Orientul Mijlociu

Sidelining the Palestinians Is a Recipe for Violence, Not Peace

On September 15, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump stood on the White House balcony with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain to unveil one of his administration’s signature foreign policy achievements: the Abraham Accords. Trump declared that the pact, through which Bahrain and the UAE became the first two Gulf states to recognize Israel, signaled “the dawn of a new Middle East.” Since that time, Sudan and Morocco have also normalized relations with Israel and the UAE inked a trade deal with the country. This splintering of Arab unity has been remarkable, given the Arab world’s long-standing commitment to withhold political recognition until Israel agrees to end its military occupation over Arab land and comply with international law.

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson should dismiss Defence Minister Peter Hullqvist, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the newspaper Expressen reported on Saturday.

Erdogan’s demand is based on a speech Hulqvist gave at a party 10 years ago where he celebrated the Kurdistan Workers’ People, PKK, and its imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan, according to the sources cited by Expressen.

Turkey’s move to pressure Sweden and Finland into extraditing alleged “terrorists” they harbour is a method Ankara used for several years against countries in the Western Balkans, including EU candidate countries, under the idle gaze of Brussels.

While Turkey wields investment and aid as a sword of Damocles over the heads of poorer, less powerful countries, when it comes to the Nordic duo, it is their NATO application filed in May that hangs in the balance.

As the old adage has it, all politics is local. That might seem a quaint idea in an age of social media and global connectivity. And yet, as a study co-led by an MIT political scientist finds, it may describe Middle East politics more accurately than many people realize.

Iranian leader warns “Zionist regime” that Tehran will strike back

Vahid Jalalzadeh, the chairman of Iran’s Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, gave an interview to Al-Alam TV saying that the Islamic Republic would continue to support the Syrian regime but that reports it was replacing Russians in Syria were mistaken.

Dr. Ayub Entezari, who died over the weekend, reportedly showed former Iranian president Hassan Rouhani around a turbine factory in 2019.

Iranian scientist Dr. Ayub Entezari, 35, who died on Saturday after reportedly suffering from food poisoning, met with former Iranian president Hassan Rouhani in 2019, Middle East analyst Jason Brodsky and Iranian Al-Arabia journalist Hiwa Molania claimed over the weekend.

Mohammad-Bagher Morad fled Iran nine years ago after receiving a five-year prison sentence for “colluding against national security” after criticizing the regime.

An Iranian dissident journalist under asylum in Turkey disappeared on May 30 and is suspected of being kidnapped by Iranian agents, according to Iran International, a news agency associated with Iranian opposition forces.

The nuclear agency vote could lead to a UN Security Council vote and snap back global sanctions against Iran, which could impact even Russia and China.

Not only has Iran failed to reduce concerns about its violations of the nuclear nonproliferation safeguards agreement, it also will eventually cross the uranium enrichment threshold, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi said Monday.

Turkey captured the new leader of the militant group Daesh in a raid in Istanbul, local media claimed on Thursday.

Turkish dissident news website Oda TV claimed Abu Al-Hasan Al-Hashimi Al-Qurayshi was caught in an operation directed by Istanbul’s police chief, Zafer Aktas, after days of surveillance and preparation, though no official statement has yet been made.