leadership. This transition is a requisite for survival and the only pathway toward a civil state, a place in the international arena, and a distinguished position in the international scene at all levels.
The significance of the Common Values among Religious Followers forum is that it affirmed and fortified the desire to change the status quo in our world, especially after scenes of violence, horror, and murder became familiar sights in many countries around the world over the past years. These simultaneously shameful and painful acts are committed in the name of brittle pretexts. In contrast, the marvelous image of humanitarian values being projected from the heart of Saudi Arabia and this unprecedented religious gathering calling for tolerance, rapprochement, coexistence and respect for the other, show that openness is the language of the new Saudi Arabia, which stunned the entire world with the transformations currently underway. The globe was left in awe as the Kingdom opened its heart and chest to embrace the world with all its diversity, colors and beliefs.
This unprecedented openness must simply be observed and praised; no further explanations should be elaborated. Words fail to describe the historical metamorphosis underway in Saudi Arabia. This shift is neither in the realm of the imaginary nor even the possible. It had been held hostage by the taboo surrounding the need for it for decades. Now, however, with the vision of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, it has become a reality with material manifestations on the ground, not promises. Success, as it turns out, is not achieved haphazardly. One does not improvise one’s way to success. It is achieved through actions based on a vision, with themes, details and an intricate schedule that is adhered to. That is the secret, that is what makes the difference.
This is what the Common Values among Religious Followers forum held in Saudi Arabia was all about. It is a sign of maturity, transformation and enthusiasm to become a hub for dialogue and initiatives aimed at promoting diversity and respect, as well as building creative partnerships founded on tolerance, pluralism, respect for difference and building bridges of human, civilizational, and cultural exchange. Ideological diversity is now rooted in Saudi Arabia, which calls for peace, coexistence and building bridges.
The world needs to take a moment, sit back, contemplate matters and relax. We must dream of a new world to create a culture of tolerance, which has always created climates of coexistence and peace, as shown by the civilization’s proximity to one another in the modern era, which renders dialogue among them more pressing than at any point in human history. Willpower remains crucial to spreading happiness if we want the truth.
We cannot live in security and stability until it strives to spread the spirit of tolerance, coexistence and peace throughout the world. Promoting this language in religious, cultural and popular discourse will push the countries of the world to consolidate coexistence and put the focus on what we share, creating a bulwark against the discourse of exclusion, religious intolerance and discrimination. It appears to me that this is the message Saudi Arabia is sending the world.

Kamala Harris Is Breaking a Whole Lot of Ties
Jonathan Bernstein/Bloomberg/May 14/2022
Vice President Kamala Harris voted six times to break Senate ties this week. That brings her total to 23 ties broken, a record pace. She’s already third all-time, behind only John C. Calhoun (31 from 1825-1832) and John Adams (29 from 1789-1797).
What she’s voted on tells an important story about the Senate. None of it has been regular legislation. It’s all on measures regarding the budget or other fiscal matters falling under the rubric of reconciliation, and then on nominations and procedural votes on nominations.
Contrast that to George H.W. Bush when he was vice president in the 1980s: Six of his seven tiebreaking Senate votes were on amendments to bills or motions relating to amendments.
These days, far fewer amendments are considered. And thanks to the filibuster-everything Senate, those amendments that do get offered and reach a vote usually need 60 to pass, making the vice-president irrelevant.
On the other hand, ties on nomination votes are now far more frequent. Nominations draw far more partisan opposition now than they used to, and after the Democratic majority changed Senate procedures in October 2013 to end filibusters for most nominations, 50 votes plus the vice-president’s has been all it takes to move a nomination forward.
The second point here is about RINOs — those relatively moderate conservatives accused by critics of being Republicans in Name Only — and their moderately liberal Democratic cousins. The point? They basically don’t exist. That’s why there are so many tie votes in the present Congress. With 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, there are going to be a lot of 50-50 votes, with all the Democrats lining up against all the Republicans.
Now, it’s also true that there have only been 23 ties, which means that a lot of nominations have been confirmed without that 50/50 split. In a few cases, that happened when absent senators gave Democrats a temporary majority. More often, it was because at least one Republican supported a nominee. The opposite also happens, with one or more Democrats joining all of the Republicans in opposing a nominee, although in those cases the nomination usually is withdrawn before a vote. What hardly ever happens is any overlap — that is, a vote in which a handful of Democrats votes with most of the Republicans while a handful of Republicans votes with most of the Democrats.
Or to put it another way: If the two least conservative Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, support a nominee of President Joe Biden, then it’s almost certain that the least liberal Democrat, West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, will also support him or her. And if Manchin opposes a nominee, then Collins and Murkowski will as well. That’s because Manchin in his Senate floor votes appears to be considerably more liberal than Collins and Murkowski.
If Collins or Murkowski were to be replaced by a Democrat, then the Democratic majority would suddenly get a lot more solid. Some of the failed Biden nominations (and there haven’t been many) would have been confirmed; there’s a good chance that one or more major Democratic bill would have passed. If Manchin were to be replaced by a Republican, the Democratic majority would be gone, and with it most of Biden’s judicial and executive branch nominations, and any hope for most of the Democratic agenda.
A lot of people resist accepting that basic fact about Congress — one that applies generally at all levels of US politics. Partisans find the Manchins and Murkowskis frustrating or worse. That’s understandable, but it’s usually the case that senators (including Manchin and Collins) who lean closer to the political center are probably the best their party can hope for from certain states. Meanwhile, people who don’t like parties often treat those relative moderates as better than the average politician because they don’t always vote with their parties.
The truth, however, is that this kind of senator or member of the House of Representatives can be pragmatic or not, productive or not, effective for a district or not. And so can those who are in the ideological mainstream of their parties, or even those who are extremely liberal or conservative. They just get a lot more attention than others. At least when it’s a 50/50 Senate.

A Call for Comprehensive Change in Education
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/2022
I recently checked some of the discussions that took place at the International Conference and Exhibition for Education in Riyadh, which reflected the interest of the key players in the field and their quest to improve it. I am once again writing about education because it is truly the biggest real challenge facing any attempt of progress in civil and military issues, and the key to unlocking a better future for all nations.In reality, we are face-to-face with an ancient and deep legacy that has accumulated over the years and has become inadequate for today’s world and counter-productive for a country like Saudi Arabia that has ambitious projects such as Vision 2030. The old education system persists as a major obstacle for all countries in the region, regardless of their level of accumulated sovereign wealth, as they continue to suffer from a significant gap separating them from the industrially developed world.
I have previously written about the necessity of thinking outside the box and the US experience of teaching exact sciences as two crucial topics that deserve more discussions, lectures, and conferences. This calls for a complete change. I think that education planners and officials are fully aware that improving the curriculum, integrating practice in teaching, modernizing buildings, and funding universities and institutes are all partial solutions that are no longer sufficient today. We need fifty years to catch up with the rest of the world and start graduating new generations specialized in advanced science and technology, even at the expense of other fields.
Therefore, we expect these officials to design a revolutionary educational program that spans 20 years and transcends traditional education and its requirements. To achieve that, they need to look at the next twenty years as an “emergency period” to allow deviating from traditions and justify taking risks.
Can science education be intensified early on? Is it possible to qualify high school students for their university majors early to put them on par with their peers in the best universities? In fact, what sets superior universities apart is their recruitment of outstanding students, on top of the quality of their professors and curricula. This means that we should focus on improving public education and guiding students towards specific specializations before they reach high school, where they are rather supposed to start preparing for their specific scientific or medical specializations among others. Students should no longer excel in everything as sciences expand and branch out. In Saudi Arabia, there are more than six million students across various grades in 27,000 schools, and more than 40 public and private universities that can encourage their early specialization.
Is it possible to shorten and throw away other curricula that are less needed? Can university tracks be changed and customized to teach specific subjects? Can university jobs be redesigned and re-allocated to advanced science, technology, and engineering? We need to promote majors like data science; dedicate colleges to artificial intelligence, cyber sciences, and autonomous technology engineering (drones, cars, and robots); and have colleges for medical technology, bioengineering, genomics, industrial engineering, agricultural technology, military technology, space science, and advanced communication engineering, among others. All these disciplines require qualifying students in high school before they reach university.
The transition towards specialization will not be easy, and will rather be difficult and costly, especially with the scarcity of competent educators and administrators. This will be an exceptional educational quarantine period to upgrade society to a higher level.
I am afraid that merely implementing superficial solutions and accepting slow change will no longer suffice for two reasons. First, the outputs of the education sector consistently fail to meet the expectations of the labor market and the national development project. Second, in addition to country-level changes, the world is also advancing at lightning speed which makes it hard to keep up with all the changes, thus widening the gap and costing us more effort and money, not to mention all the lost opportunities. What we suffer from in education is not an emergency problem, but rather a chronic condition resulting from five cumulative decades that requires bringing the entire education sector to the intensive care unit. Many efforts were made to remedy this difficult situation, such as scholarship programs sending hundreds of thousands of students to study abroad. However, such initiatives failed to help us bridge the gap and make the leap because the scholarship recipients, who are the products of local education, were unable to adapt and achieve the desired outcome. Furthermore, most students who were content with local education did not meet the labor market’s expectations.
Today, a more demanding factor comes into play, namely the Vision, with its strategy and programs, which has doubled its expectations and competitive requirements that greatly exceed what is offered by private and public educational institutions. Public secondary and tertiary education will not qualify for the new market, and I am not sure whether there are ways other than early specialization and intensive education that can achieve the required results.
This approach will not undermine our ability to graduate excellent students in other fields, if they are also treated with the same strategy, namely early specialization and intensive education for millions of students, and not just for some of them. This also applies to non-science majors, such as law, political science, economics, languages, literature, psychology, history, media, arts, and others. By reducing their numbers and starting their education early, I firmly believe that our students will be better than previous generations who generally specialized in these fields without focus and early education.

Saving the Planet Is More Important Than Saving Some Birds
Tyler Cowen/Bloomberg/May 14/2022
America needs to build a new and greener energy infrastructure, yet there is a problem standing in the way. Or maybe I should say flying in the way, because that obstacle is birds — and, more generally, the human bias toward the status quo when animal interests are at stake.
We have to be more willing to disrupt current animal habitats when building wind or hydroelectric power. That means, to put it bluntly, that we have to be more willing to kill animals. Erecting wind turbines, for instance, often leads to the death of some number of birds. To favor more wind turbines is not to support the death of more birds; it is to support a more robust long-term supply of green energy — which would benefit birds (and of course humans too).
Unfortunately, the federal government is in the process of making it harder to build new wind turbines and taller buildings. The Fish and Wildlife Service has put forward new regulatory rules to limit the accidental killing of migratory birds, and those rules would raise the costs for building many kinds of structures.
Again, to be clear: I favor increased protection for animal welfare and animal rights. I support much stricter regulation of factory farms for chickens, for example, even if those regulations result in the elimination of factory farms altogether. I would much rather shut down or at least improve factory farms, which torture and then slaughter hundreds of millions of chickens a year, than make it harder to build more wind turbines.
And it’s not just prohibitive regulations: I favor a much more proactive policy agenda to boost the welfare of animals. That could include subsidies to new “artificial meat” technologies, more research into animal diseases and pandemics, even research into the possibility of bringing back extinct animals through genetic engineering. The US should also have more consistent enforcement of animal cruelty laws. Protecting birds by limiting wind power is about the most damaging way to try to serve nature and the environment. It is a way of pretending to care about birds. It is also an illustration of how so many institutions are so dedicated to protecting entrenched interests — whether they are in the political or natural world.
Constructing more tall buildings also makes sense. Taller buildings, like wind turbines, are likely to kill some number of birds who wouldn’t die otherwise. Yet greater construction density will reduce energy consumption, thereby preserving the environment in other, less direct ways — to the eventual benefit of other animals, again including humans. If we are willing to think in terms of trade-offs, this conclusion should be obvious.
And once you start to think in terms of trade-offs, more unusual (indeed extreme) ideas present themselves. Cats kill many millions of birds a year, for example. So why not tax house cats through a licensing process rather than limit wind farms? Such a proposal would never seriously be considered, but not because it lacks merit. It’s because the focus is on protecting the status quo of various animal dominions, not benefiting animals (and humans) in the most effective way possible.
When it comes to birds, we seem to care more about how they die than how many of them die (in philosophical language, I would prefer the alternative philosophy of “bird consequentialism.”) Our cats are allowed to kill them, but we humans are not — or rather, we are, but only in acceptable ways. This status quo is so important that, to protect it, we will slow movement toward a greener energy supply and a healthier environment.
If nothing else, all this is a warning sign that US politics are failing when it comes to thinking about environmental trade-offs. Our approach to protecting animal welfare is incoherent. The silver lining is that there is lots of room to improve policy. The right combination of choices, especially when it comes to building, could be better for both human and non-human animals.

د. ماجد رافزادا/معهد كايتستون: الإتحاد الأوروبي وادارة بايدن استسلما لملالي إيران
The EU and the Biden Administration Give in to Iran's Mullahs
Majid Rafizadeh/ Gatestone Institute./May14/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/108667/dr-majid-rafizadeh-gatestone-institute-the-eu-and-the-biden-administration-give-in-to-irans-mullahs-%d8%af-%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%ac%d8%af-%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%81%d8%b2%d8%a7%d8%af%d8%a7-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5/
The European Union is basically admitting that it views the nuclear deal with Iran's ruling clerics from the perspective of economic opportunity. That should not be the objective of the nuclear talks. Instead, European leaders ought to be seeking a strong deal that will prevent the Iranian regime from acquiring nuclear weapons, especially -- as they should have learned from Russia by now -- because those nukes may soon be aimed at their countries.
By revealing its desperation to buy oil, the EU is empowering Iran's ruling clerics to gain the upper hand in the nuclear talks and obtain even more concessions to revive the nuclear deal. Desperation, to the Iranian regime, means weakness.
To appease Iran's mullahs, the EU and the Biden administration are also turning a blind eye to China's violating the sanctions on Iran... Reportedly, the Iranian regime is exporting more than 1.5 million bpd. The ruling mullahs of Iran are exporting approximately 80% of the oil they used to export before the sanctions. Iran's revenues heavily rely on oil exports; the sale of oil accounts for more than 50% of the regime's export revenues.
The EU, moreover, has yet to join the US in imposing sanctions on the Iranian regime. In fact, European countries are still trading with Tehran in spite of the US sanctions. Tehran Times reported: "The value of trade between Iran and the European Union reached €4.863 billion in 2021, registering a nine-percent growth compared to the previous year...."
It seems clear that the nuclear deal was never about stopping the predatory regime of Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. For the EU, the nuclear deal is about trade, making money and buying oil from the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism; for the Biden administration, it is about a "diplomatic win". In return, the ruling mullahs will have a legal path to blackmail the world, using nuclear weapons and missiles, into sending Iran's regime billions for their terror and militia groups to torment everyone.
The European Union is basically admitting that it views the nuclear deal with Iran's ruling clerics from the perspective of economic opportunity. By revealing its desperation to buy oil, the EU is empowering Iran's ruling clerics to gain the upper hand in the nuclear talks and obtain even more concessions. Desperation, to the Iranian regime, means weakness. Pictured: EU foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell (left) is hosted by Iran's then foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in Tehran on February 3, 2020. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
The Biden administration and the European Union are trying hard to appease the Iranian regime in order to revive a nuclear deal that will provide the ruling mullahs of Iran with additional billions of dollars of revenue, enhance the regime's legitimacy on the global stage, and actually open the path for Iran to have a nuclear arsenal.
The EU recently dropped its own bomb when it unabashedly said that it wanted new nuclear deal so that EU countries could buy oil from Iran -- one of only four countries on the US State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism (the other three are Cuba, Syria and North Korea). Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign affairs representative, recently said:
"We Europeans will be very much beneficiaries from this [nuclear] deal, the situation has changed now. For us it was something . . . 'well we don't need it', [but] now it would be very much interesting for us to have another [crude] supplier."
The EU is basically admitting that it views the nuclear deal with Iran's ruling clerics from the perspective of economic opportunity. That should not be the objective of the nuclear talks. Instead, European leaders ought to be seeking a strong deal that will prevent the Iranian regime from acquiring nuclear weapons, especially -- as they should have learned from Russia by now -- because those nukes may soon be aimed at their countries.
In addition, by revealing its desperation to buy oil, the EU is empowering Iran's ruling clerics to gain the upper hand in the nuclear talks and obtain even more concessions to revive the nuclear deal. Desperation, to the Iranian regime, means weakness.
The recent statement by Borrell has also made the Iranian regime more determined to cling to its top demand: removing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Quds Force from the lists of terrorist organizations. The designation of the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization has nothing to do with Iran's nuclear program, but is linked to the IRGC and Quds Force terror activities across the world.
Now, however, the EU appears to have given in to the Iranian leaders' demand. The EU suggested recently that it is offering a compromise to delist the IRGC from the terror list as a last attempt to revive the nuclear deal. "At a certain moment," Borrell pointed out this week, "I will have to say, as coordinator [of the Vienna talks] I make this proposal on the table, formally... the only equilibrium point possible would be this one."
When it comes to the US position, the Biden administration, on the other hand, seems to be looking for a foreign policy achievement or a diplomatic win amidst the crisis The nuclear talks have been dragging on for a long time and the Biden administration has been facing criticism over its handling of the Ukraine crisis, China, Russia, Afghanistan and Iran. According to the latest Quinnipiac poll, a majority of the American people disapprove of the Biden administration's handling of foreign policy.
To appease Iran's mullahs, the EU and the Biden administration are also turning a blind eye to China's violating the sanctions on Iran. China has been steadily ramping up its oil imports from Iran, to currently nearly 1 million bpd, and global oil prices have increased. Reportedly, the Iranian regime is exporting more than 1.5 million bpd. The ruling mullahs of Iran are exporting approximately 80% of the oil they used to export before the sanctions. Iran's revenues heavily rely on oil exports; the sale of oil accounts for more than 50% of the regime's export revenues.
The EU, moreover, has yet to join the US in imposing sanctions on the Iranian regime. In fact, European countries are still trading with Tehran in spite of the US sanctions. Tehran Times reported:
"The value of trade between Iran and the European Union reached €4.863 billion in 2021, registering a nine-percent growth compared to the previous year.... According to the data released by the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA), Iran exported €554 million worth of commodities to the union during the said nine months, while importing goods valued at €2.7 billion".
It seems clear that the nuclear deal was never about stopping the predatory regime of Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. For the EU, the nuclear deal is about trade, making money and buying oil from the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism; for the Biden administration, it is about a "diplomatic win". In return, the ruling mullahs will have a legal path to blackmail the world, using nuclear weapons and missiles, into sending Iran's regime billions for their terror and militia groups to torment everyone.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US foreign policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
© 2022 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18531/eu-biden-iran-mullahs