LONDON: Iran’s leadership has “zero answers” to the population’s “very legitimate” demands, and its brutal crackdown on nationwide protests will shape society for years to come, a UK panel has heard.
The regime in Tehran is “perhaps the most insular and least qualified in the history of the Islamic Republic,” Iranian-American Washington Post columnist Jason Rezaian told a webinar organized by London-based international affairs think tank Chatham House.
Thursday’s event, titled “The Islamic Republic at 44” and attended by Arab News, was moderated by Sanam Vakil, Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa program deputy director.
It included Rezaian; Azadeh Pourzand, director of the Siamak Pourzand Foundation, which promotes freedom of expression for artists, writers and journalists; and Kian Tajbakhsh, senior adviser for Columbia Global Centers, which are research outposts established by Columbia University in different locations worldwide.
Rezaian and Tajbakhsh, both dual nationals, have faced political persecution and imprisonment in Iran at different times.
Rezaian described the protests that erupted in Iran last year as “unprecedented.” The standard of living and quality of life in the country have “plummeted across the board,” he said.
“There’s no coming back” from the regime’s brutal crackdown, Rezaian added, referring to the killing of innocent people, including children, and the stifling of Internet access nationwide.
The origins of public anger lie in deteriorating economic conditions, with the Iranian state “no longer delivering on basic services” and “people failing to see their lives improving,” he said, adding that the regime has “zero answers.”
However, he warned against the West failing to enforce economic sanctions on Iran. “If we don’t activate the international levers of justice to hold the regime accountable, it (sanctions) is all for show,” he said. The threat of Iran’s nuclear capability is also an issue that “can’t be ignored,” Rezaian added.
Tajbakhsh said the roots of the “toxic relationship” between the US and Iran lie in the regime’s “extremely consistent and coherent” rejection of Western ties.
Panelists discussed the future of the Iranian protest movement, with Rezaian and Tajbakhsh predicting that the “culture war” in the country would shape society for years to come.
However, Tajbakhsh warned: “The bad news is that the regime has succeeded in repressing and controlling the protest movement.
“Protests remained restricted to a narrow band of people from their late teens to late 20s, and failed to expand to the urban middle class or the military.”
Pourzand described the nationwide demonstrations as a “quest of a people for an ordinary life,” adding that “dignity and quality of life” are the key demands of the public.
From now on, the regime, which “lacks any form of accountability” and has “lost all legitimacy in the international arena,” is “only buying extra time,” she said. The resilience and creativity of the Iranian people offer hope for the future, Pourzand added.
However, Tajbakhsh argued that the economic situation in Iran’s urban centers, including Tehran, “is often not as dire as presented by the international media.”
The protest movement represents only a small section of the country, he said, adding that the demonstrations and crackdown represent “competing visions of society that will clash over the coming decades.”
Tajbakhsh said: “The striking thing about the government response is its solidarity. There was almost no dissent from any senior officials or clerics, which demonstrated the remarkable unity of the regime.”
The high price of repression, the tolerable economic situation, and the lack of effective alternative political organization have made the middle class reluctant to join the protest movement, he added.
“If you look at Iran, it’s remarkably successful. It’s stomping across the Middle East, it outwitted the West in Syria, and it controls a country bordering Israel,” Tajbakhsh said, referring to Lebanon.
“It maintained this and has remained in power over many, many decades. It has avoided political fissures, circumvented sanctions, as well as provided enough economic welfare so that the stakes of the middle class to overthrow the regime are too high.”
It will never alter its behavior as long as it has the support of key regional allies, he added, warning that protests and revolts are “an ordinary day’s work for authoritarian regimes.”
Iranian regime has ‘lost all legitimacy in the international arena,’ UK panel told
https://arab.news/95d6w
Iranian regime has ‘lost all legitimacy in the international arena,’ UK panel told
- Nationwide protests are ‘unprecedented,’ Washington Post columnist tells webinar attended by Arab News
- Panelist: Iran is ‘stomping across the Middle East, it outwitted the West in Syria, and it controls a country bordering Israel’
Israel’s military campaign in northern West Bank still ongoing after almost 50 days
- Israeli forces hand eviction notices to residents in Dhannaba neighborhood, told to leave by noon on Sunday
- Forces evict last residents of Al-Murabba’at Hannoun district in Tulkarm refugee camp
LONDON: Israeli forces have demolished several homes in the Palestinian city of Tulkarm and its refugee camps as part of a military campaign in the northern-occupied West Bank which has lasted nearly 50 days.
Israel’s military campaign in Tulkarm and its refugee camp has been ongoing for 49 days, and 36 days in the Nour Shams refugee camp, the Palestine News Agency reported.
Nearly 24,000 have been displaced from the Tulkarm and Nour Shams camps, and 13 have been killed since Israel launched its campaign in late January.
Israeli forces raided several homes in the Tulkarm refugee camp on Sunday, forcing residents from the Al-Murabba’at Hannoun, Qaqoon, and Abu Al-Foul neighborhoods. WAFA also reported that forces had handed eviction notices to residents in the Dhannaba district, compelling them to leave their homes by noon on Sunday.
Israeli forces had evicted the last residents of Al-Murabba’at Hannoun district in Tulkarm refugee camp the previous day, warning that anyone still in their homes would be arrested. Israel deployed infantry units inside the camp’s alleys on Sunday, barring residents from returning for essential supplies.
Israeli forces set fire to a home and destroyed others in the Nour Shams camp after displacing residents on Sunday. They also raided homes in the Al-Jabal, Al-Nasr, and Al-Mahjar neighborhoods and interrogated some residents, WAFA said.
The Israeli military campaign has caused significant damage to the infrastructure of Tulkarm city and its refugee camps, affecting water, electricity, sewage, and communication networks, along with the destruction of homes, businesses, and vehicles.
US will keep hitting Houthis until shipping attacks stop, Hegseth says
- Hegseth said US campaign was response to scores of attacks the Houthis have launched on ships since Nov. 2023
- Houthi movement’s political bureau described US attacks as a “war crime” and said Houthi forces were ready to “meet escalation with escalation”
WASHINGTON/ADEN: The United States will keep attacking Yemen’s Houthis until they end attacks on shipping, the US defense secretary said on Sunday, as the Iran-aligned group signalled it could escalate in response to deadly US strikes the day before.
The airstrikes, which killed at least 31 people, are the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January. One US official told Reuters the campaign might continue for weeks.
The Houthi movement’s political bureau described the attacks as a “war crime” and said Houthi forces were ready to “meet escalation with escalation,” while Moscow urged Washington to cease the strikes.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News: “The minute the Houthis say we’ll stop shooting at your ships, we’ll stop shooting at your drones, this campaign will end, but until then it will be unrelenting.”
“This is about stopping the shooting at assets ... in that critical waterway, to reopen freedom of navigation, which is a core national interest of the United States, and Iran has been enabling the Houthis for far too long,” he said. “They better back off.”
The Houthis, who have taken control of most of Yemen over the past decade, said last week they would resume attacks on Israeli ships passing through the Red Sea if Israel did not lift a block on aid entering Gaza.
They had launched scores of attacks on shipping after Israel’s war with Hamas began in late 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with Gaza’s Palestinians.
Trump also told Iran, the Houthis’ main backer, to stop supporting the group immediately. He said if Iran threatened the United States, “America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!“
Iran warns US not to escalate
In response, Hossein Salami, the top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said the Houthis took their own decisions.
“We warn our enemies that Iran will respond decisively and destructively if they carry out their threats,” he told state media.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” program:
“There’s no way the ... Houthis would have the ability to do this kind of thing unless they had support from Iran. And so this was a message to Iran: don’t keep supporting them, because then you will also be responsible for what they are doing in attacking Navy ships and attacking global shipping.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called Rubio to urge an “immediate cessation of the use of force and the importance for all sides to engage in political dialogue,” Moscow said.
Trump has been pressing Russia to sign a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in its war with Ukraine, which Kyiv accepted last week, but Moscow has said needs to be reworked.
Trump is also increasing sanctions pressure, and hoping to enlist Russian help, to try to bring Tehran to the negotiating table over its nuclear program.
Most of the 31 people confirmed killed in the US strikes were women and children, said Anees Al-Asbahi, spokesperson for the Houthi-run health ministry. More than 100 were injured.
Residents in Sanaa said the strikes hit a neighborhood known to host several members of the Houthi leadership.
“The explosions were violent and shook the neighborhood like an earthquake. They terrified our women and children,” said one of the residents, who gave his name as Abdullah Yahia.
In Sanaa, a crane and bulldozer were used to remove debris at one site and people used their bare hands to pick through the rubble. At a hospital, medics treated the injured, including children, and the bodies of several casualties were placed in a yard, wrapped in plastic sheets, Reuters footage showed.
Strikes also targeted Houthi military sites in the city of Taiz, two witnesses said on Sunday.
Houthis’ Red Sea attacks disrupt global trade route
Another strike, on a power station in the town of Dahyan, led to a power cut, Al-Masirah TV reported early on Sunday. Dahyan is where Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, the enigmatic leader of the Houthis, often meets visitors.
The Houthi attacks on shipping have disrupted global commerce and set the US military off on a costly campaign to intercept missiles and drones.
The group suspended its campaign when Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza in January.
But on March 12, the Houthis said their threat to attack Israeli ships would remain in effect until Israel reapproved the delivery of aid and food into Gaza.
Joe Biden’s previous US administration had also sought to degrade the Houthis’ strike power. But US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump had authorized a more aggressive approach.
The US military’s Central Command described Saturday’s strikes as the start of a large-scale operation across Yemen.
The strikes were carried out in part by fighter aircraft from the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea, officials said.
Iran condemned the strikes as a “gross violation” of the UN Charter and international law.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the US government had “no authority, or business, dictating Iranian foreign policy.”
Turkiye calls on EU to lift Syria sanctions ahead of international conference
- The EU will host the ninth international conference in support of Syria on Monday
- For the first time, representatives of Syria’s new interim government have been invited to attend
ISTANBUL: Turkiye on Sunday called on the European Union to unconditionally lift sanctions on the Syrian Arab Republic, ahead of an international aid conference in Brussels to which the war-torn country’s new authorities have been invited.
Ankara, allied with Syria’s new rulers who ousted president Bashar Assad and took power in December, views such a step as necessary for a “peaceful transition” in the country, Turkiye’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
The European Union on Monday will host the ninth international conference in support of Syria. For the first time, representatives of Syria’s government — the new interim authorities — have been invited to attend.
The event aims to raise international support for Syria’s transition and recovery after more than 13 years of civil war.
The European bloc on February 24 already announced an easing of sanctions on Syria’s energy, transport and banking sectors to relieve some of the challenges facing Ahmed Al-Sharaa, Syria’s interim president.
But Europe and other powers remain wary over what direction Sharaa’s Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) — which spearheaded the lightning offensive that toppled Assad on December 8 — may take Syria.
While there are hopes Sharaa’s authorities can stabilize the country and usher in an inclusive future, recent deadly violence targeting the Alawite minority to which Assad belongs has kept doubts floating.
EU foreign ministers have warned that the sanctions they eased could be reimposed if Syria’s new leaders break promises to respect the rights of minorities and move toward democracy.
“Syria’s economic security is essential for the country’s stability and security,” Turkiye’s ministry said, adding that “economic opportunities and jobs need to be created.”
“The sanctions must be lifted unconditionally and for an indeterminate period,” it said.
Turkiye, which hosts nearly three million Syrian refugees, also urged reconstruction of Syria “to encourage returns.”
Turkish deputy foreign minister Nuh Yilmaz will attend the Brussels conference.
Iraq says seized one ton of captagon from Syria via Turkiye
- Amphetamine-type stimulant has for years been mass-produced in Syria
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s security forces have seized over a ton of captagon pills hidden inside a truck that entered Iraq from the Syrian Arab Republic via Turkiye, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday.
The drug shipment, the largest ever seized in Iraq, was tracked and intercepted with the assistance of “important information” provided by Saudi’s drug enforcement agency, the Interior Ministry spokesperson Brig. Muqdad Meri said in a televised statement.
Western anti-narcotics officials say the addictive, amphetamine-type stimulant known as captagon has for years been mass-produced in Syria.
Captagon — a mix of amphetamines also known as the “poor man’s cocaine” — is one of the more popular recreational drugs among affluent youth in the Middle East.
Lebanon says Israeli strike kills one in south
- The strike targeted a four-wheel-drive vehicle near Yater in Bint Jbeil district at around 2:00 am
Beirut: An Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon on Sunday killed one person, the health ministry said, the latest attack more than three months into a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
The strike, which also wounded one person, targeted a four-wheel-drive vehicle near Yater in Bint Jbeil district at around 2:00 am, the official National News Agency reported.
“The Israeli enemy’s air strike on a vehicle in the town of Yater resulted in the martyrdom of a citizen and the injury of another,” the ministry said in a statement carried by NNA.
It comes a day after the ministry said one person was killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the southern border town of Burj Al-Muluk.
Following that raid, the Israeli military said it “struck a Hezbollah terrorist who took part in terrorist activity in the area of Kfarkela in southern Lebanon.”
And on Tuesday, the Israeli military said it carried out a strike in southern Lebanon that killed a senior Hezbollah militant.
That came as Lebanon received four detainees who had been taken to Israel during fighting with Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group, with a fifth detainee, a soldier, released on Thursday after he was taken earlier this month.
A November 27 truce largely halted more than a year of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, including two months of full-blown war in which Israel sent in ground troops.
Israel has continued to carry out periodic strikes on Lebanese territory since the agreement took effect.
Israel had been due to withdraw from Lebanon by February 18 after missing a January deadline, but it has kept troops at five locations it deems “strategic.”
The ceasefire also required Hezbollah to pull back north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, and to dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
