English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For September 30/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Matthew12/38-45: Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here. “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 29-30/2022
Lebanese parliament fails to elect new head of state/Timour Azhari and
63 blank votes, 36 votes for Mouawad, 11 for Edde in 1st round of presidential election
Aoun expresses relief after first round of presidential election
Mouawad says presidential session was 'key step' for uniting opposition
MPs voice stances after parliament fails to elect president
Raad says blocs in 'early stages' of finding a president
Abi Ramia: Mouawad doesn't meet FPM standards for new president
Làzaro urges Lebanon and Israel to make 'constructive and expanded' use of Tripartite forum

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 29-30/2022
Former Iranian president Rafsanjani’s daughter arrested for ‘inciting riots’
Iran targets celebrities, media over Mahsa Amini protests
Iran targets celebrities, media over Mahsa Amini protests
US says citizen killed in Iran strikes on Iraqi Kurdistan
UN Sec-Gen 'Closely' Following Developments in Iran
Late Shah's Son Hails Iran's 'Revolution for and By Women'
US levels new sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sales
Moscow tries to draft fleeing Russian men at the borders
Kremlin will annex 4 regions of Ukraine on Friday
US announces $1.1 billion more in military aid for Ukraine
NATO threatens to retaliate against suspected Nord Stream sabotage, ratcheting up tension with Russia
Russia: Nord Stream Leaks Occurred in Zone Controlled by US Intelligence
Israel’s Lapid ducks calls from PA head Abbas
Florida city 'devastated' by Hurricane Ian

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 29-30/2022
Erdogan Threatens Greece/Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/September 29, 2022
Muslims Accuse Queen of Muslim Behavior/Raymond Ibrahim/September 29, 2022
John Podesta: Biden's New Green Investment Czar/Peter Schweizer/Gatestone Institute/September 29, 2022
The Real Iran...is Not Today's Iran!/Saleh Al-Qallab/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 29, 2022
Is this the End of the Muslim Brotherhood?/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 29, 2022
Why hasn’t the US asked Khamenei to step down yet?/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/September 29/2022
Iranian regime must address the people’s grievances/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/September 29/2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 29-30/2022
Lebanese parliament fails to elect new head of state
Timour Azhari and Laila Bassam/Reuters/September 29, 20229
The Lebanese parliament failed to elect a new head of state on Thursday to replace President Michel Aoun when his term ends on Oct. 31, signalling the likelihood of the post being left vacant as the country grapples with a financial crisis. Shi'ite Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said he would only call a new session once he saw there was consensus on a candidate for the post, which is reserved for a Maronite Christian in Lebanon's sectarian system. The election rules mean no one party or alliance can impose their choice, requiring a two-thirds quorum in the politically fractured parliament. The presidency has fallen vacant several times since the 1975-90 civil war. Anticipating another vacuum, politicians have stepped up efforts to agree a new cabinet led by Sunni Muslim Prime Minister Najib Mikati - who is currently serving in a caretaker capacity - to which presidential powers could pass.
The powerful Iran-backed Shi'ite group Hezbollah cast blank ballots, as did its allies the Shi'ite Amal Movement and Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement, totalling 63 of the 122 lawmakers who attended. "The country is in a deep and hard crisis...which requires agreement on a consensus president, not a president of confrontation," said Hezbollah MP Ibrahim Moussawi. Hezbollah's sway over parliament has diminished since the group and its allies lost their majority in a May election which left an even more splintered legislature. The anti-Hezbollah politician Michel Moawad, whose father Rene was assassinated in 1989 just 18 days after becoming president, was backed by 36 lawmakers, including the Saudi-aligned Lebanese Forces. Lebanon's other heavyweight Maronites are equally divisive, including the Hezbollah-aligned Suleiman Frangieh and LF leader Samir Geagea, a Hezbollah opponent. Analysts see no obvious compromise candidate at present. Foreign powers including the United States and European Union have urged timely presidential elections. A presidential vacuum could further complicate government decision-making as Lebanon enters the fourth year of a financial collapse policymakers have done little or nothing to address. It is Lebanon's worst since the 1975-90 civil war. If a new cabinet cannot be agreed by Oct. 31, Lebanon would have neither a fully empowered government nor a president. Hezbollah, Amal and FPM lawmakers left Thursday's session before a second round of voting - when only 65 votes are needed to elect a president - leading to a loss of quorum. Independent lawmaker Firas Hamdan said the kind of consensus sought by Berri was to blame for Lebanon's troubles. "We are spinning in the same circle. This poses a danger to us, to the country and to the economy," he said. The presidency was vacant for 29 months before Aoun was elected in 2016, thanks to a deal with Saad al-Hariri, who became prime minister. Foreign states have historically played a part in determining the presidency's fate in a country that has been a theatre for international rivalries. In 2008, a six-month presidential vacuum was brought to an end by a Qatari-mediated deal backed by other powers.

63 blank votes, 36 votes for Mouawad, 11 for Edde in 1st round of presidential election
Agence France Presse/September 29, 2022
The Lebanese parliament on Thursday held a first presidential election round in which no candidate managed to garner 86 votes needed to win from the first round. As 63 MPs cast blank ballots, 36 voted for MP Michel Mouawad, 11 voted for entrepreneur and philanthropist Salim Edde, 10 voted for "Lebanon", one voted for Mahsa Amini who died in Iranian morality police custody, and one voted for "the approach of (slain ex-PM) Rashid Karami". Dozens of MPs walked out of the session after the results of the first round were announced, stripping the second round of the needed 86-MP quorum. This prompted Speaker Nabih Berri to announce that he will not call for another session before "consensus" is secured over a certain candidate. The Lebanese Forces, the Kataeb Party, the Progressive Socialist Party and a number of MPs and small blocs had announced prior to the session that they would vote for Mouawad. The Change bloc meanwhile said that it would vote for Edde.
Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil had announced Wednesday that his bloc would cast blank votes. Deep divisions among MPs have raised fears that Lebanon could be left without a president for months after President Michel Aoun's mandate runs out at the end of October.
The incumbent's own election in 2016 came after a 29-month vacancy at the presidential palace as lawmakers made 45 failed attempts to reach consensus on a candidate. Under Lebanon's longstanding confessional power-sharing system, the presidency is reserved for a Maronite Christian.
In the first round of voting, a two-thirds majority of 86 votes is required for a candidate to win. When the election goes to a second round, the required majority falls to 65. "If there is a political vacuum, the economic crisis would intensify and there is a clear risk of security incidents," said analyst Karim Bitar. The Lebanese pound has lost more than 95 percent of its value on the black market since 2019 in a financial meltdown branded by the World Bank as one of the worst in modern times. The crisis has plunged more than 80 percent of the population into poverty, as food prices have risen by 2,000 percent, the United Nations has said. The international community has pressed Lebanese lawmakers to elect a new president in "timely" fashion to avoid plunging the country deeper into crisis. Last week, France, Saudi Arabia and the United States issued a joint statement urging MPs to "elect a president who can unite the Lebanese people." "As Lebanon’s parliament prepares to elect a new president, we stress the importance of timely elections in compliance with the constitution," the statement said. French ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo called on Thursday for immediate action to lift Lebanon out of its downward spiral. "Lebanon can get out of the crisis," she tweeted. "It is a challenge, but can and must be done."

Aoun expresses relief after first round of presidential election
Naharnet/September 29, 2022
President Michel Aoun on Thursday followed up from his office on the details of the first presidential election round that was held in parliament, expressing “relief over the start of the electoral process in an atmosphere of democracy,” the Presidency said. “Democracy has always characterized the Lebanese system over the years, although the sequence of events over the past years necessitates an evaluation of the general political performance in the country,” the Presidency added in a statement. Aoun also hoped that more electoral sessions “will follow within the constitutional timeframe so that MPs can elect a new president who would continue the course of reform and fighting corruption that started six years ago, in addition to confronting the difficult economic and social situations that citizens are suffering from.”Parliament on Thursday failed to elect a new president, with the majority of lawmakers casting blank ballots and some walking out. The failure pointed out deep political divisions that threaten prolonged political paralysis and a leadership void at time where Lebanon is suffering an economic meltdown and has struggled to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout. Parliament's deep divisions between Iran-backed Hezbollah and allies, traditional political adversaries, and a dozen reformist legislators continues to intensify. In recent months, no majority or consensus candidate in Parliament has emerged. The six-year term of Aoun ends on Oct. 31. He is a retired military general and an ally of Iran-backed Hezbollah and was elected in October 2016 following a similar political stalemate that lasted two years.

Mouawad says presidential session was 'key step' for uniting opposition
Naharnet/September 29, 2022
MP Michel Mouawad, who garnered 36 votes in the first round of the presidential election session on Thursday, said the session witnessed “a key step on the course of uniting the opposition,” seeing as “a significant majority from the opposition” voted for him. “Today 36 MPs granted me their confidence and four expressed their support for me despite their absence for various reasons,” Mouawad said at a press conference after the session. Thanking all the MPs who voted for him, the lawmaker said he represents “the choice of sovereignty, reform and accord among the Lebanese.”He also stressed that “consensus cannot be built with arms outside the state nor through dragging Lebanon into certain axes.”“Consensus is built on the basis of accepting the other and under the ceiling of the Lebanese state,” Mouawad added. “My choice and what I represent is the choice of returning to the constitution, the Taef Accord, the state of institutions, the separation of the administration from politics and the independence of the judiciary, because justice is the basis of stability in Lebanon,” the lawmaker went on to say. “I’m the son of (late president) Fouad Chehab and (slain president) Rene Mouawad and my choice is to return hope to the sons of the country and to build the state and its economy,” Mouawad added. “If we stay alone, there won’t be a capability for change and salvation and I extend my hand to unite the opposition,” the MP said. “If we stay separated, we won’t be able to achieve reform,” he added.

MPs voice stances after parliament fails to elect president
Naharnet/September 29, 2022
Lebanese Forces deputy chief MP George Adwan announced Thursday that the first presidential election session proved that the ruling coalition is “in disarray,” after the Hezbollah-led camp refrained from voting for any of its two likely candidates, Suleiman Franjieh and Jebran Bassil, opting instead to cast blank votes. “The opposition managed to propose a candidate in a first step to broaden support and unite the opposition, and the furthermost thing that the establishment managed to do was to cast blank votes,” Adwan said. “This is a sign of confusion, seeing as they have failed to agree on a name,” he added.
“We voted for Michel Mouawad and I call on all opposition parties to unite our efforts and what’s important is to secure the election of a sovereign and reformist president,” Adwan went on to say. He added: “We’re not concerned with reaching an agreement with foreign forces and Michel Mouawad is made in Lebanon and is the son of martyr president Rene Mouawad.” Kataeb Party leader MP Sami Gemayel for his part said the opposition has “a chance this month to work, communicate and unite our ranks as opposition, in order to deal with the other camp in a balanced way and to reach a solution for the country.”
Strong Lebanon bloc MP Simon Abi Ramia meanwhile said that the new president “must enjoy characteristics that suit the current period.”“He should finalize the agreement with the International Monetary Fund and strengthen Lebanon’s ties with the world. He must also show openness towards everyone and must enjoy Christian support through the endorsement of one of the biggest two Christian blocs in parliament – the Free Patriotic Movement or the LF – or the support of both of them,” Abi Ramia added. MP Ali Hassan Khalil of the Development and Liberation bloc said that Thursday’s session was “an invitation to all forces to talk to each other,” warning that “in the absence of consensus no new president can be elected.”And as MP Tony Franjieh said that he cast a blank vote, MP Paula Yacoubian of the Change bloc said that “the Change MPs have a basket of names.”“We demanded that they agree with us on the proposed names and despite the contacts, we did not find consensus over any of the names,” Yacoubian added. And noting that the LF had agreed to the bloc’s initiative and on the idea of voting for someone who is not part of the traditional political alignments, Yacoubian pointed out that Michel Mouawad is “not outside this polarization.”

Raad says blocs in 'early stages' of finding a president
Associated Press/September 29, 2022
Senior Hezbollah legislator Mohammed Raad said Thursday that the crisis-hit country's parliamentary blocs are in the "early stages" of finding a president who would "bring stability to the country.""The blocs need to discuss and develop an understanding over a possible consensus candidate," Raad told the press, after parliament held a first presidential election session in which no candidate managed to win the 86 votes needed to win from the first round. MP Halima Qaaqour of the reformist Change bloc meanwhile blasted lawmakers for what she called a "negative calm with no consensus," fearing a prolonged delay in electing a new president. "The Constitution says it's the majority of votes," she told reporters. "I think it's no longer a logical approach to try to reach a consensus in a country that continues to collapse."

Abi Ramia: Mouawad doesn't meet FPM standards for new president
Naharnet/September 29, 2022
Consensus over a presidential candidate is “not possible until the moment” and MP Michel Mouawad does not meet the standards of the Free Patriotic Movement for new president, MP Simon Abi Ramia of the FPM said on Thursday, shortly after a first presidential vote session in which Mouawad emerged as the opposition camp’s leading candidate. “The way the session went confirmed that no political camp is capable of electing a president without consensus with the other parties, due to the democratic and pluralistic system in Lebanon,” Abi Ramia said. He added that the FPM and the Lebanese Forces are an “obligatory pathway” for any president to be representative of the Christian community. “What’s needed today is to elect a president who enjoys characteristics that are appropriate for the current stage in order to pull Lebanon out of economic collapse,” the MP went on to say. Calling on all parties to “deal responsibly” without “factionalism nor provocation,” Abi Ramia said Thursday’s session managed to “create positive dynamism that gave clear numbers about the presidential scene.”

Làzaro urges Lebanon and Israel to make 'constructive and expanded' use of Tripartite forum
Naharnet/September 29, 2022
UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Aroldo Lázaro on Thursday chaired a Tripartite meeting with senior officers of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Israeli army at a U.N. position in Ras al-Naqoura. The UNIFIL chief highlighted that the U.N. Security Council, in recently renewing UNIFIL’s mandate had stressed the value of the meetings: “Resolution 2650 reiterated the importance of the Tripartite mechanism, strongly urging the parties to make constructive and expanded use of this forum.”Discussions also focused on the situation along the Blue Line, air and ground violations, and other issues within the scope of UNIFIL’s mandate under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006) and subsequent resolutions. The Force Commander noted that resolution 2650 underscored the parties’ obligations to action and accountability in case of violations. He also urged immediate action to address an increasing number of “incidents of aggressive behavior” along the Blue Line, underlining that it is vital at what is a sensitive time. With the upcoming olive harvest, he looked forward to long-standing local arrangements assisted by UNIFIL. “This is of immediate and concrete benefit to local communities as a humanitarian arrangement.” Since the end of the 2006 war in south Lebanon, regular Tripartite meetings have been held under UNIFIL’s auspices as an essential conflict-management and confidence-building mechanism. “Through its liaison and coordination mechanisms, UNIFIL remains the only forum through which Lebanese and Israeli armies officially meet,” UNIFIL added in a statement.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 29-30/2022
Former Iranian president Rafsanjani’s daughter arrested for ‘inciting riots’
Arab News/September 29, 2022
DUBAI: Faezeh Hashemi, the daughter of former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, has been arrested in Tehran by security forces for ‘inciting riots’ that were triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while on police custody. Before her arrest, Hashemi had said that the Iranian government has been referring to the protests for the past days as ‘riots’ and ‘sedition’ to suppress them, was used as the basis for her detention, news website Radio Farda reported. Amini, who is Kurdish, was visiting Tehran with her family to visit relatives when she was accosted by the notorious morality police for allegedly breaching Iran’s strict dress code – including wearing of the hijab or head covering – and eventually arrested. Her relatives claimed the beatings Amini received from the morality police, including a violent blow to the head that caused her death. “What [authorities] want to convey is that these are not protests, they’re riots, but in fact they are protests,” Radio Farda quoted Hashemi in an audio recording it obtained. “Those who have seen the protests know that, for example, if the youth set fire to garbage cans, it’s because the [security forces] have used tear gas and they want to neutralize it; or when they beat a member of the security forces it’s because they have been attacked and they’re defending themselves,” she said. Meanwhile, hundreds of academics issued an open letter urging feminist communities to join them in building transnational solidarity with women and marginalized groups in Iran. The letter was signed by academics including those from universities in Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia who said that the death of Amini was ‘among many other state murders committed systemically and purposefully by the gender-apartheid regime of Iran.’“This country-wide revolt is against not only the brutal murder of Mahsa but also the essence of the Islamic regime,” the letter said. “The demand is loud and clear: an end to a theocratic regime whose multi-faceted violence against marginalized bodies is manifested in Mahsa’s death.”

Iran targets celebrities, media over Mahsa Amini protests
Agence France Presse/September 29, 2022
Iran stepped up pressure on celebrities and journalists Thursday over the wave of women-led protests sparked by outrage over the death of Mahsa Amini after she was arrested by the Islamic republic's morality police. Filmmakers, athletes, musicians and actors have backed the demonstrations, and many saw it as a signal when the national football team remained in their black tracksuits when the anthems were played before a match in Vienna against Senegal. "We will take action against the celebrities who have fanned the flames of the riots," Tehran provincial governor Mohsen Mansouri said, according to the ISNA news agency. Iran's judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei similarly charged that "those who became famous thanks to support from the system have joined the enemy when times are difficult."The warnings came after almost two weeks of protests across Iran and a deadly crackdown that, human rights group Amnesty International says, has been marked by "ruthless violence by security forces."Public anger flared after Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, died on September 16, three days after her arrest for allegedly breaching Iran's strict rules for women on wearing hijab headscarves and modest clothing.
"Woman, Life, Freedom!" protesters have chanted ever since, in Iran's biggest demonstrations in almost three years, in which women have defiantly burned their headscarves and cut their hair. President Ebrahim Raisi warned that, despite "grief and sorrow" over Amini's death, public security "is the red line of the Islamic republic of Iran and no one is allowed to break the law and cause chaos".
'No to dictatorship'
Iran on Thursday slammed "interference" in its internal affairs by France over a statement in support of the protests, having earlier complained to Britain and Norway. Solidarity protests with Iranian women have been held worldwide, and rallies are planned in 70 cities Saturday. One protest erupted in Afghanistan's capital Kabul, where women rallied outside Iran's embassy with banners that read: "Iran has risen, now it's our turn!" and "From Kabul to Iran, say no to dictatorship!"Forces of the ruling hardline Islamist Taliban fired their guns into the air to disperse the crowd, then swiftly snatched the banners and tore them up, an AFP correspondent reported. Iran on Thursday arrested the reporter Elahe Mohammadi, who had covered Amini's funeral, her lawyer said, the latest of a growing number of journalists to be detained. Police have also arrested journalist Niloufar Hamedi of the reformist Shargh daily, who went to the hospital where Amini lay in a coma and helped expose the case to the world. Intelligence officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps arrested 50 members of "an organized network" behind the "riots" in the holy Shiite city of Qom, the Guards said according to Fars news agency.
'Violence against women'
London-based Amnesty International criticized Iran's "widespread patterns of unlawful use of force and ruthless violence by security forces."It said this included the use of live ammunition and metal pellets, heavy beatings and sexual violence against women, all "under the cover of deliberate ongoing internet and mobile disruptions.""Dozens of people, including children, have been killed so far and hundreds injured," said the group's secretary general Agnes Callamard. Fars news agency has said "around 60" people had been killed, while Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights has reported a death toll of at least 76 people. Iran has blamed outside forces for the protests and Wednesday launched cross-border missile and drone strikes that killed 13 people in Iraq's Kurdistan region, accusing armed groups based there of fuelling the unrest. The Iranian government -- its economy already hit by punishing sanctions over its contested nuclear program -- has sought to play down the crisis. Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said he told Western diplomats at recent UN meetings that the protests were "not a big deal" for the stability of the clerical state. "There is not going to be regime change in Iran," he told National Public Radio in New York on Wednesday. "Don't play to the emotions of the Iranian people."

US says citizen killed in Iran strikes on Iraqi Kurdistan
Washington (AFP)/September 29, 2022
The United States said Thursday that one of its citizens was killed in Iranian strikes on Iraqi Kurdistan as it separately announced fresh enforcement of sanctions on Tehran's oil sales. Iran's clerical state on Thursday carried out cross-border strikes, with 13 reported dead, amid unrest at home sparked by the death in custody of an Iranian Kurdish woman by the notorious morality police. "We can confirm that a US citizen was killed as a result of a rocket attack in the Iraqi Kurdistan region" on Thursday, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said. Citing privacy laws, he declined further details. But he reiterated US denunciations of the strikes. "We continue to condemn Iran's violations of Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Patel told reporters. Asked if there would be retaliation, Patel said the United States has "a number of tools and a number of lines of efforts to continue to hold Iran accountable for its destabilizing actions in the region." The United States has imposed sanctions on the morality police -- accused by protesters of killing in custody 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she violated the Islamic republic's strict rules on women's dress -- and has worked to support restoration of internet access inside Iran. The unrest following Amini's death on September 16, which has killed dozens, came as President Joe Biden's administration negotiates indirectly through the European Union on returning to a 2015 nuclear deal scrapped by his predecessor Donald Trump. If Tehran agrees to the terms for returning to compliance with the deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the United States would lift its unilateral ban on other nations buying Iranian oil. The Biden administration made clear Thursday it was enforcing sanctions for now, announcing punitive measures over Iranian oil trading of companies in China, India and the United Arab Emirates as well as Iran. "As Iran continues to accelerate its nuclear program in violation of the JCPOA, we will continue to accelerate our enforcement of sanctions on Iran's petroleum and petrochemical sales under authorities that would be removed under the JCPOA," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

UN Sec-Gen 'Closely' Following Developments in Iran
Washington - Ali Barada/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 29, 2022
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his growing concern about reports of casualties related to the protests in Iran, calling on the authorities to respect human rights, including freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association.
Guterres said in a statement issued Tuesday that he was "closely following" the ongoing protests in Iran, which began with Mahasa Amini's death. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric stated that the Secretary-General stressed to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sept. 22 "the need to respect human rights, including freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association."Guterres said he was increasingly concerned "about reports of rising fatalities, including women and children, related to the protests." The Secretary-General called on the security forces to "refrain from using unnecessary or disproportionate force" and appealed to all to "exercise utmost restraint to avoid further escalation."He concluded his statement by underling "the need for a prompt, impartial and effective investigation into Mahsa Amini's death by an independent competent authority."In a statement, the UN Women also announced its support for the "women of Iran in their rightful demands to protest injustice without reprisal, and to be free to exercise their bodily autonomy, including their choice of dress." It affirmed that it "supports them in seeking accountability, and the upholding of their basic human rights as stipulated in the Charter of the United Nations," urging relevant authorities "support and enable the expression of their full human rights in a safe environment without fear of violence, prosecution, or persecution."Earlier, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) called on the authorities to ensure the rights to due process and to release all who have been arbitrarily detained. The OHCHR urged the Iranian authorities to conduct an "adequate" investigation into the circumstances surrounding Amini's death and hold all perpetrators accountable.

Late Shah's Son Hails Iran's 'Revolution for and By Women'
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 28 September, 2022
The son of the late shah hailed Iran's mass protests as a landmark revolution by women and urged the world to add to the pressure on the clerical leadership. Reza Pahlavi, whose father was toppled in the Iranian Revolution of 1979, called for greater preparation for a future Iranian system that is secular and democratic, AFP said. "It is truly in modern times, in my opinion, the first revolution for the women, by the women -- with the support of the Iranian men, sons, brothers and fathers," Pahlavi, who lives in exile in the Washington area, told AFP. "It has come to the point, as the Spaniards would say, basta -- we've had enough."Demonstrations have swarmed major cities, with dozens killed, since 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died on September 16 in the custody of Iran's notorious morality police, allegedly for breaching the strict requirements that women wear headscarves in public. Pahlavi said: "The symbolism of today's repression is represented by women.""I think most Iranian women, when they look at the freedoms that women in the free world experience and exercise, are asking for the very same rights for themselves," he said. His grandfather, Reza Shah, banned all veils in 1936 as part of a Westernization drive inspired by neighboring Türkiye. The last shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, let the veil be a choice -- which ended when the Iranian republic imposed requirements for women's "modesty" in public. Pahlavi, the father of three daughters, said that Iranian society has come a long way from the days of "male chauvinism" and that women's choices should be respected. "Women may decide to wear or not wear the veil. But it ought to be a choice, a free choice, not imposed for ideological or religious reasons," he said.
Separation between church and state -
Pahlavi, while enjoying respect in much of the exile community, says he is not seeking to restore the monarchy, an idea that has limited support inside Iran. Working with the overseas opposition, Pahlavi favors a constituent assembly that would write a new constitution.
"There's no way you can actually have a true democratic order without a clear definition and separation of church from state," Pahlavi said. The Iranian republic has survived more than four decades despite dissent and antipathy from the West, particularly the United States. But Pahlavi insisted that the system could end at any time -- and that the world needed to be ready. "We need to consider the high possibility that this regime will not exist for long," he said. "I've been saying for some time -- it could happen in a few weeks or a few months, and we need to think of the alternative."Pahlavi said that there should be a "controlled implosion" with a smooth, peaceful transition. He praised much of the strong international comments on the protests, including from Germany and Canada. But he called for more action including the expulsion of diplomats and freezing of assets. "It's important for more than just giving moral support. These are the kinds of measures that are impactful," he said. He renewed his call for a strike fund to compensate workers, hoping that the nationwide demonstrations could transform into a general strike. Pahlavi, while supporting diplomacy, voiced misgivings over a potential return by the United States to the 2015 nuclear deal under which Iran would again be allowed to sell oil openly on global markets. Western powers often believe they can "create an incentive for the regime to change its behavior, so we can drag them back to be good boys and behave," Pahlavi said. But the republic, he said, is rooted in exporting an ideology. "With this regime, you cannot you cannot have a coexistence."

US levels new sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sales
Elizabeth Hagedorn/Al-Monitor/September 29, 2022
The latest sanctions target entities in China, Hong Kong, Iran, India and the United Arab Emirates.
The United States announced fresh sanctions Thursday on an international network of companies it says are involved in the sale of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated eight entities and several front companies based in Hong Kong, Iran, India and the United Arab Emirates over their alleged involvement in Iran’s petrochemical trade. The State Department also imposed sanctions on two China-based entities — Zhonggu Storage and Transportation Co. Ltd, which allegedly operates a commercial crude oil storage facility for Iranian petroleum, and WS Shipping Co Ltd, which it described as the ship manager for a vessel that has transported Iranian petroleum products.The sanctions come as efforts to reach a nuclear agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) remain deadlocked, mostly over Iran’s demand that the International Atomic Energy Agency close its years-old probe into nuclear material discovered at three of Iran’s undeclared nuclear sites. The Trump administration withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed tough sanctions that have strangled Iran's economy. The latest economic sanctions are reversible in the event of Iran’s return to JCPOA compliance, the Treasury Department noted in its announcement. In the absence of a renewed nuclear deal, Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Thursday the United States would continue to use its sanctions authorities to crack down on Iran’s petroleum exports. “As Iran continues to accelerate its nuclear program in violation of the JCPOA, we will continue to accelerate our enforcement of sanctions on Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical sales under authorities that would be removed under the JCPOA,” Blinken said in a statement. “These enforcement actions will continue on a regular basis, with an aim to severely restrict Iran’s oil and petrochemical exports,” he said. “Anyone involved in facilitating these illegal sales and transactions should cease and desist immediately if they wish to avoid U.S. sanctions.”*Editor's note: This article has been updated since first publication.

Moscow tries to draft fleeing Russian men at the borders
Associated Press/September 29, 2022
Long lines of Russians trying to escape being called up to fight in Ukraine continued to clog highways out of the country on Wednesday, and Moscow reportedly set up draft offices at borders to intercept some of them. North Ossetia, a Russian region that borders Georgia, declared a state of "high alert" and said that food, water, warming stations and other aid should be brought in for those who have spent days in queues. Volunteers on the Georgian side of the border also have brought water, blankets and other assistance. North Ossetia restricted many passenger cars from entering its territory, and set up a draft office at the Verkhy Lars border crossing, Russian news agencies said. Some media outlets released photos at the crossing showing a black van with "military enlistment office" written on it. Another such draft checkpoint was set up in Russia along the Finnish border, according to the independent Russian news outlet Meduza. Tens of thousands of Russian men have fled in the week since President Vladimir Putin announced a mobilization to bolster struggling Russian forces in Ukraine. Although Putin said the callup was "partial," aimed at calling up about 300,000 men with past military service, many Russians fear it will be much broader and more arbitrary than that. There are numerous reports of men with no military training and of all ages receiving draft notices. Alexander Kamisentsev, who left his home in Saratov for Georgia, described the scene on the Russian side of the border. "It's all very scary — tears, screams, a huge number of people. There is a feeling that the government does not know how to organize it. It seems that they want to close the border, but at the same time they are afraid that protests may follow, and they let people leave," he told the AP.
He said he decided at the last moment to leave "because I am not going to kill my Ukrainian brothers or go to prison."Protesters carrying Georgian and Ukrainian flags and signs like "Russia Kills" greeted Russians at the border Wednesday. Giga Lemonjava of the political party Droa, which organized the protest, said the evacuees threaten Georgia's security and economy. One protester, Helen Khoshtaria, tweeted: "We organized a protest at the border today so that the incoming Russians know how we feel about their `Russian world.'"Russians have been crossing by car, bicycle, scooter and foot. According to Yandex Maps, the traffic jam leading to Verkhny Lars, a town near the border between Georgia and North Ossetia, stretched for about 15 kilometers (over 9 miles) on Tuesday. Georgia's Interior Ministry said over 53,000 Russians had entered the country since last week. There also are long lines at the border with Kazakhstan, which has taken in more than 98,000 Russians in the past week. Russia has land borders with 14 countries.

Kremlin will annex 4 regions of Ukraine on Friday
Associated Press/September 29, 2022
Russia confirmed on Thursday it will formally annex parts of Ukraine where occupied areas held Kremlin-orchestrated "referendums" on living under Moscow's rule that the Ukrainian government and the West denounced as illegal and rigged. Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend a ceremony on Friday in the Kremlin when four regions of Ukraine will be officially folded into Russia, spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Peskov said the pro-Moscow administrators of the regions will sign treaties to join Russia during the ceremony at the Kremlin's St. George's Hall. The official annexation was widely expected following the votes that wrapped up on Tuesday in the areas under Russian occupation in Ukraine and after Moscow claimed residents overwhelmingly supported for their areas to formally become part of Russia. The United States and its Western allies have sharply condemned the votes as "sham" and vowed never to recognize their results. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Thursday joined other Western officials in denouncing the referendums. "Under threats and sometimes even (at) gunpoint people are being taken out of their homes or workplaces to vote in glass ballot boxes," she said at a conference in Berlin. "This is the opposite of free and fair elections," Baerbock said. "And this is the opposite of peace. It's dictated peace. As long as this Russian diktat prevails in the occupied territories of Ukraine, no citizen is safe. No citizen is free."Armed troops had gone door-to-door with election officials to collect ballots in five days of voting. The suspiciously high margins in favor were characterized as a land grab by an increasingly cornered Russian leadership after embarrassing military losses in Ukraine. Moscow-installed administrations in the four regions of southern and eastern Ukraine claimed Tuesday night that 93% of the ballots cast in the Zaporizhzhia region supported annexation, as did 87% in the Kherson region, 98% in the Luhansk region and 99% in Donetsk.
Ukraine too has dismissed the referendums as illegitimate, saying it has every right to retake the territories, a position that has won support from Washington. The Kremlin has been unmoved by the criticism. After a counteroffensive by Ukraine this month dealt Moscow's forces heavy battlefield setbacks, Russia said it would call up 300,000 reservists to join the fight. It also warned it could resort to nuclear weapons. Also on Thursday, Ukrainian authorities said Russian shelling has killed at least eight civilians, including a child, and wounded scores of others. A 12-year-old girl has been pulled out of rubble after an attack on Dnipro, officials said. "The rescuers have taken her from under the rubble, she was asleep when the Russian missile hit," said local administrator Valentyn Reznichenko. Reports of new shelling came as Russia appeared to continue to lose ground around a key northeastern city of Lyman while it struggles to press on with chaotic mobilization of troops and prevent the fighting-age men from leaving the country, according to a Washington-based think-tank and the British intelligence reports. The Institute for the Study of War, citing Russian reports, said Ukrainian forces have taken more villages around Lyman, a city some 160 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city. The report said Ukrainian forces may soon encircle Lyman entirely, in what would be a major blow to Moscow's war effort. "The collapse of the Lyman pocket will likely be highly consequential to the Russian grouping in northern Donetsk and western Luhansk oblasts and may allow Ukrainian troops to threaten Russian positions along the western Luhansk" region, the institute said. The British military intelligence report claimed the number of Russian military-age men fleeing the country likely exceeds the number of forces Moscow used to initially invade Ukraine in February. "The better off and well educated are over-represented amongst those attempting to leave Russia," the British said. "When combined with those reservists who are being mobilized, the domestic economic impact of reduced availability of labor and the acceleration of 'brain drain' is likely to become increasingly significant." That partial mobilization is deeply unpopular in some areas, however, triggering protests, scattered violence, and Russians fleeing the country by the tens of thousands. Miles-long lines formed at some borders and Moscow also reportedly set up draft offices at borders to intercept some of those trying to leave.

US announces $1.1 billion more in military aid for Ukraine
Associated Press/September 29, 2022
The U.S. will provide an additional $1.1 billion in aid to Ukraine, with funding for 18 more advanced rocket systems and other weapons to counter drones that Russia has been using against Ukrainian troops, the Biden administration announced. The latest package is being provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which funds contracts to purchase weapons and equipment. And it brings the total of U.S. aid to Ukraine to nearly $17 billion since the Biden administration took office. The aid announcement comes as Russia moves to annex parts of Russian-occupied Ukraine that held Kremlin-orchestrated referendums on living under Moscow's rule. The votes were denounced by Kyiv and the West as illegal and rigged. "We will not be deterred from supporting Ukraine, we will continue to stand with the Ukrainian people, and provide them with the security assistance they need to defend themselves, for as long as it takes," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. Since the funding is for contracts for weapons and equipment, it is aimed at helping Ukraine secure its longer-term defense needs. It could take a year or two for Ukraine to get the systems. The U.S. has used Pentagon drawdown authority to provide weapons more immediately, and another announcement for that Defense Department aid is expected early next week. The package includes funding for 18 of the High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, and ammunition for them, and 12 Titan systems, which are used to counter drones. Officials have said the HIMARS and other similar systems were key to Ukraine's battle successes in recent weeks. And the Russians have been using Iranian-made drones to target Ukrainian forces, underscoring the need for more systems to counter that threat.
Also in the package is funding for about 300 vehicles, dozens of trucks and trailers to transport heavy equipment, a variety of radars, communications and surveillance equipment, and other gear for soldiers. It also will include funding for equipment to detect explosives and for maintenance and training.
A senior defense official said it will take six months to two years to get most of those weapons and equipment to Ukraine, and "a few years" for the additional HIMARS to arrive. The official said the 18 HIMARS are an investment in Ukraine's future defense, and said the contract does not rule out other U.S. efforts to send additional HIMARS more quickly through the faster Pentagon drawdown program. Senior defense and military officials spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity Wednesday to provide details of the aid package and a military assessment of the war.
The war, now in its seventh month, has shifted to a new phase, as Russia tries to rebound from recent combat losses and use the referendums to politically solidify the gains it had made in the four occupied regions in the south and east.
Pro-Russia officials in Ukraine's Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions said Wednesday they would ask Russian President Vladimir Putin to incorporate their provinces into Russia. It wasn't immediately clear how the administrative process would unfold. Jean-Pierre said the U.S. has determined that Russia falsified the results of the referendums, which it said showed overwhelming support for annexation. "These so called referenda have been an exercise in coercion and disinformation, executed by puppet authorities following orders from Russia," she said.
Jean-Pierre signaled that the White House was preparing new sanctions against Russia in response to the referendums, saying the U.S. and its allies planned to impose a "severe economic cost on Russia when they move forward with annexation."
A senior military official said the U.S. has seen the first portions of Russia's latest mobilization of reservists move into Ukraine. But so far it's just been small numbers of them, the official said. Russia has announced plans to call up about 300,000 men with past military service, in the wake of widespread battlefield losses in Ukraine's recent counteroffensive. In response, tens of thousands of Russian men have fled the country to border nations in the past week, fearing that Putin's mobilization will be much broader and more arbitrary than he has suggested. There are numerous reports of men with no military training and of all ages receiving draft notices. The U.S. military official said Putin may find it difficult to generate 300,000 forces, and noted that troops who are needed to train the new conscripts are already fighting in Ukraine, raising questions about their ability to handle the tasks.

NATO threatens to retaliate against suspected Nord Stream sabotage, ratcheting up tension with Russia
Ryan Hogg/Business Insider/September 29, 2022
Danish military video of bubbles in Baltic Sea where Nord Stream pipeline leaked.A Danish military image of a site in the Baltic Sea where natural gas from a Nord Stream pipeline is bubbling to the surface.Danish Defense Command
NATO on Thursday threatened to retaliate against suspected sabotage of the Nord Stream natural-gas pipelines. The threat increases tension with Russia, which some European lawmakers have blamed for the damage.
All four of the pipelines comprising the damaged Nord Stream system are leaking gas into the Baltic Sea. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has threatened to retaliate against suspected sabotage of the Nord Stream natural-gas pipelines that run between Russia and Europe. NATO issued a statement Thursday saying the leaks were of "deep concern," and that if the damage was caused by sabotage, it would be met with a "united and determined response." The statement marks an escalation of tensions between the West and Russia and came after after several European leaders blamed Moscow for the leaks. "All currently available information indicates that this is the result of deliberate, reckless, and irresponsible acts of sabotage," the North Atlantic Council, NATO's political decision-making body, said in its statement Thursday. "These leaks are causing risks to shipping and substantial environmental damage. We support the investigations underway to determine the origin of the damage." The statement continued: "We, as allies, have committed to prepare for, deter, and defend against the coercive use of energy and other hybrid tactics by state and non-state actors. Any deliberate attack against allies' critical infrastructure would be met with a united and determined response."The statement came after the Swedish coast guard said a fourth leak had been discovered on the Nord Stream pipelines. "Two of these four are in Sweden's exclusive economic zone," coast guard spokesperson Jenny Larsson told the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper on Wednesday night, adding that the other two breaches were in Denmark's zone, Reuters reported. The initial leak was detected on Monday in Nord Stream 2 system as a drop in pressure was observed in both of its pipelines. On Tuesday, German lawmaker Roderich Kiesewetter suggested the leaks were caused by "sabotage" by Russia, while former CIA director John Brennan told CNN on Wednesday: "This is clearly an act of sabotage of some sort and Russia is certainly the most likely suspect." Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary-general, met Danish defence minister Morten Bødskov on Wednesday and said he had "addressed the protection of critical infrastructure in NATO countries", per the Financial Times. "Russia has a significant military presence in the Baltic Sea region and we expect them to continue their saber-rattling," Bødskov told the newspaper. Europe is now bracing for more disruption as tensions escalate, with the FT reporting that Norway – now the EU's biggest gas supplier – was deploying its military to protect oil and gas installations. Several weeks ago, the CIA told Germany that the Nord Stream pipelines could be attacked, Germany's Der Spiegel newspaper reported. The Swedish coast guard did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Russia: Nord Stream Leaks Occurred in Zone Controlled by US Intelligence
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 29 September, 2022
Russia's foreign ministry on Thursday said ruptures to the Nord Stream pipelines that have caused gas leaks off the coasts of Denmark and Sweden occurred in territory that is "fully under the control" of US intelligence agencies. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a pro-Kremlin broadcast that Washington had "full control" over the waters around Denmark and Sweden where four leaks have been detected on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, which cross the floor of the Baltic Sea between Russia and Germany. "It happened in the trade and economic zones of Denmark and Sweden. There are NATO-centric countries," Zakharova said an interview with the Soloviev Live online broadcast on Thursday. "They are countries that are completed controlled by the US intelligence services,” Reuters quoted her as saying. Denmark is a member of the NATO military alliance, while Sweden's membership is pending after it abandoned its historic policy of non-alignment following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Zakharova did not provide evidence of US control over Sweden and Denmark. Russia frequently rails against American influence and military support for Europe. The European Union suspects sabotage was behind the gas leaks on the subsea Russian pipelines to Europe and has promised a "robust" response to any intentional disruption of its energy infrastructure. While neither pipeline was in use at the time of the suspected blasts, they were filled with gas that has been spewing out in the Baltic Sea since ruptures were first detected on Monday.

Israel’s Lapid ducks calls from PA head Abbas
Mazal Mualem/Al-Monitor/September 29, 2022
Reports say that unlike President Isaac Herzog and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Prime Minister Yair Lapid avoided requests for a phone call from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of the Jewish New Year.
Reports Sept. 28 revealed that three days earlier, on Sept. 25, the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas contacted the office of Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid. The Palestinians wanted to coordinate a phone call between the two leaders, to mark the Jewish New Year. The conversation has yet to take place. When news of this was leaked to the press, Lapid’s office said, “The conversation will take place, according to the commonly accepted protocols.”In contrast, Abbas spoke this week on the phone separately with President Isaac Herzog and with Minister of Defense Benny Gantz, wishing them a happy New Year. In the conversation, Herzog stressed the need to maintain and advance neighborly relations between the two peoples, and the importance of cooperation to restore calm and prevent violence. Gantz stressed that the Palestinian Authority (PA) must take steps to prevent an escalation of violence in the West Bank.Lapid’s stalling — or refusal — to speak with Abbas seems unusual, not only on the backdrop of these calls, but also following the prime minister’s Sept. 22 address to the United Nations General Assembly. In his speech, Lapid said he supports the two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Israel’s prime minister seems to be taking two disparate approaches. While laying the grounds for possible talks with the Palestinians, Lapid doesn’t want to leave the impression that he leans too far to the left, if only for electoral reasons. He has a tough election ahead, set against an escalation of terrorist activity in the West Bank. Evidently, he responds by avoiding any concrete steps in the diplomatic arena. This allows him to position himself in the middle of the Israeli political spectrum, with the Labor and Meretz parties to his left. Evidence of this strategy can be found in Lapid’s New Year interviews of all the major newspapers. The headline in Haaretz was a direct quote: “Today I am more in the center. I learned to respect the left.” In that interview, he seemed to blame the diplomatic gridlock on the Palestinians. This approach is reminiscent of opposition head and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also supported a two-state solution in international forums, but failed to take any practical steps to implement it. Then he blamed the Palestinian Authority for the situation. Does Lapid have any real plans to push negotiations with the Palestinians forward, if he wins the November elections?
If he does, he obviously prefers to keep them in the shadows until after the elections. Perhaps he estimates that such plans could lose him votes. Netanyahu’s campaign promotes the idea that Lapid and Gantz will give in to the demands made by Abbas, and the concurrent pressure from the Biden administration. According to Netanyahu, Lapid and Gantz will rush to reach a diplomatic agreement, which would include handing over territories to the Palestinians. Lapid refuses to play into Netanyahu’s hands. He certainly isn’t eager to have direct contact with the PA. His calculations are cold and logical. Voters on the left are already in his coalition pocket. They will vote for Labor, Meretz or one of the Arab parties. This gives him enough leeway to adopt a more centrist approach with a tough position on security.

Florida city 'devastated' by Hurricane Ian
Agence France Presse/Thursday, 29 September, 2022
Monster Hurricane Ian brought a "500-year flood event" to Florida, devastating coastal cities, inundating homes and businesses and leaving island communities cut off, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Thursday. On the morning after Ian roared ashore as one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit Florida in decades, the full extent of destruction was only beginning to emerge, but the size and ferocity of the storm stoked fears of massive devastation across swathes of the southeastern U.S. state. "Some of those areas -- Cape Coral, city of Fort Myers -- they got really, really inundated and really devastated by this storm," DeSantis told a press conference. "The amount of water that's been rising, and will continue today even as the storm is passing, is basically a 500-year flood event." Fort Myers, a city of 83,000 on Florida's southwestern coast, is surrounded by canals, inlets, and rivers. Much of the city was overwhelmed by several feet of storm surge from the Gulf of Mexico. Nearby Pine Island and Sanibel Island, popular with vacationers, saw their causeways to the mainland badly damaged. The two bridges from the islands to Fort Myer "are not passable" and will require structural rebuilds, DeSantis said. "The coast guard has been performing rescue missions on the barrier islands consistently since the wee hours of the morning," he added. The National Hurricane Center downgraded Ian, which came ashore as an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane at about 3:00 pm (1900 GMT) Wednesday, to a tropical storm early Thursday as it moved inland. But the NHC also warned of severe danger from flooding and monsoon-like rains in central Florida. DeSantis said more than two million homes and businesses were without power, especially in hard-hit Lee County where Fort Myer is located, saying it was "off the grid."He also expressed caution over reports of several dead in Lee County, saying "we have had two unconfirmed fatalities."Ian's wrath was having broad impacts across the state. "I think we've never seen a flood event like this," DeSantis said. "We've never seen storm surge of this magnitude."

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 29-30/2022
Erdogan Threatens Greece
Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/September 29, 2022
"We have only one sentence for Greece: Do not forget Izmir [the city of Smyrna]. Your occupying the [Aegean] islands will not stop us; we will do what is necessary when the time comes. You know what we say: 'Unexpectedly one night we shall come to [conquer] you." — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, sondakika.com, September 4, 2022.
"The final years of the Ottoman Empire were catastrophic for its non-Turkish, non-Muslim minorities. From 1913 to 1923, its rulers deported, killed, or otherwise persecuted staggering numbers of men, women and children in an attempt to preserve 'Turkey for the Turks,' setting a modern precedent for how a regime can commit genocide against its own citizens in pursuit of political ends, while largely escaping accountability." — George N. Shirinian, Genocide in the Ottoman Empire: Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks, 1913-1923.
The Turkish attacks against the Greeks and Armenians of Smyrna began [in 1922] with looting, rapes and massacres, and ended with a fire that destroyed the Christian districts of the city.
"In September 1922, the richest city of the Mediterranean was burned, and countless numbers of Christian refugees killed. The city was Smyrna, and the event was the final episode of the 20th Century's first genocide — the slaughter of three million Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians by the Ottoman Empire. The slaughter at Smyrna occurred as warships of the great powers stood by — the United States, Great Britain, France and Italy." — Lou Ureneck, Smyrna, September 1922.
The Republic of Turkey actually boasts of its genocide.
Since the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, no factual information has been taught to Turkish schoolchildren about the extreme brutality, massacres, rapes, pillaging and other atrocities that indigenous Greeks and Armenians of Smyrna were subjected to at the hands of the Turks. The truth about the identity of the arsonists is categorically denied. For the past 100 years, Turkey has blamed the victims of the genocide for their own extermination.
September 2022 marks the 100th anniversary of the genocide in Smyrna. Although the Turkish government still takes pride in its slaughter, everyone else would do well to remember and honor the memories of the victims and prevent further Turkish aggression. One way for Western governments to do this is officially to recognize the 1913-23 genocide, but above all, stop Erdogan's continued threats against Greece.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is escalating his threats to invade Greece. Referring to Turkey's genocidal attack against Greeks and Armenians of the city of Smyrna in September 1922, he warned exactly 100 years later this month: "We have only one sentence for Greece: Do not forget Izmir [Smyrna]... we will do what is necessary when the time comes." Pictured: Thousands of local Greeks, fleeing the genocidal Turkish army of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, attempt to escape by ship at the port of Smyrna in September 1922. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
The president of a NATO member country, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is escalating his threats to invade Greece, another NATO member. On September 27, he said:
"The weapons stockpiled [by Greece] in Western Thrace and the islands make no sense to us because our power is far beyond them, but we remind you that this means a covert occupation [of Turkey by Greece]...
"We would like to remind Greece: Come to your senses. Do you think the support [for Greece] from the US and Europe will save you? It will not. You simply spin your wheels; it does nothing else."
Erdogan has been making similar hostile statements for months. On September 4, he again targeted Greece in a public speech:
"Greeks, look at history. If you go any further, the price will be heavy. We have only one sentence for Greece: Do not forget Izmir [the city of Smyrna]. Your occupying the [Aegean] islands will not stop us; we will do what is necessary when the time comes. You know what we say: 'Unexpectedly one night we shall come to [conquer] you."
A week before that, on August 30, celebrated in Turkey as "Victory Day", Erdogan said:
"We see our [Greeks] enemies' destroying our cities during their withdrawal [from Anatolia in 1922] as proof of their vile character. Just as they are today."
When Erdogan told Greeks "not to forget Izmir", he was referring to Turkey's genocidal attack against Greeks and Armenians of the city, also known as Smyrna, in 1922.
The 1913-1923 Christian genocide by Ottoman Turkey was a deliberate attempt to eliminate the Greek, Assyrian and Armenian presence in the region.
The genocide began in 1913 and expanded across Ottoman Turkey, targeting Christian and Yazidi communities. The violent campaign -- motivated by both Islamic jihad and Turkish nationalism -- aimed at annihilating Christian peoples of Asia Minor to create a Turkish- and Muslim-dominated country.
The first phase of the genocide was committed by the Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress, also known as the "Young Turks." The second phase, from 1919 to 1923, including the Smyrna attack and genocide by Turkish nationalist forces, almost completed the genocide.
George N. Shirinian's book, Genocide in the Ottoman Empire: Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks, 1913-1923, states:
"The final years of the Ottoman Empire were catastrophic for its non-Turkish, non-Muslim minorities. From 1913 to 1923, its rulers deported, killed, or otherwise persecuted staggering numbers of men, women and children in an attempt to preserve 'Turkey for the Turks,' setting a modern precedent for how a regime can commit genocide against its own citizens in pursuit of political ends, while largely escaping accountability."
Before the 1922 genocide, Smyrna, an ancient, prosperous, cosmopolitan city built by Greeks, and known as the "Pearl of the Orient" on the Aegean coast, was primarily Greek with large Armenian and other non-Muslim communities. This month marks the 100th commemoration if its destruction.
James Marketos, an attorney who sits on the board of the American Hellenic Institute, said in 2012:
"From ancient times, and through the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman ages, the city remained essentially Greek. The later centuries saw the advent of Armenian, Turkish, Jewish, European and American influences, but through it all, the predominant spirit remained Greek."
"In that society," wrote scholars Evangelia Boubougiatzi, Ifigenia Vamvakidou and Argyris Kyridis, "Greeks had the dominant position, both in a demographic and an economic level."
The Turkish attacks against the Greeks and Armenians of Smyrna began with looting, rapes and massacres, and ended with a fire that destroyed the Christian districts of the city.
Eyewitness reports state that the fire began on September 13, 1922 -- four days after Turkish forces retook control of the city from the Greek administration -- and lasted until September 22. A short documentary produced by Glenn Beck describes the Smyrna fire.
Many of the genocide survivors fled to neighboring Greece. Properties and estates that the victims left behind in Smyrna were illegally seized by Turks.
Scholar Lou Ureneck describes the genocide of Smyrna:
"In September 1922, the richest city of the Mediterranean was burned, and countless numbers of Christian refugees killed. The city was Smyrna, and the event was the final episode of the 20th Century's first genocide — the slaughter of three million Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians by the Ottoman Empire. The slaughter at Smyrna occurred as warships of the great powers stood by — the United States, Great Britain, France and Italy."
The Republic of Turkey actually boasts of its genocide. Turkey still claims it was the Greek military that set fire to Smyrna, destroying much of the city. The "1922 victory", which the Turkish state refers to as "the liberation or salvation of Izmir" is annually celebrated in official and non-official ceremonies. Despite all the evidence, the fire is solely referred to in Turkish schools as part of the Greek-Turkish war, in which, according to Turkish historiography, "Turks emerged victorious against the invading Greeks."
Since the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, no factual information has been taught to Turkish schoolchildren about the extreme brutality, massacres, rapes, pillaging and other atrocities that indigenous Greeks and Armenians of Smyrna were subjected to at the hands of the Turks. The truth about the identity of the arsonists is categorically denied. For the past 100 years, Turkey has blamed the victims of the genocide for their own extermination.
In 2007, however, the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) officially acknowledged the genocide inflicted on the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek populations of the Ottoman Empire. IAGS' resolution stated:
"Whereas the denial of genocide is widely recognized as the final stage of genocide, enshrining impunity for the perpetrators of genocide, and demonstrably paving the way for future genocides."
Turkey's continual denial of its genocide, and even its callous pride in the event, has for decades been accompanied by the destruction, abuse and appropriation of the Greek and Armenian cultural heritage in the country. On June 21, 2019, Turkish media reported that the Saint-Jean Theologos Greek Girls School in Smyrna, which has been empty since 1922, was plundered; its doors and windows removed, and its valuables looted. The historic building, now owned by Turkish Undersecretariat of the Treasury, has mostly been used by homeless drug addicts.
According to a recent report in the Turkish media. the Armenian Surp Sarkis Church in the Menemen district of Smyrna will be "restored" as a "Memorial Museum Science and Art Centre" after being used as a warehouse and a stable.
September 2022 marks the 100th anniversary of the genocide in Smyrna. Although the Turkish government still takes pride in its slaughter, everyone else would do well to remember and honor the memories of the victims and prevent further Turkish aggression. One way for Western governments to do this is officially to recognize the 1913-23 genocide, but above all, stop Erdogan's continued threats against Greece.
*Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the 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.

Muslims Accuse Queen of Muslim Behavior
Raymond Ibrahim/September 29, 2022
“Muslims should NOT sing the national anthem” is the title and argument of a recent piece by Faisal Bodi of the so-called “Islamic Human Rights Commission” based in London. Written in response to Queen Elizabeth II’s recent funeral, it reveals Muslim sentiment in more ways than one.
First, Bodi engages in the usual: civilizational projection—accusing Britain of mainstream Islamic practices. Thus, he claims that Muslims in Britain “have been beaten into second class citizenship,” when it is Islam, in fact, that openly mandates second class status for non-Muslims living under Islamic rule. The Koran (9:29) goes so far as to insist that Christians and Jews be regularly extorted (via jizya) and continuously made to feel “fully humbled.”
Similarly, after bemoaning how the British “monarch embodies all the cruel atrocities and plunder carried out under the British Empire,” the Muslim living in Britain writes:
Given that this anthem was and is sung as a patriotic ode when Britain has invaded Muslim countries or gone to war with them, it is grotesque to see Muslims belting it out particularly on masjid premises [mosques].
To anyone with an inkling of historical knowledge—true and accurate as opposed to fake and “woke” history—such a claim is beyond misleading. Before any Brit traveled to “Muslim countries”—most of which were violently stolen from Christians—Muhammad’s followers had, for many centuries, been invading, terrorizing, and conquering various parts of Europe in the name of Islam. In their quest to leave no stone unturned, they even plundered the remotest corner of Christendom—Iceland—of its people.
Bodi also argues that “the national anthem is not a religiously neutral song”—it has too many “Christian trappings”—and that British monarchs are “conferred with the title of ‘Defender of the Faith.’ Their principal duty is to preserve the primacy of the Church of England.”
This, for the Muslim “human rights activist,” is also blameworthy—perhaps because it is precisely due to Europe’s “Defenders of the Faith” that Islam could never achieve its goal of conquering Europe, despite centuries of atrocity-laden jihadist campaigns.
The most revealing aspect of Bodi’s argument, at least for those with eyes and ears to see and hear with, is that he does what so many do: invoke “wokist” paradigms to justify their own evil, or in this case, disloyal inclinations.
This especially comes out in the British Muslim’s closing lines: the opportunity for Muslims in Britain to sing the anthem “is being seized on as a chance to affirm their loyalty to the state,” he writes, “which has always been a sine qua non for gaining mainstream acceptance. It’s an embarrassingly demeaning act of servility and surrender and should rightly be condemned as such.”
Although expressing loyalty to one’s country is a perfectly normal expression for most people, there is an unspoken reason that Bodi and other Muslims deem such a pledge “an embarrassingly demeaning act of servility and surrender.”
Far from expressing any loyalty to “infidels,” the Koran calls on Muslims to hate (60:4), fight (9:29), and slaughter (9:5) non-Muslims—“even if they be their fathers, their sons, their brothers, or their nearest kindred” (58:22).
Needless to say, then, expressing any sense of “loyalty” to non-Muslims or their state is anathema for Islam. In Allah’s thundering words, “O you who have believed! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends and allies…. Whoever does this [befriend or pledge allegiance to any non-Muslim] shall have no relationship left with Allah—unless you but guard yourselves against them, taking precautions. (5:51, 3:28).
Muhammad ibn Jarir at-Tabari (d. 923), author of arguably the most authoritative and mainstream commentary of the Koran, explains what “guard yourselves” means here:
If you [Muslims] are under their [non-Muslims’] authority, fearing for yourselves, behave loyally to them with your tongue while harboring inner animosity for them … Allah has forbidden believers from being friendly or on intimate terms with the infidels rather than other believers—except when infidels are above them [in authority]. Should that be the case, let them act friendly towards them while preserving their religion.
Ibn Kathir (d. 1373), another prime authority on the Koran, writes:
The Most High said, “[U]nless you but guard yourselves against them, taking precautions”—that is, whoever at any time or place fears their evil may protect himself through outward show—not sincere conviction.
As supporting evidence, Ibn Kathir then quotes one of Muhammad’s close companions, Abu Darda, saying “Truly, we grin to the faces of some peoples, while our hearts curse them.”
Nearly fourteen centuries after such faithless words were uttered, an American Muslim, Tarik Shah, who was arrested for terrorist-related charges, boasted: “I could be joking and smiling [with American non-Muslims] and then cutting their throats in the next second.”
In short, Bodi’s real purpose in calling on Muslims to disavow the British anthem has less to do with his projective complaints and everything to do with Islam’s own divisive nature, which requires Muslims to hate—certainly never express (sincere) loyalty to—anything and anyone un-Islamic.
Indeed, if Bodi were more honest, he would drop the grievance mongering and simply reiterate the refreshingly honest words of the Islamic State to the West:
We hate you, first and foremost, because you are disbelievers.… The fact is, even if you were to stop bombing us, imprisoning us, torturing us, vilifying us, and usurping our lands, we would continue to hate you because our primary reason for hating you will not cease to exist until you embrace Islam. Even if you were to pay jizyah and live under the authority of Islam in humiliation, we would continue to hate you.

John Podesta: Biden's New Green Investment Czar
Peter Schweizer/Gatestone Institute/September 29, 2022
In the Biden administration's uncanny ability to put the wrong people in the wrong jobs, naming John Podesta to be the new "climate czar" might be its masterstroke.
With so much money at stake, you might have expected the administration to choose someone with a strong background in energy technologies or perhaps someone possessing deep experience in the energy business who can spot the good (and bad) uses for all that money.
Although Podesta is listed on the corporate records, he failed to disclose his membership on the board of Stichting Joule Global Foundation (the holding company) in his federal financial disclosure forms when he officially joined the Obama White House as a senior advisor in 2013.
What is concerning here is the pattern Podesta has established of being involved on both sides of the table, and transiting Washington's revolving door. When the Biden administration chooses a "power broker" to be its decider over $370 billion worth of federal "investment" money that is intended to make green energy affordable, cost-effective or competitive with fossil fuels, we should not be surprised if large portions of that money will eventually be traced back to connections those companies have with that aforementioned power broker.
This is why you do not want the federal government to have individuals who are not experts -- who are operators and lobbyists -- making important decisions like that. They will pass out cash to people who have made them money in the past, and who will make them money in the future, or who have employed their family members. It is corrupt and it is cronyism. When you give people the opportunity to hand out other people's money, they are going to give it to families and friends. With Podesta, there is certainly a history of doing just that.
In the Biden administration's uncanny ability to put the wrong people in the wrong jobs, naming John Podesta to be the new "climate czar" might be its masterstroke. With so much money at stake, you might have expected the administration to choose someone with a strong background in energy technologies or deep experience in the energy business. Pictured: Podesta, then Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign chairman, at the Presidential Debate at Hofstra University on September 26, 2016 in Hempstead, New York. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
In the Biden administration's uncanny ability to put the wrong people in the wrong jobs, naming John Podesta to be the new "climate czar" might be its masterstroke.
The White House announced recently that John Podesta will oversee $370 billion in clean energy investments included in the Inflation Reduction Act. This makes him the decision-maker for handing out money to make green energy a viable, cost-effective replacement for fossil fuels. Green energy subsidies and other government giveaways have been tried before, and failed, but not at this scale. With so much money at stake, you might have expected the administration to choose someone with a strong background in energy technologies or perhaps someone possessing deep experience in the energy business who can spot the good (and bad) uses for all that money.
Podesta, now 73, is, as the New York Times primly calls him, "a power broker." His long career in Washington began in the Jimmy Carter era, then it was on to jobs on Capitol Hill. In 1988 he made his first trip through the famous "revolving door" to start a lobbying firm with his brother, Tony. During the Clinton administration, Podesta went through the revolving door again to several jobs, concluding as President Bill Clinton's last Chief of Staff in the White House. Post-Clinton, he founded the Center for American Progress (CAP), a left-leaning think tank, and was later chairman of Hillary Clinton's unsuccessful 2016 presidential campaign.
Throughout the Obama administration, Podesta was behind the scenes working in various "advisory" capacities before finally officially joining the administration in 2013. In 2009, on behalf of the new administration, Podesta and CAP senior fellows held non-official talks with China in Beijing on issues including climate change, and he contributed to President Barack Obama's climate strategy. He also remained during this time a close advisor to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and a big supporter of the failed "Russian Reset" policy she famously championed. Podesta, who was not an official employee of the US government during this time, was also being compensated by serving on the board of an energy company that was involved in deals with Russia and that also had ties with the Clintons.
The Government Accountability Institute (full disclosure: I happen to be its president) issued a report in 2016 detailing Podesta's other members of Hillary Clinton's inner circle who became involved with a Moscow-based technology campus called "Skolkovo." During June and July of 2011, while advising Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Podesta "joined the [executive] board of three related companies," Joule Unlimited, Joule Global Holdings, and Stichting Joule Global Foundation. Joule focused on solar energy and one investor for Joule, Hansjörg Wyss, consulted with Podesta. The Wyss Charitable Foundation gave "between $1 million to $5 million to the Clinton Foundation," and "Podesta was paid $87,000 by the Wyss Foundation in 2013." The payment total between Podesta and the Wyss Foundation is unknown as the disclosures for the years of 2011-2012 are "not cover[ed]."
Shortly after Podesta was placed on the boards of these three companies, Rusnano, a Russian energy investment firm sometimes called "Putin's child," invested $35 million in Joule Unlimited. Although Podesta is listed on the corporate records, he failed to disclose his membership on the board of Stichting Joule Global Foundation (the holding company) in his federal financial disclosure forms when he officially joined the Obama White House as a senior advisor in 2013.
McClatchy Newspapers reported in 2016 that Podesta stepped down from Joule's board when he joined the Obama administration. They reported that an email from the Wikileaks trove shows that Podesta had transferred his Joule shares to Leonidio Holdings LLC, a company controlled by his daughter, Megan Rouse, a certified financial planner. Following upon that story, the Wall Street Journal quoted a Hillary Clinton campaign spokesman saying at the time that Podesta had cut his ties with Joule when he returned to the White House in 2014, "transferred the entirety of his holdings to his adult children," and had "recused himself from all matters pertaining to Joule for the duration of his time at the White House."
Yet, after he left the White House in February 2015, the Journal found, he received a bill from the law firm Steptoe and Johnson for legal work regarding Joule, performed in April of 2015. That was related to a "Joule request for consent to appointment of Mr. Akhanov." This would be Dmitry Akhanov, who runs Rusnano's U.S. office, and is now listed as a member of Joule's board of directors, but seeking approval on a board appointment from someone no longer connected to the business is odd.
As The Nation noted in 2013, Podesta's Center for American Progress (CAP) boosted businesses that Podesta would later shower with federal money from the inside. CAP was a big backer of the Obama administration Energy Department's "$25 billion loan guarantee program for renewable energy projects, specifically praising First Solar, a firm that received $3.73 billion under the program, and its Antelope Valley project in California." CAP failed to mention First Solar's membership in its own Business Alliance, a secret group of corporate donors, according to The Nation. It added that CAP's acceptance of financial support from First Solar while touting its virtues to Washington policy-makers points to a conflict of interest which, critics argue, ought to be disclosed to the public. CAP's "promotion of the company's interests has supplemented First Solar's aggressive Washington lobbying efforts, on which it spent more than $800,000 during 2011 and 2012."
Finally, it must be noted that John Podesta's brother, Tony, restarted his well-known lobbying firm once the Trump administration left town. Tony Podesta reports only two clients as of the last look on OpenSecrets. One of those clients is Huawei, the controversial Chinese telecom giant, and the other is called Protos Energy SSC.
What is concerning here is the pattern John Podesta has established of being involved on both sides of the table, and transiting Washington's revolving door. When the Biden administration chooses a "power broker" to be its decider over $370 billion worth of federal "investment" money that is intended to make green energy affordable, cost-effective or competitive with fossil fuels, we should not be surprised if large portions of that money will eventually be traced back to connections those companies have with that aforementioned power broker.
Podesta is also a master of the art of being an unofficial "advisor" to politicians. He only goes "official" when it is absolutely necessary. This allows him to bypass financial disclosure laws and maintain other business relationships that he would have to divest if he were in regular government service.
Political actors placed in positions of authority reward their friends. A separate investigation done by the Government Accountability Institute in 2016 detailed how funds from consent decree settlements overseen by the Department of Justice were funneled by then Attorney General Eric Holder to progressive non-profits engaged in political activity.
This is why you do not want the federal government to have individuals who are not experts -- who are operators and lobbyists -- making important decisions like that. They will pass out cash to people who have made them money in the past, and who will make them money in the future, or who have employed their family members. It is corrupt and it is cronyism. When you give people the opportunity to hand out other people's money, they are going to give it to families and friends. With Podesta, there is certainly a history of doing just that.
*Peter Schweizer, President of the Governmental Accountability Institute, is a Gatestone Institute Distinguished Senior Fellow and author of the new book, Red Handed: How American Elites are Helping China Win.
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The Real Iran...is Not Today's Iran!
Saleh Al-Qallab/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 29, 2022
There is no truth whatsoever, with all due respect to our “Iranian brothers,” to the claim that there is such a thing as an Iranian nation. Indeed, I was surprised, as an observer, to find that so-called genealogical DNA tests had demonstrated that 56 percent of this brotherly nation is of Arab origin, while 24 percent has ancestors from South Asia... The rest of the population has divergent origins and is composed of races!
There is nothing shameful about this in the slightest; this region…as in these countries, had been a passageway or a “home” to intertwined peoples and nations who came one after the other in succession and intermixed. They continue to intermix with what is considered the Arab nation… Here, I am not digging deep into old history or genealogy… Even the descendants of the minorities who had arrived not so long ago continued to take pride in their Arab roots, and there is an abundance of evidence to back up this claim.
It is a well-established fact that “almost all” of the “symbols of Arabism” were members of the brotherly Christian community who became prominent figures within the Arab Nationalist Movement and the Arab Socialist Baath Party… That is, Dr. George Habash, Professor Nayef Hawatmeh, Michel Aflaq and Wadih Haddad... This, of course, “clashes” with the Muslim Brotherhood and some of the other religious parties.
What I mean by all of this is that our Iranian “brothers,” the Persians in particular, had, albeit in the past, taken pride in their Arabness, regardless of the fact that they no longer fawn over neither the Arabs nor Arabism. This is true despite the fact that they know that Islam launched in the Arab world… And that the Holy Quran is Arabic… And that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is an Arab... The same applies to the Rightly Guided Caliphs.
This does not at all imply support for radical commitment to nationalism… Indeed, as has already been mentioned, the majority of Arabists who became prominent figures, be it within the Arab Nationalist Movement or the Arab Socialist Baath Party, were Christian brothers… Religion is for God, and the homeland is for all... Nonetheless, pan-Arabism, as a political movement and force, was introduced by our Christian brothers... Michel Aflaq, Dr. George Habash... and Professor Nayef Hawatmeh... as well as many figures who hailed from Karak and As-Salt... And, of course, the Holy City of Jerusalem.
Of course, the Arab nationalist movements, even the parts of the Arab world where there had not been of our Christian brothers originally, swiftly became “brimmed” with members of this community, which we have the deepest respect and admiration for. This rise of this correlation as Arab nationalism rose in prominence was political and founded on the basis that religion is for God and the homeland is for all.
Here, the emergence of nationalism… and the subsequent rise in prominence of Arabist parties like the Arab Socialist Baath Party and the Arab Nationalist Movement, as well as the other groupings and organizations, came to confront the challenges and foreign interventions plaguing the Arab world, like the French occupation of Algeria and their flagrant interference in the Maghreb region as whole… And like Iranian interference in Iraqi affairs… And like the many interventions in Arab countries.
As is well known, the Turks left the Arab lands they had controlled in agreement with colonial West powers. The Arab world was thus ripped apart in the west and east- everywhere. Western colonialism thereby replaced Turkish hegemony, and the most important cities of the Arab world came under occupation for many years.And so, the “ruthless” French occupation swallowed Algeria fully at the time, annexing the country and turning it into a French province for one hundred and thirty-two years. In turn, the British put their hands on the most prominent Arab cities, leaving the entire Arab world defiled and under the brutal domination of foreign powers.
France was not satisfied with occupying and annexing Algeria, which became part of the former’s “kingdom;” it also occupied Syria and Lebanon… Britain, which was dubbed great, occupied what used to be Mesopotamia (Iraq) and its capital, Baghdad, the great Harun al-Rashid’s former capital- an annexation that had, in fact, continued for many years, taking an array of forms.
It is perhaps worth pointing out here that, very sadly, even al-Rashid’s capital Baghdad is under the control of Iranian occupiers… They subordinated it alongside the majority of Mesopotamia, as is the case today.
This is the same Iran that the Arab world had cheered for as the regime of Shah Reza Pahlavi was overthrown. The Arabs chanted in support of the country’s people so forcefully that their voices went out. They clapped and cheered so hard their palms became sore. In the end, they found that Iran was the same country it had been... That all the changes it has undergone were for the worse… That this Tehran is actually worse than that which had been ruled by the Shah... And that the “enemy” remained as it had been before... It cannot become your friend.
Of course, what we are talking about here is not the brotherly Iranian people and the “progressive” political forces of the country. Rather those we are referring to are no different to the Shah. They just wear “turbans” under which they harbor anti-Arab ideas.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the Iranian people have demonstrated, throughout their history, that they are a civilized and brotherly people. They have contributed to the modern civilization of this region with their remarkable achievements and refined skills. Therefore, we will certainly see the day when the tragic contemporary state of affairs changes... The people of Iran will find their glorious historical path once again- this is inevitable.
In fact, the real problem is that the colonial powers, Britain, France, as well as Italy, and later Spain, if you wish, engaged with the Arabs as though they were Turks. They engaged with us as though they didn’t know that the Turkish “Ottoman” occupation was an annexation more vicious and primitive than that of any of the region’s occupiers who had preceded them. This is a fact… And this fact is undoubtedly more bitter than Oleander, and this Ottoman hegemony over what became the Arab nation had been crueler than that of any of the occupiers that the region has seen… This is true despite the immensely bitter experiences undergone during the occupations of the French and English, as well as the Italians and then the Israelis…Here, in the end, though this issue does not end, we must stress that the vicious and horrific occupation of part of the Arab nation and the people of Palestine… And the Holy City of Jerusalem in particular is a colonial occupation like all the others seen in this region since and before… And in every historical epoch!

Is this the End of the Muslim Brotherhood?
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 29, 2022
With the passing of yet another Muslim Brotherhood symbol, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the movement loses one of its key propagandists. With the absence of most of its leaders and its loss of power in the states it had controlled, the Muslim Brotherhood is suffering enormous losses on nearly every level. So, has the movement died with the death of al-Qaradawi? Has the time come to turn the page on the Muslim Brotherhood?
The Brotherhood is an extremist political religious group that began as an idea in the new world order that emerged at the beginning of the last century. It brought new political and ideological tides and gave rise to the concept of national states, new regional maps and local identities, and the League of Arab States.
The Brotherhood competed with various groups, including the Arab Baath, which was established in the 1940s and took the reins of power in Iraq. It fell when Saddam was at the helm. It was marginalized by Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Another competitor was Communism, which had branches in most Arab states but only ruled southern Yemen, also dissolving into nothing in the world and the region with the USSR’s collapse. There was also Nasserism, Qaddafism, and other individualist leaderships that also disappeared with their leaders’ death, as happened with Maoism and Stalinism.
What distinguishes the Muslim Brotherhood from Baathism, communism, and nationalism is that the Brotherhood is a fascist political group founded on the idea of exploiting religion, and therefore, it cannot die.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s danger lies in that it upholds and promotes a romanticized idea of reviving the Islamic State, which never really existed in the past in the picture they paint for their followers. Historically, all Islamic caliphates were family monarchies, ever since the Umayyad State and up until the Ottoman State. The Brotherhood used everyone, and everyone used them. They are often accused of having enjoyed support from the British rule in Cairo when most of the Arab world and Islamic communities were under the British Crown’s rule. Surely, at the time, no partisan project could have emerged without British recognition or support. The British were known to closely follow local developments in their colonies, and some documents mention their interest in the Muslim Brotherhood as a movement since its emergence in the 1930s. It’s said that the first mosque to be built by the Brotherhood in Ismailia received funding from the British-owned Suez Canal company. It is only natural for London to have done this. For decades, Britain supported every action against its rivals, be it the Turkish, the Nazis, or the Communists. It used the Muslim Brotherhood as a mouthpiece to promote its political rhetoric against communist “atheism” in the region and distributed their leaflets as far as in Indonesia to counter Sukarno.
The movement’s ties with Britain are not evidence to be held against them. After all, the Arab League may have been a British suggestion that then-Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs Anthony Eden made to Arabs in 1941 to arrange an alliance against Nazi Germany. However, leaving sensitivities about the past aside, even if London hadn’t suggested it, the League was a natural and somewhat inevitable idea in the era of alliances while countries gradually gained their independence.
Had the Muslim Brotherhood been a secret office in the British Foreign Office, it would have been easier for the states of the region to close it down, but it is rather a naive, conspiratorial thought. What’s more, the Brotherhood is a fascist religious political group that is capable of emerging in every Islamic country and willing to work with all its opponents, be it the West, Communists, or extremist Shiite groups, if that gets it to power.
It masters propaganda and selling the ideas of democracy, coexistence, and modernism, though these were debunked when the movement took the reins of power in Egypt in 2012. It became clear that the movement is run by extremists, while moderates are only a façade. It emerged as a serial organization, from Sudan to Tunisia, Yemen, and Libya, all the while seeking to stir trouble in other countries, and the danger it poses on the region was exposed when it rushed to link with Iran as soon as it got to power.
In Egypt, it gradually turned from an elected party to a totalitarian group by trying to take over posts in the judiciary, general investigation department, police, and media.
The Muslim Brotherhood does not die with the death of its leaders or its banning. The Muslim Brotherhood is an idea.

خالد أبو ظهر/ عرب نيوز : لماذا لم تطلب الولايات المتحدة حتى الآن من من خامنئي التنحي؟
Why hasn’t the US asked Khamenei to step down yet?
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/September 29/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/112349/dr-majid-rafizadehiranian-regime-must-address-the-peoples-grievances-%d8%af-%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%ac%d8%af-%d8%b1%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%b2%d8%a7%d8%af%d9%87-%d9%8a%d8%ac%d8%a8-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%89/
Only five days after protests started in Egypt in January 2011, then-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for “an orderly transition,” meaning it was time for Hosni Mubarak to step down after 30 years at the head of the country.
The White House was clearly stating that it no longer supported the Egyptian president, while it also put under review the annual assistance given to the country after tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in “days of anger.”
The growing violence and arrests of prominent public figures compelled the US to take this stand against a president who had stood by Washington throughout many difficult geopolitical situations, from the peace process to the Gulf wars.
I will not question whether the US was right or wrong, I will just ask why it has not taken the same stand against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has been ruling Iran with a bloody iron fist for more than 30 years. Why hasn’t the US called for an orderly transition in Iran? Why hasn’t it called for the supreme leader to step down, especially as people are being killed by the regime and protests are being repressed with extreme violence? Why haven’t we seen the same solidarity with the Iranian people?
It is quite interesting to notice that, instead of looking to really pressure the regime in Tehran to stop the violence, there are still discussions around how to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal. And so, clearly the way to pressure the mullahs is to reward them with billions and billions of dollars and to rehabilitate the regime within international institutions. If the West will not ask for an orderly transition like it did for an Arab country, the easiest way to support Iranians would be to clearly state that there will be no JCPOA until the Basij stops terrorizing people in Iran. It would be a clear and straightforward message and would be logical with previous international stands.
Obviously, this will not happen for several reasons. The West needs to replace Russian energy and Iran is being lined up for this. There is also the argument that, by supporting the Iranian people, the West would legitimize the regime’s accusation that the protests are being manipulated. This is nonsense. There is also the will not to weaken the regime in Tehran too much in order to maintain the balance of power in a highly difficult region. And finally, there is the Iranian regime’s supposed position as a fighter against oppression and injustice. It is impossible to explain in any other way the overwhelming silence toward the horrible violence in Iran. It has also been a constant to shield the Iranian regime from criticism since the mid-1990s after the dust from the first Gulf War had settled.
It is quite unbelievable that Western intellectuals can be blindly enlisted by such a ruthless regime
Indeed, in recent decades, it seems easier to live as a tolerated enemy to the US rather than a friend. Friendship with power demands many efforts, while asymmetric disturbance demands much less. This is even truer when your friend is in an era of soul-searching. It is, nevertheless, clear that the regime in Tehran has a strong lobby in Washington and Europe that is capable of conveying its storyline of a fight against oppression and place the blame for everything on the mistakes of imperial Western countries. Hence, in this fight against global oppression, individuals, aka the Iranian people, can be crushed for the sake of this greater fight.
This current situation echoes the US reaction in June 2009, when Iranians protested the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a second term. The Basij repressed the protesters violently, yet this did not cause a strong US or international reaction. In fact, it was quite the opposite, with Ahmadinejad receiving numerous congratulatory messages. The same can be said when protests started in 2018, just before the pandemic, when the West stood silent because it was preoccupied with the nuclear deal. If it was happening anywhere else, the message would have been completely different.
In the current protests, the death toll has reportedly risen to more than 75 and the crackdown is becoming even more violent. Yet, in parallel, conversations about the nuclear deal are still going on. The Western media is adopting a bipolar vision of covering the protests and supporting women, while at the same time continuing to support the JCPOA negotiations, as if they were not linked. The essence of the Iranian nuclear program is not civil, it is military. It is a message of violent expansionism and absolutely not one of self-defense. And as always, the Western pro-mullah crowd finds ways to allow the Iranian regime to have everything. It is quite unbelievable that Western intellectuals can be blindly enlisted by such a ruthless regime.
The perfect illustration of this dual vision took place during this month’s UN General Assembly. Beyond the usual calls for not granting visas to Iranian and Russian officials, it was amazing to see Western pundits shake hands and sit down with President Ebrahim Raisi as if nothing was happening in Iran. Once again, I will not say whether this is right or wrong. Simply, these same pundits would be screaming with indignation and for a full boycott if Raisi was not from Iran. Their justification being that it is better to discuss matters and try to influence positively rather than boycott and alienate. However, this special treatment — as the people of Iran know — only applies to the Iranian regime.
• Khaled Abou Zahr is CEO of Eurabia, a media and tech company. He is also the editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.

د. ماجد رفي زاده/عرب نيوز : يجب على النظام الإيراني الإستماع إلى شكاوي ومطالب ومظالم شعبه
Iranian regime must address the people’s grievances
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/September 29/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/112349/dr-majid-rafizadehiranian-regime-must-address-the-peoples-grievances-%d8%af-%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%ac%d8%af-%d8%b1%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%b2%d8%a7%d8%af%d9%87-%d9%8a%d8%ac%d8%a8-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%89/
I have long argued that the Iranian regime has suppressed the nation to such a level that it has become like a tinder-dry forest that could burst into flames at any moment. Any flashpoint could turn people’s frustrations and anger against the regime into a conflagration, meaning widespread protests that could ultimately endanger the ruling mullahs’ hold on power.
As long as the leaders do not address the grievances and demands of the people, Iranians have shown that they will not surrender.
What are the demands of the overwhelming majority of the people? First of all, they are fed up with the restrictive rules imposed by the ruling clerics, the “morality police” and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its paramilitary group, the Basij. Many people do not want to have a Shiite theocracy that imposes its extremist beliefs and teachings on society. In other words, the people’s targets are the ruling clerics and the establishment.
The youth in Iran have long been demonstrating their opposition to the regime’s restrictive religious laws and the morality police by defying the state’s rules, through various platforms in both the public and private spheres. Movements or actions, such as women taking off their headscarves in public or cutting their hair, can be interpreted as different modes of resistance against the theocratic establishment. As Amnesty International last week pointed out: “The bravery of protesters facing a spiraling deadly response by the Iranian security forces over the past days after the death of Mahsa Amini reveals the extent of outrage in Iran over abusive compulsory veiling laws, unlawful killings, and widespread repression.”
Secondly, the people want the government to respect their human rights and lives. Ordinary people have been playing a critical role in disclosing the abuses and violations committed by the government. The Iranian regime remains one of the worst human rights abusers in the world. And the situation has worsened under the hard-line administration of President Ebrahim Raisi, who was a member of the “death committee” that approved the massacre of thousands of political prisoners in 1988.
Whenever people pour into the streets to demand justice, the regime’s forces instigate a crackdown and suppress the people, especially when the protests go nationwide. The judiciary and the IRGC wield significant power and many protesters have been arrested and imprisoned without due process, while many others have been killed.
Whenever people pour into the streets to demand justice, the regime’s forces instigate a crackdown and suppress the people
In its statement last week, Amnesty International explained the situation and urged the international community to act. It stated: “Evidence gathered by the organization from the past two nights of fresh violence in 20 cities and 10 provinces across Iran points to a harrowing pattern of Iranian security forces deliberately and unlawfully firing live ammunition at protesters… The organization reiterated its calls for urgent global action, warning of the risk of further bloodshed amid a deliberately imposed internet blackout.”
A third critical demand is establishing a democratic system of governance. In other words, the political nature of people’s dissatisfaction with the Islamic Republic should not be disregarded. People are robustly opposing authoritarianism and despotism. That is why many have been risking their lives by chanting “Death to (Supreme Leader Ali) Khamenei,” which is punishable with the death penalty in Iran. Many others chant “Death to Raisi,” “Death to the Islamic Republic,” “Shame on you Khamenei, step down from power,” and “Death to the dictator.” People also risk their lives by tearing down banners depicting Khamenei and his predecessor Ayatollah Khomeini.
Fourthly, many Iranians want the regime to spend the nation’s resources on the people, not proxies and militia and terror groups in the region. That is why some other chants that have become popular are: “Forget about Palestine, forget about Gaza, think about us,” “Death to Hezbollah,” and “Leave Syria alone, think about us instead.”
Finally, many people demand better living standards and economic equality. As Nastaran, an Iranian mother and teacher living in the capital Tehran, explained: “My salary is 3,000,000 toman a month (about $100), and the government just made the price of one loaf of bread 10,000 toman. Me and my children use five loaves of bread a day; this means that half of my salary will only go to the cost of bread. What about my rent, other food, the children’s schooling, medical expenses, electricity, gas, water bills? Every president has promised to improve the situation, but it keeps getting worse.”
The Iranian people have repeatedly shown that they will not surrender to the ruling clerics and authoritarianism. Unless the Iranian leaders address the people’s grievances, their hold on power will be left hanging by a thread.
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh