English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For May 28/2023
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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15 آذار/2023
Bible Quotations For today
Pentecost Sunday: If you love me, you will
keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another
Advocate, to be with you for ever.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint
John 14/15-26/:”‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask
the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever. This
is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees
him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in
you. ‘I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the
world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will
live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in
you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and
those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal
myself to them.’ Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, ‘Lord, how is it that you
will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Those
who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to
them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my
words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent
me. ‘I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the
Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you
everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on May 27-28/2023
Panel- Video Link/LEBANON:
LOST OPPORTUNITIES 40 years since 17 May 1983 Peace Accord
Maronite Patriarch al-Rahi to embark on official visit to Paris to meet with
President Macron
World Bank: US $300 million to Scale-Up Support to Poor and Vulnerable Lebanese
Households
Facing pushback from Lebanese officials, UN walks back plan to give aid to
Syrian refugees in USD
UN delays dual-currency cash help to refugees in crisis-hit Lebanon
UN suspends USD aid to Syrian refugees in Lebanon after uproar
Impending consensus on presidential candidate: Will Berri set date for session?
Geagea wants to 'see Bassil in parliament' voting for Azour before believing
Closer look at seized counterfeit cancer drugs
Sami Gemayel: We will not accept to be 'second class' citizens & whoever wants
us to live in humiliation must expect our confrontation through all...
Geagea following suspension of cash aid to refugees: We hope for listening more
to Lebanese government departments
Berri meets with Aridi, Iranian Radio & TV Corporation Head
Hamieh bound for South Korea to partake in Global Implementation Support
Symposium (GISS)
Lebanese People ran for their capital to keep it a beacon of hope & culture
Environment Minister launches "National Fire Prevention Campaign" from
Tannourine Cedar Reserve
Abiad calls during annual meeting of ophthalmologists for supporting primary
health care, including larger number of patients
Cultural life restored: Sursock Museum comes back to life after the devastating
Beirut blast
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on May 27-28/2023
Iran exchanges heavy gunfire
with Taliban on Afghan border, escalating tensions over water rights
Mass protests against Israeli government's plans to change legal system enter
21st week
Iraq announces plans for $17 billion transportation project linking Asia to
Europe
UN backs Sudan envoy as army seeks to bolster ranks
Officials: UN chief 'shocked' by letter from Sudan's military ruler demanding
removal of UN envoy
Ukraine says Russia eases Bakhmut attacks, Kyiv talks up counteroffensive
Ukrainian army chief promises to 'take back' land from Russia in
counter-offensive
Ukraine has squeezed out of the US-Patriot missile system a capability that the
Pentagon did not think possible, military analyst says
Lavrov tells China there are 'serious obstacles' to Ukraine peace
Biden 'hopeful' of imminent US debt deal
Serb clashes, West condemnation as Kosovo pushes through mayors
Pope Francis holds talks with head of Muslim World League in the Vatican
Erdogan positioned to extend rule in Turkiye runoff election
Titles For
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News &
Editorials published
on May 27-28/2023
Europe’s strategic negligence in the Mediterranean/Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab
News/May 27/2023
Iran's Nuclear Program: Does the Biden Administration Have a Policy?/Majid
Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute./May 27, 2023
Russia and Iran press ahead with ‘New Suez’/Nikola Mikovic/The Arab Weekly/May
27/2023
Türkiye: What Would Father Say?/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/May 27/2023
Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on May 27-28/2023
رابط فيديو حلقة من موقع ماريا معلوف
تلقي الأضواء على وضع لبنان المحتل من ميليشيا حزب الله شارك فيها كل من ماريا
معلوف وأسعد رشدان وايلي الهندي وغيلا فاخوري وماكس مورجان
Panel- Video Link/LEBANON: LOST OPPORTUNITIES 40 years since 17 May 1983 Peace Accord
Honest and transparent discussion about Lebanon’s lost opportunities since 17
May 1983 peace accord with Israel that never seen the daylight.
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/118548/118548/
27 May/2023
Maronite Patriarch al-Rahi to embark on
official visit to Paris to meet with President Macron
LBCI/May 27, 2023
The media office of the Patriarchal edifice in Bkerke announced that the
Maronite Patriarch, Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, will travel on Tuesday, May 30,
to the French capital, Paris. The visit comes amid an official invitation by the
French President, Emmanuel Macron, as part of the efforts that France is making
for Lebanon and the Lebanese. The meeting date was set at four o'clock on
Tuesday afternoon at the Élysée Palace.
World Bank: US $300 million to Scale-Up
Support to Poor and Vulnerable Lebanese Households
NNA/May 27, 2023
The World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors approved a US$300 million
additional financing to the Emergency Crisis and COVID-19 Response Social Safety
Net Project (ESSN). The additional financing will expand and extend the
provision of cash transfers to poor and vulnerable Lebanese households and
further support the development of a unified social safety net delivery system
in Lebanon to allow a better response to ongoing and future shocks. This US$300
million new package represents the second additional financing to the ESSN
project (US$246 million) originally approved in January 2021 to help the Lebanon
address the impact of the economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic on the poor
and vulnerable population. The project already benefited from a first additional
financing of US$4 million in May 2022. This second additional financing will
continue to help Lebanon protect its population from the impact of various
crises, as well as help the country develop a targeted and digital social safety
net system. Going forward, Lebanon would need to secure the fiscal space needed
to finance social protection needs, including social safety nets, over the long
term.
Lebanon is more than three years into an economic and financial crisis that is
among the worst the world has seen. A total contraction of 39.9% in real GDP
since 2018 has already wiped out 15 years of economic growth. The crisis
continues to have a severe impact on the social level and is significantly
impeding access to basic public services. With the sharp deterioration in the
currency, the three-digit inflation, and rising food insecurity and food
inflation rates, the living conditions of extreme poor and vulnerable households
continue to deteriorate. On the sectoral level, Lebanon lacks a comprehensive
and inclusive social protection system that provides its citizens equal access
and opportunity. Prior to the economic crisis, the social protection system was
highly regressive, driven by universal subsidies and limited investments in
targeted social safety net (SSN) programs.
Approved in January 2021, the ESSN project – also known as AMAN - has built the
foundations of a poverty-targeted social safety net system in Lebanon through
the establishment of DAEM, the first fully digitized national social registry.
DAEM has facilitated the effective, efficient, and transparent provision of cash
transfers to approximately 82,000 households meeting extreme poverty and social
vulnerability criteria for up to 14 months. The project has adopted a robust
Grievance Redress Mechanism through the establishment of a call center that
ensures the prompt and efficient resolution of applicant queries. The ESSN
project has also recruited a Third-Party Monitoring Agent to verify eligibility
and confirm due payments to beneficiary households. A Post Distribution
Monitoring survey conducted revealed that after receiving the transfers, the
largest share of beneficiary household spending was on food (43% of spending)
followed by healthcare (12% of spending). Around 99% of beneficiary households
reported improved living conditions after the transfers, while 66% of
beneficiary households with children reported that the transfers facilitated
school attendance.
“The additional financing will enable the Government of Lebanon to continue to
respond to the growing needs of poor and vulnerable households suffering under
the severe economic and financial crisis,” said Jean-Christophe Carret, World
Bank Middle East Country Director. “The financing will also facilitate the
integration of existing SSN programs into a unified SSN program in line with the
Government’s vision articulated in the National Social Protection Strategy, and
ensure simplification of implementation, reduce fragmentation and duplication,
and promote efficiency and effectiveness of SSN spending.”
Overall, the ESSN project and its additional financing will provide cash
transfers to 160,000 households for 24 months. This includes the current ESSN
beneficiary households in addition to new households who meet poverty and
vulnerability criteria. Eligible households will receive monthly a US$25 flat
amount, in addition to US$20 per household member (up to 6 members), i.e., a
maximum monthly amount of US$145 per household. The project is jointly
implemented by the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Central Management Unit at
Presidency Council of Ministers that contracted the World Food Program to carry
out eligibility verification visits and payments of the cash transfers. Payment
information and as well as other critical messages are communicated to the
recipient households via SMS monthly. Benefits are redeemed in actual US dollar
through mobile transfer operators.
The additional financing will also expand the provision of education cash top-up
transfers to a total of 92,000 students in beneficiary households between the
ages of 13-18 year to cover the direct costs of schooling including school
registration fees, parents’ council fees, school textbooks and stationery costs,
transport, and school uniform expenses. Eligible students will receive between
US$285 to US$425 per scholastic year depending on school grade and education
stream to be paid directly to the beneficiary household. The attendance and the
academic performance of eligible children will be monitored and reported by the
Ministry of Education and Higher Education. The ESSN additional financing will
also support increased access to quality social services provided by the Social
Development Centers of the Ministry of Social Affairs for 400,000 individuals
and will provide capacity building activities to the social workers at the
Ministry and centers to enable them to better carry out their functions.
Building on the progress achieved under the ESSN project, the additional
financing will continue to support the development of DAEM Social Registry to an
integrated Social Protection Information System (SPIS) as per the needs of the
government. DAEM SPIS will facilitate the integration of poverty-targeted social
safety net programs supported under the National Poverty Targeting Program (NPTP)
and the ESSN-AMAN program as well as implementation of other SSN programs
through the same gateway. SPIS will cover the core functionalities of any SSN
program including intake & registration, assessment of needs and conditions,
eligibility & enrollment, determination of benefits and services package, case
management, delivery of benefits and services, grievance redress, and continuous
monitoring through respective modules in the system. --- WORLD BANK
Facing pushback from Lebanese officials, UN
walks back plan to give aid to Syrian refugees in USD
BEIRUT (AP)/May 27, 2023
The United Nations announced Saturday that it will suspend a plan to begin
making aid payments to Syrian refugees in crisis-wracked Lebanon in dollars,
after pushback from Lebanese officials. Lebanon has been in the throes of a
severe financial crisis since 2019, with triple-digit inflation and the domestic
currency having lost more than 98% of its market value. An estimated
three-quarters of the population is now living in poverty, with refugees having
been hit particularly hard. Some 90% of Syrian refugees in Lebanon are below the
extreme poverty line, according to a U.N. assessment. Since the collapse of
Lebanon’s currency, U.N. agencies had been paying assistance to refugees in
Lebanese pounds. However, on Wednesday, citing “the rapid depreciation of the
pound, increased fluctuations of the exchange rate, and the strain on the
financial provider in supplying large volumes of cash in Lebanese pounds” the
U.N. refugee agency and the World Food Program, along with the U.N. humanitarian
coordinator in Lebanon said they would start giving refugees in Lebanon the
option to receive payments in dollars, rather than in Lebanese pounds, with a
maximum of $125 per family per month. Before the announcement, refugee
households received a maximum of 8 million pounds per month, worth about $80.
However, on Saturday, the U.N. agencies said that after meetings with Lebanon's
caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and caretaker Social Affairs Minister
Hector Hajjar, “and based on their requests, a decision has been made to
temporarily pause the use of dual currency for next month’s disbursement of cash
assistance to refugees.”Spokespeople for the Humanitarian Coordinator Imran Riza
and for UNHCR said that aid payments in Lebanese pounds will continue. Lebanon’s
caretaker Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar said at a press conference
Friday that Lebanese officials reject paying Syrian refugees in dollars because
this “would make them stay in Lebanon.” He added that most of the Syrian
refugees in Lebanon are “economic refugees and not refugees who fled because of
security and political reasons.”Also on Friday, the World Bank announced it had
approved $300 million in additional financing to provide cash assistance to poor
Lebanese families, with some 160,000 households receiving up to $145 per month
for 24 months. Sentiments against Syrian refugees in Lebanon have been on the
rise since the economic crisis began and since Syrian government forces took
control of much of the neighboring country. Officials in Lebanon now maintain
that it is safe for many of the Syrian refugees to return home. In recent weeks,
the Lebanese army launched a series of raids on refugee settlements, arresting
and in many cases deporting those found not to have legal residency documents.
UN delays dual-currency cash help to refugees in crisis-hit
Lebanon
BEIRUT (Reuters)/Sat, May 27, 2023
The United Nations has delayed a decision to give Syrian refugees in Lebanon
cash help partly in U.S. dollars after objections from senior Lebanese officials
that this could exacerbate tensions with hard-pressed locals. In a statement on
Saturday the U.N. said that following Lebanese requests a decision had been made
to temporarily pause the use of dollars alongside Lebanese pounds for next
month's disbursement of cash assistance to refugees, while discussions continue
on the appropriate way to give aid. Lebanon's local currency has lost more than
98% of its value since an economic meltdown began in 2019, straining both
Lebanese families and the around 800,000 Syrians registered with the U.N.'s
refugee agency. The Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon Imran Riza and other
U.N. officials had on Tuesday said their agencies would begin distributing aid
to refugees in both dollars and Lebanese pounds. They said the "rapid
depreciation" of the pound, fluctuations of the exchange rate, and the
logistical challenges of securing large amounts of local currency had made it
"impossible for the United Nations and partners to continue to disburse cash
assistance only in Lebanese Pounds."But the same agencies reversed course after
meetings on Friday with Lebanon's caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati and
social affairs minister Hector Hajjar. Hajjar had told a press conference his
ministry had not been properly informed of the decision to provide aid in
dollars, which he said would increase tensions between refugees and Lebanese. A
government source said Mikati, too, had not been aware of the "dollarization" of
aid. The U.N.'s reversal comes amid heightened social tensions in Lebanon over
the issue of refugees. Officials have said the country can no longer bear to
host Syrians as it struggles to cope with its own financial crisis. The Lebanese
army has carried out raids on camps and homes where refugees live. A
humanitarian source told Reuters that more than 2,000 have been arrested and
more than 1,400 deported to Syria. Security sources say the army is seeking out
Syrians with invalid papers, but relatives of deported Syrians say they face
arrest and army conscription once back in their homeland.
UN suspends USD aid to Syrian refugees in Lebanon after
uproar
Naharnet/May 27, 2023
The U.N. on Saturday announced the suspension of a decision to disburse U.S.
dollar cash assistance to Syrian refugees in Lebanon, after the move created an
uproar in the country. “As a result of meetings held yesterday with the
Caretaker Prime Minister, H.E. Najib Mikati, and Caretaker Minister of Social
Affairs, H.E. Hector Hajjar, and based on their requests, a decision has been
made to temporarily pause the use of dual currency for next month's disbursement
of cash assistance to refugees, while discussions continue on appropriate
modalities,” a U.N. statement said. “The United Nations reiterates its
commitment to humanitarian principles in supporting the Government to assist the
most vulnerable people across Lebanon. All programmatic decisions are taken with
full transparency and commitment to our mandate including decisions on
assistance modalities which are based on solid, objective evidence and thorough
research,” the statement said. “We continue to stand with the people and
Government of Lebanon during these difficult times and foster a collaborative
environment to reach those most in need, including refugees,” the statement
added. Some Lebanese officials, observers and citizens have argued that granting
U.S. dollar assistance to Syrian refugees would encourage them to stay in
Lebanon. Lebanese authorities have recently started cracking down on Syrian
refugees against the backdrop of a worsening economic crisis and political
stalemate, an escalation that has caused a panic among Syrians in the country.
Government officials have given varying estimates of the number of Syrians in
the country, ranging from 1.5 million to more than 2 million. Lebanon is
believed to have a population of around 5 million to 5.5 million citizens, but
no census has been held for nearly a century. Since Lebanon’s economic meltdown
began in 2019, officials have increasingly called for a mass return of Syrians,
saying they are a burden on the country’s scarce resources and that much of
Syria is now safe. The rhetoric has grown increasingly heated; a federation of
trade unions recently declared a “National Campaign to Liberate Lebanon from the
Syrian Demographic Occupation.”In recent interviews with local media, Minister
Hajjar claimed that refugees make up 40% of Lebanon’s population, which “no
country in the world would accept.”The United States, one of the Lebanese Army's
largest donors, has expressed concerns about refugee deportations to Lebanese
officials. Refugee returns should be “voluntary, safe, and dignified,” a U.S.
Embassy spokesperson said. Saturday’s U.N. statement was issued by U.N. Resident
Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon Imran Riza, the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees Representative in Lebanon Ivo Freijsen, and the World
Food Program Country Director and Representative in Lebanon Abdallah Alwardat.
Impending consensus on presidential candidate:
Will Berri set date for session?
LBCIMay 27, 2023
In a press interview last March, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri stated that the
chronic issue of the presidency lies within the Maronite community due to their
lack of consensus and the veto power wielded against each other. Two months
after these remarks, did Berri's prediction come true, or was his interpretation
incorrect? However, Christian blocs, along with independent and opposition
forces, are now just steps away from confirming an agreement on a single
presidential candidate. This follows the Lebanese Forces' efforts in fostering
rapprochement between the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and the Lebanese Forces
(LF). Indeed, for the first time in seven months, since the presidential seat
became vacant, the positive developments regarding a broad consensus around the
candidate of Hezbollah and Amal Movement is gaining traction. But what is
hindering the public declaration of these understandings? Moreover, some
undetermined details remain, including the FPM's final stance on nominating
Jihad Azour as their candidate. What will the FPM do if Hezbollah insists on
supporting the candidacy of Sleiman Frangieh, the leader of the Marada Movement,
especially since their leaders spare no opportunity to call on other factions to
reach an understanding with them regarding their candidate? In the past two
days, Jihad Azour has been in Lebanon, meeting with various officials,
particularly those who support his candidacy. This support is expected to be
shown in more precise steps. However, even if the opposition forces, including
the FPM, manage to reach an agreement on Azour, it all remains in the hands of
Berri. Will Berri set a date for an electoral session if Azour can outpace
Frangieh in the ballot box?
Geagea wants to 'see Bassil in parliament' voting for Azour before believing
Naharnet May 27, 2023
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has endorsed the presidential
nomination of ex-minister Jihad Azour, but “there is still confusion within the
FPM that is casting doubt on the entire matter,” Lebanese Forces leader Samir
Geagea said. “The negotiations are taking place between parties from the
opposition and Bassil, not between the LF and Bassil,” Geagea clarified, in an
interview with Annahar newspaper published Saturday. “These opposition forces
are saying that after negotiations throughout the past week, Bassil took his
decision to endorse Azour over the past hours (between Thursday night and Friday
morning), but I personally will have question marks until I see Bassil in
parliament voting for Azour, in order to seriously verify the matter,” Geagea
added. “If the opposition parties’ assertion that Jebran Bassil has endorsed
Jihad Azour turns out to be true, then the issue of the presidential election
will be practically resolved … But if this information does not materialize and
the Axis of Defiance continues to insist on its candidate amid the absence of a
presidential stance by Bassil, then how can we secure a small majority for the
election of a president?” the LF leader wondered. “Accordingly, we will remain
in vacuum during the current period,” he added.
Closer look at seized counterfeit cancer drugs
LBCI/May 27, 2023
In a recent breakthrough, the Customs Anti-Smuggling Branch in Beirut
confiscated many medications, including over 60 boxes of Timodal, Perjeta, 40
boxes of Novaa, and more than 250 other drugs. So, what is the story behind
these drugs, and why were they found in this office? Investigations have
revealed that a drug trafficking ring, operating both within Lebanon and in
connection with foreign countries, was involved. The illicit drugs were smuggled
from an unknown external source. Once inside Lebanon, a portion of these
medications is sold at exorbitant prices on the market. For example, a drug like
Imfinzi, typically supplied to pharmacies by the Ministry of Health and sold for
around $45, was sold for over $1,000 by the members of the smuggling network.
Moreover, the remaining drugs are smuggled out of Lebanon to be sold in
neighboring countries through illicit channels. However, the responsible
individuals behind this illicit trade have not yet been identified. They operate
through young men who secure customers (patients), convincing them that the
drugs are genuine. They even go as far as offering home delivery services.
Additionally, if these medications are not counterfeit, they should be stored in
a refrigerator. But large quantities were seized inside vehicles and homes of
the detained individuals without the slightest safety standards. All the seized
medications will undergo laboratory tests to determine their authenticity and
condition, and the investigation is ongoing. Efforts are being made to apprehend
those responsible for this smuggling network, commonly called the "illicit
pharmaceutical suitcase" network.
Sami Gemayel: We will not accept to be 'second class' citizens & whoever wants
us to live in humiliation must expect our confrontation through all...
NNA/May 27, 2023
Lebanese Kataeb Party Chief, MP Sami Gemayel, affirmed today that his party
shall continue its ongoing struggle in defense of Lebanon, its sovereignty,
freedom and the wellbeing of its people. Speaking during his patronage of a
Kataeb honoring ceremony for the party's northern Metn branch, he said: "We will
not accept to be vilified or marginalized as second class citizens....This will
not happen, and whoever wants us to live in humiliation must expect our
confrontation with all means available to us.""There are those who are trying
today to take all the decisions on our behalf...There are those who believe that
they have the right to own militias and fight alone without others, and they
wish to choose the president of the republic without referring to anyone, and to
decide the form of government and Lebanon's alliances against everyone's will,
and to wage wars with others without involving anyone in the decision..."He
added: "What we are asking for is our participation in the decision, and for
there to be equality and respect for partnership in Lebanon."Gemayel emphasized
the need for true and equal partnership between various Lebanese components,
saying: "We extend our hand to building a democratic, civilized, free, sovereign
and independent state, and we call on everyone to join the project of the
state."He demanded that the Lebanese army be the only side to possess weapons in
the country and that the constitution be respected as the basis for joint
cooperation and collaboration between all the Lebanese. Recalling the Kataeb
party's s great and heroic contributions to Lebanon's history and political
life, Gemayel assured that the long legacy left behind by the late Pierre
Gemayel, "prompts us daily to review our options for the benefit of Lebanon, and
therefore, we do not compromise or make mistakes and the sacrifices that were
made are the daily engine of all our decisions and positions."
Geagea following suspension of cash aid to refugees: We
hope for listening more to Lebanese government departments
NNA/May 27, 2023
Lebanese Forces Party Chief, Samir Geagea, wrote today on Twitter: Following the
joint statement issued by the Deputy Special Coordinator of the United Nations
in Lebanon, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator Imran Riza, the
representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ivo Freijsen, and the
representative of the World Food Program, Abdallah Al-Wardat, in announcing the
suspension of cash aid in dual currencies to the Syrians present in Lebanon for
the next month, we hope to continue in this direction and to listen more to the
Lebanese government departments, in order to move from organizing asylum to
Lebanon to organizing return from Lebanon.”
Berri meets with Aridi, Iranian Radio & TV Corporation Head
NNA/May 27, 2023
House Speaker Nabih Berri received today former Minister Ghazi Al-Aridi in Ain
Al-Tineh Palace, where talks touched on the general situation and the latest
political developments. Berri also received today the head of the Radio and
Television Corporation in the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRIB), Peyman Jabali,
and his accompanying delegation, in the presence of Iranian Chargé d’Affaires in
Beirut, Hassan Khalili. Jabali congratulated Speaker Berri on "Resistance and
Liberation Day", where the visit was a chance to review the general situation in
Lebanon and the region. Following the meeting, Jabali hailed the honorable
resistance fighters and the steadfastness of the Lebanese people that have
brought about a change in the political map in the region and in the world.
He said: "This calls for us to emphasize the strengthening, support and
protection of the resistance and the people of resistance.""For our part, we at
the Iranian Radio and Television Corporation consider that the role of the media
in these circumstances and in this strategic change in the political map in the
region and in the world has become more important, and we need to join forces
with the media within the resistance front and axis of resistance so it would
increase day by day," he underlined. Jabali concluded by stating that he
emphasized with the Speaker the signigficant role of the resistance media,
affirming the readiness of the Islamic Republic to join hands with the media
accordingly.
Hamieh bound for South Korea to partake in Global Implementation Support
Symposium (GISS)
NNA/May 27, 2023
Caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transport, Ali Hamieh, will head this
evening accompanied by a delegation from the Directorate General of Civil
Aviation, to Seoul, the capital of South Korea, to participate in the Global
Implementation Support Symposium (GISS) held by the International Aviation
Organization (ICAO). The conference is held under the headline, " Together we
work to promote innovation and sustainability in the global aviation community,"
with the participation of thirty ministers of transport from most of the member
states of the organization and many airlines. On the sidelines of the
conference, Hamieh will hold bilateral meetings with the transport ministers of
Qatar, South Korea and Indonesia, the Secretary-General of the International
Civil Aviation Organization and a number of businessmen and the Lebanese
community.
Lebanese People ran for their capital to keep it a beacon
of hope & culture
NNA/May 27, 2023
Rebirth Beirut in collaboration with Medco launched a special Mini-Marathon
organized by “Beirut Marathon Association” in support of the initiative: "Light
Up Our Community" which aims to light up the streets of Beirut and bring life
back to the city. The purpose of this event is to continue and support the great
initiative of Rebirth Beirut and to pursue its projects in the capital. Mr. Gaby
Fernaine, Founder and President of Rebirth Beirut, stressed the importance of
combining sports with Rebirth Beirut’s initiative to bring back light and life
to the city. Mr. Fernaine described sports as a unifying factor for the Lebanese
people and said: “Wewant to use this power to create positive change in our
city." He then added: “We call on people to practice walking at night without
fear of security incidents, and Beirut will remain the city of light and life”.
The largest part of the Corniche was illuminated in cooperation with the
American University of Beirut and another part of the corniche with"Lahoya
Suites" and the last part of it with "Bay View Hotel". All participants were
granted a medal as an act of recognition and appreciation. Rebirth Beirut
thanked all the sponsors who contributed to the success of this event and mostly
his Excellencygovernor of Beirut judge Marwan Abboud. It is worth mentioning
that the association has illuminated to date more than 92 streets and 9 main
avenues and 3 squares, 2 stairs, 1 garden and 1 tunnel in Beirut and is actively
participating in keeping Beirut on the international map as a capital of love,
life, and culture.
Environment Minister launches "National Fire Prevention Campaign" from
Tannourine Cedar Reserve
NNA/May 27, 2023
Caretaker Minister of Environment, Nasser Yassin, launched today the National
Campaign for Forest Fire Prevention 2023 and the National Fire Prevention Week
between June 5 & 12, from the Tannourine Cedar Forest Nature Reserve. This was
organized by the Association of Reforestation in Lebanon, in the presence of
Tourism Minister's representative, Imad Farhat, Environment Parliamentary
Committee Chair, MP Ghiath Yazbek, World Food Program Director, Abdallah Al-Wardat,
and various prominent dignitaries from the region. In his address during the
launching event, Minister Yassin outlined the goals of the National Campaign for
the Prevention of Forest Fires 2023 and the National Week for Fire Prevention.
He said: “Today we come to a reserve that is one of the richest reserves located
not only in Lebanon but also in the East, a natural and cultural heritage and
biological diversity that deserves to be highlighted, alongside the launching of
reserves and protected areas in Lebanon." He added that launching the campaign
from this reserve is of great significance due to its biological, cultural,
civilizational and natural importance. "We, at the Ministry of Environment, are
continuing with a small budget and an unfavorable administrative and political
situation, but we do not want to give up...Rather we seek to stand firm in the
face of challenges," pledged Yassin. He explained that the Ministry is embracing
the local community, standing beside the people and supporting local
initiatives, aiming to preserve the country's natural reserves and protected
areas. "In the past year, we were able to reduce the burned areas by 90.1%, and
this is not a small percentage...We will maintain it with all our strength in
light of the local embrace in every region. We strive to stand by the local
community to avoid fires," Yassin went on. He added: "We sought to stand by the
local community to avoid fires...Just as the Tannourine Cedar Reserve Committee
and the Tannourine volunteers worked to put out the fire that broke out last
year, we must encourage them and institutionalize this work by supporting the
teams to be ready to prevent fires and quickly intervene in the event of their
occurrence." Yassin indicated that in cooperation with international
organizations, donor agencies, and the World Bank, and with the support of the
private sector to stand by the reserve committee, the local community, and
volunteers in Tannourine, local teams will be established to be equipped with
light machinery and supplies to combat any fires that break out in the future.
"We have to support the plan drawn up by the Reserve Committee by spreading the
idea of the Tannourine Reserve Committee with its environmental, social, and
economic objectives," the Minister asserted.
Abiad calls during annual meeting of ophthalmologists for
supporting primary health care, including larger number of patients
NNA/May 27, 2023
Caretaker Minister of Public Health , Firas Abiad, stressed "the importance of
continuing to support ophthalmology in the primary health care program of the
Ministry of Public Health and striving to include a larger number of patients in
this program," calling for "developing ophthalmic treatment protocols in order
to provide best care for patients.”Abiad's words came during a speech he
delivered at the twenty-ninth annual meeting of the "Ophthalmologists'
Association" in Movenpick on Saturday. "This meeting, which includes a number of
international specialists and experts in the field of ophthalmology, is a
testament to the commitment to providing good service to patients by acquainting
them with the latest technologies in this medical field," Abiad said. He
highlighted the importance of generalizing ophthalmic treatment protocols that
allow for advanced care for patients, expressing the Public Health Ministry's
readiness to support any efforts in this regard, working in close cooperation
with the Ophthalmologists Association.
Cultural life restored: Sursock Museum comes back to life
after the devastating Beirut blast
LBCI/May 27, 2023
In a long-awaited event, the Sursock Museum reopened again after nearly three
years, as the museum was severely hit by the devastating explosion that hit
Beirut on August 4, 2020. Officially reopening on Friday, May 26, 2023, the
iconic museum "came back to life," marking a milestone in Beirut's cultural
scene amid the socio-economic crisis and the explosion's aftermath. The Museum's
reopening coincided with the presentation of five exhibitions in the recently
revived exhibition spaces. "The upcoming exhibitions explore topics around our
museum's historical journey, our city's unrivaled cycles of upheaval, and our
relationships to land, highlighting cherished memories and moments of endurance
while rethinking our present," expressed the museum via its Instagram page.
Enduring a rehabilitation process that lasted for over two years, the Sursock
Museum also witnessed the return of three paintings linked to figures who
"contributed to the renaissance of Lebanese cultural life" to their place after
a "rescue operation" at France's Center Pompidou. The prominent Nicolas Ibrahim
Sursock Museum is a modern and contemporary art museum; opening in 1961, the
"cultural landmark" is on a mission to represent local and international art to
aesthetes from Lebanon and abroad.
Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And
News published
on May 27-28/2023
Iran exchanges heavy gunfire with Taliban on Afghan
border, escalating tensions over water rights
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)/Sat, May 27, 2023
The Taliban and Iran exchanged heavy gunfire Saturday on the Islamic Republic's
border with Afghanistan, sharply escalating rising tensions between the two
nations amid a dispute over water rights. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency
quoted the country's deputy police chief, Gen. Qassem Rezaei, accusing the
Taliban of opening fire first Saturday morning on the border of Iran’s Sistan
and Baluchestan province and the Afghan province of Nimroz. IRNA said Iran
inflicted “heavy casualties and serious damage." Taliban-controlled media in
Afghanistan did not acknowledge the fighting. The advocacy group HalVash, which
reports on issues affecting the Baluch people in the predominately Sunni
province of Sistan and Baluchestan, quoted residents in the area saying the
fighting took place near the Kang district of Nimroz. It said some people in the
area had fled the violence. Videos posted online, purportedly from the area,
included the crackle of machine gun fire in the distance. HalVash later posted
an image of what appeared to be the remains of a mortar round, saying that
“heavy weapons and mortars are being used.” A later video from HalVash purported
to show Iranian forces firing a mortar. “The border forces of the Islamic
Republic of Iran will decisively respond to any border trespassing and
aggression, and the current authorities of Afghanistan must be held accountable
for their unmeasured and contrary actions to international principles," IRNA
quoted Iran's police chief, Gen. Ahmadreza Radan, as saying.
The clash comes as Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi earlier this month warned the
Taliban not to violate Iran's water rights to the Helmand River. Raisi's remarks
represented some of the strongest yet over the long-running concerns about water
in Iran. Drought has been a problem in Iran for some 30 years, but has worsened
over the past decade, according to the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
The Iran Meteorological Organization says that an estimated 97% of the country
now faces some level of drought. The Taliban seized Afghanistan in August 2021
as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final weeks of their pullout from the
country after 20 years of war. In the time since, Afghanistan has become the
most repressive in the world for women and girls, depriving them of virtually
all their basic rights, according to the U.N. Hunger remains endemic. While not
directly accepting the Taliban government, Iran has maintained relations with
Afghanistan's new rulers. Tehran also has called on the Taliban to allow women
and girls to go to school. Earlier on Saturday, the Taliban's Acting Foreign
Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met with an Iranian envoy to Afghanistan to discuss
the Helmand River water rights, according to tweets from Afghan Foreign Ministry
official Zia Ahmad. IRNA acknowledged the meeting, saying “that issues between
the two countries will be better resolved through dialogue.”But tensions have
otherwise been rising. Another video posted online in recent days purportedly
showed a standoff with Iranian forces and the Taliban as Iranian construction
workers tried to reinforce the border between the two countries. In recent days,
pro-Taliban accounts online also have been sharing a video with a song calling
on the acting defense minister, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, to stand up to Iran.
Mullah Yaqoob is the son of Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban’s late founder and
first supreme leader. “We are a government, we have power,” the song goes. “Our
leader Mullah Yaqoob will stand against Iran or we are not the republic’s
government. We are not slaves, our leader Mullah Yaqoob will stand against
Iran.”
Mass protests against Israeli government's
plans to change legal system enter 21st week
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)/May 27, 2023
Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered on Saturday for the relentless weekly
protests against their government’s plans to overhaul the legal system. The mass
protests entered their 21st week. This week’s rallies come days after Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition of ultra-Orthodox and ultranationalist
parties passed a new two-year budget. The main protest took place in Tel Aviv,
drawing thousands of flag-waving protesters. The passing of the new budget could
grant some stability to Israel’s most hard-line government ever. However, it
also appeared to fuel the protesters' views that Netanyahu appeals to his
religious allies rather than address the wider economic woes of the broader
society. “If Israel takes too much power for its own, (our country) will
basically become like Poland or Hungary, and we don’t want that,” said Aylon
Argaman, a protester. Organizers of grassroot protests bill them as a movement
to save democracy. They say the government’s plans to weaken the Supreme Court
would destroy the country’s system of checks and balances and compromise Israeli
democracy. Proponents of the judicial overhaul say it is needed to rein in an
overzealous Supreme Court. Netanyahu delayed the proposed changes in March, but
protest organizers say they want to keep the demonstrations up until the plans
are scrapped. “The government may think we're starting to get tired after 21
weeks, but even if we are tired, democracy is still more important to us,” said
Omer Kidron, another protester.
Iraq announces plans for $17 billion transportation project
linking Asia to Europe
IRBIL, Iraq/AP/Sat, May 27, 2023
Iraq’s prime minister on Saturday announced plans for a $17 billion regional
transportation project intended to facilitate the flow of goods from Asia to
Europe. The announcement was made at a one-day conference in Baghdad that
convened transport ministers and representatives from Iraq, the Gulf countries,
Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Jordan. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani
said the planned Development Road project would facilitate the movement of goods
from the Gulf to Europe by way of the Grand Faw Port in Basra, in southern Iraq,
which would be connected to Turkey, then to Europe, through a network of
railways and highways. A centerpiece of the project will be the development of
the Grand Faw Port and a “smart industrial city” adjacent to it, al-Sudani said.
The planned project, which would involve the construction of about 1,200 km
(about 745 miles) of railways and highways, will be “an economic lifeline and a
promising opportunity for the convergence of interests, history, and cultures,”
said al-Sudani, adding it will “make our countries a source for modern
industries and goods.”He did not say how the project would be financed but noted
that Iraq would “rely heavily on cooperation... with brotherly and friendly
nations.”The countries participating in Saturday's conference agreed to
establish joint technical committees to move the project forward. Iraq's
relations with the Gulf countries have been strained in recent decades, as
Iran-backed militias rose in prominence in Iraq in the wake of the U.S.-led
invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and opened a power vacuum in the country.
However, there have been signs of improving relations with the country's
neighbors. In January, Iraq hosted the eight-nation Arabian Gulf Cup in Basra,
the first international soccer tournament the country had hosted in more than
four decades.
UN backs Sudan envoy as army seeks to bolster
ranks
AFP/May 27, 2023
NEW YORK: United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said he was “shocked” by a
letter from Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, reportedly requesting
the replacement of special envoy Volker Perthes amid a brutal war with
paramilitaries. Guterres “is proud of the work done by Volker Perthes and
reaffirms his full confidence in his Special Representative,” a statement from
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said late Friday. “The Secretary-General is
shocked by the letter he received from General Al-Burhan,” currently at war with
his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary
Rapid Support Forces. The rival forces are currently in the fifth day of a
one-week cease-fire brokered by the US and Saudi Arabia, during which they have
repeatedly accused each other of truce violations. Neither the army nor the UN
have released official copies of Burhan’s letter, which reportedly requested the
dismissal of Perthes as Guterres’ envoy to Sudan. It is the latest in a series
of moves by Burhan, who last week officially sacked Daglo as his deputy in the
ruling sovereign council, pooled hardline military supporters into his inner
circle and is now seeking to reinforce army ranks.
Sudan’s defense ministry on Friday called on “army pensioners... as well as all
those capable of bearing arms” to head to their nearest military command unit
and “arm themselves in order to protect themselves,” their families and their
neighbors. A statement later in the day walked back the call to just army
“reservists” and “pensioners.” Perthes and the UN mission in Sudan have been the
target of several protests by thousands of military and Islamist supporters who
have repeatedly accused Perthes of “foreign intervention” and demanded his
dismissal. Similar protests have taken place in the eastern city of Port Sudan
since the war started on April 15. The fighting across Sudan has killed more
than 1,800 people, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data
Project. The United Nations says more than a million people have been displaced
within Sudan, in addition to 300,000 who have fled to neighboring countries.
Perthes is currently in New York, where he briefed the Security Council on the
situation in Sudan earlier this week. There is no information on when he is due
back in Sudan, where authorities have not given out visas to foreign nationals
since the war started.
Officials: UN chief 'shocked' by letter from Sudan's
military ruler demanding removal of UN envoy
CAIRO (AP)/Sat, May 27, 2023
The United Nations secretary-general was “shocked” by a letter from Sudan’s army
chief demanding the removal of the U.N. envoy to the country, Sudanese and U.N.
officials said Saturday. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres received the letter
Friday from Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, Sudan’s top military official and head of
the ruling Sovereign Council, according to U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
“The Secretary-General is shocked by the letter he received this (Friday)
morning,” Dujarric said. “The Secretary-General is proud of the work done by
Volker Perthes and reaffirms his full confidence in his Special
Representative.”The development comes amid fighting between the military and a
paramilitary force that began in mid-April. The two sides had agreed to observe
a weeklong cease-fire, brokered by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. However, the
truce, which is scheduled to expire Monday night, did not stop the fighting in
parts of Khartoum and elsewhere in the county. Dujarric didn’t reveal the
contents of the letter. However, a senior military official said Burhan’s letter
asked Guterres to replace his envoy to the northeastern African country, who was
appointed in 2021. According to the official, Burhan accused Perthes of “being
partisan,” and that his approach in pre-war talks between the generals and the
pro-democracy movement helped inflame the conflict. The official spoke on
condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief media. Perthes,
who was appointed in 2021 as U.N. envoy in Sudan, declined to comment on the
letter. Last year, Burhan accused Perthes of “exceeding the U.N. mission’s
mandate and blatant interference in Sudanese affairs.” He threatened to expel
him from the country. Fighting in Sudan broke out in mid-April between the
military, headed by Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded
by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The fighting centered in the capital of Khartoum,
which was turned into a battleground along with its sister city of Omdurman. The
clashes also spread elsewhere in the country, including the war-wracked Darfur
region. The conflict has killed hundreds of people, and wounded thousands of
others. It also pushed more than 1.3 million out of their homes to safer areas
inside Sudan, or to neighboring nations. Burhan’s letter came after the U.N.
envoy accused the warring parties of disregarding the laws of war by attacking
homes, shops, places of worship and water and electricity installations. In his
briefing to the U.N. Security Council earlier this week, Perthes blamed the
leaders of the military and the RSF for the war, saying that they have chosen to
“settle their unresolved conflict on the battlefield rather than at the
table.”The fighting capped months of worsening tensions between rival generals,
who jointly removed the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Abdalla
Hamdok in a coup in Oct. 2021. The power struggle between the military and the
RSF has derailed internationally backed efforts to restore Sudan’s transition to
democracy.
Ukraine says Russia eases Bakhmut attacks,
Kyiv talks up counteroffensive
KYIV (Reuters)/Sat, May 27, 2023
Russian troops have temporarily eased attacks in and around the besieged eastern
Ukrainian city of Bakhmut to regroup and strengthen their capabilities, a senior
Kyiv official said on Saturday. Separately, senior Ukrainian officials indicated
their forces were ready to launch a long-promised counteroffensive to recapture
territory taken by Russia since the start of the war. Russia's Wagner private
army began handing over positions to regular troops this week after declaring
full control of Bakhmut following the longest and bloodiest battle of the war.
Kyiv though has insisted that its forces still control a small part of the city.
In a statement on Telegram, Ukraine Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said
Russian troops were continuing to attack but that overall offensive activity had
decreased. "Yesterday and today there have not been any active battles - neither
in the city nor on the flanks," she wrote, adding that Moscow's troops were
instead shelling the outskirts and approaches to Bakhmut. "(Russian) troops are
being replaced and regrouped," Maliar said. "The enemy is trying to strengthen
its own capabilities."Kyiv is expected to launch a highly anticipated
counteroffensive soon to retake Russian-occupied territory. Oleksiy Danilov,
secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, told the British
Broadcasting Corporation that the push could begin "tomorrow, the day after
tomorrow or in a week". Presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak, speaking to
Britain's Guardian newspaper, said preliminary operations such as destroying
supply lines or blowing up depots had already begun. The governor of the
southern Russian region of Belgorod said he had come under artillery fire on
Saturday when trying to enter the town of Shebekino, which is only about 7 km
(4.5 miles) north of the border with Ukraine. "I couldn't even get out of the
car. Shells were exploding in a neighbouring street," Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote
on Telegram. This week Ukraine-based ethnic Russian fighters launched a
cross-border raid into the region. Ukraine's top general, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi,
posted a sleekly produced video on Saturday showing Ukrainian troops swearing an
oath and preparing for battle. "The time has come to return what is ours," he
wrote.
Ukrainian army chief promises to 'take back' land from
Russia in counter-offensive
James Kilner/The Telegraph/May 27, 2023
Ukraine’s top military commander on Saturday released a video promising to "take
back" land from Russian occupiers, as Ukrainian officials signalled that a
counter attack was about to begin. “The time has come to take back what belongs
to us,” General Valerii Zaluzhnyi said in a statement published alongside the
well-produced video, which showed Ukrainian soldiers preparing for battle,
asking for God’s blessing ahead of the “decisive attack” and pledging to avenge
their fallen comrades. Ukrainian troops and officials have taunted Russia by
heavily trailing their counteroffensive for months. They have described wearing
down Russia’s infantry and artillery stockpiles in advance of the attack. Russia
is trying to defend a 600-mile frontline with a battered force that has lost
most of its best fighting capabilities. Weary and demoralised Russian soldiers,
including thousands of men pressed into the army in Russia’s first mobilisation
since World War II, have spent months digging trenches and preparing to come
under attack by highly motivated Ukrainian soldiers, many trained by Kyiv’s
Western allies and armed with their most powerful weapons. Oleksiy Danilov,
secretary of Ukraine’s Security Council, appeared to confirm that this attack
was now imminent in an interview with the BBC.
“It could begin tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or in a week,” he said.
Analysts have previously said that Ukraine needed to wait for drier weather to
thaw out muddy battlefields and allow vehicles to advance, but despite a
typically wet spring giving way to warm early summer sunshine in recent weeks,
Ukrainian officials have insisted they need to wait just a little longer for
more Western weapons to arrive. This month, though, Ukraine began firing British
Storm Shadow cruise missiles at targets deep behind the front lines. And just as
US medium-range Himars artillery destroyed Russian supply depots and command
centres ahead of a Ukrainian offensive last summer, the Storm Shadow missiles
are believed to have disrupted Russian plans over the past few weeks by hitting
targets long thought safe by Russian commanders. Analysts have said the impact
of the Storm Shadow missile strikes is not limited to reorganising supply lines
and command chains. These strikes also destroy morale too. “It's going to have a
terrible effect on morale for the Russian forces, officers, and commanders who
are going to be operating within Ukraine,” said George Barros, an analyst with
the US-based Institute for the Study of War. Earlier this month, Ben Wallace,
the minister of defence, confirmed that Ukraine had been using the Storm Shadow
missile “successfully”.However, Russia’s defence ministry yesterday said its
forces had intercepted two of the missiles, a claim that could not be
immediately verified. Russia has previously claimed battlefield successes that
turned out to be false. Pro-Kremlin officials in occupied regions of Ukraine
have reported a rise in missile strikes over the past few weeks, including on
Saturday, as well as partisan attacks and incursions by Ukrainian special
forces. Families living near the frontline in the occupied-Zaporizhzhya region,
broadly marked by the Dnipro River, have also been evacuated ahead of the
expected Ukrainian assault. The build-up to Ukraine’s counteroffensive has also
coincided with a major reorganisation of Russian forces around Bakhmut in Donbas,
where the Kremlin’s Wagner mercenary Group is withdrawing. Britain’s Ministry of
Defence on Saturday confirmed that Wagner mercenaries had given way to regular
Russian soldiers in Bakhmut, but said that rather than being sent back to
Russia, these battle-hardened, mainly ex-convict fighters would likely be
re-deployed elsewhere. “Wagner forces will likely be used for further offensive
operations in the Donbas following reconstituting its forces,” the MoD said in
its daily intelligence update. 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.
Ukraine has squeezed out of the US-Patriot missile system a
capability that the Pentagon did not think possible, military analyst says
Alia Shoaib/Business Insider/May 27, 2023
Ukraine claims it has used US-made Patriot missile systems to down Russian
hypersonic missiles. A military expert said Ukraine's success with the weapon
had amazed the Pentagon. The weapons are among the most advanced surface-to-air
missiles sent to Ukraine. Ukraine's success in using the US-made Patriot
anti-aircraft missile systems to down Russian weapons has amazed even the
Pentagon, a military analyst said. Ukrainian officials have claimed they have
used the weapon to shoot down several Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, which
Moscow previously boasted were unstoppable. "The United States thought for a
long time, discussing whether to give us Patriots or not," Ivan Kirichevskiy, an
expert at the Ukrainian military news publication Defense Express, told
Ukraine's Radio NV, according to Newsweek. "It turns out that our air defense
forces with crash course training literally squeezed out of the Patriot a
capability that the Pentagon did not think was possible."Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy had long been requesting the US to send defensive
surface-to-air missile systems, which can strike aircraft, cruise missiles, and
shorter-range ballistic missiles. The US-provided systems finally arrived in
Ukraine in April, with Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov tweeting: "Today, our
beautiful Ukrainian sky becomes more secure."The Netherlands and Germany also
said they would send Ukraine the weapons. It is unclear how many Patriot missile
systems Ukraine has, but they are among the most advanced surface-to-air
missiles sent to Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin previously called Russia's
hypersonic Kinzhal missiles. "undefeatable." Insider has reported that the
vulnerability of their missiles is likely a surprise and embarrassment for
Russia, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. The Patriot is the main air
defense system that the US has in its arsenal, with the capability to track 100
targets from 60 miles away. Last week, Fabian Hoffmann, a doctoral research
fellow at the Oslo Nuclear Project, told UK's Sky News that after Ukraine
recently claimed to have repelled multiple Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missiles,
Russia has "never looked weaker." "This is a truly remarkable development," he
said. Hoffmann added, in a tweet, "The fact that Ukraine was able to defend this
attack is amazing, in my opinion, whether the final interception rate is 90% or
100%."
Ukraine claims that Russia plans to fake a major nuclear
accident at the Zaporizhzhia power plant and force a ceasefire
Business Insider/May 27/2023
Ukraine claims Russia is planning to stage an accident at the Zaporizhzhia
nuclear power plant. They said an accident would require a ceasefire, allowing
Russia to prepare for Ukraine's counteroffensive. The department provided no
evidence for the claims. Ukraine's defense ministry has warned that Russia is
planning to simulate a major accident at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP)
in order to thwart Ukraine's imminently expected counteroffensive. The plant in
southern Ukraine is Europe's largest and has been under Russian control since
last year. "Russians are preparing massive provocation and imitation of the
accident at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in the nearest hours," the Ukrainian
defense ministry's intelligence directorate said on social media on Friday."They
are planning to attack the territory of the ZNPP. After that, they will announce
the leakage of the radioactive substances," it said. The department claimed that
Russia hopes to trigger an international investigation which would require a
ceasefire, allowing Russia to use the break in fighting to better prepare for
Ukraine's counteroffensive. It did not provide any evidence for its claims.
"They obviously will blame Ukraine," the Ukrainian department said. Ukraine is
expected to soon start its long-anticipated counteroffensive to retake territory
occupied by Russia, including in the Zaporizhzhia region. Fighting has
continually raged around the power plant, and both Russia and Ukraine have
blamed each other for dangerous incidents of shelling hitting the site. The UN
International Atomic Energy Agency has previously warned about the risks of "a
severe nuclear accident" at the plant due to ongoing fighting. An evacuation of
nearly 2,000 people from towns in the area was conducted earlier this month,
with reports of roads severely congested as people fled in busloads. A radiation
leak at the plant would require further evacuations, which would be complex in a
war zone, experts say, according to Al Jazeera. It was reported last week that
Russian military forces had been enhancing defensive positions around the power
plant ahead of the expected counteroffensive. One of Ukraine's most senior
security officials, Oleksiy Danilov, told the BBC on Saturday that Ukraine was
ready to begin the counteroffensive and that it could begin "tomorrow, the day
after tomorrow or in a week."
Lavrov tells China there are 'serious
obstacles' to Ukraine peace
Agence France Presse/May 27, 2023
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has told China's special envoy Li Hui
that there were "serious obstacles" to resuming peace talks, blaming Ukraine and
Western countries. "The Russian foreign minister reaffirmed Moscow's commitment
to a political-diplomatic resolution of the conflict, noting the serious
obstacles to the resumption of peace talks created by the Ukrainian side and its
Western mentors," the foreign ministry said. During the meeting with Li, who was
China's ambassador in Russia between 2009 and 2019, Lavrov also praised
Beijing's "balanced" position on Ukraine. While China says it is a neutral party
in the Ukraine conflict, it has been criticised for refusing to condemn Moscow
for its offensive. "Both sides expressed readiness to further strengthen
Russian-Chinese foreign policy cooperation, invariably aimed at maintaining
peace and stability in the region and on the planet as a whole," the Russian
foreign ministry said. Separately, Li also met with two Lavrov deputies, Mikhail
Galuzin and Andrei Rudenko, Moscow said. "Concern was expressed about the
dangerous consequences of the growing involvement of NATO countries in the
Ukrainian conflict, (and) their actions to militarise Ukraine," the foreign
ministry said, referring to the meeting between Galuzin and Li. The Chinese
envoy's visit to the Russian capital came after Li met Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv earlier this month. Li has said there is "no panacea
to resolve the crisis." Since the start of Moscow's assault on Ukraine, Beijing
and Moscow have drawn closer under a partnership that has served as a diplomatic
bulwark against the West. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Moscow in March,
saying ties were "entering a new era."
Biden 'hopeful' of imminent US debt deal
Agence France Presse/May 27/2023
U.S. President Joe Biden has said that Democratic and Republican negotiators are
on the verge of resolving a debt ceiling standoff, as the deadline for a
potentially catastrophic U.S. default was pushed back to June 5.
"It's very close and I'm optimistic," Biden told reporters at the White
House. "I'm hopeful we'll know by tonight whether we're going to be able to have
a deal."Although there was no indication of an imminent public announcement, it
was the strongest sign yet that the drama in Washington might end, allowing the
government to borrow and avoid a default that would likely trigger a recession
and send shockwaves through the global economy. Earlier, Treasury Secretary
Janet Yellen said the dreaded X-date, when the government runs out of money
unless it can borrow, will now be June 5, not June 1. Yellen, however, warned
that the deadline extension does not change the urgency. "Waiting until the last
minute to suspend or increase the debt limit can cause serious harm to business
and consumer confidence, raise short-term borrowing costs for taxpayers, and
negatively impact the credit rating of the United States," she said in a letter
to the Republican leader of the House of Representatives, Speaker Kevin
McCarthy. According to unconfirmed U.S. media reports, the deal taking shape
would include an agreement to extend the government's borrowing authority for
two years, meaning no repeat of the current drama before the 2024 presidential
election. Democrats, however, would have to offer concessions on Republican
demands for sweeping spending limits on social safety and other domestic
programs. McCarthy told reporters that negotiators had "made progress" but
added: "Nothing is agreed to until it's all agreed to."
A sign of how difficult it may be to nail down a deal revolved around a
Republican demand that those applying for benefits like food assistance work for
them. White House spokesman Andrew Bates asserted that Republicans were willing
to put at risk "over eight million jobs unless they can take food out of the
mouths of hungry Americans." IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva cited
new data that she said showed the "US economy has proven resilient," but urged a
"speedy resolution" to avoid the first default in the country's history. "We
think of the US Treasury market as an anchor for the global financial system,
and this anchor needs to hold," she said.
Hostage-taking accusation
With the country getting a three-day Memorial Day holiday weekend, members of
Congress were leaving Washington on a 10-day recess. Even Biden -- to the
consternation of some in his own party -- headed to his Camp David retreat, then
his home in Delaware. Yet Wally Adeyemo, the deputy Treasury secretary, told CNN
that both Biden and McCarthy were focused on avoiding catastrophe. "The
president decided, the speaker has said it, and we have to get something done
before June," Adeyemo said. "The president is committed to making sure that we
have good faith negotiations with the Republicans to reach a deal, because the
alternative is catastrophic for all Americans." The debt ceiling raise is an
annual accounting maneuver that usually passes with little notice. It simply
allows the government to keep borrowing money to pay for bills already incurred
through the budget. This year, the increasingly hard-right Republican Party has
decided to turn the debt ceiling into leverage to force Biden to roll back
favorite Democratic spending priorities. Republicans call this taking
responsibility for the $31 trillion national debt. The White House accuses the
opposition party, which controls the House of Representatives, of taking the
economy hostage.
Military warning
Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries slammed the Republicans from the
House floor on Thursday, accusing them of risking "a dangerous default in a
crisis that they've created." Economists have spent months raising the prospect
of economic catastrophe should the government default, and top military brass
added their own dire prognosis Thursday, warning that the crisis would have a
"significant negative impact" on troops. "Readiness clearly would be impacted,"
Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters. McCarthy has
said lawmakers on recess will get 24 hours' notice if they are required to
return for a vote.
Serb clashes, West condemnation as Kosovo pushes through
mayors
Agence France Presse/May 27/2023
Police in northern Kosovo fired tear gas as Serbs protested the installation of
ethnic Albanian mayors, a decision that drew sharp condemnation from the United
States and European powers. Serbia, which ruled Kosovo until a NATO intervention
in 1999, placed its army on high alert and ordered forces towards the border, a
step it has taken repeatedly in recent years. Kosovo's ethnic Serb minority
boycotted elections in the north in April, allowing ethnic Albanians to take
control of the local councils despite the vote's tiny turnout of less than 3.5
percent. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti since last week has gone ahead and
installed mayors, defying calls by the European Union and the United States,
which has championed the territory's independence.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the United States "strongly
condemns" Kurti's move. "These actions have sharply and unnecessarily escalated
tensions, undermining our efforts to help normalise relations between Kosovo and
Serbia, and will have consequences for our bilateral relations with Kosovo,"
Blinken said in a statement. The United States also issued a joint statement
with Britain, France, Italy and Germany that condemned the decision and urged
Kosovo to "immediately step back and de-escalate." The
Western powers said they were also "concerned by Serbia's decision to raise the
level of readiness of its armed forces at the border with Kosovo and call on all
parties for maximum restraint, avoiding inflammatory rhetoric."
Injuries in clashes
In the Serb-majority town of Zvecan, Serb residents clashed with officers before
being pushed back, an AFP journalist witnessed. In videos posted online,
gunshots and shock bombs could be heard. Ambulances arrived at the scene, where
around 10 people suffered minor injuries "from shock bombs and tear gas, and
also visible facial injuries", Danica Radomirovic, deputy head of the local
hospital, told local media.* Five police officers sustained slight injuries from
"heavy objects and shock bombs" that were thrown in their direction, Kosovo
police said. "Material damage was also caused to four official vehicles. One of
them was set on fire... Gunshots were also heard nearby," Kosovo police added.
Kosovo police earlier confirmed that the officers were escorting newly elected
mayors into their workplaces. Serbian state-run broadcaster RTS reported that
Kosovo police also used tear gas in the Zubin Potok and Leposavic
municipalities. Local ethnic Serbs have begun to erect roadblocks in Leposavic
as a sign of protest at the events, RTS reported. Serbia last put its army on a
heightened state of alert in December after Serbs erected barricades to protest
at the arrest of an ex-policeman. There are frequent bouts of unrest in Kosovo's
northern districts, home to many ethnic Serbs, who have remained loyal to
Belgrade and never accepted Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence in
2008. An estimated 120,000 Serbs live in Kosovo, many in the four northern
districts. Belgrade backed the local election boycott in April. It is pushing
for an "association of Serb municipalities" -- a form of autonomy for the Serb
minority in Kosovo, where the majority of the 1.8 million inhabitants are ethnic
Albanian. The main Serb party from Kosovo threatened a "decisive response" from
ethnic Serbs if the "repression" by Kurti does not stop.
In March, Kosovo and Serbia stopped short of signing a potentially landmark deal
to normalize their relations, despite months of shuttle diplomacy by European
Union mediators.
Pope Francis holds talks with head of Muslim World League
in the Vatican
Arab News/May 27, 2023
LONDON: The Secretary-General of the Muslim World League, Sheikh Mohammad Al-Issa,
on Saturday held talks with Pope Francis at his office in Saint Martha House in
the Vatican, the organization said. The two sides discussed a number of issues
related to shared values and the civilizational alliance, it added. Following
the meeting, Alissa said he was delighted with the sincere, brotherly and deep
dialogue with Pope Francis at his residence. “We discussed our shared values and
building bridges between civilizations based on effective and sustainable
initiatives,” he added. “I appreciate Pope Francis’s kind hospitality and noble
sentiments. Pope Francis held a number of private meetings on Saturday after
resuming his regular appointments a day after canceling his schedule due to a
fever.
Erdogan positioned to extend rule in Turkiye
runoff election
Reuters/May 28, 2023
ANKARA: Turks vote on Sunday in a presidential runoff that could see Tayyip
Erdogan extend his rule into a third decade and intensify Turkiye’s increasingly
authoritarian path, muscular foreign policy and unorthodox economic governance.
Erdogan, 69, defied opinion polls and came out comfortably ahead with an almost
five-point lead over his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the first round on May 14.
But he fell just short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff, in a race
with profound consequences for Turkiye itself and global geopolitics. His
unexpectedly strong showing amid a deep cost of living crisis, and a win in
parliamentary elections for a coalition of his conservative Islamist-rooted AK
Party (AKP), the nationalist MHP and others, buoyed the veteran campaigner who
says a vote for him is a vote for stability. Kilicdaroglu, 74, is the candidate
of a six-party opposition alliance, and leads the Republican People’s Party (CHP)
created by Turkiye’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. His camp has struggled to
regain momentum after the shock of trailing Erdogan in the first round. The
election will decide not only who leads Turkiye, a NATO-member country of 85
million, but also how it is governed, where its economy is headed after its
currency plunged to one tenth of its value against the dollar in a decade, and
the shape of its foreign policy, which has seen Turkiye irk the West by
cultivating ties with Russia and Gulf states. The initial election showed
larger-than-expected support for nationalism — a powerful force in Turkish
politics which has been hardened by years of hostilities with Kurdish militants,
an attempted coup in 2016 and the influx of millions of refugees from Syria
since war began there in 2011. Turkiye is the world’s largest host of refugees,
with some 5 million migrants, of whom 3.3 million are Syrians, according to
Interior Ministry data. Third-place presidential candidate and hard-line
nationalist Sinan Ogan said he endorsed Erdogan based on a principle of
“non-stop struggle (against) terrorism,” referring to pro-Kurdish groups. He
achieved 5.17 percent of the vote. Another nationalist, Umit Ozdag, leader of
the anti-immigrant Victory Party (ZP), announced a deal declaring ZP’s support
for Kilicdaroglu, after he said he would repatriate immigrants. The ZP won 2.2
percent of votes in this month’s parliamentary election. A closely-watched
survey by pollster Konda for the runoff put support for Erdogan on 52.7 percent
and Kilicdaroglu on 47.3 percent after distributing undecided voters. The survey
was carried out on May 20-21, before Ogan and Ozdag revealed their endorsements.
Another key is how Turkiye’s Kurds, at about a fifth of the population, will
vote. The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) party endorsed
Kilicdaroglu in the first round but, after his lurch to the right to win
nationalist votes, it did not explicitly name him and urged voters rather to
reject Erdogan’s “one-man regime” in the runoff.
’MORE ERDOGAN’
Polls will open at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) and close at 5 p.m. (1400 GMT). By late on
Sunday there should be a clear indication of the winner. “Turkiye has a
longstanding democratic tradition and a longstanding nationalist tradition, and
right now it’s clearly the nationalist one that’s winning out. Erdogan has fused
religious and national pride, offering voters an aggressive anti-elitism,” said
Nicholas Danforth, Turkiye historian and non-resident fellow at think tank
ELIAMEP. “More Erdogan means more Erdogan. People know who he is and what his
vision for the country is, and it seems a lot of them approve.”
Turkiye’s president has pulled out all the stops on the campaign trail as he
battles to survive his toughest political test. He commands fierce loyalty from
pious Turks who once felt disenfranchised in secular Turkiye and his political
career has survived the failed coup and corruption scandals.
Erdogan has taken tight control of most of Turkiye’s institutions and sidelined
liberals and critics. Human Rights Watch, in its World Report 2022, said
Erdogan’s government has set back Turkiye’s human rights record by decades.
However, if Turks do oust Erdogan, it will be largely because they saw their
prosperity, equality and ability to meet basic needs decline, with inflation
that topped 85 percent in October 2022. Kilicdaroglu, a former civil servant,
has pledged to roll back much of Erdogan’s sweeping changes to Turkish domestic,
foreign and economic policies. He would also revert to the parliamentary system
of governance, from Erdogan’s executive presidential system, narrowly passed in
a referendum in 2017.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on May 27-28/2023
Europe’s strategic negligence in the Mediterranean
Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/May 27/2023
The EU has long been grappling with the issue of irregular migration across the
Mediterranean. Each year, thousands of people embark on perilous journeys in an
attempt to reach Europe, often fleeing conflict, poverty and persecution in
their home countries — contrary to stereotypical, dismissive assessments of them
being opportunistic economic migrants. Unfortunately, many journeys end in
tragedy, with countless lives lost at sea.
Despite the EU’s “best” efforts to address this crisis, its current approach,
which focuses on the security dimension rather than humane, pre-emptive
interventions, adds to claims by critics that Europe has adopted a policy of
“strategic negligence” — a deliberate or inadvertent failure to address a
critical issue, resulting in negative consequences. Not only have interceptions
at sea become more deadly, rescue operations for distressed or capsized boats
are delayed, which leads to more tragedy.
A prime example of this is the EU’s obsessive, short-term focus on border
control and deterrence measures. In 2020, the EU allocated €23.8 billion to
its border management agency, Frontex, for the period of 2021-27, a significant
increase from just €6.4 billion in the previous period. While border
control is an important aspect of migration management, this overemphasis on
security has come at the expense of not addressing the root causes of irregular
migration, such as conflict, poverty and lack of economic opportunities in
countries of origin.
Calls to prioritize tackling those root causes consistently fall on deaf ears,
which only exacerbates the very risks Europe is seeking to avoid, such as
increased instability, worsening social tensions and the growth of criminal
networks involved in human smuggling. A very security-oriented approach has
clearly not worked. If anything, it only tries to alleviate the symptoms by
inadvertently fueling additional troubles.
Another example is the EU’s cooperation with third countries, such as Libya and
Tunisia, to build a virtual wall to deter boats leaving North African shores.
This “cooperation” typically comes in the form of financial and technical
assistance to assist the Libyan Coast Guard intercept and return migrants
attempting to cross the Mediterranean. However, this approach has been heavily
criticized for trapping migrants in a cycle of violence and abuse in Libyan
detention centers, where they face inhumane conditions, torture, and even death.
This not only violates the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the
return of individuals to countries where they may face persecution. It also
perpetuates the same conditions and desperation that drives migration in the
first place. Besides, it also undermines the EU’s professed commitment to human
rights and humanitarian principles.
The EU’s glaringly flawed policies have created an awful tragedy that endangers
both migrants and their host communities. To drum up support for exclusionary,
knee-jerk responses, governments have helped to fuel a rise in far-right,
anti-immigrant sentiments in Europe, or at least kept it mainstream by framing
migration as a security threat. This inadvertently fuels xenophobia and racism,
which are easily exploited by far-right parties to gain political power,
polarizing European societies and undermining social cohesion. Unchecked, it
could go on to spawn even more extreme ideologies that have little to do with
migration but everything to do with giving a platform to warped worldviews, of
which rabid Euroskepticism is a part.
The EU’s glaringly flawed policies have created an awful tragedy that endangers
both migrants and their host communities.
The dogged focus on deterrence and border control has already led to an increase
in the number of deaths at sea. According to the International Organization for
Migration, more than 20,000 migrants have died in the Mediterranean since 2014,
thousands more are still missing. This year alone, there have already been more
than 400 deaths, according to the organization.
It is not difficult to spot a direct correlation between Europe doubling down on
its policies and the worsening death tolls. Curiously, tougher policies have
only forced migrants to continue setting out on what are now increasingly
dangerous routes to reach Europe. One Somali poet, Warsan Shire, succinctly
described why that could be the case in her poem, “Home” — “... No one puts
their children in a boat/unless the water is safer than the land ...”
So, what can Europe do differently to prevent what is quickly becoming
inevitable?
To address the crisis of irregular migration in the Mediterranean effectively,
the EU must shift its focus from security-focused policies to a more
comprehensive and humane approach. This should include investing in long-term
development programs in countries of origin to address the factors that drive
irregular migration, such as poverty, conflict and lack of economic
opportunities. This should be done in partnership with local governments, civil
society organizations and international agencies to ensure that interventions
are tailored to the specific needs of each country.
Secondly, the EU should expand legal pathways for migration, such as
humanitarian visas, family reunification and labor migration programs. This
would not only provide migrants with a safer and more dignified way to reach
Europe but would also help to address labor shortages in various sectors of the
European economy. The EU should also work with third countries to establish and
expand safe migration routes. This would require granting legal status to
migrants who have traveled through these routes, as well as providing them with
the opportunity to apply for humanitarian visas. These measures would help to
reduce the number of migrants taking dangerous journeys across the
Mediterranean, and in other areas where human smuggling is prevalent, profiting
transnational criminal organizations.
Thirdly, improvements must be made regarding the reception and integration of
migrants. This would include improving access to welfare benefits, as well as
opportunities for employment and education. It should also be simultaneous with
efforts to deal with the root causes that drive migration through support to
countries in their efforts to improve governance, rule of law and human rights
protections. The EU must also make sure that the rights of migrants are
respected and protected. This includes guaranteeing access to health care and
education, as well as legal aid in cases of abuse or trafficking.
Furthermore, the EU needs to provide more humanitarian assistance to countries
that are hosting large numbers of refugees and migrants, including by increasing
funding for the refugee crisis in Europe. This can be in the form of providing
additional humanitarian assistance to countries that typically host large
numbers of refugees and migrants, while also setting aside adequate funding for
addressing the knock-on effects of a sharp rise in arrivals. Throughout, the EU
must emphasize the respect for and protection of the rights of migrants by
guaranteeing access to health care and education, as well as legal aid in cases
of abuse or trafficking.
Finally, Europe must reform the Dublin Regulation, which currently places the
responsibility for processing asylum applications on the first country of entry.
This has led to a disproportionate burden on frontline states, such as Italy and
Greece, and has contributed to the fragmentation of the European asylum system.
A more equitable distribution of responsibility among EU member states is needed
to ensure a fairer and efficient asylum process.
It is unlikely that there will ever be a sustained “lull” in arrivals to buy
time for EU member states to adjust policies, implement new approaches or even
examine the feasibility of some new “compact” on irregular migration. Thus,
Europe will have to change on the go and find new ways of burden-sharing,
especially targeting sustainable search-and-rescue operations and other similar
interventions onshore or at sea. The heavily security-focused case-by-case
“solutions” today need to be replaced by a more permanent system that emphasizes
solidarity and ensures EU member states all contribute to support “front-line”
countries which are under growing pressure.
• Hafed Al-Ghwell is a senior fellow and executive director of the Ibn Khaldun
Strategic Initiative at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins
University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC, and the
former adviser to the dean of the board of executive directors of the World Bank
Group. Twitter: @HafedAlGhwell
Iran's Nuclear Program: Does the Biden Administration Have
a Policy?
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute./May 27, 2023
Since 2021, the Biden Administration has been cozying up to Iran in a way that
has often seemed agonizingly embarrassing to entice it back to the disastrous
2015 "JCPOA" nuclear deal of the Obama Administration. Mercifully those efforts
did not succeed: the new deal would still most likely have enabled Iran, after a
few years, legitimately to have all the nuclear weapons it liked.
Meanwhile, in Israel, on May 22, US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides was asked,
"Can Israel attack Iran without the US? What about the lack of meetings between
President Biden and PM Netanyahu?" Nides answered: "The coordination between
Israel and US vis-à-vis our mutual enemies, our common threats in the region, is
rock solid. One of the things President Biden assured both PM Bennett and Lapid,
and Netanyahu, was that there would be complete transparency regarding
coordination on Iran.... And it's not just Iran, it's its proxies. We stand here
to support Israel and work with it to make sure Iran never attains a nuclear
weapon."
The trouble is, can we believe him?
So far, the Biden Administration's lack of strategy towards the Iranian regime
also became evident during the recent briefing about Iran that disappointed U.S.
Senators.
"Strategic ambiguity on Iran policy only serves to embolden the regime and push
our partners closer to China." — Senator Jim Risch, May 17, 2023.
The Biden administration is also not putting any pressure on the European Union
to stop trading with Iran. In fact, bragged the Tehran Times, "The value of
Iran's export to the European Union (EU)'s member states rose 28 percent in the
first nine months of 2022."
Iran's increasing trade with and exports to the EU are also increasing the
regime's revenues and assisting it to supply more weapons to Russia.
"The source claimed that two Russian-flagged cargo ships, departed an Iranian
port in January bound for Russia via the Caspian Sea, carrying approximately 100
million bullets and around 300,000 shells. Ammunition for rocket launchers,
mortars and machine guns was allegedly included in the shipments. The source
said Moscow paid for the ammunition in cash." – Sky News, March 8, 2023.
Finally, Iran is now producing more oil and selling it at levels close to the
pre-sanctions era to countries such as China, which desperately needs more oil,
while the Biden Administration suspended new oil and gas leases on public lands
and waters.
The Biden Administration's policies of appeasement are directly energizing the
Iranian regime. We need to remember what Winston Churchill warned against about
appeasing aggressors: "Each one hopes that if he feeds the crocodile enough, the
crocodile will eat him last."
Ever since President Joe Biden assumed office, Iran has been freely enriching
uranium to levels just short of nuclear breakout – levels not needed for
peaceful nuclear technology – and violating sanctions. Pictured: The Isfahan
uranium enrichment facility in Isfahan, Iran. (Photo by Getty Images)
The Biden Administration's reluctance to enforce existing sanctions on Iran --
the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, according to the State
Department in 2021 -- looks suspiciously like total appeasement of Iran's ruling
mullahs.
Since 2021, the Biden Administration has been cozying up to Iran in a way that
has often seemed agonizingly embarrassing to entice it back to the disastrous
2015 "JCPOA" nuclear deal of the Obama Administration. Mercifully those efforts
did not succeed: the new deal would still most likely have enabled Iran, after a
few years, legitimately to have all the nuclear weapons it liked.
Meanwhile, in Israel, on May 22, US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides was asked,
"Can Israel attack Iran without the US? What about the lack of meetings between
President Biden and PM Netanyahu?" Nides answered:
"The coordination between Israel and US vis-à-vis our mutual enemies, our common
threats in the region, is rock solid. One of the things President Biden assured
both PM Bennett and Lapid, and Netanyahu, was that there would be complete
transparency regarding coordination on Iran.... And it's not just Iran, it's its
proxies. We stand here to support Israel and work with it to make sure Iran
never attains a nuclear weapon."
The trouble is, can we believe him?
So far, the Biden Administration's lack of strategy towards the Iranian regime
also became evident during the recent briefing about Iran that disappointed U.S.
Senators. According to Senator Josh Hawley:
"Based on what I heard ... they really don't have much to say on the topic, and
I didn't think it was particularly useful briefing. I don't know if they really
have a coherent strategy if there is one I didn't I didn't hear."
Senator Jim Risch had similar message; he released a brief statement on May 16,
saying:
"It's been over six months since President Biden declared the JCPOA 'dead' and
we're still no closer to a more comprehensive Iran policy. Strategic ambiguity
on Iran policy only serves to embolden the regime and push our partners closer
to China."
Not only has the Biden administration abandoned the "maximum pressure" policy on
the mullahs, also, ever since President Joe Biden assumed office, Iran has been
freely enriching uranium to levels just short of nuclear breakout – levels not
needed for peaceful nuclear technology – and violating sanctions. With Russia's
invasion of Ukraine, the Iran has become a major weapons smuggler and exporter
to the aggressors. Russia has depleted the supply of attack drones that it
previously bought from Iran and, according to a report published on May 15,
2023, is looking to purchase more.
According to White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby:
"Iran also continues to provide Russia with one-way attack UAVs (unmanned aerial
vehicles). Since August, Iran has provided Russia with more than 400 UAVs
primarily of the Shahed variety...Russia has expended most of these UAVs, using
them to target Ukrainian critical infrastructure inside Ukraine. By providing
Russia with these UAVs, Iran has been directly enabling Russia's war of
aggression in Ukraine."
The Biden administration is also not putting any pressure on the European Union
to stop trading with Iran. In fact, bragged the Tehran Times,
"The value of Iran's export to the European Union (EU)'s member states rose 28
percent in the first nine months of 2022... Iran exported commodities worth €799
million to the union in the nine-month period of this year, while the figure was
€623 million in the same time span of the previous year... the total value of
trade between Iran and the European Union reached €3.947 billion in
January-September 2022, while the figure was €3.025 billion in the same period
of 2021."
Iran's increasing trade with and exports to the EU are also increasing the
regime's revenues and assisting it to supply more weapons to Russia. The Iranian
regime, in favor of the Russian invasion from the outset, praised Russia's
decision to send troops into Ukraine. Iran's weapons exports to Russia have not
been limited just to exporting drones. according to a recent report from Sky
News:
"Iran has secretly supplied large quantities of bullets, rockets and mortar
shells to Russia for the war in Ukraine and plans to send more, a security
source has told Sky News.
"The source claimed that two Russian-flagged cargo ships, departed an Iranian
port in January bound for Russia via the Caspian Sea, carrying approximately 100
million bullets and around 300,000 shells.
"Ammunition for rocket launchers, mortars and machine guns was allegedly
included in the shipments.
"The source said Moscow paid for the ammunition in cash."
Finally, Iran is now producing more oil and selling it at levels close to the
pre-sanctions era to countries such as China, which desperately needs more oil,
while the Biden Administration suspended new oil and gas leases on public lands
and waters.
The Biden Administration's policies of appeasement are directly energizing the
Iranian regime. We need to remember what Winston Churchill warned against about
appeasing aggressors:
"Each one hopes that if he feeds the crocodile enough, the crocodile will eat
him last. All of them hope that the storm will pass before their turn comes to
be devoured. But I fear -- I fear greatly -- the storm will not pass. It will
rage and it will roar, ever more loudly, ever more widely. It will spread to the
South; it will spread to the North."
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated
scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and
president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has
authored several books on Islam and US Foreign Policy. He can be reached at
Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
© 2023 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Russia and Iran press ahead with ‘New Suez’
Nikola Mikovic/The Arab Weekly/May 27/2023
Russia and Iran hope that the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC)
could be a game-changer for global trade. Even though the project is still far
from being fully operational, officials from both countries have repeatedly
framed the corridor as an alternative to the Suez Canal.
The INSTC consists of 7,200 kilometres of sea routes, rail links and roads that
connect Mumbai to St Petersburg. The route runs from northern Russia across the
Caspian Sea to southern Iran for shipment through the Strait of Hormuz and into
the Arabian Sea, or Indian Ocean.
Moscow and Tehran hope the corridor will reduce reliance on the Suez Canal, one
of the busiest shipping routes in the world that currently accounts for about 12
percent of global trade
[pdfjs-viewer url=https://www.mfat.govt.nz/assets/Trade/MFAT-Market-reports/The-Importance-of-the-Suez-Canal-to-Global-Trade-18-April-2021.pdf
viewer_width=600px viewer_height=700px fullscreen=true download=true print=true
openfile=false] and help Russia and Iran improve their positions in the
international arena. A pair of deals in May has added momentum to the project,
including an agreement on May 18 to jointly build and purchase 20 cargo ships.
According to Russian sources, it takes 30 to 45 days to deliver cargo by sea
from Mumbai to St Petersburg. But once a transit through Iran is established, it
will take only 15 to 24 days. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said he believes
the INSTC “will help to significantly diversify global traffic flows,” and
provide “obvious economic benefits” for both Iran and Russia. But the problem
for Iranian and Russian strategic planners is that there is no guarantee the
corridor will be completed anytime soon, if at all.
The two countries have been discussing this project for more than 20 years.
Railroad construction was stalled for years due to financial, logistical, as
well as political, complications. It is rather questionable whether the Kremlin
would have decided to invest in the corridor if the European Union and the
United States had not imposed sanctions on Russia following its invasion of
Ukraine.
Even some Iranian analysts claim that, before the war in Ukraine, Russian
officials showed little interest in the construction of the INSTC railway, as
they could ship goods from the Novorossiysk Port in the Black Sea to India.
Given that the war in Ukraine threatens Russia’s Black Sea shipping operations,
the Kremlin was forced to look for alternatives. Moscow, isolated from the West,
now seeks to develop close economic, political and military ties with Tehran.
The INSTC could be seen as the Kremlin’s attempt to bypass Western sanctions and
continue doing business with other countries more or less as usual.
But a sea route linking Russia and India via Iran does not resolve all of
Moscow’s problems. To make the corridor fully operational, the Kremlin will also
have to complete the land route running from northern Russia through Azerbaijan
into northern Iran and then to the Arabian Gulf. On May 17, Russian President
Vladimir Putin signed a $1.7 billion contract to build the Rasht-Astara rail
line, a project in northern Iran which will serve as a key cargo transit route
within the INSTC system.
In other words, it is Moscow, rather than Tehran, that will fund the
construction of a 162-kilometre railway between the Iranian cities of Rasht and
Astara. It is believed that Russia will also build the railway linking Iran’s
Astara with the Azerbaijani city of the same name. According to Putin, Russia,
Iran and Azerbaijan are preparing an agreement on cooperation in the development
of railway infrastructure and freight traffic along the north-south route.
Even though Russia has a history of constructing rail lines in the region, the
first railways in Iran, connecting Tabriz and Mashhad, as well as Tehran and
Isfahan, were built by the Russian Empire, under the current geopolitical
circumstances, the fate of Putin’s ambitious plan remains rather uncertain. Even
if Moscow and Tehran manage to complete the sea route of the INSTC, tense
relations between Iran and Azerbaijan could have a significant impact on the
land section.
Moreover, it will take at least four years for Russia to build railways in the
region. Meanwhile, bogged down in Ukraine, the Kremlin could start facing
large-scale turmoil at home, and such an outcome would undoubtedly affect its
plans to complete the land corridor to Iran. Given that the transportation
network is expected to go through Azerbaijan, rather than via Russian ally
Armenia’s territory, Armenia is expected to continue turning its back on Moscow,
which will be another consequence of Putin’s decision to launch the ambitious
but very risky geopolitical project.
More importantly, if the INSTC passes through Azerbaijan, Moscow and Tehran will
become heavily dependent on Baku, a loyal ally of NATO-member Turkey. The fact
that Iran indirectly supports Armenia against Azerbaijan and that tensions
between Baku and Yerevan, be they over Nagorno-Karabakh or over other
territorial and political disputes, still remain high, additionally complicates
the situation in the South Caucasus. Thus, a wide range of geopolitical
challenges lies ahead of Russia and Iran.
Finally, the corridor is heavily-linked with the fate of the Russian and Iranian
regimes. If either of the two countries faces significant turmoil in the next
few years, the realisation of the INSTC will become quite uncertain.
*Nikola Mikovic is a political analyst in Serbia. His work focuses mostly on the
foreign policies of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, with special attention on
energy and “pipeline politics.”
Türkiye: What Would Father Say?
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/May 27/2023
On coming Sunday Turkish voters go to the polls to elect their president while a
special task force works on ceremonies to mark the centenary of the
establishment of the Turkish Republic on 29 October 1923.
But what would the man who founded the republic think of Türkiye today?
The man in question is Mustafa Kemal Pasha, alias Ataturk (Father of the Turks),
the charismatic military commander who transformed the truncated remains of the
Ottoman Empire into a nation-state aspiring to modernize itself.
At first glance, Ataturk would be proud of what he did. The republic he founded
is the oldest in the Muslim world and one of the few that were founded by
strongmen outside the West in the 1920s to be still in place. More importantly,
Ataturk remains the only iconic figure of his time to be still respected, if no
longer revered, by all his compatriots across the political spectrum.
And, yet, the Father may find out that in a number of ways his grandchildren
have diverged from the path he had traced for them.
Ataturk’s republic was created around an army that, rising from the ashes of the
First World War, cast itself as the guarantor of the new state and the ultimate
arbiter of its politics.
Ataturk may also be surprised by the radical ideological changes that his army
and republic have experienced in the past quarter of a century. Ataturkism, to
coin a sobriquet, tried to reinvent Türkiye’s identity as a modern state
claiming Hittite and Celtic roots, distancing itself from the “decadent Orient”
and hoping to regain its proper place in the family of European nations.
Ataturk tried to shape that new identity by replacing the Arabic alphabet with a
modified version of the Latin one and purging Turkish from Arabic and Persian
loan words in favor of words taken from European languages, notably French.
More importantly, Ataturk introduced the concept of secularism, using the French
term “laicite”, to end the centuries’ long mixture of religion and politics
under the Ottoman caliphs.
His “one nation under one flag” melted a variety of identities, from Armenian
and Greek to Arab and Kurdish ones, into the one-size-fits-all concept of
Turkitude
(being Turkish) while rejecting chauvinistic aberrations such as pan-Turkism and
pan-Turanism.
Today, however, Ataturk may be surprised by the radical ideological changes that
his army and republic have experienced in the past quarter of a century
Thanks to a series of brutal reforms by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the army
is now cast as the “big mute” observer of Turkish politics.
The new identity that Ataturk tried to create has also been subverted by
Erdogan’s reforms. Erdogan has tried to re-inject a large dose of Islamism of
the Muslim Brotherhood type, into the Turkish identity. At the same time, he has
encouraged the expression of sub-identities, some of them, to justify his
peddling of Turkish Islam as the broad tent under which all Turks could gather
under one flag.
Thus the Kurds, around 15 percent of the population, have been able to discard
the identity that Ataturk imposed on them as “Mountain Turks” and claim a bigger
role in Turkish politics and culture in their own name.
Ataturk’s laicite has also been upturned. In 1923 it was the state that
controlled the mosque through a ministry of religion. Today, at times, the
demarcation line between the state and the mosque is too pale to be seen by all.
As far as aspirations to be European are concerned, Türkiye is now farther away
from securing a place in the European family of nations than ever. Even under
the Ottomans, Türkiye saw itself as a European power, even if lonely as “the
sick man of Europe.”
Ataturk may also be dismayed by the return of pan-Turkist and pan-Turanist
elements with a chauvinistic discourse that he regarded as repulsive.
Finally, Ataturk is sure to be unhappy about the extent of the corruption that
has gangrened large segments of Turkish public life. He may find that the
authoritarian style he introduced remains intact but is used in the interest of
increasingly narrowing power elites.
Imitating the British wo-party system, Ataturk created two parties: the People’s
Republican Party (CHP) to offer a vaguely social-democratic option and the
Justice (Adalet) Party) as a conservative voice with a faint Islamist accent.
Those parties have morphed into broad coalitions of diverse interest groups
seeking a place at the banquet table.
Would Ataturk be surprised if Erdogan won next Sunday? I don’t think so. Erdogan
has a solid support base with some 30 percent of the electorate and has been
able to coopt or bribe a number of smaller constituencies into voting for him.
Since the alleged coup attempt in 2016, he has been working to ensure his
domination of Turkish politics by removing as many potential opposition bases as
possible.
Erdogan has defanged the military top brass and dismantled the Gulenist network
of Islamist clubs and businesses. He has sent 77000 real or imagined opponents
to prison for varying lengths of time. He has organized trials for 13,500
prominent figures from all walks of life, purged 2,745 judges and public
prosecutors, and imposed early retirement on 36,000 school teachers and 1,755
university chancellors and deans. Overall, Erdogan has fired 100,000 civil
servants including 9,000 from the Ministry of Interior which organizes the
elections.
More importantly, Erdogan has tightened his party’s control over the media by
shutting down 45 daily newspapers, 25 weeklies, 23 radio stations, 16 TV
channels, and 29 book publishing companies. His crackdown has also seen the
cancellation of 50,000 passports, preventing the holders from leaving the
country. Ataturk served as president of the republic he had created for 15 years
during which Türkiye was one of the few countries to escape the tsunami of
inflation that had hit Europe, leading to the emergence of Mussolini as
effective ruler of Italy, the collapse of the Weimar Republic in Germany and the
advent of Hitler. Next Sunday, Ataturk will watch the polls as the Turks face an
economic meltdown with inflation-setting records never known in their history.
The “Father” won’t be happy. However, his sole consolation would be that 100
years later, a majority of Turks still see him as a unifying figure at a time
the leadership elites of all ideological colors try to divide them.