 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
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:
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.
Viewpoint by Mohammad Soltaninejad
Mohammad Soltaninejad is Assistant Professor of Middle East studies at the University of Tehran. This article appeared in the most recent edition of East Asia Forum Quarterly, ‘Economics and security’, Vol. 11 No. 4.
TEHRAN (IDN-INPS) – In the face of the United States withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal and adopting a ‘maximum pressure’ policy against Iran, Tehran is turning to China and India to circumvent US sanctions. In response, the United States is trying to deny Iran’s access to Chinese and Indian resources to pressure Iran into returning to the negotiation table.
By J C Suresh
WASHINGTON, DC (IDN) – U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo has expressed opposition to International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s announcement that she “has concluded her preliminary examination into the so-called ‘situation in Palestine’ and asked the ICC judges” to confirm that the Court may exercise jurisdiction over the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza.
“By taking this action, the Prosecutor expressly recognized that there are serious legal questions about the Court’s authority to proceed with an investigation,” said Pompeo.
By Robert Johnson
THE HAGUE, The Netherlands (IDN) – The International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has announced plans to open a formal investigation into alleged war crimes in Palestine, subsequent to a “thorough, independent and objective assessment”. At the same time, she said that she has asked the Court for a further ruling over territorial jurisdiction.
By Santo D. Banerjee
NEW YORK (IDN) – The UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) Rosemary DiCarlo has criticized both Iran and the United States for putting strain on the groundbreaking 2015 deal to monitor Iran’s nuclear programme, which she stressed remains a “cornerstone of international peace and security”.
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power
LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Israeli politics gets messier and messier. Now there is to be yet another election, hard on the heels of the last one which, in turn, was hard on the heels of the one before.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have two major aims in life. The first is to remain prime minister for as long as he feels like it. (He is already Israel’s longest serving premier.) The second is to escape prison. He has been charged with bribery and graft. Only if he is holding his high office can he escape prosecution.
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power
LUND, Sweden (IDN) – The Europeans have not done well in countering President Donald Trump’s onslaught on Iran. When Trump unilaterally decided that the U.S. should withdraw from the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal, which committed Iran to winding down its nuclear research in return for the West, Russia and China (the latter two were also part of the deal) lifting sanctions which were crippling the Iranian economy, the Europeans huffed and puffed and then did little.
Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte
The writer is President of Pugwash and former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.
NEW YORK (IDN) – The establishment of a nuclear weapon free zone in the region of the Middle East has been one of the most frustrating undertakings in the field of arms control and non-proliferation at the United Nations. Over the past few decades it has been possible for States in other regions of the globe to successfully negotiate and adopt treaties that establish nuclear weapon free zones that greatly enhance peace and security.
By Aidana Yergaliyeva
NUR-SULTAN | BAGHDAD (IDN | The Astana Times) – Kazakhstan’s humanitarian operation on November 27 brought 14 children back to their homeland from an Iraqi prison, where they have been living for two years with their mothers. The life “after” will start for them with courses of rehabilitation at Pravo public fund’s regional centres.
“There are six of them (mothers). They are in an Iraqi prison in Baghdad. They have been serving the life sentence, which in Iraq means 25 years. And for two years they (children) have been there with their mothers. Unfortunately, our government only got to know that our citizens are in an Iraqi prison in March,” said The Astana Times reporter Assel Satubaldina who was reporting from Baghdad.
IDN-InDepthNews offers news analyses, features, reports and viewpoints that impact the world and its peoples. It has been online since 2009. Its network spans countries around the world.