Middle East Experience

US Secretary of State Bliken warns Russia • Ukraine issues humanitarian aid request from Red Cross
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Ukraine-Russia war: NATO will 'defend allies' against Russian attack - Blinken

The air warfare center at King Abdulaziz Air Base, east of the Kingdom, is one of the most prominent in the world, Commander of the Royal Saudi Air Forces Turki bin Bandar bin Abdul Aziz told Al Arabiya in an exclusive interview.He also said the air warfare center’s prominence is due to its numerous wings and advanced fleets which enhance training to strengthen the combat skills of all air force and technical teams as well as intelligence and support crews.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.His remarks came during a visit to the US Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada where he met with Case Cunningham, the commander of the air force warfare center at the base, and other military officials.The commander also commented on the Royal Saudi Air Forces’ participation in Exercise Red Flag 2022, an air combat exercise which runs in the US from March 4 until March 18, and said Saudi forces are not only participating but also leading missions in the training.He added that it’s not easy for air forces to participate in this exercise given the high standards required to be allowed to participate.According to the US Air Force, Red Flag 2022 will cover three main themes: defensive, offensive and counter-air techniques.The US Nellis Air Force Base said 14 units with nearly 1,750 participants will take part in the exercise.Read more:Saudi Arabia’s first World Defense Show in Riyadh ends with $7.9 billion in dealsUS Charge d’Affaires reaffirms support for Saudi defense sector, Vision 2030World Defense Show: GCC defense sector thrives on partnerships, localization
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Saudi Arabia has one of the most prominent air war centers in the world: Commander

The United States is doing all it can to prevent Russia from benefiting from its holdings of International Monetary Fund reserve assets, a US Treasury official said on Friday, saying Moscow faced big, if not insurmountable hurdles to doing so.Russia received $17 billion in IMF assets known as Special Drawing Rights in a new IMF allocation last year, but to spend it, would have to find a country willing to exchange the SDRs for underlying currencies in the form of an interest-bearing loan.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The United States and its partners, which account for the large majority of available counterparts in the IMF’s SDR transactions system, will not undertake any such exchanges, the official said.“The United States is committed to taking all measures to prevent Russia from benefitting from its holdings of IMF SDRs,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.“As a result of sanctions by the United States and our partners, the Russian regime would face significant, even insurmountable, hurdles to use its SDRs.”Even if the Russian Central Bank acquired key currencies such as dollars, euros, yen or pounds, through an SDR transaction, those assets would be “effectively immobilized” due to sanctions imposed by the United States and key partners following Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, the official added.US Republican lawmakers this week told Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that she must block Russia from exchanging the SDRs, warning that the allocation had undermined previous sanctions on Russia even before it invaded Ukraine.All IMF members received SDRs - backed by dollars, euros, yen, sterling and yuan - in proportion to their shareholding in the Fund in the distribution aimed at helping poorer countries fight the COVID-19 pandemic.The lawmakers also said that Yellen and US allies should plan for contingencies to block a bailout if an economically weakened Russia is forced to turn to the IMF for future loans.Read more: US calls on UN to expel Russian diplomat for being ‘intelligence operative’
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US taking ‘all measures’ to stop Russia benefiting from IMF assets: Treasury official

The man was going to take a bus in the city - but was asked to get off the bus by the driver because of the Jewish symbol on his clothes. 
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Swedish Jewish man denied entry to bus due to Jewish symbol on clothing

One of the key conclusions that were passed is treating antisemitism as a separate phenomenon from all types of racism.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: European Council adopts its conclusions on racism, antisemitism

The US had warned Russia of staging "false-flag incidents."
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Ukraine claims Russia planning false flag terrorism in Donbas

Raif Badawi has spent a decade behind bars solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression. The Saudi Arabian authorities must ensure his immediate and unconditional release and lift the unlawful travel ban imposed on him so he can finally reunite with his family..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Saudi Arabia: Blogger Raif Badawi, arbitrarily detained beyond his sentence, must be immediately released

Defense Minister Benny Gantz held a meeting with superior members of the defense system.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Israel's defense system to assist with Ukrainian olim, refugee intake

World powers are close to an agreement with Iran on a sequenced return to the 2015 nuclear accord to be implemented over a period of months, with relief for reeling global oil markets unlikely to come overnight.Negotiators are finalizing a timeline for reactivating the agreement, which will begin with minimal measures by both sides while the Biden administration puts the plan before Congress, which will eventually need to approve relief on oil sanctions, two people familiar with the talks said, declining to be named as the details have yet to be made public.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.A deal could be announced within days.A European official with knowledge of the negotiations said it would take a couple of months from agreement for Iranian oil exports to resume.Negotiators have blown through previous time limits during more than 10 months of talks in Vienna. But officials speaking both on and off the record in recent days have said an agreement could be reached after the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, returns from a visit to Tehran scheduled for Saturday.The IAEA, the world’s nuclear watchdog, convenes its next board meeting on March 7, when any solution proposed by Grossi could be finalized.Iran has demanded the International Atomic Energy Agency conclude its stalled investigation of past nuclear work as part of any deal to reactivate the agreement, which imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear work in return for sanctions relief. The pact was championed by Barack Obama and unilaterally abandoned by his successor, Donald Trump, in 2018. With US sanctions tightening around its economy, Iran wound down its own compliance over the past four years and has since enriched uranium close to the levels needed for a bomb. The agency has been probing the source of uranium particles detected at several undeclared locations in Iran.Western negotiators have said they can’t agree to close the probe because the IAEA works independently. But Grossi signaled Thursday in an interview with Bloomberg Television that while a “number of issues need to be clarified” before he can end the inquiry, a deal might be achieved.Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s envoy, said the sides were “on the finish line with a deal now possible within 48 hours.” The U.K. also said Thursday that a final agreement was “very close.” Other diplomats with knowledge of the Vienna talks said privately they expected a breakthrough early next week.Iran sounded a more cautious note late Thursday, however, with foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh warning on Twitter that “premature good news was no substitute for a good agreement.”Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said in a statement earlier on Friday that he would travel to Vienna to mark the deal’s finalization “once the West agrees to our red lines” suggesting that much still hinges on Grossi’s visit.Iran claims its nuclear program is entirely peaceful but Western concerns it might try to develop warheads drove diplomacy that culminated in the 2015 deal.Reviving the seven-year-old landmark nuclear agreement with Iran, often referred to as the JCPOA, would mean relief for global energy markets and could help lower tensions around the Gulf where Iran’s standoff with the US helped fuel conflict.This week oil surged as high as $119 a barrel after Russian invaded Ukraine and other oil-producing nations, including members of the OPEC+ group, are reluctant to significantly increase production.Traders have been expecting a return of Iranian barrels to global markets this year. Iran, which holds the world’s No. 2 natural gas and No. 4 crude reserves, could probably raise exports by around 1 million barrels a day within months of any deal coming into full effect, according to traders.Read more: Iran nearing nuclear bomb yardstick as enriched uranium stock grows
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: World powers, Iran near deal on staggered return to nuclear pact

"On 9 March 2022, in the course of a routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile," the Indian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: India says it accidentally fired missile into Pakistan