English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For October 11/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.october11.22.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you
will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint
John 16/20-24/:”Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world
will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. When a woman
is in labour, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is
born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a
human being into the world. So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and
your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. On that day
you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the
Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have not asked for
anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be
complete.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on October 10-11/2022
Thanksgiving Day: Obligations Prayers & Wishes/Elias Bejjani/October
10/2022
Report: Lebanon inclined to accept Hochstein's final offer
Hochstein calls Aoun, will send final draft within hours
Aoun hopes for gas deal within 'next few days'
Energean starts tests at Karish offshore gas field
President Aoun, Patriarch Minassian confer over general affairs
Forbes Middle East unveils its "30 UNDER 30" list for 2022, five being in
Lebanon
Supreme Judicial Council President: I will not attend tomorrow's session & will
stand an impenetrable barrier against any interference in the...
Berri reviews general situation, legislative affairs with MPs Bizri, Makhzoumi &
Skaf at Ain El-Tineh Palace
Ferzli receives Al-Bukhari: Saudi Arabia has always been a good blessing for
Lebanon
Abu Faour from Maarab: A uniting president is needed, one who does not pose a
challenge to anyone
Banks' Association to maintain same regulatory, security measures in coming days
Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee presents its strategy for years
2022-2024 with donor countries' ambassadors
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on October 10-11/2022
Iran Toughens Crackdown as Some Oil Workers Reported to Join Protests
Iran calls on foreign visitors to respect law as protests persist
Britain sanctions Iran's "Morality Police" and senior security officials
Putin says response to Ukrainian attacks will be ‘severe’
Iran’s morality police sanctioned by UK for ‘repression of women’
Gunfire, blasts in western Iran amid Mahsa Amini protests
‘Several’ inmates dead in Iran prison riot: Official
‘Persepolis’ creator hails Iran protesters as ‘beautiful, inspiring’
Iran seizes passport of star footballer Ali Daei for backing protests
Zelensky: Iranian drones used in Russia’s attacks on Ukraine
Ukraine war: Dozens of missiles hit Kyiv and at least eight people killed
Kids in Firing Line as Wounded Putin Revenge-Bombs Kyiv
EU condemns 'barbaric' Russian missile attacks, warns Belarus
BBC reporter ducks and abandons live broadcast from Kyiv as Russian missiles hit
the city for first time in months
Indian minister says Ukraine war serves no one's interests
Syria Official: US Drone Attack Kills ISIS Member in Northeast
Iraq Drought Displaces 1,200 Families in Parched South
Titles For The
Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on October 10-11/2022
Washington's Double Legal Standards/Pete Hoekstra/Gatestone
Institute/October 10/2022
These girls are Iran’s future … this murderous regime belongs to the past/Baria
Alamuddin/Arab News/October 10/2022
Kingdom’s US critics must have missed Zelensky’s thanks to Riyadh/Faisal J.
Abbas/Arab News/October 10/2022
Russia, Iran and the West/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/October 10/2022
Americans needlessly placed in fear of Armageddon/Dalia Al-Aqidi/Arab
News/October 10/2022
Oil Production Cut... Between Rationality and Electoral Opportunism/Salman Al-Dossary/Asharq
Al-Awsat/October, 10/2022
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on October 10-11/2022
Thanksgiving Day: Obligations Prayers
& Wishes
الياس بجاني/عيد الشكر في كندا: واجبات وصلاة وتمنيات
Elias Bejjani/October 10/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/67920/elias-bejjani-thanks-giving-day-obligations-prayers-wishes-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%b3-%d8%a8%d8%ac%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%b9%d9%8a%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b4%d9%83%d8%b1-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d9%83%d9%86/
Let us never forget that we have a holy obligation to always no matter what to
happily keep on thanking Almighty God For His generosity, love and Graces.
This Year, Our beloved Canada celebrates on the 10th of October The Thanksgiving
Day.
A blessed day by all means that is welcomed and cherished with joy,
gratefulness, Hope and faith.
All principles and values of humility and gratitude necessitates that each and
every one of us with faith, and hope thank Almighty God for all that we have no
matter what.
To appreciate what we have is a must to look wisely around and observe the
millions and millions of people all over the world who are totally deprived from
almost every thing that is basic and needed for a safe and descent life.
While celebrating the “Thanksgiving Day” Let us be grateful and thank Almighty
God genuinely and with full reverence.
On this very special day we have to focus on praying and combine both faith and
acts together.
We need to train ourselves to witness for the truth and to be humble and
generous in giving what we can to all those who are in need.
We must recognize and understand with no shed of doubt that the only weapons
that a peaceful believer can use to fight hardships of all sorts are faith,
honesty, self trust, righteousness and praying.
Let us all Lebanese Canadians pray and ask Almighty God for what ever we are in
need for ourselves, for others and for our beloved both countries, Canada and
Lebanon.
Almighty God definitely will hear and respond in case we are genuine in our
prayers and praying with confidence, faith and trust, but His responses shall be
mostly beyond our understanding or grasping.
Let us Pray for on going peace and prosperity in the hospitable and great Canada
that gave us a home when we needed it.
Let us pray for peace in our beloved original country, Lebanon and for freedom
of its persecuted and impoverished people.
Let us pray that all Families will get together on this day to support each
other and mend all differences among their members.
Let us pray that all parents will be appreciated today by their family members,
honored and showed all due respect.
Let us pray for the souls of Lebanon’s martyrs that fell while defending
Lebanon’s dignity and independence.
Let us pray that Jesus Christ shall grant, our mother country, Lebanon, the Land
Of the Holy Cedars with faithful clergymen and brave political leaders who fear
him and count for His Day Of Judgment.
Let us pray for peace and tranquility in our beloved Canada, and for all
countries and people over the world, especially in the troubled and chaotic
Middle East
Happy Thanksgiving Day.
Report: Lebanon inclined to accept Hochstein's final
offer
Naharnet/October 10/2022
Lebanon is inclined to agree in principle to the U.S. proposal regarding sea
border demarcation with Israel, a Lebanese diplomatic source said. The country
will “link the final approval to the return of the Naqoura meetings, in which
the documents will be formulated and the technical coordinates will be
specified,” the source told Russia’s Sputnik news agency. “Lebanon will achieve
one of its demands, which is not linking exploration and extraction in Block 9
and the undiscovered Qana field to Israel’s negotiations with French company
TotalEnergies over its share from the revenues of the southern part of this
field,” the source added.
Hochstein calls Aoun, will send final draft within hours
Naharnet/October 10/2022
President Michel Aoun has received a phone call from U.S. mediator Amos
Hochstein, who briefed him on the outcome of the latest round of talks with the
Lebanese and Israeli sides, the Presidency said. “Mr. Hochstein clarified that
the discussion rounds have been concluded… and over the next few hours he will
send a version that includes the final format of the proposal related to the
demarcation of the southern maritime border,” the Presidency added. Hochstein
also “thanked President Aoun and his team for the wise management of the
negotiations file and the approach towards the discussed points, which
facilitated the continuation of the negotiations through strenuous work over the
past days,” the President said. It added that the Lebanese side would
“thoroughly study the final format in order to take the appropriate decision.”
Aoun had also met with Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab prior to the call with
Hochstein. According to the Presidency, the Deputy Speaker briefed the President
on the details of the discussions that he had held with Hochstein over the
course of three days.
Aoun hopes for gas deal within 'next few days'
Naharnet/October 10/2022
President Michel Aoun on Monday said he hopes for a gas deal with Israel to be
reached within the "next few days.""The indirect negotiations overseen by U.S.
mediator Amos Hochstein have made major progress and the gaps that were
negotiated last week have narrowed," Aoun added, in a meeting with Armenian
Catholic Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian. The President added that
reaching an agreement would launch oil and gas exploration in Lebanon's
Exclusive Economic Zone, which "would give a new impetus for the economic
revival process."
Energean starts tests at Karish offshore gas field
Agence France Presse/October 10/2022
London-listed firm Energean has begun testing pipes between Israel and the
Karish offshore gas field, a key step towards production from the eastern
Mediterranean site, a source of friction between Israel and Lebanon. Israel has
maintained that Karish falls entirely within its territory and is not a subject
of negotiation at ongoing, U.S.-mediated maritime border talks with Lebanon.
The two sides remain technically at war.
Lebanon has reportedly made claims to parts of Karish, and Hezbollah, which
holds huge influence in Lebanon, has previously threatened attacks if Israel
began production from the field.
In a statement Sunday, Energean said that "following approval received from the
Israeli Ministry of Energy to start certain testing procedures, the flow of gas
from onshore to the FPSO has commenced," referring to the Karish floating
production storage offloading facility. The tests, set to take a number of
weeks, were "an important step" towards extracting gas from the Karish, Energean
said. Lebanon and Israel have engaged in on-off indirect talks since 2020 to
delineate their Mediterranean border, which could allow both sides to boost
offshore natural gas exploration.
A draft agreement floated by U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein aims to settle competing
claims over offshore gas fields and was delivered to Lebanese and Israeli
officials in recent days. Israel had welcomed the
terms set out by Hochstein and said they would be subjected to legal review, but
gave no indication if it sought substantive changes. Lebanon presented its
response to Washington's proposal on Tuesday. Israel said two days later that it
planned to reject a proposed Lebanese amendment, even if that jeopardizes a
possible agreement. Israel reiterated this week that production at Karish would
begin as soon as possible, regardless of Lebanon's demands.
Two Lebanese officials involved in the talks told AFP on Sunday the U.S.
mediator had informed Beirut that the operation at Karish was only a test.
Negotiations on the maritime border are still going on, one official said. On
Saturday, the French foreign ministry said Paris was "actively contributing to
the American mediation." Under the terms of the U.S.
draft agreement leaked to the press, all of Karish would fall under Israeli
control, while Qana, another potential gas field, would be divided but its
exploitation would be under Lebanon's control.
French company Total would be licensed to search for gas in the Qana field, and
Israel would receive a share of future revenue.
President Aoun, Patriarch Minassian confer over general
affairs
NNA/Monday, 10 October, 2022
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met the Armenian Catholic
Patriarch of Cilicia, Patriarch Raphael Pedros XXI Minassian, today at Baabda
Palace.
President Aoun assured Patriarch Minassian on the eve of his trip to the
Vatican, that he hopes to complete all the arrangements related to the
demarcation of the southern maritime borders within the next few days, after
indirect negotiations led by the American mediator, Amos Hochstein, have
advanced a long way, and the gaps that were negotiated over the past week have
narrowed.
In addition, President Aoun considered that reaching an agreement on the
demarcation of the southern maritime borders means the start of the process of
exploration for oil and gas in the Lebanese fields located within the exclusive
economic zone, which will achieve the beginning of a new impetus for the process
of economic revival.
Moreover, the President praised the role played by members of the Armenian
Catholic community, along with members of other sects, in contributing to the
recovery of Lebanon as soon as possible.
At the beginning of the meeting, Patriarch Minassian gave a speech in which he
thanked President Aoun for the sacrifices he made for the sake of Lebanon.
Patriarch Minassian said: “You have sacrificed and risked a lot for the sake of
the country, since you assumed the responsibility of leading this country,
beginning with its valiant army until it handed you the presidency of Lebanon,
which is going through an unenviable period of regression, which prompted you to
take firm and courageous stances in the interest of our homeland, Lebanon. That
is why we wanted to visit you today, and thank you for everything you have done
for this country and its steadfast people”.
“We came as representatives of our sect, which, despite its small number, has
been and continues to witness throughout history its strong presence,
represented in serving this country and its people, and sowing the seeds of
coexistence and brotherhood among its children. This Armenian Catholic sect who
sincerely loved this country and harmonized with its children, had lived and
tasted hunger, war, prosperity and success. This sect, in its patriarchal seat,
from the monastery of Our Lady of Bzommar, which seems silent but toils, works
and prays through its priests who are scattered at home and abroad, for the sake
of Lebanon. We pray today and ask God to pour out His abundant blessings upon
you so that you can save Lebanon and its people from this dark tunnel and bring
it to the shore of relief and prosperity” Patriarch Minassian added. Patriarch
Minassian also briefed President Aoun on the objectives of his visit to Rome,
most notably following up the file of the canonization of the late Patriarch
Cardinal Krikor Pedros Aghajanian, and researching a number of issues of concern
to the sect. There general situation in the country and the work of the
patriarchal institutions in the humanitarian, social and apostolic fields,
especially during the difficult circumstances that Lebanon has been going
through in the past years were also tackled.
Patriarch Minassian was accompanied on the visit by Beirut MP Jean Taluzian,
patriarchal assistant, Archbishop Georges Asadorian, Patriarch's secretary
Father Narek Minoian, and the patriarch's public relations and media official,
Charbel Bastouri.
Statement: After the meeting, Patriarch Minassian made
the following statement:
“Our visit to His Excellency the President was friendly, as I told him the
reason for our travel to Rome, which is to initiate the claim of His Holiness
Cardinal Aghajanian, who was the Armenian Catholic Patriarch in difficult years,
and who worked for the independence of Lebanon.
I wished President Aoun to reach a better future for our country, Lebanon”.
*Presidency Information Office
Forbes Middle East unveils its "30 UNDER 30" list for 2022,
five being in Lebanon
NNA/Monday, 10 October, 2022
Forbes Middle East revealed its annual “30Under30” list for the fifth year in a
row, which includes an inspiring group of entrepreneurs, innovators and
athletes, covering 6 categories, namely sports, commerce, science & technology,
finance, social impact, and creativity. In an issued statement, Forbes Middle
East indicated that in order to qualify for the list, candidates must be under
30 years of age by December 31, 2021, without any nationality requirement;
however, they must reside in the Middle East and North Africa region.“This
year's list includes 35 individuals of 13 nationalities,” the statement added,
noting that “Egyptians are the most represented with 12 people, followed by 6
persons from Lebanon and 3 from Oman and Saudi Arabia.”“The residency of the
candidates is distributed among 8 countries in the Middle East, with 12 of them
residing in Egypt, followed by 10 in the UAE, 5 in Lebanon, and 3 in Saudi
Arabia, while the average age of all those who qualified for the list is around
27 years,” the statement explained. In its strive to
find the region's most promising young talent, Forbes Middle East evaluated more
than 400 nominations in two rounds, yielding a shortlist of 80 candidates. Then
the judges, who are all experts in their respective fields, screened the
candidates' data to select those who deserved to qualify for the final list.
Among the selection criteria, the team of judges considered the impact of the
candidates on the industry and market, as well as their societal influence and
future growth opportunities. Additionally, they also assessed their quantitative
data and numbers, such as: the amount of funds, the prizes won by the
candidates, the revenues and the value of the deals, the number of customers and
followers on social media. It is worth mentioning that business entrepreneurs
dominate the 2022 list, with 21 figures on the list being corporate founders or
co-founders. The list also includes scientists, mathematicians and digital
content creators. Today, Forbes Middle East is finalizing its program for the
first "Under 30" summit in Egypt, to be held in El Gouna in November 2022. The
event will bring together the Middle East's "Under 30" community, investors and
prominent business leaders.
Supreme Judicial Council President: I will not attend
tomorrow's session & will stand an impenetrable barrier against any interference
in the...
NNA/Monday, 10 October, 2022
President of the Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Suhail Abboud, issued a
statement this afternoon, in which he denounced the undermining attempts to
which the Supreme Council and its President, as well as the judiciary and judges
are subjected to, in terms of blatant political interference in judicial work
and performance, including systematic and persistent campaigns of false
information, slanders, attacks and abuses; and the negative repercussions of all
of this on the confidence in the judiciary, the credibility and dignity of
judges, and on the proper functioning of justice. In view of the above, Judge
Abboud underlined in his issued statement that “the judiciary, despite all the
difficult circumstances that Lebanon is going through, and despite all the
worsening crises at all levels, still includes the best judges capable of facing
challenges and conquering them, no matter how great the difficulties and the
sacrifices, as they continue to work silently, overcoming many barriers imposed
by the unprecedented conditions.”Abboud affirmed that “the course of justice in
Lebanon will not stop, especially in the case of the Beirut port explosion,” and
reiterated “commitment to the statement of the Supreme Judicial Council on
5-8-2020, which includes working relentlessly to complete investigations in this
case, leading to determining responsibilities and imposing appropriate
punishment against the perpetrators.”Judge Abboud pledged, in his capacity as
President of the Supreme Judicial Council, that he has never, and will never,
compromise in implementing the content of his oath in preserving the
independence and dignity of the judiciary, and will always stand to the end, no
matter how great the challenges, as an impenetrable dam against any interference
in the judiciary by any party or group.
Consequently, Abboud confirmed that it is imperative that he not attend the
session of the Supreme Judicial Council on October 11, 2022, which the Minister
of Justice has called for, in compliance with his oath, and his belief in the
independence of the work of the Supreme Judicial Council. Finally, Judge Abboud
reiterated his conviction that “the Lebanese judiciary is abundant with
independent and impartial judges, who are committed only to the obligations of
their oath, and they are the ones to restore confidence in the judiciary, and to
contribute effectively and truly to building a state of law and justice.”
Berri reviews general situation, legislative affairs with
MPs Bizri, Makhzoumi & Skaf at Ain El-Tineh Palace
NNA/Monday, 10 October, 2022
House Speaker Nabih Berri met today at Ain El-Tineh Palace with MP Abdel-Rahman
El-Bizri, with whom he discussed the general situation and various legislative
and developmental affairs. Berri also conferred over
the latest political developments and the general situation in the country
during his encounter with MP Fouad Makhzoumi. After the meeting, Makhzoumi said:
"The meeting with the House Speaker was initially to congratulate him on the
Prophet's birthday. We also discussed all legislative issues, particularly since
we are still embarking on the country's reform process. We also raised issues
related to the capital, Beirut, such as water, electricity and waste
issues..."He added: "We also discussed the upcoming deadlines, especially the
presidential entitlement, and there was consensus and insistence that this
entitlement takes place on time and as soon as possible," stressing that all
sides should work for the interest of the country and building the state. Later
in the afternoon, Speaker Berri reviewed the general prevailing situation,
political developments and legislative affairs during his meeting with Deputy
Ghassan Skaf. On emerging, Dr. Skaf said that his
talks with the House Speaker also touched on the presidential elections dossier.
"In fact, we are on the verge of a presidential vacuum, which may be followed by
an institutional vacuum," he added, noting that the crisis in Lebanon is of a
political nature that has resulted in an economic crisis that can be resolved if
the minimum political consensus is secured. "We are
working to obtain a political consensus that will yield a president of the
republic that guarantees this political consensus. We are working to secure a
package of confidence between all parties. This is our duty as representatives,
and this is what we are working on today, and God willing, we will be able to do
so," Skaf underlined.
Ferzli receives Al-Bukhari: Saudi Arabia has always been a
good blessing for Lebanon
NNA/Monday, 10 October, 2022
Former Deputy House Speaker Elie Ferzli received at his Baabda residence today
the Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Walid Al-Bukhari, with talks centering on hour
issues and Saudi-Lebanese relations. Following the meeting, Ferzli hailed the
historical relations between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, which have always been a
blessing for this country. In response to a question about the Saudi role in the
presidency dossier, he said: “The Saudi side affirms, as I understood from His
Excellency the Ambassador, that the Lebanese and the MPs have the primary and
central role in crafting the notion that produces a consensual president whose
role is to reconcile the Lebanese among each other and take Lebanon to safety
shore where it should be..."He added that "the talk about Saudi pressure harms
the idea of the role, and we are looking forward to roles based on common
conviction and thinking out loud, leading to a distinguished Lebanese role in
the region.” Al-Bukhari, in turn, presented to Ferzli his book of memoirs
entitled, "The most beautiful history was tomorrow."
Abu Faour from Maarab: A uniting president is needed, one
who does not pose a challenge to anyone
NNA/Monday, 10 October, 2022
"Lebanese Forces" Party Chief, Samir Geagea, met Monday at LF's headquarters in
Maarab with member of the "Democratic Gathering" bloc, MP Wael Abu Faour, in the
presence of "Strong Republic" bloc member, MP Melhem Riachy.
Talks during the two-hour meeting focused on hour issues and the latest
political developments in the country. On emerging,
Abu Faour indicated that their discussions tackled two main topics, namely, the
formation of the government and the presidential elections. He said: “There is
no harm in forming a new, balanced government, but there is no good in a
government that is a precursor to the covenant, which is in its final
moments.."Abu Faour continued to underline that "if a new government is formed,
this is a good thing, but if it is not formed, there is no need to submit to
blackmail on the issue that the current government is incapable of fulfilling
the constitutional status of the President of the Republic, given that this
matter is settled, although no one prefers having a presidential vacuum
presidency...But if it happens, this government is fully qualified and capable
of carrying out this constitutional role to the fullest.”
On the subject of the presidential election, Abu Faour indicated that “the
Lebanese Forces Party, the Lebanese Kataeb Party, the Renewal Bloc, and the
Democratic Gathering Bloc, have supported the candidacy of MP Michel Moawad
since he meets the national and sovereign characteristics required to be
President of the Republic.” He added that it is high time that the remaining
blocs name their candidates, in order to reach a consensus formula over a
uniting president who does not pose a challenge to anyone.
Banks' Association to maintain same regulatory, security
measures in coming days
NNA/Monday, 10 October, 2022
The Association of Banks announced in a statement today, that "banks will follow
the same regulatory and security measures in the upcoming days, i.e. only ATM
service for individuals and customer service for companies will be available at
the present time." The statement added that "every bank is responsible for its
own regulatory procedures within this framework."
Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee presents its
strategy for years 2022-2024 with donor countries' ambassadors
NNA/Monday, 10 October, 2022
The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee presented, in an expanded meeting
held at the Grand Serail today, its general strategy for the years 2022-2024,
the stages of work progress in the projects it is following-up and supervising,
and the challenges facing the Palestinian refugee dossier in light of the huge
crisis in Lebanon. The meeting was attended by
Ambassadors of Norway, Martin Yttervik, Germany, Andreas Kindl, Switzerland,
Marion Weichelt Krupski, and the representative of the US Embassy in Beirut,
Harald Olsen, with the participation of the committee's advisors and experts.
The committee affirmed Lebanon's keenness to strengthen partnerships with
international officials and donors in the Palestinian refugee file, in
cooperation and coordination with the concerned Lebanese and Palestinian
authorities.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on October 10-11/2022
Iran Toughens Crackdown as Some Oil
Workers Reported to Join Protests
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 10 October, 2022
Iranian security forces intensified a crackdown on anti-government protests in
several Kurdish cities on Monday, social media posts and videos showed, pressing
efforts to quell unrest ignited by the death of a woman in morality police
custody. Protests have swept Iran since Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old from Iran's
Kurdish region, died on Sept. 16 while being held for "inappropriate attire",
marking one of the boldest challenges to the country since the 1979 revolution.
While university students have played a pivotal role in the protests with dozens
of universities on strike, unconfirmed reports on social media showed workers at
Abadan and Kangan oil refineries and the Bushehr Petrochemical Project had
joined in. An oil ministry spokesperson did not immediately reply to a phone
call from Reuters seeking comment. A combination of mass protests and strikes by
oil workers and Bazaar merchants helped to sweep the clergy to power in the
Iranian revolution four decades ago. Tensions have been especially high between
authorities and the Kurdish minority which human rights groups say has long been
oppressed - a charge Tehran denies. Human rights group Hengaw reported a heavy
presence of armed security forces in the Kurdish cities of Sanandaj, Saqez and
Divandareh on Monday. It said at least five Kurdish residents were killed and
over 150 injured in protests since Saturday.
Videos shared on social media showed protests in dozens of cities across Iran
early on Monday, with fierce clashes between protesters and riot police in
cities and towns across Amini's native Kurdistan province. The Iranian
authorities have blamed the violence on an array of enemies including armed
Iranian Kurdish dissidents, with the Revolutionary Guards attacking their bases
in neighboring Iraq a number of times during the latest unrest. Iran has a track
record of putting down unrest among its more than 10 million Kurds, part of a
Kurdish minority whose aspirations for autonomy have also led to conflicts with
authorities in Türkiye, Iraq and Syria. Heavy gunfire could be heard in several
videos shared on Twitter by the activist 1500tasvir. A video showed several
explosions creating blinding flashes in a neighborhood of Sanandaj, the capital
of the Kurdistan province. Activists said on social media that several people,
including two teenagers, were killed by security forces in the province. Reuters
could not verify the videos and posts.
'Ready to die'
At least 185 people, including 19 minors, have been killed, hundreds injured and
thousands have been arrested by security forces, according to rights groups.
Blaming the protests on Iran's foreign foes, authorities said "rioters" have
killed at least 20 members of the security forces. In spite of a harsh crackdown
by security forces, protesters across Iran have burned pictures of Supreme
Leader Ali Khamenei, called for the downfall of the clerical establishment and
chanted "Death to the Dictator". Hundreds of high-school girls and university
students have joined the nationwide protests, unfazed by teargas, clubs, and, in
many cases, live ammunition used by the security forces, rights groups said.
Tehran has denied that live bullets have been used. "Hey world, hear me: I want
a revolution. I want to live freely and I am ready to die for it," said a
17-year-old protester in a central Iranian city, whose name and location could
not be revealed by Reuters due to security concerns. "Instead of dying every
minute under this regime's repression, I prefer to die with their (security
forces) bullets in protests for freedom."
Iran calls on foreign visitors to respect law as protests
persist
DUBAI (Reuters)/October 10/2022
Foreign visitors to Iran should respect the Islamic Republic's laws, its foreign
ministry spokesman said on Monday, as protests continue over a woman's death in
police custody that Tehran has blamed on "foreign enemies". Last month, Iran
said it had arrested nine European nationals for their role in the unrest over
Mahsa Amini's death. "Iran is a safe country... We expect foreigners who visit
Iran for tourism and business ... purposes to respect our laws," foreign
ministry spokesman Nasser Kaanani told a televised news conference.
Anti-government demonstrations that erupted on Sept. 17 at Amini's hometown of
Saqez, have turned into the biggest challenge to Iran's clerical leaders in
years, with many calling for the downfall of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei. The nationwide protests have received wide international support,
prompting Tehran to lash out at its critics by accusing the United States and
Israel of exploiting the unrest to try to destabilise the Islamic Republic.
Britain sanctions Iran's "Morality Police" and senior
security officials
LONDON (Reuters)/Mon, October 10, 2022
Britain said on Monday it had sanctioned senior Iranian security officials and
its "so-called Morality Police", saying the force had used threats of detention
and violence to control what Iranian women wear and how they behave in public.
The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody have sparked protests
across Iran, with protesters calling for the downfall of Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Citing her death, Britain said it had sanctioned the
Morality Police in its entirety, as well as both its chief Mohammed Rostami
Cheshmeh Gachi and the Head of the Tehran Division Haj Ahmed Mirzaei. "These
sanctions send a clear message to the Iranian authorities – we will hold you to
account for your repression of women and girls and for the shocking violence you
have inflicted on your own people," Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a
statement. Iranian authorities have described the protests as a plot by Iran's
foes, including the United States.
Putin says response to Ukrainian attacks will be
‘severe’
AFP/October 10/2022
MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russia’s response to any
further Ukrainian attacks would be “severe,” after Moscow’s forces carried out
retaliatory missile strikes across Ukraine. “It was not possible to leave
(Ukrainian attacks) unanswered. If attempts at terrorist attacks continue, the
response from Russia will be severe and correspond to the level of threat,”
Putin said at the start of a televised meeting of his security council. “Let
there be no doubt about it,” Putin said. His remarks come after a huge blast on
Saturday damaged a key bridge in Crimea, Putin’s flagship project and a vital
transport link between Russia and the peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014. In
response to the attack, Putin said Russia carried out “a massive strike with
high-precision, long-range weapons ... on energy, military command and
communications facilities in Ukraine.”Putin also accused Ukraine of launching
three attacks on the Kursk nuclear power plant in Russia, about 85 kilometers
(53 miles) from the Ukrainian border and of attempting to hit the TurkStream gas
pipeline running from Russia to Turkey under the Black Sea. Ukraine’s capital
Kyiv was hit by multiple Russian strikes early on Monday — the first since late
June, AFP journalists witnessed. Russia also launched attacks on several other
cities across Ukraine, particularly targeting energy infrastructure.Electricity
cuts were reported in several regions, including Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv
and its surrounding region, plus the northeastern Sumy region, Zhytomyr region
in the north and Khmelnitskyi region in the west.
Iran’s morality police sanctioned by UK for ‘repression
of women’
Reuters/October 10/2022
Britain said it had sanctioned the morality police in its entirety, as well as
both its chief and the head of the Tehran division
LONDON: Britain said on Monday it had sanctioned senior Iranian security
officials and the country’s “so-called Morality Police,” saying the force had
used threats of detention and violence to control what Iranian women wear and
how they behave in public. The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police
custody has sparked protests across Iran and internationally, with demonstrators
calling for the downfall of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Citing her
death and the subsequent protests, Britain said it had sanctioned the morality
police in its entirety, as well as both its chief, Mohammed Rostami Cheshmeh
Gachi, and the Head of the Tehran Division, Hajj Ahmed Mirzaei. “These sanctions
send a clear message to the Iranian authorities – we will hold you to account
for your repression of women and girls and for the shocking violence you have
inflicted on your own people,” Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a
statement. Iranian authorities have described the protests as a plot by Iran’s
foes, including the United States. The sanctions were made using British laws
designed to encourage Iran to comply with international human rights law and
respect human rights. They mean that those individuals named cannot travel to
Britain and any of their assets held in Britain will be frozen. Last week, the
foreign ministry said it had summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires, Iran’s most
senior diplomat in Britain, over the crackdown on the protests.
Gunfire, blasts in western Iran amid Mahsa Amini protests
AP/October 10, 2022
Iran’s government insists Amini was not mistreated, but her family says her body
showed bruises and other signs of beating
DUBAI: The sound of apparent gunshots and explosions echoed early Monday through
the streets of a western Iranian city, one of the hot spots of protests over the
death of a 22-year-old woman. At least one man reportedly killed by security
forces in a village nearby, activists said. The incidents come as demonstrations
rage on in cities, towns and villages across Iran over the Sept. 16 death of
Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s morality police in Tehran. Iran’s
government insists Amini was not mistreated, but her family says her body showed
bruises and other signs of beating. Subsequent videos have shown security forces
beating and shoving female protesters, including women who have torn off their
mandatory headscarf, or hijab. From Tehran and elsewhere, online videos have
emerged despite authorities disrupting the Internet. Videos showed some women
marching through the streets without headscarves, while others confronted
authorities and lit fires in the street as the protests continue into a fourth
week. The demonstrations represent one of the biggest challenges to Iran’s
theocracy since the 2009 Green Movement protests. The violence early Monday
occurred in Sanandaj, the capital of Iran’s Kurdistan province, as well as in
the village of Salas Babajani near the border with Iraq, according to a Kurdish
group called the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. Amini was Kurdish and her
death has been particularly felt in Iran’s Kurdish region, where demonstrations
began Sept. 17 at her funeral there.
Hengaw posted footage it described as smoke rising in one neighborhood in
Sanandaj, with what sounded like rapid rifle fire echoing through the night sky.
The shouts of people could be heard. There was no immediate word if people had
been hurt in the violence. Hengaw later posted a video online of what appeared
to be collected shell casings from rifles and shotguns, as well as spent tear
gas canisters. Authorities offered no immediate explanation about the violence
early Monday in Sanandaj, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) west of Tehran. Esmail
Zarei Kousha, the governor of Iran’s Kurdistan province, alleged without
providing evidence that unknown groups “plotted to kill young people on the
streets” on Saturday, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported Monday.
Kousha also accused these unnamed groups that day of shooting a young man in the
head and killing him — an attack that activists roundly have blamed on Iranian
security forces. They say Iranian forces opened fire after the man honked his
car horn at them. Honking has become one of the ways activists have been
expressing civil disobedience — an action that has seen riot police in other
videos smashing the windshields of passing vehicles. In the village of Salas
Babajani, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Sanandaj, Iranian security
forces repeatedly shot a 22-year-old man protesting there who later died of his
wounds, Hengaw said. It said others had been wounded in the shooting. It remains
unclear how many people have been killed in the demonstrations and the security
force crackdown targeting them. State television last suggested at least 41
people had been killed in the demonstrations as of Sept. 24. In the over two
weeks since, there’s been no update from Iran’s government. An Oslo-based group,
Iran Human Rights, estimates at least 185 people have been killed. This includes
an estimated 90 people killed in violence in the eastern Iranian city of Zahedan.
The London-based group Amnesty International said security forces killed 66
people, including children, in a bloody crackdown on Sept. 30, and that more
people were killed in the area in subsequent incidents. Iranian authorities have
described the Zahedan violence as involving unnamed separatists, without
providing details or evidence. Meanwhile, a prison riot has struck the city of
Rasht, killing several inmates there, a prosecutor reportedly said. It wasn’t
immediately clear if the riot at Lakan Prison was linked to the ongoing
protests, though Rasht has seen heavy demonstrations in recent weeks since
Amini’s death. The semiofficial Mehr news agency quoted Gilan provincial
prosecutor Mehdi Fallah Miri as saying, “some prisoners died because of their
wounds as the electricity was cut (at the prison) because of the damage.” He
also alleged prisoners refused to allow authorities to access those wounded.
Miri described the riot as breaking out in a wing of a prison housing death
penalty inmates.
‘Several’ inmates dead in Iran prison riot: Official
AFP/October 10, 2022
TEHRAN: “Several” inmates died and others were injured during a prison riot in
northern Iran, during which security forces used tear gas, a judicial official
said on Monday. Sunday’s riot in Rasht, provincial capital of Gilan, comes as a
wave of unrest has rocked Iran since Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, 22, died
on September 16 after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly
violating the strict dress code for women. The street violence has led to dozens
of deaths, mostly of protesters but also of members of the security forces.
Hundreds have also been arrested. On Sunday, a brawl broke out between death row
inmates at Lakan Prison of Rasht over “personal differences,” the city’s public
prosecutor Mehdi Fallahmiri was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA. “As
the conflict escalated, it spread to the prison corridor, and more prisoners
joined the brawl,” he said. “Officers arrived at the scene and used tear gas to
calm and disperse the prisoners to end the riot after some inmates destroyed
facilities in the corridor and prison hall and set them on fire,” Fallahmiri
said. “As a result of this conflict ... several people died and some were
injured,” he added, saying the number of prisoners hurt was under investigation.
Fallahmiri said some inmates “succumbed to their injuries” because “rioters” had
prevented their transfer, while others “were taken to hospital for treatment.”
“The situation ... is calm now and the daily activities of the prisoners
continue.”
‘Persepolis’ creator hails Iran protesters as ‘beautiful,
inspiring’
Arab News/October 10, 2022
LONDON: Protesters in Iran have been hailed as “beautiful and inspiring” by
Marjane Satrapi, the creator of the celebrated graphic novel “Persepolis.” The
cartoonist and film director, whose novel depicts her childhood in Iran before
and after the revolution in 1979, told The Guardian: “What I have lived, the
youth is living now. My hope is that the situation will go toward something
beautiful that is called freedom and democracy. “And the huge difference with my
time is the boys were not with us. The beauty now is that there are boys and
girls together. So this is what gives me hope as well as feeling extremely sad
because of all this violence. There is nothing more beautiful and inspiring than
their courage.” The artist has not returned to Iran in more than two decades as
a result of authoring “Persepolis,” which was adapted into an acclaimed 2007
animation film. “I have not been back to Iran in 22 years,” she said. “It’s a
big price to pay. But to risk your life on the streets is a much bigger
sacrifice.”
Iran seizes passport of star footballer Ali Daei for
backing protests
AFP/October 10, 2022
TEHRAN: Iran has confiscated the passport of former star footballer Ali Daei,
local media reported Monday, after he criticized the “repression” of protests
over Mahsa Amini’s death. Iran has been gripped by nationwide demonstrations
since the 22-year-old Kurdish woman’s death was announced on September 16, three
days after she was arrested in Tehran for allegedly violating the country’s
strict dress code. Daei on September 27 called on Iran’s government to “solve
the problems of the Iranian people rather than using repression, violence and
arrests.”“The confiscation of Ali Daei’s passport is due to what he has written
on Instagram in response to the death of Mahsa Amini,” reformist paper Hammihan
reported. Nicknamed “Shahriar” (king in Farsi), the former forward held the
record for most international goals scored, at 109, until September 2021, when
Cristiano Ronaldo overtook him. Daei, 52, was one of Iran’s first players to
compete in a European league, having played in the Bundesliga, first with
Arminia Bielefeld before joining Bayern Munich then Hertha Berlin. Hertha on
Sunday tweeted that it was “dismayed looking at the current situation in Iran.
Our former player Ali Daei is no longer permitted to leave the country because
he has come out in favor of women’s rights.” In remarks to the sports website
Varzesh3 on Sunday, Daei’s brother Mohammad said: “Ali has given his whole life
to raise the flag of Iran, he loves the country and its people and always speaks
the truth. “What happened to Ali is regrettable.” A number of Iranian sportsmen
as well as actors and filmmakers have thrown their weight behind the
demonstrations, asking authorities to listen to the people’s demands. On
Thursday, local media reported that former Bayern Munich midfielder Ali Karimi
was facing prosecution over his support for the protests. The authorities have
also seized the passports of singer Homayoun SHajjarian and his wife, actress
Sahar Dolatshahi, as well as that of filmmaker Mehran Modiri, the ILNA news
agency reported Sunday. On September 30, Iranian authorities arrested former
football player Hossein Mahini over his support for the protests, accusing him
of “encouraging riots.” He was reportedly released on bail early last week.
Zelensky: Iranian drones used in Russia’s attacks on
Ukraine
AP/October 10, 2022
KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Iranian-made drones and
missiles were used by Russian forces on Monday in heavy shelling that targeted
energy infrastructure across several cities this morning. In a video message
posted on his Facebook account, Zelensky said, “The morning is tough. We are
dealing with terrorists. Dozens of missiles, Iranian "Shaheds”. He accused
Russia of targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during strikes, saying “they
want panic and chaos, they want to destroy our energy system. They are
incorrigible.”He added, “The second target is people. Such a time and such goals
were specially chosen to cause as much damage as possible.” Russia bombed cities
across Ukraine during rush hour on Monday morning, killing civilians and
destroying infrastructure in apparent revenge strikes after President Vladimir
Putin declared an explosion on the bridge to Crimea to be a terrorist attack.
Missiles tore into Kyiv, the most intense strikes on the capital since Russia
abandoned an attempt to captured it in the early weeks of the war. Explosions
were also reported in Lviv, Ternopil and Zhytomyr in Ukraine’s west, Dnipro and
Kremenchuk in central Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia in the south and Kharkiv in the
east. A witness in Russia’s Belgorod region near the Ukrainian border also heard
a blast from the border area. In Kyiv, attacks struck in the heart of the busy
city center. The body of a man in jeans lay in a street at a major intersection,
surrounded by flaming cars. In a park, a soldier cut through the clothes of a
woman who lay in the grass to try to treat her wounds. Another woman was
bleeding nearby. City police said at least five people had been killed and 12
wounded. A huge crater gaped next to a children’s playground in a central Kyiv
park. The remains of an apparent missile were buried, smoking in the mud. More
volleys of missiles struck the capital again later in the morning. Pedestrians
huddled for shelter at the entrance of Metro stations and inside parking
garages. “They are trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth,”
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the Telegram messaging app. “The air raid
sirens do not subside throughout Ukraine. There are missiles hitting.
Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded.” The American Embassy in Kyiv issued
a warning that urged citizens to find shelter amid the heavy Russian strikes,
which “pose a direct threat to civilians and civilian infrastructure.”The
embassy also urged US citizens to immediately depart Ukraine via privately
available ground transportation options when it is safe enough.
TALKS WITH MISSILES
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted: “Putin’s only tactic is terror on
peaceful Ukrainian cities, but he will not break Ukraine down. This is also his
response to all appeasers who want to talk with him about peace: Putin is a
terrorist who talks with missiles.”At one of Kyiv’s busiest road junctions, a
massive crater had been blown in the intersection. Cars were destroyed,
buildings were damaged and emergency workers were on the scene. Two cars and a
van near the crater were completely wrecked, blacked and pitted from shrapnel.
Windows had been blown out of buildings at Kyiv’s main Taras Shevchenko
University. National Guard troops in full combat gear and carrying assault
rifles were lined up outside an education union building. “The capital is under
attack from Russian terrorists! The missiles hit objects in the city center (in
the Shevchenkivskyi district) and in the Solomyanskyi district. The air raids
sirens are going off, and therefore the threat, continues,” mayor Vitali
Klitschko posted on social media. “The central streets of Kyiv have been blocked
by law enforcement officers, rescue services are working.”He later said
important infrastructure had been hit. The strikes came two days after an
explosion damaged the only bridge over the Kerch Strait to the Crimea peninsula,
which Putin on Sunday called “an act of terrorism aimed at destroying critically
important civilian infrastructure.” “This was devised, carried out and ordered
by the Ukrainian special services,” he said in a video on the Kremlin’s Telegram
channel. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the blast on the bridge but
has celebrated it. Senior Russian officials demanded a swift response from the
Kremlin ahead of a meeting of Putin’s security council on Monday.
KILLING ‘TERRORISTS’
Commentators on Russian television have increasingly been calling for massive
retaliation against Ukraine, with the military leadership facing public
criticism for the first time as Russian forces have been beaten back on the
battlefield. The bridge, which Putin personally opened, is a major supply route
for Russian forces in southern Ukraine and a symbol of Russia’s control of
Crimea, the peninsula it proclaimed annexed after its troops seized it in 2014.
Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said ahead of the
council meeting that Russia should kill the “terrorists” responsible for the
attack.“Russia can only respond to this crime by directly killing terrorists, as
is the custom elsewhere in the world. This is what Russian citizens expect,” he
was quoted as saying by state news agency TASS. Alexander Bastrykin, the head of
Russia’s Investigative Committee, said on Sunday a vehicle had exploded on the
bridge, having traveled through Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, North Ossetia and
Russia’s Krasnodar region. In southeastern Ukraine, Russian shelling overnight
destroyed another apartment building in the city of Zaporizhzhia, regional
governor Oleksandr Starukh said early on Monday. At least one person died and
five were injured in the attack, a city official said. The pre-dawn strikes were
the third Russian missile attack against apartment buildings in four days in the
city, the Ukrainian-held capital of one of four partially occupied regions
Russia claims to have annexed this month. Russia has faced major setbacks on the
battlefield since the start of September, with Ukrainian forces bursting through
the front lines and recapturing territory in the northeast and the south. Putin
responded to the losses by ordering a mobilization of hundreds of thousands of
reservists, proclaiming the annexation of occupied territory and threatening
repeatedly to use nuclear weapons.
Ukraine war: Dozens of missiles hit Kyiv and at least eight
people killed
Sky News/October 10, 2022
At least eight people have been killed and dozens injured in Kyiv with several
other cities also targeted by Russian missile attacks. Rostyslav Smyrnov, an
aide to the interior minister, said six cars had caught fire after the initial
attack - and another 15 vehicles were damaged. Explosions have also been heard
in Lviv, Ternopil, Dnipro, Zhytomyr, and Zaporizhzhia. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said
in a video post that showed him outside his presidential office: "They want
panic and chaos, they want to destroy our energy system. "The second target is
people. Such a time and such targets were specially chosen to cause as much
damage as possible." Air sirens across Ukraine as multiple cities hit - war
latest. Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko said some critical infrastructure had been
hit, adding: "The capital is under attack from Russian terrorists! "The rockets
hit objects in the city centre (in the Shevchenkiv district) and in the Solomyan
district. The air alert, and therefore the threat, continues. "I appeal to all
residents of the capital: stay in shelters during the alarm. If there is no
urgent need, it is better not to go to the city today."Ukraine's top general
said Ukrainian forces shot down at least 41 missiles on Monday morning. "This
morning, 75 missiles were launched. 41 of them were neutralised by our air
defence," General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed
Forces, wrote on Twitter. A witness told the Reuters news agency that black
smoke was seen rising from a building in the city centre following the sound of
a blast. Others on social media posted images alleging to be from the city, with
some claiming a "missile attack" was "struck down" by Ukrainian forces. The last
attack on Kyiv was in June with one missile hitting an apartment building,
killing one and injuring six. Sky News security and defence editor Deborah
Haynes said: "There's been relative calm there in recent months. "This is very
unusual to have strikes right in the heart of the city, where the government
offices are. "We don't yet have confirmation of what has been hit... but an
adviser to the president has tweeted just now calling Russia a terrorist state
again with photographs of flames behind a building."It comes just days after an
explosion on the Kerch Strait Bridge that links occupied Crimea to Russia. In
televised remarks, Russian president Vladimir Putin said Moscow had launched the
long-range missile strikes in retaliation for Saturday's bridge attack.
"It is obvious that the Ukrainian secret services ordered, organised and carried
out the terrorist attack aimed at destroying Russia's critical civilian
infrastructure," Mr Putin said on Monday. However, nobody has claimed
responsibility. Earlier, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President
Zelenskyy, tweeted: "Putin accuses Ukraine of terrorism? Sounds too cynical even
for Russia. "Less than 24 hours ago (Russian) planes hit residential area of
Zaporizhzhia with 12 missiles, killing 13 people and injuring more than 50.
"There is only one terrorist state here and the whole world knows who it is."You
can get tickets here for a special event at the Imperial War Museum looking at
the war in Ukraine.
Kids in Firing Line as Wounded Putin Revenge-Bombs Kyiv
Dan Ladden-Hall, Anna Nemtsova/The Daily Beast/October 10, 2022
It was rush hour on a Monday morning, the kids just heading off to school, when
the bombs started to fall on Kyiv and war finally returned to the Ukrainian
capital. At least nine people were killed and 36 were wounded in Russian missile
attacks on Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine in what President Vladimir Putin
confirmed was a reprisal for the attack on a key bridge that connects Russia to
occupied Crimea. That blast Saturday, interrupting a crucial re-supply route for
the Russian army in the south of Ukraine, was a symbolic and logistical hammer
blow to Putin’s efforts to keep hold of illegally annexed Ukrainian
territory.“If attempts to carry out terrorist attacks on our territory continue,
the measures taken by Russia will be tough and in their scale will correspond to
the level of threats posed to the Russian Federation,” Putin said in a
threatening video address Monday. “No one should have any doubt about it.”
Air raid sirens sounded throughout the Ukrainian capital in the wake of the
airstrikes, which represent the most serious attack on the city since Russian
tanks first rumbled over the Ukrainian border in February. The capital's streets
were filled with flames and emergency service crews. Reports suggest at least
four missiles hit the city—one of which landed near a children’s playground, in
a chilling re-run of a strike on a separate Kyiv playground in June. The State
Emergency Service said the death toll of nine was “not final.”Following Putin’s
televised address, Russia’s defense ministry added that the wave of airstrikes
had “achieved its goal” and that all its targets of “military command,
communications, and energy facilities” had been hit. Truck Bomb Rips Apart
Crimea Bridge Leaving 3 Dead. At least 10 cities in total were struck on Monday,
with widespread blackouts and other utility issues reported in the aftermath of
the Russian attacks. Missile strikes were reported in Lviv, Ternopil, and
Zhytomyr in western Ukraine, as well as in Dnipro in central Ukraine. Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelensky said energy infrastructure had been targeted across
the country. His military chief, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, claimed a total of
75 Russian missiles had been launched, of which 41 were shot down by Ukrainian
air defenses. Sharing a picture of the fiery aftermath of one of the blasts in
Kyiv, Ukrainian lawmaker Lesia Vasylenko tweeted: “Just minutes from my home.
Just 20 minutes ago. What is Russia trying to hit? The national university? The
park? Or the playground?” “Cowards fighting playgrounds, children and people,”
Andriy Yermak, the head of the president’s office, wrote on Telegram. “This is
another signal to the civilized world that the Russian question must be solved
by force.”
Emergency service crews were photographed tackling the blaze at the scene of one
strike at an intersection near the city’s center. Windows at Kyiv’s Taras
Shevchenko University were shattered, and vehicles near the blast crater were
reportedly totalled by shrapnel. Harrowing videos shared on social media show
civilians narrowly avoiding the missiles which tore through the city, including
one at the pedestrian bridge of the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian people.
Residents who were in Kyiv at the time of the missile strikes Monday morning
have spoke out about their grim sense of déjà vu as the capital once again came
into the the Kremlin’s crosshairs. Art curator Natalia Zabolotna was on the 16th
floor of her apartment building when she heard the first explosion in the city
center. “This is worse than on February 24th,” she told The Daily Beast,
referring to the day when the invasion began. “They fire every 15 minutes at the
center of Kyiv and I heard sounds of an airplane engine.”Zabolotna grabbed her
dog and ran downstairs to her car. “My gas tank is full but I have no idea what
to do and where to drive,” she added. “The entire country is on fire.”Hayane
Avakian, the editor of Svoi.City, was in the metro heading to work when blasts
tore through Kyiv’s university district. “Everything in Ukraine is a target
now,” Avakian told The Daily Beast. As she continued on to her office, Avakian
saw dark columns of smoke rising over the city blocks and broken glass lining
the sidewalks below. “Russians are attacking us from all directions,” she said.
The strikes come after a huge explosion partially destroyed the Crimean Bridge
over the Kerch Strait on Saturday, the day after Putin’s 70th birthday. Over the
weekend, the Russian leader described the attack on the 12-mile, $3.6 billion
bridge “an act of terrorism aimed at destroying critically important civilian
infrastructure.” He added that the strike on Europe’s longest bridge—which left
three dead— had been devised and executed by the Ukrainian security services.
While Ukraine did not claim responsibility for the attack, its senior figures
celebrated the news. The bridge, which was opened in 2018 after Russia’s
annexation of Crimea four years earlier, symbolically and strategically
emphasized Moscow’s control over the contested peninsula. “Everything illegal
must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything
occupied by Russia must be expelled,” Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President
Zelensky, tweeted after the bridge bombing. Ahead of a meeting of Putin’s
National Security Council, senior Kremlin figures vowed to avenge the bombing.
“Russia can only respond to this crime by directly killing terrorists, as is the
custom elsewhere in the world,” former President Dmitry Medvedev, who runs the
council, said ahead of the meeting, according to state media agency Tass. “This
is what Russian citizens expect.”The same day the bridge was attacked, Putin
appointed the notorious General Sergei Surovikin to take command of the Ukraine
offensive. The former head of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Surovikin has built
a reputation for ruthlessness over the course of a blood-soaked career. He led
Russian forces in Syria in 2017, where indiscriminate airstrikes and attacks on
hospitals appalled human rights organizations, but the Kremlin saw fit to make
him a Hero of the Russian Federation, the nation’s highest honor. He’s also
known for breathtaking brutality against his own countrymen. During the August
Coup in Moscow in 1991, Surovikin led a rifle division to smash through
barricades set up by pro-democracy protesters. Three were killed during the
violence, including one man crushed to death, but Surovikin was ultimately not
charged for the deaths. He was later found guilty of illegally selling weapons,
though the conviction was eventually overturned.
“For over 30 years, Surovikin’s career has been dogged with allegations of
corruption and brutality,” British intelligence officials wrote in a recent
report. As well as the strikes on Monday, Russian shelling overnight destroyed
an apartment building in the city of Zaporizhzhia, regional governor Oleksandr
Starukh said. At least one person was killed and another five were injured in
the strike, officials said. The city—which has never been captured by Russian
forces but is the capital of one of four regions Putin recently claimed to have
annexed—has been hit by shelling attacks for several days. On Sunday, 13 people
died and 87 others were injured when another apartment building was hit,
Ukrainian officials. Ten children were among the wounded in the attack, which
President Zelensky called “absolute evil.”“Our courage will never be destroyed
by terrorist’s missiles, even when they hit the heart of our capital,” Ukrainian
defense minister Oleksii Reznikov said Monday.
.
EU condemns 'barbaric' Russian missile attacks, warns
Belarus
Russian missile strikes in Kyiv/BRUSSELS (Reuters)/Mon, October 10, 2022
The European Commission condemned as "barbaric" Russian missile strikes on Kyiv
and other Ukrainian cities on Monday and warned Belarus against helping its ally
kill civilians. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Russia's acts had "no
place in the 21st century", adding in a tweet that military support for Ukraine
from the bloc was on its way. Russia pounded cities across Ukraine during rush
hour in apparent revenge strikes after President Vladimir Putin declared a blast
on Russia's bridge to Crimea to be a terrorist attack. "They are barbaric and
cowardly attacks... targeting innocent civilians on their way to work and school
in the morning traffic," Peter Stano, a spokesperson for the European Union's
executive arm told the Commission's daily news briefing. He described the
strikes as a contravention of international humanitarian law and said Russia's
political and military leadership would be held accountable for these and other
war crimes. The Commission urged Belarus to refrain from any involvement in
Russia's "brutal illegitimate undertaking" that violated the United Nations
Charter and international law. Specifically, it told Minsk immediately to stop
allowing the territory of Belarus to serve as a launch pad for very recent
missile strikes and drone attacks against Ukrainian civilians. "Any further
actions and in particular the Belarusian military’s direct involvement into this
war, against the will of the vast majority of the Belarusian people, will be met
by new and strong restrictive measures," Stano said. Belarusian President
Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday he had ordered troops to deploy with Russian
forces near Ukraine in response to what he said was a clear threat to Belarus
from Kyiv and its backers in the West.(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout and
Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by John Chalmers and Tomasz Janowski)
BBC reporter ducks and abandons live broadcast from Kyiv as
Russian missiles hit the city for first time in months
Sinéad Baker/Business Insider/October 10, 2022
Kyiv was hit by Russian missiles for the first time in months Monday. A BBC
journalist was reporting live from the capital. He ducked and fled as the
missiles fell. Russia hit multiple cities in apparent revenge for the explosion
on a bridge in Crimea. A BBC reporter in Kyiv ducked and abandoned his broadcast
as Russian missiles struck Ukraine's capital for the first time in months. Hugo
Bachega was reporting from Kyiv on Monday when the missiles hit as part of a
Russian attack on multiple Ukrainian cities, many far from the front lines and
which had long been considered relatively safe.
Kyiv's police said that at least five people were killed and 12 injured in the
city. Bachega was speaking live about the prospect that Russia could seek
revenge for an explosion Saturday on the bridge that links Russia to Crimea, the
Ukrainian region that it annexed in 2014. Ukraine did not directly take credit
for that attack, a major symbolic blow, but heavily hinted that it was
responsible. In the BBC broadcast explosions started as Bachega spoke, and he
turned around to look at the city skyline before ducking his head and then
leaving the frame. No missiles or explosions could be seen in the video, which
cut out and switched to the main BBC newsroom. The anchor explaine that Bachega
was "for obvious reasons, taking cover at that point." Bachega broadcasted again
from Kyiv later Monday morning, from an enclosed space. Russia originally tried
to take Kyiv when it started its invasion in February. But it failed, instead
and then instead focused it war in the east of Ukraine. That left Kyiv in a
period of relative normality until Monday's barrage of strikes, an apparent
retaliation after the bridge attack in Crimea. Russia also struck the cities of
Dnipro, Lviv, and Zaporizhzhia, among others. Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to
Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs, said on Twitter that a children's
playground was hit in Kyiv. Oleksiy Kuleba, the governor of the broader Kyiv
region, said on Telegram on Monday morning that the attacks were continuing, and
that people should stay in shelters. Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine's defense
minister, tweeted on Monday morning: "Our courage will never be destroyed by
terrorist's missiles, even when they hit the heart of our capital." "Nor will
they shake the determination of our allies. The only thing they demolish
irreversibly is the future of [Russia] - a future of a globally despised rogue
terrorist state."
Indian minister says Ukraine war serves no one's interests
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)
India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said Russia’s war on
Ukraine “does not serve the interests of anybody,” but declined to say whether
his government would support a United Nations General Assembly motion condemning
Moscow’s annexation of Ukrainian territories. Jaishankar was speaking at a joint
news conference Monday with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong after a
bilateral meeting at Parliament House where the Ukraine war was discussed. “We
have been very clearly against the conflict in Ukraine. We believe that this
conflict does not serve the interests of anybody. Neither the participants nor
indeed of the international community,” Jaishankar said. “As a country of the
Global South, we have been seeing firsthand how much it has impacted low-income
countries, the challenges that they are facing in terms of fuel and food and
fertilizers,” he added.
Asked if India would support the U.N. motion this week condemning Moscow’s
annexation of four Ukraine regions, Jaishankar replied: “As a matter of prudence
and policy, we don’t predict our votes in advance.”India is a major market for
Russian-manufactured weapons. India’s relationship with Russia had “certainly
served our interests well,” Jaishankar said. Wong said she welcomed Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s words to Russian President Vladimir Putin last month:
“Today’s era is not of war.”“As Prime Minister Modi has told Mr. Putin, this is
not the time for war,” Wong said. One of the reasons India was so heavily
reliant on Russian arms was that “for multiple decades Western countries did not
supply weapons to India and in fact saw a military dictatorship next to us as
the preferred partner,” Jaishankar said, referring to Pakistan. The Australian
and Indian ministers agreed that differences on Russia did not undermine the
Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a partnership also involving the United States
and Japan better known as the Quad. “I think the Quad is functioning extremely
well,” Wong said. “I think the level of strategic trust and strategic
consistency amongst Quad partners is deep and firm.”
Syria Official: US Drone Attack Kills ISIS Member in Northeast
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 10 October, 2022
A US-led coalition drone strike in northeastern Syria on Monday killed an ISIS
group militant, a Syrian security official said. Speaking on condition of
anonymity in line with regulations, the official told The Associated Press that
the strike targeted the ISIS member driving a motorcycle in the village of Hamam
al-Turkman. The village is controlled by Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces
near Tel Abyad. No other casualties were reported. Photos from local media
surfaced on social media showing what is reportedly the remains of the
militant's body next to the destroyed motorcycle. US Central Command did not
immediately issue a statement on the drone attack, and did not immediately
respond to an Associated Press inquiry on the matter. The US last week announced
it killed three ISIS leaders in two separate operations, including a rare ground
raid in a part of northeast Syria under government control. There are some 900
US forces in Syria supporting Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the fight
against ISIS. They have frequently targeted ISIS militants mostly in parts of
northeastern Syria under Kurdish control. Despite their defeat in Syria in 2019,
when ISIS lost the last sliver of land its fighters once controlled, the
extremists’ sleeper cells have continued to carry out deadly attacks in Syria
and Iraq. ISIS fighters once held large parts of the two countries.
Iraq Drought Displaces 1,200 Families in Parched South
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 10 October, 2022
Some 1,200 Iraqi families have been forced out of southern marshes and farmlands
over the past six months, a local official told AFP, as drought ravages swathes
of the country. The Mesopotamian Marshes, a UNESCO World Heritage site, have
been battered by low rainfall and reduced flows in the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers due to dams built upstream in Türkiye and Iran. Oil-rich Iraq, battered
by decades of war, is also the world's fifth-most vulnerable country to some key
effects of climate change, including water scarcity and desertification, say the
United Nations. Saleh Hadi, head of the agriculture authority in Dhi Qar
province, said "about 1,200 families of buffalo herders and farmers in the
marshes and other areas of the province were displaced from their homes do to
water shortages". The mass exodus began in April, Hadi said, adding that more
than 2,000 buffaloes had died as a result of the drought. "Half of the families
have moved closer to the river in areas of north of Nasiriyah," the regional
capital, he added, while others have relocated to central and southern provinces
such as Babylon, Kut, Karbala and Basra. According to Hadi, the Dhi Qar's
Chibayish marshes and the village of Manar in the Hammar marshes were hit
particularly hard, but families have also left Umm al-Wadaa and farming lands in
Sayyed Dakhil, Suk al-Shuyukh and al-Islah. Iraq's water resources minister last
month said that 2022 has been "one of the driest years Iraq has seen since
1930," citing three consecutive years of low precipitation and reduced river
flow. This summer, vast swathes of wetland in Hawizah, along the border with
Iran, as well as in the touristic Chibayish region have dried up. The UN Food
and Agriculture Organization noted in July "unprecedented low water levels" in
the marshes, "one of the poorest regions in Iraq and one of the most affected by
climate change". The agency underlined the "disastrous impact" on more than
6,000 families living in that area who "are losing their buffaloes, their unique
living asset".
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on October 10-11/2022
Washington's Double Legal Standards
Pete Hoekstra/Gatestone Institute/October 10/2022
Our bureaucrats, it seems, have no boundaries when it comes to a former
president of the United States. What a precedent to set. Let us compare that to
how they treat themselves.
When Hillary Clinton's emails were found to contain classified information, some
marked at the highest levels of classification, the FBI did not raid her home in
Chappaqua, New York. They did not overturn her office or closets when classified
emails turned up that she had not sent back to the government or when she wiped
the data on her personal server with BleachBit, which meant the government would
never know the full extent of the documents Clinton kept. Why was she treated
differently by the FBI?
Consider the case of former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who
lied to the Senate when he declared that the intelligence community had no mass
surveillance program collecting data on Americans. Not only did he lie in his
public testimony before the committee, he also refused to acknowledge his lie
and instead tried to explain it away.
[Clapper] also refused to acknowledge his lie and instead tried to explain it
away. Because Clapper is a protected bureaucrat, he faced no consequences, and
even joined CNN as a paid national security contributor, regularly attacking
former President Trump. CNN does not note that he perjured himself before
Congress -- with evidence -- when they put him on the air.
Hayden also stated that the [CIA interrogation] tapes were destroyed, "only
after it was determined they were no longer of intelligence value and not
relevant to any internal, legislative, or judicial inquires." Again, all
evidence points to the contrary, and Hayden is wrong to make these clearly false
assertions.
Hayden's efforts, however, were just another in a long line of efforts to cover
up the actions of unaccountable bureaucrats, who not surprisingly, were never
held legally accountable.
My candid advice to Biden, Hayden, Clapper, and many other media commentators,
is to consider your own records -- and be careful what you advocate.
Former CIA Director Mike Hayden has seemingly endorsed the idea that former
President Donald Trump was a spy who, for allegedly having taken classified
documents, should be executed by the government, as the Rosenbergs were in 1953
for having passed US nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. Pictured: Hayden
testifies at a hearing before Senate Armed Services Committee August 4, 2015 in
Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Former CIA Director Mike Hayden, shortly after the FBI raided the home of former
President Donald J. Trump, responded to a tweet by Michael Beschloss in a way
that, apart from disregarding any presumption of innocence, seemingly endorsed
the idea that Trump was a spy who, for allegedly having taken classified
documents, should be executed by the government, as the Rosenbergs were in 1953
for having passed US nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. "Sounds about right,"
Hayden wrote over of photograph of the Rosenbergs on Twitter.
Full disclosure There is a bit of history between Hayden and me. I opposed his
nomination to be CIA director, by saying at the time, "Bottom line: I do believe
he's the wrong person, the wrong place at the wrong time."
Hayden's comment reflects what many fear: that there is a real double standard
for certain Americans versus protected bureaucrats, politicians, and those
favored by a mainstream media that has been accused of behaving like an arm of
the Democratic Party (here, here and here). When President Joe Biden stood in
Philadelphia before a blood-red wall flanked by U.S. Marines whom the
Commander-in-Chief used as political props, he did not condemn Hayden's
suggestion to execute the former president; instead, he attacked everyday
Americans with whose politics he disagrees.
When local Democrat official Robert Telles was arrested in the alleged murder of
a Las Vegas reporter who investigated him for having an inappropriate
relationship with a subordinate, you would have been hard pressed to know he was
a Democrat. The media simply left that fact out of the story or buried in later
paragraphs. Similarly, there was not much coverage of the Democrat political
operative who hired a hit man to kill a political opponent. Similarly, when a
North Dakota teen was run over and killed, the mainstream media ignored the
suspect's claiming that he did it after a political disagreement with the teen,
whom he labeled a "Republican extremist."
President Biden, where is your condemnation of this Democrat political violence?
How about the FBI agents who raided the home of former president Trump and
reportedly rummaged through the former first lady's clothes closets and took
Trump's passports? Was this not politically excessive, President Biden?
When Hillary Clinton's emails were found to contain classified information, some
marked at the highest levels of classification, the FBI did not raid her home in
Chappaqua, New York. They did not overturn her office or closets when classified
emails turned up that she had not sent back to the government or when she wiped
the data on her personal server with BleachBit, which meant the government would
never know the full extent of the documents Clinton kept. Why was she treated
differently by the FBI?
Our bureaucrats, it seems, have no boundaries when it comes to a former
president of the United States. What a precedent to set. Let us compare that to
how they treat themselves.
As a former House Intelligence Committee chair and U.S. ambassador, I have long
dealt with our intelligence and law enforcement communities and can cite chapter
and verse how these bureaucrats have protected themselves. Consider the case of
former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who lied to the Senate
when he declared that the intelligence community had no mass surveillance
program collecting data on Americans. Not only did he lie in his public
testimony before the committee, he also refused to acknowledge his lie and
instead tried to explain it away. Because Clapper is a protected bureaucrat, he
faced no consequences, and even joined CNN as a paid national security
contributor, regularly attacking former President Trump. CNN does not note that
he perjured himself before Congress -- with evidence -- when they put him on the
air.
The case that is perhaps most illustrative of the double standard was the 2005
destruction by CIA of 92 video tapes, comprising hundreds of hours of material,
on the agency's enhanced interrogation program.
For those who do not remember the enhanced interrogation program, it was a CIA
program that attempted to gain valuable information, intelligence from captured
al-Qaeda members about the plans, intentions, and capabilities of the
organization.
The enhanced interrogation program was extremely controversial when it, along
with the existence of secret prisons, was leaked to the media, but Jose
Rodriguez, the director of operations for the CIA at the time, staunchly
defended it. The CIA claims that it provided valuable insights into al-Qaeda,
including information that eventually led to the successful raid that resulted
in the assassination of Osama Bin Laden. Others have concluded the program was
tantamount to torture, including Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee,
who conducted a review, and the European Court on Human Rights.
As one the members of the "Gang of Eight" top congressional leaders briefed on
the most sensitive intelligence, we were briefed on the "enhanced techniques" in
2004. It was difficult to imagine how they would be used or what the impact
would be on a prisoner. We were told that we would be briefed on what techniques
would be used on what individuals before they would be used again. We were never
presented with the challenge of a review during my tenure.
As awareness of the program became public, Congress tried to get a better
understanding of how it worked and how effective it was and just how far it had
gone. Viewing those tapes would have been extremely helpful in making oversight
determinations, but Rodriguez had ordered them destroyed.
How does that happen? When Congresswoman Jane Harman, the ranking Democrat on
the House Intelligence Committee at the time, first learned of the tapes in2003,
she warned the CIA in writing not to destroy them. White House Counsel Harriet
Miers also urged the CIA not to destroy the tapes. Additionally, in May of 2005,
Senator Jay Rockefeller requested documents about interrogation on behalf of the
Senate Judiciary Committee. In addition, lawyers for 9/11 defendant Zacarias
Moussaoui requested the videos for the defense of their client, and Federal
Judge Leonie Brinkema requested information on the interrogation program for
court proceedings involving another detainee.
Despite congressional pressure, directives from White House lawyers, and federal
legal proceedings, Rodriguez made the call to destroy the tapes in a secret
cable written by Gina Haspel, who would go on to become CIA director under
President Trump.
No one was ever charged for destroying the tapes. As far as I know, no homes or
offices were ever raided to uncover evidence. But because these unaccountable
bureaucrats took this action, the American people, Congress, and the courts will
never know what really happened during this controversial period of American
history.
What of Michael Hayden's role in all of this? After The New York Times advised
the Bush White House that it would be running a story on the destruction of the
tapes, Hayden wrote to the CIA staff that congressional leaders had been briefed
on the existence of the tapes and their planned destruction. Wrong. I had not
been briefed on the existence or destruction of the tapes when I became chairman
in 2004 and Jane Harman had earlier objected to the tape destruction in 2003.
Hayden also stated that the tapes were destroyed, "only after it was determined
they were no longer of intelligence value and not relevant to any internal,
legislative, or judicial inquires." Again, all evidence points to the contrary,
and Hayden is wrong to make these clearly false assertions.
Hayden's efforts appear to be just another in a long line of efforts to cover up
the actions of unaccountable bureaucrats, who not surprisingly, were never held
legally accountable.
My candid advice to Biden, Hayden, Clapper, and many other media commentators,
is to consider your own records -- and be careful what you advocate.
*Peter Hoekstra was US Ambassador to the Netherlands during the Trump
administration. He served 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives
representing the second district of Michigan and served as Chairman and Ranking
member of the House Intelligence Committee. He is currently Chairman of the
Center for Security Policy Board of Advisors, and a Distinguished Senior Fellow
at Gatestone Institute.
© 2022 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
بارعة علم الدين: هؤلاء الفتيات هم مستقبل إيران … في حين
أن نظام الملالي القاتل ينتمي إلى الماضي
These girls are Iran’s future … this murderous regime belongs to the past
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/October 10/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/112631/baria-alamuddin-these-girls-are-irans-future-this-murderous-regime-belongs-to-the-past-dr-majid-rafizadeh-russia-iran-and-the-west-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%b9%d8%a9-%d8%b9%d9%84/
This is what real evil looks like: murdering young girls in cold blood, and then
making threats against their grieving families to compel them to lie about the
circumstances of these atrocities.
Vans have even been turning up at schools in Iran to arrest girls en masse — a
sinister development almost without precedent. Schools in Kurdistan province
have been closed; these elderly ayatollahs are terrified of little girls.
Sarina Esmailzadeh, a beautiful 16-year-old video blogger, was beaten to death
by police with batons, and her family was subjected to intense harassment to
coerce them into silence. Vivacious and headstrong Nika Shahkarami, also just
16, made a final call to her mother saying she was being chased by security
forces. When her family eventually gained access to her battered corpse 10 days
later, they found her skull had been caved in by intensely violent blows.
Family members were arrested and threatened. Such is the tragi-comic,
gangster-like nature of this regime that when Nika’s uncle appeared on TV to be
coerced into giving a false account of events, a shadowy figure behind him
threatened: “Speak, you scumbag.”
Nika’s mother Nasrin was not fooled. “I probably don’t need to try that hard to
prove they’re lying,” she said. “My daughter was killed in the protests on the
same day she disappeared.” Videos of Nika and Sarina in happier times, dancing
and singing, have been shared millions of times as public anger reaches boiling
point.
Repressive regimes relish imposing narratives that nobody believes. Tinpot
dictatorships such as China, Syria, Myanmar and Iran try to strike fear into
everybody’s hearts, while simultaneously compelling repressed subjects to
recount grotesque murders through the vocabulary of “tragic accidents,”
“suicides,” or malicious acts by “foreign enemies.”
With protests in Iran more widespread than ever, estimated death tolls fall far
short of reality. In Zahedan alone in a single day, more than 90 people were
killed, including children, when security forces opened fire. Let’s not forget
that that these furious protests erupted in the first place after another young
woman, Mahsa Amini, died in a coma with a fractured skull merely for
“improperly” wearing her hijab. To exist as an Iranian woman is to subsist in a
state of apartheid: formally or informally excluded from so many roles and
social spaces, compelled to wear heavy, black, regime-imposed clothing, coerced
into being second-class citizens. Meanwhile the wives and daughters of regime
hard-liners and their corporate cronies live lives of opulence, debauchery and
excess. If the morality police tried entering high-end districts of north Tehran
and telling these trophy wives how to dress, they would quickly find themselves
dispatched to the farthest reaches of Baluchistan!
However, the protesters in Iran have irretrievably crossed a psychological
barrier. Girls publicly cutting their hair is a supreme act of defiance —
rebutting the imposed demands of the regime while rejecting standards of beauty
and submission to a stiflingly patriarchal society designed to keep women in
their place.
People are hungry, poor and jobless as a result of regime neglect and
incompetence, but the protests are about so much more than this; they strike at
the very core of women’s rights to live their lives unmolested. Make no mistake,
the slogan “Woman, Life, Freedom” seeks nothing short of regime change. Iranian
actors, musicians, sports personalities and activists around the world have
recorded moving videos demonstrating their solidarity with this uprising.
Attempts by the regime to murder its way out of trouble are exactly what we
should expect under the leadership of President Ebrahim Raisi. In 1988, when
Ayatollah Khomeini wanted to empty Iran’s jails of tens of thousands of
political prisoners, Raisi’s “Death Committee” simply subjected them to kangaroo
trials and had them all executed. To exist as an Iranian woman is to subsist in
a state of apartheid. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s ludicrous assertion that
these protests are a foreign plot has exacerbated popular anger. If anything,
the international response has been too feeble. It has taken distracted Western
states a couple of weeks to realise that events of potentially enormous
geopolitical significance are afoot across Iran. Yet when I spoke at Britain’s
Conservative Party conference last week, I was once again taken aback by the
torrent of wilful naivety about Iran. One audience member confidently told me
that the ayatollahs couldn’t possibly desire a nuclear bomb, since such a thing
would be un-Islamic — as if slaughtering young girls and launching missile
strikes against neighboring Muslim states were perfectly permissible under
Islam!
Another participant tried to contextualise all this strife as being part of an
eternal struggle between Shiites and Sunnis. What eternal struggle? In recent
times in Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain and Yemen it was entirely normal for Sunnis and
Shiites to coexist and intermarry. During my childhood in Lebanon, we had no
comprehension of any distinctions between Sunni, Shiite or Druze neighbors,
while relishing the national holidays and sharing of sweets that came from
celebrating each other’s festivals. This recent phenomenon of explosive
sectarian hostilities is almost entirely due to the cynical stirring of
intercommunal tensions in pursuit of supremacy, by a theocratic regime in whose
constitution “exporting the revolution” is enshrined.
For schoolgirls who should be far too young to have any concept of nationwide
political developments, these events constitute unforgettable formative
memories, and create a determination to bring down this murderous regime when
the opportunity presents itself. A video went viral of angry schoolgirls
shouting down a Basij member sent to speak to them, while Raisi visited a
university to be taunted by chants of “mullahs get lost.” To be fair, Raisi
appears to have been trying to provoke the students — reciting a poem comparing
protesters to “flies.” But how can the ayatollahs hope to retain power when even
young girls tear up photos of Khamenei and chant “death to the dictator”?
Even if Iranians aren’t immediately rewarded with the liberation they seek, the
killers of Mahsa, Nika and Sarina have made it a certainty that, some time soon,
enough citizens will descend into the streets to sweep this detested regime
aside once and for all.
These girls are Iran’s future. Soon, they will consign these evil, discredited
old men to the rat-infested sewers of history.
• Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle
East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has
interviewed numerous heads of state.
Kingdom’s US critics must have missed Zelensky’s thanks to
Riyadh
Faisal J. Abbas/Arab News/October 10/2022
No sooner had the OPEC+ oil producers’ alliance decided last week to reduce
output in November by 2 million barrels per day, than a barrage of criticism
from Washington was homing in on its target like a heat-seeking missile — and
that target was, of course, Saudi Arabia. Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut (D)
called for “a wholesale re-revaluation of the US alliance with Saudi Arabia,”
and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said it was “clear OPEC+ is
aligning with Russia.”
One wonders where these people were in March, when Saudi Arabia joined 140 other
countries at the UN in denouncing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
One also wonders if any of them listened to Saudi Energy Minister Prince
Abdulaziz bin Salman’s thorough rationale after the OPEC+ meeting. He explained,
among other things, that the alliance had to be proactive as central banks in
the West moved to tackle inflation with higher interest rates — which would make
a global recession more likely and lead to reduced demand for oil.
One has to wonder whether the Kingdom’s US critics think they are more committed
to Ukraine’s interests than the country’s own president! Conspiracy theorists
can say what they want, but the job of OPEC+ job isn’t to give Washington a slap
in the face, or to side with Moscow against Ukraine. The alliance exists to
safeguard the stability of the oil market — a market that keeps the world
turning.
Now, it is true that the Kingdom has maintained good relations with Moscow, and
offered to be a reliable mediator in this conflict. However, when the value of
these relations is recognized by none other than Volodymyr Zelensky, one has to
wonder whether those Democrats in Washington think they are more committed to
Ukraine’s interests than the country’s own president!
In a video interview with Arab News last week, Zelensky thanked the Kingdom and
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for their efforts to broker the largest
prisoner swap of the war, with almost 300 detainees exchanged. “Given the ties
that the crown prince has with Russia, probably it was, you know, a good chance
of success, and I’m very much thankful to him for this brilliant result,” he
said.
Incidentally, among the prisoners released by Russia were two Americans — and
while the White House and the State Department issued brief statements thanking
Riyadh for its role, the silence from Saudi Arabia’s critics in Congress was
deafening. Of course, the mid-term elections are only four weeks away, and
thanking the Kingdom doesn’t win votes.
This is not a criticism only of Democrats; Riyadh has worked very well in the
past with both major US political parties. Rather it is a plea to opportunist
politicians to stop treating the Kingdom like an electoral football, to be given
a kicking every time Americans go to the polls. Saudis are not responsible for
your internal woes, or your ill-advised decisions.
Take the recent call by some Democrats for a halt to US arms sales to Saudi
Arabia. While this obviously goes down well with some voters, it raises serious
questions about these politicians’ understanding of basic logic.
Texas is a lot nearer than Riyadh. But perhaps Biden feels hamstrung by the
pledge he made on the election campaign trail in New Hampshire in February 2020.
Allow me to simplify it for them. The Tehran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen use
Iranian drones (the same drones used by Russia against Ukraine) to target not
only Saudi civilians, but also Saudi energy infrastructure. Now, what happens
when the Kingdom’s ability to defend itself is limited because of ill-advised US
decisions, and fuel supplies are restricted because a drone has blown up a
refinery? Basic economics: prices will go up — precisely the outcome these
politicians say they are trying to avoid!
Americans must understand that the price of fuel at the pump for US motorists
—the issue that so exercises US politicians as polling day draws closer — is a
consequence of decisions made not in Vienna or Riyadh, but in Washington. As the
Saudi Minister of State Adel Al-Jubeir so cogently observed to Fox News: “The
reason you have high prices in the US is because you have a refining shortage
that has been in existence for more than 20 years. You haven’t built refineries
in decades.”
One final point: If the price of gasoline is such a worry for the Biden
administration, then the solution surely lies closer to home; the US is the
world’s biggest oil producer, and Texas is a lot nearer than Riyadh. But perhaps
the president feels hamstrung by the pledge he made on the election campaign
trail in New Hampshire in February 2020: “No more drilling on federal lands,
period. Period, period, period”— another error of judgment for which the blame
can hardly be laid at the door of Saudi Arabia.
Like so many US issues, fuel prices can be solved in America itself. But that
would require the Democrats to swallow their pride, to be reasonable in
negotiation with the other side of the House, and to put America first…
something they have not yet proved they can do!
د. ماجد
رفي زاده : روسيا وإيران والغرب
Russia, Iran and the West
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/October 10/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/112631/baria-alamuddin-these-girls-are-irans-future-this-murderous-regime-belongs-to-the-past-dr-majid-rafizadeh-russia-iran-and-the-west-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%b9%d8%a9-%d8%b9%d9%84/
With both the Iranian regime and Russia being hit by further sanctions from the
West, particularly the US, the two have become militarily, politically and
economically closer than ever before.
One of the common interests between Moscow and Tehran is a desire to
counterbalance and even scuttle European and US foreign policy, particularly at
these critical times.
Militarily, the Iranian regime continues to provide Russia with drones. Although
there have been some reports that Iranian drones have been failing, the Wall
Street Journal last month confirmed that “Russia has inflicted serious damage on
Ukrainian forces with recently introduced Iranian drones.” This is due to the
fact that the Iranian drones have proved very difficult to shoot down.
Russia is tilting more toward Tehran as a result of these drones. Russia’s
employment of Iranian drones has caused the deaths of many Ukrainians. Its
increasing use of Iranian Mohajer and Shahed drones has resulted in Ukraine
calling for support. Col. Rodion Kulagin of the Ukrainian army stated that he
“hoped the US and allies could provide Ukraine with more advanced anti-drone
technologies, or would step in to disrupt Iranian drone shipments to Russia.”It
is worth noting that, by supplying Russia with drones, the Iranian regime is
likely helping Moscow save on expenses and score victories in Ukraine. As Serhiy
Bratchuk, spokesperson for Odesa’s regional administration, warned: “(Russia) is
trying to save on missiles... these Shaheds are much cheaper, they can be used
much more frequently and in pairs. We are seeing that the enemy can even launch
several of these kamikaze drones for one attack.”
Another critical and common interest between Russia and the theocratic
establishment of Iran is circumventing Western sanctions, which have inflicted
damage on the economies of both countries. This has led to increasing trade
between Moscow and Tehran. Trade between the two countries rose 81 percent to a
record $3.3 billion in 2021. They are planning to boost trade by another 300
percent to $10 billion a year.
By supplying Russia with drones, the Iranian regime is likely helping Moscow
save on expenses and score victories in Ukraine.
In May, Russia confirmed it was strengthening its trade with Iran. “We’re on
track to raise trade, economic, logistics, investment, financial, banking
cooperation, despite the unprecedented pressure that Russia is experiencing,”
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told businesses in Tehran.
Meanwhile, the Iranian regime is relying on Russia to help it get a favorable
nuclear deal. When it comes to the nuclear negotiations, Moscow has been
returning Tehran’s favor by taking its side and seemingly helping it get more
concessions from the Western powers. Russia’s chief negotiator Mikhail Ulyanov
praised his Iranian “colleagues,” stating: “I am absolutely sincere in this
regard when I say that Iran got much more than it could expect (from the Biden
administration).”
The Iranian leaders have been emboldened because their actions have not been
dealt with forcefully by the US and its European allies, who appear to be
concerned that tough measures may scuttle the prospects of reviving the nuclear
deal. As US Rep. Michael McCaul pointed out: “When you project strength, you
have peace. When you project weakness like this, how can any country look at
this performance and not think about weakness and maybe incompetence? And that
is inviting this aggression.”
This is why the Biden administration should not be trusting Russia to be the
sole country tasked with overseeing the Iranian regime’s compliance with the
nuclear deal and keeping secure Iran’s highly enriched uranium — thus allowing
Moscow to return it to Iran if the mullahs request it. There is strong
opposition to such a provision in the US Congress, as 50 bipartisan lawmakers
last month wrote to President Joe Biden: “We strongly urge your administration
not to permit Russia to be the recipient of Iran’s enriched uranium nor to have
the right to conduct nuclear work with the Islamic Republic, including a $10
billion contract to expand Iran's nuclear infrastructure.”In a nutshell, Russia
and the Iranian regime are increasing ties at all levels. The West must stand
firm against this growing relationship.
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political
scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh
Americans needlessly placed in fear of Armageddon
Dalia Al-Aqidi/Arab News/October 10/2022
During a reception for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in New York
last Thursday, US President Joe Biden shocked America and the international
community when he warned of a deadly new war. Although several US security
officials do not see any evidence of an imminent Russian plan for a nuclear
strike, Biden believes that the world is at risk of nuclear “Armageddon.” He
added that it was the greatest direct threat since the 1962 Cuban Missile
Crisis. Biden told attendees that he takes Russian President Vladimir Putin’s
threats seriously. “We’ve got a guy I know fairly well. He’s not joking when he
talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical
weapons because his military is, you might say, significantly underperforming,”
he said.
The next day, as is the usual drill, the administration came out to clarify the
president’s remarks and divert the course of the argument away from what he
said. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did not directly respond to
questions related to Biden’s Armageddon comments. However, she told reporters
that Russia’s talk of using nuclear weapons was irresponsible and there was no
way to use them without unintended consequences. “If the Cuban Missile Crisis
has taught us anything, it is the value of reducing nuclear risk and not
brandishing it,” Jean-Pierre said.
What does it mean when the US president says something as dangerous as this but
no one from his administration can confirm it?
According to CNN, Biden’s comments about the prospect of nuclear Armageddon were
not scripted and aides back in Washington first learned of his remarks through
news reports and dispatches from the press pool in the room.
Biden’s statement was utterly counterproductive: He scared the American people
instead of sending a strong message to Putin.
Meanwhile, Politico reported that the Pentagon had not seen any indications that
Putin was planning to launch a nuclear strike, even following Biden’s warning.
“The tenor of Biden’s remarks were different compared to comments by officials
from his own administration, which have been much more measured. National
Security Adviser Jake Sullivan recently said the US takes Putin’s threats
seriously but does not see any indications that he is planning to use nuclear
weapons,” it stated.
With his Armageddon statement, did Biden intend to instill fear among the
American people less than a month before the midterm elections in an attempt to
deliver a message that Democrats are the only ones who will face Putin’s threat
and stop him?
Or perhaps he wanted to convince citizens of the importance of US military aid
to Ukraine, as some have started to complain about the large sums involved while
the country is going through great economic hardship and inflation.
His statement was utterly counterproductive: He scared the American people
instead of sending a strong message to Russia that, if it ever used nuclear
weapons anywhere, it would pay a hefty price.
Somebody like Putin would never jeopardize his position, not even for his own
people, who have now begun fleeing Russia to avoid being sent to fight in
Ukraine. No matter how badly Russia’s military mission in Ukraine goes, it is
improbable that he would use his strategic arsenal to strike the US and trigger
a horrific nuclear war. Having said that, Russia could use low-yield tactical
nuclear weapons to target a sparsely populated Ukrainian area or a military
installation to terrorize the world and put pressure on President Volodymyr
Zelensky to surrender or reach an agreement.
On the other hand, accepting the Ukrainian request to join NATO would be the
worst possible step, opening the door to a third world war. The US president,
along with his European allies, should have threatened Moscow with Armageddon if
the Kremlin crossed the nuclear weapons line, instead of sowing fear and anxiety
in the hearts of his people.
• Dalia Al-Aqidi is a senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy. Twitter:
@DaliaAlAqidi
Oil Production Cut... Between Rationality and Electoral
Opportunism
Salman Al-Dossary/Asharq Al-Awsat/October, 10/2022
It would be wrong to assume that the changes in oil prices are part of a
politically-motivated Saudi-American confrontation. The last thing Riyadh is
thinking about is using oil as a weapon to balance out the scene or harm one
side or the other. As Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir told
Fox News: “Oil is not a weapon. It's not a fighter plane. It's not a tank. You
can't shoot it.”Stabilizing prices is the goal of OPEC+ and the latest decision
to cut production was taken unanimously by members. Saudi Arabia – as leader of
this alliance – is a just a member of this group. Here, we mustn’t forget that
the United States is the world’s greatest producer of oil! The developments in
the oil market are nothing new, but scenarios that have been repeated several
times in the past. The developments are – just like free markets – subject to
supply and demand that is, in turn, affected by surrounding and geopolitical
factors.
The only change this time around is that the Americans have decided to read the
production cut from a political angle, rather than as an administration and
political leadership that has witnessed several similar events over the years.
What many people are unaware of or seemingly deliberately neglecting is the
impact the Russia-Ukraine crisis has on prices. The same can be said of
fluctuations in the gas and coal markets and the rise in their prices that is
impacting the price of electricity in Europe and Japan and other countries.
Added to the above – and this is very important – is the impact the slowdown of
the economy has on prices. The US and Europe’s push to impose sanctions on
Russia is another element that must be taken into consideration and that has
slipped the minds of people who have made superficial statements for electoral
gains.Everyone chooses to attack Saudi Arabia given its clout and importance in
regional and international decision-making.
As an observer, I have always admired OPEC+’s ability to take preemptive
decisions. The group is active and quick to respond to changes. It is ready to
confront any market fluctuations. I believe the current developments in the
market prompted the members to opt for a cut to achieve a balance in the market
and guide its future decisions. Stakeholders, those working in the oil industry,
economists and legal figures know very well that the drafting of the OPEC+
agreement was based on an accurate and constant monitoring of supply and demand
in the market. It was based on collective work aimed at achieving balance.
This means that the decisions of the members are based on responding to current
factors, not political or economic agendas as some presume. That is why, and for
other reasons as well, no member of the group – regardless of their desire or
political weight - can veer off the agreement. Not Saudi Arabia, Russia, the
United Arab Emirates or others. Everything has to pass through the group and
achieve the interests of the members, which will reflect positively on the
global economy. Western politicians always speak of oil prices and their desire
to lower them. They adopt populist slogans with the purpose of achieving
electoral and other gains. Of course, they certainly do not tell you about the
other essential elements to balance the prices, such as the importance of
investments in the industry that the US and others are trying to obstruct. I had
previously addressed this issue in a previous article, “Why Is Oil Always at the
Forefront of Confrontation?!” OPEC+ had previously warned of the dangerous
impact the drop in investments would have on the ability of supply in handling
the growing demand in the market. America, for example, has suffered from a
shortage in refining for 20 years, but it has not built a refinery in decades!
Much more important than all the above is that Saudi Arabia and the US enjoy
deep historic relations that go back long decades. The ties cover politics,
defense, the economy, investment, energy and many other domains. Riyadh’s ties
with Washington cannot be restricted to oil prices. They cannot be controlled by
a group of exporters. The relationship goes beyond partisan interests or
fleeting electoral slogans.