English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For September 15/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.september15.20.htm

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Bible Quotations For today
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
John 03/11-21: “‘Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.’”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 14-15/2020

Shiek Basher After 38 Years/Condolences For Four Soldiers's Families/Elias Bejjani/September 14/2020
Health Ministry: 547 Coronavirus cases
Political forces must form govt without delay: France
Hopes Dim for Timely Lebanon Govt. as French Deadline Looms
Paris Urges Lebanese Parties to Form Govt. 'without Delay'
Adib Meets Aoun for ‘More Cabinet Consultations’
Reports: Adib to Meet Berri; FPM Wants Finance, Interior Portfolios
Aoun Begins Talks with MPs over Govt. Formation Hurdles
Khalaf Warns Covid-Hit Roumieh Prison a 'Humanitarian Time Bomb'
Shots Fired as LF, FPM Supporters Clash in Sin el-Fil
Lebanon's New Domestic Worker Contract: End to 'Kafala Slavery'?
UNIFIL Rescues 36 People on Boat Outside Lebanon Territorial Waters
Four Soldiers Killed in Hunt for 'Terrorist', Army Says
Diab condoles Army Commander, Director of intelligence after loss of four martyrs
Tenenti: UNIFIL located boat with 37 people on board outside territorial waters
Bodies in Mashghara Hospital not belonging to Beirut port blast victims: Director
A one-year extension of UNDP contracts to save the Administration
Hizbullah Deputy Leader Naim Qassem: War Is Not Likely To Break Out In The Region, Despite UAE-Israel Normalization; We Have Been Withdrawing From Syria Since 2017/MEMRI/September 14/2020
An Obsession With Independence/Fares Sassine/Carnegie MEC/September 14/2020
How Hamas Plans to Destroy Lebanon/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/September 14, 2020

 

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 14-15/2020

Report: 10 killed in alleged Israeli airstrikes in Syria
The next Arab state to recognize Israel: Oman
Normalizing ties with Israel strengthens Bahrain-US partnership: Minister
Iran condemns Bahrain’s plan to normalize ties with Israel
Tehran reveals ‘strength’ of new long-range missiles
Iran condemns Bahrain’s plan to normalize ties with Israel
Iran executes man whose case drew international attention
Iran summons German ambassador after condemning execution of wrestler Navid Afkari
Macron urges Putin to shed light on 'attempted murder' of opponent Navalny
Turkish Red Crescent Worker Killed in Northern Syria
Rare dolphins return to Hong Kong as coronavirus halts ferry traffic
Vatican calls on China to extend deal on appointment of Catholic bishops

 

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 14-15/2020

US Officials: Iran weighing plot to kill U.S. ambassador to South Africa/Nahal Toosi and Natasha Bertrand/Politico/September 14/2020
Desperate to Sustain Stock Market Bubble, Tehran Taps Its Sovereign Wealth Fund/Saeed Ghasseminejad/FDD/September 14/2020
The Plight of Iranians in Turkey/Behnam Ben Taleblu and Aykan Erdemir/FDD/September 14/2020
Iran’s Longstanding Cooperation with Armenia/Domestic Azerbaijani Opposition May be Rising/Brenda Shaffer/Baku Dialogues/September 14/2020
How to burst CCP’s balloon/Cleo Paskal/ Baku Dialogues/September 14/2020,
Iran's Offer of Nuclear Cooperation is a Sham/Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute/September 14/ 2020

 

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 14-15/2020

Shiek Basher After 38 Years/Condolences For Four Soldiers's Families

Elias Bejjani/September 14/2020

*Sheik Basher and after 38 Years he is still alive in our hearts and conscience while those Maronite politicians are actually dead while they are still breathing because their presence  in reality is absence
*Our prayers and supplications go for the souls of the four Lebanese Army heroic martyrs that they rest in peace in the heavenly dwellings alongside the saints and the righteous. Our heartily felt condolences to their grieving families.

 

Health Ministry: 547 Coronavirus cases
NNA/September 14/2020
547 new cases of the novel Coronavirus have been confirmed in Lebanon a statement by the Ministry of Public Health said on Monday, raising the tally of infected people in the country to 24,857 since February 21, 2020.

Political forces must form govt without delay: France
NNA/September 14/2020
France's foreign ministry said Monday that all Lebanese political forces need to come good on their promise to quickly put in place a government. In response to a question on whether Paris would accept a delay in creating a government, spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll said Lebanese political parties had been reminded repeatedly of the need to create a government quickly to be able to implement essential reforms. "All Lebanese political forces have endorsed this goal. It is up to them to translate this commitment into action without delay. It is their responsibility," she said.A deadline agreed with France expires Tuesday.—Reuters

Hopes Dim for Timely Lebanon Govt. as French Deadline Looms
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/Naharnet/September 14/2020
Lebanon's prime minister-designate on Monday updated President Michel Aoun on talks on forming a new government, but did not submit proposals for a cabinet despite a looming French-imposed deadline.
Premier-in-waiting Mustafa Adib "did not present a line-up" during Monday's meeting at the presidential palace, said a source at the president's office. "Developments over the past two days necessitated more negotiations," the same source said, adding that Aoun and Adib would meet again when consultations were completed. That dimmed hopes for a new cabinet by a mid-September deadline announced by French president Emmanuel Macron during his second visit to Lebanon since an August 4 explosion ripped through the capital, killing more than 190 people.
Macron said on September 1 that Lebanese leaders had promised to form a new government within two weeks. Adib, who was designated premier just hours before the start of Macron's latest visit, kicked off consultations to form a new government the next day.
But the little-known former diplomat, who has received backing from most of the country's main political parties, has kept silent on the progress of talks. Government formation usually takes months in Lebanon, a multi-confessional country constantly gripped by political deadlock because of a power-sharing arrangement that requires consensus from major parties on major decisions. Macron and other world leaders have urged officials to form a new cabinet in record time to kick-start reforms and help lift the disaster-hit country out of its worst economic crisis in decades.
But the process has been hit by a series of snags. Speaker of parliament Nabih Berri said on Sunday that his AMAL Movement would not take part in the government because he opposed Adib's approach to forming a cabinet. An-Nahar newspaper had reported Friday that the speaker did not want to relinquish control of the finance ministry, which has been headed by an AMAL Movement representative since 2014.. Berri argues that there had been an agreement during the 1989 Taef meetings to permanently allocate the portfolio to the Shiite sect. Berri's insistence emerged after the U.S. administration slapped sanctions on his top aide, ex-finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil, last week. Macron held a telephone call with Berri on Saturday, during which the speaker reportedly insisted that the Finance Ministry is traditionally controlled by Shiites in Lebanon, according to his aides. In a statement issued by his office later, Berri said he objected to the way the Cabinet formation was being undertaken. However, Berri said he would be supportive of any initiative to stabilize the nation. An-Nahar said Adib had proposed to stage a ministerial rotation between top parties instead of reserving posts.
Jebran Bassil, the president's son-in-law and the head of the Free Patriotic Movement that Aoun founded, also said that his party would not take part in the new cabinet. In a press conference, Bassil said that "internal and external" forces were trying to thwart government formation, criticizing Adib for trying to impose a line-up without broader political approval. The FPM, AMAL and Hizbullah are part of an alliance that commands a majority in the outgoing cabinet and parliament. Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar, close to Hezbollah, said Monday that objections by AMAL and Hizbullah could obstruct a settlement.

Paris Urges Lebanese Parties to Form Govt. 'without Delay'
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/Naharnet/September 14/2020
France on Monday called on Lebanon’s political forces to form a new government without delay, as hopes dimmed for a new Cabinet by a mid-September deadline announced by French president Emmanuel Macron. The French Foreign Ministry said all Lebanese political parties had endorsed the rapid formation of a government that can implement essential reforms. "It is up to them to translate this commitment into action without delay," it said. The French leader has been pressing Lebanese politicians to form a Cabinet made up of independent specialists that can work on enacting urgent reforms to extract Lebanon from a devastating economic and financial crisis worsened by the devastating Aug. 4 explosion at Beirut port. The small, cash-strapped country is in desperate need of financial assistance but France and other international powers have refused to provide aid before serious reforms are made. The crisis represents the biggest threat to Lebanon since the 15-year civil war that ended in 1990, and is largely blamed on decades of systematic corruption and mismanagement by Lebanon's ruling class. During Macron's Sept 1. visit to Lebanon, Lebanese politicians promised a new government would be formed within two weeks. With one day left before that deadline, Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Adib was expected to present his Cabinet lineup to President Michel Aoun on Monday. But instead, Adib only held further consultations with the president. Although he could still form a Cabinet later, missing the deadline would be an early blow to the premier-designate, who quit his job as Lebanese ambassador to Germany for the new post.

Adib Meets Aoun for ‘More Cabinet Consultations’
Naharnet/September 14/2020
Despite intensive contacts over the weekend signaling the formation of Lebanon’s government Monday, expectations dimmed when PM designate Musafa Adib said more Cabinet consultations are needed.
“I met the President for more consultations on the government formation. God willing things will be good,” Adib told anxious reporters at Baabda Palace after his meeting with President Michel Aoun. Adib's meeting with Aoun came amid expectations he would be presenting the Cabinet lineup, much expected after shuffle talks over the weekend mainly a meeting behind the scene between Speaker Nabih Berri and ex-PM Saad Hariri, followed by a phone call between French President Emmanuel Macron and Berri. Although the outcome of the conversation between the two men was not disclosed, reports said Macron-Berri talks could have eased some hurdles facing the formation.

Reports: Adib to Meet Berri; FPM Wants Finance, Interior Portfolios
Naharnet/September 14/2020
Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Adib will meet with Speaker Nabih Berri in the coming hours in a bid to resolve the dispute over the finance ministerial portfolio, media reports said. "He will seek to reach a middle ground formula regarding the finance portfolio," to which Berri and Hizbullah are "clinging," the privately-owned al-Markazia news agency quoted political sources as saying. Adib had held phone talks with Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Sunday evening, hours after Berri and the FPM chief expressed dismay over the way in which the PM-designate is seeking to form the new government.
French President Emmanuel Macron has also called Berri and Bassil after the emergence of hurdles delaying the formation of the new government. The political sources said Adib is showing cooperation because he does not want to "break anyone" although he is still seeking to form "a small government of independent experts" with a rotation of the key ministerial portfolios. MTV meanwhile reported that Aoun and Bassil want a 20- or 24-member cabinet and "have no problem in the rotation of portfolios on the condition of getting the interior and finance portfolios."

Aoun Begins Talks with MPs over Govt. Formation Hurdles

Naharnet/September 14/2020
President Michel Aoun on Monday launched two-day consultations with the representatives of the country's parliamentary blocs, hours after a key meeting with Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Adib. The MPs met Monday by Aoun were Jebran Bassil of the Strong Lebanon bloc, Samir al-Jisr of the al-Mustaqbal bloc, Faisal Karami of the Consultative Gathering bloc, Farid al-Khazen of the National Bloc and Asaad Hardan of the Social National bloc. The president will meet with representatives of the rest of the blocs on Tuesday morning. Premier-in-waiting Mustafa Adib "did not present a line-up" during Monday's meeting at the presidential palace, said a source at the president's office. "Developments over the past two days necessitated more negotiations," the same source said, adding that Aoun and Adib would meet again when consultations were completed.

Khalaf Warns Covid-Hit Roumieh Prison a 'Humanitarian Time Bomb'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 14/2020
The head of the Beirut Bar Association Monday warned a novel coronavirus outbreak in crisis-hit Lebanon's largest and most overcrowded prison amounted to a "humanitarian time bomb."Security authorities on Saturday announced 22 coronavirus cases at the Roumieh prison, just outside Beirut, including 13 detainees and nine guards. They said the prisoners had been transferred to an isolation unit inside the jail. "The virus inside the Roumieh prison is tantamount to a humanitarian time bomb," Beirut Bar Association head Melhem Khalaf told AFP. The prison houses more than 4,000 prisoners, around three times its intended capacity, and has long been infamous for the poor conditions in some of its blocks.Footage allegedly smuggled out of the prison and shared widely on social media shows several men lying on thin mattresses just feet apart from each other along a narrow corridor.
In an adjacent room, at least seven detainees lie on similar mattresses side by side on the floor.Khalaf called on the Lebanese government to take more "urgent measures" to stem the spread of the virus.
These should include "separating out those prisoners showing symptoms from the others" and relying on non-government organizations willing to carry out regular Covid-19 tests, he said. He added that the advent of Covid-19 cases inside Roumieh should be reason to "improve food and water quality" in Lebanese prisons, "where no regard is given to the value or dignity of human beings." Khalaf said measures must be taken to address overcrowding, calling on the judiciary to order "some releases, except in cases of egregious crimes and terrorism." He urged outgoing justice minister Marie-Claude Najm to call on the president to issue an amnesty in special cases, such as for those who are sick, "to quickly decrease the overcrowding." Dozens of families of Roumieh detainees staged a protest in front of a Beirut courthouse Monday, demanding a general amnesty for their relatives over fears the pandemic was spreading inside.
Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan on Saturday said his ministry was working with the ministries of interior and defense to prepare two hospitals in the eastern Bekaa region and one in the capital for detainees and prisoners.
The number of Covid-19 infections has spiked in Lebanon in recent weeks, especially after a massive explosion at the Beirut port on August 4 that killed more than 190 people, wounded thousands and ravaged large parts of the capital. Since February, Lebanon has recorded a total of 24,310 Covid-19 cases, including 241 deaths. The country is already mired in its worst economic crisis in decades, and many fear its fragile health system could not cope with a huge increase of coronavirus cases.

Shots Fired as LF, FPM Supporters Clash in Sin el-Fil

Naharnet/September 14/2020
A clash erupted Monday evening between supporters of the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces outside the FPM headquarters in Sin el-Fil’s Mirna Chalouhi area. Videos circulated online show gunfire erupting during the presence of a large convoy carrying LF supporters on the highway outside the HQ. TV networks said the headquarters’ guards fired in the air after the tensions erupted with the LF supporters. The videos also show the LF supporters shouting insults against the FPM. According to TV networks, the two sides hurled stones and sticks at each other. The army has since intervened in force and separated between the two parties.

Lebanon's New Domestic Worker Contract: End to 'Kafala Slavery'?
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 14/2020
Lebanon has approved a new work contract allowing foreign domestic workers to resign and keep hold of their own passport, but activists say the exploitative "kafala" system remains in place. The economic crisis-hit Mediterranean country is home to around 250,000 migrants, mostly women from Africa and Asia, who toil away in people's homes as housekeepers, carers or nannies. They are not protected by the country's labor law, but instead work under a set of laws, policies and customs called kafala, repeatedly slammed by rights groups as allowing a wide range of abuse. Under kafala, meaning "sponsorship" in Arabic, the employer sponsors the worker's legal immigration status in the country, and the latter cannot resign without their consent or they become undocumented. The law also does not ban withholding a worker's passport.
All this leaves a worker at the employer's mercy. Lebanon's economic and coronavirus crises have increased the urgency for reform over the past year, with many families now paying their workers in the devaluated local currency, and some not at all. In recent months, dozens of foreign helpers have been thrown out into the streets without due pay or even their passport, many of them interviewed by AFP. After the August 4 blast at Beirut's port that devastated swathes of the capital and killed more than 190 people, foreign workers have staged rallies outside their consulates appealing to be sent home. The labor ministry this month finally published a new and revised work contract for domestic workers, the main legal document governing their stay in Lebanon.
Private room, holidays
Outgoing labor minister Lamia Yammine has said the new contract -- to replace a 2009 version -- "abolishes the kafala system."Campaigners have welcomed the detailed five-page document outlining workers' rights, but say it is only a beginning. "It is no doubt a much better version than the older one," said Amnesty International researcher Diala Haidar. But "a contract alone doesn't end kafala." Most importantly, the new contract gives the workers the right to resign and change employers, and says they can keep their passport.
If their employer withholds their wages or passport, they can immediately quit without notice. It finally gives the worker the right to the national minimum wage of 675,000 pounds ($450 before the crisis, less than $100 at the black market rate) -- albeit allowing the substraction of an undetermined amount to cover food, board and clothes. The new contract states workers must be provided with a private, well-ventilated room with a key, an improvement after many women said they were forced to sleep in the living room or on a balcony.
It limits labor to eight hours a day in a six-day week, and details the right to daily rest, paid holidays and sick leave.
Ink on paper?
But activists warn that all these new provisions will amount to nothing without inspections and unless employers violating the agreement are held accountable. "In the absence of an enforcement mechanism, this contract will remain ink on paper," Haidar said. The old contract, for example, states the worker must receive their wages at the end of the month, but this had not stopped some from kicking out workers without pay. "We haven't seen any employers held to account for this breach of the contract," she said. A Beirut housewife, who employs a Filipina domestic worker, insisted there are two sides to the story.
"The employer needs to keep at least one document as security... I know some employers are bad but also some employees are ungrateful," the 59-year-old said, asking not to be named. Rights groups have documented manifold abuses over the years, including no day off, locking workers inside the house, and physical or sexual assault. Activists have reported up to two deaths a week. They have repeatedly called for an end to kafala, which is common in the Middle East and often compared to modern-day slavery. Zeina Mezher of the International Labor Organization (ILO) called the new contract "one step in the right direction" towards dismantling kafala. But it's just "the first step on a road that is still complicated," she said. She said support was needed to ensure a worker could resign without losing their residency permit. Activists have also called for parliament to amend the labor law to bring all domestic workers -- Lebanese and foreign -- under its protection, and give them the right to set up unions.But Banchi Yimer, a former domestic worker and activist, said the new contract was no longer a priority. "We discussed it when everything was normal, but now everything is upside down," she said. With an acute economic crisis, and many women stranded without pay, she instead demanded official steps for their repatriation. "Let the women go home," she said.

UNIFIL Rescues 36 People on Boat Outside Lebanon Territorial Waters
Naharnet/September 14/2020
Spokesman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Andrea Tenenti said Monday that a ship belonging to the UN peacekeeping maritime force had located a boat outside the Lebanese territorial waters carrying 37 people on board, and unfortunately one of them had died.
“The priority for the UN peacekeeping force was to rescue the remaining 36 people and ensure their safety through," said Tenenti in a statement. The UNFIL had immediately informed Lebanese authorities about the incident. UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Stefano Del Col said the incident "is very tragic. The UNIFIL Maritime Task Force is doing their best to save the lives of these people. Our first priority is to ensure the safety of all 36 people we have just saved.”The UNIFIL Maritime Force is the first of its kind in the United Nations peacekeeping mission.
It was deployed at the request of the Lebanese government to assist the Lebanese Navy in securing the territorial waters and to help prevent unauthorized entry of weapons or related materials by sea into Lebanon. Cypriot authorities were alarmed lately over the arrival of boats carrying Syrian and Lebanese migrants.

Four Soldiers Killed in Hunt for 'Terrorist', Army Says
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 14/2020
The Lebanese army said on Monday that four of its troops were killed while attempting to arrest a suspected "terrorist" at his north Lebanon home.  The soldiers were trying to detain Khaled al-Tallawi, who heads a "militant cell" behind the August 21 murder of two police officers and the son of the mayor of Kaftoun village in the country's north, the army said. Tallawi opened fire and lobbed a hand grenade at the troops who raided his home in the Beddawi area near the northern port city of Tripoli late Sunday, it added. Three soldiers were killed on the spot while another was severely wounded and later succumbed to his injuries. The army said that Tallawi was later shot dead after soldiers chased him and affiliated militants in a hunt that lasted into the early hours of Monday morning. Troops are still searching for other members of Tallawi's cell, the army said.
Lebanese security forces have been chasing suspects over the Kaftoun murders for weeks. Police had already arrested a suspect in the Beddawi camp for Palestinian refugees near the northern port city of Tripoli, the day after the killings.

Diab condoles Army Commander, Director of intelligence after loss of four martyrs
NNA/September 14/2020
Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab called the Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, and the Director of Intelligence, Brigadier General Antoine Mansour, to offer them condolences after the loss of four Lebanese army martyrs during the Beddawi raid. On a related note, Premier Diab tweeted:
It is the price of honor, sacrifice, and loyalty that the Lebanese army pays to protect Lebanon, preserve civil peace, and uphold security stability. The Army has, once again, offered new martyrs to the nation.There is no fear for a nation protected by this army, whose wise leadership is keen on consolidating Lebanon’s national unity.—PM Press Office

Tenenti: UNIFIL located boat with 37 people on board outside territorial waters

NNA/September 14/2020
UNIFIL Spokesperson Andrea Tenenti indicated in a statement on Monday, “This morning, a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Maritime Task Force (MTF) ship located at sea outside Lebanese territorial waters a boat with 37 people inside. Unfortunately, one of them had already passed away. “The main priority for our peacekeepers was to rescue the remaining 36 people and ensure their safety by providing immediate assistance. UNIFIL MTF immediately informed the Lebanese authorities. All the 36 survivors are currently being provided immediate medical treatment on board the UNIFIL Maritime Task Force ship before being transferred to the Lebanese authorities.At this moment, the MTF ship is moving towards the Port of Beirut. UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Stefano Del Col said: “This is a very tragic incident and our UNIFIL Maritime Task Force peacekeepers are doing their utmost to save the lives of these people. Our first priority is to ensure the safety of all the 36 people we have just rescued.”The first Naval Force to be part of a UN peacekeeping mission, the UNIFIL Maritime Task Force has been deployed at the request of the Lebanese Government to assist the Lebanese Navy in securing the territorial waters and to help prevent the unauthorized entry of arms or related materiel by sea into Lebanon. In addition, the Maritime Task Force has been working with the Lebanese Navy to strengthen the latter’s capabilities to secure its maritime borders and assume effective security control over Lebanese territorial waters. UNIFIL Maritime Task Force has also taken part in humanitarian efforts in the past when called upon. “

Bodies in Mashghara Hospital not belonging to Beirut port blast victims: Director
NNA/September 14/2020
The Director of Mashghara Governmental Hospital clarified, in a statement on Monday, that the six bodies stored in the facility's mortuary refrigerators do not belong to victims of the Beirut port blast, as they were delivered to the hospital before the explosion.

A one-year extension of UNDP contracts to save the Administration
NNA/September 14/2020
President of the Republic General Michel Aoun and Caretaker Prime Minister, Dr. Hassan Diab, approved the request for exceptional authorization made by Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni to conclude extraordinary agreement contracts for contractors with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to continue business operations based on the principle of public facilities’ continuity in several ministries and public institutions. Failure to conclude contracts in the relevant ministries and institutions will lead to the cessation of work and the disruption of the State and citizens’ interests. In fact, this will lead to the disruption of work in the automation systems of courts and data centers of the Supreme Judicial Council and the Ministry of Justice; it will also interrupt the management of a number of projects related to solid waste contracts and will stop the financing of operation and management in 17 solid waste treatment centers. Moreover, more than 90 government websites, the e-learning portal, as well as the information security and anti-virus programs in state administrations will be interrupted...
The Lebanese state had contracted many years ago with several skilled and experienced individuals in some ministries, departments and public institutions in the context of the plan for administrative modernization, automation and capacity-building of the Lebanese administration, within the framework of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), especially in the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and the ministries of Finance, Economy and trade, Justice, Education and Higher Education, and Environment, as well as in the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL) and the Office of the Ministry of State for Administrative Development.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) had rescinded the contracts of these contractors due to the State's inability to fulfill its financial obligations in US dollars, which posed a threat to the continuity of the work of the aforementioned departments.
The Presidencies of the Republic and of the Council of Ministers have exceptionally agreed to conclude contracts for the current contracting parties, for a maximum period of one year and with the consent of the two parties, provided that the subject matter is brought before the Council of Ministers later on, and that compensation be paid in Lebanese pounds and within a specified ceiling that is roughly equivalent to the contribution that the Lebanese state was paying from its share for the program. This means that the treasury will not be bearing any additional spending charge, especially that the funds are available from the 2020 budget in the form of contributions to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). ----Caretaker PM’s Press Office

Hizbullah Deputy Leader Naim Qassem: War Is Not Likely To Break Out In The Region, Despite UAE-Israel Normalization; We Have Been Withdrawing From Syria Since 2017
MEMRI/September 14/2020
Russia Today TV (Russia)
Naim Qassem, the Deputy Secretary-General of Hizbullah, said in a September 10, 2020 interview on Russia Today that a war is not currently likely to break out in the Middle East and that Hizbullah maintains the highest level of readiness nonetheless. He added that the recent Israel-UAE peace deal does not affect the chances of war or other developments in the region and that Hizbullah has been withdrawing its fighters from Syria since 2017. Qassem elaborated that Hizbullah will continue to be active in Syria according to what is necessary.
Naim Qassem: "I think that conditions do not favor war. As for Hizbullah, it has always been in a position of defense and resistance and it has never initiated any war. Hizbullah is not initiating a war today, either. Therefore, when we react to an Israeli attack, this is part of the deterrence that we consider essential to protecting Lebanon and to avoiding the launching of war. Therefore, we do not anticipate a war, but we emphasize – like we always do – that Hizbullah's readiness is very high, and it will not be taken by surprise if the Israelis decide to start a war.
"Upon deciding to go to a war, Israeli would consult only with the U.S. Sometimes – like in 2006 – it is the U.S. that orders Israel to start a war. Those Arab [rulers] have always been the last to know, or to be taken into account. It is true that this normalization does Israel a great service, but it neither delays nor accelerates war or any other development in the region. Normalization is an attempt by the Gulf leaders to protect their thrones by accepting the demands of the U.S. and Israel. "We have been withdrawing our forces from Syria since the end of 2017. That is, over the past three years we have begun a gradual withdrawal of some of the fighters and mujahideen of Hizbullah, since they were no longer needed in several places that were liberated. Consequently, when these vast lands are liberated, there is no longer a need for more mujahideen in those places. "We are currently present in Syria in accordance with necessity. If circumstances call for more [fighters], we will send them back to Syria. However, if the need for more does not arise but rather a reduction, then we will act accordingly. This matter has nothing to do with policy decisions concerning the region nor with agreements, but only with the need on the ground in Syria."
 

An Obsession With Independence
Fares Sassine/Carnegie MEC/September 14/2020
The response to Lebanon’s protest movement in Zahleh showed sympathy, but within a conservative framework.
Many Lebanese regard the city of Zahleh with a mix of admiration and envy. An oasis of picnic spots, cafes, and nightclubs, it is seen as a city of poetry and freedom. It enjoys the unusual blessings (for Lebanon) of round-the-clock electricity, abundant water, and municipal cleaning services at a relatively low cost. However, the majority of its residents, fed up with Lebanon’s grinding economic and political crises, were sympathetic to the October 2019 uprising against official corruption, waste, and ineptitude. Like many, they hoped for the fall of the ruling class and the creation of a government capable of bringing about change and truly representative politics.
Zahleh saw large demonstrations in the early days of the uprising. School students protested, lawyers rallied outside the main courthouse, and doctors organized a march from a hospital to the central Manara roundabout. Protestors walked along the main road chanting slogans in favor of the revolution, and reached the main Shtaura-Ba‘lbek highway on the edge of the city where they were met by people from villages and towns across the governorate—citizens with a variety of political outlooks and confessional affiliations. Some activists erected tents and stalls on the roundabout. But Hezbollah and its allies voiced annoyance at the cutting of the road between Beirut and Ba‘lbek. The protestors were dispersed with brutal force by the security forces, and their tents and stalls were cleared. Hezbollah made its presence felt as events unfolded and some of its provocative statements sparked reactions that were as violent. The two sides then held back to avoid further flare-ups.
Many of the city’s youth repeatedly visited Beirut at key moments of the uprising, playing a central role in events. They demonstrated at Martyrs Square and the nearby Ring highway, and in front of parliament. Activists from Zahleh were also prominent on social media, sometimes sparring bitterly with supporters of President Michel Aoun (who had staged their own protests). This led many people to make new friends of various political persuasions from across Lebanon.
It was not new for the people of Zahleh to voice Lebanese patriotic slogans, honor the flag, and sing the national anthem, as protestors elsewhere were doing. The city regularly held Independence Day celebrations comparable to those of the main Christian holidays. But most people were wary of Lebanon’s political parties, both ideological and nonideological, making them reluctant to become more deeply involved in the uprising.
The youth-led nature of the protest movement quickly took precedence over its popular dimension. The Lebanese Forces, reportedly the most pervasive party in the district, sent members to participate in the movement in an unannounced move and without any of its officials appearing publicly, given that many members took issue with the protestors’ widespread and uncompromising slogan against the political elite: “All of them means all of them.” Protestors even ejected a longtime political figure and her supporters from an early demonstration, accusing them of opportunism.
After shrinking during Lebanon’s 1975–1990 war, Zahleh experienced a period of rapid growth, with modern buildings and villas spreading into the hills and the adjacent plain. The city’s industrial sector also grew after the Zahleh municipality took administrative charge of the Ta‘nail area, home to many workshops and factories. The city also nurtured a tourism sector with hotels, cinemas, and cafes.
However, a stubborn economic downturn affected the city in the years before the uprising. Zahleh lost administrative control over a large area of the Beqa‘ region to the new governorate of Ba‘lbek-Hermel. Zahleh residents also lost their privileged positions in the local administration. Local shops faced new competition and banks set up branches in nearby towns, not to mention the contending appeal of the more glamorous shopping malls in Beirut. While Zahleh’s schools and hospitals maintained good reputations, they were not the only ones in the area—nor were they always the best-equipped. Finally, many people from Zahleh only remained in the city for short periods of time, such as summer breaks or for large celebrations. All this was in addition to the huge impact of the general decline in Lebanon’s economic activity.
Politically, the city has been facing a deep crisis of leadership. Melkite Greek Catholics, who make up the majority of residents and hold a prominent symbolic and historical position in Zahleh, “the Catholic capital of Orient,” lost their two parliamentary seats there in the 2018 elections to candidates from smaller towns. The first was from the town of Rayyaq and was a Lebanese Forces member, while the second was an industrialist from the nearby town of Ferzol.
It should be mentioned that the Greek Catholic leadership in Zahleh had been a dominant presence in the central Beqa‘ from the time of the Mutasarrifiya (1861–1918), throughout the French Mandate, and into the post-independence period. Greek Catholic leaders led electoral battles and formed electoral lists, as well as ensuring that state services were available to their voters. During the civil war and throughout the years of the Syrian presence (1976–2005), a council was formed of the city’s Greek Catholic, Maronite, Greek Orthodox, and Syriac Orthodox bishops, which played a major role politically and in providing services. However, today it has lost much of this role due to a dispute between one bishop and members of his sect.
Zahleh supported last year’s uprising, however it was not totally open to its neighbors, despite the economic hardships common to everyone, the crisis in living standards, and the supposedly shared goals driving the protests. The city tried, but it was unable to move beyond the seclusion, sense of superiority, and traditionalism of most of its residents. Zahleh did not coin its own slogans to express its positions, nor did it propose answers and solutions to its deep problems. Its youth did not create organizations appropriate for the magnitude of the events, and the Zahleh elite did not unify within innovative new frameworks. The protest movement in the city did not generate new leaders with new ideas and initiatives, but rather relied on speakers brought in from outside. The debates attracted people affiliated with the Lebanese Forces as well as a founding member of the revitalized National Bloc, who is from the city. An elite from outside the traditional Christian political parties tried to spur new initiatives, but these lost momentum despite the organizers’ good intentions and serious efforts. Existing organizations were unable to put in place a context that could have brought together university students, along with comrades from both the left and right, to work together to change the system and solve the disasters it had created.
One group with a major presence at the protests on the edge of Zahleh was made up of young demonstrators from nearby towns, particularly Sunni towns. Some reports said that they even formed a majority of protestors. But the “revolutionaries” from Zahleh had little presence at the rallies in nearby towns, and their participation at the huge demonstrations in Beirut took place on an individual basis. One did not find groups there that had travelled to the capital together, but rather educated individuals who were there on their own initiative, appalled by widespread corruption, state bankruptcy, clientelism, and oppression, and wanting to express their anger and their hopes by taking part in the wider revolutionary movement.
But Zahleh as a whole never abandoned its conservative political outlook. Rather, it retained pride in its slogans and national values, becoming even more convinced of them as Lebanese from all regions and sects marched in defense of those slogans. It saw the uprising as an opportunity to break down the barriers of sect and create a new, stronger, and healthier Lebanon. But residents were also annoyed by the arbitrary blocking of roads. Lebanon’s independence is Zahleh’s obsession, followed by worries over living standards and getting rid of the corrupt and coercive ruling clique. But the inhabitants’ efforts to reach these goals were not as radical as the goals themselves, and fell short of the need for creative thought and organization, effective strategies, and the huge sacrifices required.
That said, the uprising has left marks on the people of Zahleh. While these marks may have sometimes faded, they will not be erased.
 

How Hamas Plans to Destroy Lebanon
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/September 14, 2020
During Haniyeh's tour of Ain al-Hilweh, he said that the Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip "possesses missiles to strike Tel Aviv and beyond Tel Aviv."
Arab political analysts.... also believe that Iran is preparing to use its proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, to target Arab countries that establish relations with Israel, such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
"Who is this Ismail Haniyeh, who comes to Lebanon and flexes his muscles in the [refugee] camps while surrounded by armed men.... No one in our government has asked what is he doing here and who let him into our country." — Rita Mokbel, a Lebanese woman, Twitter, September 7, 2020.
"Lebanon is an independent state and not a theater for Iran and the Palestinians." — Lebanese General Asraf Rifi, Twitter, September 7, 2020.
"Syria paid a heavy price for defending Hamas and the resistance movements, and they returned the favor by plotting against Syria and participating in its destruction. This is what the school of the Muslim Brotherhood and [Turkish President] Erdogan teaches." — Wiam Wahhab, former Lebanese minister of environment, Twitter, September 7, 2020.
The visit of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to Lebanon has sparked outrage in the country. Haniyeh held a series of meetings with Lebanese and Palestinian officials. He also met with Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group. Pictured: Haniyeh (wearing a blue shirt), surrounded by armed militiamen, is paraded through Lebanon's Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp on September 6, 2020. (Photo by Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP via Getty Images)
The visit of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to Lebanon has sparked outrage in the country. Many Lebanese citizens and officials have expressed the fear that his presence in their country could trigger another war with Israel. Their fear does not seem unjustified. The Lebanese are aware of the disasters Hamas has brought on its people in the Gaza Strip by firing rockets into Israel. The Lebanese are telling Hamas: "If you want to launch terror attacks against Israel, please do not use our country. We are not prepared to pay the price."
The Lebanese have also objected to the return to Lebanon of armed Palestinian groups. The Lebanese appear afraid that Hamas is operating on instructions from Iran to turn Lebanon into a launching pad for firing missiles at Israel. The Lebanese remember the days in the 70s and 80s when the PLO and other Palestinian armed factions controlled Lebanon and used its territories to launch terror attacks against Israel, its neighbor to the south.
Haniyeh, who is currently based in Qatar, arrived in Lebanon in early September for a series of meetings with Lebanese and Palestinian officials. He also met with Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General of the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group, and visited the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh, where he was surrounded by scores of armed militiamen.
Haniyeh also participated in a videoconference meeting of leaders of Palestinian factions. He addressed the conference from the offices of the Palestinian Authority (PA) embassy in Beirut. PA President Mahmoud Abbas delivered a speech at the conference from his office in Ramallah, the de facto capital of the Palestinians in the West Bank.
During Haniyeh's tour of Ain al-Hilweh, he said that the Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip "possesses missiles to strike Tel Aviv and beyond Tel Aviv."
During his visit to Beirut, Haniyeh met with Nasrallah. After the meeting, Hamas and Hezbollah issued a statement in which they affirmed the "stability and solidity of the axis of resistance and the strength of the relationship between Hezbollah and Hamas, which is based on foundations of faith, brotherhood, and jihad (holy war)." The terror groups also pledged to "develop mechanisms of coordination between the two parties."
The Hamas leader's visit to Lebanon came during one of the worst crises in the country's history. The Lebanese government had resigned amid growing public anger in the aftermath of a devastating explosion at the port of Beirut on August 4. The blast, which killed at least 200 people and injured about 5,000 others, occurred while Lebanon was coping, as it still is, with the spread of the coronavirus and a dire economic crisis.
Many Lebanese are angry with their government for allowing Haniyeh to enter the country. Rita Mokbel, a Lebanese woman living in the United Arab Emirates wrote on Twitter:
"Who is this Ismail Haniyeh, who comes to Lebanon and flexes his muscles in the [refugee] camps while surrounded by armed men and says he wants to liberate Palestine from Ain al-Hilweh? No one in our government has asked what is he doing here and who let him into our country."
Wiam Wahhab, a former Lebanese minister of environment, wrote that Haniyeh was "unwelcome" in Lebanon.
"Syria paid a heavy price for defending Hamas and the resistance movements, and they returned the favor by plotting against Syria and participating in its destruction. This is what the school of the Muslim Brotherhood and [Turkish President] Erdogan teaches. The timing [of the visit] is inappropriate, and the guest is unwelcome."
Lebanese journalist Mohamad Nimer commented that "Ismail Haniyeh left Palestine and came to Beirut to announce the development of Hamas's missile capabilities?" Nimer pointed out that Hezbollah already has missiles that it says will be used against Israel. Addressing Hamas and Hezbollah, he added: "Have mercy on Lebanon from your mischief."
Former Lebanese MP Fares Souaid, commenting on Haniyeh's visit and threats against Israel, warned of the return of Palestinian military presence in Lebanon:
"Ismail Haniyeh's threat to Israel from Beirut is dangerous because it brings back Palestinian military action [against Israel] in Lebanon, which ended in 1982. It also threatens the security of residential neighborhoods and will allow Hamas to work under the cover of Hezbollah."
Richard Kouyoumjian, another former Lebanese minister, said he did not understand who permitted Haniyeh to use Lebanon as a platform to threaten Israel. "Who gave him permission and the right to do so?" Kouyoumjian asked, adding that "if Haniyeh wants to be a hero, he should do so from the Gaza Strip, and not Lebanon."
Lebanese General Ashraf Rifi wrote on Twitter that Haniyeh's threats against Israel do not serve the Palestinian issue. In addition, he warned that Iran's weapons would lead to the destruction of Lebanon.
"Iran turned the Palestinian issue into a bargaining chip and deepened divisions among the Palestinians," Rifi said.
"Empowering Iran with the Palestinian card is a grave mistake. It is an even worse mistake to hand over the card of the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon to Iran. Lebanon is an independent state and not a theater for Iran and the Palestinians."
Leaders of Lebanese political parties held a meeting to discuss the repercussions of Haniyeh's visit and his threats against Israel.
The politicians warned against "the return of the Palestinian factions to exercising any military or security role in Lebanon."
They said that the meeting of the Palestinian faction leaders in Beirut reminded them of the days when Lebanon was effectively controlled by the Palestinians: "The meeting of the Palestinian factions in Lebanon brought back to mind the era of 'Fatah Land ' -- the days when Lebanon was just a venue for the PLO." (Fatah is the largest Palestinian faction of the PLO.)
The MENA Media Monitor news outlet, which focuses on Middle East and North Africa issues, warned that Haniyeh's threat against Israel and Hamas's alliance with Hezbollah would "slaughter Lebanon." It pointed out that Hamas, which has already ruined the Gaza Strip because of its terror attacks against Israel, is now seeking to destroy Lebanon.
"In addition to its professionalism in violence, money laundering, drug trafficking, and mobile assassinations, Hezbollah has become more professional in closing the door to any solutions that prevent the collapse of Lebanon," according to MENA.
"Haniyeh's visit to Lebanon, and his announcement from Lebanese soil that he and his ally, Hezbollah, are working on manufacturing smart missiles from Lebanon, is an announcement to slaughter Lebanon, which today does not need anything less than international solidarity with it, and with its disasters. Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah will take Lebanon into the hell of a war that will destroy what is left of the country."
Lebanese political commentator and journalist Walid Choucair wrote that Hamas and Hezbollah, at the behest of Iran, may be planning to use Lebanon as a podium for foiling normalization agreements between Israel and Arab countries.
Arab political analysts are apparently convinced that Iran dispatched Haniyeh to Lebanon in an effort to expand its control over the country to include the Palestinian refugee camps there. Arab political analysts also believe that Iran is preparing to use its proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, to target Arab countries that establish relations with Israel, such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
The analysts warned that Lebanese and Palestinians alike will pay a heavy price if the camps fall into Iran's hands. The Lebanese and other Arabs are sending a clear message: "We are sick to death of Hezbollah and Iran. Allowing Hamas into Lebanon will only further sicken a country in deathly need of rehabilitation."
*Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem, is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.


The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 14-15/2020

Report: 10 killed in alleged Israeli airstrikes in Syria
Aruts Sheva/September 14/2020
Airstrikes attributed to Israel kill 10 pro-Iranian combatants in eastern Syria. Weapons depots destroyed. Airstrikes attributed to Israel killed at least 10 in eastern Syria Monday morning, according to a report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The SOHR claimed that at least six powerful explosions were heard Monday outside of the city of Albu Kamal in the Deir Ezzor region of eastern Syria. Ambulances were seen rushing from Albu Kamal to the areas targeted, SOHR reported. The airstrikes targeted ammunition depots and vehicles used by pro-Iranian militias, the report claimed. Ten fatalities were reported in the airstrikes, all of them members of pro-Iranian militias. Two of the dead are said to be Syrian nationals, while the remaining eight are Iraqi nationals. Israel, which has a policy of not commenting on its operations in Syria, has not commented on the report. This is the third attack attributed to Israel in Syria in the past 11 days. Sixteen pro-Iranian combatants were reportedly killed in another airstrike attributed to Israel on September 9th.

The next Arab state to recognize Israel: Oman
Aruts Sheva/September 14/2020
Ahead of signing of Abraham Accords between Israel, UAE and Bahrain, Arab world preparing for additional states to recognize Israel. Oman is preparing to join Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in recognizing Israel, Arab diplomats are claiming. According to a report Monday morning in Israel Hayom which quoted multiple senior Arab diplomats and officials, Oman is now widely expected to join Bahrain and the UAE in establishing formal diplomatic ties with the Jewish state, including full normalization of relations and direct flights. This despite a senior UAE official noting that Oman is one of the only Arab states in the Gulf region which maintains a positive dialogue with the Iranian regime. A second diplomat was quoted as saying that Oman’s relations with Iran were the only reason it has yet to openly recognize Israel. “The reason it hasn’t yet agreed to full and open relations is the reasonable possibility that this could harm its relations with Iran significantly.”The second official added that part of Bahrain’s calculations in deciding whether to recognize Israel were also affected by concerns over Iran’s reaction, noting that while the ruling dynasty in Bahrain is Sunni, more than 60% of the Muslim population there is Shi’ite, giving Iran significant influence over the country. But, the official continued, “After the United Arab Emirates reached a deal with Israel with the support of the Saudis, in Manama [Bahrain’s capital] they understood that they can rely on the support of Riyadh…and they joined on to the historic peace agreement, which will benefit all sides. Therefore, it is pretty clear that additional states will join soon.”On the other hand, other Arab diplomats agree that Saudi Arabia itself will not move to recognize Israel formally or to establish full relations, due to its obligations to the Palestinian Authority. Israeli Premier Binyamin Netanyahu, his wife Sara, and his sons Yair and Avner departed for Washington late Sunday night for the signing of the Abraham Accords in Washington Tuesday.

 

Normalizing ties with Israel strengthens Bahrain-US partnership: Minister
Reuters/Monday 14 September 2020
Bahrain’s interior minister said on Monday that normalizing ties with Israel protects Bahrain’s interests and strengthens its strategic partnership with the United States, amid an ongoing threat from Iran.
“It is not an abandonment of the Palestinian cause ... it is to strengthen Bahrainis’ security and their economic stability,” minister Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa said in a statement. Al Khalifa’s comments ahead of Tuesday’s ceremony, which will be held at the White House to sign an agreement to normalize ties between the UAE, Bahrain and Israel. Last week, US President Donald Trump announced that Bahrain was joining the UAE in striking a historic agreement to normalize relations with Tel Aviv. As part of the US-brokered peace deal, the UAE agreed to normalize relations with Israel, while Israel agreed to continue with plans to suspend its annexation of the West Bank. The UAE also abolished on August 29 a previous law that mandated an economic boycott of Israel.

 

Iran condemns Bahrain’s plan to normalize ties with Israel
Benjamin Weinthal/Jerusalem Post/September 14/ 2020
The German athletic advocacy association Athleten Deutschland on Sunday urged the International Olympic Committee and United World Wrestling to impose sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran for hanging a reportedly innocent champion Greco-Roman wrestler.
“Athleten Deutschland is deeply shocked by the death of Navid Afkari. His execution must not be without consequences. We expect the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and United World Wrestling (UWW) to take a strong stand against human rights violations of athletes and other groups of people who are part of the Olympic movement or are in its sphere of influence,” the organization said, adding “This also includes establishing an appropriate sanction mechanism. It is long overdue that the strongly humanistically shaped Olympic movement commits itself to the protection of human rights.”
Germany’s government funds Athleten Deutschland, yet Chancellor Angela Merkel has remained silent about Afkari’s execution. US President Donald Trump urged Iran’s rulers not to execute the wrestler.
The Iranian authorities hanged Afkari on Saturday for the alleged crime of killing a security guard and protesting against regime corruption during nationwide demonstrations in 2018.
Afkari, who was widely believed to have been brutally tortured to confess to a murder he did not commit, was buried on Sunday in the southern village of Sangar. Voice of America reporter and activist Masih Alinejad tweeted: “We Iranian people are furious because the Islamic Republic killed one of us for the crime of protesting and this is not acceptable in the 21st Century. Here [sic] what we demand from international community. If you agree please support. Navid Afkari was innocent.”The labor union organization Global Athlete said in a statement: “We call on athlete solidarity to demand that the International Olympic Committee and United World Wrestling immediately implement sanctions that expel Iran from world sport for this heinous execution."
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Prior to Iran’s execution of Afkari, a global campaign was underway to save his life. The hashtag #BanIRSports4Navid calling for Iran’s regime to be boycotted from sports competition has trended on Twitter.
US democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Saturday tweeted: “Iran’s cruel execution of Navid Afkari is a travesty. No country should arrest, torture, or execute peaceful protestors or activists.”
After The Jerusalem Post spent a week seeking to secure a statement from Human Rights Watch, the NGO wrote to the Post on the day of Afkari’s execution. “Iranian authorities’ utter disregard of serious allegations that they tortured Navid Afkari into confessing to alleged murder fits with a broader pattern of systematic impunity for torture and coerced confessions,” Tara Sepehri Far, Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch said. She added that “The authorities should drop charges that violate the Afkari brothers’ legitimate freedoms, investigate their allegations of torture, and ensure that they get a fair trial.”
Sepehri Far said that, “instead of prosecuting the Afkari brothers and protesters in unfair trials, the authorities should allow for an independent inquiry into the abuses by security forces cracking down on the protests. The authorities should ensure anyone accused of a real crime gets a fair trial in accordance with international human rights standards.”The Center for Human Rights in Iran criticized the feeble interventions from IOC president Thomas Bach and the UWW. “Yet it must also be noted that the response of the International Olympic Committee and the United World Wrestling organization was weak and inadequate; they failed to uphold their own principles and regulations, thereby undermining their own viability. Sports federations must hold Iran accountable for its actions,” the center wrote.
Both Bach and the UWW did not publicly urge Iran’s regime not to execute Afkari. The Post sent press queries to the IOC, UWW and USA Wrestling. UWW president Nenad Lalovic did not publicly urge Iran's regime to stay the execution. The executive director of USA Wrestling, Rich Bender, was silent during the entire campaign to save Afkari’s life.


Tehran reveals ‘strength’ of new long-range missiles

Seth J.Frantman/Jerusalem Post/September 14/2020
Amir Hatami discussed the quality and quantity of the missiles and said it was one of the great achievements in the field of missiles that the country has ever seen. In an exclusive interview with Iran’s Tasnim News Agency over the weekend, Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami spoke of the strength, readiness and capability of his defense forces and their new missile capabilities. He spoke directly about new missiles that were unveiled on August 31. Hatami discussed the quality and quantity of the missiles and said it was one of the great achievements in the field of missiles that the country has seen. Iran has named these new missiles “Martyr Qasem Soleimani” after the late IRGC Quds Force commander who was killed by the US in January. The second type of missile is named “Martyr Abu Mahdi” after Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iranian ally and head of the Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah, who was killed in the same strike.
The armed forces would soon triple the range of these missiles, Hatami said. “The capability is very important for us,” he said, adding that it is a top priority. The short statements indicate the Islamic Republic’s obsession with pushing the range of its missiles amid the recent normalization deals between Israel and Gulf states. Iran has threatened Bahrain and called Arab states traitors for working with the Jewish state. Tehran is very concerned about the way its position is being eroded in the region, even as it uses Houthi rebels to strike at Saudi Arabia while seeking to undermine Iraq’s government, gobble up Syria and use Hezbollah. Iran’s new missiles have an alleged range of 1,400 km. and 1,000 km., respectively.  These ranges are not arbitrary. They are designed to show that Iran can reach almost all the way to Israel. That is because Israel’s borders are just 1,000 km. from Iran. Tehran knows its messaging matters. In the past, it has sent ballistic missiles to Iraq and drones to Syria to threaten Israel.

Iran condemns Bahrain’s plan to normalize ties with Israel
TEHRAN, Iran (AP)/September14/2020

Iran on Saturday strongly condemned Bahrain’s plan to normalize relations with Israel, calling it a shameful and ignominious move by the Gulf Arab country.
Bahrain’s announcement Friday followed a similar normalization agreement last month by the United Arab Emirates, a fellow U.S. ally. The two Arab nations’ establishment of full relations with Israel is part of a broader push by the Trump administration find common ground with countries that share U.S. wariness of Iran. Tehran’s arch rival Saudi Arabia may also be close to a deal. In a statement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Bahrain’s normalization “will remain in the historical memory of the oppressed and downtrodden people of Palestine and the world’s free nations forever.”
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard also denounced Bahrain’s move using similar language, calling it a betrayal of the Palestinian people and a “threat to security in West Asia and the Muslim world.”The agreements by the UAE and now Bahrain are a setback for Palestinian leaders, who have urged Arab nations to withhold recognition until they have secured an independent state. The Palestinians have seen a steady erosion in once-unified Arab support — one of the few cards they still held as leverage against Israel — since President Donald Trump began pursuing an unabashedly pro-Israel agenda.
The Foreign Ministry statement also said Bahrain’s government and the other supporting governments would be held accountable for any act by Israel that causes insecurity in the Persian Gulf region. The island of Bahrain lies just off the coast of Saudi Arabia, and is among the world’s smallest countries, only about 760 square kilometers (290 square miles). Bahrain’s location in the Persian Gulf long has made it a trading stop and a naval defensive position. The island is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet and a recently built British naval base.
Like Iran, Bahrain’s population is majority Shiite, and the country has been ruled since 1783 by the Sunni Al Khalifa family. Since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, Bahrain’s rulers have blamed Iran for arming militants on the island. Iran denies the accusations. Bahrain’s Shiite majority has accused the government of treating them like second-class citizens. The Shiites joined pro-democracy activists in demanding more political freedoms in 2011, as Arab Spring protests swept across the wider Middle East. Saudi and Emirati troops ultimately helped violently put down the demonstrations.

Iran executes man whose case drew international attention

AP/September 14/ 2020
Iranian state TV on Saturday reported that the country’s authorities executed a wrestler for allegedly murdering a man, after President Donald Trump asked for the 27-year-old condemned man’s life to be spared.
State TV quoted the chief justice of Fars province, Kazem Mousavi, as saying: “The retaliation sentence against Navid Afkari, the killer of Hassan Torkaman, was carried out this morning in Adelabad prison in Shiraz.”
Afkari’s case had drawn the attention of a social media campaign that portrayed him and his brothers as victims targeted over participating in protests against Iran’s Shiite theocracy in 2018. Authorities accused Afkari of stabbing a water supply company employee in the southern city of Shiraz amid the unrest.
Iran broadcast the wrestler’s televised confession last week. The segment resembled hundreds of other suspected coerced confessions aired over the last decade in the Islamic Republic.
The case revived a demand inside the country for Iran to stop carrying out the death penalty. Even imprisoned Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, herself nearly a month into a hunger strike over conditions at Tehran’s Evin prison amid the coronavirus pandemic, passed word that she supported Afkari.
The International Olympic Committee in a statement Saturday said it was shocked and saddened by the news of the wrestler’s execution, and that the committee’s president, Thomas Bach, “had made direct personal appeals to the Supreme Leader and to the President of Iran this week and asked for mercy for Navid Afkari.” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the execution was cruel. “We condemn it in the strongest terms. It is an outrageous assault on human dignity, even by the despicable standards of this regime. The voices of the Iranian people will not be silenced,” Pompeo tweeted.
Last week, President Donald Trump tweeted out his own concern about Afkari’s case. “To the leaders of Iran, I would greatly appreciate if you would spare this young man’s life, and not execute him,” Trump wrote. “Thank you!”Iran responded to Trump’s tweet with a nearly 11-minute state TV package on Afkari. It included the weeping parents of the slain water company employee. The package included footage of Afkari on the back of a motorbike, saying he had stabbed the employee in the back, without explaining why he allegedly carried out the assault. The state TV segment showed blurred police documents and described the killing as a “personal dispute,” without elaborating. It said Afkari’s cellphone had been in the area and it showed surveillance footage of him walking down a street, talking on his phone. Last week, Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency dismissed Trump’s tweet in a feature story, saying that American sanctions have hurt Iranian hospitals amid the pandemic.“Trump is worried about the life of a murderer while he puts many Iranian patients’ lives in danger by imposing severe sanctions,” the agency said.
 

Iran summons German ambassador after condemning execution of wrestler Navid Afkari
NNA/September 14/2020
Iran's foreign ministry on Monday summoned Germany's ambassador over tweets condemning the execution of a wrestler, accused of murdering a man during a wave of anti-government protests in 2018. The ministry "strongly condemned" the tweets and told German envoy Hans-Udo Muzel that the reaction was considered to be an "interference in the internal affairs" of Iran, according to an official statement.--AFP

Macron urges Putin to shed light on 'attempted murder' of opponent Navalny
NNA/September 14/2020
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to urgently shed light on the "attempted murder" of opposition figure Alexei Navalny after French tests confirmed the use of the Novichok nerve agent, the Elysée said. Macron told Putin in telephone talks that it is "imperative that all light be shed, without delay, on the circumstances of this attempted murder and who is responsible", the French presidency said in a statement. He also informed Putin that France's own analysis had confirmed Germany's conclusion that Navalny was poisoned by Novichok "in contravention of international norms on using chemical weapons".Putin, for his part, told Macron that it was "inappropriate" to make groundless accusations against Russia over the suspected poisoning of Navalny, the Kremlin said. The Russian leader said his country wanted Germany to hand over medical test results taken from Navalny, according to a Kremlin readout of the call.—AFP

Turkish Red Crescent Worker Killed in Northern Syria
NNA/September 14/2020
An aid worker from Turkey's Red Crescent was killed and another was wounded after masked assailants attacked the group's vehicle near the northern Syrian town of al-Bab, the aid agency said in a statement on Monday.
It said the attack took place between al-Bab and the Turkish border town of Cobanbey, despite the vehicle having a Kizilay, or Red Crescent, logo on its roof. “With the help of our country, I believe the attackers will be captured soon," Kizilay Chairman Kerem Kinik said. Turkey has seized swathes of northern Syria in four cross-border offensives since 2016 to drive back Islamic State and the Syrian Kurdish YPG, which Ankara deems a terrorist group. In 2017, Syrian rebels backed by Turkey seized al-Bab as part of Ankara's "Operation Euphrates Shield". "Every measure from the ground and air is being taken to capture the terrorists, who stooped to attacking an aid group that is untouchable under international law," Turkey's Defence Ministry said.—REUTERS

Rare dolphins return to Hong Kong as coronavirus halts ferry traffic

NNA/September 14/2020
The number of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins seen around Hong Kong has jumped as the pause in high-speed ferry traffic due to the coronavirus allows the threatened species to make something of a comeback, scientists said.
Marine scientist Lindsay Porter of the University of St. Andrews said the mammals - also known as Chinese white dolphins and pink dolphins - were moving back into parts of the Pearl River Delta that they typically avoided due to the ferries that connect Hong Kong and Macau.
Dolphin numbers in the area had jumped by up to 30% since March when the ferry traffic was suspended, allowing scientists a rare opportunity to study how underwater noise affected their behaviour, she said.—Reuters

 

Vatican calls on China to extend deal on appointment of Catholic bishops
AFP/Monday 14 September 2020
A top Vatican official said Monday he hoped a landmark deal signed two years ago with China on the appointment of bishops would be extended.
Under the terms of the provisional agreement, which China and the Vatican signed in 2018, both Beijing and the pope have a say in appointing Catholic bishops. The current accord expires in October, but Vatican number two Pietro Parolin told Italian media: “Our intention is that it should be extended.
“Is there the same intention on the part of the Chinese? I think and I hope so,” Parolin told the Ansa news agency. The People’s Republic of China broke off relations with the Vatican in 1951 and the atmosphere between the two states remains strained. The Vatican is the only European diplomatic ally of self-ruled Taiwan, which is viewed by China as a breakaway province awaiting reunification. China’s roughly 12 million Catholics have for decades been split between a government-run association, whose clergy are chosen by the atheist Communist Party, and an unofficial underground church loyal to the Vatican.
Under the 2018 deal, both Beijing and the Vatican participate in the appointment of bishops -- the first of whom was Yao Shun of the diocese of Ulanqab in the northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in August last year. The law in China requires priests and bishops to register and align with the country’s official church. But the Vatican said at the time that the bishop, who it named as Antonio Yao Shun, had “received the papal mandate” at the ordination. Pope Francis recognized seven clergy appointed by China as part of the deal two years ago, despite fears Beijing would use the accord to further crack down on worshippers outside the official church. Improving relations with Beijing was worth pursuing, said Parolin. “Our current interest in China is to normalize the life of the Church as much as possible,” he said.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 14-15/2020

US Officials: Iran weighing plot to kill U.S. ambassador to South Africa
Nahal Toosi and Natasha Bertrand/Politico/September 14/2020
The Islamic Republic is still looking to avenge the death of Qassem Soleimani, officials said.
U.S. officials believe Iran’s regime is considering retaliation for Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani's assassination. | Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via
The Iranian government is weighing an assassination attempt against the American ambassador to South Africa, U.S. intelligence reports say, according to a U.S. government official familiar with the issue and another official who has seen the intelligence.
News of the plot comes as Iran continues to seek ways to retaliate for President Donald Trump’s decision to kill a powerful Iranian general earlier this year, the officials said. If carried out, it could dramatically ratchet up already serious tensions between the U.S. and Iran and create enormous pressure on Trump to strike back — possibly in the middle of a tense election season.
U.S. officials have been aware of a general threat against the ambassador, Lana Marks, since the spring, the officials said. But the intelligence about the threat to the ambassador has become more specific in recent weeks. The Iranian Embassy in Pretoria is involved in the plot, the U.S. government official said.
Still, attacking Marks is one of several options U.S. officials believe Iran’s regime is considering for retaliation since the general, Qassem Soleimani, was assassinated by a U.S. drone strike in January. At the time, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. killed Soleimani to reestablish deterrence against Iran.
An intelligence community directive known as “Duty to Warn” requires U.S. spy agencies to notify a potential victim if intelligence indicates their life could be in danger; in the case of U.S. government officials, credible threats would be included in briefings and security planning. Marks has been made aware of the threat, the U.S. government official said. The intelligence also has been included in the CIA World Intelligence Review, known as the WIRe, a classified product that is accessible to senior policy and security officials across the U.S. government, as well as certain lawmakers and their staff.
Marks, 66, was sworn in as U.S. ambassador last October. She’s known Trump for more than two decades and has been a member of his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. Critics of Trump have derided her as a “handbag designer,” but her supporters retort that she is a successful businesswoman — her eponymous handbags run as much as $40,000 — with numerous international connections. A personal friend of the late Princess Diana, she also was born in South Africa and speaks some of the country’s key languages, including Afrikaans and Xhosa.
The intelligence community isn’t exactly sure why Iranians would target Marks, who has few, if any, known links to Iran. It’s possible the Iranians took her long friendship with Trump into consideration, the U.S. government official said.
The Iranian government also operates clandestine networks in South Africa, the officials noted, and has had a foothold there for decades. In 2015, Al Jazeera and The Guardian reported on leaked intelligence documents that detailed an extensive secret network of Iranian operatives in South Africa. Marks may also be an easier target than U.S. diplomats in other parts of the world, such as Western Europe, where the U.S. has stronger relationships with local law enforcement and intelligence services.
Iran’s Islamist leaders have a history of carrying out assassinations beyond their country’s borders, as well as taking hostages, since seizing power following a popular uprising in the late 1970s. In recent decades, Iran has generally avoided directly targeting U.S. diplomats, although Iranian-backed militias have long attacked U.S. diplomatic facilities and personnel in Iraq.
Trump alleged after Soleimani’s killing that the Iranian general had been plotting attacks on American diplomatic missions, although U.S. officials later cast doubt on his claims. “They were looking to blow up our embassy,” Trump said in January, referring to the massive, heavily fortified U.S. diplomatic compound in Iraq. Later, in a Fox News interview, he said, “I can reveal I believe it probably would’ve been four embassies.”
Days after Soleimani’s death, Iran launched a ballistic missile salvo at a military base in Iraq that housed U.S. forces, causing traumatic brain injuries among dozens of American troops. Trump declined to retaliate and said, “Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world” — though he announced fresh sanctions on the Iranian regime and warned it against further retaliatory moves.
Some analysts, however, said at the time that Iran likely would seek other ways to avenge Soleimani’s death. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, was at the top of Iran’s hit list earlier this year, according to media reports. McKenzie said last month that he expected a new “response” from Iran to America’s ongoing presence in Iraq.
“I do not know what the nature of that response will be, but we will certainly be ready for it, should it occur,” he said. On Wednesday, McKenzie confirmed plans to cut the U.S. troop presence in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,000 by the end of September.
During an online forum in August, McKenzie said Iran was “our central problem” in the region, and acknowledged that the danger from Iranian proxies in Iraq had complicated U.S. efforts against ISIS, the radical Sunni terrorist organization and movement. “The threat against our forces from Shia militant groups has caused us to put resources that we would otherwise use against ISIS to provide for our own defense and that has lowered our ability to work effectively against them,” he said.
The White House-based National Security Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Neither did an Iranian official with Iran’s mission at the United Nations, nor a South African Embassy official in Washington. Spokespeople for the State Department, the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.
The U.S. and Iran have been bitter foes for decades, openly confronting each other at times — and gingerly engaging in diplomacy at others — but more often waging a shadowy battle for power and influence across the broader Middle East. Under Trump, the two countries have veered toward outright military conflict on more than one occasion.
Last summer, the U.S. blamed Iran and its proxies for a series of explosions aimed at oil tankers. Iran took down a U.S. drone, and the U.S. later managed to take down an Iranian drone.
Trump acknowledged that, after Iran took down the U.S. drone, he nearly authorized a direct attack on Iranian soil, but he held off after being told 150 people could die — a toll he said was disproportionate.
The countries’ dispute deepened in the months afterward, especially in Iraq, where America and the U.S. have long engaged in proxy warfare. In December, an American contractor was killed in Iraq after an attack by an Iranian-allied militia. The U.S. reacted by bombing sites held by the group, killing around two dozen of its fighters. Soon afterward, protesters believed linked to the militia breached parts of the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad.
Then, in early January, the United States staged an airstrike that killed Soleimani as he was visiting Baghdad. It was a major escalation given Soleimani’s importance in Iran, although U.S. officials described it as a defensive measure.
Soleimani led the Quds Force, a unit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that oversees much of the country’s military activities outside its borders. Americans blame him for the death of numerous U.S. troops in the region.
Iran vowed to retaliate. Its first major move was the Jan. 8 missile attack on the al-Asad military base in Iraq. But around the same time, an Iranian missile took down a civilian airliner, killing 176 people and leading to fury inside Iran at the regime’s incompetence and shifting explanations for the incident, along with condemnation abroad.
Iran and South Africa have cooperated on a number of fronts in recent decades, including at the U.N., where South Africa has at times advocated for Iran. South Africa’s uranium deposits are believed to have been a major interest for Iran as it was ramping up its nuclear program, which Tehran has always insisted was meant for peaceful energy purposes, not a bomb. The pair also have a military relationship, having signed some basic defense pacts.
Strange Iran-connected plots have been uncovered before.
Almost a decade ago, the U.S. arrested and eventually sentenced to prison an Iranian-American man who was alleged to have tried to hire Mexican drug cartel assassins to kill Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States as he dined in Cafe Milano, a swanky Washington restaurant frequented by the city’s wealthy and powerful. The U.S. accused Soleimani of overseeing the plot.

Desperate to Sustain Stock Market Bubble, Tehran Taps Its Sovereign Wealth Fund
Saeed Ghasseminejad/FDD/September 14/2020
Tehran announced on Tuesday that it would use 1 percent of its National Development Fund (NDF) – one Iran’s few remaining sources of hard currency – to stabilize the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). The announcement reflects the Islamic Republic’s urgent need to sustain the TSE bubble until after the U.S. elections in November, which Tehran hopes will result in a new administration prepared to lift sanctions.
Established in 2011, the NDF constitutes an investment and savings fund aimed at preserving revenue from Iran’s oil and gas industry for future generations. Over the past three years, however, Tehran has repeatedly diverted money from the NDF to finance its military operations and basic economic and development needs. The TSE overall index had a 421 percent nominal return from January 1 until August 8, 2020. Since then, it has lost 25 percent of its value. At the same time, the rial has continued to depreciate, hitting an all-time low of 257,300 rials to the dollar on September 8. The rise in prices happened across all stocks at a time when Iran has been facing three years of recession, currency depreciation, and high inflation, showing all the signs of a state-initiated, state-sustained bubble. The green light to spend 1 percent of NDF resources is a clear sign that the government in Tehran wants to sustain the bubble in the market.Tehran has many reasons to perceive the existence of the bubble as the best of bad options right now. The bubble is the result of massive wandering liquidity and the household’s need for a short-term liquid hedge against inflation amid stagflation and a loose labor market. Other markets that can absorb the wandering liquidity are the currency market, precious metals, and real estate.
The injection of enormous wandering liquidity into these markets immediately creates an inflation shock in an economy that is already in a state of high inflation. The stock market, however, has the potential to guide the liquidity toward production and, by doing so, mitigate the inflationary effect of this liquidity.
As a result, over the last year, the regime has wooed millions of Iranians to put their life savings into the stock market. Now, a crash of the bubble would elicit the wrath of millions of Iranians, who would be losing all they had. This development could trigger nationwide protests. The regime has already survived two waves of widespread demonstrations over the past three years by killing hundreds of protesters and putting thousands in jail.
Tehran’s decision to prop up the stock market and sustain the bubble should be understood in the context of the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Regime officials have surely heard about former Vice President Joe Biden’s plan to reenter the 2015 nuclear agreement and lift sanctions if Tehran returns to compliance with the deal. As a result, the Islamic Republic hopes that Biden will win the election, thereby ending the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign, after which Tehran can manage the problem of the stock market bubble in a less hostile environment.
For Washington, the policy implications of Tehran’s decision are clear. No matter who wins the White House in November, Washington must not bail out the regime.
*Saeed Ghasseminejad is a senior Iran and financial economics advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where he also contributes to FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP). For more analysis from Saeed and CEFP, please subscribe HERE. Follow Saeed on Twitter @SGhasseminejad. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CEFP. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

The Plight of Iranians in Turkey
Behnam Ben Taleblu and Aykan Erdemir/FDD/September 14/2020
Turkish authorities on Monday detained Maryam Shariatmadari, an anti-Hijab activist twice-jailed in Iran, threatening deportation back to her home country. Although an international outcry from human rights activists appears to have ensured her release for now, an uncertain future awaits.
Shariatmadari’s case puts a much-needed spotlight on the plight of Iranians abroad. While no immigrant, refugee, or visitor group is a monolith, Iranians have long-seen Turkey, which shares a 330-mile border with Iran, as a place to experience elements of a life denied at home. However, the Turkish government’s continued deportation of activists, and the blind eye Ankara turns toward Tehran’s activities on its soil, are a real cause for concern. This is especially true as Iranian investment and tourism in Turkey continue to grow.
According to a video Shariatmadari posted on Instagram Monday, she claimed that her detention was “without reason,” and that the Turkish police ignored pleas to look up her name “in the system” – likely a reference to immigration logs or the nature of her status in Turkey. According to an audio file of Shariatmadari published later by Iran International, she also says she was not given access to a Persian-language translator. The arrest came ahead of a cooperation meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani.
Under the nearly 18-year rule of Turkey’s Islamist president, Ankara has deepened cooperation with Tehran, seeing the Islamic Republic as a willing partner to challenge the Western-led liberal world order. Indeed, in the past the Turkish government has not only provided Iranian individuals and entities a permissive jurisdiction to evade U.S. sanctions, but has actively assisted Tehran’s schemes and ringleaders. For Ankara, Iranians residing in or visiting Turkey are not only a much-needed source of revenue amidst the country’s economic downturn. Each is now a potential pawn to cash in, either through extradition or by ignoring their killing on Turkish soil.
Turkey and Iran signed a “legal cooperation” agreement in 2010 permitting extradition. Ankara ratified it in 2011. The agreement received criticism for lacking explicit provisions preventing extradition if the individual would face ill treatment or capital punishment.
Since then, Turkey has become an increasingly problematic jurisdiction for Iranian refugees, dissidents, and journalists. For instance, in 2017 Turkish authorities threatened Neda Amin, a journalist who had fled Iran in 2014, with deportation as she tried to make her way to Israel. In January 2018, Turkish authorities arrested Arash Shoa-Shargh, another journalist, and deported him to Iran where he was later imprisoned. Last November, Iranian intelligence went abroad and killed Masoud Molavi Vardanjani, an Iranian dissident, in Istanbul. That same year, Turkey also deported Mohammad Rajabi and Saeed Tamjidi, both of whom partook in demonstrations in Iran in November 2019. They were sentenced to death upon their return, but in July 2020, their execution order was halted due to a massive online pressure campaign.
The trend sadly continues. This June, Turkish intelligence detained Abdollah Bozorgzadeh, a Baloch activist. He probably faces extradition to Iran. Similarly, Turkey has threatened Arash Yavari and his wife Masoomeh Hatamkhani, both of whom are journalists, with extradition back to Iran. They fled Iran with their teenage son in 2015 and have United Nations refugee status.
It is a different story however, for Iranian tourists and investors, who pump much-needed money into the Turkish economy. In 2019, over 2 million Iranians visited Turkey, making Iran Turkey’s fifth-biggest source of tourists. Turkey remains the most popular tourism destination for Iranians: Over 40% of foreign travel by Iranians in 2018 was to Turkey. When Western tourists may have slowed their visits to Turkey’s eastern provinces, Iranians have been increasingly traveling over the border to Van, where alcohol is available, head covering is not compulsory for women, and shopkeepers are even beginning to learn Persian. Moreover, according to the Iranian press, there has been a wave of Iranian acquisitions of real estate in Turkey, with Iranians amounting to the second-largest demographic of foreign purchasers. There has also been a reported surge in Iranian registered businesses in Turkey. While these facts ostensibly suggest that Iranians are seeking better economic conditions outside their homeland, they could also represent, from an illicit finance perspective, opportunities for Iran to take advantage of Turkey as a hub for re-exports, money laundering, and sanctions-evasion.
What’s more, since 2016, some 9,000 foreign nationals have capitalized on Turkey’s fast-track to citizenship program by investing as little as $250,000 into real estate. Washington should be cognizant of the potential for Iranians with newly minted Turkish passports to violate sanctions.
The extradition of the likes of Maryam Shariatmadari is not only immoral, but also is a breach of Ankara’s international legal responsibilities. The 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol provide Turkey with non-refoulement obligations, banning it from returning refugees and asylum seekers to a country in which they are liable to be subjected to persecution. Furthermore, as a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Convention on Extradition, Ankara needs to respect non-derogable provisions for the right to life and the prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment. The Council of Europe should remind Turkey, one of its 47 members, of its obligations as a signatory state to the key human rights conventions that enshrine the Council’s fundamental values.
Meanwhile, the United States should continue to go after the source of the problem for Iranian victims, by continuing to name, shame and punish Iranian rights violators, all the meanwhile standing with the Iranian people and echoing their concerns. Further U.S. Treasury sanctions that target Tehran’s accomplices abroad, be they in Turkey or elsewhere, would contribute to the weakening of the Islamic Republic’s capacity to intimidate dissidents who have taken refuge in Turkey and beyond.
**Behnam Ben Taleblu is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) covering Iranian issues, where Aykan Erdemir, a former Turkish parliamentarian, serves as the senior director of the Turkey program. Follow Aykan on Twitter @aykan_erdemir.

Iran’s Longstanding Cooperation with Armenia/Domestic Azerbaijani Opposition May be Rising
Brenda Shaffer/Baku Dialogues/September 14/2020
When the Soviet Union collapsed in December 1991, Iran’s stable northern boundary suddenly became a shared border with five states: land borders with Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan, and maritime borders with Kazakhstan and Russia. Tehran viewed this momentous change as a source of several new security challenges. Among these were maritime delimitation in the Caspian Sea and the establishment of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, two states that shared ethnic ties with large numbers of Iranian citizens.
Consequently, Tehran did not view the breakup of the Soviet Union and the establishment of six new states populated by Muslim‑majorities in the Caspian region as an opportunity to expand its influence and “export the revolution.” Rather, Tehran’s position was defensive: protecting against this new potential source of threats. The officially‑sponsored Tehran Times, wrote in late December 1991 that the first ground for concern from the point of view in Tehran is the lack of political stability in the newly independent republics. The unstable conditions in those republics could be serious causes of insecurity along the lengthy borders (over 2,000 kilometers) Iran shares with those countries. Already foreign hands can be felt at work in those republics, [e]specially in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan republics, with the ultimate objective of brewing discord among the Iranian Azeris and Turkmen by instigating ethnic and nationalistic sentiments.
During the period of the Soviet collapse, all‑out war emerged between two of Iran’s new neighbors: Armenia and Azerbaijan, which created a critical security and political challenge for Tehran. This was not some faraway conflict like those in the Gaza Strip or Lebanon; this war was taking place directly on Iran’s borders, and at times created refugee flows into Iran. Thus, Iran’s own national security and domestic stability was seen to be directly threatened by the conflict. The danger was especially sensitive since over one third of the population of Iran is ethnic‑Azerbaijani; the regions of northwest Iran that are contiguous to the conflict zone—East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, and Ardebil—are populated primarily by ethnic‑Azerbaijanis, many of whom share family ties with co‑ethnics in the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Tehran almost always puts pragmatic interests above ideology in instances where Islamic solidarity conflicts with primary geopolitical interests.
While the ruling regime in Iran formally asserts that its foreign policy is based on Islamic solidarity, Tehran almost always puts pragmatic interests above ideology in instances where Islamic solidarity conflicts with primary geopolitical interests. In the specific case of the war between two of its northern neighbors, the clash between ideological and pragmatic considerations was unmistakable: Christian‑populated Armenia had invaded Shia majority Azerbaijan (the only majority‑Shia former Soviet republic), captured close to 20 percent of its territory, and turned almost one million Azerbaijani Shia into refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
However, the devastation created by the war and occupation in Azerbaijan in the early years of the conflict served a main Iranian policy goal by dimming the new country’s attraction to Iran’s Azerbaijani minority. Thus, Tehran adopted a policy in support of Yerevan in the war with Azerbaijan and has continued to engage in close cooperation with Armenia until the present day.
In January 2008, Mahmoud Vaezi, Iran’s then‑Deputy Foreign Minister responsible for the former Soviet region (he now serves as chief of staff to the country’s president) wrote the following about how Iran had approached the Armenia‑Azerbaijan conflict during the early war period:
Iran was in the neighborhood of the environment of the conflict. Karabakh is situated only 40 km distance from its borders. At that time, this possibility raised that the boundaries of conflict extended to the beyond of Karabakh. Since then, Iran’s consideration was based on security perceptions. […] Iran could not be indifferent to the developments occurring along its borders, security changes of the borders and their impact on Iran’s internal developments.
Tehran’s policy tilt toward Armenia—for reasons of security, as Vaezi made clear—was predicated on the assumption that Iran’s domestic Azerbaijani community would not mount significant opposition to this policy. For most of the period since the emergence of the Armenia‑Azerbaijan conflict, Tehran’s bet had paid off.
*Brenda Shaffer is a faculty member of the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Senior Advisor for Energy at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center who has provided testimony to both houses of the U.S. Congress and the European Parliament. She is the author of, most notably, Energy Politics (2009), a standard textbook in over 200 university courses around the globe. Follow Brenda on Twitter @ProfBShaffer.

How to burst CCP’s balloon

Cleo Paskal/ Baku Dialogues/September 14/2020,
The thing that scares the CCP even more than a country pushing back on multiple fronts, is countries banding together to multiply their ability to push back.
Wentworth, Canada: So, the first thing to understand—and this is important—is that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) believes it can rank countries based on what it calls Comprehensive National Power (CNP). It has an equation for it and everything.
To get at that golden Comprehensive National Power number, the CCP includes more than you can possibly imagine. Economic resources, human capital, natural resources, capital resources, technology, research, international influence, military, government spending, even lending pandas to international zoos counts in there somewhere.
The goal of the CCP is to dominate in CNP so as to preserve and promote the interests of the Party and its leadership.
As Prof M.D. Nalapat puts it: “The Chinese concept of war is not necessarily guns, artillery, bombers—all those wonderful things that we see on National Geographic or HBO. No, the Chinese concept of war is overcoming and dominating your enemy. It can be by guns, it can be by ships, it can also be by artificial intelligence. It can be by expansion of the economy. It can be by spread of goodwill. It can be by various means, but essentially it means having mastery over your foe so that you are acknowledged as the Middle Kingdom and every other kingdom comes and pays tribute to you.”
Why is understanding that important? Because if you understand that, you understand why the CCP deliberately and consistently uses misdirection to advance its interests—why it uses “fishing boats” to push maritime claims and sends People’s Liberation Army (PLA) scientists undercover abroad to study at research institutes. It is all part of the same mindset. Anything is legitimate if it advances Comprehensive National Power.
It’s also why, just because China withdraws in one area, it doesn’t mean it’s not advancing in another. Like an expanding balloon, you can push back PLA troops on the border, but if CCP-linked investments have taken over your high-tech start-ups, China’s overall CNP has grown just the same.
So, what to do? Pushing back against Comprehensive National Power requires Comprehensive National Defence (CND), and India has already started doing the needful.
Among the other defensive moves, there have been restrictions on Chinese FDI, on visas for Chinese, the arrest of a dubious Chinese hawala trader, redeployment of the Indian Navy, and the elegant ban on Chinese apps.
The apps were perfect CCP Comprehensive National Power tools—they siphoned metadata to develop China’s AI weaponization; they allowed communications intercepts for blackmail, intelligence and corporate advantage; they made their Chinese parent companies a lot of money, and more. The Narendra Modi government’s decision to ban them showed a deep understanding of the nature of Comprehensive National Power and the need for Comprehensive National Defence.
It’s worth making clear that, in the same way the CCP leverages its whole of society and economy influence, effective Comprehensive National Defence is beyond a whole of government approach—it is a whole of nation approach. It has to reciprocate (and then some) the way the CCP tries to infiltrate.
So, when a private Indian company decides not to take Chinese funding, or an Indian university refuses to host a Confucius Institute, or the people of India download the app that deletes Chinese apps from their phones, they are all part of India’s Comprehensive National Defence.
In fact, India is extremely well placed to lead on CND. It is unique in myriad ways that threaten core elements of China’s CNP.
For example, China’s soft power machine has been pushing spurious “silk road” related claims across the Indo-Pacific. However, as the Prime Minister said after the Ram Temple bhoomi pujan, the Ramayana resonates deeply across the region, including in Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Nepal. And Buddhism has touched hearts from Japan to Europe—including China. And given the current maritime construct of the Indo-Pacific, whatever ancient overland “silk route” the CPP can try to claim, it is nothing compared to India’s very real and extensive maritime Spice Route.
So, on historical/cultural connectivity, if activated, links out of India can more than give China a run for its Comprehensive National Power points.
Then, in terms of strategic positioning, there is no “Indo”-Pacific without India. And with growing infrastructure investments in the highly strategic Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India must be giving nightmares to PLA Navy planners.
As for military prowess, the Indian military may be under-equipped, but the men and women of the Services have shown their experience, skill, determination and bravery for all the world to see. It was not what the CCP expected. But it was what the Indian people expected, and they’ve shown their support for their bravehearts—again contributing to a distributed Comprehensive National Defence. So, the CCP’s expanding Comprehensive National Power balloon is getting poked, but what would it take to make it burst?
It would take what retired US Coast Guard Captain Bernard Moreland—whose last posting was as US Coast Guard liaison to Beijing—has termed Comprehensive Multinational Defence (CMD).
The thing that scares the CCP even more than a country pushing back on multiple fronts, is countries banding together to multiply their ability to push back. That means the Quad, or an Indo-Pacific Charter, or the proposed Supply Chain Resilience Initiative between India, Japan and Australia.
The CCP’s Comprehensive National Power is most effective against isolated targets. It tried to pressure Australia into dropping its requests for an inquiry into the origins of Covid-19 by (in part) putting tariffs on Australian barley. Those plans were stymied when India agreed to take some of the crop.
The CCP built up the tourism sector in Palau—a country that recognises Taiwan—and then pulled out Chinese tourism to try to pressure Palau to drop Taiwan. Now Palau is asking the US to build a military base there.
The CCP hates it when we work together to defend ourselves. And it is not alone. The CCP is enlisting its partners to try to keep us weak and apart. And one of its major partners is Russia.
Moscow hates the Quad as much as Beijing, but it has access in India that China no longer has. So, while it may look like “old friend” Russia is reaching out for understanding, how much of that “understanding” also advances the CCP’s Comprehensive National Power? Is Russia the CCP’s Trojan Horse at the gates of Delhi? Is it time for India to activate Comprehensive National Defence against Russia as well?
India is well underway at understanding how its unique qualities, at this unique time in history, make it well placed to lead the way on Comprehensive National Defence and be a driver in Comprehensive Multinational Defence. But if the all-smothering balloon of the CCP’s Comprehensive National Power is going to be popped, it may take an even wider view of its methods of expansion.
*Cleo Paskal is a non-resident senior fellow for the Indo-Pacific at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Iran's Offer of Nuclear Cooperation is a Sham
Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute/September 14/ 2020
This effort [lifting the arms embargo on Iran] has prompted Iran to launch a diplomatic offensive to have the arms embargo lifted, a move that would allow Tehran to increase its ability to supply arms to terror groups such as Hizbollah and Hamas, as well as the Houthi rebels in Yemen fighting US-backed coalition forces
"Iran is desperate to get the arms embargo lifted at the UN, and so has decided to cooperate with the IAEA to improve relations with the UN," a senior Western diplomat who is familiar with the negotiations told me. "Tehran believes that if it cooperates with the UN, there is a greater possibility that the arms embargo will not be renewed."
As a senior Gulf official... told me earlier this week, lifting the ban would simply allow Iran to continue arming terror groups in the Middle East. "If the ban is lifted, then we are going to see a lot more bloodshed in the region," the official warned.
Pictured: A uranium conversion facility just outside the city of Isfahan, Iran, used as part of the regime's uranium enrichment process. (Photo by Getty Images)
Iran's belated offer to allow United Nations nuclear inspectors to visit two controversial nuclear sites should be seen as nothing more than a stunt to get the international ban on arms sales to Tehran lifted.
Washington is fighting attempts by the UN Security Council to lift the arms embargo on Iran, a document that dates back to 2007, and comes up for renewal next month.
This effort has prompted Iran to launch a diplomatic offensive to have the arms embargo lifted, a move that would allow Tehran to increase its ability to supply arms to terror groups such as Hizbollah and Hamas, as well as the Houthi rebels in Yemen fighting US-backed coalition forces.
As part of the Iranian campaign, Tehran has reached a deal with the UN-sponsored International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Vienna-based organization responsible for monitoring global nuclear issues, to allow inspectors to visit two controversial sites that are suspected of being part of Iran's controversial nuclear programme.
The IAEA has been in a dispute with Iran over Tehran's refusal to allow inspectors to visit the sites following suspicions that they have been involved in activity related to Iran's nuclear programme that has not been declared to the UN body.
Israeli intelligence officials have since identified one of the sites as the Abadeh Nuclear Weapons Development Site, and claim that experiments using conventional explosives are believed to have been conducted there. When inspectors demanded access last year, satellite photographs showed that some buildings had been razed to the ground.
The stand-off between Tehran and the IAEA over the sites, together with disputes over other unresolved issues, prompted the organisation to take the unprecedented step of publishing a special report in March about the unanswered questions that remained about Iran's nuclear activities, and the lack of cooperation inspectors had received from Tehran.
This was followed in June when the IAEA's Board of Governors, led by the US and the European signatories to the deal, Britain, France and Germany, issued a rare condemnation of Iran for stonewalling its nuclear inspectors, and called on the country to allow the agency access to two undeclared sites. The resolution was the first time the organisation had formally criticised the Islamic Republic since 2012.
Now, in an attempt to improve its standing with the UN, Iran has negotiated a deal with Rafael Grossi, the recently-appointed director general of the IAEA, to allow inspectors to visit the sites, a move Tehran believes will help to persuade the UN to lift the arms embargo.
"Iran is desperate to get the arms embargo lifted at the UN, and so has decided to cooperate with the IAEA to improve relations with the UN," a senior Western diplomat familiar with the negotiations, but who asked not to be named, told me. "Tehran believes that if it cooperates with the UN, there is a greater possibility that the arms embargo will not be renewed."
Critics of the deal argue that the agreement is simply a ploy by Iran to improve relations with the IAEA at a critical juncture, and that Iran has no real intention of complying with the IAEA's inspection teams. Iran has previously prevented IAEA inspectors from visiting sensitive nuclear sites, an action that resulted in the imposition of the arms embargo in the first place.
The key issue now is whether Iran's agreement with the IAEA will pave the way for ending the arms embargo, which is due to expire on October 18.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has already announced that Washington intends to implement a "snapback" option to prevent the embargo being lifted, and US President Donald Trump is expected to raise the issue when he addresses the UN General Assembly later this month.
Washington's attempts to have the arms embargo extended beyond October are certainly being followed closely in the Middle East.
As a senior Gulf official, who also asked not to be named, told me earlier this week, lifting the ban would simply allow Iran to continue arming terror groups in the Middle East. "If the ban is lifted, then we are going to see a lot more bloodshed in the region," the official warned.
*Con Coughlin is the Telegraph's Defence and Foreign Affairs Editor and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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