Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 08-09/2023
Lebanese Army: Release of two detainees in Qornet Al-Sawda incident, 11 persons
NNA /July 08, 2023
The Army Command's Orientation Directorate issued the following statement on Saturday: "Following the painful incident that took place on 7/1/2023 in the Qornet al-Sawda region between citizens of the towns of Bsharre and Baqaasfrin, which resulted in the death of the young Haitham Tawk, units of the army intervened to implement security measures, and soon after it was subjected to open fire, it responded in kind and arrested a number of people...At that time, it was found that the citizen Malek Romanos got injured and later died of his wounds.""As a result, and based on the Public Prosecutor's signal, the Intelligence Directorate launched an immediate investigation and arrested a number of those involved," the statement added. Accordingly, after the completion of the investigations, and based on the indication of the Public Prosecution’s Court of Cassation, a number of detainees were released pending investigation and 11 detainees were referred to the concerned judiciary," the statement concluded.

Report: Paris, Doha to talk to Iran prior to proposing Aoun for president
Naharnet/July 08, 2023
French presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian is preparing to visit Riyadh on July 11 as part of a tour of the nations of the five-party committee for Lebanon, highly informed sources said, in remarks to Nidaa al-Watan newspaper. “Le Drian’s external movements will be accompanied with indirect communication with Iran simultaneously with direct talks between Qatar and Tehran, in order to prepare for Plan B regarding the (presidential) juncture,” the sources said. Le Drian has meanwhile told officials concerned with the file that Paris has given up the Suleiman Franjieh choice and is “currently exploring the readiness of Army Commander General Joseph Aoun to become a consensual president.”The French embassy for its part has confirmed that Paris’ vision for the presidential file is still based on an agreement on a presidential candidate, a premier and the new government’s ministerial statement, the newspaper said. “Embassy officials told those whom they met that Franjieh’s nomination is no longer part of their vision, which had included naming Ambassador Nawaf Salam as premier alongside his (Franjieh’s) election,” the daily added. Hezbollah’s al-Manar television meanwhile said overnight that “one of the ideas of the French is to hold a dialogue table at the Pine Residence in the presence of Le Drian.”“It might comprise six participants representing the political parties,” the channel added.

UN envoy to meet Nasrallah to discuss 'Israeli pullout' from Lebanon-claimed areas
Naharnet/July 08, 2023
A U.N. envoy of American nationality who is in charge of the Israeli file at the United Nations will visit Lebanon to carry out discussions related to the developments on Lebanon’s southern border, diplomatic sources said.
“Upon his arrival in Beirut, the envoy will request a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to propose U.N. ideas regarding south Lebanon,” the sources told the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper in remarks published Saturday. “The envoy will ask Nasrallah about Hezbollah’s stance if the international organization presses Israel to withdraw from Ghajar, the Kfarshouba Hilla and the Lebanese part of the Shebaa Farms,” the sources said. “Based on this meeting, if it happens, and in light of Nasrallah’s answer, the course of things on the border between Lebanon and Israel will become clear,” the sources added. “Hezbollah’s erection of two tents in the Blue Line area of the Farms and Israel’s annexation of the Lebanese part of Ghajar came in preparation for the steps that are being mulled to achieve stability in that area that has witnessed tensions that peaked on Thursday,” the sources added.

Pondering the Central Bank's fate: Between administrative extensions and constitutional challenges
LBCI/July 08, 2023
There is no doubt that the statement made by the four deputies of the Governor of the Central Bank about their intention to resign was not issued without coordination with their political references. However, it clearly marks a turning point for the post-31st of July, the end date of Governor Riad Salameh's term. The uncertainty regarding the post-Salameh period continues, with no clear directions until now. The Speaker of Parliament and Prime Minister will soon discuss the options. At the same time, Mikati will initiate consultations to explore the options and assess their constitutionality and legality with the relevant stakeholders.Government sources close to Mikati describe the matter as complex, as it requires not only consultation but also the presentation of alternatives from various factions to avoid a vacuum in the highest monetary authority in the country. They confirm that Mikati does not intend to take any provocative steps toward any party. Given the inability to appoint a central bank governor under a caretaker government due to the lack of securing two-thirds of its members, the preference of First Vice President Wassim Mansouri to decline the position, and the illegality of appointing a judicial guardian since the Central Bank of Lebanon is not an ordinary company, the question arises whether Finance Minister Youssef Khalil can issue an administrative decision to keep the Governor in his position to manage the public facility for a specific period. Given the inability to appoint a central bank governor under a caretaker government due to the lack of securing two-thirds of its members, the preference of First Vice President Wassim Mansouri to decline the position, and the illegality of appointing a judicial guardian since the Central Bank of Lebanon is not an ordinary company, the question arises whether Finance Minister Youssef Khalil can issue an administrative decision to keep the Governor in his position to manage the public facility for a specific period. Such a measure was described by constitutional expert and former minister Ziad Baroud as a constitutional heresy. It is not legally permissible, even if it has been used as a precedent during the term of former governor Michel Khoury. Baroud considers that the authority vested in this matter lies with the Council of Ministers, not the finance minister. Moreover, such an extension could be challenged before the State Council. There is no such thing as an administrative extension, even if it was used as a precedent during the term of former Governor Michel Khoury, as it is illegal. He also considered that the authority in this matter lies with the Council of Ministers, not the Minister of Finance, and such an extension can be challenged before the State Council. Will resorting to the option of administrative extension be an inevitable reality accepted by various political forces based on the necessity of allowing exceptions, or are we heading towards a new void in the central bank, added to the vacuum in the presidency position?

Security forces thwart illegal migration operation in northern Lebanon
LBCI/July 08, 2023
The Information Branch of the Internal Security Forces and the Army Intelligence foiled an illegal migration operation on Saturday aimed at transporting migrants from northern Lebanon via the sea. Several vans were intercepted during the operation, which were transporting passengers preparing to leave Lebanon. The number of individuals attempting to depart exceeded 100, including Lebanese and Syrians.

Energy Minister addresses international conference on water and climate in Morocco
LBCI/July 08, 2023
The caretaker Energy and Water Minister, Dr. Walid Fayyad, participated in the Third International Water and Climate Conference held in the Moroccan city of Fes, sponsored by King Mohammed VI. The conference, titled "Basin Management: Pathway to Adaptation and Achieving Sustainable Development Goals," provided an opportunity for Minister Fayyad to deliver a presentation during the ministerial meeting. In his speech, he discussed the current situation of the water sector in Lebanon, the challenges it faces, and the efforts made by the ministry to promote the sector's development based on sustainable development goals set by the United Nations. On the sidelines of the conference, Minister Fayyad met with his Moroccan counterpart, Equipment, and Water Minister Dr. Nizar Baraka. They emphasized the importance of making water a means of cooperation and integration among Arab countries, as well as a catalyst for overcoming differences and striving for sustainable development and prosperity for Arab nations. The Moroccan minister welcomed Minister Fayyad, expressing gratitude for his valuable participation in the conference. He also expressed Morocco's readiness to exchange expertise with Lebanon, particularly in dams, water basin governance, and the use of renewable energy in water desalination, treatment, and distribution. Morocco has extensive experience in these fields. The two ministers agreed to explore the possibility of signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between their ministries in water. This will be pursued after the operational teams prepare the draft in accordance with the respective laws of both countries.

Beneath the vine: Unearthing Lebanon's red gold and its radiant Influence
LBCI/July 08, 2023
Our country is rich with red gold from the Bekaa to the North and throughout Lebanon. We have vineyards in the beautiful Bekaa region, Zahle, which extend to the charming North. These vineyards are like mines for us, as grape berries have produced the finest wine for thousands of years. The wine industry in Lebanon is as old as the country itself, with a history of 6,000 years. This industry has shaped our history to the point where Lebanon became the first non-European country to be included in the European cultural routes. From harvest through pressing, fermentation, and aging in barrels and bottles, we gain more from a grape berry than you can imagine creating the most exquisite wines. This wine industry enhances tourism because each region has its wineries, offering a tourist and economic experience. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Lebanon has officially registered 64 wineries. These wineries have become a destination for tourists to learn about the world of winemaking and to engage in wine tasting. In addition to tourism, this red gold revitalizes the economy with an oxygen boost and a fresh perspective. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, it generates a financial return ranging between $28 million and $36 million annually through the export of 9 to 10 million bottles to 44 countries around the world. So, Lebanese wine brightens our lives between history, tourism, tasting, and economy. Our gatherings are never complete without a glass of Lebanese wine. Cheers!

Public Health Minister addresses 'Sustainable Health for All' conference in Lyon
LBCI/July 08, 2023
The caretaker Public Health Minister, Dr. Firas al-Abiad, participated in a conference organized by the French Development Agency, in collaboration with international health organizations and institutions, in the city of Lyon, France, under the theme "Sustainable Health for All." The new Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Academy, David Atchoarena, and the Health Minister in Senegal, Marie Awa Coll Seck, representatives from civil society organizations, and health specialists from around the world attended the conference. During his speech, al-Abiad discussed Lebanon's experience in facing the cholera epidemic, noting that "Lebanon, which suffers from a tremendous shortage of resources, was able to confront this epidemic, which initially spread in the fragile environment of refugee and displaced populations.""The success of the ministry in containing the epidemic was due to the establishment of a clear plan based on the approach of 'Health for All' and relied on the cooperation of all stakeholders, starting from the local community to civil society organizations and international partners, in coordination with multiple partners," he stated. Moreover, al-Abiad emphasized the need to consider three components when implementing the principle of "Health for All," which are as follows: Firstly, recognizing the close interconnection between human health, the environment in which they live, and animals, and working towards establishing a shared vision that ensures the exchange of information and unified decision-making to address health challenges.Secondly, the effectiveness of management through establishing multidisciplinary working groups, collaborative platforms, and practical mechanisms ensures effective coordination among various stakeholders. Thirdly, a commitment to diligent monitoring and surveillance to assess health indicators, analyze them, and make appropriate decisions that ensure the principle of "Health for All."He affirmed that "Lebanon and the Public Health Ministry are doing everything necessary in this context to ensure the principle of 'Health for All,' so that citizens and residents receive the necessary health services, despite the severe financial crisis that the healthcare system is experiencing."He concluded by emphasizing that Lebanon has never shied away from its duties, expressing gratitude to international partner organizations for their support while also urging the international community to take on more responsibility in this field.

Former Syrian ambassador to Ankara: Al-Assad will not meet Erdogan unless the Syrian conditions are agreed upon
NNA/July 08, 2023
Former Syrian ambassador to Ankara, Nidal Kaplan, confirmed that the Syrian president will not meet his Turkish counterpart, unless the basic Syrian conditions are agreed upon, the most important of which is Turkey's exit from Syrian territory, according to "Russia Today".
Kabalan said in statements to "Sputnik": "President Assad will not meet Erdogan unless the basic Syrian terms and conditions are agreed upon. The most important thing for Syria is what is happening on the ground, and a decision by the Turkish government, especially Erdogan, to withdraw from the lands it occupies in the north and the Syrian northwest, which is an uncompromising Syrian condition." Regarding the possibility of Syria agreeing to the return of diplomatic relations with Turkey prior to the latter's withdrawal from the Syrian lands, Kabalan said: "Diplomatic relations between Syria and Turkey cannot be restored while the Turkish army occupies the Syrian lands. This is unrealistic and unacceptable for Syria. Withdrawal is the first condition." He added that the order of priorities must be set and agreed upon clearly and tangibly, with clear and strong guarantees from the Russian and Iranian guarantors of the Turkish commitment to implement what it undertakes to do.

Meeting of the Council of Arab Ambassadors in Rome over Palestine
NNA/July 08, 2023
Rome - The Arab ambassadors held a meeting in Rome at the headquarters of the League of Arab States mission to discuss a common position on the recent events in Palestine, based on the League Council's and Italian position in this regard. The Council of Arab Ambassadors sent letters on the situation in Palestine to Foreign Minister Antonio Tiani, Speaker of the House of Representatives Lourenco Fontana and President of the Senate Ignazzo La Rosa.

Taymour Jumblatt receives an invitation to visit Russia, meets with congratulatory popular delegations: For restoring institutions, preventing vacuum
NNA/July 08, 2023 
Head of the Progressive Socialist Party, MP Taymour Jumblatt, affirmed that "there is no escape from internal dialogue, regardless of its form or circumstance, especially in the face of political sterility in the country and the severest degrees of paralysis affecting the various apparatuses."
He considered that "the accumulated crises portend more dangers at various financial, economic, social and structural levels."In an issued statement on the sidelines of his meetings at the Mukhtara Palace on Saturday, Jumblatt called for "taking the necessary measures and reforms required to restore the structure of institutions in order to avoid the vacuum that moves from one to another, especially those that still guarantee the security of the Lebanese and what remains of the economy."Thanking all congratulating delegations visiting Al-Mukhtara Palace today, he affirmed the continuation of "Al-Mukhtara's historical approach and its national role, and the continued openness of the Progressive Socialist Party towards dialogue and approaching the current problems in a comprehensive national spirit."On a different note, MP Jumblatt received a phone call today from Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and the Russian President's Special Envoy to the Middle East and North Africa, Mikhail Bogdanov, congratulating him on his election as head of the Progressive Socialist Party, stressing the "historical relationship that binds Russia to the Progressive Party."
Bogdanov extended a special invitation to Deputy Jumblatt to visit Moscow at his convenient timing.

Frem commemorates launching of "Project Watan": For electing a president with the priority of economic & social rescue
NNA/July 08, 2023  
Marking two years since the launching of "Project Watan" that aims to build the republic of man, freedom, mission and sovereignty in Lebanon, the Chairman of the Executive Council of "Project Watan", MP Neemat Frem, called for "taking a huge decision to elect a president for the republic as soon as possible and before it is too late....if we still want Lebanon!" "The presidency of the republic and the election of a president are directly related to the continuity of Lebanon. The election of the president, as well as the expected dialogue, should focus on ending the presidential vacuum...and forming a new government with an agreed-upon line-up, program and powers for the sake of economic and social rescue and the restoration of regular work in all constitutional and national institutions," Frem underlined. He added: "The priority is to elect a president for the republic and implement the Taif Agreement, after which bridging the gaps in Taif will be considered," he said.

Fayyad partakes in 3rd International Conference on Water & Climate in Moroccan city of Fez
NNA/July 08, 2023  
Caretaker Minister of Energy and Water, Dr. Walid Fayyad, participated in the 3rd International Conference on Water and Climate held in the Moroccan city of Fez, under the auspices of King Mohammed VI, devoted to discussing ways to adapt and achieve sustainable development goals. In his intervention during the ministerial meeting, Fayad gave a briefing on the reality of the water sector in Lebanon, the challenges it faces, and the efforts made by the Ministry to develop this sector on sound bases, in line with the sustainable development goals approved by the United Nations.
On the sidelines of the conference, Minister Fayyad met his Moroccan counterpart, Minister of Equipment and Water, Dr. Nizar Baraka, where they highlighted "the importance of rendering water a means of cooperation and integration between Arab countries, a motive for renouncing differences and moving towards sustainable development and prosperity for the brotherly Arab peoples."The Moroccan Minister thanked Fayyad for his valuable participation in the conference, expressing Morocco's willingness to exchange experiences with Lebanon, especially in the field of dams, water basin governance and the use of renewable energy in water desalination, treatment and pumping, as Morocco has wide expertise in this field.
Both Ministers agreed to discuss the possibility of signing a memorandum of understanding between their two ministries in the water field.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 08-09/2023
Iran hangs two in public over Shiraz shrine shooting
AFP/July 08, 2023
TEHRAN: Iran hanged two men in public on Saturday over an October attack on a shrine in the southern city of Shiraz that claimed over a dozen lives, the judiciary said. The October 26 attack on the highly revered Shiite Muslim shrine of Shah Cheragh, which left 13 people dead and 30 wounded, was claimed by the Sunni Muslim extremist Daesh group. “The death sentences of two of the perpetrators of the Shah Cheragh terrorist attack were carried out in public this morning,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said. The pair were hanged at dawn on a street near the shrine in Shiraz, the capital of Fars province, the official news agency IRNA reported. They were identified as Mohammad Ramez Rashidi and Naeem Hashem Qatali, Mizan said, without elaborating. In March, an Iranian court had sentenced the two men to death after they were convicted of “corruption on earth, armed rebellion and acting against national security.” They were also charged with membership of Daesh and “conspiracy against the security of the country.”At the time, Fars chief justice Kazem Moussavi said they were directly involved in the “arming, procurement, logistics and guidance” of the main perpetrator. Three other defendants in the case were sentenced to prison for five, 15 and 25 years for being members of Daesh, he said. One of the attackers, identified by media in Iran as Hamed Badakhshan, died of injuries sustained during his arrest, the authorities said. In November, the Islamic republic said 26 “takfiri terrorists” from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan had been arrested in connection with the attack. In Shiite-dominated Iran, the term takfiri generally refers to militants or proponents of radical Sunni Islam. The shrine attack came more than a month after protests erupted across Iran over the death in custody of a young Iranian Kurdish woman. Mahsa Amini, 22, died after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating the country’s dress code for women. Daesh claimed its first attack in Iran in 2017 when armed men and suicide bombers attacked the seat of parliament in Tehran and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic republic, killing 17 people and wounding dozens. Public executions are relatively rare in Iran with almost all hangings carried out inside prisons. Iran executes more people annually than any nation other than China, according to rights groups including the London-based Amnesty International.

Iraq launches probe into kidnapping of missing Israeli-Russian academic
AP/July 08, 2023
BAGHDAD: Iraq opened an investigation into the case of a dual Israeli-Russian academic who has been missing in Iraq since March, a government spokesman said on Friday. Bassem Al-Awadi’s comments were the first official Iraqi statements since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday that Elizabeth Tsurkov is still alive “and we hold Iraq responsible for her safety and well-being.” Netanyahu said Tsurkov is being held by the Shiite group Kataeb Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades, a powerful Iran-backed group that the US government listed as a terrorist organization in 2009. Tsurkov, whose work focuses on the Middle East, and specifically war-torn Syria, is an expert on regional affairs and has been widely quoted over the years by international media. Tsurkov last tweeted on March 21.
HIGHLIGHT
Tsurkov could not have used her Israeli passport to enter Iraq as the two countries do not have diplomatic relations. Tsurkov, who is pursuing a doctorate at Princeton University, is a fellow at the Washington-based think tank New Lines Institute. “Due to the ongoing official investigations into the disappearance of a foreign journalist, there is no official statement yet,” Al-Awadi said in a text message. “We are unable to provide specific details at this time.” Netanyahu said Tsurkov is an academic who visited Iraq on her Russian passport, “at her own initiative pursuant to work on her doctorate and academic research on behalf of Princeton University.”Tsurkov could not have used her Israeli passport to enter Iraq as the two countries do not have diplomatic relations. A senior official from Kataeb Hezbollah would not comment on the matter. The group later issued a statement in which they did not confirm nor deny their role in Tsurkov’s disappearance but called for identification and prosecution of Iraqis involved in facilitating the work of Israeli citizens in a country that prohibits engagement with Israel. Iran emerged as a major power broker in Iraq after the US-led invasion in 2003, supporting Shiite groups and militias that have enjoyed wide influence in the country ever since. Days after her disappearance, a local website reported that Iraqi authorities had detained an Iranian citizen involved in her kidnapping. It said Tsurkov was kidnapped from Baghdad’s central neighborhood of Karradah and that Iran’s Embassy in the Iraqi capital was pressing for the man’s release and to have him deported to Iran. Some Iraqi activists posted a copy of a passport of an Iranian man at the time, claiming that he was involved in the kidnapping. Israel considers Iran to be its greatest enemy, citing the country’s hostile rhetoric, support for militant groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and its suspected nuclear program.

West spars with Russia, Iran over Tehran’s uranium enrichment, drones for Russia
AP/July 08, 2023
NEW YORK: The US and its Western allies clashed with Russia and Iran at the UN Security Council over Tehran’s advancing uranium enrichment and its reported supply of combat drones to Moscow being used to attack Ukraine.
The sharp exchanges came at the council’s semiannual meeting on implementation of its resolution endorsing the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major countries known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which the US under then-President Donald Trump left in 2018. At the start of the meeting, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused Britain, which hold the council presidency, of seeking to hold “an openly politicized show” by inviting Ukraine to take part in the meeting when it is not part of the JCPOA. He demanded a procedural vote on its participation. US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood countered, accusing both Iran and Russia of participating in the transfer of drones used in Ukraine without prior Security Council approval in violation of the 2015 resolution. “This is a matter of life or death for the Ukrainian people,” Wood said. “It would be unconscionable to deny Ukraine the opportunity to speak at this meeting when it is experiencing the devastating effects of Iran’s violation of resolution 2231 firsthand.” Britain’s UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward, who was chairing the council meeting, then called for a vote on whether Ukraine could participate. Twelve members voted “yes,” while China and Russia voted “no” and Mozambique abstained. The US, Britain, France and Ukraine have urged UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to send investigators to Ukraine to examine debris from drones used in Russia’s attacks, insisting that Resolution 2231 gives him a mandate to open an investigation.
Russia insists he has no such authority and Nebenzia warned the UN Secretariat against taking any such action. Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani added that any UN findings “based on such illegal activities is null and void.”
UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo said in her briefing to the council that France, Germany, Ukraine, the UK and US had written letters concerning alleged transfers of drones from Iran to Russia and had provided photographs and their analyzes of the recovered drones. “The Secretariat continues to examine the available information,” DiCarlo said, giving no indication of when or if a UN investigation would take place. Ukraine’s UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the council that more than 1,000 drone launches over Ukraine had been recorded and that analysis by Ukrainian and international experts confirmed their Iranian origin. Russia’s Nebenzia accused Ukraine and the West of fomenting misinformation and dismissed the evidence as comical. France, Germany and the UK, which are parties to the JCPOA, said in a joint statement that Iran has also been in violation of its nuclear commitments under the 2015 deal for four years. They pointed to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s reports that Iran’s total stockpiles of enriched uranium are now 21 times the amount permitted under the 2015 nuclear deal — and the IAEA’s detection in January of uranium particles enriched to 83.7 percent, which is almost at weapons-grade levels of 90 percent. Any stockpile of uranium at that level could be quickly used to produce an atomic bomb if Iran chooses. The 2015 nuclear deal limited Tehran’s uranium stockpile to 300 kg and enrichment to 3.67 percent — enough to fuel a nuclear power plant. But following the US withdrawal, Tehran escalated its nuclear program and has been producing uranium enriched to 60 percent purity — a level for which nonproliferation experts already say Tehran has no civilian use.
Iran informed the IAEA that “unintended fluctuations” in enrichment levels may have occurred accounting for the particles enriched to 83.7 percent, and Iravani, the Iranian ambassador, and Russia’s Nebenzia both said the issue has been resolved. France, Germany and the UK said Iran also “continues to develop and improve ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons,” pointing to a May 25 test of a missile they said is capable of delivering a warhead to a range of 2,000 km. US Ambassador Wood said “Iran’s ballistic missile activity — especially in light of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and its threatening rhetoric — is an enduring threat to regional and international peace and security.”Iravani countered that “Iran is fully determined to vigorously pursue its peaceful nuclear activities including enrichment.” Negotiations on the US rejoining the deal and Iran returning to its commitments broke down last August. EU Ambassador Olof Skoog told the council the EU compromise text is still on the table “as a potential point of departure for any renewed effort to bring the JCPOA back on track.”Iravani said: “We are still prepared for the resumption of negotiations should the other side be ready to do the same.”

Two dead as militants attack police station in southeast Iran, state TV says
AP/July 08, 2023
TEHRAN: Four militants attacked a police station and killed two security forces in southeastern Iran, state TV reported on Saturday. The armed group attacked a police station in Zahedan, a city in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province, about 30 kilometers from the border with Pakistan, triggering a shootout. Two security forces were killed, the report said. Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said in a statement that the four militants were killed. The report quoted Alireza Marhamati, the province’s deputy governor, as saying the militants were trying to gain access to the police station and were equipped with grenades, but did not elaborate further. State-run IRNA news agency also reported that authorities on Saturday hanged two men involved in the October 26 deadly attack on Shah Cheragh mosque in the city of Shiraz, the second holiest site in Iran. The report said the two were members of the extremist Daesh group and were behind the deadly attack that killed at least 13 and wounded 30 people. Semi-official ISNA and Tasnim news agencies said that the two were publicly executed in the city of Shiraz. The gunmen who executed the attack, identified as Sobhan Komrouni, died in a hospital in southern Iran, days after the Oct. 26 attack, from injuries sustained during his arrest. State TV at the time blamed the attack on “takfiris,” a term that refers to Sunni Muslim extremists who have targeted the country’s Shiite majority in the past. The attack came as protesters elsewhere in Iran marked a symbolic 40 days since a woman’s death in custody ignited the biggest anti-government movement in over a decade. It appeared to be unrelated to the demonstrations.

US military: Russian fighter jets harass American drones over Syria
AP/July 08, 2023
BEIRUT: Russian fighter jets have “harassed” American drones over Syria for the third day in a row this week, the US military said. Tension between Russian and US troops is not uncommon in Syria as both countries conduct patrols on the ground as well as overflights. Syria’s 12-year conflict has left half a million people dead and over 1 million wounded. The US military said in a statement that Friday’s encounter lasted for about two hours during which three MQ-9 drones were “once again harassed” by Russian fighter aircraft while flying over Syria. “Russian aircraft flew 18 unprofessional close passes that caused the MQ-9s to react to avoid unsafe situations,” Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, head of US Air Forces Central Command, said in a statement. Rear Adm. Oleg Gurinov, head of the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria, said earlier this week that the Russian and Syrian militaries have started a six-day joint training that ends Monday. Gurinov added in comments carried by Syrian state media earlier this week that Moscow is concerned about the flights of drones by the US-led coalition over northern Syria, calling them “systematic violations of protocols” designed to avoid clashes between the two militaries. The first friction occurred on Wednesday morning when Russian military aircraft “engaged in unsafe and unprofessional behavior” as three US MQ-9 drones were conducting a mission against the Daesh group, the US military said. On Thursday, the US military said Russian fighter aircraft flew “incredibly unsafe and unprofessionally” against both French and US aircraft over Syria. The US and France are part of an international coalition fighting IS that once controlled largest parts of Syria and Iraq where the extremists declared a caliphate. Despite IS defeat in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria less than two years later, the extremists still carry out deadly attack in both countries. On Friday, a drone attack by the US-led coalition killed a man in northern Syria who was riding a motorcycle. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the man was an IS militant. Russia joined Syria’s conflict in September 2015 and has since helped tip the balance of power in favor of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces. Russian warplanes still carry out attacks against the last major rebel stronghold in Syria’s northwest. On any given day there are at least 900 US forces in Syria, along with an undisclosed number of contractors, who partner with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. “We continue to encourage Russia to return to the established norms of a professional Air Force so we can all return our focus to ensuring the enduring defeat of Daesh,” Grynkewich said, using a term to refer to IS. Gurinov, the Russian officer, warned that the increase of “uncoordinated flights” for the coalition’s drones leads to escalation and “Russia is not responsible for the safety of these flights.”'

Turkiye’s Erdogan to host Putin, hopes for Black Sea grain deal extension
Reuters/July 08, 2023
ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that he was pressing Russia to extend a Black Sea grain deal by at least three months and announced a visit by President Vladimir Putin in August. He was speaking at a joint news conference with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky after the two parties met to discuss the fate of an arrangement, brokered last year by Turkiye and the United Nations, to allow for the safe export of grain from Ukrainian ports via the Black Sea despite the war. Zelensky’s visit followed stops in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, part of a tour of some NATO capitals aimed at encouraging them to take concrete steps at a summit next week toward granting Kyiv membership of the alliance, which Erdogan said Ukraine deserved. Erdogan said work was under way on extending the Black Sea grain deal beyond its expiration date of July 17 and for longer periods beyond that. The deal would be one of the most important issues on the agenda for his meeting with Putin in Turkiye next month, he said. “Our hope is that it will be extended at least once every three months, not every two months. We will make an effort in this regard and try to increase the duration of it to two years,” he said at the news conference with Zelensky. Both men said they had also discussed another key question for Erdogan’s talks with Putin — the question of prisoner exchanges, which Zelensky said had been the first thing on their agenda. “I hope we will get a result from this soon,” Erdogan said.
Zelensky said he would wait for a result to comment but made clear the discussion had gone into specifics on returning all captives including children deported to Russia and other groups. “We are working on the return of our captives, political prisoners, Crimean Tatars,” he said, referring to members of Ukraine’s Muslim community in the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. “Our partners have all the lists. We are really working on this.”Erdogan said the issue could also come up in his contacts with the Russian leader before his visit. “If we make some phone calls before that, we will discuss it on the call as well,” he said.
The Kremlin said it would be watching the talks closely, saying Putin has highly appreciated the mediation of Erdogan in attempting to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. “As for forthcoming contacts between Putin and Erdogan, we do not rule them out in the foreseeable future,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters ahead of the Istanbul talks with Zelensky, which began on Friday. Russia, angry about aspects of the grain deal’s implementation, has threatened not to allow its further extension beyond July 17. Turkiye, a NATO member, has managed to retain cordial relations with both Russia and Ukraine over the past 16 months of the war and last year it helped to broker prisoner exchanges. Turkiye has not joined its Western allies in imposing economic sanctions on Russia, but has also supplied arms to Ukraine and called for its sovereignty to be respected.

Kremlin: The date for Putin and Erdogan's meeting has not yet been decided
NNA/July 08, 2023
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the date of the meeting between President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not been decided yet. Commenting on Erdogan's statement yesterday that he expects Putin to visit Turkey next month, Peskov said: "No dates have been set for the two leaders' meeting yet," according to "Novosti" news agency.

Rapid Support Forces in Sudan accuse the army of bombing residential neighborhoods and killing 31 people
NNA/July 08, 2023
The Rapid Support Forces in Sudan condemned the "systematic bombing by aircraft this morning, Saturday, on citizens in a number of residential neighborhoods west of Omdurman by army aircraft," according to "Russia Today". The Rapid Support said in a statement: "The barbaric attack carried out by the coup forces on the citizens of Square 22 Dar es Salaam Ambada, killing more than 31 people, injuring dozens of civilians, and demolishing homes, including those in them, is a heinous crime against humanity and a clear violation of the principles of our true religion, and all customs and covenants and it clearly reflects the size of the hatred and injustice that this corrupt gang harbors towards our people.""We call on all sides, inside and outside, to carry out their responsibilities by monitoring and documenting the genocide committed by the remnants of the former regime against civilians after their plans to seize power failed," the statement added

Sudan war: ‘Alarming’ rise in rape and abduction, say aid agencies
Reuters/July 08, 2023
KHARTOUM: The conflict between military factions in Sudan has caused a surge in cases of rape and the abduction of women and girls, some as young as 12, aid agencies and officials said. Teenage girls are being sexually assaulted and raped by armed combatants in “alarming numbers,” Save the Children said in a statement on Friday, while the UN reported a “marked increase” in gender-based violence. The war that erupted on April 15 pits Sudan’s army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, who fell out over plans for a political transition toward civilian rule. Fighting has been concentrated in the capital Khartoum and the western region of Darfur. While dozens of cases of rape resulting from the conflict have been verified, the Sudanese government’s Combating Violence against Women unit estimates that figure may represent just 2 percent of the total. “We know that the official numbers are only the tip of the iceberg. Children as young as 12 are being targeted for their gender, for their ethnicity, for their vulnerability,” Save the Children’s Sudan director Arif Noor said in a statement. Some parents were marrying off their daughters at a young age to try to protect them from further abuse, he said.
There have also been reports of girls being held for days while being sexually assaulted, and gang rapes of women and girls. “Health care providers, social workers, counsellors and community-based protection networks inside Sudan have all warned of a marked increase in reports of gender-based violence as hostilities continue across the country,” United Nations agencies said in a joint statement this week. “Reporting violations and getting support is also made difficult, if not impossible, by the lack of electricity and connectivity, as well as lack of humanitarian access due to the volatile security situation.”
CVAW also reported an escalation in cases of abduction of women and girls, especially in Khartoum, citing several recent cases for which it said RSF fighters were responsible. The RSF has not directly addressed accusations of assault and sexual violence by its fighters, but has said that those who commit abuses will be held to account. The UN estimates 4.2 million people are at risk of gender-based violence, up from 3 million before the conflict started in mid-April. Sudan has a population of 49 million.

Ukraine deserves NATO membership: Erdogan
Al- Mayadeen/July 08, 2023
Following a 2.5-hour meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday at the Vahdettin Mansion in Istanbul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ukraine is fully deserving of NATO membership. The Turkish head of state said that Ukraine "deserved" NATO membership and that Ankara hopes the conflict comes to a peaceful resolution, noting that Ankara plans to continue negotiations to end the conflict. Erdogan further said he expects Russian President Vladimir Putin to come for an official visit to Turkey in August, saying that his visit is going to take place "in the coming month" and that he could hold a personal meeting with Putin in the next two months. The Turkish leader said he expects to discuss with Putin the Black Sea grain initiative either by phone or in person, noting that he "hoped" for the extension of the deal. Discussions pertaining to the prisoner swap program will take place in a one-to-one meeting with the Russian leader, he added. Ahead of Friday's meeting, Zelensky said that he expects to discuss with Erdogan a number of pressing issues on Ukraine's agenda, including the Black Sea grain initiative, the prisoner swap program, and Ukraine's bid for NATO membership. "We have several issues. The grain initiative. A very important issue of support for Ukraine in NATO. The exchange of prisoners. There are many things that we will talk about, and I believe that we will have agreements with the President of Turkiye," Zelensky said yesterday.
The trip to Turkey marked Zelensky's first since April 2021. The last time the two leaders met was in August 2022, in the Ukrainian city of Lvov. On Friday, the Kremlin said that Russia does not rule out contacts between Putin and Erdogan in the near future.
Peskov added that relations with Ankara are in very good standing with Moscow and said that Erdogan has made considerable contributions in his mediation efforts -- particularly through the implementation of the Black Sea grain initiative which he brokered with the UN. --- Al- Mayadeen

Ukraine’s Zelensky brings home Azovstal commanders released to Turkiye
Reuters/July 08, 2023
KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky returned from a visit to Turkiye on Saturday, bringing home five former commanders of Ukraine’s garrison in Mariupol despite a prisoner exchange last year under which the men were meant to remain in Turkiye.
Russia immediately denounced the release of the men. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Turkiye had violated the prisoner exchange terms and had failed to inform Moscow. The commanders, lionized as heroes in Ukraine, led last year’s defense of the port, the biggest city Russia captured in its invasion.
Thousands of civilians were killed inside Mariupol when Russian forces laid the city to waste during a three-month siege. The Ukrainian defenders held out in tunnels and bunkers under the Azovstal steel plant, until they were finally ordered by Kyiv to surrender in May last year. Moscow freed some of them in September in a prisoner swap brokered by Ankara, under terms that required the commanders to remain in Turkiye until the end of the war. “We are returning home from Turkiye and bringing our heroes home,” said Zelensky who met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan for talks in Istanbul on Friday. “Ukrainian soldiers Denys Prokopenko, Svyatoslav Palamar, Serhiy Volynsky, Oleh Khomenko, Denys Shleha. They will finally be with their relatives,” he said on the Telegram messaging app. Peskov told Russia’s RIA news agency: “No one informed us about this. According to the agreements, these ringleaders were to remain on the territory of Turkiye until the end of the conflict.”Peskov said the release was a result of heavy pressure from Turkiye’s NATO allies in the run-up to next week’s summit of the military alliance at which Ukraine hopes to receive a positive sign about its future membership.
In his remarks, Zelensky gave no explanation for why the commanders were being allowed to return home now. Turkiye’s Directorate of Communications did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Zelensky posted a one-minute video showing himself and other officials shaking hands and hugging the smiling commanders before they boarded a Czech airplane together. Many Ukrainians hailed the news on social media. “Finally! The best news ever. Congratulations to our brothers!” Major Maksym Zhorin who is fighting now in eastern Ukraine, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Fresh protests against police violence planned in France
AFP/July 08, 2023
PARIS: More than 1,000 people defied a ban and on Saturday gathered in central Paris for a memorial rally, with dozens of marches planned throughout France to denounce police brutality and racial profiling. Seven years after the death of Adama Traore, his sister had planned to lead a commemorative march north of Paris in Persan and Beaumont-sur-Oise. But with tensions running high following the riots that were sparked by the June 27 police killing of 17-year-old Nahel M. of Algerian origin at a traffic stop near Paris, a court ruled the chance of public disturbance was too high to allow the march to proceed. In a video posted on Twitter, Assa Traore, Adama’s older sister, denounced the decision. “The government has decided to add fuel to the fire” and “not to respect the death of my little brother,” she said. She instead attended a rally on Saturday afternoon in central Paris’s Place de la Republique to tell “the whole world that our dead have the right to exist, even in death.” “We are marching for the youth to denounce police violence. They want to hide our deaths,” she said at the rally. “They authorize marches by neo-Nazis but they don’t allow us to march. France cannot give us moral lessons. Its police is racist and violent,” she said. The Paris rally had also been banned on the ground that it could disrupt public order, but more than 1,000 people attended nonetheless, including several lawmakers. “Public liberties are losing ground little by little,” said Sandrine Rousseau, a lawmaker from the EELV Green party.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, the outspoken head of the radical leftist France Unbowed party, castigated the government on Twitter.
“From prohibition to repression... the leader is taking France to a regime we have already seen. Danger. Danger,” he tweeted, referring to the World War II regime of Vichy leader Philippe Petain who collaborated with the Nazis. Around 30 similar demonstrations against police violence were scheduled across France this weekend. Marches were held Saturday in the western city of Saint-Nazaire and Strasbourg in the east. Several trade unions, political parties and associations had called on supporters to join the march for Traore as France reels from allegations of institutionalized racism in its police ranks following Nahel M’s shooting. Traore, who was 24 years old, died shortly after his arrest in 2016, sparking several nights of unrest that played out similarly to the week-long rioting that erupted across the country in the wake of the point-blank shooting of Nahel. The teenager’s death on June 27 rekindled long-standing accusations of systemic racism among security forces, and a UN committee urged France to ban racial profiling. The foreign ministry on Saturday disputed what it called “excessive” and “unfounded” remarks by the panel. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) — 18 independent experts — on Friday asked France to pass legislation defining and banning racial profiling and questioned “excessive use of force by law enforcement.” “Any ethnic profiling by law enforcement is banned in France,” the ministry responded, adding that “the struggle against excesses in racial profiling has intensified.”
Far-right parties have linked the most intense and widespread riots France has seen since 2005 to mass migration, and have demanded curbs on new arrivals. Campaign groups say Saturday’s “citizens marches” will be an opportunity for people to express their “grief and anger” at discriminatory police policies, especially in working-class neighborhoods. More than 3,700 people have been taken into police custody in connection with the protests since Nahel’s death, including at least 1,160 minors, according to official figures.

Zelensky visits island symbol of defiance as war enters 500th day
AFP/July 08, 2023
KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has visited a Black Sea island whose defenders famously defied a Russian warship at the beginning of the invasion, as the conflict reaches its 500th day. “Today we are on Snake Island, which will never be conquered by the occupiers, like the whole of Ukraine, because we are the country of the brave,” he said in a video clip released on social media Saturday. “I want to thank from here, from this place of victory, each of our soldiers for these 500 days,” Zelensky said in the undated clip, in which he was shown arriving on the island by boat and leaving flowers at a memorial. Moscow captured Snake Island shortly after launching its invasion on February 24, 2022. A radio exchange went viral in which Ukrainian soldiers responded to the crew of Russia’s attacking warship, who were demanding their surrender, with profanity. The Ukrainian soldiers were taken prisoner but later exchanged for Russian captives. The recording of this verbal exchange has gone around the world and served as a theme for the Ukrainian resistance, even appearing on placards during support rallies abroad and on stamps. The Russian ship involved, the Moskva, sank in the Black Sea in April following what Moscow said was an explosion on board. Ukraine said it had hit the warship with missiles. Ukrainian forces re-captured the island in June last year.

US destroys last of its declared chemical weapons
Associated Press/July 08, 2023
The last of the United States' declared chemical weapons stockpile was destroyed at a sprawling military installation in eastern Kentucky, the White House announced Friday, a milestone that closes a chapter of warfare dating back to World War I. Workers at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky destroyed rockets filled with GB nerve agent, completing a decadeslong campaign to eliminate a stockpile that by the end of the Cold War totaled more than 30,000 tons. "For more than 30 years, the United States has worked tirelessly to eliminate our chemical weapons stockpile," President Joe Biden said in a statement released by the White House. "Today, I am proud to announce that the United States has safely destroyed the final munition in that stockpile — bringing us one step closer to a world free from the horrors of chemical weapons." The weapons' destruction is a major watershed for Richmond, Kentucky and Pueblo, Colorado, where an Army depot destroyed the last of its chemical agents last month. It's also a defining moment for arms control efforts worldwide. The U.S. faced a Sept. 30 deadline to eliminate its remaining chemical weapons under the international Chemical Weapons Convention, which took effect in 1997 and was joined by 193 countries. The munitions being destroyed in Kentucky are the last of 51,000 M55 rockets with GB nerve agent — a deadly toxin also known as sarin — that have been stored at the depot since the 1940s. By destroying the munitions, the U.S. is officially underscoring that these types of weapons are no longer acceptable in the battlefield and sending a message to the handful of countries that haven't joined the agreement, military experts say. "Chemical weapons are responsible for some of the most horrific episodes of human loss," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said in a statement. "Though the use of these deadly agents will always be a stain on history, today our nation has finally fulfilled our promise to rid our arsenal of this evil. Friday's announcement came as the Biden administration has also decided to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, a weapon that two-thirds of NATO countries have banned because it can cause many civilian casualties. National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Ukraine has promised to use the munitions — bombs that open in the air and release scores of smaller bomblets — carefully.
Chemical weapons were first used in modern warfare in World War I, where they were estimated have killed at least 100,000. Despite their use being subsequently banned by the Geneva Convention, countries continued to stockpile the weapons until the treaty calling for their destruction.
In southern Colorado, workers at the Army Pueblo Chemical Depot started destroying the weapons in 2016, and on June 22 completed their mission of neutralizing an entire cache of about 2,600 tons of mustard blister agent. The projectiles and mortars comprised about 8.5% of the country's original chemical weapons stockpile of 30,610 tons of agent.
Nearly 800,000 chemical munitions containing mustard agent were stored since the 1950s inside row after row of heavily guarded concrete and earthen bunkers that pock the landscape near a large swath of farmland east of Pueblo.The weapons' destruction alleviates a concern that civic leaders in Colorado and Kentucky admit was always in the back of their minds. "Those (weapons) sitting out there were not a threat," Pueblo Mayor Nick Gradisar said. But, he added, "you always wondered what might happen with them." In the 1980s, the community around Kentucky's Blue Grass Army Depot rose up in opposition to the Army's initial plan to incinerate the plant's 520 tons of chemical weapons, leading to a decadeslong battle over how they would be disposed of. They were able to halt the planned incineration plant, and then, with help from lawmakers, prompted the Army to submit alternative methods to burning the weapons.
Craig Williams, who became the leading voice of the community opposition and later a partner with political leadership and the military, said residents were concerned about potential toxic pollution from burning the deadly chemical agents. Williams noted that the military eliminated most of its existing stockpile by burning weapons at other, more remote sites such as Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean or at a chemical depot in the middle of the Utah desert. But the Kentucky site was adjacent to Richmond and only a few dozen miles away from Lexington, the state's second-largest city.
"We had a middle school of over 600 kids a mile away from the (planned) smokestack," Williams said. The Kentucky storage facility has housed mustard agent and the VX and sarin nerve agents, much of it inside rockets and other projectiles, since the 1940s. The state's disposal plant was completed in 2015 and began destroying weapons in 2019. It uses a process called neutralization to dilute the deadly agents so they can be safely disposed of.
The project, however, has been a boon for both communities, and facing the eventual loss of thousands of workers, both are pitching the pool of high-skilled laborers as a plus for companies looking to locate in their regions.
Workers at the Pueblo site used heavy machinery to meticulously — and slowly — load aging weapons onto conveyor systems that fed into secure rooms where remote-controlled robots did the dirty and dangerous work of eliminating the toxic mustard agent, which was designed to blister the skin and cause inflammation of the eyes, nose, throat and lungs. Robotic equipment removed the weapons' fuses and bursters before the mustard agent was neutralized with hot water and mixed with a caustic solution to prevent the reaction from reversing. The byproduct was further broken down in large tanks swimming with microbes, and the mortars and projectiles were decontaminated at 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (538 degrees Celsius) and recycled as scrap metal.
Problematic munitions that were leaky or overpacked were sent to an armored, stainless steel detonation chamber to be destroyed at about 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit (593 degrees Celsius). The Colorado and Kentucky sites were the last among several, including Utah and the Johnston Atoll, where the nation's chemical weapons had been stockpiled and destroyed. Other locations included facilities in Alabama, Arkansas and Oregon. Officials say the elimination of the U.S. stockpile is a major step forward for the Chemical Weapons Convention. Only three countries — Egypt, North Korea and South Sudan — have not signed the treaty. A fourth, Israel, has signed but not ratified the treaty. Concerns remain that some parties to the convention, particularly Russia and Syria, possess undeclared chemical weapons stockpiles. Biden on Friday urged Russia and Syria to fully comply with the treaty, and called on the remaining countries to join it. The international chemical weapons watchdog hailed the U.S. move as a "historic success of multilateralism" but said challenges remain such as urging the holdouts to join the treaty and destroying and recovering old chemical weapons. "Recent uses and threats of use of toxic chemicals as weapons illustrate that preventing re-emergence will remain a priority for the organization," said Fernando Arias, director-general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Arms control advocates hope this final step by the U.S. could be used as a model for eliminating other types of weapons.
"It shows that countries can really ban a weapon of mass destruction," said Paul F. Walker, vice chairman of the Arms Control Association and coordinator of the Chemical Weapons Convention Coalition. "If they want to do it, it just takes the political will and it takes a good verification system."

Azerbaijan: Thwarting the smuggling of 93 kg of drugs from Iran
NNA/July 08, 2023
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Interior announced the arrest of a citizen who tried to smuggle 93 kg of drugs into the country, transporting them from Iran by sea, according to "Novosti" agency. A statement from the Azerbaijani Ministry of Interior stated: "A resident of the Masali region, Rafik Agayev, was arrested on charges of drug smuggling, after 93 kg of drugs were found in his car, including 74 kg of marijuana, 11 kg of opium, 8 kg of methamphetamine and 30 narcotic pills."It added, "The drugs were transported to Azerbaijan by sea in plastic barrels."

Iranian-Sudanese agreement to resume diplomatic relations
NNA/July 08, 2023
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian announced that Tehran had agreed with Khartoum to resume diplomatic relations and exchange consular representation in the two countries, according to "Sputnik".
"I agreed with my Sudanese counterpart to restore diplomatic relations between the two countries and reopen embassies," Abdollahian said, during a press conference today, Saturday, with Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Ataf, who was hosting him in Tehran. He added, "We discussed Sudan's developments and foreign interventions in the crisis in this country, as we affirm that the Sudanese crisis is a source of common concern, and we stressed the need for dialogue and a cease-fire in the region."Earlier, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry confirmed that the Iranian and Sudanese sides were discussing the restoration of relations between the two countries as soon as possible, stressing "the importance of Sudanese-Iranian relations returning to their previous state."

France denies requesting security assistance from Israel to quell the riots
NNA/July 08, 2023
The French Ministry of the Interior denied reports that the French authorities had asked Israel to help it suppress the riots that took place in France over the shooting of a teenager. In its response today, Saturday, the ministry said on its Twitter page, "France relied solely on the internal security forces to deal with the violence committed last week, and did not resort to any foreign services." The French Ministry of the Interior attached its publication to a picture from the "Middle East Eye" news site stating that the French Ministry of the Interior had sought advice from the Israeli police in an attempt to confront the unrest in the two suburbs of Paris. In turn, the media that touched on the French police's request for help from Israel relied on Hebrew media, which reported the news.

Dutch government collapses over immigration policy
Reuters/July 08, 2023
The Dutch government collapsed on Friday after failing to reach a deal on restricting immigration, which will trigger new elections in the fall. The crisis was triggered by a push by Prime Minister Mark Rutte's conservative VVD party to limit the flow of asylum seekers to the Netherlands, which two of his four-party government coalition refused to support. "It's no secret that the coalition partners have differing opinions about immigration policy. Today we unfortunately have to conclude that those differences have become insurmountable. Therefore I will tender the resignation of the entire cabinet to the king," Rutte said in a televised news conference. Tensions came to a head this week, when Rutte demanded support for a proposal to limit entrance of children of war refugees who are already in the Netherlands and to make families wait at least two years before they can be united. This latest proposal went too far for the small Christian Union and liberal D66, causing a stalemate. Rutte's coalition will stay on as a caretaker government until a new administration is formed after new elections, a process which in the fractured Dutch political landscape usually takes months. --- Reuters

Private plane crashes in California: Six passengers found dead
LBCI/July 08, 2023
A small private plane crashed early Saturday morning in the state of California, and the bodies of its six passengers were discovered, according to authorities. The plane, a Cessna 550, crashed around 4:15 a.m. local time near the Murrieta airport in southeastern Los Angeles, as reported by the Federal Aviation Administration, which is participating in the investigation into the incident. Police dispatched to the scene discovered "a fully engulfed aircraft in one of the fields" and were able to locate the six passengers, who were pronounced dead on the scene. No details about their identities have been provided, according to a statement from the Riverside County Sheriff's Office, where Murrieta is located. The Federal Aviation Administration stated that the plane had taken off from Los Angeles International Airport.Fire services reported that the plane crash resulted in a small fire that was quickly contained.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 08-09/2023
Iranian Threat in America's Backyard, Thanks to The Biden Administration
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute./July 8, 2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/119917/119917/
Thanks to the Biden Administration's apparently lack of policy towards Latin America as well as the Administration's policy of appeasement towards Iran's Islamist regime, the ruling mullahs have been freely violating sanctions and increasing their influence in America's backyard without facing any consequences.
"One confidential intelligence document... links Venezuela's new Vice President Tareck El Aissami to 173 Venezuelan passports and ID's that were issued to individuals from the Middle East, including people connected to the terrorist group Hezbollah." The passports could be used for travel to North America or Europe. — CNN, February 14, 2017
"We're concerned that [Venezuelan President Nicolás] Maduro has extended safe harbor to a number of terrorist groups... [including] supporters and sympathizers of Hezbollah." — Nathan Sales, former coordinator for counterterrorism at the US Department of State, Yahoo News, January 20, 2020.
"President Raisi's visit to Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua in plain defiance of the United States demonstrates the failure of the Administration's Latin America policy. We must repair our relationships with our friends in the region so that we can form a united front against the countries that invite the Islamic Republic's terrorist regime into our hemisphere." — US Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, Chair of the House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Fox News, June 15, 2023.
Iran began significantly increasing its influence in Latin America after US President Joe Biden assumed office, most likely assuming, apparently correctly, that the Biden Administration would not take any action against the regime.
The Iranian regime's terror cells have indeed grown in Latin America. Iran's terror proxy Hezbollah and Al Mustafa International University have both played a key role in expanding the mullahs' presence and ideology in the region.... "where they can then recruit students and inculcate loyalty to the Islamic Revolution among local populations..." – Report, United Against Nuclear Iran.
Back at home the Iranian regime continues to enrich uranium to levels slightly below those needed for nuclear weapons breakout, all of which -- along with China set to militarize Cuba -- is a clear and present existential danger to the United States.
Thanks to the Biden Administration's non-existent leadership in Latin America combined with an appeasement in overdrive, Iran -- which the US Department of State has called the "world's worst state sponsor of terrorism" – is taking over America's backyard. Pictured: Cuba's President Miguel Díaz-Canel (L) and Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi review the honor guard during a welcoming ceremony at Revolution Palace in Havana on June 15, 2023. (Photo by Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images)
Thanks to the Biden Administration's apparently lack of policy towards Latin America as well as the Administration's policy of appeasement towards Iran's Islamist regime, the ruling mullahs have been freely violating sanctions and increasing their influence in America's backyard without facing any consequences.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, during a recent historic tour of Latin America, first visited Venezuela and its president, Nicolás Maduro. Raisi discussed the US and made clear that the reason behind strengthening ties between Iran and Latin American countries would be to counter the United States, it allies, and to scuttle US national interests. He pointed out that the link between Iran and Venezuela "is not normal but rather a strategic relationship," and that they share "common interests" and "common enemies."
Latin American countries are opportune places for Iranian covert intelligence operations, especially those targeting the United States. A CNN report from 2017 stated:
"One confidential intelligence document obtained by CNN links Venezuela's new Vice President Tareck El Aissami to 173 Venezuelan passports and ID's that were issued to individuals from the Middle East, including people connected to the terrorist group Hezbollah."
The Venezuelan passports could be used for travel to North America and Europe.
"We're concerned," said Nathan Sales, former coordinator for counterterrorism at the US State Department, "that Maduro has extended safe harbor to a number of terrorist groups... [including] supporters and sympathizers of Hezbollah."
Iran began significantly increasing its influence in Latin America after US President Joe Biden assumed office, most likely assuming, apparently correctly, that the Biden Administration would not take any action against the regime. As Raisi acknowledged during his trip:
"In the years after the Islamic Revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran had good relations with all the countries of the Latin American region, but these relations have not been active for some reason for the past decade. It was necessary to review the relations with Latin American countries as an important and strategic center in the world and remove the obstacles to the activation of relations."
He added that during this recent trip, "A total of 35 cooperation documents were signed with Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba in the fields of energy, industry, mining, construction of power plants and biotechnology."
US Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, chair of the House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, slammed the Biden Administration in a statement:
"Weak leadership from the Biden Administration has allowed the world's worst actors to penetrate our hemisphere with impunity. President Raisi's visit to Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua in plain defiance of the United States demonstrates the failure of the Administration's Latin America policy. We must repair our relationships with our friends in the region so that we can form a united front against the countries that invite the Islamic Republic's terrorist regime into our hemisphere".
The Iranian regime's terror cells have indeed grown in Latin America. Iran's terror proxy Hezbollah and Al Mustafa International University have both played a key role in expanding the mullahs' presence and ideology in the region. According to "United Against Nuclear Iran" (UANI), Al-Mustafa International University is tasked with "training the next generation of Iran's foreign Shi'a clerics, religious scholars, and missionaries."
"It is estimated that Al-Mustafa has 40,000 foreign students enrolled at present, roughly half of whom are studying at campuses within Iran. Many Al-Mustafa graduates are selected by the Iranian regime to establish religious and cultural centers in their home countries, where they can then recruit students and inculcate loyalty to the Islamic Revolution among local populations...
"Al-Mustafa operates several branches in European countries, most notably the Islamic College of London. Graduates of Al-Mustafa such as Italian cleric Abbas DiPalma have gone on to form Iranian cultural centers in their home countries, such as the Imam Mahdi Center in Rome. Al-Mustafa has also dispatched Lebanese graduates as missionaries to Latin America, where they seek to create inroads with expat communities and proselytize among local populations."
Thanks to the Biden Administration's non-existent leadership in Latin America combined with an appeasement in overdrive, Iran -- which the US Department of State has called the "world's worst state sponsor of terrorism" – is taking over America's backyard: Latin America. The Iranian regime is creating terror cells, exporting its Islamist ideology to Latin America, gaining access to Latin American passports, expanding the number Iranian-trained imams and militants in Latin America, increasing recruitment of radicals – while back at home the regime continues to enrich uranium to levels slightly below those needed for nuclear weapons breakout, all of which -- along with China set to militarize Cuba -- is a clear and present existential danger to the United States.
*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
© 2023 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19782/iranian-threat-latin-america

Beware! How your smartphone addiction may be causing physical harm
Dr. Theodore Karasik/Arab News/July 08/2023
Global mobile phone evolution is beginning to have an important physical impact on the human body. Neck and hand physiology and technical devices such as smartphones become more available with differing and changing features. Regardless of how mobile phones change over time, it seems that the devices are creating musculoskeletal disorders from extensive smartphone use that are occurring at a more rapid rate.
Smartphone use is global, and there is a focus on “addictive” habits. Mobile phone user rate from 2016 to 2020 increased from 3.6 to 6.5 billion, almost one third of the world’s population, and has become one of the major global health challenges of the 21st century. Iran is the world’s 12th-highest smartphone user with over 52 million in 2021, a 25-fold increase on the two million users in 2013. Those numbers are continuing to grow as more mobile users come of age as early as 3 to 4 years old.
There are dramatic physical effects of cellphone use if one is “addicted” to them. Addiction is another problem where endless use of mobile phones is creating more physical damage to the neck, arms and hands, in some people, and many in the youth. The difference between a 60-year-old and a 25-year-old using a smartphone may be minimal when it comes to physical damage. Due to the high prevalence of neck and hand pain in smartphone users, evaluation of these variables and assessment of their correlation with the level of addiction should provide new information about the probable risk factors.
This phenomenon is present all over the world, and whether there is an addiction or not to cell phone use, the outcomes are basically the same around the world. A study from Malaysia showed the most common activities in which the participants reported discomfort when engaging with their smartphones were social network usage, followed by talking on the phone, web surfing, photography, email usage, and games, an interesting order of priorities in itself. Other studies from Iran and India showed much the same results.
Medical professionals are looking at frequent smartphone use in a pathological way that forces the user to adopt a compromised posture. This gradually results in changes to both the postural and musculoskeletal systems. A shortened version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale Questionnaires was used to help factor in analytical findings. Studies around the world – India, Malaysia, Hong Kong — show mostly the same results.
The devices are creating musculoskeletal disorders from extensive smartphone use that are occurring at a more rapid rate.
The COVID pandemic of the early 2020s was a major factor in growing reporting of a higher prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders, especially in the thumb and wrist. The prevalence of musculoskeletal pain such as stiff neck, brachial neuralgia, dorsal kyphotic posture, and head pain is now increasing among adolescents in public schools.
The impact of physical issues from using smartphones on youth is growing globally. Surveys in several different countries, again mostly in Southeast Asia and India, showed that about 94 percent of all participants who were university students were using computers and phones, and 44 percent of the respondents were using them every day for more than five years. About 60.7 percent always have neck pain and 39.3 percent sometimes have neck pain. All had grown up with mobile phone technology. These studies show that constant use of electronic devices such as mobile phones causes significant musculoskeletal problems, specifically in the head and neck region.
Scientists have come up with the term “text neck,” which is repetitive strain injury and pain due to excessive viewing and texting on a handheld device for prolonged periods of time. Long-term untreated text neck results in inflammation of ligaments, muscles and nerves of the body, which can lead to Permanent Arthritic Changes, a term that should enter the lexicon. Many smartphone users experience thumb/wrist pain, but some people who develop pain are smart phone addicts. Previous studies have shown that the use of electronic devices by frequent movements of the thumb result in increased stress on the thumb and thus result in musculoskeletal disorders.
Medical professionals are looking at frequent smartphone use in a pathological way that forces the user to adopt a compromised posture.
Failure to handle or correct text neck in a timely manner can cause serious permanent damage and lead to overuse syndrome or repetitive stress injury. If text neck is left untreated for a long duration, it can lead to inflammation of the ligaments, muscles and nerves of the neck, resulting in permanent arthritic changes, meaning constant hand pain.
Overall, the mobile phone evolution brings with it a new way of communicating and conducting one’s life. There is no such idea as “evolution of hand dexterity,” so there must be a quickening toward the next step of 100 percent hands-free devices as physical issues become more debilitating, especially in 20 years whenthe current youth generation has grown older.
The impact on work and life in general is clear. But what is also clear is that the impact on younger people, especially after the pandemic, may have long term health costs. There is a policy requirement to jump to the next level of hands-free technology quicker. Perhaps there needs to be an extra push in the fourth industrial communication revolution for a zero rate of text neck cases in the near term.
*Dr. Theodore Karasik is a senior adviser to Gulf State Analytics in Washington. Twitter: @KarasikTheodore

What to expect from Erdogan’s tour of three Gulf countries
Sinem Cengiz/Arab News/July 08/2023
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will soon embark on a tour of Gulf states that will include visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE. Turkiye has a different relationship with each of these countries, sharing economic interests and political concerns.
The first visit is likely to be to the UAE, following last month’s visit by Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek and Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz. The UAE was the first country they visited after Erdogan formed a new Cabinet. A high-ranking Emirati delegation reciprocated the visit to set the ground for the president’s upcoming trip, which is likely to result in the signing of several deals between Ankara and Abu Dhabi, particularly on investment cooperation. Erdogan’s last trip to the UAE was in February last year, after a rapprochement between two countries.
The focus of the two-day talks between the Turkish and Emirati delegations was on renewable energy, transport, defense and trade. The UAE may be interested in investing in the Istanbul metro project and the high-speed train between Istanbul and Ankara.
In March, Ankara signed an agreement to double its trade volume with the UAE, underlining the growing economic ties between the two countries. After the Turkish elections in May, Turkiye and the UAE ratified afree trade deal signed in March to increase trade between two countries to $40 billion in the next five years. The UAE may invest up to $30 billion in Turkiye, and a target of doubling Turkiye’s exports to the UAE from $5 billion to $10 billion was also set.
The Turkish government has set a goal of attracting $25 billion in investments from Gulf states using methods such as privatization and acquisitions. Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said Turkiye was negotiating with Gulf Arab countries to sell the operating rights for Alsancak Port in the Aegean city of Izmir, in what would be the first major deal in Turkiye’s push for foreign investment under its new economic team. Uraloglu did not disclose any Gulf country that could be a potential buyer.
The Gulf states have emerged as potential candidates to fill the investment gap in Turkiye, prompting the president’s visit.
However, the Gulf states have emerged as potential candidates to fill the investment gap in Turkiye, prompting the president’s visit. It is likely to take place after the NATO summit in Lithuania on July 11-12.Şimşek said would bring some investment deals between two countries, without providing further details. Hisvisit to the UAE was described as “productive,” and the topics discussed then will be finalized on Erdogan’s visit.
Şimşek‘s ministerial appointment was welcomed by the Gulf investors, who considered it a market-friendly move five years after he resigned from a similar role. He has played a key role in devising the implementation of what he’s called “rational” policies and he promises to restore “predictability” to the Turkish economy, which is what the Gulf countries seek. A few weeks before his appointment, I ran intoŞimşek in a mall in Qatar and we had a brief chat about his visit. He was on a working trip to Doha, following his visits to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Şimşek has strong business connections in the Gulf countries, which is now helping Turkiye to find a way out of its troubling economic condition.. As a positive outcome, Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia are providing much-needed foreign currency to the Turkish central bank through swap agreements and direct deposits.
Turkiye considers the Gulf countries key partners in fields such as trade, economics, energy and defense. However, economic stability and trade opportunities are not the sole driving force behind Turkish policy to strengthen its ties: regional security concerns and the diplomatic normalization climate have also pushed Ankara to bring relations back on track.
Despite being on opposite pages for a decade on some regional issues, Turkiye and the Gulf states still share concerns about instability in Syria, Yemen, Libya and Iraq. Although Iran is pursuing a fresh diplomatic outreach to the Gulf countries, marking a new era in regional politics, its proxies still pose threats to Turkish and Gulf interests across the region. Most importantly, the diplomatic normalization climate allowed Turkiye to get rid of its image as the odd man out in the region as it opened the door for re-establishing relations with its former regional foes, in particular Egypt. This week, Ankara and Cairo exchanged ambassadors for the first time in a decade to restore normal diplomatic relations. The move was welcomed by both Saudi Arabia and the UAE as being important for regional stability.
Mutual economic interests and political concerns are likely to strengthen Turkiye's ties with Gulf countries as it seeks to diversify its economic partners, counter security threats and enhance its position in the region. However, it is not bed of roses, Ankara will have to walk a thin line with diverse actors while pursuing both regional ambitions and domestic economic goals.
*Sinem Cengiz is a Turkish political analyst who specializes in Turkiye’s relations with the Middle East. Twitter: @SinemCngz

Why NATO must not forget about the Middle East
Luke Coffey/Arab News/July 08/2023
The leaders of the 31 NATO member states will meet in Vilnius, Lithuania, this coming week for the alliance’s 2023 summit. The summit comes at an important time in terms of transatlantic security. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is well into its second year and Ukraine’s counteroffensive has recently begun. The decisions taken at the summit could have a long-term impact on the overall stability of the transatlantic region and beyond.
Without a doubt, the primary focus of the summit will be Ukraine. In this context, expect two big issues to be discussed: future NATO membership and continued military support for Ukraine. Fifteen years ago, at the Bucharest NATO Summit in 2008, Ukraine was promised eventual membership in the alliance. Over the years, little progress has been made — mainly due to the reluctance of some countries, like Germany and France. In retrospect, leaving Ukraine in this geopolitical limbo was probably one of the factors that enticed Russia to invade. Had Ukraine been in NATO, Russia would unlikely have dared to attack.
Nobody should expect an invitation to be extended at the summit for Ukraine to join NATO. It would be impossible to find consensus among all 31 members to invite any country to join the alliance while it is fighting a war. Instead, expect NATO to establish a roadmap that leads to eventual membership for Ukraine. Kyiv wants to join NATO immediately, so it remains to be seen if the alliance can provide a roadmap to membership that meets its reasonably high expectations.
Another issue that NATO members will discuss at the summit is the ongoing and long-term military support for Ukraine. Over the past 18 months, NATO members have been increasing the amount and types of weapons provided for Ukraine’s self-defense. In February 2022, the debate was about sending Ukraine anti-tank weapons. Today, NATO members are sending Ukraine some of the most advanced tanks in the world. However, more contentious items, such as fighter jets and long-range rockets, have remained elusive for Kyiv. It is likely that NATO members will use the summit to discuss the possibility of providing Ukraine these more advanced weapons.
The issue of defense spending will also feature at the summit. Defense spending across Europe, or the lack thereof, is a perennial issue for the alliance. In 2006, NATO agreed that each member should meet the target of spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense. However, in the subsequent years, very few members ever met this goal.
After Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, NATO set itself a new deadline of 2024 for its members to comply. Although defense spending across NATO has increased year on year since 2014, the overall situation remains dire. Last year, only seven members met the 2 percent benchmark for defense spending. While a few more members might reach the benchmark before next year’s NATO summit in Washington, the vast majority will not. This will have long-term consequences for the overall health of the alliance.
The alliance’s members share many of the same security concerns as the countries of this region.
Keep an eye on Sweden, too. Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine last year, both Finland and Sweden submitted applications to join NATO. For centuries, both countries maintained a position of military nonalignment — meaning neither would join military organizations like NATO. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine changed this. In April, Finland was formally admitted into the alliance. However, Sweden’s application has been held up over concerns Turkiye has over the Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s presence in the country. Behind the scenes, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has been working closely with Turkish and Swedish leaders, trying to find a resolution to this impasse. Many will be watching to see if Sweden gets into the alliance at the upcoming summit.
Readers of Arab News will naturally wonder if the Middle East and North Africa region will get any attention at the upcoming summit. Unfortunately, it probably will not. This is shortsighted on NATO’s part. Whether it is regional terrorism emanating from extremist groups or the threat of nuclear proliferation in Iran, NATO members share many of the same security concerns as the countries of the MENA region. Furthermore, many of the countries in this region have demonstrated a willingness to cooperate with NATO and have even contributed troops to NATO-led missions in the past.
The alliance should be finding ways to build on these relationships. So far this year, there have been some positive developments regarding NATO-MENA engagement. Just last week, a senior delegation from Mauritania visited NATO headquarters in Brussels for talks about security developments in the Sahel. Last month, a senior NATO delegation traveled to Bahrain to discuss enhancing military cooperation. Meanwhile, other senior-level engagements with the region this year include Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan.
While the focus of the alliance must remain on the threats in Eastern Europe, there are a few easy things that NATO can do to enhance its engagement in the MENA region. These steps could include appointing a NATO special representative for MENA and actively pushing to enlarge the memberships of the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative.
The former, launched in 1994, forms the basis of NATO’s relations with its Mediterranean partners: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. The Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, launched in 2004, is the basis of NATO’s relations with the Gulf states. Although all six members of the GCC were invited to join, only Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE have done so.
At next year’s summit in Washington that will mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of NATO, the successes of the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative should be highlighted and a meeting of both should take place at the heads of government level.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year changed the security landscape in Europe in a way not seen since the Second World War. NATO must simultaneously bolster the security of Europe and remain aware of future threats beyond the region. With the right leadership inside NATO, the upcoming summit can usher in a new era of regional stability and security. Not just for Europe, but for the Middle East and North Africa too.
*Luke Coffey is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. Twitter: @LukeDCoffey