With a nuclear umbrella, Iran ‘will pursue aggression against us with impunity,’ ex-Israeli PM Netanyahu tells Al Arabiya

Updated 26 August 2022
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With a nuclear umbrella, Iran ‘will pursue aggression against us with impunity,’ ex-Israeli PM Netanyahu tells Al Arabiya

  • Netanyahu joins growing list of Israeli politicians castigating Western powers over new nuclear deal with Iran
  • Says “most dangerous terrorist regime” being rewarded with WMDs and “money to pursue its aggression”

DUBAI: Benjamin Netanyahu, the former Israeli prime minister, has sounded the alarm about a nuclear-armed Iran pursuing aggression against Israel, the Gulf states and “everybody else with impunity” if the proposed new nuclear deal materializes.

He described the idea of Iran having a nuclear umbrella as “very, very dangerous,” in addition to the possibility that the Iranians “may actually use (nuclear weapons) for the first time since the Second World War.”

Netanyahu’s warning came in an interview with Al Arabiya TV station on Wednesday amid reports that the US and Iran are closing in on an agreement to restore the 2015 accord after almost 17 months of indirect negotiations in Vienna.

“Well, I’m afraid it looks like it’s a done deal. And it’s a very, very bad deal,” Netanyahu told Al Arabiya. “Bad for Israel, bad for the Gulf States, bad for the Middle East, bad for the world. Because Iran is getting a highway paved with gold to a nuclear arsenal and they make no secret of their attempts to destroy us. Conquer the Middle East.

“I think this is a grave development. It’s a bad mistake. Iran is getting basically the ability to have 3,500 advanced centrifuges 10 times to 20 times more advanced than the few thousand that they have today. And they can begin developing them within two years.”

US officials have expressed optimism about the latest efforts to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which the US under President Donald Trump left in 2018 and which Iran has increasingly violated since 2019.

As of the last public count by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran had a stockpile of some 3,800 kg of enriched uranium. More worrying for nonproliferation experts, Iran now enriches uranium up to 60 percent purity — a level it had not reached before. That is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 percent.

According to US media reports, the Biden administration has relayed its response to Iran’s comments on the draft proposal to restore the deal, more than a week after Iran sent its response to what the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell called “a final text.”

“They’re getting hundreds of billions of dollars by the end of the deal within less than a decade for their terror and aggression,” Netanyahu said, adding that the “most dangerous terrorist regime on Earth” is being “given a prize, both in weapons of mass death and enormous money, to pursue its aggression.”




The European Union said on August 16, 2022 that it was studying Iran's response to a "final" draft agreement on reviving a 2015 nuclear accord with major powers it presented at talks in Vienna. (AFP/Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies)

He continued: “There are no real inspections. They don’t have to stop the missile program. They don’t have to get into showing that they’re neutralizing the weapons program. In other words, they’re getting everything. They are not asked to change their behavior, sponsoring terrorism throughout the Middle East, throughout the world. They’re asked to do nothing, and they get everything. This is a bad deal.”

Netanyahu is among several current and former Israeli government officials who have criticized the emerging nuclear agreement. On Wednesday, Yair Lapid, Israel’s prime minister, called on US President Joe Biden to call off the deal, saying: “The countries of the West draw a red line, the Iranians ignore it, and the red line moves.”

He said the proposed deal “does not meet the standards set by Biden himself: Preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear state,” while warning that the frozen funds Iran would receive as part of a restored deal — worth an estimated $100 billion — would enable the regime in Tehran to fund even more malign activities in the Middle East.

Naftali Bennett, another former prime minister, urged the Biden administration not to sign the deal, “even now at this last minute.” He claimed the agreement, if adopted, would send “approximately a quarter of a trillion dollars to the Iranian terror administration’s pocket and to its regional proxies.”

In his interview with Al Arabiya, Netanyahu alluded to the clandestine Israeli intelligence operation that saw a huge trove of nuclear files spirited out of a secret Tehran warehouse in early 2018, an incident confirmed by Iran’s Hassan Rouhani during the final days of his presidency in 2021.

“When we brought this Iran secret atomic archive to Israel, we found that as early as two decades ago, 2003, almost 20 years ago, Iran was already working on having five nuclear weapons. Of the kind that destroyed Hiroshima. Five. That’s what they were trying to do 20 years ago,” he said.

Brushing off the oral fatwa issued by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in October 2003 forbidding the production and use of any form of weapon of mass destruction, Netanyahu said: “They can issue 100 fatwas. It’s all a lie. They lie through their teeth there.

“They want and are preparing to develop nuclear weapons. And the United States, in their heart of hearts and maybe even up in their minds, know that they are not in the business of preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons. They are in the business of containing Iran once it has nuclear weapons.”

But could a country as important as the US make such a big mistake? “Unfortunately, it’s happened in the past,” Netanyahu said.




Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Enrique Mora (C) and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani (R) attending a meeting of the joint commission on negotiations aimed at reviving the Iran nuclear deal in Vienna, Austria. (AFP/File Photo)

“It took a while to get them out of that dangerous deal. President Obama said in a moment of candor in a public television interview in the US, he said by 2027, with the deal that he had signed, that Iran would be close to zero time to break out two nuclear bombs.

“That’s five years away. Now they’re giving them the means to do that. That’s just doesn’t make sense. If anyone thinks that because Iran signed a piece of paper that this will not happen, I’ll tell you two things. One, they lie, they cheat. But even if they don’t lie, even if they keep to the deal, this deal is so dangerous because it says to them, go ahead.”

Slamming the Biden administration for going “back to an even more dangerous deal,” he said: “It may be penny-wise and pound-foolish. Maybe they think there is short-term gain. But to have this dangerous regime have ICBMs (Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles) — which Iran is working on with nuclear-tipped warheads that can reach any American city — is the height of folly.

“This is not only bad for our countries, it’s bad for America.”

Since President Biden took office in January 2021 and ordered the resumption of negotiations with Iran in April, differences between the US and Israel have come into the open.

Underscoring the gap in their positions during the interview, Netanyahu said: “Even though the US is an indispensable ally, our most important ally, it is making a mistake. It doesn’t bind us. We are not going to subject our future and our existence to a mistaken policy.”

Referring to the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the JCPOA and other actions, Netanyahu said: “When we applied the political pressure that ultimately resulted in American crippling sanctions, we saw a reduction in the amount of money, the funds that were going to Iran’s proxies, like Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

“We actually saw a tremendous money crunch. They didn’t have the money to buy the weapons, to pay their activists and so on. What they have now is a highway paved in gold. They’re going to get hundreds of billions of dollars in short order, and that’s going to help them finance their various proxies.”

Netanyahu pointed to the Iran-backed Houthis’ attacks on civilian facilities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE as a case in point.

“Who pays the Houthis? Iran. What will they have now? They’ll have more money to pay them, just as they’ll have money to pay their other proxies,” he said. “So, there’s no sense in this. There is no logic in this. It’s against peace. It’s against security. It’s against our future.”




Since President Biden took office in January 2021 and ordered the resumption of negotiations with Iran in April, differences between the US and Israel have come into the open. (AFP)

Elaborating on the nature of what he saw as the Iranian threat, he said: “You have to make a distinction between Iran’s terror-making capacities and nuclear capacities. There are two different things. The most dangerous thing by far — even though the terrorist organizations, their proxies are dangerous — is that Iran will develop an arsenal of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them to various targets, including our countries.”

Looking to the future, Netanyahu said that there was “a good chance” he would become Israel’s next prime minister again. “I will return to the policy of actively blocking Iran’s nuclear weapons program,” he said.

“Everywhere I go, I will speak and say this is something that Israel is doing certainly for itself, but it is also something that we are doing for all of humanity, for all the peace-loving nations in the world, because you have a radical ayatollah regime that threatens all of us, is something that none of us can allow.

“That has to be stopped and I will do whatever is necessary. I cannot (disclose) what it is that we could do, and we would do, when the need arises. And unfortunately, the need is approaching. All of us.”

 

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At least 100,000 bodies in Syrian mass grave, US advocacy group head says

Updated 9 sec ago
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At least 100,000 bodies in Syrian mass grave, US advocacy group head says

  • Assad and his father Hafez, who preceded him as president and died in 2000, are accused by Syrians, rights groups and other governments of widespread extrajudicial killings, including mass executions within the country’s notorious prison system

WASHINGTON: The head of a US-based Syrian advocacy organization on Monday said that a mass grave outside of Damascus contained the bodies of at least 100,000 people killed by the former government of ousted President Bashar Assad.
Mouaz Moustafa, speaking to Reuters in a telephone interview from Damascus, said the site at al Qutayfah, 25 miles (40 km) north of the Syrian capital, was one of five mass graves that he had identified over the years.
“One hundred thousand is the most conservative estimate” of the number of bodies buried at the site, said Moustafa, head of the Syrian Emergency Task Force. “It’s a very, very extremely almost unfairly conservative estimate.”
Moustafa said that he is sure there are more mass graves than the five sites, and that along with Syrians victims included US and British citizens and other foreigners.
Reuters was unable to confirm Moustafa’s allegations.
Hundreds of thousands of Syrians are estimated to have been killed since 2011, when Assad’s crackdown on protests against his rule grew into a full-scale civil war.
Assad and his father Hafez, who preceded him as president and died in 2000, are accused by Syrians, rights groups and other governments of widespread extrajudicial killings, including mass executions within the country’s notorious prison system.
Assad repeatedly denied that his government committed human rights violations and painted his detractors as extremists.
Syria’s UN Ambassador Koussay Aldahhak did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He assumed the role in January — while Assad was still in power — but told reporters last week that he was awaiting instructions from the new authorities and would “keep defending and working for the Syrian people.”
Moustafa arrived in Syria after Assad flew to Russia and his government collapsed in the face of a lightning offensive by rebels that ended his family’s more than 50 years of iron-fisted rule.
He spoke to Reuters after he was interviewed at the site in al Qutayfah by Britain’s Channel 4 News for a report on the alleged mass grave there.
He said the intelligence branch of the Syrian air force was “in charge of bodies going from military hospitals, where bodies were collected after they’d been tortured to death, to different intelligence branches, and then they would be sent to a mass grave location.”
Corpses also were transported to sites by the Damascus municipal funeral office whose personnel helped unload them from refrigerated tractor-trailers, he said.
“We were able to talk to the people who worked on these mass graves that had on their own escaped Syria or that we helped to escape,” said Moustafa.
His group has spoken to bulldozer drivers compelled to dig graves and “many times on orders, squished the bodies down to fit them in and then cover them with dirt,” he said.
Moustafa expressed concern that graves sites were unsecured and said they needed to be preserved to safeguard evidence for investigations.

 


Syria’s Jolani says rebel factions to be ‘disbanded’, calls for lifting sanctions

Updated 12 min 26 sec ago
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Syria’s Jolani says rebel factions to be ‘disbanded’, calls for lifting sanctions

  • “Syria must remain united, and there must be a social contract between the state and all religions to guarantee social justice,” said Jolani

DAMASCUS: The leader of the Islamist group that toppled Bashar Assad said Monday that rebel factions in war-torn Syria would be “disbanded” and their fighters placed under the defense ministry, and called for sanctions to be lifted so refugees can return.
Syrian president Assad was toppled by a lightning 11-day rebel offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham group (HTS), whose fighters and allies swept down from northwest Syria and entered the capital on December 8.
HTS leader Abu Mohammed Al-Jolani said Monday on the group’s Telegram channel that all the rebel factions “would “be disbanded and the fighters trained to join the ranks of the defense ministry.”
“All will be subject to the law,” said Jolani, who now uses his real name, Ahmed Al-Sharaa.
He also emphasized the need for unity in a country home to different ethnic minority groups and religions, while speaking to members of the Druze community — a branch of Shiite Islam making up about 3 percent of Syria’s pre-war population.
“Syria must remain united,” he said. “There must be a social contract between the state and all religions to guarantee social justice.”
Several countries and organizations have welcomed Assad’s fall but said they were waiting to see how the new authorities would treat minorities in the country.
During a second meeting with a delegation of British diplomats, the HTS leader also spoke “of the importance of restoring relations” with London.
He stressed the need to end “all sanctions imposed on Syria so that Syrian refugees can return to their country,” according to remarks reported on his group’s Telegram channel.
HTS is rooted in Syria’s branch of Al-Qaeda and proscribed as a terrorist organization by many Western governments, though it has sought to moderate its rhetoric.
Since the toppling of Assad, it has insisted that the rights of all Syrians will be protected.
 

 


UN chief welcomes aid commitments by new Syrian authorities

Updated 17 December 2024
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UN chief welcomes aid commitments by new Syrian authorities

  • Guterres called on the international community to rally behind the Syrian people as they “seize the opportunity to build a better future”

UNITED NATIONS: United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher met with the commander of Syria’s new administration, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, and newly appointed Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Bashir on Monday to discuss scaling up humanitarian assistance in the country.
Following Fletcher’s meeting, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement that he welcomed the caretaker government’s commitment to protect civilians, including humanitarian workers.
“I also welcome their agreement to grant full humanitarian access through all border crossings; cut through bureaucracy over permits and visas for humanitarian workers; ensure the continuity of essential government services, including health and education; and engage in genuine and practical dialogue with the wider humanitarian community,” Guterres said.
Syria’s Bashar Assad was ousted after insurgent forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham swept through Syria in a lightning offensive, ending more than 50 years of iron-fisted rule by his family.
Guterres called on the international community to rally behind the Syrian people as they “seize the opportunity to build a better future.” The United Nations says seven in 10 people in Syria continue to need humanitarian aid.
Fletcher also plans to visit Lebanon, Turkiye and Jordan, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols Editing by Bill Berkrot)

 


US strikes Houthi command and control facility in Yemen

Updated 17 December 2024
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US strikes Houthi command and control facility in Yemen

  • The Yemeni rebels say their attacks — a significant international security challenge that threatens a major shipping lane — are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza

WASHINGTON: American forces carried out an air strike on Monday against a Houthi command and control facility that was used by the Yemeni rebels to coordinate attacks, the US military said.
The Houthis began striking ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in November 2023, part of the region-wide fallout from Israel’s devastating war in Gaza, which militant groups in multiple countries have cited as justification for attacks.
“The targeted facility was a hub for coordinating Houthi operations, such as attacks against US Navy warships and merchant vessels in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.
“The strike reflects CENTCOM’s ongoing commitment to protect US and coalition personnel, regional partners, and international shipping,” it added.
The Yemeni rebels say their attacks — a significant international security challenge that threatens a major shipping lane — are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Anger over Israel’s ongoing military campaign in the small coastal territory, which began after an unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, has stoked violence involving Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
The United States and other countries have deployed military vessels to help shield shipping from the Houthi strikes, and the rebels have periodically launched attacks targeting American military ships.
Washington’s forces have also carried out frequent air strikes on the Houthis in a bid to degrade their ability to target shipping and have sought to seize weapons before they reach the rebels, but their attacks have persisted.
 

 


US-brokered ceasefire fails between Kurdish and Turkiye-backed forces in Syria

Updated 17 December 2024
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US-brokered ceasefire fails between Kurdish and Turkiye-backed forces in Syria

  • Shami blamed the collapse of the mediation on “Turkiye’s approach in dealing with the mediation efforts and its evasion to accept key points”

CAIRO: Syrian US-backed Kurdish Syrian forces (SDF) said U.S-brokered mediation efforts failed to reach a permanent ceasefire with Syria’s Turkiye-backed rebels in the northern cities of Manbij and Kobani, according to head of the SDF’s media center Farhad Shami on Monday.
Shami blamed the collapse of the mediation on “Turkiye’s approach in dealing with the mediation efforts and its evasion to accept key points.”
The Turks are not happy about the ceasefire deal and Turkiye prefers to keep maximum pressure on SDF, a Syrian opposition source told Reuters.
Last week, the SDF said they reached a ceasefire agreement with the Turkiye-backed rebels in Manbij through US mediation “to ensure the safety and security of civilians.”