MIDDLE EAST & ARAB WORLD
- EDITORIAL -
‘Ignition of new war:’ Sudan political parties reject Israel deal
Sudanese demonstrate in the capital against the deal that several political parties say transitional gov’t is not authorised to sign.
Kamal Omar, a leader in the Popular Congress Party, said in a separate statement that Sudan’s transitional government is not elected and therefore not authorised to normalise relations with Israel.
“This transitional government hijacked the Sudanese position to satisfy regional and international intelligence agencies,” he said.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/24/sudans-political-parties-reject-israeli-normalisation-deal
New U.S. sanctions seek to block Iranian regime’s weapons programs
The United States is imposing sanctions to block the Iranian regime’s nuclear, ballistic missile and conventional arms programs and to curb the spread of violence by Iran in the Middle East and beyond.
https://share.america.gov/new-u-s-sanctions-target-iranian-weapons-programs/
Iran says Bahrain normalizing ties with Israel 'shameful'
Iran said on Saturday that Bahrain’s move to normalize relations with Israel meant it would be complicit in Israeli policies which threatened regional security, Iranian state TV reported.
Afghanistan Prisoner Dilemma Sidelines Justice
Dispute Over Releases Highlights Need to Hear from Victims
A bitter dispute over roughly 400 prisoners the Taliban say should be released before the start of inter-Afghan peace negotiations has highlighted fundamental problems in the Afghan justice system and amplified fears that the peace process will not challenge longstanding impunity.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/08/06/afghanistan-prisoner-dilemma-sidelines-justice
Lifting arms embargo on Iran will fuel regime’s terrorism
The United States will not allow a 13-year arms embargo on the Iranian regime to expire and, if necessary, will use authority under an existing U.N. resolution to keep the restrictions in place.
In a May 13 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook says that the U.N. arms embargo set to expire in October limits the Iranian regime’s arming of terrorist groups and should be extended.
“The U.S. and partners have used the arms embargo to disrupt Iran’s sending advanced weaponry to terrorists and militants,” Hook says. “Letting the arms embargo expire would make it considerably easier for Iran to ship weapons to its allies in Syria, Hamas in Gaza, and Shiite militias in Iraq.”
The United States has drafted a U.N. Security Council resolution to extend the embargo, Hook says. But should a member of the security council veto an extension, the resolution that endorsed the flawed 2015 nuclear deal allows the United States to “snap back” sanctions against Iran’s arms sales.
https://share.america.gov/lifting-arms-embargo-on-iran-will-fuel-regime-s-terrorism/
Ashraf Ghani orders troops to resume offensive against Taliban
The Afghan president asks military to switch to 'offensive mode' against armed groups after two deadly attacks.
The US-Taliban deal
The Taliban, which signed a peace deal with the US in February, denied its involvement in the attacks.
The Afghan president said offensive operations were needed to "defend the country, safeguard our countrymen and infrastructure, and to repel attacks and threats by the Taliban and all other terrorist groups".
In a statement on Wednesday, the Taliban warned it was "fully prepared" to counter any offensive by Afghan forces.
"From now onwards the responsibility of further escalation of violence and its ramifications shall fall squarely on the shoulders of the Kabul administration," it said.
National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib said on Twitter: "There seems little point in continuing to engage Taliban in peace talks."
Afghanistan's Taliban, US sign agreement aimed at ending war
Agreement signed in Qatar's capital, Doha, could result in US troops leaving Afghanistan within 14 months.
The two sides have long wrangled over the US demand for a ceasefire before the signing of the agreement, which has four points: a timeline of 14 months for the withdrawal of all US and NATO troops from Afghanistan; a Taliban guarantee that Afghan soil will not be used as a launchpad that would threaten the security of the US; the launch of intra-Afghan negotiations by March 10; and a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire.
Iran launches missile attacks on US facilities in Iraq
Iran fires more than a dozen rockets at Iraq's Ain al-Asad military base, and targets Erbil facility.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran had taken and concluded "proportionate measures in self-defence" under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
"We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression," he said on Twitter.
World reacts to US killing of Iran's Qassem Soleimani in Iraq
Leaders across the world warn that US's targeted killing of Iranian top general could ignite conflict in region.
Iran
Following the attack, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned the US of "harsh retaliation".
Javed Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, tweeted his response, saying: "The US' act of international terrorism, targeting & assassinating General Soleimani - THE most effective force fighting Daesh (ISIS), Al Nusrah, Al Qaeda et al - is extremely dangerous & a foolish escalation.
"The US bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism."
Justice Minister: ISIL Sponsors Changing Stance after Failure in Plots against Iran
Iranian Justice Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi said the sponsors and advocates of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have changed their stance to join the so-called anti-ISIL coalition after the terrorist group failed in its plots against Iran.
"One of the reasons behind the creation of the ISIL was providing the ground for disintegrating the Muslim world for the sake of several goals," Pourmohammadi said, addressing the justice ministry's staff and personnel in Tehran on Monday.
He explained that one of these goals was weakening and stirring internal conflicts in the Muslim world, and expressed regret that the terrorists and their supporters somehow succeeded in achieving this goal.
"Another goal was stabilizing Israel's position in the region and removing the influential powers, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, from the scene, but thanks God, they failed to achieve any of these goals."
Expressing surprise that those countries which supported the ISIL have now taken the leadership of the anti-ISIL campaign, Pourmohammadi stressed the necessity for vigilance and precise position-takings by officials in this regard.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13930624001395
Obama: Iranians 'deserve better' from leaders
US president speaks of growth, progress and opportunities if Iran commits to long-term deal over nuclear programme.
US President Barack Obama has told Iranians they "deserve better" and that a comprehensive agreement on the nuclear issue will help move Iran "along the new path that so many Iranians seek".
Saudi accepts 181 UN human rights proposals
Saudi Arabia accepts majority of 225 recommendations but Amnesty International says its actions must match its words.
Saudi Arabia has accepted, either totally or partially, the vast majority of recommendations made to it by the UN Human Rights Council, but Amnesty International has warned that many of the reforms were vaguely worded promises to "consider" changes.
Hagel: US military power must back Iran nuclear deal
Diplomacy with Iran must be backed by military power, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has said.
Mr Hagel, speaking in Bahrain, said Washington was committed to maintaining a strong force in the Gulf region.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25278211
Iran says opposes foreign presence in Afghanistan
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday his country opposes the presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan and the region, saying their presence generates tension, the official IRNA news agency reported.
IRNA quoted Rouhani as telling visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai: “We believe that all foreign forces should leave the region and that the security of Afghanistan should be handed over to people of the country.”
Clinton Warns Russia Stance Pushes Syria Into Civil War
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rejected Russia’s claim that it’s a stabilizing influence on Syria and said that, by protecting the Assad regime, it’s speeding the country’s slide into civil war.
“The Russians keep telling us they want to do everything they can to avoid a civil war because they believe that the violence would be catastrophic,” Clinton said in remarks to students in Denmark yesterday. Noting Russia’s claims to be a stabilizing influence, Clinton said, “I reject that. I think they are, in effect, propping up the regime at a time when we should be working on a political transition.”
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-05-31/clinton-warns-russia-stance-pushes-syria-into-civil-war
Russia's Medvedev opposed to U.N. vote on Syria: report Russian President ...
Russia's Medvedev opposed to U.N. vote on Syria: report
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has practically ruled out supporting a United Nations resolution condemning Syria's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, the Financial Times reported Monday.
In an interview with the newspaper, Medvedev criticized the way Western countries had interpreted U.N. resolution 1973 on Libya which he said turned it into "a scrap of paper to cover up a pointless military operation."
"I would not like a Syrian resolution to be pulled off in a similar manner," he added.
Russia abstained in the March vote that cleared the way for military action in Libya to protect civilians. It has subsequently accused the coalition of overstepping its mandate.
"We will be told the resolution reads "denounce violence," so some of the signatories may end up denouncing the violence by dispatching a number of bombers," Medvedev was quoted as saying.
"In any event, I do not want it to be on my head."
Syria: EU push for UN condemnation fails UN calls for Syria abuses investig...
Syria: EU push for UN condemnation fails
UN calls for Syria abuses investigations
A deeply divided United Nation Security Council has failed to agree on an EU-proposed statement condemning Syria's violent crackdown against protesters.
A draft proposed by France, Britain, Germany and Portugal was opposed by several within the 15-member council.
Russia insisted that events in Syria did not constitute a threat to international peace.
'Abhorrent violence'
The BBC's Barbara Plett, at the UN headquarters in New York, says that, apart from Libya, the UN Security Council has not responded very much to revolts across the Arab world.
But the US ambassador called on Syria to stop what it called the government's abhorrent violence, and on the international community to act.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13218556
Taliban condemns Afghanistan balloon project
Taliban says distribution of 10,000 pink balloons to highlight youth creativity aims "to break culture of hijab".
The official Taliban website has published an article criticising an art project in which 10,000 pink balloons were given away for free in Kabul, saying the event encouraged un-Islamic behaviour.
Under the headline "Was it a balloon show or a mini-skirt show?", the piece said that the conceptual artwork was a trick to promote Western values among the young Afghan volunteers who helped hand out the balloons.
"The West is using different techniques to promote their culture in Afghanistan. Sometimes they do it in an undercover way," the author, Qari Habib, wrote in Pashto in the critique published on Sunday.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2013/05/201352716217314427.html
Afghanistan drawdown risky, US joint chiefs head says The top US military ...
Afghanistan drawdown risky, US joint chiefs head says
The top US military officer has said President Barack Obama's plan to withdraw troops from Afghanistan is "more aggressive" than he had advised.
Adm Mike Mullen said leaving troops in place was "the safer course", but added he supported the president's decision.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai welcomed the move, but the Taliban dismissed it as "symbolic" and vowed to continue fighting until all foreign forces left.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13893464
Taliban chief Mullah Omar rules out Afghan peace talks There is no prospec...
Taliban chief Mullah Omar rules out Afghan peace talks
There is no prospect of peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan government, the Taliban's leader Mullah Omar has insisted.
In a statement, Mullah Omar said "rumours of negotiation" were a ploy by Western powers to "cover up" their military defeat in Afghanistan.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11760383
CIA says Afghan war harder and slower that expected The director of the CIA...
CIA says Afghan war harder and slower that expected
The director of the CIA has conceded that the war in Afghanistan has been "harder and slower" than expected.
Speaking on US television Leon Panetta said while progress had been made in Afghanistan, serious problems with governance, corruption and the Taliban insurgency remained.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10428906.stm
Report faults U.S. for being too optimistic about Afghan security capabilities
The U.S. military has systematically overstated or failed to adequately measure the capabilities of Afghan security forces, whose performance is key to the Obama administration's exit strategy for the war, according to a new government audit.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/28/AR2010062805114.html
...
Obama tentatively backs peace talks with Taliban
President Obama signaled Wednesday that, despite his earlier hesitation, he may embrace a plan by his Afghan counterpart to reconcile with certain Taliban leaders in hopes of uniting the country and ending a conflict that has stretched nearly nine years.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sc-dc-obama-karzai-20100512,0,7187117.story
Striking at Afghanistan corruption Endemic official Afghan c...
Striking at Afghanistan corruption
Endemic official Afghan corruption has done much to delegitimise the Kabul regime in the eyes of many Afghans, and may be the single greatest strategic advantage of a Taliban insurgency which, though unable to deliver much in terms of social or economic advancement, has at least demonstrated relative honesty and a commitment to swift, if brutal, justice.
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/03/2010330102854107551.html
Why Karzai readily admits receiving bags of Iranian cash Afghan Pres...
Why Karzai readily admits receiving bags of Iranian cash
Afghan President Hamid Karzai says he accepts bags of cash from Iran. What do the Iranians want in return?
What does Iran want for its bags of cash? First and foremost, Iran wants pressure put on international forces to leave its doorstep.
“The Iranians are happy with the Karzai regime being established in Afghanistan – in this way, the US and Iran are aligned. But when it comes to international forces in Afghanistan, the Iranians are quite unhappy about this,” says Waliullah Rahmani, head of the Kabul Center for Strategic Studies.
The US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan put American forces on the ground on either side of Iran. In Afghanistan, US forces at Shindand Airbase are less than 75 miles from the Iranian border.
Karzai: Iran Regularly Gives His Office Cash
http://www.military.com/news/article/karzai-iran-regularly-gives-his-office-cash.html?ESRC=eb.nl
Iran Acknowledges Payments to Afghanistan
Iran has acknowledged sending money to the Afghan government for years, saying the funds are intended to aid in the war-torn country's reconstruction.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday that Iran is concerned about peace and stability in neighboring Afghanistan, and will continue to provide aid into the future.
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Iran-Acknowledges-Payments-to-Afghanistan-105769808.html
Iran's cash to Kabul worries US
The US has voiced concern about Iran's "negative influence" on Afghanistan, after Afghan President Hamid Karzai admitted receiving cash from Tehran.
White House spokesman Bill Burton urged Iran to play a more positive role.
Mr Karzai has denied any wrongdoing, saying the cash was part of a "transparent" process to help to run the president's office.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11624092
Syrian government denounces UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon as 'biased'
The Syrian government yesterday denounced the United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon as "biased" and accused the West of conspiring to install Islamist and Al-Qaeda regimes across the Middle East.
"This is what the West wants - extremist and al-Qaeda forces controlling the whole region," he said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9237294/Syrian-government-denounces-UN-secretary-general-Ban-Ki-moon-as-biased.html
Ban condemns terrorist bombings in Syria, voices concern over continuing violence
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned today’s terrorist bombing in the Syrian city of Idlib, as well as last week’s bomb blast in the capital, Damascus, saying he remains gravely concerned by reports of continuing violence, killings and other abuses in the country.
Mr. Ban stressed that all parties must immediately cease violence in all its forms and fully cooperate with the work of the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) as it expands its presence on the ground.
On 21 April, the Security Council authorized the establishment of UNSMIS, an observer mission made up of up to 300 unarmed military observers and deployed for an initial period of 90 days, to monitor the cessation of violence in Syria.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=41889&Cr=Syria&Cr1=
Russia warns US over Iran oil sanctions
Moscow says tougher sanctions would be seen as attempt at "regime change" as Iran voices willingness to return to talks.
Russia has warned the US that moves to tighten sanctions on Iran would be perceived as an attempt at "regime change", as Tehran appeared to express readiness to return to negotiations and allow UN monitors to inspect its nuclear facilities.
Gannady Gatilov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, told a press conference on Friday that additional sanctions or military strikes against Iran would "unquestionably be perceived by the international community as an attempt at changing the regime".
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/01/201211382815875531.html
Why won't the U.N. Security Council intervene in Syria?
Diplomats say the answer is simple: Russia. Tensions between Russia and the other permanent members of the Security Council have always been a factor. But diplomats say that Russia's conduct in its refusal to condemn Syria, or even negotiate on resolutions in good faith, have reached new lows.
In October, Russia and China issued a rare double veto of a sanction-less resolution that would have condemned the violence in Syria.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/13/world/meast/un-security-council-syria/index.html
State Department Condemns Bombings in Syria Amid Questions About Attackers
The State Department condemned the deadly twin attacks Friday on Syrian government buildings, while pressing the Assad regime not to let the violence impede a fresh effort by Arab observers to catalogue human rights abuses in the country.
Syrian government officials suggested Al Qaeda was behind the attacks, and pointed to the explosions as proof of its claims that it is battling not a popular uprising but terrorists intent on overthrowing the regime. But Assad regime opponents cast doubt on the account, hinting that the regime itself could be behind the attacks to make its case to Arab observers who arrived in the country only a day earlier.
Qatar PM: West should embrace 'Arab Spring' Islamists
Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani was quoted on Thursday as saying Islamists were likely to represent the next wave of political power in the Arab world and that the West should embrace them.
Thani said in an interview with the Financial Times that moderate Islamists could assist in fighting what he called extremist ideology.
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=247697
Noe & Raad: After Qaddafi, Arabs Tell NATO: Thanks, Now Please Go After Muam...
Noe & Raad: After Qaddafi, Arabs Tell NATO: Thanks, Now Please Go
After Muammar Qaddafi's regime fell in Libya, even Mideast and North African commentators normally critical of Western policies in the region generally affirmed the positive role played by NATO.
At the same time, some worried that NATO's triumph, in supporting the rebels who overthrew the regime, would encourage a new colonialism. Libya and other Arab states that are in crisis, they argued, are vulnerable to exploitation of their natural resources by the West and to calls for outside military intervention or another round of it.
Wrote Ibrahim al-Amine, chairman of the board of the Beirut-based Al-Akhbar, a leftist daily opposed to U.S. policy in the Middle East that also runs pieces critical of the Syrian regime and the militant Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah:
The Libyans got rid of Muammar Qaddafi -- this will be the story carried by history. But the king of the African kings did not fall because of the bullets of his own people. His people do not like him, they do not want him and no one can doubt that. However, these people needed some help. This time, the West, i.e. the colonizer itself, was the helper.
He continued:
It will be hard for any Libyan citizen, (even one) who has been oppressed by Qaddafi and his aides, to come out and yell: "I do not want NATO here."
Al-Amine warned of the "harsh truth" that colonialism will return “under a new form and with new faces.” Western leaders who had embraced Qaddafi and had “plunged their hands in his pocket, which was full of the wealth of his people, are the same leaders who are now embracing the rebels and extending their hands directly towards the nation's wealth.”
Syrian envoy says US waging "diplomatic war" The United States is waging a ...
Syrian envoy says US waging "diplomatic war"
The United States is waging a "diplomatic and humanitarian war" against Syria along with some other UN Security Council members, Syria's UN envoy said on Thursday.
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=234421
Syrian envoy says US waging "diplomatic war" The United States is waging a "...
Syrian envoy says US waging "diplomatic war"
The United States is waging a "diplomatic and humanitarian war" against Syria along with some other UN Security Council members, Syria's UN envoy said on Thursday.
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=234421
Saudi Suggests 'Squeezing' Iran Over Nuclear Ambitions A leading member ...
Saudi Suggests 'Squeezing' Iran Over Nuclear Ambitions
A leading member of Saudi Arabia's royal family warned that Riyadh could seek to supplant Iran's oil exports if the country doesn't constrain its nuclear program, a move that could hobble Tehran's finances.
In closed-door remarks earlier this month, Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal also strongly implied that Riyadh would be forced to follow suit if Tehran pushed ahead to develop nuclear weapons and said Saudi Arabia is preparing to employ all of its economic, diplomatic and security assets to confront Tehran's regional ambitions.
The Arab Spring uprisings are intensifying the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, who face off across the Persian Gulf and jostle for influence with neighbors from Syria to Yemen. It's a Cold War, fueled by oil and ideology, between Shiite Islamists who rule Iran and the Sunni Saudi royal family, each of whom consider themselves leaders of the world's Muslim populations.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304887904576400083811644642.html
U.S.-Saudi rivalry intensifies The quiet contest for Jordan is one s...
U.S.-Saudi rivalry intensifies
The quiet contest for Jordan is one sign of the rivalry that has erupted across the Middle East this year between Saudi Arabia and the United States, longtime allies that have been put on a collision course by the popular uprisings that have swept the region.
Senior U.S. diplomats have been dropping by the royal palace in Amman almost every week this spring to convince Jordanian King Abdullah II that democratic reform is the best way to quell the protests against his rule.
But another powerful ally also has been lobbying Abdullah — and wants him to ignore the Americans.
Saudi Arabia is urging the Hashemite kingdom to stick to the kind of autocratic traditions that have kept the House of Saud secure for centuries, and Riyadh has been piling up gifts at Abdullah's door to sell its point of view.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2015379229_websaudi21.html
Arab League seeks UN recognition of Palestine ...
Arab League seeks UN recognition of Palestine
Statement comes as Qatar proposes that the Middle East peace process be suspended until Israel is "ready" for talks.
The Arab League has said it backs seeking UN recognition for a Palestinian state, as Qatar proposed at a meeting that the Middle East peace process be suspended until Israel was "ready" for talks.
At a meeting of an Arab monitoring committee chaired by Qatar, the Arab League said in a statement it "supports the appeal to the UN asking that Palestine, within the 1967 borders, becomes a full-fledged state" of the international organisation.
The Arab League's statement on Saturday came soon after Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, reiterated his determination to seek the recognition at the world diplomatic body unless Israel begins negotiations on "substantial basis".
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/05/2011528202911144389.html
Gaza: Egypt 'to open Rafah crossing to Palestinians' Egypt is to open the ...
Gaza: Egypt 'to open Rafah crossing to Palestinians'
Egypt is to open the Rafah border crossing into Gaza permanently to most Palestinians from Saturday, Egyptian state news agency Mena has said.
Gaza has been under blockade since 2007, when the Islamist Hamas movement took control of the territory.
Under ex-President Hosni Mubarak - ousted in February - Egypt opposed the Hamas administration and helped Israel to enforce the blockade.
Israel says the blockade is needed to stop weapons being smuggled into Gaza.
Rafah is the only crossing into Gaza which bypasses Israel.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13552685
ANALYSIS-Arab upheaval sharpens Israeli debate on Iran strike The prospect...
ANALYSIS-Arab upheaval sharpens Israeli debate on Iran strike
The prospect of pro-Western regimes from Cairo to the Gulf falling in with Iran resonates with Netanyahu, who has cast the Islamic republic as a global menace.
Such is the sense of decisions looming, that a former Mossad spymaster's public ridiculing of air strikes on Iran as a "stupid idea" that would imperil Israel was widely interpreted as a warning to Netanyahu to back down.
"The 'Arab Spring' is definitely bolstering those who argue that we're in this alone against Iran, with all that entails in terms of planning," an Israeli government adviser said.
http://af.reuters.com/article/egyptNews/idAFLDE73R0J420110508
U.S. Says Iran Is Meddling In Bahrain Defense Secretary Robert Gates said t...
U.S. Says Iran Is Meddling In Bahrain
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the U.S. has "evidence" of Iranian meddling in Bahrain and other Middle Eastern countries hit by political turmoil.
Mr. Gates didn't reveal what proof the U.S. has of alleged Iranian interference. But he said face-to-face discussions in Riyadh on Wednesday with Saudi King Abdullah centered in part on ways Iran has sought to take advantage of the recent political turbulence in the region.
"We already have evidence that the Iranians are trying to exploit the situation in Bahrain, and we also have evidence that they are talking about what they can do to try and create problems elsewhere as well," Mr. Gates told reporters.
U.S. officials have said previously they don't see Iran as being the cause of any of the popular revolts that have swept the region. But they have expressed concern that protracted political turmoil could benefit Tehran, whose Shiite Muslim religion makes it a natural ally of Shiite protesters against the Sunni rulers in Bahrain, in particular.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703280904576247230001105602.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Iran hails warships' mission in Mediterranean Iranian officials on Tuesday ...
Iran hails warships' mission in Mediterranean
Iranian officials on Tuesday hailed the passage of two warships through Egypt's Suez Canal as a milestone in Iran's effort to play a greater role in maritime affairs.
Israeli officials called it a worrisome provocation at a time of upheaval and deepening tension in the Middle East.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/22/AR2011022206595.html
Foreign military intervention in Bahrain is considered ‘occupation’: MP Top ...
Foreign military intervention in Bahrain is considered ‘occupation’: MP
Top legislator Alaeddin Boroujerdi has called Saudi Arabia’s military involvement in Bahrain “occupation”, urging the country to withdraw its troops as soon as possible.
“Such measures do not help the promotion of security in the region,” Boroujerdi, the chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee stated on Sunday.
“Given the fact that Bahrain is an independent country and is a member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the United Nations, we consider the deployment of foreign forces in this country as occupation,” he stated.
Saudi Arabia’s policy of keeping silence in the face of main issues of the Islamic world such as the occupation of Palestine and the Zionist regime’s brutal aggression against the oppressed people of Gaza is not in the interests of the Islamic world, the lawmaker noted.
Meanwhile, the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers met in Riyadh amid growing tension between Iran and the Arab states over Tehran’s refusal to support crackdown on peaceful protesters in Arab states.
The extraordinary meeting comes after Tehran warned Riyadh that it was “playing with fire” by deploying troops in neighboring Bahrain while Kuwait claimed it had uncovered an Iranian spy ring.
On Saturday, the council’s new Secretary General Abdullatif al-Zayani accused Iran of meddling in the internal affairs of the council member states, claiming it “threatened security and stability in the region.”
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Index_view.asp?code=237882
Qatar recognises Libyan rebel body as legitimate Qatar became the first Ar...
Qatar recognises Libyan rebel body as legitimate
Qatar became the first Arab country on Monday to recognise Libya's rebels as the people's legitimate representative, in a move that may presage similar moves from other Gulf states.
Word of the decision came a day after a senior Libyan rebel official said Qatar had agreed to market crude oil produced from eastern fields no longer under the control of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
"This recognition comes from a conviction that the council has become, practically, a representative of Libya and its brotherly people," the Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a diplomatic note on Monday.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/28/uk-libya-qatar-idUKTRE72R5S220110328
Libyan Karzai? Chalabi? Forget it
Predictable Western political interference in Libya is reminiscent of recent involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
NATO's political mission "should swiftly identify and nurture a national opposition and plot the path for a post-conflict transition to democracy, probably under UN auspices", or so advises the Financial Times in its lead editorial, "Plotting the Way Forward".
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/2011/03/2011328194855872276.html
Al Jazeera Forum: Ahmet Davutoglu ...
Al Jazeera Forum: Ahmet Davutoglu
Turkey's foreign minister talks about how the region has rediscovered its sense of possessing a common destiny.
There were two abnormalities in the last century in our region. The first abnormality was colonialism. And the second abnormality was the Cold War, which divided the societies, the countries, which divided our region. The first abnormality, colonialism, in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, divided the region into colonial entities and separated the natural links between tribes and communities. For example, Syria was a French colony, while Iraq was a British colony. The link between Damascus and Baghdad, the historical link, was cut off. The economic links were cut.
The second abnormality was the Cold War. The countries were divided because of the Cold War - South Yemen, North Yemen. Those countries who lived together for centuries became enemies to each other, like Turkey and Syria. We were in NATO. Syria was pro-Soviet. Our border became not the border of two nation states, but the border of two blocs.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/03/20113131351569612.html
Mideast Without Despots Needs Different US Surge: Albert Hunt http://www.bu...
History's shifting sands
The revolutions sweeping the Arab world indicate a tectonic shift in the global balance of people power.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/02/201122518445333563.html
Defiant Gaddafi confined to Tripoli
Libyan leader continues to blame foreigners and al-Qaeda for the unrest that is threatening his 41-year rule.
Blaming al-Qaeda
In an interview with Serbian television, a defiant Gaddafi repeated his message that he will stay in Libya and blamed foreigners and al-Qaeda for the unrest that is threatening his 41-year rule.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/201122792426740496.html
Counter-terrorism and Arab revolt
The West should not fear recent uprisings, as they address legitimate grievances.
Faustian bargins
The fact of the matter is that for those seized by the long-term struggle to deal with the scourge of terrorism in the Islamic world, the "Arab revolt" is the best possible news; and for the terrorists themselves, it is the worst that could happen.
For an American to begin to understand why, it is necessary to understand the inherent contradiction which has lain at the heart of the Faustian bargain upon which American counter-terrorism policy in much of the Arab and Muslim worlds has been built.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/02/2011226173255184637.html
Iran hails warships' mission in Mediterranean Iranian officials on Tuesday ...
Iran hails warships' mission in Mediterranean
Iranian officials on Tuesday hailed the passage of two warships through Egypt's Suez Canal as a milestone in Iran's effort to play a greater role in maritime affairs.
Israeli officials called it a worrisome provocation at a time of upheaval and deepening tension in the Middle East.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/22/AR2011022206595.html
US doubling down on Mideast horses ...
US doubling down on Mideast horses
People in Palestine will trust US stewardship once again if Obama applies consistent political standards to PA leaders.
A wave of popular uprisings in the Middle East is sending a clear message to those in power − and those who aspire to be in power − in the Arab world. Together with the release of several sets of leaked secret documents, they are making it clear that one should never bet on America’s horse.
"America's horse" is the Arab leader who is backed by the United States and given a license to rule however he deems appropriate, as long as he doesn’t threaten Israel's security or other American interests in the region. In return, he is allowed to abuse human rights and deny his people economic and political rights. With America’s sanction, and under the banner of fighting Islamic fundamentalism, he can crush any opposition that arises.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/02/20112710311546108.html
The Middle East in Revolt After decades of living under...
After decades of living under oppressive dictatorships, the people of the Arab world are rising up to stake their claim to democracy. Inside the historic popular upheaval that began in Tunisia and is spreading to Egypt and across the vital region
A Model of Middle East Democracy, Turkey Calls for Change in Egypt
Turkey's tough-talking Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, arguably the most popular political leader in the Middle East today, has stepped into the fray to back the protesters in Egypt and urge Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to announce a plan for the transition to a new government.
E.U. Calls for Orderly Transition in Egypt
Despite worries that the popular uprising in Egypt might be hijacked by forces hostile to Western interests, foreign ministers from the European Union on Monday called for an orderly transition, saying they supported substantial democratic reform and free and fair elections there.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/world/europe/01iht-union01.html
The 'bin Laden' of marginalisation ...
The 'bin Laden' of marginalisation
The real terror eating away at the Arab world is socio-economic marginalisation.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/01/201111413424337867.html
Acknowledging political Islam ...
Acknowledging political Islam
The US has historically supported suppressive secular regimes in the Middle East, a policy with obvious shortcomings.
"Regimes that fight, survive."
The words were those of a senior member of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), the "house" think-tank of AIPAC, the pro-Israel US lobbying organisation. Spoken at a scholarly conference in 1992, they were meant as a reproach to people like me, who argued that an ageing generation of autocratic leaders in the Middle East risked facilitating the rise of a wave of violent, anti-democratic Islamists unless they were willing to accommodate the aspirations of the seemingly more democratically-inclined Islamists in their midst.
A movement to which we referred in those days as "political Islam" was gaining momentum throughout the region, and there was much disagreement among Western scholars and government practitioners as to how - or indeed whether - to accommodate it. The language of political opposition in the region, then as now, was overwhelmingly Islamic; the question was whether there were any useful distinctions to be made among the various Islamist currents, and whether any would permanently accept a democratic model - or instead adhere, as many feared, to a doctrine of "one man, one vote, one time."
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/01/20111294810405799.html
Israeli 'disappointment' over Russia-Hamas meeting Israel expressed "dee...
Israeli 'disappointment' over Russia-Hamas meeting
Israel expressed "deep disappointment" Thursday over a meeting the Russian president held this week in Syria with exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.
"Hamas is a terror organization whose declared goal is the destruction of the state of Israel," the statement read. "Hamas is responsible for the murder of hundreds of innocent civilians, among them immigrants from the Soviet Union and also Russian citizens."
"Enlightened countries should not divide terrorists into good and bad according to geographical divisions," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said. "Terrorists are terrorists, and Israel does not see any difference between the terror Hamas activates against Israel and the Chechnyan terror activated against Russia.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/05/13/israel.russia.hamas/
Russia defends Medvedev-Hamas talks
"Hamas is not an artificial structure," Andrei Nesterenko, the Russian foreign ministry spokesman, said in a statement on Thursday.
"It is a movement that draws on the trust and sympathy of a large number of Palestinians. We have regular contacts with this movement.
"It is known that all other participants of the Middle East quartet are also in some sort of contact with Hamas leadership, although for some unknown reason they are shy to publicly admit it," Nesterenko said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/2010513174552529454.html
Iran: U.S. troops in Afghanistan raise "radicalism" http://uk.reuters.com/a...
Iran: U.S. troops in Afghanistan raise "radicalism"
http://uk.reuters.com/article/usTopNews/idUKTRE52T7KS20090331
U.S. keeping a vigilant eye on Pakistan Hours after the Sept. 11, 2001, atta...
U.S. keeping a vigilant eye on Pakistan
Hours after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Pakistan’s leaders were given an ultimatum by the Bush administration: Because the looming war in Afghanistan could not be won without Pakistan’s help, Islamabad would have to choose between continuing its alliance with the Taliban or joining forces with the United States.
Just shy of 10 years later, President Barack Obama’s announcement Wednesday night that he is beginning the long-anticipated withdrawal from Afghanistan marks another step in the gradual reversal of that calculus. Although the president could not say so directly, one of the constraints on America’s retreat from a hard and bloody decade is the recognition that, more than ever, the United States will be relying on Afghanistan’s help to deal with the threats emerging from Pakistan.
The administration argues that the killing of Osama bin Laden last month at his compound deep inside Pakistan, combined with scores of other counterterrorism strikes, have given it greater leeway to reduce its troop numbers in Afghanistan. Yet Pakistan’s angry reaction to that raid also makes it more urgent than ever that the United States maintain sites outside the country to launch drone and commando raids against the militant networks that remain in Pakistan, and to make sure that Pakistan’s fast-growing nuclear arsenal never falls into the wrong hands.
“What the Abbottabad raid demonstrated more vividly than ever is that we need a base to strike targets in Pakistan, and the geography is simple: You need to do that from Afghanistan,” said Bruce Reidel, a retired CIA officer who conducted Obama’s first review of strategy in the region.
Their first is to assure that Afghanistan never again becomes a launching pad for attacks on the United States. But the more urgent reason is Pakistan. In his speech, Obama invited Pakistan to expand its peaceful cooperation in the region, but he also noted that Pakistan must live up to its commitments and that “the U.S. will never tolerate a safe haven for those who would destroy us.”
Pakistan has made it clear that it will never allow U.S. forces to be based there. As relations have turned more hostile with the United States, it has refused to issue visas to large numbers of CIA officers and seems to be moving quickly to close the U.S. drone base in Shamsi, Pakistan.
For their part, administration officials make it clearer than ever that they view Pakistan’s harboring of terrorist groups as the more urgent problem.
“We don’t see a transnational threat coming out of Afghanistan,” a senior administration official briefing reporters before the president’s speech said Wednesday. Later he added, “The threat has come from Pakistan.”
http://www.bendbulletin.com/article/20110623/NEWS0107/106230403/
Seized Phone Offers Clues to Bin Laden’s Pakistani Links
The cellphone of Osama bin Laden’s trusted courier, which was recovered in the raid that killed both men in Pakistan last month, contained contacts to a militant group that is a longtime asset of Pakistan’s intelligence agency, senior American officials who have been briefed on the findings say.
The discovery indicates that Bin Laden used the group, Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen, as part of his support network inside the country, the officials and others said. But it also raised tantalizing questions about whether the group and others like it helped shelter and support Bin Laden on behalf of Pakistan’s spy agency, given that it had mentored Harakat and allowed it to operate in Pakistan for at least 20 years, the officials and analysts said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/24/world/asia/24pakistan.html
Pakistan issues arrest warrant for Pervez Musharraf A Pakistani anti-terr...
Pakistan issues arrest warrant for Pervez Musharraf
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has issued an arrest warrant for former military ruler Pervez Musharraf over the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in 2007.
Prosecutors say he was aware of Taliban plans to target her but did not act to prevent her murder in Rawalpindi.
They accuse him of failing to provide adequate security for the former PM.
Mr Musharraf - who lives in self-imposed exile in London - denies the allegations.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12438702
Leaks expose US and UK fears over Pakistan nuclear arms US and UK diplomats...
Leaks expose US and UK fears over Pakistan nuclear arms
US and UK diplomats feared Pakistan's nuclear material could fall into the hands of terrorists, the latest leaked classified US diplomatic cables reveal.
The documents, released by Wikileaks, warn that Pakistan is rapidly building its nuclear stockpile despite the country's growing instability.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11882019
Factbox: A chronology of U.S.-Pakistani ties Relations between the United St...
Factbox: A chronology of U.S.-Pakistani ties
Relations between the United States and Pakistan have been on a roller-coaster for nearly 60 years. Following is a chronology of some of the ups and downs.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6991FD20101010
Musharraf plans to return to Pakistan with new party The former military ru...
Musharraf plans to return to Pakistan with new party
The former military ruler of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf has said he is forming a new political party with a view to returning to politics in the country.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11269077
Pervez Musharraf to launch new Pakistan political party
Former Pakistan military ruler Pervez Musharraf is to launch his new political party on Friday.
Several of his associates have arrived in London where the All Pakistan Muslim League will be unveiled, reports say.
The former president told the BBC that the government in Pakistan was dysfunctional and the economy and the country were failing.
"When there is a dysfunctional government and the nation is going down, its economy is going down, there is a clamour, there is a pressure on the military by the people," he told the BBC's Today programme ahead of the launch on Friday.
"There is a sense of despondency spreading in Pakistan and the place that they go to is the military. There is nobody else people can go to."
Mr Musharraf said he was launching the party in London because he risked assassination if he returned to Pakistan. He has survived a number of plots in the past.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11450507
Pakistan arrests halt secret UN contacts with Taliban The UN's former ...
Pakistan arrests halt secret UN contacts with Taliban
The UN's former envoy to Afghanistan, Kai Eide, has strongly criticised Pakistan's recent arrest of high-ranking Taliban leaders.
Mr Eide told the BBC the arrests had completely stopped a channel of secret communications with the UN.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8575623.stm
U.S. Says Pakistan Ties Have Strengthened The U.S. military field reports r...
U.S. Says Pakistan Ties Have Strengthened
The U.S. military field reports released by WikiLeaks paint a picture of Pakistan from 2004 to 2009 in which the country's chief spy agency undermines and even inflames the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan.
But U.S. officials contend that in the past several months, Pakistan's stance has become much more nuanced than portrayed in the WikiLeaks reports, released Sunday by the document-publishing website. U.S. officials argue that the two nations have made strides in deepening military and civilian ties, chiefly in response to a Pakistani military offensive begun almost two years ago against Taliban militants operating on Pakistani soil. In return, the U.S. has pledged billions of dollars in new military and civilian aid.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703292704575392981512066138.html
...
US support for Pakistan questioned
The US should restrict military assistance to Pakistan until Islamabad ends its support for armed groups operating on its territory, US researchers have said.
The Rand Corporation, a nonprofit study group frequently hired by the Pentagon, said an unsuccessful strategy in combating these groups was partly to blame for an increase in attack plots in the US.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/06/20106214473932922.html
...
US mulls unilateral Pakistan raids
The US military is developing plans for a unilateral attack on the Pakistani Taliban in the event of a successful attack in the US that can be traced to them, The Washington Post reports.
Planning for a retaliatory attack was spurred by ties between Faisal Shahzad, the alleged Times Square bomber, and elements of the Pakistani Taliban, the US newspaper said in an article posted on its website on Friday night, quoting unidentified senior military officials.
The military would focus on air and missile raids but also could use small teams of US special operations troops currently along the border with Afghanistan, the report said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/05/20105296251760640.html
U.S. Offers Pakistan Drones to Urge Cooperation The United States will prov...
U.S. Offers Pakistan Drones to Urge Cooperation
The United States will provide a dozen unarmed aerial spy drones to Pakistan for the first time as part of an effort to encourage Pakistan’s cooperation in fighting Islamic militants on the Afghanistan border, American defense officials said Thursday. But Pakistani military leaders, rebuffing American pressure, said they planned no new offensives for at least six months.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/world/asia/22gates.html
Now, U.S. Sees Pakistan as a Cause Distinct From Afghanistan The big idea be...
Now, U.S. Sees Pakistan as a Cause Distinct From Afghanistan
The big idea behind the Obama administration’s long-in-the-making policy for Afghanistan andPakistan was that the two countries are inextricably linked. The key to stabilizing Afghanistan, the White House concluded five weeks ago, is a stable and cooperative Pakistan.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/01/world/asia/01policy.html?_r=1&ref=world
Iran hails NAM summit as coup against West
Tehran says US policies have failed to isolate it; more than 30 heads of state to attend summit; Syria could expose divisions between members.
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=282421
Panetta: Iran Has Not Yet Decided to Make a Nuclear Bomb
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says Iran is laying the groundwork for making nuclear weapons someday, but is not yet building a bomb and called for continued diplomatic and economic pressure to persuade Tehran not to take that step.
As he has previously, Panetta cautioned against a unilateral strike by Israel against Iran's nuclear facilities, saying the action could trigger Iranian retaliation against U.S. forces in the region.
"We have common cause here" with Israel, he said. "And the better approach is for us to work together."
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/08/panetta-iran-has-not-yet-decided-to-make-nuclear-bomb/
Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant connected to national grid Iran's first nuclea...
Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant connected to national grid
Iran's first nuclear power station has been connected to the country's electricity grid, state news reports.
Bushehr was supplying 60 megawatts of its 1,000 megawatt capacity to the national grid, officials said.
But the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said it is "increasingly concerned" that Iran is also secretly working on components for a nuclear weapons programme.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14779227
Iran to send monkey into space ...
Iran to send monkey into space
Five simians undergoing tests for flight on board a Kavoshgar-5 rocket.
Western countries are concerned the long-range ballistic technology used to propel Iranian satellites into orbit could be used to launch atomic warheads.
Tehran denies such suggestions and says its nuclear work is purely for peaceful use.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/201162812040876380.html
Iranian navy ships enter Suez Canal ...
Iranian navy ships enter Suez Canal
The naval vessels are the first from Iran to transit through the waterway since the country's 1979 Islamic revolution.
Two Iranian naval ships have entered Egypt's Suez Canal and are heading towards the Mediterranean, a canal official said.
"They entered the canal at 5:45am," the official told Reuters news agency on Tuesday.
The two vessels, Alvand, a patrol frigate and Kharg, a supply ship, are the first naval vessels to go through the canal since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, after which diplomatic ties between Egypt and Iran were strained.
Egypt's ruling military council, facing its first diplomatic challenge since taking power on February 11, approved the vessels' passage through the canal.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201122244215758692.html
As Iran talks begin, Israel urges forceful action Israeli officials defen...
As Iran talks begin, Israel urges forceful action
Israeli officials defend Meir Dagan’s estimate that ayatollahs still years away from bomb, saying this proves there is time yet to prevail.
“What the international community needs to do now is take advantage of the time and act forcefully,” the official said.
Jerusalem hoped that the meeting in Istanbul would lead to a ratcheting up of diplomatic and economic sanctions against Iran, the official said.
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=204605
Iran's education reform takes anti-Western tack Iran is overhauling its ed...
Iran's education reform takes anti-Western tack
Iran is overhauling its education system to rid it of Western influence, the latest attempt by the government to fortify Islamic values and counter the clout of the country's increasingly secularized middle class.
Starting in September, all Iranian high school students will be introduced to new courses such as "political training" and "living skills" that will warn against "perverted political movements" and encourage girls to marry at an early age, Education Ministry officials say.
In universities, the curriculums of law, psychology, sociology and other studies will be drastically altered, with officials from the Science Ministry, which has responsibility for higher education, working to strip out what they describe as Western theories and replace them with Islamic ones. Dozens of professors have already retired or been fired on the grounds that they did not sufficiently support the new policy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/01/AR2011010102284.html
Olmert: We can stop Iran without strike Former prime minister Ehud Olmert, w...
Olmert: We can stop Iran without strike
Former prime minister Ehud Olmert, who led Israel’s efforts to prevent a nuclear Iran during his three-year premiership, expressed certainty on Sunday that the Islamic Republic’s nuclearization can be prevented without resorting to a military confrontation.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=168729
Clinton ramps up rhetoric on Iran
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has said that Iran is heading towards a "military dictatorship" and warned it poses an international threat.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/02/2010215103440320234.html
Pressure on Iran Increases From U.S.
By going public with those findings at a high-profile event in the Persian Gulf, however, senior U.S. officials and Iran analysts said the administration may be able to rally world opinion against the elite military group in a way it has yet to manage against the religious leaders who sit atop the regime.
Gates: Military force is not the only way to deter Iran US Defens...
Gates: Military force is not the only way to deter Iran
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday that American diplomatic and economic efforts to halt Iran's nuclear program need more time, rebuffing Israel's call for military force.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday that the threat of force was not the only way to deter Iran from pursuing its nuclear program.
The comments, made as Gates was traveling in Australia, were seen as a rejection of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement yesterday in Washington that Iran could only be deterred from making nuclear weapons by the threat of military force.
Gates' statement highlights the gap between the US and Israeli governments on how hard a line to take on Iran, even as a new round of negotiations for a nuclear fuel-swap deal looks set to take place in Turkey this month.
Both countries aim to convince Iran to halt its nuclear program. But Israel has been pressing for tougher measures against Tehran – including the threat of military action. The White House, on the other hand, wants to give economic sanctions more time to work.
"I disagree that only a credible military threat can get Iran to take the actions that it needs to, to end its nuclear weapons program. We are prepared to do what is necessary, but, at this point, we continue to believe that the political-economic approach that we are taking is, in fact, having an impact on Iran," he said.
Iran Says Capture of Rebel Is Blow to U.S. Iranian officials on Tuesday hai...
Iran Says Capture of Rebel Is Blow to U.S.
Iranian officials on Tuesday hailed the capture of a Sunni rebel leader as a major antiterrorist coup, and sought to portray his arrest as a victory over Britain, the United States and Israel, saying those countries had supported the insurgent group.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/world/middleeast/24insurgent.html
Iran–Iraq War
The war began when Iraq invaded Iran on 22 September 1980 following a long history of border disputes and fears of Shia insurgency among Iraq's long-suppressed Shia majority influenced by the Iranian Revolution.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_War
US Calls Iranian Nuclear Offer Unacceptable At a news briefing, State Depar...
US Calls Iranian Nuclear Offer Unacceptable
At a news briefing, State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley called the Iranian offer "a red herring" - a diversion that would do nothing to reassure the world community that its nuclear program is peaceful. "Under the Iranian proposal, there would be an exchange, but that would require the international community to front its own fuel to satisfy Iranian needs, while Iran continues to violate its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Non-Proliferation_Treaty
Russia’s Game in Syria
Last week, Russia and China vetoed the UN Security Council resolution on Syria, which was sponsored by the Arab League and supported by all other members of the council. Moscow said the resolution was unacceptable since it calls for an immediate transfer of power by Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, and does not put any responsibility for violence on the Syrian opposition, which some observers think is enjoying the clandestine support of Arab states and the West.
Apart from the traditional Russian concerns for international law and its principle of non-interference in internal affairs of sovereign states, there was also a new fear of being manipulated by Western powers to sanction regime change, as it happened with the UN resolution on Libya last year.
http://russiaprofile.org/experts_panel/54657.html
Russia’s Game in Syria
Syria crisis: UN assembly adopts Arab-backed resolution
The Arab-backed initiative, which also calls on President Bashar al-Assad to resign, is the latest of several attempts to bring an end to the crisis.
Syria said the move would only worsen the crisis and encourage "terrorists".
Earlier, China said it was sending a senior envoy to Damascus to negotiate a "peaceful and proper" solution.
The non-binding resolution adopted by the General Assembly backs an Arab League plan aimed at stopping the killings. It was modelled on an earlier resolution in the Security Council that was vetoed by Russia and China.
Unlike its precursor, the resolution endorsed by the assembly has no legal authority, but the BBC's Barbara Plett, at the UN, said its backers hope it would increase political pressure on Damascus to end the violence.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17065056#TWEET79601