Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 20-21/2024
Video/No tears to be shed for the killing of the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi,"the Butcher"/Elias Bejjani/May 20, 2024
Text & Video/No tears to be shed for the killing of the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi,"the Butcher"/Elias Bejjani/May 20, 2024
Helicopter accidents do happen./Roger Bejjani/Face Book/May 20/2024
Mikati declares mourning over Raisi's death as Lebanese parties react
Hezb-Allied Groups Mourn Raisi
Five Hezb Fighters Killed in Israeli Strikes in South Lebanon and Syria
Israeli raids kill 4 members of Hezbollah in south Lebanon
Hezbollah mourns Iran's Raisi as 'protector of the resistance'
Geagea warns of Hezbollah-Bassil agreement on 'mediocre president'
Mawlawi Bans Syrian Migrants from Leasing Agricultural Land
Security Forces Intercept Syrian Truck Carrying Weapons in Batroun
Closure of 270 Businesses Operated by Illegal Syrian Migrants
Bou Habib’s Demands to the UNHCR
Syrian Migrants: UNHCR Withdraws Controversial Memorandum
Kataeb Reacts to Shooting at Their Headquarters in Saifi
Raisi’s Disappearance: The Potential Shockwave in Lebanon/Michel Touma/This Is Beirut/May 20/2024
Iran’s Foreign Policy in Lebanon After Raisi: Possible Change?/Alissar Boulos/This Is Beirut/May 20/2024
Timing Is Everything/David Hale/This Is Beirut/May 20/2024
BDL’s Strategy to Tackle Deposit Crisis: An Increase in Withdrawal Exchange Rate?/Maurice Matta/This Is Beirut/May 20/2024
Ireland's top diplomat concerned over slow pace of justice in peacekeeper's killing in Lebanon/FADI TAWIL/Reuters/May 20, 2024

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 20-21/2024
Iran’s Raisi ‘unbefitting of condolences’: son of ousted shah
Iran declares five days of mourning after President Raisi’s death
Reactions to the death of Iran’s president in a helicopter crash
Iran's president, foreign minister and others found dead at helicopter crash site
Iran's President, Foreign Minister and Others Found Dead at Helicopter Crash Site
Iran’s Mokhber Appointed President, Kani Becomes Acting FM
Iran to hold presidential election on June 28: state media
Who is Mohammad Mokhber, Iran's Interim President?
Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, a hard-line diplomat, dies in helicopter crash
Helicopter crash that killed Iran's president and others could reverberate across the Middle East
What's next for Iran's government after death of its president in helicopter crash?
Israel vows to broaden Rafah sweep amid heavy fighting in parts of Gaza
Israeli forces release Hamas video of former child hostage
International court seeks arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas leader Sinwar on war crimes charge
Amal Clooney is one of the legal experts who recommended war crimes charges in Israel-Hamas war
US, Saudis close to deal on bilateral agreement -White House
Independent UN experts urge Yemen’s Houthis to free detained Baha'i followers
Russia fails in rival UN bid on nuclear, other weapons in space

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on May 20-21/2024
Palestinians Threaten to Attack US Troops/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute./May 20, 2024
From the archives/Meet ‘The Butcher,’ Iran’s New President Ebrahim Raisi/Mariam Memarsadeghi/The Tablet/June 21/2021
Getting Out of The Tunnels/Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/May 20/2024
The Palestinian State as a Challenge for Levantine Nationhood/Hazem SaghiehAsharq Al Awsat/May 20/2024
How Western Media Cover for and Enable the Muslim Persecution of Christians/Raymond Ibrahim/The Stream/May 20/2024

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 20-21/2024
Video/No tears to be shed for the killing of the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi,"the Butcher"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx7bLz7nA0E
Elias Bejjani/May 20, 2024

Text & Video/No tears to be shed for the killing of the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi,"the Butcher"
Elias Bejjani/May 20, 2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/129948/129948/
Isaiah 01/33/ Our enemies are doomed! They have robbed and betrayed, although no one has robbed them or betrayed them. But their time to rob and betray will end, and they themselves will become victims of robbery and treachery
On a momentous day, justice manifested itself to the entire world with the death of the Iranian President, a notorious figure who presided over a throne of corruption and oppression.
It was a dark end for a high-ranking Iranian official who held multiple positions in the dictatorial and religious regime that governs Iran with injustice, terrorism, and iron-fisted control.
Throughout his tenure in power and through every position he held, President Ebrahim Raisi, was complicit in countless crimes against his people, reaching its peak when he served as a judge overseeing the judicial system, where he sentenced thousands of innocent Iranian citizens who opposed the oppressive The whole world knows that the Iranian Mullahs' criminal, sectarian, oppressive, dictatorial, and destabilizing Mullah regime, is responsible for terrorist and mafia operations that have targeted dozens of countries worldwide.
President Ebrahim Raisi's criminal history paints a bloody picture of cruelty and persecution, as he committed the most heinous crimes against innocent Iranian citizens seeking freedom, justice, and basic rights.
His actions bore the marks of tyranny and injustice, as he sentenced more than 33,000 Iranian opposition members, mostly Mujahideen-e Khalq members, who were advocating peacefully for real change in their country, to execution.
What adds to the horror in Raisi's profile is his extremist Islamic Jihadist ideology, which he promoted with fanaticism and zeal in both words and deeds.
His ideas fueled the culture of bigotry, extremism, and harshness in the hearts and minds of extremists and radicals and paved the way to justify violence and repression under a false, populist, and deceitful religious guise.
He served as a soldier in the battles of the Mullahs, and was very close to Iran's Supreme Leader, Khamenei, who spread chaos, injustice, oppression, and poverty in Iran and all Middle East countries.
The so-called Butcher President was not far from political ambition, as he was one of the potential candidates to succeed Khamenei.
In this context, doubts arise that Khamenei's ambitious son might have been behind the helicopter crash that killed him, perhaps to get rid of his dangerous rival for power.
However, regardless of the circumstances that led to the Butcher's death, we must not allow ourselves to mourn or be affected by the demise of this murderer and terrorist.
No sadness, no tears should be shed for someone who did not spare his own people, and did not adhere to the most basic human rights standards.
No doubt that Raisi's departure was a natural end to a tyrant and dictator, and a lesson to all who seek to seize power, suppress freedoms, practice injustice, terrorism, and disregard people's lives and rights.
The author, Elias Bejjani, is a Lebanese expatriate activist
Author’s Email: Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Author’s Website: http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com

Helicopter accidents do happen.
Roger Bejjani/Face Book/May 20/2024
Celebrating the death of an employee in Iran with no real power, is beneath me. I do not condone celebrating the death of enemies. Useless and not honorable. However, this accident and mainly the hours following the accident clearly express the weakness of the Islamic Republic of Iran in all technological aspects (a Turkish drone located the helicopter wreck). Following their joke of an attack on Israel that produced a 1% hit success, the downing of a Ukrainian airliner by mistake few years ago and today their inability to locate or to know what happened to their President’s helicopter in due time, are tangible proofs that this country is powerless regionally if we exclude its disrupter proxies who consume their own countries with no gain, and for the exclusive strategic interest of a very weak Iran.

Mikati declares mourning over Raisi's death as Lebanese parties react
Naharnet/May 20/2024
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Monday declared three days of national mourning over the death of Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi, foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and a number of officials in a helicopter crash. According to Mikati’s memo, flags will be flown at half-mast at all public administrations and institutions while radio and TV programming will be adjusted to suit the situation. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meanwhile sent a cable of condolences to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying Iran, Lebanon and the Islamic world “have lost a host of pioneering leaders.”Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh for his part described the incident as “a major tragedy that has hit Iran and shaken the world,” offering condolences to the Iranian leadership, government and people. Lebanon’s Jamaa Islamiya group also offered condolences over the deaths of the Iranian officials, expressing grief over the “tragic incident” and hoping Iran will “overcome this accident.”

Hezb-Allied Groups Mourn Raisi
This Is Beirut/May 20/2024
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri sent a message of condolences on Monday to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, following the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on Sunday. “The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic world, as well as Lebanon, are losing many leading figures who accompanied the revolution as revolutionaries, imams, leaders, and now martyrs,” the letter reads. Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh described Raisi’s death as “a great tragedy for Iran.”Former Minister Wadih El-Khazen also expressed his “deep sorrow” and extended his condolences to Khamenei, “as well as to the Iranian government and people.”Earlier today, it was announced that the helicopter transporting Raisi, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials crashed in the mountains of Azerbaijan.

Five Hezb Fighters Killed in Israeli Strikes in South Lebanon and Syria
This Is Beirut/May 20/2024
Five people were killed in two consecutive Israeli raids carried out against a residential area in Naqoura, and in Mays al-Jabal in southern Lebanon on Monday. Among those killed were three Hezbollah fighters, whose deaths were announced by the Iran-backed group. A fourth fighter was killed in Israeli raids earlier in the day in Qoussair, Syria, according to a Hezbollah statement. In the evening, Hezbollah announced the death of a fifth combatant, killed in an Israeli raid targeting a motorcycle at the Al-Mansouri intersection in the south. Another person was also wounded. In Naqoura, two houses were completely destroyed, and damage was caused to surrounding buildings. Israel also carried out a drone strike near a gathering of rescuers from the Islamic Health Association, affiliated with Hezbollah, in Naqoura. One rescuer was injured and transported to the hospital. Another raid targeted Odaisseh and Rachaya al-Foukhar. For its part, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an attack on the headquarters of the Israeli 91st Division in the Branit barracks with a burkan missile, “causing a fire and several injuries” among Israeli troops, according to a Hezbollah communiqué. Hezbollah also targeted the Al-Raheb site and the Zebdine barracks in the Shebaa farms.

Israeli raids kill 4 members of Hezbollah in south Lebanon
NAJIA HOUSSARI/May 20, 2024
BEIRUT: Four members of Hezbollah were killed on Monday in south Lebanon as Israeli airstrikes targeted the border area in attacks that also reached the Syrian city of Al-Qusayr. Lebanese civilians were also injured, and more homes in the towns facing the southern border were destroyed in the strikes. The attacks also reached a Lebanese army center. Israeli drones carried out two successive raids on a residential neighborhood in the town of Naqoura, destroying two homes and causing severe damage to others. A drone then targeted the vicinity of a civil defense team of the Islamic Health Organization, whose members were trying to remove rubble to rescue victims. The Israeli army also targeted the outskirts of Naqoura with artillery shells, causing civilian casualties. Israel’s airstrikes targeted Mais Al-Jabal, destroying several homes, while warplanes also raided Odaisseh and Hula. Artillery shelling focused on the town of Khiam and the outskirts of Sarda, and the towns of Rachaya Al-Foukhar and Kfarchouba in the Hasbaya district. The shelling also targeted Wadi Hunayn and the outskirts of the town of Markaba.
Israeli attacks included a mortar shell strike on a Lebanese army center in the outskirts of the town of Alma Al-Shaab, but no injuries were reported. However, the Iran-backed Hezbollah mourned four of its members who had been killed in strikes, including one who was killed in a raid on Al-Qusayr, where the group has military facilities. The deceased included Raef Abdel Nabi Meliji and Abbas Mahdi from Naqoura; Mohammed Abbas Abbas from Barish; and Hussein Ali Ali from Bednayel in the Bekaa. Hezbollah said it had responded to “the targeting of villages, civilians, and their safe homes” by shelling Israeli military sites, some with Burkan missiles and others with drones.It added that it had targeted and hit an Israeli army center with guided missiles at the eastern entrance to the village of Ghajar. Hezbollah added it had also targeted “the headquarters of the 91st Division in the Pranit barracks, destroying a part of it, injuring several soldiers, and setting it on fire.” The group said it had used “suitable weapons” to hit the sites. The Zabdin barracks in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms was also attacked with artillery shells, while attacks were also launched on the Al-Malikiyah and Al-Marj sites. Israeli media reported that two heavy rockets had been launched from Lebanon toward Upper Galilee. An Israeli army spokesperson said on Sunday that its targets consisted of a Hezbollah observation point in Shihin town and military facilities in Blida town in the Marjayoun district. Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati declared a three-day mourning period on Monday following the tragic helicopter crash that claimed the lives of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and their companions on Sunday. Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora cabled Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and offered his condolences on Raisi’s death. Hezbollah described the tragedy as “painful.” Its statement praised President Raisi as a “strong supporter and defender of our causes and the nation’s causes, including Jerusalem and Palestine, protecting resistance movements and fighters in all the responsibilities he undertook.” The statement also said Amir-Abdollahian was an “active and sacrificial person and the flag bearer in all political and diplomatic forums. He loved the resistance movements and dedicated himself to championing and supporting them.”

Hezbollah mourns Iran's Raisi as 'protector of the resistance'
Agence France Presse/May 20/2024
Hezbollah mourned Monday the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other officials in a helicopter crash, praising him as a "protector" of anti-Israel groups in the region. "Hezbollah in Lebanon extends its deepest condolences," the group said in a statement, adding that they knew Raisi "closely for a long time" and that he was "a strong supporter, and a staunch defender of our causes... and a protector of the resistance movements".

Geagea warns of Hezbollah-Bassil agreement on 'mediocre president'
Naharnet/May 20/2024
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has noted that “the presidency is a Lebanese issue par excellence,” calling on MPs to “shoulder their responsibilities, especially the parliament speaker.”“We are awaiting the visit of French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian to Lebanon, because he is following up on the issue from all its aspects and is informed on the steps, especially in terms of specifying the characteristics that were announced for the election of a president during the meeting that was held in Doha around a year ago,” Geagea said in an interview with MTV. “I’m not very optimistic, but the five-nation committee (for Lebanon) must continue its work through pressing the Axis of Defiance to stop its obstructive role,” Geagea added. The LF leader also stressed that the committee in its latest statement “did not call for a (Speaker Nabih) Berri-style dialogue, but rather for consultations in the vein of what the Moderation bloc had suggested.”“These consultations have been ongoing since the beginning of the presidential vacuum, but they are facing obstruction from the Axis of Defiance due to the latter’s inability to secure the election of its candidate Suleiman Franjieh,” Geagea added. The LF leader also claimed that “there are under-the-table contacts, especially between (Free Patriotic Movement chief) Jebran Bassil and Hezbollah, that might lead to an agreement on a mediocre president.”“We will do everything necessary to prevent the election of this candidate on whom Bassil and Hezbollah will agree,” Geagea vowed.

Mawlawi Bans Syrian Migrants from Leasing Agricultural Land
This Is Beirut/May 20/2024
Caretaker Minister of Interior and Municipalities Bassam Mawlawi issued a decree on Monday prohibiting Syrian migrants and refugees from leasing agricultural land. The document, distributed to the various Lebanese governorates, states that the Ministry has observed a “widespread” phenomenon in “most Lebanese areas” and “territories” where Syrian migrants are engaging in “leasing agricultural lands from Lebanese individuals.”It also mentions that “Lebanese labor law permits Syrian refugees to work in agriculture only, not to invest in land, leading to an unfair competition with Lebanese farmers.”The document further adds that Syrian “involvement in transportation and trading of agricultural products is strongly opposed by the majority of Lebanese workers,” especially in the absence of efforts to curb these violations.

Security Forces Intercept Syrian Truck Carrying Weapons in Batroun
This Is Beirut/May 20/2024
A Syrian registered truck carrying weapons was intercepted by security forces on Monday after catching fire on the Batroun highway, north of Beirut. According to preliminary information, an electrical short caused the truck transporting goods to catch fire. Firefighting teams from the Lebanese Civil Defense rushed to the scene to extinguish the fire, only to discover that it contained a quantity of weapons. Immediately, security and military forces established a security cordon around the area. Initial reports said the truck was loaded from a ship belonging to a Palestinian, identified as Muhammad al-Youssef. It docked at the port of Tripoli, and it is loaded with Turkish-made weapons, including pistols and other types of arms that were not disclosed. The weapons were concealed in the back of the vehicle. It is not the first time that weapons have been smuggled into Lebanon by the Palestinian suspect who is wanted by the authorities under several arrest warrants.

Closure of 270 Businesses Operated by Illegal Syrian Migrants
This Is Beirut/May 20/2024
As part of its campaign against businesses, companies and shops managed and operated by Syrian workers in violation of the law, the General Directorate of General Security closed 270 shops and establishments in Mount Lebanon. This operation was carried out by the General Security’s division in Mount Lebanon, under the directive of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Mount Lebanon.

Bou Habib’s Demands to the UNHCR
This Is Beirut/May 20/2024
Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib met with the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Ivo Freijsen, to discuss the issue of the Syrian migrant presence in Lebanon. Following the meeting, Bou Habib outlined the terms stated, highlighting his wishes for the UNHCR to stop its interference with “Lebanon’s sovereign authorities and for individuals and international organizations operating in Lebanon to “adhere to Lebanese laws.”He also called on the UN body to not “bypass the legal authority” of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “which serves as the mandatory channel for all UNHCR communications according to agreements, treaties, and diplomatic conventions.”Bou Habib demanded in his meeting that: The letter the UNHCR addressed to the Minister of Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, demanding the end of “inhuman practices against Syrians”, be withdrawn and considered “null and void.”The UNHCR adheres to the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the General Directorate of General Security in 2003, which stipulates that the UNHCR undertakes to “relocate asylum seekers to a third country other than Lebanon within six months, exceptionally renewable once.”The entity delivers the refugee data, no later than the end of the current month, to the General Directorate of General Security, per the Memorandum of Understanding signed on August 8, 2023, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants. Bou Habib emphasized that Lebanon respects the spirit of the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees, even though Lebanon is not a signatory to this convention, and that it reaffirms its commitment to the principles and purposes of the United Nations as a founding member of this organization. That being said, “in the event of non-compliance with the above and continued overstepping of boundaries, the ministry will be compelled to reconsider its dealings with the UNHCR, similar to measures taken by other countries in response to similar transgressions by the UNHCR,” Bou Habib concluded.

Syrian Migrants: UNHCR Withdraws Controversial Memorandum
This Is Beirut/May 20/2024
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced on Monday afternoon that it had withdrawn the memorandum it had sent last week to the Ministry of the Interior, asking it to put an end to “inhumane practices” against Syrian migrants in the country. The UNHCR was referring to the security plan implemented by the Ministry since May 15 to combat the illegal Syrian presence, but its move provoked a political outcry. On Monday morning, the caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdallah Bou Habib, summoned the UNHCR representative in Lebanon, Ivo Freijsen, to ask him to “withdraw the memorandum and consider it null and void.”In a statement following the meeting, Bou Habib also outlined that he had instructed the UNHCR “not to intervene in matters relating to Lebanese sovereignty.” He said he had stressed the need for UNHCR to comply “with the rules of communication with Lebanese ministries and administrations,” as well as for individuals and international organizations operating in Lebanon to “adhere to Lebanese laws.”He also called on the UN body to not “bypass the legal authority” of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “which serves as the mandatory channel for all UNHCR communications according to agreements, treaties and diplomatic conventions.”
Bou Habib demanded in his meeting that:
The UNHCR adheres to the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the General Directorate of General Security in 2003, which stipulates that the UNHCR undertakes to “relocate asylum seekers to a third country other than Lebanon within six months, exceptionally renewable once.” The entity delivers the refugee data, no later than the end of the current month, to the General Directorate of General Security, per the Memorandum of Understanding signed on August 8, 2023, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants. The letter the UNHCR addressed to the Minister of Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, demanding the end of “inhuman practices against Syrians,” is withdrawn and considered “null and void.”While reaffirming Lebanon’s commitment to the principles of the United Nations, Bou Habib warned that his Ministry would be forced to “reconsider its way of dealing with the UNHCR” should the UN agency fail to respond favorably to his requests. But while UNHCR responded positively to the minister’s requests, it defended its initiative, saying in a statement that it had been carried out “in accordance with the procedures followed with the corresponding parties within governments, and with its own responsibilities when issues relating to vulnerable groups in Lebanon, including refugees, are raised.”UNHCR underlined its commitment to its partnership with Lebanon, saying it would “continue to call for increased aid to the country, particularly to the most vulnerable parts,” and insisted on the need for the international community to “prioritize durable solutions to the Syrian presence, to alleviate the pressure it is putting on Lebanon.” In this context, it stressed the importance of “creating conditions in Syria for the return” of all those who fled the country after the 2011 war. As a reminder, the leader of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, had on Sunday denounced in virulent terms the memorandum sent by the UNHCR representative in Lebanon to Mawlawi, accusing Freijsen of undermining Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Kataeb Reacts to Shooting at Their Headquarters in Saifi
This Is Beirut/May 20/2024
Kataeb party Secretary General, Serge Dagher, said Monday that “the message has been received” in reaction to the shooting incident at the party’s Central House in Saifi. In his comments to al-Jaddeed TV about yesterday’s incident, Dagher added, “The Kataeb Central House has always defended Lebanon and still does, and nothing more will happen than what has already occurred.”The Vice President of the Kataeb Party, Professor Bernard Gerbaka, commented on the shooting, saying, “Violence and threats do not yield results; do not silence the free voice and sovereign efforts.”He added, “We insist on diplomatic efforts and understanding to elect a president through constitutional means because the vacancy in constitutional institutions causes legal problems within the country.”Renewal Bloc MP Adeeb Abdel Massih wrote on the X platform, “We do not take pleasure in the fate of any soul, regardless of their status, including the Iranian president and his companions. However, we will not accept that night bats use this incident to shoot at the Kataeb Central House and disturb civil peace.”The Media Commission of the Progressive Socialist Party also condemned the shooting and called on the security agencies for a full investigation. Unknown assailants fired shots from an SUV at the Kataeb Central House in Saifi on Sunday night and fled to an unknown destination. Party leader Sami Gemayel confirmed that shots were fired outside the central house from a car that then sped away. Gemayel reassured Kataeb supporters in a voice recording that there were no injuries and that the vehicle’s license plate number had been recorded. Security agencies are following up on the incident.

Raisi’s Disappearance: The Potential Shockwave in Lebanon
Michel Touma/This Is Beirut/May 20/2024
“The butterfly effect” refers to a phenomenon where an event occurring in one place can trigger significant consequences in a distant area. The Lebanese people have experienced this effect for decades. Now, they face it once again with the deaths of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hussein Amir-Abdullahian, on Sunday, following a helicopter crash near the border with Azerbaijan. Was it an accident or an assassination tied to a broader conspiracy? Speculations were rife on Sunday, stretching well into the night, regarding the circumstances of the tragedy. Beyond the official explanation citing adverse weather conditions as the cause, it is likely to take a significant amount of time to fully elucidate the true reasons behind the deaths of the Iranian president, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Head of Diplomacy, along with other high-ranking officials.
For the Lebanese people, the traditional question Sunday evening on every lip revolved around the potential repercussions of this development on Lebanon. As our fate is inadvertently intertwined, through Hezbollah, with that of the Islamic Republic of Iran, understanding the shockwave that might hit Lebanon requires scrutinizing the possible consequences within Iran itself first.
In the immediate term, the presidency itself is not expected to face the most significant repercussions. The transitional phase is likely to unfold smoothly, with a new president anticipated to be elected within the next fifty days.
The presidency does not hold the utmost significance within the political structure and hierarchy of the Islamic Republic. Major strategic decisions rest solely with the Supreme Leader (the wali al-faqih). However, President Raisi, recognized for his radical attitude in wielding power, was uniquely poised to succeed the current Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, who is both advanced in age and grappling with serious health issues. Therefore, Raisi’s disappearance will mainly be felt in the context of Khamenei’s succession, especially since maneuvers towards this succession have already recently begun. Another significant repercussion, and perhaps the most crucial, warrants close scrutiny on an equally strategic level. The death of the Iranian president amidst a shifting regional and international landscape, compounded by widespread popular dissent challenging the very foundations of the Islamic Republic, could pave the way for a fervent resurgence of internal power struggles. This, in turn, would likely prompt a redefinition of the balance of power (and roles’ distribution) between the Pasdaran (the radical wing of Iranian power) and the often described “moderate” or “reformist” faction, which, though inaccurately, is perceived to represent “the State.”The cleavage between these two camps is confirmed by former Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif, who, in his memoirs, highlights a discord that surfaced in certain circumstances (particularly in Afghanistan) between the Pasdaran’s action (which he describes as the “military-security” wing of power) and the action of what he terms “diplomacy.” During the tough negotiations on the nuclear dossier, Zarif publicly accused this “military-security” wing of obstructing his talks with the US. Additionally, the presence of a “moderate and reformist” faction was further confirmed by an active Iranian minister who openly criticized the excessive brutality of the repression during the 2022 popular uprising, which was sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini while in custody.
Raisi’s disappearance could thus serve as a catalyst for redefining the balance of power and the distribution of roles between these two camps, potentially reshaping the influence and strategy of the Pasdaran. This ripple effect will be acutely felt in Lebanon, where Hezbollah acts as the primary armed wing and spearhead of the Pasdaran in the Lebanese arena and the broader Middle East. Such an impact could weigh particularly heavily amid the ongoing war of attrition in southern Lebanon. The potential confusion in the evolution of Iran’s struggles for influence is bound to affect Hezbollah’s posture. With developments unfolding in Tehran, will the Shiite party opt to moderate its action on the regional level, especially along the Israeli border, until the fate of its Iranian godfather becomes clear? Alternatively, could it be compelled to escalate by the Revolutionary Guards, who may exploit this scenario to safeguard their expansionist strategy in the region? On a strictly Lebanese level, Hezbollah might be brought to harden its positions in the short term in order to compensate for the potential weakening of its Iranian tutor. However, over the medium to long term, a possible loss of Pasdaran’s influence could only lead to a gradual decline in Hezbollah’s various means of action, leading to “demilitarizing” the Shiite party and significant repercussions on the internal balance of power. A preliminary outline for navigating the crisis in Lebanon inevitably involves a redistribution of power in Iran, likely necessitating the permanent trimming of the Pasdaran’s wings. This is crucial for safeguarding Lebanon’s specificities and, undoubtedly, promoting stability in various parts of the Western world, drawing from the well-known “butterfly effect” phenomenon.

Iran’s Foreign Policy in Lebanon After Raisi: Possible Change?
Alissar Boulos/This Is Beirut/May 20/2024
Will the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi have any impact on Lebanon? This is a question many in the country have been asking since the confirmation of the president’s and his Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian’s disappearance in a helicopter crash on Sunday in Azerbaijan. Asked by This Is Beirut, writer and journalist Mustafa Fahs emphasized that Iran’s foreign policy towards Lebanon will not change, regardless of who is elected as the head of the Islamic Republic. “Iran is not a state that can be influenced by the loss of one person. The adjudicators of Tehran’s foreign policy are the Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary Guards, not the Iranian president or government,” he clarified. Fahs recalled that the assassination of Qassem Soleimani in January 2020 “had no impact on Iranian policy towards Lebanon.” “In the case of Raisi and Abdollahian, it will be the same,” he noted. Commander of the Quds Force, the elite unit of the Revolutionary Guards, Qassem Soleimani was killed in an American raid on Baghdad airport in 2020. On Monday morning, the Iranian government appointed Ali Bagheri Kani as interim Foreign Affairs Minister, replacing Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. Since foreign policy is determined by the Supreme Leader, “anyone tasked with representing Tehran’s foreign policy is there only to execute his orders, otherwise they should go home,” insisted Fahs.
The influence of Hezbollah
Iranian influence in Lebanon, through Hezbollah, is known to be the most controversial in the country. It divided the country into two camps: the so-called Moumanaa (pro-Iranian) and the opposition fighting against this influence. For the opposition, the “Iranian occupation” of Lebanon has been the main cause of the country’s collapse for several decades, particularly since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in 2005. When Raisi won the presidential election in 2021, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah hailed “a great victory at a sensitive and fateful moment in the history of Iran and the region.” “Your victory has revived the hopes of the Iranian people and the peoples of our region who see in you a fortress and solid support for the (Hezbollah’s) resistance against aggressors,” he declared.
Iranian foreign policy in Lebanon
As in a mathematical theorem, “Iran controls Hezbollah, which controls the Lebanese state, which means that Iran, through Hezbollah, controls the Lebanese state. The decision of war and peace in Lebanon therefore belongs to Tehran,” according to Mustafa Fahs. But what is the exact nature of the relationship between Iran and Hezbollah? It is a symbiotic one, in the sense that it does not depend on political alignment or the financial aid provided by Tehran to the group. However, the details of Iran’s influence remain unknown, as well as the margin of maneuver that Hezbollah has, compared to its Iranian patron, on the Lebanese political scene. The existence and rise of this formation remain the greatest success of Tehran’s foreign policy since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Hezbollah is, therefore, its most successful export. This is one of the reasons why, since the beginning of the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas, Iran has refused to engage its local ally in an open war with Tel Aviv. Hezbollah is content to maintain tension at the southern border through continuous artillery exchanges with Israel, which, despite their occasional violence, remain limited.
However, the risk of an escalation of the conflict is not ruled out, and in such a case, Hezbollah would be Iran’s best strategic weapon against Israel.

Timing Is Everything
David Hale/This Is Beirut/May 20/2024
Persistence is a key element in successful diplomacy – persistence in the face of adversity, persistence in applying pressure, and persistence in standing by allies and friends. That quality is distinct from Freud’s definition of insanity, that is, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. In the 1990s, sometime before his twenty-ninth fruitless trip to Syria in four years, Secretary of State Warren Christopher should have asked himself if his was a mission of persistence or insanity.
As the admirable diplomats representing the well-meaning international Quint — America, Egypt, France, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia — ponder their next move in connection with the stalemate over the Lebanese presidential election, they will do well to consider some of the essential qualities of their profession. First and foremost, diplomacy requires the backdrop of an obvious potential exercise of power or influence to remove obstacles. Without that implicit or explicit threat, diplomacy rarely makes a positive difference since obstacles don’t seem to go away on their own. Second, the time for showy meetings in diplomacy is usually when something has been achieved, not when it hasn’t. Until then, the boring but essential labor of quiet diplomacy behind closed doors is more likely to produce opportunities than diplomacy by press event. Ceaseless, public diplomatic activity without results signals to all concerned impotence and, over time, irrelevance. Third, timing can be everything.
Until the power equation in the Middle East settles, there will be no breakthroughs on the Lebanese presidency. Until the war between Iranian proxies and Israel shows signs of ending — whoever comes out on top — the Lebanese players blocking the presidential election will remain unmoved. Uncertainty about the future power balance in the region translates into local paralysis in Lebanon. Moreover, it is hardly in Hezbollah’s interest to make concessions on the presidency when Iran and its unvanquished proxies can continue to threaten to use violence with impunity. Since the members of the Quint show no stomach to take on Iran or Hezbollah, it is hard to understand how more diplomatic conversations among or with them are going to impress anyone. On the contrary, they risk exposing a certain detachment from the reality of power politics in the region — from realpolitik.
Instead, it may be time for a pause in this current exercise in futility. The presidential vacancy is a major problem, and the members of the Quint are right to be concerned by how its continuance is eroding what remains of Lebanese sovereignty and the state. The absence of a president impedes basic reforms needed to salvage the Lebanese economy. Lebanon’s descent into a dollarized, black market world is a danger to us all, creating an ideal climate for terrorist financing, money laundering, and other evils. We should persist in demanding something better, including a presidential election. But continuing specific Quint tactics that show no hope of unblocking the election just aggravates the problem and discredits the Quint.
Instead, the Quint should bear in mind the importance of timing in diplomacy. While Israel battles the proxies around it, the Quint and like-minded Lebanese should be developing quietly a strategy for addressing Lebanon’s problems once the conflict settles. Of course, the military conflict mustn’t end in a draw, but with a reversal of Iran’s influence and its ability to project power throughout the Middle East, including the Levant. The battleground reality is such that we are far from that outcome, so sadly a period of continued war is likely. But when the Gaza conflict winds down, inevitable attention will be cast on south Lebanon. Without a credible international plan to resume the implementation of UNSCR 1701 — this time for real, and starting with Hezbollah’s withdrawal from the border region — Israeli leaders will debate their other options. Pressure to mount a major offensive against Hezbollah will be strong, despite the lessons of the 2006 war and the far more dangerous level of sophisticated weaponry available to both sides today. Trying to secure the election of a president while these issues are in play can only work to the advantage of Iran and Hezbollah. It gives them one more bargaining chip — the presidency. America and its allies should be as firm, patient, and nimble as their Middle Eastern foes. If the Lebanese can mount a democratic election at any time, America should support the outcome. But until Hezbollah and Iran encounter regional reversals, they will continue to dominate the electoral process to the disadvantage of true democrats. Only when the 2023-24 war ends, and serious pressure is applied toward implementation of 1701 as part of a regional settlement, can the Quint expect to exercise real leverage — and get real results — in Lebanon. That will be the moment to launch a serious initiative for a rapid process to elect a president in accordance with Lebanon’s constitution. Until the basic regional power equation shifts against Iran, any diplomacy on the presidency will be either empty theater or — far worse — the beginning of a bargaining process in which Iran has too many chips. This is a time for patience until a regional shift against Iran creates the right time and context to counter Hezbollah’s lock on the Lebanese and the presidency.

BDL’s Strategy to Tackle Deposit Crisis: An Increase in Withdrawal Exchange Rate?
Maurice Matta/This Is Beirut/May 20/2024
The official exchange rate of 89,500 Lebanese pounds to one US dollar is recognized by the Lebanese Central Bank (BDL) as the unified exchange rate, which banks are required to use when drafting their financial statements and periodic reports. This rate aligns with the parallel market exchange rate. BDL’s Acting Governor, Wassim Mansouri, keeps on reiterating, “There is no new exchange rate,” in response to queries regarding whether the Caretaker Finance Minister might adopt — in agreement with the government — an exchange rate of 25,000 Lebanese pounds or LBP to the dollar for bank withdrawals.
Mansouri believes that Lebanon has made significant progress in unifying the exchange rate, reaching the final stages of this challenging process. BDL believes that this achievement has allowed for a solid and stable exchange rate. The depositors’ calls for an increase in the exchange rate of bank withdrawals in US dollars, currently fixed at LBP 15,000 per dollar, have been ongoing. This is due to the deduction percentage from the actual deposit value, or haircut, which exceeds 80%. Meanwhile, depositors are against the adoption of a new exchange rate that deviates from the parallel market rate, as they wish to protect the value of their deposits. As for Caretaker Minister of Finance, Youssef Khalil, the only step he managed to take was to issue a decision to raise the exchange rate to LBP 25,000, refusing to bear sole responsibility for its promulgation. He insists on the approval of both the government and the BDL, a condition staunchly rejected by Mansouri, who once again reaffirmed that the official rate endorsed by the Central Bank is LBP 89,500.
To implement this change on cash withdrawals, the government and Parliament must shoulder their responsibilities by making decisions and enacting necessary laws to regulate the volume of LPB cash in the market, as well as the Capital Control Law. This law must also be part of a comprehensive reform plan that positively impacts exchange rates and fosters stability. Sources close to Wassim Mansouri reaffirm his rejection of any decision that might significantly decrease depositors’ funds. He asserts, “If they want to adopt an exchange rate that imposes fees on deposits, the decision must then be legislated by Parliament. Any approval by the BDL of a decision issued by the Minister of Finance, even with government consent, runs counter to the Code of Money and Credit and will be rejected by the BDL.”
Looking back to the measures that have helped stabilize the dollar exchange rate in the parallel market for some months now — amidst widespread dollarization that has decreased demand for the Lebanese pound — the BDL has maintained control over the market’s money supply. It has been absorbing more Lebanese pounds, reducing its money supply from 83 trillion pounds at the beginning of 2023 to around 61 trillion pounds today.
In coordination with the Ministry of Finance, roughly $681 million worth of Lebanese pounds can be fully covered by the BDL. Moreover, the cumulative rise in cash reserves across currencies has soared, nearing a total of $9.5 billion, amidst tight control over the money supply. This control is pivotal to the success of the mechanism to attract dollar surpluses from companies and institutions in need of liquidity in Lebanese pounds. The decision to keep these reserves intact and refrain from financing the Lebanese state is ongoing, with expenses solely covered by its revenues and available accounts.
In this context, the current stability of the exchange rate hinges on several factors, including political and domestic security concerns, as well as the looming risk of an expanding war. It’s widely anticipated that tensions will increase between the government and the BDL post-war, especially concerning their roles in funding business recovery and securing essential dollars. Mansouri’s position is clear: BDL is determined in its refusal to finance the state or tap into mandatory reserves, especially in dire circumstances. However, should the military conflict escalate and the Lebanese state need financing, BDL would provide funding on the condition that it is authorized by legislation through the Parliament, as wars fall under exceptional measures.
For depositors, the pressing concern remains the destiny of their deposits, given the successive failures of past and present governments to devise a fair plan ensuring their eventual repayment instead of write-offs. The recent proposal by Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s administration, backed by Deputy PM Saadeh Chami, faced a significant setback from the State Council. The latter accepted the review submitted by the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL), effectively nullifying Cabinet Decision No. 3, made on May 20, 2022. This decision sought to revitalize the financial sector by canceling a substantial portion of BDL’s foreign currencies to banks, aimed at reducing the deficit in BDL’s capital and closing the bank’s net open foreign exchange position.
These obligations, totaling approximately $60 billion, are fundamentally depositors’ funds. In its bold decision, the State Council confirmed that this debt is owed by the state, which must repay it to the banks and, in turn, to the depositors. In this regard, the State Council decision overturned Chami’s plan, much like it previously canceled out former PM Hassan Diab’s plan, which was similar in form and substance to Najib Mikati’s government’s approach to handling deposits. This approach, aligned with the International Monetary Fund, aimed to write off deposits and start from scratch. This would burden the depositors with all the losses and devastate the remaining banking sector by erasing its capital and bleeding its banks dry. Currently, with the bank restructuring plan and the roadmap for the next phase still pending, depositors can rely on two circulars: Circular 166, which allows monthly withdrawals of $150, and Circular 158, which authorizes monthly withdrawals between $300 and $400. These circulars provide depositors with a means to access part of their funds.However, several problems have arisen regarding the implementation of monthly withdrawals for depositors by banks, ranging from complete suspension to partial or full implementation. This came after the deadline for implementing Circular 151 expired earlier this year. This circular allowed a monthly withdrawal limit of $1,600 at a rate of LBP 15,000 per dollar, totaling 24 million pounds. With the BDL no longer endorsing the 15,000-pound exchange rate for the dollar and the inability of banks to adopt the new rate of LBP 89,500 without clear restrictions and procedures, banks have been forced to stop the operation of this circular.
As for the setback in implementing the alternative Circular No. 166, which allows depositors to withdraw only $150 in cash, regardless of the number of accounts they hold in one or more banks, the main issue persists in the long period needed to check depositors’ compliance with the set conditions.
Nevertheless, addressing the issue of deposits and exchange rates remains contingent on government decisions and plans that have yet to materialize. Sources close to BDL’s Acting Governor, suggest that the latter is seemingly working on a new strategy to tackle the deposit crisis. However, this solution must be complemented by essential legislative measures from Parliament and necessary government decisions. As of now, details of this new proposal have not yet been disclosed.

Ireland's top diplomat concerned over slow pace of justice in peacekeeper's killing in Lebanon
FADI TAWIL/Reuters/May 20, 2024
BEIRUT (AP) — Ireland’s top diplomat in a visit to Lebanon on Monday expressed his concern over the slow progress in criminal proceedings against several Lebanese men charged with the killing of an Irish peacekeeper in 2022 in the tiny Mediterranean country. Micheál Martin, Irish foreign and defense minister, said he was “very, very concerned” about the case. He met with Irish peacekeepers in south Lebanon and with Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib and a representative of the Lebanese defense ministry. Lebanon’s military tribunal last June charged four men with the killing of Pvt. Seán Rooney, 24, of Newtown Cunningham, Ireland, following a half-year probe. Rooney was killed on Dec. 14, 2022. Only one of the suspects, Mohammed Ayyad, was arrested. However, he was released on bail in November, with officials citing his medical condition. The four others facing charges — Ali Khalifeh, Ali Salman, Hussein Salman, and Mustafa Salman — remain at large. All five are allegedly linked with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Hezbollah has repeatedly denied any role in the killing. On the fatal night, Rooney and several other Irish soldiers from UNIFIL were on their way from their base in southern Lebanon to the Beirut airport. Two U.N. vehicles apparently took a detour through Al-Aqbiya, which is not part of the area under the peacekeepers’ mandate. Initial reports said angry residents confronted the peacekeepers, but the indictment concluded that the shooting was a targeted attack. The U.N. peacekeeper vehicle reportedly took a wrong turn and was surrounded by vehicles and armed men as they tried to make their way back to the main road. “We want justice to be done” and for the killers to be “brought to justice,” Martin told reporters. “We understand the separation of powers. But we are concerned at the slow pace of the trial. And the Irish people want justice”UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion, and its mission was expanded following the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Relative calm prevailed in the border region after that war until the beginning of Israel’s war against Hamas, a Hezbollah ally, in Gaza in October. For more than seven months, Hezbollah and allied groups have clashed near-daily with Israeli forces, with no apparent immediate prospects for a halt to hostilities.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 20-21/2024
Iran’s Raisi ‘unbefitting of condolences’: son of ousted shah
AFP/May 20, 2024
PARIS: Iran’s former president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash, is not worthy of condolences due to the rights abuses he is accused of overseeing, the son of the late Iranian shah said Monday. US-based Reza Pahlavi, whose father Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was ousted in the 1979 Islamic revolution and died in exile in 1980, warned the death of Raisi would not affect the policies of the Islamic republic at home or abroad. “Today, Iranians are not in mourning. Ebrahim Raisi was a brutal mass-murderer unbefitting of condolences,” Pahlavi said in a post on his official Instagram. “Sympathy with him is an insult to his victims and the Iranian nation whose only regret is that he did not live long enough to see the fall of the Islamic republic and face trial for his crimes,” the former crown prince added. Rights groups including Amnesty International have long accused Raisi of being a member of a four-man “death committee” involved in approving the executions of thousands of political prisoners, mostly suspected members of the outlawed opposition group People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), in 1988. As a key figure in the judiciary ever since and then president from 2021, Raisi has also been accused of responsibility over deadly crackdowns on protesters and other violations. But Pahlavi warned the death of Raisi, as well as that of his foreign minister Hossein-Amir Abdollahian in the same crash, will “not alter the course” of the Islamic republic, where supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has final say. “This regime will continue its repression at home and aggression abroad,” Pahlavi said. Pahlavi was a key member of a broad coalition of Iranian exiled opposition groups that joined together in the wake of nationwide protests that erupted in September 2022. The coalition broke up amid tensions, but he remains an influential figure for some in the diaspora. Pahlavi’s father the late shah, who was groomed by the West to be a Cold War ally, grew increasingly autocratic during his decades-long rule, using his feared Savak security service to crush political opposition and leading to criticism from Washington of his human rights abuses.

Iran declares five days of mourning after President Raisi’s death
AGENCIES/May 19, 2024
DUBAI/TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced on Monday five days of mourning for President Ebrahim Raisi who died in a helicopter crash. “I announce five days of public mourning and offer my condolences to the dear people of Iran,” said Khamenei in an official statement a day after the death of Raisi and other officials in the crash in East Azerbaijan province. Khamenei has appointed First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber acting president and has a maximum period of 50 days to hold elections following the death of Raisi, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported.
Raisi, the country’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and others have been found dead at the site of a helicopter crash Monday after an hourslong search through a foggy, mountainous region of the country’s northwest, state media reported. Raisi was 63. The government cabinet has appointed Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani as acting foreign minister. Lebanon and Syria on Monday announced three days of national mourning for the Iranian president and foreign minister, who were killed in a helicopter crash overnight near the Azerbaijan border. Iran enjoys sway in both countries, backing the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in Lebanon and supporting Syria’s government and security forces stay in power throughout more than a decade of war. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am about this incident that happened. Especially that the foreign minister had become a friend,” Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told reporters on Monday. The helicopter also carried the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province, other officials and bodyguards, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Early Monday morning, Turkish authorities released what they described as drone footage showing what appeared to be a fire in the wilderness that they “suspected to be wreckage of helicopter.” The coordinates listed in the footage put the fire some 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the Azerbaijan-Iranian border on the side of a steep mountain. Footage released by the IRNA early Monday showed what the agency described as the crash site, across a steep valley in a green mountain range. Soldiers speaking in the local Azeri language said: “There it is, we found it.”
Condolences started pouring in from neighbors and allies after Iran confirmed there were no survivors from the crash. Pakistan announced a day of mourning and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X that his country “stands with Iran in this time of sorrow.” Leaders of Egypt and Jordan also offered condolences, as did Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said he and his government were “deeply shocked” — Raisi was returning on Sunday after traveling to Iran’s border with Azerbaijan to inaugurate a dam with Aliyev when the crash happened.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan conveyed his condolences. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a statement released by the Kremlin, described Raisi “as a true friend of Russia.”Khamenei, who had himself urged the public to pray Sunday night, stressed the business of Iran’s government would continue no matter what. Under the Iranian constitution, Iran’s vice first president takes over if the president dies, with Khamenei’s assent, and a new presidential election would be called within 50 days. First Vice President Mokhber already had begun receiving calls from officials and foreign governments in Raisi’s absence, state media reported. An emergency meeting of Iran’s Cabinet was held as state media made the announcement Monday morning. The Cabinet issued a statement afterward pledging it would follow Raisi’s path and that “with the help of God and the people, there will be no problem with management of the country.” A hard-liner who formerly led the country’s judiciary, Raisi was viewed as a protégé of Khamenei and some analysts had suggested he could replace the 85-year-old leader after Khamenei’s death or resignation.
With Raisi’s death, the only other person so far suggested has been Mojtaba Khameini, the 55-year-old son to the supreme leader. However, some have raised concerns over the position being taken only for the third time since 1979 to a family member, particularly after the Islamic Revolution overthrew the hereditary Pahlavi monarchy of the shah. Raisi won Iran’s 2021 presidential election, a vote that saw the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history. Raisi is sanctioned by the US in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war. Under Raisi, Iran now enriches uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels and hampers international inspections. Iran has armed Russia in its war on Ukraine, as well as launched a massive drone-and-missile attack on Israel amid its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It also has continued arming proxy groups in the Mideast, like Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Meanwhile, mass protests in the country have raged for years. The most recent involved the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who had been earlier detained over allegedly not wearing a hijab, or headscarf, to the liking of authorities. The monthslong security crackdown that followed the demonstrations killed more than 500 people and saw over 22,000 detained. In March, a United Nations investigative panel found that Iran was responsible for the “physical violence” that led to Amini’s death. Raisi is the second Iranian president to die in office. In 1981, a bomb blast killed President Mohammad Ali Rajai in the chaotic days after the country’s Islamic Revolution.

Reactions to the death of Iran’s president in a helicopter crash
ARAB NEWS/May 20, 2024
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman offered their condolences to Iran after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash which also killed Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday. UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed on X said: “I extend my deepest condolences to the Iranian government and people over the passing of President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and those accompanying them following a tragic accident. We pray that God grants them eternal rest and we extend our heartfelt sympathies to their families. The UAE stands in solidarity with Iran at this difficult time.”UAE Prime Minister and Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid also posted on X: “Our condolences and sincere sympathies to the brotherly Iranian people and their leadership on the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Foreign Minister in a painful accident. Our hearts are with you in this difficult time. Our prayers are that God will cover them with His vast mercy and dwell them in His spacious Paradise.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei expressed on Monday his condolences, state media said. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, in a statement said: “Raisi and Abdollahian were known as “true, reliable friends of our country”.
“Their role in strengthening mutually beneficial Russian-Iranian cooperation and trusting partnership is invaluable. “We sincerely extend our condolences to the families and friends of the victims, as well as to the entire friendly people of Iran. Our thoughts and hearts are with you in this sad hour.”Russia’s embassy in Tehran also offered condolences over Raisi’s death, state news agency TASS reported. China’s President Xi Jinping has expressed condolences over Raisi’s death, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday expressed his condolences for the death of Raisi and Amirabdollahian, saying Raisi was a “valuable colleague and brother”.“As a colleague who personally witnessed his efforts for the peace of the Iranian people and our region during his time in power, I remember Mr. Raisi with respect and gratitude,” Erdogan said on social media platform X, adding Turkey stood by Iran in this difficult time. Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan also extended condolences to the Iranian people on the death of Raisi and Amirabdollahian. The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad on X said: “Sincere condolences to the government and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the death of President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdullahian, and the accompanying officials in the painful helicopter accident, asking God Almighty for mercy and forgiveness for them and for their families with patience and solace. We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return.”
Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Monday extended his condolences for the deaths of Raisi and Amirabdollahian in a helicopter crash.
“Egypt mourns, with great sadness and grief” the Iranian president and Tehran’s top diplomat, “who passed away on Sunday following a painful accident,” the presidency said in a statement. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani said in a statement: “With great sadness and sorrow, we have received the news of the death of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, along with their companions, in the unfortunate plane crash in northern Iran.”He added, “We extend our sincere condolences and sympathy to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Mr. Ali Khamenei, and to the government and people of Iran. We express our solidarity with the brotherly Iranian people and the responsible officials in the Islamic Republic during this painful tragedy.
“We ask God to have mercy on the departed, and may He grant patience and solace to their families and loved ones.”Syrian President Bashar Assad in a statement also offered condolences to Iran’s Supreme Leader over death of the president and the foreign minister. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday he was “deeply saddened and shocked by the tragic demise” of Raisi after Iranian media reported he had died in a helicopter crash. “My heartfelt condolences to his family and the people of Iran,” Modi posted on X, formerly Twitter. “India stands with Iran in this time of sorrow.”
Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif posted on X: “I along with the government and people of Pakistan extend our deepest condolences and sympathies to the Iranian nation on this terrible loss. May the martyred souls rest in heavenly peace. The great Iranian nation will overcome this tragedy with customary courage.“Pakistan had the pleasure of hosting President Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on a historic visit, less than a month ago. They were good friends of Pakistan. Pakistan will observe a day of mourning and the flag will fly at half mast as a mark of respect for President Raisi and his companions and in solidarity with Brotherly Iran.”European Council president Charles Michel posted on X: “The EU expresses its sincere condolences for the death of President Raisi and Foreign Minister Abdollahian, as well as other members of their delegation and crew in a helicopter accident. Our thoughts go to the families.”A Hamas statement conveyed Hamas’ “deepest condolences and solidarity” to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the Iranian government, and the Iranian people for “this immense loss.”It praised the deceased Iranian leaders for supporting the Palestinian cause and resistance against Israel and expressed confidence that Iran’s “deep-rooted institutions” will enable it to overcome “the repercussions of this great loss.”Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, head of Yemen’s Houthi Supreme Revolutionary Committee, posted on X: “Our deepest condolences to the Iranian people, the Iranian leadership, and the families of President Raisi and the accompanying delegation on their reported martyrdom. We ask God to grant their families patience and solace. Verily we belong to Allah and to Him we shall return. The Iranian people will remain adhering to the loyal leaders of their people, by God’s will.”Lebanon’s Hezbollah expressed condolences to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for the death of President Raisi, a statement said. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he was “deeply saddened” by the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other officials in a helicopter crash, noting their shared commitment to bolstering ties. “I am deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and several other officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said in a statement on social media.

Iran's president, foreign minister and others found dead at helicopter crash site
JON GAMBRELL/DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)/Mon, May 20, 2024
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and several other officials were found dead on Monday, hours after their helicopter crashed in a foggy, mountainous region of the country’s northwest, state media reported. The crash comes as the Middle East remains unsettled by the Israel-Hamas war, during which Raisi, who was 63, under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel just last month. Khamenei announced Monday that Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, would serve as the country’s acting president until elections are held. During Raisi's term in office, Iran enriched uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels, further escalating tensions with the West as Tehran also supplied bomb-carrying drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine and armed militia groups across the region.
Meanwhile, Iran has faced years of mass protests against its Shiite theocracy over the ailing economy and women’s rights — making the moment that much more sensitive for Tehran and the future of the country.Among the dead was Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, 60. The helicopter also carried the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province, a senior cleric from Tabriz, three crew members and a Revolutionary Guard official, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. IRNA said the crash killed eight people in all, including three crew members, aboard the Bell helicopter, which Iran purchased in the early 2000s. Aircraft in Iran face a shortage of parts, often flying without safety checks against the backdrop of Western sanctions. Because of that, former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sought to blame the United States for the crash in an interview Monday..“One of the main culprits of yesterday’s tragedy is the United States, which ... embargoed the sale of aircraft and aviation parts to Iran and does not allow the people of Iran to enjoy good aviation facilities," Zarif said. "These will be recorded in the list of US crimes against the Iranian people.”
State TV gave no immediate cause for the crash that occurred in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. The U.S. has yet to comment publicly on Raisi's death. Ali Bagheri Kani, a nuclear negotiator for Iran, will serve as the country's acting foreign minister, state TV said. Early Monday morning, Turkish authorities released what they described as drone footage showing what appeared to be a fire in the wilderness that they “suspected to be wreckage of helicopter.” The coordinates listed in the footage put the fire some 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the Azerbaijan-Iranian border on the side of a steep mountain. Footage released by IRNA early Monday showed what the agency described as the crash site, across a steep valley in a green mountain range. Soldiers speaking in the local Azeri language said: “There it is, we found it.”
Condolences started pouring in from neighbors and allies after Iran confirmed there were no survivors from the crash. Pakistan announced a day of mourning and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X that his country "stands with Iran in this time of sorrow.” Leaders of Egypt and Jordan also offered condolences, as did Syrian President Bashar Assad. Lebanon and Syria both declared three days of mourning. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said he and his government were “deeply shocked" — Raisi was returning on Sunday after traveling to Iran’s border with Azerbaijan to inaugurate a dam with Aliyev when the crash happened. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and China's Xi Jinping conveyed their condolences. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a statement released by the Kremlin, described Raisi “as a true friend of Russia.”Khamenei, who had himself urged the public to pray Sunday night, stressed the business of Iran’s government would continue no matter what. Under the Iranian constitution, Iran’s vice first president takes over if the president dies, with Khamenei’s assent, and a new presidential election would be called within 50 days. Khamenei's condolence message Monday over Raisi's death, declared five days of public mourning and acknowledged Mokhber had taken the role of acting president.
Mokhber had already begun receiving calls from officials and foreign governments in Raisi’s absence, state media reported.
An emergency meeting of Iran's Cabinet was held as state media made the announcement Monday morning. The Cabinet issued a statement afterward pledging it would follow Raisi's path and that “with the help of God and the people, there will be no problem with management of the country.”
A hard-liner who formerly led the country’s judiciary, Raisi was viewed as a protégé of Khamenei and some analysts had suggested he could replace the 85-year-old leader after Khamenei’s death or resignation. With Raisi's death, the only other person so far suggested has been Mojtaba Khameini, the 55-year-old son to the supreme leader. However, some have raised concerns over the position being taken only for the third time since 1979 to a family member, particularly after the Islamic Revolution overthrew the hereditary Pahlavi monarchy of the shah.
Raisi won Iran’s 2021 presidential election, a vote that saw the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history. Raisi is sanctioned by the U.S. in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war. Under Raisi, Iran now enriches uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels and hampers international inspections. Iran has armed Russia in its war on Ukraine, as well as launched a massive drone-and-missile attack on Israel amid its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It also has continued arming proxy groups in the Mideast, like Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Meanwhile, mass protests in the country have raged for years. The most recent involved the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who had been earlier detained over allegedly not wearing a hijab, or headscarf, to the liking of authorities. The monthslong security crackdown that followed the demonstrations killed more than 500 people and saw over 22,000 detained. In March, a United Nations investigative panel found that Iran was responsible for the “physical violence” that led to Amini’s death. Raisi is the second Iranian president to die in office. In 1981, a bomb blast killed President Mohammad Ali Rajai in the chaotic days after the country's Islamic Revolution.

Iran's President, Foreign Minister and Others Found Dead at Helicopter Crash Site
Asharq Al Awsat/May 20/2024
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and others have been found dead at the site of a helicopter crash Monday after an hourslong search through a foggy, mountainous region of the country’s northwest, state media reported. Raisi was 63. The crash comes as the Middle East remains unsettled by the Israel-Hamas war, during which Raisi under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel just last month. Under Raisi, Iran enriched uranium came closer than ever to weapons-grade levels, further escalating tensions with the West as Tehran also supplied bomb-carrying drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine and armed militia groups across the region, The Associated Press said. Meanwhile, Iran has faced years of mass protests against its Shiite theocracy over its ailing economy and women’s rights – making the moment that much more sensitive for Tehran and the future of the country. State TV gave no immediate cause for the crash in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. Among the dead was Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, 60. With Raisi were Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. Early Monday morning, Turkish authorities released what they described as drone footage showing what appeared to be a fire in the wilderness that they “suspected to be wreckage of a helicopter.” The coordinates listed in the footage put the fire some 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the Azerbaijan-Iranian border on the side of a steep mountain. Footage released by the IRNA early Monday showed what the agency described as the crash site, across a steep valley in a green mountain range. Soldiers speaking in the local Azeri language said: “There it is, we found it.”
Khamenei himself urged the public to pray Sunday night. “We hope that God the Almighty returns the dear president and his colleagues in full health to the arms of the nation,” Khamenei said, drawing an “amen” from the worshipers he was addressing.
However, the supreme leader also stressed that the business of Iran’s government would continue no matter what. Under the Iranian constitution, Iran’s vice first president takes over if the president dies with Khamenei’s assent, and a new presidential election would be called within 50 days. First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber already had begun receiving calls from officials and foreign governments in Raisi’s absence, state media reported. Raisi, 63, a hard-liner who formerly led the country’s judiciary, is viewed as a protégé of Khamenei and some analysts have suggested he could replace the 85-year-old leader after Khamenei’s death or resignation.Raisi won Iran’s 2021 presidential election, a vote that saw the lowest turnout in Iran’s history. Raisi is sanctioned by the US in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.
Under Raisi, Iran now enriches uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels and hampers international inspections. Iran has armed Russia in its war on Ukraine, as well as launched a massive drone-and-missile attack on Israel amid its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It also has continued arming proxy groups in the Mideast, like Yemen’s Houthis and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Meanwhile, mass protests in the country have raged for years. The most recent involved the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who had been earlier detained over allegedly not wearing a hijab, or headscarf, to the liking of authorities. The monthslong security crackdown that followed the demonstrations killed more than 500 people and saw over 22,000 detained.  In March, a United Nations investigative panel found that Iran was responsible for the “physical violence” that led to Amini’s death.

Iran’s Mokhber Appointed President, Kani Becomes Acting FM
London: Asharq Al Awsat/May 20/2024
Iran’s supreme leader has appointed First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber as the country’s acting president after a helicopter crash killed President Ebrahim Raisi. Ali Khamenei made the announcement in a condolence message he shared for Raisi’s death in the crash Sunday. The helicopter was found Monday in northwestern Iran. Khamenei also announced five days of mourning in the message. Mokhber now has a maximum period of 50 days to hold elections, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported. Iran's government cabinet also appointed on Monday Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani as acting foreign minister following the death of Hossein Amirabdollahian in the same helicopter crash.

Iran to hold presidential election on June 28: state media
AFP/May 20, 2024
TEHRAN: Iran announced Monday it will hold presidential elections on June 28, state media reported, following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage in a helicopter crash. “The election calendar was approved at the meeting of the heads of the judiciary, government, and parliament,” state television said. “According to the initial agreement of the Guardian Council, it was decided that the 14th presidential election will be held on June 28.”

Who is Mohammad Mokhber, Iran's Interim President?
Asharq Al Awsat/May 20/2024
Here are some key facts about Mohammad Mokhber, 68, Iran's first vice president who became interim president on the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.
* As interim president, Mokhber is part of a three-person council, along with the speaker of parliament and the head of the judiciary, that will organize a new presidential election within 50 days of the president's death.
* Born on Sept. 1, 1955, Mokhber, like Raisi, is seen as close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has the last say in all matters of state. Mokhber became first vice president in 2021 when Raisi was elected president.
* Mokhber was part of a team of Iranian officials who visited Moscow in October and agreed to supply surface-to-surface missiles and more drones to Russia's military, sources told Reuters at the time. The team also included two senior officials from Iran's Revolutionary Guards and an official from the Supreme National Security Council.
* Mokhber had previously been head of Setad, an investment fund linked to the supreme leader.
* In 2010, the European Union included Mokhber on a list of individuals and entities it was sanctioning for alleged involvement in "nuclear or ballistic missile activities". Two years later, it removed him from the list.
* In 2013, the US Treasury Department added Setad and 37 companies it oversaw to a list of sanctioned entities.
* Setad, whose full name is Setad Ejraiye Farmane Hazrate Emam, or the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, was set up under an order issued by the founder of Iran, Khamenei's predecessor, Khomeini. It ordered aides to sell and manage properties supposedly abandoned in the chaotic years after the 1979 Iranian Revolution and channel the bulk of the proceeds to charity.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, a hard-line diplomat, dies in helicopter crash
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)/May 20, 2024
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, a hard-liner close to the country's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard who confronted the West while also overseeing indirect talks with the U.S. over the country's nuclear program, died in the helicopter crash that also killed the country's president, state media reported Monday. He was 60. Amirabdollahian represented the hard-line shift in Iran after the collapse of Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers after then-U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord. He served under President Ebrahim Raisi, a protégé of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and followed their policies. However, Amirabdollahian also was involved in efforts to reach a détente with regional rival Saudi Arabia in 2023, a move eclipsed months later by tensions that arose over the Israel-Hamas war. But he remained close to the country's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, once praising the late Gen. Qassem Soleimani, slain in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad in 2020. “You should thank the Islamic Republic and Qassem Soleimani because Soleimani has contributed to world peace and security,” Amirabdollahian once said. "If there was no Islamic Republic, your metro stations and gathering centers in Brussels, London and Paris would not be safe.”Amirabdollahian served in the Foreign Ministry under Ali Akbar Salehi in 2011 through 2013. He then returned for several years under Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who was a key player in the nuclear deal reached under the administration of the relative moderate President Hassan Rouhani. But Zarif and Amirabdollahian had a falling out, likely over internal differences in Iran's foreign policy. Zarif offered him the ambassadorship to Oman, still a strategically important post given the sultanate long serving as an interlocutor between Iran and the West. But Amirabdollahian refused. He became foreign minister under Raisi with his election in 2021. He backed the Iranian government position, even as mass protests swept the country in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who had been earlier detained over allegedly not wearing a hijab, or headscarf, to the liking of authorities. The monthslong security crackdown that followed the demonstrations killed more than 500 people and saw over 22,000 detained. In March, a United Nations investigative panel found that Iran was responsible for the “physical violence” that led to Amini’s death.
During the Israel-Hamas war, he met with foreign officials and the leader of Hamas. He also threatened retaliation against Israel and praised an April attack on Israel. He also oversaw Iran's response to a brief exchange of airstrikes with Iran's nuclear-armed neighbor Pakistan and worked on diplomacy with the Taliban in Afghanistan, with whom Iran had tense relations. Amirabdollhian is survived by his wife and two children.

Helicopter crash that killed Iran's president and others could reverberate across the Middle East
JOSEPH KRAUSS/AP/May 20, 2024
JERUSALEM (AP) — The helicopter crash in which Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and other officials were killed is likely to reverberate across the Middle East, where Iran’s influence runs wide and deep.
That's because Iran has spent decades supporting armed groups and militants in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and the Palestinian territories, allowing it to project power and potentially deter attacks from the United States or Israel, the sworn enemies of its 1979 Islamic Revolution. Tensions have never been higher than they were last month, when Iran under Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launched hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel in response to an airstrike on an Iranian Consulate in Syria that killed two Iranian generals and five officers.
Israel, with the help of the United States, Britain, Jordan and others, intercepted nearly all the projectiles. In response, Israel apparently launched its own strike against an air defense radar system in the Iranian city of Isfahan, causing no casualties but sending an unmistakable message. The sides have waged a shadow war of covert operations and cyberattacks for years, but the exchange of fire in April was their first direct military confrontation. The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas has drawn in other Iranian allies, with each attack and counterattack threatening to set off a wider war.
It's a combustible mix that could be ignited by unexpected events, such as Sunday's deadly crash.
A BITTER RIVALRY WITH ISRAEL
Israel has long viewed Iran as its greatest threat because of Tehran's controversial nuclear program, its ballistic missiles and its support for armed groups sworn to Israel's destruction. Iran views itself as the chief patron of Palestinian resistance to Israeli rule, and top officials for years have called for Israel to be wiped off the map.Raisi, who was a hard-liner viewed as a protégé and possible successor of Khamenei, chastised Israel last month, saying “the Zionist Israeli regime has been committing oppression against the people of Palestine for 75 years.”“First of all we have to expel the usurpers, secondly we should make them pay the cost for all the damages they have created, and thirdly, we have to bring to justice the oppressor and usurper," he said. Israel is believed to have carried out numerous attacks over the years targeting senior Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists. There is no evidence Israel was involved in Sunday's helicopter crash, and Israeli officials have not commented on the incident. Arab countries on the Persian Gulf have also long viewed Iran with suspicion, a key factor in the decision of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to normalize relations with Israel in 2020, and of Saudi Arabia to consider such a move.
A PROXY WAR STRETCHING FROM LEBANON TO YEMEN
Iran has provided financial and other support over the years to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which led the Oct. 7 attack into Israel that triggered the Gaza war, and the smaller but more radical Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which took part in it. But there is no evidence that Iran was directly involved in the attack.Since the start of the war, Iran's leaders have expressed solidarity with the Palestinians. Their allies in the region have gone much further. Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, Iran's most militarily advanced proxy, has waged a low-intensity conflict with Israel since the start of the Gaza war. The two sides have traded strikes on a near-daily basis along the Israel-Lebanon border, forcing tens of thousands of people on both sides to flee. So far, however, the conflict has not boiled over into a full-blown war that would be disastrous for both countries. Iran-backed militias in Syria and Iraq launched repeated attacks on U.S. bases in the opening months of the war but pulled back after U.S. retaliatory strikes for a drone attack that killed three American soldiers in January. Yemen's Houthi rebels, another ally of Iran, have repeatedly targeted international shipping in what they portray as a blockade of Israel. Those strikes, which often target ships with no apparent links to Israel, have also drawn U.S.-led retaliation.
BEYOND THE MIDDLE EAST
Iran's influence extends beyond the Middle East and its rivalry with Israel.
Israel and Western countries have long suspected Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons in the guise of a peaceful atomic program in what they see as a threat to non-proliferation everywhere. Then-President Donald Trump's withdrawal from a landmark nuclear pact between Iran and world powers in 2018, and his imposition of crushing sanctions, led Iran to gradually abandon all the limits placed on its program by the deal. These days, Iran is enriching uranium to up to 60% purity — near weapons-grade levels of 90%. Surveillance cameras installed by the U.N. nuclear agency have been disrupted, and Iran has barred some of the agency's most experienced inspectors. Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is for purely peaceful purposes, but the United States and others believe it had an active nuclear weapons program until 2003. Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed power in the Middle East but has never acknowledged having such weapons. Iran has also emerged as a key ally of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, and is widely accused of supplying exploding drones that have wreaked havoc on Ukraine's cities. Raisi himself denied the allegations last fall in an interview with The Associated Press, saying Iran had not supplied such weapons since the outbreak of hostilities in February 2022. Iranian officials have made contradictory comments about the drones, while U.S. and European officials say the sheer number being used in the war in Ukraine shows that the flow of such weapons has intensified since the war began.

What's next for Iran's government after death of its president in helicopter crash?
The Canadian Press/May 20, 2024
The death of Iran's president is unlikely to lead to any immediate changes in Iran's ruling system or to its overarching policies, which are decided by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash Sunday, was seen as a prime candidate to succeed the 85-year-old supreme leader, and his death makes it more likely that the job could eventually go to Khamenei's son. A hereditary succession would pose a potential crisis of legitimacy for the Islamic Republic, which was established as an alternative to monarchy but which many Iranians already see as a corrupt and dictatorial regime.
Here's a look at what comes next.
HOW DOES IRAN'S GOVERNMENT WORK?
Iran holds regular elections for president and parliament with universal suffrage.
But the supreme leader has final say on all major policies, serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces and controls the powerful Revolutionary Guard. The supreme leader also appoints half of the 12-member Guardian Council, a clerical body that vets candidates for president, parliament and the Assembly of Experts, an elected body of jurists in charge of choosing the supreme leader. In theory, the clerics oversee the republic to ensure it complies with Islamic law. In practice, the supreme leader carefully manages the ruling system to balance competing interests, advance his own priorities and ensure that no one challenges the Islamic Republic or his role atop it. Raisi, a hard-liner who was seen as a protege of Khamenei, was elected president in 2021 after the Guardian Council blocked any other well-known candidate from running against him, and turnout was the lowest in the history of the Islamic Republic. He succeeded Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate who had served as president for the past eight years and defeated Raisi in 2017. After Raisi's death, in accordance with Iran's constitution, Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, a relative unknown, became caretaker president, with elections mandated within 50 days. That vote will likely be carefully managed to produce a president who maintains the status quo. That means Iran will continue to impose some degree of Islamic rule and crack down on dissent. It will enrich uranium, support armed groups across the Middle East and view the West with deep suspicion.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR SUCCESSION?
Presidents come and go, some more moderate than others, but each operates under the structure of the ruling system. If any major change occurs in Iran, it is likely to come after the passing of Khamenei, when a new supreme leader will be chosen for only the second time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Khamenei succeeded the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1989. The next supreme leader will be chosen by the 88-seat Assembly of Experts, who are elected every eight years from candidates vetted by the Guardian Council. In the most recent election, in March, Rouhani was barred from running, while Raisi won a seat. Any discussion of the succession, or machinations related to it, occur far from the public eye, making it hard to know who may be in the running. But the two people seen by analysts as most likely to succeed Khamenei were Raisi and the supreme leader's own son, Mojtaba, 55, a Shiite cleric who has never held government office.
WHAT HAPPENS IF THE SUPREME LEADER'S SON SUCCEEDS HIM?
Leaders of the Islamic Republic going back to the 1979 revolution have portrayed their system as superior, not only to the democracies of a decadent West, but to the military dictatorships and monarchies that prevail across the Middle East. The transfer of power from the supreme leader to his son could spark anger, not only among Iranians who are already critical of clerical rule, but supporters of the system who might see it as un-Islamic. Western sanctions linked to the nuclear program have devastated Iran's economy. And the enforcement of Islamic rule, which grew more severe under Raisi, has further alienated women and young people. The Islamic Republic has faced several waves of popular protests in recent years, most recently after the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly not covering her hair in public. More than 500 people were killed and over 22,000 were detained in a violent crackdown. Raisi's death may make the transition to a new supreme leader trickier, and it could spark more unrest.

Israel vows to broaden Rafah sweep amid heavy fighting in parts of Gaza
Nidal al-Mughrabi and Dan Williams/CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters)/Mon, May 20, 2024
Israel made a new push in central Gaza on Monday, bombarded towns in the north of the Strip and said it intended to broaden its military operation in Rafah despite U.S. warnings of the risk of mass casualties in the southern city. Gaza medics said at least 23 people had been killed in the latest fighting, and residents said battles were intense in Jabalia in the north of the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli tanks also carried out a limited incursion into areas of Wadi Al-Salqa and Al-Karara near Deir Al-Balah, a central Gazan city which Israeli forces have not entered during more than seven months of war, local residents said.
Fighting raged as U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan held talks in Israel which the White House had said he would call for Israeli forces to go after Hamas militants in Gaza in a targeted way, not with a full-scale assault on Rafah.
But Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant signalled there would be no let-up in its operation, intended to clear Rafah of Hamas militants and rescue hostages seized in the Hamas-led raid on Israel on Oct. 7 that triggered the war.
"We are committed to broadening the ground operation in Rafah to the end of dismantling Hamas and recovering the hostages," a statement from Gallant's office quoted him as telling Sullivan.
Israel describes Rafah, on Gaza's border with Egypt, as Hamas' last stronghold. Western powers are concerned over the hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians sheltering there, despite Israeli assurances about humanitarian safeguards.
Israel told civilians to evacuate parts of the city on May 6 and began troop and tank incursions. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA estimates that 810,000 people have fled since then, possibly over half Rafah's wartime population.
Israel's plan for an all-out assault on Rafah has ignited one of the biggest rifts in generations with its main ally, and Washington held up a weapons shipment over fears of large civilian casualties.
BATTLES IN HEART OF JABALIA
At least 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war in Gaza, according to the enclave's health ministry, and aid agencies have also warned of widespread hunger and dire shortages of fuel and medical supplies. Some 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage in the Oct. 7 rampage, according to Israeli tallies. About 125 people are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza. Israel's military says more than 280 soldiers have been killed in fighting since the first ground incursions in Gaza on Oct 20.
Fighting has been heavy in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, for about 10 days. Battles are under way in the heart of the camp and in narrow alleys that Israeli forces had not previously entered, residents said.
The armed wings of Hamas and the allied group Islamic Jihad said their fighters had fired anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs at Israeli forces operating across Gaza, including in Rafah. Hamas' armed wing said gun battles were taking place in eastern Rafah suburbs where videos circulating on social media, but not verified by Reuters, showed tanks outside some building in what would be new gains for the Israeli forces.
Talks mediated by Egypt and Qatar have failed to secure an end to the war.
Qatar's Minister of State at the Foreign Ministry, Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, said on Monday he saw no political will to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza while military operations continued on the ground. Israel says it wants to reach a deal allowing for an exchange of hostages held in Gaza for Palestinians held in Israel, but has not committed to ending its offensive in Gaza. Hamas, which as been running Gaza since 2007, says Israel must commit to ending the war and rejects any post-war settlement that excludes the group. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under growing pressure from within his own war cabinet to commit to an agreed vision for Gaza that would include stipulating who might rule the enclave after the conflict ends. According to a poll aired on Israel's Channel 13 TV on Sunday, 41% of Israelis believe the Rafah operation will bring what Netanyahu has described as "total victory" closer, while 46% do not believe that.

Israeli forces release Hamas video of former child hostage
Lauren Izso, CNN/May 20, 2024
The Israeli military has released a Hamas propaganda video it said it recovered showing a child who was held hostage by Hamas, spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on Sunday. Hagari did not say when or where Israel Defense Forces (IDF) recovered the video, which shows the since-freed child, Ela Elyakim, speaking to the camera asking to be released. The IDF also released a photo showing Ela with her sister Dafna Elyakim by her side in front of a flag with the Hamas logo.The sisters were kidnapped from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel and were released on November 26 as part of the temporary truce. The family of the sisters approved the IDF publishing the video, Hagari said. CNN has decided not to air the video but to show the still image of the two sisters. “Ela’s family asked us to share it with the world to expose Hamas’s terror, to expose Hamas’s cruelty, to expose Hamas’s barbarism,” Hagari said, “Please help us respect the wishes of Ela’s family by sharing this video far and wide.” In the video, Ela says in Hebrew: “My name is Ela Elyakim, daughter of Noam and I am eight years old, and I am asking to release us and I am a hostage of Hamas”
“Eight-year-old Ela Elyakim told us that Hamas terrorists forced her to read from a script, forced her to change her clothes, and forced her to re-film this terrifying scene over and over and over again,” Hagari said.
Around 250 people were taken hostage during Hamas’ surprise October 7 attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed, according to Israeli officials. In the seven months since that time, Israel has launched a war in Gaza that has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. More than 100 hostages were freed during a release deal in November, but the IDF believes there are still 132 hostages in Gaza, 128 of whom were taken on October 7. Of those 132 hostages, 40 are believed to be dead, including two who were taken in 2014, the IDF believes. The video’s release comes as political divisions are deepening in Israel over the trajectory and priorities of the war, which has sparked a humanitarian crisis that deepens by the day. War cabinet member and former Israeli defense minister Benny Gantz on Saturday threatened to withdraw his party from the coalition government if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t change tact. Gantz demanded that the cabinet adopt a plan to secure the return of Israeli hostages, the demobilization of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip by June 8. Netanyahu’s office criticized Gantz’s conditions – bringing fissures in the government into the spotlight. The Israeli military announced Saturday that it had recovered the body of a hostage from the Gaza Strip, one day after saying it had retrieved the remains of three others in the besieged territory who were killed while escaping the Nova music festival on October 7.

International court seeks arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas leader Sinwar on war crimes charge
Michael Collins and Joey Garrison, USA TODAY/May 20, 2024
WASHINGTON – The International Criminal Court has requested arrest warrants for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and other officials on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for the Oct. 7 attack in Israel and the Israeli-led war in Gaza.
The International Criminal Court prosecutor, Karim Khan, said in a statement that he had requested arrest warrants for Sinwar, Muhammad Deif and Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas. He said he was also requesting warrants for Netanyahu and for Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant. The ICC has been investigating Hamas' Oct. 7 attack as well as Israel's brutal seven-month war in Gaza aimed at defeating Hamas. The ICC, based in The Hague, can prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression. Neither the U.S. nor Israel is a member of the court and does not recognize its jurisdiction. But warrants could prevent Israeli officials from traveling to the 124 countries that are ICC members, where they would be subject to arrest. The warrants could be a hurdle in the Biden administration's ongoing efforts to secure a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas to allow the release of some of the more than 130 hostages still held by Hamas. The U.S. feared Israel could back out of a deal if warrants were issued. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said any ICC decisions would not affect Israel's actions but would set a dangerous precedent. Michael Collins and Joey Garrison cover the White House. Follow Collins on X, formerly Twitter, @mcollinsNEWS and Garrison @joeygarrison
Secretive Hamas military chief masterminded Oct 7 strike on Israel
Samia Nakhoul and Laila Bassam/DUBAI/Reuters/Mon, May 20, 2024
Hamas' elusive military leader Mohammed Deif, one of the masterminds behind what Israel called its 9/11 moment, rarely speaks and never appears in public, a secretive existence that helped him survive seven assassination attempts. Now he is being sought outside of Gaza, from where he directed the Oct. 7 attack which took Israel by surprise, killing 1,200 people and creating a crisis for the far-right government by taking more than 250 people hostage. The International Criminal Court prosecutor's office said on Monday it had requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defence chief and three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes, including Deif. Israel has denied committing war crimes in the Gaza war. The ICC's decision "equates the victim with the executioner", a senior Hamas official told Reuters. It will be up to the court's pre-trial judges to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to issue warrants. Deif survived seven Israeli assassination attempts, the most recent in 2021, in a long and secretive career in the militant group, leaving him disfigured and using a wheelchair.
In the months since Oct. 7, Deif is believed to have been directing Hamas military operations from the tunnels and backstreets of Gaza, alongside senior colleagues. Rising up the Hamas ranks over 30 years, Deif developed the group's network of tunnels and its bomb-making expertise. He has topped Israel's most wanted list for decades, and is held responsible for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings. He and two other Hamas leaders in Gaza formed a three-man military council that planned the Oct. 7 raid, the bloodiest attack in Israel's 75-year history.
In its wake, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government vowed to eliminate the three: Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' leader in Gaza, Deif, head of the military wing, and Marwan Issa his deputy, who was reported killed by Israel in March.
In an audio tape broadcast as Hamas fired thousands of rockets on Oct. 7, Deif named the raid "Al Aqsa Flood", signalling the attack was payback for Israeli raids at Jerusalem's Al Aqsa mosque. It was in May 2021, after a raid on Islam's third-holiest site that enraged the Arab and Muslim world, that Deif began planning the operation, a source close to Hamas said.
"It was triggered by scenes and footage of Israel storming Al Aqsa mosque during Ramadan, beating worshippers, attacking them, dragging elderly and young men out of the mosque," the source said. That storming of the mosque compound, long a flashpoint for violence over matters of sovereignty and religion in Jerusalem, helped set off 11 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas. There are only three images of Deif: one in his 20s, another of him masked, and an image of his shadow, which was used when the audio tape was broadcast. Deif rarely speaks and never appears in public. So when Hamas's TV channel announced he was about to speak on Oct. 7, Palestinians knew something significant was afoot."Today the rage of Al Aqsa, the rage of our people and nation is exploding. Our mujahedeen (fighters), today is your day to make this criminal understand that his time has ended," Deif said in the recording.
TWO BRAINS, ONE MASTERMIND
The source close to Hamas said the decision to prepare the attack was taken jointly by Deif, who leads Hamas's armed wing, known as Al Qassam Brigades, and Sinwar, but it was clear who was the architect. "There are two brains, but there is one mastermind," the source said, adding that information about the operation was known only to a handful of Hamas leaders. An Israeli security source said Deif was directly involved in the planning and operational aspects of the attack. The plan, as conceived by Deif, involved a prolonged effort at deception. Israel was led to believe that Hamas, an ally of Israel's sworn foe Iran, was not interested in launching a conflict and was focusing instead on economic development in Gaza, where the movement is the governing power. But while Israel began providing economic incentives to Gazan workers, the group's fighters were being trained and drilled, often in plain sight of the Israeli military, the source close to Hamas said. Speaking in a calm voice, Deif said in his recording that Hamas had repeatedly warned Israel to stop its crimes against Palestinians, to release prisoners and to halt its expropriation of Palestinian land. "In light of the orgy of occupation and its denial of international laws and resolutions, and in light of American and western support and international silence, we've decided to put an end to all this," he said. Born as Mohammad Masri in 1965 in the Khan Younis Refugee Camp set up after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the militant leader became known as Mohammed Deif after joining Hamas during the first Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, which began in 1987. He was arrested by Israel in 1989 and spent about 16 months in detention, a Hamas source said. Deif earned a degree in science from the Islamic University in Gaza, where he studied physics, chemistry and biology. He displayed an affinity for the arts, heading the university's entertainment committee and performing on stage in comedies. Hamas sources said he lost an eye and sustained serious injuries in one leg in one of Israel's assassination attempts. His wife, seven-month-old son, and three-year-old daughter were killed by an Israeli airstrike in 2014. His survival while running Hamas's armed wing earned him the status of a Palestinian folk hero. He did not use modern digital technology such as smart phones, the source close to Hamas said.
"He is elusive. He is the man in the shadows."

Amal Clooney is one of the legal experts who recommended war crimes charges in Israel-Hamas war
The Associated Press/May 20, 2024
Amal Clooney is one of the legal experts who recommended that the chief prosecutor of the world's top war crimes court seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and leaders of the militant Hamas group. The human rights lawyer and wife of actor George Clooney wrote of her participation in a letter posted Monday on the website of the couple's Clooney Foundation for Justice. She said she and other experts in international law unanimously agreed to recommend that International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan seek the warrants.Khan announced his intention to do so on Monday, saying that actions taken by both Israeli leaders and Hamas in the seven-month war in Gaza amounted to war crimes. “I served on this Panel because I believe in the rule of law and the need to protect civilian lives,” Clooney wrote. “The law that protects civilians in war was developed more than 100 years ago and it applies in every country in the world regardless of the reasons for a conflict.”The panel comprised experts in international humanitarian law and international criminal law, and two of its members are former judges at criminal tribunals in The Hague, where the ICC is based, Clooney wrote. She added that their decision was unanimous. The panel also published an op-ed about its recommendation in the Financial Times on Monday. A panel of three judges at the ICC will decide whether to issue the arrest warrants and allow a case to proceed. The judges typically take two months to make such decisions.
In his announcement Monday, Khan accused Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders — Yehia Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh — of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.
Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders condemned the move as disgraceful and antisemitic. U.S. President Joe Biden also lambasted the prosecutor and supported Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas. Israel is not a member of the court, so even if the arrest warrants are issued, Netanyahu and Gallant do not face any immediate risk of prosecution. But the threat of arrest could make it difficult for the Israeli leaders to travel abroad. Hamas is already considered an international terrorist group by the West. The latest war between Israel and Hamas began on Oct. 7, when militants from Gaza crossed into Israel and killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 250 others hostage. Since then, Israel has waged a brutal campaign to dismantle Hamas in Gaza. More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting, at least half of them women and children, according to the latest estimates by Gaza health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and Hamas militants.The war has triggered a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, displacing roughly 80% of the population and leaving hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of starvation, according to U.N. officials.

US, Saudis close to deal on bilateral agreement -White House
Steve Holland and Doina Chiacu/Reuters/May 20, 2024
The United States and Saudi Arabia are close to a final agreement on a bilateral agreement after the U.S. national security adviser made significant progress in talks with the Saudis over the weekend, the White House said on Monday.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said the two sides are "closer than we've ever been" on an agreement that is now "near final."U.S. and Saudi negotiators are seeking to complete work on a bilateral accord that would likely call for formal U.S. guarantees to defend the kingdom as well as Saudi access to more advanced U.S. weaponry, in return for halting Chinese arms purchases and restricting Beijing’s investment in the country. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan held talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other Saudi officials over the weekend where progress was made, Kirby said. The U.S.-Saudi security accord is also expected to involve sharing emerging technologies with Riyadh, including artificial intelligence. Once the deal is completed, it would be part of a broad deal presented to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to decide whether to make concessions to secure a deal normalization relations with Saudi Arabia. Kirby said the timing of a U.S.-Saudi deal was unclear. He said an ultimate objective for Biden is a Palestinian state, but with Israel at war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, no deal on a state is likely any time soon.
"Of course, the president remains committed to a two-state solution. He recognizes that you know, that's not something we're going to see any anytime in the future," he said.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Franklin Paul and Alistair Bell)

Independent UN experts urge Yemen’s Houthis to free detained Baha'i followers
SAMY MAGDY/CAIRO (AP)/May 20, 2024
Human rights experts working for the United Nations on Monday urged Yemen’s Houthi rebels to release five people from the country’s Baha'i religious minority who have been in detention for a year. The five are among 17 Baha’i followers detained last May when the Houthis raided a Baha’i gathering in the capital of Sanaa. The experts said in a statement that 12 have since been released “under very strict conditions” but that five remain "detained in difficult circumstances.”There have long been concerns about the treatment of the members of the Baha’i minority at the hands of the Yemeni rebels, known as Houthis, who have ruled much of the impoverished Arab country’s north and the capital, Sanaa, since the civil war started in 2014.
The experts said they “urge the de facto authorities to release" the five remaining detainees, warning they were at “serious risk of torture and other human rights violations, including acts tantamount to enforced disappearance.”
A spokesman for the Houthis did not return a request for comment.
The 12 were released only after signing a pledge not to communicate with other Baha'is and “refrain from engaging in any Baha'i activities,” the experts said. They are also not allowed to leave their hometowns without permission.
The experts are part of the Special Procedures, which is the largest body of independent experts in the United Nations Human Rights system.
The Houthis have waged an all-out campaign against all political and religious opponents and have held thousands in detention, where torture is rampant.
The Baha'i have been particularly vulnerable to persecution and pressure to convert to Islam by the Houthis who consider their religion heresy.
Baha'i is a monotheistic religion founded in the mid-19th century by Baha’u’llah, a Persian nobleman considered a prophet by the Baha’is. He taught that all religions represent progressive stages in the revelation of God’s will, leading to the unity of all people and faiths.

Russia fails in rival UN bid on nuclear, other weapons in space
Michelle Nichols/Reuters/May 20, 2024
A Russian-drafted United Nations Security Council resolution that called on all countries to prevent "for all time" the placement, threat or use of any weapons in outer space failed on Monday with the 15-member body split over the move. The draft failed to get the minimum nine votes needed: seven members voted in favor and seven against, while one abstained. A veto can only be cast by the United States, Russia, China, Britain or France if a draft gets at least nine votes. Russia put forward the text after it vetoed a U.S.-drafted resolution last month that called on countries to prevent an arms race in outer space. The Russian veto prompted the United States to question whether Moscow was hiding something. "We are here today because Russia seeks to distract global attention from its development of a new satellite carrying a nuclear device," deputy U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood told the Security Council before the vote.
He also accused Russia of launching a satellite on Thursday into low Earth orbit that the U.S. "assesses is likely a counterspace weapon presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low Earth orbit.""Russia deployed this new counterspace weapon into the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite," said Wood, adding that the May 16 launch followed Russian satellite launches "likely of counterspace systems to low Earth orbit" in 2019 and 2022. Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia responded: "I didn't even fully understand what he was talking about."The 1967 Outer Space Treaty already bars signatories – including Russia and the United States – from placing "in orbit around the Earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction." Washington has accused Moscow of developing an anti-satellite nuclear weapon to put in space, an allegation that Russia has denied. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow was against putting nuclear weapons in space. Nebenzia said the Russian draft resolution covered both weapons of mass destruction and all forms of other weapons and was aimed at stopping an arms race in outer space.
But, when pressed by Nebenzia, Wood took issue with language in the draft seeking "a lengthy binding mechanism that cannot be verified," saying, "I've seen this movie before."The Russian draft had language echoing a 2008 proposal by Moscow and Beijing for a treaty banning "any weapons in outer space" and threats "or use of force against outer space objects," but the diplomatic effort did not find international support.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on May 20-21/2024
Palestinians Threaten to Attack US Troops
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute./May 20, 2024
[The Palestinians] seem confident that if the Biden administration is rewarding them for malign behavior, it is clearly working, so why not keep it up?
The Palestinians are hoping to scare the Americans and prevent them from cooperating with Israel on the future of the Gaza Strip after the war.
The Biden administration did not, it seems, even demand that, in return for the humanitarian aid, the hostages be released or that the terrorists stop launching rockets into Israel.
Apparently, the Biden administration did not even request assurances that the aid would not be seized and diverted by the terrorists.
Hamas has earned at least $500 million from the aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war in October 2023, according Ehud Yaari, an Israeli expert on Arab and Palestinian affairs.
[The Palestinians] consider the presence of US troops in the region as another form of "occupation" and an unwelcome intervention in the internal affairs of the Arabs in the Middle East.
As long as supplies are getting into the Gaza Strip, Hamas will not stop fighting or free the hostages. More than $300 million has been spent by the Biden administration to construct a floating pier on the coast of the Gaza Strip to aid the local Palestinian population. Rather than expressing gratitude to the US, the Palestinians have publicly denounced the Biden administration and warned Arabs and Palestinians not to cooperate with the project.
They seem confident that if the Biden administration is rewarding them for malign behavior, it is clearly working, so why not keep it up?
The Palestinians are hoping to scare the Americans and prevent them from cooperating with Israel on the future of the Gaza Strip after the war.
The US move coincides with the Iran-backed Hamas terrorist group is continuing to hold hostage more than 120 Israelis who were abducted from Israel on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched its cross-border invasion from the Gaza Strip.
Based on the responses of Hamas and other terrorist groups, the pier will not help end the war or free the hostages.
The Biden administration did not, it seems, even demand that, in return for the humanitarian aid, the hostages be released or that the terrorists stop launching rockets into Israel.
Apparently, the Biden administration did not even request assurances that the aid would not be seized and diverted by the terrorists.
On May 18, as soon as the first relief supplies transported over the pier arrived in the Gaza Strip, a large number of Palestinians stopped the trucks and stole food -- most likely to be sold in the local markets. According to Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Israel's Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism:
"Unconditional 'humanitarian aid' to genocidal entities that systematically trample principles that anchor it – from countries, institutions, and mechanisms created and entrusted to uphold and protect them – is complicity that fuels gravest violators with impunity."
Cotler-Wunsh was commenting on a report by veteran Israeli expert on Arab and Palestinian affairs Ehud Yaari, who revealed that Hamas has earned at least $500 million from the aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war in October 2023.
Although the Biden administration's action is guaranteed to increase the terrorists' financial resources and assure that they have an ample supply of aid, Hamas and other Palestinians have no problem taking the aid and at the same time cursing the Americans and threatening to target US soldiers overseeing the delivery of the aid into the Gaza Strip. They consider the presence of US troops in the region as another form of "occupation" and an unwelcome intervention in the internal affairs of the Arabs in the Middle East.
The Palestinians have a history of showing no gratitude to those who provide them with food, money and jobs.
When Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, Palestinians there took to the streets to celebrate, although hundreds of thousands of them had been living and working in the Gulf country for many years. After Kuwait was liberated by the US-led coalition a year later, the Kuwaitis deported 287,000 of the 357,000 Palestinians living there.Since then, the majority of Arab countries have declined to give the Palestinians financial support. The Palestinians were quick to condemn the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain for signing normalization agreements with Israel four years ago, despite the fact that a large number of Palestinians live and work in these Gulf states. The Palestinians' accusations that the UAE and Bahrain had "betrayed" the Palestinian cause and Jerusalem strained relations between them and the Gulf states. Many Gulf residents responded by accusing the Palestinians of ingratitude.
Saudi columnist Hani Al-Zahiri called on the Palestinians to realize that their leaders have been maintaining the status quo in the Palestinian cause in order to benefit no one but themselves – and that is why they have rejected every peace initiative. "The situation of our Palestinian brothers is regrettable," Al-Zahiri wrote. "For over 60 years, their politicians have cashed in on their cause, and persisted in not reaching an arrangement, in destroying the negotiations, and in opposing every peace initiative, whether proposed by the Israelis or by other international elements. The Palestinian politician has inflicted this on his cause and his people in order to profit from leaving things as they are, since the way he has chosen for decades was the only way to guarantee that he would remain in the picture and [benefit from the] influx of funds, donations and aid flowing from all directions, particularly from the Arab and Islamic world, into his coffers and his European bank accounts...
"I, as an Arab Muslim, am sorry about the situation of the Palestinian who has been bought and sold by his political leaders, and I wish them all the best [also wish him] an awakening from his coma and adoption of [a path] that will serve him and his future well."
Evidently, the Palestinians have not learned from the past. Their criticism of the US pier is simply another example of their longstanding practice of insulting those who assist them.
The Palestinians, however, are doing more than just criticizing the US. They are also threatening to attack US troops posted at the pier. The Palestinians are planning to launch terrorist attacks against US military servicemen.
On May 18, a number of Palestinian terrorist groups, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), warned of the dangers of the pier and said they would treat any foreign presence in the region as an "occupying force." The PFLP said:
"The US administration's establishment of a floating port on the coast of the Gaza Strip is a cause for concern, and we warn of the dangers of using it to implement other goals and plans, such as the displacement [of Palestinians] or protecting the [Israeli] occupation, and not to transport aid. We warn any Palestinian, Arab or international parties against coordinating with the American administration or working in this port."
The PRC, for its part, said:
"We view with great danger the American floating pier dock and warn against it, as the American administration is a major partner and supporter of the Zionist aggression and war of annihilation against our people in the Gaza Strip. The pier is a service to the Zionist enemy and an act of propaganda and deception."
The PRC also threatened to target US soldiers at the pier:
"We reject any Zionist or foreign presence on the shore of the Gaza Sea or its crossings, and any American, Zionist, or other force present on any inch of our land will be a legitimate target for our resistance."
Although Hamas has apparently made a huge profit from the aid entering the Gaza Strip through the pier, and seems set to make even more, it accuses the Biden administration of "trying to beautify its ugly face and appear civilized."
Even the Palestinian Authority's ruling Fatah faction, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, has come out against the Biden administration's pier in the Gaza Strip.
Fatah spokesman Abdel Fattah Dawla said that operating the American pier is "a consecration of the [Israeli] occupation of the crossing and a complete isolation of the Gaza Strip." Dawla urged Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to be wary of any American attempt to use the pier as a crossing border to displace them. So now we have a representative of Abbas's Fatah faction threatening to target US soldiers.
Did the Biden administration file a protest with Abbas or the PA over these threats? No. The Biden administration is too busy pressuring Israel not to launch military operations to eradicate Hamas's four battalions in the Gaza Strip's southern city of Rafah and release the Israeli hostages.
Palestinians, in the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, have been mocking the US pier.
"We don't need the [US aid]," said Jamila Abu Arabiya, a woman from the Gaza Strip.
"Our homes are gone. Do they want to bring us some food, some potatoes and tomatoes and canned food? They should bring us back all our homes and stop the bloodshed."
Hassan Abu Al-Kass, another resident of the Gaza Strip, said:
"They throw food at us like dogs, like beggars. That doesn't work. It falls on houses, it falls on people. It brings us problems."
So long as supplies are getting into the Gaza Strip, Hamas will not stop fighting or free the hostages.
Because of the Gaza pier, the Biden administration has made it immensely harder to free the hostages and end the war.
*Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab Based in the Middle East.
© 2024 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

From the archives/Meet ‘The Butcher,’ Iran’s New President Ebrahim Raisi
Mariam Memarsadeghi/The Tablet/June 21/2021
In picking a mass murderer as his potential successor, Iran’s supreme leader hopes to make the United States a willing partner in the repression of his country’s people
As the Biden administration gives every indication of removing most sanctions on the world’s top state sponsor of terror in pursuit of its nuclear deal, that regime has produced a new president personally culpable—and sanctioned by the United States—for large-scale crimes against humanity. As the handpicked sixty-year-old Ebrahim Raisi is also likely to succeed the ailing Ali Khamenei as the Islamic Republic’s next supreme leader, his deeply disquieting record and mindset warrant close attention.
Raisi became an Islamist ideologue as a teen studying in the seminary in Qom. After the revolution, when he was only 19 years old and lacking any university education, he was appointed as a prosecutor, rising over the following four decades to fill the positions of attorney general, deputy chief justice and, most recently, chief justice of Iran’s theocratic dictatorship.
Most notably, though, Raisi was one of four members of a death committee responsible for the 1988 execution of thousands of Iranian prisoners of conscience in the space of a few months. The ideologically motivated mass executions constituted both a crime against humanity and genocide—a cleansing of religious infidels—according to international human rights expert Geoffrey Robertson. It was a massacre, he says, comparable to those at Srebrenica and the Katyn Forest.
Raisi would typically spend only a few minutes with each prisoner—some young children—asking them questions to test their allegiance to radical Islam. The prisoners, mostly leftist revolutionaries who had helped bring the regime to power, typically refused to feign loyalty, even after prolonged and brutal torture, which in some cases was personally directed and overseen by Raisi. It is estimated that a minimum of a few thousand and as many as 30,000 were killed by hanging or firing squad. The massacre is still shrouded in secrecy, with the regime continuing to deny information to the families of those killed, including about the location of their loved ones’ remains.What is known is the speed and efficiency of killing, with hangings using forklifts every half hour, and the dumping of dead bodies in piles on trucks, a method and pace that traumatized the executioners themselves. Virgins were systematically raped before their execution, to circumvent the Islamic prohibition on killing virgins and to prevent women and girls from reaching heaven. The executed were ordered to write their own names on their hands before they went to their death. The massacre is a trauma etched into the collective consciousness of all of the Iranian people, throughout the country and throughout the diaspora.
At the time, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who had been designated to succeed the revolutionary leader Khomeini, condemned the mass executions in an act of dissent. In response, Khomeini rescinded Montazeri’s clerical rank, canceled his selection as the next supreme leader, and condemned him to house arrest. In Montazeri’s place, Raisi rose up.
To this day, Raisi is proud of his role as a dutiful mass killer. In 2017, he posted to his Telegram channel a video in which he justified the massacre, and in 2018 called it “divine punishment” and a “proud achievement” for the revolutionary regime. During his tenure as attorney general (2014-2016), executions spiked significantly compared to previous years, and during his time as judiciary chief (2019-2021), the regime shot to death at least 1,500 peaceful protestors on the streets in more than 200 cities and imprisoned, tortured, and executed countless more, in the biggest act of state violence since the 1988 prison massacre. An ardent ideologue, Raisi believes that state violence is not only justifiable—as autocrats typically do in their commitment to regime survival or “national security”—but that it is godly. He has not only justified but exalted the Islamist theocracy’s violence by elevating it above all other violence on earth:
There are armies, soldiers, wars, etc. in all of the world, but the difference between us and them is that we are holy; our judiciary is holy and our regime is holy … There are various threats out there that want to annihilate this sanctity; defenders must ensure that this sacredness is not damaged. The prosecutor plays an important role in identifying [the threats], and in making sure that action [in facing and combating the threats] is taken in a timely and appropriate manner. We must not allow corruption to infiltrate anywhere in the country.
Historian Ladan Boroumand is an expert on the Iranian revolution and a documentarian of the Islamic Republic’s four-decades-old commitment to killing off its political opponents, including her own father, a democratic dissident who was assassinated by the regime in Paris in 1991. “Raisi considers the Islamic regime to be the embodiment in this world of God’s governance,” explains Boroumand. “Therefore, state institutions are sacred and holy and by definition unaccountable to Iranian citizens. Citizens vis-á-vis the Islamic government are like creatures facing their creator; they have no rights of their own. In this, Raisi is a faithful follower of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini. He is a proponent of Islamist totalitarianism.”
In 2019, on the 40th anniversary of when the Islamic Republic took 50 Americans hostage for 444 days, the United States sanctioned Raisi for his role on the death commission as well as for the execution of children and the repression of human rights defenders in recent years in his capacity as chief justice, and for his role in the brutal crackdown on 2009 Green Movement protestors.
The sanctions targeting Raisi were imposed as part of a set of sanctions on the supreme leader’s inner circle. More sanctions were added later on the leadership’s powerful “foundations,” which are the mafia state’s primary mechanisms for control of large swaths of the Iranian economy and illicit financing. These included one of the regime’s largest, the Astan Quds Razavi Foundation, which is directed by Raisi. This “foundation” has aided the Syrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad, making Raisi complicit in crimes against humanity in Syria.
The Trump administration, which imposed these long-justified and necessary sanctions, made clear that the sanctioned individuals and entities were designated because they had repressed and robbed the people of Iran. It cannot be overstated how profoundly this action impacted Iranians who had yearned for decades for an acknowledgement of the grotesque injustice inflicted upon their loved ones. Over 30 years after the prison massacre, Iranians saw those most responsible for the killing and torture, as well as for the confiscation of their personal and business assets, finally held accountable—even if not in a court of law, even if not in their own country, and even if the culpable continued to wield power.
Khamenei’s elevation of Raisi to his right hand is meant to spite both the Iranian public and the United States. In recent years, Iranians have been more overt and more unified than ever in their struggle for a peaceful overthrow of the corrupt theocracy that has forfeited any semblance of popular consent to its rule. In response to the so-called “election” that ultimately brought Raisi to power with a supposed 50% of the vote, they staged an unprecedented nationwide boycott. Empty polling stations were broadcast by satellite TV channels back into the country, an echo of the people’s larger campaign of “No to the Islamic Republic!”Iranians see no prospect for reform of the rotting theocratic system that is crushing them except for its wholesale removal. Throughout the Arab world, too, people living in the Islamic Republic’s imperial dominion are taking great risks to push back against the medieval cabal that is robbing them of dignity and a future in the name of God. The new president of Iran is meant as a bulwark against these courageous aspirations, and a signal of ever-increasing determination to stifle and repress.
Khamenei knows the fury of people in Iran and the region has been fueled in great part by the crippling sanctions imposed by the Trump administration, which President Biden may soon undo—but also by the administration’s truth-telling about the brutality and corruption of regime officials. The highest humiliation for the world’s most anti-American regime, however, was the assassination of Khamenei’s favorite and most powerful loyalist, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander Qassem Soleimani. Overwhelming financial pressure, scrutiny of human rights abuses and corruption, assassinations of top officials, relentless acts of espionage and sabotage (much enabled by the Israeli state’s moles at the highest ranks of the nuclear program and the IRGC), mounting dissent, and the regime’s own profound structural crises of mismanagement and incompetence have made the Islamic Republic more brittle and more vulnerable than ever. But Biden’s Appeasement 2.0 policy has already given the regime a new lifeline, and with the selection of Raisi, Khamenei is puffing out his chest, showing that he knows that the United States has abdicated its own strong hand in favor of a losing one. The regime has studied—and sought to shape—the ideological underpinnings of the Obama/Biden outlook on the Middle East, a “realignment” toward accommodation of the regime at any cost. Emboldened by the recognition that Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Malley will stop at nothing to re-enter the nuclear deal, Khamenei feels unconstrained in choosing his potential successor and untroubled at making the American capitulation look even more desperate and devoid of morality.
The regime uses its nuclear program as a means to extort the United States so it can survive. But as much as the Obama/Biden playbook may want to keep the regime in power as a “counterbalance” in the region—a nonsensical phrase, since the “other side” being “balanced” in this formulation would be the United States and its regional allies—the regime itself knows it is in an irreparable legitimacy crisis, no matter how much the United States accommodates it. The regime knows it is structurally incapable of being accountable to the Iranian people. It knows that with its monstrous network of patronage and corruption, it is incapable of addressing the compounding existential crises that have galvanized the mostazefeen, the downtrodden in whose name the revolution was originally waged. It knows that any measure of freedom and openness it may grant to the Iranian people will only be used to press for wholesale regime change.
Khamenei is a student of the Soviet Union and the KGB. He knows how glasnost and perestroika backfired. His regime’s decay is undeniable, and the Iranian people’s determination to fight him will only grow. But he has decided the only recourse is further brutality, to which he hopes to make the United States a de facto partner. Khamenei wants to put the United States in the debased position of not only lifting sanctions but lifting them on a president who has committed crimes against humanity. He wants to terrorize the people of Iran further and show them that they have nowhere to appeal to—and that the standard-bearers of freedom and human rights prefer to send pallets of cash to mass murderers than to support the legitimate and peaceful aspirations of ordinary Iranians. By doing so, he intends to fortify the culture of impunity he has created for his yes-men and himself. He wants to make the Iranian people lose their deep and abiding faith in the United States and give up on their dream of becoming a democracy. President Biden would be profoundly wrong to give Khamenei what he wants.
**Mariam Memarsadeghi is Founder and Director of the Cyrus Forum, Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, and a leading advocate for a democratic Iran.

Getting Out of The Tunnels
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/May 20/2024
The Palestinians have been knocking on the door of the world’s conscience for seven decades. It has been responding with tranquilizers, bandages, and blankets. After that, it forgets about them. A generation of youths refused to consider the Nakba their inevitable destiny. Yasser Arafat, George Habash, Ahmed Jibril, and others took up rifles. The injustice persisted and went further, and so the rifles were passed down to more violent and ferocious generations.
This story does not begin with Yahya Sinwar and the tunnel he is said to be sheltered in. Tunnels preceded it. It does not start with Al-Aqsa Flood. Floods, though they had been less severe, preceded it. It could be said that the foundation of Israel, in and of itself, pushed the Palestinian people into a dark tunnel. An entire nation was uprooted and torn apart, with some languishing under the yoke of occupation and others scraping by in the tents of exile. Israel has done nothing but deepen the unjust and dark tunnel the Palestinians are in. The Nakba pushed the entire Middle East into a tunnel. It is not right to forget that most of the region’s “revolutions” and coups strongly leaned into their stance on the liberation of Palestine in their Statement No. 1. It was difficult for the people of the region to step away from this conflict.
In the late sixties, the fury of the Palestinians aggravated under the shadow of the bitter 1967 defeat. Dr. Wadie Haddad, a leading figure in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who headed its Foreign Operations Branch, put forward the slogan “Behind the enemy everywhere,” launching the plane hijacking operations. The series of operations culminated in 1970, when a few planes were hijacked and forced to land in “Airport of the Revolution” (Dawson’s Field) in Jordan. I heard from Wadie’s comrades that their goal had been to remind the world of the injustice perpetrated against the Palestinians and liberate captives held in prisons of the occupying forces.
Two years after the planes were made to land in the “Airport of the Revolution” Salah Khalaf (Abu Iyad), a Fatah leader, became alarmed at the world’s insistence on disregarding the Palestinians’ rights. He engineered the operation to infiltrate the Munich Olympic Games and personally took part in preparing for its execution on the ground. “Abu Iyad” told me that killing the Israeli athletes had never been the objective; rather, his aim was to remind the world of the Palestinians’ plight and exchange the detained athletes for captives detained in Israel.
The airplane hijackings did not achieve its objective, but it made a bang, announcing that there could be no stability so long as the Palestinians were deprived of a state. Israel retaliated to this “Munich Flood” with a series of painful assassinations. In both cases, many loudly accused the Palestinians of terrorism and targeting civilians.
Those who have followed the episodes of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict over the past few decades make note of the precedents. Neither the tunnels nor the planes are new. One day, Fadel Shrourou, a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command leader, invited me to join him on a “drive” in South Lebanon. I went expecting the trip to end with a visit to a PFLP-GC base there. Somewhere between Sidon and Tyre, he took a turn and drove his car up a mountainous area.
I was surprised when we parked in a location that suggested nothing in particular. Then two armed militants came into view. We took a winding dirt road and found ourselves facing a large hole carved into a rock. We used a lamp to light our way inside. It was the first tunnel PFLP-GC had ever dug. Shrourou explained the importance of ensuring that fighters had access to a location where they could protect themselves from Israel’s dominance of the skies, and store weapons and supplies.
Years later, I went to Damascus to meet PFLP-GC leader and founder Ahmed Jibril so we could flip over the pages of his life together. He told me that the Palestinians had no choice but to use tunnels and that he had been inspired by the experiences of the Koreans and the Vietnamese. He also spoke with pride of how the PFLP-GC had used rudimentary paragliders to carry out the first attack of its kind inside Israeli territory. When the Al-Aqsa Flood operation was launched, I recalled Jibril’s tunnels and paragliders, which have turned into Sinwar’s tunnels and drones. Of course, a long distance separates Jibril’s tunnels from those of Sinwar. The world changed, Iran changed, and Hamas was born.
Neither Sinwar’s tunnel nor the Rafah tunnels are the story. The entire Middle East is in a dark and dangerous tunnel. That is how I felt in Manama alongside my colleagues as I followed the Arab Summit in Bahrain. Israel’s horrific atrocities in Gaza have left the entire region at a crossroads. Al-Aqsa Flood did not instigate one war, but a series of wars, albeit of varying degrees of intensity. Netanyahu's blind policies have deepened the tunnel that Israel and the region are in. The participants’ sense of the gravity of the situation was evident from their responses to questions about the final statement, the Bahrain Declaration, or the next stage.
The Bahrain Summit was not expected to produce miracles. The Arab body has been debilitated by its many wounds of fragmentation and interference. The Middle East is home to ancient hatreds and many wars. The state of relations among the great powers portend a new cold war, the recent Chinese-Russian summit sent many signals and carried many indications. However, at the end of the proceedings, the Arab Summit affirmed that there is only one way to pull the region out of the tunnels it has been pushed into. The region needs a ceasefire, and it must set a political track that leads to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within a predetermined time frame.
Israel’s political blindness pushed the region to this disaster. Netanyahu squandered the opportunity presented by Yasser Arafat’s acceptance of a realistic solution. He ignored the Arab Peace Initiative announced in Beirut. He took joy in undermining the Palestinian Authority and opening the door to the era of tunnels and floods. The world woke up to the bang of what we see unfolding now. However, for the journey out of the tunnels to begin, the US must unequivocally commit to leaving the tunnel of favoritism and hesitation. With absence of an independent Palestinian state, it will be difficult to avoid the emergence of another generation of tunnels and floods.

Getting Out of The Tunnels
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/May 20/2024
The Palestinians have been knocking on the door of the world’s conscience for seven decades. It has been responding with tranquilizers, bandages, and blankets. After that, it forgets about them. A generation of youths refused to consider the Nakba their inevitable destiny. Yasser Arafat, George Habash, Ahmed Jibril, and others took up rifles. The injustice persisted and went further, and so the rifles were passed down to more violent and ferocious generations.
This story does not begin with Yahya Sinwar and the tunnel he is said to be sheltered in. Tunnels preceded it. It does not start with Al-Aqsa Flood. Floods, though they had been less severe, preceded it. It could be said that the foundation of Israel, in and of itself, pushed the Palestinian people into a dark tunnel. An entire nation was uprooted and torn apart, with some languishing under the yoke of occupation and others scraping by in the tents of exile. Israel has done nothing but deepen the unjust and dark tunnel the Palestinians are in. The Nakba pushed the entire Middle East into a tunnel. It is not right to forget that most of the region’s “revolutions” and coups strongly leaned into their stance on the liberation of Palestine in their Statement No. 1. It was difficult for the people of the region to step away from this conflict.
In the late sixties, the fury of the Palestinians aggravated under the shadow of the bitter 1967 defeat. Dr. Wadie Haddad, a leading figure in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who headed its Foreign Operations Branch, put forward the slogan “Behind the enemy everywhere,” launching the plane hijacking operations. The series of operations culminated in 1970, when a few planes were hijacked and forced to land in “Airport of the Revolution” (Dawson’s Field) in Jordan. I heard from Wadie’s comrades that their goal had been to remind the world of the injustice perpetrated against the Palestinians and liberate captives held in prisons of the occupying forces.
Two years after the planes were made to land in the “Airport of the Revolution” Salah Khalaf (Abu Iyad), a Fatah leader, became alarmed at the world’s insistence on disregarding the Palestinians’ rights. He engineered the operation to infiltrate the Munich Olympic Games and personally took part in preparing for its execution on the ground. “Abu Iyad” told me that killing the Israeli athletes had never been the objective; rather, his aim was to remind the world of the Palestinians’ plight and exchange the detained athletes for captives detained in Israel.
The airplane hijackings did not achieve its objective, but it made a bang, announcing that there could be no stability so long as the Palestinians were deprived of a state. Israel retaliated to this “Munich Flood” with a series of painful assassinations. In both cases, many loudly accused the Palestinians of terrorism and targeting civilians.
Those who have followed the episodes of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict over the past few decades make note of the precedents. Neither the tunnels nor the planes are new. One day, Fadel Shrourou, a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command leader, invited me to join him on a “drive” in South Lebanon. I went expecting the trip to end with a visit to a PFLP-GC base there. Somewhere between Sidon and Tyre, he took a turn and drove his car up a mountainous area.
I was surprised when we parked in a location that suggested nothing in particular. Then two armed militants came into view. We took a winding dirt road and found ourselves facing a large hole carved into a rock. We used a lamp to light our way inside. It was the first tunnel PFLP-GC had ever dug. Shrourou explained the importance of ensuring that fighters had access to a location where they could protect themselves from Israel’s dominance of the skies, and store weapons and supplies.
Years later, I went to Damascus to meet PFLP-GC leader and founder Ahmed Jibril so we could flip over the pages of his life together. He told me that the Palestinians had no choice but to use tunnels and that he had been inspired by the experiences of the Koreans and the Vietnamese. He also spoke with pride of how the PFLP-GC had used rudimentary paragliders to carry out the first attack of its kind inside Israeli territory. When the Al-Aqsa Flood operation was launched, I recalled Jibril’s tunnels and paragliders, which have turned into Sinwar’s tunnels and drones. Of course, a long distance separates Jibril’s tunnels from those of Sinwar. The world changed, Iran changed, and Hamas was born.
Neither Sinwar’s tunnel nor the Rafah tunnels are the story. The entire Middle East is in a dark and dangerous tunnel. That is how I felt in Manama alongside my colleagues as I followed the Arab Summit in Bahrain. Israel’s horrific atrocities in Gaza have left the entire region at a crossroads. Al-Aqsa Flood did not instigate one war, but a series of wars, albeit of varying degrees of intensity. Netanyahu's blind policies have deepened the tunnel that Israel and the region are in. The participants’ sense of the gravity of the situation was evident from their responses to questions about the final statement, the Bahrain Declaration, or the next stage.
The Bahrain Summit was not expected to produce miracles. The Arab body has been debilitated by its many wounds of fragmentation and interference. The Middle East is home to ancient hatreds and many wars. The state of relations among the great powers portend a new cold war, the recent Chinese-Russian summit sent many signals and carried many indications. However, at the end of the proceedings, the Arab Summit affirmed that there is only one way to pull the region out of the tunnels it has been pushed into. The region needs a ceasefire, and it must set a political track that leads to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within a predetermined time frame.
Israel’s political blindness pushed the region to this disaster. Netanyahu squandered the opportunity presented by Yasser Arafat’s acceptance of a realistic solution. He ignored the Arab Peace Initiative announced in Beirut. He took joy in undermining the Palestinian Authority and opening the door to the era of tunnels and floods. The world woke up to the bang of what we see unfolding now. However, for the journey out of the tunnels to begin, the US must unequivocally commit to leaving the tunnel of favoritism and hesitation. With absence of an independent Palestinian state, it will be difficult to avoid the emergence of another generation of tunnels and floods.

The Palestinian State as a Challenge for Levantine Nationhood
Hazem SaghiehAsharq Al Awsat/May 20/2024
As it was gearing up for and then celebrating its anniversary, the State of Israel received blows that could provide new opportunities for the establishment of a Palestinian state. This comes at a time when the conviction that such a state is an indispensable requisite for regional stability is broadening. In addition to the Palestinians’ right to a state of their own, which is beyond dispute, and the moral imperative to ensure this eventuality, Israel seems more isolated than ever. Its image seems tainted in an increasing number of milieus. At the same time, its capacity for swiftly deciding wars has been hampered, and its economy is being battered and crippled. It seems as though making "Israel’s independence" legitimate hinges on ending the "Palestinian Nakba" and making it history.
It is true that many major obstacles impede the path to a Palestinian state, the most consequential being Jewish settlements and the weakness of the political and representative Palestinian tools that enjoy popular legitimacy and political and diplomatic recognition, both regionally and internationally. These obstacles could potentially continue to prevent the emergence of this long-promised state despite all the compelling theoretical and moral justifications for it, especially if Netanyahu and the obsessively religious fundamentalists remain in power. However, that would not only mean Israel’s independence remaining contested, but regional stability as well.
The truth- rarely mentioned in such a context, although our current reality emphatically affirms it- is that the emergence of such a state would be an endorsement of statehood and statism in the entirety of the Arab Levant, and possibly Arab countries that lay beyond it. While this factor cannot compensate for the absence of the many others that are necessary, the fact remains that the others will continue to be weak and lacking without it.
We could also add that the establishment of a Palestinian state would likely correct the historical error that led to the emergence and independence of Levantine countries during, between, or after the two world wars, as the prospects of a Palestinian polity faded and vanished.
This is said as the Levant undergoes one of the worst periods in its history that is marked by state retreat and the ascension of militias. Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine all manifest this ongoing rot in their own way.
The lack of a Palestinian state renders the lives of these countries’ states short, anxious, and insecure. Indeed, the Palestine cause, along with the Iranian expansionism that has accompanied it since 1979, are the primary drivers of state fragmentation and militia entrenchment. We are well aware of how the state began disintegrating in Lebanon in 1975, and how Hezbollah draws its pretexts for maintaining an armed state that is stronger than the state.
We also know that Jordan faced a similar threat in 1970 and that its fate as a nation and a state still hinges on developments in the West Bank. The pretext of liberating Palestine has been integral to Baathist rule in Syria since 1963, and especially after 1970. This same pretext, albeit to a lesser extent, explained the policies of Baathist rule in Iraq until 2003. Since then, Iraq has been embroiled in resistance politics after being glued to Iran. Even in Yemen, a non-Levantine, criticism of the Houthi militia regime runs up against "resistance" that sanitizes the Houthi regime with its rhetorical aroma.
In other words, if it is true that the Palestinian cause is not the “central” cause of an Arab world composed of many different states that have varying circumstances, and at times contradictory considerations, it is also true that this cause continues to be a central means for preventing the establishment of states in the Arab world, especially in the Levant. This exploitation of the Palestinian cause, as experience has shown, begins as a war against the state and ultimately culminates as a war against society itself. That is because sects, ethnicities, and regions find, in this so-called climate of nationalism, a calling to consolidate their image as nations that are pitiful but confident and conceited.
What we can conclude from this is that the patriots of the Levant, who developed their patriotism within the context of a struggle with the exploitation of the Palestinian cause, could find themselves at a new crossroads: the establishment of a Palestinian state has become a requisite for their projects’ success and the establishment or restoration of their states. In this sense, it must be made a key item on their political agendas. Just like using the “liberation of Palestine” from without had been a threat to Levantine states and citizens’ identification with Levantine countries, turning our back to the effort to establish a Palestinian state today impedes the path of national identification and statehood in each of these countries.
Accordingly, the establishment of this state, as both an ethical and self-serving goal, raises a great new challenge, not only to the Palestinians but also to Levantines and many other Arabs. Going forward, it will become difficult, as well as irrational, for patriots in the Levant to choose isolationism or behave as though this matter is not of their concern, if not out of love for a state for the Palestinians or justice as such, then out of love for a state for themselves.

How Western Media Cover for and Enable the Muslim Persecution of Christians
Raymond Ibrahim/The Stream/May 20/2024
There’s a global pandemic right now, but you won’t read about it in our media. It’s claiming thousands of lives, in a dozen countries. I’m talking about the Muslim persecution of Christians. If the situation is so bad, then why is it virtually unknown in the West? Millions of Christians live there, who presumably would want to know about it. But the powers that be have done everything in their power to conceal it. In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at the many tactics the media employ to transform the atrocity, which has led to the slaughter of thousands and the abuse of hundreds of millions, into a non-story.
The primary tactic is outright suppression, as underscored by the recent case of a Muslim man stabbing a Christian priest in the middle of a sermon, captured during a livestreamed event. The video, which is available for viewing on X, has sent the global establishment — spearheaded by Australia, where the attack occurred — into a paroxysm of fury against platform owner Elon Musk. For merely allowing access to a simple (and by Hollywood standards, very tame) video, the traditional gatekeepers of information wish to see Musk thrown in prison, and the key thrown away. Why? Because he broke a cardinal if unspoken rule: he gave vent to something — the Muslim persecution of Christians — that all media know must be suppressed or distorted at every turn. I have been documenting that persecution for nearly two decades. So I have ample experiences with outright censorship and am constantly “shadowbanned” on social media. In some nations, most notably Canada, my website is completely banned, while other networks claim it is “pornographic” (even as half-naked women appear in the adjoining ads on permitted sites).
Short of this, the media employ more subtle tactics.
First, they only report on the most sensational attacks — for example, the church bombings that leave dozens of Christians dead or maimed. (This has occurred countless times throughout the Muslim world, and increasingly, the non-Muslim world as well). Even then, the reporting is minimal. U.S. media reported on the killing of a gorilla six times more often than the decapitation of 21 Egyptian Christians who refused to recant their faith. The strategy is simple: by reporting only on terrorist attacks carried out by banned organizations which are easily and routinely dismissed as “not representing Islam,” and which occur only every few months or so, as opposed to every day, the media creates an illusion: that attacks on Christians are few and far between — and never carried out by true Muslims, who are naturally tolerant, but rather only by “hijackers of Islam.”
In reality, those spectacular terrorist attacks that receive coverage are just the tip of the iceberg of the persecution. Indeed, in July 2011, I decided to begin compiling monthly reports titled “Muslim Persecution of Christians.” I was initially concerned over the feasibility of this project; what sort of “report” could be compiled if, say, only one or two — or even zero — instances of persecution occurred in any given month? Sadly, this has never been the case. Every one of my now 153 monthly reports has contained between one and two dozen atrocities.
The overwhelming majority of these stories never appear on any big media outlets, but rather smaller human rights websites and foreign-language sources. Are they worthy of coverage? Ask yourself: What if Christians were banning or attacking mosques; attacking or imprisoning Muslims for blaspheming Jesus; abducting, raping, and forcibly converting Muslims girls; and enforcing myriad forms of open discrimination against Muslims. Those stories would dominate global media coverage for months, and rightly so. Which leads to the media’s second strategy: relativizing and neutralizing the events, always trying to present the atrocities as generic “crimes” that have nothing to do with either the victims’ or perpetrators’ religious identity. I have read many reports of terrorist attacks that claim dozens of lives, only to find at the very end (or sometimes by reading between the lines and doing further research), that those slain were targeted for being Christians. For example, when Muslims bombed three churches in Sri Lanka on Easter in 2019, killing some 300 Christians, many politicians (including former President Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton), could not even bring themselves to identify the victims as “Christians.” Instead, they condemned the “terror” attack on “Easter worshippers.”
Other times, unprovoked Muslim attacks on Christians are portrayed as “sectarian strife,” a phrase that suggests two equally matched adversaries. This hardly describes reality: Tiny Christian minorities being persecuted in Muslim-majority nations. The New York Times’ headline for a story about an Islamic terror attack on an Egyptian church that left 21 worshippers dead in 2011 was “Clashes Grow as Egyptians Remain Angry after an Attack” — as if frustrated and harried Christians lashing out against their persecutors was the really big and troubling news, not the unwarranted slaughter they just experienced.
Similarly, NPR once ran a report on “sectarian violence” in Egypt, accompanied by a large photo of what appeared to be a “fanatical” Christian mob waving a crucifix—not what prompted that particular display of Christian solidarity: the nonstop persecution of Copts in Egypt.
Or consider a 2012 BBC report on a church attack in Nigeria that left three Christians, including an infant, dead. It objectively states the bare-bone facts before jumping to the really big news: “The bombing sparked a riot by Christian youths, with reports that at least two Muslims were killed in the violence. The two men were dragged off their bikes after being stopped at a roadblock set up by the rioters, police said. A row of Muslim-owned shops was also burned…”
The report goes on and on — with an entire section about “very angry” Christians — until one confuses victims with persecutors, forgetting what the Christians are “very angry” about in the first place: nonstop terror attacks on their churches and the slaughter or enslavement of their women and children.
Incidentally, since that 2012 church attack, literally thousands of more churches have been attacked, torched, or bombed by Muslims in genocidal Nigeria, where one Christian is killed every two hours. But the establishment continues to point to anything and everything for “motive” — most recently, climate change, which apparently is “forcing” hapless Muslims to murder Christians.
As should be clear by now, the net effect of such reporting throws the truth upside down: victims are persecutors and persecutors are victims. Nor does one need to look to sub-Saharan Africa for examples; the same thing is happening right here in the USA.
Last March, after a woman claiming to be a man stormed her former Christian school in Nashville and murdered three children and three staffers, the establishment media went into damage control mode (as documented here): They insisted the woman’s motive was “unclear” (while simultaneously refusing to release her manifesto), and hinted that, if anything, the Christians who have made the lives of transgender people a living hell had it coming. And, true to form, many headlines seemed to be intentionally misleading, including Reuters’: “Former Christian school student kills 3 children, 3 staff in Nashville shooting.” Anyone just reading the headline — as many are wont to do — may well conclude that a Christian targeted students in a secular school.
A final and rather deplorable strategy is to actively issue false news in an effort to suppress the specter of Muslim violence against Christians. In the days before the aforementioned 21 Egyptian Christians were decapitated in Libya, the BBC falsely reported that most of them had been “released” (again, nothing to see here; move along).
Meanwhile, as the media continues broadcasting an alternate universe built on lies, the persecution of Christians around the world has nearly doubled since 1993 and continues to spread to nations not formerly associated with the persecution — including India, Mexico, and Nicaragua.
Most Americans, including most self-professed Christians, are either totally unaware of this phenomenon or have no idea of its extent or significance. If the current trajectory does not change, they will likely remain in the dark until the persecution starts to hit much closer to home — by which time accurate reporting will no longer be needed as the persecution will be a lived experience.