Middle East Experience

The Mossad provided to the world’s nuclear watchdog evidence that led it to discover four concealed nuclear sites and certain traces of illicit nuclear material.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Iran to provide new answers to IAEA about Mossad-seized documents

Lebanese central bank governor Riad Salameh said on Monday that he ordered an audit which showed that no public funds were a source of his wealth, denying a charge of illicit enrichment made against him by a judge.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“This audit report was submitted to the relevant authorities in Lebanon and abroad,” Salameh said in response to a question sent by text message from Reuters.Judge Ghada Aoun charged Salameh with illicit enrichment on Monday, the judge told Reuters, days after she ordered his brother Raja arrested in the same case.Aoun said Riad Salameh, governor for nearly three decades, had not attended a hearing scheduled for Monday, and she had charged him in absentia.She said the charge related to the purchase and rental of Paris apartments, including some to the central bank, Aoun told Reuters.On Friday, Raja Salameh’s lawyer said allegations of illicit enrichment and money laundering against his client were unfounded, calling the evidence “media speculation without any evidence.”Read more: Lebanon judge arrests central bank head’s brotherLebanon cenbank governor working from office despite legal pressure: SourcesLebanon gets German query on c.bank governor finances: Source
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Lebanese central bank governor Salameh denies illicit enrichment charge

Saudi Arabia said on Monday it would not bear responsibility for any global oil supply shortages after attacks on its oil facilities by the Iran-aligned Houthis.The Houthi movement fired missiles and drones at several facilities of Saudi state oil firm Aramco over the weekend, causing a temporary drop in output at a refinery and a fire at a petroleum products distribution terminal.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.A Saudi foreign ministry official said in remarks on state news agency SPA that such attacks result in serious consequences for upstream and downstream sectors affecting “the Kingdom’s production capacity and its ability to fulfil its obligations.”Aramco CEO Amin Nasser, asked in an earnings webcast about the statement, said: “These types of attacks and that type of escalation during a time when the market is very tight is a real concern for the world ... If more escalations happen over time, it might have some impact on supply.”The unidentified official urged the global community to “realize the gravity of Iran’s continued behavior in equipping” the Houthis, who are fighting the Arab coalition that intervened in Yemen seven years ago. Iran denies arming the group.The source highlighted the danger of Iran’s continuing to provide Houthis with ballistic missile and drone technology, which the Yemen-based group uses to target oil and gas production sites in the Kingdom.Recent attacks will affect the Kingdom’s production capacity and its ability to meet its supply obligations, threatening global energy supply, according to SPA.The source highlighted the importance of standing against the Houthis and deterring them from further attacks.Global energy prices have skyrocketed in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and sanctions on Russian oil and gas, prompting several Western leaders to urge Gulf Arab states to increase production.Sunday saw several Houthi attacks on energy facilities in Saudi Arabia.One targeted an Aramco petroleum distribution plant in Jeddah, causing a fire but no injuries or casualties, state television reported.Earlier on Sunday, the Arab Coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen reported the destruction of an explosive-laden boat in Hodeidah, and the thwarting of an imminent attack targeting the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.State television al-Ekhbariya cited the coalition as saying it had intercepted and destroyed three drones that targeted economic facilities.The coalition also foiled an attack on an Aramco Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility in the Saudi city of Yanbu, state television reported.The coalition fighting in Yemen since 2015 said the latest Houthi escalation by targeting economic and civil facilities was a response to a Gulf call for talks.In a statement, the coalition added the escalation included ballistic missiles, drones and cruise missiles.-- With ReutersRead more: Arab Coalition says intercepted, destroyed ‘hostile target’ launched towards JeddahHouthi attack on Aramco distribution plant in Jeddah causes fire: CoalitionHouthi attacks targeted Saudi oil and gas facilities: Report
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Saudi Arabia not responsible for oil shortages in light of Houthi attacks: Official

Ukrainian officials defiantly rejected a Russian demand that their forces in Mariupol lay down arms and raise white flags Monday in exchange for safe passage out of the besieged strategic port city.Even as Russia intensified its attempt to pummel Mariupol into surrender, its offensive in other parts of Ukraine has floundered. Western governments and analysts say the broader conflict is grinding into a war of attrition, with Russia continuing to bombard cities.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.In the capital, Kyiv, a shopping center in the densely populated Podil district near the city center was a smoldering, flattened ruin on Monday after being hit the day before by shelling that killed eight people, according to emergency officials. The force of the explosion shattered every window in a neighboring high-rise.Artillery boomed in the distance as firefighters picked their way through the destruction.Ukrainian authorities also said Russia shelled a chemical plant in northeastern Ukraine, sending toxic ammonia leaking into the air, and hit a military training base in the west with cruise missiles.The encircled southern city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov has seen some of the worst horrors of the war, under Russian pounding for more than three weeks, in a brutal assault that Ukrainian and Western officials have called a war crime.Strikes hit an art school sheltering some 400 people only hours before Russia’s offer to open corridors out of the city in return for the capitulation of its defenders, according to Ukrainian officials.Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was not clear how many casualties there were.“They are under the rubble, and we don’t know how many of them have survived,” he said in a video address, vowing that Ukraine would “shoot down the pilot who dropped that bomb.”Russian Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev had offered two corridors — one heading east toward Russia and the other west to other parts of Ukraine — in return for Mariupol’s surrender. He did not say what Russia planned if the offer was rejected.The Russian Ministry of Defense said authorities in Mariupol could face a military tribunal if they sided with what it described as “bandits,” the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.Ukrainian officials rejected the proposal even before Russia’s deadline of 5 a.m. Moscow time (0200GMT) for a response came and went.“There can be no talk of any surrender, laying down of arms,"Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk told the news outlet Ukrainian Pravda. "We have already informed the Russian side about this.”Mariupol Mayor Piotr Andryushchenko also quickly dismissed the offer, saying in a Facebook post he didn’t need to wait until the morning deadline to respond and cursing at the Russians, according to the news agency Interfax Ukraine.The strike on the art school was the second time in less than a week that officials reported an attack on a public building where Mariupol residents had taken shelter. On Wednesday, a bomb hit a theater where more than 1,000 people were believed to be sheltering. At least 130 people were reported rescued Friday, but there has been no update since then.Mariupol officials said at least 2,300 people have died in the siege, with some buried in mass graves.City officials and aid groups say Russian bombardment has cut off Mariupol’s electricity, water and food supplies and severed its communications with the outside world, plunging the remaining residents into a chaotic fight for survival.“What’s happening in Mariupol is a massive war crime," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday.Multiple attempts to evacuate residents from Mariupol and other Ukrainian cities have failed or only partly succeeded, with bombardments continuing as civilians tried to flee.Some who were able to escape Mariupol tearfully hugged relatives as they arrived by train on Sunday in Lviv in western Ukraine.“Battles took place over every street. Every house became a target,” said Olga Nikitina, who was embraced by her brother as she got off the train. “Gunfire blew out the windows. The apartment was below freezing.”Mariupol is a key Russian target because its fall would allow Russian forces in southern and eastern Ukraine to unite. But Western military analysts say that even if the city is taken, the troops battling a block at a time for control there may be too depleted to help secure Russian breakthroughs on other fronts.More than three weeks into the invasion, the two sides now seem to be trying to wear each other down, experts say, with bogged-down Russian forces launching long-range missiles at cities and military bases as Ukrainian forces carry out hit-and-run attacks and seek to sever Russian supply lines.US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Ukrainian resistance means Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “forces on the ground are essentially stalled.”“It’s had the effect of him moving his forces into a woodchipper,” Austin told CBS on Sunday.Read more: Kremlin says no significant progress yet in peace talks with UkraineUkraine President Zelenskyy says Jerusalem ‘right place for peace’ talks with RussiaAt least six dead in overnight bombing in Ukraine’s Kyiv: Report
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Ukraine officials reject Russian demand for surrender in Mariupol

Saudi Arabia’s Aramco chief Amin Nasser said on Monday that escalating attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis against oil installations in the Kingdom should be a global concern at a time when the oil market was tight.“The message that came out highlighted that these types of attacks and that type of escalation during a time when the market is very tight is a real concern for the world for it will have -- God forbid -- if more escalations happen over time, it might have some impact on supply,” Nasser told an earnings webcast.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.He was referring to a statement that came out on state news agency SPA that Saudi Arabia would not bear responsibility for any shortage of supplies as a result of Houthi attacks.Read more:Saudi Arabia not responsible for oil shortages in light of Houthi attacks: OfficialOutput of Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu oil refinery drops after Houthi attack: OfficialOil prices up more than $6 as EU considers embargo on Russian oil
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Houthi attacks on oil facilities should be of global concern: Saudi Aramco chief

The US ambassador to Russia was summoned to Moscow’s Foreign Ministry on Monday, where he was warned that bilateral ties are on the verge of entirely collapsing, according to a statement from Russia.Russian state-owned news media cited the statement saying that US President Joe Biden had made “unacceptable statements” about his Russian counterpart.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The statement, which was handed to the US ambassador, John Sullivan, was reportedly referring to Biden’s comments in which he called Vladimir Putin a war criminal for the invasion of Ukraine.“Such statements from the US president, unworthy of a statesman of such high rank, put Russian-American relations onthe verge of being severed,” the statement read.The US Embassy in Moscow posted a statement to Twitter without mentioning the Russian statement.“In a meeting with @MFA_Russia today, Ambassador John Sullivan demanded that the government of Russia follow international law and basic human decency to allow consular access to all US citizen detainees in Russia, including those in pre-trial detention,” the Embassy said.“We have repeatedly asked for consular access to American citizen detainees and have consistently and improperly been denied access for months. This is completely unacceptable,” the statement said.Three US citizens being held by RussiaUS basketball star Brittney Griner was arrested last month as she was trying to board her flight to New York. Russian authorities said she was in possession of liquid with hashish oil. US officials have so far been denied access to Griner.A source familiar with the matter said that a Russian lawyer had recently visited her and delivered a federal privacy law form.Paul Whelan, another high-profile detainee, has been in Russian prisons since 2018. The former US Marine is being held on so-called espionage charges and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.Trevor Reed, also a former US Marine, was arrested in 2019 and accused of assaulting police officers while drunk on a visit. He was sentenced to nine years in jailRead more: Unchecked Russia invasion could lead to ‘bloodshed’ in Africa: US, UK, Norway
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Russia summons US ambassador, warns ties with Washington on verge of collapsing

Bennett and Sisi first and last met in September of last year in Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss bilateral ties between the neighboring countries.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Bennett makes surprise visit to Egypt for talks with Sisi

After an eight-month delay, Deborah Lipstadt is expected to be nominated by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday. If confirmed, she will wait for a final full Senate vote.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Lipstadt Committee confirmation scheduled for Wednesday

Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian charity worker held for six years in Tehran, said “freedom will never be complete” until all detainees were allowed to leave..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Back in U.K., Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Urges Iran to Release Others

Zelensky's office invited Bennett to visit as part of his ceasefire mediation efforts between Ukraine and Russia, and the Shin Bet has been preparing a security plan for Bennett to visit Kyiv.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Bennett offered Zelensky to go to Kyiv if talks with Moscow advance