Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 18-19/2023
Berri to call for dialogue in early October, says everyone should participate
Naharnet/September 18/2023
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri will call for dialogue in early October. "If nothing happens, I will head the dialogue with Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab," Berri told al-Liwaa newspaper in remarks published Monday. Berri had called for a seven-day dialogue, following which open presidential election sessions would be held. The blocs opposed to Hezbollah have refused to take part in talks to agree on a president before proceeding with a vote, preferring to rely on the democratic process. "It will be like the papal election," Berri said to stress that the election will be held through open sessions with successive rounds. In the first round of voting, the winner needs two-thirds majority, or 86 votes from the 128 members of parliament. In the second round, the winner only requires 65 ballots. "We still have time," Berri said, adding that he has hope that a solution will be reached.
Berri confirmed that Qataris will visit Lebanon with a proposal, as Qatari envoy Abou Fahad Jassem Al-Thani will reportedly arrive in Beirut today to address Lebanon’s presidential file. Berri called on everyone to participate in the seven-day dialogue for it to be "fruitful." "Let's wait for the parties' final decisions to act accordingly," he said.

Report: Doha envoy arrives in Beirut today, Aoun part of Hezbollah's 'Plan B'
Naharnet/September 18/2023
Qatari envoy Abou Fahad Jassem Al-Thani will arrive in Beirut today, Monday to kick off a visit related to Lebanon’s presidential file, the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported. The daily added that “Hezbollah now has a Plan B for the presidency” and that it “contains” the name of Army chief General Joseph Aoun. “Iran does not intend to oppose the army chief’s candidacy,” Nidaa al-Watan said. Moreover, the daily reported that Speaker Nabih Berri has been “infuriated” by Qatar’s reported endorsement of Aoun’s nomination. “He started clinging to (Suleiman) Franjieh’s nomination and asked Hezbollah to speed up its dialogue with Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil and to agree to his demands in order to block Aoun’s nomination,” Nidaa al-Watan said.

Two injured in Northern Iran after debris falls from military test projectile
AFP/September 18/2023
An explosive military projectile detonated on Monday during a military test in Iran, and its debris fell on the city of Gorgan (North), resulting in injuries to two individuals, according to Iran's Ministry of Defense and Iranian media reports. The spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Defense, Reza Talaei-Nik, informed the official television, "During a research test of offensive and drone systems, which took place in a desert area, one of these systems suffered a technical malfunction, deviating from its intended path and disintegrating." He added, "Parts of it fell in the city of Gorgan," which has a population of 350,000, without providing details about the nature of the projectile. Ali Mohajer, an official in Golestan Province, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), stated, "Two people were injured." The Tasnim News Agency noted that the city's residents heard a loud noise when the debris fell, especially on one of the main streets. Local residents rushed to extinguish the debris emitting smoke, as shown in a video clip published by the agency. Iran, subject to sanctions from the United States and other Western countries, possesses an extensive arms industry, including a wide range of missiles and drones.-

Three hurt in Australian University campus stabbing
AFP/September 18/2023
Three people have been wounded after a stabbing at an Australian university campus on Monday afternoon, police said. Two 20-year-old women are in hospital -- one in critical condition and one stable -- after the attack, which happened around 2.45 pm (0445 GMT) at the Australian National University in Canberra. Both women were students at the university. Australian Capital Territory police said a 34-year-old man was also attacked and suffered minor injuries but did not need to go to hospital. A 24-year-old man has been arrested but has not yet been charged. Police said he was not believed to be a student at the university and "no specific motive for the incident has been identified".

Mikati meets Nuland in New York, asks international community to support Lebanon facing Syrian displacement crisis
NNA /September 18/2023
Caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Monday kicked off his official meetings in New York, where he had an audience with U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland, in presence of Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Abdullah Bou Habib, and US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Ethan Goldrich. The meeting reportedly focused on Lebanese-American relations and the multiple issues currently facing Lebanon. For his part, Mikati called on “the international community to support Lebanon addressing the expanding Syrian displacement crisis, which poses a great threat to Lebanon and its social fabric.” "The government has completed the reform projects required by the International Monetary Fund, and the file is now in the custody of the House of Parliament to decide what it deems appropriate,” Mikati added. In turn, the US official called on the Lebanese political parties to expedite the election of a new president of the republic, stressing that "Washington supports any inter-Lebanese dialogue in this regard." Nuland also called on Lebanon to "activate cooperation with international organizations, especially the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in a bid to address the new Syrian displacement file and all aspects of the displacement file." The US official also stressed that "Washington supports the Lebanese army", reiterating the pressing need to "complete economic and financial reforms."

Opposition to 'vote for army chief' in second electoral round
Naharnet/September 18/2023
The opposition has inched closer to endorsing the presidential nomination of Army chief General Joseph Aoun, the Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper has reported. “The advantage is for the army chief in the presidential file in this extraordinary period,” opposition MP Ashraf Rifi said in a radio interview. French envoy Jean-Yves “Le Drian is preparing the third choice, seeing as Hezbollah has confirmed that the most that Suleiman Franjieh can get is 51 votes, after the (recent electoral) battle between Franjieh and Jihad Azour,” Rifi added. “Should the Shiite Duo insist to save face with Suleiman Franjieh, the confrontation in the first round will be between Franjieh and opposition candidate Jihad Azour, but I believe that General Joseph Aoun will be the opposition’s candidate in the second round,” Rifi said. Caretaker Information Minister Ziad Makari, who is close to Franjieh, meanwhile announced that “we have moved from the Franjieh-Azour phase to the Suleiman Franjieh-Joseph Aoun phase.” “There is no candidate other than them and Franjieh is a firm candidate with support from his allies and based on 51 votes that are likely to surge in any upcoming session,” Makari added, noting that “withdrawal is not an option for Suleiman Franjieh.”

Army Commander meets Kaaki, Kayal
NNA/September 18/2023
Lebanese Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, on Monday welcomed in Yarzeh head of the Press Syndicate, Aouni Al-Kaaki, and head of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchal Monastery of Saint Elias, Bishop Constantine Kayal, with whom he discussed general local issues.

Army chief says not interested in becoming president
Naharnet/September 18/2023
Army Commander General Joseph Aoun on Monday announced that he does not “care” about the presidential file. “I don't care about it, it doesn't concern me, no one has discussed it with me and I haven't discussed it with anyone,” Aoun said during a meeting with a delegation from the Press Syndicate. As for the situation at the Ain el-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp, which has recently witnessed several rounds of deadly fighting, Aoun said: “There is no intention nor an endeavor by the army to enter the Ain el-Helweh camp.”“We have taken all the measures and deployed a military force around the camp to prevent the fighting from spilling from it,” the commander added. As for the issue of the smuggling of Syrian refugees through the land border, Aoun said “smuggling is currently reined in with an 85% rate,” noting that “the border is vast, open and intertwined” and that the army does not have enough personnel or logistical capabilities to fully seal it.

Report: Berri, Hezbollah still support Franjieh, to only discuss names via dialogue
Naharnet
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Hezbollah continue to support Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh as a presidential candidate, Shiite Duo sources told al-Jadeed. The only way to discuss names is through dialogue, the sources said. Berri had called for parliamentary blocs to engage in a seven-day dialogue, following which open presidential election sessions would be held. The blocs opposed to Hezbollah have refused to take part in talks to agree on a president before proceeding with a vote, preferring to rely on the democratic process, while Hezbollah's old ally, the Free Patriotic Movement cautiously approached the issue. At first, FPM chief Jebran Bassil lauded Berri's initiative but later criticized it. At an FPM ceremony Sunday celebrating his new term as FPM chief, Bassil said "let's engage in dialogue" to reach the election of a "reformist president with reformist characteristics" based on "an agreed-on reformist program." Sources close to Berri told al-Jadeed that dialogue should not be linked to presidential priorities and that Bassil should either accept or reject a dialogue that would discuss the president's name and not presidential priorities. Berri said he will call for the dialogue in early October, and stressed that all parties must participate for it to be fruitful.

Crisis at its peak: Unprecedented wave of illegal immigration hits Europe and Lebanon
LBCI/September 18/2023
Europe faces a severe humanitarian crisis as it witnesses an unprecedented wave of illegal migration reaching its peak. The alarm is echoing from Italy, which is experiencing significant pressure from undocumented migrants of various nationalities, particularly on the island of Lampedusa, where over 8,000 migrants arrived during the past week. Italian Prime Minister took urgent action by turning to the European Union for help. She was joined by the President of the European Commission, who visited the island and pledged assistance to relocate migrants outside Italy. This time, the migrants arrived via the shores of Africa. However, it is worth noting that Lebanon had previously served as a conduit for illegal migration to Italy. This route has become less utilized due to disasters involving deathboats.  Today, the maritime smuggling route from Lebanon to Cyprus appears to be active again, prompting Cypriot authorities to take measures to curb it, especially since Cypriots are on high alert. The majority of migrants arriving from Lebanon are Syrians. Given Syria's continuous crisis, there is a pressing need to secure stability in Lebanon. In a message to the Deputy Head of the European Commission, the Cypriot Interior Minister explicitly emphasized the urgent need for assistance to Lebanon in addressing the displacement crisis. In conclusion, European countries are increasingly aware of the risks associated with mass migration and prioritize their own interests over those of the displaced individuals and the host nations, including Lebanon. They are determined to prevent a continuous influx of refugees from various points of origin. When and how will the Lebanese people put the interests of their country first?

PM Mikati meets US official in New York: Washington supports any Lebanese-Lebanese dialogue
LBCI
Prime Minister Najib Mikati met with US Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland in New York on Monday to discuss Lebanese-American relations and Lebanon's challenges. During the meeting, Mikati called on the international community to support Lebanon in addressing the Syrian refugee crisis, which he stated has been growing and threatens Lebanon and its social fabric. He pointed out that the government has completed the required reform projects agreed upon with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and now rests with the Parliament to decide on the next steps. In turn, the US official urged Lebanese parties to expedite the election of a new president, emphasizing that Washington supports any Lebanese-Lebanese dialogue in this regard. She also encouraged Lebanon to enhance cooperation with international organizations, particularly the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to address the evolving Syrian refugee crisis and all aspects related to displacement. Nuland reiterated that the United States supports the Lebanese Armed Forces and emphasized the importance of continuing necessary economic and financial reforms.

Lebanon's presidential elections: International diplomatic moves in progress
LBCI/September 18/2023
Information from multiple sources indicates an attempt by the Paris Group's five nations to push for presidential elections in the first ten days of October. These nations are expected to release a statement after their representatives' meeting in New York on Tuesday, outlining various aspects of Lebanon's presidential elections. French sources revealed that the five nations had reached an understanding that the nomination of candidates is purely a Lebanese matter, and no effort should be made to impose any names, allowing the democratic process to run its course in a complete electoral session. The sources reveal that there is no coordination between the movement led by the French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian and the Qatari envoys. However, there is no contradiction in their objective, which is the election of a president. Notably, the five nations have agreed to allow each party involved the freedom to act concerning the events in Lebanon. In addition, French sources discussed the agreement reached with Le Drian regarding the format of the election sessions that follow political discussions under the parliament's dome. The agreement states that the election session should be open in consecutive rounds and with a complete quorum, as Article 49 of the Constitution stipulates.
According to this Article, the President of the Republic is elected by secret ballot with a two-thirds majority in the first round and by an absolute majority in the subsequent rounds.
Opposition sources have indicated that Qatari efforts, through Iran, aim to persuade Hezbollah not to insist on the candidacy of Sleiman Frangieh. This insistence by the opposition on Frangieh is seen as an endorsement of Jihad Azour as a consensus candidate after abandoning Michel Moawad, whom the party previously considered a confrontational candidate. These sources suggest that relinquishing Frangieh and the condition of dialogue opens the door to a broad consultation process that may lead to a consensus rescue president. On the other hand, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) is still waiting for a response to its commitment to decentralization and the sovereign fund to support a presidential candidate. Still, the issue does not end with this commitment; more is explicitly required for a rescue program. This week is expected to be marked by intense local, regional, and international movements regarding the presidential crisis in Lebanon.  Nevertheless, achieving positive results remains uncertain, even if all parties express good intentions.

Syrian business owners in Lebanon: Challenges and regulation
LBCI/September 18/2023
There are no longer any Syrian-owned businesses except for the licensed ones. The municipality of Bourj Hammoud preempted the government's plan regarding refugees and began, four months ago, inspecting real estate units. The fine for each unregistered industrial unit is 300 million Lebanese pounds; for commercial units, the penalty can go up to 200 million Lebanese pounds. It's true that "everyone earns their livelihood," but within the bounds of the law. This issue may have followed the regulatory paths in municipalities near the capital, but the situation is more challenging in remote areas. Syrians in Bar Elias, for example, refuse to speak on camera despite estimates suggesting that out of 1,100 commercial establishments and institutions in the area, 500 are owned by Syrians. However, in the absence of precise numbers on the count of commercial establishments owned by Syrians, the Ministries of Finance and Economy, as well as municipalities, are conducting surveys to determine the figures. The aim is to strictly tighten the violations related to shops operating within the municipal jurisdiction by Syrians without the necessary permits and to close them and refer the violators to the judiciary immediately. Furthermore, once the survey is concluded, the responsibility shifts to the judiciary and the security forces, who act as legal enforcement officers. Thus, based on the principle of "every citizen is responsible," the greatest responsibility lies with the Lebanese who benefit from the work of unlicensed refugees.

MP Kanaan: We cannot continue the budget approval process at the end of the fiscal year, as it would amount to legislation violations
LBCI/September 18/2023
The Parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee convened, headed by MP Ibrahim Kanaan, to hear from the caretaker Finance Minister, Youssef Khalil, regarding the 2023 budget project. After the session, Kanaan stated, "There was a consensus that the 2023 budget project was referred to at the end of the fiscal year, outside the constitutional deadlines and without final accounts. If we want to grant the government a spending license, it has already spent what it has. If we want to grant it a tax license, it has already collected what it collected. Can we approve a blank check for what it has done without having its financial accounts also?" He noted that "the committee decided to urge the government to refer the 2024 budget project to the parliament, and this project should include the required rescue and reform vision. Any item or article that the government considers essential, either within the 2023 budget project or outside it, can be presented to us through the 2024 budget project if time permits in the upcoming days or through the discussion that will take place in the Finance and Budget Committee or the General Assembly. The Finance Ministry did not object to this, expressing the government's readiness to do so."
Kanaan said, "We do not close the door to any necessary legal item in the government's view and approved by the parliament. However, we cannot continue the budget approval process at the end of the fiscal year, as this would amount to legislation violations. Everyone is aware of the overruns of more than $11 billion after 2005 and the parliamentary auditing conducted by the Finance and Budget Committee from 2010 to 2019, which revealed that $27 billion were spent without legal documentation, and the file is still with the Court of Audit to this day."
Kanaan pointed out that "Article 86 of the constitution applies to the 2024 budget project if it is referred within the constitutional deadline, to the extent that the government can issue it by decree if the parliament does not decide. However, this does not apply to the 2023 budget project, outside the constitutional deadline, and beyond any financial or legal context."He noted that "governments should be aware that budgets are a reality that imposes numbers on the parliament, and their violations are unacceptable. I hope that the General Assembly will follow the Finance and Budget Committee's lead because what is required is a clear stance against the government's manipulation since the 1990s by tolerating sending budgets at the end of the year or later and pinning their violations on them as seen in parliamentary and criminal auditing."Kanaan addressed a constitutional issue raised during the session by some MPs regarding decrees, stating, "It is necessary for the decrees by which the 2024 budget project is referred to take into account the constitutional mechanism in the absence of the President of the Republic. We cannot bypass the presidential void casually. We hope this will be considered, and we will fully respect the constitutional form and legal and financial contents we are discussing."

It's either Azour or Franjieh: Geagea says no third solution
Naharnet/September 18/2023
Almost one year has passed since former president Michel Aoun's term ended. The divided Parliament failed for 12 times to elect a new president, with neither of the two main blocs -- Hezbollah and its opponents -- having the 86 votes required to elect one in a first round of voting. Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea who had refused to take part in a dialogue to agree on a president said there are no other choices but Jihad Azour or Suleiman Franjieh. "There is no third solution," Geagea said, in remarks published Monday in Annahar newspaper. French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian who visited Lebanon this month for the third time to help facilitate the emergence of a consensual solution, has tacitly proposed the election of Army chief General Joseph Aoun, according to MPs he met with. He has hinted that both Suleiman Franjieh and Jihad Azour will not be elected and will return to Beirut with two or three names other than Franjieh and Azour, media reports said. "The five-nation group on Lebanon -- Egypt, KSA, France, Qatar and the U.S. --are leaning toward a third-man solution, as both Lebanese camps failed to elect a president in all past electoral sessions," Geagea said." But the Axis of Defiance is clinging to Franjieh and has refused a third candidate," he added. The LF and the Kataeb party have refused to take part in talks to agree on a head of state before proceeding with a vote, preferring to rely on the democratic process. After his meeting with Le Drian last week, Geagea mentioned a new development in the presidential file, referring to a third candidate who might break the impasse. He later told Annaher that as long as Hezbollah is refusing a third candidate, the opposition will try to gather more votes for Azour. "It's either Azour or Franjieh," he said.

Bassil urges parties, especially Berri, to commit to open electoral sessions
Naharnet/September 18/2023
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has stressed that neither the Hezbollah-led camp nor the opposition can “impose” a president. “That’s why we must resort to the approach of dialogue and understanding if we want to exit vacuum and collapse,” Bassil said at an FPM ceremony celebrating his new term as FPM chief. “Let us engage in dialogue and abide by what we agree on to reach the election of a reformist president with reformist characteristics based on an agreed-on reformist program,” Bassil added. He accordingly called on the parties, “especially the parliament speaker,” to “publicly commit to holding open electoral sessions after the dialogue that should be limited in time.”“We either agree on a candidate, or we commit to democratic competition between the candidates and accept the result as per the constitution,” the FPM chief went on to say. He added: “If the West wants to impose a president on you contrary to the constitution, at least take a commitment from it to lift the siege off Lebanon and more importantly a clear mechanism to return (Syrian) refugees to their country.”

Fatah gives deadline for handover of general's killers amid Ain el-Helweh fragile truce
Associated Press/September 18/2023
A top official with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah group has said that Palestinian and Lebanese officials have given militant Islamic groups in Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp until the end of the month to hand over the accused killers of a Fatah general. A fragile calm has largely prevailed in the Ain el-Helweh camp since Thursday night after the warring sides reached the latest in a series of cease-fire agreements. It followed a week of intense fighting that killed at least 18 people and wounded and displaced hundreds. Top officials from rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas had traveled to Lebanon in an attempt to negotiate an end to the clashes. Azzam al-Ahmad, a member of Fatah's central committee and of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday that he is "optimistic about reaching a solution." But, he added, if the accused are not handed over by the end of the month, "all possibilities are open." Al-Ahmad said Fatah is not opposed to the Lebanese army entering the camp to conduct an operation against the militant Islamic groups should they not turn over the men accused of killing Fatah military general Mohammad "Abu Ashraf" al-Armoushi. By tradition, Lebanese soldiers do not enter the Palestinian camps, which are controlled by a network of Palestinian factions. The last time Lebanon's army intervened in one of the camps was in 2007, when it battled Islamic extremists in the Nahr al-Bared camp in north Lebanon, razing most of it in the process. Hamas, which rules Gaza, has officially stood on the sidelines in the clashes between Fatah and a number of extreme Islamic groups in the camp, but al-Ahmad accused Hamas members of taking up arms against Fatah "in some areas of fighting," an accusation that Hamas has denied. Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk, who last week met with Lebanese officials and representatives from the Palestinian factions to try and reach a settlement to end the clashes, said in a message via the WhatsApp messaging application that "we were not involved in the shooting at all" and that "there have been continuous efforts" by Hamas to broker a "cease-fire agreement in any form." "It is clear that clashes do not make anyone hand over anyone," he said. "... No one is willing to give himself up in the shadow of war." Hamas spokesman in Lebanon Walid Kilani denied that a specific deadline had been set for handing over the killers. "What was agreed upon there will be the formation of a joint security force that includes all Palestinian factions" to implement the handover of people "wanted by both sides," he said. Both Fatah and Hamas have accused external forces of stoking the violence in the camp, which is home to more than 50,000 people, in an attempt to weaken the Palestinian cause. Marzouk described it as part of a "conspiracy against the Palestinian diaspora," while al-Ahmad said the killing of Armoushi was "not only an assassination case, but a case of attempted removal of the Ain el-Helweh camp."The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said Friday that 18 people had been killed and 140 injured in the latest round of clashes, which broke out Sept. 7. Nearly 1,000 people displaced by the fighting were staying in emergency shelters set up by UNRWA while hundreds more were sheltering in at other sites, including a nearby mosque and in the courtyard of the municipality building of the city of Sidon, which is adjacent to the camp, or with relatives. Earlier this summer, there were several days of street battles in the Ain el-Helweh camp between Abbas' Fatah movement and militant Islamic groups after attackers gunned down Armoushi and four of his companions July 30. The assassination was apparently an act of retaliation after an unknown gunman shot at Islamist militant Mahmoud Khalil, killing a companion of his instead. Those street battles left at least 13 dead and dozens wounded, and forced hundreds to flee from their homes.

“Karkha: A Village from Lebanon”: Compelling 45-minute docu-drama created and produced by Public Matters Lebanon
NNA/September 18/2023
Public Matters Lebanon announced the production and creation of a compelling 45-minute docu-drama titled “Karkha: A Village from Lebanon”. The document-drama is supported by Charlie I. Hanna, from Karkha, directed by the idiosyncratic filmmaker, Nassif Al Rayess and written by Julie BouChakra.
The DocuDrama is a series of episodes that focus on the waves of Lebanese immigration since the 19th century until today, under the title “Homes & Heroes”.  The first episode was supported by the Lebanese/American philanthropist and businessman Charlie Hanna, CEO of Cedar’s Foods who has been supporting diverse causes in many fields all over Lebanon like sports, humanitarian, educational, developmental and today artistic and cultural through this docu-drama which is a Finalist in Cannes World Film Festival. In contrast to the conventional negative portrayal of Lebanon that is often depicted in global news and movies, this film delves into the positive elements in Lebanese communities and their resilience in all its forms throughout many generations. The movie takes place in a small village in Southern Lebanon called Karkha while unveiling a rich history of the region since the 1700s while building with the audience an emotional journey all through the film. The significance is that all those who appear as actors are actually the locals from Karkha, whose naturalism and love for their land have spiced up the sense of realism in the storytelling. Away from political and religious incitements, this movie is an inspirational one that reminds us of what matters most. It is worth mentioning that the dedication and professionalism of the crew behind this work has been remarkable on set.

Berri meets newly appointed Bulgarian Ambassador, UN’s Wronecka, Sistani's representative in Lebanon
NNA/September 18/2023
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Monday received at the Second Presidency in Ain El-Tineh, the new Bulgarian Ambassador to Lebanon, Iassen Tomov, who came on a protocol visit upon assuming his new diplomatic duties in Lebanon. The visit was an occasion during which the bilateral relations between Lebanon and Bulgaria were presented. Speaker Berri also received at Ain El-Tineh, the United Nations' Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka. Among Speaker Berri’s itinerant visitors for today had been Sayyed Ali al-Sistani's representative in Lebanon, Hamed al-Khafaf.

Rahi inaugurates retirement home in Sydney
NNA/September 18/2023
A new retirement home by “Our Lady of Lebanon Church” was inaugurated at Harris Park, Sydney, under the patronage of Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, with the participation of Bishop Antoine Charbel Tarabay of the Maronite Diocese in Australia. “The opening of this facility is an important achievement for the Maronite community and society in general. It brings joy to my heart to be a part of it,” Rahi said. "One of the fruits of this golden jubilee year for the Maronite community in Australia is the renewal of our commitment to our mission caring for the elderly and sharing with them the love of Christ in their golden years,” Rahi added.

US steps up fight against terror financing with Hezbollah sanctions
Dalia Al-Aqidi/Arab News/September 18, 2023
In a significant move to combat the financing of Hezbollah, the US Treasury Department last week imposed terrorism sanctions on a family network spanning seven individuals and several businesses with ties to Lebanon and South America. Among those targeted was Amer Mohammed Akil Rada, a Lebanese man alleged to have played a role in two deadly attacks in Argentina during the 1990s.
This decisive action underscores the unwavering commitment of the US government to pursue Hezbollah operatives and financiers, regardless of their locations. Brian Nelson, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, emphasized this commitment in a statement following the announcement.
Authorities have described Rada as “one of the operational members” behind the horrific attack on the Argentine-Israelite Mutual Association in Buenos Aires in 1994, which resulted in the tragic loss of 85 lives, with hundreds more people wounded. Another attack on the Israeli Embassy in Argentina in 1992 claimed the lives of 29 individuals. According to the Treasury Department, Rada spent more than a decade in South America before relocating to Lebanon. During his time in South America, he managed a charcoal business that regularly exported goods from Colombia to Lebanon. Shockingly, he used a substantial portion, specifically “80 percent of the proceeds of his commercial enterprise,” to benefit Hezbollah.
Apparently, crime runs in the family. The sanctions also targeted Rada’s brother, Samer, who faces accusations of involvement in various drug trafficking and money laundering operations across Latin America. He was previously based in Belize but fled due to a drug-related case. He was part of a smuggling operation that attempted to transport a staggering 500 kg of cocaine, valued at $15 million, which was concealed within fruit shipments that were seized in El Salvador.
The US decision was not just an isolated action but was testament to the resolve of the country to counteract the global reach of Hezbollah and to dismantle its financial network. The militant group, backed by Iran, has a long history of terrorism financing and other illicit activities worldwide. Targeting individuals and entities involved in supporting terrorism sends a powerful message that America will not stand idly by while those who seek to harm innocent civilians or undermine global security continue to operate with impunity.
When discussing Hezbollah’s terrorist activities and funding sources, it is impossible to ignore the significant role played by Iran. The intertwining connections between these two entities have long been a concern for global security. In 2020, the US State Department estimated that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a powerful branch of the Iranian military, provided an annual assistance package of approximately $700 million to the terrorist organization and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah. This financial support has allowed Hezbollah to sustain its operations, expand its influence and continue its agenda of violence and instability in Lebanon and other areas in the Middle East.
To be truly effective, international cooperation is essential, as Hezbollah’s network spans multiple countries and regions.
The Trump administration’s decision in 2019 to label the IRGC as a terrorist organization underscored the gravity of the situation. This move clearly recognized the IRGC’s involvement in supporting various terrorist groups, including Hezbollah and several militias in Iraq and Syria, as well as the need to hold it accountable for its actions.
Furthermore, the IRGC’s influence has extended beyond financial support. The group has been funding and arming various factions and militias in the region, some of which have utilized roadside bombs and missile barrages against US forces stationed in the Middle East. Since President Joe Biden assumed office, there have been nearly 100 reported attacks against American troops in the region, either directly orchestrated by Iran or carried out by its proxy militias.
These attacks underscore the complex and evolving dynamics in the Middle East, where long-standing regional tensions intersect with the global struggle against terrorism. Iran’s actions, including its support of Hezbollah, have contributed to a volatile environment where diplomatic efforts to de-escalate and stabilize the region face significant challenges.
Addressing this multifaceted issue requires a comprehensive and strategic approach. It necessitates continued vigilance in countering Iran’s support for terrorist organizations like Hezbollah while also engaging in diplomatic initiatives to reduce tensions and promote regional stability.
What steps has the Biden administration taken? It engaged in negotiations with Tehran, allowing for the release of five detained Americans in exchange for the unfreezing of $6 billion of Iranian assets. It is not possible to accurately predict the percentage of unfrozen Iranian assets that might go to Hezbollah or other militia groups in the region, nor can one estimate how much of these funds could potentially be used for terrorist activities against the US or its allies in the region, especially Israel.
The concern over the potential diversion of funds to groups with hostile intent is valid. It underscores the importance of robust monitoring and verification mechanisms in any agreements involving unfreezing Iranian assets. International oversight and accountability are critical factors in ensuring the released funds are used for legitimate, nonthreatening purposes.
While the sanctions against Hezbollah’s financiers are undoubtedly a significant step in the right direction, the fight against terrorism financing remains an ongoing battle. To be truly effective, international cooperation is essential, as Hezbollah’s network spans multiple countries and regions. It is a reminder that the fight against terrorism is a shared responsibility that requires collective global action.
• Dalia Al-Aqidi is Senior Fellow at the Center for Security Policy.
Twitter: @DaliaAlAqidi

Spotlight on Terrorism: Hezbollah, Lebanon and Syria (September 8 – 14 , 2023)
The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center/September 18/2023
https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/spotlight-on-terrorism-hezbollah-lebanon-and-syria-september-8-14-2023/
Overview
This past week no unusual incidents were reported along the Israel-Lebanon border. In south Lebanon there were reports of explosions and Israeli planes circling over the area.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant revealed the existence of an Iranian airport in south Lebanon. In Lebanon the reactions to the revelation were mixed.
The United States Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Hezbollah operatives and economic institutions in south Lebanon and South America.
An arms-smuggling network from Iran to Lebanon for Hamas was exposed, with the involvement of officers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Qods Force.
Violent clashes were renewed in the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp near Sidon. All efforts to achieve a ceasefire have failed. According to reports, so far at least 15 people have been killed and over 150 injured.
The presidential crisis in Lebanon continues despite the efforts of Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French envoy, who visited Lebanon, to help resolve it.
The Lebanese government approved the 2024 budget and agreed to carry out the reforms demanded by the governor of the Central Bank.
In Syria, two attacks attributed to Israel were carried out in the area of Tartus and Hama. According to reports, the targets were Hezbollah weapons warehouses and a “scientific research center.”
South Lebanon
This past week, no unusual incidents were reported on the Israel-Lebanon border.
Lebanese media reported Israeli planes seen flying over the skies of Lebanon. Echoes of explosions were also reported, apparently sonic booms. One report referred to the incident as “enemy maneuvers on the southern border”. (al-Akhbar and I Am Lebanon, September 11, 2023).
Exposure of an Iranian airport in south Lebanon
At a conference at the Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel Defense Minister Yoav Galant gave a speech accompanied by photographs of an airport under construction by Iran in south Lebanon. He stated that “the land is Lebanese, the control is Iranian, the target is Israel.” Galant emphasized that Israel would not hesitate to use “lethal force” against Hezbollah (Israeli news TV channel Kan 11, 11, 2023). The airfield is located near Qalat Jabour, a Hezbollah training center, twenty kilometers (about 12.5 miles) from the Israeli border north of Metulla. The complex was built after the Second Lebanon War (2006) under the supervision of Imad Mughnieh (head of Hezbollah’s military-terrorist wing who died in a targeted killing on February 12, 2008). Residential buildings, firing ranges and training areas were identified on the airport grounds, including a training complex for urban warfare (al-Janoubia, September 12, 2023).
A compound near the airport where flags of Hezbollah and Iran are visible (Israeli Ministry of Defense, September 11, 2023) Aerial photograph of the airport.
The Lebanese government did not formally relate to the exposure of the airport. During an interview, Ghada Ayoub, representative of the Christian Lebanese Forces Party in the Lebanese Parliament, stated that information about the presence of an Iranian military airport in Lebanon was a matter of concern for Lebanese sovereignty, and the Lebanese government and its security forces had to respond to the claims officially. Ayoub also claimed the airport was situated in “lands occupied [by Iran] ” (al-Sharq al-Awsat, September 12, 2023).
Reporters in Lebanon ridiculed Israel for exposing the airport. Ali Shoeib, a Hamas-affiliated correspondent reporter for al-Manar, claimed Israel, which was unable to remove the Hezbollah tent [erected in the Shabaa Farm area on the Israeli border], would also not be able to attack the airport. He also posted pictures of military airports inside Israel, claiming they were close to the border and endangered Lebanon (photojournalist Ali Shoeib’s Twitter account, September 11, 2023). Khalil Nasrallah, correspondent for Hezbollah’s al-‘Ahed “news” website, claimed Galant had not dared to say the airport belonged to Hezbollah but instead threatened Iran. He noted the [alleged Hezbollah] “equation” according to which an attack on an airport [on the Lebanese side of the border] would lead to an attack on an airport [on the Israeli side of the border] (Khalil Nasrallah’s Twitter account, September 11, 2023).
Al-Modon claimed Hezbollah had neither confirmed nor denied the existence of the airport because the organization avoided revealing its military capabilities and was not interested in provoking the international community (al-Modon, September 12, 2023).
The controversy surrounding the delineation of the Israel-Lebanon border
The Hezbollah-affiliated daily al-Akhbar reported that the Israeli delegation to talks with Lebanon at al-Naqoura[1] had agreed to withdraw from the northern part of the village of Ghajar in return for the removal of the tents erected by Hezbollah in the Shebaa Farms. According to the newspaper, Najib Mikati, the prime minister of the interim government, and Nabih Berri, the speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, were conducting a thorough examination of Israel’s position, especially because some people believed Israel was willing withdraw only from uninhabited agricultural areas. A source close to the UNIFIL command was quoted as saying that Israel had expressed a willingness to withdraw from all 13 disputed border line points of dispute on the border line, including Rosh Hanikra (B1), and another meeting to discuss the issue would be held in the near future (al-Akhbar, September 12, 13, 2023).
Despite the publication of the news item, the Lebanese army stated that no agreement had been reached at the meeting and contacts would continue (Lebanese army Twitter account, September 13, 2023).
Hezbollah
Hezbollah denies reports of involvement in smuggling arms from Iran
Hezbollah responded to al-Hadath’s investigation of its control of the Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut with an official condemnation of the report.[2] It claimed the results of the investigation had been distorted, there was no evidence and it had damaged image of the Lebanese security services operating at the airport. It further claimed that the purpose of the “lies” was to place responsibility on Hezbollah for any damage to the airport which might occur in the future. According to Hezbollah, the investigation served the “Israeli enemy” by discussing Hezbollah’s military use of Beirut’s international airport (al-Nur, September 12, 2023).
Imposing sanctions on Hezbollah operatives and Hezbollah-affiliated companies
On September 12, 2023, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in the United States Treasury Department, in coordination with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), imposed economic sanctions on seven Hezbollah operatives and key bodies in a network generating revenue for Hezbollah’s activities and enables it to maintain a presence in South America (US Treasury Department, September 12 2023). Among those who were sanctioned were:
Amer Mohamed Akil Rada, a senior Hezbollah operative who lives in Lebanon. He and his partners run a charcoal export business from Colombia to Lebanon for Hezbollah. About 80% of its income benefits the organization. Rada was one of the operatives who participated in the 1994 bombing attack on the Jewish Community Building (AMIA)[3] in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people and injured hundreds.
Samer Akil Rada, Amer’s brother, who is the CEO and chairman of the board of directors at BCI Technologies C.A., which operates from Venezuela. The company was also sanctioned because Samer owned and operated it; Samer was involved in an attempt to smuggle half a ton of cocaine, worth about $15 million, which was hidden in a fruit shipment seized in El Salvador.
Mahdy Akil Helbawi, Amer’s son, manages a business in Colombia on behalf of his father. He founded and serves as CEO of the Zanga S.A.S. coal company. The company was also sanctioned because it is owned and managed by Mehdi.[4]
Palestinians in Lebanon
Exposure of an arms smuggling network from Iran to Hamas
The Washington, DC-based Persian language Iran International news channel broadcast a report about the exposure of a network which smuggled arms from Iran to Lebanon for Hamas. According to the report, it was exposed after Lebanese security forces arrested Michal Elias Francis and Fadi Elias, who lived in Lebanon, and Muhammad Zaki Shaheen, a Palestinian Hamas operative. The investigation revealed they had formed a network managed by Saeed Izadi, Majid Zibai and Ali Marshad Shirazi, officers in the IRGC’s Qods Force. The network smuggled weapons from Iran to Lebanon for Hamas. According to the report, the existence of the smuggling network indicated strengthening ties between Iran and Hamas, especially in light of Tehran’s desire to increase coordination between Hamas and Hezbollah (Iran International, September 13, 2023).
IRGC Quds Force officers (Iran International, September 12, 2023) Michel Elias Francis.
Right: Michel Elias Francis. Left: IRGC Quds Force officers (Iran International, September 12, 2023)
Renewal of violent clashes in the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp
After a hiatus of about a month, on September 9, 2023, violent clashes were renewed in the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp, on the outskirts of Sidon in south Lebanon, between Fatah and Islamist organization operatives. The cause was Fatah’s demand to hand over those responsible for killing its senior figure, which ignited the previous round of fighting (al-Nashra, September 10, 2023).[5]
According to reports, at least 15 people were killed and more than 150 were injured in the clashes (uae71, September 14, 2023). Among the dead were Lebanese army soldiers, killed when rockets hit two army positions near the refugee camp (Lebanese army Twitter account, September 10, 2023). Following the violence, many residents fled the camp and moved to Sidon. UNRWA and other officials in Lebanon were asked to provide the refugees with a response.
Hamas rejected accusations that it, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Hezbollah supported the events in the refugee camp, claiming the events contradicted their ideology and the accusations were an attempt to distort the image of the “Palestinian resistance [i.e., terrorist activities].” According to Hamas, the accusations only served “the occupation and the enemies of the resistance,” claiming that since the violence began they had worked together with all the organizations, the Lebanese and Palestinian security forces and the Palestinian ambassador to Lebanon to protect the refugee camp and its residents (Palestine Online, September 11, 2023). Hezbollah also expressed regret over the events in the refugee camp, stating they strongly opposed fighting from which only the “Zionist enemy” benefitted and the biggest loser was the Palestinian people. They called for an immediate ceasefire and a commitment to all measures previously agreed on (al-‘Ahed, September 11, 2023).
In an effort to bring calm, Mahmoud Abbas spoke with Najib Mikati, the prime minister of the interim government, and emphasized his efforts to achieve a ceasefire (L’Orient and al-Nashra, September 10, 2023). On September 11, 2023, Joseph Aoun, commander the Lebanese Army, met in his office with Ashraf Dabour, Palestinian Authority (PA) representative in Lebanon. No details were provided about the meeting (al-Nashra, September 11, 2023).
On the evening of September 12, 2023 a meeting was held at the Palestinian embassy in Beirut, attended by Fatah and Hamas representatives, including Musa Abu Marzouq, a senior Hamas figure who arrived in Lebanon. After the meeting they issued a joint statement emphasizing the decision to stabilize calm. According to the report, the following points were agreed upon at the meeting: (saidaonline.com, September 13, 2023).
Establishing a ceasefire and implementing understandings the reached under the sponsorship of Najib Mikati in the presence of the security force commanders.
The extradition of wanted persons accused of assassinating a senior Fatah official in the camp, Major General Abu Ashraf al-Armoushi and his men, and of Abd al-Rahman Farhoud, and turning them over to the Lebanese justice system.
Facilitating the return of camp residents to their homes and repairing the destruction as soon as possible.
Continued cooperation with Lebanon and all its institutions.
Internal Lebanese Affairs
Electing a president
The Lebanese presidential crisis continues. As part of the efforts to resolve the crisis, Muhammad Raed, a Hezbollah member of the Lebanese Parliament, met with Joseph Aoun, commander of the Lebanese army. Details of the meeting were not made public, except for a news item in al-Diyar stating Aoun had told Raed he did not intend to run in the presidential election (contrary to what was published by several media outlets) (al-Diyar, September 8, 2023). The media noted it was the first time a Hezbollah-affiliated politician had met with the army commander, a significant development because Hezbollah supports the candidacy of Suleiman Frangieh (Nidaa al-Watan, September 7, 2023). It was also noted that the timing of the meeting was apparently not coincidental, since it took place between the visit of Amos Hochstein, American presidential coordinator for global infrastructure and energy security, and the visit of Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French envoy (al-Diyar, September 8, 2023).)
Hassan al-Hasan, a Hezbollah-affiliated journalist, said Hezbollah leaders had announced that Hezbollah had a new presidential candidate (Lebanon Debate, September 10, 2023).
Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French envoy, arrived in Lebanon and met with Najib Mikati. Le Drian expressed hope that the initiative for a dialogue proposed by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri would be the beginning of a solution (Twitter account of the office of the interim prime minister, September 12, 2023). Rolla Beydoun) reporter for the Ici Beirut news web site, was pessimistic about Le Drian’s ability to help resolve the crisis because of varying and conflicting Lebanese expectations regarding what he had the ability to do (Ici Beirut, September 11, 2023).
The arrival of Syrian refugees in Lebanon
The issue of Syrian refugees arriving in Lebanon continues to provoke public debate and preoccupy the Lebanese government. Najib Mikati, who addressed the issue at the cabinet meeting, stated that most of the refugees were young people who arrived in Lebanon through illegal border crossings (al-Arab, September 7, 2023). Anwar al-Sahli, the Hezbollah Parliament member responsible for the issue of Syrian refugees, demanded it be placed at the top of the Lebanese government’s priority list. He claimed the Lebanese security forces were at fault for not being able to close the border with Syria (al-Ayam TV, September 12, 2023).
The al-Liwaa newspaper claimed the divisions and disputes in the Lebanese government paralyzed it and kept if from resolving the refugee issue (al-Liwaa, September 13, 2023). Rakeel Ateeq, a reporter for the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper, claimed the Lebanese army was unable to solve the problem and was not the “correct address” for a solution. She also claimed Syrian refugees contributed to increasing social tensions in Lebanon and an increase in serious crime. Although there is [allegedly] no organized Syrian crime in Lebanon, Lebanese hire the services of Syrian refugees to commit serious crimes, such as murder (Nidaa al-Watan, September 13, 2023).
The economy
On September 12, 2023, the Lebanese government approved the 2024 budget in record speed during the visit of the International Monetary Fund delegation to Lebanon (al-Nashra, September 12, 2023). The government agreed to carry out the reforms demanded by Wassim Mansouri, the governor of the Central Bank, and expressed a willingness to withdraw from the plan to collect taxes in dollars due to the opposition of the International Monetary Fund. All the measures taken by the government and the governor of the Central Bank would seem to be intended to convey to the International Monetary Fund delegation that their intentions were serious (al-Nahar, September 13).
Salem Shaheen, the Central Bank’s third deputy governor, said the Bank intended to tighten the supervision of the trade in foreign currency by means of a new digital platform which would be operated in cooperation with the Bloomberg company. The new rules and management of foreign exchange trade are supposed to reduce the illegal trade in dollars.
Despite the attempts by the Central Bank and the Lebanese government to combat money laundering, an investigation carried out on behalf of the Central Bank revealed that Lebanon remained a prime destination for laundering a foreign resident’s total capital and served as a tax shelter. One of the main reasons is the weakness of regulation and the banking supervision (grandlb.com, September 11, 2023).
Syria
Aerial attacks on Tartus and Hama
On September 13, 2023, two airstrikes were carried out on targets in Syria, for which Israel was accused of responsibility. The attacks were the following:
At 5:22 p.m. an attack was carried out on Syrian army air defense positions in the rural area of Tartus. Syria reported two soldiers were killed and six wounded and property had been damaged (SANA, September 13, 2023). Reportedly, the attack damaged warehouses used by Hezbollah located at a Syrian army air defense base southeast of Tartus, about eight kilometers (about five miles) north of the Syria-Lebanon border. The warehouses were used by Hezbollah to store weapons in preparation for shipping them to Lebanon. On the evening of the previous day, several Hezbollah trucks arrived at the warehouses from Lebanon through illegal border crossings and unloaded their contents. According to reports, in addition to two Syrian army soldiers, another person, whose identity is unknown (possibly a Hezbollah operative), was killed in the attack. Another attack was carried out against a Syrian army air defense base in the village of Kartu, about ten kilometers (six miles) southeast of the first target. Three soldiers and five officers of the air defense system were injured (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, September 13, 2023).
At 10:40 p.m. several positions in the Hama area (central Syria) were attacked. Damage to property was caused (SANA, September 13, 2023). The Lebanese commentator Nidal al-Saba, who recorded the event, claimed that four Israeli fighter jets circled the skies of northern Lebanon and carried out an attack towards Syria (Nidal al-Saba’s Twitter account, September 13, 2023). The target of the attack was reportedly a “scientific research center” near Taqsis, about ten kilometers southeast of Hama (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, September 13, 2023).
Full document in PDF format
[1] Apparently a reference to the meeting held at al-Naqoura on August 16, 2023. ↑
[2] For further information see the ITIC update, "Spotlight on Terrorism: Hezbollah, Lebanon and Syria (August 31- September 7, 2023)." ↑
[3] Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina ↑
[4] For further information see https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1726 ↑
[5] For further information about the previous round of clashes in the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp, see the August 3, 2023 ITIC report " Spotlight on Terrorism: Hezbollah, Lebanon and Syria." ↑

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 18-19/2023
UN Sustainable Development Goals need ‘global rescue plan’: Guterres
Arab News/September 18, 2023
NEW YORK: The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals need a “global rescue plan,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned at the opening of the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development at the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday. “Eight years ago, member states gathered in this hall to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals,” he said. “You made a solemn promise, a promise to build a world of health, progress and opportunity for all, a promise to leave no one behind, and a promise to pay for it.” However, progress made on the SDGs has been inadequate, Guterres added. “The SDGs aren’t just a list of goals,” he said. “They carry the hopes, dreams, aspirations and expectations of people everywhere, and they provide the surest path to living up to our obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, now in its 75th year. “Yet today, only 15 percent of the targets are on track. Many are going in reverse. Instead of leaving no one behind, we risk leaving the SDGs behind.”Guterres said that “at the halfway point to the SDG deadline (of 2030), the eyes of the world are on you once again,” but that he believes the UNGA can turn the stagnation into progress by focusing on a number of key areas, starting with funding. “I’m deeply encouraged by the detailed and wide-ranging political declaration under discussion here today, especially (the) commitment to improving developing countries’ access to the fuel required for SDG progress: finance,” he added. “This includes your clear support for an SDG stimulus of at least $500 billion a year, as well as an effective debt-relief mechanism that supports payment suspensions, longer lending terms and lower rates. “It includes your call to re-capitalize and change the business model of multilateral development banks so they can massively leverage private finance at affordable rates to benefit developing countries. “And it includes your endorsement of reforming today’s outdated, dysfunctional and unfair international financial architecture. This can be a game-changer in accelerating SDG progress.”Guterres encouraged nations to take action on hunger and the transition to renewable energy, which “isn’t happening fast enough.” He also emphasized the importance of digitization and education, saying: “Too many children and young people are victims of poor-quality education.”Support and protection for people in and out of work are also of paramount importance, while he concluded by saying: “The war on nature must stop. We must end the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.”UNGA President Dennis Francis told delegates: “The 17 SDGs serve as a beacon of hope and a roadmap for common action to create a more equitable, just and sustainable world. “Now, at the midway point, it’s essential that we take stock of our progress and assess the remaining challenges that confront us.” He added: “A combination of factors — including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, impacts of climate change and the war in Ukraine — have presented a series of complex and intersecting crises. “And while this has dramatically altered the trajectory of the entire world, it is — as is too often the case — those in the most precarious circumstances, and those who are already the most vulnerable, who suffer the most.”Francis echoed the call by Guterres for action on areas such as hunger and finance, calling for “bold and transformative” actions. “While there have been setbacks, we can’t relent in our resolve and determination to do our outpost to rescue the SDGs, as we’ve been challenged by the secretary-general,” Francis said. “The fact that we’re lagging in our promise can’t be the death-knell of our blueprint.”Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, Qatar’s prime minister, told delegates: “We share one goal — addressing the most urgent challenges in the world: armed conflicts, food security crises and climate change. “Needless to say, commitment to peaceful settlement of differences and respectful dialogue are best to safeguard the development gains worldwide.” He added: “The state of Qatar is committed to the alignment of its national development plans with the SDG principles.”

Three Years On, Secretary of State Complicates Abraham Accords Expansion
FDD/September 18/2023
Latest Developments
Three years after the Abraham Accords were signed by the United States, Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain, the White House’s efforts to tie normalization to the Israel-Palestinian conflict complicate further expansion. Speaking on a podcast on September 13, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Biden administration believes the further expansion of the accords, specifically with Saudi Arabia, “needs to involve a two-state solution.” Blinken also claimed that Saudis insist on a two-state solution to move forward with any normalization deal with Israel.
Expert Analysis
“A three-way deal between the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel would be consequential for the region and for American security. It would be an important counter to Chinese and Iranian influence in the Middle East. But it should not come at the price of greenlighting nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, as the Obama administration did with the Iran nuclear deal of 2015.” — Mark Dubowitz, FDD CEO
“An Arab proverb says, ‘Whoever carries the big rock will never hurl it.’ Team Biden has turned a straightforward deal — Saudi normalization with Israel in return for U.S. rewards — into a mega-deal that involves the Palestinians and China, making it too complicated to negotiate, let alone achieve.” — Hussain Abdul-Hussain, FDD Research Fellow
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Complicates Negotiation
The original Abraham Accords purposefully avoided the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, believing that the conflict’s hard-to-solve issues would thwart normalization efforts. However, Israel agreed to suspend annexing parts of the West Bank until 2024 as a concession to the UAE. Similarly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that Palestinian issues are not central to Saudi normalization. In recent months, there have been small but noticeable improvements in relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, including the opening of Saudi airspace to Israeli carriers in July 2022. On September 11, Israeli government officials participated in the 45th session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee in Riyadh.
Ongoing Diplomacy
Israeli officials told The Times of Israel on September 15 that the Biden administration informed Jerusalem that Blinken will visit the Middle East in October, making stops in Israel and Saudi Arabia. Speaking to reporters on September 7, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that although there is still much work to do, Israeli and Saudi leaders have achieved a “broad understanding of many of the key elements.”
Last week, Brett McGurk, U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, and Barbara Leaf, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, traveled to Riyadh, where they reportedly discussed normalization. The same week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visited Jeddah to present the Palestinian Authority’s demands to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Saudi Demands
Unlike the Trump administration, which sidelined Palestinian issues in the original Abraham Accords, Blinken has been adamant about including them. Saudi Arabia’s publicly stated preconditions for normalization include concessions from Israel to the Palestinians, but the extent of those concessions is unclear. After meeting with Abbas, bin Salman offered to resume Saudi aid to the Palestinians.
Other Saudi requests may be more challenging to achieve. Bin Salman is requesting U.S. aid in developing a civilian nuclear energy program with domestic enrichment, which is counter to U.S. nonproliferation policy. The Saudis also seek security guarantees and a promise that they will be allowed to purchase and receive advanced weapons systems from the United States.

U.S. Sanctions 29 Iranian Targets for Human Rights Abuses
FDD/September 18/2023
Latest Developments
The United States on September 15 sanctioned 29 Iranian individuals and entities responsible for human rights abuses against the Iranian people. The designations come one day before the first anniversary of Iran’s nationwide protests, which began when Tehran’s morality police murdered 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for allegedly wearing her headscarf improperly. The fresh sanctions target, among others, police officials who presided over the violent repression of demonstrations; leaders of a company that helps the regime censor the internet; and state-controlled media organizations that work with Iranian security services to suppress dissent.
Expert Analysis
“Make no mistake, designations against Press TV and other Iranian state-run media are not about the U.S. seeking to censor legitimate policy discussion. Imagine national TV stations coercing innocent political prisoners to falsely confess to manufactured crimes, and then those forced confessions are broadcast on television to instill fear in the population. These interrogators, who are often the actual reporters, beat prisoners with cables and threaten to inject them with hallucinogenic drugs. Welcome to the routine actions of the media outlets designated today. They have surely earned it.” — Toby Dershowitz, FDD Senior Vice President for Government Relations and Strategy
“While the imposition of human rights sanctions is a positive move, the administration must understand that this cannot serve as a smokescreen for its disastrous decision to release $16 billion to the regime. In addition, the administration should rigorously enforce these human rights sanctions. This includes ensuring that U.S. companies like Meta and X comply by removing the accounts of sanctioned entities such as Fars News, Tasnim News, and Press TV from their platforms, and abstaining from any financial interactions with them.” — Saeed Ghasseminejad, FDD Senior Iran and Financial Economics Advisor
Violence Against Protesters
The new sanctions target 10 leaders of Iran’s national police, formally known as the Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and eight officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to FDD tracking data, those two organizations and other Iranian security forces have killed more than 600 peaceful protesters and arrested more than 22,000 since September 2022. Washington also sanctioned Gholamali Mohammadi, who heads Iran’s Prisons Organization, which is responsible for torture, including sexual violence and rape, against jailed protesters.
Still, protests have increased dramatically in recent weeks: In August 2023, 352 protests occurred, compared to 277 in July and 183 in June. In the first 14 days of September 2023, at least 144 protests took place. In total, at least 4,473 protests have occurred over the past year. Prospects for additional protests and violence on the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death remain substantial, lending special importance to the new sanctions.
Iranian State Media
The targets of sanctions included three Iranian state media outlets: Press TV, Tasnim News Agency, and Fars News Agency. These “organizations work in tandem with Iranian security and intelligence services, blurring the lines between government and media and extending the regime’s oppressive reach,” said the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In particular, Iranian state media broadcast forced confessions, identify protesters for Iranian security forces, and provide intelligence to the IRGC.

$6 bn sent to Qatar for US-Iran prisoner swap
Associated Press/September 18, 2023
Frozen funds totalling $6 billion have been transferred to Qatari banks under a U.S.-Iran prisoner swap deal, with a plane on standby in Tehran to fly out five American detainees, a source told AFP on Monday. The release of the funds by U.S. ally South Korea, long blocked under sanctions, is the key condition for the exchange of five Americans detained in Iran and, according to Tehran, five Iranians held in the United States. Qatar, which acted as the mediator because Washington and Tehran do not have diplomatic relations, has informed both sides of the transfer, said the source briefed on details of the matter. "Iranian and U.S. officials have been notified by Qatar that all $6 billion has been transferred from Switzerland to bank accounts in Qatar," said the source, requesting anonymity. "A Qatari jet is on standby in Iran to bring the five U.S. citizens and two relatives to Doha."Iran earlier voiced hope that the prisoner swap with the United States would take place later on Monday. "We hope to have total access to the Iranian assets today," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani told a Tehran press conference. "The prisoner exchange will take place on the same day and five Iranian citizens imprisoned in America will be released."Iran had generated the $6 billion through oil sales to South Korea, which froze the funds after the United States under former president Donald Trump reimposed sanctions as he withdrew from a landmark nuclear accord. Iran's central bank governor said Iran would seek damages from South Korea for withholding the funds. The equivalent of 5.57 billion euros ($5.95 billion) was deposited in six Iranian accounts with two Qatari banks on Monday, he said. "We're making a complaint on behalf of Iran against South Korea for not giving access to these funds and the reduction in value of these funds in order to receive damages," Mohammadreza Farzin said on state TV.
Spying charges -
The five Americans -- all considered Iranian nationals by Tehran, which rejects dual nationality -- were released to house arrest when the deal was agreed last month. Among the Americans is Siamak Namazi, a businessman arrested in 2015 on spying charges which his family has rejected. The others are wildlife conservationist Morad Tahbaz, venture capitalist Emad Sharqi, and two others who wished to remain anonymous. Last week, the official IRNA news agency identified the five Iranian prisoners. They include Reza Sarhangpour and Kambiz Attar Kashani, both accused of having violated U.S. sanctions against Tehran. A third prisoner, Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, was detained at his home near Boston in 2021 and charged with being an Iranian government agent, according to U.S. officials. The two others, Mehrdad Moein Ansari and Amin Hasanzadeh, were said to have links to Iranian security forces. Out of the five Iranians to be released, two will return to Iran while two others will remain in the United States, upon their request, said Kanani. The fifth Iranian prisoner will travel to a third country, he added.
Nuclear dispute
The White House has denied that the unfreezing of the Iranian funds was effectively a ransom payment. President Joe Biden's administration has insisted that Iran will only be allowed to use the money to buy food, medicine and other humanitarian goods.
Iran, which has been deeply hostile to the U.S. since the 1979 Islamic revolution overthrew the pro-Western monarch, has denied restrictions have been placed on the spending of funds. Iran's Kanani has insisted that the money will allow Tehran to "purchase all non-sanctioned goods", not just food and medicine.Biden took office with hopes of restoring the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement, under which Iran promised to constrain its contested nuclear work in return for sanctions relief. But months of talks failed to produce a breakthrough. Prospects for resolving the dispute sank further after protests broke out in Iran last year following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the country's Islamic dress code. The release of the funds and the prisoners would come just days after the first anniversary of her death, and as Biden and Iran's president, Ebrahim Raisi, are in New York for the annual U.N. General Assembly, although they are not expected to meet.

Attack on Turkish-backed opposition fighters in Syria kills 13 of the militants, activists say
IDLIB, Syria (AP)/September 18, 2023
A Kurdish-led force attacked Turkish-backed opposition fighters in northern Syria on Monday, killing at least 13 of the militants, activists said. The opposition activists blamed the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces for carrying out the assault, though the U.S.-backed group did not claim responsibility.
Turkey says Syria’s main Kurdish militia is allied with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, that has led an insurgency against Turkey since 1984 that has killed tens of thousands of people. Turkey since 2016 has conducted three major incursions into northern Syria to clear areas under Kurdish control and create a buffer zone near its border. Since then, the two groups have routinely clashed, while Turkey has also conducted airstrikes and drone attacks on targets in Kurdish-controlled areas. According to opposition activists, SDF forces tried to infiltrate the opposition-controlled city of Tal Battal in northern Aleppo province, attacking positions belonging to Turkish-backed militants and the al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al Sham. Meanwhile, the Britain-based opposition war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the death toll was at 14. According to the Observatory, mines exploded during the attack that took place at dawn. The SDF has been the main U.S. ally in Syria in the campaign against the Islamic State group that was defeated on the battlefield in the war-torn country in March 2019. The U.S. has some 900 troops in eastern Syria backing SDF forces in targeting militant Islamic State group sleeper cells.

Airstrike on northern Iraq military airport kills 3
IRBIL, Iraq (AP)September 18, 2023
An airstrike on a military airport in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region killed three people Monday, local officials said. The region’s counter-terrorism service said in a statement that the attack on the Arbat Airport, 28 kilometers southeast of the city of Suleimaniyah killed three of its personnel and injured three members of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces. The airport had recently undergone rehabilitation to facilitate the training of anti-terror units affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two often-competing main parties in the region, whose seat of power is in Sulaymaniyah. The counter-terrorism service did not blame the attack on any party, but the Sulaymaniyah governorate in a statement urged “countries in the region to respect the sovereignty of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq,” implying that the strike was carried out by Turkey. Also on Monday, the Kurdistan National Congress, an umbrella organization of Kurdish groups and parties, said in a statement that one of its members was “assassinated” inside the group’s office in Erbil without giving further details. Turkey often launches strikes against targets in Syria and Iraq that it believes to be affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a Kurdish separatist group that has waged an insurgency against Turkey since the 1980s. In April, Turkey closed its airspace to flights to and from the Sulaymaniyah International Airport, citing an alleged increase in Kurdish militant activity threatening flight safety. Days later, the Syrian Democratic Forces — Kurdish-led forces operating in northeast Syria that are allied to the United States in its fight against the Islamic State but considered by Turkey to be an offshoot of the PKK — accused Turkey of launching a strike on the airport when SDF commander Mazloum Abdi was at the site. Abdi was unharmed.

Iran's Raisi says five Americans were released purely on humanitarian grounds
NEW YORK (Reuters)September 18, 2023
Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi said on Monday that the release of five American detainees by Tehran was "purely a humanitarian action" as they left Iran under a Qatar-mediated deal that involved the release of $6 billion Iranian funds in South Korea. "This was purely a humanitarian action ... And it can certainly be a step based upon which in the future other humanitarian actions can be taken," Raisi told a group of journalists after his arrival in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly. Iranian authorities said the five Iranians detained by the United States and charged with committing crimes had been freed, an apparent reference to their being granted clemency. Two arrived in Doha, U.S. and Iranian officials said. It was unclear whether the exchange might result in progress on the many disputed issues between the arch foes, including Iran's nuclear program, Tehran's support for regional Shi'ite militias, the presence of U.S. troops in the Gulf and U.S. sanctions on Iran. "Unfortunately history has shown the lack of trust towards the United States because it has trampled upon commitments and broken promises repeatedly," Raisi said. Iranian authorities have not ruled out the possibility of indirect meetings between Tehran and Washington in New York to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear pact with six powers that then-U.S. president Donald Trump ditched in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran.

A look at the prisoners Iran and US have identified previously in an exchange
The Canadian Press/September 18, 2023
Iran and the United States have previously identified eight of the 10 prisoners in an exchange Monday. Here is some information about them:
Siamak Namazi, an energy executive, was arrested in Iran in 2015. He had advocated closer ties between Iran and the West. Iran sentenced both Namazi and his father, Baquer Namazi, to 10 years in the notorious Evin Prison on what the U.S. and U.N. say are trumped-up spying charges. The father was placed under house arrest for medical reasons in 2018 but prevented from leaving Iran despite his family’s pleas that he travel to undergo heart surgery. He ultimately left Iran in October 2022. Siamak Namazi is the longest-held Iranian-American held in Tehran. He appealed to President Joe Biden in an essay in The New York Times in 2022 as American and Iranian nuclear negotiators met for indirect talks in Doha, Qatar, demanding he intervene to “end this nightmare.”
EMAD SHARGHI
The murky espionage charges against Iranian-American businessman Emad Sharghi came to light in early 2021, when an Iranian court announced that the venture capitalist had been sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison. His family says Iran had cleared him of spying charges in December 2019 after jailing and interrogating him for months. Iran says security forces then caught Sharghi on the country’s northwestern border and rearrested him as he tried to flee Iran while free on bail.
MORAD TAHBAZ
Morad Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent, was meant to be released from prison on furlough as part of Iran’s deal with the United Kingdom to resolve a long-running debt dispute in March 2022. That agreement freed two high-profile detainees, charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and retired civil engineer Anoosheh Ashoori, who flew home to London. But Tahbaz remained stuck in Iran. Reports soon emerged that he was sent back to prison despite the furlough promise.
Tahbaz was caught in a dragnet targeting environmental activists while visiting Iran in January 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
IRANIAN PRISONERS
Iran meanwhile has identified five prisoners it seeks released. They are:
— Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, an Iranian charged in 2021 with allegedly failing to register as a foreign agent on Iran’s behalf while lobbying U.S. officials on issues like nuclear policy;
— Mehrdad Ansari, an Iranian sentenced to 63 months in prison in 2021 for obtaining equipment that could be used in missiles, electronic warfare, nuclear weapons and other military gear;
— Amin Hasanzadeh, an Iranian and permanent resident of the United States whom prosecutors charged in 2019 with allegedly stealing engineering plans from his employer to send to Iran;
— Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, an Iranian charged in 2021 over allegedly unlawfully exporting laboratory equipment to Iran; and
— Kambiz Attar Kashani, an Iranian-American sentenced in February to 30 months in prison for purchasing “sophisticated, top-tier U.S. electronic equipment and software” through front companies in the United Arab Emirates.

US, Israel Deny Report That Saudis Freeze Normalization Talks
(Bloomberg)/Mon, September 18, 2023
Israeli and US officials on Monday denied a report in a Saudi-owned newspaper that Riyadh had frozen normalization talks with Israel because it refuses to make concessions to the Palestinians. The report is false, a senior US official said, echoing a similar denial by an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The aide was speaking aboard an airplane carrying the premier to the US for meetings in California and New York. According to a report in London-based Elaph newspaper, which cited officials in Netanyahu’s office, the US informed Israel of the Saudi position. Elaph said the freezing of talks was due largely to statements by far-right Israeli ministers that Israel will not make concessions to the Palestinians as part of any accord with the Saudis. The US, Saudi Arabia and Israel are engaged in complex negotiations in which Washington would offer security guarantees to Riyadh, the Saudis would normalize relations with Israel, and Israel would take actions aimed at preserving the possibility of a Palestinian state.Given the nationalist, right-wing nature of Netanyahu’s governing coalition, it is widely believed that the Palestinian part of the negotiations will be among the most challenging. Netanyahu has repeatedly said that he would take no steps that would endanger Israel’s security.Netanyahu is due to see US President Joe Biden in New York this week at the opening the United Nations General Assembly. The Saudi normalization process, along with concerns about Iran, are central to their agenda, Netanyahu said in comments before leaving Israel late Sunday.

Netanyahu visits Elon Musk in California to hold discussion about artificial intelligence
Associated Press/September 18, 2023
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is starting a U.S. trip in California to talk about technology and artificial intelligence with billionaire businessman Elon Musk. The Israeli leader posted Monday on Musk's social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that he plans to talk with the Tesla CEO “about how we can harness the opportunities and mitigate the risks of AI for the good of civilization.”Netanyahu's high-profile visit to the San Francisco Bay Area comes at a time when Musk is facing accusations of tolerating antisemitic messages on his social media platform, while Netanyahu is confronting political opposition at home and abroad. Protesters gathered early Monday outside the Fremont, California factory where Tesla makes its cars. The video livestream kicked off shortly before 9:30 a.m. with Netanyahu and the Tesla CEO. Netanyahu's official X account posted that he is holding a “a one on one conversation” with Musk. The two kicked off with a joke about deepfakes and quickly launched into a discussion of artificial intelligence as both a blessing and a curse for humanity. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken part in nine months of demonstrations against Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul Israel’s judicial system. Those protests have spread overseas, with groups of Israeli expats staging demonstrations during visits by Netanyahu and other members of his Cabinet. Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish civil-rights organization, has accused Musk of allowing antisemitism and hate speech to spread on X, in part by amplifying the messages of neo-Nazis and white supremacists who want to ban the league by engaging with them on the platform. In a Sept. 4 post, Musk claimed that the league was “trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic.” In other posts, he said the league was responsible for a 60% drop in revenue at X. The group met this month with X's chief executive, Linda Yaccarino. Both Musk and Yaccarino have recently posted messages saying they oppose antisemitism. From California, Netanyahu heads to New York, where he is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly and meet with President Joe Biden and other world leaders, his office said. They include German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. Netanyahu says the judicial overhaul plan is needed to curb the powers of unelected judges, whom he and his allies say are liberal and overly interventionist. Critics say his plan is a power grab that will destroy the country’s system of checks and balances and push it toward autocratic rule. Leading figures in Israel’s influential high-tech community have played a prominent role in the protests. They say weakening the judiciary will hurt the country’s business climate and drive away foreign investment. Israel’s currency, the shekel, has plunged in value this year in a sign of weakening foreign investment.

Israel criticizes UN vote to list prehistoric ruins as World Heritage Site in Palestine
Associated Press/September 18, 2023
A U.N. committee voted Sunday to list prehistoric ruins near the ancient West Bank city of Jericho as a World Heritage Site in Palestine, a decision that angered Israel, which controls the territory and does not recognize a Palestinian state. Jericho is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities on earth, and is in a part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank that is administered by the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority. The listing refers to the Tell es-Sultan archaeological site nearby, which contains prehistoric ruins dating back to the ninth millennium B.C. and is outside the ancient city itself.
The decision was made at a meeting of the U.N. World Heritage Committee in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, under the auspices of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO. Israel's foreign ministry released a statement Sunday that said the listing was a "cynical" ploy by the Palestinians to politicize UNESCO, and that Israel will work with its allies to reverse what it says are the organization's "distorted" decisions. Israel quit UNESCO in 2019, accusing it of being biased against it and of diminishing its connection to the Holy Land. Israel also objected to UNESCO's acceptance of Palestine as a member state in 2011. But Israel remains a party to the World Heritage Convention, and it sent a delegation to the meeting in Riyadh. Israel captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for their future state. Israel views the West Bank as the biblical and cultural heartland of the Jewish people. There have been no serious or substantive peace negotiations in over a decade, and Israel is currently led by the most nationalist and religious government in its history, making any move toward Palestinian statehood nearly unimaginable. The modern city of Jericho is a major draw for tourism to the Palestinian territories, both because of its historical sites and proximity to the Dead Sea. In 2021, the Palestinian Authority unveiled major renovations to one of the largest mosaics in the Middle East, in a Jericho palace dating back to the 8th century.
Tell es-Sultan, an oval-shaped mound, contains evidence of one of humanity's first-known villages and an important Bronze-Age town dating back to 2600 B.C. It is around 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the remains of the first city of Jericho, which contains ruins of importance to Jewish history, including a synagogue dating back to the first century B.C. UNESCO, which refers to the site as Ancient Jericho/Tell es-Sultan, took pains to clarify that the two are distinct. "The property proposed for nomination is the prehistoric archaeological site of Tell es-Sultan located outside the antique site of Jericho," Ernesto Ottone, UNESCO's assistant director general, said during the meeting to discuss the site. "Later historical developments, which span over millennia and are demonstrated by material remains beyond the boundaries of Tell as-Sultan, constitute a rich cultural context, worth of historical interest and preservation, covering among others, Jewish and Christian heritage. However, this is not the focus of the proposed nomination." Historical heritage has long been among the many flashpoints in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with both sides using archaeology and conservation to demonstrate what they say is their own unique connection to the Holy Land. The Palestinian Authority, recognized a decade ago by the United Nations as a nonmember observer state, welcomed the designation of Tell es-Sultan. President Mahmoud Abbas said in a statement that it "testifies to the authenticity and history of the Palestinian people," adding that "the state of Palestine is committed to preserving this unique site for the benefit of mankind." There was no immediate comment from Israel. Paris-based UNESCO began the World Heritage List in 1978. It includes a broad array of over 1,000 sites — from the Acropolis in Athens to the Great Wall of China — nominated by their respective nations.

Russia Foreign Ministry summons French ambassador
LBCI/September 18, 2023
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned on Monday the French ambassador to Moscow to protest against what it claims is mistreatment of Russian journalists. Additionally, Moscow accused Paris of mishandling reporters during the G20 summit in India.

Clinton Global Initiative to launch network to provide new humanitarian aid to Ukrainians
Associated Press/September 18, 2023
The Clinton Global Initiative will announce the launch of the CGI Ukraine Action Network, as well as numerous financial pledges, to support nonprofits working in the country, as the annual conference opens in New York on Monday morning. The CGI Ukraine Action Network is the result of a collaboration between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Olena Zelenska, first lady of Ukraine, that began last year. The new organization, which will be formally announced Tuesday, is designed to mobilize existing CGI partners, as well as new leaders from around the world, to create and finance new commitments for Ukrainians, according to CGI. Numerous monetary commitments for Ukraine are also set to be announced Tuesday, Continuing support is part of the Clinton Global Initiative, or CGI, theme of "Keep Going" this year, as Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton and Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton say they will convene political, business and philanthropic leaders to build on the momentum of the conference's return last year after a six-year hiatus.
"The focus will be on what we can do, not what we can't," wrote the Clintons in a letter to the conference community, "and will highlight how even seemingly small actions, when taken together, can turn the tide on even our most stubborn challenges."Pope Francis and Bill Clinton will discuss climate change, the refugee crisis, caused in part by the war in Ukraine, and other pressing issues to open the conference on Monday morning. In 2022, CGI announced more than 140 commitments, including a $1 billion plan from Water.org, co-founded by actor Matt Damon, to help 100 million people in Africa, Asia and Latin America get lasting access to water and sanitation. This year, leaders including World Bank President Ajay Banga, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres and Ford Foundation CEO Darren Walker, will attend and make their own commitments, which are required for attendance at the conference. However, for nonprofits working in Ukraine, the spotlight CGI is offering them, 18 months after Russia's invasion of the country, may be just as important as the monetary commitments. The nonprofit Save Ukraine, which has opened community centers across the country to help families and especially children traumatized by the war and works to rescue Ukrainian children who have been detained in Russia, is set to receive commitments of support during CGI that it plans to use to open more centers, said Olga Yerokhina, spokeswoman for the charity. "We know that we have no choice — we must work hard and we are ready for that," said Yerokhina, who is based in Kyiv. "But we also have this feeling of, 'Guys, please don't leave us because we want to be with you.' If we are not with you, Russia is going to just erase us from the map of the world." Actor Liev Schreiber, co-founder of BlueCheck Ukraine, which vets small Ukrainian nonprofits doing humanitarian work in their communities so that donors can learn about these smaller organizations and feel comfortable funding them, said reminding people about what Ukrainians are still going through may be the most important part of CGI. "The best possible outcome is keeping people aware that they are still an existential situation," Schreiber said. "Democracies are designed to push back against impossible odds. And it's worked. It's been a miracle in many respects. .. It really is a David and Goliath story. It's extraordinary. And it's not just them. It's us supporting them. How can we give that up now?" Schreiber will speak on a panel Monday morning about Ukraine's short-term and long-term needs, along with Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Fran Katsoudas, Cisco's Chief People, Policy & Purpose Officer, and actor Orlando Bloom, who serves as UNICEF's Goodwill Ambassador. Bloom is expected to announce a commitment for new technology for Ukrainian schoolchildren on Monday, organizers say. "I'm super proud of the global community," Schreiber said. "This is a test for us. Do we really care? I think so far we've had remarkable success so far in supporting them. So many countries did something extraordinary to help. That's significant. We can't forget that."

Blinken meets Chinese Vice President on Monday
AFP/September 18, 2023
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to meet with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng on Monday as part of high-level talks between the two nations in recent days. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Blinken will meet Han Zheng in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings. These talks come as the United States closely monitors changes in leadership roles within Beijing's decision-making circles. Foreign Minister Wang Yi, personally chosen by Xi Jinping at the time, was replaced by Wang Yi. US officials initially expected Wang to attend the annual United Nations meeting, where he could have had a brief encounter with US President Joe Biden. However, China stated that Han, a lower-ranking official, would attend instead. Nonetheless, Wang, who also serves as the director of foreign policies for the Communist Party, held discussions over the weekend with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Malta. The United States has expressed its commitment to keeping communication lines open with China to address recurring tensions between the world's two largest economies.

Ukraine says it has recaptured second village as counter-offensive nears Bakhmut
Sept. 18 (UPI)/September 18, 2023
Ukraine's military claimed it has recaptured the village of Klishchiivka in Donetsk Oblast, the latest of a series of advances in and around the eastern city of Bakhmut chalked up by its summer counteroffensive. The 5th Separate Assault Brigade, the 80th Air Assault Brigade and the Liut "Fury" National Police Assault Brigade led the operation Sunday after months of heavy fighting to drive out Russian forces which captured the settlement in January, General Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote on Telegram. Ukrainian soldiers with the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, also conducting operations in the vicinity, had reported their advance on Klishchiivka, 5.5 miles south of Bakhmut, was extremely difficult due to dense minefields and continual bombardment from Russian artillery. President Volodymyr Zelensky lauded the military's efforts on social media. "I thank our warriors for liberating our land. The 80th Air Assault, 5th Assault, and the renowned 95th Air Assault brigades, as well as the National Police's "Fury" Assault Brigade," he said in a post on Twitter. "I thank everyone who is standing strong from Kupiansk to the left bank of Kherson!" Ukraine forces went on the offensive in the east in May, ahead of the main counteroffensive at the front line in the south of the country. Ukrainian forces were digging in at their newly established front line following the capture Friday of another village nearby, Sunday's victory, which brings the push northwards and the frontline in the east a step closer to Bakhmut, follows the recapture Friday of the village of Andriivka, less than 2 miles to the south of Klishchiivka. The General Staff of the Armed Forces claimed to have inflicted heavy losses of manpower and equipment on Russian forces in the battle for the village and in fighting off attacks on the Lastochkino and Avdiyvka districts of the region. The Ukrainian military said it was liberating the temporarily occupied territories step by step and consolidating "at the achieved borders."

Bulgarian army destroys explosives on drone that landed in Black Sea resort
SOFIA (Reuters)/ September 18, 2023
A Bulgarian army bomb disposal team on Monday destroyed in a controlled explosion a device attached to a drone that landed on Sunday evening in the Black Sea town of Tyulenovo, the defence ministry said in a statement. The army unit inspected the site and concluded that transporting the drone to another location with the explosives still attached would not be possible, the defence ministry said. "We can certainly assume that it is related to the war that Russia launched against Ukraine," Defence Minister Todor Tagarev told reporters. "This war is inevitably associated with increasing risks to our security."
Tagarev did not provide more detailed information on where the drone came from and how it reached NATO member Bulgaria. The tourist resort of Tyulenovo is situated 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of the Romanian border and across the Black Sea from Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014 and now a regular target of Ukrainian drone attacks.Police cordoned off the area on Sunday evening and restricted public access to local restaurant terraces, Marian Zhechev, mayor of Shabla municipality of which Tyulenovo is a part, told Nova TV. He said the drone had been found on rocks next to moored boats at Tyulenovo, describing it as an "aircraft with standard ammunition". It was unclear whether the drone had fallen from the air or had been washed up by the sea currents. Nova.bg web site quoted witnesses as saying that the drone was between 3 and 3.5 metres long. Last week, fragments of a suspected drone were found in Romania, after a new Russian attack on Ukraine's Danube ports across the border.

Russia is exhausting its resources and 'a reckoning is coming,' says Ukraine's spy chief
Thibault Spirlet/Business Insider/September 18, 2023
Russia is running out of reserve troops and weapons it desperately needs to sustain its fighting in Ukraine, Ukraine's intelligence chief said. "Contrary to what the Russian Federation declares, it has absolutely no strategic reserve," Kyrylo Budanov told The Economist in an interview published on Sunday. Budanov cited Russia's underperforming troops, its poor-quality equipment, and Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong Un, as evidence for his claim. "If everything is fine and Russia has enough resources, why are they looking for them all over the world? The answer is obvious. There is nothing to extract any more," he said. Budanov pointed to the "premature" deployment of Russia's 25th Combined Arms Army in early August, which he said had only 80% of the manpower and 55% of the equipment it needed to operate effectively. The UK Ministry of Defence also reported earlier this month that Russia had likely deployed the 25th early, in August instead of December. It's likely that it was "rushed into action early" as Russia "continues to grapple with an over-stretched force along the front and Ukraine continues its counter-offensive on three different axes," the MOD said. While Russia is reportedly poised to step up its mobilization drive, Budanov told The Economist that head count is the only obvious advantage that Russia retains over Ukraine. When it comes to Russian human resources "the quality is low, but the quantity is sufficient," he said. That's not the case for military hardware. Given what he called Russia's dwindling military resources, Budanov predicted that Russia's economy will survive only until 2025, and its flow of weapons will dry up in 2026, or "perhaps earlier," he told the outlet. "A reckoning is coming," Burdanov said, per The Economist. Later in the interview, Burdanov acknowledged that Ukraine also risks running out of resources, but he insisted his country has Western allies ready to supply them with aid, whereas Russia is dependent on itself. While some Ukrainian officials have said they are noticing a "shift" in their partners' readiness to continue supplying support at the same level, Budanov said he had "good intelligence" about realities in the West. "Warehouses in Western countries are not completely empty. No matter what anyone says," he added. "We can see this very clearly as an intelligence agency."

Volodymyr Zelensky fires seven ministers in Ukraine defense ministry purge
Paul Godfrey/United Press International/Mon, September 18, 2023
Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired his entire defense cabinet Monday ahead of a trip to the U.N. General Assembly and Washington where he is expected to seek more support for the country's battle to expel Russian occupying forces. Deputy defense ministers Hanna Maliar, Volodymyr Havrylov, Rostyslav Zamlynskyi, Denys Sharapov, Andrii Shevchenko and Vitalii Deineha were formally dismissed by a meeting of the Ministers' Cabinet, according to the cabinet press office. State Secretary for the Defense Ministry Kostiantyn Vashchenko was also let go. No reason was provided for the decision but Ukraine's Pravda news agency reported a defense ministry source as saying, "a complete overhaul is underway." The dismissals are the apparent culmination of a purge that began two weeks ago with the dismissal of Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov on Sept. 6 after a series of corruption allegations involving equipment and supplies procurement contracts. The replacement earlier this month of Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov (C) after the ministry was implicated in a series of corruption allegations during his time at the helm culminated Monday with the dismissal of all six of his deputy ministers of defense and the Secretary of State for the Defense Ministry. Reznikov has strongly rejected the allegations of corruption during his 22 months in the top defense job. His deputy ministers resigned of their own accord at the request of new Defense Minister Rustem Umierov and in line with Ukrainian law which mandates that if a minister is dismissed, the first deputy minister and deputy ministers are dismissed by the Cabinet of Ministers. Zelensky will hold talks with world leaders on the sidelines of the U.N. gathering that got underway Monday before traveling to Washington on Thursday for an unconfirmed meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. The visit has been timed to coincide with an effort by President Joe Biden's administration to persuade Congress to back additional assistance to Ukraine to the tune of $24 billion, according to the Washington Post.
The purge in Kyiv came as Zelensky attempts to clean up the Defense Ministry following an investigation into corruption, though Reznikov has not been personally implicated in the investigation. Reznikov had been lauded for his central role in coordinating shipments of military equipment and material to Ukraine but Ukrainian lawmakers approved his resignation by a large margin in a vote Sept. 4, a day after he quit. In August, allegations of corruption in military recruitment prompted Zelensky to announce that officials in charge of recruitment would be replaced with wounded war veterans.
However, at a subsequent meeting assessing the outcome of an investigation into corruption allegations, the National Security and Defense Council ruled combat officers would have to be vetted by the SBU, Ukraine's intelligence service, before being appointed to positions on military commissions.

Russia gave Kim Jong Un a bunch of attack drones as a present, violating a UN resolution that even Russian diplomats voted for
Natalie Musumeci/Business Insider/September 18, 2023
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was gifted a bunch of explosive drones during his trip to Russia.
The drone presents violate UN Security Council resolutions that Moscow voted for, Reuters reported.
During Kim's visit to Russia, he also received a fur hat, rifle, bulletproof vest and space glove.
Russia gave Kim Jong Un a bunch of attack drones as a present, violating a UN resolution that even Russian diplomats voted for
The drone presents violate UN Security Council resolutions that Moscow voted for, Reuters reported. During Kim's visit to Russia, he also received a fur hat, rifle, bulletproof vest and space glove. Russia gave North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a bunch of explosive drones as he marked the end of an official six-day trip to the country. The gift of five one-way attack drones and a Geranium-25 reconnaissance drone — which Russian state news agency TASS reported has been heavily utilized in the Kremlin's war against Ukraine — violates at least two United Nations Security Council resolutions that even Moscow voted for, Reuters reported. The UN resolutions against North Korea were imposed over the country's barred nuclear and ballistic missile programs, according to Reuters. During the visit, Kim was also given a bulletproof vest "with protection zones for the chest, shoulders, throat and groin," as well as a fur hat, Russian-made rifle, and glove from a Russian astronaut's suit that has been to space, according to TASS and Reuters. TASS reported that the North Korean leader was even gifted a "set of special clothing that is invisible to thermal imagers." Kim's trip to Russia unfolded amid reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking weapons supplies from North Korea to fuel Moscow's war with Ukraine. The North Korean leader, who traveled to Russia in his armor-plated luxury train, concluded his visit on Sunday when he headed back to Pyongyang by train, Russian state media reported. When Kim met with Putin last week, the North Korean leader pledged his support to Russia. "Now Russia has risen to the sacred fight to protect its sovereignty and security against the hegemonic forces that oppose Russia," Kim said, adding, "We will always support the decisions of President Putin and the Russian leadership," according to Reuters.

Turkey's President Erdogan and Elon Musk discuss establishing a Tesla car factory in Turkey
ISTANBUL (AP)/September 18, 2023
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Elon Musk, the head of electric carmaker Tesla, to establish a factory in Turkey during a meeting in New York, Erdogan’s office said Monday. Erdogan, who is in the U.S. to attend the U.N. General Assembly, also discussed potential cooperation between Musk’s space exploration firm SpaceX and Turkey’s space program, the Turkish president's office said. The statement said Erdogan told Musk that Turkey would welcome cooperation on artificial intelligence and Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service. Musk said SpaceX wanted to secure the necessary license to offer Starlink in Turkey. Images of the meeting showed Musk holding one of his sons as he talked to Erdogan. Turkish Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacir, who attended the meeting, said Musk described Turkey as “among the most important candidates for Tesla investment.”He added that Musk and Erdogan also discussed Turkey’s armed aerial drone program.

First two cargo ships arrive in Ukraine port after Russia's exit from grain deal
Associated Press/September 18, 2023
Two cargo ships arrived in one of Ukraine's ports over the weekend, using a temporary Black Sea corridor established by Kyiv following Russia's withdrawal from a wartime agreement designed to ensure safe grain exports from the invaded country's ports.
Two Palau-flagged bulk carriers, Aroyat and Resilient Africa, docked Saturday at the seaport of Chornomorsk in the southern Odesa region, according to an online statement by the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority. The vessels are the first civilian cargo ships to reach one of the Odesa ports since Russia exited the grain deal. Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine's deputy prime minister, said in an online statement Saturday that the two ships will be delivering some 20,000 tons of wheat to countries in Africa and Asia. For months, Ukraine, whose economy is heavily dependent on farming, was able to safely export its grain from Black Sea ports under a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to ensure safe shipments. But Russia withdrew from the deal on July 17, with Kremlin officials arguing their demands for the facilitation of Russian food and fertilizer shipments had not been met.
Following the withdrawal, the Russian Defense Ministry said it would regard any vessels in the Black Sea headed to Ukrainian ports as military targets. Since then, Kyiv has sought to reroute transport through the Danube River, and road and rail links into Europe. But transport costs that way are much higher. Some European countries have balked at the consequential local grain prices, and the Danube ports can't handle the same volume as seaports. The interim corridor in the Black Sea, which Kyiv has asked the International Maritime Organization to ratify, was opened on Aug. 10 as United States and Ukrainian officials warned of possible Russian attacks on civilian vessels. Sea mines also make the voyage risky, and ship insurance costs are likely to be high for operators. Ukrainian officials said the corridor will be primarily used to evacuate ships stuck in the Ukrainian ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdennyi since the war broke out. Kubrakov said Saturday that five vessels have since used the corridor to leave Ukrainian ports. After tearing up the grain deal, Russia intensified attacks on the southern Odesa region, targeting its port infrastructure and grain silos with missiles and drones. On Sunday, Ukraine's Air Force Command reported another attack overnight in which the Odesa region was the main target. Russian forces fired 10 cruise missiles and six Iranian-made Shahed drones, the statement said. All drones and six missiles were downed, while the rest hit an agricultural facility in the Odesa region.
In other developments:
— Ukraine's military said Sunday it captured the village of Klishchiivka from Russian troops after months of fierce fighting. The village lies south of the Russian-held city of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region, and its recapture comes days after Ukrainian forces said they liberated the nearby village of Andriivka. There was no immediate comment from Russian officials on the recapture. Gaining Klischiivka signifies an important tactical victory for Ukrainian forces. The commanding heights of the village offers a view into the Russian-occupied town of Bakhmut and opens up new opportunities for Ukrainian forces to encircle the town. It also potentially allows Ukrainians a better view into Russian logistic lines. — Russian authorities on Sunday reported that Ukrainian drones targeted the annexed Crimean peninsula and a number of Russian regions overnight and in the morning. Two drones were downed overnight in the Moscow region that surrounds the Russian capital, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. A third drone was intercepted over the Voronezh region that borders Ukraine, Russia's Defense Ministry said. Another one hit a fuel tank in the neighboring Oryol region, Oryol Gov. Andrei Klychkov said, igniting a fire that was quickly put out. A drone also fell on a logistics facility in the Tula region south of Moscow, local authorities said. In the annexed Crimea, the Russian Defense Ministry reported downing six Ukrainian drones in the early hours of Sunday. Ukrainian officials have not commented on the attacks,

Ukraine Asks Germany to Halt Ammunition Tool Headed for Russia
(Bloomberg)/September 18, 2023
Ukraine’s anti-corruption watchdog wrote to German authorities and a Bavarian-based company seeking to halt the delivery to Russia of high-end machinery used by ammunition manufacturers. The National Agency on Corruption Prevention in Kyiv informed the German government that a so-called CNC machine manufactured by Spinner GmbH is en route to a plant in Russia from Turkey, according to letters seen by Bloomberg News and people familiar with the matter. The equipment is due to arrive later this month. The CNC machine, which uses computer-operated tools to make precision instruments, is required to produce high-explosive fragmentation projectiles used by Russian forces in Ukraine, the documents say. “It goes without saying that once the machine reaches Russia, there will be little we can do to prevent its use for military purposes by Russia: time is of the essence,” the agency wrote. The Ukrainian demand underscores concerns that Russia has worked around European Union sanctions to import banned equipment used for military purposes via countries such as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The machine’s journey — from Istanbul to a Russian port on the northeastern shores of the Black Sea, which Bloomberg was unable to independently verify — lays bare the challenges EU authorities face in enforcing restrictions on Russia designed to weaken its defense capabilities.
German Engineering
Ukraine’s NACP also wrote to Spinner. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing or awareness on the part of the company that its products would end up in Russia. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The CNC machine was loaded onto a truck in Turkey on Aug. 30, in preparation to be transported via ferry to a port on the northeastern shores of the Black Sea — and from there will go to the Serov Mechanical Plant JSC in Russia, the documents say. The Russian ammunition manufacturer is associated with Rostec, the state-owned defense conglomerate that’s a under a raft of European and US sanctions. The importer was identified as Yumak LLC, a Russian company that’s a regular supplier of several sanctioned entities involved in the production of ammunition, projectiles as well as other components used by tanks and Russia Su and MiG fighter jets, according to the documents. Germany’s Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Controls, which is tasked with enforcing sanctions, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. German manufacturers like Spinner are known for their precision engineering — and there are many producers of high-quality CNC machines based in Europe’s largest economy. The machines are used in the defense industry for high-volume production of ammunition including bullets and artillery projectiles.

The Taliban have banned girls from school for 2 years. It’s a worsening crisis for all Afghans
ISLAMABAD (AP)/September 18, 2023
Two years after the Taliban banned girls from school beyond sixth grade, Afghanistan is the only country in the world with restrictions on female education. Now, the rights of Afghan women and children are on the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly Monday in New York. The U.N. children’s agency says more than 1 million girls are affected by the ban, although it estimates 5 million were out of school before the Taliban takeover due to a lack of facilities and other reasons. The ban triggered global condemnation and remains the Taliban's biggest obstacle to gaining recognition as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan. But the Taliban defied the backlash and went further, excluding women and girls from higher education, public spaces like parks, and most jobs.
Here’s a look at the ban on girls’ education:
WHY DID THE TALIBAN EXCLUDE GIRLS FROM HIGH SCHOOL?
The Taliban stopped girls’ education beyond sixth grade because they said it didn’t comply with their interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia. They didn’t stop it for boys. In the past two years, they’ve shown no signs of progress in creating the conditions they say are needed for girls to return to class. Their perspective on girls’ education partly comes from a specific school of 19th century Islamic thought and partly from rural areas where tribalism is entrenched, according to regional expert Hassan Abbas.
“The ones who went on to develop the (Taliban) movement opted for ideas that are restrictive, orthodox to the extreme, and tribal,” said Abbas, who writes extensively about the Taliban. The Taliban leadership believes women should not participate in anything social or public and should especially be kept away from education, said Abbas.
The Taliban also stopped girls’ education when they ruled Afghanistan in the late 1990s.
WHAT DO MUSLIM-MAJORITY COUNTRIES SAY ABOUT THE BAN?
There’s a consensus among clerics outside Afghanistan that Islam places equal emphasis on female and male education. “The Taliban have no basis or evidence to claim the contrary,” said Abbas. But pleas from individual countries and groups, like the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, have failed to sway the Taliban.
Syed Akbar Agha, a former Taliban front-line commander, said the insurgents espoused an Islamic system the day they entered Kabul in August 2021. “They also gave Afghans and the outside world the idea that there would be an Islamic system in the country,” said Agha. “There is currently no (other) Islamic system in the world. The efforts of the international community are ongoing to implement democracy in Islamic countries and turn them away from the Islamic system.”
WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF THE BAN ON WOMEN?
Roza Otunbayeva, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' special representative for Afghanistan and the head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, said one of the obvious impacts of an education ban is the lack of training of aspiring health care professionals.
Female medical students had their studies halted after last December’s Taliban edict banning higher education for women. Afghan women work in hospitals and clinics -- health care is one of the few sectors open to them — but the pipeline of qualified people will dry up. Afghan women cannot see male doctors, so children will also lose out on medical attention if women are their primary carers. “Looking into the future and a scenario where nothing changes, where will the female doctors, midwives, gynecologists, or nurses come from?” Otunbayeva said in an email to The Associated Press. “In a strictly gender segregated society, how will Afghan women be able to get the most basic healthcare services if there are no female professionals to treat them?”
WHAT IS THE IMPACT ON AFGHANISTAN'S WIDER POPULATION?
The high school ban is not just about girls’ rights. It’s a worsening crisis for all Afghans.
Tens of thousands of teachers have lost their jobs. Support staff are also unemployed. Private institutions and businesses that benefited financially from girls’ education have been hit. Afghanistan has a shattered economy and people's incomes are plummeting. Excluding women from the job market hurts the country's GDP to the cost of billions of dollars, says UNICEF. The Taliban are prioritizing Islamic knowledge over basic literacy and numeracy with their shift toward madrassas, or religious schools, paving the way for a generation of children with no contemporary or secular education to improve their or the country's economic future. There are other consequences for the general population, like public health and child protection. U.N. data says birth rates are higher among Afghan girls aged 15-19 who don't have secondary or higher education. A woman’s education can also determine if her children have basic immunization and if her daughters are married by the age of 18. The lack of women's education is among the major drivers of deprivation, says the U.N. Aid groups say girls are at increased risk of child labor and child marriage because they're not at school, amid the growing hardships faced by families.
WILL THE TALIBAN CHANGE THEIR MINDS?
The Taliban waged a decades-long jihad to implement their vision of Sharia. They are not backing down easily. Sanctions, frozen assets, the lack of official recognition, and widespread condemnation has made little difference. Countries that have a relationship with the Taliban could make an impact. But they have different priorities, reducing the prospects of a united front on girls’ education. Pakistan has concerns about a resurgence of militant activity. Iran and Central Asian countries have grievances about water resources. China is eyeing investment and mineral extraction opportunities. There's a bigger likelihood of pressure coming from within Afghanistan. The Taliban rule of today is different from that of decades ago. Senior leaders, including the chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, rely on social media for key messaging to Afghans at home and abroad. They point to their success in eradicating narcotics and cracking down on armed groups like the Islamic State. But improving security and wiping out poppy crops will only satisfy people to a point. While Afghans are concerned about the loss of girls' education, they have more immediate worries like earning money, putting food on the table, keeping a roof over their heads, and surviving droughts and harsh winters. There is a desire within Afghanistan for the Taliban to have some kind of international acceptance, even if it's not recognition, so the economy can thrive. Public opinion is much more relevant and influential today than it was during Taliban rule in the 90s, said Abbas. “Internal pressure from ordinary Afghans is going to ultimately push Kandahar in the corner and make a difference." But it could take years for the ban's consequences to hit Afghan men and trigger a groundswell of unrest. Right now, it only affects girls and it's mostly women who have protested the slew of restrictions. Agha said Afghans will support the ban if the end goal is to enforce hijab, the Islamic headscarf, and finish gender mixing. But they won't if it's simply to end girls' education outright. “I think only the nation can lead the way,” he said.

Italy tightens laws against illegal immigrants
AFP/September 18, 2023
The Italian government issued new measures on Monday to curb the flow of migrants, including the establishment of more detention centers and an extension of the detention period for irregular migrants. With a significant increase in the number of arrivals on the small Italian island of Lampedusa, where approximately 8,500 migrants arrived within three days last week, the far-right government seeks to find a solution to the crisis. Prime Minister Georgia Meloni promised on Sunday that her government would tighten laws, particularly by extending the maximum detention period for irregular migrants from 135 days to 18 months. Meloni stated, "This means, and I send this very clear message to all of Africa, if you entrust your fate to human traffickers to violate Italian laws, you should know that upon your arrival in Italy, you will be detained and then deported." The Cabinet approved the extension of the detention period on Monday, according to a government source cited by Agence France-Presse. The decision must now be voted on in parliament. This reform will exempt Italian authorities from their legal obligation to deport foreigners subject to expulsion orders to the border if the deportation procedures are not completed within the currently prescribed 135-day timeframe. After reaching the shores of Italy, the vast majority of migrants are sent to reception centers across the country where they await the processing of their asylum requests. Migrants scheduled for deportation are transferred to detention centers for undocumented foreigners, of which there are nine in Italy, including in Bari (south), Rome (central), and Milan (north). According to the prison oversight authority, migrants spent an average of forty days in these centers in 2022.The maximum detention period in Italy was 18 months between 2011 and 2014, before being reduced by the left-wing government led by Matteo Renzi. Responding to an Agence France-Presse inquiry regarding the potential impact of these measures, Alfonso Giordano, an immigration expert and professor at Rome's University of Roma Tre, said, "I don't think it will be a significant deterrent or sufficient to convince people fleeing far worse conditions than they face here."

More than 100 Syrian dead in Derna floods
AFP/September 18, 2023
112 Syrians, including entire families, have been killed, with over a hundred others still missing, due to the floods that hit the city of Derna in eastern Libya, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Libya hosts a large Syrian community and serves as a crucial point of departure for migrants from Syria and several other countries who set sail towards Europe on overcrowded and dilapidated boats. Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the Syrian Observatory, reported that 112 fatalities and more than a hundred missing persons have been confirmed so far. The chances of finding survivors are diminishing as floods struck Derna on September 10, claiming the lives of 3,300 people, with thousands still missing. Khaled Ali (37 years old) from Derna recounted over the phone to Agence France-Presse, "I lost two of my brothers, Hani Abdel Hamid Ali and Mahmoud Faisal Ali, along with their wives and their six children," the youngest of whom is just six months old. He added, "The floods washed away their home, and there was nothing left of it," noting that he identified the bodies of the two young men after they were circulated on social media. Three years ago, the two young men, Hani and Mahmoud, along with other family members, including Khaled, moved to Libya in search of a livelihood as Lebanon's economic collapse began. They had initially sought refuge in Lebanon to escape the difficult living conditions resulting from the ongoing conflict in Syria since 2011. Khaled, who works in construction along with the rest of the family, said, "We went from one crisis to another. But this is our fate."In Damascus, the Qalaji and Khateeb families mourned the loss of eight members: father Mohammed Qalaji, mother Rana Khateeb, and their six children. Ibrahim Qalaji (46 years old), Mohammed's brother, told Agence France-Presse, "We were in contact with them just three hours before the floods, and they told us that the rain was heavy (...) then all communication was cut off completely." He added, "We later learned from a doctor that my brother and his wife had died, but there is no trace of the rest of the family."He said, "We surrendered our affairs to God. They lived in exile and died in exile."While Mohammed, who moved to Libya in 2000 and worked in an auto repair shop, lost his life, his brother Shadi "miraculously survived by holding onto a mosque minaret while people were being swept away from all directions," according to Ibrahim. Ibrahim added, "My surviving brother there today has no documentation to prove his identity and now has no past, present, or future."

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 18-19/2023
Militia state or transport hub: Iraq can’t be both
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/September 18, 2023
Revolutionary developments are afoot for strategic control of major trans-Middle East transport routes. Kuwait and Iraq are tussling over control of Gulf waterways, amid plans for a route from Faw port through to Turkiye, and progress on an Iraq-Iran rail link.
The G20’s unveiling of plans for a major new trade corridor linking Saudi Arabia, India and Europe is a further game-changer. Meanwhile there has been fierce fighting between Arab and Kurdish factions in eastern Syria, as major powers seek to exploit these dynamics to gain control of routes through Syria and Iraq. Iraq’s Supreme Court has declared that a law regulating maritime navigation along a crucial waterway with Kuwait was unconstitutional, triggering a furious response from Kuwaiti lawmakers. Many Iraqi parties welcomed the court’s decision, voicing concerns that the previous arrangement undermined Iraqi sovereignty, while questioning the motivations of those who had brokered that 2013 agreement under Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki. The Khor Abdullah waterway is critical to Iraq’s economic wellbeing, enabling the passage of 80 percent of the country’s imports and exports.
Leaderships on both sides have sought to keep negotiations cordial and pragmatic. However, with Iraqi provincial elections due December, the usual suspects have sought to inflame this issue for political gain, staging protests in Basra.
Sectarian Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi militias have threatened Kuwait and other Gulf states and fired missiles across the border to Kuwait, claiming it is a historical part of Iraq. When tensions flared over fishing rights last year, Hashd MP Ala Al-Haidari called for Hashd forces to be deployed in Khor Abdullah, while Hashd media outlets peddled anti-GCC incitement. Kuwaiti observers have meanwhile expressed disquiet at the doubling of the Hashd budget and force sizes.
Iraq’s ongoing Faw Grand Port project — if ever actually implemented — is envisioned as the largest port in the Middle East, with the potential to revolutionize Iraq’s economic landscape. Iraq last week also launched plans for a major naval base at the site to provide security in Gulf headwaters.
Iraq is meanwhile set to finalize agreements for a $17 billion high-speed Development Route railway from Faw through Turkiye toward Europe. GCC states are taking a keen interest, given the immense opportunities for trade and travel. Improved diplomatic relations between Iraq and Saudi Arabia have furthermore fueled hopes for reinvigoration of long-mothballed road-building plans, including linking up the holy cities of Makkah and Najaf as a major pilgrimage route. However, given Iraq’s record of endlessly stalled projects and funds siphoned off into corrupt hands, it will be a miracle if any of these plans ever come to fruition.
There are further glaring obstacles to Iraq becoming a core international conduit. Iraq’s borders and major road routes are festooned with illegal Hashd checkpoints for extorting revenue from commercial and private transport. Despite laughably feeble efforts to crack down on Hashd economic activities, a previous finance minister estimated that around 90 percent of Iraq’s customs revenues were being stolen by Hashd highwaymen.
A shadow war has been rumbling for control of transport routes from Iran to the Mediterranean, with the aim of profit from smuggling narcotics, munitions and other contraband
Thus, the Hashd-dominated political echelons’ sudden enthusiasm for creating major transnational routes comes as little surprise. If these bandits can monopolize major trade corridors between Europe and the GCC, revenue-generating opportunities are infinite. The Sudani government, appointed by Hashd factions, has already given away immense territories to industrial conglomerates controlled by these paramilitaries for economic exploitation, including large areas adjoining the Kuwait and Saudi borders. Hezbollah has likewise been given vast fiefdoms in Syria, which it exploits for profit and to strengthen its regional strategic position.
A shadow war has been rumbling for control of transport routes from Iran to the Mediterranean, with the aim of profit from smuggling narcotics, munitions and other contraband. Despite massive Hashd fortifications established on the Iraq-Syria border at Albu-Kamal, the militants’ ambitions have been constrained by the presence of US forces near by.
Bashar Assad has sought to exploit the recent explosion of violence between Arabs and Kurds in eastern Syria to reestablish regime control through this volatile region, particularly through deployment of a motley assemblage of Shiite militias, including Hezbollah, and reinvigorated attempts to co-opt local tribes. Before this fighting, rumors were rife that the US was planning a major operation to definitively curtail the Hashd’s presence at Albu-Kamal.
As part of Assad’s longstanding ambitions to reestablish his control of the east, a so-called “Railway of Resistance” from Iran to the Mediterranean is underway. Last week, Iraq’s prime minister and Iran’s vice president held a foundation stone ceremony at the Shalamcheh border crossing near Basra, beginning the Iraq stretch of the project. Further routes from Albu-Kamal to Latakia and Damascus are expected, with China taking a strong interest as a crucial plank of its Belt-and-Road initiative.
These planned routes offer a spectrum of economic opportunities in a region experiencing sky-high levels of youth unemployment. But who actually benefits?
Given Hashd political supremacy, and dominance of territories through which these routes are planned, of course these militias will seek to monopolize these corridors for profit, with Hashd and Hezbollah enterprises well placed to be awarded lucrative construction projects. With Syria and Iraq becoming fully-fledged narco-states, are plans afoot to ensure that ports and rail junctions don’t become major distribution hubs for Captagon, heroin and crystal meth?
This is where major powers such as Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, China, the US and EU must come in. Under current conditions, billions of dollars of investment will be corruptly frittered away. The Hashd stranglehold has raised costs of doing business many times over. The absence of major Iraq-straddling trade routes today is less the consequence of poor quality tarmac, and more because of routine extortion, security threats, and the ability of unaccountable militias to block major roads on a whim.
In short, Iraq cannot be both a major transport hub and a den of paramilitaries, pirates and highwaymen. Shiny new roads and railway infrastructure are not enough: Iraq must also have the political will and international backing to secure these routes as transnational corridors of free trade. Iraq’s neighbors, Kuwait included, meanwhile shouldn’t be exploiting Baghdad’s weakness, corruption and dysfunction to their own advantage.
For decades under various regimes, an isolated and shunned Iraq has failed to fulfill its global potential. The unveiling of this bounty of megaprojects should be Baghdad’s moment of decision: Does it want to perpetuate its isolation as a militia state and a marginalized rung in a bankrupt “Axis of Resistance,” or does it genuinely want to throw open its doors to the world?
Millions of young Iraqi protesters calling for economic opportunities, renewed Arab ties, and an end to militia governance have made it very clear which vision they favor.
• Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.

World leaders must commit to preserving the UN and making it better
Dr. Amal Mudallali/Arab News/September 18, 2023
The 78th UN General Assembly is underway and the world leaders who have made their annual pilgrimage to New York know what is at stake this year for the UN, the world order that underpinned all the post-Second World War international institutions and the fate of multilateralism and cooperation due to the unprecedented challenges that our world faces.
The theme that General Assembly President Dennis Francis, the permanent representative of Trinidad and Tobago, has chosen says it all: “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity.” The trust deficit among the nations of the world, especially between the Global South and the developed world, or the Global North, is a widening chasm.
Global solidarity has given way to division, competition and fragmentation. Reigniting it will take a real commitment by those who have the power to rekindle the promise of peace that the UN represents.
All the analysis about this UNGA is full of dread about the state of our world and the future of the UN and global cooperation. It is true. The world that is descending on the UN headquarters is not the same world that we knew even a year or two ago. The world is divided like we have never seen since the founding of the organization. The UN itself is under tremendous pressure to stay relevant only because those who are supposed to keep it strong are undermining it by their actions outside of the UN framework, sometimes in contravention of its charter or via inaction in the face of colossal challenges. These challenges range from conflict to rising poverty and inequality to a worsening climate crisis and natural disasters, the consequences of a terrible pandemic and backsliding on democracy and human rights.
The trust deficit among the nations of the world, especially between the Global South and the Global North, is a widening chasm
The UN is reeling under the weight of these multiple crises and the gridlock that has plagued its Security Council, which failed to uphold its responsibility to maintain peace and security in the face of conflict on many occasions last year.
It is very easy for world leaders and experts alike to blame the UN. But the blame should be laid on the shoulders of member states, especially the great powers, including the new rising powers, and not the organization. The UN is only as strong as its members and their actions, and is as weak as they make it. The last year was a showcase of how not to treat the UN and what happens when you dilute its influence by acting outside or around it, weakening it. Last year’s diluted multilateralism, power competition and unfulfilled commitments to the UN and to solving urgent global problems were a harbinger of a more difficult path ahead.
This reality was, no doubt, what Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had in mind when he decried the assault on peace. “Drop by drop, the poison of war is infecting our world,” he said last week. He appealed to the world leaders who are coming to UNGA, saying: “This is not a time for posturing or positioning. This is not a time for indifference or indecision. This is a time to come together for real, practical solutions.”
The UN has prepared for the world leaders and their delegations a very full agenda, along with clear paths to solutions should they decide to put our world on a path of recovery and healing.
The centerpiece of the UNGA’s meetings is the Sustainable Development Goals Summit. It is central because the implementation of the goals is currently off track. The summit will issue a political declaration that has already been negotiated among member states and, for the first time, it includes “bold” language that was not imaginable in previous declarations. It admits that the achievement of the SDGs is “in peril” and expresses deep concern over the “marked increase of the estimated SDG financing gap and (recognizes) the urgency of providing predictable, sustainable and sufficient development finance to developing countries from all sources.”
The declaration calls for “strengthened multilateral actions and coordination by all creditors to address the deteriorating debt situation.” It supports the “reform of the international financial architecture … including its business models and financing capacities,” saying that it “must be made more fit for purpose, equitable and responsive to the financing needs of developing countries, to broaden and strengthen the voice and participation of developing countries in international economic decision-making, norm-setting, and global economic governance.” This is new language for a UN declaration endorsed by world leaders, including the big powers, and it indicates a change reflective of the new global political landscape, in which the voice of the Global South is becoming clearer, louder and bolder.
Qatari Ambassador to the UN Sheikha Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani, who led the negotiations on the political declaration with her colleague from Ireland, told Arab News that the political declaration “symbolizes a moment of unity among nations, emphasizing their shared responsibility to address pressing global challenges.” She added that the declaration represents a “solid baseline for the negotiations yet to come in the upcoming UNGA session on the future pact that is anticipated to be negotiated and adopted at the 2024 UN Summit of the Future.”
World leaders will also have a chance at the Climate Ambition Summit to “walk the talk” on efforts to tackle the climate crisis, as a UN press release said. The summit will focus on “three acceleration tracks: ambition, credibility and implementation.”
The last year was a showcase of how not to treat the UN and what happens when you dilute its influence by acting outside or around it
Pandemic preparedness will also be the subject of a meeting between world leaders, the president of the General Assembly and the World Health Organization. They will adopt a declaration on the road ahead for confronting future pandemics and ensuring global health.
There will also be a meeting on universal healthcare, a high-level dialogue on financing for development and one on the fight against tuberculosis. The last meeting is a ministerial one to start preparation for next September’s Summit of the Future.
With this packed agenda, UNGA 78 is on its way to being one of the busiest in a while, although President Joe Biden of the US is the only leader from the five permanent members of the UNSC slated to attend. The other P5 leaders’ absence should not take away from the importance of having the rest of the world gathered in New York. Maybe their absence should be a message to all that the crucial work of the UN continues regardless of who attends. Since their representatives are in the room, nothing should take away from the importance of the work that will take place at the UN this week.
The fact that this organization and the architecture that it was built upon has been able to ward off another world war for 78 years so far, while succeeding in keeping all these countries working together (193 now, compared to the 50 brave ones that set it up) is a vote of confidence in this imperfect organization. I used to think of us inside that building on First Avenue in New York as Noah’s Ark. We were still sitting together, negotiating and working toward a better world, while the noise, distrust, hatred and divisions of the outside world were opening more gates for floodwater to drown the sailing ship.
Whenever I am faced with any criticism of the UN, I remember American President Dwight Eisenhower, who said at the General Assembly in 1953: “Never before in history has so much hope for so many people been gathered together in a single organization.” His words ring as true today as they did then, especially when he added: “With all its defects, with all the failures that we can check up against it, the UN still represents man’s best organized hope to substitute the conference table for the battlefield.” We should all, especially the world leaders, remember that this week, in that magnificent reservoir of hope on the East River, and commit to preserving the UN and making it better.
*Dr. Amal Mudallali is an American policy and international relations analyst.

Why Iran is ignored when nations plan transboundary trade routes
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/September 18, 2023
The experiences of rising states in contemporary history indicate that transformations in their strength and capabilities have been critical to elevating their status to the ranks of actors capable of exerting influence over global issues.
For such countries to be positioned at the heart of projects to establish transboundary global corridors and take a leading role on the map of global logistical projects does not happen by accident, nor are they the spur of a certain historical moment. In addition, such countries do not aim to destroy other nations, squander resources or displace populations to strengthen their rise — with the ultimate goal of elevating their rank within the global hierarchy of power.
Rather, their rise is a product of contemporary and civilizational visions that prioritize the standards of good governance at home while seeking to bolster status, diversify international relations and strategic partners, and establish positive equilibriums, while also supporting nations and compelling outsiders to respect national sovereignty.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are geographic neighbors and regional powerhouses, given their available resources and potential. Each has carved out its own approach and built its own model to enhance its standing and regional leadership. The Saudi leadership has laid out a national, civilizational and contemporary vision based on belief in its own national values and an awareness of its available resources and a desire to harness them for bolstering influence overseas aimed at enhancing the Kingdom’s standing and role.
The regime has based itself on revolutionary, sectarian ideals that prioritize its survival and the interests of clerics
At home, the Kingdom has prioritized comprehensive development. It has initiated a complete modernization of all of its institutions, enhanced oversight and made these institutions subject to oversight and accountability. In addition, it has fostered justice and diversified sources of income. Saudi citizens are the cornerstone of the country’s development scheme, with the Kingdom cultivating the sentiments of citizenship and empowering women to participate in building the modern state. The Saudi government has also delivered on a package of massive reforms in all sectors, achieving advanced positions according to several criteria and indicators.
Overseas, the Kingdom has prioritized fostering peace and stability through settling disputes, setting in motion the zero-problem approach, diversifying regional and global alternatives, and supporting national armies and the territorial integrity of nations. It has called on the international community to counter nonstate actors, given the growing danger they pose to security and stability.
At the same time, Riyadh is shouldering the responsibility of playing an important role in stabilizing the global economy, not to mention laying out mediation initiatives aimed at resolving regional and global disputes.
Conversely, the Iranian regime has, since the beginning of its tenure more than 40 years ago, laid out a vision diametrically opposed to contemporary models and visions of governance that focus on the socioeconomic welfare of citizens — opting instead to work on sustaining its survival in power. The regime has also based itself on revolutionary, sectarian ideals that prioritize its survival and the interests of clerics rather than those of Iranian citizens — in contrast to the Saudi vision.
The clerical regime has imposed its ideology on society, establishing a revolutionary state that operates in parallel with the regular state institutions. Moreover, it has deducted a large share of the state budget for revolutionary rather than for national, inward-looking projects, thus leading to the absence of justice, transparency, oversight and equal opportunities in Iran.
Externally, the regime has given precedence to implementing its sectarian schemes, imposing hegemony over sovereign states through supplying nonstate actors in several Arab nations with money and weapons to establish paramilitary forces, thus depriving the Iranian people of their own resources and denying them the chance to build their own institutions and state. In doing so, the regime has violated the principles of good neighborliness and noninterference in the internal affairs of other countries by respecting their sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The ambitious Saudi Vision 2030 has presented an inspiring model for good governance and administration, as well as a commendable development model. The Kingdom has won the confidence of several regional and global actors due to its vision and leadership, contributing to it having a say in the global economy. It has also turned into an acceptable and neutral global intermediary and an influential contributor to the global economy’s stability, as well as a chief actor in handling global political issues.
Several countries worldwide, particularly the global powers, are now looking at Saudi Arabia with admiration. They view the Kingdom as an important and influential actor in global affairs, which has led it to be at the heart of several global trade and logistical projects, such as the corridor proposed by Central Asian nations. This is a land and maritime corridor linking the Gulf states with Central Asia via Pakistan and Afghanistan. This is in addition to the latest corridor linking India and the Middle East with Europe, which was proposed at last week’s G20 summit in New Delhi.
The ambitious Saudi Vision 2030 has presented an inspiring model for good governance and administration
On the other hand, the Iranian sectarian revolutionary model of administration and governance has created a crisis-ridden state at home, while externally it suffers from the consequences of isolation and embargo. This is due to the regime’s policies that aim to develop nuclear and ballistic capabilities, as well as policies aimed at expanding Tehran’s regional clout — at the expense of other sovereign nations.
At home, Iran has turned into a state shackled with economic and living crises as a result of the plummeting local currency, runaway inflation and surges in crime, sectarian violence and immigration, not to mention the lack of justice and equal opportunities. This has created “a crisis of legitimacy,” since popular approval of the regime’s policies has nearly vanished. Iranian citizens have taken to the streets on several occasions, exposing the unstable domestic font.
Externally, Iran faces sanctions and is isolated against the backdrop of its ambitions to expand its regional dominance, acquire nuclear arms and develop ballistic missiles, let alone engage in disputes with its immediate neighbors. In addition, its competitive standing in the context of economic and logistical corridors, as well as transit points, has declined because of its poor infrastructure, weak financial capabilities and inability to take advantage of investment opportunities given the rulers’ inadequate policies and deteriorating conditions. Hence, Iran is not admired by the global powers that are involved in proposing and designing the mentioned corridors, despite its geographic location, ports, massive resources and promising investment opportunities.
By checking what is circulating in Iranian media outlets regarding the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, we find that Iranian columnists have reiterated their country’s lack of political credulity and it being unqualified to be at the heart of global corridors, despite the ability of its neighbor, Saudi Arabia, to link itself to the global economy.
For example, the North-South Transport Corridor, one of the world’s most vital economic projects, remains frozen as a result of the lack of infrastructure and measures regulating transit in Iran. Worse, Iran’s chances of involvement in the Belt and Road Initiative are receding. Iran is also not part of the Azerbaijan-Armenia Zangezur Corridor project that both China and Turkiye are working on. Also, the corridor linking India to Europe excludes Iran due to the lack of the necessary requirements, which deprive it of internal and external investment opportunities. However, if availed, they could elevate the Iranian economy to being among those of the world’s most advanced nations, instead of its ongoing deterioration.
To conclude, as Iranian columnists have put it, opportunities do not wait for any country, no matter how massive its potential and its resources. In case Iran does not take advantage of these opportunities, when coupled with serious programs and unwavering determination, these opportunities will one day turn into threats. And perhaps this is an opportunity for Iran to reconsider its domestic and foreign policies in a way that boosts its standing and links it to the global economy. Iran will have to decide this sooner or later, considering the current internal and external realities that it faces.
*Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is the founder and president of the International Institute for Iranian Studies (Rasanah). Twitter: @mohalsulami

Targeted for Termination: Dogs and Infidels
Raymond Ibrahim/September 18, 2023
On Aug. 25, 2023, a video appeared of Muslim girls covered from head to toe in all black burqas and dancing to a song that praised Islam and cursed “infidels,” that is, all non-Muslims. The video—which would make ISIS proud and chill Western audiences—was taken on a woman’s college campus in India, Talimuddin Niswan Women’s Degree College in Mau.
Swati Goel Sharma, the journalist who shared the video, wrote:
A glimpse into the brainwashing and radicalisation that goes on in religious minority institutes [meaning Muslim schools in India]. Women covered from head to toe in burqa are glorifying the regressive all-body wrapping as the very foundation of their religious beliefs, while cursing non-believers as hijdas [eunuchs] and kutta [dogs] and declaring them as enemies.
Indoctrinating Muslim students to hate and despise non-Muslims is, of course, nothing new and par for the course all throughout the Muslim world.
Of interest here is the disparaging reference to dogs, not least as it underscores the vast cultural differences between the West and Islam. Put differently, whereas dogs are seen as “man’s best friend” in the West—indeed, not a few so-called “progressives” are even trying to transform themselves into dogs—for many Muslims, dogs are vermin. Indeed, as discussed in this article, dogs are regularly targeted for cruel treatment and extermination in the Muslim world.
Notices that appeared in public spaces in the UK with significant Muslim presence
And where does this hate come from? As usual, the prophet of Islam: Muhammad. According to Abdullah bin Omar, as recorded in the canonical (or sahih) hadith collection of Al-Muslim, “The Messenger of Allah used to order the killing of dogs, so we used to send [men] to Medina and its adjoining vicinity, and we spared no dog but rather killed it.” (Translation of Arabic text.)
Muhammad later revised his decision by allowing dogs that earn their keep—by herding, hunting, or guarding—to exist unmolested, though the hate for them remained: angels, the prophet of Allah warned, would never visit and therefore bless homes that keep dogs.
In short, and as one anti-dog fatwa, or Islamic decree, concludes:
We must ensure that Muslims continue to be averse to dogs, even in the midst of what the kuffaar [Western infidels] are used to do[ing] and what some Muslims have adopted of their habits.
Perhaps the fatwa author was thinking of Khaled Abou el-Fadl, a professor at UCLA who, being a dog lover, appears to have “adopted of their [Western] habits.”
Here is a video of another straight-shooting sheikh on whether Muslims are permitted to keep dogs as pets (short answer: no, and hell is the price).
This discussion on dogs cannot end without reference to Islam’s teaching—sung and danced to by those pleasant young girls in India—that non-Muslims are dogs.
According to sharia, the life—or as articulated in Arabic, the “blood”—of a non-Muslim is far inferior to the life/blood of a Muslim. Rather, and based on some of Islam’s respected hadith collections, the blood of a non-Muslim is equal to the blood of a dog.
According to a hadith recorded among other places in Sunan Ahmed (Hanbali jurisprudence) and Sunan al-Bayhaqi (Shafi’i jurisprudence), during the course of a discussion about non-Muslims, Caliph Omar al-Khattab — one of Sunni Islam’s “four righteous caliphs”— declared “They are mushrikun, and the blood of one of them is [like] the blood of a dog.”
Mushrikun literally means those who associate others—Jesus, the Trinity, the Hindu pantheon, etc.—with Allah. Today, it is often used to refer to any non-Muslim.
Therefore, based on this reading, non-Muslims are, like dogs, also good for nothing but killing.
As illuminating as this excursus might be, it is, also, a bit redundant: Islam—the Koran itself (e.g., 9:5)—already makes clear that the life of a non-Muslim, non-dhimmi is de facto forfeit:
Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the mushrikun wherever ye find them, and take them [captive], and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush.

Why Are Palestinians Fleeing the Gaza Strip?
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute./September 18, 2023
These Palestinians are running away because they can no longer tolerate life under the Islamist movement of Hamas. They are not fleeing because of Israel.
"I know I'm risking my life, but I want to leave, dead or alive. At least I will find a dignified life abroad. People want to leave because of the oppression and injustice we see here [in the Gaza Strip]." — Sfouk AlSheik, twitter.com, September 10, 2023.
Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been controlled by the Iran-backed Hamas terror group, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood organization. Instead of working to improve the living conditions of the two million Palestinians living under its rule, Hamas has since invested millions of dollars in manufacturing weapons and building tunnels from which to attack Israel. Hamas had an opportunity to turn the Gaza Strip into the "Singapore of the Middle East," but its desire to destroy Israel has brought only war and death to the Palestinians. To achieve its goal of murdering Jews and eliminating Israel, Hamas appears ready to sacrifice endless numbers of Palestinians.
Hamas evidently does not care if hundreds of Palestinians are killed and injured in wars instigated by its rocket attacks against Israel. Hamas does not even hesitate to use Palestinians as human shields during its wars with Israel. Members of the terror group have endangered the lives of thousands of their own innocent civilians by firing rockets from residential areas close to schools and hospitals.
"Despite their exposure to the risks of drowning, loss, and death, Palestinians fleeing the Gaza Strip see that Turkey and Europe are their hope and future." — Mahmoud al-Raqab, Palestinian political analyst, knooznet.com, September 10, 2023.
Needless to say, Abbas, in his speech, completely ignored the plight of the young Palestinians fleeing the Gaza Strip. For Abbas, promoting hate against Israel and Jews is more important than addressing the economic and humanitarian crisis he helped create, through his sanctions in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas leaders, for their part, continue to pretend that in the Gaza Strip everything is fine. They are also continuing to incite Palestinians to carry out terror attacks against Israel. Notably, the Hamas leaders are making these statements from their five-star hotels and villas in Qatar and Lebanon.
The international community, meanwhile, continues to ignore the wretched conditions of the Palestinians living under the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, choosing instead to lay all the blame on Israel.
As Palestinian leaders continue to suppress the people of the Gaza Strip, Israel has increased the number of work permits for Gazans. In July, at least 67,769 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip were allowed to cross the Israeli-controlled Erez border crossing -- up to 90% of them for jobs that pay well in Israel. Six per cent of the exits were for patients needing medical treatment in Israel or the West Bank.
It seems that Israel is doing more to help the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip than the Palestinian Authority, Hamas or any Arab country. However, because this news does not fit the anti-Israel agenda of many newspapers and foreign journalists, it is highly unlikely to make it into the mainstream media in the West.
Thousands of Palestinians are continuing to flee the Gaza Strip in search of a better life in other countries. They are running away because they can no longer tolerate life under the Islamist movement of Hamas. They are not fleeing because of Israel.
Thousands of Palestinians are continuing to flee the Gaza Strip in search of a better life in other countries, including Canada and the European Union.
In the past few weeks, several videos of Palestinians leaving the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt have surfaced on social media. Other Palestinians have been documented queuing outside the Gaza offices that issue visas for Turkey to obtain a visa to emigrate. These Palestinians are running away because they can no longer tolerate life under the Islamist movement of Hamas. They are not fleeing because of Israel.
"We want to live in dignity," said a young Palestinian man in one of the videos. "All those who are seeking to emigrate want a dignified life. The young men are risking their lives, they are prepared to die."
Another young man said:
"I know I'm risking my life, but I want to leave, dead or alive. At least I will find a dignified life abroad. People want to leave because of the oppression and injustice we see here [in the Gaza Strip]."
Palestinian economic expert Mohammed Abu Jayyab confirmed that the occurrence of youth emigration from the Gaza Strip has witnessed an unprecedented increase over the past decade. He revealed that a large number of young people have already left the Gaza Strip, while many others are still trying to leave despite the risks involved and the lack of clarity about their future in the hosting countries. "Young people insist on leaving the Gaza Strip in search of better opportunities that are unavailable in the Gaza Strip," he stated. "High unemployment rates and scarcity of job opportunities are among the reasons behind the increase in emigration."
Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been controlled by the Iran-backed Hamas terror group, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood organization. Instead of working to improve the living conditions of the two million Palestinians living under its rule, Hamas has since invested millions of dollars in manufacturing weapons and building tunnels from which to attack Israel. Hamas had an opportunity to turn the Gaza Strip into the "Singapore of the Middle East," but its desire to destroy Israel has brought only war and death to the Palestinians. To achieve its goal of murdering Jews and eliminating Israel, Hamas appears ready to sacrifice endless numbers of Palestinians.
Hamas evidently does not care if hundreds of Palestinians are killed and injured in wars instigated by its rocket attacks against Israel. Hamas does not even hesitate to use Palestinians as human shields during its wars with Israel. Members of the terror group have endangered the lives of thousands of their own innocent civilians by firing rockets from residential areas close to schools and hospitals. Lately, Hamas has also been encouraging Palestinians to riot at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel by throwing stones, Molotov cocktails and explosive devices at Israeli soldiers.
Palestinian political analyst Mahmoud al-Raqab writes:
"For more than 17 years, the residents of the Gaza Strip have been suffering from psychological, social, economic, and political problems resulting from internal division, humanitarian crises, and repeated wars. This has led the residents of the Gaza Strip to think about emigrating."
The "internal division" refers to the ongoing power struggle between Hamas in the Gaza Strip in the west near Egypt, and the Palestinian Authority headed by President Mahmoud Abbas in the east near Jordan. The two parties have been at each other's throats since 2007, when Hamas staged a violent coup and expelled the Palestinian Authority from the Gaza Strip. In 2018, the Palestinian Authority, as part of an attempt to undermine Hamas, imposed a series of sanctions on the Gaza Strip. The sanctions have further exacerbated the economic and humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, especially after the Palestinian Authority suspended the payment of salaries and financial aid to tens of thousands of civil servants and impoverished families.
According to some reports, nearly 40,000 Palestinians have fled the Gaza Strip since 2018. Al-Raqab writes:
"Those looking at the situation feel pain and oppression at what our reality has become in the absence of practical and realistic solutions by the Palestinian leadership to reduce the emigration.
"Despite their exposure to the risks of drowning, loss, and death, Palestinians fleeing the Gaza Strip see that Turkey and Europe are their hope and future. The Palestinian leadership must work hard to achieve comprehensive national reconciliation, end the state of division [between the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank and Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip], and provide job opportunities. If these demands are met, the Palestinians who left the Gaza Strip will return home, and the idea of emigration will disappear from their minds. If it is not achieved, we will be facing a major exodus of young and educated minds, as well as an exodus of experienced people who have lost confidence in the [Palestinian] political leadership."
The Palestinian political leadership, however, does not appear overly worried about the large number of Palestinians fleeing the Gaza Strip. Mahmoud Abbas is busy spouting antisemitic tropes against Jews and delegitimizing Israel and demonizing Jews. In a speech on August 24 before the Revolutionary Council of the his ruling Fatah faction, Abbas claimed that European Jews are not Semites, they are descendants of Khazars, and therefore their persecution has nothing to do with antisemitism. He added that Hitler and the Europeans did not kill the Jews "because they were Jews," but rather they fought the Jews because of "their social role, and not their religion." He explained that Hitler "fought" the Jews because they dealt with usury and money, not because of antisemitism.
Needless to say, Abbas, in his speech, completely ignored the plight of the young Palestinians fleeing the Gaza Strip. For Abbas, promoting hate against Israel and Jews is more important than addressing the economic and humanitarian crisis he helped create, through his sanctions in the Gaza Strip. Instead of apologizing for his antisemitic statements, Abbas has doubled down, claiming his words were taken out of context or that he was only quoting Jewish, American and other authors.
Hamas leaders, for their part, continue to pretend that in the Gaza Strip everything is fine. They are also continuing to incite Palestinians to carry out terror attacks against Israel. Notably, the Hamas leaders are making these statements from their five-star hotels and villas in Qatar and Lebanon.
Commenting on the youth emigration from the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian People's Party (formerly the Palestinian Communist Party) called on Hamas to pay special attention to the atrocious circumstances of the young Palestinians, including university graduates, and to provide them with the necessities of a decent life. The party cautioned:
"The Palestinian People's Party, while sounding the alarm and warning of the continuation of the phenomenon of migration from the Gaza Strip, points out that expansion and growth of this phenomenon caries dangerous political and social repercussions. The silence over this phenomenon, belittling its dangers, and ignoring its disastrous results constitutes an active participation in promoting it."
The emigration from the Gaza Strip is yet another example of how Palestinians have fallen victim to their corrupt and incompetent leaders. Palestinian leaders continue to drag their people from one disaster to another by inciting them against Israel and ushering them into more violence and terrorism. The international community, meanwhile, continues to ignore the wretched conditions of the Palestinians living under the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, choosing instead to lay all the blame on Israel.
By ignoring the plight of the Palestinians fleeing the brutal regime of the Islamists in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations and foreign media are doing a great disservice to the same Palestinians they claim to care about.
As Palestinian leaders continue to suppress the people of the Gaza Strip, Israel has increased the number of work permits for Gazans. In July, at least 67,769 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip were allowed to cross the Israeli-controlled Erez border crossing -- up to 90% of them for jobs that pay well in Israel. Six per cent of the exits were for patients needing medical treatment in Israel or the West Bank.
It seems that Israel is doing more to help the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip than the Palestinian Authority, Hamas or any Arab country. However, because this news does not fit the anti-Israel agenda of many newspapers and foreign journalists, it is highly unlikely to make it into the mainstream media in the West.
*Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.
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