Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 15-16/2023
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister will visit Iran on Saturday - Tasnim
Reuters/June 15, 2023
DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, will visit Tehran on Saturday, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Thursday. He is set to meet with Iranian officials, Tasnim said. Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed in March, in a deal brokered by China, to end a diplomatic rift and re-establish relations following years of hostility that had endangered regional stability including in Yemen, Syria and Lebanon.
Iran officially reopened its embassy in Saudi Arabia on June 7.

Saudi top diplomat to visit Tehran Saturday
Agence France Presse/June 15, 2023
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister is expected to visit Tehran on Saturday, Iranian media reported, as the two Middle Eastern powerhouses move to cement their recent landmark rapprochement after a seven-year rupture. "The foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, Faisal bin Farhan, will travel to Tehran on Saturday, June 17, to meet with officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Tasnim news agency said on Thursday. The visit has not been officially announced by either Tehran or Riyadh. Citing unnamed "sources", Tasnim said the Saudi embassy in Tehran, which has been shut since 2016, may reopen during Prince Faisal's visit.
Sunni Muslim power Saudi Arabia severed relations with Shiite-led Iran in 2016 after its embassy in Tehran and consulate in the northwestern city of Mashhad were attacked during protests over Riyadh's execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Since then, the two rival powers, which have maintained an enmity since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, have opposed each other on regional issues, sometimes supporting rival camps such as in Syria, Lebanon or Yemen. In March, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to restart their respective embassies and work towards resuming ties in a Chinese-brokered deal that has shifted regional relations. Riyadh has since reconnected with Syria, an ally of Tehran, and has intensified its peace efforts in Yemen, where it leads a military coalition supporting the Yemeni government against the Iran-backed Huthi rebels. Iran has also been engaged in Omani-mediated talks with the United States on Tehran's nuclear activity. The Saudi foreign minister and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, met in Beijing in April, where they both vowed to promote regional security and stability. The same month, a Saudi delegation visited Iran to discuss reopening its diplomatic missions, Riyadh's foreign ministry said at the time. Iran in early June reopened its long-shut embassy in Riyadh.

Iran tested suicide drone in Gulf, U.S. official says
DUBAI (Reuters)Thu, June 15, 2023
Iran tested a suicide drone against a practice vessel in the Gulf and fired one other missile or drone without warning ships in the area, a U.S. official in the region said. The one-way drone was launched on Wednesday from the Jask area of Iran 8-9 miles out to sea - within Iran's territorial waters - against a practice barge, the official said, citing U.S. intelligence data. "Essentially practicing hitting merchant vessels. That's the only reason why you would do that in the Gulf of Oman," the official said. The United States has accused Iran of being behind a number of attacks since 2019 against merchant vessels in strategic Gulf waters, which contain some of the world's most important oil and shipping routes. Iranian officials were not available to comment. Iran periodically tests explosive or suicide drones and broadcasts footage of them being tested. "The closest merchant vessel was about 30 miles out away from the barge, but it was still dangerous," the official said.

Cuba, Iran presidents meet in Havana, vow to confront 'Yankee imperialism'
HAVANA (Reuters)/Thu, June 15, 2023
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met with Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel on Thursday, his last stop on a three-nation Latin American tour aimed at shoring up support among Latin American allies saddled, like Iran, by U.S. sanctions. Raisi told reporters at a trade forum in Havana early on Thursday that Cuba and Iran would seek opportunities to work together in electricity generation, biotechnology, and mining, among other areas. "The conditions and circumstances in which Cuba and Iran find themselves today have many things in common," Raisi said in a conversation with Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel. "Every day our relations grow stronger." Top officials signed administrative agreements vowing to boost cooperation between the countries' ministries of justice, and customs agencies, as well as in telecommunications. Raisi earlier this week visited with leaders of fellow oil-producer Venezuela, where he pledged to ramp up bilateral trade and expand cooperation in petrochemicals. Prior to arriving in Cuba, the Iranian president also met with Nicaragua´s Daniel Ortega in the Central American country. "Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Iran are among the countries that have had to heroically confront sanctions (...) threats, blockades and interference by Yankee imperialism and its allies with a tenacious resistance," Diaz-Canel told his Iranian counterpart. "This visit reinforced our conviction that we have in Iran a friendly nation in the Middle East, with which to confide ... and talk about the most complex global issues." Asked earlier this week about Raisi's tour of Latin America, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said the Iranian president could speak to his own agenda. "We don’t ask countries in this hemisphere or any other to choose who they’re going to associate with or who they’re going to talk to or who they’re going to allow to visit," Kirby said. "That’s for them to speak to. We’re focused on our own national security interest in the region." Raisi´s visit comes as Cuba also moves to bolster ties with distant, but critical, allies like Russia and China, both subject to U.S. sanctions. Diaz-Canel last year also met with the presidents of Russia and China, firming up relations and signing deals to ease the country´s debt burden and secure aid following the devastating impacts of Hurricane Ian, which ravaged the island last fall. Communist-run Cuba has been under a wide-reaching U.S. trade embargo since shortly after Fidel Castro´s 1959 revolution. Those restrictions, reinforced by then-U.S. President Donald Trump, have contributed to a nearly unprecedented economic crisis that has led to shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Raisi called his visit with Iran´s key Latin American allies a "turning point" in relations

Israel’s new hypersonic defence system defies Russia and Iran’s ‘impossible’ boast
James Rothwell/The Telegraph/Thu, June 15, 2023
An artist's impression of the first-of-its-kind Sky Sonic system
An artist's impression of the first-of-its-kind Sky Sonic system
Israel is building the world’s first air defence system dedicated to shooting down hypersonic missiles in a major challenge to Russia and Iran, who have claimed that they are impossible to shoot down. The Israeli defence firm Rafael is working on a new “Sky Sonic” system that is specifically designed for intercepting hypersonic missiles, which can fly in the upper atmosphere and travel at five times the speed of sound. The Sky Sonic system will “enable us to intercept all kinds of hypersonic threats – hypersonic ballistic missiles, hypersonic cruise missiles,” Yuval Steinitz, the chairman of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd, told Reuters news agency. A CGI video demonstration provided by Rafael showed an interceptor missile being fired from a ground battery. The interceptor’s warhead detaches itself and flew towards an incoming missile. A Rafael spokesman said Sky Sonic would soon undergo flight tests but did not provide a schedule for when it might be ready. The Israeli military has not commented on the announcement, while the Pentagon has been briefed on the project according to Reuters. The announcement hints at a potential new era of European air defence in which Israel – which is also selling Germany a £3 billion Arrow 3 interception tool – plays a major role. However, as Sky Sonic is still being developed, and Israel remains reluctant to provide Kyiv with military support, it is unlikely that it will be deployed in Ukraine in the near future. Both Russia and Iran have stepped up production of hypersonic missiles in recent months amid claims that they cannot be intercepted, in what could prove to be a major defence headache for Israel, Ukraine and their allies.
Russia’s Kinzhal hypersonic missiles are already being fired at Ukrainian cities, while Iran’s new “Fattah” missile has been pointed at Tel Aviv, possibly to deter a potential Israeli strike on the regime’s nuclear programme. Tehran is also sending hundreds if not thousands of missiles and drones to Moscow for use against Ukraine, and in return is set to receive powerful Russian fighter jets which could be used by the regime to attack Israel. “The war in Ukraine, and Russia’s use of Iranian drones there, has reshuffled European priorities and created new openings for deepening engagement with Israel,” said Hugh Lovatt, a senior Middle East analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Faced with a new array of security challenges emanating from Russia, the EU and its member states now increasingly view Israel as an important security partner that can provide access to valuable military weaponry and cyber technology,” he added. “For many European capitals, including strong supporters of Palestinian rights, national security interests are overriding concerns over Israel’s actions against Palestinians.”Yehoshua Kalisky, a senior researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said: “Regarding the Russian hypersonic missiles, they operate effectively, but they are not ‘game changers’ as we can see from the results of the war during the last week. Their use looks to me like another vehicle used to destroy infrastructure or to hurt civilians.”“About the Iranians, it looks that they carried out only ground tests – probably it is not operational yet,” he added. Israel is increasingly concerned about Russia’s military support for Iran, but at the same time is resisting pressure from the United States to arm Kyiv, or at least grant the use of its powerful Iron Dome air defence system.
This is partly because Russia has a large Jewish population which Israel fears could be persecuted in the event that relations significantly deteriorate. Russia also controls much of the airspace over neighbouring Syria, where Israel frequently launches air strikes on Iranian-backed militia groups. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has privately complained to Vladimir Putin about his military support for Iran, the US news website Axios reported on Thursday. Also on Thursday, the head of Germany’s defence committee approved a €3.99 billion (£3.34 billion) payment for Israel’s Arrow 3 air defence system, which will be able to shoot down missiles above the atmosphere and grant air cover to neighbouring EU member states. The funds were drawn from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s €100 billion defence package, which is aimed at bolstering German security in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Last week Iran, Israel’s arch-nemesis in the region, unveiled what it claimed was the regime’s first domestically produced hypersonic missile, dubbed the Fattah, which can supposedly fly at 15 times the speed of sound and strike Tel Aviv within 400 seconds. Rafael is already well-known as the Israeli state-owned contractor behind the Iron Dome missile defence system capable of intercepting around 90 per cent of rockets launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip. It also developed David’s Sling, a similar system that was used successfully for the first time during the May 9-13 round of fighting between Israel and Islamic Jihad in Gaza. According to Israeli media reports, the country already has defence systems that should be capable of taking down hypersonic missiles, but none have been tailored to that threat specifically.
In response to the Iranian hypersonic missile being revealed last week, Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister said “to any such development, we have an even better response,” without elaborating. While Iran’s Fattah has not yet been used in battle, Russia reportedly fired six of its Kinzhal hypersonic missiles at Ukraine in May and all of them were intercepted, Ukrainian officials said, suggesting the weapon’s capabilities may have been exaggerated. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.

Israel opposition leaders step back from judicial reform talks
Agence France Presse/June 15, 2023
Israeli opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz on Wednesday suspended their participation in talks with the government over its controversial judicial program. The hard-right government's proposals would curtail the authority of the Supreme Court and give politicians greater powers over the selection of judges. The divisive plan gave rise to Israel's most severe domestic crisis in years. It has sparked mass protests for 23 successive weeks, often by tens of thousands who decry the reforms as a threat to Israel's democracy. Following the widespread anger, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had in March announced a "pause" to allow for talks on the reforms. Lapid and Gantz announced their decision to back out of the talks at a joint press conference Wednesday, after parliament failed to elect representatives to the judicial selection committee, a body in charge of appointing judges to Israeli courts.
"There is a representative (from the opposition) in the committee to select judges, but there is no committee to select judges," opposition leader and former premier Lapid said. "Netanyahu today prevented its establishment and put an end to pretending that he wants negotiations," he added. "The threat to democracy has not been removed." Gantz, leader of the center-right National Unity alliance, similarly said: "In the current situation, where there is no functioning committee as it should be, there is no point in holding negotiations". But in a video statement Netanyahu lashed out against the two opposition members. "Their representative was elected, and they still blew up the negotiations. So Gantz and Lapid don't want real negotiations," he said. In its current form, the judicial selection committee includes two parliament, or Knesset, representatives among its nine members -- customarily one majority and one opposition member. Opposition candidate Karine Elharrar, backed by Lapid and Gantz, had been voted into the committee, but the majority was unable to put forth its own candidate due to internal sparring. As a result, a new vote must be held within 30 days. The government, a coalition between Netanyahu's Likud party and extreme-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies, argues the judicial changes are needed to rebalance powers between lawmakers and the judiciary. Opponents have accused Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charge he denies, of trying to use the reforms to quash possible judgements against him, an accusation he rejected.

Israel admits killing Palestinian toddler 'by mistake'
Associated Press/June 15, 2023
The Israeli military has admitted that it had shot and killed a Palestinian toddler in the occupied West Bank by mistake earlier this month — a rare acknowledgement of wrongdoing. After an initial investigation into the killing, the Israeli military said it would reprimand one of the officers involved in the killing. The military said it hadn't yet decided whether to proceed with a criminal investigation into the child's death. Rights groups contend the Israeli military does too little to investigate and punish its soldiers for the killing of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, creating a pattern of impunity. The death of 2-year-old Mohammed al-Tamimi after he was wounded by Israeli gunfire near his village of Nebi Saleh set off an outpouring of grief and anger. His 44-year-old father, Haitham al-Tamimi, dismissed Israel's move to investigate the killing as a "cover-up." The initial results, he said, added insult to injury.
"Of course we were not expecting justice, but this report feels to us like a crime on top of the original crime," he said. "This is all they have to say when my son is killed in cold blood, when his life is cut off before I could discover what kind of person he'd become." In announcing the results of the initial investigation Tuesday, the Israeli military described a scene of considerable confusion following a suspected Palestinian shooting attack near a Jewish settlement. The military said that soldiers stationed at a lookout near the Palestinian village of Nebi Saleh heard a burst of gunfire, but didn't know where it came from. At the sight of a "suspicious" car, a commander assisting the search fired several times into the air, the military said, in violation of army orders. The sound of gunfire carried to a nearby guard post, the military said, surprising a soldier who claimed he thought the shots were fired by two people getting into a car just down the road. Believing that car to be the source of the gunfire and those passengers to be the fleeing militants, the soldier followed orders and opened fire toward the vehicle, it said. Inside were 2-year-old Mohammed and his father al-Tamimi. Al-Tamimi, a chef in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, said he had just buckled up his son for a ride to visit his uncle when the bullets struck. He was also shot and treated at a Palestinian hospital for moderate shoulder wounds. Mohammed died of his wounds in an Israeli hospital four days later. The family is still in shock, al-Tamimi said. His only other son, 7-year-old Osama, wakes up with nightmares about his younger brother's killing nearly every night. The Israeli military said it reprimanded the commander who initially sparked the confusion by firing into the air against army orders. The officer wasn't demoted, but a reprimand remains on a soldier's personal record and can affect chances of promotion. Further consequences for the soldiers involved in the shooting could follow if the Israeli military decides to open a criminal investigation. Recent investigations by the Israeli military — including into the high-profile deaths of prominent Palestinian-American Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh and Palestinian-American Omar Assad — did not result in criminal prosecutions. Israel says that it thoroughly investigates all claims of wrongdoing and does its best to prevent civilian deaths. "I express my sorrow for the harm that was caused to civilians and the death of the toddler," said Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox, the commander overseeing the West Bank region. "We will continue to learn and improve."Surging Israeli-Palestinian fighting in the occupied West Bank this year has killed 123 Palestinians in 2023 alone, according to a tally by The Associated Press. Nearly half of them are affiliated with militant groups, though the Israeli military says that number is much higher. Palestinian attacks on Israelis during the same period have killed 21 people.The Israeli military said Wednesday that four soldiers who were lightly wounded in a Palestinian shooting attack in the northern West Bank the previous day were recovering well.

Chinese PM meets Palestinian president in effort to increase Middle East presence
Associated Press/June 15, 2023
Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday in a drive by Beijing to elevate relations and increase its overall presence in the Middle East. Li, who took office just this spring with little foreign policy experience, called Abbas "an old friend of the Chinese people" who has made "important contributions to the promotion of China-Palestinian relations."The meeting came a day after Abbas was greeted with full military honors by Xi Jinping, China's president and head of the ruling Communist Party. The sides then announced the formation of a "strategic partnership," paving the way to boost China's influence in the region at a time when Beijing's chief rival for global influence, the United States, is seen as withdrawing from the region following the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and complications in ties with regional power Saudi Arabia. China, meanwhile, is seeking energy resources and markets for its military and civilian exports while also promoting its version of authoritarian government as part of joint challenge with Russia to the Western-led democratic world order. Beijing has long maintained diplomatic ties with the Palestinian Authority, and it appointed a special envoy to meet with Israeli and Palestinian officials. But its experience in the region is mainly limited to construction, manufacturing and other economic projects. China relies on such partnerships to bolster its diplomatic posture and give large Chinese corporations a leg up when negotiating infrastructure deals in line with the government's "Belt and Road Initiative," which has left many struggling countries in deep debt to Chinese banks. China also has sought close ties with Israel to expand its diplomatic presence and to gain access to high technology. Abbas' visit follows China's hosting of talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia that resulted in the restoring of diplomatic relations between the two Mideast rivals and boosting China's standing in the region. The Riyadh-Tehran rapprochement was seen as a diplomatic victory for China as Gulf Arab states perceive the United States as gradually withdrawing from the wider region. China has hosted a growing list of world leaders since reopening its borders in the spring after a three-year virtual shutdown due to its extreme "zero-COVID" policy. Those have included French President Emmanuel Macron and European Comission President Ursula von der Leyen, whose visits sparked controversy over China's pursuit of its campaign to cut off foreign support for self-governing Taiwan and block criticism of its human rights record. Next week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to make a visit to Beijing that was postponed over the presence of an alleged Chinese spy balloon over the U.S. Diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing are at their lowest in decades over trade, technology, U.S. support for Taiwan and an intensifying competition for influence in Asia and elsewhere.

Kissinger Says Putin Survival ‘Improbable’ If Ukraine Prevails
Bloomberg News/Thu, June 15, 2023
President Vladimir Putin may struggle to hold on to power if the war in Ukraine forces Russia to abandon military aggression and accept a peace deal with Europe, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said. “I would like a Russia that recognizes that its relations to Europe have to be based on agreement and a kind of consensus and I believe that this war will, if it’s ended properly, may make it achievable,” Kissinger told Bloomberg’s Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait in an interview. Asked whether Putin could survive in power if the war ended on those terms, Kissinger replied: “It’s improbable.”The veteran diplomat said it’s important that Ukraine emerges from the war as a strong democracy, and preferable to avoid “the dissolution of Russia or the reduction of Russia to resentful impotence” that risked stoking new tensions. He described Putin as a “Dostoevsky-type figure beset by ambivalences and unfulfillable aspirations,” who was very capable of wielding power as a leader and used it “excessively” in relation to Ukraine.The June 7 interview in New York was a retrospective on Kissinger’s life and career after he recently turned 100. You can see the full recording here. Putin has frequently welcomed Kissinger to Russia during his near quarter-century rule in the Kremlin and said at a 2012 meeting that their relationship stretched back to the mid-1990s when he was deputy mayor of St. Petersburg. Kissinger said in his Bloomberg interview that Putin was both the inheritor of a traditional Russian outlook and also someone who grew up on the streets of Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, where more than half the population died of starvation during World War II and faced constant threat. Putin “translated that into never wanting European military power to be in easy reach of St. Petersburg and major cities like Moscow,” and reacted “at the edge of irrationality” to its expansion, Kissinger said. While the US and its allies were correct to resist Russia’s attack on Ukraine, it’s “increasingly important” that parties to the conflict consider how they want to end it through diplomacy, Kissinger said. There’s a risk that military relations between powers dominate geopolitical thinking and turn the war into a global conflict by drawing in countries like China, he added. “Europe will become more stable, the world will become more stable when Russia accepts the fact that it cannot conquer Europe, but it has to remain part of Europe by some sort of consensus as other states do,” he said. “But at the moment Russia is so crushed that it sees it’s being a factor of international politics in other regions and becomes a subject for European competition among the various states.”

Ukraine claims gains despite Russia ‘powerful resistance’
Reuters/June 15, 2023
KYIV: Kyiv on Thursday reported progress in its counteroffensive on the eastern and southern fronts, despite contending with strong resistance from Russian troops. The chief of the UN’s atomic watchdog arrived in the southeastern region of Zaporizhzia — home to Europe’s largest nuclear plant and one of the current fronts — to assess risks to the site following the destruction of a major dam. His visit came as Kyiv, bolstered with Western weapons and training, pushed its long-awaited effort to force Russian troops off its territory. AFP journalists saw Ukrainian artillery continue to target Russian positions around the frontline hotspot of Bakhmut, in the eastern Donetsk region. Moscow claimed victory in Bakhmut last month after the longest battle of the war that claimed thousands of lives and left the city in ruins. “The enemy is pulling up additional reserves and is trying with all its might to prevent the advance of Ukrainian forces,” Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Malyar told a briefing. Malyar reported an advance of more than three kilometers (1.8 miles) in the area of Bakhmut over the past ten days. Since the start of the offensive in early June Ukrainian forces have recaptured seven settlements and more than 100 square kilometers (under 40 square miles) of territory, said Oleksiy Gromov of the Ukrainian armed forces’ general staff. “There is a gradual but steady advance of the armed forces” in the south, Malyar told reporters. “At the same time, the enemy is putting up powerful resistance” on the southern front, she said, referring to mined fields, explosive drones and intense shelling. Russia said it had repelled all Ukrainian assaults, with President Vladimir Putin this week claiming that Ukraine suffered near “catastrophic” losses. The region of Zaporizhzhia, where fighting has stepped up, is home to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Its safety has been a major concern ever since Russian forces seized it more than a year ago, but the destruction of a nearby dam has sparked new fears. The Russian-held Kakhovka dam, destroyed last week in an attack Kyiv and Moscow blamed each other for, formed a reservoir that provided the cooling water for the plant. UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi arrived at the plant on Thursday to assess any damage there, a Russian official said. Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, was initially expected to tour the site Wednesday.
“I want to make my own assessment,” Grossi said during a briefing in Kyiv this week. “I want to go there, discuss with the management there what measures they are taking, and then make as I said a more definitive assessment of what kind of danger we have.”Since the conflict’s start Grossi has warned of the potential for a nuclear accident at the plant, where a permanent IAEA team is based. The IAEA has warned that the Kakhovka dam disaster, which sparked mass evacuations, further complicated “an already precarious nuclear safety and security situation” at the plant. Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of shelling around the plant. Ukraine said Russia launched another series of strikes overnight, using four missiles and 20 Iranian-made drones. The Ukrainian armed force said it intercepted all the drones and one missile, with the remaining three hitting the central city of Kryvyi Rig.
Russian troops already pummeled the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, killing 12 people. “Three rockets hit two industrial enterprises that had nothing to do with the military,” the head of the city’s military administration, Oleksandr Vilkul said. The Russian army said it hit drone production sites, adding that “all the assigned targets have been hit.”In recent weeks Ukraine has increased drone attacks on Russian-controlled territory. In the latest incident, Russia’s forces downed nine drones over Moscow-annexed Crimea, the Moscow-installed governor, Sergei Aksyonov, said on Thursday.

Putin’s man in Nato is becoming dangerous
Mark Almond/The Telegraph/Thu, June 15, 2023
With Nato’s vital summit in Vilnius looming, Turkey’s President Erdoğan is distracting Western attention from the brutal war in Ukraine by manufacturing a crisis over admitting Sweden into the alliance. It’s an issue that has already begun to paralyse European security, leaving Stockholm vulnerable and playing directly into the bloodied hands of Vladimir Putin. Everyone – including officials in Ankara – can see that Sweden meets the criteria for joining Nato. The problem is that Erdoğan, emboldened by an unprecedented third election victory, is more intent than ever on pursuing policies that challenge not only the West, but the very democratic and human rights principles that the alliance is there to defend. This is a man who prosecutes his rivals and gets them banned from politics. Now, though, he’s taking this brand of authoritarianism to a new level, demanding that Sweden extradite named opponents before it can join.
We can debate the rights and wrongs of Sweden’s asylum policy for Kurds. But can any advocate of the rule of law agree to let a foreign government decide whom it should expel from its territory? Let’s remember how, after an attempt to assassinate Napoleon III in 1858 by a former refugee in Britain, France demanded other dissidents against his regime be handed over. Uproar followed in Parliament and in the press over letting a foreign dictator decide who could reside in this country, even if he was an ally against Russia in the Crimean War.
Foolishly, some analysts saw Erdoğan’s post-election cabinet as a positive omen because he appointed an orthodox economy minister. The implication was that he might begin to fall in line with the West over issues such as Putin’s war or Syria’s fate.
How wrong they were. Instead, Erdoğan has set his sights on using and abusing Turkey’s strategic location vis-à-vis Russia and Iran to manipulate Europe’s defence, judging that America and the core Nato membership are so anxious to get Sweden accepted into the alliance that they will ultimately swallow his demands, however outrageous or damaging. For the West, there is no need to make Erdoğan a martyr in the eyes of the Turkish public or, worse still, make them feel their country has been disrespected. But it would be a terrible error to cave in to the Turkish government’s demands by conceding them a treasure trove of sophisticated weapons systems or dissidents. Arguably, the US has already conceded too much, such as with the delivery of upgrades to F-16 fighter jets.
Erdoğan’s justification for undermining Nato is that he’s putting Turkey’s national interest first, and perhaps he genuinely believes this. However, Nato was not founded to serve Turkey alone. If the other allied countries (including Hungary on this issue) think that admitting Sweden is in their own national interest and Turkey remains dead against that, then a clash should be welcomed. And while Nato has no procedure for expelling members, the other 30 states could bypass Turkey on an ad hoc basis. For instance, even if it is not possible to formally admit Sweden next month, it shouldn’t be beyond the alliance’s strategists and logisticians to set up mechanisms of co-operation with Sweden that grant it most or all of the benefits of membership. After all, for decades, “neutral” Sweden has engaged in de facto co-operation with us. Putting Ankara on the spot that way would absolutely call Erdoğan’s bluff, and not just on Nato expansion – for the Turkish president is acting against Western interests across the board. He plays a double game with Russia over Ukraine, as well as meddling in Syria and Iraq. These issues are crying out for Washington to decide what its core interests are. Of course, Turkey’s choice of president is up to its people, but when Erdoğan’s policies undermine the security of the West and promote the interests of Vladimir Putin, we ought to push back strongly and strategically – and stop calling Ankara a vital ally.

Russian Troops Now Accused of Terrorizing Their Own People in Border Region
Allison Quinn/The Daily Beast/Thu, June 15, 2023
Russian troops sent to the Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine to “protect” local residents are now accused of looting and taking over people’s homes, repeating a practice they gained notoriety for in Ukraine on their own people. Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov got an earful about the “outrageous” behavior of troops Thursday in response to an update about everything local authorities are doing to help those who’ve fled certain villages in the region as the war spilled over into Russian territory, the independent media outlet Govorit NeMoskva reports. “Soldiers of the Russian Federation are finding their way into many homes (even though an emergency regime has not been introduced and they have no right to enter private homes),” one woman who identified herself as a resident of Novaya Tavolzhanka wrote in response to Gladkov's post on social media. Independent media outlets report that they verified the woman as a local resident. “They are living in our homes, leading an outrageous lifestyle, with alcohol and other things leaving behind garbage and filth, bathrooms and houses are fouled up, personal belongings and property are stolen,” she said. “An ATV was stolen from our garage, which is now seen often around the outskirts of Novaya Tavolzhanka. In addition, people complained about a stolen trailer,” she wrote. “We don’t want our houses, which have already suffered from the actions of the armed forces of Ukraine, to now be a haven for the disgraces of our defenders!”Another resident also chimed in to say many locals were afraid to leave their homes for fear of their belongings being stolen: “Many people don’t leave their homes just because the scumbags will make off with everything, even a hair straightener.”Another resident wrote that he’d gone home for the first time on Wednesday only to find two houses broken into, with smashed windows and doors busted in. “Everything was turned upside down, they were looking for small precious things, some of them were stolen, there were acts of vandalism in one of the houses, TVs were broken, furniture was ripped up. The soldiers are obviously living in the house, there are signs of [someone] living in the house,” he wrote. “The furniture is piled up, they are probably getting ready to take it. … Please protect our home from further looting.” Several other residents fumed at the governor over not receiving the payouts promised by the government to relocate. Those who were ordered to evacuate from certain areas have complained that they were later billed by authorities for the evacuations. Russian troops sent to Ukraine gained a reputation for looting from homes in the territories they claimed to be “liberating,” with some caught on camera carrying away toilets, household appliances, and electronics that they allegedly sold or gave as gifts to loved ones back home. The independent media outlet MediaZona reported last May that in the first three months of the war alone, Russian troops sent 58 tons of goods home.

EU pledges 560 mn euros for Syrians fleeing war
Agence France Presse/June 15, 2023
The European Union on Thursday pledged 560 million euros ($600 million) to help countries neighboring Syria cope with the costs of hosting Syrians displaced by the years of conflict in their country. "Unfortunately, over the last year there has been little progress, very little progress, towards a resolution of the Syria conflict," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said as he announced the pledge at an international donors' conference in Brussels. He emphasized that the aid was for Syrians, not the Damascus government led by President Bashar al-Assad. Since 2011, more than 500,000 people have been killed in Syria after Assad's brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters plunged the country into a complex war that drew in foreign powers and jihadists. The U.N. says more than 12 million Syrians were displaced by the conflict, most of them inside Syria, though with 5.4 million living as refugees in neighboring countries.
Despite U.N. efforts, "the conditions are not in place for the European Union to change its policy on Syria", which would require "genuine political reforms" in the country, Borrell said. The EU will maintain its sanctions on Assad's regime and not support the return of Syrians to that country unless they are "voluntary", safe and monitored by international groups, he said. Assad, who stayed in power thanks to support from allies Iran and Russia, has become less of an international pariah by being welcomed back last month into the Arab League. "This conference comes at the right time, especially after Syria returns to its seat in the Arab League," Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said as he arrived for the Brussels conference. He acknowledged there would be "sharp discussions" on Syria's re-joining the League, "but we have an opinion and we will express our opinions". Last year's donors' conference in Brussels for displaced Syrians raised pledges of $6.7 billion, and the one before that $6.4 billion. In each of those, the EU pledged one billion euros. While it was offering around half that this time, in March the EU pledged 950 million euros for Syrians in a separate donors' conference that raised $7 billion to help Turkey and Syria in the wake of a massive earthquake that killed more than 55,000 people.

Sudan war hits two-month mark as peace efforts hit hurdles
Reuters/June 15, 2023
CAIRO/DUBAI: The conflict in Sudan hit the two-month mark on Thursday with no sign of a resolution as diplomatic peace efforts hit roadblocks and the risk of a broader ethnic war rises. Fighting between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which a US diplomat earlier this week described as “suicidal” behavior, has displaced 2.2 million people and killed at least 1,000, an underestimate according to medics. It has shut down the economy, plunging millions of Sudanese into hunger and dependence on foreign aid, and shattered the health system.
The army and RSF, which together ousted autocrat Omar Al-Bashir in 2019, began fighting in the heart of the capital on April 15 after disagreeing over the integration of their troops under a new transition to democracy. The fighting has since expanded, hitting key cities in the west of the country, worst of all the city of El Geneina, West Darfur, where activists say 1,100 people have been killed and the UN says 150,000 people have fled to Chad. On Wednesday, the governor of West Darfur, Khamis Abbakar, accused the RSF and allied Arab militias of carrying out a genocidal attack in El Geneina. Hours later, Abbakar was killed, and the Sudanese Alliance armed group he led blamed the RSF for killing him while in their custody. The RSF denied responsibility, saying that Abbakar had actually sought refuge with the forces but that rogue tribal actors had “kidnapped him and killed him in cold blood.”
The killing of Abbakar, who hails from the Masalit tribe he said was targeted by the attacks, threatens to expand the fighting in El Geneina which has already brought the city to its knees. “I saw many bodies in the streets. No one dares to bury them,” said one man, asking to withhold his name. Fighting has also broken out in other Darfur state capitals, including Nyala, Elfashir, and Zalingei and the Kordofan cities of El Obeid and Kadugli, threatening to agitate long-simmering ethnic tensions. “The longer the conflict lasts, it may end up taking an ethnic and regional dimension in ... parts of the country,” said Suliman Baldo of the Sudanese Transparency and Policy Tracker. The incoming rainy season threatens to make the delivery of already limited assistance and migration of hundreds of thousands out of war zones, often on foot, impossible.
Unsuccessful diplomacy  The RSF evolved out of the janjaweed militias that wreaked havoc in Darfur in the early 2000s, and in 2017 became a legalized government force under commander General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Fighting between the RSF, which has embedded itself in residential areas of Khartoum, and the army, which has launched extensive artillery and air strikes, shows no signs of letting up.On Thursday, residents in Khartoum and its neighboring cities Omdurman and Bahri reported clashes, artillery shelling and air strikes near residential areas. After multiple failed cease-fires, US diplomats earlier this week conceded that negotiations in Jeddah had not been successful and were considering other paths. IGAD, a regional East African organization, this week also launched a mediation effort chaired by Kenya to bring Dagalo and army chief General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan together at a meeting Ethiopia said it would host. But in a statement on Thursday, Sudan’s foreign ministry, controlled by the army, accused Kenya of harboring the RSF, and said it preferred South Sudanese leadership of the initiative. Meanwhile Khartoum residents have accused RSF soldiers and armed gangs of looting homes. East Khartoum resident Waleed Adam said that two men, one in RSF uniform, showed up at his door pointing an AK-47. “They trashed my house and stole my money,” he said. The Combating Violence Against Women Unit, a government agency, said that the victims of most of the rape cases it has documented, which it said represent only 2 percent of real cases, blamed men in RSF uniforms. The RSF has denied responsibility and says that criminals and Bashir loyalists have been known to steal uniforms.

A look at migration trends behind the latest shipwreck off Greece
Associated Press/June 15, 2023
Wednesday's deadly shipwreck off southern Greece, involving a large boat carrying migrants that capsized after apparently rebuffing offers of help, is just the latest case of smugglers packing vessels full of desperate people willing to risk their lives to reach continental Europe. The trip from Libya or Tunisia through the Central Mediterranean and north to Europe is the deadliest migratory route in the world, according to the U.N.'s International Organization of Migration. Here's a look at situation in the Mediterranean and some of the particulars of the latest tragedy:
WHAT HAPPENED?
Greek coast guard, navy and merchant vessels and aircraft launched a vast search and rescue operation after the overcrowded fishing boat capsized and sank early Wednesday some 75 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of the southern Peloponnese peninsula. So far, 79 bodies have been recovered and 104 people have been rescued. It was unclear how many were missing, but some initial reports suggested hundreds may have been aboard. If that is confirmed, the wreck could become the deadliest so far this year.
WHAT ABOUT THE OFFERS OF HELP?
The coast guard said the boat rebuffed several offers of assistance by both coast guard and merchant ships in the area starting Tuesday. The agency said in a statement that the ship's captain "wanted to continue to Italy." However, Alarm Phone, a network of activists who run a hotline for migrant boats in distress, said they had been in contact with people they believe were on the same vessel and who were deseperate for help. The passengers reported that the captain had abandoned the ship on a small boat before it capsized, Alarm Phone said. Vincent Cochetel, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees' special envoy for the Western and the Central Mediterranean, tweeted that "this boat was unseaworthy & no matter what some people on board may have said, the notion of distress cannot be discussed."Many migrants look to bypass Greece and reach Italy, where they can more easily continue their journeys north to family and other migrant communities elsewhere. Had the migrants been rescued by Greek authorities, they would have to trek through the often hostile Balkans to reach Western or Northern Europe. The route north from Italy is closer and often more accessible.
WHAT IS GREECE'S MIGRATION POLICY?
Most migrants to Greece cross from Turkey, either reaching the nearby eastern Greek islands in small boats or by crossing the Evros river — known as the Meric in Turkey — which runs along the land border. Crossings have fallen sharply in recent years as Greece stepped up sea patrols and built a border fence along the Evros. But the country faces persisting allegations from migrants, human rights groups and Turkish officials that it returns migrants back across the border to Turkey, illegally preventing them from claiming asylum. Athens has repeatedly denied that. Alarm Phone blamed Greece's migration policy for the shipwreck, saying Athens has become "Europe's shield" to deter migration. The Greek coast guard defended its actions, saying it had accompanied the vessel even after it refused assistance and then launched the search and rescue operation after the boat capsized.
WHAT ARE THE TRENDS IN MIGRANT ARRIVALS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN?
Italy has recorded the vast majority of "irregular" arrivals in Europe so far this year, 55,160. That is more than double the 21,884 who arrived in the same period in 2022, and 16,737 in 2021. People from Ivory Coast, Egypt, Guinea, Pakistan and Bangladesh account for the most arrivals this year, according to Interior Ministry data.
U.N. refugee officials note that overall numbers of migrants seeking to come to Europe this way have been on the decline, to an average of around 120,000 annually.
In addition to the deadly Central Mediterranean route, the Western Mediterranean route is used by migrants seeking to reach Spain from Morocco or Algeria. The Eastern Mediterranean route has traditionally been used by Syrian, Iraqi, Afghan and other non-African migrants who go first to Turkey and then try to reach Greece or other European destinations.
HOW DANGEROUS IS THE MEDITERRANEAN?
Even before Wednesday's deaths, at least 1,039 people were known to be missing from Central Mediterranean crossings this year. The real figure is believed to be far higher given the likelihood that some wrecks were never recorded. Overall, the International Organization of Migration has tallied more than 27,000 missing migrants in the Mediterranean since 2014.
WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME OF THE WORST DISASTERS?
On April 18, 2015, the Mediterranean's deadliest known shipwreck occurred when an overcrowded fishing boat collided off Libya with a freighter that was trying to come to its rescue. Only 28 people survived. At first it was feared the hull held the remains of 700 people. Forensic experts who worked to identify the dead concluded in 2018 that there were originally 1,100 on board. On Oct. 3, 2013, a trawler packed with more than 500 people, many from Eritrea and Ethiopia, caught fire and capsized within sight of an uninhabited islet off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa. Local fishermen rushed to try to help save lives. In the end, 155 survived and 368 people died. Another shipwreck occurred just a week later on Oct 11 farther out at sea south of Lampedusa. The disaster has become known in Italy as the "slaughter of children," for the 60 children among the more than 260 people who died. In 2017 the Italian newsweekly L'Espresso published audio recordings of the migrants' desperate calls for help and Italian and Maltese authorities seemingly delaying the rescue.
HOW HAS MIGRATION DIVIDED EU NATIONS?
Mediterranean countries have for years complained that they bear the brunt of receiving and processing migrants and have long demanded other countries step up and take them in. Poland, Hungary and other Eastern European nations have repeatedly refused an EU plan to share the burdens of caring for migrants. But after years of bickering, EU leaders last week said there was a breakthrough in negotiations for a new migration and asylum pact. Human rights groups say the EU has been outsourcing migrant rescues to the Libyan coast guard, which returns them to horrific camps where many are subjected to beatings, rape and other abuse. The EU and member states have also struck agreements with other North African nations to improve their border control and stop migrant boats from reaching Europe.

Australia blocks new Russian embassy near parliament
Associated Press/June 15, 2023
Australia's Parliament passed legislation on Thursday to prevent Russia from building a new embassy near Parliament House citing threats of espionage and political interference, as tensions grow between Moscow and a major supporter of the Ukraine war effort. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the legislation would extinguish Russia's lease on the site of a second embassy based on the advice of security agencies. "The government has received very clear security advice as to the risk presented by a new Russian presence so close to Parliament House," Albanese told reporters. "We are acting quickly to ensure the lease site does not become a formal diplomatic presence." Albanese said Australia's government condemns Russia's "illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine."Australia is one of the most generous providers of military hardware, training and aid to Ukraine of any country outside NATO and has escalated sanctions against Russia since the war began in February 2022. Australia's growing hostility toward Russia became apparent last year when Australian officials demanded Moscow be held accountable for Russian cybercriminals suspected of hacking the nation's largest health insurer, Medibank, and dumping customers' personal medical records on the dark web. It is unusual for Australia to attribute blame to a country for an unsolved cybercrime. Albanese said opposition and other lawmakers that are not aligned with the government were briefed on the legislation on Wednesday night and had agreed to pass it through both chambers Thursday. The government holds a majority in the House but not the Senate. Within three hours of Albanese publicly announcing the bill, it had become law, passing the House then the Senate. The law is expected to take effect later Thursday when it is rubber-stamped by Governor-General David Hurley, representing Australia's head of state, King Charles III. Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil was later more specific about the Russian threat while addressing Parliament, saying the "scope for espionage and foreign interference from the site would have been a substantial risk for the nation."
"The action is direct and decisive. We do not have any interest in sugarcoating this message," O'Neil said. "We will not stand for espionage and foreign interference in our country. We will act in the face of danger to our democracy and our citizens and we will do so without any apology to anyone."
Opposition leader Peter Dutton said the Parliament was united against the Russian threat. "We won't tolerate foreign espionage conducted in a way that is against our national interest. We won't tolerate people seeking to interfere with electoral processes in our country," Dutton told Parliament.Albanese did not directly answer when asked if there were also security concerns about the Chinese Embassy across a street from the Russian site. "We're dealing with this very specifically, and it's based upon very specific advice as well about the nature of the construction that's proposed for this site, about the location of this site, and about the capability that would present in terms of potential interference with activity that occurs in this Parliament House," Albanese said. The Russian Embassy said it would comment later Thursday. The Australian government decided to act after Russia won a Federal Court case last month that prevented its eviction from the site now under construction. The 99-year lease was canceled by local Canberra authorities on the basis of a lack of construction activity since Russia was given the lease in the diplomatic precinct of Yarralumla in 2008 and plans for the complex of buildings were approved in 2011.
Under the lease conditions, Russia had agreed to complete construction within three years, but only a single, small perimeter building of the planned complex has been built. Russia has said it already spent $5.5 million on the site. The National Capital Authority, which administers embassy leases, decided to terminate the Russian lease, citing that "ongoing unfinished works detract from the overall aesthetic, importance and dignity of the area reserved for diplomatic missions." Russia currently occupies the former USSR embassy in the suburb of Griffith, farther from Parliament House than the new site. The Yarralumla site would provide Russia with two clusters of buildings. The Russian Embassy would remain in Griffith and Australia's Embassy would remain in Moscow, Albanese said. O'Neil said no embassy would be allowed on the site. "The principal problem with the proposed second Russian Embassy in Canberra is its location. This location sits directly adjacent to Parliament House," O'Neil said.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 15-16/2023
Why is Baghdad funding pro-Iran militias?
Hussain Abdul-Hussain/The Arab Weekly/June 15/ 2023 |
The additional government money will allow PMUs, of which pro-Tehran Kataeb Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl Alhaq (also known as the Khazali Network) and the Al Ashtar Brigades are on the United States’ list of Foreign Terrorist Organisations, to nearly double their ranks from 122,000 to a staggering 238,000.
The increase in funding and personnel is inexplicable, given that the PMUs were formed to eradicate ISIS, which is now suppressed. With an annual deficit close to $50 billion and with Baghdad raising taxes to make ends meet, it is even more puzzling that Iraq is still funding a paramilitary force, whose budget equals 40 percent of the Iraqi defence ministry and whose size is bigger than regular armies of neighbouring countries, such as Jordan and Kuwait.
So, why is cash-strapped Iraq feeding organisations that are under US sanctions? The answer is two-fold.
First, after the meltdown of the national army to ISIS in Mosul in 2014, Iraqi military culture became infested with corruption, with officers buying their positions and using units “as businesses with reliable revenues,” according to one analysis at the time.
For instance, officers kept news of broken-down vehicles quiet to continue receiving money for fuel. They taxed the salaries of soldiers, many of whom served from the comfort of their living rooms. In fact, Iraq found on its payroll as many as 50,000 “ghost soldiers” and 300,000 “ghost employees,” the equivalent of ten percent of its public sector workforce.
The legacy of fictitious soldiers and employees suggests that the new PMU personnel could essentially be “ghost militiamen,” and would help explain the PMU’s role in money laundering on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Salaries of PMU fighters and the bureaucracy’s ghost employees are in Iraqi dinars. IRGC and its Iraqi proteges convert this cash into US dollars at small Iraqi banks and exchange shops; dollars are in short supply inside Iran due to Washington’s sanctions. Iraqi currency shops then exchange their dinars for dollars at the daily auction of the Iraqi Central Bank, which spends an average of $250 million in cash each day.
Thus, despite Baghdad’s surplus of over $29 billion in oil revenue, the Iraqi dinar is continuously fighting depreciation against the US dollar, and most of this money likely finds its way to Iran.
The second reason why Tehran is pushing Baghdad to fund PMUs is that out of 67 battalions (each battalion being its own militia), 43 are loyal to Iran’s Islamist regime and help Tehran crush peaceful protests with extreme violence. Iran loyalists in Iraq are believed to have attempted to kill former Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi and to have assassinated anti-Iran activists.
Tehran’s Iraqi loyalists have also been involved in kidnapping for ransom and forging property deeds. The PMUs are also likely involved with their sister militias in Lebanon and Syria in the trade of Captagon, a cheap narcotic with enormous profits.
Just as Lebanese Hezbollah has acquired vast tracts of land and clashed with non-Shia Lebanese over real estate, so Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah uses property to solidify its position. Last month, Kataeb Hezbollah engaged in a shoot-out with Iraqi police who had responded to a call from a landowner in Albouaythah, south of Baghdad.
The landowner was farming when the militia tried to stop him, falsely claiming ownership of the parcel. Kataeb Hezbollah even claimed to have disarmed Sunni Iraqis, allegedly ISIS militants, for trafficking narcotics in the area.
Police eventually managed to surround the militiamen and demand their surrender. Phones started ringing and Kataeb Hezbollah were released without charges or arrests, despite reports that the clash had resulted in the death of two police officers.
Angered that federal police disrupted the operation, the pro-Iran militia People of the Cave accused Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammed Shia Al Sudani of “following the whims of the Jews, defending them and offering them services.” The militia added that “whoever believes in the guardianship of the Commander Imam,” Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, “should go by the wishes of the commander and expel Americans from Iraq.”
The escalation against Sudani was likely prompted by the prime minister’s refusal to side with the pro-Iran militia in its stand-off in Albouaythah. The militias have often used this region to store arms and launch Katyusha rockets into the Green Zone, the government’s fortified area in Baghdad.
Washington understands that PMUs undermine the Iraqi state. US Ambassador in Baghdad Alina Romanowski said as much in an interview last month, prompting Kataeb Hezbollah to respond by accusing Al Sudani of employing aides who are puppets of Washington. The comment was seen as a swipe at Interior Minister Abdul Amir Al Shammari, a career military man known for clashing with militias to impose law, order and state sovereignty.
But the fact that militias and other Iranian allies saw their earmarks increased in the latest Iraqi budget suggests that these groups are gaining influence. America must enable its Iraqi allies to stand up to Tehran’s militias and stop their corruption and expansion.
*Hussain Abdul-Hussain is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington, DC-based, non-partisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy. Follow him on Twitter: @hahussain.

Why Donald Trump Cannot Get a Top-Tier Lawyer
Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute./June 15, 2023
There are disturbing suggestions that among the reasons lawyers are declining the case is because they fear legal and career reprisals.
There is a nefarious group that calls itself The 65 Project that has as its goal to intimidate lawyers into not representing Trump or anyone associated with him. They have threatened to file bar charges against any such lawyers.
I wrote an op-ed offering to defend pro bono any lawyers that The 65 Project goes after. So The 65 Project immediately went after me, and contrived a charge based on a case in which I was a constitutional consultant, but designed to send a message to potential Trump lawyers: If you defend Trump or anyone associated with him, we will target you and find something to charge you with. The lawyers to whom I spoke are fully aware of this threat -- and they are taking it seriously.... It may even be worse today....
Good lawyers... generally welcome challenges, especially in high-profile cases. This case is different: the threats to the lawyers are greater than at any time since McCarthyism. Nor is the comparison to McCarthyism a stretch. I recall during the 1950s how civil liberties lawyers, many of whom despised communism, were cancelled, and attacked if they dared to represent people accused of being communists.
Our system of justice is based on the John Adams standard: he too was attacked for defending the British soldiers accused of the Boston Massacre, but his representation of these accused killers now serves as a symbol of the 6th Amendment right to counsel. That symbol has now been endangered....
Trump's lawyers have now alleged that one of the prosecutors has suggested to Stanley Woodward, the lawyer for Waltine Nauta, Trump's co-defendant, that his application for judgeship may be negatively affected if he persists in defending Nauta vigorously rather than encouraging him to cooperate against Trump. If that is true – and I have not seen the evidence to support it – then it represents a direct attack on the 6th Amendment.
Whatever one may think of Trump or the charges against him, all Americans must stand united against efforts to intimidate lawyers and chill them from defending unpopular clients pursuant to the 6th Amendment. Bar associations must look into the threats and actions of The 65 Project and of prosecutors who try... to influence the representation of clients by threats to their careers or other means.
Hard cases may make bad law but partisan cases endanger constitutional rights. We must do everything to assure that all defendants, including Donald Trump, get the zealous representation to which the Constitution entitled all Americans.
There are disturbing suggestions that among the reasons lawyers are declining to represent Former President Donald Trump is because they fear legal and career reprisals. We must do everything to assure that all defendants, including Trump, get the zealous representation to which the Constitution entitled all Americans. Pictured: Trump delivers remarks June 13, 2023 in Bedminster, New Jersey. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Former President Donald Trump has now been arraigned and pleaded not guilty. He was represented by two lawyers, neither of whom he apparently wants to lead his defense at trial. He has been interviewing Florida lawyers, and several top ones have declined. I know, because I have spoken to them. There are disturbing suggestions that among the reasons lawyers are declining the case is because they fear legal and career reprisals.
There is a nefarious group that calls itself The 65 Project that has as its goal to intimidate lawyers into not representing Trump or anyone associated with him. They have threatened to file bar charges against any such lawyers. When these threats first emerged, I wrote an op-ed offering to defend pro bono any lawyers that The 65 Project goes after. So The 65 Project immediately went after me, and contrived a charge based on a case in which I was a constitutional consultant, but designed to send a message to potential Trump lawyers: if you defend Trump or anyone associated with him, we will target you and find something to charge you with. The lawyers to whom I spoke are fully aware of this threat -- and they are taking it seriously.
There may be other reasons as well for why lawyers are reluctant to defend Trump. He is not the easiest client, and he has turned against some of his previous lawyers, as some of his previous lawyers have turned against him. This will be a difficult case to defend and an unpopular one with many in the legal profession and in general population.
Good lawyers, however, generally welcome challenges, especially in high-profile cases. This case is different: the threats to the lawyers are greater than at any time since McCarthyism. Nor is the comparison to McCarthyism a stretch. I recall during the 1950s how civil liberties lawyers, many of whom despised communism, were cancelled, and attacked if they dared to represent people accused of being communists. Even civil liberties organizations stayed away from such cases, for fear that it would affect their fundraising and general standing in the community. It may even be worse today, as I can attest from my own personal experiences, having defended Trump against an unconstitutional impeachment in 2020. I was cancelled by my local library, community center and synagogue. Old friends refused to speak to me and threatened others who did. My wife, who disagreed with my decision to defend Trump, was also ostracized. There were physical threats to my safety.
Our system of justice is based on the John Adams standard: he too was attacked for defending the British soldiers accused of the Boston Massacre, but his representation of these accused killers now serves as a symbol of the 6th Amendment right to counsel. That symbol has now been endangered by The 65 Project and others who are participating in its McCarthyite chilling of lawyers who have been asked to represent Trump and those associated with him.
Trump's lawyers have now alleged that one of the prosecutors has suggested to Stanley Woodard, the lawyer for Waltine Nauta, Trump's co-defendant, that his application for judgeship may be negatively affected if he persists in defending Nauta vigorously rather than encouraging him to cooperate against Trump. If that is true – I have not seen the evidence to support it – then it represents a direct attack on the 6th Amendment.
Whatever one may think of Trump or the charges against him, all Americans must stand united against efforts to intimidate lawyers and chill them from defending unpopular clients pursuant to the 6th Amendment. Bar associations must look into the threats and actions of The 65 Project and of prosecutors who try, by subtle or other means, to influence the representation of clients by threats to their careers or other means.
Hard cases may make bad law, but partisan cases endanger constitutional rights. We must do everything to assure that all defendants, including Donald Trump, get the zealous representation to which the Constitution entitled all Americans.
*Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus at Harvard Law School, and the author most recently of Get Trump: The Threat to Civil Liberties, Due Process, and Our Constitutional Rule of Law. He is the Jack Roth Charitable Foundation Fellow at Gatestone Institute, and is also the host of "The Dershow" podcast.
© 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.

Today in History: Christian Spain Breaks the ‘Cruel Sword of the Sons of Hagar’
Raymond Ibrahim/June 15/2023
Today in history, on June 15, 1094, one of the most remarkable feats in the long war between Islam and Christianity took place: the great kingdom of Valencia, which had been under Muslim control for more than 350 years, capitulated to the warlord Roderick Díaz of Vivar — better known to posterity as “the Cid” (from the Arabic honorific al-sayyid, “the lord”).
In the late eleventh century, the Almoravids, a North African group committed to jihadist teaching, began to pour into Spain from Africa to aid their Spanish counterparts, the Moors, against the Reconquista—the centuries-long Christian attempt to liberate Spain from Islam. The Cid’s premiere modern biographer, Professor Ramón Menéndez Pidal (d. 1968), summarizes the mood and stakes as follows:
With the Almoravid invasion, the struggle between the two civilizations had reached its height. … [W]ith the invasion of the desert races and the recrudescence of Islamic fanaticism, a new chasm opened out between the two. And, on the Christian side, it was the Cid who, as the leader of the resistance against the victorious invaders, showed himself the most determined to carry on the war without giving or seeking quarter. … [I]t was upon the Cid that the task devolved of resisting, unaided, the whole might of Islam.
Toward the end of the year 1093, a secret plot between the Almoravids and the Moors of Valencia, which had only recently become tributary to the Cid, resulted in the overthrow of its king, Yahya al-Qadir, who had “increased their [Valencians] hatred by being a friend to the Christians” — that is, by being a vassal to the Cid. During the uprising, fanatical Muslims discovered al-Qadir trying to abscond out of Valencia dressed in and concealed by a woman’s burqa. To cries of “Allahu akbar,” the mob slaughtered him as an apostate and hurled his body into a camel dung pit.
On learning of the Valencians’ treachery and murder of his vassal, the Cid’s “anger was kindled, and his soul was inflamed,” writes the Muslim chronicler al-Maqqari. Like a fierce storm, he came and with extreme violence thrashed the Valencian countryside, taking all the castles and suburbs up to the city’s very walls. He “fought so fiercely,” writes Ibn al-Qama, who was present in Valencia, “that the Moors were terrified at the havoc he played among them.”
Months passed, and mass starvation soon plagued the besieged Moorish kingdom, but the Muslims continued to hold out on the conviction that their Almoravid allies would eventually come to their rescue. At long last, an immense host of Almoravids was espied marching to Valencia’s relief.
Acting fast, the Cid, who was camped outside the walls of Valencia, destroyed all of the bridges leading to the city and flooded the countryside with water from the canals, so that only one strip of land, which he now controlled, was dry. Done none too soon, a massive dust storm heralded the arrival of the Islamic hordes of North Africa.
[Now] when the news came that the Africans had arrived at Alcira, the Valencians, frantic with joy, rushed to the walls to scan the horizon for signs of their saviors and watch by night the twinkle of the numberless fires of the Almoravid bivouacs. … And all the time the citizens prayed unceasingly for Allah’s aid against the Cid and agreed in council to plunder the Christian camp and the stores and hostels of the suburb when the battle reached the wall.
When morning came, the Cid and the Valencians awoke to a strange sight: empty fields. The jihadist saviors of Valencia had retreated in the dark over the flooded plains, abandoning the city to its fate. A contemporary chronicle allots two sentences to this ignominious event: a large “army of Moabites [Almoravids], swiftly on its way to relieve the siege, approached Valencia. But they did not dare to commit themselves to battle with Roderick. Greatly fearful of him they dispersed by night and retired to their bases in confusion.”
Black despair now fell on the Moors of Valencia: “they were like drunkards who understand not one another,” wrote Ibn al-Qama; “they became as one that falls into the sea.” Their mood was not helped by the Cid’s army. Completely unopposed, it now surrounded the city’s walls and loudly reviled the oath-breaking Muslims with vows of unrestrained vengeance. Topping it all off, the famine had reached the point that “the poor were driven to eating the flesh of human corpses.” With no hope, Valencia finally surrendered to the Cid — “may the curse of Allah fall on his head!” to quote al-Maqqari — on today’s date, June 15, 1094, after a nearly nineteen-month-long besiegement, and Roderick Díaz of Vivar became its undisputed lord — literally, its sayyad, Cid.
Although it did not ostensibly concern them, even Europeans outside Spain rejoiced at this outstanding feat — for “the conquests by the Cid” were seen as “a barrier protecting, not only Spain, but the whole of Western Europe from the Moslem peril.”
The Cid’s conquest of Valencia is important for another reason: a contemporary document drawn out following that event underscores that the Cid—who most modern historians portray as a callous, irreligious mercenary—was in fact a committed Christian and “propagator of the Christian religion.” He further lamented how Spain had “endured sudden destruction … through the cruel sword of the sons of Hagar”—a reference to Islam’s invasion and conquest of Spain in the eighth century—and saw his struggle against the Muslims as an existential war against “the traps of our enemies both visible and invisible,” to quote from said document, signed by Roderick in 1098.
Although there is much more to say about the Cid’s exploits against the jihad, it is perhaps his conquest of Valencia that, when closely examined, truly underscores his remarkable nature. As Roderick’s modern biographer, Pidal, explains:
It savors of madness that a single man, unsupported by any national organization and lacking resources even for a single day, should appear before [the walls of] Valencia determined upon restoring a rule that had been overthrown this second time by an enemy [the Almoravids] who had proved irresistible to the strongest power in Spain [Emperor Alfonso VI]: that he should dream of doing what the Christian Emperor had failed to do, and in the teeth of the Moslem Emir’s opposition [and succeed is] … the most extraordinary achievement ever performed in Spain by anyone but a king.
*This article was abstracted from Raymond Ibrahim’s Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood Against Islam (Chapter 2 of which is dedicated to the Cid).

Economic recovery should be a priority for the Syrian government
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/June 15, 2023
One of the most pressing issues for the Syrian government to focus on is leading the nation into a sustainable economic recovery.
Syria has been facing an unprecedented economic crisis. Several factors have contributed to this problem. The internal conflict, which began more than 12 years ago, has had a negative impact on the nation’s economy. Civil wars can inflict damage on infrastructure and, more importantly, disrupt production and manufacturing processes.
In addition, in a conflict-affected nation, private and state organizations become extremely reluctant to invest their capital in the country due to the political instability and uncertainty.
Foreign direct investment can play a critical role in generating revenue and addressing the nation’s budget deficit. For example, before the civil war began in Syria, according to the Atlantic Council, capital inflows “comprising mainly foreign direct investment from other Arab countries and Europe led to overall balance of payment surpluses and increases in the international reserves holdings of the Central Bank of Syria that reached $18.2 billion at the end of 2010.”
But it is important to point out that the protracted civil war is not the only reason for Syria’s economic crisis. The economic outlooks of other countries often impact their neighbors. In this case, the Lebanese and Turkish economies have also affected Syria’s economy. In Lebanon, the ongoing cash crisis and economic meltdown continues to grow, with the currency regularly hitting new lows.
The skyrocketing inflation is drastically affecting Syrians’ purchasing power, making life extremely difficult for ordinary people
In addition, Syria used to be a net crude oil exporter, but it is now relying on other countries to import oil. The cost of this switch from exporting to importing has been more than $100 billion in losses for this Arab country since the beginning of the civil war.
The aforementioned issues have also contributed to the devaluation of the currency in Syria. Syria’s currency was trading at about 47 pounds to the US dollar just before the unrest erupted in 2011. However, it recently hit an all-time low and $1 is now worth about 9,000 Syrian pounds.
Inflation is also reportedly at its highest level. While the average inflation rate from 1957 to 2020 was about 11 percent, it last year reached 139 percent — higher than countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola and Libya. This places it fourth in the world in terms of highest inflation rates, only ranking behind Venezuela, Sudan and Lebanon, according to World Population Review.
To put this in perspective, Syria’s inflation rate is about 40 times higher than the average in the Arab Gulf states. The likes of Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Oman are among the countries with the lowest inflation rates in the world. It is worth noting that a healthy and standard rate of inflation is about 2 percent to 3 percent per year.
The problem is that the skyrocketing inflation is drastically affecting Syrians’ purchasing power, making life extremely difficult for ordinary people. Huda, a single mother of two and a teacher, pointed out that: “Before the unrest started, I used to make 10,000 lira (pounds) a month, which was around 200 US dollars. I could afford food, doctors and basic necessities, and I could save. Now, I am making 120,000 lira, which is around 15 US dollars. Prices of everything keep going up every day. I cannot make ends meet and I cannot even afford (to buy) enough food with this salary, let alone pay for utility bills, clothes, children’s school, medicine, and other important things. Bread alone costs me around 4,000 lira a day, that is 120,000 a month, which is my salary now. A lot of people are living on assistance from charities and from borrowing money.”
The Syrian government needs to implement major structural changes and reintegrate itself into the global financial system
Some areas in Syria are experiencing an unemployment rate that has reached a staggering 85 percent. Before the unrest erupted in Syria, the national unemployment rate was about 9 percent. As prices have increased by more than 800 percent in the last two years alone, nearly 90 percent of the Syrian population now lives below the poverty line.
According to the World Bank, due to high uncertainty, Syria’s real gross domestic product is projected to “contract by 3.2 percent in 2023, following a 3.5 percent decline in 2022. Conflict, high input costs, and water scarcity are projected to limit crop production. In addition, fuel shortages are expected to further weaken manufacturing and disrupt transportation and services.”
To address its financial woes, the Syrian government needs to implement major structural changes and reintegrate itself into the global financial system. This will bring the country out of isolation.
More importantly, if the Syrian government concentrates on the reconstruction of the nation’s infrastructure, this can play a key role in creating jobs and improving the economy. This mission can be more effectively achieved if Damascus is able to attract investments from other countries.
The Syrian government must also adequately address the country’s economic mismanagement, the lack of a robust private market, corruption, and the predominantly state-controlled economy, which has led to socioeconomic disparity and pushed more people into poverty. Establishing safety nets and social protection mechanisms are critical as well. Any state’s monopolization of the economy may benefit the people on top, but it prevents the overwhelming majority of the population from prospering economically.
In a nutshell, ordinary people and families in Syria continue to bear the brunt of the ongoing economic crisis. The government must put economic recovery at the top of its agenda.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

Behind the facade, it is politics as usual in Iraq
Talmiz Ahmad/Arab News/June 15, 2023
Iraq’s parliament on Monday passed a $153 billion budget for 2023, the largest in the country’s history. This reflected a brief moment of consensus among Iraq’s feuding politicians, whose infighting had delayed it by six months. Anticipating problems in the coming years, the parliament approved the budgeted amount of $153 billion for the next two years as well.
Iraq’s political divisions go back to the national elections in October 2021, when the firebrand cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr’s coalition gained the largest number of seats. He, however, insisted on forming a “national majority government” of Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish partners, condemning his Shiite rivals — the Iran-sponsored Fatah and Nouri Al-Maliki’s State of Law coalition — to opposition status. They, with their allies, formed the Coordination Framework of their own.
In June last year, frustrated by delays in the formation of a government, Al-Sadr ordered his followers to resign from parliament, possibly to force early elections. Instead, as per Iraqi law, his members were immediately replaced by the candidates who came second in the previous electoral cycle. This enabled the rival Coordination Framework coalition to obtain a majority and form a government in October 2022, with Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani as prime minister. Earlier, in August, Al-Sadr had announced he was withdrawing from politics and closing all his offices and institutions.
Since then, the level of internecine violence has reduced and Iraq has projected a sense of calm. The prime minister has earned a reputation as a good leader and administrator who is making every effort to promote national unity and deliver on his agenda of security, development, the provision of public services — particularly healthcare, education and employment — and improved ties with all neighbors.
Since Al-Sudani became prime minister, the level of internecine violence has reduced and Iraq has projected a sense of calm
Critics, however, point out that there is little evidence of real change. The country continues to be controlled by well-entrenched politicians who gouge national assets for personal benefit. Regionally, too, Iraq continues to grapple with the challenges posed by its immediate neighbors — Iran and Turkiye.
Iran remains the dominant player in Iraqi affairs, largely because it is the principal sponsor behind most of the politicians that make up the Coordination Framework and also the militias that constitute the powerful Popular Mobilization Units. The PMU remains a strong political and military presence in the country and is a major threat to the Coordination Framework’s rivals and the US military presence in the country.
In November, Al-Sudani approved the setting up of a PMU-controlled commercial enterprise, the Al-Muhandis General Company, which is authorized to operate in areas such as agriculture, industry, engineering and construction, thus entrenching the militias in the national economy.
Tehran also has concerns about some of the disgruntled Kurds living in Iraqi Kurdistan, who have launched attacks on Iranian territory, leading to retaliatory attacks from the Iranian side. In March this year, Iran and Iraq concluded a border security agreement to curb such actions by the Kurds and keep the border tranquil.
Turkiye’s involvement in Iraq is related to the Kurds from the US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces, who have close links with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, based at Sulaymaniyah in Iraq, and who take sanctuary there when needed. Ankara not only launches cross-border attacks on them, but it also maintains military outposts deep inside Iraqi territory. In April, Turkiye launched a drone strike on a senior SDF commander at Sulaymaniyah airport. It sees the SDF as a partner of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the PKK, which it has labeled a terrorist organization. Turkiye thus views the SDF as a legitimate military target in both Syria and Iraq.
In his short time as prime minister, Al-Sudani has made a major effort to mend Iraq’s ties with Arab countries, which had been strained by the sectarian orientation of some of the country’s earlier governments, particularly that of Al-Maliki. Ties with Saudi Arabia are now a priority concern, particularly the expansion of economic relations.
In February, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan visited Iraq and the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on intelligence and security cooperation — their first in 40 years. The same month, Al-Sudani visited the UAE and applauded the latter as a “model” for Iraq’s reconstruction efforts. In May, Iraq hosted a meeting of officials from Iran and Egypt on restoring diplomatic ties and arranging a meeting between the leaders of the two countries.
Al-Sadr, who remains temporarily out of politics, is a potentially disruptive presence due to his ability to mobilize millions of followers
Even though Iraq currently has a functioning government, it faces serious domestic challenges. The federal government has to contend with the problem of oil exports by the Kurdistan Regional Government in Irbil and the attendant problem of its sharing of revenues with Baghdad, as differences on this led to the suspension of oil exports in March. In April, the two sides agreed that the federal government and the KRG would jointly market the latter’s oil and the revenues would be adjusted against the monthly budgetary flows from Baghdad to Irbil. However, politicians are now revisiting the agreement and seeking major modifications; this has created uncertainty among major buyers about the smooth flow of oil from Kurdistan.
Iraq is also beset with serious economic issues. Despite the strong political support for the budget, there are concerns about the large fiscal deficit, the ever-increasing public wages and pensions bill, and uncertainties relating to oil production and the price on which all budgetary projections have been made.
Above all, Al-Sadr, who remains temporarily out of politics, is a potentially disruptive presence due to his ability to mobilize millions of followers with a single tweet.
Thus, behind the facade of normalcy, the country’s mainstream politicians remain discredited, its youth remain frustrated, its public services remain grossly inadequate and its neighbors remain intrusive. It is politics as usual in Iraq.
*almiz Ahmad is a former Indian diplomat.

Khamenei’s Nuclear Balancing Act
Omer Carmi/The Washington Institute./June 15, 2023
In keeping with his tendency to keep all options open when discussing nuclear negotiations, his latest speech gave only a yellow light to a potential deal.
On June 11, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivered a speech before members of the country’s nuclear industry for the first time in years, against the backdrop of reports that Tehran and Washington have been indirectly negotiating a nuclear deal via Oman. As usual, he used the occasion to send implicit and explicit messages to domestic and foreign audiences alike, essentially setting boundaries for the government’s engagement with the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Willing to accept a deal, but not any deal. Khamenei did not explicitly mention reviving the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Instead, he talked about a vaguer “agreement,” asserting that there is no problem in reaching a new deal, but that it must meet certain conditions. In particular, he noted that Iran’s existing nuclear infrastructure must not be changed—a requirement that met with chants of “Allahu Akbar” from the audience. After the meeting, this same idea was emphasized in television remarks by Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi and in Iranian newspapers. For example, the official government paper Iran included headlines such as “An Agreement That Keeps Nuclear Infrastructure” and “The Nuclear Infrastructure Must Be Kept.”
Cooperation with the IAEA should continue, but with limits. Khamenei argued that while Iran should maintain cooperation and communications with the IAEA, it should do so only in the framework of the agency’s existing Safeguards Agreement—in other words, the government should not consent to monitoring beyond that agreement. Referencing Tehran’s rocky relations with the agency, Khamenei reiterated his distrust of the nuclear watchdog and claimed that Iran should not fall under the burden of “coercive demands and false claims.” His comments followed criticism from IAEA director-general Rafael Grossi earlier this month regarding Iran’s implementation of a March deal with the agency.
The Supreme Leader also urged Iranian officials not to breach the parliament’s December 2020 “Strategic Action Plan to Lift Sanctions and Protect the Iranian Nation’s Interests” when giving access or information to the IAEA. This law called on the previous government to take substantial nuclear steps if international sanctions on the banking and oil sectors were not lifted, such as resuming uranium enrichment to 20 percent and limiting IAEA monitoring. In 2021, then-president Hassan Rouhani blamed this legislation for hindering attempts to revive the JCPOA. Last month, however, Khamenei declared that the law had “saved the country from confusion on the nuclear issue.”
The West cannot be trusted. Khamenei continued his longtime pattern of urging the government and the Iranian people to maintain their distrust of the “enemy.” He noted that twenty years of nuclear engagement had taught Iran whom it could trust and whom it could not. He lashed out at the IAEA and the parties to the JCPOA for allegedly not keeping their promises, and lamented that Iran had been harmed because it put too much trust in these actors.
Threats and pressure do not deter Iran. Khamenei reiterated that the West is trying to hinder Iran’s progress and humiliate the nation, sending a warning to “powerful countries” who believe that Iran is weak or helpless. In his view, the nuclear program’s continued progress is an “insult” to Westerners. And although he claimed that Iran still does not want to pursue nuclear weapons for religious reasons, he also declared that the West would not be able to prevent it if it decides to go that route.
The nuclear industry benefits the nation. A significant part of the speech was dedicated to explaining how Tehran’s nuclear achievements have improved the lives of the people in various sectors and elevated the nation’s honor. He called on the AEOI to continue developing the nuclear program in order to meet the goal of 20,000 megawatts of nuclear power—for comparison’s sake, the United States was generating 95,492 megawatts of nuclear power as of 2021, a rate that required ninety-three operating reactors. Khamenei even urged officials to commercialize nuclear products and services since they have “good demand in international markets.”
Hedging against a decision. In a May 20 speech before senior Foreign Ministry officials and ambassadors, Khamenei noted that Iran’s principles and flexibility go together, urging his audience not to engage in “imploring diplomacy.” He explained that his 2013 “heroic flexibility” speech—widely seen as a green light for negotiating with the United States—was misinterpreted, instead comparing flexibility to taqiyya (dissimulation), the practice of concealing one’s true intentions in order to achieve a goal. His June 11 remarks seemingly followed suit, maintaining the ambiguity of past speeches regarding nuclear negotiations while exhibiting the same balance between flexibility and principles—that is, allowing room for an agreement to be struck, but ensuring that his audience understands its limited scope.
*Omer Carmi is a former visiting fellow at The Washington Institute.
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/khameneis-nuclear-balancing-act