(December 9, 2024)
Syrian opposition leaders had agreed to guarantee the safety of Russian military bases and diplomatic institutions in Syria, the source told news agencies.
Archiv: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) / Golf-Kooperationsrat ( Bahrain / Kuwait / Oman / Qatar / Saudi Arabia / United Arab Emirates) / war coalition
Exclusive: Qatar opens contacts with Syria‘s HTS group, source says
(December 9, 2024)
Qatar‘s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters requests for comment about the contacts with HTS, a group formerly allied with Al Qaeda and which is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., European Union, Turkey and the U.N.
Qatar’s Syrian endgame
(December 4,2024)
One has to decide to what extent such notions as reconciliation, appeasement or friendship have any reliable meaning when dealing with Qatar or Turkey.
Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, with its well-known loyalty to both Turkey and Qatar, could not have moved its troops without Qatari instructions.
Funding for the Free Syrian Army is part of a budget allocated by Doha since the Qatari leadership decided to overthrow President Assad at the beginning of the civil war.
Syrian army command tells officers that Assad‘s rule has ended
The unnamed officer made the remarks to Reuters on Sunday after reports said President Assad had flown out of Damascus for an unknown destination.
Meanwhile, the militants declared that they had captured the capital, announcing the fall of the Assad government.
Gulf Cooperation Council summit‘s points on Gaza
– The council condemned Israel‘s aggression in Gaza, and said it reaffirmed its stance demanding an „immediate and permanent cessation of Israeli military operations“ and lifting the blockade on Gaza.
– The council said Israel bears „full responsibility“ for its targeting and assault on civilians in Gaza, and said these attacks were war crimes and crimes against humanity.
– The council welcomed the International Criminal Court‘s decision to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant.
– The council said Israel‘s ongoing war on Gaza is a part of „a genocide and ethnic cleansing agenda“, and condemned Israel‘s attacks on hospitals and on aid workers in Gaza.
GCC Summit in Kuwait urges immediate ceasefire, aid for Gaza
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders convened in Kuwait on Sunday, issuing a unified call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza amid „Israel‘s“ ongoing genocidal campaign.
The summit‘s final statement urged a complete halt to military operations, the delivery of humanitarian aid, and the establishment of safe corridors for civilians in the beleaguered Palestinian territory.
KSA abandons US defense pact over Palestinian statehood ‚stalemate‘: Report
As a result of the Saudi and Israeli positions, “Riyadh and Washington hope a more modest defense pact could be sealed before President Joe Biden leaves the White House in January,” according to the Saudi and western sources.
Saudi Arabia abandons pursuit of US defence treaty over Israel stalemate
In a drive to get a wide-ranging mutual security treaty over the line earlier this year, Riyadh softened its position on Palestinian statehood, telling Washington that a public commitment from Israel to a two-state solution could be enough for the Gulf kingdom to normalise relations.
But with public anger in Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East at fever pitch over Israel‘s military actions in Gaza, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has again made recognition of Israel conditional on it taking concrete steps to create a Palestinian state, two Saudi and three Western sources said.
Archiv: Lebanese military has neither air defense nor airforce / factual authorization for Israel airstrikes / worldwide news blackout or silence
(archive entries)
The world must stop the ethnic cleansing of northern Gaza
For a year now, since the war began, the international community has shown utter impotence to stop the indiscriminate attack on civilians in the Gaza Strip. Now, when it is clearer than ever that Israel intends to forcibly displace northern Gaza’s residents by committing some of the gravest crimes under the laws of war, the world’s nations must take action.
Without immediate, decisive action from the international community, without using every tool available – political, legal, economic – the mass killings in the northern Gaza Strip will continue and the suffering of its besieged civilians will grow. All international bodies and institutions must act now to compel Israel to stop the war and end the carnage.
Exclusive: Gulf states sought to reassure Iran of their neutrality in Iran-Israel conflict, sources say
„The GCC message to the Iranians is, ‚please de-escalate‘,” Shihabi said, referring to the Gulf Cooperation Council that is made up of the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking at the event in Doha, said Iran would be ready to respond and warned against „silence“ in the face of Israel‘s „warmongering“.
The coming US-Saudi nuclear deal: Keep it honest
(January 5, 2024)
In 1988, the Central Intelligence Agency did discover that Riyadh bought SS-2 medium-range missiles from China but only after the deal was sealed. In 2003, when China exported DF-21 ballistic missiles to the Kingdom, the CIA again found out and was even allowed to verify the missiles were not nuclear-capable, but only after the missiles were delivered.
Several years later, when intelligence finally leaked out that China secretly built missile factories for the Saudis, the Trump administration was mum on whether there was an intelligence failure and allowed speculation that it had blessed the transaction. Then, in 2020, when US intelligence confirmed China was helping the Kingdom mill uranium domestically, it did so, again only after the mining and milling were well underway.
This track record of studied inadvertence, then, brings us to the next worry: MBS wants Washington to green-light the Kingdom enriching uranium…
Normalization for Proliferation? The Saudi Nuclear Strategy and the Price of Peace with Israel
(March 19, 2023)
In general, the Saudis wish to present themselves as Iran’s equals, and if Iran can enrich uranium, say the Saudis, then so can we. In addition, the Saudis want to keep all their nuclear options open, even if they are not intending to work on the development of nuclear weapons immediately.
U.S. approved secret nuclear power work for Saudi Arabia
(March 27, 2019)
Many U.S. lawmakers are concerned that sharing nuclear technology with Saudi Arabia could eventually lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. (…)
Last month, Democratic House members alleged in a report that top White House aides ignored warnings they could be breaking the law as they worked with former U.S. officials in a group called IP3 International to advance a multibillion-dollar plan to build nuclear reactors in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia.
Senators Express Concerns Over Reports That Saudis Want US Support for Nuclear Program
(Oct 04, 2023)
Amid reports that Saudi Arabia is seeking United States support for its nuclear energy program—whose capacities critics fear could be utilized to develop nuclear weapons—a group of 20 U.S. senators on Wednesday urged President Joe Biden to „seriously consider“ whether such a move is in the national interest as the administration brokers a possible normalization deal between the kingdom and Israel.
Peace With Israel Means War With Iran
(August 30, 2023)
Policymakers in Washington and the Middle East have been busy talking about the possibility of Saudi Arabia normalizing its ties with Israel in return, in part, for a formal defense pact with the United States. Receiving far less attention is a critical question, at least for Riyadh: Would such a move jeopardize Saudi Arabia’s recent diplomatic accord with Iran?
Pentagon to Send More U.S. Troops to Middle East as Tensions Rise
The troops will number in the dozens, one official said, and will head to the region to help protect the thousands of Americans who are stationed there.
(…)
About 40,000 American troops are stationed in the region on bases in Iraq, in Syria and in the Persian Gulf countries. The U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln is in the Gulf of Oman, and a second aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Harry S. Truman, left Norfolk, Va., on Monday for the Mediterranean as part of a regularly scheduled deployment.
Sie wissen von der Bundeswehr-Beteiligung an der Kriegsflotte im Persischen Golf, oder?
(3. August 2021)
24. Juni 2019: Der damalige U.S.-Außenminister Mike Pompeo fordert eine „globale Koalition“ gegen den Iran. passenderweise vorgetragen bei einem Blitzbesuch Pompeos in Saudi-Arabien.
4. August 2019: Ich lege mich fest und prognostiziere, dass „Bundeswehr-Marine .. noch vor Weihnachten unter Oberbefehl einer ausländischen Macht in den Persischen Golf entsandt“ wird.
(…)
20. Januar 2020: Monate vor der Ausrufung des bis heute andauernden Ausnahmezustands und bereits im Windschatten von SARS II („Coronavirus“), beschließen die Staatsführungen von Frankreich, Deutschland, Griechenland, Italien, der Niederlande, Belgien, Dänemark und Portugal in einer gemeinsamen Erklärung die „European-led maritime surveillance mission in the Strait of Hormuz“ (E.M.A.S.O.H.), von der Sie und 80 Millionen Andere bis heute nie gehört haben.
Israeli military says it has increased its readiness for war in north
(April 7, 2024)
In a statement titled „Readiness for the Transition from Defense to Offense,“ the military said the phase completed centred on logistics „for a broad mobilization of IDF (Israel Defence Forces) troops“.
„The commanders of the regular and reserve units are prepared to summon and equip all the required soldiers in just a few hours and transport them to the front line for defensive and offensive missions,“ the military said.
Readiness advances for ‚war‘ on Lebanon border: Israel
(April 7, 2024)
The Israeli army on Sunday said it had reached „another phase“ of preparation for war on its northern border with Lebanon, where it has spent months exchanging fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Inside President Biden’s pointed phone call with Benjamin Netanyahu
(April 7, 2024)
The prime minister’s office declined to comment on the exchange. The White House declined to comment for this story.
Biden Administration Presses Congress on $18 Billion Sale of F-15 Jets to Israel
(02.04.2024)
While Israel has used the F-15s it already owns to strike Gaza, its request for the planes appears to reflect longer-term concern about regional threats, including from Lebanon-based Hezbollah, Iran-backed militias in Syria, and Iran itself. The Israel Defense Forces would probably employ F-15s in any potential attack on Iran’s nuclear program.
Families Of Hostages Still Captive In Gaza Approach World Court Against Hamas
Haim Rubinstein from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said the campaign group will file a case against Hamas leaders at the ICC.
„We are the families of the hostages who have gone through and are still going through this terrible hell,“ Rubinstein said in a televised briefing from Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv.
„We will file charges against Hamas members and their collaborators and ensure that they pay the heaviest price for the crimes against humanity that they continue to commit.“
Saudi Arabia ready to back US air strikes on Houthi rebels
(09.01.2024)
Sie wissen von der Bundeswehr-Beteiligung an der Kriegsflotte im Persischen Golf, oder?
(3. August 2021)
24. Juni 2019: Der damalige U.S.-Außenminister Mike Pompeo fordert eine „globale Koalition“ gegen den Iran. passenderweise vorgetragen bei einem Blitzbesuch Pompeos in Saudi-Arabien.
4. August 2019: Ich lege mich fest und prognostiziere, dass „Bundeswehr-Marine .. noch vor Weihnachten unter Oberbefehl einer ausländischen Macht in den Persischen Golf entsandt“ wird.
(…)
20. Januar 2020: Monate vor der Ausrufung des bis heute andauernden Ausnahmezustands und bereits im Windschatten von SARS II („Coronavirus“), beschließen die Staatsführungen von Frankreich, Deutschland, Griechenland, Italien, der Niederlande, Belgien, Dänemark und Portugal in einer gemeinsamen Erklärung die „European-led maritime surveillance mission in the Strait of Hormuz“ (E.M.A.S.O.H.), von der Sie und 80 Millionen Andere bis heute nie gehört haben.
Deutschland zieht nicht, es kriecht in den nächsten Angriffskrieg
(25.Juni 2019)
Als vor dreieinhalb Jahren Pazifisten, Sozialdemokraten und politische Linke in Deutschland der Entsendung der staatlichen Luftwaffe in die Kriege im Irak und Syrien tatenlos zusahen, warnten wir bereits vor deren moralisch-politischem Zusammenbruch und Kapitulation. Die genau zu diesem Zweck exekutierte psychologische Kriegführung gegen die Bevölkerung setzt sich bis heute praktisch ohne Widerstand politisch links stehender Kräfte fort. Die Logik des Terrorkrieges (Behauptungen von Behörden / Autoritäten darf nicht widersprochen und muss alles abgekauft werden) wird von den Betreffenden weiter willig geschluckt.
Weder hinsichtlich der Tanker-Explosionen im Golf von Oman, nach der bereits das U.S.-Imperium einen “globalen Konsens” gegen den Iran beanspruchte, noch nach dem Abschuss einer U.S.-Spionage-Drohne an der Straße von Hormuz, welcher offensichtlich nach einer absichtlichen Luftraumverletzung des Iran und mehrfachen direkten Vorwarnungen durch das iranische Militär erfolgte und in dem das U.S.-Zentralkommando – nach glaubwürdigen Angaben des iranischen Militärs, mit Details zum Flugzeugtyp (eine Boeing P8 Poseidon) und sogar zur Anzahl der Insassen – auch das Leben von 35 Militärangehörigen an Bord eines begleitenden Kampfflugzeuges gezielt und bewusst als Bauernopfer für die angestrebte Eskalation anbot, erfolgte irgendeine nennenswerte Reaktion in Deutschland; nicht aus dem angeblich oder tatsächlich pazifistischen, sozialdemokratischen oder linken Spektrum, noch aus irgendeinem zuständigen parlamentarischen Gremium.
It’s Time to Close the Door on Biden’s Saudi Defense Deal
The day after Hamas’ horrific attack on Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken went on television to reiterate the Biden team’s claim that a grand bargain with the Saudi government “would really change the prospects for the entire region far into the future.”
In reality, a U.S.-Saudi mutual defense pact was a terrible idea before the Gaza war began, and it would be disastrous now.
US, UK forces carry out fresh airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen: Top updates
The airstrikes, carried out on Monday night, marked the eighth round of allied attacks in 12 days. They targeted an underground storage site and locations linked to the Houthis’ “missile and air surveillance capabilities,” the US and UK said in a statement along with partners Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands.
War on Gaza: Arab despots‘ failure to stand up to Israel could fuel an explosion
But something else is happening that is just as important: Palestine is being officially defended by the Global South. South Africa has taken the lead by launching the case for genocide at the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
Palestine, at the same time, is reemerging as a global cause, just as was the case in the fight against apartheid in South Africa. The composition of South Africa’s team of lawyers says it all: multi-ethnic, male, female, Irish, British, South African. There was no Palestinian officially with them in the group. And yet, a day after the hearing ended, there were massive demonstrations in 45 countries – but not in Egypt, Saudi Arabia or even Algeria.
The coming US-Saudi nuclear deal: Keep it honest
(January 5, 2024)
In 1988, the Central Intelligence Agency did discover that Riyadh bought SS-2 medium-range missiles from China but only after the deal was sealed. In 2003, when China exported DF-21 ballistic missiles to the Kingdom, the CIA again found out and was even allowed to verify the missiles were not nuclear-capable, but only after the missiles were delivered.
Several years later, when intelligence finally leaked out that China secretly built missile factories for the Saudis, the Trump administration was mum on whether there was an intelligence failure and allowed speculation that it had blessed the transaction. Then, in 2020, when US intelligence confirmed China was helping the Kingdom mill uranium domestically, it did so, again only after the mining and milling were well underway.
This track record of studied inadvertence, then, brings us to the next worry: MBS wants Washington to green-light the Kingdom enriching uranium…
After Hamas: Rationales and dilemmas for US-Saudi nuclear agreement persist
(19 October 2023)
The United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) have for over a decade negotiated without success the terms of an agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation. These negotiations have intensified recently in the context of US efforts to broker a normalisation agreement between the KSA and Israel, which have included discussions about how the US could solidify its own support for Saudi Arabia. On the 7th of October 2023, Hamas terrorists appeared to drive a stake through the heart of the US effort to broker Israel-KSA normalisation. This has sent shockwaves through the region, and the full implications remain uncertain. However, it seems likely that in the longer run, rationales for normalisation and for US nuclear engagement with Riyadh will remain, reflecting the fact that the Hamas attacks underscored that a future nuclear-armed Iran would be a yet more formidable adversary for both Israel and the KSA.
Germany holds its nose, paving the way for future jet fighter sale to Saudi Arabia
(08.01.2023)
The change was signaled by Green Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during a trip to Israel on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia still interested in Israel normalisation after war on Gaza ends
Prince Khalid bin Bandar, the Saudi ambassador in London, told the BBC on Tuesday that a normalisation deal was „close“ but the kingdom paused US-brokered talks after the attack on Israel on 7 October by Hamas-led fighters.
„For us, the final end point definitely included nothing less than an independent state of Palestine,“ he said.
Secretary Blinken’s Meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Al ‘Ula
The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:
Secretary Blinken’s Travel to Türkiye, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank, and Egypt
Secretary Antony J. Blinken will travel to Istanbul, Türkiye; Crete, Greece; Amman, Jordan; Doha, Qatar; Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates; Al ‘Ula, Saudi Arabia; Tel Aviv, Israel; the West Bank; and Cairo, Egypt from January 4-11, 2024.