English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For February 05/2023
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
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Bible Quotations For today
The Judgment Day: Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.
Saint Matthew 25/31-46/:”‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 04-05/2023
French envoy criticizes Lebanon over ‘slow’ reforms needed for IMF loan
Qatar boosts influence in Lebanon amid multiple crises
Sami Gemayel Says Will Paralyze Presidential Election If Candidate Supports Hezbollah’s Weapons
Raad: Enemies want president who would tighten noose on resistance
Geagea says didn't nominate himself in order to facilitate presidential vote
Lokman Slim's family urges UN probe into murder's possible link to port case
Cancer patients in Lebanon fear death due to lack of vital medicine

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 04-05/2023
Six Palestinians shot during Israeli raid on camp near Jericho
Israeli army besieges homes of fugitives in West Bank raid
Iran Says US Insists on Direct Negotiations
US Adds 8 New Iranian Officials to its Drone Sanctions List
US, Allies Criticize Iran's Response to UN Nuclear Watchdog Report
Microsoft Says Iranians Hacked France's Charlie Hebdo
Iranian authorities to Impose More Stringent Hijab Laws
Iranian protests are ‘beginning of the end for regime in Tehran’, says Nobel laureate Ebadi
Foreign Office accused of resisting proscribing Iran’s Revolutionary Guard
Russia's Medvedev says more U.S. weapons supplies mean 'all of Ukraine will burn'
U.S. warns Turkey on exports seen to boost Russia's war effort
Western allies pledge precision rockets, missile systems to Kyiv
Portugal to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine, PM says
Saddam's Guard Gave Information About his Hideout in Tikrit
US downs suspected China spy balloon

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 04-05/2023
Biggest Gift to Iran's Mullahs, China and Russia: Biden Administration's Weak Leadership/Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/February 4, 2023
Traveling Humiliated/Samir Atallah/Asharq Al-Awsat/February, 04/2023
Britsh MP. Bob Blackman calls on UK to proscribe Iran guards to end ‘nefarious activities’/Sarah Glubb/Arab News/February 04/2023

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 04-05/2023
French envoy criticizes Lebanon over ‘slow’ reforms needed for IMF loan
AFP/February 04/2023
The French diplomat charged with coordinating international support for Lebanon, so it can receive International Monetary Fund aid, on Friday criticized the slow pace of reforms in the crisis-hit country.
The IMF last April announced an agreement in principle with Beirut for $3 billion in aid spread over four years, but conditional on implementing crucial reforms. “It’s really slow,” Pierre Duquesne told journalists in the Lebanese capital, at the same time highlighting “a few minor adjustments that go in the right direction.”Among the reforms demanded by the IMF is parliament’s approval of the 2022 budget, which Duquesne said came “late.”Lebanon has been effectively leaderless for months, without a president and ruled by a caretaker cabinet. The IMF is also demanding reform of banking secrecy laws and a restructuring of the banking sector as a whole, as well as a law on capital controls. “There is no other solution than the IMF to provide capital, credibility and confidence... and to reduce inequality,” Duquesne said. Paris will host an international meeting on Monday on how to end months of political deadlock in Lebanon, with representatives from France, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt. Duquesne is in Beirut to provide French support for the recovery of Lebanon’s energy sector, a mission that has already taken him to Egypt and Jordan. “The two countries have expressed extreme goodwill and said they are technically ready to supply gas and electricity to Lebanon,” which is almost completely without power, the diplomat said. However, energy supplies would have to pass through Syria, which is subject to stringent US sanctions. Duquesne said he would visit Washington over the next 10 days to discuss “exemptions” for Egyptian gas and Jordanian electricity supplied to Lebanon via Syria. There, he will also meet officials from the World Bank, which is expected to finance energy deliveries. Lebanon’s political impasse has hampered efforts to resolve its worst-ever financial crisis. The Lebanese pound has lost more than 95 percent of its market value to the dollar since 2019, and more than 80 percent of the population lives in poverty, according to the United Nations. Last September, the IMF also criticized the Lebanese authorities, saying progress in implementing reforms remained “very slow.”

Qatar boosts influence in Lebanon amid multiple crises
BEIRUT (AP)/February 4, 2023
Most wealthy Gulf Arab nations followed Saudi Arabia’s lead in recent years and ostracized crisis-hit Lebanon because of the growing influence of the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah. The exception was Qatar. Doha has been silently expanding its influence in Lebanon. It continued receiving Lebanese leaders and pumped tens millions of dollars into helping the country’s armed forces amid a historic economic meltdown. The small, gas-rich nation in late January began seeing the fruits of its investment, when state-owned Qatar Energy replaced a Russian firm in an international consortium that will search for gas in the Mediterranean Sea off Lebanon’s coast. And on Monday, Qatar will for the first time join a meeting in Paris along with officials from France, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. for discussions focusing on Lebanon’s political and economic crises. Qatar portrays itself as a more neutral force in a country where for decades outside powers have used Lebanon’s sectarian divisions to fight their proxy battles. Saudi Arabia long backed Lebanon’s Sunni Muslim factions and tried to push out Iran’s influence through Shiite Hezbollah. The rivalry repeatedly pushed Lebanon to the brink of armed conflict. Qatar, which has good ties with Iran, has been trying to advance negotiations between Tehran and Gulf nations. Its inclusion in the upcoming talks “is a signal that Iran will not be completely left out of that meeting and a recognition of the influence that Tehran has over Lebanon,” said Mohamad Bazzi, a professor and director of the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at New York University. “With Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states less heavily involved in Lebanon, Qatar is trying to revive its mediator role in the country,” he said. Still, Qatar – one of the richest countries in the world with its natural gas wealth – so far “has shown little sign of being willing to bail out Lebanon on its own,” Bazzi said. Since late 2019, Lebanon’s economy has collapsed under the weight of widespread corruption and mismanagement. The currency has lost more than 90% of its value, throwing most of the population into poverty. International donors, including Qatar, have been demanding the government implement reforms to release some $11 billion in loans and grants. But Lebanon’s politicians have resisted because reforms would weaken their grip in the country.
Qatar’s involvement in Lebanon is not new.
After the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, Qatar helped rebuild several towns and villages that suffered major destruction in southern Lebanon. Giant billboards with signs reading “Thank You Qatar” popped up around Lebanon.
In May 2008, after Hezbollah and its allies battled their Western-backed rivals in Beirut’s worst fighting since the 1975-90 civil war, Lebanese political leaders flew to Qatar, where they reached a deal known as the “Doha Agreement.” The deal ended an 18-month deadlock and brought the election of a new president and formation of a new government. In the calm that followed, massive foreign investment flowed in, and Lebanon’s economy grew at an average of 9% for three years. In December 2018, then-President Michel Aoun inaugurated the newly rehabilitated Lebanese National Library in Beirut, funded by Qatar at a cost of $25 million. The current emir’s mother, Sheikha Moza bint Nasser al-Missned, had laid the foundation stone for the project in the heart of Beirut in 2009. Saudi Arabia pulled back from Lebanon in recent years as Hezbollah’s power grew. Last year, the main Saudi ally in Lebanon, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a dual Lebanese-Saudi citizen, announced he is suspending his work in politics. In 2020, Riyadh banned imports of Lebanese products after a Lebanese official derided the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen. Several other Gulf countries followed suit, but Qatar did not.
Qatar doubled down on its investment as Lebanon’s economy melted down. Qatari investors bought the famous Beirut Le Vendome hotel overlooking the Mediterranean in 2020. There are reports that Doha plans to pump money into Lebanon’s struggling banking sector to buy one of the country’s lenders.
In June, Qatar donated $60 million to support the salaries of members of the Lebanese army. It was already supporting the army with monthly supplies of food. Strengthening Lebanon’s military has long been a policy of the United States, which sees the force as a counterbalance to Hezbollah.
A week ago, three months after Lebanon and Israel signed a U.S.-mediated maritime border agreement, Qatari Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi joined Lebanese officials in Beirut for a ceremony inking an agreement for Qatar to take a 30% share in a consortium for oil and gas exploration in Lebanese waters. “For us in Qatar, this important agreement gives us an opportunity to support economic developments in Lebanon during this critical turn,” al-Kaabi said at the event. “Qatar is always present to support a better future for Lebanon and its people.”
According to the agreement, Qatar Energy will take over the 20% stake vacated by Russia’s Novatek in addition to 5% each from Italy’s giant ENI and France’s TotalEnergies leaving the Arab company with a stake of 30%. Total and ENI will have 35% stakes each. “This is a win-win situation for Lebanon and Qatar,” said Lebanon’s former energy minister, Cesar Abi Khalil. Qatar gets a stake in the possible gas resources in Lebanese waters, while Lebanon gets the credibility of a Qatari company in the project. In the political field, Qatar has not openly backed any party. But it reportedly supports the Lebanese Army commander, Gen. Joseph Aoun, to become the country’s next president. Aoun, who is not related to the outgoing president, was invited to visit Qatar in December and met with high-level officials. Hezbollah is believed to oppose him. As it often does, Qatar is advancing its economic and political interests together, said Lebanese economist Antoine Farah. It is ensuring income from its investments while gaining a political role in the country where it invests. But Ali Hamade, a journalist with the Lebanese daily An-Nahar, said Qatar, like other Gulf nations, will want to see Lebanon’s political leaders enact serious reforms. “Lebanon should help itself in order for Arabs to help Lebanon. Lebanese politicians cannot sit and wait for money to rain from the sky,” Hamade said.

Sami Gemayel Says Will Paralyze Presidential Election If Candidate Supports Hezbollah’s Weapons
Beirut - Nazeer Rida/Asharq Al-Awsat/February, 04/2023
The leader of Lebanon’s Kataeb party, Samy Gemayel, on Friday threatened to “paralyze” the Lebanese presidential election if Hezbollah’s candidate plans to “protect the weapons” of the Shiite party. Gemayel’s threat, which was made during an address to Kataeb's 32nd general congress, will hardly be effective if he does not coordinate with the rest of Lebanon’s opposition forces. “Today’s battle isn’t against a certain group of Lebanese. It is against the existential threat which affects Lebanese Christians and Muslims alike,” said Gemayel, adding that the fight was against a group that is seeking to destroy the country by promoting sectarian strife. “We are witnessing a blow to the judiciary, institutions, freedom of expression and free media, and we want to preserve the freedom of our country and its identity, but we will not succeed unless we are united,” added Gemayel. Moreover, Gemayel launched veiled criticism of Hezbollah’s Christian ally, the Free Patriotic Movement. He accused the Lebanese party of handing over the country to Hezbollah under the false pretext of protecting Christians. “We were only able to achieve the withdrawal of the Syrian army when we united in Martyrs' Square, and we will not preserve Lebanon unless we all unite,” stressed Gemayel. Gemayel also emphasized that there is a shadow state, controlled by Hezbollah, vying for control over Lebanon. “It is no longer possible for us to submit to the will of (Hezbollah) in Lebanon, and we call on all Lebanese to shoulder their responsibilities,” said Gemayel. Lebanon has been without a president since Oct. 31, when the mandate of Michel Aoun— an ally of Hezbollah — came to an end. The country has also been governed by a caretaker cabinet since May 2022, while 11 parliamentary sessions have failed to elect a president.

Raad: Enemies want president who would tighten noose on resistance
Naharnet/February, 04/2023
The head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, MP Mohammed Raad, on Saturday warned that his party’s “enemies” are “trying to turn the presidential juncture in Lebanon into a platform for taking hold of a president who would implement their policies and continue their scheme of tightening the noose on the Resistance.”“We are not the ones paralyzing the country. It is rather being paralyzed by those who are putting their hand on its money, banks, policies, siege and sanctions, preventing that it be supplied with electricity,” Raad said.

Geagea says didn't nominate himself in order to facilitate presidential vote
Naharnet/February, 04/2023
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Saturday stressed “the need for everyone to commit to finalizing the presidential juncture, instead of obstructing it with the aim of imposing a candidate wanted by the obstructing party.”“The LF has the biggest parliamentary bloc at the Christian and national levels, and despite this the party leader did not nominate himself in order to facilitate the process, backing instead the candidate Michel Mouawad, who won the biggest number of votes from the opposition,” Geagea added, in a meeting with the papal ambassador in Maarab. “If there is a candidate who enjoys Mouawad’s characteristics and the ability to win a bigger number of votes than him, the LF and Mouawad himself will have no problem,” the LF leader went on to say. He also emphasized that the LF wants “a candidate who has the minimum level of presence, prestige and sovereign and reformist sense.”

Lokman Slim's family urges UN probe into murder's possible link to port case
Agence France Presse/February, 04/2023
The widow of Lebanese intellectual Lokman Slim has called for a U.N. fact-finding mission to determine whether his assassination and two other murders are linked to the Beirut port explosion. A secular activist from a Shiite Muslim family, 58-year-old Slim was found shot dead in his car on February 4, 2021, a day after his family reported him missing. Beirut's catastrophic August 4, 2020 port blast killed more than 200 people, injured thousands and ravaged swathes of the capital. Nobody has been held responsible in either case. Slim's widow Monika Borgmann urged the U.N. Human Rights Council "to commit itself" to a "fact-finding mission to support Lebanon and its people in its calls for justice and accountability." Lebanon's own investigation into the blast "is not advancing and is hampered," Borgmann said at a ceremony marking the second anniversary of Slim's killing at his home in the Beirut southern suburb of Haret Hreik. In one of Slim's last TV appearances, he accused the Syrian regime of having links to an ammonium nitrate shipment that caused the blast. Borgmann urged any U.N. fact-finding mission to investigate Slim's killing and two other deaths that she said "could be linked to the port explosion."She was referring to Munir Abu Rjeili, a retired colonel from the customs administration, and amateur military photographer Joe Bejjany, the circumstances of whose December 2020 deaths have also not been clarified. "The culture of impunity and lack of accountability has gripped Lebanon for far too long," Borgmann said. Slim's body was found in southern Lebanon -- a stronghold of Iran-backed Hezbollah, which is also an ally of Syria's regime. Last month, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International called on the U.N. Human Rights Council to "urgently pass a resolution to create an impartial fact-finding mission" into the port explosion. Lebanese authorities have rejected calls for an international probe into the catastrophe, while the domestic investigation has been repeatedly stalled as high-level officials have mounted a slew of political and legal challenges. An outspoken activist and a researcher passionate about documenting the civil war that raged from 1975-1990 in Lebanon, Slim was a divisive figure. His sway over foreign diplomats in Lebanon often sparked the ire of Hezbollah and its loyalists. On Thursday, U.N. rights experts voiced deep concern at the slow pace of the investigation into Slim's death, demanding that Beirut ensure accountability. "It is incumbent on the Lebanese authorities to fully investigate and bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous crime," the four independent experts said.

Cancer patients in Lebanon fear death due to lack of vital medicine
Najia Houssari/Arab News/February 04, 2023
BEIRUT: Dozens of cancer patients in Lebanon staged a demonstration on Saturday in Riad Al-Solh Square near the headquarters of the prime minister to highlight the unavailability of drugs in pharmacies and hospitals.Protesters held banners saying, “We will tell God everything” and “Medicine will be available when you stop your corruption.”The patients’ protest on Saturday coincided with World Cancer Day. Joe Salloum, president of the Lebanese Order of Pharmacists, condemned, along with the Barbara Nassar Association for Cancer Patient Support, “the genocide committed against the patients by depriving them of cancer medication.”Salloum is one of the organizers of the protest taking place in Beirut. Joyce, a protester in her 40s, said: “Medicine is unavailable. I cannot buy it myself because I cannot cover its costs, but I get it from an association that supports cancer patients in Lebanon.”
Joyce, who suffers from breast cancer and needs an eight-year-long treatment, added: “If the government decides to lift subsidies on cancer medication as it has been reported lately, what am I going to do? The ruling class is no longer subsidizing anything, but it can at least keep the subsidies on the medication so we can stay alive.” Karim Gebara, head of the Lebanese Pharmaceutical Importers, believes there is a drug shortage because the funds available for their purchase are not enough to cover the needs of all Lebanese patients. Gebara said that importers no longer play a key role when it comes to the amount of imported drugs. Instead, it is the Health Ministry that decides the quantity and type of drugs and who will receive them, Gebara added. Patients and activists supporting them wore black during their protest on Saturday, mourning cancer victims who died last year because they could not receive their treatment on time. They charged that the state is “trying to kill and exterminate them.”Last year, cancer patients carried and smashed a wooden coffin symbolizing their death caused by the lack of medicine and inability to receive treatment. In an exclusive interview with Arab News, caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad said that cancer patients have a right to be worried, but the ministry has not lifted subsidies on medications for cancer and incurable diseases. “What happened is that we substituted eight expensive medications with generic ones from international companies,” he said.
“Moreover, the price of one branded medication pack equals the price of two generic medication packs, meaning that for the price of one branded medication pack, I can give two patients two generic medication packs. This does not mean that subsidies were lifted as interpreted by some people.”
Abiad stressed that one of the ministry’s priorities is to secure medication and treatment for patients suffering from cancer and incurable diseases, adding that their numbers range between 20,000 and 30,000.
He said the computerized system the ministry has set up to track subsidized medications, such as those for cancer and incurable diseases, has the aim of providing fair treatment.
It has, to date, detected many loopholes, including how some people would acquire expensive cancer medications under the names of deceased patients or in a quantity that exceeds their needs, said Abiad. Now, the minister said 90 percent of the subsidized medications are going to the right place and the ministry is in the process of adding more medications to the tracking system. The Ministry of Health has previously warned against smuggling subsidized cancer drugs outside Lebanon and using counterfeit or expired drugs smuggled inside Lebanon. Several hospitals have documented dozens of samples that, upon inspection, were found to be mixed with water and salt. According to patients, subsidized medications do not arrive on time, which messes up the schedule of treatment sessions, leading to the deterioration of patients’ health conditions.
Abiad said complaints stem from the fact that drug companies no longer keep extra stock in their warehouses because of Lebanon’s current financial straits, causing a delay.
“Previously, we were suffering from the lack of drugs. Now we suffer from their late arrival. We are continuously working under tough circumstances. Public sector employees are still on strike, and we are doing everything we can,” he said. Patients who can no longer find their medications are either importing them or opting for alternatives from Turkiye, Armenia, India, Iran and Syria. The funds the Ministry of Health has allocated for medications for cancer and incurable diseases decreased from $45 million to $35 million per month, due to Lebanon’s current economic crisis. Abiad said: “Of those funds, $12 million was allocated to cancer and incurable diseases. Now that we have lifted the subsidies on medicines for other diseases, we have directed financial savings to medicines for cancer and incurable diseases and raised the allocated amount to $25 million.”The Cabinet is set to meet next week to discuss an agenda of “necessary, urgent and emergency topics.” The agenda includes three points related to securing the needs of the Ministry of Health for the purchase of drugs for cancer and incurable diseases, dialysis supplies and primary materials for the pharmaceutical industry, in addition to the payment of social assistance to workers in government hospitals. Ismail Sukkarieh, head of the “Health is a Right and Dignity” campaign, told Arab News: “There are dozens of files related to price manipulation, counterfeit drugs, the smuggling of drugs from the Ministry of Health that are then sold on the black market and outside Lebanon. “These files weren’t appropriately addressed by the Parliament, the parties or the educated elites. This gave the drug mafia the green light and allowed it to exploit the health of cancer patients by withholding medications and reselling them for obscene prices on the black market.”

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 04-05/2023
Six Palestinians shot during Israeli raid on camp near Jericho
The National/February 04/2023
UN rights chief calls on both sides to avoid escalation and voices concern over new Israeli government's actions
Six Palestinians were injured during an exchange of gunfire as Israel troops raided a camp near the city of Jericho in the occupied West Bank on Saturday. The Israeli army said it entered the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp south-west of Jericho to search for suspects involved in a shooting last week at a nearby Israeli settlement.An army bulldozer knocked down a home where some of the suspects were believed to be hiding, forcing the occupants out.
Clashes as Israeli forces raid West Bank refugee camp
Protesters threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at the military jeeps as they rumbled down the streets in the camp, while some gunmen opened fire. The Israeli military fired back, wounding six people, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. It said two of the people shot suffered serious injuries but neither was in critical condition. The raid came a day after the UN's human rights chief expressed concerns that steps taken by the new Israeli government, the most far-right in the country’s history, could fuel further breaches of human rights and humanitarian law in the wake of a recent spike in bloodshed in the region. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk cited steps such as forced evictions of Palestinians from their homes and government moves to expedite Israelis’ access to firearms. He called on leaders, officials and all on both sides to stop using language that incites hatred, and to shun violence.
“Rather than doubling down on failed approaches of violence and coercion that have singularly failed in the past, I urge everyone involved to step out of the illogic of escalation that has only ended in dead bodies, shattered lives and utter despair,” said Mr Turk, who took office in October. Meirav Eilon Shahar, Israel’s ambassador in Geneva, accused the rights office of condemning a “legitimate response” by her country — instead of condemning “heinous terrorist attacks” against Jewish worshippers and Israeli civilians. The region is facing one of the deadliest periods of conflict in years. An Israeli military raid last week killed 10 Palestinians — most of them militants — and a 61-year-old woman. A day later, a Palestinian gunman killed seven people outside an East Jerusalem synagogue, including a 14-year-old worshipper. That was followed by another shooting in East Jerusalem in which a 13-year-old Palestinian wounded two Israelis. Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, responded by taking steps to demolish the home of the gunman and other Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem built without permits, and called for granting more gun licences to Israelis. “I fear that recent measures being taken by the government of Israel are only fuelling further violations and abuses of human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law,” Mr Turk said. Such laws prohibit “collective punishment”, including forced evictions and demolition of homes, he said. The UN Office for the Co-ordinator of Humanitarian Affairs reported on Friday that Israeli authorities demolished, confiscated, or forced people to demolish 88 Palestinian-owned structures in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank between January 10 and 30. A total of 31 Palestinians were killed during the same period, it said. Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed last year in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, making it the deadliest in those areas since 2004, according to figures by the Israeli rights group B’Tselem. About 30 people were killed in Israel by Palestinians in 2022. The Israeli army said most of the Palestinians killed were militants. But stone-throwing youths protesting against the Israeli incursions and others not involved in confrontations have been killed.*With reporting from Associated Press

Israeli army besieges homes of fugitives in West Bank raid
AQABAT JABR REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP)/Sat, February 4, 2023
The Israeli army raided a refugee camp near the Palestinian city of Jericho on Saturday, besieging houses it said were being used as hideouts for Palestinian attackers and shooting at residents who opened fire. The fighting wounded six Palestinians, two seriously, said the Palestinian Health Ministry, and jolted a generally quiet oasis town that has seen less violence than other West Bank cities. The army said it entered the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp southwest of Jericho in the occupied West Bank to search for suspects involved in a shooting attack last week at a nearby Israeli settlement. Last Saturday, with the West Bank on edge after the deadliest Israeli military raid in two decades and two subsequent Palestinian attacks in east Jerusalem that killed seven people, the army said a Palestinian gunman had opened fire in a restaurant at a settlement near Jericho. After firing one bullet, the gunman fled the scene, the army said. No one was wounded. The army said several Palestinians had holed up in their homes after the shooting with the help of family and were planning future attacks. To force the fugitives to surrender, a military bulldozer clawed at the walls of one of the homes as an Israeli commander shouted threats over a loudspeaker. Camp residents reported receiving text messages urging families to keep their children inside and avoid clashing with Israeli troops. The suspects and family members trickled out of one of the homes and turned themselves in, the military said. Security forces had leveled much of the house, leaving a pile of rubble and twisted metal. Palestinian protesters threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at military jeeps as they rumbled down the camp streets, while some gunmen opened fire. The Israeli military fired back, wounding six, none critically, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The incursion comes as violence rises in east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank under Israel's new far-right government, which has taken a combative stance against the Palestinians. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians seek those territories for their hoped-for independent state. The Israeli army has ramped up near-nightly raids in the occupied West Bank since a series of deadly Palestinian attacks within Israel last spring. Over the last year and a half of escalating raids, Jericho has remained a sort of sleepy desert town, spared much of the violence. Since last week's shooting at the nearby settlement, the Israeli military has blocked access to several roads into Jericho — a closure that has placed the city under a semi-blockade, disrupting business and creating hourslong bottlenecks at checkpoints that affected even Palestinian security forces, footage showed. The Palestinian Authority, in retaliation for last week's raid into the Jenin refugee camp that killed 10 Palestinians, declared a halt to security coordination with Israel. Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed last year in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, making it the deadliest in those areas since 2004, according to figures by the Israeli rights group B’Tselem. Some 30 people were killed in Israel by Palestinians in 2022. The Israeli army says most of the Palestinians killed have been militants. But stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in confrontations have also been killed.

Iran Says US Insists on Direct Negotiations
Tehran/Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 February, 2023
US is proceeding with its negotiations and talks with Iran, including its insistence on direct negotiations with Tehran, announced Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. Amir-Abdollahian is touring Latin America, starting in Nicaragua and then moving to Venezuela, where he arrived Friday. Mehr News Agency reported that the FM met with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, stressing that the development of Nicaragua and the country's energy security is of paramount importance to Iran. Amir-Addollahian told Ortega: "Donald Trump, the former president of the United States, tried hard to impose sanctions on Iran's oil export and bring it to zero according to his claim, but in Iran, we tried to neutralize the sanctions." Referring to the negotiations to lift the sanctions, the top diplomat announced that the US continued its negotiation with Iran, including its insistence on conducting direct talks. Meanwhile, Iran rejected the US interference in its internal affairs, mocking its slogans, after House of Representatives Republicans ousted Democrat Ilhan Omar from a high-profile committee over remarks widely condemned as antisemitic, two years after Democrats removed two Republicans from committee assignments.
The Iranian news agency, Mehr, quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani describing the "parliamentary tyranny in the US to boycott voice of critical congresswoman." Kanaani tweeted: "Ousting Ilhan Omar, black, Muslim, and critic of Israeli Apartheid from a House Committee indicates the practical commitment of the US to the motto of women, life, freedom. A slogan for interfering in Iran's internal affairs." The deeply divided House voted 218-211 along party lines to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee, with Republicans citing the 2019 remarks for which she later apologized, according to Reuters. Furthermore, the British The Times reported that Britain's plan to declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organization has been stalled after the Foreign Office raised concerns about keeping communication channels open with the regime.
Sources told the newspaper that the Foreign Office blocked the move to proscribe the IRGC, citing the need to keep communication channels open. Officials also raised concerns about how it would be defined as a terrorist group because it was a government agency, unlike most other proscribed bodies. The British Foreign Office declined to comment on The Times' report. A source in the British government told the newspaper that the IRGC should have been listed as a terrorist organization, but that process has been suspended, which could be delayed for weeks, if not months. According to Iran International, the report comes while UK House of Commons members unanimously voted for a motion that urges the government to proscribe Iran's IRGC as a terrorist organization. It is worth noting that the result of the British House of Commons vote is not binding but indicates the lawmakers' increasing pressure on the government to respond to violence against protesters in Iran.

US Adds 8 New Iranian Officials to its Drone Sanctions List
Washington - Ali Barada/Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 February, 2023
The United States imposed sanctions on eight Iranian executives' of Paravar Pars Company (Paravar Pars), an Iran-based firm for manufacturing Shahed-series unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force (IRGC ASF). This US measure follows other decisions announced by the US Treasury on November 15, 2022, September 8, 2022, and January 6, 2023, against individuals and entities associated with the Iranian drone program. US State Secretary Antony Blinken said Russia had used Iranian UAVs against Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure, warning that Tehran's continued supply to Russia violated UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which prohibits Iran's military UAVs to Russia without advance, case-by-case approval of the UN Security Council. "The United States will continue to use every tool at our disposal to disrupt and delay these transfers and impose costs on actors engaged in this activity," he said. The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) stated that Iranian entities continue to produce UAVs for Iran's IRGC and military, adding that Tehran is supplying UAVs for Russia's combat operations to target critical infrastructure in Ukraine. "The United States will continue to aggressively target all elements of Iran's UAV program." OFAC explained that Paravar Pars has manufactured and tested UAVs for the IRGC ASF and IRGC Navy. The firm specifically played a role in the research, development, and production of the Shahed-171 UAV. The sanctions targeted Hossein Shamsabadi, Paravar Pars' Managing Director, CEO, and a member of the firm's Board of Directors, Ali Reza Tangsiri, the Chairman of the Board for Paravar Pars and commander of IRGC Navy, Abulfazl Nazeri, Mohsen Asadi, Mohammed Sadegh Mousa, Abulfazl Salehnejad, and Mohammed Mohammadi. The list included forward base ship IRIS MAKRAN and naval frigate IRIS DENA.

US, Allies Criticize Iran's Response to UN Nuclear Watchdog Report
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 February, 2023
The United States issued a joint statement with France, the United Kingdom and Germany on Friday criticizing Iran's "inadequate" response to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on its nuclear program. The UN nuclear watchdog issued a warning to Tehran on Wednesday after it found that changes had been made without prior notification at the Fordo Fuel Enrichment Plant to equipment that can enrich uranium to up to 60 percent, AFP said. Iran claimed that an IAEA inspector had accidentally flagged the changes as being undeclared and that the matter was later resolved. "Iranian claims that this action was carried out in error are inadequate," the joint statement said. "We judge Iran's actions based on the impartial and objective reports of the IAEA, not Iran's purported intent." According to the IAEA report, seen by AFP, during an unannounced Fordo inspection on January 21, inspectors found that "two IR-6 centrifuge cascades... were interconnected in a way that was substantially different from the mode of operation declared by Iran to the agency." The IAEA did not specify the kind of changes made to the interconnection between the cascades. The four countries said that the change was "inconsistent with Iran's obligations" under treaties and that "such lack of required notifications undermines the Agency's ability to maintain timely detection at Iran's nuclear facilities." "We recall that the production of high-enriched uranium by Iran at the Fordow Enrichment Plant carries significant proliferation-related risks and is without any credible civilian justification," their statement said. The Fordo site has been under increased scrutiny since Iran began producing uranium enriched to 60 percent there since November 2022, as well as at its Natanz site. That far exceeds the 3.67 percent enrichment threshold set by the 2015 agreement between Tehran and major powers, and is close to the 90 percent needed to produce an atomic bomb.

Microsoft Says Iranians Hacked France's Charlie Hebdo
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 February, 2023
US computing giant Microsoft said Friday that it had identified Iranian state actors as those behind the recent cyberattack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. Clint Watts, the general manager of Microsoft's Digital Threat Analysis Center, said that the hackers, who called themselves "Holy Souls," were Iranian cybersecurity firm Emennet Pasargad, AFP reported. In early January Holy Souls announced they had obtained the personal information of more than 200,000 Charlie Hebdo customers, and published a sample of the data as proof. The cyberattack came after Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in a special edition to mark the anniversary of the 2015 attack on its Paris offices that left 12 dead. Iran issued an official warning to France over the "insulting and indecent" cartoons. Emennet Pasargad was the employer of two Iranians, Mohammad Hosein Musa Kazemi and Sajjad Kashian, who were indicted by the United States Justice Department in November 2021. They allegedly conducted a cyber campaign "to intimidate and influence American voters, and otherwise undermine voter confidence and sow discord" during the 2020 US presidential election.
Kazemi and Kashian allegedly obtained confidential voter information and sent menacing emails, pushing out false information to influence both Democratic and Republican voters, and attempted to hack into state voting-related websites, the department said.
The Charlie Hebdo hackers, whose operation Microsoft dubbed "Neptunium", offered the stolen subscriber database for sale online for 20 bitcoin, currently about $460,000, Microsoft said. "Whatever one may think of Charlie Hebdo's editorial choices, the release of personally identifiable information about tens of thousands of its customers constitutes a grave threat," Microsoft said.

Iranian authorities to Impose More Stringent Hijab Laws
Tehran, London - Asharq Al-Awsat/February, 04/2023
Iranian authorities intend to enforce the requirement for women to wear the veil more strictly through video surveillance, according to Iranian media. Iran's Etemad newspaper said on Friday that the parliamentary justice committee wants to expand the scope of monitoring already used in road traffic to include public places. Women will be warned at first, via a text message, in the event of violations, and in the event of a repeat violation, the violations will be punished by imposing a fine on them. At the beginning of January, Etemad had already published a report on reforms to penalize violations of the Islamic dress code more stringently. At the time, there was talk of community service assignments, re-education courses, bans on leaving the country, employment restrictions and fines. For months now, the notorious morality police, who used to patrol the headscarf law, have almost completely disappeared from the streets. Many women in Iran's big cities no longer wear the veil. Critics in Iran complain about the lack of social support for the new tightening of laws. For more than four months, Iranians have been demonstrating against oppressive policies.
A wave of protests had erupted due to the death of the Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody after the morality police had arrested her for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code. In other news, Reuters reported that social media images purported to be of an emaciated jailed Iranian dissident on hunger strike have caused outrage online as supporters warned on Friday he risks death for protesting the compulsory wearing of the hijab. Farhad Meysami, 53, who has been in jail since 2018 for supporting women activists protesting against Iran's headscarf policy, began his hunger strike on Oct. 7 to protest recent government killings of demonstrators, the dissident's lawyer said.

Iranian protests are ‘beginning of the end for regime in Tehran’, says Nobel laureate Ebadi
Arab News/February 04, 2023
JEDDAH: Protests in Iran over the death in custody of a young Iranian Kurdish woman are the start of an irreversible “revolutionary process” that will eventually lead to the collapse of the regime, one of Tehran’s most eloquent critics said on Friday. Shirin Ebadi, the distinguished Iranian lawyer and former judge who lives in exile in London, said the protests were the boldest challenge yet to the legitimacy of Iran’s clerical establishment. “This revolutionary process is like a train that will not stop until it reaches its final destination,” said Ebadi, 75, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work defending human rights. “The protests have taken a different shape, but they have not ended,” she told Reuters in a phone interview from London. Iran’s clerical rulers have faced widespread unrest since Mahsa Amini died in the custody of the morality police on Sept. 16 last year after she was arrested for wearing “inappropriate attire.
Iran has blamed Amini's death on existing medical problems and has accused its enemies of fomenting the unrest to destabilise the regime. For months, Iranians from all walks of life have called for the fall of the clerical establishment, chanting slogans against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Amini’s death has unbottled years of anger among many Iranians over issues ranging from economic misery and discrimination against ethnic minorities to tightening social and political restrictions. As they have done in the past in the face of protests in the past four decades, Iran’s hard-line rulers have cracked down hard. Authorities have handed down dozens of death sentences to people involved in protests and have carried out at least four hangings, in what rights activists say is a crackdown aimed at intimidating people and keep them off the streets.
BACKGROUND
The crackdown has stoked diplomatic tensions at a time when talks to revive Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers are at a standstill. The rights group HRANA said 527 protesters had been killed during unrest, of whom 71 were children, and nearly 20,000 protesters had been arrested. However, protests have slowed considerably since the hangings began. Videos posted on social mediashowed people chanting “Death to Khamenei” from rooftops in some cities, but nothing on the scale of past months. Ebadi said the state’s use of deadly violence would deepen anger felt by ordinary Iranians about the clerical establishment because the their grievances remain unaddressed. “The protests have taken a different shape, but they have not ended,” she said. The crackdown has stoked diplomatic tensions at a time when talks to revive Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers are at a standstill. To force the regime from power, Ebadi said the West should take “practical steps” such as recalling their ambassadors from Tehran, and should avoid reaching any agreement with Iran, including the nuclear deal. With deepening economic misery, chiefly because of US sanctions over Tehran’s disputed nuclear work, many Iranians are feeling the pain of galloping inflation and rising joblessness. Inflation has soared to over 50 percent, the highest level in decades. Youth unemployment remains high with over 50 percent of Iranians being pushed below the poverty line, according to reports by Iran’s Statistics Center.

Foreign Office accused of resisting proscribing Iran’s Revolutionary Guard
Camilla Turner/The Telegraph/February 4, 2023
A Cabinet split has emerged over plans to proscribe Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, with the Foreign Office accused of blocking the move in order to maintain “access”. Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, is pushing for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to be declared a terrorist group. But it is understood that the process has stalled after James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, raised concerns that pressing ahead with the measure could harm British interests. MI5 has accused Iran of plotting the assassination and kidnap of at least 10 British residents last year. Last month the regime executed a British-Iranian national accused of spying. Home Office officials have been building the case against the IRGC, with the security services understood to have shared intelligence.
Proscribing IRGC would be 'symbolic'
Proscribing the group means it would become a criminal offence to belong to the IRGC, attend its meetings, carry its logo in public or encourage support of its activities. It would put the body on a similar legal footing as Al-Qaeda, which perpetrated the 9/11 atrocities, and Islamic State, the Islamist jihadi group, showing how grave the threat is being treated inside Whitehall. Similar steps have been taken by the US and Canada, two of the UK’s partners in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance, which also includes Australia and New Zealand. A Whitehall source told The Sunday Telegraph that proscribing the IRGC would be “symbolic” and would “send a political message” to Tehran. They claimed there is cross-Government support for the move and that “you just have the Foreign Office” pushing back against it because they fear proscribing the group would limit their “access” by forcing them “underground”.
Fears British Embassy would be expelled
But it is understood that senior Whitehall officials are concerned that proscribing the group would likely lead to the British Embassy being expelled from Tehran in retaliation. They argue that this would severely limit the UK’s ability to look after its interests in the country as well as negotiate with the Iranian regime over issues such as imprisoned British nationals. A government source said: “We will not limit ourselves to actions that have already been taken [against Iran]. And whilst we will not speculate about things that we may do in the future, nothing is off the table. “But the prism always has to be: does this achieve what we want it to achieve and does it carry the risk of harming British interest in the process? “An argument has been made - the framing of which is does this do what we want it to do or does it have repercussions on British interests?”The IRGC was founded as an ideological custodian of Iran’s 1979 revolution but has since morphed into a major military, political and economic force in the country. The group controls Iran’s elite armed and intelligence forces and has provided assistance to militant groups in places such as Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan. Ken McCallum, the MI5 director general, highlighted the Iranian regime’s threats to the UK in a rare public speech last November that included detailing past plots. He said: “Iran projects a threat to the UK directly, through its aggressive intelligence services. At its sharpest, this includes ambitions to kidnap or even kill British or UK-based individuals perceived as enemies of the regime. We have seen at least 10 such potential threats since January alone.”
Support for IRGC shown in Britain
In recent years, shows of support for the IRGC, which would likely become illegal if the group is proscribed, have been seen on the streets of Britain. The IRGC flag, with its distinctive automatic-gun insignia, was unfurled during an anti-Israel demonstration in Trafalgar Square on May 22, 2021. One of the main Iranian news agencies reportedly played footage showing the flag. The scenes prompted calls for prescription, including from Tom Tugendhat, the Security Minister, who at the time was on the backbenches and chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee. The Terrorism Act 2000 gave the home secretary the right to proscribe an organisation if it is reasonably believed the body is involved in terrorism and it is proportionate to do so. In total, 78 terrorist organisations have been proscribed under law.Iranian politicians and officials have in the past rejected suggestions the IRGC is a terrorist group and defended its actions as a legitimate extension of the state.

Russia's Medvedev says more U.S. weapons supplies mean 'all of Ukraine will burn'
Reuters/Sat, February 4, 2023
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said the supply of more advanced U.S. weaponry to Ukraine will only trigger more retaliatory strikes from Russia, up to the extent of Russia's nuclear doctrine. "All of Ukraine that remains under Kyiv's rule will burn," journalist Nadana Fridrikhson quoted him as saying in a written interview with her. Fridrikhson asked Medvedev, who as deputy chairman of the Security Council has become one of Russia's most hawkish pro-war figures since its invasion of Ukraine, whether the use of longer-range weapons might force Russia to negotiate with Kyiv.
"The result will be just the opposite," Medvedev replied, in comments that Fridrikhson posted on her Telegram channel. "Only moral freaks, of which there are enough both in the White House and in the Capitol, can argue like that."The Pentagon said on Friday that a new rocket that would double Ukraine's strike range was included in a $2.175 billion U.S. military aid package. With the first anniversary of the invasion approaching on Feb. 24, Russian forces have been on the back foot for the last eight months, and do not fully control any of the four Ukrainian provinces that Moscow has unilaterally declared part of Russia. President Vladimir Putin casts Russia's campaign in Ukraine as an existential defence against an aggressive West and has, like Medvedev, several times brandished the threat of a nuclear response, saying Russia will use all available means to protect itself and its people. Asked what would happen if the weapons that Washington has promised Ukraine were to strike Crimea - which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014 - or deep into Russia, Medvedev said Putin had addressed the matter clearly. "We don't set ourselves any limits and, depending on the nature of the threats, we're ready to use all types of weapons. In accordance with our doctrinal documents, including the Fundamentals of Nuclear Deterrence," he said. "I can assure you that the answer will be quick, tough and convincing." Russia's nuclear doctrine allows for a nuclear strike after "aggression against the Russian Federation with conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is threatened".

U.S. warns Turkey on exports seen to boost Russia's war effort
Jonathan Spicer/ISTANBUL (Reuters)/Sat, February 4, 2023
-The United States warned Turkey in recent days about the export to Russia of chemicals, microchips and other products that can be used in Moscow's war effort in Ukraine, and it could move to punish Turkish companies or banks contravening sanctions. Brian Nelson, the U.S. Treasury Department's top sanctions official, visited Turkish government and private sector officials on Thursday and Friday to urge more cooperation in disrupting the flow of such goods. In a speech to bankers, Nelson said a marked year-long rise in exports to Russia leaves Turkish entities "particularly vulnerable to reputational and sanctions risks", or lost access to G7 markets. They should "take extra precaution to avoid transactions related to potential dual-use technology transfers that could be used by the Russian military-industrial complex," he said in a copy of the speech issued by the Treasury.
In the meetings in Ankara and Istanbul, Nelson and a delegation highlighted tens of millions of dollars of exports to Russia that raised concerns, according to a senior U.S. official who requested anonymity. "There is no surprise...that Russia is actively looking to leverage the historic economic ties it has in Turkey," the official said. "The question is what is the Turkish response going to be."NATO member Ankara opposes the sweeping sanctions on Russia on principle but says they will not be circumvented in Turkey, urging the West to provide any evidence. Western nations applied the export controls and sanctions after Moscow's invasion nearly a year ago. Yet supply channels have remained open from Hong Kong, Turkey and other trading hubs. Citing Russian customs records, Reuters reported in December that at least $2.6 billion of computer and other electronic components flowed into Russia in the seven months to Oct. 31. At least $777 million of these products were made by Western firms whose chips have been found in Russian weapons systems.
PRESSURE
Ankara has balanced its good ties with both Moscow and Kyiv throughout the war, held early talks between the sides and also helped broker a deal for grain shipments from Ukraine.The trip by Nelson, the Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, is the latest to Turkey by senior U.S. officials aiming to ramp up pressure on Ankara to ensure enforcement of U.S. curbs on Russia.
The pressure has brought some changes.
Turkey's largest ground-service provider, Havas, told Russian and Belarusian airlines it may stop providing parts, fuel and other services to their U.S.-origin aircraft, in line with Western bans, Reuters reported on Friday citing a Jan. 31 letter from the company. In September, five Turkish banks suspended use of the Russian Mir payment system after the U.S. Treasury targeted the head of the system's operator with new sanctions and warned those helping Moscow against skirting them. Nelson urged the Turkish bankers to conduct enhanced due diligence on Russian-related transactions, and noted in the speech that Russian oligarchs continue to buy property and dock yachts in Turkey. In separate talks with Turkish firms, Nelson "urgently" flagged the way Russia is believed to be dodging Western controls to re-supply plastics, rubber and semi-conductors found in exported goods and used by the military, the official said. The person added that after taking steps last year to press Russia to end the war, the U.S. focus is now "on evasion and particularly evasion in third countries that we are seeing". Nelson delivered similar messages in the United Arab Emirates and Oman this week, the Treasury said.

Western allies pledge precision rockets, missile systems to Kyiv
Agence France Presse/Sat, February 4, 2023
Western allies have pledged precision rockets and missile systems to Ukraine, after President Volodymyr Zelensky called for sophisticated weapons to help retain control of the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut. The European Union agreed to introduce price caps on Russian petroleum products to try to further limit Russian President Vladimir Putin's war chest by targeting his key exports. The announcements came shortly after Zelensky told a summit with EU leaders in Kyiv: "No one will surrender Bakhmut. We will fight as long as we can. "If weapon (deliveries) are accelerated -- namely long-range weapons -- we will not only not withdraw from Bakhmut, we will begin to de-occupy Donbas," he said of the eastern region of Ukraine. The United States on Friday announced a new $2.2-billion package of arms and munitions, which the Pentagon said included a new rocket-propelled precision bomb that could nearly double Kyiv's strike range against Russian forces. The ground-launched small-diameter bombs (GLSDB), which can fly up to 150 kilometres (93 miles), could threaten key Russian supply lines, arms depots and air bases far behind the front lines. They potentially give Kyiv's forces the ability to strike anywhere in the Russian-occupied Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, as well as the northern part of occupied Crimea. However, "the delivery of the GLSDB likely won't be for several months due to contracting, production, and delivery timelines", said Pentagon spokesman Lt Col Garron Garn, declining to say how many would be delivered. France and Italy will deliver mobile surface-to-air missile systems, the French defence ministry said, in response to an urgent request from Kyiv to help protect "civilian populations and infrastructure from Russian air attacks."The systems, called MAMBA or SAMP, are a vehicle-mounted battery of medium-range missiles designed to offer protection from airborne threats such as missiles and manned or unmanned aircraft. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, who had requested the weapons, tweeted his gratitude, saying the systems would "help us save thousands of lives" from Russian attacks. Kyiv is also asking for fighter jets. It has already secured promises from the West for deliveries of modern battle tanks and, after months of hesitation, Germany authorised the delivery of Leopard 1 tanks.
Targeting Russian refined oil products -
In Brussels, the EU, the Group of Seven industrialized countries and Australia agreed to cap the price of Russian refined oil products to accompany an embargo on ship deliveries of the products that comes into force on Sunday. Already in December, the EU imposed an embargo on Russian crude oil coming into the bloc by sea and -- with its G7 partners -- imposed a $60-per-barrel cap on Russian crude exports to other parts of the world. The new embargo and price caps starting Sunday will target Russian refined oil products such as petrol, diesel and heating fuel arriving on ships. The Kremlin warned that the measures would destabilise world markets. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen estimated this week that the crude oil price cap costs Moscow around 160 million euros ($170 million) daily.
'No timeline' on EU membership -
At the Kyiv summit, the EU praised Ukraine's "considerable efforts" to start the reforms needed for joining the bloc, but urged it to go further. Corruption is a key European concern. Ukraine has widened efforts to tackle it, with raids this week on an oligarch with political connections and a former interior minister. Zelensky, who is pressing for speedy EU accession, suggested Friday that talks could begin this year. "What exactly did we agree upon today?" Zelensky said in his regular evening address. "There is an understanding that it is possible to start negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the European Union this year."But the path to joining the EU could take years. Von der Leyen cautioned that the process was merit-based and there could be "no rigid timelines" on either negotiations or membership. For now, the EU says it will do more to divert Russia's frozen assets for use compensating Ukraine for damage inflicted since the invasion. Brussels also plans to roll out a new package of sanctions on the first anniversary of the invasion, February 24.
Not a military target
There was no let-up in fighting in Bakhmut, the front line of a prolonged battle between Ukrainian and Russian forces. Throughout Friday morning, AFP journalists heard a steady exchange of small-arms fire and the pounding of mortar shells to and from Russian positions. An American humanitarian medic was killed in the city when his evacuation vehicle was hit by a missile, according to Global Outreach Doctors, with whom he was working. The 33-year-old victim, Pete Reed, was a former U.S. Marine Corps rifleman who also worked as a paramedic, according to the organisation's founder, Andrew Lustig. Several others were reportedly hurt in the strike. Local man Oleksandr Tkachenko, 65, said it was "clear" the car, which was destroyed, was not a military target. Residents trying to rescue the occupants had also come under attack, he added.

Portugal to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine, PM says
LISBON (Reuters)/Sat, February 4, 2023
Portugal will send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Saturday, without specifying how many will be shipped. Costa added that Portugal is in talks with Germany to obtain parts needed for the repair of a number of inoperable Leopard tanks in Portugal's inventory of the weapon. "We are currently working to be able to dispense some of our tanks," Costa told Lusa news agency during a trip to the Central African Republic. "I know how many tanks will be (sent to Ukraine) but that will be announced at the appropriate time." Costa's office did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Admiral António Silva Ribeiro, the head of the Portuguese armed forces, said last month Portugal had 37 Leopard 2 tanks but it has been widely reported by local media that most are inoperable. Portugal is working with Germany to get the parts needed to repair the tanks that are not operational, Costa said, adding he hoped to deliver them to Ukraine by the end of March. The defence ministry said it would not comment on the "operability of weapons and equipment systems" for security reasons. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said earlier this week the country would receive 120 to 140 Western tanks in a "first wave" of deliveries from a coalition of 12 countries. Kyiv secured pledges from the West to supply main battle tanks to help fend off Russia's full-scale invasion, with Moscow mounting huge efforts to make incremental advances in eastern Ukraine.

Saddam's Guard Gave Information About his Hideout in Tikrit
Paris - Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 February, 2023
A US commandos force arrested former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who disappeared immediately after the toppling of his regime. The search and arrest of Saddam was a priority for the US political and military leadership, especially after the operations targeting these forces escalated in several Iraqi regions. Everyone saw the scene of Saddam covered with grass, dirt, and sand, coming out of what looked like a primitive room underground, ventilated through a plastic pipe. Saddam was bearded, with bushy hair, and appeared surprised rather than scared. He was surrounded by members of the Delta Force, which was tasked with capturing him. However, to date, none of the soldiers who participated in the operation dared to reveal the details of the process in Ad-Dawr, Tikrit, which traditionally supported Saddam. Under US law, details of the operations are supposed to be kept confidential until 2028. However, retired Army Master Sergeant Kevin Holland revealed details of the operation during an episode of "Danger Close" podcast with Navy SEAL and Task Unit Commander Jack Carr. Last December, Carr persuaded Holland to reveal information about the operation during a videotaped interview. The Special Operations Command in Tampa, Florida, follows a strict approach that prevents members from speaking to the press. Still, it seemed that Holland wanted to relieve his conscious. Nine months have passed since the fall of Baghdad, and Saddam remained free at large. He was last seen on Apr. 09, when he mounted a car to address the crowds. The US launched Operation Red Dawn to capture Saddam, setting a large reward to whoever provided information leading to his arrest. Holland reported that over 30,000 soldiers and intelligence were recruited to this operation, In addition to a small group of Delta Force, including Holland. All efforts were fruitless until the forces captured Saddam's private guards, namely M.A.M, who gave details about the former president's hiding place. The hideout was in a farm set in a deserted expanse lined with only one road, Holland said, where Iraqis loyal to Hussein would station themselves to notify them of any approaching forces. Holland recalled that M.A.M. led the force to Saddam's hiding place, which they reached at 8:30 PM, describing how the squadron uncovered and unplugged the hole and saw it was lined with bricks like someone was hiding in it. They threw a grenade into it and heard an Arabic voice gradually growing louder.
After that, the squad that used the lights of its searchlight weapons made sure that Saddam was hiding in this place. Soldiers then attempted to use a dog, but, according to Holland, the animal was too scared to enter. 'So, finally, once he pulls the dogs back, we start hearing somebody talk in Arabic, and the interpreter starts talking back,' Holland continues. "Then hands come out of the hole and a big bushy head of hair, and then we grab him and jerk him out — and it [was] like, 'Well, that's him,'" Holland said. Holland recalled one of his squad members who helped pull out the deposed Iraqi president saying, "Holy cow, it's him," in shock. He said that Saddam was armed with a Glock 18, so another Delta Force member punched him in the mouth to get the gun away. He then said he was the president of Iraq and he was ready to negotiate, according to Holland. "He said that in English." They told him that President Bush sent his regards. Holland then described how they transported the leader by helicopter to a military base in Tikrit and eventually to Baghdad to be imprisoned by the new government. Holland confirmed that he went down to the room where Saddam was hiding, using the light on his gun, but then went back out to ask for another light to improve visibility. According to the informants, Saddam spent most of his time outside, specifically on the farm near his hideout, and two private guards were in charge of cooking. Holland explained that after realizing he would not be killed, Saddam gave off the impression that he was back in charge, noting that he was restrained and one held him by the beard. "'Another guy had him by the back of the head and shook his head back and forth to make him quit touching us."According to Holland, General Ricardo Sanchez concluded after he visited Saddam in his prison that the latter was cooperating, willing to talk, and accepting his fate. Saddam was tried and convicted by an Iraqi court of crimes against humanity and was sentenced to death by hanging and executed on Dec. 30, 2006.

US downs suspected China spy balloon
Simon Rushton/The National/February 04/2023
The United States has downed a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the eastern coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America and became the latest flashpoint in tensions between Washington and Beijing. An operation was under way in US territorial waters in the Atlantic Ocean to recover debris from the balloon, which had been flying at about 60,000 feet and was estimated to be about the size of three school buses. President Joe Biden approved the military plan to shoot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon, U.S. officials said The Pentagon did not immediately comment.
Television footage showed a small explosion, followed by the balloon descending towards the water. US military jets were seen flying in the vicinity and ships were deployed in the water to mount the recovery operation. The government ordered a halt to flights around the South Carolina coast due to what it called an undisclosed "national security effort."Officials were aiming to time the operation so they could recover as much of the debris as possible before it sinks into the ocean. The Pentagon had previously estimated that any debris field would be substantial. The Federal Aviation Administration and Coast Guard worked to clear the airspace and water below the balloon as it reached the ocean. The public disclosure of the balloon prompted the cancellation of a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing scheduled for Sunday for talks aimed at reducing tensions. The Chinese government on Saturday sought to play down the cancellation. “In actuality, the US and China have never announced any visit,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Saturday morning. China has continued to claim that the balloon was merely a weather research “airship” that had been blown off course. The Pentagon rejected that out of hand.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 04-05/2023
Biggest Gift to Iran's Mullahs, China and Russia: Biden Administration's Weak Leadership
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/February 4, 2023
Thanks to the Biden administration's weak and vacillating leadership, Iran, Russia and China have been emboldened to levels never before seen.
[T]he Biden administration has not been taking any action to deter, disincentivize or punish those who breach the sanctions. Ever since the Biden administration assumed office, in fact, Iran's oil exports have been on the rise... of which more than 800,000 barrels a day are being exported to China.
Thanks to the Biden administration's abject posture towards China; its dithering over help to Ukraine; its ruining the US economy by shutting down America's energy independence then rushing to buy oil from Saudi Arabia and Venezuela rather than Canada; the unconscionable abandonment of Afghanistan and our allies there; the Biden family's appearance of influence-peddling, and, by closing down the China Initiative, the administration's failure to stop Communist China's runaway espionage, Russia, Iran and China are simply not taking the US seriously.
So long as the Biden administration does not demonstrate real leadership, Iran, Russia and China will continue to seize all opportunities to become more empowered and emboldened. The Biden administration's legacy so far appears to be leaving the world a far more dangerous place.
Thanks to the Biden administration's weak and vacillating leadership, Iran, Russia and China have been emboldened to levels never before seen.
First, the US sanctions against Russia are completely being smoothly violated by Iran's mullahs and China. Despite the Biden administration's sanctions, Iran's oil exports have reached a new peak last month.
Bloomberg reported:
"While everyone looks at Russia, another oil-rich country under Western sanctions has quietly increased its production: Iran.... Iran's oil exports are surging... Much of it appears to be finding its way to China. The country's oil exports surged to about 1.3 million barrels a day in November [2022], and last month held near the highest in four years, according to data from Vortexa Ltd. and Kpler, two well-known shipping analytics firms."
Although the US sanctions did have a negative impact on the Iranian economy prior to the Biden administration, as more countries violate them, the US sanctions have become cosmetic.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has not been taking any action to deter, disincentivize or punish those who breach the sanctions. Ever since the Biden administration assumed office, in fact, Iran's oil exports have been on the rise.
While in 2018 and 2019, Iran's oil exports were significantly reduced to 100,000 to 200,000 barrels a day, Iran is currently exporting more than a million barrels a day -- of which more than 800,000 barrels a day are being exported to China.
The Iranian regime is also assisting Russia in war crimes without facing any consequences, according to The Sunday Guardian:
"Speaking anonymously because of the sensitivity of the matter, [a US] official said that [on August 19] one [Russian] plane carried $150m in cash and a number of captured UK and US weapons to Iran in exchange for a large number of deadly drones for Russia's use in its war against Ukraine.... These had all been shipped to Ukraine for their use against the invaders, but had "fallen into Russian hands....For their part, the Iranians supplied Russia in excess of 200 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which included more than 100 ... drones, nicknamed "kamikaze" drones because they are designed to crash into their targets and explode on impact. They are capable of delivering explosive payloads at distances of up to 1,500 miles. The rest of the load was ... able to carry guided missiles or bombs.... [Russia's] use of a combination of cruise missiles and Iranian self-detonating UAVs, packed with explosives, has deprived millions of Ukrainian citizens of electricity and running water, deliberately contravening the Geneva Convention.... The WHO has documented 703 attacks by Russia on Ukrainian health infrastructure since its invasion began."
The White House has acknowledged that it has evidence that Iranian troops were "directly engaged on the ground" in Crimea supporting Russian drone attacks. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby stated:
"The [drone] systems themselves were suffering failures and not performing to the standards that apparently the customers expected... So the Iranians decided to move in some trainers and some technical support to help the Russians use them with better lethality."
Both Russia and Iran are also strengthening their military links. While Russia is receiving weapons and military personnel from Iran, the mullahs -- in addition to reverse-engineering the state-of-the-art US and British materiel that Russia captured -- are reportedly seeking Moscow's assistance to complete Iran's nuclear weapons program.
Thanks to the Biden administration's abject posture towards China; its dithering over help to Ukraine; its ruining the US economy by shutting down America's energy independence then rushing to buy oil from Saudi Arabia and Venezuela rather than Canada; the unconscionable abandonment of Afghanistan and our allies there; the Biden family's appearance of influence-peddling, and, by closing down the China Initiative, the administration's failure to stop Communist China's runaway espionage, Russia, Iran and China are simply not taking the US seriously.
"Biden is a complete joke with regard to foreign policy," U.S. Senator Rick Scott pointed out.
"Why is Putin doing this? Because he knows Biden is weak. Biden would rather have ice cream with somebody than stand up for Americans... "It's a disaster. I mean, Biden's a clown. Biden's never been a serious person. He's just a talker. Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, that's all he's ever done."
Scott also cited former President Barack Obama is reported to have warned the US: "Don't underestimate Joe's ability to fuck things up."
Even some of America's European allies, despite the US sanctions, are freely doing business with Iran's theocratic establishment. Mehr News Agency stated:
"Iran and the European Union's 27 member states traded €4.36 billion worth of goods during the first 10 months of 2022, registering a 14.28% rise compared with last year's corresponding period... Germany was the top trading partner of Iran in the EU region during the period, as the two countries exchanged over €1.6 billion worth of goods, 15.44% more than in a similar period of the year before. Italy came next with €555.39 million worth of trade with Iran to register an 11.14% year-on-year rise.... the Netherlands with €351.94 million (down 10.76%) and Spain with €296.06 million (up 13.12%) were Iran's other major European trade partners."
So long as the Biden administration does not demonstrate real leadership, Iran, Russia and China will continue to seize all opportunities to become more empowered and emboldened. The Biden administration's legacy so far appears to be leaving the world a far more dangerous place.
**Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US Foreign Policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
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Traveling Humiliated
Samir Atallah/Asharq Al-Awsat/February, 04/2023
Writing for ‘Egypt Today,’ Egyptian sociologist Saad Eddin Ibrahim claims that Egypt, the poorest country in the Arab world besides Yemen and Sudan, is currently home to 10 million refugees, 5 million from Sudan, 3 million from Syria, 1 million from Iraq, and half a million from Palestine.
He adds that Egypt welcomes refugees with open arms, and some, like the Syrians, are growing the economy - which is what I heard about the Syrians in Cairo as well. However, he claims the question is the reason they have fled. Ten million refugees are escaping their country, not their enemies. They are not like Ukrainians in Poland. Rather they are displaced persons fleeing their countries by any means possible, leaving the seas filled with corpses, children and plastic boats.
Moreover, while Arabism is solidarity and helping one another is a fraternal duty, the countries drowning in the most miserable types of refugees are the ones most in need of help themselves. If Egypt has the capacity, because of its size and population, to host ten million other people, the same cannot be said of Jordan or Lebanon, for example.
How could a country as vast and rich as Iraq produce so many migrants instead of receiving others itself? How can a country like Syria tolerate the fact that 12 million citizens, most of them capable and skilled workers, have left the country? The whole world treats the refugee crisis like it were the host countries’ problem. They behave like the issue has nothing to do with them, which has made the problem worse and worse.
Forty to Sixty thousand Syrian children are born in Lebanon every year. The numbers in Jordan are probably very similar. These people need schools, universities, and jobs; otherwise, they grow up in conditions that threaten the future of both groups.
The hospitality of Egypt cannot be taken as a basis for the tragedies of the twenty-first century. The calamity of the previous century was Israel’s displacement of the Palestinians. The Arabs are falling victim to displacement at the hands of their own countrymen. Was Dr. Ibrahim not taken aback when he wrote that 5 million Sudanese have become refugees in Egypt or anywhere else? Was Sudan not supposed to be the land of the Arab world’s workers and an investment center? What about Mesopotamia, the country of the Fertile Crescent? There is a massive difference between ten million (twice the population of Lebanon) Arabs immigrating to Egypt and ten million of them fleeing to the country.
It is not a question of hospitality; this displacement is sad. Mr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim also claims there are half of a million Libyans in Egypt. What happened to the days when Egypt imagined that Libya would be its economic and global auxiliary?

Britsh MP. Bob Blackman calls on UK to proscribe Iran guards to end ‘nefarious activities’
Sarah Glubb/Arab News/February 04/2023
Bob Blackman called for imposing stronger sanctions to ‘bring this regime to its knees’ as they do not respond to negotiations
National Council of Resistance of Iran called for the Islamic Center of England to be closed as it spreads the regime’s propaganda across the UK LONDON: Iran poses a “clear and present danger” and immediate action must be taken to proscribe the Iranian Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization in the UK, according to a parliamentarian.
“Every day we delay, we give them the opportunity to expand their operations, to carry out other nefarious activities,” Bob Blackman, MP for Harrow East, told Arab News. “We’ve seen evidence of some of the organizations in the United Kingdom that are operating under direct control of the IRGC.”He said that this was “a serious threat to our homeland security, so it’s key that we have to address it and prompt action is required.”Blackman said that the British government has already proscribed Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip as terrorist organizations and they “are funded and supported by the IRGC.” The things the regime has done and is doing have been listed, and these are sufficient for it to be proscribed.
The US has done it, other European countries are working on it and “we need to encourage our allies to work jointly with us so they cannot operate anywhere else in the world, but that’s the key challenge,” he added.
Although it has received cross-party support as a matter of national interest and security, the UK has failed to proscribe them so far, and “the only reason why the government, I think, are hesitating over that is that ends negotiations, and if it ends negotiations, well, fine. I don’t mind that,” Blackman said.
Talks to revive a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which was scrapped by then-president, Donald Trump, in 2018, have been deadlocked since September.
“There are no negotiations going on because obviously the IRGC activities and the activities of the regime in Iran is suppressing their people with a position whereby thousands have been arrested, hundreds have been killed, and many face potential execution for the mere crime of protesting against the regime. There’s no time to negotiate on that basis,” he said.
Blackman believes negotiations are a mistake in the first place as there has been evidence that Iran was in violation of its obligations under the current treaty, and talks cannot be held under those circumstances.
“What we do have to do is prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon at all costs. That of course, does mean at all costs. We cannot get them to a point where they’ve got a nuclear weapon and can threaten the region with potential nuclear war. That would just be a complete disaster for everyone in the region and possibly beyond.”
He called for imposing stronger sanctions against individuals to “bring this regime to its knees” because it did not respond to negotiations.
Blackman said that the UK government’s rationale must also be that there are dual nationals and British citizens in Iran, and urged them to leave because they could be captured and used as hostages, which has happened already.
“We’re seeing all sorts of nefarious activities, interference in elections in other countries, terrorist plots which have been foiled not only across the Middle East but also in Europe and in the UK itself, as well as now cyberattacks which are proven to be going on, attacking the House of Commons and the Houses of Parliament generally, for the sole purpose, obviously, of disrupting our data and causing us damage overall.
“That just demonstrates that these people are not to be trusted one iota and therefore need to be proscribed,” he said.
Blackman was speaking on the sidelines of a press conference organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran’s UK office on Thursday to reveal new information about the terrorist activities of the IRGC and the need to proscribe them. He said they have held numerous negotiations with the UK Foreign Office and will now speak with the Home Office, as it was up to them to make the decision.
Hossein Abedini, deputy director of the NCRI’s UK representative office, said they are in touch with many MPs in different parties and there is a strong British committee supporting Iranian freedom in parliament, which has been very active in different debates.
He highlighted to reporters the ways in which the IRGC was an army of terror and oppression, and suppressing the Iranian people, along with their training and military bases and major garrisons around the country and in the capital, Tehran
Abedini shared a classified document in Farsi obtained by the NCRI of minutes of a meeting at the International Directorate of the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on May 31, 2022, where representatives of eight terrorist and extremist organizations of the regime participated.
Among the minutes, one representative from the Quds Force — one of five branches of the IRGC — reported bringing a 55-member military delegation from Venezuela to Iran in 2022, “which shows the dimensions of the IRGC’s intervention in a Latin American country,” an English explanation of the document provided by the NCRI said.
Abedini called for the London-based Islamic Center of England, which is under the supervision of the International Directorate Khamenei’s Office and headed by Mullah Seyed Hashem Mousavi, to be closed down as it had agents around the UK that aimed to spread the regime’s propaganda.
Appointment of Seyed Hashem Moussavi as the head of the Islamic Center of England in London by the international director of Khamenei’s Office Mohsen Qomi. (Supplied/NCRI)
On the recent execution of Alireza Akbari, an Iranian-British national who was a former Iranian deputy defense minister, Abedini said that this could add weight to the UK’s decision to proscribe the IRGC.
“That clearly shows that the regime is panicking, and it clearly shows that they are really in a very critical situation. I think it certainly will add, but it’s a political decision, so the UK, if the members of Parliament continue to put pressure, we will reach that point,” he added.