Iranians Dismiss Ship’s Capture as Hollywood Fiction and Soup-Up Ties with Hamas
FARS News Agency –After Israel intercepted a shipload of Iranian mid-range missiles destined for the Gaza Strip, and Hamas and Iranian officials noted that their relationship has greatly improved, and dismissed the capture of the ship as a fiction designed to drive a wedge between them. Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Brigadier General Massoud Jazzayeri said: “The Americans and the Zionists have probably ordered Hollywood to produce a movie with the scenario of a cargo ship carrying Iranian weapons to Gaza in Palestine.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said in principle the passage or movement of a ship carrying weapons from Iran to Gaza is not true. The shipment was discovered several months ago when the Israelis learned about Syrian-made M-302 missiles with a 62-124 mile range being flown from Damascus to Tehran under the direction of Iran’s Al-Quds force. The missiles were hidden inside cement containers. A Palestinian official said the operation raises questions about the timing of the operation. “The ship has been sailing for weeks and it is seized exactly when Netanyahu is in Washington,” the official said according to Haaretz.
Mishandling Arab Spring in Egypt Widens Gulf with U.S.
TIP—Middle East Institute Scholar Mohamed Elmenshawy on published an extensive analysis of the psychological and geopolitical role played by the Egyptian army in the Arab world, and the media coverage of President Barack Obama’s potentially pivotal visit to Saudi Arabia at a time of unprecedented public strain between Washington and its traditional Gulf allies. The Daily Beast revealed that relations between the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates were in an unprecedented crisis. Gulf nations are known to be livid about the administration’s handling of Egyptian political turmoil, which they believe the White House has irresponsibly stoked without regard for the risks presented by populist Islamist movements. Elmenshawy’s analysis—published in Ahram Online under the headline “Egypt, the wound in U.S.-Saudi relations”—quoted one Gulf diplomat as explaining that Cairo is looked to as the source of “tens of thousands of soldiers if needed” to help repulse threats to Arab countries.
Turkey Losing Influence as Middle-East Player
Al-Monitor.com—Turkey is increasingly isolated in the region, more so as Qatar is on the outs with other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Qatar today remains one of the few regional allies of any note Turkey has left in a region where the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan once hoped somewhat ambitiously to be a major player. Madawi Al-Rasheed, in her March 6 analysis for Al-Monitor, provides the background to Saudi efforts against Qatar in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that clearly have implications for Ankara.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/03/turkey-gcc-hamas-erdogan.html?utm_source=Al-Monitor+Newsletter+%5BEnglish%5D&utm_campaign=194d6f4159-January_9_20141_8_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_28264b27a0-194d6f4159-93120189#ixzz2vaavYyCw
Iranians Stall Talks on Military Ties to Nuclear Program
TIP—Iranian negotiators are trying to put off addressing suspected military dimensions related to the country’s atomic program until negotiations with the global P5+1 powers have substantially progressed. Iran’s obligations to clarify what are widely suspected to be military-related links to its nuclear program, from detonations related to nuclear warheads to army involvement in Iranian uranium production—are codified in binding United Nations Security Council resolutions. Full cooperation with the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog on such dimensions has long been a core demand of the international community. Obama administration officials who have defended the interim Joint Plan of Action (JPA) to journalists and lawmakers have repeatedly emphasized that Tehran will be held to those obligations. Iranian media covered Tehran’s newly declared position—under which discussions of those issues would be put off until sometime in the future—under the headline “Iran will address all Western concerns about its nuclear program: negotiator.” Observers fear that the Islamic Republic is positioning itself to extend negotiations and thereby increase the West’s investment in the talks, before ultimately refusing to genuinely meet its obligations regarding transparency. One scenario has Iran making limited concessions regarding future nuclear work, and then functionally daring the West to scuttle a settlement over its refusal to disclose its past military-related programs.
Bibi Offers to Help California Deal With Drought
Bloomberg reports that last week PM Bibi Netanyahu offered to help California weather its drought with water conservation and desalination techniques pioneered by his country’s scientists. Israel, a country that’s 60% desert, has become a technological leader in countering drought. Desalination of sea water, reuse of treated sewage for agriculture, software creating an early-warning system for leaks, computerized drip irrigation, and careful accounting of every drop have become the norm in Israel. “We’re in the midst of a mega drought,” California Gov. Jerry Brown said. “Israel has demonstrated how efficient a country can be and this is a great opportunity for collaboration.”
Lev Tahor Flees to Guatemala, Some Are Caught in Trinidad
Toronto—The day after the Ontario court system demanded custody of 13 of Lev Tahor’s children, some members of the fringe hasidic-type group fled Canada for Guatemala. Another group, with six children, headed for Trinidad and Tobago where officials put them on a plane headed back to Toronto. Child services workers greeted them there and took the children into custody The group was trying to join other members of the sect who were already in Guatemala. They did not go quietly. According to the Trinidad Express, “One elderly man had to be carried by law enforcement officials while another, a screaming female, had to be pushed by two women police officers into a waiting 25-seater bus to be taken to the airport.”
Ban Ki-Moon Blasts Iranians on Human Rights
TIP—United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday that human rights in Iran have not improved since the election and inauguration of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, with Ban specifically citing what Reuters described as ”the prevalent use of capital punishment” by the Islamic republic. The assessment is in line with multiple evaluations—from U.N. monitors, from international human rights groups, and from the State Department—all concluding that there has been no shift in Iran’s domestic repression since Rouhani’s ascension. In February, Uzra Zeya—the State Department assessed that the U.S. has “seen little meaningful improvement in human rights in Iran under the new government, including torture, political imprisonment, harassment of religious and ethnic minorities.” Ban bluntly said this week that Rouhani’s administration “has not made any significant improvement in the promotion and protection of freedom of expression and opinion, despite pledges made by the president during his campaign and after his swearing in,” and called attention to the ongoing house arrest of prominent reformist politicians.
