Middle East Experience

Some 30 families in Khirbet al-Aida in Hebron have received notices that their houses will be demolished and their lands expropriated to expand Israeli settlements.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Expanding settlements threaten Palestinian homes in Hebron

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Geneva on Wednesday ahead of a summit with US President Joe Biden, Reuters TV footage showed, with the stage set for a tense first meeting between the two leaders since Biden took office in January.“I hope our meeting will be productive,” Putin said, thanking the US leader for “this initiative to meet today”, while Biden said: “It is always better to meet face to face.”For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Both sides have played down the prospect of any major breakthroughs at the summit, with wide disagreements likely, but have said they hope their talks in a stately lakeside Geneva villa can lead to more stable and predictable relations.The two were first greeted by the Swiss president before sitting down for a small meeting that includes just Biden, Putin, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, with a translator for each side. They’ll then move to larger talks, which will include more senior aides and are expected to last hours.Biden and Putin plan to discuss everything from cybercrime to Russia’s alleged interference in America’s elections, as well as arms control and Russia’s intrusion in Ukraine.The two have stressed the need to restore more stable relations between the two nations.Read more:US President Biden in Geneva for highly-anticipated meeting with Russia’s Putin
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US President Biden, Russia’s Putin meet for long-anticipated summit

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry in Riyadh on Wednesday, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The two sides reviewed international efforts exerted to confront climate change, according to SPA.During the meeting, the Crown Prince and the US envoy discussed the Kingdom’s climate change initiatives, which tackle reducing emissions and preserving the environment, namely the “Saudi Arabia Green Initiative” and the “Middle East Green Initiative.”“As a leading global oil producer, we are fully aware of our share of responsibility in advancing the fight against the climate crisis, and that, as our pioneering role in stabilizing energy markets during the oil and gas era, we will act to lead the next green era,” the Crown Prince said during the announcement of the initiatives in March.Both initiatives will include several projects, including the planting of 10 billion trees in Saudi Arabia in the coming decades.The White House later released a joint statement saying “The United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are committed to addressing the increasing climate challenge with seriousness and urgency… Both countries affirm the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and taking adaptation actions during the 2020s to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.”Read more:Saudi Crown Prince announces Saudi Green Initiative, Middle East Green InitiativeSaudi Arabia’s Crown Prince calls Middle Eastern leaders to discuss Green Initiative
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets US climate envoy

Israeli and Palestinian officials reported different information on a deadly shooting of a Palestinian woman outside of Jerusalem on Wednesday.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Conflicting accounts emerge on West Bank shooting

World powers will seek to raise tens of millions of dollars in emergency aid for the Lebanese army at a meeting on Thursday, aiming to prevent the military from collapsing as the country's economic and political crisis worsens, a French official said..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: France, partners seek urgent aid to help Lebanese army

His employees struggle to find petrol for their cars to drive to work and he has to offer a unique product to get customers to trade with a company based in high-risk Lebanon, but against all odds Fadi Daou's technology firm is thriving..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Entrepreneur defies Lebanon's crises with tech hub

Long lines formed outside Turkish vaccination clinics this week after health officials ramped up the nation’s inoculation drive, administering a record 1.24 million vaccine doses Tuesday.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Turkey gives record 1.24 million vaccine doses in one day

UN envoy for Yemen said Tuesday the international body should keep negotiating with Yemen’s Houthi militias but also look at other options so an oil tanker with more than a million barrels of crude oil, moored off the war-torn country’s coast, doesn’t rupture or explode causing an environmental catastrophe..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: UN ponders options to prevent Yemen tanker spill

An expected win for a hardliner in Iran’s presidential election on Friday is unlikely to slow its bid to revive a nuclear deal and break free of sanctions, with ruling clerics aware their political fortunes rely on tackling worsening economic hardship.Victory for a security hawk such as Ebrahim Raisi would allow the new government to claim credit for any economic benefits arising from the revival of the 2015 nuclear accord, something the outgoing administration may agree in coming weeks.A revived pact would likely see a lifting of tough US curbs that have slashed vital oil exports, with fresh revenues starting to flow early in a new government’s term.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.At the same time, a deeply anti-Western government might be reluctant to dial back Iran’s regional rivalry with US-allied Gulf Arab states, unless ordered to do so by the country’s top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Raisi, a hardline judge, appears the favorite in the five-man race, thanks to support he enjoys from Khamenei. Raisi has voiced support for Iran’s nuclear talks with world powers.Will Iran change its stance in nuclear talks?Unlikely. Khamenei, not the president, has the last say on Iran’s nuclear and foreign policies.With economic misery palpable at home, Iran’s rulers cannot risk starting the talks from scratch after the election.Iran is negotiating with six major powers to revive a nuclear deal abandoned in 2018 by then US President Donald Trump, who argued it was too soft on Tehran. Under the deal Iran agreed to curbs on its nuclear program in return for the lifting of international sanctions.Trump reimposed sanctions that have squeezed Tehran’s oil income and have shut it out of the international banking system.If and when a deal is reinstated, Iran expects to be freed from most US sanctions.Like Khamenei, Raisi has endorsed the talks, but the mid-ranking cleric says a “powerful government should implement it.”A restoration of ties with the United States, which Iran’s rulers have called the “Great Satan” since taking power in a 1979 revolution, remains out of the question.Will a new president alter economic policy?Whoever wins, breaking free of the toughest US sanctions will remain the top economic goal.For hardliners, even as they anticipate victory for one of their own on Friday, the economy remains their Achilles heel.From core supporters of the establishment to working-class Iranians and business elites, all are feeling the impact of galloping inflation and rising joblessness to varying degrees.Iran’s clerics fear a revival of street protests that have erupted across the country since 2017. Officials acknowledge the authorities are vulnerable to anger over worsening poverty.“Raisi’s main challenge will be the economy. Eruption of protests will be inevitable if he fails to heal the nation’s economic pain,” said a government official.Candidates have promised to create jobs and end the fall in the value of the rial. But none have issued detailed plans.Prices of basic goods like bread and rice rise daily. Meat is too dear for many, costing the equivalent of $40 for a kilogram. The minimum monthly wage equates to about $215.Inflation is expected to rise to 39 percent this year from 36.5 percent last year, while unemployment will rise to 11.2 percent this year from 10.8 percent in 2020, the IMF has estimated.Will oil policy change?The goal will remain to free oil exports from sanctions.Sanctions have cost Iran billions of dollars in oil income and lost market share in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, largely to regional rival Saudi Arabia.Industry analysts say if sanctions are lifted Tehran could raise crude output from the current 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd) to a pre-sanctions level of 3.8 million bpd within months.But the global transition to lower carbon fuels, combined with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on energy demand, makes Iran a less attractive market for many energy majors.While some European refiners have shown interest in buying Iranian crude when sanctions are lifted, not many Western oil firms have publicly expressed willingness to invest in Iran.Russian oil and gas producer Lukoil said earlier this month that it would be interested in returning to Iran if sanctions against the country are lifted.Will Iran change its regional policy?This is not clear, and in any case the top authority in foreign policy is Khamenei, not the president.Iran’s Gulf Arab neighbors want an end to Tehran’s push for dominance in the region, where it competes with rival Saudi Arabia for influence from Syria and Iraq to Yemen and Bahrain.“Regional policy is firmly under the control of Khamenei and the IRGC ... meaning there will likely be broad consistency (after the election),” said Eurasia Group analyst Henry Rome, referring to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.Riyadh believes any revival of the 2015 accord should be a starting point for discussions to curb Iran’s missile program, one of the biggest in the Middle East. At the same time, Riyadh has held direct talks with Iran to try to contain tensions.“Iran might score a win if issues pressed by Riyadh and its allies, such as Tehran’s missile program and its proxies, are not included in the nuclear pact,” said Salah Nasrawi, an expert on Middle East politics.Read more:GCC says Iran missile program should be addressed in nuclear talksAhmadinejad: Saudi Arabia and Iran are brothers, neighbors and must work togetherIran says it produced 6.5 kg of uranium enriched to 60 percent
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Explainer: Iran hardliners to retain hold on economy, foreign policy after election

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei urged Iranians on Wednesday to vote in the country’s presidential election on Friday, saying there is a direct correlation between voter turnout and external pressures on the Islamic Republic.“If people’s participation is reduced, the pressure from the enemy increases … if we want to reduce the pressures and sanctions, the people’s participation must increase and the popular support the regime enjoys must be shown to the enemy,” Khamenei said in a televised speech.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Khamenei said all Iranians, regardless of their political preferences, should vote on Friday.He accused US and British media of working to discourage Iranians from voting and trying to undermine the election.Turnout is expected to be a record low amid growing public discontent.Three out of the seven candidates approved to run dropped out of the presidential race on Wednesday: former vice president and only reformist in the vote Mohsen Mehralizadeh; conservative lawmaker Alireza Zakani; and former chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, also a conservative. While Mehralizadeh did not publicly endorse any candidate, his withdrawal was seen as an effort aimed at boosting the chances of former Central Bank governor Abdolnasser Hemmati, who is considered a “moderate” compared with the other candidates. Some reformist groups have endorsed Hemmati.Zakani and Jalili, on the other hand, said they pulled out of the race in favor of judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi, who is seen as the favorite to succeed the incumbent President Hassan Rouhani.Raisi, 60, is frequently mentioned as a possible successor to Khamenei, and an election win could increase his chances of becoming Iran’s next supreme leader.Raisi was appointed by Khamenei in 2019 as head of the judiciary, one of the most powerful positions within the Iranian establishment.The senior judge was one of the main perpetrators of Iran’s mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in the 1980s, rights groups say.Iran has never acknowledged the mass executions and Raisi himself has never publicly addressed the allegations against him.In 2019, the US sanctioned Raisi for human rights abuses, including the 1980s executions.The other two remaining candidates, besides Raisi and Hemmati, are former head of the Revolutionary Guards and current secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council Mohsen Rezaei and conservative lawmaker Amirhossein Ghazizadeh-Hashemi.Read more:Final presidential debate shows Iran’s political fissuresNuclear deal must await new Iran government, IAEA chief tells La RepubblicaExplainer: Iran hardliners to retain hold on economy, foreign policy after election
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Iran election: Khamenei says high turnout would reduce external pressures