LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 29/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
But if you had known what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice”, you would not have condemned the guiltless
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 12/01-14: “At that time Jesus went through the cornfields on the sabbath;  his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.’He said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests.Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice”, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.’ He left that place and entered their synagogue; a man was there with a withered hand, and they asked him, ‘Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath? ’ so that they might accuse him. He said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out?How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath. ’Then he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and it was restored, as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on April 28-29/19
Audi Urges Absolute National Allegiance, Stresses Need for State of Economic Emergency
Maronite Patriarch Calls for Reformist, Austere Budget
Lebanon Launches Campaign to Remove Violations on Power Grid
Jumblat Says Shebaa Farms Maps Manipulated, Vows 'Calm' Confrontation
PSP Reassures on Mt. Lebanon Stability amid Tensions
Lebanese Man, Wife and 5-Year-Old Son Killed in Venezuela
Beirut enters the 'Guinness Book' by setting a world record in the number of flags raised within 24 hours
Kanaan from Beit Shabab: For closing money waste channels through a reform budget, sound financial accounts
Daoud says the talk about increasing revenues from the pockets of the poor is baseless
Geagea praises Boustani's move to curb electricity thefts
Lakkis says there is a unanimous political will to have a wellstudied, controlled budget
Bassil: 'Balou Balaa' will become a tourist destination

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 28-29/19
Azhar Celebrates Easter with Copts, Criticizes Use of Religion in Fueling Conflicts
Damascus, Tel Aviv Exchange ‘Goodwill’ Gestures
Egypt, Italy Discuss Illegal Migration, Counter-Terrorism Efforts
Iran says leaving nuclear treaties possible
Iran Threatens to Quit Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Iran FM Planning on Visiting North Korea
Israel Frees Two Prisoners to Syria after Russian Mediation
Hamas Leader Ready to Meet Abbas to Confront ‘Deal of the Century’
Gulf Acquisitions, Mergers Grow by 39 Percent
Saudi Royal Advisor in Khashoggi Trial No-Show
Voting Begins in Spain Election Marked by Far-Right Resurgence

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 28-29/19
Annihilation of Christian Life and People: Where is the Outrage in the West?Meeting Catastrophe with Indifference/Giulio Meotti/Gatestone Institute/April 28/2019
Building up to the Sudanese Uprising/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 28/19
International unity a must if Iran is to change course/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/April 28/2019

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on April 28-29/19
Audi Urges Absolute National Allegiance, Stresses Need for State of Economic Emergency
Kataeb.org/Sunday 28th April 2019/Beirut Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elias Audi on Sunday demanded the government to turn all its promises into actions, stressing the need to declare a state of economic emergency and to have absolute allegiance for Lebanon only. “Corruption has turned into a general rule and squandering has become permitted," he said in his sermon during Easter mass. “They have made Lebanon as it is today. The government has become a miniature replica of the Parliament, all audit bodies are crippled and accountability is obstructed," he deplored. "Now everyone has suddenly started preaching about ending squandering after they realized that the state's collapse will not spare anyone." “Everyone is involved in the weakening of the state and the marginalization of laws. They all have contributed to the protection of corruption; some obstructed the state while others hindered major deadlines or tarnished our democratic system," he said.The Archbishop stressed that what is needed now is less talk and more seriousness in work, calling on politicians to put their bickering aside, to strengthen supervisory bodies and track down those who usurped public funds. “What is needed is to limit expenses and refrain from cutting the salaries of junior public employees who earn money through hard work. Tax collection must be enhanced, squandering must be halted and thieves should be prosecuted." Audi called for a "real revolution" against lies and empty slogans, urging political and administrative reform that prevents further degradation of political ethics and purges the Judiciary in order to make it an independent authority that does not yield to political meddling.

Maronite Patriarch Calls for Reformist, Austere Budget

Kataeb.org/Sunday 28th April 2019/Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rahi on Sunday urged the government and the Parliament to speed up the approval of a new state budget, adding that it must control squandering and adopt austerity. "The government must reduce its budget deficit and the parliament must modernize the laws in order to attract investments,” he said in his Sunday sermon.

Lebanon Launches Campaign to Remove Violations on Power Grid
Beirut - Youssef Diab/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 28/19/Lebanese Energy Minister Nada al-Boustani accompanied on Saturday a technical team and security forces to remove violations on the power grid in Beirut. “There is a political agreement to support this effort,” Boustani said from the Hamra neighborhood as she kicked off her campaign to restructure the electricity sector and eliminate violations on the grid. “The municipality of Beirut supports a decision to tackle any electricity theft,” she said, adding that next week, the ministry would decrease the installation fee by more than 75 percent and allow violators to apply for a power subscription. She said the campaign was not directed against the people, but aims to help reduce the losses on the grid and better distribute power. Boustani’s campaign raised several questions over its timing and whether it would exclude areas where political parties wield significant influence. A source close to the energy minister told Asharq Al-Awsat that the campaign was launched after the cabinet approved a plan to restructure the power sector. The plan includes a central article on removing violations. “The violations are not limited to a certain area, but they are present everywhere in varying degrees. A plan has been set to remove them all and warrants are being prepared,” added the source. He predicted that the campaign will be a success given the political consensus that was reached over it at cabinet and after it was agreed to remove political protection off the violators. The campaign aims to ensure equal rights among all people, increase tax collection and reduce the deficit at Electricite du Liban and improve power supplies. Economy expert Dr. Sami Nader backed the ministry’s campaign and said it would help reform the electricity sector, which remains the first item of a list of conditions set by donor states that pledged to help Lebanon during the CEDRE conference held in Paris last year.

Jumblat Says Shebaa Farms Maps Manipulated, Vows 'Calm' Confrontation
Naharnet/April 28/19/Progressive Socialist Party chief ex-MP Walid Jumblat has announced that the maps of the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms had been "manipulated," amid a war of words in Lebanon over the identity of the territory. "After this flurry of accusations and attacks, I remind that after the liberation in 2000 I voiced the same stance, when I called for the redeployment of the Syrian army," Jumblat tweeted, referring to his call that Syrian forces withdraw from Beirut and Mount Lebanon towards the Bekaa. "Back then, treason accusations were launched and today as well. There might be land lots owned by Lebanese citizens in the Shebaa Farms, Kfarshouba and elsewhere, but ownership is different than sovereignty, after the maps were manipulated," Jumblat added. And reminding that the political parties had agreed during the 2006 national dialogue to "verify the Lebanese identity of the Shebaa Farms" and demarcate the border in coordination with the U.N., Jumblat said "the Syrian government refused to give Lebanon papers to confirm the Farms' Lebanese identity."He added: "This resulted in keeping sovereignty ambigous until the moment, but we won a (Syrian) embassy (in Lebanon). This is the old new theory about the unification of the (Lebanese and Syrian) tracks" in the negotiations with Israel. "Is it prohibited to think and remind? Anyhow, launch treason accusations and analyze as you wish. We will continue our path calmly and leave the podiums of libel and slander to you," Jumblat went on to say.

PSP Reassures on Mt. Lebanon Stability amid Tensions

Naharnet/April 28/19/The Progressive Socialist Party has stressed that stability and security in the Chouf and Aley regions remain a "red line" despite the rising political tensions between PSP chief Walid Jumblat and his rivals. "The escalatory stances aim to stir strife in Mount Lebanon, but had it not been for Jumblat's efforts and wisdom in preventing his party members and supporters from responding to provocations, we would have witnessed destabilization in Mt. Lebanon," a PSP source told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published Sunday. "Mt. Lebanon's security and stability are a red line and we in the PSP and the Democratic Gathering had demanded that security be exclusively controlled by the Lebanese Army and legitimate security forces," the source added. "We, in turn, lift the cover off any person, should any incidents happen," the source went on to say, warning that some are trying to drag the PSP into a "strife demanded by Bashar al-Assad." Tensions have surged in recent days after Jumblat's Druze rivals criticized him over his stances on the Syrian regime and the occupied Shebaa Farms. The situation is also tense between Jumblat and Hizbullah in connection with the controversy over the cement factory in Ain Dara.

Lebanese Man, Wife and 5-Year-Old Son Killed in Venezuela
Naharnet/April 28/19/A Lebanese man and his Venezuelan wife and young son of less than 5 years old were all killed in Venezuela by a theft gang, the National News Agency reported on Saturday. Youssef Khalil Noureddine, 26, a native of Jeb Jennin in the Bekaa, and his family were shot dead by a gang of three-member thieves who broke into their house in Venezuela. The victim tried to stop the burglars but they opened gunfire killing all three. According to relatives, Venezuelan police opened an investigation and were able to identify one of the gangsters, said NNA.

Beirut enters the 'Guinness Book' by setting a world record in the number of flags raised within 24 hours

Sun 28 Apr 2019/NNA - The Beirut Alive Association successfully completed its official attempt to break the world record by the number of national flags raised in 24 hours, thus leading to the capital's breaking of the Waterloo record in New York and entering the "Guinness Book of World Records".
The initiative began at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning and ended at 1:30 a.m. today. The organizers, together with a group of volunteers from the "Scouts of Makassed", "Scouts of Lebanon", "Scouts of al-Jarrah Association" and "Auto Khaled", broke the Waterloo 25599 record number at around 1:00 a.m. on Sunday, reaching a total of 26852 raised Lebanese flags by 4 p.m. The event was organized under the patronage of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, represented by MP Rola Tabsh Jaroudi, at the Nejmeh Square in downtown Beirut, in the presence of Economic and Social Council Member, Mohammed Al-Jouzou, the Guinness World Records Monitoring Supervisor, Ahmed Jabr, and independent witnesses from "Al-IIttihad Law firms" and various prominent figures.After raising the flag that broke the world record, MP Tabsh congratulated the Beirut Alive Association for this remarkable individual and national initiative par excellence, adorning Beirut with thousands of Lebanese flags and entering the Book of Guinness. "Beirut said its word today: nothing surpasses the Lebanese flag!" exclaimed Tabsh. She added: "This flag has been raised through the blood of the nation's sons, the dignity of its Cedars, and the pride and purity of its heart...with its colors recalling an unforgettable history.""We are gathered today in this arena at the invitation of the Beirut Alive Association, which is launching its first activity and sending a message of peace from the heart of the capital to all, namely that regardless of the extent of raised flags, there is only one flag for all people of the nation, which is the Lebanese flag," Tabsh underscored. The President of the Beirut Alive Association, Bakr Halawi, later received an honorary shield from the Guinness Committee, amidst the cheers of a large crowd of citizens who gathered at Nejmeh Square carrying the longest Lebanese flag.

Kanaan from Beit Shabab: For closing money waste channels through a reform budget, sound financial accounts
Sun 28 Apr 2019/NNA - "Change and Reform" Parliamentary Bloc Secretary, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, called Sunday for closing the channels of money waste through endorsing a budget that includes the necessary reforms and sound financial accounts. "A reform budget and sound financial accounts will allow us to rectify our financial status, closing all channels of waste expenditure and turning the state into electoral machines," he said. Kanaan vowed that reform would be achieved since it is in the interest of the state and all the Lebanese. "The mandate of President Michel Aoun is one of justice...and from this perspective, we support righteousness without targeting any innocent side while providing no cover for the guilty," he assured in response to a question regarding the battle against corruption. Kanaan's words came during his meeting with partisans at the "Free Patriotic Movement" branch in the town of Beit Shabab in the Metn region today. Earlier in the morning, the MP attended a Mass service in the "Church of Saint Anthony the Great" presided over by Father Badih Hajj, who raised prayers in his religious sermon for the Lord's success and blessing of the current presidential mandate and for Lebanon to witness a flourishing and bright future, overcoming all its crises. Kanaan, in turn, expressed his well-wishes on the Easter occasion, saying: "We are going through difficult conditions and the region is on the top of a volcano...yet, with the wisdom of the President of the Republic and the understandings we have deeply-rooted and our belief in the country, we can spare the nation many turbulences.""We are the most stable country in the region and our army is strong and we seek to be up to the responsibility of improving the economy and avoiding the financial problems, so as to prevent young citizens from migrating and so that the Lebanese would feel the state's concern and believe in their future," Kanaan reassured."Together we win, and divided we lose!" he underscored.

Daoud says the talk about increasing revenues from the pockets of the poor is baseless
Sun 28 Apr 2019/NNA - "We are not willing to accept that the increase of state revenues be from the pockets of the underprivileged and those with limited income, nor through imposing new taxes that would impact people's livelihood and their social and economic security, nor through tampering with the rightful gains accorded to state employees through the wage grid," affirmed Culture Minister, Mohammed Daoud, via his Twitter account today.
Daoud categorically denied all recent talk about such possible measures, assuring that they have no truthful grounds whatsoever.

Geagea praises Boustani's move to curb electricity thefts

Sun 28 Apr 2019/NNA - Lebanese Forces Party Leader, Samir Gegaea, praised on Sunday via his Twitter account the initiative of Energy Minister Nada Boustani to curb the electricity thefts as part of a broader plan to adjust the electricity sector. "It is an encouraging start for Minister of Energy Nada Boustani to remove illegal wires to reduce the losses on the electricity network," he said.

Lakkis says there is a unanimous political will to have a wellstudied, controlled budget

Sun 28 Apr 2019/NNA - Minister of Agriculture, Hassan al-Lakkis, disclosed Sunday that a unanimous political will exists among various constituents in the country, especially Amal Movement, to have a well-studied, balanced and controlled annual budget so as not to affect the social segments of low and medium income citizens. Speaking before a number of delegations comprising agricultural unions and social activists who visited him at his Bouday residence earlier today, Lakkis said: "Tuesday is the first meeting to discuss the budget and it might require some time, whereby the President has referred to the need for holding successive sessions before transferring it [budget] to parliament for endorsement."He confirmed the determination of various parties to reduce money waste and public deficit, while trying to find a balance between state revenues and expenditures. Asked about his recent Jordanian tour, Lakkis indicated that his meetings with officials focused on the agricultural domain, noting that he sensed their positive feedback in this respect. "The Higher Committee has addressed a letter to the Foreign Ministry to arrange a meeting between Jordan and Lebanon. We will meet with the Agricultural Committee at the beginning of the month of Ramadan," he added.

Bassil: 'Balou Balaa' will become a tourist destination

Sun 28 Apr 2019/NNA - Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Minister, Gebran Bassil, said Sunday through his Twitter account that efforts will be exerted to render "Balou Balaa", located near the Balaa Dam, a famous tourist destination
Bassil attached to his tweet a collection of photographs taken during his visit to the Bala'a district.

Latest LCCC English Miscellaneous Reports & News published on April 28-29/19
Azhar Celebrates Easter with Copts, Criticizes Use of Religion in Fueling Conflicts
Cairo - Walid Abul Rahman/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 28/19/Security forces intensified their security measures around churches as Coptic Christians in Egypt prepared for Easter celebrations. The Al-Azhar took part in the celebrations, underlining coexistence and brotherhood in the country and criticizing the exploitation of religion in fueling wars and conflicts. Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli sent a cable to Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria and Patriarch of Saint Marks Diocese on Saturday, in which he promoted peace among Egyptians. Pope Tawadros led the Easter Mass at the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Abbassiya in eastern Cairo. A representative of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and several ministers, ambassadors, statesmen, lawmakers and public figures attended the event. An Azhar source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the amicable and mutual visits between Muslims and Christians stem from the guidelines of Islam. The source added that Azhar teaches its students that “all Abrahamic religions have one divine source and all prophets are brothers.”Pope Tawadros received on Saturday Al-Azhar Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, along with Minister of Religious Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa and Grand Mufti Shawki Allam who congratulated him on the Easter holiday. Tayyeb stressed that Egypt’s values of coexistence reflect the real meanings of religions that have brought peace to their followers. Religions, however, are being abused to fuel wars and conflicts around the world, he said, referring to recent deadly attacks targeting mosques and churches in New Zealand and Sri Lanka respectively. In 2017, two bloody attacks targeted two churches in Tanta and Alexandria that left 160 people dead and injured. ISIS claimed responsibility for the terrorist attacks.

Damascus, Tel Aviv Exchange ‘Goodwill’ Gestures
Moscow, Beijing, London - Raed Jaber and Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 28 April/ 2019/A series of “goodwill gestures” emerged on Saturday between Damascus and Tel Aviv related to a prisoner exchange. An Israeli official said Tel Aviv decided in the past few days to release two Syrian prisoners as a goodwill gesture after the return of the remains of Israeli soldier Zachary Baumel. Baumel went missing during in a battle between Israeli and Syrian forces in Sultan Yaqub during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. His remains were recovered by Russian forces in Syria and returned to Israel earlier this month.
A Syrian regime source told Reuters that authorities had pressured Moscow to secure the prisoners’ release after news emerged that the Israeli soldier’s remains were being handed over. Israel’s Prison Service identified the two prisoners as Ahmed Khamis and Zidan Taweel. Khamis, from a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, was a member of the Palestinian Fatah group and was jailed in 2005 after he tried to infiltrate an Israeli military base in order to carry out an attack. Taweel, from the Syrian Druze village of Hader, was jailed in 2008 for drug smuggling. Meanwhile, Syria’s representative to the UN, Bashar al-Jaafari said on Saturday that “Turkey’s occupation is four times larger than Israel’s and that Turkey’s negative attitude to Syria is thus four times worst than Israel.” He compared the Israeli occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights to Ankara’s “occupation” of Syrian territory in the North. He charged that Turkey was occupying some 6,000 kms of Syrian land, encompassing Afrin and Idlib. He also accused it of constructing 70-km wall south of Manbij to separate it from Aleppo and imposing a Turkish curriculum at schools.

Egypt, Italy Discuss Illegal Migration, Counter-Terrorism Efforts

Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 28 April, 2019/Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi discussed with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte cooperation to address illegal migration. According to Ambassador Bassam Radi, spokesman for the Egyptian presidency, Sisi received Conte at his residence in Beijing on the sidelines of the Chinese Belt and Road project, where they discussed a number of joint issues. They discussed coordination in combating terrorism and illegal migration with Sisi stressing that the government’s efforts stem from its responsibility towards the security and stability of the Egyptian people, as well as the stability of the region. Sisi and Conte also tackled several regional files, starting with the Libyan crisis. The Egyptian leader underlined the importance of a comprehensive political solution in Libya, to preserve the unity of the country and its territorial integrity, said Radi. The solution will help restore the role of the state’s institutions and help eliminate terrorism, he added.

Iran says leaving nuclear treaties possible
Arab News/April 28/19/DUBAI/TEHRAN: Quitting a treaty designed to stop the spread of nuclear weapons is one of Iran’s “numerous choices” after the United States tightened sanctions on Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted saying by state media on Sunday.
Washington has decided not to renew exemptions from US sanctions to buyers of Iranian oil, in an effort to cut Iran’s vital oil exports to zero.“The Islamic Republic’s choices are numerous, and the country’s authorities are considering them... and leaving NPT (nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) is one of them,” state broadcaster IRIB’s website quoted Zarif as saying.  Meanwhile, Zarif said he will visit North Korea as both countries struggle under US sanctions. Iran’s official IRNA news agency quoted him saying that the visit is being planned and a date will be announced soon.
The United States has ramped up sanctions on Iran since President Donald Trump withdrew from its 2015 nuclear accord with world powers last year. The US has tightened sanctions on North Korea to try to persuade it to give up its nuclear weapons. An Iranian parliamentary delegation visited North Korea in December, and North Korea’s top diplomat, Ri Yong Ho, visited Iran in August.

Iran Threatens to Quit Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 28 April, 2019/Iran threatened on Sunday to withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in response to the United States tightening sanctions on Tehran. Iran’s “choices are numerous, and the country’s authorities are considering them ... and leaving NPT is one of them,” state broadcaster IRIB’s website quoted Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as saying. Tensions between Tehran and Washington have risen since the Trump administration withdrew last year from a 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran and began ratcheting up sanctions. Earlier this month, the United States blacklisted Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and demanded buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May or face sanctions. Iran has threatened in the past to leave the NPT, as US President Donald Trump moved to scrap the 2015 deal with world powers - the United States, Russia, China, Germany, Britain and France. On Wednesday, Zarif called the IRGC blacklisting “absurd”, but suggested Iran did not plan to respond militarily unless the United States changed the rules of engagement guiding how it interacts with Iran’s forces. The US military has not suggested it would alter its behavior after the blacklisting.

Iran FM Planning on Visiting North Korea

Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 28 April, 2019/Iran announced that Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif was planning on making a visit to North Korea, state television reported Sunday. “The date of this trip will be set and announced soon,” Iran television quoted Zarif as saying. It gave no further details. North Korea’s top diplomat, Ri Yong Ho, whose country faces international and US sanctions, visited Iran in August as the United States reintroduced sanctions against Tehran.

Israel Frees Two Prisoners to Syria after Russian Mediation
Reuters/Sunday 28th April 2019/Israel released two prisoners on Sunday, sending them back to Syria in what Damascus described as Russian-mediated reciprocation for the repatriation of the body of a long-missing Israeli soldier. Russia, a key Damascus ally, this month handed Israel the remains and personal effects of Zachary Baumel, who was declared missing in action along with two other Israeli soldiers following a 1982 tank battle with Syrian forces in Lebanon. A Syrian government source said Damascus then pressured Moscow to secure a prisoner release by Israel. There was no immediate comment on Sunday from Russia. The Israeli military said in a statement that two prisoners were transferred to the International Committee of the Red Cross at Quneitra crossing on the armistice line with the Syrian Golan Heights. The Israeli military statement described the two men as Syrians. Israel’s Prisons Service identified them as Ahmed Khamis, from a Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus, and Zidan Taweel, from the Syrian Druze village of Hader. Khamis was a member of the Fatah faction who was jailed in 2005 after trying to attack an Israeli army base, and Taweel was jailed in 2008 for drug smuggling, the Prisons Service said. Israel’s minister for regional cooperation, Tzachi Hanegbi, said the prisoner release did not constitute a swap with Syria, an enemy state. But he voiced hope that it might help with the recovery of other Israelis lost to the Syrians in past wars. “If with a gesture like this we leave the Syrians with less of a sour taste, then that is a positive thing,” he told Israel’s Army Radio.

Hamas Leader Ready to Meet Abbas to Confront ‘Deal of the Century’
Ramallah - Kifah Zboun/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 28/19/Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said he was ready to hold a quick meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in order to restore national unity to confront the “deal of the century” US peace proposal. During a national conference on countering the proposal, he said that if required, he is ready to hold meetings with the Fatah leadership, headed by Abbas. “In Gaza... or Cairo... or anywhere. We are ready,” he stressed. “Hamas has no veto on any meeting that would ensure unity and end the division in order to provide elements of perseverance and confrontation against the deal of the century,” Haniyeh explained. “Reconciliation and unity are urgent demands... We don’t want an alternative to the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO),” he added. Haniyeh’s remarks on the PLO were in response to previous accusations by its officials against Hamas.PLO officials had previously said that the movement was seeking to form an alternative to the organization. It had called on all Palestinian factions to boycott a supreme body that Hamas has been trying to form on the pretext of confronting the deal of the century. Earlier this week, Hamas announced it would be forming a supreme national committee to confront the yet undisclosed US peace plan. The council would include national, regional, and international players. “We are working to confront the deal of the century and we want to achieve real national unity that respects all the Palestinians,” Hamas politburo member Salah al-Bardaweel said Tuesday. In his remarks, Haniyeh insisted that in order to reject and confront the deal, Palestinians must reach consensus on “the vision of a national strategy.”The strategy will call for quitting the Oslo Accords, restoring national unity through specific steps and launching popular movements throughout Palestinian territories to reiterate their rejection of the proposal. It also calls for bolstering support and contacts with the entire world to stand against this suspicious deal, he explained. “The people are determined to protect the Palestinian cause against all dangers and challenges, especially the deal of the century, no matter the costs and sacrifices,” he stressed. However, Haniyeh’s call was met with skepticism by the Fatah leadership. A Fatah official said Abbas does not need an invitation from anyone because he was the first to confront the deal and the only one who has been standing against it until this day. “If Hamas wanted to counter the deal, it must implement the reconciliation agreement immediately and without delay,” the official told Asharq Al-Awsat, adding that the movement was helping in fulfilling the US deal through its prolonging of Palestinian division. Washington is expected to announce its controversial peace deal after the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which ends in June.

Gulf Acquisitions, Mergers Grow by 39 Percent

London - Mutlaq Muneer/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 28/19/The number of merger and acquisition deals (M&As) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) grew 39 percent year-on-year during the first quarter of 2019, according to a report released by Kuwait Financial Center (MARKAZ) on Saturday. The Saudi market topped the Arabian Gulf markets in terms of M&As in Q1-19, in which the sector witnessed Aramco's 70 percent acquisition of SABIC in a deal worth USD69.1 billion. In January, the Kuwait Finance House (KFH) said it gave initial approval for the average of stock exchange with AUB Bahrain at a rate of 2.33 shares of AUB’s in return for one share in KFH, added the report. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), listed on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), announced last month that its general assembly approved its merger with Union National Bank (UNB).
Italy’s Eni and Austria’s OMV will collectively acquire a 35 percent stake in ADNOC Refining for an estimated USD5.8 billion, whereby ADNOC will retain the remaining 65 percent stake in the company. KKR and BlackRock have acquired a 40 percent stake in ADNOC Oil Pipelines, an entity that will lease ADNOC’s interest in 18 pipelines for 23 years. GCC acquirers accounted for 60 percent of the total number of transactions during Q1 2019 and 75 percent during Q4 2018. Foreign acquirers accounted for 34 percent of the total number of transactions during Q1 2019 and 17 percent during Q4 2018. Buyer information was not available for 6 percent of the transactions in Q1 2019. Each of the GCC acquirers seemed to have a different appetite with regards to M&A transactions during Q1 2019. Kuwaiti acquirers preferred investing in their home country. Saudi acquirers mostly invested in their home country and equally between other GCC countries and outside the GCC. UAE acquirers mostly invested outside the GCC and within their home country. Bahraini acquirers only invested outside the GCC. Qatari and Omani acquirers each engaged in one acquisition in their respective countries.
Q1 2019 witnessed a 70 percent increase in the number of completed transactions by foreign buyers compared to Q1 2018. In comparison to Q4 2018, the number of such transactions grew by 89 percent. UAE targets represented 71 percent of the closed transactions by foreign acquirers during Q1 2019, while Saudi Arabia and Kuwait represented 23 percent and 6 percent respectively of the transactions during the same period. Bahraini, Omani and Qatari targets did not attract any foreign buyers during Q1 2019. As per MARKAZ’s report, the industrial, financial and consumer sectors in the GCC accounted for 62 percent of M&As in the region during the first three months of 2019. The media, insurance, telecommunication services and aviation sectors each accounted for 2 percent of the total closed transactions during Q1 2019, collectively amounting to 8 percent of the transactions during the period. There was a total of 14 announced transactions in the pipeline during Q1 2019, representing a 27 percent increase in the number of announced transactions compared to Q4 2018. UAE and Saudi Arabia collectively accounted for 79 percent of the announced transactions during Q1 2019. Oman and Qatar made up 21 percent of the announced transactions.

Saudi Royal Advisor in Khashoggi Trial No-Show
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 28/19/Two top Saudi royal advisors have been linked to journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder. One has been labeled the "ringleader" but questions are swirling over the absence of the other in the closed-door trial of 11 suspects, multiple sources told AFP. Saudi prosecutors have said deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri oversaw the Washington Post columnist's killing in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate last October and that he was advised by the royal court's media czar Saud al-Qahtani. Both aides were part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's tight-knit inner circle and have formally been sacked over the killing but only Assiri has appeared in the five court hearings since January, according to four Western officials privy to the information. "Qahtani is not among the 11 facing trial," one of the officials told AFP. "What does his absence mean? Are the Saudis keen to protect him or discipline him separately? No one knows."The kingdom's public prosecutor last November indicted 11 unnamed suspects, including five who could face the death penalty over the murder. Diplomats from the U.N. Security Council's permanent members –- the U.S., Britain, France, China, Russia –- as well as Turkey are allowed to attend as observers of the legal proceedings that are held entirely in Arabic. They are not allowed to bring interpreters and are usually summoned at short notice, the sources said. A representative of the Khashoggi family –- which this month rejected reports of a settlement with the Saudi government –- has attended at least one court session, they said. Maher Mutreb, an intelligence operative who frequently traveled with the crown prince on foreign tours, forensic expert Salah al-Tubaigy and Fahad al-Balawi, a member of the Saudi royal guard, are among the 11 on trial who could face the death penalty, the officials said. The defendants are allowed legal counsel. Many of them have defended themselves in court by saying they were carrying out orders by Assiri, describing him as the "ringleader" of the operation, according to the officials. The kingdom's media ministry did not respond to AFP's request for comment. The defendants' lawyers could also not be reached.
- Where is Qahtani? -
Assiri, lionized in Saudi military ranks as a war hero, does not face the death penalty, the Western officials added. Believed to have previously worked closely with U.S. intelligence, he is also not named in two American sanctions lists of Saudis implicated in the murder. Qahtani, who led fiery social media campaigns against critics of the kingdom and was seen as a conduit to the crown prince, is on both lists. He met the Saudi hit squad team before they left for Turkey to share "useful information related to the mission based on his specialisation in media," according to the Saudi prosecutor's office.
But he has not appeared publicly since the murder and his current whereabouts are a subject of fevered speculation. Some Saudis claim he continues to peddle influence behind the scenes, but others say he is lying low, waiting for the international outrage over the murder to subside. Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reported earlier this year that Prince Mohammed continues to seek his counsel, citing U.S. and Saudi sources. "Qahtani holds a lot of files and dossiers," Ignatius quoted one American who met the crown prince as saying."The idea that you can have a radical rupture with him is unrealistic."
Lack of transparency
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who faces intense scrutiny in Congress over Washington's close relations with Riyadh, has urged the crown prince to snap his ties with Qahtani, two Western officials told AFP. The CIA has reportedly said the murder was likely ordered by Prince Mohammed, the de facto ruler and heir to the throne. Saudi authorities strongly deny the allegation, and in private conversations with Western officials they have instead criticized Turkish authorities for failing to stop the murder. "Their intelligence knew that a (Saudi) hit squad was coming. They could have stopped them!" one of them quoted a Saudi official as saying. Turkish officials were the first to report Khashoggi's murder and have continued to press Saudi Arabia for information on the whereabouts of his dismembered body, which has yet to be found. Agnes Callamard, the United Nations special rapporteur conducting an independent inquiry into the killing, last month condemned what she called a lack of transparency in the legal proceedings and demanded an open trial. The kingdom "is grievously mistaken if it believes that these proceedings, as currently constituted, will satisfy the international community," she said.
It was unclear when the Saudi trial will conclude. This month, a coalition of seven international human rights and press freedom groups called on Britain, France, and the U.S. to issue public reports on the trial. Secret trial proceedings "run the risk of enabling the authorities in Riyadh to find a set of individuals guilty, without due process, while whitewashing the possible involvement of the highest levels of the Saudi government," the coalition said in an open letter.

Voting Begins in Spain Election Marked by Far-Right Resurgence
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 28/19/Spaniards began voting in an uncertain snap general election Sunday marked by a resurgence of the far-right after more than four decades on the outer margins of politics. Opinion polls give outgoing Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez a win but without the necessary majority to govern alone, meaning he will have to seek alliances in a political environment that has soured since Catalonia's failed secession bid. Polling stations opened at 9:00 am (0700 GMT) and will close at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT), with results announced later Sunday.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 28-29/19
Annihilation of Christian Life and People: Where is the Outrage in the West?
Meeting Catastrophe with Indifference
جوليو ميوتي/معهد جيتستون: إبادة الحياة المسيحية والشعوب: أين الغضب في الغرب؟
التقاء الكارثة مع اللامبالاة
Giulio Meotti/Gatestone Institute/April 28/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/74308/%D8%AC%D9%88%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%88-%D9%85%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%AA%D9%8A-%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%87%D8%AF-%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%AA%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A5%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%A9/
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14142/annihilation-christian-life

Islamic extremists have seen that the West has not mobilized to prevent them from repressing Christians, as if unconsciously there were a strange convergence between our silence and the ethnic cleansing project of the Islamic State, aimed at erasing Christians.
"Religious liberty, the core value of western civilisation, is being destroyed across large parts of the world. Yet the West, myopically denying this religious war, is averting its gaze..." — Melanie Phillips, British journalist, The Times, November 17, 2014.
The Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, just visited the Muslim survivors of the attack on the mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Why does the same compassion not spur the British royal family to stop in Sri Lanka, their former colony, to meet the Christian survivors, before going back to England?
The appeal of Asia Bibi's daughters to help her mother met a deaf West. The UK refused to offer asylum to this persecuted Pakistani Christian family.
Sri Lanka after the jihadist massacre of Christians is not just a terrible succession of crying mothers and little coffins. Unfortunately, it also tells us a lot about the discouraging state of the West.
"Where is the solidarity for the Sri Lanka's Christians?" asked the British scholar Rakib Ehsan, a Muslim.
"The differences in tone and nature between the condemnations of the Christchurch and Sri Lanka terrorist attacks are striking. After Christchurch, there was no hesitation about stating the religious backgrounds of the victims and directing emotion and affection towards Muslim communities. Politicians took no issue with categorising the events in Christchurch as terrorism.
"In contrast, the words 'terrorism' and 'Christianity', along with their associated terms, have so far failed to feature in much of the reaction to the attacks in Sri Lanka.
"What is evident is not only a clear reluctance to specify the religious background of Christians who were killed in Sri Lanka, but also an absence of heartfelt solidarity with Christian communities across the world, which continue to suffer grave forms of persecution on the grounds of their faith."
Rakib Ehsan asked the right question. But it might be rewritten as: Where is the Western solidarity for the Sri Lanka's murdered Christians?
This is a drama in three acts. The first act consists of the Christians and other non-Muslim indigenous peoples being violated and murdered. The second act consists of Muslim extremists who create this genocide. And the third act consists of the indifferent West, which looks everywhere else.
The number of murdered victims in the April 21 Easter Sunday jihadist attacks in Sri Lanka is too terrible even to think about: 253 dead. Among the victims, 45 children were murdered. Their small faces and stories have begun to emerge. The Islamic terrorists knew there were many children in the three churches, and they deliberately targeted them with their bombs. Footage shows one of the bombers patting a young child on the head before he enters the St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo, where "everyone has lost someone".
The Fernando family had taken a photograph at the baptism of their third child, Seth. In Negombo they were all buried together. Father, mother and three children aged 6, 4, and 11 months. According to the New York Times:
"Fabiola Fernando, 6, was an elementary school student. In a photo posted to her mother's Facebook page, she showed off a gold medal, a small smile on her face. Leona Fernando, 4, the middle child in her family, was learning to read and was holding a copy of "Sleeping Beauty" in the picture. Seth Fernando, 11 months, was the newest addition to the Fernando family. He was buried alongside his parents and two sisters."
The silence of the Western intellectual world and the media is particularly deafening. The new humanitarian conscience seems to see only two groups: those who have the right to the compassion and protection of the international community, and those, such as Christians, unworthy of help or solidarity.
The deliberate murder of an 8-month-old baby, Matthew, in a Sri Lankan church apparently did not upset or chill the West, did not go viral on social media, did not to become a hashtag, did not to push the Europeans to crowd into their public squares, did not press the Islamic world to examine its conscience, did not to induce Western politicians and opinion-makers seriously to reflect on who killed that child, or on those who foment and finance the Islamist anti-Christian hatred.
Sudesh Kolonne was waiting outside St. Sebastian's Church when he heard the blast. He then ran inside and searched for his wife and daughter. It took him a half hour to find their bodies.
The attacks also killed three children of a Danish billionaire. Another woman lost her daughter, son, husband, sister-in-law and two nieces. A British father had to make a choice over which of his two children to save. Another British family was destroyed. To add horror to horror, the pregnant wife of one of the terrorists, when police raided her home, detonated a suicide vest, killing her own children.
The Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, just visited the Muslim survivors of the attack on the mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, including children recovering in the hospitals. It was a gesture of humanity and compassion. Why does the same compassion not spur the British royal family to stop in Sri Lanka, their former colony, to meet the Christian survivors, before going back to England? Entire Christian families were decimated in the attack.
Where is the outrage in the West for the annihilation of Christian life and people? It feels as if there is no indignation, only silence, interrupted by bombs and "Allahu Akbar". The history books of the future will not condone this Western betrayal. If the West had taken seriously the persecutions of Christians, now the bell would not toll for the death of the Christian presence -- not only in historic lands of Christianity, but also for the West. Islamic extremists have seen that the West has not mobilized to prevent them from repressing Christians, as if unconsciously there were a strange convergence between our silence and the ethnic cleansing project of the Islamic State, aimed at erasing Christians.
The British author Melanie Phillips has called this persecution of Christians "our guilty secret."
"Religious liberty, the core value of western civilisation, is being destroyed across large parts of the world. Yet the West, myopically denying this religious war, is averting its gaze from the destruction of its foundational creed in the Middle East and the attempt to eradicate it elsewhere. It is therefore no surprise that, faced with jihadist barbarities abroad and cultural inroads at home, the free world is proving so ineffectual".
The jihadist attack in Sri Lanka was not only "the deadliest attack on Christians in South Asia in recent memory." It was also the largest massacre of Christian children. But no newspaper has launched a campaign to raise awareness of European public opinion, no pro-Christian solidarity movement has arisen, no Western leader appears to have visited a church in solidarity, no Western church leaders had the courage to point out the culprits by calling them by name, no Western mayors hung photographs of the 45 children torn to pieces, no public square was filled in thousands saying "Je suis chrétien".
A few years ago, at the height of the migrant crisis in Europe, a photograph conquered public opinion in the West. It was the famous picture of the three-year-old Syrian boy, Alan Kurdi, who drowned off the coast of Bodrum, Turkey. That little migrant moved the West. His image went viral. The New York Times called it "Aylan Kurdi's Europe".
"For historical reasons, Angela Merkel feared images of armed German police confronting civilians on our borders," wrote Robin Alexander, Die Welt's leading journalist, in his book, Die Getriebenen ("The Driven Ones"). If photographs of migrant children spurred Europe's leaders to open their borders, the photographs of murdered Christian children -- such as the 45 in Sri Lanka -- apparently left them indifferent.
The appeal of Asia Bibi's daughters to help her mother met a deaf West. The UK refused to offer asylum to this Pakistani Christian family and take persecuted Christians.
"It is with indifference that we witness a catastrophe of civilization with no precedent", wrote the French scholar historian Jean-François Colosimo, commenting on the destruction of Eastern Christianity. No religion, no community, is today more persecuted than Christians. Why, then, this silence by the West? Have we become so foreign to ourselves, to our roots and to our history, that we can contemplate this outbreak of jihadi violence without blinking an eye? Or are we so short-sighted that we hoped to buy "peace" with the Muslim extremists at the cost of abandoning those Christians? The same jihadi ideology that murdered Christian children in Sri Lanka, targeted European children in Nice, Manchester and Barcelona.
Sri Lanka after the massacre is not just a terrible succession of crying mothers and little coffins. Unfortunately, it also tells us a lot about the discouraging state of the West.
*Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for Il Foglio, is an Italian journalist and author.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Building up to the Sudanese Uprising
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 28/19
The late 1950s marked a landmark period in the politicization of Arab officers. In 1957, Ali Abu Nuwar carried out a failed Nasserite-inspired coup. In 1958, Syrian officers headed to Cairo without the knowledge of the president, government or parliament. There, they agreed with Gamal Abdel Nasser to impose a status quo called “unity.” Abdul Karim Qasim and Abdul Salam Arif also staged a coup in Iraq to overthrow the monarchy.
The situation was different in Sudan. Ibrahim Abboud’s 1958 coup, two years after independence, was not driven by an ideology. It was more of a professional or “career” coup. It stemmed from the political parties’ failure to reach consensus under the government of Prime Minister Abdallah Khalil. Partisan life came to a halt and political leaders, including Khalil, were exiled to Juba. The army was stripped of its powers, workers unions were dissolved and strikes were banned.
The coup, which on paper was opposed to democracy, never ideologized itself. It did not change economic and social policies and did not demand Arab unity. It was helped by Sudan’s six-decade union with Egypt. It surmised that the union was similar to being ruled by the Ottomans and later the British.
As the Mahdi supporters advocated for Sudan’s independence, the Khatmi supporters made due with maintaining friendly relations with Egypt, especially since Abdel Nasser had a greater appetite than his predecessors. Gaafar Nimeiry, who seized power in 1969, appeared at first glance, different than his predecessors. He touted himself as a Nasserite who was allied to the communists. He sought to replicate the example of the Soviet Union in Khartoum and even started to work on reforms. That first glance turned out to be very short. Abdel Nasser passed away soon after and media circulated a now famous photograph of Nimeiry crying at his funeral in Cairo. However, no sooner had Anwar al-Sadat turned against the Nasserites, that Nimeiry followed suit. When the Arab League suspended Egypt’s membership in protest against the Camp David Accords, Sudan was one of the few countries that did not sever ties with it.
Another push towards ideologization was the dispute with the Communist Party after officer Hashem al Atta’s coup in 1971, which was aborted by Libyan intervention. At the time, Communist Party leader Abdel Khaliq Mahjub and union leader Ahmed al-Sheikh were executed and communism was declared a crime. Military rulers have since learned from the experience and avoided importing the Soviet example that had pervaded other Arab countries that were ruled by the military.
The regime in Sudan therefore, remained less capable of justifying itself.
Omar al-Bashir, who seized power in 1989, also appeared ideologized. He was however, simply an Islamist officer who ruled by day, while his cleric Hassan al-Turabi ruled by night. At the latter’s behest, Khartoum became a hotbed for radical and terrorist groups. Ousama bin Laden even resided there between 1990 and 1996.
This reality did not last. The military officer soon rebelled against his religious mentor. A dispute erupted between them in 1999 and in 2000, Turabi was detained according to a warrant signed by his Popular Congress Party and Sudan People's Liberation Movement in the South.
The major turning point took place in the South. In 2011, Bashir agreed to hold a referendum even though he knew that the residents would vote in favor of secession, which is what happened. It was a landmark development that could have turned Bashir into a glorious historic leader had he recognized the southerners’ right to determine their own fate. Of course, it was not to be. The real reason for his referendum was to get rid of the “burden” of religious and ethnic belligerents and US sanctions. The vote cost Sudan more than two thirds of its oil wealth.
The above-mention military officers enjoyed a common characteristic. When they ran out of ideas and plans, which was often, they usually turned to the South in an effort to “Arabize” and “Islamicize” it. Millions of people have been killed in the ensuing unrest, add to that famine and displacement. Other wars - in Darfur to the West and southern Kordofan and Blue Nile - soon compounded the misery. The atrocities amounted to crimes against humanity.
All of the above reflects the “futility of evil” that the Sudanese people have repeatedly risen up against and are again doing so today.

International unity a must if Iran is to change course
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/April 28/2019
People often express bemusement to me about why Iran behaves the way it does: The embroilment in terrorism and militancy, past attempts to build a nuclear bomb, the way it treats its own people, and so on. Even compared to other pariah states, Tehran’s behavior is in a league of its own.
There was a fresh reminder of this unacceptable behavior last week, when Iran’s foreign minister offered a prisoner swap (which was promptly withdrawn) for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a dual national British-Iranian mum who has been detained for three years simply because this criminal regime routinely locks up foreign nationals for political leverage. Further emphasizing Iran’s outlandish world view, incoming Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Hossein Salami declared: “The Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards has crossed mountains and plains to end America’s dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean, and reached the Red Sea, and turned the Islamic land to land of jihad… We have to expand our capabilities from the region to the world, so the enemy has no safe point.”
This statement encapsulates the aspirations behind Iranian expansionism; not just idle meddling in neighboring states, but aggressively exploiting its paramilitary assets to destabilize the existing international order. While normal states measure their success on the wellbeing of their citizens, the Islamic regime has, since 1979, sacrificed the welfare of its people in its grandiose delusions of confronting the civilized world.
Iran likes its paramilitary strategy because it is relatively cheap. Tehran tossed impoverished Afghans and Pakistanis into the Syrian frontlines for a fraction of the cost required to mobilize a standing army. Tehran’s Iraqi proxies are on the state payroll and, although Hezbollah enjoys relatively generous Iranian funding, this is supplemented by a complex assortment of criminal activities. Nevertheless, because of the sheer scale of these paramilitary forces across multiple states, a high proportion of Tehran’s state budget is military spending. Yet the accumulated wealth of entities like the IRGC and leading regime figures is immense, with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei personally estimated to control between $100 and $200 billion. Paramilitary proxies are a versatile tool that can be deployed wherever the Islamic Republic desires. During Iran’s recent flooding crisis, the authorities invited in hundreds of Iraqi militants to deter any localized unrest, arousing anger among citizens, who found this Iraqi import an even greater inconvenience than the flood waters.
The Iranian regime has, since 1979, sacrificed the welfare of its people in its grandiose delusions of confronting the civilized world.
Western journalists warn that the Trump administration’s policies are locking it in to a path toward war. Trump the parochial isolationist clearly doesn’t desire this scenario, though senior hawks like John Bolton may think otherwise. Escalatory words and actions are likewise putting Iran on a course for confrontation. Tehran may be able to use its transnational paramilitary capabilities for menacing citizens in failed states like Yemen and Syria, but Iran wouldn’t last five minutes in a straight fight with the US, and probably wouldn’t fare much better in a direct clash with Israel.
Indeed, these multinational paramilitary armies are ultimately available as an iron shield in defense of the Iranian homeland if Tehran’s enemies threaten it directly. Nevertheless, Iran’s paramilitary approach means that such a war would be fought across the wider Middle East, causing untold casualties and destruction. Iran’s leaders may have megalomaniacal globe-straddling ambitions, but in reality they have only succeeded in dominating states already broken by civil conflict.
Yet is the American strategy any more realistic? The approach delineated by Mike Pompeo and Bolton demands nothing less than total surrender. The aspiration to reduce Iran’s oil exports to “zero” enjoys limited prospects while Europe is busy devising a mechanism to allow Iran to evade sanctions and major states like China and India appear determined to continue importing Iranian oil. Oil experts suggest that Donald Trump is in denial that such a strategy won’t have a sharp upward impact on prices. Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif last week boasted: “We have a Ph.D. in sanctions busting.” Zarif knows what he’s talking about here: Iran has copious experience of illegal oil smuggling methods, and there are a plethora of Asian banks and traders with minimal US exposure that are willing to take the lucrative risks, not to mention the circumvention opportunities offered by Tehran’s assets in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
Short of regional war and full-blown regime change (which may indeed be what Bolton and Pompeo seek), the US goal has to be forcing Tehran back to the negotiating table, which there is currently scant prospect of. Tehran’s ayatollahs thrive on confrontation and are willing to inflict far greater levels of economic pain on their long-suffering citizens before considering any change of course, particularly as they hope to wait out Trump in the expectation of new US leadership after 2020. Successful bouts of international pressure against Iran (for example, the UN sanctions packages imposed between 2006 and 2009) required multilateral approval and included incentives as well as threats. It is difficult to see that unilateral US measures can ever be fully efficacious, particularly if, for Trump, vacuous posturing and tough rhetoric are desirable ends in themselves. In the absence of any strategic road map and tangible endgame, current measures simply provoke Tehran into ever more bellicose responses. Iranian proxies are already aggressively expanding into eastern Syria as American forces withdraw, undermining the White House narrative that its strategy is working.
Both Moscow and Beijing enjoy exploiting Iran as a thorn in America’s side, but Tehran’s growing dominance in Central Asia and the Middle East obstructs the interests of these two global powers. If there is to be any hope of forcing Iran to change course, the US must ditch its unilateral instincts and entice global powers to support its agenda. Leading nations must, meanwhile, acknowledge that Iranian aggression threatens their own strategic interests. In the absence of international unity, Tehran will continue sponsoring foreign militants in the belief that this makes it stronger. Tehran is willing to tolerate sanctions and angry, impoverished citizens because it believes that it derives strength from confrontation. Until they are actually forced to change course, the ayatollahs will continue believing that they are winning.
*Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.