DUBAI: Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran’s runoff presidential election Saturday, beating hard-liner Saeed Jalili by promising to reach out to the West and ease enforcement on the country’s mandatory headscarf law after years of sanctions and protests squeezing the Islamic Republic.
Pezeshkian promised no radical changes to Iran’s Shiite theocracy in his campaign and long has held Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the final arbiter of all matters of state in the country. But even Pezeshkian’s modest aims will be challenged by an Iranian government still largely held by hard-liners, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, and Western fears over Tehran enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade levels.
A vote count offered by authorities put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalili’s 13.5 million in Friday’s election.
Supporters of Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and longtime lawmaker, entered the streets of Tehran and other cities before dawn to celebrate as his lead grew over Jalili, a hard-line former nuclear negotiator.
But Pezeshkian’s win still sees Iran at a delicate moment, with tensions high in the Mideast over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, Iran’s advancing nuclear program, and a looming US election that could put any chance of a detente between Tehran and Washington at risk.
The first round of voting June 28 saw the lowest turnout in the history of the Islamic Republic since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iranian officials have long pointed to turnout as a sign of support for the country’s Shiite theocracy, which has been under strain after years of sanctions crushing Iran’s economy, mass demonstrations and intense crackdowns on all dissent.
Government officials up to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei predicted a higher participation rate as voting got underway, with state television airing images of modest lines at some polling centers across the country.
However, online videos purported to show some polls empty while a survey of several dozen sites in the capital, Tehran, saw light traffic amid a heavy security presence on the streets.
The election came amid heightened regional tensions. In April, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza, while militia groups that Tehran arms in the region — such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis — are engaged in the fighting and have escalated their attacks.
Iran is also enriching uranium at near weapons-grade levels and maintains a stockpile large enough to build several nuclear weapons, should it choose to do so. And while Khamenei remains the final decision-maker on matters of state, whichever man ends up winning the presidency could bend the country’s foreign policy toward either confrontation or collaboration with the West.
The campaign also repeatedly touched on what would happen if former President Donald Trump, who unilaterally withdrew America from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, won the November election. Iran has held indirect talks with President Joe Biden’s administration, though there’s been no clear movement back toward constraining Tehran’s nuclear program for the lifting of economic sanctions.
More than 61 million Iranians over the age of 18 were eligible to vote, with about 18 million of them between 18 and 30. Voting was to end at 6 p.m. but was extended until midnight to boost participation.
The late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a May helicopter crash, was seen as a protégé of Khamenei and a potential successor as supreme leader.
Still, many knew him for his involvement in the mass executions that Iran conducted in 1988, and for his role in the bloody crackdowns on dissent that followed protests over the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained by police over allegedly improperly wearing the mandatory headscarf, or hijab.
Reformist Pezeshkian wins Iran’s presidential runoff election, beats hard-liner Jalili
https://arab.news/593kw
Reformist Pezeshkian wins Iran’s presidential runoff election, beats hard-liner Jalili
- Vote count put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalili’s 13.5 million
- Pezeshkian promised to reach out to West in bid to ease economic sanctions
Japan, Arab League hold talks on new economic partnerships
TOKYO: Officials from Japan and the Arab League are holding talks here on forming new economic partnerships and strengthening existing agreements in sectors including energy and healthcare.
The 5th Japan-Arab Economic Forum began in Tokyo on Tuesday and ends on July 11. Previous forum meetings took place in 2009, 2013, 2010 and 2016.
On Wednesday, the officials participated in a “Public-Private Economic Conference” featuring Japan’s Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ken Saito.
Nobuyuki Nakajima, the managing director of the Japan External Trade Organization, or JETRO, based in Dubai, delivered the opening remarks.
Saito said: “The world is now at a major turning point. In addition to the increasing complexity of the international situation, Japan and Arab countries are important partners based on historical friendly relations, with global issues such as deoxygenation, energy, water and poverty.
“Now is the time for us to take advantage of each other’s strengths while addressing these global challenges.”
He said Japan aims to realize growth in Japan and the Arab world through solving social problems and strengthening new partnerships.
“The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has secured a $1 billion budget to develop a flagship project that symbolizes cooperation with Global South countries,” he said.
“Specific projects such as decarbonization, digital and healthcare have already begun to work. The purpose of the Japan-Arab Economic Forum is to achieve peace, stability and prosperity between Japan and Arab countries through cooperation in a wide range of fields.”
Other participants included Dr. Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Maliki, head of the economic affairs sector of the Arab League, Dr. Saleh A. Al-Kharabsheh from Jordan’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and Dr. Khaled Hanafi, secretary-general of the Union of Arab Chambers.
For the following session, “Expanding Mutual Investment,” the keynote speech was delivered by Ahmed Aboul Gheit, secretary-general of the Arab League.
The session included Kazushige Tanaka, deputy director-general for trade and economic cooperation from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and Wissam Hassan Fattouh, secretary-general of the Union of Arab Banks.
The early afternoon session focused on climate change, which included discussions on green products, water, waste management, hydrogen, and ammonia.
The participants included Ibrahim Al-Dakhiri, director-general of the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, and Dr. Salem Hamidi, director-general of the Arab Atomic Energy Authority.
A later session on new technologies featured Dr. Ismail Abdel Ghaffar Ismail, president of the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, and Dr. Walid El-Hennawy, assistant secretary-general of the Arab Tourism Organization.
The day’s meetings ended with closing remarks by JETRO’s Chairman Norihiko Ishiguro.
Dozens killed by Israeli strike on tents housing Palestinians, Palestinian Red Crescent says
- Strike hit gate at Al-Awda school in Abasan, near southern city of Khan Yunis
- No immediate comment from Israel, which has acknowledged carrying out three other strikes since Saturday
GAZA: A Gaza hospital source said at least 10 people were killed and dozens wounded Tuesday in a strike on a school turned shelter for displaced Palestinians, the fourth such attack in four days.
The strike hit the gate at the Al-Awda school in Abasan, near the southern city of Khan Yunis, said the source at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis where victims were taken.
There was no immediate comment from Israel, which has acknowledged carrying out three other strikes since Saturday on Gaza schools used as displacement shelters.
At least 20 people were killed in these attacks, according to officials in the Hamas-run territory.
Israel said all three strikes targeted militants hiding in the schools.
On Saturday, an Israeli strike hit the UN-run Al-Jawni school in Nuseirat, central Gaza, killing 16 people, according to the territory’s health ministry.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said 2,000 people were sheltering there at the time.
The following day a strike on the church-run Holy Family school in Gaza City killed four, according to the civil defense agency.
The Latin Patriarchate, owners of the school, said hundreds of people had packed the grounds.
Another UNRWA-run school in Nuseirat was hit on Monday, with a local hospital saying several people were taken for treatment.
Israel said it targeted “several terrorists” using the school for cover.
Hamas has denied Israeli claims that it uses schools, hospitals and other civilian facilities for military aims.
According to UNRWA, more than 500 people have been killed in schools and other shelters it runs in Gaza since the war started on October 7 with the Hamas attack on Israel.
UKMTO receives report of incident 40 nautical miles south of Yemen’s Al-Mukha
- UKMTO said that authorities are investigating the incident
DUBAI: The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Wednesday it has received a report of an incident 40 nautical miles south of Yemen’s Al-Mukha.
UKMTO said that authorities are investigating the incident.
On Tuesday, an attack claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted a ship in the Gulf of Aden, the latest assault on the crucial maritime trade route.
The captain of the ship reported an explosion in close proximity to the vessel off the coast of Nishtun, Yemen, close to the country’s border with Oman, UKMTO said.
The ship, whose name and flag were not released, and all crew are safe, the UKMTO said in a warning to mariners.
The explosion took place in the farthest reaches of the waterway earlier targeted by the rebels, the center said.
It did not elaborate on what caused the explosion, though the Houthis have been known to use drones and missiles as well as bomb-carrying drone boats.
Late Tuesday night, the Houthis issued a broad claim of responsibility for three attacks, although it remains unclear which of these attacks was reported by authorities. Since the latest assault, shipping or military authorities have not acknowledged any additional attacks in the region.
The last reported Houthi attack in the region took place June 28.
– with AP
Airstrike kills 25 in southern Gaza as Israeli assault on Gaza City shuts down medical facilities
- Heavy bombardment in the north meanwhile forced the closure of medical facilities in Gaza City and sent thousands fleeing in search of increasingly elusive refuge
- Large parts of Gaza City and urban areas around it have been flattened or left a shattered landscape after nine months of fighting
DEIR AL-BALAH: An Israeli airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in southern Gaza killed at least 25 Palestinians on Tuesday, as heavy bombardment in the north forced the closure of medical facilities in Gaza City and sent thousands fleeing in search of increasingly elusive refuge.
Israel’s new ground assault in Gaza’s largest city is its latest effort to battle Hamas militants regrouping in areas the army previously said had been largely cleared.
Large parts of Gaza City and urban areas around it have been flattened or left a shattered landscape after nine months of fighting. Much of the population fled earlier in the war, but several hundred thousand Palestinians remain in the north.
“The fighting has been intense,” said Hakeem Abdel-Bar, who fled Gaza City’s Tuffah district to the home of relatives in another part of the city. He said Israeli warplanes and drones were “striking anything moving” and that tanks had moved into central districts.
The strike at the entrance to the school killed at least 25 people, according to an Associated Press reporter who counted the bodies at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Hospital spokesperson Weam Fares said the dead included at least seven women and children and that the toll was likely to rise.
Earlier airstrikes in central Gaza killed at least 14 people, including a woman and four children, according to two hospitals that received the bodies. Israel has repeatedly struck what it says are militant targets across Gaza since the start of the war nine months ago.
The military blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants fight in dense, urban areas, but the army rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children. The Israeli army said the airstrike near the school and reports of civilian casualties were under review, and claimed the strike targeted a Hamas militant who took part in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
There was also no immediate word on casualties in Gaza City. Families whose relatives were wounded or trapped were calling for ambulances, but first responders could not reach most of the affected districts because of the Israeli operations, said Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent.
“It’s a dangerous zone,” she said.
After Israel on Monday called for an evacuation from eastern and central parts of Gaza City, staff at two hospitals — Al-Ahli and the Patients Friends Association Hospital — rushed to move patients and shut down, the United Nations said. Farsakh said all three medical facilities run by the Red Crescent in Gaza City had closed.
Scores of patients were transferred to the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, which itself was the scene of heavy fighting earlier in the war. “We do not know where to go. There is no treatment and no necessities for life,” said Mohammad Abu Naser, who was being treated there. “We are dying slowly.”
The Israeli military said Tuesday that it told hospitals and other medical facilities in Gaza City they did not need to evacuate. But hospitals in Gaza have often shut down and moved patients at any sign of possible Israeli military action, fearing raids.
The Episcopal Church in the Middle East, which operates Al-Ahli, said the hospital was “compelled to close by the Israeli army” after the evacuation orders and a wave of nearby drone strikes on Sunday.
In the past nine months, Israeli troops have occupied at least eight hospitals, causing the deaths of patients and medical workers along with massive destruction to facilities and equipment. Israel has claimed Hamas uses hospitals for military purposes, though it has provided only limited evidence.
Only 13 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are functioning, and those only partially, according to the United Nations’ humanitarian office.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, has killed or wounded more than 5 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. Nearly the entire population has been driven from their homes. Many have been displaced multiple times. Hundreds of thousands are packed into sweltering tent camps.
The UN humanitarian office said the exodus in Gaza City was “dangerously chaotic,” with people instructed to flee through neighborhoods where fighting was underway.
“People have been observed fleeing in multiple directions, not knowing which way may be safest,” the agency said in a statement. It said the largest UN bakery in the city was forced to close, and that the fighting had blocked aid groups from accessing warehouses.
Maha Mahfouz, a mother of two, said she fled twice in the past 24 hours. She first rushed from her home in Gaza City to a relative’s house in another neighborhood. When that became dangerous, she fled Monday night to Shati, a decades-old refugee camp that has grown into an urban district where Israel has carried out repeated raids.
She described vast destruction in the areas targeted in the latest raids. “The buildings were destroyed. The roads were destroyed. All has become rubble,” she said.
The Israeli military has said it had intelligence showing that militants from Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group were regrouping in central Gaza City. Israel accuses Hamas and other militants of hiding among civilians. In Shijaiyah, a Gaza City neighborhood that has seen weeks of fighting, the military said it had destroyed 6 kilometers of Hamas tunnels.
Hamas has warned that the latest raids in Gaza City could lead to the collapse of negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage-release deal.
Israel and Hamas had appeared to narrow the gaps in recent days, with the US, Egypt and Qatar mediating.
CIA Director William Burns met Tuesday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Cairo to discuss the negotiations, El-Sisi’s office said. More talks were to be held Wednesday in Qatar, where Hamas maintains a political office.
But obstacles remain, even after Hamas agreed to relent on its key demand that Israel commit to ending the war as part of any agreement. Hamas still wants mediators to guarantee that negotiations conclude with a permanent ceasefire.
Israel has rejected any deal that would force it to end the war with Hamas intact. Hamas on Monday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “putting more obstacles in the way of negotiations,” including the operations in Gaza City.
Hamas’ cross-border raid on Oct. 7 killed 1,200 people in southern Israel, most of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities. The militants took roughly 250 people hostage. About 120 are still in captivity, with about a third said to be dead.
Israel’s bombardment and offensives in Gaza have killed more than 38,200 people and wounded more than 88,000, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.
A Tunisian village’s fight for running water
- Tunisia’s national water grid supplies almost all of the country’s urban areas, but only about half of the rural population
SBIKHA, Tunisia: In front of a small mosque in central Tunisia, women queue at one of their village’s last water sources, a pipe meant for crop irrigation, but now a lifeline in the parched area.
“We just need something to drink,” said Ribh Saket, 56, under the punishing summer sun as she placed a jerrycan beneath a makeshift tap hooked into the water supply.
Like its neighbor Algeria and large areas of the Mediterranean region, Tunisia suffers from “alert drought conditions,” according to the European Drought Observatory.
But while drought and rising temperatures impact the region as a whole, repercussions are felt twofold in rural areas, where poverty rates tend to be higher.
Tunisia’s national water grid supplies almost all of the country’s urban areas, but only about half of the rural population.
The other half largely rely on wells built by local agrarian associations officially working under the agriculture ministry.
“We’ve been marginalized,” said Saket, whose village of around 250 families had one such well.
But it was shut down in 2018 due to unpaid electricity bills — a common issue among agrarian associations — and the villagers were left without pumps to extract the water for their community in the Sbikha area, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of Kairouan city.
Since then, the families said they have been relying on water from wells originally dug up by local farmers to irrigate their lands.
None of these wells have been authorized by the state as they are often contaminated with pollutants and unfit for human consumption due to improper construction and testing.
Flashing a scar that ran the length of his abdomen, Ali Kammoun, 57, said he has had two surgeries due to waterborne diseases.
“Half of us have kidney issues,” his neighbor, Leila Ben Arfa, said. “The water is polluted, but we have to drink it.”
The 52-year-old said she and other women “bring the jerrycans on our backs.”
Tunisia, in its sixth year of drought, ranks as the world’s 33rd most water-stressed country, according to the World Resources Institute.
The World Bank says by 2030 the Middle East and North Africa will fall below the “absolute water scarcity” threshold of 500 cubic meters yearly per person.
That amount is already below 450 cubic meters per inhabitant in Tunisia.
More than 650,000 Tunisians, mainly in the countryside, have no running water at home, with almost half of them living far from a public water source, according to a 2023 United Nations report.
Bottled water, costing around half a Tunisian dinar (16 cents) per liter, remains a luxury for the families whose governorate is Tunisia’s poorest.
“We need to find a solution,” said Djaouher Kammoun, a 26-year-old farmer who has been sharing his well water with other villagers.
“Most families come to fetch water while we’re working, and sometimes we can’t do both,” he said, describing the system as unsustainable.
According to the National Agricultural Observatory (ONAGRI), about 60 percent of wells across the country are privately dug and unauthorized.
But while the practice may provide a temporary — albeit unhealthy — solution for some, it exacerbates water scarcity.
A 2022 study by ONAGRI found that Tunisia’s deep aquifers were being exploited at 150 percent their rate of recharge, and groundwater aquifers at 119 percent.
“Today we are in the same spiral, the same vicious circle, with the same problems,” said Minyara Mejbri, Kairouan coordinator at the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES).
The villagers have protested, blockaded roads, and complained multiple times — all to no avail.
“The governorate said we already had access to drinking water,” said Saief Naffati, a 34-year-old who has been leading his community’s efforts to solve the crisis.
“They told us if we protest, we should own up to it, because the National Guard would arrest us.”
At their wit’s end, many have left the village, Naffati added.
Among them is his brother, Raouf, now living in the coastal city of Hammamet.
Saleh Hamadi, a 55-year-old farmer also struggling with distributing his well water, said “at least 150 families have left.”
“Most of our youth have moved away, leaving their elders on their own,” he said.
“In 2024, why is this still a problem? Why are we still thirsty?“
