Parliament censures Rouhani in sign pragmatists losing sway

1 / 2
Pressures mounted on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday as lawmakers summoned him to answer questions on weak economic growth and rising prices. (File photo: AFP)
Updated 29 August 2018
Follow

Parliament censures Rouhani in sign pragmatists losing sway

  • Rouhani, a pragmatist who reduced tension with the West by striking a nuclear deal with world powers in 2015, now faces a backlash from hardliners
  • Rouhani said the economic troubles only began when Washington reimposed sanctions on Tehran

LONDON: Iran’s Parliament voted on Tuesday to reject President Hassan Rouhani’s explanations for economic hardship after a dramatic grilling on live TV, a sign his pragmatic faction is losing sway to hard-line rivals as new US sanctions begin to bite.

The vote in Parliament came two days after lawmakers sacked the minister of economy and finance and weeks after they sacked the labor minister, blaming them for the collapse of the rial currency and surging inflation.
Rouhani won two landslide elections on a platform of economic reform and opening Iran up to the outside world, and his pragmatic supporters have a majority in Parliament. But his reputation and political influence have taken a sharp hit as his promised economic gains have failed to materialize.
His highest profile achievement was to negotiate the lifting of financial sanctions on Iran in a 2015 deal with world powers over its nuclear program, but US President Donald Trump pulled out in May and Washington has re-imposed sanctions.
Rouhani spoke out in Parliament in defense of his economic record, blaming the country’s woes on the US sanctions rather than his team’s management. But a majority of lawmakers voted to reject his explanation in four out of five areas.
There were conflicting reports about what would follow from the vote: Several Iranian news agencies said Rouhani’s case would now be referred to the judiciary, although the spokesman for the parliamentary leadership, Behrouz Nemati, said lawmakers must hold further discussion before that would take place.
The action in Parliament is a further sign of how the Trump administration’s decision to re-impose sanctions could affect Iran’s leadership and its relationship with the outside world, potentially for decades to come.
Iran’s rulers have been divided between a pragmatic faction that aims for better international relations, and hard-liners who are wary of reforms. Trump’s decision to abandon the nuclear deal was opposed by US allies in Europe, who argued that he undermined Rouhani and strengthened the hands of the hard-liners.
While Rouhani and his Cabinet run Iran’s day-to-day affairs, ultimate authority lies with the Supreme Leader, 79-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in power since 1989. Weakening the pragmatists now could affect the choice of Khamenei’s successor.
For now, Rouhani’s own position appears safe. The judiciary could determine that he broke the law and Parliament has the power to impeach him, but experts on Iranian politics say power struggles are more likely to play out indirectly.
“Parliament’s move is politically motivated and indicates that tensions would increase in the Islamic Republic in coming months,” Saeed Laylaz, an Iranian economist, told Reuters by telephone from Tehran.
“Iranian political factions have always used international issues to pursue their domestic gains,” he added.
After the sacking of the two ministers this month, Tasnim news agency reported that 70 lawmakers had signed a motion to impeach a third: The Minister of Industry, Mines and Business.
Rouhani has bowed to pressure and fired the head of the central bank. A deputy central bank governor was arrested by the judiciary on corruption charges in a crackdown that also saw foreign exchange dealers rounded up.
The lawmakers asked Rouhani on Tuesday about five subjects: Unemployment, slow economic growth, the fall of the rial, cross-border smuggling, and the lack of access by Iranian banks to global financial services. The parliament found only Rouhani’s answer about banks satisfactory.
“I want to assure the Iranian nation that we will not allow the US plot against the Islamic Republic to succeed,” Rouhani told Parliament. “We will not let this bunch of anti-Iranians in the White House be able to plot against us.”
Iran’s official unemployment rate is 12 percent, with youth unemployment as high as 25 percent in a country where 60 percent of the 80 million population is under 30. The rial has lost more than two-thirds of its value in a year.
Iran’s economy has suffered not only from sanctions but also from pervasive corruption and the concentration of its wealth and trade in the hands of big firms controlled by the hard-line Revolutionary Guards military force.
Washington imposed a new round of sanctions in August targeting Iran’s trade in gold and other precious metals, its purchases of US dollars and its car industry. Worse is yet to come, with a new round of sanctions to be imposed in November that Washington says aims to cut Iran’s oil exports to zero.
The plunge in the currency and soaring inflation have sparked sporadic demonstrations against profiteering and corruption, with many protesters chanting slogans against both the government and Supreme Leader Khamenei.
Rouhani said such anti-government protests had encouraged Trump to try to provoke more unrest by harming Iran’s economy.
“The protests tempted Trump to withdraw from the nuclear deal,” he said, asking lawmakers to support his cabinet and not add to anti-government sentiment.
Although the economic problems were critical, Rouhani said: “More important than that is that many people have lost their faith in the future of the Islamic Republic and are in doubt about its power.”


US sending Israel 20,000 assault rifles that Biden had delayed, say sources

Updated 04 April 2025
Follow

US sending Israel 20,000 assault rifles that Biden had delayed, say sources

  • The rifle sale is a small transaction next to the billions of dollars worth of weapons that Washington supplies to Israel
  • The March 6 congressional notification said the US government had taken into account “political, military, economic, human rights, and arms control considerations“

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration moved forward with the sale of more than 20,000 US-made assault rifles to Israel last month, according to a document seen by Reuters and a source familiar with the matter, pushing ahead with a sale that the administration of former president Joe Biden had delayed over concerns they could be used by extremist Israeli settlers.
The State Department sent a notification to Congress on March 6 for the $24 million sale, saying the end user would be the Israeli National Police, according to the document.
The rifle sale is a small transaction next to the billions of dollars worth of weapons that Washington supplies to Israel. But it drew attention when the Biden administration delayed the sale over concerns that the weapons could end up in the hands of Israeli settlers, some of whom have carried out attacks on Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on individuals and entities accused of committing violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which has seen a rise in settler attacks on Palestinians.
On his first day in office on January 20, Trump issued an executive order rescinding US sanctions on Israeli settlers in a reversal of US policy. Since then, his administration has approved the sale of billions of dollars worth of weapons to Israel.
The March 6 congressional notification said the US government had taken into account “political, military, economic, human rights, and arms control considerations.”
The State Department did not respond to a request for comment when asked if the administration sought assurances from Israel on the use of the weapons.

CLOSE TIES
Since a 1967 Middle East war, Israel has occupied the West Bank, which Palestinians want as the core of an independent state, and has built settlements that most countries deem illegal. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the land.
Settler violence had been on the rise prior to the eruption of the Gaza war, and has worsened since the conflict began over a year ago.
Trump has forged close ties to Netanyahu, pledging to back Israel in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. His administration has in some cases pushed ahead with Israel arms sales despite requests from Democratic lawmakers that the sales be paused until they received more information.
The US Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly rejected a bid to block $8.8 billion in arms sales to Israel over human rights concerns, voting 82-15 and 83-15 to reject two resolutions of disapproval over sales of massive bombs and other offensive military equipment.
The resolutions were offered by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.
The rifle sale had been put on hold after Democratic lawmakers objected and sought information on how Israel was going to use them. The congressional committees eventually cleared the sale but the Biden administration kept the hold in place.
The latest episode in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict began with a Hamas attack on Israeli communities on October 7, 2023 with gunmen killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s campaign has so far killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, Gaza health authorities say.
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, oversees the Israeli police force. The Times of Israel newspaper in November 2023 reported that his ministry has put “a heavy emphasis on arming civilian security squads” in the aftermath of October 7 attacks.


Medecins Sans Frontieres ‘appalled’ by second staff member killed in Gaza within weeks

Updated 04 April 2025
Follow

Medecins Sans Frontieres ‘appalled’ by second staff member killed in Gaza within weeks

  • Hussam Al Loulou died in the strike on Apr. 1 in central Gaza

GENEVA: Global medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Friday it was appalled and saddened by the killing of one of its staff by an air strike in Gaza, the second within two weeks.


Hussam Al Loulou died in the strike on Apr. 1 in central Gaza, alongside his wife and 28-year-old daughter, the organization said.


Uganda president holds talks with South Sudanese leaders to try to avoid civil war

Updated 15 min 50 sec ago
Follow

Uganda president holds talks with South Sudanese leaders to try to avoid civil war

  • Goc said that the country’s leadership had assured Museveni of its commitment to implement the peace agreement
  • Uganda last month deployed troops to South Sudan to support the government

NAIROBI: Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni was expected to meet South Sudanese officials on the second day of his trip to the capital, Juba, as the UN has expressed concern of a renewed civil war after the main opposition leader was put under house arrest.
Museveni, who is among the guarantors of a 2018 peace agreement that ended a five-year civil war, held closed-door discussions with President Salva Kiir on Thursday.
South Sudan’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdallah Goc said that the country’s leadership had assured Museveni of its commitment to implement the peace agreement.
South Sudan’s political landscape remains fragile and recent violence between government troops and armed groups allied to the opposition have escalated tension.
Uganda last month deployed troops to South Sudan to support the government, but it was criticized by South Sudan’s main opposition party SPLM-IO, whose leader Riek Machar is under house arrest on charges of incitement.
In early March, the armed group loyal to Machar attacked a UN helicopter that was on a mission to evacuate government troops from the restive northern Upper Nile State.
Western countries including Germany and Norway have temporarily closed their embassies in Juba while the USand the UK have reduced embassy staff.


Turkiye wants no confrontation with Israel in Syria, foreign minister says

Updated 04 April 2025
Follow

Turkiye wants no confrontation with Israel in Syria, foreign minister says

  • Fidan said Israel’s actions in Syria were paving the way for future regional instability
  • If the new administration in Damascus wants to have “certain understandings” with Israel, then that is their own business, he added

BRUSSELS: Turkiye wants no confrontation with Israel in Syria after repeated Israeli attacks on military sites there undermined the new government’s ability to deter threats, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Reuters on Friday.
In an interview on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Fidan said Israel’s actions in Syria — where the administration of President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is a close Turkish ally — were paving the way for future regional instability.
If the new administration in Damascus wants to have “certain understandings” with Israel, which like Turkiye is a neighbor of Syria, then that is their own business, he added.
NATO member Turkiye has fiercely criticized Israel over its attacks on Gaza since 2023, saying they amount to a genocide against the Palestinians, and has applied to join a case at the World Court against Israel while also halting all trade.
Israel denies the genocide accusations.
The animosity between the regional powers has spilled over into Syria, with Israeli forces striking Syria for weeks since a new administration took control in Damascus. Turkiye has called the Israeli strikes an encroachment on Syrian territories, while Israel has said it would not allow any hostile forces in Syria.
Asked about US President Donald Trump’s threats of military strikes against Iran, Fidan said diplomacy was needed to resolve the dispute and that Ankara did not want to see any attack taking place against its neighbor Iran.


Hungary’s ICC withdrawal no excuse not to arrest Netanyahu: Amnesty International

Updated 04 April 2025
Follow

Hungary’s ICC withdrawal no excuse not to arrest Netanyahu: Amnesty International

  • Hungarian PM said his country would leave International Criminal Court after receiving Israeli counterpart this week
  • ‘By welcoming Netanyahu, Hungary is effectively giving a seal of approval to Israel’s genocide’

LONDON: Amnesty International has warned Hungary that withdrawing from the International Criminal Court would not excuse it from failing to arrest Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced his intention for his country to leave the ICC on Thursday, saying he believed it had been “diminished into a political forum.”

He made the statement after welcoming Netanyahu to Budapest, where the Israeli premier is on an official four-day visit. 

Netanyahu is the subject of an international arrest warrant, issued by the ICC, for alleged crimes committed during the war in Gaza.

Amnesty called Orban’s statement “a betrayal of all victims of war crimes,” which “undermines the protections afforded the Hungarian people, as it removes, in a year, their opportunity to seek justice at the ICC for crimes committed against them.”   

In a statement, Amnesty’s Secretary-General Agnes Callamard said: “Prime Minister Orban is harbouring a wanted ICC fugitive. Benjamin Netanyahu is accused by the ICC of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians.

“By welcoming Netanyahu, Hungary is effectively giving a seal of approval to Israel’s genocide, namely the physical destruction of the Palestinian people in whole or in part in Gaza.

“Leaders and officials from ICC member states must not participate in undermining the ICC through meeting with Netanyahu or any other ICC fugitives who are wanted by the Court.

“Netanyahu’s shameful trip to Hungary must not become an impunity tour of other ICC member states.”

Orban said he would ignore the ICC arrest warrant after it was issued last year, inviting Netanyahu personally to visit Hungary.

Withdrawal from the ICC is possible under Article 127 of the Rome Statute but takes a year to complete. During that time, Hungary’s legal obligations to the ICC remain in place. 

“Hungary’s purported withdrawal from the ICC is a brazen and futile attempt to evade international justice and to stymy the ICC’s work,” Callamard said.

“This cynical announcement does not change the fact that Hungary still has a fundamental obligation to arrest and surrender Benjamin Netanyahu to the ICC.

“Any withdrawal would take effect in one year and must not distract from Hungary’s international legal obligations.

“The EU institutions and member states must be unequivocal about what this visit is: a direct attack by Hungary to undermine the ICC and its work, weaken the European Union at a time when it needs to stand strong and united, and an insult to all victims who are looking for justice.”

Callamard added: “The EU and all ICC member states must urgently call on Hungary to arrest and surrender Netanyahu and firmly commit to defending the Court from insidious threats to international justice which a visit of this kind represents.

“This moral bankruptcy must be stopped before it spirals into further damage for the international rules-based order.”

Amnesty noted that during the conflict so far at least 50,140 Palestinians have been killed, nearly 114,000 injured, and 1.9 million forcibly displaced by Israeli military activity.