English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For April 27/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
Jesus Appears to The 12 When Thomas Was With Them: Put your finger
here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting
and believe.
John20/14-29/Now Thomas (also known as Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with
the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen
the Lord!”But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put
my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not
believe.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was
with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and
said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my
hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and
believe.”Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”Then Jesus told him, “Because
you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet
have believed.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on April 26-27/2025
Text and Video: The Anniversary of the Syrian Army's Withdrawal from
Lebanon Is Marked by Defeat and Disappointment/Elias Bejjani/April 26/2025
Anniversary Of The Massacres Committed By The Ottoman Empire Against The
Armenian People—Alongside Chaldeans, Maronites, Assyrians, Syriacs, &
Greeks/Elias Bejjani/April 24, 2025
On This Day, April 26: Syria ends 29-year military presence in Lebanon
Writer and Director Youssef El-Khoury Responds to Lawyer Hassan Adel Bazzi’s
Baseless Accusations and Threats: Indeed, Youssef El-Khoury will prevail.
Lebanon: Aoun Says No Solution for Israel’s Violations Except Through Diplomacy
Deepening rifts cloud Israel’s leadership as divisions resurface over Lebanon
war decisions — the details
Lebanon's central bank denies statements attributed to governor in Washington
Suspicious object found near Riyaq identified as war remnant: State media
Geagea and Bassil call for Hezbollah disarmament
Lebanon's president and first lady meet world leaders during Pope Francis'
funeral
Eight municipal councils win uncontested in Chouf, Lebanon
Washington: Hezbollah’s Financing and Disarmament are Interconnected/Bassam Abou
Zeid/This is Beirut/April 26/2025
'The Constitution First', New Political Gathering Calls for Sovereignty, Reform,
and Judicial Independence
A Story of Ill Will, Not Fair Representation/Johnny Kortbawi/This is
Beirut/April 26/2025
Municipal Federations in Lebanon: Strategic Tools with Political Implications/Alissar
Boulos/This is Beirut/April 26/2025
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on April 26-27/2025
Pope Francis buried at the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica
Intensity of Iran port explosion fire has increased
A massive explosion at an Iranian port linked to missile fuel shipment kills 8,
injures around 750
Iran, US hold new round of high-stakes nuclear talks
Iran's FM says 'differences' persist in nuclear talks with US
US-Iran nuclear talks set to continue next week, minister says
Trump, Zelenskyy meet on sidelines of pope’s funeral
Trump expresses doubts Putin is willing to end the Ukraine war, a day after
saying a deal was close
Macron says Ukraine ready for unconditional ceasefire
Israel says intercepted missile from Yemen, drone ‘from the east’
Palestinian president Abbas appoints aide as first-ever PLO vice president
Senior Hamas leaders arrive in Cairo for ceasefire talks as Trump says ‘We’ve
got to be good to Gaza’
Hamas proposes end to war with Israel in talks in Egypt
Hamas open to long Gaza truce but not to disarming, an official says
Houthis say 8 wounded in US strikes on Yemen capital
Syria’s Kurds hold conference on vision for country’s future
Twelve Niger soldiers killed in attack, two suspects detained, says army
Pakistan Says Open to Neutral Probe into Kashmir Attack After India Threats
Canada PM Carney Condemns Israeli Blockade on Food, Says WFP Must Be Allowed to
Work in Gaza
Syrian Letter Delivers Response to US Conditions for Sanctions Relief
Titles For
The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sourceson
on April 26-27/2025
The West Is Falling into Iran's Trap - Again/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone
Institute/April 26, 2025
Why a US–Iran nuclear deal now seems more likely than ever/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al
Arabiya/April 26//2025
UK’s growing post-Brexit international leadership/Andrew Hammondl/Arab
News/April 26, 2025
Jewish diasporas are not Israeli outposts/Yossi Mekelberg/l/Arab News/April 26,
2025
Africa and the path to self-reliance/Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/April 26, 2025
The Global Economy: What’s Worse Than a Recession?/Emile Ameen/Asharq Al-Awsat/April
26/2025
One day tourists would travel from Jerusalem to Damascus: US lawmaker optimistic
after al-Sharaa meeting/Daniel Edelson/New York/Ynetnews/April26/2025
The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on April 26-27/2025
Text and Video: The Anniversary of the Syrian
Army's Withdrawal from Lebanon Is Marked by Defeat and Disappointment
Elias Bejjani/April 26/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/129186/
April 26, 2005, is not merely a date to remember—it marks the end of a long and
painful chapter that began in 1976, when the Syrian army entered Lebanon and
began suppressing the free will of the Lebanese people.
Today, the Lebanese commemorate the withdrawal of the Assad regime’s brutal army
from their homeland—a retreat marked by humiliation, defeat, and disgrace. This
historic exit was the result of persistent, peaceful, and honorable pressure by
the Lebanese people of the Cedar Revolution, backed by international and
regional support. However, the vacuum left by the Syrian occupation was swiftly
filled by the Iranian army’s proxy—Hezbollah, a terrorist, sectarian militia
that now occupies Lebanon, strips it of its sovereignty, and suppresses its free
citizens and their independent leaders.
The key difference between these two brutal occupations lies in their form: the
Syrian Ba’athist occupation was carried out by a foreign force supported by
traitorous Lebanese factions. That regime has now collapsed, its
atrocities—including those against its own people—fully exposed. In contrast,
the Iranian occupation continues through Hezbollah—an armed gang composed of our
own people from the Shiites community, who have been misled and manipulated.
Their decisions, allegiance, funding, arms, culture, and ideological direction
are entirely dictated by Iran’s clerical regime. Since 1982, this regime has
worked tirelessly to dismantle the Lebanese state and replace it with a
theocracy governed by the concept of Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardianship of the
Islamic Jurist).
Despite countless international, Arab, and regional resolutions—and despite
almost daily, devastating Israeli strikes—Hezbollah remains in a state of
arrogant denial. It refuses to acknowledge the defeat reflected in the ceasefire
agreement and continues its threats and provocations. Meanwhile, Lebanon’s new
leadership—its president and cabinet—remain hesitant and submissive, appeasing
Hezbollah instead of taking a firm stand to set a clear timeline for disarmament
or to impose it by force. Hezbollah’s weapons are not pointed at Israel—they are
aimed at the Lebanese people.
Therefore, the Iranian occupation, executed through the treacherous, criminal,
jihadist, and Persian-backed Hezbollah, is far more dangerous than the previous
Syrian Assad occupation. Hezbollah was crushed in its confrontation with Israel,
and the myth of its so-called resistance has been shattered. For this reason,
every patriotic Lebanese citizen who believes in a Lebanon of peace,
coexistence, and sovereign purpose must rise against this occupation. They must
reject and expose every official, politician, or religious leader who enables
its survival.
Ultimately, evil can never triumph over good. Lebanon represents goodness, while
the Iranian jihadist occupation embodies evil. And because of that truth,
Lebanon will prevail—no matter how long the struggle takes. All occupying forces
will eventually suffer defeat, disgrace, and destruction.
Yet even more dangerous to Lebanon's identity, culture, and future than foreign
occupations are the shameful, narcissistic behaviors of many current and former
Lebanese politicians, clerics, and officials. Their hatred and envy resemble
that of Lucifer—the fallen angel cast out of heaven for defying the greatness of
God. These figures have similarly fallen, betraying Lebanon for personal gain
and power.
Yes, the Syrian army withdrew on April 26, 2005. But its domestic mercenaries
remain—especially Hezbollah, along with the toxic remnants of radical leftist
groups, Arab nationalists tainted by Nasserism, and frauds who continue to
deceive the public with empty slogans of resistance and liberation. These
forces, blinded by primitive instincts, hatred, and ignorance, are the true
enemies of Lebanon. They cloak themselves in hypocrisy and lies, peddling
slogans about “resistance,” “defiance,” and “throwing Jews into the sea,” all
while functioning as Trojan horses undermining Lebanon from within. With malice,
corruption, and violence, they actively sabotage efforts to restore sovereignty
and freedom—resorting to assassinations, invasions, terrorism, and mafia-like
intimidation.
Lebanon, with its divine message, ancient civilization, and sacred identity, has
endured for over 7,000 years. It is a flame that burns the hands of those who
try to destroy it. And in time, it will always rise up to crush those who insult
its dignity, freedom, and people.
On this solemn and truly national day, let us bow our heads in prayer for the
souls of our martyrs, for the return of our heroic, honorable refugees living in
exile in Israel, and for those still forcibly disappeared in the Assad regime’s
criminal prisons.
In the end, sacred Lebanon will endure—despite hardship and suffering—because
angels guard it, and because the Virgin Mother intercedes lovingly on its
behalf. Just as the Syrian occupation fell, so too will the Iranian one—whether
sooner or later, by God’s will.
Anniversary Of The Massacres Committed By The Ottoman Empire
Against The Armenian People—Alongside Chaldeans, Maronites, Assyrians, Syriacs,
& Greeks
Elias Bejjani/April 24, 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/129151/
On this day each year, the human conscience stands before one of the most
horrific crimes in modern history: the massacres committed by the Ottoman Empire
against the Armenian people—alongside the Chaldeans, Maronites, Assyrians,
Syriacs, and Greeks. A crime that does not expire with time, that cannot be
justified by any context, and that history will never forgive.
More than a century ago, in 1915, the Ottoman killing machine launched a
systematic, brutal campaign of religious and ethnic extermination. One and a
half million innocent Armenians—children, women, elderly, and men—were
slaughtered, starved, displaced, and dragged across death marches, simply
because they were Armenian, because they were Christian. It was not a war—it was
a full-scale ethnic cleansing project, comparable in scale to the Holocaust, and
perhaps even more barbaric in execution.
Yet despite the catastrophe, the Armenian people did not perish. Their spirit
was not broken. Their faith did not falter. Rising from the ashes of genocide,
they spread across the globe like a phoenix, carrying with them their message,
their culture, their Christian faith, and their sacred history. From this
sorrow, from this blood, emerged a vibrant Armenian diaspora—resilient, proud,
and brilliant.
As a Lebanese Maronite Christian, I do not merely sympathize with the Armenian
people—I share their pain, I stand by their just cause, and I am united with
them in faith, in values, and in the belief in Christ the Redeemer. I am also
proud that my homeland, Lebanon, is home to a strong and dignified Armenian
community that has contributed immensely to the survival and defense of our
nation.
The massacres committed by the Ottomans against the Armenians, Chaldeans,
Assyrians, Maronites, and other Christians of the East are not merely events of
the past—they remain an open wound in the conscience of humanity. A wound that
deepens with every official Turkish denial, every international silence, and
every attempt to falsify or erase history.
The time has come to end political appeasement at the expense of historical
justice. The international community, human rights organizations, religious
institutions, and global cultural bodies must speak out boldly and without
hesitation. Recognizing the Armenian Genocide is not only a duty toward the
victims—it is a moral responsibility toward future generations and toward the
values humanity claims to uphold.
There can be no true peace without justice, no genuine reconciliation without
truth. Turkey, the legal heir of the Ottoman Empire, must assume full ethical,
legal, and humanitarian responsibility by officially acknowledging the Armenian
Genocide and taking meaningful steps toward reparation—just as Germany did in
the case of the Holocaust.
A heartfelt salute to the Armenian people—resilient and faithful—who gave the
world the first Christian kingdom in history, and who continue to inspire with
their saints, martyrs, thinkers, and creators. A tribute to the innocent souls
of the Armenians, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Maronites, and Syriacs who were
slaughtered for their faith and identity, yet never surrendered their dignity or
their cross.
And in the end, let us say this with unwavering conviction: Those who escape the
justice of man will never escape the justice of God. Innocent blood does not
vanish. Truth never dies. And though justice may be delayed, it never
disappears. Glory to the martyrs, eternal memory to their cause, and light to
the truth.
On This Day, April 26:
Syria ends 29-year military presence in Lebanon
UPI Staff/April 26, 2025
In 1607, the first British colonists to establish a permanent settlement in
America landed at Cape Henry, Va. In 1933, Nazi Germany's secret police, better
known as the Gestapo, is formed by Hermann Goering. The Allies declared the
Gestapo a criminal organization during the Nuremberg trials and sentenced
Goering to die.
In 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, German-made planes destroyed the Basque
town of Guernica, Spain.
In 1964, Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged, forming the country of Tanzania.
In 1982, Argentina surrendered to British forces on South Georgia Island amid a
dispute over the Falkland Islands. In 1986, a fire and explosion at the Soviet
Union's Chernobyl nuclear reactor north of Kiev, Ukraine, resulted in the
world's worst civilian nuclear disaster. About 30 deaths were reported in the
days following the accident. It is believed that hundreds of people eventually
died from high doses of radiation from the plant and that thousands of cases of
cancer could be linked to the crisis.
In 1993, Indian Airlines Flight 491 slammed into a parked truck during takeoff
and crashed minutes later near the western Indian city of Aurangabad, killing 56
people.
In 1994, South Africans began going to the polls in the country's first election
that was open to all. Four days of voting would elect Nelson Mandela president.
In 2002, a German youth who had been expelled from the Gutenberg school in
Erfurt, Germany, returned to the school and shot 16 people to death.
In 2005, the last of Syria's troops left Lebanon, ending a 29-year military
presence.
In 2010, longtime Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir, sought by the International
Criminal Court in connection with reputed crimes against humanity in the Darfur
section of western Sudan, was re-elected president in a controversial vote.
In 2012, a U.N.-backed court convicted former Liberian President Charles Taylor
of war crimes, including murder, acts of terrorism, rape, sexual slavery and use
of child soldiers, for aiding rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone. He was
sentenced to 50 years in prison.
In 2018, a Pennsylvania jury found actor Bill Cosby guilty on charges he drugged
and sexually assaulted Andrea Constand in 2004. He was sentenced to three to 10
years in prison. In 2020, the 23rd victim of the Aug. 3, 2019, shooting at an El
Paso, Texas, Walmart died from his injuries. In 2021, Kanye West's Nike Air
Yeezy 1 Prototype shoes sold for a record-breaking $1.8 million through a
private sale facilitated by Sotheby's. It was the first recorded sneaker sale
for more than $1 million.
Writer and Director Youssef El-Khoury
Responds to Lawyer Hassan Adel Bazzi’s Baseless Accusations and Threats: Indeed,
Youssef El-Khoury will prevail.
Writer and Director Youssef Y. El-Khoury/April 26/2025
(Free translation from Arabic by: Elias Bejjani)
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142751/
An old saying often repeated by my
ancestors — "Take from yourself and put into me" — resonates deeply with me
today, as the so-called lawyer, Hassan Adel Bazzi, has filed a complaint against
me with the Public Prosecution of Appeal in Mount Lebanon.
During my recent interview with MTV on April 23, 2025, I shed light on the
deceitful practices of Bazzi and others like him, including his documented
attempt to extort the family of the late Amer El-Fakhoury for one hundred
thousand U.S. dollars in exchange for convincing those who had filed a lawsuit
against Amer to withdraw their case.
Rather than feeling ashamed and retreating, Bazzi took to social media to issue
threats and announce his intent to pursue legal action against me, culminating
in a baseless complaint.
When I spoke of Amer El-Fakhoury, it was in the context of discussing how the
so-called "caviar left" employs the tactic of "lie, lie, and something will
eventually stick" in order to obscure the truth. I specifically highlighted
Bazzi’s attempt at extortion, which seemingly provoked him into an immediate and
aggressive reaction, fabricating charges against me in an effort to silence my
voice.
He misjudged me, just as his mentor miscalculated events in 2006 — "not knowing"
— and again in 2023, when he overreached and faced the inevitable consequences.
Mr. Bazzi, you are now exposed. Listen carefully:
You accuse me of slander while engaging in slander yourself.
You incite unrest and then accuse me of stirring sectarian and denominational
tensions.
You wield your lawyer’s credentials not in the service of justice, but to
protect a vanishing party and an outdated ideology — the Wilayat al-Faqih — by
entrapping and extorting the innocent, as you did with the late Amer El-Fakhoury,
in collaboration with discredited security elements.
After subjecting the El-Fakhoury family to continued suffering, you reemerged
five years later on an online platform, threatening to expose the officials who
facilitated Amer’s release, despite the Military Court’s verdict of acquittal
issued on March 16, 2020.
If you possess such information, what prevents you from disclosing it? Perhaps
it is because your claims are hollow, and your threats, like your bucket, are
empty.
You further allege that I am a prison graduate with a history of detentions.
Can you, in front of your followers, specify in which prison I was allegedly
held, for what charges, and under which judicial rulings?
You cannot — because no such records exist. Your lies only expose your own
disgrace.
You also accuse me of ignorance of the law, quoting irrelevant legal procedures
regarding personal rights and compensations.
For the record: I neither discussed compensation nor the plaintiffs’ rights. I
stated — and reaffirm — that you attempted to extort the El-Fakhoury family.
Furthermore, it is astonishing that you, a practicing lawyer, is unaware that
the Military Court adjudicates exclusively military public rights, and not
general public rights, nor does it deal with personal plaintiffs in such cases.
Amer El-Fakhoury, a Lebanese-American citizen, was not tried before a public
prosecutor but was instead referred directly to the Military Court based on the
fabricated charges you helped construct.
Fabricating accusations is a specialty of yours, as your track record makes
abundantly clear.
Indeed, less than 24 hours after my interview aired, you hastily filed a
complaint against me, despite openly admitting that you did not even possess my
full identity.
You accuse me of "inciting sectarian and denominational strife."
Is it now that Hassan Adel Jaber Bazzi, the notorious dealer of legal files,
represents the entire sectarian and denominational spectrum of Lebanon?
Clearly, the only person agitated by my words is you — and I caution you:
excessive agitation can have serious consequences.
Allow me to clarify my identity fully:
I am Youssef Yaacoub El-Khoury, son of the tailor, registration number 41 Al-Safra/Keserwan
district.
I do not fear threats, nor do I shy away from confrontations — whether in the
streets or in the judiciary.
If you choose to engage through the courts with propriety, I will meet you with
respect.
If you resort to insults and defamation, I will respond with documented evidence
and irrefutable proofs.
If you choose to play dirty, as you currently do, I assure you that I have more
powerful and more effective means at my disposal.
If your actions are born of ignorance, then ignorance defines you.
But if they are deliberate, then you are a manipulator, a liar, and a fabricator
of serious accusations — offenses that, under the law, carry the gravest of
penalties.
You have not yet seen the full extent of what awaits you — and I assure you, I
know you very well.
"Beware lest anyone behave ignorantly towards us, for we shall behave more
ignorantly than the ignorant."
Lebanon: Aoun Says No Solution
for Israel’s Violations Except Through Diplomacy
Asharq Al-Awsat/April 26/2025
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reiterated commitment to dialogue to address
Lebanon’s long-standing dispute with Israel’s violation and occupation in south
Lebanon, saying that it can only be addressed through “diplomacy”.
He reiterated "the importance of diplomatic solutions in resolving conflicts, as
the Lebanese people have grown weary of wars”, a Presidency statement quoted
Aoun as saying on Friday. Aoun’s remarks come amid support from the Higher
Islamic Shiite Council for his approach to address the issue of Hezbollah’s arms
through dialogue. “Diplomatic efforts may not yield immediate results, but we
are working daily with international parties, away from the media spotlight, to
achieve the desired outcome”, said Aoun during his visit to the Economic, Social
and Environmental Council. The Lebanese president’s comments come amid heated
political debate over the future of Hezbollah’s weapons and the call to
centralize arms under state authority. Last week, Aoun reiterated his
determination to make sure the state has a monopoly over weapons. Aoun’s
strategy to address the issue of Hezbollah’s arms garnered the support of the
Higher Islamic Shiite Council. “Let the issue be addressed through calm dialogue
away from media and political exploitations. Let the decision be a unifying
national one away from submissions to external demands”, said Sheikh Ali al-Khatib,
vice-president of the Higher Shiite Council. Aoun had earlier reaffirmed that
communication between the presidency and Hezbollah remains active, with tangible
results on the ground. He also highlighted that he and Parliament Speaker Nabih
Berri are in agreement on all matters, particularly the goal of placing weapons
solely under the control of the state. Disarming Hezbollah has emerged as a key
condition in ongoing discussions surrounding Israel’s potential withdrawal from
the remaining five disputed points it occupies in southern Lebanon. Israeli
officials have linked any pullout to assurances that Hezbollah’s military
presence near the border will be curbed, citing security concerns. For its part,
Lebanon maintains that full Israeli withdrawal is a prerequisite for lasting
stability, but internal divisions over Hezbollah’s role complicate negotiations.
While President Joseph Aoun and others advocate for addressing the group’s arms
through national dialogue, critics warn that tying disarmament to Israeli
withdrawal risks prolonging the deadlock.
Deepening rifts cloud Israel’s
leadership as divisions resurface over Lebanon war decisions — the details
LBCI/April 26/2025
Disputes within Israel’s military establishment, as well as between the
political and military leadership, are deepening by the day. The main focus of
these disputes is the war in Gaza, but unexpectedly, the war in Lebanon has also
become part of the controversy. Former and current decision-makers have not
hesitated to appear in front of cameras to expose the extent of the
disagreements over several decisions related to the war against Hezbollah.
Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant reiterated that a "golden opportunity" was
missed that could have significantly shortened the war and ended it with a
"decisive victory."Gallant revealed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had
refused to authorize a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah’s
former secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, along with a group of senior
Hezbollah leaders and Iranian commanders, had gathered during the first week of
the war. The proposed strike had the backing of army leadership and security
agencies at the time, but Netanyahu reportedly feared Hezbollah’s potential
retaliation. Amid the internal discussions and disagreements, former U.S.
President Joe Biden intervened, informing Netanyahu in a phone call that
Hezbollah was not planning a large-scale attack on Israel. Gallant also blamed
Netanyahu for failing to decisively end the battle in Lebanon even after the
ceasefire agreement was signed. He revealed several operations that had
been planned but ultimately not carried out, including one targeting 1,500
Radwan Force fighters who were reportedly carrying walkie-talkie devices. The
disputes and failures in managing the war against Lebanon come alongside ongoing
disagreements over the war in Gaza, where military leaders have exposed the
extent of the chaos and disorganization in handling the southern front — a front
now on the verge of escalation that could push the conflict back to square one.
Lebanon's central bank denies statements attributed to
governor in Washington
LBCI/April 26/2025
The Central Bank of Lebanon denied statements circulated by some online media
outlets claiming to quote the central bank governor during meetings in
Washington, calling them "entirely false."In a statement, the central bank urged
media outlets to rely only on official communications. “In the interest of
accuracy and credibility, and to prevent the spread of rumors, we ask that media
publish only what is officially issued by Banque du Liban and its governor
through the media, public relations, and publications unit,” the statement said.
Suspicious object found near Riyaq identified as war remnant: State media
LBCI/April 26/2025
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that a suspicious object was discovered
in the Riyaq area near the airport. It was later identified as a rocket left
behind from the recent war. Authorities are currently working to safely detonate
the rocket.
Geagea and Bassil call for Hezbollah disarmament
Naharnet/April 26/2025
The leaders of the two biggest Christian parties have both called for the
state's monopoly on weapons after Hezbollah was left badly weakened by more than
a year of hostilities with Israel. "We've been missing a real state for 35
years," Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, a harsh critic of Hezbollah, said
Saturday, calling for the state to have monopoly on arms and to be the sole
decision maker in the country."We cannot build a real state without the state's
monopoly on arms," Geagea said, claiming that the occupation is the result of
Hezbollah's arms.Hezbollah was founded in 1982 to end Israel's occupation of
southern Lebanon. It achieved that in 2000 following a long war of attrition
that eventually forced Israel to withdraw. Israel re-occupied parts of Lebanon
after clashes with Hezbollah - beginning with the group's campaign of rocket
fire at its arch-foe in support of Gaza -culminated in a major Israeli bombing
campaign and a ground invasion. Under a truce deal reached in late November,
Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani River and dismantle
any remaining military infrastructure in the south and Israel was to withdraw
all of its forces from south Lebanon, but its troops remain today on five south
Lebanon hills that they deem "strategic".Israel has also continued to carry out
near-daily strikes against Lebanon, saying it is targeting members of Hezbollah
who are breaching the truce agreement. Hezbollah's chief Sheikh Naim Qassem,
Parliament Speaker and ally Nabih Berri, and other Hezbollah officials have said
that Hezbollah will not disarm unless Israel withdraws from south Lebanon and
halts its violations. But whether Israel should withdraw first or Hezbollah
disarm first has led to a chicken and egg situation, where both Hezbollah and
Israel justify keeping arms and occupation respectively claiming that the other
party is breaching the truce. A former ally of Hezbollah, Free Patriotic
Movement chief Jebran Bassil has also called for a monopoly on arms. He had many
times criticized Hezbollah for starting a war with Israel. "We support the
state's monopoly on weapons," Bassil said Friday, accusing Hezbollah of breaking
the trust of the Lebanese by using its arsenal in a way that did not serve
Lebanon's interests. "This does not mean that Israel was not the one that
attacked Lebanon or that we support Israel," he added. "Hezbollah has made a
strategic mistake and Lebanon's interest is in distancing itself from regional
conflicts."
Lebanon's president and first lady meet world leaders
during Pope Francis' funeral
LBCI/April 26/2025
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and First Lady Nehmat Aoun departed Rome after
representing Lebanon at the funeral of Pope Francis. During the ceremony at the
Vatican, they met with a number of world leaders on the sidelines of the funeral
proceedings.
Eight municipal councils win uncontested in Chouf, Lebanon
LBCI/April 26/2025
Six municipal councils in the Chouf district secured victory uncontested, while
two more councils won after candidates withdrew following the closure of the
candidacy period for municipal elections. The eight councils that won by
acclamation are Kneisseh, Jadra-Wadi el Zayni, Haret Jandal, Dahr el Mghara,
Ammik, Mazraat el Dahr, and Ain el Haour.
Washington: Hezbollah’s Financing and Disarmament are Interconnected
Bassam Abou Zeid/This is Beirut/April 26/2025
Combating the financing of terrorism was a central topic for the official
Lebanese delegation at the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and the World Bank in Washington. The most significant discussions were
held with US Treasury Department officials, particularly involving Finance
Minister Yassine Jaber and Central Bank Governor Karim Soueid. According to
available information, Lebanon is seeking removal from the Financial Action Task
Force's (FATF) gray list. However, it faces a major hurdle: the lack of decisive
action against the financing of so-called "paramilitary groups," especially
Hezbollah. In this context, US officials raised concerns about Al-Qard
Al-Hassan, describing it as a key channel for Hezbollah funding, and stressed
that Lebanon must move to shut it down. Al-Qard Al-Hassan is also heavily
involved in Lebanon's "cash economy," handling large volumes of untraceable
money. Sources indicated that as part of Lebanon’s financial and monetary
reforms—particularly the restructuring of its banking sector—the country is now
obligated to implement international financial standards. This includes measures
that would lead to the closure of institutions like Al-Qard Al-Hassan, which
operate without oversight from Lebanese monetary authorities, including the
Central Bank. US officials warned that failure to act would send a message that
Lebanon is not serious about building a lawful state or regaining the trust of
international and Arab financial systems. The Lebanese delegation believes it
made some headway on this front in Washington. Meanwhile, Hezbollah continues to
defend both its weapons and Al-Qard Al-Hassan, arguing that it has obligations
toward many citizens who turned to it to manage their affairs. The party also
views any targeting of Al-Qard Al-Hassan as a new step in tightening the
financial siege against it, especially at a time when it needs additional funds
to continue providing for its popular base—particularly for reconstruction
efforts and compensation in war-affected areas. In Washington, it became clear
that Hezbollah’s financial operations, its arms, and Lebanon’s reform efforts
are viewed as interconnected issues. Officials at the US Treasury and State
Departments made no distinction between them, repeatedly warning that sanctions
could target those obstructing progress which primarily serves Lebanese
interests before fitting into any Arab or international agenda. Lebanese
officials are expected to have absorbed this lesson. They were urged to act
decisively and with courage to implement the needed reforms.
'The Constitution First', New Political Gathering Calls for Sovereignty, Reform,
and Judicial Independence
This is Beirut/April 26/2025
A new political gathering, led by ex-MP and former Secretariat General
Coordinator of the March 14 Alliance, Fares Soueid, was launched on Saturday
under the name "The Constitution First." The main highlights of the group’s
manifesto included:
-The enactment of a new electoral law, including the redrawing of electoral
districts to ensure fair and equitable representation of all components of
Lebanese society.
-The restoration of Lebanon’s democratic system based on clear majority and
minority dynamics, rather than a so-called "sectarian consensus."
-The reaffirmation of the state’s full sovereignty over its land, waters,
borders, airspace, citizens, and residents, as well as over its defense and
foreign policies.
-A firm commitment to international resolutions — particularly UN Resolutions
1559, 1680, and 1701 — which safeguard Lebanon’s sovereignty and counter Israeli
ambitions toward its territory and waters.
-An assertion that the protection of Lebanon is a sovereign right and the
exclusive responsibility of the Lebanese Army and security forces.
-A commitment to the United Nations and the Arab League, with Lebanon
reaffirming its obligations as a founding member of both organizations.
-Hezbollah’s regional role and military nature have come to an end; its
continued existence as an armed group operating under Iranian command is
incompatible with Lebanon’s independence and sovereignty.
-A full and unconditional independence of the judiciary and a commitment to
combat corruption, particularly political corruption.
A Story of Ill Will, Not Fair Representation
Johnny Kortbawi/This is Beirut/April 26/2025
All hidden intentions have come to light, and the undeniable truth is now clear:
some are unwilling to ensure equal representation in Beirut’s municipality, or
at least are unwilling to uphold it. The real crisis lies in the absence of
unified Sunni support in the city, compounded by the inability to provide a
political umbrella in the capital to secure equal representation without
complications over numbers and candidates. The absence of former Prime Minister
Saad Hariri, the withdrawal of current Prime Minister Nawaf Salam from
intervening in the elections and the inability of other Sunni leaders in Beirut
to impose any reality have all contributed to an environment unsuitable for
ensuring equal representation. When MP Waddah Sadek proposed the implementation
of pre-set, closed electoral lists in cities and towns with populations large
enough to be considered major cities, opposing intentions were revealed, with
suggestions to reduce the mohafez (governor’s) powers in the city compared to
those of the mukhtar. Beyond the grand symbolism of Beirut and its vital role in
uniting all components—due to its significance to the nation as a whole and its
importance in the eyes of the international community and the diaspora—there is
a crucial point that must be viewed from another perspective. The parliamentary
election law allocated 19 seats to the city of Beirut, ensuring a degree of
balance in representation by granting ten seats to Christians and nine to
Muslims in the capital. However, the key issue at the time was the insistence on
securing a seat for Evangelicals and minorities at the heart of the city,
effectively adding an extra seat for Christians. This was supported by those
committed to national unity and ensuring the representation of all community
groups in Beirut. As a result, there was a candidate from each major sect, along
with two candidates from the Christian minorities, making the city truly
inclusive. The only remaining point of disagreement was the distribution of
seats in the electoral districts, a matter that does not negate the genuine
intention to make the capital a symbol of unity.
Abandoning fair representation within Beirut’s municipality is nothing short of
mourning the capital’s unifying role. How can this be upheld in parliamentary
representation yet discarded in municipal governance? What differentiates those
who reject fair representation in Beirut, arguing that one sect holds undue
power, from those who simultaneously denounce the Orthodox law for granting
sects the right to self-representation? The debates surrounding Beirut’s
municipality have revealed nothing but hidden agendas and hearts burdened with
resentment, seeking to revive sectarian discourse under the guise of crises
affecting each sect. At this point, every sect in Lebanon faces its own crisis:
Christians are victims of demographic shifts, Sunnis are victims of a leadership
vacuum, Shiites are victims of their losses in the last war, and Druze are
victims of the major shifts threatening their role. So is addressing these
crises the solution, or is the real solution to deepen the divisions within each
sect, leading to even more complex and difficult challenges?
Municipal Federations in Lebanon: Strategic Tools with Political Implications
Alissar Boulos/This is Beirut/April 26/2025
As Lebanon gears up for municipal elections beginning May 4, one
often-overlooked player is attracting heightened attention from political
leaders: municipal federations. Though relatively unfamiliar to the general
public, these inter-municipal bodies have emerged as crucial instruments of
local governance in a country where central authorities frequently struggle to
deliver basic services. Created under Lebanon’s 1977 Municipal Organization Law,
municipal federations (MFs) hold legal status and enjoy administrative and
financial autonomy, similar to that of individual municipalities (Article 114).
These federations can include an unlimited number of member
municipalities—usually on a voluntary basis—to implement joint projects that
surpass the financial or technical capacity of any single locality. Such
initiatives typically focus on shared public services, including road
maintenance, sanitation, waste management, and water or irrigation
infrastructure. To become part of a municipal federation, municipalities must
share administrative borders and be located within the same district, or caza.
However, the number of federations does not directly align with the number of
districts. Some cazas, like Shouf and Baabda, host several federations. Akkar
has six. In contrast, districts such as Zgharta, Metn, and Batroun each have
just one. Across Lebanon, there are currently 53 municipal federations serving a
total of 1,064 municipalities. "Not every municipality is part of a federation,"
explains Patrick Richa, Communications Director for the Kataeb Party, in an
interview with This is Beirut. "In the Metn district, for instance, there are
more than 70 municipalities, yet only 33 are members of the Metn Municipal
Federation."
A Mechanism for Municipal Collaboration
In an interview with This is Beirut, journalist Jean Nakhoul remarked,
“Municipal federations are essentially tools for coordination and advocacy. A
water sanitation project, for example, is far more likely to receive funding and
be carried out successfully if it serves multiple towns rather than just
one.”Richa further explains, “All funding is channeled through the Independent
Municipal Fund (IMF), which operates under the supervision of the Ministry of
the Interior. Most projects implemented by municipal federations in recent years
have been backed by international and regional donors. Submitting a project on
behalf of a federation gives it greater strategic credibility, as it reflects a
broader vision that goes beyond the scope of a single municipality.”By pooling
human, technical, and financial resources, neighboring municipalities can better
tackle common interests—a particularly crucial advantage for smaller towns with
constrained budgets. Initiatives launched through a municipal federation also
tend to garner greater interest from international donors and NGOs, positioning
these federations as vital players in local development efforts.
This has positioned MFs as platforms for securing external funding, allowing
them to implement projects that would be beyond the reach of individual
municipalities. As a result, their role within Lebanon’s local development
framework continues to expand.
Limited Resources, Key Facilitator Role
Municipal federations draw their funding from multiple sources, including
contributions from member municipalities, government grants and subsidies,
transfers from the Independent Municipal Fund (IMF), as well as donations from
international organizations and private entities. The Lebanese state may also
earmark specific allocations for federations within its annual budget. All
financial decisions by federations are subject to administrative oversight,
following the same regulatory framework that governs individual municipalities.
Funds managed by the Independent Municipal Fund (IMF) are distributed annually,
with 75% allocated to municipalities and the remaining 25% to federations—after
deducting operational expenses for the Ministries of Finance and Interior.
Notably, funding for large-scale infrastructure projects has primarily come from
private donors, NGOs, UN-affiliated agencies, and, until recently, the US Agency
for International Development (USAID).
A Crucial Political Battleground?
Political parties in Lebanon often vie for control over municipal federations,
seeing them as strategic instruments of local authority with considerable
political, financial, and social stakes. According to analysts, this rivalry is
also linked to early maneuvering ahead of the 2026 parliamentary elections.
Presidents of municipalities and federations maintain close relationships with
constituents and command influential networks, giving them the ability to
mobilize voters and direct resources effectively. “It’s a system of mutual
support,” explains Jean Nakhoul. “The more local allies a party or influential
figure has, the more they can push forward their objectives.” The president of a
federation holds the power to prioritize specific villages or projects, thereby
exerting substantial influence on local development. However, Richa plays down
the role of political parties in municipal elections. “These elections are
largely about family ties and local dynamics. Our role is to mitigate conflicts
when possible.”Despite this, the Kataeb Party is paying close attention to the
situation within the Metn federation. “After years of dominance by a single
family—the late Michel Murr’s (Editor’s Note)—it’s time for a change,” says
Richa. When asked whether controlling federations is part of the party’s
national strategy, he emphasized that this is not a priority for the Kataeb.
A Pathway to True Decentralization?
Decentralization reform has been a topic of ongoing debate in Lebanon. Should it
be implemented, municipal federations could serve as the cornerstone of a new
territorial governance system. “They could function as local ‘mini-ministries,’”
explains Nakhoul. In the meantime, the upcoming municipal elections will provide
a glimpse into the evolving political landscape and underscore the increasing
importance of local governance in Lebanon’s public affairs.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News
published
on April 26-27/2025
Pope Francis buried at the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica
Al Arabiya English/26 April ,2025
The funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican has ended. Pope Francis has been
buried in the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica, the Vatican said on Saturday. His
coffin left the Vatican on a white popemobile, following his funeral at St
Peter’s Square. Thousands of people lined the streets along the route as the
coffin was driven across Rome to its final resting place. US President Donald
Trump was among more than 50 heads of state and other dignitaries attending the
funeral of Pope Francis, where he personally paid his respects to the Roman
Catholic leader who had pointedly disagreed with him on a variety of issues.
Trump told reporters on Friday as he flew to Rome that he was going to the
funeral “out of respect” for the pontiff, who died Monday after suffering a
stroke at the age of 88. Francis sharply disagreed with Trump’s approach on
issues including immigration, the treatment of migrants and climate change.
Trump, Zelenskyy meet
President Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a “very
productive” meeting on Saturday in Rome, a White House official said, as both
leaders attended the funeral of Pope Francis. A spokesman for Zelenskyy’s office
said the two leaders, in an encounter in St. Peter’s Basilica that lasted about
15 minutes, had agreed to have a second meeting later on Saturday, and that
their teams were working on arrangements for that. The meeting at the Vatican,
their first since an angry exchange in the Oval Office in Washington in
February, comes at a critical time in negotiations aimed at bringing an end to
fighting between Ukraine and Russia.
“President Trump and President Zelenskyy met privately today and had a very
productive discussion. More details about the meeting will follow,” said Steven
Cheung, the White House communications director. Zelenskyy’s chief of staff,
Andriy Yermak, described the meeting as “constructive” in a post on social
media. Zelenskyy’s office released photographs of the Rome meeting. In one, the
Ukrainian and US leaders sat opposite each other in a large marble-lined hall,
around two feet apart, and were leaning towards each other, locked in
conversation. No aides could be seen in the image. In a second photograph, from
the same location, Zelenskyy, Trump, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and
French President Emmanuel Macron were shown standing in a tight huddle. Macron
had his hand on Zelenskyy’s shoulder. Trump, who has been pressing both sides to
agree to a ceasefire, said on Friday that there had been productive talks
between his envoy and the Russian leadership, and called for a high-level
meeting between Kyiv and Moscow to close a deal. Trump had previously warned his
administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace agreement if
the two sides do not agree to a deal soon.
Funeral procession
Pope Francis’ wooden coffin was carried into St. Peter’s Square at the start of
a funeral Mass attended by a multitude of mourners, including powerful world
leaders, pilgrims and prelates. Applause rang out as the wooden coffin, inlaid
with a large cross, was brought out of St. Peter’s Basilica and into the
sun-filled square by white-gloved, black-suited pallbearers. Bells tolled as the
leaders from more than 150 countries took their places.
The open-air ceremony, was concelebrated by 220 cardinals, 750 bishops and more
than 4,000 other priests, and lasted 90 minutes. More than 250,000 people
assembled at the Square for the funeral, the Vatican said.
Cardinal Giovanni's sermon
In front of hundreds of world leaders attending the funeral, Italian Cardinal
Giovanni Battista Re called for care for migrants, an end to wars, and action on
global climate change - Francis’ favorite political themes. Re repeated one of
the pope’s strongest criticisms of President Trump, with Trump himself present
in the crowd, by calling to “build bridges, not walls.”Trump and the pope
exchanged criticisms over a decade, mostly related to the pope’s plea for
compassion for migrants, a group Trump has repeatedly sought to deport. Re’s
sermon, heard by a global audience of millions, contained a strong political
message for the national leaders and a strong internal message to the world’s
Catholic cardinals. To the about 135 Catholic cardinals, who will soon be tasked
with entering a secret conclave to choose the next pope, it was also a possible
roadmap for how they should start their deliberations. In spiritual language,
the 91-year-old prelate gave a simple message: there is no going back. With
Agencies
Intensity of Iran port explosion
fire has increased
AFP, Tehran/26 April ,2025
A large fire sparked by a deadly explosion at Iran’s port of Shahid Rajaee has
intensified and could spread, state media reported. “The intensity of the fire
in Shahid Rajaee Port has increased and it is possible that the fire could
spread to other areas and containers,” the broadcaster said of the blaze which
has been burning for around 10 hours.
A massive explosion at an Iranian port linked to missile fuel shipment kills 8,
injures around 750
Reuters/April 26, 2025
MUSCAT: A massive explosion and fire rocked a port Saturday in southern Iran
purportedly linked to a shipment of a chemical ingredient used to make missile
propellant, killing eight people and injuring around 750 others.
Helicopters dumped water from the air on the raging fire hours after the initial
explosion, which happened at the Shahid Rajaei port just as Iran and the United
States met Saturday in Oman for the third round of negotiations over Tehran’s
rapidly advancing nuclear program. No one in Iran outright suggested that the
explosion came from an attack. However, even Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas
Araghchi, who led the talks, on Wednesday acknowledged that “our security
services are on high alert given past instances of attempted sabotage and
assassination operations designed to provoke a legitimate response.”Iranian
Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni gave the casualty figure in an interview on
state television. But there were few details on what sparked the blaze just
outside of Bandar Abbas, which burned into Saturday night, causing other
containers to reportedly explode.
Security firm says port received chemical for missile fuel
The port took in a shipment of “sodium perchlorate rocket fuel” in March, the
private security firm Ambrey said. The fuel is part of a shipment from China by
two vessels to Iran first reported in January by the Financial Times. The fuel
was going to be used to replenish Iran’s missile stocks, which had been depleted
by its direct attacks on Israel during the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“The fire was reportedly the result of improper handling of a shipment of solid
fuel intended for use in Iranian ballistic missiles,” Ambrey said. Ship-tracking
data analyzed by The Associated Press put one of the vessels believed to be
carrying the chemical in the vicinity in March, as Ambrey said. Iran hasn’t
acknowledged taking the shipment. The Iranian mission to the United Nations
didn’t respond to a request for comment on Saturday. It’s unclear why Iran
wouldn’t have moved the chemicals from the port, particularly after the Beirut
port blast in 2020. That explosion, caused by the ignition of hundreds of tons
of highly explosive ammonium nitrate, killed more than 200 people and injured
more than 6,000 others. However, Israel did target Iranian missile sites where
Tehran uses industrial mixers to create solid fuel. Social media footage of the
explosion on Saturday at Shahid Rajaei saw reddish-hued smoke rising from the
fire just before the detonation. That suggests a chemical compound being
involved in the blast — like in the Beirut explosion. “Get back get back! Tell
the gas (truck) to go!” a man in one video shouted just before the blast. “Tell
him to go, it’s going to blow up! Oh God, this is blowing up! Everybody
evacuate! Get back! Get back!”On Saturday night, the state-run IRNA news agency
said that the Customs Administration of Iran blamed a “stockpile of hazardous
goods and chemical materials stored in the port area” for the blast, without
elaborating. An aerial shot released by Iranian media after the blast showed
fires burning at multiple locations in the port, with authorities later warning
about air pollution from chemicals such as ammonia, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen
dioxide in the air. Schools in Bandar Abbas will be closed Sunday as well.
Port a major destination for Iranian cargo
Shahid Rajaei has been a target before. A 2020 cyberattack attributed to Israel
targeted the port. It came after Israel said that it thwarted a cyberattack
targeting its water infrastructure, which it attributed to Iran. Israeli
officials didn’t respond to requests for comment regarding Saturday’s explosion.
Social media videos showed black billowing smoke after the blast. Others showed
glass blown out of buildings kilometers, or miles, away from the epicenter of
the explosion. State media footage showed the injured crowding into at least one
hospital, with ambulances arriving as medics rushed one person by on a
stretcher. Hasanzadeh, the provincial disaster management official, earlier told
state television that the blast came from containers at Shahid Rajaei port in
the city, without elaborating. State television also reported that there had
been a building collapse caused by the explosion, though no further details were
offered. The Interior Ministry said that it launched an investigation into the
blast. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also offered his condolences for
those affected in the blast. Shahid Rajaei port in Hormozgan province is about
1,050 kilometers (650 miles) southeast of Iran’s capital, Tehran, on the Strait
of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf through which 20 percent of all
oil traded passes.
Iran, US hold new round of high-stakes nuclear talks
AFP/April 26, 2025
MUSCAT: The United States and Iran started discussing details of a potential
nuclear deal in Oman Saturday as they held their third round of talks in as many
weeks.US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi
are again leading the talks, which this time include a technical-level meeting
between experts from both sides. The discussions are aimed at striking a new
deal that would stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons — an objective Tehran
denies pursuing — in return for relief from crippling sanctions.
US President Donald Trump pulled out of an earlier multilateral nuclear deal
during his first term in office. Saturday’s talks were taking place in a
“serious atmosphere,” Tehran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei
said, according to the Tasnim news agency.
Iran’s defense and missile capabilities were not on the agenda, Baqaei said
separately to state TV, while an Iranian negotiator told Tasnim that the talks
were “uniquely about sanctions and nuclear questions.”Michael Anton, the State
Department’s head of policy planning, leads the US expert-level delegation,
while deputy foreign ministers Kazem Gharibabadi and Majid Takht-Ravanchi will
lead Tehran’s, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency. The talks started at
around 10am (0600 GMT) with the delegations in separate rooms and communicating
via the hosts, Baqaei said in a statement. Iran’s state news agency IRNA said
the talks may extend beyond Saturday, “given that the negotiations have entered
technical and expert-level discussions and the examination of details.”Araghchi
earlier expressed “cautious optimism,” saying this week: “If the sole demand by
the US is for Iran to not possess nuclear weapons, this demand is achievable.”
But if Washington had “impractical or illogical demands, we will naturally
encounter problems,” he added. The talks coincided with a major blast from
unknown causes at Iran’s Shahid Rajaee port that injured hundreds of people and
killed at least four, according to state media. Before the talks, Trump, in an
interview published Friday by Time magazine, reiterated his threat of military
action if a deal fell through.
But he added that he “would much prefer a deal than bombs being dropped.” The
talks began in Muscat a fortnight a go and continued in Rome last Saturday. They
are the highest-level engagement between the long-time foes since 2018, when
Trump withdrew from the landmark 2015 accord that gave Iran sanctions relief in
return for curbs on its nuclear program. Since returning to office, Trump has
reinstated his “maximum pressure” policy of sanctions against Tehran. In March,
he wrote to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei proposing talks, but
also warning of potential military action if diplomacy failed. On Tuesday,
Washington announced new sanctions targeting Iran’s oil network — a move Tehran
described as “hostile” ahead of Saturday’s talks.
Western nations, including the United States, have long accused Iran of seeking
to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran has consistently denied the charge,
maintaining that its nuclear program is strictly for peaceful purposes. On
Wednesday, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi called on Iran to explain
tunnels built near its Natanz nuclear site, seen in satellite imagery released
by the Institute for Science and International Security. The Washington-based
think tank also noted construction of a new security perimeter. In an interview
released Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated Washington’s
firm stance against Iran’s uranium enrichment. “If Iran wants a civil nuclear
program, they can have one just like many other countries in the world have one:
and that is they import enriched material,” he said on the Honestly podcast.
Iran currently enriches uranium up to 60 percent, far above the 3.67 percent
limit imposed by the 2015 deal but still below the 90 percent threshold required
for weapons-grade material. Araghchi has previously called Iran’s right to
enrich uranium “non-negotiable.”
Tehran recently sought to reopen dialogue with Britain, France and Germany —
also signatories to the 2015 deal — holding several rounds of nuclear talks
ahead of the US meetings. Last week, Rubio urged the three European states to
decide whether to trigger the “snapback” mechanism under the 2015 agreement,
which would automatically reinstate UN sanctions on Iran over its
non-compliance. The option to use the mechanism expires in October.Iran has
warned that it could withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if the
snapback is triggered.
Iran's FM says 'differences' persist in nuclear talks with US
LBCI/AFP/April 26, 2025
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Saturday that differences remained
between the Iranian and U.S. sides after a third round of nuclear talks
concluded in Oman. "There are differences in both the major issues and in the
details," Araghchi told a state TV reporter in Muscat, adding that "the
negotiations this time were much more serious than before."
US-Iran nuclear talks set to continue next week, minister says
LBCI/AFP/April 26, 2025
Negotiations between the United States and Iran on a potential nuclear deal will
continue with a fourth round next week, mediator Oman's foreign minister said on
Saturday. "Talks will continue next week with a further high-level meeting
provisionally scheduled for May 3," Badr Albusaidi posted on X, adding that
"core principles, objectives, and technical concerns were all addressed" in
Saturday's meetings in Muscat.
Trump, Zelenskyy meet on sidelines of pope’s funeral
AFP, Rome/26 April ,2025
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy met briefly in the hush of St Peter’s
basilica on the sidelines of Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday in their first
encounter since a noisy White House clash, as the US president pushes the
Ukrainian leader to make a peace deal with Russia.Zelenskyy said they discussed
a possible unconditional ceasefire with Russia and was “hoping for results” from
a “very symbolic meeting that has the potential to become historic.”The war cast
a shadow over preparations for Francis’s funeral, and even as it took place,
Russia claimed its forces had “fully liberated” the border Kursk region.
Ukraine insisted however that its army was still fighting in Kursk, Russian
territory which it hopes to use as a bargaining chip in any future peace talks.
The Ukrainian presidency released photos of the Trump and Zelenskyy sitting face
to face, leaning forward in deep discussion in a corner of the basilica, as the
pope’s simple wooden coffin lay in front of the altar before the funeral began.
“We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered.
Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and
lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out,” Zelenskyy wrote
on X. An aide to Zelensky described the meeting as “constructive” and the White
House called it “a very productive discussion.”However, the US president flew
out of Rome as scheduled, immediately after the funeral mass and there were no
further talks.
But the two leaders also briefly huddled inside the basilica with British Prime
Minister Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, the French president’s hand on
Zelenskyy’s shoulder. Macron’s office described the exchanges between the four
leaders as “positive” and he later met Zelenskyy one-on-one. Outside in St
Peter’s Square, Trump rubbed shoulders with dozens of world leaders keen to bend
his ear on the tariffs he has unleashed and other subjects. But it was the
meeting with Zelenskyy that drew the most interest as the US leader pushes for a
peace deal. Both sides had kept the prospects of a meeting vague ahead of the
funeral with Trump saying only it was “possible.” Tensions have been high since
Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on
February 28, calling him ungrateful for the billions of dollars of US military
assistance given since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Blame game
Trump, while calling on President Vladimir Putin to stop Russia’s attacks on
Ukraine, has recently blamed Zelenskyy for the war and the continuing bloodshed.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a
conflict not seen in Europe for decades. Trump has pushed Zelenskyy to accept
previously unpalatable concessions such as acknowledging that Crimea, which
Moscow seized in 2014, will remain in Russian hands under any deal to stop the
conflict. Arriving in Rome late Friday, Trump said there had been progress in
talks and pushed for the Russian and Ukrainian leaders to meet. “They are very
close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to
‘finish it off’,” he posted on his Truth Social platform. “Most of the major
points are agreed to,” he said. Putin on Friday discussed the “possibility” of
direct talks with Ukraine in a meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff. But
Zelenskyy again rejected suggestions that Ukraine give up Crimea. Witkoff’s
meeting with Putin came just after a top Russian general was killed in a car
bomb attack outside Moscow. An increasingly frustrated Trump last week
threatened to walk away from peace efforts if he does not see progress towards a
ceasefire.
Few meetings
The US president, accompanied by his wife Melania, was making the first foreign
trip of his second term. It put him center-stage for a major diplomatic
gathering with some 50 heads of state, including 10 reigning monarchs, and
Britain’s Prince William.
The trip also came after he rattled European allies by imposing sweeping
tariffs, although he at least temporarily has backed down from the most severe
measures. The US president shook hands with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen. The
two have agreed to meet, a European Union spokesperson said.Other leaders also
swarmed Trump after he arrived. One person he did not meet: his predecessor Joe
Biden. Trump has repeatedly disparaged Biden, a devout Catholic attending
independently with wife Jill and sitting five rows behind his successor.
Previously, other presidents have taken their predecessors with them on Air
Force One to papal funerals. Official Vatican images showed Trump and Melania
stopping by the closed coffin in St Peter’s Basilica. Trump, in a dark blue suit
and tie, and Melania, wearing a black veil, then took their seats in the front
row for the service. Trump had said any meetings would be quick and added:
“Frankly it’s a little disrespectful to have meetings when you’re at the funeral
of the pope.”
Trump expresses doubts Putin
is willing to end the Ukraine war, a day after saying a deal was close
Darlene Superville And Aamer Madhani/The Associated Press/April 26, 2025
ROME — President Donald Trump said Saturday that he doubts Russia's Vladimir
Putin wants to end his war in Ukraine, expressing new skepticism that a peace
deal can be reached soon. Only a day earlier, Trump had said Ukraine and Russia
were “ very close to a deal.""There was no reason for Putin to be shooting
missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump
said in a social media post as he flew back to the United States after attending
Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican, where he met briefly with Ukrainian
President Volodymyr
Trump also hinted at further sanctions against Russia. “It makes me think that
maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be
dealt with differently, through “Banking” or “Secondary Sanctions?” Too many
people are dying!!!” Trump wrote.
The new doubts aired by Trump come as the president and top aides intensify
their push to come to a deal to end the war that began in February 2022 when
Russia invaded Ukraine.
The comments also sharply contrasted with Trump's positive assessment that the
two sides were “very close to a deal” after his special envoy, Steve Witkoff,
met with Putin in Moscow on Friday. The Trump-Zelenskyy conversation on the
sidelines of the pope's funeral was the first face-to-face encounter between the
two leaders since they argued during a heated Oval Office meeting at the White
House in late February. That confrontation led the White House to briefly pause
U.S. military assistance and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
Days after ordering the pause, Trump also announced he was “strongly
considering” imposing new sanctions and tariffs on Russia to try to prod Putin
to negotiate in earnest. Trump has not yet followed through on the threat —
something even some of his staunch Republican allies are now pressuring him to
do. In fact, when Trump announced new global tariffs this month, one major
economy he excluded was Russia's. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on Friday
urged Trump to “put the toughest of sanctions on Putin," arguing there is “clear
evidence that he is playing America as a patsy.”It's the second time in a matter
of days that Trump has rebuked Putin, whom the American president rarely
publicly criticizes. On Thursday, Trump publicly urged the Russian leader to
“STOP!” after a deadly barrage of attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. After
their brief meeting Saturday, Zelenskyy’s office had said the U.S. and Ukrainian
teams were making arrangements for the leaders to talk again Saturday. But Trump
went directly to the Rome airport after the funeral and boarded Air Force One
for the 10-hour flight back to the United States. Zelenskyy's spokesperson,
Serhii Nykyforov, said Trump and Zelenskyy did not meet again in person because
of their tight schedules. Zelenskyy called it a “good meeting” on social media
after the funeral. “We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on
everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional
ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from
breaking out,” said the Ukrainian leader, who also held talks Saturday with
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “Very symbolic meeting that
has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results. Thank you."The
White House said the discussion was “very productive." The meeting lasted about
15 minutes inside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, where Francis often
preached the need for a peaceful end to the war, just before Trump and Zelenskyy
took their seats at the outdoor funeral service. The Vatican long ago had
offered to help facilitate peace talks and Francis had regularly called for
peace and dialogue from the altar of the basilica. That Trump and Zelenskyy
spoke privately, face to face and hunched over on chairs on the marbled floors
of the pope’s home, on the day of his funeral, was perhaps a fitting way to
honor his wishes.
Trump said on social media, after he arrived in Italy late Friday, that Russia
and Ukraine should meet for “very high level talks” on ending the war. Neither
Putin nor Zelenskyy have commented on Trump's calls for direct talks. Trump has
pressed both sides to quickly come to a war-ending agreement, but while
Zelenskyy agreed to an American plan for an initial 30-day halt to hostilities,
Russia has not signed on and has continued to strike at targets inside Ukraine.
Putin did not attend Francis' funeral. He faces an arrest warrant issued by the
International Criminal Court, which has accused him of war crimes stemming from
Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, in a statement Friday night, Zelenskyy
said “very significant meetings may take place” in the coming days, and
reiterated his calls for an unconditional ceasefire.
“Real pressure on Russia is needed so that they accept either the American
proposal to cease fire and move towards peace, or our proposal — whichever one
can truly work and ensure a reliable, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire,
and then — a dignified peace and security guarantees,” he said. “Diplomacy must
succeed. And we are doing everything to make diplomacy truly meaningful and
finally effective.”The meeting Saturday also came shortly after Trump had issued
his most definitive statement to date about the need for Ukraine to give up
territory to Russia to bring the war to a close. He said in a Time magazine
interview published Friday that “Crimea will stay with Russia.”Russia seized the
strategic peninsula along the Black Sea in southern Ukraine in 2014, years
before the full-scale invasion that began in 2022. Zelenskyy wants to regain
Crimea and other Ukrainian territory seized by Russia, but Trump considers that
demand to be unrealistic. Russia has also seized Ukrainian territory in the
Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions since invading in February
2022.
Referring to Crimea during the interview, which was conducted at the White House
on Tuesday, Trump said, “everybody understands that it’s been with them for a
long time," meaning Russia.
**Madhani reported from Washington. Associated Press journalists Nicole Winfield
in Vatican City and Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this
report.
Macron says Ukraine ready for unconditional ceasefire
Reuters/26 April ,2025
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday, after a “very positive”
exchange with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, that Ukraine was ready for
an unconditional ceasefire and that the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” led
by France and Britain would continue working on achieving that, as well as a
lasting peace in Ukraine. “Ending the war in Ukraine. That is an objective that
we share in common with (US) President (Donald) Trump,” Macron wrote in a post
on social media platform X. “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire.
President Zelenskyy told me that again today. He’d like to work with the
Americans and the Europeans to put it into effect.”
Israel says intercepted missile from Yemen, drone ‘from the east’
AFP/April 26, 2025
JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said Saturday it had intercepted a missile fired
from Yemen, whose Houthi militants have launched attacks throughout the Gaza
war, as well as a drone approaching “from the east.”“Following the sirens that
sounded recently in several areas in Israel, a missile that was launched from
Yemen was intercepted” before “crossing into Israeli territory,” a military
statement said. The Houthis announced a “military operation” targeting the
Nevatim air base in southern Israel, claiming that “the missile reached its
target.” In a separate incident, the Israeli military said a drone “that was on
its way to Israeli territory from the east was intercepted” by the air force.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree later said the militants fired two drones
at Israel and more at the US navy’s Harry S Truman aircraft carrier battle
group.
Yemen, large parts of which are under the control of the Iran-backed Houthis, is
located to Israel’s southeast. Other countries to Israel’s east include Iraq,
where Tehran-aligned militants have claimed a number of attacks targeting Israel
since the Gaza war began.
The Houthi militants have repeatedly launched missiles and drones at Israel
since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023 in what they say is a show of
solidarity with the Palestinians. The Houthis have also targeted ships they
accuse of having ties to Israel as they travel on the Red Sea — a vital waterway
for global trade.They had temporarily paused their attacks during a recent
two-month ceasefire in Gaza. According to Israel’s army radio, the missile
intercepted overnight was the 22nd fired by the Houthis since they resumed their
attacks after Israel renewed its Gaza offensive on March 18. Since March 15,
Israel’s key ally the United States has stepped up its attacks on the Houthis,
targeting militant positions in Yemen with near-daily air strikes.
Palestinian president Abbas appoints aide as first-ever PLO vice
president
AFP, Ramallah/26 April ,2025
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appointed a close aide as the first ever
vice president of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Saturday,
according to a member of the organization’s executive committee. “Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas appointed Hussein al-Sheikh as a deputy (vice president)
of the PLO leadership,” Wasel Abu Yousef said, in a move that positions
al-Sheikh as a potential successor to veteran leader Abbas. Abbas, 89, created
the vice presidency position during a convention held in Ramallah this week. It
follows years of international pressure to reform the PLO and comes as Arab and
Western powers envision an expanded role for Abbas’s Palestinian Authority (PA)
in the post-war governance of the Gaza Strip. Founded in 1964, the PLO is
empowered to negotiate and sign international treaties on behalf of the
Palestinian people, while the PA is responsible for governance in parts of the
Palestinian territories. The PLO is an umbrella organization comprising several
Palestinian factions, but not the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which
are currently at war with Israeli forces in Gaza. Al-Sheikh, 64, is a veteran
leader of Abbas’s Fatah movement, which dominates the PA, and is considered
close to the president.
Senior Hamas leaders arrive in Cairo for ceasefire talks as
Trump says ‘We’ve got to be good to Gaza’
Ibrahim Dahman, Eyad Kourdi, Dana Karni and Kaanita Iyer ,
CNN/April 26, 2025
A senior Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo early Saturday for talks with
Egyptian officials aimed at brokering a ceasefire agreement, according to a
statement by Hamas. The delegation, led by Chairman of the Hamas Leadership
Council Muhammad Darwish, includes other key leaders, among them Khaled Meshaal,
Khalil al-Hayya, Zaher Jabarin, and Eng. Nizar Awadallah. “The delegation began
meetings with Egyptian officials to discuss Hamas’s vision for a ceasefire and
an end to the war and a prisoner exchange based on a comprehensive deal,” Hamas
said in the written statement on Saturday. According to the statement, the talks
will also address the impact of what Hamas describes as Israel’s “starvation
tactics” against Palestinians in Gaza and the urgent need to deliver
humanitarian aid, food, and medical supplies to the besieged territory. Israel
imposed a complete humanitarian blockade on Gaza on March 2, stopping food,
medicine, and more from entering the besieged enclave. An Egyptian official told
CNN that the Israel has been invited to meet with negotiators on Monday. It’s
unclear if Israel has accepted the invitation. CNN has reached out to Hamas for
comment on the details of Hamas’ proposal for a ceasefire. An Israeli source
familiar with the matter told CNN that Israel has not received a new offer from
the mediators for now. “Israel only reacts to offers passed on by the
mediators,” the source said. The head of Mossad, David Barnea, was in Doha,
Qatar, earlier this week, for ceasefire talks. So far, there has been no clear
indication of a significant breakthrough. On Friday, US President Donald Trump
said he had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “We’ve got to be
good to Gaza.” Taking questions on the way to Italy, Trump said, “there’s a very
big need for medicine, food and medicine. We’re taking care of it.”The
president, whose administration has unapologetically backed Israel, offered no
details about what steps the US was taking to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“The coming days are going to be critical,” said Jonathan Whitall on Saturday
from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Gaza. “Today,
people are not surviving in Gaza. Those that aren’t being killed by bombs and
bullets are slowly dying.” One day earlier, the World Food Programme said it had
run out food stocks in Gaza. Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have made
clear that the humanitarian blockade is part of a pressure campaign against
Hamas, along with Israel’s increased bombardment of Gaza in order to destroy
Hamas and bring back the remaining 59 Israeli hostages. Earlier this month,
Israel put forward a ceasefire proposal that called for a disarmament of Gaza
without guaranteeing an end to the war, which violates two of Hamas’ red lines.
Since Israeli resumed its war in Gaza on March 18, more than 2,111 Palestinians
have been killed, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Hamas proposes end to war with Israel in talks in Egypt
Allen Cone/United Press International/April 26, 2025
April 26 (UPI) -- The Palestinian militant group Hamas announced Saturday a
proposal to end the 2 1/2-year-old war that includes full Israeli withdrawal and
reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. Top Hamas officials met with Egyptian
negotiators in Cairo, a meeting that did not include Israel or the United
States, although an Egyptian official told CNN that Israel has been invited to
meet with negotiators on Monday. "The delegation began meetings with Egyptian
officials to discuss Hamas' vision for a cease-fire and an end to the war and a
prisoner exchange based on a comprehensive deal," Hamas said in a written
statement. CNN reported that an Israeli source said that "Israel only reacts to
offers passed on by the mediators." Although the negotiation has been mediated
by officials from Qatar, Egypt also has been trying to broker a deal along with
the United States. Before the meeting, Hamas said it planned to discuss "the
impact of Israel's starvation policy in Gaza and stress the urgent need to
deliver humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, to the territory."The
Hamas-run Health Ministry has said that more than 51,000 Palestinians have been
killed and more than 117,000 injured in Gaza. Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7,
2023, killing more than 1,200, which started the war.
The delegation was led by Muhammad Darwish, chairman of the Hamas Leadership
Council, and included other top leaders, Khaled Meshaal, Khalil al-Hayya, Zaher
Jabarin and Nizar Awadallah. On March 29, Hamas' leader in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya,
said the terrorist group agreed to release five hostages, including the
American-Israeli Edan Alexander, as part of a 50-day cease-fire proposal from
Egypt and Qatar during Ramadan.
Israel "conveyed to the mediators a counter-proposal in full coordination with
the U.S.," the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that day.
Earlier this month, Israel's six-week ceasefire proposal called for the
disarmament of Gaza without guaranteeing an end to the war. Hamas has not agreed
to either of those.
"We will not accept partial deals that serve Netanyahu's political agenda.
Netanyahu and his government use partial agreements as a cover for their
political agenda, which is based on continuing the war of extermination and
starvation, even if the price is sacrificing all his prisoners [hostages],"
Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said in a video statement.
President Donald Trump has been pushing to end the war.
"We've got to be good to Gaza," Trump said Friday while flying to Italy for
Prince Francis' funeral. "There's a very big need for medicine, food and
medicine. We're taking care of it."
Trump, who has been a strong supporter of Israel, gave no details about
humanitarian aid into Gaza. Netanyahu has defended the blockade of humanitarian
aid as part of a pressure campaign against Hamas. Israel also wants the return
of the remaining 59 hostages. Just 24 of the remaining hostages are believed to
be alive. After a first 41-day cease-fire ended on March 1, including the
exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, Israel later resumed
airstrikes in Gaza. Israel said that in the past 48 hours 120 targets have been
hit.
Since March 18 when the war resumed, Israel Defense Forces estimates that it has
killed more than 400 members of terror groups, including senior Hamas political
officials and mid-level military wing commanders. A total of 2,111 Palestinians
have died since the end of the cease-fire, according to the Gaza Health
Ministry. At least 13 Palestinians died since dawn Saturday and dozens others
were buried under the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli air attack on
Gaza City. At least four people were killed in a strike on a home in the city's
Sabra neighbourhood, Al Jazeera reported. As cease-fire talks stall, the IDF
said it is preparing to significantly expand its offensive against Hamas in the
Gaza Strip, noting that it will call up a large number of reservists and go into
new areas of Gaza.
An IDF soldier and a police officer were killed during fighting in Gaza City's
Shejaiya neighborhood on Friday afternoon, the military and police announced.
Hamas open to long Gaza truce but not to disarming, an
official says
Nidal al-Mughrabi/Reuters/April 26, 2025
CAIRO -Hamas is open to a years-long truce with Israel in Gaza but is not
willing to lay down its arms, an official said on Saturday, as leaders of the
Palestinian Islamist militant group met mediators in Cairo for ceasefire talks.
Sources close to the talks told Reuters Hamas hoped to build support among
mediators for its offer, adding the group might agree to a five to seven-year
truce in return for ending the war, allowing for the rebuilding of Gaza, the
freeing of Palestinians jailed by Israel and the release of all hostages. "The
idea of a truce or its duration is not rejected by us, and we are ready to
discuss it within the framework of negotiations. We are open to any serious
proposals to end the war," said Taher Al-Nono, the media adviser for the Hamas
leadership, in the first clear signal that the group was open to a longer-term
truce. However, Nono ruled out a core Israeli demand that Hamas lay down its
arms. Israel wants to see Gaza demilitarised."The weapon of resistance is not
negotiable and will remain in our hands as long as the occupation exists," Nono
said. Hamas' founding charter calls for Israel's destruction, but it has
signalled in the past that it might agree to a long-term truce in return for
ending Israeli occupation. Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel
downplayed chances this week for the new proposal to lead to a breakthrough
unless Israel's core demands were met. "The war could end tomorrow if Hamas
released the remaining 59 hostages and laid down its weapons," Haskel said in
Jerusalem on Tuesday. Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza on March 18 after a
January ceasefire collapsed, saying it would keep up pressure on Hamas until it
frees the remaining hostages still held in the enclave. Up to 24 of them are
believed to still be alive. Israel has blocked all aid into Gaza and hundreds of
thousands have been displaced as its forces have seized territories it has
designated as a buffer zone. More than 2,000 Palestinians, many of them
civilians, have been killed in Israeli strikes since, according to health
authorities. The war was triggered by Hamas' October 7 2023 attack which killed
1,200 people, and saw 251 hostages taken to Gaza. Since then, more than 51,400
Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to
local health officials.
Houthis say 8 wounded in US strikes on Yemen capital
AFP/April 26, 2025
SANAA: Iran-backed Houthi rebels said Saturday that a series of US strikes on
territory under their control including the Yemeni capital Sanaa had wounded at
least eight people. “Eight citizens, including two children, were wounded when
the American enemy targeted a residential district” west of Al-Rawda in Sanaa,
said the Houthi-run Saba news agency. It cited the Houthi administration’s
health ministry as the source for what it said was a provisional toll. An AFP
correspondent in Sanaa reported earlier Saturday having heard explosions.
The Houthis, who control large parts of the war-torn country, also reported
strikes in other parts of the country, including their stronghold Saada in the
north. They said the fuel port of Ras Issa in the western Hodeida region — where
they say 80 people were killed in strikes just over a week ago — had also been
hit. The Houthis, part of Iran’s “axis of resistance” against Israel and the
United States, portray themselves as defenders of Gaza during the Israel-Hamas
war. They have regularly launched missiles and drones at Israel and at cargo
vessels plying the key Red Sea trade route. The US military has since January
2024 been attacking their positions, saying it is targeting the “Iran-backed
Houthi terrorists” to stop their attacks. Since US President Donald Trump took
office, those attacks have intensified, with almost daily strikes for the past
month.
On Saturday, the Houthis said they had launched a missile and two drones at
Israel, where the army said it had intercepted a missile from Yemen and a drone
coming from the east. On Saturday, CENTCOM, the US military command in the
region, posted footage from the US aircraft carriers Harry S. Truman and Carl
Vinson conducting strikes against the Houthis.
Syria’s Kurds hold conference on vision for country’s future
AFP/April 26, 2025
QAMISHLI: Syria’s Kurdish parties held a conference on Saturday aimed at
presenting a unified vision for the country’s future following the fall of
longtime ruler Bashar Assad, a high-ranking participant told AFP. Eldar Khalil,
an official in the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, said that since Kurds were a
major component of the country, they “must present a solution and a project
proposal for the future of Syria.”On the question of federalism, Khalil said it
was “one of the proposals on the table.”More than 400 people, including
representatives from major Kurdish parties in Syria, Iraq and Turkiye, took part
in the “Unity of the Kurdish Position and Ranks” conference in Qamishli,
according to the Kurdish Anha news agency. The Kurdish-led Autonomous
Administration of North and East Syria, which has controlled large swathes of
Syria’s northeast since the early years of the country’s civil war, was
represented at the gathering, as were groups opposed to it. Last month, the
Kurdish administration struck a deal to integrate into state institutions, with
the new Islamist-led leadership seeking to unify the country following the
December overthrow of Assad. The agreement, however, has not prevented the
Kurdish administration from criticizing the new authorities, including over the
formation of a new government and a recent constitutional declaration that
concentrated executive power in the hands of interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa
during the transition period. Mazloum Abdi, head of the administration’s armed
wing, the Syrian Democratic Forces, said at the conference that “my message to
all Syrian constituents and the Damascus government is that the conference does
not aim, as some say, at division.”It was being held, he added, “for the unity
of Syria.”Abdi included a call for “a new decentralized constitution that
includes all components” of society. “We support all Syrian components receiving
their rights in the constitution to be able to build a decentralized democratic
Syria that embraces everyone,” he said.
Khalil said that the participants will also discuss ways to address the role of
the Kurds in the new Syria.
Twelve Niger soldiers killed in attack, two suspects detained,
says army
Boureima Balima/Reuters/April 26, 2025
Twelve Nigerien soldiers have been killed in an attack in the west of the Sahel
country and two suspects have been arrested, the army said in a statement seen
by Reuters on Saturday. The attack took place on Friday near the tri-border
region of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, epicentre of a jihadist insurgency in
West Africa linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State. Armed men on Friday launched a
"surprise offensive" on a military unit out on a mission about 10 km (six miles)
north of the village of Sakoira, the statement said, referring to the assailants
as terrorists. It did not elaborate on the likely identity of the assailants but
last month Niger blamed the EIGS group, an Islamic State affiliate, for an
attack on a mosque near the tri-border area in which at least 44 civilians were
killed. The Sahel insurgency spun out of a Tuareg rebellion in northern Mali in
2012 and later spread into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger before reaching
the north of coastal West African countries such as Benin. Hundreds of thousands
have been killed and millions displaced as militants have gained ground,
attacking villages, military and police posts and army convoys. The failure of
governments to restore security contributed to two coups in Mali, two in Burkina
Faso and one in Niger between 2020 and 2023. All three remain under military
rule despite regional and international pressure to hold elections. Military
authorities cut ties with traditional Western allies such as France and the U.S.
after the coups and turned to Russia to help in fighting jihadist activity.
Pakistan Says Open to Neutral Probe into Kashmir Attack After
India Threats
By Zain Zaman JANJUA with reporters in India/AFP
Pakistan Says Open to Neutral Probe into Kashmir Attack After India Threats
Pakistan's leader said his nation was open to a neutral investigation on
Saturday into a deadly attack in Indian-run Kashmir that New Delhi blames on
Islamabad, and that has sent fraught relations into a tailspin with soldiers
exchanging gunfire across their contested frontier. Islamabad denies involvement
in the April 22 attack on tourists in Pahalgam, where a gang of gunmen killed 26
men in the worst attack on civilians in Kashmir for a quarter of a century. But
India is adamant in it is accusation that Pakistan is supporting "cross-border
terrorism". Indian police have issued wanted posters for three men -- two
Pakistanis and an Indian -- who they say are members of the Pakistan-based
Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a UN-designated terrorist organisation. Rejecting Indian
claims, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said the country
was "open to participating in any neutral, transparent and credible
investigation" into the attack. Indian security forces have launched a giant
manhunt for those responsible for the attack in Pahalgam, blowing up homes in
Kashmir of Indian citizens suspected to be linked to the attack. Both sides have
imposed a slew of diplomatic measures, and exchanged gunfire in Kashmir two
times in as many days. India's army said "unprovoked" small arms firing was
carried out by "multiple" Pakistan army posts overnight. "Indian troops
responded appropriately with small arms," it said in a statement, adding that no
casualties were reported. There was no confirmation from Pakistan, but both
sides had confirmed gunfire between their respective forces the previous night.
"Our valiant armed forces remain fully capable and prepared to defend the
country's sovereignty," Sharif said at a military ceremony in Abbottabad. Inda's
information ministry on Saturday warned broadcasters to "refrain from showing
live coverage of defence operations" in the "interest of national security", and
referencing the 1999 Kargil conflict with Pakistan. The United Nations has urged
the neighbours, which have fought multiple wars, to show "maximum restraint".
Iran's foreign ministry said Saturday that Tehran has offered to play mediator,
a day after a senior Saudi official said Riyadh was trying to "prevent an
escalation". US President Donald Trump has downplayed the tensions, saying that
the dispute will get "figured out, one way or another".
Divided for decades
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in
1947. Both claim the territory in full but govern separate portions of it. Rebel
groups have waged an insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989,
demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan. A day after the attack, New
Delhi suspended a water-sharing treaty, announced the closure of the main land
border crossing with Pakistan, downgraded diplomatic ties and withdrew visas for
Pakistanis. Islamabad in response ordered the expulsion of Indian diplomats and
military advisers, cancelled visas for Indian nationals -- with the exception of
Sikh pilgrims -- and closed the main border crossing from its side. Pakistan
also warned that any attempt by India to stop water supplies from the Indus
River would be an "act of war". At the frontier, created at the end of British
rule when the sub-continent was partitioned into Hindu-majority India and
Muslim-majority Pakistan, distraught citizens crossed. The measures have
abruptly ended rare visits to see relatives separated for generations by the
border. Vikram Udasi, an Indian doctor, said his family was "caught in the
middle" with his Pakistani wife and their child stuck on the other side of the
Attari-Wagah border crossing. "Please allow them to return. Go ahead, cancel
tourist and other short-term visas, but let those with families and long-term
visas return, please," begged the 37-year-old. Pahalgam marks a dramatic shift
in recent Kashmiri rebel attacks, which typically target Indian security forces.
Experts say that an Indian military response may still be in the pipeline. In
2019, a suicide attack killed 41 Indian troops in Kashmir and triggered Indian
air strikes inside Pakistan, bringing the countries to the brink of all-out war.
Canada PM Carney Condemns Israeli Blockade on Food, Says WFP Must
Be Allowed to Work in Gaza
Asharq Al-Awsat/April 26/2025
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney urged Israel to allow the World Food Program
to work in Gaza, saying food must not be used as a 'political tool', hours after
the UN agency ran out of stocks due to a sustained Israeli blockade on supplies.
The WFP said on Friday it had delivered its last remaining supplies to kitchens
providing hot meals in Gaza and that the facilities were expected to run out of
food in the coming days, Reuters reported. "The UN World Food Program just
announced that its food stocks in Gaza have run out because of the Israeli
Government's blockade — food cannot be used as a political tool," Carney said on
X. The UN agency said no humanitarian or commercial supplies had entered Gaza
for more than seven weeks because all main border crossing points were closed,
the longest closure the Gaza Strip had ever faced. "Palestinian civilians must
not bear the consequences of Hamas' terrorist crimes," Carney said. "The World
Food Program must be allowed to resume its lifesaving work."Israel has
previously denied that Gaza is facing a hunger crisis. The military accuses the
Hamas militants who run Gaza of exploiting aid, which Hamas denies, and says it
must keep all supplies out to prevent the fighters from getting it. The Gaza
government media office on Friday said that famine was becoming a reality in the
enclave of 2.3 million people. Since a January ceasefire collapsed on March 18,
Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,900 Palestinians, many of them
civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and hundreds of thousands
have been displaced as Israel seized what it calls a buffer zone. An attack on
Israel by Hamas in October 2023 killed 1,200 people, and 251 hostages were taken
to Gaza. Since then, more than 51,300 Palestinians have been killed in the
Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to health officials. "We will continue to
work with our allies towards a permanent ceasefire and the immediate return of
all hostages," Carney added. US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he
pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow food and medicine into
the Gaza Strip. Canadians will vote to elect a new government on Monday, and
polls show Carney's Liberals have a slim lead over the Conservatives.
Syrian Letter Delivers Response to US Conditions for
Sanctions Relief
Asharq Al-Awsat/April 26/2025
Syria has responded in writing to a list of US conditions for possible partial
sanctions relief, saying it had acted on most of them but others required
"mutual understandings" with Washington, according to a copy of the letter seen
by Reuters. The United States last month handed Syria a list of eight conditions
it wants Damascus to fulfill, including destroying any remaining chemical
weapons stockpiles and ensuring foreigners are not given senior governing roles.
Syria is in desperate need of sanctions relief to kickstart an economy collapsed
by 14 years of war, during which the United States, Britain and Europe imposed
tough sanctions in a bid to put pressure on former president Bashar al-Assad. In
January, the US issued a six-month exemption for some sanctions to encourage
aid, but this has had limited effect. In exchange for fulfilling all the US
demands, Washington would extend that suspension for two years and possibly
issue another exemption, sources told Reuters in March. Reuters was first to
report that senior US official Natasha Franceschi handed the list of conditions
to Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani at an in-person meeting on the
sidelines of a Syria donor conference in Brussels on March 18. Shaibani, in his
first address to the United Nations Security Council on Friday, sought to show
that Syria was already addressing the demands, including on chemical weapons and
the search for missing Americans in Syria. His public comments were consistent
with the contents of Syria's private letter to the US, an undated copy of which
was seen by Reuters. Its contents have not been previously reported. Two Western
officials and a Syrian official briefed on the letter said it was consistent
with the copy seen by Reuters. In the four-page document, Syria pledges to set
up a liaison office at the foreign ministry to find missing US journalist Austin
Tice and details its work to tackle chemical weapons stockpiles, including
closer ties with a global arms watchdog. But it had less to say on other key
demands, including removing foreign fighters and granting the US permission for
counterterrorism strikes, according to the letter. A State Department
spokesperson confirmed Washington had received a response from Syrian
authorities to a US request for them to take "specific, detailed confidence
building measures”.“We are now evaluating the response and do not have anything
to share at this time,” the spokesperson said, adding that the US “does not
recognize any entity as the government of Syria and that any future
normalization of relations will be determined by the interim authorities'
actions. "
Syria's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
FOREIGN FIGHTERS
The letter said Syrian officials had discussed foreign fighters with former US
envoy Daniel Rubinstein but that the issue "requires a broader consultative
session." "What can be confirmed for now is that the issuance of military ranks
has been suspended following the earlier announcement regarding the promotion of
six individuals," the letter says, an apparent reference to the appointment in
December of foreign fighters including Uyghurs and a Turk to positions in the
country's armed force. It did not say whether those appointed ranks had been
removed from the foreign fighters and did not list future steps to be taken. A
source briefed on the Syrian government's approach to the issue said Damascus
would delay addressing it as much as possible given its view that non-Syrian
fighters who helped oust Assad should be treated well. On a US request for
coordination on counterterrorism matters and the ability to carry out strikes on
terror targets, the letter said the "matter requires mutual understandings." It
pledged that Syria's new government would not tolerate any threats to US or
Western interests in Syria and vowed to put in place "appropriate legal
measures," without elaborating. Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa had
said in an interview earlier this year that US troops deployed in Syria were
there without government approval, adding any such presence should be agreed
with the state.
A Syrian official briefed on the letter said Syrian officials were brainstorming
other ways to weaken extremists without explicitly giving the US permission to
carry out strikes, seeing that as a controversial move after years of foreign
air forces bombing Syria during its war.
'GUARANTEES'
A senior diplomat and another person briefed on the letter told Reuters that
they deemed it addressed five demands in full, but that the remaining were left
"outstanding". They said the letter was sent on April 14 - just 10 days before
Shaibani arrived in New York to address the Security Council. It was unclear
whether the United States had sent a reply to Syria's letter. A Syrian official
and a US source briefed on the letter both said Shibani was set to discuss its
contents with US officials during his trip to New York. Syria's letter said it
hoped the actions taken, which it described as "guarantees," could lead to a
meeting to discuss each point in detail, including reopening embassies and
lifting sanctions. On Palestinian militants in Syria, it said Sharaa had formed
a committee "to monitor the activities of Palestinian factions," and that armed
factions outside state control will not be permitted. It was sent just days
before Syria detained two Palestinian officials from the Islamic Jihad militant
group. "While discussions on this matter can continue, the overarching position
is that we will not allow Syria to become a source of threat to any party,
including Israel," it said. The letter also acknowledged "ongoing communication"
between Syria's counterterrorism authorities and US representatives in Amman
over combating ISIS, and said Syria was inclined to expand that collaboration.
The direct talks between Syria and the US in Amman have not previously been
reported.
The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources
on April 26-27/2025
The West Is Falling into Iran's Trap - Again
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/April 26, 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142764/
Talks offer hope of sanctions relief, currency stabilization, and international
legitimacy — all while buying time to continue uranium enrichment behind closed
doors. The West calls it a "deal." Iran calls it a jackpot.
Just imagine the conversations happening behind closed doors in Tehran. Iranian
officials are likely saying something like: "...At least we can waste another
two or three years pretending to negotiate. We can agree to pause enrichment a
little bit, just enough to give them a diplomatic victory.... Trump is so eager
to get a discredited Nobel Peace Prize, but the Norwegians will never give it to
him -- to them, the 'left' is a religion. Their heroes are Castro and Arafat.
Meanwhile, to show Norway how peaceful he is, Trump will let Iran, Russia and
China off the hook. Poor fellow, it will not work. He will just find himself the
'sucker' and the 'loser.' Meanwhile he will have thrown away what could have
made him a historic great. While he is are celebrating his 'peacefulness' in
keeping America out of a war that was not going to happen anyway, we can keep on
moving toward our bomb, our missiles and the miniature nuclear warheads to put
on them. Quietly. And if we get caught? So what. The Americans will negotiate
again!"
The idea that you can contain or "monitor" Iran with inspections and enrichment
caps is a lovely, romantic fantasy. Sadly, this regime cannot be trusted. It
cannot be allowed to keep any part of a nuclear infrastructure. The only
acceptable path is total dismantlement or permanent destruction. No centrifuges,
no uranium enrichment, no stockpiles, no underground facilities. Nothing.
Each round of diplomacy gives the regime more room to maneuver, more time to
develop its weapons, and more resources to fund terror proxies across the Middle
East and Latin America. The result is not peace — it is proliferation.
Unless the West finally gets serious, Iran will cross the nuclear weapons
threshold and the world will not only face an extremist, predatory regime armed
with nuclear weapons, but the mother of all arms races.
Unfortunately, the only solution left is to completely dismantle Iran's nuclear
program. No talks. No deals. No illusions. It is time to bring these endless
negotiations to an end.
Each round of diplomacy gives Iran's regime more room to maneuver, more time to
develop its weapons, and more resources to fund terror proxies across the Middle
East and Latin America. The result is not peace — it is proliferation.
The Iranian regime is once again celebrating having diplomatic negotiations with
the United States, this time under the Trump administration. Tehran's leaders
have been framing these renewed talks as a positive that will enable them to
retain their hold on power, and their nuclear weapons and ballistic missile
programs to unleash at a later date.
Iranian officials, including leading figures in the foreign ministry, have
voiced optimism about the direction of diplomacy, portraying the Trump team's
willingness to engage as a step toward "mutual understanding." They would like
the world to believe that diplomacy is working — when in reality, it is a trap.
The excitement in Tehran is not a signal of peace or cooperation; it is a
victory celebration. Whenever a terrorist regime that chants "Death to America"
starts smiling about negotiations, it is not diplomacy — it is a win.
Iran's rulers are doubtless thrilled about "talks." What is the alternative? A
full-scale military operation targeting and destroying their nuclear
infrastructure? That is probably the only thing that has ever truly terrified
the mullahs. It has been reported that President Donald Trump waved off an
Israeli proposal to strike Iran's nuclear sites. His act was no doubt seen as a
signal by Tehran that Washington would not act militarily.
The Iranian regime knows that without its nuclear program, it is nothing. It has
no legitimacy and no protection from collapse. Its nuclear program is the
regime's survival and expansion plan — its insurance policy. Without it, the
Islamic Republic stands naked before its enemies, vulnerable to the same fate as
other fallen despots.
Iran, like North Korea, sees nuclear weapons as the ultimate deterrent, the only
thing keeping it rulers safe from both domestic overthrow and foreign
intervention. The Iranian people have risen up time and time again, risking
their lives in nationwide protests. Every uprising threatens the regime's
weakened existence.
Iran recently lost its longtime loyal ally in Syria, the Assad regime. Syria's
new government, headed by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former commander of
Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (affiliated with al-Qaeda), rules under the protection and
patronage of Turkey. Both Sharaa and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are
Sunni Muslims, hostile to Shia Iran.
Meanwhile, Iran's once-powerful proxy terrorist organizations, from Hezbollah in
Lebanon to Hamas in Gaza — have been pummeled by Israeli strikes and internal
fatigue.
What, then, is left for the Islamic Republic of Iran, a regime hated at home,
isolated abroad, and stripped of regional muscle? One thing: nuclear weapons.
Iran's ruling mullahs, who have been here before, know this playbook well. The
moment Trump was elected, Iran rushed to ask the European Union to help resume
negotiations. Why the sudden interest in diplomacy? Pure fear. The mullahs
suspected that Trump's second term might bring with it a more aggressive U.S.
posture — possibly even military strikes. So, they did what they always do:
stall, delay, and bait the West into negotiations. Talk just enough to ease the
pressure, pretend just enough to appear cooperative, and wait out the clock. It
is a scam they have been running for ages.
Economically, Iran is on the brink. Its currency is in free fall, inflation is
out of control. China has been buying Iran's oil at enormously reduced prices.
Iran's shattered economy is also a reason the regime welcomes talks. Talks offer
hope of sanctions relief, currency stabilization, and international legitimacy —
all while buying time to continue uranium enrichment behind closed doors. The
West calls it a "deal." Iran calls it a jackpot.
Just imagine the conversations happening behind closed doors in Tehran. Iranian
officials are likely saying something like:
"Let's see if we can get another JCPOA-style agreement, and protest that we need
our centrifuges and low uranium enrichment for peaceful purposes, just as we did
with President Barack Obama, and maybe even pull off another 'sunset clause'
that will enable us to have an unlimited number of nuclear weapons in a short
time. At least we can waste another two or three years pretending to negotiate.
We can agree to pause enrichment a little bit, just enough to give them a
diplomatic victory. Then we get billions in sanctions relief. We stabilize the
currency, we ease the economy and domestic discontent, and regain legitimacy in
the international community. Trump is so eager to get a discredited Nobel Peace
Prize, but the Norwegians will never give it to him -- to them, the 'left' is a
religion. Their heroes are Castro and Arafat. Meanwhile, to show Norway how
peaceful he is, Trump will let us, Russia and China off the hook. Poor fellow,
it will not work. He will just find himself the 'sucker' and the 'loser.'
Meanwhile he will have thrown away what could have made him a historic great.
While he is are celebrating his 'peacefulness' in keeping America out of a war
that was not going to happen anyway, we can keep on moving toward our bomb, our
missiles and the miniature nuclear warheads to put on them. Quietly. And if we
get caught? So what. The Americans will negotiate again!"
That is why enrichment limits do not work. They are reversible. Under the JCPOA,
Iran was enriching uranium at 3.67%. As soon as the deal collapsed, the regime
commenced enriching to near weapons-grade levels. The idea that you can contain
or "monitor" Iran with inspections and enrichment caps is a lovely, romantic
fantasy. Sadly, this regime cannot be trusted. It cannot be allowed to keep any
part of a nuclear infrastructure. The only acceptable path is total
dismantlement or permanent destruction. No centrifuges, no uranium enrichment,
no stockpiles, no underground facilities. Nothing.
Negotiations have plodded on for nearly two decades. What has the West gained?
Nothing. What has Iran gained? Everything. Time. Money. Legitimacy. Uranium
enrichment. Nuclear weapons and ballistic missile advancements. Each round of
diplomacy gives the regime more room to maneuver, more time to develop its
weapons, and more resources to fund terror proxies across the Middle East and
Latin America. The result is not peace — it is proliferation.
Unless the West finally gets serious, Iran will cross the nuclear weapons
threshold and the world will not only face an extremist, predatory regime armed
with nuclear weapons, but the mother of all arms races. The US and the West are
sleepwalking toward disaster. This is not just a threat to the Middle East. It
is a threat to the whole free world.
Unfortunately, the only solution left is to completely dismantle Iran's nuclear
program. No talks. No deals. No illusions. It is time to bring these endless
negotiations to an end.
**Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, is a political scientist, Harvard-educated analyst, and
board member of Harvard International Review. He has authored several books on
the US foreign policy. He can be reached at dr.rafizadeh@post.harvard.edu
**Follow Majid Rafizadeh on X (formerly Twitter)
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https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21574/iran-nuclear-trap
Why a US–Iran nuclear deal now seems more likely than
ever
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al Arabiya/April 26//2025
In a critical diplomatic development, officials from Iran and the United States
recently concluded a second round of indirect nuclear negotiations. These talks,
mediated by Oman and held in Rome, were described by both sides as “positive”
and indicative of “progress.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff led the
discussions, with both parties agreeing to begin expert-level negotiations aimed
at building a framework for a potential deal. This shift in tone and engagement
contrasts sharply with the atmosphere just a few months ago, when tensions
between the two nations were at a boiling point. The fact that both sides are
now openly discussing progress seems to mark a significant step forward in the
fraught relationship.
This change is particularly striking considering how unlikely any agreement
seemed earlier this year. At that time, the rhetoric between Tehran and
Washington was at its most confrontational in years. President Trump repeatedly
warned of potential military action, and Iran had escalated its uranium
enrichment program in defiance of previous accords. Public exchanges between the
two governments were laced with threats and accusations. Yet diplomatic efforts
were underway; What once seemed politically unthinkable is now emerging as a
real possibility, suggesting that both sides may have reassessed the costs of
continued hostility.
History shows that a nuclear agreement between Iran and the United States is
only possible when both parties have the political will to reach one. This
mutual desire must be underpinned by tangible benefits for both sides. During
the Obama administration, this dynamic led to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan
of Action (JCPOA). At that time, President Obama sought a major foreign policy
legacy and an alternative to military confrontation, while Iran was desperate
for relief from crushing economic sanctions. That alignment of incentives
enabled the two sides to negotiate a landmark deal. The same logic may be
unfolding today: a deal is not born out of idealism or goodwill, but out of
strategic self-interest. From the perspective of the Trump administration, there
are several overlapping motivations to pursue an agreement with Iran. First and
foremost, such a deal could be framed as a significant foreign policy victory –
one that demonstrates the administration’s ability to resolve complex
international challenges without committing US troops to another war. In a
political climate where achievements are closely tied to popularity, the optics
of defusing a long-standing nuclear standoff through tough diplomacy could be a
major boost. The administration could position itself as having succeeded where
previous presidents failed, crafting a better deal that supposedly puts more
pressure on Iran while keeping American interests intact.
Additionally, a nuclear deal could help the administration avoid a military
conflict that would be both unpopular and costly. Despite the bellicose
rhetoric, there is little public appetite for another war in the Middle East,
especially after the protracted conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. A military
campaign against Iran would not only be financially draining, but it would also
risk dragging the US into a broader regional conflict involving Iranian proxies
in Iraq and elsewhere. By striking a deal, the administration can argue that it
preserved American lives and taxpayer dollars, opting for strategic negotiation
over brute force while still maintaining a firm posture toward Tehran.
Moreover, Trump’s frequent warnings and ultimatums may be part of a calculated
strategy designed to extract concessions from Iran. Rather than signaling an
intent to launch military strikes, the administration’s aggressive tone could be
aimed at bringing Iran to the negotiating table under duress. By portraying
itself as willing to take drastic action, the US increases pressure on Tehran to
make compromises it might otherwise resist. This method of “negotiation through
intimidation” has been a recurring feature of Trump’s diplomatic style, and it
could now be serving its intended purpose – laying the groundwork for a deal
that the administration can present as a hard-won triumph achieved through
strength and resolve.Iran, for its part, also finds itself in urgent need of a
deal, driven by mounting internal and external pressures. The Iranian economy
has been brought to its knees by years of US-led sanctions targeting its oil
exports, financial institutions, and critical industries. Inflation is rampant,
unemployment is high, and the value of the rial – the national currency – has
plummeted. The country’s middle class, once seen as a potential driver of
moderation and reform, has been hollowed out by economic despair. With domestic
unrest brewing and protests becoming more frequent, Iran’s leadership is aware
that a deal could provide not just economic relief, but also political breathing
room.
Beyond economic concerns, Iran is deeply worried about the security of its
nuclear program, which it regards as its ultimate deterrent against foreign
invasion or regime change. Tehran has invested heavily – politically,
financially, and technologically – in developing its nuclear infrastructure. But
that infrastructure remains highly vulnerable to airstrikes from Israel or even
preemptive US military action. By reaching a deal that includes guarantees or
limits on foreign intervention, Iran could preserve the essence of its deterrent
capability while avoiding the destruction of its facilities and the devastation
that would follow a military confrontation. The broader regional picture also
pushes Iran toward the negotiating table. A nuclear deal, then, becomes more
than a way to ease economic sanctions – it’s also a tool to stabilize Iran’s
crumbling regional posture and reduce the immediate threats to its core
strategic assets.
A convergence of interests now appears to be taking shape. On one hand, the
Trump administration wants to claim a foreign policy win without getting
entangled in another war. On the other hand, Iran is looking for an off-ramp
from economic collapse and regional marginalization. This alignment does not
guarantee success, but it creates the necessary conditions for progress.
Negotiations of this scale and complexity only succeed when both parties
genuinely believe they have something to gain and are prepared to make difficult
concessions.
In conclusion, while a deal between the United States and Iran seemed
implausible just a month ago, it now appears more achievable than ever. The
mutual desire to avoid further conflict, combined with the practical benefits
each side stands to gain, has breathed new life into the diplomatic process. As
expert-level negotiations begin to take shape, the world may once again witness
how adversaries, driven by necessity and self-interest, can find common ground –
even amid deep mistrust.
UK’s growing post-Brexit international leadership
Andrew Hammondl/Arab News/April 26, 2025
One of the biggest claims made by some key Brexiteers in the 2016 referendum
campaign was that the UK would become a global buccaneer if it left the EU.
However, multiple, subsequent UK governments were criticized for their lack of
international engagement.
Fast forward almost a decade to 2025, however, and there are some signs that the
UK is waking up from this diplomatic downtime. On Thursday and Friday, for
instance, the UK government co-hosted with the International Energy Agency a big
international conference on energy security — ahead of the important COP30 in
Brazil. Especially since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, this topic has moved up
the global agenda as countries seek to respond to protect themselves from
potential future shocks. It is no coincidence that the IEA chose to host the big
event in London. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government is one of the most
politically stable in Europe right now. Whereas UK governments between 2016 and
2024 had either small legislative majorities, or were constrained by the COVID
pandemic, last year’s election saw Labour win the largest margin in the House of
Commons for more than a quarter of a century. This means Starmer can be
confident of his party remaining in office for a full parliamentary five-year
term till 2029, unless he or a successor decide to call an early ballot. In
turn, this domestic stability has created a post-Brexit political window of
opportunity for Starmer and his ministers to spend much time on foreign policy
in their first year in office.Starmer has also recommitted for the UK to become
a “clean energy superpower.” He and his government’s ministers used the IEA
summit to advance this vision, including UK plans to accelerate a new era of
clean electricity by 2030.
Dozens of attendees from government and the private sector, from Africa, the
Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region, joined the big
event. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was one of the biggest
name politicians of the approximately 60 governments at the event.
The IEA event builds from the UK Investment Summit last autumn, which the
government claims saw more than £60 billion ($79 billion) in new investment
announced by business, about half in clean energy. It also follows last year’s
launch of the new Great British Energy — an investment body and publicly owned
energy generation company which aims to ensure a massive expansion in clean
energy. Since the Starmer government came to power last July, it also has
confirmed funding to launch the UK’s first Carbon Capture, Utilisation and
Storage sites. In a more than £20 billion commitment, two new CCUS-enabled
hydrogen projects will help remove more than 8.5 million tonnes of carbon
emissions each year, which is the equivalent of taking about 4 million cars off
the road.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government is one of the most politically stable
in Europe right now. Moreover, the government overturned a nine-year ban on
onshore wind power construction under the last several Conservative governments.
This was followed by one the most successful renewable auction rounds in UK
history. Given the emphasis that the UK government is putting on the energy
agenda, it is no surprise that this issue will be one of the key focuses of the
UK’s new, anticipated 2025 Brexit reset deal with the EU, alongside defense and
fisheries. One of the energy topics under discussion between Starmer and von der
Leyen is closer alignment on electricity trading, plus greater cooperation
between the EU and UK on carbon emissions trading schemes. Moreover, von der
Leyen urged Starmer to build a joined-up regulatory framework for investors
backing renewable energy infrastructure in the North Sea in offshore wind,
marine energy, hydrogen, as well as carbon capture and storage. Yet, as much as
Starmer will have many welcome friends at the summit, there may also be more
challenging ones, too. A key goal of the summit was to try to build a greater
consensus on a holistic approach to energy security, ensuring governments have
the tools they need for the challenges and opportunities confronting them.
US Acting Assistant Secretary of Energy Tommy Joyce attended on behalf of the
US. Joyce, like Trump, is an avowed opponent of global climate diplomacy. Joyce
has asserted that the US “will not sacrifice our economy or our security for
global agreements for a so-called net-zero future, nor do we encourage any other
nation to make that sacrifice either.”This critique builds from that of US
Energy Secretary Chris Wright, specifically of the UK. He has slammed UK
adherence to net-zero policy, in particular, for resulting in what he claims to
be “higher prices and fewer jobs for UK citizens, higher global greenhouse gas
emissions, and all of this is a climate policy?”The clash between the Trump team
and that of Starmer could not be much starker on this issue. The UK government’s
alternative pathway to energy security is through commitment to net zero,
investment in renewables, as well as phasing out fossil fuels.
As on the Ukraine agenda, where the Trump team is publicly showing much sympathy
for Moscow rather than Ukraine, it is the White House that poses one of the
major headaches to the UK’s advancement of its global energy security vision
shared by much of the rest of the world, too. This may threaten any big climate
agreement breakthrough being reached at COP30 in Brazil. So many big battles may
lie ahead with this important agenda. Yet, co-hosting the IEA event is another
sign of a ramp-up in the UK’s growing post-Brexit international leadership in a
geopolitical and geo-economic landscape in flux.
• Andrew Hammond is an associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics.
Jewish diasporas are not Israeli outposts
Yossi Mekelberg/l/Arab News/April 26, 2025
In the midst of the Passover festival, during which Jewish people celebrate
freedom and liberation, a few dozen members of the UK’s Board of Deputies, the
largest organization representing British Jews, took the liberty, in the best
possible sense of the phrase, to express their dissent by stating that they can
no longer “turn a blind eye or remain silent” about the war in Gaza. The 36
signatories to the rather forthright letter, published in the Financial Times
newspaper, were not naive enough to believe that their public criticism of
Israel for breaking the ceasefire last month would not be greeted with
criticism, or even hostility, from their organization’s leadership and many
others among its more than 300 deputies, as well as the broader Jewish
community.
Nevertheless, their brave letter, which I believe some of them would admit was
long overdue, should do a world of good in promoting frank and honest future
discussions within the community, and equally, if not more importantly, between
Jewish diasporas and Israel.
The swift response to the letter by the Board of Deputies, which complained that
“airing our grievances in public undermines the strength of our community,” was
somewhere between bizarre and tyrannical, especially for an organization that
claims to be a broad tent and a democratic one. It was even reported that the
signatories to the letter were facing disciplinary action. This represents an
outdated approach that argues all disagreements should be conducted within the
community, for the sake of avoiding any washing of dirty laundry in public. It
also suggests that all representatives of Jewish communities are obliged to
always support Israeli policies, at least in public, even if they go against
what they believe is right for Israel and for their own communities. Frankly
speaking, the letter, as important as it was, was hardly a rabid attack on Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. It was a measured and matter-of-fact
critique of a government that has violated a ceasefire agreement and once again
unleashed its military might, with little or no differentiation between Hamas
militants and civilians.
There are hundreds of thousands of Israelis, if not more, who would have added
their signatures to this letter given the opportunity. For the signatories to
declare that “the inclination to avert our eyes is strong, as what is happening
is unbearable, but our Jewish values compel us to stand up and to speak out,”
was a show of courage in the face of the unabated killings and devastation that
is being unleashed for the sake of Netanyahu’s ulterior motives, not for the
good of the country and its people.
To argue that the reason for the return to war had more to do with maintaining
Netanyahu’s coalition, as he caved in to the wishes of National Security
Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, with the aim of facilitating his party’s return to the
government is a legitimate opinion that many of us share with those who composed
this letter. Israel cannot demand blind support, or indeed any support at all,
if it behaves in violation of international law. Were its authors chastised by
their organization because others within it do not agree with them, or out of
fear that they will be seen as disunited? What should come first? A false show
of unity? Or a statement by members of a pluralist community acknowledging that
at least some of them are outraged that keeping Netanyahu in power comes at the
expense of so many lives, and continues to deprive more than 2 million
Palestinians of food, medical supplies, and fuel, while condemning more innocent
people to death and suffering, including the Israeli hostages?
To argue, as the letter does, that this “most extremist of Israeli governments
is openly encouraging violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, strangling
the Palestinian economy and building more new settlements than ever,” is
something on which there is an international consensus, which includes the UK
government. And to air this statement in public, despite a lack of consensus
within the Jewish community, reflects a healthy diversity of opinion. This makes
the letter even more significant than its actual content.
Michael Wegier, chief executive of the Board of Deputies, said that “taking the
legitimate and often painful debate within our community to the letters pages of
national newspapers, and sowing confusion about the position of the community as
a whole is a short-sighted and dangerous precedent.” This response reflects a
very narrow-minded view of a community within a society, and the freedom to
express an opinion without being silenced.
One of the many endearing characteristics of Jewish communities around the world
is that they are inherently pluralistic and find it hard to agree about almost
anything. Most of them love Israel, care for its safety and prosperity, and have
been united in deep sadness and grief in face of the horrific Oct. 7 massacre
carried out by Hamas. In that moment of collective tragedy, all Jewish
communities expressed their horror and were unequivocally supportive of Israel
in its darkest hour of need.
But considering the conduct of Israel’s military in Gaza and the West Bank,
which is both morally indefensible and, in the eyes of many, compromises and
threatens Israel’s long-term survival, there are those within the community who
are ready to stand up and be counted in friendly opposition.
They are ready to do that because Israel’s actions conflict with their own
values and what they believe is good for both sides, but also because it affects
Jewish communities in the diaspora.
Needless to say, no manifestation of antisemitism, nor of Islamophobia, can ever
be even remotely justified or excused, and there are those mindless, so-called
pro-Palestinian activists who are exploiting the war in Gaza to unleash their
own hatred of Jews. When this happens, it is a matter for law-enforcement
organizations to deal with. But equally it cannot be a reason within the Jewish
communities to silence voices that are critical of Israel.
Seventy-seven years after the establishment of the Jewish state, its relations
with Jewish communities across the world have evolved. Israel cannot demand
blind support, or indeed any support at all, if it behaves in violation of
international law and international humanitarian law or, as the letter from
members of the British organization makes clear, in violation of Jewish values
and morality.
The natural affinity between Israel and the Jewish communities of the diaspora
is not in doubt. But it should not under any circumstances be confused with
automatic acquiescence to the policies of Israeli governments. There is a Jewish
existence in Israel and there is one outside of it, and neither is superior to
the other. An Israeli government that would like to enjoy the full support of
all Jewish people worldwide has to earn it. The current government, in its
attempts to demolish both the democratic system in Israel and any chance for
peace and reconciliation with the Palestinians, has done nothing to merit that
full support.
• Yossi Mekelberg is a professor of international relations and an associate
fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House.
X: @YMekelberg
Africa and the path to self-reliance
Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/April 26, 2025
For decades after gaining independence, many African nations subsisted on a
development model dependent on foreign aid and external support despite mixed
results. Aid inflows might have helped build schools and clinics, but they also
fostered a culture of dependence and complacency.
Now, as donors increasingly pull back, this arrangement is crumbling amid
turbulent global geopolitics, coupled with a new generation of African leaders
who are questioning the old reliance on handouts.
In 2015, Kenya’s president at the time, Uhuru Kenyatta, warned that the future
of the continent could no longer be left to the good graces of outside
interests, with foreign aid considered an acceptable basis for prosperity and
freedom.
A decade later, his words ring more true than ever. In the past few years,
several seismic shifts have rendered the status quo untenable. Now, global trade
wars are escalating, not so long after the supply chain shocks of the COVID era,
and coupled with the ripple effects from the war in Ukraine. In most cases,
Africa ends up bearing a disproportionate brunt of disruptions elsewhere.
Now, however, the world that enabled Africa’s aid addiction is vanishing,
forcing the continent to finally confront the hard business of self-reliance.
The US, for a long time a major aid donor, has slashed or rerouted funding due
to partisan politics and voter fatigue over perpetual development projects
abroad. European aid budgets are under pressure, strained by shifting domestic
priorities and the growing costs of crises brewing closer to home. Meanwhile,
remittances from a sprawling diaspora, often a lifeline for African economies,
remain fickle, booming in good times but drying up whenever global recession
hits or inflation bites into migrants’ incomes.
The security environment has also changed dramatically. France, the former
colonial guardian of the Sahel, for instance, has wound down its presence after
years of fighting militants in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. The French, once
welcomed by beleaguered governments, were shown the door by new juntas and
ceaseless protests, resulting in the tricolor being lowered at bases across the
Sahel, signaling the end of “Pax Gallica” in Africa. Meanwhile, the future of
the US military’s Africa Command looks uncertain, with Washington preoccupied by
great-power showdowns elsewhere. After all, Africa’s conflicts and security
vacuums rank low on the Pentagon’s list of priorities, even though US special
forces and drones remain active in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel. But for how
long? If a more isolationist mood prevails in successive US administrations,
Africa could experience an even greater strategic vacuum.
That vacuum is already beckoning opportunists. In places such as Mali and the
Central African Republic, gun-for-hire outfits have swept in to replace
departing Western troops, trading security services for mining concessions and
geopolitical leverage. Their encroachment is a sobering reminder that if Africa
does not resolve its own security problems, someone else — possibly far less
benevolent or benign — will.
China, too, has shifted from being a mere investor to a strategic operator on
the continent. Beijing remains Africa’s biggest trading partner and a major
builder of its infrastructure, but it has grown more hard-nosed. Chinese loans
are drying up after debt crises in Zambia and Ethiopia, even as Beijing secures
long-term control of strategic ports and key mines. The People’s Liberation Army
Navy now frequents the waters off Africa’s coasts, and a naval base in Djibouti
signals that, for China at least, Africa is no longer only a business
destination.
Africa’s aid addiction is vanishing, forcing the continent to finally confront
the hard business of self-reliance.
The upside of these external shifts is a renewed continental resolve to become
self-sufficient. Across Africa, a slogan long confined to speeches — “African
solutions to African problems” — is finally gaining some traction. The African
Union and other regional organizations are spearheading ambitious initiatives
designed to reduce external dependencies.
Top of the list is the African Continental Free Trade Area, which was launched
in 2021 to knit together 54 African countries into the world’s largest
free-trade zone. The idea is simple: tear down the internal barriers that make
it easier for an African country to trade with Europe or Asia than with its
next-door neighbors. Only about 15 percent of Africa’s trade is intracontinental,
a pitiful figure compared to nearly 70 percent with Europe.
The free-trade zone hopes to change that through the elimination of most
intra-African tariffs and standardization of trade rules. If fully implemented,
it could unlock economies of scale, boost industrial supply chains across
borders, and create a truly regional market of 1.4 billion consumers. In
practice, progress has been halting — negotiating schedules and customs
regulations is painstaking work — but a start at least has been made.
The momentum is there: Ghana has exported its first shipment of goods to Kenya
under free-trade provisions, which is symbolic of the new possibilities. As of
2023, nearly every member of the African Union had signed up to the zone, and
more than 45 have ratified membership. Africa’s leaders now routinely talk of
“trade not aid,” reflecting a shift in mindsets at the highest levels.
Likewise, there is a continental push for industrialization, to finally break
out of the colonial pattern of exporting raw materials and importing finished
goods. Countries such as Ethiopia and Rwanda have crafted industrial policies to
attract manufacturing, and the free-trade zone is intended to support this by
ensuring that once a factory is set up in, say, Kenya it can easily sell its
products across borders to Nigeria or South Africa, for example, without
prohibitive tariffs or red tape getting in the way.
Another pillar of the self-reliance agenda is the digital economy. Africa missed
previous industrial revolutions but it is determined not to lose out on the
ongoing tech revolution. The continent is already a global leader in some areas
of financial technology; mobile money services, born out of Kenya’s M-Pesa
system, now handle more than a trillion dollars in transactions annually across
Africa. By 2022 there were more than 780 million mobile money accounts on the
continent, nearly half of the global total, providing financial access for tens
of millions of people who never had bank accounts.
Underpinning all of these efforts is a philosophical shift: an embrace of
self-reliance not as isolationism but as pragmatic empowerment. This does not
mean Africa is shutting itself off; foreign investment and partnerships are
still welcome and needed. Rather, it means Africans are asserting control over
their development priorities, beginning with negotiating tougher trade terms by
insisting on local content and addition of value.
For perhaps the first time since the 1960s, there is renewed pride in the idea
of standing on one’s own two feet. This is captured in the African Union’s
Agenda 2063, which envisions a continent that is integrated, prosperous, and
self-determining. This is lofty rhetoric for now — the organization is infamous
for grand visions that go unrealized — but the difference is that circumstances
are forcing action.
With the life raft long provided by donor support shrinking, Africa will either
learn to swim or it will sink.
• Hafed Al-Ghwell is a senior fellow and executive director of the North Africa
Initiative at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University
School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC.
X: @HafedAlGhwell
The Global Economy: What’s Worse Than a Recession?
Emile Ameen/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 26/2025
From the moment US President Donald Trump announced his latest tariffs, people
across the globe have been speculating about whether his decision would lead to
a global economic recession. It seems that some of the world’s leading economic
minds worry that, unfortunately, there is a risk of something worse than a
simple recession and that the repercussions could spill over into the global
arena of politics and security. At the forefront of these figures is the famous
American billionaire Raymond Dalio, who has become one of the richest people
alive since founding Bridgewater, one of the world’s largest hedge funds. In a
post on "X," and on NBC’s "Meet the Press" last Sunday, Dalio sounded the alarm.
He warned not only of a possible recession but also of greater unrest fueled by
economic policies and other factors.
How can we take away from Dalio’s warnings?
Those well-versed in the world of economics understand that the world seems to
be on the verge of a classic monetary and political collapse, and that major
geopolitical configurations of the past three and a half decades (that is, since
the post-Cold War era and the fall of the Soviet Union) are falling apart. Such
radical shifts, close to a collapse, happen only once in a lifetime, when a
combination of unsustainable conditions trigger this kind of upheaval. So, what
about them? In short, we can point to the global debt crisis in general and a
particularly acute American debt crisis, along with fears of an unexpected
failure to meet its obligations. There is also the troubling rise in unequal
opportunities and access to education in the United States, where class
divisions are hardening and education is increasingly linked to wealth. Add the
shifting landscape of the global geopolitical order, seen clearly in the
ideological rallying cry of the Trump administration: "America First."Moreover,
the forces of nature seem to be adversaries to any global stability. Floods,
pandemics, earthquakes, and tsunamis may be about to get worse, especially in
light of the ecological setbacks in the US: the return of coal mining, US
withdrawal from climate agreements, and the institutions of international
cooperation shutting down.
In the eyes of Dalio, Washington was in need of a more moderate leader than the
candidates on offer last November: a leader committed to reducing the federal
deficit to 3 percent of GDP. Otherwise, greater problems in the supply and
demand for debt would emerge. Along with other negative developments, these
challenges, Dalio has warned, would precipitate a political battle that could
spark a civil war in the US.
Politics remains a powerful and even pressing force shaping the economy. Dalio
was acutely aware of this on the eve of the US presidential elections last
November, refusing to endorse either of the two major parties. In an article for
Time magazine at the time, Dalio wrote that he felt like he had been "faced with
the choice between a strong, unethical, almost fascist Republican Party and a
frail, untruthful, and enigmatic Democratic Party."
What experts fear most is that the economic climate shaped by politics, which
has been aggravated by dramatic measures tied to the American
military-industrial complex and attempts to contain it, could lead to a revival
of the deadly era humanity saw between 1930 and 1945. At that time, many regions
across America and Europe were rocked by devastating economic crises that drove
even well-established democracies down a path toward brutal dictatorship.
Germany, Spain, and Japan had all had parliamentary systems, but they collapsed
under the weight of domestic conflicts between the extreme left and the extreme
right as communism and fascism rose to the fore. Are we now witnessing modern
versions of these old human riddles? Some argue that the US underwent a kind of
recession in the 1970s, and that this recession gradually faded during the 1980s
thanks to the technological boom. Then came the winds of globalization in the
1990s, propelling the US into a position of global leadership after the fall of
the Soviet Union.However, the spirit of isolationism and the slogans of American
supremacy are now obstructing globalization, both in form and substance. Has the
moment of entropic obscurity arrived?
One day tourists would travel from Jerusalem to Damascus:
US lawmaker optimistic after al-Sharaa meeting
Daniel Edelson/New York/Ynetnews/April26/2025
Two days have passed since U.S. Representative Marlin Stutzman returned to his
home in Indiana. The jet lag, he says, is nearly behind him — "My body doesn't
know what was going on," he laughs — but his mind is still in Damascus.
Speaking to Ynet in an interview, he described his historic visit to Syria
following the fall of the Assad regime as a "dream come true for me."
"Growing up hearing stories of Damascus, Damascus Road conversion and the
history of Damascus in Syria, it's one of those places you'd always like to
visit, along with Israel and other parts of the Middle East," he said. "We
always talk about peace in the Middle East, and this is one of those moments
where there's potential and a possibility now that Assad's gone."
The visit, he says, was born from a personal connection. "I've got some really
good Syrian friends that live in Chicago and Indiana, and we've been friends for
over a decade now," Stutzman explains. "They had come to me several times asking
me to support lifting the sanctions on Syria now that Assad is gone. I just told
him it's hard for me to do that, not knowing all of the circumstances and what's
on the ground."
That is how he found himself, along with fellow Republican Congressman Cory
Mills, on a 48-hour journey into the heart of Damascus, accompanied by the
Syrian-American group Alliance for Peace and Prosperity. "We had good security.
I did not feel like there was any danger," he says. "The Syrian people are still
resilient. They would look you in the eye, they would return a smile. They are
hopeful and optimistic that this is a new day in Syria."
Stutzman, 48, speaks with emotion about his impressions from the trip, the
conversations he held with Syria’s new president Ahmad al-Sharaa and the real
possibility of new relations between Damascus and Jerusalem
Despite his clear optimism, Stutzman does not shy away from describing the harsh
sights he encountered. "The thing that amazed me was the destruction
everywhere," he says. "Assad just basically levels billions and billions of
dollars of homes and businesses, and little children's rooms, you could see from
the street where they had Minnie Mouse and Superman on the wall, and you just
know that families were killed or pushed out of their homes because of a maniac.
That was a political genocide on his own people.
nother experience that shook him was a visit to one of Syria’s largest prisons.
"We had a former prisoner give us a tour of the prison, and it'd be atrocities
that happened there are just beyond words."
Although Stutzman did not see signs of the "openness to the West" many in the
region had hoped for, he said he was surprised by the displays of "love for
America" he encountered. "They're far from Western culture," he said. "Gas
stations aren't working, young men sell gasoline and jugs on the side of the
road, the power goes out every four hours and their infrastructure is old. The
roads aren't too bad in most cases.
According to Stutzman, many Syrians expressed admiration for America and
President Donald Trump, crediting him with saving thousands of lives by deciding
not to bomb Syria’s Idlib Province in 2018 — a move they believe allowed the
process that ultimately toppled Bashar Assad to unfold.
The centerpiece of the visit was a meeting with Syria’s new president, al-Sharaa.
"We met him at the presidential palace in Damascus," Stutzman said. "Even though
the pressure on him was visible, he was very calm and very deliberate. You could
feel his desire to build something different for the country."
During their conversation, Stutzman took the opportunity to raise the subject of
Israel. "I brought up the issue, and there was no anger, there was no bad
emotion directed toward Israel," he said. "I told him the relationship with
Israel for the American people is very important, and asked him what he
envisioned the relationship between Syria and Israel, and he was very honest."
According to Stutzman, not only did al-Sharaa not evade the question, but he
also spoke about a vision in which one day tourists would travel from Jerusalem
to Damascus. "He said that he was open to the conversations around the Abraham
Accords," Stutzman said.
"He seemed like someone who wants to turn Syria into a different place, one more
open to trade, tourism, agriculture and energy. He was excited about developing
trade routes from north to south and to Europe. If Syria were to join the
Abraham Accords, it could change the entire Middle East."
However, al-Sharaa emphasized two preconditions to the visiting U.S. lawmakers:
Syria must not be divided into two or three parts, and Israeli airstrikes —
especially near the Golan Heights — must stop.
Did he propose any concrete ideas for a solution, such as accepting a
peacekeeping force on the Golan?
"We didn’t go into concrete details," Stutzman said. "He only said that
negotiations must take place to find solutions that guarantee Syria’s unity."
However, reactions in Israel to Stutzman’s visit have been skeptical — a
sentiment he acknowledges. "Israeli officials are not really buying this. They
say, 'a terrorist is a terrorist, doesn't matter if he puts on a suit,'" he
said. "It's possible, and shame on him if he is. There's an opportunity here and
I would hope that al-Sharaa has changed. At one time, Japan and Germany were
enemies of the United States. We know the devil that we had in Assad, and if al-Sharaa
is a smart enough guy, he would learn the lessons that the same consequences
could befall him. That's why I think it's important to have a dialogue with him,
because we don't want to just push him back into the arms of Iran, China or
Russia."
Stutzman is also clear-eyed about the motivations behind al-Sharaa’s willingness
to meet. "He didn’t ask for a single dollar from the United States," Stutzman
emphasized. "He only asked for the sanctions to be lifted, which he said are
preventing Syria’s recovery. According to him, the rebuilding process will
require hundreds of billions of dollars. Without lifting sanctions, there is no
real chance for reconstruction."
However, Stutzman said he made it clear that lifting sanctions would come with
strict conditions: "Respect for human rights, women's rights, religious rights —
and maintaining safe relations with Israel while ensuring Syria does not become
a base for terrorism or a satellite for America’s enemies."
Stutzman pointed to some encouraging signs. "The minister of communications and
technology is living in the UAE right now. And he had no idea that he would
become a minister back in his home country, but they said President al-Sharaa
kept pursuing him, wanting him to be a part of his government," he said. "These
ministers are taking a chance on him as well. It's not like al-Sharaa is coming
in with a strong military and a strong government to take over the country of
Syria. He's got a lot of rebuilding to do."
One critical issue for Stutzman was the need for free elections. "If they don’t
hold democratic elections, it will just turn into another dictatorship and
collapse on itself," he said. "I asked him directly: Why wait five years for
elections?"
Al-Sharaa, he said, responded that many people had fled Syria and that holding
elections in a half-empty country would not be genuine. He said time was needed
for citizens to return and rebuild before organizing free elections.
Stutzman found this explanation reasonable but stressed he would remain
vigilant. "I told him — this will be the real test. If in five years you haven’t
held elections, that will be the true indicator of who you are and whether this
was all just a show."
Stutzman emphasized that his trip was not an official mission on behalf of
President Trump. "I traveled on my own initiative," he clarified. However, he
added, "The White House is aware of the visit, and there is significant
interest. Trump is the strongest negotiator we’ve ever had — if anyone can talk
directly with al-Sharaa, it’s him."
According to Stutzman, the Syrians themselves are seeking that connection. "Al-Sharaa
said he received outreach from Russia and China but refused to respond. He wants
to talk to America. He is seeking dialogue with the West. They are currently
dependent on Chinese communication technology and fear China is listening to
them. That’s another reason they want a connection with the West."
"I know how hard it is to trust a former enemy," Stutzman said. "But if there’s
even the slightest chance to change reality, it’s worth trying — not with blind
eyes, but also not with a closed heart. The sanctions are keeping Syria frozen
in place," he concluded. "If there is real willingness for dialogue, for
relations with Israel, for true freedom — we must not miss this opportunity. We
need a ‘trust but verify’ approach: watch, listen, and judge each day by
actions. If he fails, we will know. But if he succeeds — it could be a historic
opportunity that may never return."