Middle East Experience

The Israeli military said its warplanes struck a Hamas weapons manufacturing site, a tunnel and a military post.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Israel targets Hamas sites after rocket attack

Ukraine’s security chief said he believes the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane by Iran’s military over Tehran in January 2020 was an intentional act rather than an accident as claimed by the Iranian regime.Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council, told Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail in an interview published on Friday, that he believes the incident was a “conscious attack.”For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“When they say this was accidental … I don’t buy that,” Danilov told The Globe and Mail. “It was intentional. This was a conscious attack.”He said that Iran’s refusal to allow international investigators full access to the evidence has led him to believe that Tehran downed the plane intentionally.“Iran does not allow anybody to examine this tragedy, and they postpone or slow down any investigations. The fact that they are investigating themselves is rather surprising, to put it politely,” Danilov said.Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shot down the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 people on board. The majority of passengers were Iranian. Citizens from Canada, Ukraine, Britain and Afghanistan were also among the passengers.After denying responsibility for three days, Iran admitted to downing the plane, declaring it a “disastrous mistake.”Danilov’s hypothesis is that Iran was looking for a way to prevent a tit-for-tat situation with the United States.Hours before the plane was shot down, Iran had struck US military bases in Iraq in response to the US killing of the commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force Gen. Qassem Soleimani days earlier.Iran wanted to make sure there would be no US response to its attack on American military bases in Iraq, according to Danilov.“Since January 8 of last year, the question has remained in my head: ‘Why do they do this?’ If you remember MH17, which the Russians shot down on the order of military authorities … active military actions came to a halt after this crash, because the whole world was focused on understanding what happened,” he said, referring to the downing of flight Malaysia Airlines in 2014.“If you project this logic onto what happened on January 8, there was the Soleimani assassination, after which total war was expected. After shooting down the plane and killing our citizens, among others, this [total war] went from first priority to 10th priority,” Danilov added.Through these remarks, Danilov, as Ukraine’s security chief, is representing the Ukrainian government, Ukraine’s deputy Foreign Minister Yevhen Yenin told The Globe and Mail.“We don’t believe the version of human error until we see the evidence.” Yenin said, according to the newspaper.Rehana Dhirani, whose father Asghar Dhirani died in the crash, wrote on Twitter on Friday: “We’ve always known #PS752 was intentional, the excuse of ‘human error’ is a pathetic attempt to cover the actions of the regime.”Last month, Iran published its final report into the incident. “The plane was identified as a hostile target due to a mistake by the air defence operator...near Tehran and two missiles were fired at it,” the report said, according to the website of Iran’s civil aviation body.Commenting on the Iranian report, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described it as, “nothing more than a cynical attempt to hide the true reasons for the downing of our plane.”“We will not allow Iran to hide the truth, we will not allow it to avoid responsibility for this crime,” Kuleba wrote on Facebook.In December, Canada’s former foreign minister Francois-Philippe Champagne had also said he does not believe Iranian claims that the plane was shot down as a result of “human error.”Read more:Iran starts enriching uranium at 60 pct, its highest level everIran finalizes purchase of 60 million Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines from RussiaIran blames US ‘psychological warfare’ for decline in flights over airspace
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Ukraine top security official believes Iran downed Ukrainian plane intentionally

The State Department said Friday that the Iran-backed Houthis were holding up a peaceful solution to the war in Yemen.Steps to reach a ceasefire in Yemen include “ending the Houthi assault on Marib, facilitating UN inspection and repair of the SAFER oil tanker, and supporting the Republic of Yemen Government’s efforts to stabilize the Yemeni economy and ease the humanitarian crisis,” the State Department said.For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.After his fourth visit to the region, US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking has returned to Washington. During his trip abroad, Lenderking also stopped in Germany before heading to the United Arab Emirates.Since taking office, US President Joe Biden has said ending the Yemen war was a priority for him. He tapped Lenderking to head these efforts.The latter has been working in partnership with UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths.But despite a softer approach against Yemen’s Houthis by the Biden administration, the group has ramped up its offensive on the northern government stronghold of Marib and continued launching missiles and drones at civilian targets inside Saudi Arabia.The group, which was designated a terrorist organization by the US until Biden took office, is also blocking UN access to an oil tanker off the coast of Yemen.Stranded near the Red Sea port in Hodeidah since 2015, the Houthis have refused to allow the United Nations or other international organizations to board the vessel. Estimates suggest that over 1 million barrels of crude oil could spill into the sea, and the UN has warned of “catastrophic environmental and humanitarian consequences.”While in Berlin, the US diplomat participated in talks with officials from Germany, Kuwait, Sweden, the EU and permanent members of the UN Security Council.In the UAE, Lenderking met with Emirati officials “to discuss the importance of full implementation of the Riyadh Agreement and a united Republic of Yemen Government.”The Houthis agreed to the Riyadh Agreement in November 2019 in a deal that would split government posts between the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC). But the group quickly reneged and continued fighting.In recent weeks, the Yemeni government has voiced its willingness to reach a political solution to the yearslong conflict. The international community, including the US, Europe and the UN, has welcomed efforts by Saudi Arabia and other regional countries to end the war.On Thursday, the State Department released a statement ripping into the Houthis for not committing to these efforts. The US ambassador to the UN also hit out at the group for its lack of seriousness in ending the war.Read more: US diplomat Lenderking flies to Germany, Gulf region for Yemen ceasefire talks
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Top US diplomat for Yemen calls on Houthis to end assault on Marib

Russia’s foreign minister announced Friday that 10 US diplomats would be asked to leave the country and eight American officials would be sanctioned.Sergei Lavrov also said that Russia would proceed with “painful measures to America” and that it would halt the operation of “American funds and organizations that are directly trying to meddle in Russia’s domestic political life.”For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.On Thursday, the US issued several sanctions on Russian agencies and officials for their alleged interference in last year’s presidential election.Speaking during a joint news conference with his Serbian counterpart, the Russian diplomat admitted that the sanctions imposed on Russia’s banking system and its national debt could not be easily reciprocated.“We don’t have the same leverage,” he said, but claimed that Russian experts said the sanctions would be “quite manageable.”It was also revealed that Moscow ‘advised’ the US ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, to return to Washington for ‘detailed consultations’ during a meeting earlier in the week.Russia's ambassador to the US has not been in Washington for the better part of a month after Biden said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was a killer.Other moves Russia will respond to the latest sanctions with include limiting the number of non-US staff at its consulates and embassy in Russia.Russia will also limit the number of what Lavrov called visas for 'short-term trips' of US diplomats to Moscow for unclear reasons.Read more: New US sanctions against Russia won’t ‘help’ Putin-Biden summit plans: Kremlin
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Russia hits back at US, will expel 10 diplomats and sanction eight officials

Fears are growing for the health and wellbeing of imprisoned human rights defender Mohammed al-Qahtani, who has been held incommunicado after testing positive for Covid-19 in Saudi Arabia’s Al Ha’ir prison, said Amnesty International. .
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Fears grow for Saudi human rights defender held incommunicado

Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi pledged to do "whatever it takes" to prevent Iranian extremists from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Israel pledges to prevent a nuclear Iran in UAE, Cyprus, Greece talks

Sources had previously told Reuters that a Sudanese delegation comprising security and intelligence officials would travel to Israel next week.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Sudan denies that delegation will visit Israel

“We just finished the first year of coronavirus and we don’t know if it is coming back."
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: In Israel, ‘COVID-19 could come back in the winter’

Callamard began her duties as secretary-general just last month.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Amnesty denounces S-G's tweet that alluded Israel assassinated Arafat

A Korean embroidery exhibition has been launched online as part of the Korea-UAE Cultural Dialogue..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Korean embroidery virtual exhibition opens in the UAE