Middle East

Photo: A student stands in the ruins of one of his former classrooms, which was destroyed in June 2015, at the Aal Okab school in Saada, Yemen. Students now attend lessons in UNICEF tents nearby. UNICEF/Clarke for UNOCHA.

UN Inching Towards Peace Talks on Yemen

By J Nastranis

Fourteen million civilians are on the edge of famine in Yemen. Starvation is on the horizon, warns WFP's chief David Beasley. What he has seen during a recent visit to the country is "the stuff of nightmares, horror, deprivation and misery". UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy Martin Griffiths is therefore at pains to bring the conflict parties to a negotiating table. "We as women have the highest stake in peace," vows civil society leader Rasha Jarhum.

NEW YORK (IDN) – Yemen is no longer "the forgotten war" that it has long been, Special Envoy for the UN Secretary-General, Martin Griffiths has told the 15-nation Security Council. This is underlined, among others, by the fact that the United Nations plans to convene peace talks on Yemen soon after receiving firm assurances from the conflict parties that they will attend negotiations in Sweden.

: J Nastranis; THE WORLD; Middle East; 18 November 2018

Photo: The UN Security Council adopts Resolution on Iran Nuclear Deal (Resolution 2231), taken on 20 July 2015. UN Photo/Loey Felipe.

A Punitive Approach to Iran's Missile Activities Will Not Fix the Problem

Europe Should Promote a Regional Security Mechanism in the Middle East

Viewpoint by Dr Tytti Erästö *

European powers deserve credit for their efforts to maintain the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), but their current coercive approach to Iran's missiles is counterproductive, writes Dr Tytti Erästö, a researcher in the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-proliferation Programme, in a topical backgrounder published on 15 November, 2018 on SIPRI's website. Following are extensive excerpts from the original article which wa: https://www.sipri.org/commentary/topical-backgrounder/2018/dissecting-international-concerns-about-irans-missiles - The Editor

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 16 November 2018

Palestinians, Goodbye?

Viewpoint by Pier Francesco Zarcone*

ROME (IDN) – Sorry to say so, but the future of the Palestinians is darker and more bleak than ever, because the Sunni Arab countries have become disinterested in them and they have no powerful friends in the world. Today their loneliness is stronger and more evident, as even the residual veils of hypocritical rhetoric have disappeared among the Arabs could support them, having money and political and media influence. Let's see why.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 04 November 2018

Photo: President Rouhani chairing the cabinet session. Credit: President's website www.president.ir/en

U.S. Sanctions Against Iran Raise the Spectre of 'Black November' – and More

By Mortezagholi Raissi

BERLIN (IDN) – With new sanctions, the U.S. wants to make breathing difficult, if not impossible, for Iranians. The sanctions were threatened in May, when President Donald Trump announced that the United States was withdrawing from a 2015 deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), aimed at limiting Iran's nuclear programme.

The sanctions that existed before the nuclear deal were affirmed three days ahead of a long-announced November 5 deadline for nations to cease importing Iranian goods, particularly oil or face financial penalties. Washington wants countries not to buy a drop of oil from Iran. To ensure that this happens, the Trump Administration will be closely monitoring the first week of November onward.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East; 03 November 2018

Photo: Saudi writer and media personality Jamal Khashoggi [Beforeitsnews.com/Facebook]

UN Chief 'Deeply Troubled' by Khashoggi's Death, Rights Experts Slate Saudi Arabia

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – While UN Secretary-General António Guterres in a statement released on October 19, said that he is "deeply troubled" by the reported confirmation of the death of Jamal Khashoggi, independent UN human rights experts have commended business leaders who have decided to pull out of a high-level investment conference – also known as 'Davos in the Desert' – taking place October 23-25 in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

A tweet posted by the Saudi Foreign Ministry on October 19 stated that the missing Saudi journalist, a columnist with the Washington Post newspaper, was killed, claims reportedly echoed on Saudi State TV.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 19 October 2018

Image: The flag of Saudi Arabia (centre) flying at United Nations headquarters in New York. UN Photo/Loey Felipe

UN Urges Saudi Arabia to Release All Incarcerated Women Human Rights Defenders

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – For the second time since July 31, UN human rights experts are calling on Saudi Arabia to "immediately and unconditionally" release all women human rights defenders, including six imprisoned on charges relating to their peaceful defence of human rights.

The detained have been charged for being involved in pro-democracy demonstrations, and previously campaigning for the right of women to vote and drive. In late June 2018, a long-standing ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia, was lifted by royal decree, UN News reports.

: Jamshed Baruah; THE WORLD; Middle East; 14 October 2018

Photo: Russian defence ministry spokesperson Major-General Igor Konashenkov presents the results of an investigation into the shooting down on September 17 of a Russian Ilyushin Il-20 electronic signals intelligence aircraft. Credit: Russian MoD/YouTube

The Russia, Iran, Turkey, Israel and Syria Mosaic

Viewpoint by Pier Francesco Zarcone*

ROME (IDN) – Recent events in Syria (downing of a Russian Ilyushin plane and an agreement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recip Erdoğan on Idlib) lead to some reflections starting with the Israeli bombing that caused more than ten Russian deaths.

Many political observers, including Alberto Negri writing in a September 19 article on the Antidiplomatico site, have noted that when Israel is involved Putin is less decisive than usual. In fact, so far there has been no real Russian reaction to many Israeli violations of Syrian sovereignty, apart from certain formal protests.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 24 September 2018

Photo: The 'Great March of Return’ demonstrations along Israel's perimeter fence with Gaza took place again on 25 May 2018. Credit: www.ochaopt.org

Gaza Could Become Uninhabitable as Israel Continues Blockade

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) – A new United Nations report has called for completely lifting the ongoing Israeli land, air, and sea blockade which has reduced the Gaza Strip to "a humanitarian case of profound suffering and aid dependency". The blockade is now in its eleventh year.

The report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) calls for reunifying Gaza and the West Bank economically and helping to overcome the energy crisis as a matter of priority by, among other things, enabling the Palestinian National Authority to develop the offshore natural gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea discovered in the 1990s.

: Jaya Ramachandran; THE WORLD; Middle East; 13 September 2018

Photo: Nikki R. Haley, U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN and President of the Security Council for the month of September, chairs the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East (Syria). 06 September 2018. UN Photo/Manuel Elias.

U.S. Continues Iran Bashing as Trump Prepares to Chair Security Council

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley has announced that President Donald Trump will chair a Security Council meeting on Iran later this month to spotlight its "violations of international law" during the high-level week of the UN General Assembly.

Haley who holds the Council's rotating monthly presidency said, Trump will kick off a high-level event on the global call to action on the world drug problem on September 24, and preside over a meeting relating to Iran on September 26. Trump would chair the meeting "to address Iran's violations of international law and the general instability Iran sows throughout the entire Middle East region," she added.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 09 September 2018

Photo: A Palestine refugee woman receives food assistance at the UNRWA Khan Younis Distribution Centre in Gaza. UNRWA/Tamer Hamam.

EU Slates U.S. for Slashing Aid Funding to Palestinian Refugees, UN Urges Increased Assistance

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Nearly three months after the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in its 2017 Annual Report warned about the deteriorating state of health across the agency’s five areas of operation – Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza, and Syria – the United States has announced its decision to stop funding the agency, worsening the situation further.

In the absence of a solution to the Palestine refugee problem, the UN General Assembly has repeatedly renewed UNRWA's mandate, most recently extending it until June 30, 2020.