President Joe Biden told Mossad chief Yossi Cohen in the White House that the United States will not abandon Israel on Iran.
Ben Caspit May 4, 2021 AL MONITOR – US President Joe Biden and Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen met on April 30 at the White House. A spokesperson for the American National Security Council said Cohen’s original meeting was with the agency’s chief Jake Sullivan, and that Biden “dropped by to express condolences for the tragedy in Mount Meron.’’
But diplomatic sources told Al-Monitor the meeting was anything but a “drop by” — the kind of meeting senior Israeli officials have grown accustomed to over the years. It was apparently a full meeting set up by the White House at the president’s request. Cohen, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s final weapon in his desperate bid to derail the looming US return to the Iran nuclear deal, had a lengthy one-hour sit-down with Biden last Friday.
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Date of publication: 27 April, 2021 – By Brooke Anderson – THE NEW ARAB
Analysis: Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the US has repeatedly pledged to leave, each time resulting in broken promises, renegotiations and in some cases an increase in forces.
Washington DC, The New Arab – On 1 May, 18 years ago, George W. Bush landed on an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf and declared “Mission accomplished” – a move that was quickly mocked, more so over subsequent years, as the US was largely deemed to be a destabilising force in a country it was ostensibly aiming to liberate, democratise and secure.
Since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the US has repeatedly pledged to leave, with each instance resulting in broken promises and renegotiations – and in some cases an increase in forces.
America’s 2007 and 2011 pledges to leave Iraq resulted in no clear plan, and with the growing threat of the Islamic State (IS), the US increased its forces at the request of the Iraqi government, though again with no clear timetable for withdrawal.
This time, with the Iraqi parliament’s decision last year to remove US forces, following the establishment the previous year of NATO-supported institutions, and now with a significant decrease in IS membership (from around 35,000 at its peak, down to around 8,000 today), there appears to be a more coherent plan.
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Professor Jürgen Habermas ist einer der bedeutendsten und weltweit meist rezipierten Philosophen und Soziologen der Gegenwart. Nach einer Reise nach Teheran zeigte er sich beeindruckt von der intellektuellen Offenheit seiner Gesprächspartner: Er ortete unter msytischen Moslems eingefleischte Popperianer und schwärmte: „Wenn man mit kleinem geistigen Gepäck von Westen nach Osten reist, tritt man in die übliche Asymmetrie der Verständigungsverhältnisse, die für uns die Rolle der Barbaren bereit halten: Sie wissen mehr über uns als wir über Sie.“
Alles Schwindel, sagt einer, von dem man annehmen darf, dass er es wissen muss.
„Was Ihnen damals in Teheran repräsentiert wurde, ist nichts anderes gewesen als die Gaukelei der iranischen Intelligenz islamischer Art.“, schreibt der Philosoph und vergleichende Religionswisschenschafter Dr. Aramech Dustdar, der von 1971 bis 1980 Professor für europäische Philosophie an der Universität Teheran war. Seit 1981 lebt er in Deutschland im Exil. Dustdar setzt sich sehr kritisch mit der Kultur des Islam auseinander. Er gilt als unbeirrbarer Verfechter der iranischen Aufklärung. Seine Schriften kursieren heute als Raubdruck im Iran, vor allem in Teheran.
Ein deutscher Philosoph in Teheran – Prof. Dustdar einen offenen Brief an Jürgen Habermas:
Offener Brief an Jürgen Habermas anläßlich seiner Rede in der New Yorker Cooper University University – Köln, den 3. September 2010
Sehr geehrter Herr Professor Habermas,
zweiundzwanzig Jahre nach Michel Foucault sind Sie 2002 nach Teheran gereist, in ein Land, das sich Islamische Republik Iran nennt, und seit ihrem Entstehen vor dreißig Jahren durch unvorstellbare nackte Gewalt und totale Korruption ihre Herrschaft fortsetzt, wobei beide Dimensionen das private wie gesellschaftliche Leben in Tiefe und Breite auch erfasst haben. Foucaults Iran-Erlebnisse und -Geschichte kennen Sie natürlich.
Weitaus weniger bekannt ist, dass er nach seiner endgültigen Rückkehr nach Frankreich von Iranern nichts mehr wissen wollte, dass er jede Verbindung zu den Iranern abgebrochen hat, die ihm in Teheran Kontakte mit den Führern der Revolution ermöglicht hatten, seine Ratgeber dabei waren und bei denen er während seiner zweimaligen Aufenthalte als Gast gewohnt hat. Anders als er, kamen Sie beeindruckt von Ihrer Iran-Reise zurück.
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The Commander of the IRGC, Hossein Salami. Source: al-Mayadin, April 26
Overview
- Iranian threats toward Israel: the chief of staff of Iran’s Armed Forces threatened with Iranian retaliation if Israel persists in striking Iranian interests in Syria and at sea. In addition, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) threatened that Iran will respond to any “evil action” by the “Zionists” against it, with a force equal to the blow it is dealt, or even with greater force.
- The Russian news agency Sputnik reported that Iran, Russia, and Syria reached an agreement that Russian warships will accompany Iranian tankers ferrying oil and natural gas to Syria through the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea.
- In late April, Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, arrived for a two-day visit in Iraq, during which he met with senior Iraqi government officials, the head of the Shia political blocs and senior officials of the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq. Throughout the visit, Zarif discussed bilateral ties and developments in the region with the senior Iraqi officials. A few days prior to Zarif’s visit in Baghdad, the Iranian deputy minister of defense also visited Baghdad and met with the Iraqi minister of interior and with the commander of the Popular Mobilization Units (al-Hashd al-Shaabi, the umbrella force of the Shia militias operating in Iraq).
- The Iraqi government approved the plan to lay the railway connecting the city of Shelamcheh in western Iran to Basra in southern Iraq. The memorandum of understanding between the two countries was signed back in 2019, but thus far, the plan did not advance despite repeated appeals on the matter from Iranian officials to their Iraqi counterparts.
- The commander of the IRGC’s Qods Force spoke on the phone with the head of the Hamas Politburo, who expressed his condolences for the death of the Deputy Commander of the Qods Force, Mohammed Hejazi, who died of a heart attack. Meanwhile, the leadership of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad sent condolences messages to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Khamenei.
- For the second year in a row, the International al-Qods Day processions that take place in Iran annually since the Islamic Revolution, on the last Friday of the month of Ramadan, were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Iranian Involvement in Syria
- Mohammad Baqeri, the Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, threatened that Iran will retaliate to the ongoing Israeli attacks on Iranian interests in Syria and at sea. In a ceremony commemorating the Deputy Commander of the IRGC’s Qods Force, Mohammad Hejazi, who died of a heart attack, Baqeri stated that the “Zionists” believe they can continue to carry out attacks on Syrian territory and in other places and at sea, and not face any retaliation. Baqeri proclaimed that the actions carried out in recent days, and future Israeli actions, will jeopardize Israeli interests and force it to act more wisely. He declared that Iran does not provide any information concerning the perpetrators of the latest attacks, and does not know who is behind them, but the “resistance front” will retaliate directly at the Zionists. The Iranian chief of staff mentioned that it is still unclear how exactly Iran will respond to Israel’s continued aggression against Iran, but that the “Zionist regime” will not enjoy any calm (Tasnim, April 25).
- The Iranian news agency Mehr reported (April 18), based on original reporting by the Russian Sputnik news agency that Iran, Russia, and Syria established a joint operations’ room, which is focused on ensuring the protection of Iranian and Russian vessels sailing the Mediterranean to guard ships ferrying oil and food to Syria. According to this report, the representatives of the three countries met recently and discussed ways to “break the economic siege” placed by the United States and Europe on Syria and ensure the transfer of fuel and wheat to Syria’s ports, despite the sanctions (to clarify, no sanctions placed on Syria ban the supply of wheat). Following these discussions, the sides agreed that Russian warships will accompany Iranian tankers once they enter the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal, until they reach Syrian territorial waters, to protect them from attacks. Sputnik also reported that four Iranian tankers carrying oil and natural gas to Syria have arrived at Syria’s ports in recent days, accompanied by Russian warships.
- A pro-opposition Syrian news site reported that the Iranian PFK company signed an agreement with the Public Directorate of Water and Sanitation in al-Hassakeh governorate to supply four devices for desalination of groundwater, to allow them to be used as drinking water for residents of the water-starved region. According to this report, the Iranian company is working to advance a similar project in the Haouch Chaier region in the Damascus countryside (Enab Baladi, April 27).
- The Iranian news agency Tasnim reported (April 19) about the activities to promote Iranian culture in Syria, which are mostly focused on expanding the teaching of the Persian language. The Chairwoman of the Persian department at the University of Damascus, Nur al-Huda Mahfouz, told the Tasnim reporter about a great deal of interest among Syrian students to learn Persian. The Head of the Arab Writers Association, Mohammad al-Hourani, called for bolstering cooperation between Iranian and Syrian writers to promote Iranian and Arab culture.
Iranian Involvement in Iraq
- On April 26, the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, arrived for a visit in Iraq, during which he met with senior Iraqi government officials, including Barham Salih, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazimi, and Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein. Zarif discussed bilateral relations and developments in the region with the Iraqi officials. Against the backdrop of reports on talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia through Iraqi mediation, Zarif thanked his Iraqi counterpart for Baghdad’s efforts to promote a regional dialogue. At the joint press conference of the two foreign ministers, Zarif called for expanding ties between the two countries in the spheres of the economy, energy, and transportation. In his meeting with Zarif, Iraqi Prime Minister al-Kazimi stated that Iran is a strategic partner for Iraq and stressed Iran’s support to Iraq in the campaign against ISIS. Zarif thanked al-Kazimi for Iraq’ support for the lifting of American sanctions imposed on Iran and asked him to assist in solving financial issues pertaining to the work of Iranian companies in Iraq in the sphere of commerce, transportation and engineering (Tasnim, April 26). During the visit, Zarif also met with the heads of the Shia political blocs in the Iraqi parliament and also visited Erbil in northern Iraq, where he met with the leadership of the Kurdistan region, chief among them Masoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) (ISNA, April 27).
- The Iranian Deputy Minister of Defense Seyyed Hojjatollah Qureishi, met in Baghdad with Faleh al-Fayyad, the Commander of the Popular Mobilization Units (the umbrella structure of the Shia militias in Iraq) and discussed regional developments, cooperation between Iran and the Shia militias, and continuing the war on terror (al-Alam, April 21). During his visit to Iraq, the Iranian deputy of the minister of defense also met with the Iraqi Minister of Interior, Othman al-Ghanemi, and discussed security cooperation between the two countries, border security, and combatting crime, including drug trafficking (ISNA, April 22).
- The Iraqi government approved the plan to lay a railway connecting the city of Shalamcheh in western Iran to Basra is southern Iraq. The government empowered the Ministry of Transportation to sign a deal concerning the project with the Iranian side. The Executive Director of the Iraqi Railway Company, Talib Jawad al-Husseini, reported that talks will soon commence with Tehran concerning beginning the implementation of the project (IRNA, April 28). A memorandum of understanding between Iraq and Iran concerning laying the railway was signed in May 2019, during a meeting of the Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, with the former Iraqi Prime Minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, but no progress has been achieved thus far in the implementation of the project despite repeated appeals by Iranian officials to their Iraqi counterparts concerning the matter.
- The Chairman of the Joint Iranian-Iraqi Chamber of Commerce, Hamid Hosseini, warned in an interview to the website Khabar Online (April 28), about the continuous decline in the declared volume of trade between the two countries, and the rise in smuggling of goods between them, including foodstuffs, medical equipment, electronic and home appliances. Addressing the talks concerning the unfreezing of Iranian assets in Iraq, Hosseini reported that in the past three months, multiple discussions were held between Iranian and Iraqi officials on the matter, and it was agreed that part of the Iraqi debt to Iran for the purchase of electricity from Iran will be paid in Iraqi dinars. He remarked that despite the sanction waivers the United States granted to Iraqi companies for cooperation with Iran, many of them avoid trading with Iran due to concern of being sanctioned. He expressed hope that the ongoing talks in Vienna between Iran and the other signatories of the Iranian nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA), will lead to the removal of economic restrictions placed on Iran. Hosseini stated that in the past Iranian year (March 2020 – March 2021), Iran exported 4.5 million tonnes of goods to Iraq, worth 7.3 billion dollars, while in the previous Iranian year, Iran exported goods totaling in nine billion dollars. Most of the Iranian exports to Iraq were electricity, gas, fuel, oil products and petrochemicals.
Iranian Involvement in the Palestinian Arena
- On April 19, the Commander of the Qods Force of the IRGC, Esmail Qaani, spoke on the phone with the Head of Hamas’ Politburo, Ismail Hanniyeh, who expressed condolences due to the passing of the Deputy Commander of the Qods Force, Mohammad Hejazi. Hanniyeh declared that Hejazi served the “resistance” for many years, and thanked Iran for its unyielding support for the Palestinians. At the same time, Hanniyeh sent a message of condolences to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, in which he praised Hejazi’s support for the Palestinian people and the “resistance” in Palestine. The Secretary General of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziad al-Nakhleh, also sent a message of condolences to the commander of the Qods Force following the passing of Hejazi, in which he praised his support for the “resistance” in Lebanon and Palestine (Mehr, April 19). In Hejazi’s place, the Supreme Leader of Iran appointed Mohammad Reza Falahzadeh as the Deputy Commander of the Qods Force. Prior to this role, Falahzadeh served as the deputy for coordination inside the Qods Force (Tasnim, April 19). In response to the condolences message, the supreme leader of Iran sent a telegram to Ismail Hanniyeh in which he stressed that Iran stands in one united front by the side of Palestine and the Palestinian people (Mehr, April 27).
- In light of the violence that erupted in Jerusalem, the Spokesman of the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Saeed Khatibzadeh, condemned the “aggression of the Zionist regime and the occupying settlers against the holy sites and residents of Jerusalem.” Khatibzadeh praised the “resistance and perseverance” of the residents of Palestine, and particularly the residents of Jerusalem and its youth, in the face of the “criminal Zionists.” He stressed the need for the international community to come together to bring an end to the Israeli actions against the Palestinian people. The spokesman of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign affairs called for an end of the “occupation and crimes of the Zionists against the Palestinian people,” and highlighted the need to support the “resistance” until Palestine’s liberation. He declared that the only way to solve the crisis in Palestine is to hold a referendum among the original inhabitants of Palestine (Fars, April 24).
- Following the escalation between Israel and the Palestinians, the Commander of the IRGC, Hossein Salami, threatened that if the “Zionists” persist in their actions, it will lead to their downfall. In an interview to the Lebanese TV channel al-Mayadin (April 26), Salami proclaimed that the actions of the “Zionists” will expose them to real dangers in the future. He added that Iran will respond to any malevolent action against it with equal or even greater force.
- The pro-Hezbollah Lebanese TV channel, al-Mayadin, aired (April 16) a three-part series titled “Qasem Soleimani, the Martyr of al-Quds,” which discussed the work of Qasem Soleimani, the former Commander of the Qods Force of the IRGC, and his assistance to the Palestinian armed struggle. The program claimed that Soleimani was responsible for the synchronization of efforts between the Qods Force and Palestinian factions through a coordinating committee. In addition, the program claimed that Iran assisted the Palestinians in sparking the first Intifada by distributing videos on how to assemble improvised explosive devices. The program featured interviews with senior Palestinian officials who praised Iran’s support for the Palestinian struggle, including Ismail Hanniyeh, the Head of Hamas’ Politburo; Mousa Abu Marzouq, a senior Hamas official; Abdullah Zaki, a senior Fatah official; Ziad al-Nakhleh, the Secretary General of Palestinian Islamic Jihad; and Akram al-Ajouri, a senior commander in Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
- A senior official in the coordination committee of the Islamic Development Organization announced that the International Qods Day processions will not be held in Iran this year, due to limitations imposed to combat the spread of COVID-19 (Fars, April 20). In the prior year as well, International Qods Day was marked in Iran mostly through propaganda effort through the media and online, without holding the traditional mass processions, due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The events of International Qods Day are held annually since 1979 on the last Friday in the month of Ramadan, in accordance with a decision of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, and is intended to express the support of Iran and the Muslim world for the Palestinian cause and “the liberation of Jerusalem.”
The statement came after ISIS fighters attacked a Peshmerga unit from a so-called “security vacuum.”
Hiwa Shilani – KURDISTAN24 – 2 May 2021 – Jamal Eminki, the Chief of Staff of the Peshmerga Forces, speaks to Kurdistan 24, ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Chief of Staff of Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga Forces, Jamal Eminki, said on Saturday that the security vacuum between Kurdish and Iraqi troops remains a haven for ISIS members from where they launch attacks on security forces.
The statement came after ISIS fighters attacked a Peshmerga unit from a region separating Kurdish and Iraqi forces. The so-called security vacuum starts from Khanaqin in Diyala province to the west of the Tigris in Nineveh province, Iminki said.
Eminki told Kurdistan 24 that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has called on the federal Iraqi government “several times” to help end the security vacuum.
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Rudaw 1. May 2021 -ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Retired United States Army Lieutenant General Jay M. Garner says President Joe Biden’s “timid” responses to attacks on international targets in Iraq are sending the wrong message to Iran.
Rudaw’s Bestoon Khalid on Tuesday interviewed the former commanding general for US forces during the 1991 Joint Task Force Bravo-Operation Provide Comfort, which delivered humanitarian aid to Kurds fleeing the Baath regime’s persecution and enforced a no-fly zone.
“When you’re attacked, you respond with force is a way to do it, but they haven’t,” said Garner, who was also briefly appointed as Director of the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance for Iraq following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. “We’ve always responded with force. […] He’s only been president for about three months. So you got to wait and see what he does, but he has been very timid with his responses thus far.
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Syria’s Kurdish YPG fighters hire their first lobbyist
by Julian Pecquet April 30, 2021 3:14 pm FOREIGN-LOBBYCOM
The Syrian Kurdish military forces have hired their first Washington lobbyist as they continue to battle the remnants of the Islamic State (ISIS) in their autonomous region of northeast Syria.
Republican political operative Jim Dornan has registered his firm Jim Dornan Strategies as an agent of the “Kurdish Defense Forces/YPG SDF,” effective April 30. The YPG, or People’s Protection Units, are the main component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). They are considered a terrorist group by Turkey, contributing to the tensions between the US and its NATO ally.
Dornan is registered to lobby on “US/KDF (Kurdish Defense Forces) cooperation regarding ISIS.” The registration is effective today, April 30.
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- April 2021 – MESOP NEWS – The latest Turkish military operation against the PKK in Iraqi Kurdistan comes at a time when Ankara finds itself increasingly under strain, both on the domestic front and in its frosty ties with Washington. –Fehim Tastekin AL MONITOR April 29, 2021
The Turkish military has launched a critically timed ground and air offensive against Kurdish militants in a mountain range in neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan, the latest in a series of cross-border campaigns since 2019 that have resulted in dozens of Turkish bases in the region.
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Iran’s president and speaker of parliament both defended assassinated Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani after critical comments by the foreign minister became public. Al-Monitor Staff April 28, 2021
President Hassan Rouhani has finally made public comments about the audio file of his foreign minister speaking candidly regarding a number of significant domestic and foreign policy issues.
“These files were meant to be confidential,” Rouhani said today at a cabinet meeting, adding only some of the content was meant to be shared. He continued, “A theft has taken place and … the Intelligence Ministry has to use all of their abilities to find out how these files were stolen.”
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In a leaked interview, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said he received information about more than 200 Israeli airstrikes against Iranian targets in Syria from then-Secretary of State John Kerry, who denies the report as “unequivocally false.”
By Neta Bar and ILH Staff ISRAEL HAYOM – 04-27-2021 10:37 – Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said he received information about more than 200 Israeli airstrikes against Iranian targets in Syria from John Kerry, who are the time was former US President Barak Obama’s secretary of state during nuclear talks with the Islamic republic. Zarif’s comments were made in an interview in March to the London-based Iranian TV station Iran International and published by the New York Times on Sunday.
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