Middle East

Photo: Angela Merkel invited representatives of a total of twelve states to Berlin, to the Conference on Libya. In recent years the country has become one of the most important transit countries for refugees heading north. Credit: Bundesregierung/Bergmann

UN In Search of a Way Out of Passive Role in Libya

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations has “some capacity to report back on ceasefire violations” and monitor the fragile peace in Libya, said chief spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric, replying to this reporter’s question. The ceasefire was holding immediately after agreement was reached on January 19 in Berlin at the conference on Libya.

This high-profile international meeting was widely rated as very successful, though the situation in Libya continues to be described as chaotic and a source of insecurity throughout the Mediterranean basin.

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 28 January 2020

Photo: The aftermath of the devastating airstrike on the Tajoura Detention Centre, in the suburbs of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on 2 July. Credit: UNSMIL/Georg Friedrich.

UN Report Condemns Missile Attacks Against Civilians and Migrants in Libya

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – A United Nations report has condemned a missile attack against Mitiga Airport, near Tripoli’s centre. At least two civilians were injured, while the tarmac and several buildings were damaged.

The joint report of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the UN human rights office in Geneva, published on January 27, said that at least 287 civilians were killed and around 369 others injured in 2019 alone, with airstrikes accounting for 60 per cent of those casualties. The situation shows no sign of abating.

: Jamshed Baruah; THE WORLD; Middle East; 27 January 2020

[IDN-InDepthNews – 20 January 2020] Photo: The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, addresses the Berlin Conference on Libya alongside the UN Secretary-General António Guterres (r). Credit: Federal Government/Guido Bergmann.

Berlin Conference on Libya Sparks Expectations of an End to Protracted Conflict

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN (IDN) – A tiny glimmer of hope has emerged for Libya which has been torn by fighting between rival armed factions since the ouster of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Participants in a high-level ‘Berlin Conference on Libya’, hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on January 19, gave the go-ahead for the comprehensive ‘Berlin Process’ to put an end to the conflict and bring lasting peace to the oil-rich North African country trapped in clashing interests of Russia and Turkey – and other countries.

Participants agreed to respect the UN arms embargo and truce in the war-ravaged country. They pledged to establish an oversight mechanism to ensure long-term peace and put an end to the “disastrous humanitarian situation faced by thousands of civilians,” as UN Secretary-General António Guterres put it, in the face of conflict growing “deeper and more destructive”.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Middle East; 20 January 2020

Photo: The ministers of foreign affairs of the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, France, China, the European Union and Iran meeting in Lausanne in March 2015, a few weeks ahead of the nuclear deal was struck in Vienna. Credit: U.S. Department of State.

Experts Plead for Foiling Collapse of the Iran Nuclear Deal

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) – Since U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the JCPOA, also known as the "Iran nuclear deal", in May 2018, a widespread view is that the regime in Tehran is yearning for an atomic bomb.

Washington experts, however, maintain that while Iran’s violations of the JCPOA “are serious, they are reversible and they do not suggest, as some have alleged, that Iran is dashing to acquire a nuclear bomb“.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 14 January 2020

Photo: Pugwash gathering in Teheran discusses implications of U.S. abandonment of the Iran nuclear deal. Credit: Pugwash.

IPPNW and Pugwash Slam the Killing of Gen. Suleimani

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – Two Nobel Peace laureates – IPPNW and Pugwash – have vehemently censured the killing of Gen. Qassem Suleimani on January 3. Suleimani was Iranian major general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and, from 1998 until his death, commander of its Quds Force, a division primarily responsible for extraterritorial military and clandestine operations.

In a statement on January 8, IPPNW – the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War – “condemned the deliberate and calculated murder” of Iranian Major General Qassim Suleimani by U.S. forces in Iraq.

: Jamshed Baruah; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 14 January 2020

Image source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Iran Discards the Last Key Component of Nuclear Deal Operational Limitations

Viewpoint by Kelsey Davenport and Julia Masterson*

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN | Arms Control Association) - Iran announced its fifth breach of the 2015 nuclear deal January 5, stating that it “discards the last key component of its operational limitations” put in place by agreement. In the January 5 statement Iran said its nuclear program “no longer faces any operational restrictions,” however Foreign Minister Javad Zarif did say that Iran will still continue to “fully cooperate” with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

: Arms Control Association; OPINION; 09 January 2020

The US-Iran War Continues Though Current Crisis Is Averted

Viewpoint by John Feffer

The writer is the director of Foreign Policy In Focus, which first carried it on 8 January. He is the author of several books and numerous articles. He has been an Open Society Foundation Fellow and a PanTech fellow in Korean Studies at Stanford University. He is a former associate editor of World Policy Journal.

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN) – The United States has been in a 40-year cold war with Iran.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 09 January 2020

Photo: UN chief Guterres told the noon stakeout for correspondents at UN Headquarters in New York on January 6, that a “cauldron of tensions” could lead countries to unpredicted decisions with unpredictable consequences. Credit: United Nations.

Guterres Calls For De-escalating 'Dangerous' Geopolitical Tensions

Iran Ambassador Meets With UNESCO Chief Amid Trump Threats

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | NEW YORK | PARIS (IDN) – “Stop escalation. Exercise maximum restraint. Re-start dialogue. Renew international cooperation.” This is the four-point message of UN Secretary-General António Guterres spelling out what needs to happen now, in capitals across the world, to de-escalate geopolitical tensions, which he described as being “at their highest level this century” as the new decade dawns. RUSSIAN

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 07 January 2020

Photo: Protestors gather outside Trump Tower to demonstrate against US/Middle East relations in Chicago. Credit: Grack Hauck, USA TODAY

U.S.-Iran Conflict: Iraq President Concerned – Young Americans Alarmed – Trump Has Put Millions at Risk

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – While Iraq President Barham Salih is worried about U.S.-Iran conflict since the killing of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani, young Americans are alarmed and speak about World War III, and an OpEd says Congress failed to act to prevent Iran war. The British-educated Kurd Salih, who spent years representing his party in Washington, was elected President of Iraq in 2018 said in a Q&A with the New Yorker’s Robin Wright:

: Santo D. Banerjee; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 05 January 2020

Photo: The writer in front of the Sultan's Al Alam Palace in Old Muscat. Credit: Manish Rai.

Ibadis Are Ray of Hope for The Middle East

By Manish Rai

MUSCAT, Oman (IDN) – It’s widely believed that there are two main branches of Islam i.e. Sunni and Shia, which differ in their understanding of early Islamic history and hence they have different ideas about how Islam’s leadership should have been organised in subsequent eras. But there is a third, lesser-known body of believers with deep historic roots, and their identity fractionally predates the Sunni-Shia split in the seventh century. They are the Ibadis, who number less than 3 million in total. Only in one country, Oman, do they form a majority. However, significant pockets exist in North Africa, especially Libya, and along the east African coast, particularly on the island of Zanzibar.