LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 28/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
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Bible Quotations For today
Jesus sighed and said to the deaf man, ‘Ephphatha’,
that is, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was
released, and he spoke plainly
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark
07/31-37:”Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon
towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him
a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his
hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his
fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to
heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And
immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more
zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, ‘He
has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to
speak.’”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese
Related News & Editorials published on March 27-28/2020
Coronavirus: Lebanon death toll rises to 7, total of 391 infections
Lebanese Ministery Of Public Health (MoPH): 391 confirmed cases, one death
RHUH: 72 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases, one death
Patient with coronavirus escapes hospital in Bouar
Health Minister, Palestinian delegation discuss anti-coronavirus measures in
refugee camps
Lebanon extends country lockdown until April 12
Diab meets World Bank Regional Director, Kubis
Saad Hariri: Amnesty should include Islamist prisoners
Wazni meets World Bank Regional Director
Information Minister thanks Lebanese media for relentless efforts raising
awareness on COVID-19
Education Ministry refutes news about early end of scholastic year or
cancellation of official exams
Foucher urges French nationals to respect Lebanese government's actions to
combat coronavirus
Berri calls for extraordinary session to reconsider expatriates’ rightful return
to Lebanon
Diab inspects Rafik Hariri University Hospital (RHUH): Lebanese must remain
united and in solidarity regardless of sectarian or political affiliations
World Council of Churches calls for solidarity amid COVID-19 spread
Beirut Airport to Remain Closed until April 12 as Algeria Expands Curfew
Lebanese Drivers Stranded on Iraqi-Turkish Borders For 40 Days
Lebanese Order of Physicians on Coronavirus: Don’t Hide It
Don’t fall for Hezbollah’s coronavirus conظTony Badran and Jonathan Schanzer/Washington
Examinar/March 27/ 2020
Lebanon: Pandemic on Regime's Side Against the Uprising/Hussam Itani/Asharq Al
Awsat/March 27/2020
Lebanese volunteers launch heroic effort to help health workers battle
coronavirus/Nicholas Frakes/The New Arab/March 27/2020
Pope’s Urbi et Orbi Blessing in Light of Coronavirus: ‘Why are you afraid? Have
you no faith?’/Zenit/March 27/2020
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
March 27-28/2020
USA Treasury Designates Vast Network of IRGC-QF Officials and Front Companies in
Iraq, Iran/U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
U.S. Adds to Sanctions Against Iran/Ian Talley/The Wall Street Journal/March
27/202
Coronavirus: Iran death toll rises to 2,378
US has more known cases of coronavirus than any other country
British PM Boris Johnson tests positive for coronavirus
UK Health Minister Hancock tests positive for coronavirus, after PM Boris
Johnson found infected
Trump phones Netanyahu to congratulate him that he’ll form, head next government
Israel Demolishes Houses in West Bank, Arrests 9 Palestinians in Jerusalem
'Manifestation of the wrath of God': Jihadists see coronavirus as call to duty
False Belief That Methanol Fights Coronavirus Kills 300 Iranians
WHO Representative Warns of Virus Danger in War-Torn Countries
LNA Says Expels GNA Militias, Syrian Mercenaries from W. Libya Regions
Even Doctors Are Terrified by Coronavirus in Iraq
Negotiations With Taliban Hampered by Political Turmoil in Kabul
Magnitude 3.2 Earthquake Shakes Kuwait
France Says Four Kidnapped Aid Workers Released After 2 Months
Amnesty International’ Urges Algeria to Release Prisoners of Conscience
Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published on March 27-28/2020
IMF Should Reject Islamic Republic’s Loan Request/Richard Goldberg/Saeed
Ghasseminejad/FDD/March 27/2020
Now is the time for the G20 to really show what it can do/Michael Stephens/Al
Arabiya/March 27/2020
Iran campaign for sanctions relief seeks to cover up negligence over coronavirus/Jason
Brodsky/Al Arabiya/March 27/2020
If Europe Won’t Snapback, End the Waiver for Arak/Richard Goldberg/FDD/March 27,
2020
Khamenei Securitizes the Pandemic as the IRGC Mulls Regional Action/Farzin
Nadimi/The Washington Institute/March 27/2020
Coronavirus: The European Union Unravels/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/March
27/2020
Communicating in the Time of No Communication/Elias Harfoush/Asharq Al Awsat/March
27/2020
Uncertainty in a Bleak Moment/Amir Taheri//Asharq Al Awsat/March 27/2020
IMF approves changes to enable debt service relief for poorest countries/Nicky
Harley/The International/March 27/2020
Question: “How, why, and when did Satan fall from heaven?”/GotQuestions.org
"What does it mean that the Lord is my Shepherd (Psalm 23)//GotQuestions.org
Iran using time of crisis to increase its regional meddling/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab
News/March 27/2020
COVID-19 poses a huge challenge for Europe/Randa Takieddine/Arab News/March
27/2020
With US preoccupied and Europe weak, China begins to advance/Dr. John C. Hulsman/Arab
News/March 27/2020
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News &
Editorials published on March 27-28/2020
Coronavirus: Lebanon death toll rises to 7,
total of 391 infections
Tamara Abueish, Al Arabiya English/Friday 27 March 2020
Lebanon reported its seventh coronavirus-related death in the country, as the
total number of infections in the country rose to 391. The latest death is of an
80 year-old who suffered from chronic illnesses, the ministry said. The Ministry
of Health reported 23 new cases of coronavirus on Friday. Lebanon announced that
it will impose an overnight shutdown from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. starting from March
27, as the country steps up its measures to prevent the virus from spreading
further. Violators will face legal action, the Internal Security Forces said on
Friday. The health ministry urged citizens, residents, and tourists to adhere to
the regulations published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in order to
prevent getting infected with coronavirus.
Lebanese Ministery Of Public Health (MoPH): 391 confirmed
cases, one death
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
The Ministry of Public Health issued its daily report on COVID-19, which states:
"To date (March 27, 2020) the number of laboratory-confirmed cases at the Hariri
University Hospital and other accredited university hospital laboratories, in
addition to private laboratories, has reached 391, marking an increase of 23
cases since yesterday. A coronavirus patient in his eighties, suffering from
chronic diseases, was pronounced dead at the Saint George University Hospital.
The Ministry stresses the need to comply with all the preventive measures,
especially the full commitment to home isolation, which has become an individual
and societal moral responsibility that must be shouldered by every citizen.
Non-compliance will lead to legal prosecution."
RHUH: 72 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases, one death
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
In its daily report on COVID-19 updates, the Rafik Hariri University Hospital
indicated in a statement on Friday that the number of laboratory-confirmed
coronavirus cases had reached 72, 4 of which had been transferred to other
hospitals. Also, 4 patients have fully recovered as they tested negative twice,
taking the total number of recoveries to 27. The RHUH added that one death had
been recorded in its intensive care unit.
Patient with coronavirus escapes hospital in Bouar
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
A Syrian diagnosed with coronavirus has escaped the Bouar Governmental Hospital
where he was admitted for treatment, National News Agency correspondent reported
on Friday. The fleeing patient had reportedly headed to his friends' place in
Nahr Ibrahim, which police have cordoned off.
Health Minister, Palestinian delegation discuss anti-coronavirus
measures in refugee camps
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
Minister of Public Health, Hamad Hassan, met Friday at his office in the
ministry with a delegation of the Palestinian factions, chaired by Fathi Abu
Ardat. Talks reportedly touched on the means to coordinate measures preventing
the spread of coronavirus inside the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. "The
protection of the Palestinian community is that of the Lebanese, and vice
versa," the Minister said following the meeting.
Lebanon extends country lockdown until April 12
AFP/March 27/2020
DUBAI: Lebanon has extended nation lockdown to April 12 and the closure of
institutions and supermarkets from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. with some exceptions due to
the coronavirus outbreak, local press reported on Thursday. The number of
confirmed COVID-19 cases in Lebanon has jumped to 368, an increase of 35 cases
within 24 hours. There are also 360 suspected cases and 944 quarantined
people. Two deaths have been recorded for patients who
suffered from chronic diseases, raising the number of COVID-19 deaths in Lebanon
to six.
Diab meets World Bank Regional Director, Kubis
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
Prime Minister Hassan Diab met this morning with the World Bank Regional
Director of the Mashreq Department, Saroj Kumar Jha, in the presence of the
Minister of Defense, Zeina Akar. Talks featured high on the support the WB is
ready to offer to Lebanon to fight coronavirus.
PM Diab also received UN Special Coordinator to Lebanon, Jan Kubis, with whom he
discussed latest developments and means to boost bilateral cooperation to better
fight coronavirus. -- Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Saad Hariri: Amnesty should include Islamist prisoners
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said that coronavirus is not a door for
discrimination in judicial decisions, stressing the need for the amnesty law to
include the Islamist prisoners.
He said on twitter: "It is a good thing for the amnesty to include those whose
sentence ends in six months, but what is more important is the fate of hundreds
of Islamist prisoners who are paying the price of the slowdown in trials or have
been held under preventive detention for years."
He added: "In time of coronavirus, these should be pardoned first. We have
previously rejected a proposal for a general amnesty law that unfairly deals
with this case. Today there is an epidemic that has limitless risks on the lives
of citizens, and a general amnesty has become an urgent demand that is more
important than all narrow calculations, and political considerations are no
longer acceptable." ----Hariri's Press Office
Wazni meets World Bank Regional Director
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
Finance Minister, Dr. Ghazi Wazni, me this Friday in his office at the Ministry
with the World Bank Regional Director of the Mashreq Department, Saroj Kumar
Jha.Talks reportedly touched on an array of matters, including the WB’s support
to Lebanon in the fight against coronavirus.
Information Minister thanks Lebanese media for relentless
efforts raising awareness on COVID-19
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
Information Minister, Manal Abdel Samad, on Friday restored to twitter to thank
the Lebanese media for their dauntless endeavors raising awareness on the novel
Coronavirus. “I salute the efforts of tens of media soldiers who have devoted
their time, in an act of solidarity, to spread awareness nationwide amid the
prevailing tough circumstances, and to tell everyone: for your own sake, and for
the sake of those you love, stay home and limit the spread of Coronavirus,”
Abdel Samad tweeted.
Education Ministry refutes news about early end of scholastic year or
cancellation of official exams
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
Education and Higher Education Ministry’s Press Office issued a statement this
Friday, in which it stressed that all circulated news through media and social
networks regarding the early end of the current scholastic year or the
cancellation of official exams is “absolutely groundless.”
The statement called on citizens to solely rely on news officially issued either
by the Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr. Tarek Al-Majzoub or by his
media office, pointing out that promoting rumors is penalized by law.
Foucher urges French nationals to respect Lebanese
government's actions to combat coronavirus
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
French Ambassador, Bruno Foucher, called on the French community in Lebanon to
"respect the measures taken by the Lebanese government to combat the outbreak of
coronavirus, as it constitutes the only deterrent against the rapid spread of
the virus, which may exceed the capabilities of the Lebanese health
services.""The French community in Lebanon should be exemplary, and we French
and Lebanese must stand side by side to [achieve] victory. From this standpoint,
France was the first country to send to Lebanon medical equipment to combat
coronavirus, and we will continue to stand with our Lebanese friends in the
spirit of friendship that binds our two countries," he pledged. Foucher also
called on French nationals to restrict their international travel as much as
possible.
Berri calls for extraordinary session to reconsider expatriates’ rightful return
to Lebanon
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
Speaker of the Parliament, Nabih Berri, called on the government to hold an
"exceptional session at the soonest possible, in order to reconsider the issue
of Lebanese expatriates who face the threat of a pandemic in their countries of
residence all over the world, some of which lacking hospitals and the most basic
health care services."Berri criticized the cabinet for acting contrary to all
the countries of the world, with regard to the choice of repatriating its sons
who live abroad. "All these countries are seeking after their citizens to bring
them back to their countries. As for us in Lebanon, we have forgotten that these
people were originally pushed by the neglect of the State towards leaving the
country, and yet they still enriched it with their love, loyalty, and the fruit
of their labor.""Was it not enough to try to waste, if not steal, their deposits
through Capital Control? Is this an attempt to steal their nationalities?" he
asked.
Diab inspects Rafik Hariri University Hospital (RHUH):
Lebanese must remain united and in solidarity regardless of sectarian or
political affiliations
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
Prime Minister Dr. Hassan Diab on Friday visited the Rafik Hariri University
Hospital, where he thanked the Hospital's medical, nursing, and administrative
staff for the relentless efforts and sacrifices they are offering to treat
patients.
In his delivered word, Premier Diab said: "I wanted to visit the Rafik Hariri
University Hospital to look into the center’s situation in light of the pressure
it is facing due to the coronavirus pandemic.
I would first like to commend the terrific efforts of the hospital, and to thank
the medical, nursing, and administrative staff, as well as the hospital
director, Dr. Firas al Abyad, for the relentless efforts and sacrifices they are
offering to treat patients.
And I have good news to relay: I have signed and submitted the letter received
by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, from His Excellency the Minister
of Public Health, Dr. Hamad Hassan, regarding the remaining balance of the
salary and grades scale, amounting to a billion and fifty million Lebanese
Pounds, in addition to the 950 million pounds that have been previously settled.
Every employee of the hospital will be receiving their new salary by the end of
this month. As such, the employees would have obtained their rights due by the
Government.
As for professional grades and compensations thereof, which is considered a
strictly administrative matter, I will ensure that hospital staff will be
receiving just treatment in accessing their financial rights.
I would like to thank H.E the Minister of Public Health for the considerable
efforts he is employing to equip hospitals in Lebanon, and ensuring constant
monitoring of this epidemic’s spread in the country.
I am aware of the extent of the worry experienced by the Lebanese people. Truly,
I deeply recognize and understand their concerns. Citizens are troubled by both
the present and the future. They are concerned for their parents, children,
brothers, sisters, and grandchildren.
Today, we are all faced with great challenges. And these challenges and risks do
not merely target a single group, a single region, a single community, nor a
single political group. This risk is facing all citizens of Lebanon.
Consequently, we, the Lebanese, must remain united and in solidarity, regardless
of our sectarian, political, or regional affiliations, regardless of any other
consideration, as we are all confronted with the same danger. Coronavirus, much
like the livelihood crisis, makes no distinctions among citizens. This is not
the time to outbid nor to settle political scores.
The Ministry of Public Health, the medical and nursing personnel, hospital
services, and the Red Cross are all at the service of every citizen with no
exception. Therefore, the Lebanese people must, in their turn, overcome this
challenging situation through unity and cooperation, through these qualities
they have always proven to possess in moments of crises and when danger
threatens their nation.
Today, we rely on this spirit of unity. Believe me, if we remain united, if we
work hand in hand, victory can only follow.
I would like to grasp this opportunity to call on all Lebanese people to uphold
this spirit of unity, to commit to the State and preserve it, as the State is
the sole patron of unity. If the State collapses, God forbid, so will our
stronghold. The State is a refuge to every one of us, and our trust in the State
is a starting point to restoring our resilience in the face of health,
financial, and political scourges affecting our country.
Based on the aforementioned, I call upon the Lebanese to commit to the measures
adopted by the Government in view of protecting citizens against the spread of
Coronavirus. The Government is employing great efforts to fulfil its
responsibilities before the people, and will do everything in its power to
comfort citizens and challenge the social consequences of this crisis. I am
aware that expatriates wish to return to their country, as they have found that
the measures taken by the Government are better than those adopted by the
numerous countries in which they reside. We are glad that the Lebanese are
expressing more trust in their home country. I know that families of expatriates
are concerned. You are well aware that we have granted a four-day period to
citizens wishing to return before having closed the airport. In fact, we are
unable to make any exceptions before the conclusion of general mobilization
period, for two reasons:
1-To protect those who wish to return. If one passenger on the plane returning
to Lebanon is infected with Coronavirus, they could transmit it to numerous, if
not all, passengers.
2-To curb the spread of the epidemic in the country, as a great number of
infections was due to travelers who have transmitted it into the country.
The best that expatriates could do at the present time is to remain in place, in
isolation, and under protection. This is for their own good.
In either case, we are looking into repatriation possibilities, and we will have
a clearer idea before April 12.
God willing, we will overcome these difficult times with the least possible
damage, in order to continue treating other chronic diseases suffered by Lebanon
and the Lebanese.
I would like to assure our citizens that the Government is following all
international developments to overcome this epidemic, and we will always be
prepared to respond to any new development.
Given that this matter is the Government’s priority at this time, we have
allocated approximately 60 million dollars to confront Coronavirus, to ensure
the necessary equipment, material, medication, and apparatus relative to
coronavirus, and to provide the necessary care to affected people in compliance
with the established norms.
These are difficult times. We all wish to cooperate and rally around the State
to regain the trust of the people in their country.
In fact, in lacking trust, we destroy the upholder of our immunity as a nation
and as citizens. Allow me once more to thank the Minister of Public Health, and
the administrative, medical, and nursing staff at the Rafic Hariri University
Hospital in Beirut. May God bless your efforts." --Grand Serail Press Office
World Council of Churches calls for solidarity amid
COVID-19 spread
Annahar/March 27/2020
The religious leaders also stressed on the necessity to give greater attention
to the needs of the homeless, the incarcerated, the elderly and those already
suffering from social isolation. BEIRUT:
Representatives of Regional Ecumenical Organizations and the World Council of
Churches shared called for solidarity amid the challenges that communities
around the world are facing due to COVID-19. The
religious leaders urged people to take precautions to avoid transmitting the
virus. "It is important and urgent that we adapt our modes of worship and
fellowship to the needs of this time of pandemic infection, in order to avoid
the risk of becoming sources of viral transmission rather than means of grace.
Our faith in the God of life compels us to protect life by doing all that we can
to avoid transmitting this virus," they said in a statement.
The religious leaders also stressed that restricted movement should not
lead to spiritual isolation. "Physical distancing does
not mean spiritual isolation. This is an opportune time for the churches all
over the world to review their role in society by safely ministering to,
providing for, and caring for the poor, the sick, the marginalized, and the aged
–all those who are most at risk due to COVID-19," the statement said. The
religious leaders also urged people to give greater attention to the needs of
the homeless, the incarcerated, the elderly and those already suffering from
social isolation. "We recognize the need for responsible leadership by the
state, communities, and faith leaders alike. Governments at all levels must
ensure access to correct and timely information, address the situations due to
loss of livelihood and employment, especially to provide access to clean water
and sanitizers and soap, to safe shelter, and to compassionate care for the most
vulnerable, while aware that some of these remain challenges for many across the
globe. This is also a time for profound reflection on the common good, good
governance, and ethical values rooted in our traditions," the statement added.
Beirut Airport to Remain Closed until April 12 as Algeria
Expands Curfew
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 27 March, 2020
Lebanon will keep Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport closed for both
private and commercial passenger flights until Apr. 12, the transport ministry
said on Friday, extending a shutdown that began this month due to the
coronavirus outbreak. Lebanon has recorded 391 cases of the coronavirus and
seven deaths. It registered 23 cases on Friday. The latest casualty was a man in
his 80s who was suffering from a chronic illness, reported the National News
Agency. The airport will remain open only for flights for the military, air
ambulance service, cargo, diplomatic delegations, international organizations
and oil and gas drilling workers. Lebanon also extended its national lockdown by
two weeks to April 12 on Thursday and announced stricter measures, banning
people from leaving their homes and shutting nearly all businesses. The country
has already been hit by a crippling financial crisis, and health officials have
warned that the healthcare system is ill-equipped to confront a surge in cases.
In the Palestinian territories, the government announced Friday that seven virus
cases were registered in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Health ministry
spokesman Ibrahim Melhem said five cases were reported in the village of Bidu
and two in Bethlehem, bringing the total cases in the Palestinian territories to
73. The ministry reported one death and 17 recoveries. Officials said the
Palestinian Authority is suffering from a shortage of coronavirus test kits. The
PA declared on Sunday a 14-day curfew in the West Bank in an attempt to curb the
spread of the virus.
Iraq orders military to Sadr City
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, in his capacity as commander of the armed
forces, ordered on Friday the deployment of military troops to Baghdad’s Sadr
City to enforce a curfew in the area. Iraq reported 382 virus cases, 36 deaths
and 105 recoveries as the infection spread throughout the country, including the
Kurdistan region. The military has locked down areas where the virus has been
detected and dispatched additional troops to the Najaf province to enforce the
curfew. The cabinet extended on Thursday the lockdown until April 11, as
religious figures appealed to the public to stay home.
Algeria expands curfew
Algeria, meanwhile, announced it will impose a night curfew in nine more
provinces to limit the spread of the coronavirus, the prime minister's office
said on Friday. Earlier this week the government imposed a night curfew in the
capital and a full lockdown in the neighboring province of Blida.
The country has so far reported 367 cases of the illness, with 25 deaths. Most
cases have been in Blida, south of Algiers. The curfew extension, to be enforced
from 7 pm to 7 am will include central, eastern and western provinces where
coronavirus cases have been rising. There have been no reported effects on the
country's oil and gas production.
Lebanese Drivers Stranded on Iraqi-Turkish Borders
For 40 Days
Beirut - Paula Astih/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 27 March, 2020
Maher Ayyash, one of the fifty Lebanese drivers stuck at the Khabour crossing on
the Iraqi-Turkish border, bitterly recounts the difficult conditions they've
been living under for 40 days now after the Turkish authorities closed the
border as part of measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus. “Many drivers
are lacking sufficient money to buy food and water, after spending all that they
had in the past weeks. Restrictions imposed by banks have made it difficult and
often impossible for their families in Lebanon to send them money,” he told
Asharq Al-Awsat. Ayyash noted that drivers from other nationalities, including
Greeks, and Bulgarians were stranded along with the Lebanese on the border. “But
their countries’ embassies quickly interfered with Ankara, which allowed them to
return to their country, unlike what is happening with us,” he explained.
“Although we reached out to the Lebanese embassies in Ankara and Baghdad, and
contacted a large number of Lebanese officials, our crisis has not yet come to
an end,” Ayyash stressed. The head of the Democratic Gathering parliamentary
bloc, MP Taymor Jumblatt, intervened to help the stranded drivers. He contacted
the Turkish ambassador to Lebanon, who explained that the entry ban was linked
to measures to limit the spread of the new coronavirus, promising to make all
efforts to find a solution to this issue. Saleh Hadifa, Information Officer at
the PSP, said that the Turkish ambassador to Lebanon proposed a way out, saying
that Turkish drivers could drive Lebanese trucks to Mersin port, to be
transported onboard a ferry to Lebanon, provided that the Lebanese drivers
return to Iraq until the crisis ends. However, this proposal does not seem to be
a satisfactory solution for truck owners. Muhammad Breidi. The owner of nine
trucks told Asharq Al-Awsat that the return of the Lebanese drivers to Iraq was
costly, given that it would require that they stay in hotels for an unlimited
period. “We are not able to incur any additional costs,” he emphasized.
Lebanese Order of Physicians on Coronavirus: Don’t Hide It
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 27 March, 2020
The head of Lebanon’s Order of Physicians, Charaf Abou Charaf, has called on the
Lebanese to come forward if they have any doubts of being infected with the
coronavirus even during their quarantine at home. “Everyone is responsible,” he
said Thursday, adding “it’s not a shame to test positive.”“We should all
cooperate to rescue ourselves, our surroundings and our country,” he stated.
Abou Charaf revealed of several cases at hospitals after patients hid their
symptoms of the COVID-19 disease. He said such behavior has caused great harm to
Red Cross volunteers, nurses and hospital employees, who were forced to
self-isolate for 14 days. On Thursday, the Ministry of Public Health indicated
in its daily report on the coronavirus, that there were 35 new lab-confirmed
cases, taking Lebanon's tally to 368. “Until 26/3/2020, the number of
laboratory-confirmed cases at the Rafic Hariri University Hospital, the
accredited university hospital labs and private laboratories, there were 368,
with an increase of 35 cases compared to the day before," the MoPH reported. The
Rafic Hariri University Hospital said Thursday that the total number of
laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases in patients isolated in the hospital has
reached 72, including six patients transferred from other hospitals. Three new
patients have fully recovered. Their PCR tests came negative twice, and all
their symptoms have gone, it said. Meanwhile, the General Directorate of General
Security announced it "is conducting patrols across Lebanon to ensure the
compliance of citizens and residents with the general mobilization measures
aimed to limit the spread of the coronavirus."
Don’t fall for Hezbollah’s coronavirus con
Tony Badran and Jonathan Schanzer/Washington Examinar/March 27/ 2020
ملخص دراسة لطوني بدران وجوناثان شانزر نشرتها أمس واشنطن اكسامينار/عنوان الدراسة:
نحذر الجميع من مغبة الوقوع في خداع حزب الله تحت ذرائع مساعدة لبنان في مواجهة
فيرس الكورونا
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/84609/tony-badran-and-jonathan-schanzer-washington-examinar-dont-fall-for-hezbollahs-coronavirus-con-%d8%af%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%b3%d8%a9-%d9%84%d8%b7%d9%88%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%a8%d8%af%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%88/
تلخيص الياس بجاني بتصرف وحرية كاملين/27 آذار/2020
نحذر الجميع من مغبة الوقوع في خداع حزب الله تحت ذرائع مساعدة لبنان في مواجهة
فيرس الكورونا فالحزب يحتل البلد ويهيمن على كل شيء فيه بالقوة والفرض وذلك خدمة
للمشروع الإيراني.
دراسة معمة وعلمية وشاملة تبين تفشي حزب الله السرطاني في كل مؤسسات الدولة وتحكمه
فيها والسيطرة عليها واستغلالها خدمة للمشروع الإيراني الإرهابي والتوسعي.
كما يبين بالوقائع والإثباتات تسلل الحزب الإرهابي إلى القطاع المصرفي ونخره من
الداخل واستغلاله مما أدى بالخزانة الأميركية إلى وضع بنكين من البنوك اللبنانية
على قوائم العقوبات والحظر مما تسبب بإقفالهما على خلفية تبيضهما الأموال لمصلحة
حزب الله.
الدراسة تحذر الدول والصناديق الدولية المالية من أخطار الوقوع في خداع حزب الله
المتذرع بمعالجة ومواجهة مرض فيروس كورونا لأن أي مساعدة مالية للبنان دون قيود
وشروط وإشراف ومتابعة وإصلاحات وفقط عن طريق البنك الولي وصندوق النقد الولي ستكون
وسيلة لبقاء وترسيخ احتلال الحزب وهيمنته على لبنان وعلى حكمه ومقدراته، وأيضاً
لإنعاش الطبقة السياسة النتنة والفاسدة التي تغطي احتلال الحزب وهو بدوره يحميها
ويحافظ على بقائها في السلطة.
كما تحمل الدراسة حزب الله وإيران مسؤولية إدخال فيروس الكورونا إلى لبنان عن طريق
طائرة إيرانية كان على متنها اناس مصابون بالمرض.
وتشير الدراسة إلى عجز إيران عن مساعدة حزب الله مالياً كما كان الحال سابقا بسبب
الأزمة المالية الخانقة التي تواجهها مما دفع حكامها الملالي ولأول مرة لطلب
المساعدة من صندوق النقد الدولي في حين حزب الله يمنع هذا الصندوق من مساعدة لبنان
وانتشاله من أزمته المالية لأنه أن فعل فسوف ينكشف أمره وتنفضح كل أعماله اللاشرعية
التي تشمل السرقات والنهب وتهريب وتبيض أموال وتزويرها وغيرها الكثير.
Don’t fall for Hezbollah’s coronavirus con
Tony Badran and Jonathan Schanzer/Washington Examinar/March 27/ 2020
*The Lebanese system is built on graft. Its political class is corrupt beyond
redemption. And at the center of it all is the Iran-backed terrorist group
Hezbollah.
* Decades of corruption and mismanagement saddled Lebanon with insurmountable
debt
* if Lebanon opens the books, the IMF would see how Hezbollah’s illicit finance
has infected the entire economy.
*The Jammal Trust Bank in Lebanon that was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury last
year “facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions through the
Lebanese financial system” on behalf of a Hezbollah company
*With no one willing to foot the bill, organizations such as the IMF and the
World Bank are among the few options left. But the genuine reform they require
would undermine the very system on which Hezbollah and its partners depend
*Iran and Hezbollah are directly responsible for the spread of the virus. The
Lebanese government has allowed flights from Iran to Beirut International
Airport, even after the virus began to spread like wildfire in Iran, thereby
increasing Lebanon’s exposure to COVID-19
***
Lebanon announced this month it was defaulting on all of its outstanding debt
payments for the year, including $1.2 billion in eurobonds due in March. There
are another $3.4 billion worth of eurobonds coming due after that. Those, too,
will go unpaid.
It’s a burgeoning crisis that deserves attention — but it does not warrant the
blind bailout that Beirut is trying to secure.
The defaults come as no surprise. The foreign currency reserves of Lebanon’s
central bank are running on fumes. Beirut must now negotiate with bondholders to
restructure its debt. Desperate for cash, the government seeks billions of
dollars in assistance and handouts from international donors, the International
Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.
The suffering of the Lebanese people will be featured in the headlines in the
coming weeks, particularly as COVID-19 continues to claim victims across the
Middle East. The people of Lebanon should get the medical support they need and
request. But the Lebanese government should not be granted a lifeline. Nor
should any future government, without an overhaul of the existing system. The
Lebanese system is built on graft. Its political class is corrupt beyond
redemption. And at the center of it all is the Iran-backed terrorist group
Hezbollah.
There are those who question, even challenge, this assessment. Their arguments
are reminiscent of the gaggle of analysts who have advocated for the Islamic
Republic of Iran since the ill-conceived interim nuclear deal of 2013. They
assert that with Western funding and encouragement, “moderates” can challenge
and ultimately overcome “hardliners.” It didn’t work then for Iran, and it won’t
work now for Lebanon.
The facts speak for themselves. Since October, Lebanese people from all sects
and regions have taken to the streets to denounce the entire political class. As
a crippling financial and economic crisis deepened, banks restricted people’s
access to their own cash. Citizens can withdraw only meager sums, as little as
$100 weekly. The lira, Lebanon’s currency, is pegged to the dollar and is
steadily losing its value.
It was all foreseeable. Decades of corruption and mismanagement saddled Lebanon
with insurmountable debt. It happened in slow motion, as the international
community refrained from pushing for structural reform and instead indulged the
corrupt politicians, who they believed were partners against Hezbollah. In fact,
they were Hezbollah’s junior partners.
In February, the government, formed by Hezbollah and its allies, asked the IMF
for technical assistance. Lebanon’s finance minister has announced a need to
restructure the Lebanese banking sector, which holds a sizable chunk of the
debt. Following the default, the capital of many private banks could be wiped
out.Yet the government so far has rejected the IMF’s conditions for assistance.
This obstinacy stems mainly (though not only) from Hezbollah. As Hezbollah’s
secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, put it, the group is not opposed to IMF
assistance “in principle.” However, “Lebanon must not fall under anybody’s
trusteeship or hand over its financial and economic administration” to outside
parties. To put it another way, if Lebanon opens the books, the IMF would see
how Hezbollah’s illicit finance has infected the entire economy.
The Lebanese are fond of emphasizing the importance of foreign workers who send
cash home from the diaspora. But it’s Hezbollah’s illicit finance that accounts
for a significant source of foreign currency for the Lebanese economy. The
Jammal Trust Bank in Lebanon that was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury last year
“facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions through the
Lebanese financial system” on behalf of a Hezbollah company. And this is not
new. The now-defunct Lebanese Canadian Bank was at one point laundering as much
as $200 million a month in narcotics proceeds. That bank was sanctioned in 2011
— the year Lebanon’s slide began, setting the stage for its current implosion.
Since then, U.S. sanctions have increasingly constrained Hezbollah’s ability to
launder money through Lebanon’s banks, leading to a precipitous drop in the flow
of foreign currency. The terrorist group initially tried to keep a lid on the
crisis by pumping dollars from its reserves into the market while doing its best
to continue paying employees across all of its operations, military or
otherwise.
Yet the economic crisis is taking its toll. COVID-19 is exacerbating it. As is
the case around the world, people are losing their livelihoods. To top it off,
strict capital controls are denying Lebanese access to their savings.
Hezbollah’s prominence in Lebanon’s economy and politics has also led to a
complete halt of cash injections from Lebanon’s longtime patron, Saudi Arabia.
After years of throwing good money after bad, the Saudis could simply not
justify keeping Lebanon solvent when it had so clearly become an Iranian
satrapy. Senior Saudi officials say this decision will not be reversed any time
soon, even as Lebanon’s economy craters.
Other patrons are also unable to step up. Iran, struggling under crippling U.S.
sanctions and now a coronavirus crisis, continues its support to the group, but
cannot fill the void. Nor can the French, who have expressed some willingness to
help but lack the means.
With no one willing to foot the bill, organizations such as the IMF and the
World Bank are among the few options left. But the genuine reform they require
would undermine the very system on which Hezbollah and its partners depend — a
fact evident in the Lebanese demand that any IMF program “not negatively affect
the political situation in Lebanon.”
Beyond increased taxes, any worthwhile reforms would include downsizing the
bloated public sector, which Hezbollah and the other sectarian barons use for
patronage. The same would apply to other nontransparent tools of patronage,
including the various “councils” and “funds” (e.g., the Council for the South,
the Council for Development and Reconstruction, the Higher Relief Council, and
the Fund for the Displaced) that the chiefs use to dole out services and shady
contracts (often financed by international grants) and to enrich themselves and
their partners. This is to say nothing about public utilities and ports of
entry, such as the Beirut International Airport, and the Beirut seaport, where
Hezbollah smuggles in whatever it pleases.
In other words, real, structural reform would undercut the instruments through
which the political elite, in partnership with Hezbollah, maintain power. More
to the point, it would require Hezbollah and the political elite to commit
political and financial suicide.
As the crisis worsens, Lebanon’s bankers and ruling elite will be pleading for a
bailout. They hope to put to the world a binary choice: saving their system or
ignoring the suffering of some 6 million people. They will almost certainly cite
the coronavirus as a precipitating factor, following Iran’s example.
The Iranian regime, for its part, has launched a loud public campaign to extract
cash from the IMF and gain sanctions relief from the international community
under the pretext of combating the coronavirus. Of course, these activists tend
to ignore the fact that the current sanctions already offer an exception for
humanitarian goods, granting Iran continued access to medicine and medical
equipment. In fact, Iran’s imports of pharmaceuticals in the first half of 2019
increased compared to the year prior.
The Iranian people are undoubtedly suffering from the effects of COVID-19. But
the regime is only interested in getting its hands on cash. This is why the
regime rejected American offers to provide medical aid to the Iranian people. In
addition, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has noted, regime officials have
already stolen more than $1 billion the Europeans intended for medical supplies
and “continue to hoard desperately needed masks, gloves, and equipment for sale
on the black market.”
In Lebanon’s case, Iran and Hezbollah are directly responsible for the spread of
the virus. The Lebanese government has allowed flights from Iran to Beirut
International Airport, even after the virus began to spread like wildfire in
Iran, thereby increasing Lebanon’s exposure to COVID-19. In addition to
personnel, these flights from coronavirus-afflicted Iran carry arms shipments.
These are deadly precision weapons that neighboring Israel is now openly
threatening to destroy. And a war with Israel would be far worse than anything
the country is now enduring.
Lebanon’s crisis, once again, is of its own doing.
Offering Lebanon help with COVID-19 testing kits and other medical gear is one
thing. But a bailout without structural reform will mean perpetuating Lebanon’s
corrupt system, on which Hezbollah’s criminal enterprise depends. Underwriting
pro-Iranian political orders is not in the U.S. interest. This is as true during
a public health crisis as when there is none. Washington’s priority must be to
maintain maximum pressure on Iran and its regional allies from Tehran to Beirut.
*Tony Badran is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
*Jonathan Schanzer, a former terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Department of
the Treasury, is senior vice president for research.
Lebanon: Pandemic on Regime's Side Against the Uprising
Hussam Itani/Asharq Al Awsat/March 27/2020
The coronavirus pandemic has already exacerbated the suffering of the Lebanese
people. Fear of the spread of the virus forced private and public institutions
to stop working and interrupted the academic year. It has also deepened the
economic crisis which has made life extremely difficult for millions of citizens
and refugees in Lebanon. However, there is more to the infection's effect
politically, as it helps the dying regime get a better grip over the public
life, which has become restricted for the majority of the Lebanese and obstructs
demanding reforms.
The economic and political paralysis, from which the country has been suffering
for many months, was added to the lack of trust in the failed and bankrupt
state’s capacity to simultaneously control two intersecting and dangerous
crises, the socioeconomic crisis and the pandemic. The truth is that both of
these crises are feeding each other and are providing each other with reasons to
persist and spread.
There has been no severe rise in cases until now, however, medical bodies,
especially public institutions [which alongside the public university and public
schools were top targets of austerity policies set by subsequent governments
marking comic tragedies that the Lebanese have lived for decades] are still
capable of conducting the necessary tests, accommodating the ill and providing
them with reasonable medical services. Private hospitals, however, stand in the
backbenches wanting to generate more profits from those suffering. This is
another issue, however.
This partial control over the disease in Lebanon and the shifting of work of
many companies, schools and universities remotely, has provided the political
authorities with an opportunity to take a breath and recommence its interests in
the issues that led to the uprising last October. The current government seems
to be working at a fast pace to issue a series of laws and procedures that will
have long-term economic and political implications, such as restructuring the
debt, instituting “capital control” and putting restrictions on foreign
currency. This could change the nature of the entire Lebanese economic system
and may reach a point where it is excluded from the global (or western banking
system as some would like to call it) constructing an alternative cash-based
system following the suit of countries such as Iran, Syria, and Venezuela. It is
no secret that a change of this kind, regardless of its social implications in a
country that is organically connected to the global economy, will pose many
questions about the function of the economy and how it will provide the Lebanese
with their income and the markets that will receive their products. There are
also many other mazes that Lebanon will enter, and it is in its worst state in
terms of being able to formulate the necessary policies to make large
alterations in its regional role.
It cannot be denied that the pandemic has halted all revolutionary activities
that opposed the approach that forced the country to hit rock bottom.
The pandemic is taking the side of the regime by stopping demonstrators from
taking to the street or conducting any activity. On the other hand, it is
facilitating the bureaucratic nature of the regime in carrying on without any
obstacles. Relying on telephone and remote orders by using telecom phone
networks and the internet allows the regime to maintain some effectiveness
without posing any risk of infection to politicians or officials. This is
contrary to the revolutionary activities that are based on crowded
demonstrations, which have been banned by the government. This will set the
regime loose.
The situation, which the regime seems to take advantage of to impose a fait
accompli in procedures and laws that would not have passed had the public sphere
been open as it was between October and December, will draw new facts that will
be very difficult to change later on. Especially that these new factors will be
consecrated by legal texts and a large imbalance of powers favoring traditional
parties and movements, whether for those taking part in the current government
or hoping to return to the frontline.
The new pandemic was a huge blow to the attempts of political and economic
change in Lebanon and has put citizens in front of very harsh choices, such as
continuing to protest and spreading the virus, or stepping aside and watching
how things will unfold under a confused administration that is relying on the
lack of alternatives and vacuum as primary elements in overcoming the regime
that many Lebanese believed was close to being overthrown.
Lebanese volunteers launch heroic effort to help health
workers battle coronavirus
Nicholas Frakes/The New Arab/March 27/2020
Hospitals have been unable to secure basic medical supplies such as masks and
gloves.
With Lebanon's coronavirus outbreak worsening by the day, attention is focused
on dwindling medical supplies which are desperately needed by medical staff in
order to treat their patients, as well as maintain their own safety. A recent
report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) has shed light on the growing issue of a lack
of medical supplies in Lebanon, where over 360 people have tested positive for
Covid-19.
The report states that due to the country's dollar shortage, hospitals have been
unable to secure basic medical supplies such as masks and gloves.
"The COVID-19 outbreak has placed additional strain on a health care sector
already in crisis," HRW's Deputy Middle East Director Joe Stork said. "The
Lebanese government has taken swift and broad measures that bought it time, but
its ability to manage the outbreak will depend on how it uses this time to
secure necessary supplies and provide health care workers with the resources
they need."
Lebanon Response Team
Within the health sector, the fear of running out of medical supplies is
widespread, with staff trying to ration what available items they have.
"It will be a big problem," Atef Akoum, a medical intern at Rafik Hariri
University Hospital (RHUH) where coronavirus patients are being quarantined,
told The New Arab.
"Especially if the N95 [mask] is missing, because in some settings, like
incubated patients or CPR or nebuliser, the coronavirus becomes aerosol."
Multiple groups, such as the Lebanon Response Team (LRT), have responded to this
chronic shortage of supplies by doing what they can to help hospitals.
Consisting of over 300 people, the LRT works remotely from home and is made up
of people from various professional backgrounds who are using technology such as
3D printing to make medical supplies for hospitals.
The group was started when Hisham Issa and Hussein Hamdan, both engineers,
approached Dr Hussein Al-Haj Hassan about starting the initiative.
"They called me," Hassan told The New Arab, "saying that they had this idea and
asked me what I think. I said that this is something that we should go forward
with. Hisham is an electrical engineer and Hamdan is mechanical, so we wanted to
get help from other specialties."
"I posted on Facebook what we needed and what we needed some help in
implementing, like with 3D printing, and it went viral. Everyone was contacting
me on the phone."
One of these people was Mohammad Al-Haj, a mechanical engineering student in his
last year at Phoenicia University, who said that he wanted to get involved to
help Lebanon in its time of crisis.
He now manages several of LRT's teams, including one that produces mask shields.
"I heard about it through Facebook when I saw Dr Hassan's post," Al-Haj told The
New Arab. "I sent my name to the group and they gave me the number of Nour Alwan,
who is one of the top managers. After that, I was told that I need to join the
Slack team, so I joined the website and figured out that we had a lot of experts
and volunteers, and even professionals."
Due to the thousands of messages that he was receiving, Hassan spoke with
another one of his colleagues about turning the small project into a larger
initiative.
"Since a lot of people were contacting me, I said, 'Why not move from a small
team to a big initiative'," Hassan said.
"I talked to my friend Nour Alwan and we created a platform and called it
Lebanon Response Team. This way, everyone can talk with each other, they can
form teams, so that we can work not only on ventilators, but on other stuff that
the medical sector would need in Lebanon," he added.
"We're working remotely and we meet using online platforms that are available to
everyone. When we want to transport something, we're wearing masks, gloves and
the device [that is being delivered] is sanitised, there's a company helping us
with this."
Financial crisis
In addition to the hundreds of volunteers that have been working on various
medical supplies, several companies are providing free aid. The work being done
by the LRT is a non-profit project with everything being open source and
implemented by anyone.
But the nationwide lockdown and financial crisis has made getting supplies much
more challenging, as well as creating the need to self-fund the LRT.
"For the prototypes," Hassan explained, "we have the support of the people
inside the initiative, inside the Lebanon Response Team, they are paying from
their own pocket. And when we are moving it to the second phase, people that are
in that field are helping."
"Lebanon is in a financial crisis. We all know this. And because of this, people
are helping. We know that this crisis will not allow for other countries to
support us"
The volunteers also rely on financial contributions from Lebanese expatriates.
In order to know what supplies are needed the most, there is a team within the
initiative dedicated to contacting hospitals and finding out what they are
looking for. Then, once the LRT knows what to build, they manufacture it and
send a version to the hospital for testing in the field in order to have medical
staff verify that it is suitable for use.
According to Al-Haj, his team working on the mask shields recently finished
their prototype and sent them to RHUH.
When he heard back, they told him that the masks were useable except for a minor
detail that was quickly fixed by him and his team. They plan to deliver over a
thousand masks in the coming days.
"It is a plan B," Al-Haj explained. "Right now they have enough supplies, but if
the disease expands in Lebanon, then they will go to plan B. The things that
they want the most are the mask shields, the sanitiser and, finally, the suit
that protects them from the coronavirus for the Red Cross and for the
hospitals."
'Help the Lebanese people'
It is not just companies, though, who have taken note of what the LRT is doing.
Imad Hoballah, Lebanon's Minister of Industry, met with Hassan after his
Facebook post went viral to discuss what they were doing along with academics
and industry figures.
"We had more than one meeting," Hassan stated, "and the idea was to continue
developing the solution in order to help Lebanon. So the minister [Hoballah] was
actually very supportive."
According to Hassan, the two major focuses of the initiative are time and making
sure that what they are producing is useable and will not simply break down.
Because of that, they are looking at the requirements that other governments
have for their medical supplies and take great lengths to ensure that everything
that they make is as close to meeting those standards as possible.
"A crisis is when we run out of ventilators and the hospitals are not capable of
accepting any new patients," Hassan said.
"The biggest focus is time as well as the requirements. We are developing
ventilators under the requirements set by the UK Government."
"In Lebanon, we have a lot of talented people, but we do not have the industrial
experience."
One of the biggest challenges is that these are supplies made for the medical
sector and require rigourous tests. One of the most ambitious projects that the
IRT is working on is making ventilators, using 3D printers to make many of the
parts for the medical device.
"This project is challenging because it is in the medical sector," he admitted.
"So it needs a lot of tests. It needs a lot of validation from several
perspectives, especially from a medical perspective. The first thing that we did
was conceptual and on paper. We reached the mechanical design and controls and
we started developing this more advanced control."
Since the ventilator is a much more complicated piece of technology, the
initiative has been experimenting with various types of materials that they
print with in order to find the most durable and reliable version of the part.
"Some of the parts are not reliable for a long time," Hassan explained. "For
now, we are testing components by creating them from 3D printing."
While many of those working with the IRT are engineers and professionals in
their fields, there are still students like Al-Haj who have had to find a
balance between their work and studies, which went online following a lockdown
on 15 March.
However, this has not deterred people, who still dedicate the vast majority of
their day to research and developing prototypes with their teams and plan to
continue this work no matter what they have to do.
"I work around 11 hours per day in order to help the Lebanese people as much as
I can," Al-Haj said.
*Nicholas Frakes is a freelance journalist who reports from London, the Middle
East and North Africa.
العظة التي ألقاها اليوم قداسة البابا فرنسيس
في حاضرة الفاتيكان تحت عنوان:
"ما لكم خائفين هذا الخوف؟ أإلى الآن لا إيمان لكم
Pope’s Urbi et Orbi Blessing in Light of
Coronavirus: ‘Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?’
Zenit/March 27/2020
Pope Francis on March 27, 2020, asked of the world the question Jesus asked of
the apostles who cowered in fear in a storm-seized boat on the Sea of Galilee:
“Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?”
The Holy Father referred to the story from the fourth chapter of Mark’s Gospel.
But he explained that the storm the world faces today is the coronavirus
pandemic, which has infected more than half a million people worldwide and
resulted in more than 25,000 deaths.
“It is easy to recognize ourselves in this story. What is harder to understand
is Jesus’ attitude,” Pope Francis said. “While his disciples are quite naturally
alarmed and desperate, he stands in the stern, in the part of the boat that
sinks first. And what does he do? In spite of the tempest, he sleeps on soundly,
trusting in the Father; this is the only time in the Gospels we see Jesus
sleeping. When he wakes up, after calming the wind and the waters, he turns to
the disciples in a reproaching voice: ‘Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?’
(v. 40).
“The storm exposes our vulnerability and uncovers those false and superfluous
certainties around which we have constructed our daily schedules, our projects,
our habits, and priorities. It shows us how we have allowed to become dull and
feeble the very things that nourish, sustain and strengthen our lives and our
communities. The tempest lays bare all our prepackaged ideas and forgetfulness
of what nourishes our people’s souls; all those attempts that anesthetize us
with ways of thinking and acting that supposedly “save” us, but instead prove
incapable of putting us in touch with our roots and keeping alive the memory of
those who have gone before us. We deprive ourselves of the antibodies we need to
confront adversity.”
The Holy Father’s words come in an extraordinary setting. He prayed before an
empty Square from the sagrato of St. Peter’s Basilica, the platform at the top
of the steps immediately in front of the façade of the church. The “Salus Populi
Romani” icon and the crucifix of St. Marcellus, were placed in front of the
central door of St. Peter’s Basilica.
The Blessed Sacrament was exposed on the altar in the atrium of the Vatican
Basilica.
The ceremony included readings from scripture, prayers of supplication, and
adoration of the Blessed Sacrament It concluded with Pope Francis giving the
Urbi et orbi Blessing, with the possibility of gaining a plenary indulgence for
all those who listened to it live through the various forms of communication.
This plenary indulgence will also be extended to those who may not be able to
participate in the prayer through the media due to illness but who unite
themselves in spiritual communion with the prayer.
The blessing “to the City [of Rome] and to the World” is normally only given on
Christmas and Easter.
“The Lord asks us and, in the midst of our tempest, invites us to reawaken and
put into practice that solidarity and hope capable of giving strength, support,
and meaning to these hours when everything seems to be floundering. The Lord
awakens so as to reawaken and revive our Easter faith,” Francis stressed.
“Embracing his cross means finding the courage to embrace all the hardships of
the present time, abandoning for a moment our eagerness for power and
possessions in order to make room for the creativity that only the Spirit is
capable of inspiring. It means finding the courage to create spaces where
everyone can recognize that they are called, and to allow new forms of
hospitality, fraternity, and solidarity. By his cross, we have been saved in
order to embrace hope and let it strengthen and sustain all measures and all
possible avenues for helping us protect ourselves and others. Embracing the Lord
in order to embrace hope: that is the strength of faith, which frees us from
fear and gives us hope.”
Following is the Holy Father full address, provided by the Vatican
“When evening had come” (Mk 4:35). The Gospel passage we have just heard begins
like this. For weeks now it has been evening. Thick darkness has gathered over
our squares, our streets, and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling
everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void, that stops
everything as it passes by; we feel it in the air, we notice in people’s
gestures, their glances give them away. We find ourselves afraid and lost. Like
the disciples in the Gospel, we were caught off guard by an unexpected,
turbulent storm. We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us
fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us
called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other. On this
boat… are all of us. Just like those disciples, who spoke anxiously with one
voice, saying “We are perishing” (v. 38), so we too have realized that we cannot
go on thinking of ourselves, but only together can we do this.
It is easy to recognize ourselves in this story. What is harder to understand is
Jesus’ attitude. While his disciples are quite naturally alarmed and desperate,
he stands in the stern, in the part of the boat that sinks first. And what does
he do? In spite of the tempest, he sleeps on soundly, trusting in the Father;
this is the only time in the Gospels we see Jesus sleeping. When he wakes up,
after calming the wind and the waters, he turns to the disciples in a
reproaching voice: “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” (v. 40).
Let us try to understand. In what does the lack of the disciples’ faith consist,
as contrasted with Jesus’ trust? They had not stopped believing in him; in fact,
they called on him. But we see how they call on him: “Teacher, do you not care
if we perish?” (v. 38). Do you not care: they think that Jesus is not interested
in them, does not care about them. One of the things that hurts us and our
families most when we hear it said is: “Do you not care about me?” It is a
phrase that wounds and unleashes storms in our hearts. It would have shaken
Jesus too. Because he, more than anyone, cares about us. Indeed, once they have
called on him, he saves his disciples from their discouragement.
The storm exposes our vulnerability and uncovers those false and superfluous
certainties around which we have constructed our daily schedules, our projects,
our habits, and priorities. It shows us how we have allowed to become dull and
feeble the very things that nourish, sustain and strengthen our lives and our
communities. The tempest lays bare all our prepackaged ideas and forgetfulness
of what nourishes our people’s souls; all those attempts that anesthetize us
with ways of thinking and acting that supposedly “save” us, but instead prove
incapable of putting us in touch with our roots and keeping alive the memory of
those who have gone before us. We deprive ourselves of the antibodies we need to
confront adversity.
In this storm, the façade of those stereotypes with which we camouflaged our
egos, always worrying about our image, has fallen away, uncovering once more
that (blessed) common belonging, of which we cannot be deprived: our belonging
as brothers and sisters.
“Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” Lord, your word this evening strikes us
and regards us, all of us. In this world, that you love more than we do, we have
gone ahead at breakneck speed, feeling powerful and able to do anything. Greedy
for profit, we let ourselves get caught up in things, and lured away by haste.
We did not stop at your reproach to us, we were not shaken awake by wars or
injustice across the world, nor did we listen to the cry of the poor or of our
ailing planet. We carried on regardless, thinking we would stay healthy in a
world that was sick. Now that we are in a stormy sea, we implore you: “Wake up,
Lord!”.
“Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” Lord, you are calling to us, calling us
to faith. Which is not so much believing that you exist, but coming to you and
trusting in you. This Lent your call reverberates urgently: “Be converted!”,
“Return to me with all your heart” (Joel 2:12). You are calling on us to seize
this time of trial as a time of choosing. It is not the time of your judgment,
but of our judgment: a time to choose what matters and what passes away, a time
to separate what is necessary from what is not. It is a time to get our lives
back on track with regard to you, Lord, and to others. We can look to so many
exemplary companions for the journey, who, even though fearful, have reacted by
giving their lives. This is the force of the Spirit poured out and fashioned in
courageous and generous self-denial. It is the life in the Spirit that can
redeem, value and demonstrate how our lives are woven together and sustained by
ordinary people – often forgotten people – who do not appear in newspaper and
magazine headlines nor on the grand catwalks of the latest show, but who without
any doubt are in these very days writing the decisive events of our time:
doctors, nurses, supermarket employees, cleaners, caregivers, providers of
transport, law and order forces, volunteers, priests, religious men and women
and so very many others who have understood that no one reaches salvation by
themselves. In the face of so much suffering, where the authentic development of
our peoples is assessed, we experience the priestly prayer of Jesus: “That they
may all be one” (Jn 17:21). How many people every day are exercising patience
and offering hope, taking care to sow not panic but a shared responsibility. How
many fathers, mothers, grandparents, and teachers are showing our children, in
small everyday gestures, how to face up to and navigate a crisis by adjusting
their routines, lifting their gaze and fostering prayer. How many are praying,
offering and interceding for the good of all. Prayer and quiet service: these
are our victorious weapons.
“Why are you afraid? Have you no faith”? Faith begins when we realize we are in
need of salvation. We are not self-sufficient; by ourselves, we founder: we need
the Lord like ancient navigators needed the stars. Let us invite Jesus into the
boats of our lives. Let us hand over our fears to him so that he can conquer
them. Like the disciples, we will experience that with him on board there will
be no shipwreck. Because this is God’s strength: turning to the good everything
that happens to us, even the bad things. He brings serenity into our storms,
because with God life never dies.
The Lord asks us and, in the midst of our tempest, invites us to reawaken and
put into practice that solidarity and hope capable of giving strength, support,
and meaning to these hours when everything seems to be floundering. The Lord
awakens so as to reawaken and revive our Easter faith. We have an anchor: by his
cross, we have been saved. We have a rudder: by his cross, we have been
redeemed. We have hope: by his cross, we have been healed and embraced so that
nothing and no one can separate us from his redeeming love. In the midst of
isolation when we are suffering from a lack of tenderness and chances to meet
up, and we experience the loss of so many things, let us once again listen to
the proclamation that saves us: he is risen and is living by our side. The Lord
asks us from his cross to rediscover the life that awaits us, to look towards
those who look to us, to strengthen, recognize and foster the grace that lives
within us. Let us not quench the wavering flame (cf. Is 42:3) that never
falters, and let us allow hope to be rekindled.
Embracing his cross means finding the courage to embrace all the hardships of
the present time, abandoning for a moment our eagerness for power and
possessions in order to make room for the creativity that only the Spirit is
capable of inspiring. It means finding the courage to create spaces where
everyone can recognize that they are called, and to allow new forms of
hospitality, fraternity, and solidarity. By his cross, we have been saved in
order to embrace hope and let it strengthen and sustain all measures and all
possible avenues for helping us protect ourselves and others. Embracing the Lord
in order to embrace hope: that is the strength of faith, which frees us from
fear and gives us hope.
“Why are you afraid? Have you no faith”? Dear brothers and sisters, from this
place that tells of Peter’s rock-solid faith, I would like this evening to
entrust all of you to the Lord, through the intercession of Mary, Health of the
People and Star of the stormy Sea. From this colonnade that embraces Rome and
the whole world, may God’s blessing come down upon you as a consoling embrace.
Lord, may you bless the world, give health to our bodies and comfort our hearts.
You ask us not to be afraid. Yet our faith is weak and we are fearful. But you,
Lord, will not leave us at the mercy of the storm. Tell us again: “Do not be
afraid” (Mt 28:5). And we, together with Peter, “cast all our anxieties onto
you, for you care about us” (cf. 1 Pet 5:7).
© Libreria Editrice Vatican
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News
published on March 27-28/2020
USA Treasury Designates Vast Network of
IRGC-QF Officials and Front Companies in Iraq, Iran
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
PRESS RELEASES
23536
March 26, 2020
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets
Control (OFAC) today designated 20 Iran- and Iraq-based front companies, senior
officials, and business associates that provide support to or act for or on
behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) in
addition to transferring lethal aid to Iranian-backed terrorist militias in Iraq
such as Kata’ib Hizballah (KH) and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH). Among other malign
activities, these entities and individuals perpetrated or supported: smuggling
through the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr; money laundering through Iraqi front
companies; selling Iranian oil to the Syrian regime; smuggling weapons to Iraq
and Yemen; promoting propaganda efforts in Iraq on behalf of the IRGC-QF and its
terrorist militias; intimidating Iraqi politicians; and using funds and public
donations made to an ostensibly religious institution to supplement IRGC-QF
budgets. The terrorist militias supported by the Iranian regime such as KH and
AAH have continued to engage in attacks on U.S. and Coalition forces in Iraq.
“Iran employs a web of front companies to fund terrorist groups across the
region, siphoning resources away from the Iranian people and prioritizing
terrorist proxies over the basic needs of its people,” said Treasury Secretary
Steven T. Mnuchin. “The United States maintains broad exceptions and
authorizations for humanitarian aid including agriculture commodities, food,
medicine, and medical devices to help the people of Iran combat the coronavirus.”
Today’s designations were taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as
amended, which targets terrorists and those providing support to or acting for
or on behalf of designated terrorists or supporting acts of terrorism.
RECONSTRUCTION ORGANIZATION OF THE HOLY SHRINES IN IRAQ
The Reconstruction Organization of the Holy Shrines in Iraq (ROHSI) is an
IRGC-QF-controlled organization based in Iran and Iraq whose leadership was
appointed by the late IRGC-QF Commander Qassem Soleimani. Though ostensibly a
religious institution, ROHSI has transferred millions of dollars to the
Iraq-based Bahjat al Kawthar Company for Construction and Trading Ltd, also
known as Kosar Company, another Iraq-based entity under the IRGC-QF’s control.
Kosar Company has served as a base for Iranian intelligence activities in Iraq,
including the shipment of weapons and ammunition to Iranian-backed terrorist
militia groups.
Additionally, Kosar Company has received millions of dollars in transfers from
the Central Bank of Iran, which was designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 in
September 2019 for its financial support of the IRGC-QF and Lebanese Hizballah.
Both the IRGC-QF and Hizballah have been designated by the U.S. Department of
State as Foreign Terrorist Organizations under section 219 of the Immigration
and Nationality Act.
In addition, IRGC-QF officials have used ROHSI’s funds to supplement IRGC-QF
budgets, likely embezzling public donations intended for the construction and
maintenance of Shiite shrines in Iraq.
ROHSI and Kosar Company are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 for being
owned, controlled, or directed by, directly or indirectly, the IRGC-QF.
OFAC is also designating Mohammad Jalal Maab, the current head of ROHSI, who was
personally appointed to the position by former IRGC-QF Commander Soleimani.
Jalal Maab succeeded Hassan Pelarak, an IRGC-QF officer and co-owner of Kosar
Company, who was selected by Soleimani to serve as his special assistant on an
IRGC-QF-led committee focused on sanctions evasions activity. Pelarak also
worked with IRGC-QF officials to transfer missiles, explosives, and small arms
to Yemen, intensifying the Yemeni conflict and exacerbating one of the world’s
worst humanitarian catastrophes.
Mohammad Jalal Maab is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 for being a
leader or official of ROHSI. Hassan Pelarak is being designated pursuant to E.O.
13224 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or
indirectly, the IRGC-QF.
Alireza Fadakar, another co-owner of Kosar Company, has worked in Iraq on behalf
of the IRGC-QF for several years and is an IRGC-QF commander in Najaf, Iraq.
Muhammad al-Ghorayfi is an IRGC-QF affiliate and employee of Kosar Company who
provides administrative support to Fadakar and has facilitated the travel of
IRGC-QF officials between Iraq and Iran.
Alireza Fadakar is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 for having acted or
purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the IRGC-QF.
Muhammad al-Ghorayfi is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 for having
materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or
technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Alireza
Fadakar.
Masoud Shoustaripousti, another co-owner of Kosar Company, has worked in Iraq on
behalf of the IRGC-QF for several years and has laundered money for the group.
Shoushtaripousti worked with Mashallah Bakhtiari, who used Kosar Company to
launder money and worked with officials at the Baghdad-based branch of Iran’s
Bank Melli to deposit funds for the IRGC-QF in Iraq. OFAC designated Bank Melli
in November 2018, pursuant to E.O. 13224, for acting as a conduit for payments
to the IRGC-QF which also used Bank Melli to dispense funds to Iranian-backed
terrorist groups in Iraq.
Masoud Shoustaripousti is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 for having
acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the
IRGC-QF. Mashallah Bakhtiari is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 for
having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or
technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, the IRGC-QF.
AL KHAMAEL MARITIME SERVICES
Separately, OFAC is taking action against Al Khamael Maritime Services (AKMS),
an Iraq-based company operating out of Umm Qasr port in which the IRGC-QF has a
financial interest. The IRGC-QF leveraged Shiite militia group contacts to evade
Iraqi government inspection protocol at Umm Qasr port and has charged foreign
companies and vessels fees for services at its terminal at the port. AKMS also
worked to sell Iranian-origin petroleum products in contravention of U.S.
sanctions against the Iranian regime.
AKMS is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 for being owned, controlled, or
directed by, directly or indirectly, the IRGC-QF.
OFAC is also designating Hasan Saburinezhad, also known as Engineer Morteza, who
is involved in the finances of AKMS. As a representative of AKMS, Saburinezhad
worked to facilitate the entry of Iranian shipments into Iraqi ports for the
benefit of the IRGC-QF. Saburinezhad is also involved in IRGC-QF financial and
economic activities between Iran, Iraq, and Syria, including smuggling
activities along the Syria/Iraq border. Saburinezhad also runs smuggling routes
to help Iraqi terrorist group KH and the IRGC-QF smuggle goods into Iraq from
Iran, and has assisted KH in funding the acquisition and transfer of goods out
of Iran.
Saburinezhad is the Managing Director and a member of the board of directors of
Mada’in Novin Traders (MNT), an Iran- and Iraq-based company associated with
multiple IRGC-QF officials, including Vali Gholizadeh, who has worked with
Saburinezhad for the benefit of both AKMS and MNT.
Hasan Saburinezhad is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 for having acted
or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the IRGC-QF.
Mada’in Novin Traders is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 for being
owned, controlled, or directed by, or to have acted or purported to act for or
on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Saburinezhad. Gholizadeh is being
designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 for being a leader or official of Mada’in
Novin Traders.
OFAC is also designating Mohammed Saeed Odhafa Al Behadili, the Managing
Director of AKMS, and Ali Hussein Falih Al-Mansoori, also known as Seyyed Rezvan,
the company’s deputy managing director and head of its board of directors.
Additionally, as of 2018, Al Behadili was focused on facilitating shipments and
business transactions to circumvent U.S. sanctions against the Iranian regime.
Al-Mansoori has worked with IRGC-QF officials on business issues related to AKMS.
Mohammed Saeed Odhafa Al Behadili is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 for
having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly,
AKMS. Ali Hussein Falih Al-Mansoori is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224
for being a leader or official of AKMS.
Sayyed Reza Musavifar, who is responsible for the accounts and finances of AKMS,
has worked with the IRGC-QF to transfer money to terrorist militias, including
KH and Lebanese Hizballah. In 2014, Musavifar transferred the equivalent of
millions of dollars of foreign currency to senior IRGC-QF officials.
Musavifar is a part owner of Middle East Saman Chemical Company, an Iran-based
company that maintained an account at Rashed Exchange, an Iran-based exchange
house used to convert currency for the IRGC-QF that was designated in May 2018
for being owned or controlled by Mohammadreza Khedmati, an individual designated
for support to the IRGC-QF.
Sayyed Reza Musavifar is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 for having
materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or
technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, the IRGC-QF.
Middle East Saman Chemical Company is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224
for being owned, controlled, or directed by, or to have acted or purported to
act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Sayyed Reza Musavifar.
Additionally, Ali Farhan Asadi is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 for
having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly,
AKMS.
SAYYED YASER MUSAVIR AND MEHDI GHASEMZADEH
IRGC-QF official Sayyed Yaser Musavir has been deployed to Iraq extensively
since early 2014 in support of the IRGC-QF, and he has coordinated operations
between the group and Iraqi terrorist militia group officials. In 2019, Musavir
coordinated with IRGC-QF officials to sell Iranian petroleum products to Syria.
In 2018, Musavir coordinated propaganda efforts with AAH on behalf of senior
IRGC-QF officials. AAH was designated in January 2020 by the U.S. Department of
State as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under section 219 of the Immigration
and Nationality Act and as Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) pursuant
to E.O. 13224.
Sayyed Yaser Musavir is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 for having acted
or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the IRGC-QF.
Mehdi Ghasemzadeh is an IRGC-QF official and is being designated pursuant to E.O.
13224 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or
indirectly, the IRGC-QF.
SHAYKH ‘ADNAN AL-HAMIDAWI
Shaykh ‘Adnan Al-Hamidawi is a Special Operations Commander for KH who in 2019
planned to intimidate Iraqi politicians who did not support the removal of U.S.
forces from Iraq. KH, an Iranian-backed terrorist militia group that has been a
U.S. Department of State-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization and SDGT
since 2009, receives lethal support from the IRGC-QF, and has been responsible
for numerous terrorist acts against Iraqi, U.S., and Coalition forces in Iraq
for over a decade, including bombings, rocket attacks, and sniper operations.
Shaykh ‘Adnan Al-Hamidawi is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 for having
acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, KH.
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of these
persons that are in or come within the United States or in the possession or
control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. OFAC’s regulations
generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the
United States that involve and property or interests in property of blocked
persons.
In addition, persons that engage in certain transactions with the persons
designated today may themselves be exposed to sanctions. Furthermore, any
foreign financial institution that knowingly conducted or facilitated any
significant transaction on behalf of individuals and entities designated today
could be subject to U.S. correspondent account or payable-through account
sanctions.
Identifying information on the entities designated today.
U.S. Adds to Sanctions Against Iran
Ian Talley/The Wall Street Journal/March 27/202
Action targets 20 entities and comes as the U.S. rebuffs suggestions to lighten
penalties during coronavirus pandemic
WASHINGTON—The Trump administration on Thursday levied another round of
sanctions against Iran, targeting 20 companies, officials and business
executives it says have helped U.S.-designated terror groups attack American
forces in Iraq.
The action follows a series of deadly strikes by Iranian-backed forces in Iraq
in an escalation of hostilities between Tehran and Washington, and comes as the
administration faces increasing pressure to ease its sanctions campaign while
Iran struggles to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S. Treasury Department said several of the blacklisted entities provided
support for, or on behalf of, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force,
the elite Iranian militia that funds, arms and directs Tehran’s proxies abroad
and is designated a terror group by the U.S. and other countries.
Others targeted by the U.S. transferred aid to Iraq-based militias directed by
the Quds Force and responsible for the deaths of U.S. and allied forces,
including Kataib Hezbollah and Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Treasury said.
The sanctions—which freeze any assets held in the U.S. and prevent U.S.-based
companies or people from doing business with the blacklisted entities—are
unlikely to significantly deter the targets’ operations given that they work
largely outside of the administration’s reach. Rather, they are intended to call
attention to Tehran’s activities. Such exposure, U.S. officials say, should help
undermine any political support the regime maintains both within the country and
outside of it.
By continuing to fund the groups, Iran was “siphoning resources away from the
Iranian people and prioritizing terrorist proxies over the basic needs of its
people,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.
Tehran blames the U.S. for its coronavirus crisis, calling the sanctions
“medical terrorism.”
“Imposing new sanctions while Iranians are fighting the Covid19 pandemic…is
simply another example of an inhuman U.S. policy, driven by ‘Secretaries of
Hate’ toward Iran,” Alireza Miryousefi, the spokesman for Iran’s mission to the
United Nations, said in an email.
The U.S. sanctions have forced an already-hobbled Iranian economy into a sharp
contraction. But Trump officials say Iran’s coronavirus pandemic woes are the
result of the regime’s own incompetence and failure to favor the welfare of its
people over a conflict-fueling foreign policy meant to secure regional hegemony.
The administration, responding to calls to relax sanctions, has reiterated that
it maintains broad exceptions for humanitarian aid and has set up a special
financing channel to facilitate such trade.
Among those blacklisted on Thursday are the Reconstruction Organization of the
Holy Shrines in Iraq, an institution Treasury officials said is controlled by
the Quds Force and whose leadership was appointed by the late commander of the
Iranian militia killed by the U.S. last year, Qassem Soleimani. The
administration said that while it purports to be a religious institution, the
organization has sent millions of dollars to another company sanctioned
Thursday, Bahjat al Kawthar Company for Construction and Trading Ltd. That firm
is allegedly used as a base for Intelligence operations in Iraq and for shipping
weapons to the militias attacking U.S. forces, Treasury said. Several of its top
officials and owners were also blacklisted.
Neither the organization or the company immediately responded to requests for
comment. Treasury said the blacklisted companies and men smuggled weapons to
Iraq and Yemen and sold Iranian oil to the Assad regime in Syria, where a brutal
civil war has created a humanitarian crisis as millions of refugees flee the
conflict.
Coronavirus: Iran death toll rises to 2,378
AFP, Tehran/Friday 27 March 2020
Iran on Friday announced 144 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, bringing the
official number of fatalities to 2,378 in one of the world’s worst-hit
countries. “In the past 24 hours, we’ve had 2,926 new confirmed cases of
COVID-19 infections across the country,” health ministry spokesman Kianoush
Jahanpour said in a televised news conference. “This brings the overall
confirmed cases to at least 32,332,” he added, noting that 11,133 of those
hospitalized so far have recovered. Jahanpour said nearly 2,900 of those
infected are in a “severe” condition. He said that the rising number of
confirmed cases was due to Iranians increasingly “self-declaring” symptoms and
undergoing testing. The ministry has repeatedly called on citizens to visit a
website and report potential symptoms. The data, together with their phone
number and ID, is used to identify potential cases. Iran has imposed strict new
containment measures, after weeks of public appeals largely failed to deter
hundreds of thousands taking to the roads to visit family for the Persian New
Year holidays. State television on Friday showed police checkpoints at Tehran’s
entrances and exits preventing residents leaving and non-residents entering. It
said motorists were identified by their car plates and IDs and that several
vehicles were impounded and drivers fined for violating the measures. “Since a
small number of the people do not heed warnings, we are now forced to talk to
them” through forceful measures, First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri was quoted
as saying by state news agency IRNA. The Islamic republic has already closed
schools, universities and key Shiite pilgrimage sites, cancelled the main weekly
Friday prayers and temporarily shut parliament.
US has more known cases of coronavirus than any other
country
CNN/March 27/2020
The United States now has the highest number of known cases of coronavirus in
the world with more than 81,000, according to CNN's tally of cases reported by
health officials. The US cases piled up Thursday, surpassing China and Italy.
The per capita rate of cases varies because of the countries' vast differences
in population. As of Thursday evening, the United States had at least 81,836
cases while China was reporting 81,782. There have been more than 510,000 cases
reported worldwide. The countries' numbers are changing constantly and both the
totals and the rank order of countries could change at any time.
British PM Boris Johnson tests positive for coronavirus
Reuters/March 27/2020
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday he had tested positive for
coronavirus and was self isolating but would still lead the government’s
response to the outbreak. A Downing Street spokesman said Johnson, 55,
experienced mild symptoms on Thursday - a day after he answered at the prime
minister’s weekly question-and-answer session in parliament’s House of Commons
chamber. “Over the last 24 hours I have developed mild symptoms and tested
positive for coronavirus,” Johnson said. “I am now self-isolating, but I will
continue to lead the government’s response via video-conference as we fight this
virus.”It was not immediately clear how many Downing Street staff and senior
ministers would now need to isolate given that many have had contact with
Johnson over recent days and weeks. When Britain clapped health workers on
Thursday evening, Johnson and his finance minister Rishi Sunak came out of
separate entrances on Downing Street and did not come into close contact,
according to a Reuters photographer at the scene. Previously the government has
said that Johnson had the option to del agate to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab
if needed. “The prime minister was tested for coronavirus on the personal advice
of England’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty,” the spokesman said.
“The test was carried out in No 10 by NHS staff and the result of the test was
positive,” the spokesman said. So far, 578 people in the United Kingdom have
died after testing positive for coronavirus and the number of confirmed cases
has risen to 11,658. The UK toll is the seventh worst in the world, after Italy,
Spain, China, Iran, France and the United States, according to a Reuters tally.
Britain’s Prince Charles, the 71-year-old heir to the British throne, tested
positive for coronavirus earlier this week but is in good health and is now
self-isolating at his residence in Scotland with mild symptoms along with his
wife Camilla, who tested negative, his office said.
UK Health Minister Hancock tests positive for coronavirus,
after PM Boris Johnson found infected
Reuters/March 27/2020
British Health Minister Matt Hancock said on Twitter on Friday (March 27) he has
tested positive for coronavirus and is self-isolating at home with mild
symptoms.
Trump phones Netanyahu to congratulate him that he’ll form,
head next government
The Timers Of Israel/March 27/2020
Leaders also discuss steps needed to manage coronavirus pandemic; call comes day
after Benny Gantz indicates he will enter unity government with PM.
US President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to
congratulate him that he’ll be forming Israel’s next government.
The call came a day after Netanyahu closed in on a unity government with
rival Benny Gantz.“The president of the United States telephoned Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and congratulated him that he will form and head the next
government,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
Israel Demolishes Houses in West Bank, Arrests 9
Palestinians in Jerusalem
Ramallah - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 27 March, 2020
Israel has demolished houses in the West Bank and arrested Palestinians despite
a lockdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The Palestinian Prisoners Club
said that the occupation forces arrested nine youths in the West Bank and
Jerusalem as bulldozers demolished properties in Deir Ballut, west of Salfit,
near Nablus, in the village of Ibziq, north of Tubas, and ad-Duyuk at-Tahta,
west of Jericho. Head of the village council in Ibziq Abdel Majeed Khudairat
said that the occupation forces raided the area, demolished residential homes,
and destroyed two pumps to generate electricity and water.
Under the pretext of illegal construction at a military site, the occupation
forces seized eight unconstructed tents, six pumps, and bricks for construction,
which were intended for the mosque, clinic, and council. Palestinian WAFA News
Agency revealed that Israeli soldiers and police accompanied bulldozers as they
invaded ad-Duyuk at-Tahta and proceeded to demolish three 120-square-meter
houses owned by Palestinian citizens from Jerusalem and the city of Hebron. In
Deir Ballut, Israeli forces demolished a farming shed and a water well belonging
to Aziz Yusef Abdullah, a villager. Abdullah said that the bulldozers demolished
a 30-square-meter greenhouse and a water well and removed the fence in Sarida
area under the pretext that it is a nature reserve and a heritage site. However,
the Israeli claims are false because the area includes a 25-donum plot where 300
olive trees are planted, he added. Moreover, settlers encroached on agricultural
lands in al-Khader, Bethlehem, and ruined 40 grapevines and 10 olive trees near
the settlements of Gush Etzion.
This isn’t the first time that settlers have carried out such assaults.
'Manifestation of the wrath of God': Jihadists see
coronavirus as call to duty
By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times - Thursday, March 26, 2020
Leading terror organizations such as Islamic State have been calling on
followers to increase attacks in recent days as world governments and militaries
shift their focus to combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
While it may be premature to draw a direct correlation to a recent wave of
attacks from Africa to Afghanistan in recent days, counterterrorism experts
point to a spike in extremist propaganda describing the coronavirus outbreak as
being sent by God to assist the jihadist cause.
Islamic State leaders quickly claimed credit for a deadly attack on Sikh
worshippers in Kabul this week, and radical Islamist movements in Africa have
stepped up their activity in countries such as Nigeria and Chad. “Jihadis see
the current crisis as a manifestation of the wrath of God, both upon the
non-believers for their rejection of God’s law and crimes against Muslims, and
upon those Muslims who have forsaken the duty of jihad,” said Alexander
Meleagrou-Hitchens, director of research at The George Washington University’s
Program on Extremism. “They argue that fighting jihad is the surest way to
guarantee protection from the virus.”Bill Roggio, who analyzes jihadist
terrorism at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said there was a
consistent argument in messages from various outfits online — from the Taliban
in Afghanistan to Islamic State and underground al Qaeda affiliates around the
globe. A “common theme,” he said, is that “coronavirus is a punishment from
Allah to our decadent Western style of life.”
False Belief That Methanol Fights Coronavirus Kills 300
Iranians
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 27 March, 2020
As he stood over the body of an apparently ill kid wearing nothing but a plastic
diaper, Iranian health care worker urged citizens to stop drinking industrial
alcohol over fears about the new coronavirus. The 5-year-old boy is now blind
after his parents gave him toxic methanol in the mistaken belief that it
protects against the virus. He is just one of hundreds of victims holding wrong
beliefs over the pandemic now gripping Iran. There are nearly 300 who have been
killed and more than 1,000 sickened so far by ingesting methanol across the
country. The poisonings come as fake remedies spread across social media in
Iran, where people remain deeply suspicious of the government after it
downplayed the crisis for days before it overwhelmed Iran, the Associated Press
(AP) reported. Dr. Knut Erik Hovda, a clinical toxicologist in Oslo, said to
expect more methanol poisoning victims. “The virus is spreading and people are
just dying off, and I think they are even less aware of the fact that there are
other dangers around,” Hovda said.“When they keep drinking this, there's going
to be more people poisoned.”For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or
moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.
For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it
can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. Scientists and doctors
continue to study the virus and search for effective medicines and a vaccine.
However, in message that were forwarded over and over again, Iranian social
media accounts in Farsi falsely suggested a British school teacher and others
cured themselves of the coronavirus with alcohol and honey, which are baseless
claims so far. International experts also fear Iran may be under-reporting its
cases, as officials for days played down the virus ahead of a parliamentary
election.
According to AP, the fear of the virus, coupled with poor education and internet
rumors, saw dozens sickened by drinking bootleg alcohol containing methanol in
Iran's southwestern Khuzestan province and its southern city of Shiraz.
WHO Representative Warns of Virus Danger in War-Torn
Countries
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 27 March, 2020
The World Health Organization representative in the East Mediterranean warned
Friday of the repercussions of a potential spread of the novel coronavirus in
the region's war-torn countries. "The emergence of the virus in much more
vulnerable countries with fragile health systems in the region, including Syria
and Libya, is of special concern," said WHO East Mediterranean Office Director
Ahmed Al Mandhari. On Wednesday, the count of infectious cases in Syria rose to
five. A day earlier, Libya recorded its first confirmed COVID-19 case. "A
country like Syria, ravaged by conflict and displacement, and with a health
system already pushed to its limits, will clearly be overburdened by an outbreak
of COVID-19, and the impact could be catastrophic," he added in a statement
issued Friday. Libya's ongoing civil war coupled with its poor health system
weakens the country's ability to respond to the new pandemic, added Mandhari.
LNA Says Expels GNA Militias, Syrian Mercenaries from W.
Libya Regions
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday/27 March/2020
Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari announced on Friday that
the military has cleansed regions in western Libya from militias loyal to the
Government of National Accord (GNA) and affiliated Syrian mercenaries. In a
statement on his official Facebook page, he declared that the LNA, commanded by
Khalifa Haftar, cleared the regions of al-Assah, Riqdalin and Zliten of GNA
militias and Syrian mercenaries, “who fled from the advance of our brave
forces.”He thanked the residents for helping secure this victory and restoring
their freedom from the clutches of terrorist and criminal groups.
Mismari said that the international community is aware that these groups were
violating the UN-brokered ceasefire and have rejected the LNA’s calls for
focusing efforts on combatting the novel coronavirus in Libya.
Given the violations of the so-called national accord government and its
terrorist militias, “the LNA finds itself obligated to confront the militias,
which are backed by Turkish military forces and terrorist Syrian mercenaries,”
he added, saying the army will take “all appropriate” measures to protect the
Libyan people. He warned the GNA and its militias that the ongoing violation of
the ceasefire will make them legitimate targets of the LNA on all battlefronts.
“We will hold them responsible for all the consequences of their failure to heed
this warning,” he vowed.
Even Doctors Are Terrified by Coronavirus in Iraq
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 27 March, 2020
Doctors and nurses across Iraq have treated hundreds of thousands of victims
during decades of civil war, violence and sanctions, while watching what was
once one of the best healthcare systems in the Middle East crumble. Today, they
say Iraq may be singularly unprepared for the coronavirus. Through decades of
conflict, Dr. Haidar Hantoush has watched wounded soldiers and civilians flood
into Iraq's emergency wards. But he's never been so scared, Reuters reported.
"Violence we can just about handle. Patients stream into hospitals for hours at
a time - but you can see how many there are. You get a lull to prepare for the
next round," said Hantoush, public health director for southern province Dhi Qar.
"With coronavirus, there's no safe place. We don't know when the number of cases
will explode.... Even the world's best healthcare systems can't cope."Iraq has
counted more than 450 coronavirus cases and 40 deaths, most of them in the past
week. But doctors worry that those figures barely scratch the surface of an
epidemic that may already be raging undetected across crowded cities. "There are
many unrecorded cases. People aren't getting tested or taking it seriously,"
Hantoush said. One Baghdad doctor, requesting anonymity because the ministry
forbade medical staff from speaking to media, said a sharp rise in cases is
imminent. "We're bracing for what happens in the next two weeks. And we can't
cope," he said. Loudspeakers on mosques in Baghdad blast out government
guidelines daily urging people to stay at home and get tested if they think they
are ill. A curfew is in place until April 11. Borders are shut and international
flights halted. However, getting the message across is difficult in a country
with deep distrust of the authorities. Tribes have sometimes refused to allow
women with symptoms to be isolated because they do not want them to be alone in
hospitals, Hantoush noted. Dr Laith Jubr, 30, who works at a Baghdad ward
testing suspected coronavirus cases said many Iraqis were nonchalant because
they thought they had "seen it all" through years of war. "This is dangerous.
We're facing a hidden enemy that requires not just doctors but the whole
population to combat it."Security forces deployed on Friday to Baghdad's densely
populated Sadr City district, home to millions, to enforce the curfew, a
statement said. The United Nations praised Iraq's early measures in closing
borders last month but has urged respect for the curfew.
Negotiations With Taliban Hampered by Political Turmoil in Kabul
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 27 March, 2020
President Ashraf Ghani announced his 21-member team to negotiate peace with the
Taliban on Friday after months of deliberation, only to have his political
opponent reject it as not inclusive enough. Afghanistan's political turmoil has
impeded each tentative step toward negotiations with the Taliban, which is the
next critical step in a peace deal Washington signed with the insurgent group
last month. The deal calls for the eventual withdrawal of all 13,000 U.S.
soldiers from Afghanistan in exchange for guarantees from the Taliban to fight
terrorist groups, including the ISIS group. The deal has also been touted as
Afghanistan's best chance yet of ending its relentless wars. But Ghani and his
opponent, Abdullah Abdullah - who has also declared himself president - have
been locked in a political power struggle that even US Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo could not bring to an end.
Pompeo made an emergency visit earlier this week that ended with a promise to
cut $1 billion in assistance to Afghanistan if the two leaders couldn't "get
their act together." Ghani's 21-member team is led by the Masoom Stanikzai,
former head of Afghanistan's intelligence agency, who was forced to resign last
year. He quit after a CIA-trained team under his command was found to have
killed four brothers they falsely accused of being ISIS operatives. The special
forces unit known as Unit 02 still operates despite reports of abuses, including
one last year by the Human Rights Watch, which documented what it says are
mounting atrocities by US-backed Afghan special forces. Abdullah meanwhile is
unhappy with the negotiating team. He also wants to restart talks with Ghani to
devise a power-sharing deal, which until now the Afghan president has rejected.
Abdullah has accused Ghani of being unwilling to compromise. Ghani for his part
says that Abdullah's power-sharing demands will require a constitutional change
and that can come only with a loya jirga, or grand council. In a televised
speech earlier this week, Ghani also said Afghanistan can manage without the $1
billion in US aid. Despite 18 years and billions of dollars in international
aid, Afghanistan remains desperately poor. The poverty level soared from 35% of
the population in 2012 to more than 55% last year. Poverty level counts those
who survive on $1 or less a day. Successive Afghan governments, including
Ghani's, have been accused by international watchdogs of widespread
corruption.Meanwhile, Taliban political spokesman Sohail Shaheen said the group
would send four members to Bagram north of Kabul to oversee the release of their
prisoners, also part of the deal signed with the U.S. That deal calls for the
release of 5,000 Taliban and 1,000 government personnel held captive by the
Taliban. The visit to Bagram will be the first time Taliban representatives have
officially visited Afghanistan since being thrown out of power in 2001 by the
US-led coalition after they harbored Osama bin Laden and al Qaida.
Magnitude 3.2 Earthquake Shakes Kuwait
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 27 March, 2020
A 3.2 magnitude earthquake hit Kuwait overnight Thursday, reported the country’s
state news agency KUNA. Supervisor of the Kuwait National Seismic Network Dr.
Abdullah Al-Enzi said the tremor was monitored at a depth of five kilometers in
the northern region of al-Abdali. The quake was felt by farmers in the area, he
told KUNA.
France Says Four Kidnapped Aid Workers Released After 2
Months
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 27 March, 2020
Four kidnapped aid workers from France and Iraq have been released two months
after they were taken hostage in Baghdad. French President Emmanuel Macron
announced their liberation Thursday and thanked Iraqi authorities for their
cooperation with France to free them. He didn't provide details. “The President
of the Republic welcomes the release of our three nationals Antoine Brochon,
Julien Dittmar, Alexandre Goodarzy and Iraqi Tariq Mattoka”, Macron’s office
said in a statement on Thursday. Their liberation was announced the day France
started pulling out troops from Iraq as the French military is deployed to help
fight the new virus.The French Armed Forces Ministry said on Wednesday it would
withdraw all troops it has stationed in Iraq until further notice due to the
coronavirus outbreak. “France has taken the decision to repatriate until further
notice its personnel deployed in operation Chammal in Iraq,” the ministry said,
adding about 100 hundred soldiers were concerned. The army said it would
continue air operations against ISIS. The three French citizens and one Iraqi
worked for aid group SOS Chretiens d'Orient, which helps persecuted Christians
in the region. They all had past experience in crisis zones and were staying at
a hotel that regularly hosts international guests when they went missing in
January. It was a time of heightened tensions in the region after a US drone
strike on Baghdad airport.
Amnesty International’ Urges Algeria to Release Prisoners
of Conscience
Algiers - Boualem Goumrassa/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 27 March, 2020
Amnesty International has demanded that the Algerian authorities release
prisoners of conscience, as a dispute spurred between attorneys and judges on
judicial and legal proceedings in these cases. The National Union for the
Algerian Bar Associations, which represents 50,000 attorneys, denounced on
Thursday "violating defense rights" during the trial of Karim Tabbou at the
appeal court that sentenced him to one year in prison. The Union, led by Ahmed
Sai, said that the judge refused to delay the trial given the convict's health
condition. For his part, Tabbou objected to the absence of defense during his
trial. Further, the Union – which is fighting for judiciary independence –
expressed in a statement its rejection of these practices that impact the
judiciary's credibility. It also called on superior authorities to meddle and
put an end to these violations. The law stipulates that the defendant must be
notified of the sentence in his presence but this didn’t apply in the case of
Tabbou who was still at Kolea’s prison’s clinic – west of the capital. Notably,
the activist is facing two charges in two separate cases: “incitement to
violence” and “harming national security”. Responding to the court’s decision,
Amnesty International asserted that the “Court's decision sends a deliberate and
frightening message to demonstrators, including political and other civil
society activists, that anyone who dares to oppose or criticize the government
will be punished.” It added: “Karim should never have been charged in the first
place simply for expressing peaceful political views and the authorities must
immediately and unconditionally release him.” In a statement issued on its
website: Amnesty said: “Instead of persecuting critics and people who
courageously speak their minds freely, the Algerian authorities should
immediately quash Karim Tabbou’s conviction and drop all the charges against
him. “At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has governments worldwide considering
early prisoner releases, the Algerian authorities must immediately release all
those imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights. They should
also urgently consider the release of other prisoners – especially pre-trial
detainees and those who may be more at risk from the virus – and take necessary
measures to protect the health of all prisoners.”
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources
published on March 27-28/2020
IMF Should Reject Islamic Republic’s Loan Request
Richard Goldberg/Saeed Ghasseminejad/FDD/March 27/2020
The Islamic Republic of Iran has requested a $5 billion loan from the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) as Tehran confronts a perfect economic storm
combining President Donald Trump’s maximum pressure campaign, an unexpected
plunge in oil prices, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Were the IMF to approve this
loan, the nature and structure of the Islamic Republic would likely result in
the misuse of these funds in manner that benefits the regime but not the people.
The Islamic Republic runs a corrupt economy where freedom is scarce,
accountability nonexistent, and transparency rare. Transparency International’s
corruption index ranks Iran 146th among 180 countries. The Central Bank of Iran
– designated by the United States for its direct financing of terrorism – lacks
the independence of a normal central bank and engages in a range of money
laundering activities. The country’s banking system is an inefficient structure
where politically connected figures embezzle billions of dollars from ordinary
depositors. Firms controlled by the military or by the supreme leader, Ali
Khamenei, dominate the economy.
The Islamic Republic’s rampant corruption and money laundering practices are
rooted in a financial structure that runs contrary to IMF rules by operating
multiple currency exchange rates. While the IMF allows its members to operate
multiple rates temporarily, Tehran relies on its multiple rates as a means of
distributing political spoils, by granting regime loyalists access to hard
currency on favorable terms.
In addition to these structural issues, Iran diverts its revenues to fund
terrorism, missiles, and illicit nuclear capabilities. In response, the Trump
administration imposed “maximum pressure” sanctions, vowing to add additional
pressure until the regime halts its sponsorship of terrorism, removes its forces
from the Middle East, dismantles its nuclear and missile programs, and releases
all U.S. hostages. The IMF would be right to worry that its loan may never be
repaid and – worse – that Tehran will use it to subsidize malign activities.
The influence of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a U.S.-designated
foreign terrorist organization whose leaders and affiliates are subject to UN
sanctions, also seriously compromises the integrity of the Iranian financial
system. The IRGC controls roughly 25 to 30 percent of the Iranian economy, while
Khamenei sits on a $200 billion empire, which also operates above the law.
Businesses owned and controlled by the IRGC or supreme leader account for 20 to
25 percent of the value of all firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. The
U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has found Iran’s
entire financial system, including its central bank, to be a jurisdiction of
primary money laundering concern.
For the IMF to have confidence in Iran’s ability to repay a loan – or even use
such funds in a responsible manner – the Islamic Republic would have to halt all
sponsorship of terrorism; stop investment in its illicit missile and nuclear
programs; disentangle the supreme leader, clerics, and IRGC from the economy;
and comply with all the requirements and recommendations of the Financial Action
Task Force (FATF), which just last month ordered the global banking community to
defend itself against Iranian money laundering practices.
The World Health Organization and various countries and non-governmental
organizations are taking proactive steps to deliver medical supplies and
technical assistance to help the Iranian people combat COVID-19. America would
be doing the same, but Tehran has rejected multiple offers of assistance, while
the supreme leader promotes baseless conspiracy theories accusing the United
States of inventing the coronavirus. While transfers of goods and supplies
directly to the Iranian people serve a crucial need, cash payments, loans, and
other lines of credit to the Islamic Republic of Iran pose grave threats to
international security and do not help ordinary Iranians. Without wholesale
behavioral changes by Iran’s government and structural changes to its economy,
the United States and other IMF shareholders should reject Iran’s request for
any IMF loan.
*Richard Goldberg, who previously served as National Security Council director
for countering Iranian weapons of mass destruction, is a senior advisor at the
Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where *Saeed Ghasseminejad is a
senior Iran and financial economics advisor. They both contribute to FDD’s
Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP). For more analysis from Saeed,
Richard, and CEFP, please subscribe HERE. Follow Saeed and Richard on Twitter @SGhasseminejad
and @rich_goldberg. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CEFP. FDD is a
Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national
security and foreign policy.
Now is the time for the G20 to really show what it can do
Michael Stephens/Al Arabiya/March 27/2020
Thursday’s G20 summit hosted by King Salman marked an important step in
advancing the global response against the Coronavirus. Promising to do “whatever
it takes” the collective noted that some $5 trillion had been injected into the
Global economy to “minimise the economic and social damage from the pandemic,
restore global growth, maintain market stability, and strengthen resilience.”
It is rare in these politically difficult times to find things that we can all
agree about, such is the partisan nature of politics and the level of global
instability that we face. But the spectre of the killer virus disrupting the
world for months, and possibly years has been proven a rare source of unity
among a fractured global leadership. Notwithstanding the fact that it’s
comforting to see the world’s leaders having to conduct their affairs through
webcam like the rest of us, it was important that the world’s richest nations
all committed publicly together to do more to speed up the global response to
the pandemic, and the $5tn figure is certainly impressive. But bandying about
massive sums of money is just the start of the fightback, and now the G20 really
needs to make good on doing as much as possible to be a forum for sharing ideas
and best practice. A G20 meeting of health ministers is due to take place some
time before 20 April following up on the promises of cooperative work shown by
their respective leaderships. This needs to be where the substantive work is
done, or else the G20 risks looking like a place for world leaders to show off
in front of their peers, without tying leaders down to substantive commitments.
This doesn’t mean that the G20 should enforce a standardised a response across
the world. There are widely differing approaches being taken by countries
towards handling this problem, which is their right to pursue, and the G20 isn’t
a security council that can violate state sovereignty. Nor is it a body that can
force states to engage to make U-turns on policies like sanctions on states,
which President Putin of Russia urged during his speech. Instead the G20’s role
can, and should be that of a trend setter, where powerful states can shape a
global conversation around action, and then encourage other states in their
respective neighbourhoods to do the same. It is a place to show solidarity for
states that have experienced severe human trauma like Italy, Spain and China,
which can take the sting out of the accusatory tone that has pervaded
international discourse of late.
It doesn’t matter whose fault COVID-19 was, the problem affects all of us, and
the framework of the G20 holds states to a shared discourse that can be
conducted in a more constructive tone than in press conferences or on Twitter.
The G20 also provides a chance for countries better understand the stresses and
strains that others are experiencing, and adapt their policy responses
accordingly. There is a real chance to build momentum for a global conversation
to progress in areas like healthcare, the establishment of joint research
programmes in which international scientists come together to help solve this
problem, and the sharing of knowledge and experience is vital at a time like
this. With so much goodwill apparently on the TV screen, now is the time to
capitalise and build positive steps forward for global cooperation. It might be
interesting to see world leaders gathering together to talk, it looks impressive
and makes the news, but let’s really keep an eye out for that meeting of health
ministers in April, then we’ll really know if the G20 is doing what it said it
would; defeating this virus and getting all of us back to work again.
*Michael Stephens is an Associate Fellow at RUSI, follow him on Twitter @MikerStephens.
Iran campaign for sanctions relief seeks to cover up
negligence over coronavirus
Jason Brodsky/Al Arabiya/March 27/2020
Iran has been mounting a full-court press in recent weeks over the need for
sanctions relief. This global campaign has consisted of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs lobbying allies around the world to publicly and privately press the US
government to ease its economic pressure. Such an effort has deflected attention
away from the regime’s own mismanagement of the coronavirus outbreak –
specifically, prioritizing conspiracy theories and ideology over science and the
welfare of the Iranian people; creating a hydra-headed, dysfunctional management
structure to combat the coronavirus; and haphazard decision-making.
The coronavirus is rapidly spreading among the general population of Iran.
According to a Health Ministry official, one Iranian is killed every 10 minutes.
It’s not just ordinary Iranians who are being afflicted with the disease – the
heart of the Islamic Republic’s Establishment has also been affected. At least
two extended family members of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have
contracted the coronavirus – the brother-in-law of his influential son Mojtaba
and the mother-in-law of another son, Meysam, also died from the disease. That’s
not to mention that at least two members of the Office of Iran’s Supreme Leader
have contracted the coronavirus – his foreign policy adviser Ali Akbar Velayati
and his deputy for supervision and auditing Mohammad-Javad Iravani.
The Rouhani administration has fared no better. The first vice president, the
vice president for family and women’s affairs, the minister of industry, the
tourism minister, and a deputy health minister have all suffered from the
outbreak. The situation has become so dire that President Rouhani announced
around half of all government employees are staying at home or limiting their
work activities. Such a dynamic is dangerous, as in recent days the head of US
Central Command assessed that Iran is slower in its decision-making as a result
of the coronavirus.
Prioritizing ideology over welfare
Despite all these trend lines, the regime has continued to prioritize conspiracy
theories and ideological purity over tangible assistance. Just days ago, Iran’s
supreme leader repeated the outlandish and outrageous claim that the United
State is “accused of having created this virus.” Khamenei’s willingness to
entertain these baseless claims has filtered down to the Islamic Republic’s top
brass, with the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Hossein
Salami, members of parliament, and the secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council
Mohsen Rezaei employing this messaging. Rezaei recently accused the United
States and Israel of using the coronavirus to launch World War III.
This is not mere rhetoric. Such dangerous thinking has had devastating effects
for the Iranian people. On February 28, the US government made an offer to
provide humanitarian assistance to Iran to help with the coronavirus pandemic.
But the US State Department indicated that the approach was “quickly” and
clearly rejected by the regime.
It’s not only the United States that has seen its efforts rebuffed. France’s
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) shipped an inflatable hospital to be deployed in
Isfahan, along with nine doctors and specialists. But an official from the
Health Ministry later announced “Iran did not need hospitals established by
foreigners.” In justifying the ban on MSF operating a hospital, Khamenei ally
and editor of Kayhan Hossein Shariatmadari quipped “is it not true that France
has always cooperated with the US conspiracies against Iran?” He also accused
MSF’s presence in Iran as being “a cover for non-humanitarian activities.”
Iran’s officials have made similar decisions in the past. Ayatollah Khamenei and
his allies routinely rail against Western infiltration. In 1992, the regime
expelled all of the Red Cross’ staff matters after allegations they had assisted
in the compilation of a United Nations report on the human rights situation in
the country. There have been times when the regime has accepted US assistance,
such as after the 2003 Bam earthquake. But in the current situation, the regime
is prioritizing its revolutionary dogma over real-time, tangible assistance for
the welfare of the Iranian people.
Chaos, confusion, and competition
Iran’s management structure of the coronavirus has also hobbled the response.
There are three competing entities which have been established to confront the
crisis – the National Coronavirus Headquarters, chaired by the Rouhani
administration; the Imam Reza Headquarters, chaired by the chief of staff of
Iran’s Armed Forces; and the IRGC’s Shafa Headquarters. The New York Times also
reported of a clash between Rouhani and Bagheri over command – with Bagheri
insisting Khamenei gave him the authority “to act independently” of the
president.
Such a collection of colliding entities has resulted in conflicting messages and
erratic decision-making. When the supreme leader tasked the chief of staff of
the Armed Forces General Staff Mohammad Bagheri to establish the Imam Reza
Headquarters, Bagheri announced his forces would be “emptying shops, streets,
and roads” within 24 hours. But a few days later during Nowruz, Iranian police
announced that over 1.2 million traveled for the holiday. Only this week, after
the initial traffic, did the Rouhani administration come around to forbidding
travel.
There has also been internal confusion and dissent within the Rouhani
administration over the handling of the pandemic. Intelligence Minister Mahmoud
Alavi indicated that it was his ministry which approved the arrival of MSF in
Iran, only to see MSF later forbidden from erecting a mobile hospital. To add to
the turmoil, the government’s spokesman later said Iran would accept assistance
from MSF, with little clarity over next steps. Deputy Health Minister Reza
Malekzadeh, himself a former health minister, recently admitted publicly that
Iran did not restrict travel to and from China “in a timely manner” because of
the “economic ties with China as well as the large number of Iranians in China.”
He also regretted the “delay in informing the public” about coronavirus.
In recent days, Iran and its allies have been lobbying for sanctions relief
given the public health emergency. But the rationale for this campaign raises
serious questions, given the regime’s rejection of tangible offers of
assistance, the existence of a Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement in which 50
companies have expressed interest in participating, and the government’s
helter-skelter management of the crisis.
*Jason Brodsky is currently the Policy Director of
United Against Nuclear Iran.
If Europe Won’t Snapback, End the Waiver for Arak
Richard Goldberg/FDD/March 27, 2020
“Iran must stop enrichment and never pursue plutonium reprocessing. This
includes closing its heavy water reactor.” – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, May
21, 2018
Iran has two pathways to nuclear weapons: uranium and plutonium. While the Trump
administration made clear that a new agreement with Iran must permanently and
irreversibly close both, it continues issuing a sanctions waiver that endorses
the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal and keeps Iran’s plutonium pathway alive. It’s
time for the administration to reconsider this waiver and align its sanctions
policy with its negotiating demands.
Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), longstanding demands for a
permanent prohibition on reprocessing activities and the full dismantlement of
Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor was replaced with an Iranian commitment to forgo
work on such reactors for 15 years and an international commitment to help Iran
“modernize” its existing reactor.
Iran agreed to disable the reactor by pouring concrete into its core on the
promise of retrofitting the facility to a design that produces far less
plutonium. Five years later, however, Iran retains its ability to return the
reactor to a more threatening course at any time. Last year, Iran’s top nuclear
official revealed that the regime had negotiated in bad faith – concealing spare
tubes it can use to build a new reactor core.
With this backdrop, it’s no surprise that when it came time for Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo to issue America’s demands to Iran as the basis of any future
agreement, he rightly called on Iran to close the Arak reactor.
Surprisingly though, six months after issuing the demand to close Arak, the
administration issued a sanctions waiver to allow European and Chinese firms to
continue working with Iran on the JCPOA project. That waiver was renewed three
times in 2019 and again earlier this year – each time with robust lobbying by
the United Kingdom, France and Germany (the "E3"), and each time contradicting a
key Trump administration demand.
Despite all the tough talk of maximum pressure, the administration has
repeatedly undermined its own negotiating posture at Europe's request – not only
with sanctions waivers like the one for Arak but also by refusing to trigger the
restoration of all international sanctions and restrictions on Iran – a
mechanism in the UN Security Council known as “snapback.”
Why does the E3 care so much about the Arak waiver? They have no other way to
show Iran they remain committed to the nuclear deal. With their private sectors
in compliance with U.S. sanctions, technical support to the Arak reactor is
their Iran deal “Alamo.”
What then does President Trump gain from giving Europe this JCPOA lifeline that
outweighs undermining his own negotiation position? If the answer is anything
less than European support for “snapback,” it’s time to end this pro-JCPOA
waiver.
Supporters of the JCPOA will argue that the administration should renew this
waiver no matter what. Since Iran has threatened to reconstitute its old reactor
design as part of its counter-maximum pressure campaign, ending the waiver could
give the regime the pretext to do just that.
But Iran’s threat is hollow. Facing a perfect storm of maximum pressure,
coronavirus and plunging oil prices, the Iranian economy is likely to collapse
sooner than the time it would take to build a new reactor core. Tehran also
knows that Arak is an easier target for the Israeli Air Force than an
underground enrichment facility like Fordow.
Moreover, Secretary Pompeo was unmoved by similar threats when he revoked a
sanctions waiver last May that allowed Iran to swap enriched uranium for natural
uranium – a program established by the JCPOA to legitimize enrichment on Iranian
soil. Rather than fearing an Iranian breach of its enrichment limits, Pompeo
aligned America’s sanctions policy with its enrichment policy – no waiver for
the swap and no enrichment in a future agreement.
Another reason revoking the Arak waiver is easy: Russian uranium suppliers are
not a factor. Unlike other nuclear activities in Iran, including the Bushehr
Nuclear Power Plant, Russian firms are not involved in the Arak project –
alleviating concerns among America’s uranium importers that sanctions could
disrupt their nuclear fuel supply.
In January, reportedly at the urging of the Trump administration, the E3 took
the first step toward a UN snapback by invoking the JCPOA’s dispute resolution
mechanism. If European leaders are seriously considering taking the final step –
accusing Iran of violating its nuclear commitments under the deal – they will
want to appear to be the aggrieved parties who faithfully upheld the agreement
until the end. By pointing to their work at Arak, European capitals could say
they are upholding their commitments, but Iran is not.
If the E3 commits to snapback within 60 days, but say they need the Arak waiver
as part of their political and communications strategy, one more waiver is worth
the benefit. Otherwise, it's time for the administration to end the European
addiction to the deal and align its sanctions policy with its negotiating
demands.
*Richard Goldberg, a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies, most recently served as Director for Countering Iranian Weapons of
Mass Destruction on President Trump’s National Security Council. Follow him on
twitter @Rich_Goldberg.
Khamenei Securitizes the Pandemic as the IRGC Mulls
Regional Action
Farzin Nadimi/The Washington Institute/March 27/2020
With the regime leadership accusing the United States of using bioweapons and
fomenting other hateful disinformation, the potential for violence against U.S.
forces and interests will likely escalate.
Taking advantage of his annual Nowruz speech on March 22, Iran’s increasingly
paranoid Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei aimed sharp criticism at the United States
by accusing it of waging a genetically engineered biowarfare campaign against
his nation. Besides raising concerns about his mental state, such rhetoric may
signal a new chapter of hostilities between the two countries, especially in
light of recent moves by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
HUMAN-JINN CONSPIRACY THEORIES
Citing chapter 6, verse 112 of the Quran, Khamenei categorized Iran’s enemies
into two groups, demonic (jinn) and human, claiming that they have close
“intelligence cooperation” with each other. Even allowing for sarcasm and
rhetorical flourishes, such language from the commander-in-chief of a
well-armed, demonstrably hostile regime is quite unsettling and dangerous. He
also accused Washington of genetically engineering a strain of coronavirus in
order to use it on Iranians and “study the effects.”
Even more important than his rhetoric were the regime’s actions: Khamenei
directed the government to reject any American aid, while the IRGC expelled a
team of French doctors representing Medecins Sans Frontieres after they were
accused of performing non-medical activities. Then, following Khamenei’s lead,
Iran’s Health Ministry announced on March 23 that scarcely available manpower
and resources were being diverted to investigate whether the country had been
subjected to biowarfare.
Khamenei’s speech went into further detail about this supposed conspiracy.
According to him, enemies “are said to have used various means to collect data
on the Iranian genetic makeup and have used this data to design strains
specifically for Iran.” He was probably referring to scientific projects such as
Iranome, which sought to map the genomes of various Iranian ethnic groups.
Headed by the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences in
Tehran, the project was completed in 2019 in collaboration with two German
institutes: the Cologne Center for Genomics and the Max Planck Institute for
Molecular Genetics in Berlin.
Beyond scoring rhetorical points, Khamenei’s remarks are dangerous from a wider
security standpoint. He characterized the supposed U.S. involvement in spreading
coronavirus as a “terrorist” act, raising the potential that Iran may seek to
retaliate by military means or “in kind,” if it still has such capabilities
(e.g., the regime reportedly experimented with biological agents during the
1980s).
IRAN’S CORONA CONTAINMENT EFFORT
Khamenei’s controversial remarks came amid continued uncertainty over who is
leading the country’s efforts to stem the pandemic. The IRGC-affiliated National
Passive Defense Organization (NPDO) was traditionally in charge of countering
biological threats and established a biological defense network across all
provinces years ago, headed by provincial governors with IRGC commanders as
their deputies.
According to NPDO chief Gen. Gholam Reza Jalali, however, his organization was
completely sidelined when the government formed a national command center to
combat coronavirus, with President Hassan Rouhani sitting at the top. And on
March 12, after “considering the evidence that points to a biological attack,”
Khamenei put the Armed Forces General Staff and its commander, Maj. Gen.
Mohammad Bagheri, in charge of coordinating the military’s biological defense
efforts, creating a “welfare and treatment headquarters” in the process.
TEHRAN IS NOT DETERRED
The old problems of the Middle East linger even amid the unprecedented local and
global effects of the pandemic. Tehran shows no sign of backing down from its
defiant posture despite having to dedicate a great deal of its resources to
containing the virus. Its proxy forces in Iraq continue to launch deadly rocket
attacks at U.S. bases.
For its part, Washington is determined to continue its “maximum pressure”
campaign. It is also quietly strengthening its regional military posture with
new deployments and joint exercises. A second aircraft carrier (the USS
Eisenhower) has joined the USS Truman in the region, and for the first time in
many years, Patriot missile defense systems have been sent to protect at least
some U.S. personnel and assets in Iraq. None of these developments are escaping
the attention of IRGC strategists, who likely regard such measures as either
insufficient (missile defense) or temporary (the second carrier). They will be
keen to resume the “old normal” sooner rather than later, reasserting the IRGC’s
recent momentum even as much of its domestic capacity—and that of the Artesh—is
busy dealing with the effects of the virus and seasonal floods across the
country.
That is presumably why Khamenei is so keen on focusing the regime’s wrath back
on the old enemy in the middle of a national crisis. In place of strategic
patience, one can expect an even more significant escalation in proxy violence
against American military forces and interests in the region. Such attacks might
seek to cause American casualties and force a direct military response against
Iran—this in turn could initiate a round of actions and reactions in which the
IRGC seems confident it can prevail, both militarily and rhetorically.
Notably, all of these developments could cause domestic political problems.
Military escalation may widen the Rouhani government’s rift with the IRGC,
further crippling governance. And Khamenei’s stark demon remarks—which exceeded
his past mentions of the subject—could backfire by convincing people inside and
outside the regime that the eighty-year-old leader is indeed losing his mind.
CONCLUSION
Given the increasing securitization of Iran’s anti-virus measures, information
pertaining to the spread and containment of the pandemic will likely be
classified going forward, even if this approach hampers the wider international
effort. Moreover, in light of the Supreme Leader’s hateful tone and the IRGC’s
propensity to follow his lead, the United States needs to consider the
possibility of retaliatory attacks by the IRGC and prepare proper deterrent
measures. Potential acts of Iranian terrorism could include conventional attacks
on biological facilities that result in the release of pathogens, or even direct
bioterrorism in the worst-case scenario.
Finally, the pandemic’s serious effects inside Iran should not be regarded as
evidence that the Iranian military threat has decreased. Washington should
continue taking the IRGC threat to its regional military presence seriously,
deploying a viable air and missile defense capability in Iraq and perhaps even
Afghanistan in order to deter any attacks. And while it cannot maintain a
two-carrier force posture in the region indefinitely, it still needs to maintain
a demonstrated qualitative and quantitative advantage in Iran’s neighborhood—and,
perhaps more important, credibility that it will respond at the right time and
place.
*Farzin Nadimi is an associate fellow with The Washington Institute,
specializing in the security and defense affairs of Iran and the Gulf region.
Coronavirus: The European Union Unravels
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/March 27/2020
Faced with an existential threat, EU member states, far from joining together to
confront the pandemic as a unified bloc, instinctively are returning to pursuing
the national interest. After years of criticizing U.S. President Donald J. Trump
for pushing an "America First" policy, European leaders are reverting to the
very nationalism they have publicly claimed to despise.
Ever since the threat posed by coronavirus came into focus, Europeans have
displayed precious little of the high-minded multilateral solidarity that for
decades has been sold to the rest of the world as a bedrock of European unity.
The EU's unique brand of soft power, said to be a model for a post-national
world order, has been shown to be an empty fiction.
In recent weeks, EU member states have closed their borders, banned exports of
critical supplies and withheld humanitarian aid. The European Central Bank, the
guarantor of the European single currency, has treated with unparalleled disdain
the eurozone's third-largest economy, Italy, in its singular hour of need. The
member states worst affected by the pandemic — Italy and Spain — have been left
by the other member states to fend for themselves.
The European Union, seven decades in the making, is now unravelling in real time
— in weeks.
In recent weeks, EU member states have closed their borders, banned exports of
critical supplies and withheld humanitarian aid. Pictured: Trucks are backed up
on the road leading to the Austrian-Hungarian border crossing near Nickelsdorf,
Austria on March 18, 2020. (Photo by Thomas Kronsteiner/Getty Images)
As the coronavirus pandemic rages through Europe — where more than 250,000
people have now been diagnosed with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and
15,000 have died — the foundational pillars of the European Union are crumbling
one by one.
Faced with an existential threat, EU member states, far from joining together to
confront the pandemic as a unified bloc, instinctively are returning to pursuing
the national interest. After years of criticizing U.S. President Donald J. Trump
for pushing an "America First" policy, European leaders are reverting to the
very nationalism they have publicly claimed to despise.
Ever since the threat posed by coronavirus came into focus, Europeans have
displayed precious little of the high-minded multilateral solidarity that for
decades has been sold to the rest of the world as a bedrock of European unity.
The EU's unique brand of soft power, said to be a model for a post-national
world order, has been shown to be an empty fiction.
In recent weeks, EU member states have closed their borders, banned exports of
critical supplies and withheld humanitarian aid. The European Central Bank, the
guarantor of the European single currency, has treated with unparalleled disdain
the eurozone's third-largest economy, Italy, in its singular hour of need. The
member states worst affected by the pandemic — Italy and Spain — have been left
by the other member states to fend for themselves.
The seeds of the European Union were planted in the ashes of the Second World
War. In May 1949, Robert Schuman, one of the EU's founding fathers, boldly
announced the creation of new world system:
"We are carrying out a great experiment, the fulfillment of the same recurrent
dream that for ten centuries has revisited the peoples of Europe: creating
between them an organization putting an end to war and guaranteeing an eternal
peace."
The European Union, seven decades in the making, is now unravelling in real time
— in weeks. After the dust of the coronavirus pandemic settles, the EU's
institutions will almost certainly continue to operate as before. Too much
political and economic capital has been invested in the European project for
European elites to do otherwise. However, the EU's attraction as a post-national
model for its own citizens, much less for the rest of the world, will have
passed.
Recent examples of the unilateral pursuit of the national interest by European
leaders, many of whom publicly espouse globalism but in times of desperation
embrace nationalism, include:
France. On March 3, France confiscated all protective masks made in the country.
"We will distribute them to healthcare professionals and to French people
affected by the coronavirus," French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter.
On March 6, the French government forced Valmy SAS, a face mask manufacturer
near Lyon, to cancel an order for millions of masks placed by the UK's National
Health Service.
Germany, March 4. Germany banned the export of medical protective equipment such
as safety glasses, respiratory masks, protective coats, protective suits and
gloves. On March 7, the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported that
German customs authorities were preventing a Swiss truck carrying 240,000
protective masks from returning to Switzerland, which is not a member of the EU.
The Swiss government summoned the German ambassador to protest against the
export ban. "In these contacts, the German authorities were urged immediately to
release the blocked products," a Swiss government spokesperson was quoted as
saying. After facing a backlash from other EU member states, Germany on March 19
reversed course and lifted the export ban.
Austria, March 10. Austria became the first EU country to close its borders to
another EU country. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced controls along the
border with Italy and a ban on the entry of most travelers from there. "The
utmost priority," Kurz said, "is to prevent the spread and thus importing the
illness into our society. There is therefore a ban on entry for people from
Italy into Austria, with the exception of people who have a doctor's note
certifying that they are healthy." The government also announced a ban on all
air or rail travel to Italy. Austria's decision threatened to undo the so-called
Schengen Area, which entered into effect in 1995 and abolishes the need for
passports and other types of control at the mutual borders of 26 European
countries.
Slovenia, March 11. The government closed some border crossings with Italy and
at those remaining open, had started making health checks to combat the spread
of the virus.
Czech Republic, March 12. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš closed the country's
borders with Germany and Austria and also banned the entry of foreigners coming
from other risky countries. On March 22, the government said that the border
restrictions may last for up to two years.
Switzerland, March 13. The Swiss government imposed border controls with other
European countries. Switzerland, although not a member of the European Union, is
part of the Schengen zone.
Italy, March 13. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde dismissed
calls by Italy for financial assistance to help it cope with the pandemic. After
her comments rattled financial markets, Lagarde said that the ECB was "fully
committed to avoid any fragmentation in a difficult moment for the euro area."
Italian President Sergio Mattarella replied that Italy had a right to expect
solidarity rather than obstacles from beyond its borders.
Denmark, March 14. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen imposed border controls on
all traffic by land, sea and air until at least April 13.
Poland, March 15. The government closed the country's borders to everyone except
Polish citizens or people with a Polish residence permit.
Germany, March 16. Germany, the largest and most powerful country in the
European Union, introduced controls on its borders with Austria, Denmark,
France, Luxembourg and Switzerland. The move came after Germany registered 1,000
new cases of COVID-19 in just one day.
Hungary, March 16. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán halted all passenger traffic into
Hungary would be halted and only Hungarian citizens allowed to enter the
country.
Spain, March 16. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska decreed the
establishment of controls at all land borders.
Serbia, March 16. President Aleksandar Vučić declared a state of emergency due
to coronavirus. He condemned the EU for restricting exports of medical equipment
and appealed for help from his "friend and brother," Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
"European solidarity does not exist," Vučić said. "That was a fairy tale on
paper. I have sent a special letter to the only ones who can help, and that is
China." Serbia applied to become a member of the EU in 2009. Accession talks
began in January 2014.
Czech Republic, March 17. Czech authorities seized 110,000 face masks that China
had sent to Italy. On March 23, the Czech Republic delivered the confiscated
material to Italy. "There are 110,000 masks on board the bus as a gift to Italy,
which is supposed to replace the material that was probably a Chinese gift for
Italian compatriots," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Stichova.
Germany, March 18. Chancellor Angela Merkel, in a rare televised speech, urged
all Germans to obey rules aimed at reducing direct social contact and avoiding
as many new infections as possible. "It is serious," she said. "Take it
seriously. Since German reunification, actually, since World War Two, there has
never been a challenge for our country in which acting in solidarity was so very
crucial." Merkel's address to the nation was the first time in nearly 15 years
in office that she had spoken to the country other than in her annual New Year's
address. She did not mention the European Union or other EU member states.
Belgium, March 22. The coronavirus has fueled tensions between Belgium, which is
on lockdown, and the Netherlands, which is not. "In the Netherlands, shops are
still open and meetings of 100 people are still allowed — these are breeding
grounds for the virus," said Marino Keulen, mayor of the Belgian border town
Lanaken. Belgian authorities have set up barricades along the border and are
ordering cars with Dutch license plates to turn around and return home. Keulen
called the border checks a "signal to The Hague" to "quickly scale-up" its
response and align with neighboring countries. "The Dutch government is
incompetent and ridiculous in its response to the coronavirus crisis," said
Leopold Lippens, the mayor of Belgian seacoast town Knokke-Heist. "The
Netherlands is doing nothing, so we have to protect ourselves."
Spain, March 25. After failing to obtain assistance from the European Union, the
Spanish government asked NATO for help in acquiring 1.5 million face masks and
450,000 respirators. NATO lacks this material and is limited to passing the
Spanish request on to the remaining 29 allies, many of which are also members of
the EU.
Poland, March 25. Polish authorities prevented hundreds of thousands of bottles
of hand sanitizer from being exported to Norway, which is not a member of the
EU. The Norwegian company Norenco manufactures and packages hand sanitizer for
the Scandinavian market at a factory it owns in Poland. Norenco's chief
executive, Arne Haukland, said that after he applied for an export license, five
men arrived at the factory, and demanded to be shown its stock of hand
sanitizer. He said the company then received a letter ordering it to sell any
hand sanitizer it had produced to the local city authorities in Lubin at a fixed
price, under emergency coronavirus laws passed in Poland at the start of March.
The seizure will exacerbate the supply problem faced by Norwegian hospitals.
France, March 25. President Emmanuel Macron, in an address to the nation at a
military hospital in the eastern city of Mulhouse, which has been especially
hard hit by the coronavirus, called for national, as opposed to European, unity:
"When we engage in war, we engage fully, we mobilize united. I see in our
country factors of division, doubts, all those who want to fracture the country
when it is necessary to have only one obsession: to be united to fight against
the virus. I call for this unity and this commitment."
Meanwhile, in Italy, a nationwide survey published on March 18 found that 88% of
Italians believe that the EU is not helping their country. Only 4% thought the
opposite while 8% did not have an opinion. More than two-thirds (67%) of
Italians said that they believe that being part of the European Union is a
disadvantage for their country.
In an article titled, "Coronavirus Threatens European Unity," Bill Wirtz, a
political commentator based in Luxembourg, observed:
"As the coronavirus unfolds, Schengen countries are shutting their own borders.
Whether or not they do so because they believe that a coordinated European
response would be inefficient, or whether they believe that their own voters
wouldn't buy it — at this stage it's irrelevant. The mere fact that borders have
resurfaced in Europe is a failure for the integrity of the Schengen open borders
agreement....
"A coordinated EU response to this crisis does not exist, and as the
recommendations fall on deaf ears, Brussels is dealing with a crisis of
confidence. There is no union-wide crisis response, coordinated testing or
research. Worse than that, the EU institutions are bystanders to a war between
countries, which are trying to limit exports of medical supplies in order to
keep them for themselves. In times of crisis, the true influence and capacity of
the EU has shown, and it is very little.
"As it stands, countries are dealing with a crisis of missing hospital beds,
medical equipment, and overall resources. If the virus ever happens to lay lower
than it does now, and the conclusion is drawn that the European Union was a
powerless bystander in the eye of the storm (which it is), then the Schengen
Agreement and open borders in Europe could be dealing with a difficult
recovery."
Darren McCaffrey, the political editor of the France-based news channel Euronews,
wrote:
"In the past couple of weeks, solidarity has collapsed in the bloc. Countries
have started imposing border controls on neighboring EU countries, and even
Germany has taken steps to manage the flow of people entering and leaving its
territory.
"On Tuesday, a 35-kilometer-long queue formed at the Polish-German border, where
hundreds of Europeans — Latvians, Estonians and Lithuanians — were stuck in
trucks, cars and buses.
"As the EU must take measures to prevent the spread of the disease, many are
worrying about the essence of the European Union and its four freedoms [the free
movement of goods, services, capital and people].
"What is the EU if its own citizens can't move freely? What is the single market
if goods can't cross Europe's borders without hindrance?"
In an article titled, "Nations First: The EU Struggles for Relevance in the
Fight against Coronavirus," the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel noted:
"As the pandemic takes hold in Europe, the decades-old union is showing its
weaknesses. While the EU managed to survive Brexit and the euro crisis, the
corona crisis may yet prove to be an insurmountable challenge.
"Instead of trying to come up with joint solutions, the Continent is becoming
balkanized and is reverting to national solutions. Instead of helping each other
out, EU countries are hoarding face masks like panicked Europeans are hoarding
toilet paper. The early decisions made by some EU member states to refrain from
exporting medical equipment to Italy — the EU country that has thus far been hit
hardest by the pandemic — has even overshadowed the lack of European solidarity
displayed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the refugee crisis.
"Europeans are even divided on the question as to how to combat the virus.
Whereas Germany is eager to prevent as many people as possible from encountering
the virus and becoming infected, the Netherlands wants to see as many healthy
people as possible fight off COVID-19, thus becoming immune. The signal is
clear: When things get serious, every member state still looks out for itself
first — even 60 years after the founding of the community."
*Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
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part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Communicating in the Time of No Communication
Elias Harfoush/Asharq Al Awsat/March 27/2020
I am one out of millions quarantined in their rooms because of the coronavirus
attack on the human race. I, a traditional man when it comes to spending time on
social media, would not have imagined that the day would come when it would be
my only means to cross into what resembles a normal life.
Here I am, surrounded in my house by my wife and phone. This little device has
become my means of production, I worry for it as I worry over my health, for it
to stop working or for its battery to run out amid this crisis. The article you
are reading right now, whether on our paper print or website, would not have
reached you had it not been for the Microsoft company or the Windows software.
The WhatsApp application on this device in my hand has become my only means to
communicate with my colleagues and the outside world.
I think, in my humble analysis of the plan the coronavirus has in its attack on
the human race, that it is conspiring with social media, including WhatsApp,
Skype, Facebook and similar apps, to teach skeptics like me a lesson: There will
come a day, and indeed it has come now, that people will not have any means of
communication among them other than these platforms.
World leaders are conducting conferences and meetings through Skype and
Television channels are hosting commentators using the same means. I can’t
imagine what those who cannot use these means or do not have them are doing? How
are they talking to their loved ones? How are they shopping and calling their
doctors and pharmacists?
Don’t you agree with me? What if there was a conspiracy behind the spread of the
coronavirus? Then it must be the CEOs of Microsoft and Apple and their comrades,
who will leave this war the only victors? All reasons for a normal life have
stopped while they remain alone in the arena, alone capable of lifting people
from the isolation that has been imposed on them.
These modern technologies are not the only ones that will leave this war
victorious and will be able to breach the siege imposed by the virus invasion on
our daily lives. On the sidelines of this crisis that is threatening the global
economy, the stocks of the largest companies and the income of millions of
people, there are factories that are rushing to produce masks and ventilators
that intensive care units in hospitals are in dire need of.
There are also labs and scientific research centers that are working hard to
produce a vaccine for this pandemic with the prospect of millions of dollars in
estimated profit if they succeed.
Of course, it could be said in response to this claim that these labs and
centers are doing necessary humanitarian acts that will serve the entire human
race. This is true, however, can we not say that perhaps they are making the
best out of this crisis?
China has found an opportunity as well. The country that is accused of exporting
this pandemic around the world, has become the country that is exporting experts
and doctors to fight it. It is competing with the European Union in helping
devastated European countries like Italy and Spain after the EU found itself
incapable of helping them. This has led to many legitimate questions about the
seriousness of solidarity and the effectiveness of the unified laws that were
meant to secure minimal European solidarity.
Who would have expected two months ago that our lives will turn upside down
because of the systematic violence that the coronavirus is practicing against
the world in an unprecedented manner in modern human history? We could have
expected it to be a foreign enemy and would have taken precautions, but now, our
bodies have become our enemies. Fears of a handshake, a sneeze and a gasp for
breath have become justified. The battle now needs new tools.
I imagine that coronavirus was hiding somewhere, watching us live our silly
lives, our reckless ways of dealing with places, countries and beautiful things,
our taking for granted the conveniences that we have. The virus then jumped out
of its hiding place to remind us that these things are not to be taken for
granted. Going to cafes and restaurants, walking on the street and the pavement,
things that we would consider normal things to do in our daily lives, we would
be deprived of in a moment. And by whom? Does it move in the air that we breathe
and spread its poison from one country to another? Or does it need proximity
with someone who is infected? Suspicions that resemble suspicions about its
source. Is it an American or Chinese product? Who stands behind this
destruction?
The day will come, hopefully soon, when we leave our rooms to enjoy the sun
again, the greenery, museums, cinemas and music venues, when we return to our
normal lives. Perhaps when that day comes, that what we had taken for granted is
not always like that, and that we may lose them at any second for a reason that
we could not have predicted. Therefore, we need to enjoy the beautiful moments,
times and opportunities, and to get closer to the ones we love.
Uncertainty in a Bleak Moment
Amir Taheri//Asharq Al Awsat/March 27/2020
Regardless of its denouement, the current coronavirus crisis may end up
affecting the authority of the political, economic, media and scientific elites
who shape world public opinion. The function of the elites, and their clam to
legitimacy, has been linked to their ability to create certainty, in defiance of
all and sundry Cassandras.
However, the current crisis, which struck like thunder out of the blue, has
reasserted the evanescence, even the uncertainty, of human affairs. Just a few
weeks ago the received wisdom was that stock exchanges will continue to move
upwards while Donald J. Trump would sail to a second term and post-Brexit
European Union would settle for a period of anemic growth on the edge of
recession. Globally, the elites peddled the certainty of business as usual.
And, yet, what we now have is uncertainty on a degree not seen in recent memory.
Already the Brexit agenda in Europe is delayed, if not actually derailed as
British Premier Boris Johnson’s stiff upper lip is less impressive under a
surgical mask. With French airplanes ferrying abandoned Brits back home from the
four corners of the globe and British aircraft providing the same service to
European tourists, the old union, cursed by the Brexiters, does not look as dead
as Boris hoped.
In Britain itself, Boris has been forced to postpone local and mayoral elections
for a whole year, adding to the sense of uncertainty.
The political process is also slowing down in the United States as both parties
are forced to put the presidential campaign in a low gear. With President Trump
losing his chief claim to success, the robust health of Wall Street, his
re-election is no longer as certain as pundits pretended. There is also
uncertainty in the camp of the Democrats. Will enough Americans be seduced by
the “end of capitalism” mantra to go for Bernie Sanders and a Socialist America
or will they choose Joe Biden another septuagenarian who represents the back to
the future option?
In China, the birthplace of the virus, uncertainty is illustrated with the
postponement, sine die, of the Communist Party’s congress which was slated to
trigger a massive purge and consolidate President Xi Jinping’s position for at
least another decade.
In France, Emmanuel Macron has used the coronavirus as an excuse to virtually
abandon the key reforms that was to make his presidency different from the
self-indulgent and ineffective terms of his three predecessors. He also
postponed the second and crucial round of municipal and mayoral elections that
could have seen his En Marche (Marching On) party trounced at the polls.
In Japan, the controversial amendment of the Constitution, to allow the nation
too re-arm and if necessary, fight foreign wars, has been put on the backburner.
Uncertainty is also casting its shadow on constitutional wizardry to keep
Vladimir Putin in power as long as the Angel of Death allows.
In Italy and Spain, the two European nations most affected by the pandemic,
shaky minority governments are using uncertainty to prolong their lives.
Uncertainty may also be affecting politics in Iran where he “Supreme Guide” Ali
Khamenei may have slowed down his bid for exclusive hold on power, in the hope
that Hassan Rouhani, the hapless president, will end up carrying the can for the
disaster caused by the pandemic.
Slowdown in the power struggle is also noticeable in Iraq where fear of facing
the pandemic has dampened the enthusiasm of many ambitious figures, allowing the
shaky status quo to endure. Shaky status quo is also prolonged in Afghanistan
where the latest round of the Pahstun-Tajik power struggle has lost much of its
intensity while the curious “deal” the US has signed with the Taliban fades into
the background.
On positive note, the pandemic may have slowed down India’s tragic rush towards
a major Hindu-Muslim civil war that threatened to tear its democracy apart.
The uncertainty in question has also made some “unthinkable” decisions
inevitable, including the postponement of the Olympics in Tokyo. There is also
talk of postponing or re-locating the Football World Cup in Qatar with the
excuse that the cancellation and/or postponement of most tournaments, including
the European Cup, have upset the entire global sporting calendar.
Another “unthinkable” that has come to pass is the absence of the United States
from a leading role in curbing and defeating the pandemic. China, Russia and
Cuba have tried to fill at least part of the vacuum thus created and, hopefully,
burnish their tarnished images as despotic regimes.
Global elites have always built their predictions on the law of causality, the
association of a cause with every effect and the temporal sequence of cause and
effect. Since Immanuel Kant and Pierre Simon Laplace, researchers and scientists
have assumed that if one knows the exact position of a particle at any given
time, one can predict its exact position and velocity at any given time in the
future.
From the mid-1920s, a number of European scientists among them Bohr, Born,
Jordan, Pauli and Dirac challenged that certainty, arguing that study of
phenomena should take into account the possibility of jumps and discontinuity.
Werner Heisenberg took that thesis a notch further with his concept of
uncertainty. He wrote: “The law of cause and effect asserts that if we know the
present, we can calculate the future. It is not the conclusion that is wrong,
but the premise.”
It is no surprise that Heisenberg arrived at his thesis during the crisis of
uncertainty that struck Germany under the Weimar Republic while the rest of the
so-called civilized world coped with the global economic crash.
Should the global system rethink its fascination, not to say obsession, with
speed and appreciate the individual and collective slowdown imposed by the
pandemic? The question is not impertinent if we consider that we often confuse
haste with speed as we aspire after permanence when our reality is one of
evanescence not to say precariousness.
Uncertainty, jumps and discontinuity; key words in a new vocabulary we ought to
ponder. They help rein in our hubris but could also temper any despair we might
feel at this bleak moment. If the best we hoped for a few months ago didn’t
happen, there is no reason why the worst that we now fear may come to pass. The
beauty of uncertainty is that it works both ways.
IMF approves changes to enable debt service relief for
poorest countries
Nicky Harley/The International/March 27/2020
International Monetary Fund to allow up to two years relief in response to
coronavirus outbreak
The International Monetary Fund's executive board has approved changes to allow
it to provide up to two years of debt service relief to its poorest and most
vulnerable members as they respond to the coronavirus outbreak.
In a meeting on Friday, the IMF said it had expanded the qualification criteria
for its Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT) to reflect the
circumstances created by the pandemic.
As a result, all member countries with per capita income below the World bank's
operational threshold for concessional support will now be eligible for debt
service relief for up to two years.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said she was particularly concerned
about emerging markets and developing countries which had seen $83 billion in
capital outflows and predicted they would need upwards of $2.5 trillion in
financial resources to recover from virus-related disruptions. IMF member
countries had encouraged the Fund to focus its efforts on steps that could be
done quickly, including a doubling of emergency financing to $100 billion and
creation of a new short-term liquidity facility, she said in an interview.
Asked whether the global economy needs more than the $5 trillion in new rescue
spending pledged by G20 countries on Thursday, Georgieva said: "Our advice is go
big."
"This is a very big crisis and it's not going to be sorted out without a very
massive deployment of resources," she said, noting that low interest rates made
it easier for countries to provide significant fiscal support.
The G20's $5 trillion pledge is equal to what was spent in 2009 during the
global financial crisis, although economists say this crisis could be far worse.
Mrs Georgieva on Friday said the pandemic has already plunged the world into
recession and it will be worse than during the last crisis, which caused a 0.7
per cent drop in global output in 2009.
She welcomed a $2.2 trillion aid package approved by the US Congress on Friday
to cushion the blow to consumers and businesses - more than double what it
pledged in 2009.
"The size matters. What matters perhaps even more is well-targeted measures,"
she said, citing the need to focus stimulus efforts on health systems, income
for workers who have lost jobs and keeping companies out of bankruptcy.
Emerging markets will likely need more than $2.5 trillion in resources, although
some of this will come from their internal reserves, and some from domestic
borrowing markets, she said.
"I do believe this number is on the lower end, because we are yet to see the
full unfolding of this crisis in many emerging markets and developing
countries," she said. "It is hitting countries one after another, and it's like
a domino falling until your turn comes."
The IMF could approve additional emergency financing and creation of a new
short-term liquidity facility when it meets for its now-virtual Spring Meetings
in April, said one source familiar with the process.
Mrs Georgieva said it would take longer and more consultation with members was
needed to move forward on her proposal to allow countries to draw on their
Special Drawing Rights, the currency of the IMF, as was done in 2009 during the
global financial crisis.
Question: “How, why, and when did Satan fall from heaven?”
GotQuestions.org
Answer: Satan’s fall from heaven is symbolically described in Isaiah 14:12-14
and Ezekiel 28:12-18. While these two passages are referring specifically to the
kings of Babylon and Tyre, they also reference the spiritual power behind those
kings, namely, Satan. These passages describe why Satan fell, but they do not
specifically say when the fall occurred. What we do know is this: the angels
were created before the earth (Job 38:4-7). Satan fell before he tempted Adam
and Eve in the Garden (Genesis 3:1-14). Satan’s fall, therefore, must have
occurred somewhere after the time the angels were created and before he tempted
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Whether Satan’s fall occurred hours, days,
or years before he tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden, Scripture does not
specifically say.
The book of Job tells us, at least at that time, Satan still had access to
heaven and to the throne of God. “One day the angels came to present themselves
before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, ’Where
have you come from?’ Satan answered the LORD, ‘From roaming through the earth
and going back and forth in it’” (Job 1:6-7). Apparently at that time, Satan was
still moving freely between heaven and earth, speaking to God directly and
answering for his activities. Whether God has discontinued this access is a
matter of debate. Some say Satan’s access to heaven was ended at the death of
Christ. Others believe Satan’s access to heaven will be ended at the end times
war in heaven.
Why did Satan fall from heaven? Satan fell because of pride. He desired to be
God, not to be a servant of God. Notice the many “I will…” statements in Isaiah
14:12-15. Ezekiel 28:12-15 describes Satan as an exceedingly beautiful angel.
Satan was likely the highest of all angels, the anointed cherub, the most
beautiful of all of God’s creations, but he was not content in his position.
Instead, Satan desired to be God, to essentially “kick God off His throne” and
take over the rule of the universe. Satan wanted to be God, and interestingly
enough, that is essentially what Satan tempted Adam and Eve with in the Garden
of Eden (Genesis 3:1-5). How did Satan fall from heaven? Actually, a fall is not
an accurate description. It would be far more accurate to say God cast Satan out
of heaven (Isaiah 14:15; Ezekiel 28:16-17). Satan did not fall from heaven;
rather, Satan was pushed.
Recommended Resources: Angels: Elect & Evil by C. Fred Dickason and Logos Bible
Software.
Question: "What does it mean that the Lord is my Shepherd (Psalm 23)?"
Answer: The clause “the Lord is my shepherd” comes from one of the most beloved
of all passages of Scripture, the 23rd Psalm. In this passage and throughout the
New Testament we learn that the Lord is our Shepherd in two ways. First, as the
Good Shepherd, He laid down His life for His sheep and, second, His sheep know
His voice and follow Him (John 10:11, 14).
In Psalm 23, God is using the analogy of sheep and their nature to describe us.
Sheep have a natural tendency to wander off and get lost. As believers, we tend
to do the same thing. It’s as Isaiah has said: “We all, like sheep, have gone
astray, each of us has turned to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). When sheep go
astray, they are in danger of getting lost, being attacked, even killing
themselves by drowning or falling off cliffs.
Likewise, within our own nature there is a strong tendency to go astray (Romans
7:5; 8:8), following the lusts of our flesh and eyes and pursuing the pride of
life (1 John 2:16). As such, we are like sheep wandering away from the Shepherd
through our own futile self-remedies and attempts at self-righteousness. It is
our nature to drift away (Hebrews 2:1), to reject God, and to break His
commandments. When we do this, we run the risk of getting lost, even forgetting
the way back to God. Furthermore, when we turn away from the Lord, we soon find
ourselves confronting one enemy after another who will attack us in numerous
ways.
Sheep are basically helpless creatures who cannot survive long without a
shepherd, upon whose care they are totally dependent. Likewise, like sheep, we
are totally dependent upon the Lord to shepherd, protect, and care for us. Sheep
are essentially dumb animals that do not learn well and are extremely difficult
to train. They do not have good eyesight, nor do they hear well. They are very
slow animals who cannot escape predators; they have no camouflage and no weapons
for defense such as claws, sharp hooves, or powerful jaws.
Furthermore, sheep are easily frightened and become easily confused. In fact,
they have been known to plunge blindly off a cliff following one after another.
Shepherds in Bible times faced incredible dangers in caring for their sheep,
putting their own lives at risk by battling wild animals such as wolves and
lions who threatened the flock. David was just such a shepherd (1 Samuel
17:34–35). In order to be good shepherds, they had to be willing to lay down
their lives for the sheep.
Jesus declared that He is our Shepherd and demonstrated it by giving His life
for us. “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His
life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Through His willing sacrifice, the Lord
made salvation possible for all who come to Him in faith (John 3:16). In
proclaiming that He is the good shepherd, Jesus speaks of “laying down” His life
for His sheep (John 10:15, 17–18).
Like sheep, we, too, need a shepherd. Men are spiritually blind and lost in
their sin. This is why Jesus spoke of the parable of the lost sheep (Luke
15:4–6). He is the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for us. He searches for
us when we’re lost, to save us and to show us the way to eternal life (Luke
19:10). We tend to be like sheep, consumed with worry and fear, following after
one another. By not following or listening to the Shepherd’s voice (John 10:27),
we can be easily led astray by others to our own destruction. Jesus, the Good
Shepherd, warns those who do not believe and listen to Him: “I did tell you, but
you do not believe . . . you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My
sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal
life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand” (John
10:25–28).
Psalm 23:1–3 tells us that the shepherd meets the sheep’s every need: food,
water, rest, safety, and direction. When we as believers follow our Shepherd,
we, too, know that we will have all we need. We will not lack the necessities of
life, for He knows exactly what we need (Luke 12:22–30).
Sheep will not lie down when they are hungry, nor will they drink from
fast-flowing streams. Sometimes the shepherd will temporarily dam up a stream so
the sheep can quench their thirst. Psalm 23:2 speaks of leading the sheep
“beside the quiet [stilled] waters.” The shepherd must lead his sheep because
they cannot be driven. Instead, the sheep hear the voice of their shepherd and
follow him—just as we listen to our Shepherd, Jesus Christ—in His Word and
follow Him (John 10:3–5, 16, 27). And if a sheep does wander off, the shepherd
will leave the flock in charge of his helpers and search for the lost animal
(Matthew 9:36; 18:12–14; Luke 15:3–7).
In Psalm 23:3, the Hebrew word translated “paths” means “well-worn paths or
ruts.” In other words, when sheep wander onto a new path, they start to explore
it, which invariably leads them into trouble. This passage is closely akin to
the warning in Hebrews 13:9: “Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange
teachings.” The apostle Paul also alludes to this idea in Ephesians 4:14.
Finally, the shepherd cares for the sheep because he loves them and wants
to maintain his own good reputation as a faithful shepherd. As we’ve seen in
Psalm 23, the analogy of the Lord as the Good Shepherd was also applied by Jesus
in John chapter 10. In declaring that He is the shepherd of the sheep, Jesus is
confirming that He is God. The Eternal God is our Shepherd. And we would not
want it any other way.
Iran using time of crisis to increase its regional meddling
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/March 27/2020
Iran is facing one of the worst public health crises in its modern history. Tens
of thousands of people there have been infected with the coronavirus disease
(COVID-19) and more than 2,000 have lost their lives.
Many members of the country’s medical staff and health officials keep calling on
the government to take the necessary steps to disrupt the spread of the virus.
Kianush Jahanpur, the spokesperson for Iran’s Health Ministry, revealed the
depth of the crisis by tweeting: “Based on our information, every 10 minutes one
person dies from the coronavirus and some 50 people become infected with the
virus every hour in Iran.”
But the Islamic Republic and its proxies appear to be prioritizing the regime’s
revolutionary ideals, military adventurism and pursuit of regional hegemony over
the public health crisis that the nation is facing. For example, Iran-backed
militias in Iraq are ratcheting up their rocket attacks amid the coronavirus
crisis. One attack killed several members of the US-led anti-Daesh coalition at
Iraq’s Camp Taji base on March 11. Eighteen 107 millimeter Katyusha rockets
slammed into the base, killing two Americans and one British soldier.
The US took retaliatory measures by conducting precision strikes against Kata’ib
Hezbollah bases across Iraq, including targeting five of their weapons storage
facilities. Iran is a major supplier of weapons and rockets to Shiite militias
across the region. The US Navy and allied nations have previously intercepted
several shipments of weapons heading to Yemen from Iran, while a UN report
conclusively revealed a connection between Iran’s short-range ballistic missiles
and the Houthis.
The Tehran regime has long been trying to boost its ballistic missile capacity
throughout the region, in defiance of international norms and sanctions. Iran’s
transfer of ballistic missiles to other countries raises the question of whether
Tehran is violating UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which stipulates that:
“Iran is called upon not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles
designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using
such ballistic missile technology.” Most likely, Tehran’s long-term ballistic
missile strategy is not limited to arming militias and terror groups, but also
includes having the capacity to manufacture short-range and long-range ballistic
missiles in other countries. Since Iran possesses the technology, it will be
much more efficient and cost-effective to produce missiles in other nations.
Iran also appears to be setting up new militia groups in Iraq. One such Shiite
militia group, which calls itself Usbat Al-Thayireen, or League of
Revolutionaries, was likely established and armed by Tehran. In a video it
released, a masked man holding a Kalashnikov-style assault rifle warned that
attacks on Camp Taji and the Basmaya military base were only the beginning of a
larger offensive. In another video, the group declared: “The Islamic resistance
of Usbat Al-Thayireen vows to strike the occupation forces’ bases and embassy in
the coming days and will continue striking the occupation until it exits the
country, and the matter will be taken further if the occupier does not leave.”
The militia also described itself as “a martyrdom project whose mission is
striking the American occupation forces, striking its bases, striking (its)
embassy and avenging the martyred leaders and their companions.”
Through its influence in the Iraqi government, the Iranian regime previously
pushed Iraq into recognizing a conglomerate of Shiite militias known as the
Popular Mobilization Forces as “legitimate” groups, incorporating them into the
state apparatuses and making the Iraqi government allocate wages and ammunition
for them. Iranian forces and aligned Syrian militias
have recruited about 9,000 young fighters from Shiite communities.
In another Arab country, Syria, the Iranian regime has ratcheted up its efforts
to recruit young Shiite fighters. Iranian forces and aligned Syrian militias
such as Saraya Al-Areen have recruited about 9,000 young fighters from Shiite
communities in Sayda, Da’el and Izraa and sent them for military training,
according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Mass recruitment
can also be witnessed in the northeast of the country, around the Euphrates
River and Deir Ezzor province.
Iran is exploiting the economic situation by offering financial incentives to
the fighters. “Those young people hurry to join the ranks of Iranian-backed
militias because of the deteriorating living conditions and lack of job
opportunities,” the SOHR reported.
Iran’s modus operandi is also anchored in exploiting religion and using
sectarianism as a powerful tool to gain power and further the regime’s
parochial, religious and political ambitions. The young people recruited by Iran
are generally forced into carrying out various crimes against civilians,
including torture, kidnapping, the use of child soldiers, widespread demolition
of buildings, indiscriminate attacks, and unlawful restrictions on the movement
of people fleeing the fighting.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is an Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading
expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the
International American Council. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh
COVID-19 poses a huge challenge for Europe
Randa Takieddine/Arab News/March 27/2020
Europe has been badly affected by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and this
has revealed the limits of the solidarity that exists between the 27 member
nations of the EU.
Italy and Spain are particularly suffering, with COVID-19 death tolls in both
countries surpassing the total in China, which was the first country affected by
the outbreak. In effect, Europe is now the center of the pandemic.
While Italy has received some help from China and Cuba, other countries in
Europe have been managing the crisis on their own, adopting an “every man for
himself” approach.
While the approval ratings of French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime
Minister Edouard Philippe have been boosted, by 14 percent and 13 percent
respectively, as a result of the public’s positive view of their handling of the
crisis domestically, European nations have failed to efficiently coordinate in
the wider battle against the virus.
French hospitals and health professionals lack sufficient stocks of masks and
respirators, and components for masks had to be imported, mainly from China.
Italy needs more hospital space for the large numbers of patients. France
offered little assistance with this because its own hospitals are saturated.
Macron, Philippe and Minister of Health Olivier Veran, a rising star in French
politics if public opinion is anything to go by, are making relentless efforts
to win the battle in France’s “war” against the coronavirus; Macron repeated six
times in a recent speech that “we are in a war.”
There is no doubt that the pandemic has delivered a hard economic shock to the
continent, and European leaders are beginning to think about the aftermath and
the recession that is sure to follow.
The leaders of nine European countries, including France, Italy and Spain, have
called for the issuance of joint European debt to finance the response to the
pandemic. They sent a letter to Charles Michel, president of the European
Council, arguing that the EU must provide a common debt instrument, issued by a
European institution, through which member states can raise funds, on the same
basis and to the benefit of all, to counter the effects of the pandemic. The
German and Dutch governments do not favor this idea.
The leaders of the 27 EU member states took part in a summit on Thursday, using
video links, during which they tried to improve their coordination as they
tackle the crisis. If they fail to unify their response to the pandemic and its
consequences on their economies, the results will be devastating for a union
that already faces growing opposition from populist voices in many of its member
nations.
It is true that public health is important to all nations, each of which
develops and implements its own rules and procedures to safeguard it. However,
the scale and the global nature of the pandemic will force EU states to develop
a common economic strategy to help the continent recover from a major economic
shock. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, fearing
a recession, has announced a business aid package worth €45 billion ($50
billion) for French companies, and said the government is willing to nationalize
large companies, such as Air France, to protect them from bankruptcy. He also
described the struggle against the pandemic as an economic and financial war,
and said national debt will exceed 100 percent of the GDP this year, well above
the EU guidelines of not more than 60 percent.
Macron, meanwhile, speaking at an emergency medical center established by the
army in Mulhouse, eastern France, made a commitment to the nation to implement a
massive investment plan for hospitals and health care when the crisis is under
control. This is badly needed; France has some of the best doctors and medical
researchers in the world but its public hospitals have been suffering as a
result of lack of investment in improvements and modernization.
One hopes that Europe can succeed in creating an operational, well-coordinated
economic strategy to prevent the European ship from sinking.
For the time being, as the death toll in France approaches 1,700, the French
military is supporting public health services through Operation Resilience,
which includes field hospitals set up by the army.
European leaders thinking about the aftermath of the pandemic must prepare for
the dramatic recession that will hit them following the restrictions on social
and commercial activities, which are likely to remain in place for several more
weeks, if not months.
Will they prove to be more united and efficient in their response to this crisis
than they have so far managed to be in foreign diplomacy, where Europe has
failed to act as a single, unified power in the world?
The challenges created by this coronavirus “war” are huge in terms of human
lives, of course, but also at an economic level. One hopes that Europe can
succeed in creating an operational, well-coordinated economic strategy to
prevent the European ship from sinking.
*Randa Takieddine is a Paris-based Lebanese journalist who headed Al-Hayat’s
bureau in France for 30 years. She has covered France’s relations with the
Middle East through the terms of four presidents.
With US preoccupied and Europe weak, China begins to advance
Dr. John C. Hulsman/Arab News/March 27/2020
History certainly teaches us that power abhors a vacuum. Geopolitics goes on, as
it has done since the days of Athens and Sparta, whatever the calamity. In the
case of the coronavirus catastrophe, ironically it is China — the initial
propagator of the virus, whose two-month cover-up allowed it to spread
undetected to much of the world — that stands to benefit most.
Sometimes history favors the culpable. And Beijing has lost no time in
taking advantage of the sluggish responses to the virus emanating from both
Brussels and Washington. In the case of the EU, the coronavirus crisis is
ruthlessly exposing its flaws: It is too slow, too divided, and — when push
comes to shove — not enough of a union at all. For
example, while the hard-pressed Italians were first bearing the brunt of the
disease in Europe, a selfish German government decided to hoard surgical masks,
as the Germans might need them themselves in just a matter of weeks. Either
Europe is a union, and behaves as such, or else all that endless pious talk
means nothing.
America, as all continental powers tend to be, is so preoccupied with itself and
the impending hit it is about to take that it has spared nary a thought for its
besieged European allies. In essence, the crisis is ruthlessly making clear
weaknesses already present in the international system well before it struck:
Europe is both weak and less than a real union, while the US has lost interest
in Europe as its gaze turns to Asia — with much of the world’s future growth as
well as much of its global risk. In both cases, the coronavirus has merely
clarified the strategic vacuum that had already been quietly growing.
It is at this critical moment that an assured China has chosen to pounce. This
past week, as I have turned on the Italian evening news, I have been greeted by
the strange sight of Russian, Chinese and even Cuban (of all places) aid trucks
wheeling off of runways with medical supplies for the plague-stricken Italian
people. China may be culpable in spreading the coronavirus, but Beijing is
determined to win the post-virus narrative, while the self-involved
transatlantic alliance sleeps.
Beijing is fully energized in winning over the world — whatever the facts of the
virus’ providence — with two basic facts. First, due to its ruthless but
effective authoritarian response and the innate discipline of its people, it has
successfully seen off the virus. It is willing to share its know-how with the
rest of the world, as the propaganda victory is apparent: In this newly
dangerous world, Beijing is making it clear that its success illustrates that
dictatorship is a more effective system than chaotic democracies.
Second, the very global time frame of the coronavirus itself economically favors
the Chinese. As the first to be hit by and get through the virus, China will be
ramping up its economy, even as later-hit Europe and North America are
struggling with the plague. This means China will have a huge economic advantage
in coming online first in the post-coronavirus world.
So, into this global pandemic and geopolitical vacuum, China has begun to play
the strategic game of dividing an already fractured Europe and making it clear
to Italians everywhere that their fears about Donald Trump and America’s
fecklessness toward the transatlantic alliance are real.
Or, as John Stuart Mill observed, all it takes for evil to win the world is for
enough good men to do nothing. It is easy to be for Europe when the sun is
shining. It is easy to believe in NATO when there is no real threat requiring
sacrifice. But these beliefs are only real, only tangible, only powerful, when
they work as the ancient Greek notion of “praxis” — the unity of thought and
action — and do so in a crisis, with real things on the line.
Whatever the origins of the virus, China is determined to win the post-pandemic
propaganda narrative.
In other words, because continental statesmen believe in Europe to the marrow of
their bones, they act collectively now to help the hardest-hit plague states,
such as Italy and Spain. Likewise, America must (yet again) come to the rescue
of its European allies by collectively engaging in economic stimulus across the
transatlantic space — and even better at the G20 level — as, saving the old
continent strategically helps safeguard the new continent, as has been the case
for the past 100 years.
One final positive thought, which ought to stand as the West’s collective
propaganda riposte to the Chinese: As the world races to find a vaccine for the
coronavirus, do not bet against the Germans, Japanese, British or Americans
getting there first, ahead of the Chinese; and getting there better, in terms of
a safer, more comprehensive product. Western democratic states have a far better
record of innovation than communist dictatorships, precisely because the work
emanates in free societies where creativity is not punished.
Or, as Winston Churchill so eloquently put it, democracy is the worst form of
government, except for all the others. The West must not be shy about combating
Chinese propaganda with this central, and very real, fact.
*Dr. John C. Hulsman is the president and managing partner of John C. Hulsman
Enterprises, a prominent global political risk consulting firm. He is also
senior columnist for City AM, the newspaper of the City of London. He can be
contacted via www.chartwellspeakers.com.