Thursday, April 23, 2015
Monday, April 20, 2015
Afghan President Blames IS for Bombing
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has blamed the Islamic State (IS) group for a suicide bombing that killed at least 33 people outside a bank on Saturday in the eastern city of Jalalabad.
More than 125 people were also wounded in the attack in Jalalabad, the provincial capital, according to officials. The attacker detonated an explosive-laden motorcycle, targeting a crowd of both military personnel and civilians who were gathered outside the Kabul Bank branch in Jalalabad to receive their monthly salaries.
"In the horrific incident in Nangarhar (province), who took responsibility? The Taliban didn't claim responsibility. Daesh claimed responsibility for it", the Afghan president said, using the Arabic acronym for the jihadist group.
"If that is true, local experts say that this would be the biggest attack by IS in Afghanistan", said Taha Siddiqi, FRANCE 24’s correspondent in Islamabad.
Ghani's government has repeatedly raised the ominous prospect of IS making inroads into Afghanistan, though the group that has captured swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq has never formally acknowledged having a presence in Afghanistan.
"Most of the leadership [of the Taliban] has disappeared or has not shown itself in the last many years, and because of that, a lot of analysts believe that the Afghan Taliban, the young ones, are now moving towards IS", added FRANCE 24’s Siddiqi.
‘Bloody summer’
Taliban insurgents, have meanwhile, denied responsibility. The militants, who were ousted from power by a US-led invasion in 2001, rarely claim attacks that kill large groups of civilians, saying their activities are restricted to foreign or Afghan military and government targets.
"The IS presence has never been confidently confirmed, and we still have to be cautious about claims made in the name of IS", Haroon Mir, a Kabul-based political analyst, told the AFP news agency.
The deadly bombing comes as Afghanistan braces for what is expected to be a bloody push by the Taliban at the start of the spring season.
"The announcement by the IS today is alarming, if verified, and would mean that Afghanistan should prepare for a bloody summer, maybe the bloodiest in the past 14 years", said Haroon Mir.
One civilian was also killed and two others wounded on Saturday in what appeared to be a remote-controlled car bomb attack in the Behsud district of Nangarhar province. Another blast was reported near a shrine in Jalalabad, but no one was hurt.
According to a recent UN report, the number of civilians killed and wounded in Afghanistan jumped 22 percent in 2014.
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Rouhani Meets Erdogan
Rouhani meets Erdoğan as regional conflicts strain Iranian-Turkish ties
Sunni/Shia rift brought to surface as sharp split between Tehran and Ankara over Syrian and Yemeni civil wars cool relations between once-friendly neighbours
Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, right, meeting his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, at the Saadabad palace in Tehran. Rouhani praised Turkey for backing the recent nuclear agreement with the west.
Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, right, meets his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, at the Saadabad palace in Tehran. Rouhani praised Turkey for backing the recent nuclear agreement with the west. Photograph: AP
Saeed Kamali Dehghan
Tuesday 7 April 2015 14.12 EDT Last modified on Tuesday 7 April 2015 14.52 EDT
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Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has met his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in Tehran amid strong differences between the two countries over the region’s most bruising conflicts, especially the Syrian civil war and the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen.
Erdoğan infuriated Iranians last month when he said the Islamic republic was “trying to dominate the region” and accused Tehran of pursuing a sectarian agenda in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. More than 60 Iranian MPs had asked for his visit to be cancelled.
Despite this, Erdoğan was welcomed by Rouhani in the Iranian capital on Tuesday and, in an unusual departure from Tehran’s diplomatic protocol, the Turkish leader’s motorcade had a mounted escort as it made its way into the Saadabad palace, following a similar ceremony held for the Iranian president in Ankara.
Erdoğan also met Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader in Iran. In a direct reference to Turkey’s support for the Saudi-led intervention there, Khamenei’s Twitter account announced later: “Solution to Yemen crisis is to stop foreign intervention & invasion. It’s on Yemenis to decide for their future.”
“We’ve had a substantial and good meeting,” Rouhani said in a joint press conference after the two leaders met behind closed doors, praising Turkey for welcoming the preliminary agreement reached in high-level nuclear negotiations in Switzerland.
“Our both countries want to increase the [bilateral] trade volume from $14bn [£9.5bn] in the previous year to nearly $30bn,” the Iranian president said. Rouhani predicted that a final agreement between Iran and the west, which could lead to the lifting of economic sanctions, would boost economic ties between Tehran and Ankara.
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Turkey imported almost $10bn worth of goods from Iran in 2014 and exported a total of $4bn. Ankara provided a financial lifeline to Tehran when international sanctions cut off its banking system from the outside world by paying for Iranian natural gas in gold.
Iran and Turkey share a long border and have had peaceful relations in modern times, usually putting economic relations over regional politics. But relations became frosty as the two capitals followed opposing paths over the Syrian conflict.
Iran has extended unwavering support for Bashar al-Assad’s regime, while Turkey backed Syrian opposition forces and called for Assad to be removed from power. In Yemen, too, they have strong disagreements: Iran supports the Shia Houthi rebels but Turkey has backed Saudi Arabia’s air strikes against the Houthi forces, also known as Ansar Allah (the Supporters of God). In recent months, Turkey has become closer to Iran’s main rival in the region, Saudi Arabia.
Erdoğan sparked a row in March after voicing opposition to Iran’s growing influence in the Middle East, echoing similar concerns made by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. He urged Tehran to respect the territorial integrity of Syria, Iraq and Yemen by withdrawing any forces it has in those countries.
“Iran’s attitude towards the matter is not sincere because they have a sectarian agenda. So they will want to fill the void that will be created by Daesh [Islamic State] themselves,” Erdoğan said at the time.
Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, strongly objected. “It would be better if those who have created irreparable damages with their strategic mistakes and lofty politics would adopt responsible policies,” he said.
Iran accuses Turkey of supporting takfiris, its terminology for Sunni extremists. Hossein Shariatmadari, the hardline editor of the state-run newspaper Kayhan, said before Erdoğan’s arrival that the Turkish president’s visit to Tehran was an insult to the Iranian people.
Fadi Hakura, an expert on Turkey and associate fellow at Chatham House, said it was unlikely that such disputes would lead to a complete breakdown in relations between the two states. “Iran and Turkey have maintained their bilateral relationship in the face of major disagreements over regional issues. They cannot afford to allow their bilateral relations to experience a complete rupture.
“The two countries share a common border, which is the most peaceful border in the Middle East since the 17th century, and they have substantial energy and economic ties.”
Nevertheless, Hakura said relations were not as warm as they had been five years ago. “Iran no longer trusts Turkey as an effective mediator and does not engage in strategic dialogues with Turkey on the nuclear issue or other issues such as Iraq, Syria and Yemen,” he said.
“In essence, the Arab spring has brought the so-called Sunni/Shia divide to the surface and that has led to the cooling of relations between Tehran and Ankara.”
Sunni/Shia rift brought to surface as sharp split between Tehran and Ankara over Syrian and Yemeni civil wars cool relations between once-friendly neighbours
Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, right, meeting his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, at the Saadabad palace in Tehran. Rouhani praised Turkey for backing the recent nuclear agreement with the west.
Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, right, meets his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, at the Saadabad palace in Tehran. Rouhani praised Turkey for backing the recent nuclear agreement with the west. Photograph: AP
Saeed Kamali Dehghan
Tuesday 7 April 2015 14.12 EDT Last modified on Tuesday 7 April 2015 14.52 EDT
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Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has met his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in Tehran amid strong differences between the two countries over the region’s most bruising conflicts, especially the Syrian civil war and the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen.
Erdoğan infuriated Iranians last month when he said the Islamic republic was “trying to dominate the region” and accused Tehran of pursuing a sectarian agenda in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. More than 60 Iranian MPs had asked for his visit to be cancelled.
Despite this, Erdoğan was welcomed by Rouhani in the Iranian capital on Tuesday and, in an unusual departure from Tehran’s diplomatic protocol, the Turkish leader’s motorcade had a mounted escort as it made its way into the Saadabad palace, following a similar ceremony held for the Iranian president in Ankara.
Erdoğan also met Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader in Iran. In a direct reference to Turkey’s support for the Saudi-led intervention there, Khamenei’s Twitter account announced later: “Solution to Yemen crisis is to stop foreign intervention & invasion. It’s on Yemenis to decide for their future.”
“We’ve had a substantial and good meeting,” Rouhani said in a joint press conference after the two leaders met behind closed doors, praising Turkey for welcoming the preliminary agreement reached in high-level nuclear negotiations in Switzerland.
“Our both countries want to increase the [bilateral] trade volume from $14bn [£9.5bn] in the previous year to nearly $30bn,” the Iranian president said. Rouhani predicted that a final agreement between Iran and the west, which could lead to the lifting of economic sanctions, would boost economic ties between Tehran and Ankara.
Advertisement
Turkey imported almost $10bn worth of goods from Iran in 2014 and exported a total of $4bn. Ankara provided a financial lifeline to Tehran when international sanctions cut off its banking system from the outside world by paying for Iranian natural gas in gold.
Iran and Turkey share a long border and have had peaceful relations in modern times, usually putting economic relations over regional politics. But relations became frosty as the two capitals followed opposing paths over the Syrian conflict.
Iran has extended unwavering support for Bashar al-Assad’s regime, while Turkey backed Syrian opposition forces and called for Assad to be removed from power. In Yemen, too, they have strong disagreements: Iran supports the Shia Houthi rebels but Turkey has backed Saudi Arabia’s air strikes against the Houthi forces, also known as Ansar Allah (the Supporters of God). In recent months, Turkey has become closer to Iran’s main rival in the region, Saudi Arabia.
Erdoğan sparked a row in March after voicing opposition to Iran’s growing influence in the Middle East, echoing similar concerns made by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. He urged Tehran to respect the territorial integrity of Syria, Iraq and Yemen by withdrawing any forces it has in those countries.
“Iran’s attitude towards the matter is not sincere because they have a sectarian agenda. So they will want to fill the void that will be created by Daesh [Islamic State] themselves,” Erdoğan said at the time.
Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, strongly objected. “It would be better if those who have created irreparable damages with their strategic mistakes and lofty politics would adopt responsible policies,” he said.
Iran accuses Turkey of supporting takfiris, its terminology for Sunni extremists. Hossein Shariatmadari, the hardline editor of the state-run newspaper Kayhan, said before Erdoğan’s arrival that the Turkish president’s visit to Tehran was an insult to the Iranian people.
Fadi Hakura, an expert on Turkey and associate fellow at Chatham House, said it was unlikely that such disputes would lead to a complete breakdown in relations between the two states. “Iran and Turkey have maintained their bilateral relationship in the face of major disagreements over regional issues. They cannot afford to allow their bilateral relations to experience a complete rupture.
“The two countries share a common border, which is the most peaceful border in the Middle East since the 17th century, and they have substantial energy and economic ties.”
Nevertheless, Hakura said relations were not as warm as they had been five years ago. “Iran no longer trusts Turkey as an effective mediator and does not engage in strategic dialogues with Turkey on the nuclear issue or other issues such as Iraq, Syria and Yemen,” he said.
“In essence, the Arab spring has brought the so-called Sunni/Shia divide to the surface and that has led to the cooling of relations between Tehran and Ankara.”
Iran Accuses Saudis of Genocide
Iran's supreme leader accuses Saudis of 'genocide' in Yemen
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei escalates rhetoric over Riyadh’s
intervention in sectarian fighting between government and Shia rebels
Yemen air strike
The scene of an air
strike in al-Jiraf district in Sanaa, Yemen. Photograph: Rex Shutterstock
Saeed Kamali Dehghan
Thursday 9 April 2015 13.50 EDT Last modified on Thursday 9
April 2015 20.02 EDT
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Iran’s supreme leader has accused Saudi Arabia of committing
genocide in Yemen and said air strikes against Houthi rebels are doomed to
fail, in a sharp escalation of tensions between the two rivals over the outcome
of yet another bruising conflict in the Middle East.
In Iran’s most critical comments yet, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
said the Saudi-led campaign against the Houthis was a mistake and warned that
the intervention will ultimately backfire on Riyadh.
Tehran’s foreign ministry also summoned the Saudi envoy over
claims that Iran was meddling in Yemen. Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Arab allies
accuse Shia Iran of militarily backing the Houthis, who call themselves Ansar
Allah (“supporters of Allah”) and belong to the Zaydi sect of Shia Islam.
The Saudis are attempting to halt an advance by the Houthis
and reinstate ousted president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who fled first to the
main southern city of Aden, and then to Riyadh. Houthi fighters, who control
the capital city Sana’a, have spread out across the country and are now engaged
in heavy street fighting in Aden.
Khamenei’s stark warning came as the UN secretary general
said that air strikes and rebel advances in Yemen “have turned an internal
political crisis into a violent conflict that risks deep and long-lasting
regional repercussions”. Ban Ki-moon told reporters: “The last thing the region
and our world need is more of the chaos and crimes we have seen in Libya and
Syria.”
The US secretary of state, John Kerry, alluded to the
Saudis’ concerns, saying Washington would not stand by as Iran wreaks havoc in
the Middle East. Khamenei said the US, which is supporting the Saudi campaign,
was siding with the oppressor rather than the oppressed.
Relations between Iran and the US have improved over matters
such as the Iranian nuclear programme and the fight against Islamic State in Iraq,
but they have opposing views on other issues, such as the Syrian civil war, in
which Tehran backs Bashar al-Assad.
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There are increasing fears in the Middle East that the
fighting in Yemen might spiral out of control, with deeper Saudi involvement
provoking the Iranians to follow suit, leading to a full-scale proxy war of an
even more sectarian nature. Iran dispatched a destroyer and another warship to
waters off Yemen on Wednesday.
“By invading Yemen, Saudis are making a mistake, setting a
bad precedent in the region,” Khamenei said. “It’s a huge crime to kill
children, destroy houses and obliterate a country’s infrastructure … This is a
crime and genocide which can be prosecuted internationally.
“They will not win, they will suffer loss and damage … Their
aggression is not acceptable and I warn that they should stop their crimes in
Yemen.”
Khamenei compared Saudi Arabia to Israel, Tehran’s sworn
enemy, saying that their military campaign in Yemen was similar to Israel’s in
Gaza.
But Saudis and the US say Iran also plays a major role in
Yemen, a charge Tehran vehemently denies. Speaking on US TV, Kerry said on
Wednesday that Washington closely monitors Iranian movement in the Yemeni
conflict. The United Arab Emirates’ foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed
al-Nahyan, has echoed Kerry’s sentiments.
“There have been – there are, obviously – flights coming
from Iran. Every single week there are flights from Iran and we’ve traced it
and know this,” Kerry told PBS television. “Iran needs to recognise that the
United States is not going to stand by while the region is destabilised or
while people engage in overt warfare across lines, international boundaries, in
other countries.”
Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has also called the
military intervention in Yemen a mistake, but in milder terms.
“A great nation like Yemen will not submit to bombing. Come,
let us all think about ending war. Let us think about a ceasefire,” he said.
“Let us accept that the future of Yemen will be in the hands of the people of
Yemen, not anyone else.”
At least 643 people, including children, have died and
thousands wounded since the violence erupted in Yemen last year. On Thursday
alone, at least 20 Houthi rebels were killed in southern Yemen in eight dawn
air raids by Saudi fighter jets. According to the UN agency for children’s
rights, Unicef, about 30% of fighters in the armed groups were minors. “We are
seeing children in battle, at checkpoints and unfortunately among [those]
killed and injured,” Julien Harneis, Unicef’s representative in Yemen, said on
Thursday.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Facebook Twitter Pinterest
Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei: ‘This is a crime and genocide which can be prosecuted
internationally.’ Photograph: STR/AP
Saudi Arabia, which launched their air strikes last month,
is backed by Turkey, Egypt, Qatar and the UAE, who all fear Iranian control of
Yemen. Gulf Arabs often complain about Iran’s increasing influence in Iraq and
Syria, though the exact extent of Iranian support for rebel forces in Yemen is
unclear.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, met Rouhani and
Khamenei in Tehran last week to discuss Yemen, among other regional issues. He
published an article on Thursday warning that the Islamic world is at the risk
of “disintegration” due to sectarian conflicts between Sunnis and Shias in the
region.
“You can have a different denomination [of Islam] but if you
seek to impose one denomination on another you will break up the ummah [Islamic
community],” he warned.
Adam Baron from the European Council on Foreign Relations
struck a cautious note on the notion that the conflict in Yemen is an
Iranian-Saudi proxy war. “Houthis are not Iranian proxies: the fact of the
matter is that Houthis are motivated and deeply rooted in Yemen and their
decision-making is largely, if not entirely, rooted in Yemeni local issues,” he
said.
“I do not see this as a proxy war. That being said, I think
what we are seeing is a regionalisation of an internal political conflict. It
was sort of started by Iran but the main catalyst for the regionalisation of
this is the Saudi military campaign.
“The reason why we are seeing such language from the supreme
leader is that his hands – or rather the Iranian government’s hands – are
pretty tied at this point. In terms of providing financial or military support
for the Houthis, it’s very hard to see how they would be able to do it. Making
these strong statements are almost their only option.”
Baron said Khamenei and Erdogan were speaking about a
potential political solution to the Yemeni crisis on Wednesday. “I’m under the
impression that that is in Tehran’s interest and Riyadh’s, as well as all
Yemeni factions and regular Yemenis.”
Pakistan Deploys New Drone
Government says drones necessary to fight Pakistani Taliban, but some residents are fearful of more drones in the sky.
Rohani's conditions for nuclear deal
Iran will only sign a final nuclear accord with six world powers if all sanctions imposed over its disputed atomic work are lifted on the same day, President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech on Thursday.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Crunch time for Iran nuclear talks as France’s Fabius flies in
Tense negotiations on reaching a deal with Iran over its nuclear programme entered a crucial phase on Saturday as France's top diplomat flew in to join talks in Lausanne.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, seen as the most hawkish representative of the so-called P5+1 group of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States overseeing the talks, was the first European minister to arrive in the Swiss city, joining US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif.
"I am coming here with the desire to move towards a robust agreement," Fabius told reporters in Lausanne. "We have made progress on certain issues but not enough on others."
The stakes could not be higher. Global powers are chasing a deal to rein in Iran's nuclear ambitionswhich have poisoned international relations for 12 years, and seal 18 months of closed-door, painstaking talks which have criss-crossed the globe and involved hundreds of experts.
The negotiating parties have set themselves a deadline of March 31 to agree a “framework” deal with Iran over its nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is only for civilian energy needs but the West fears could lead to the development of nuclear weapons.
They will then have until June 30 to reach a final agreement, which will aim to seal off Iran's pathways to a nuclear weapon in exchange for the easing of a labyrinth of international sanctions which have excluded the Islamic republic from lucrative oil markets and crippled its economy.
‘Complicated and difficult’
Kerry and Zarif have met multiple times since the dragging talks resumed in earnest in 2013. But the road to a deal has been strewn with hurdles, and even with a deadline just days away, Iran and the US Friday were still insisting the other side had to make concessions.
"We have tough negotiations and we have differences and we have to solve them," Zarif told reporters.
The two sides remained at odds over an agreement, he said, adding: "No, we are not (close). But we are making progress."
"The work is very complicated and difficult. The other side needs to choose between pressure and a political accord," Zarif said.
A US State Department official, asking not to be named, agreed the negotiations "have been tough and very serious".
"We're at that point in the negotiations where we really need to see decisions being made," the official said.
World powers hope to scale back Iran's nuclear capacity by cutting its number of sophisticated centrifuges for spinning enriched uranium, which can be used to make a bomb, and reconfiguring some of its facilities.
Fabius will lead the charge to Lausanne, with Kerry agreeing with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that a joint P5+1 ministerial meeting could be possible on Sunday.
After holding direct talks with Fabius Kerry will then "have a working lunch" with both the French diplomat and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier later in the day, a US State Department official said.
"We expect the other P5+1 ministers to arrive this weekend as their schedules allow," the official added.
Fabius, Obama and Merkel up pressure on Iran
Fabius, who has pushed for tougher demands on Iran in exchange for lifting sanctions, told FRANCE 24 on Friday that there was “still some way to go” in the talks in Lausanne.
"Iran said it would not pursue nuclear arms technology, but we must make sure that this is a lasting commitment, one that can be verified with certainty," he said.
In Washington, President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also upped the pressure on Iran.
"Iran must make the decisions necessary to resolve several remaining issues," a statement said after the two leaders spoke by telephone.
Iran would have to make "painful choices," a Western diplomat echoed, saying its development of faster nuclear machinery, the possible military dimensions of its programme, and the lifting of sanctions were among the unresolved issues.
Iranian President Hassan Rohani called Thursday for the "unjust" sanctions choking the country's economy to be lifted, with global powers insisting sanctions will only be suspended, not lifted, as a safeguard against any violations.
As to how the eventual deal might be presented, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told reporters in Washington it would be a political outline of an agreement to be finalised over the coming months.
"Conceptually what's envisaged is a statement of broad understanding, the political parameters," he said. Other diplomats said there may just be some kind of declaration and the specific details might not be made public.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)
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