Dies ist die Fortsetzung von Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 735, Teil 1 / This is the sequel of Yemen War Mosaic 735, part 1:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-735-yemen-war-mosaic-735
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Kursiv: Siehe Teil 1 / In Italics: Look in part 1
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp2a Allgemein: Saudische Blockade / General: Saudi blockade
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Separatisten und Hadi-Regierung im Südjemen / Separatists and Hadi government in Southern Yemen
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
cp13b Söldner / Mercenaries
cp13c Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp17a Kriegsereignisse: Schlacht um Marib / Theater of War: Marib battle
cp18 Kampf um Hodeidah / Hodeidah battle
cp19 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A P)
Southern forces foil terrorist attack in Abyan
New armed clashes erupted in Ahwar district of Abyan governorate on Friday night, between the southern armed forces and terrorist elements, the spokesman for the Abyan axis, Captain Muhammad al-Naqib said in a statement.
Al-Naqib noted that the fighting broke out following an ambush set up by the terrorist fighters against the Security Belt Forces at the entrance to the Ahwar.
The surprise attack on the southern forces was thwarted and a number of terrorists were injured, Al-Naqib added.
The forces of the Security Belt and the Southern Resistance supported by the local tribes made on Tuesday, a military progress in the province of Abyan by taking full control of the coastal road.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32737
My comment: “Southern forces” = separatis militia; “terrorists” = pro-government fighters, whether militia linked to Islah Party or even regulary army forces.
(A P)
STC calls on coalition to arrest pro-government military commander
The Southern Transitional Council on Thursday called on a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen to arrest and bring to justice the Commander of the pro-Government Brigade of Transportation Amjad Khalid.
It accused him of kidnapping two security members and a brother of a member in the council's presidency in Lahij province.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24508.html
(A P)
Former minister calls on Yemen government, Saudi Arabia to save Socotra
Former Minister of Fisheries in Yemen's internationally recognised government Fahad Kefayen on Friday called on the government and Saudi Arabia to save the archipelago of Socotra.
He criticised the government's laxity towards the coup of the UAE-backed southern transitional council in the archipelago and Saudi Arabia's failure to fulfil its pledge to restore the local authorities.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24519.html
(A P)
Shatara: STC will win diplomatic battle as it did on ground
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32729
(A T)
Journalist survives assassination attempt in occupied Aden
https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/04/15/journalist-survives-assassination-attempt-in-occupied-aden/
(A P)
Tribal gunmen plunge Yemeni Marib city into darkness
The Yemeni northeastern city of Marib has been in darkness for two successive days, as tribal armed men detain oil trucks and deny them access to power generating plants.
Armed tribesmen from Al Samra Tribe in Abeeda Valley have been for three days now holding back fuel lorries heading from Mukalla and Safer company to supply Marib's energy plants, local sources said.
The gunmen demand Marib local authorities to release a fellow tribesman reportedly jailed over charges of sabotage acts, the sources added.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24473.html
and also https://www.saba.ye/en/news3136692.htm
(* A K P)
32 UAE weapons shipments arrive at Yemen's Aden
32 shipments contain UAE weapons arrived on Tuesday at Aden port, local sources told Yemen Press Agency.
The sources confirmed that UAE transferred the weapons shipments from Mocha port over the past days, pointing out that the southern transitional council prepare to military advance toward Abyan and Shabwa provinces.
The sources declared that UAE seek to push the forces present in Aden towards control of Abyan, and to blow up the situation in Shabwa.
According to the sources, UAE seeks to implement its plan by assassinating one of the southern transitional military leaders, as a pretext for military mobilization toward Abyan and Shabwa provinces.
https://en.abna24.com/news/32-uae-weapons-shipments-arrive-at-yemens-aden_1131231.html
(* B E P)
Aggression deliberately starve southern provinces people
The occupied southern provinces have witnessed protests and sit-ins over the past period, over worsening humanitarian and economic conditions and the deterioration of basic services.
According to a report issued by the Media Center of the Southern Provinces received by Saba, the systematic looting of oil resources by the countries of the US-Saudi-UAE aggression and its tools exacerbated the humanitarian situation and caused the deterioration of services. Revenues in the southern provinces amount to 1.6 trillion riyals per year, according to the confessions of the fugitive Hadi government.
The report confirmed that the expenditures of these provinces are limited compared to total monthly and annual revenues from oil sales, tax revenues, customs, and other duties, as service improvement expenditures do not account for about 25 percent of total looted revenues.
protests and sit-ins
More than 87 protests were carried out by residents of the occupied southern provinces in Aden, Hadramout, Shabwa, Abyan, Lahj, al-Dhale' and a number of occupied cities, including 43 sit-ins and strikes by employees working in revenue institutions.
Protests and demands from southern provinces have increased by 200%, compared to last year, with more than 63 vigils, demonstrations, and sit-ins documented during the first three months of this year due to the worsening electricity crisis, deteriorating living and humanitarian conditions as a result of the collapse of the currency exchange rate and the worsening water crisis.
The report noted that the mercenaries' government has transferred billions of riyals of revenues from the port of Aden to the Islah militia in Marib in the past two months. He stressed that the fugitive Hadi government ignored the demands of the people of the legitimate southern provinces and traded their suffering for financial gains and aid from a number of countries, including Kuwait.
Looting of Aden's ports revenues
Despite the systematic destruction of the most important national institutions in Aden province, such as refineries and ports, however, tax and customs revenues, port service fees, and other revenues in Aden, which are looted by the tools of the aggression coalition, exceed half a trillion riyals a year.
The report confirmed that revenues from Aden ports increased significantly after container ships were diverted to Aden.
He said that these revenues are enough to improve all basic public services in Aden as well as pay the salaries of employees in the city. He explained that these revenues are being shared and looted by Riyadh and Abu Dhabi tools.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3136600.htm
My remark: By Houthi government news site.
(A K P)
Presidency-of-the-transitional-council-warns-of-continuing-attacks-on-southern-forces-in-abyan
(A K P)
[Separatist] Southern forces restore Abyan's coastal road
The forces of the Security Belt and the Southern resistance supported by the local tribes made on Tuesday, a military progress in the province of Abyan by taking full control of the coastal road.
Senior military official told the press that the southern forces had been successfully deployed in Khubar al-Maraqesha of Khanfar district in the southwest of Abyan after expelling the militias of Islah party, the military arm of Muslim Brotherhood organization within Yemen's legitimacy.
The southern forces also managed to restore all the checkpoints along the international road, the same source said adding that mobile and foot armed patrols were sent out to Khubar region to maintain security and stability.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32711
(A P)
Abductees Mothers Association urgent report regarding threats and assaults against detainees at Beer Ahmed Prion in Aden.
In Aden, Abductees’ Mothers Association received an urgent report stating that Be’er Ahmed’s deputy prison director, Ahmed Anwar Al-Qamri, took abductees, Othman Ali and Ahmed Waleed Al-Dabj, to prison yard and threatened of killing them last Wednesday at midnight. After that, he took Abdullah Al-Tairi out of his cell and brutally beat him. He threatened other detainees of unleashing police dogs upon them inside their cells.
Security Forces had arrested Othman Ali on April 15th, 2018 arrested Ahmed Waleed Al-Dabj on November 2nd, 2018 and arrested Abdullah Al-Tairi on April 4th, 2018 They have all been subjected to torture, then referred to a judge on 2020/8/19 However, their legal processes have been stopped due to judicial strike.
http://ama-ye.org/index.php?no=1644&ln=En
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
(A P)
UN: 'refer conflict-related sexual violence to ICC'
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has recommended the Security Council to refer cases of conflict-related sexual violence in a number of countries to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The countries in question include six members of the Arab League: Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Libya and Somalia.
The UN chief made the recommendation in his annual report presented during an online meeting of the council by Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210416-un-refer-conflict-related-sexual-violence-to-icc/
(A P)
Calls for peace insincere as long as Yemen siege persists: Ansarullah
The spokesman for Yemen’s Ansarullah movement says any call for an end to the years-long Saudi-led aggression against the impoverished country is insincere as long as a crippling Saudi blockade against the country persists.
In a tweet on Friday, Mohammed Abdul-Salam said that Yemen does not consider as serious any call for peace that excludes the total removal of the current blockade on the war-torn country.
and
(A P)
Mohammed Abdulsalam: Either we will have peace for all sides in Yemen, or no peace at all
“Either we will have peace for all, or no peace. Calls from some international actors provide a selective vision of peace by giving it to the countries of aggression and preventing it for Yemen,” Abdulsalam said in a message.
(* A P)
UN envoy highlights diplomatic unity, as key to help end Yemen war
The UN Special Envoy for Yemen appealed on Thursday for warring parties to implement a nationwide ceasefire and agree a date for peace talks, in line with a plan to end their conflict.
Briefing the Security Council, Martin Griffiths highlighted international unity in support of ending six years of fighting between Yemeni Government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and the Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis.
“These arrangements will allow for a normalization of life that has all too often, and perhaps today, seemed like a cruel hope for the people of Yemen,” he said.
“So, let us together call upon the parties not to disappoint and instead deliver Yemen from its plight.”
Mr. Griffiths said Security Council unity is reinforced by diplomatic unanimity and specific actions on the part of several key countries, expressing gratitude to Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United States for their support.
He outlined examples of what the agreement could potentially achieve.
“The ceasefire, the nationwide ceasefire, means that the guns will fall silent; and the roads long blocked by front lines will open progressively – not in a day, but in short order for the passage of goods, humanitarian first, and then for the free movement of people; for those children to go to their schools without hindrance and for workers to return to their place of work across the lines that have impeded that.”
However, the urgency for progress on the peace front makes the ongoing conflict even more concerning, he said, noting that the situation in Marib is again showing “dangerous signs of escalating”, while in Taiz, fighting has increased and tensions continue to build.
Yemen remains the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, and a second wave of COVID-19 infections has hit the population “with a new ferocity”, the envoy said.
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, who also briefed the Council, reported that numbers have more than doubled in just six weeks.
“This second wave, of course, is coming at a time when large-scale famine is still bearing down on the country. Tens of thousands of people are already starving to death, with another five million just a step behind them,” he said.
In late March, Yemen received a first shipment of 360,000 COVID-19 vaccines through the global solidarity initiative, COVAX, with another 1.6 million doses expected in the coming months.
Mr. Lowcock appealed for increased support for pandemic response and in other critical areas, such as civilian protection. More than 200 people were killed last month, making it the deadliest one for Yemenis so far this year.
The ongoing offensive in Marib also threatens millions, including scores of people displaced from other parts of the country.
“If the fighting continues, we expect tens of thousands – at least – more people will be forced to move. And that will be very dangerous as we see the latest COVID spike,” he said.
A donor conference last month ended with $1.7 billion in commitments for Yemen, less than half of what is needed for humanitarian operations this year. Mr. Lowcock urged countries to step up.
“Of the pledges that were made, about half have been paid,” he told the Council.
“So what that means is that today, the response plan is less than 25 per cent funded. So again, as I have said many times before, without more funding, millions of Yemenis will be staring down a death sentence before the year reaches its close.”
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/04/1089812
Griffiths’ thread: https://twitter.com/OSE_Yemen/status/1382696605623717890
and with statements of all delegates, including Western hypocrisy and Had gov. propaganda: https://www.un.org/press/en/2021/sc14494.doc.htm
US delegate: https://usun.usmission.gov/remarks-by-ambassador-linda-thomas-greenfield-at-a-un-security-council-briefing-on-yemen-2 (Comment: https://twitter.com/AishaJumaan/status/1382772255050981376 )
British delegate: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/averting-further-crisis-in-yemen
Chinese delegate: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-04/16/c_139883406.htm = http://www.china.org.cn/world/2021-04/16/content_77411077.htm
Yemeni Hadi gov. delegate: https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2216434
Media reports: https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-coronavirus-pandemic-famine-covid-19-pandemic-united-nations-a4b06514bb9748a2ceb1e9db1db29c66
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2021/4/15/un-calls-on-yemen-factions-to-accept-peace-plan
(A P)
Al-Houthi: Security Council Thanks Killers of Yemenis Instead of Condemning Them
Member of the Supreme Political Council Mohammad Ali Al-Houthi strongly criticized the meetings of the UN Security Council on the Yemeni crisis, as they do not end the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
“In today's Security Council session, the killers of the Yemeni people will be commended for the US-British-Saudi-Emirati aggression and blockade, for allowing entry of fuel ships. The besieged will be condemned and criminalized,” Al-Houthi wrote in a series of posts published on his Twitter page on Thursday.
"Any meeting that does not end the worst humanitarian crisis and does not incriminate the perpetrators of this terrorism is a futile meeting. It is the same whether it is held or not."
Al-Houthi said that “the highest thanks to the countries of the US-British-Saudi-Emirati aggression will also be raised by the Security Council's briefing for the electricity grant (the Saudi allegations to supply fuel to operate power stations in Yemen).”
“After meeting, discussing and declaring regret that the Yemeni people are besieged and killed, the Security Council thanks the killers and the perpetrators of the crime of terrorism for their military aggression and siege instead of condemning them” he added.
(A P)
UN envoy to Yemen in UAE to discuss political solution to war
Martin Griffiths holds talks with senior Emirati and Yemeni officials in Abu Dhabi
UN special envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, held talks with president of the Southern Transitional Council Aidaroos Al Zubaidi and senior UAE officials in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, a UN official told The National.
The talks focused on "the status of the current negotiation efforts to agree on a nationwide ceasefire, urgent humanitarian measures and the resumption of the political process", the statement said.
The UN envoy returned to Amman on Thursday afternoon.
(A P)
Al-Zubaidi, Griffiths discuss comprehensive political solution
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32721
(A P)
UN envoy calls for truce in Yemen during Ramadan
Martin Griffiths releases message to mark Muslim holy month
“I call on the parties to silence the guns and allow Yemenis to observe the month in safety and dignity,” Martin Griffiths said in a Ramadan message.
Griffiths wished Yemenis a “blessed and peaceful” Ramadan.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/un-envoy-calls-for-truce-in-yemen-during-ramadan/2208137
(* B P)
#YemenCantWait: Russia and the US have a shared interest in a ceasefire in Yemen
But there are areas of common interest. Russia and the US found common ground on the JCPOA with Iran. Yemen may be another area for pragmatic cooperation on the basis of common interest.
Iran’s influence has grown during the war, but Iranian and Houthi interests remain distinct.
Moreover, Russian and Iranian interests in Yemen are very different. Russia never endorsed the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, but neither has it outright opposed it. It abstained from UN Resolution 2216, which called on the Houthis to withdraw and disarm, and which Saudi Arabia argues provides the legal basis for its military intervention. Russia has relations across a wide range of political groupings in Yemen, and wants to hedge its bets there. Regionally, it wants to strengthen its relations with Saudi Arabia as well as maintaining its ties to Tehran; this is a difficult balancing act, but easier for Russia than the US, as the Gulf states do not expect Russia to underwrite their security. Russia also has close ties to the UAE; although the UAE has a close security relationship with the US, it shares a number of Russian views about the dangers both of political Islam and of “destabilising” democracy movements, and was the first Gulf country to normalise relations with the Syrian government after the outbreak of war.
Naturally, Russia would like to play a wider role in the Middle East – and access more lucrative markets – than it can do simply by siding with Iran and Syria. It has sought for some years to build up its relations with Saudi Arabia
Another area of common ground is that both Russia and the US support the UN as the most legitimate international actor to facilitate Yemen’s peace process.
By contrast, the least desirable outcome would be for Yemen to become another hostage to US-Russian relations.
A Russia-US understanding on Yemen won’t by itself solve the increasingly fragmented civil war. But such an understanding could help to get the regional players to pull back, and help the UN to renew and expand talks with the firm backing of a united Security Council. By doing so it could create valuable space for intra-Yemeni negotiations to begin to end the war
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
(A P)
Film: I am told that this video was behind executing the 3 #Saudi soldiers last week. The 3 burnt the photo of #Saudi strongman #MBS & stumped on it.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1383043343219879937
My remark: Look at comments.
(A P)
#Saudi govt has banned the country’s most prominent #Black preacher from leading prayers. AlKalbani who was profiled by @Nytimes had an interesting journey from a rowdy youth then joined Osama Bin Laden then became a govt proponent & an imam of the Grand Mosque has now been fired
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1383038372986425350
After @BarackObama became president, #Saudi govt, thinking Obama will raise Saudi racist policies, rushed to appoint AlKalbani as an imam at Grand Mosque in Makkah , a probable 1st in Muslim history.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1383039584985100288
(A P)
Increasingly strong messages from dissidents abroad & inside the country targeting #Saudi Strongman #MBS & calling for his departure.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1382772104010084359
referring to film: https://twitter.com/WajeehLionn/status/1382769998914019331
(* B P)
Saudi Arabia: Dozens of Sri Lankan women wrongfully detained for months due to abusive kafala system
At least 41 Sri Lankan women, the majority of whom are migrant domestic workers, have spent months on end arbitrarily detained at a deportation center in Saudi Arabia, awaiting repatriation to their home country, Amnesty International revealed today.
The women have been held at a Deportation Detention (Tarheel) Centre in Riyadh for periods ranging from eight to 18 months. At least three of them have young children detained with them, and one woman is in urgent need of medical care and treatment which she is not receiving.
Their plight is a stark illustration of how domestic workers remain caught up in the inherently abusive kafala (sponsorship) system. In March 2021 Saudi Arabia brought in reforms to its kafala system, however these reforms excluded migrant domestic workers who make up 30% of the country’s 10 million migrant workers.
“Detaining migrant workers for prolonged periods of up to 18 months when they have done nothing wrong and are victims themselves is cruel and inhumane. These women left their homes and families behind to earn a livelihood in Saudi Arabia only to find themselves locked into an abusive sponsorship system that facilitates exploitation and abuse. Now they are indefinitely detained with no opportunity to challenge their detention and no indication of when they can be reunited with their loved ones,” said Lynn Maalouf, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International.
“Their ordeal clearly illustrates the urgent need for Saudi Arabia to extend labour law protections and reforms to its kafala system to migrant domestic workers. The Saudi Arabian authorities should immediately release all women detained solely for their migration status and work with the Sri Lankan authorities to facilitate their return home.”
None of the women have been informed of any charges brought against them; nor have they been granted access to a lawyer or received any consular assistance. Many were detained after they were unable to obtain an exit permit from their employer to leave the country or a work permit to regularize their stay in the country. Under Saudi Arabia’s kafala system which ties migrant workers to their employer, this is grounds for indefinite detention.
Amnesty International interviewed 11 individuals with close knowledge of the detentions, including migrant domestic workers, an activist and an official from the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh.
In at least five cases, women were detained because they fled from an abusive employer and had not obtained an exit permit from their employer to leave the country.
Migrant domestic workers in Saudi Arabia routinely suffer abuse derived from the kafala system. Less than half of them are women, who often come from South Asia, work in private households to cook, clean and provide childcare. According to testimonies obtained by Amnesty International, they often face grueling working conditions and work long hours without breaks or days off. Many migrant workers have also faced irregular or non-payment of their agreed wages. They also face verbal and physical abuse and have their passports regularly confiscated by abusive employers who act with impunity. They are not allowed to leave the country without the permission of their employers, which makes the workers extremely dependent on them and increases their vulnerability to abuses of rights, including forced labour and physical and sexual assault.
(A P)
A new human rights organization led by #Saudi dissidents will launch today (film)
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1382740007031570443
(A P)
Film: Another #Saudi Monarchy rampage of razing homes of poor people.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1382677166974976001
(A P)
The #Tandah village, north of the military garrison Khamis Masheet is targeted for expropriation by #MBS. It has beautiful & unique typography, vegetation, water ways & fantastic weather.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1382315410436030470
Another clip from the #Saudi Monarchy razing of poor people's shanties in the world largest oil exporter for over 50 years.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1382353472163549184
https://twitter.com/Abdullah96wa/status/1382347706241327105
(A P)
Saudi Arabia Prevents Yemeni Families from Crossing Border Back to Yemen
Hundreds of people stranded with their families and children in Sharurah border crossing are appealing to the international community to put pressure on Saudi Arabia after being prevented from entering Yemen under the pretext of owning large four-wheel drive cars.
and
(A P)
Hundreds of passengers have been stranded at Al-Wadiah crossing for weeks as Saudi Arabia is banning the entry of SUVs into Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition fears such vehicles could be used by the Houthis in war. What a stupid pretext! Many children are sleeping in the open air.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1382097817053892609
(B P)
Film: #Saudi Monarchy forces raze homes of poor people in the middle of nowhere
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1382165952675123201
cp9 USA
Siehe / Look at cp1, cp9a
(A P)
Petition: End the Blockade on Yemen
The Yemeni Liberation Movement has been on hunger strike since March 29 calling on President Biden to
1. Publicly speak out against the blockade on Yemen
2. End all US support for the Saudi-led blockade.
Please join us in these demands!
https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/end-the-blockade-on-yemen
(* B K P)
There should be no US ‘containment strategy’ for the Houthis in Yemen
This prospect has unnerved most of the status quo powers — the Arab regimes and Israel — who fear that decades of uncritical U.S. support may be ending, and with it their privileged lifestyles. To forestall that, they have begun a broad campaign to keep Washington engaged in the Middle East, through spoiling actions, and lobbying — directly and indirectly — through think tanks.
A recent example from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy was entitled “Yemen’s ‘Southern Hezbollah’ Implications of Houthi Missile and Drone Improvements.” Writing of “Yemen’s ‘Southern Hezbollah,’” the piece appears to conflate the Zaydi Ansar Allah (aka the Huthis) with the Sunni Southern Transitional Council, who are also rebelling against Hadi’s faction, and also have drones (albeit supplied by the UAE). Actually, the piece is trying to tar the Huthis with Hizballah’s brush.
Indeed, the Huthis approached Iran — along with Russia and China — not on a sectarian basis, but on assumed common antipathy towards the United States and its regional clients.
WINEP then boldly opines: “U.S. interests are not served by the Houthis controlling Marib,” although that is not reflected in CENTCOM’s mission and priorities. Indeed, U.S. interests in Yemen are unclear, apart from countering Al-Qai’da in the Arabian Peninsula. Before KSA attacked the Huthis, the Huthis had a modus vivendi with CENTCOM in hunting down AQAP: “[Gen. Lloyd [Austin] was enraged by the Saudi intervention because we [the Americans] were quietly supporting the Houthi fight against AQAP at the time,” according to a senior CENTCOM officer quoted in Foreign Policy. Since then, AQAP have been fighting in Ta’iz and, recently, in Ma’rib alongside the Sa’udi-led, U.S.-backed Coalition forces, against the Huthis.
The piece suggests that Washington “Think the unthinkable” and conduct a “dispassionate review of its policy toward the Houthis,” but offers ideas that are less a review and more a reprise of the past six years. Genuinely “Thinking the unthinkable” in this case would involve the United States collaborating with the Huthis in the fight against AQAP and the Islamic State (and quite possibly against Iran in Yemen.) Such a volte face is not particularly “unthinkable” either: it is how many groups — most famously the Gurkhas — came to fight alongside the British.
The piece winds up to its key message: “If such a review concludes that the Houthis are likely to be a U.S. adversary in the future regardless of how the Yemen conflict ends, then officials should start thinking about a containment strategy now rather than later.” The Huthis are militarily, religiously and economically irrelevant to the United States, albeit a potential nuisance to the Sunni Arab monarchs — at least until an effective, civilian-compatible means of defeating the cruise missiles and UAVs is developed.
Washington’s containment strategy which the piece pre-supposes would tie U.S. forces down in the region to no U.S. benefit. Indeed, while spending further U.S. blood and treasure might keep the princes in their palaces for a few years longer, it would do nothing to address the popular discontent within the states of the region, nor the artificial imbalances between them, a disparity maintained in great part by U.S. power. The optimal solution for the region — and for Washington — is to allow domestic and international forces to equalise and return to balance. Regional states can concentrate on managing the imminent impact of the energy revolution and climate change, while the United States can shift its focus to more critical geo-political challenges. It’s time to redeploy, not reinforce failure.
(* A K P)
USA bringen F-16-Kampfflugzeuge in Saudi-Arabien zum Einsatz, obwohl sie saudischen Krieg gegen Jemen kritisieren
Das Pentagon hat rund 300 US-amerikanische Flieger und F-16-Kampfflugzeuge für einen "Einsatz von Expeditionsstreitkräften" zur Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi-Arabien entsandt.
Als zweiten Einsatz von South Carolina Air in den letzten 18 Monaten wurden die F-16 Flugzeuge an die saudische Basis geschickt, berichtete Air Force Magazine.
Das saudische Militär sagte, die F-16 würden "die Verteidigungsfähigkeiten gegen potenzielle Bedrohungen in der Region verbessern" und fügte hinzu, dass der Einsatz "mehrere Monate" dauern werde. US-Militärbeamte sagten, die neuen Streitkräfte würden mit US-Verbündeten im Nahen Osten zusammenarbeiten, um "wo und wann sie gebraucht wird, Luftmacht bereitzustellen".
Der Einsatz erfolgte, als die Biden-Regierung ihre Absicht bekannt gab, den Verkauf von militärischer Ausrüstung an Saudi-Arabien zu sogenannten "Verteidigungszwecken" zuzulassen.
(* A K P)
S.C. Air National Guard troops deploy to Saudi Arabia
About 300 members of the South Carolina Air National Guard's 169th Fighter Wing arrived in Saudi Arabia for deployment, it announced on Wednesday.
The troop movement includes an undefined number of F-16CJ fighter planes, a statement from the wing said, noting that it is the SCANG's largest deployment since its support of troops in Kuwait in 2018.
The unit, known as the "Swamp Foxes," will support U.S. Central Command in Saudi Arabia by "preserving operational depth, staging joint forces and projecting overwhelming combat power in the region," the statement said.
The unit's length of deployment was not announced, but "The Swamp Foxes are fully prepared to support the CENTCOM mission and execute the National Security Strategy," Lt. Col. Shaun Bowes, 157th Fighter Squadron commander, said in Wednesday's statement.
and
(* A K P)
US deploys F-16 jets to Saudi Arabia despite criticizing Saudi war on Yemen
The Pentagon has deployed about 300 US Airmen and F-16 fighter jets to Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, for an "expeditionary force deployment" in support of the US’s “national security objectives”.
Marking the second deployment from the South Carolina Air National Guard’s 169th Fighter Wing in the past 18 months, the F-16s were sent to the 378th Air Expeditionary Wing, Air Force Magazine reported.
The Saudi military said on Wednesday that the F-16s will “increase defensive capabilities against potential threats in the region,” adding that the deployment will last “several months.”
“Swamp Fox Airmen are once again honored to deploy in support of our great nation’s national security objectives,” said US Air Force Col. Akshai Gandhi, 169th Fighter Wing commander, in the release.
Gandhi added that the Citizen-Airmen are fully integrated with other American forces to partner with US allies in the Middle East to “deliver airpower where and when needed.”
(* B K P)
Cut the Defense Budget: Rep. Khanna on Bloated Pentagon Spending, Ending War in Yemen, UAE Arms Deal
Congressmember Ro Khanna of California says hundreds of billions of dollars in annual defense spending could be better used on diplomacy, humanitarian aid, public health and other initiatives. He’s one of 50 House Democrats who signed a letter to President Joe Biden in March urging a “significantly reduced” Pentagon budget, which has grown to over $700 billion. “The Pentagon increases make no sense,” says Khanna. “If you’re ending the forever war in Afghanistan … then why are we increasing, at the same time, the defense budget?” Khanna also discusses the Saudi-led, U.S.-backed war in Yemen, a major U.S. arms deal with the United Arab Emirates and more.
REP. RO KHANNA: Well, Nermeen, there’s no doubt in my mind the administration needs to be doing more to stop the Saudi blockade of Yemen. There is food and medicine getting in, but that’s not the point. The fuel is not getting in. Very little fuel is getting in. That is leading to a great difficulty in getting the food transported to people who need them. It’s leading to blackouts at hospitals. And the administration says, “Well, the Houthis are to blame, as well.” Sure, the Houthis are to blame, as well. No one is saying that the Houthis are angelic actors. But David Beasley at the World Food Programme, the United Nations have said that the biggest source right now of the famine is the blockade of the fuel getting in.
I spoke to the Saudi ambassador, and she said, “Well, we’re not engaged in a blockade. We’re just enforcing the U.N. resolution.” Well, enforcing the U.N. resolution to prevent fuel getting in is a de facto blockade. So the Saudis shouldn’t be enforcing any resolution. If anything, it should be a third party. The National Security Council now is engaged on this. We are going to be receiving briefings from Lenderking and others. And they know how serious the House and the Senate are about taking further actions if that blockade is not lifted (with interview in film)
https://www.democracynow.org/2021/4/15/ro_khanna_pentagon_budget_foreign_policy
(A P)
State Dep.: Houthis Attack While the International Community Commits to End Conflict in Yemen
The United States strongly condemns the Houthi complex attacks against Saudi Arabia this week, including the most recent attack today in Jizan, which threatened civilian infrastructure.
These actions by the Houthis perpetuate the conflict in Yemen, now going into its seventh year. As U.S. Special Envoy Tim Lenderking and UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths work side-by-side to promote UN-led peace efforts, the Houthis’ actions are prolonging the suffering of the Yemeni people and jeopardizing these efforts at a moment when there is a commitment from the international community to end the conflict now.
We again call on all parties to agree to a comprehensive, nationwide ceasefire, and to engage in negotiations towards an inclusive political agreement under UN auspices.
My comment: The US having enflamed this war by 7 years of suüpport to the Saudi aggressors simply should shut up on this matter.
(* B P)
The point of a military is to protect one’s country from external threats. Why does the US have so many hundreds of bases around the world? It’s bc America’s global military infrastructure is not about protecting the American mainland, but about protecting empire.
https://twitter.com/iPouya/status/1382254835660058626
(A P)
Sec. Blinken: End the Blockade on Yemen!
CODEPINK is calling on Secretary Antony Blinken to stop US support for the Saudi blockade on Yemen, and demand that Saudi Arabia lift the blockade immediately.
Dear Secretary Blinken,
We, the undersigned, are asking that you halt any US support for the blockade on Yemen and call on Saudi leaders to lift the blockade immediately. Recently, the spokesperson for the State Department has said that what is happening in Yemen is not a blockade, and that the United States does not support it. Both of these things are untrue, and must be corrected immediately.
https://www.codepink.org/blockade
(A P)
US envoy urges Yemeni parties to peace during Ramadan
Timothy Lenderking encourages conflicting parties to 'seize opportunity for peace' to end suffering of Yemenis
"We call on the parties to seize this opportunity for peace, so that we may begin to end the suffering," Timothy Lenderking said on Twitter.
"We know the suffering across Yemen is all the more difficult during this holy month," he said while congratulating Yemenis on Ramadan.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-envoy-urges-yemeni-parties-to-peace-during-ramadan/2209299
(A P)
Yemen – USAID Complex Emergency Fact Sheet #3, Fiscal Year (FY) 2021
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-complex-emergency-fact-sheet-3-fiscal-year-fy-2021
Yemen ‑ USG Response to the Complex Emergency (Last Updated 04/13/21)
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-usg-response-complex-emergency-last-updated-041321
(B P)
US Aiding Saudi Defenses While Revitalizing Diplomacy to End Yemen Conflict, Pentagon Says
The United States is working with Saudi Arabia to help the country defend itself while concurrently revitalizing diplomacy to end the conflict in Yemen, Defense Department spokesperson Jessica McNulty told Sputnik.
"The United States is continuing to work together with our Saudi partners to help the Kingdom defend itself from external threats, while at the same time revitalizing diplomacy to end the Yemen conflict," McNulty said on Tuesday.
McNulty emphasized that cross-border attacks against Saudi Arabia by Houthis in Yemen contravene international law and undermine all efforts to promote peace and stability in the region.
My comment: Unless the US does not stop to be a wariing party in the Yemen War and keeps the tall story of “Saudi defenses”, its “diplomacy” is a void pretense for continuing the war.
(* B P)
House lawmakers urge Blinken to press Saudi Arabia to lift Yemen blockade
Agroup of House Foreign Affairs Committee lawmakers are calling on the Biden administration to "urgently push" Saudi Arabia to lift restrictions on imports to Yemen, where the United Nations says nearly 50,000 people are already starving to death.
"Since 2015, the restrictions imposed by the coalition have critically exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Yemen," they wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tuesday.
The letter, led by Reps. Ted Deutch and Joe Wilson -- the Democratic chair and Republican ranking member of the Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and Counterterrorism -- and Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu, comes shortly after a group of more than 70 congressional Democrats urged President Joe Biden to encourage the Saudi government to end the blockade.
In Tuesday's letter, the lawmakers wrote that "the interference, delay, and outright blocking of commercial goods and humanitarian assistance shipped to Yemen's ports is a principal cause of price inflation, food insecurity, economic collapse, and the failure of public services in Yemen."
"These measures do not interrupt the supply of Iranian and other weapons to the Houthis," they added, referencing the Shia political and military organization with whom the Saudi-led coalition has been at war.
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/13/politics/yemen-hfac-letter-blinken/index.html
and another letter to the Biden administration (already had been reported): https://www.thenation.com/article/world/yemen-blockade/
(* B P)
The blockade of Yemen is a humanitarian crisis. Biden has the power to end it.
Over the past six years, the United States has supported a deadly Saudi-led blockade of Yemen, which has led to the starvation deaths of at least 85,000 children.
Amid this horrific genocide of the Yemeni people are the footprints of American imperialism.
After two months of basking in the public relations glow of stating he will end U.S. support for this humanitarian catastrophe, President Joe Biden has refused to make millions of starving people a remote priority.
The only action he seems to be taking is ignoring a letter from his own party members in Congress demanding he end the blockade instead of increasing the defense budget to $753 billion. Biden supporters, is mass starvation and a bloated defense budget the harm-reduction you voted for?
Let’s make one thing clear, no U.S. presidential administration, Democrat or Republican, has had the guts to end U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s genocidal campaign in Yemen.
Biden has the power to quietly support mass murder in Yemen, so let’s not pretend he lacks the power to end the blockade. The millions of people being starved in Yemen, along with the brave hunger strikers in Washington, D.C., don’t deserve to go without food for another day because Biden continues to drag his feet. If ending genocide goes against U.S. foreign policy interests, then it is evident no matter who is in office, the United States will never end its passive and active involvement in war crimes. That is why it is essential for Biden to stop ignoring his promise of ending the blockade and take decisive, meaningful action.
https://dbknews.com/2021/04/13/yemen-biden-blockade-crisis-famine/
(A P)
Today is day 18 of the hunger strike for ¥€/\/\3n (algorithm bans the word) here are some photos of our actions
https://twitter.com/sandlewoad/status/1382688338474319878
(A P)
US activists on hunger strike over support for Yemen war
The hunger strike started on 29 March and has been led by Detroit-based activists. Among them is 26-year-old Yemeni American Iman Saleh, who is general coordinator of the Yemeni Liberation Movement.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210415-us-activists-on-hunger-strike-over-support-for-yemen-war/
and
(A P)
Hunger-striking US activists demand end to Yemen blockade
Activists urge US President Joe Biden to end backing for Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, where millions are going hungry.
Back in Washington, DC, the hunger strike has garnered support from progressive US lawmakers, including Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar – the first two Muslim women ever elected to the US Congress – who both met with the activists this month.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/14/us-activists-hunger-strike-demand-end-to-yemen-blockade
and
(A P)
Yesterday, on the 16th day of the hunger strike, we mourned the lives of Yemenis who were violently killed due to imperialism by the US and its allies. We grieved for the lives lost too soon. We grieved for the lives that will be lost if @POTUS doesn’t end the blockade (photos)
https://twitter.com/LiberateYemen/status/1382462502395547652
HUNGER STRIKE DAY 17. More than 75 rep. from your party have spoken, when will you act, @POTUS? Yesterday, @RepRashida & @CoriBush joined sisters Iman & Muna Saleh from @LiberateYemen (on hunger strike since 03/29) during a vigil for the lives lost in Yemen under the blockade (photos)
https://twitter.com/Lau_Bast/status/1382463857470361602
(A P)
Film: Rep. Ilhan Omar Speaks To Activists On Hunger Strike For Yemen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJqOpzInZvw
(* B P)
Biden and the War in Yemen: The Larger Context of the Shifts in the American Position
Biden’s decisions regarding Yemen are not a departure from those of previous administrations, simply part of the United States’ slow transition from direct support to one of the warring parties to seeking the role of a mediator in the conflict’s resolution.
By closely tracing the most pivotal moments of U.S. support in the war, this article will show that most elements of this support had ceased to exist before Biden stepped into office. It will also show that Washington’s gradual move away from supporting the Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen was caused by two main factors. Intense advocacy campaigns and lobbying efforts by humanitarian and human rights groups in reaction to increased civilian deaths and worsened humanitarian conditions in Yemen have significantly impacted U.S. polices. Furthermore, growing levels of political partisanship and institutional polarization in Washington, particularly between the Congress and the President but also between the two parties, have contributed to the transformation of the war in Yemen, and Saudi-U.S. relations in general, into one of the primary arenas of contestation.
The incident that initiated the process of scaling down the U.S. support to the Arab coalition in Yemen was the two Sanaa funeral airstrikes on October 8, 2016, which killed over 150 people and injured 500 more.
Trump’s election may have slowed momentum of this process, but it did not stop it. His presidency transformed the war in Yemen into a major arena of partisan contestation, institutional polarization, and a key indicator of U.S.-Saudi relations.
Biden’s Yemen decisions do not constitute a rupture with his predecessors, but rather represent another step further in the gradual shift of the U.S. position from supporting the Arab coalition in the war to merely brokering a peace initiative. Almost two months after these decisions were announced, their results, thus far, have been limited, if not counterproductive. Although these decisions were in large part a response to pressures in Washington, the opposition bloc in Washington does not yet seem satisfied – by Sultan Alamer, a Saudi writer and a political science PhD candidate at The George Washington University.
https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/84326
My comment: The article – by a Saudi author in the US! – retells the mainstream tall story of “U.S. disengagement policy in the Middle East that began in the final year of the G.W. Bush administration” and “significant transformations in Saudi Arabia”, thus painting a distorted picture .
cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf
Siehe / Look at cp9
(* B P)
The Clock Is Ticking for Biden on Iran
The United States must quickly decide on lifting sanctions and come up with a credible road map for reviving the Iran nuclear deal.
This diplomatic process, which is crucial to avoiding further conflict in the Middle East and allowing President Biden to focus on competition with China, will falter unless the Biden administration moves quickly. American negotiators should list the sanctions that the United States is prepared to remove in exchange for Iranian compliance. Iran is about three months from breakout time, the time it would take to produce sufficient weapons-grade enriched uranium for one nuclear weapon. If diplomacy fails, the United States will slide into another dangerous crisis in the Middle East.
Iran has been willing to engage the Biden administration and has promised to return to full compliance with the nuclear deal if the United States did so as well.
But that apparent agreement masked disagreements on who should take the first step, and how to manage subsequent steps back to full compliance.
The Biden administration signaled that it was looking past the 2015 nuclear deal at a “longer and stronger” agreement, which would include fundamental changes to Iran’s support for proxy forces in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, and limits on the number and range of Iranian missiles.
Iran did not turn out to be as desperate as Washington assumed.
The United States and Iran differ on which sanctions should be removed. Iran wants a return to where things stood before Mr. Trump took office. The United States is unwilling to commit to removing all Trump-era sanctions, in part because the Trump administration deliberately designated many sanctions as linked to fighting terrorism, which makes them difficult to remove.
Since the Vienna talks began, the U.S. negotiators would not provide a list of sanctions that the Biden administration would remove. Iranian negotiators said that they will come back with their own list. That could make or break the next round of talks.
If there is no breakthrough in Vienna and Tehran concludes that the United States will not lift sanctions, the nuclear issue can take a dangerous turn and potentially lead the United States to another war in the Middle East.
The Biden administration has to act decisively by lifting Trump-era sanctions and coming up with a credible road map for reviving a nuclear deal that the United States and Iran could agree on.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/16/opinion/biden-iran-talks.html
(* B P)
Biden is running out of time to dodge Trump's traps with Iran
The future of the Iran nuclear deal hangs in the balance, and with it the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran or another Middle East war to stop it.
The next few weeks will be decisive. To save the deal and renew America's engagement in the world, President Joe Biden will need to act quickly and boldly to clear away the political traps set by President Donald Trump.
Trump's plan was a "maximum failure" that produced a predictable reply: Tehran soon began to restart its nuclear program.
As the LA Times put it, "Without a deal restricting the Iranian nuclear program, the choice becomes to watch Iran march closer to the ability to build a bomb, or to go to war to stop it." In Biden's own words, Trump "recklessly tossed away a policy that was working to keep America safe and replaced it with one that has worsened the threat."
Beyond merely reinstating the economic sanctions from the Iran deal, the Trump administration built a malicious "sanctions wall," including redundant terrorism sanctions for the sole purpose of making it as hard as possible for the Biden team to get back into the nuclear agreement. To lift the sanctions as required under the nuclear deal, Biden will have to lift some so-called "terrorism" sanctions as well.
State Department Spokesman Ned Price told journalists April 7 that "We are prepared to take the steps necessary to return to compliance with the JCPOA, including by lifting sanctions that are inconsistent with the JCPOA."
Yet, as Biden's interim guidance on how America will engage in the world states, "[r]eal strength isn't bluster or bullying. It means leading with our values."
And lifting malicious sanctions that not only undermine the Iran deal but hurt those most vulnerable is most certainly in line with American values.
https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-is-running-out-of-time-to-rejoin-iran-deal-2021-4?r=DE&IR=T
My comment: What is “American values”? There never had been any valus in US foreign policy except wiining and keeping hegemony and making money by exploitation.
(B P)
Film: Iran’s TV’s clip showing Iran’s ballistic missiles attacking Satan worshipping Saudis while the “fictional” Mahdi appearing from beneath the ground to liberate Makkah! Iran is the only country in the world where its entire constitution is based on a mythical figure, the Mahdi!
https://twitter.com/AimenDean/status/1382952868748144644
(* B P)
Iran not backing down in Middle East, US intel report says
Iran’s government is likely to continue to challenge Washington’s influence in the Middle East and pursue espionage within the United States in the coming years, according to an intelligence report newly released by the Biden administration.
Despite — or perhaps because of — US pressure on Tehran, the Iranian government is likely to continue seeking to build and maintain influence in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan, according to the report.
“Iran sees itself as locked in a struggle with the United States and its regional allies, whom they perceive to be focused on curtailing Iran’s geopolitical influence and pursuing regime change,” read the threat assessment report released Tuesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
“Tehran’s actions will reflect its perception of US, Israeli, and Gulf state hostility,” read the report, which also focused on Russia and China’s threats to US interests and the effects of the global coronavirus pandemic.
While the assessment predicts Iran “will take risks that could escalate tension and threaten US and allied interests” over the coming year, the likelihood of violent attacks is likely to depend on Iran’s “perception of the United States’ willingness to respond,” the report read.
While Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State pose the greatest terror threats to US personnel, neither group is currently capable of attacking the US homeland today, CIA Director William Burns told Congress today.
Still, any US withdrawal from the region risks ceding ground to extremist groups and US adversaries, officials have said.
"Wanting to bring our forces home from Afghanistan after 20 years is very understandable, but we should keep sufficient capabilities there to avoid the [2014] scenario in Iraq and Syria and preserve everything we fought so hard for," said Mick Mulroy, a former CIA station chief and top Middle East policy official at the Pentagon who is now an ABC News analyst.
"We should keep enough of a force there in order to conduct counterterrorism operations and enable our partners to continue their fight against the very group we went there to defeat," Mulroy told Al-Monitor by phone.
In Syria and Yemen, Iran’s pursuit of influence is unlikely to wane, despite Washington’s history of support for the Saudi-led coalition’s air campaign against Yemen’s Houthis and assistance for Israel’s airstrikes against Iranian targets in Syria.
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/04/iran-not-backing-down-middle-east-us-intel-report-says
my comment: Why Iran should? The Middle East isn’t the US’s region, the US doesn’t have any bussiness there, and there is no need for any US personal there.
(A P)
Iran starts enriching uranium to 60%, its highest level ever
Iran began enriching uranium up to 60% purity Friday, its highest level ever, after an attack targeted its Natanz nuclear site, the country’s parliament speaker said.
The comment by Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, quoted by state television, did not elaborate on the amount Iran planned to enrich. However, it is likely to raise tensions even as Iran negotiates with world powers in Vienna over a way to allow the U.S. back into the agreement and lift the crushing economic sanctions it faces.
The announcement also marks a significant escalation after the sabotage that damaged centrifuges, an attack this past weekend suspected of having been carried out by Israel.
(* B P)
How Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ united hardliners and reformers in Iran
That some of the most democratic voices in Iran should harbor suspicions towards engagement with the West, and in particular the United States, should be a matter of profound concern for policymakers hoping to hold future talks with Iran on a whole host of issues, chief amongst them the nuclear dossier. For if skepticism characterizes the attitude among factions traditionally seen as sympathetic to constructive engagement with the West, it takes little intellectual effort or imagination to appreciate how hardened Iranian public opinion has become during the Trump years, especially on national security and foreign policy. Biden’s failure thus far to lift sanctions and ensure the nuclear deal’s long-term survival has fueled cynicism across the political board, irrespective of views on democratic development.
This is in stark contrast to the mood in both the 2013 and 2017 presidential elections when the internal debate over foreign policy gravitated towards engagement with the West, in particular on the nuclear program. Indeed, Hassan Rouhani, who ultimately won both elections, had campaigned on a promise to thaw relations with the West and argued in favor of negotiating directly with the Untied States, which he had likened to the “the village head.” “It’s easier to deal with the village head directly,” he said.
None of this suggests that the political and social fissures revealed during the 2009 election have been fully eliminated. National priorities may be reshuffled owing to external pressure, but they are unlikely to dissolve unless adequately addressed. Indeed, when Dehghan broached Ghalebi’s “dark past” towards the end of their interview, he was promptly reminded that the rally around the flag effect alone cannot overwrite the reformist accounts of the 2009 uprising.
(A P)
Iran’s deputy FM: EU’s new so-called rights sanctions JCPOA-related, meant to undermine JCPOA talks
Iran’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs says the Iranian delegation took the European countries to task during Thursday talks on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal for imposing so-called right-related bans and ignoring a recent terrorist attack on an Iranian nuclear site, saying the new sanctions are meant to undermine talks on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the deal altogether.
“The Europeans not only ignored this important act of sabotage, but also they were busy imposing new sanctions on Iran and that was totally unacceptable,” Abbas Araqchi said an exclusive interview with Press TV correspondent in Vienna on Thursday.
“We told them that even your human rights sanctions that you imposed two days ago, we consider them as JCPOA-related sanctions, because right in the middle of negotiations you decided to impose sanctions and that is certainly [meant] to undermine the current negotiations and to undermine the JCPOA altogether,” Araqchi added.
(A P)
Iran FM: Biden only committed to Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’, as Iran sticks to diplomacy
Iran has criticized the administration of US President Joe Biden for casting doubt on Tehran’s seriousness in pursuing diplomacy while it has itself persisted with the failed "maximum pressure" campaign initiated by former president, Donald Trump.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/04/15/649550/Zarif-Biden-remains-committed-to-Trump-max-pressure
(* B P)
EXPLAINER: What are the Iran nuclear talks all about?
Negotiations to bring the United States back into a landmark nuclear deal with Iran resumed Thursday in Vienna amid signs of progress — but also under the shadow of an attack this week on Iran’s main nuclear facility. After more than two hours of talks characterized by Russia’s delegate as generally positive, issues were turned back over to two working groups for continued discussion and refinement.
Heading into the talks as they started last week, Iran said it was willing to return to full compliance with the deal, but that the U.S. would first have to drop all of the sanctions imposed under Trump.
That is complicated, however. The Trump administration also added sanctions on Iran outside those related to its nuclear program, including over allegations of terrorism, human rights violations and for the country’s ballistic missile program.
Still, there are signs of hope. The talks quickly moved past that “who goes first” debate and have already started addressing specifics, said Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, an Iran scholar at Britain’s Royal United Services Institute.
“It’s a very good development that there are these working groups actually talking and looking at the nitty gritty,” she told The Associated Press.
HOW LONG WILL THE TALKS TAKE?
There is no specified timeframe. Diplomats involved say the issues cannot be solved overnight, but are hoping for a resolution in weeks rather than months — for several reasons.
Meanwhile, the U.S. could face a much tougher negotiation if it doesn’t get a deal before Rouhani leaves. Hard-liners in Iran reject the nuclear deal, saying it hasn’t delivered enough economic relief and is a slippery slope to more pressure on Iran. That doesn’t necessarily mean they would end talks if elected, though it would complicate things.
WHAT OBSTACLES COULD GET IN THE WAY?
Lots, as recent events have shown. Over the weekend, Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility was sabotaged. It’s not clear what exactly happened, but a blackout damaged centrifuges there.
The attack was widely suspected of being carried out by Israel, which opposes the nuclear deal, though authorities there have not commented.
Iran says Israel explicitly hopes to derail the talks with the sabotage.
(A P T)
Denmark charges three members of Iranian opposition group for financing terrorist activity
Denmark’s public prosecutor said on Thursday it had charged three members of an Iranian Arab opposition group for financing and supporting terrorist activity in Iran in collaboration with Saudi Arabian intelligence services.
The three members of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz (ASMLA) were arrested in February last year and have been in custody since.
(* B P)
How Should Conservatives Think About The Iran Deal?
The crucible of American Middle East policy is again up for debate, as Biden's team has quietly negotiated in Vienna. How did we get here?
It’s all too familiar.
A Democratic White House, attempting to lead the nation out of crisis at home, publicly signals its determination to wash its hands clean of the Middle East. The government pledges exit from one long theater (in 2009, it was Iraq, in 2021, it is reportedly Afghanistan) and prepares to enter into negotiations in order to keep America out of yet another.
Deja vu: in 2021, and the order of the day is, once again, Iran.
U.S. policy toward the Islamic Republic is the cornerstone of any administration’s strategy in the region.
The U.S. plunged into the region, first on Iran’s eastern border, in Afghanistan. And then, Washington completed its vendetta against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, to Iran’s West.
But moving across the map, the political leadership of the U.S. began to split on how to react to an Islamic Republic again on the rise, and plausibly seeking nuclear weapons. This split was no more acute than within America’s ruling duo, that is, then-President George W. Bush and then-President Dick Cheney.
Now, after a first three months of surprising hawkishness in its own right, including a Syria strike, President Joe Biden is poised to entertain re-entering some sort of accord with a desperate Iran, which was, not even accounting for Soleimani, simply battered under Trump. Though other progressive personnel maneuvers fell apart as the new administration formed, the special envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, is committed to a return to a deal. Discussions between American and Iranian officials occurred on the sidelines last week in Vienna, and a recent attack on an Iranian nuclear facility by the Mossad is evidence enough of a concerned Israeli establishment.
That the American Iran hawk lobby, anchored by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, is panicked is clear enough
It’s early days but it’s safe to say that Biden, who is popular, will likely—if he cares to pursue this, (“not a priority” was how one administration ally put the Iran file to me last week)—be able to rally most, if not all, the players in his party toward a new deal with Iran, something Obama failed to do.
If he is willing to stir up the hornet’s nest that would be pursuit of a new JCPOA, there’s little doubt he would, however vainly, seek to bring some Republicans and conservatives along for the ride, to shore up his domestic political position.
What does this mean for conservatives and Republicans?
First, there is the promise of a more substantial deal, as Dubowitz mentioned. Today, it is broadly conceded that failure to address Iran’s “regional behavior” in the original deal was a major political mistake, paring down Iran’s nuclear capabilities to be sure, but allowing the deal’s advocates to get hammered politically as Iran and its vast network of militias expanded their authority. But that failure’s history is a curious one, or as the Iran hawks’ bete noire, Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute wrote in February in Foreign Affairs: “Today, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Israel argue that the 2015 Iran nuclear deal should have encompassed regional concerns. But back when the deal was being negotiated, Saudi Arabia and the UAE insisted… [the] administration refrain from bringing regional conflicts into discussions with Iran in their absence. Israel, too, opposed expanding the negotiating agenda beyond the nuclear file for fear that doing so would lead Washington to compromise on the nuclear front in exchange for regional concessions.”
American voters should also be wary of being played the fool.
Next, conservative critics of the Iran hawks would do well to concede where they got it wrong. Trump’s Iran hawkishness clearly had its uses. Trump brought a weakened Iran back to the negotiating table, for one, for Biden now to deal with. And the Trump administration’s tact fostered the climate that gave rise to the landmark Abraham Accords, that is, some degree of normalization between the Sunni regimes and Israel, powers that were at each other’s throats only a generation ago. The American recognition of the Israeli capital in Jerusalem, a change in decades-old policy, was tellingly not reversed by the Biden administration.
But finally, it would seem a reckoning, if not realpolitik is in order. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Lindsey Graham, paragons of the old guard, panned President Biden’s tentative withdrawal from Afghanistan on Tuesday. “It is a retreat in the face of an enemy that has not yet been vanquished and abdication of American leadership,” McConnell said. One guess where he will be on any accord with Iran, even a truly tough, future one brokered by a Trump-style Republican, even one that kept America out of yet one more war in the Middle East – by Daniel Larison
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/how-should-conservatives-think-about-the-iran-deal/
(A P)
Iran's Rouhani questions US presence in region, says regional countries well capable of ensuring own security
(A P)
Iran’s supreme leader: Vienna offers ‘not worth looking at’
Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday dismissed initial offers at talks in Vienna to save Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal as “not worth looking at,” attempting to pressure world powers after an attack on the country’s main nuclear enrichment site.
The comments by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all matters of state in the Islamic Republic, came after a day that saw Iran’s president similarly ratchet up pressure over the accord. European powers meanwhile warned Tehran its actions were “particularly regrettable” and “dangerous.”
(A P)
Saudi official: Expanded talks should follow any Iran nuclear deal
Saudi Arabia believes any revival of the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers should be a starting point for further discussions bringing in regional states aimed at expanding the deal’s provisions, an official said on Wednesday.
Ambassador Rayd Krimly, head of policy planning at the Saudi foreign ministry, told Reuters that any agreement that does not effectively address concerns abo
(A P)
Saudi Arabia says it is concerned about Iran uranium enrichment
Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it was concerned about Iran’s intention to start enriching uranium to 60% purity and said such a move could not be considered part of a peaceful nuclear programme.
A foreign ministry statement called on Iran to avoid escalation and engage seriously in talks with global powers about a 2015 nuclear pact. The statement also urged the international community to reach an agreement “with stronger parameters of a longer duration”.
and the Houthi comment:
(A P)
Saudi Regime not Concerned with Israeli Nuclear Terrorism, Rather with Iranian Response!
(A P)
Iran president calls 60% enrichment an answer to ‘evilness’
Iran’s president on Wednesday called his country’s decision to dramatically increase its uranium enrichment after saboteurs attacked a nuclear site “an answer to your evilness,” saying Israel hoped to derail ongoing talks aimed at reviving Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers.
(A P)
Iran warns against allowing Israeli regime foothold in region
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that allowing the Israeli regime a foothold in the Persian Gulf region is “dangerous,” given the fact that the regime is a “destabilizing and provocative” element.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/04/13/649382/Iran-Israel-Russia-foothold-in-region-dangerous
(A P)
Withdrawal of US forces from Iraq will promote regional security: Iran defense chief
(A K P)
Ship owned by Israeli firm attacked off UAE coast: media
A commercial vessel owned by an Israeli firm was attacked off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in Gulf waters, pro-Iran media and an Israeli television channel said on Tuesday.
Israel’s top-rated Channel 12 quoted unnamed Israeli officials as blaming arch-foe Iran for the assault, which it described as a missile strike. There were no casualties and the ship continued on its course, the TV channel added.
Two maritime security sources told Reuters that an Israeli ship was hit near the UAE’s Fujairah port resulting in an explosion but that there were no casualties.
(* A P)
Official: Iran to enrich uranium to 60%, highest level ever
Iran will begin enriching uranium up to 60% purity after an attack on its Natanz nuclear facility, a negotiator said Tuesday, pushing its program to higher levels than ever before though still remaining short of weapons-grade.
The announcement marks a significant escalation after the sabotage that damaged centrifuges, suspected of having been carried out by Israel — and could inspire a further response from Israel amid a long-running shadow war between the nations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed never to allow Tehran to obtain a nuclear weapon and his country has twice preemptively bombed Mideast nations to stop their atomic programs.
Already earlier in the day, Iran’s foreign minister had warned that the weekend assault at Natanz could hurt ongoing negotiations over its tattered atomic deal with world powers.
(B P)
Analysis: Iran’s powerful Guard faces scrutiny after attacks
The recent sabotage at Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility is just the latest setback for the country’s Revolutionary Guard, though the paramilitary force is rarely publicly criticized due to its power.
But with some of its leaders now considering vying for the presidency, the Guard’s influence and failures could become fair game.
https://apnews.com/article/analysis-iran-revolutionary-guard-c595ad17da3a67d049648825a94fb502
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A P)
Minister James Cleverly to discuss UK aid cuts to Yemen
Following recent news that the UK’s aid contribution to Yemen is to be reduced by nearly 60% compared to 2020-21 contributions, the International Development Committee is to hold a one-off evidence session to explore how this can impact the Yemeni people.
(A H P)
‘If we don’t give, people don’t eat’: Yemen focus of UK Ramadan giving
As Britain cuts aid to war-torn country on brink of famine Muslim charities are directing donations towards feeding population
The Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, which started this week, is the biggest period of giving for UK Muslims.
According to research by the Muslim Charities Forum, in 2018 the UK’s estimated 3.5 million Muslims donated more than £120m to global charitable causes during Ramadan, at a rate of £46 every second.
This year, after the UK government’s decision to drastically slash aid to Yemen, some of the leading Muslim charities in the UK are focusing on Yemen for their Ramadan campaigns. The cuts have been widely condemned.
Muslim Hands is hoping the festival period will help it raise the £6m it wants to spend in the country this year. In 2020, the charity raised £32m – £10.6m of it during Ramadan. About £1.1m went towards its work in Yemen.
Abdul Rahman Hussein, country director for Yemen, said the UK government cuts were “shocking” and would have a huge impact. “Imagine, every 10 minutes one child under five dies in Yemen,” he said.
(* B P)
Saudi crown prince asked Boris Johnson to intervene in Newcastle United bid
Mohammed bin Salman warned of damage to Saudi-UK relations if Premier League refusal not ‘corrected’
The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, warned Boris Johnson in a text message that UK-Saudi Arabian relations would be damaged if the British government failed to intervene to “correct” the Premier League’s “wrong” decision not to allow a £300m takeover of Newcastle United last year.
Johnson asked Edward Lister, his special envoy for the Gulf, to take up the issue, and Lord Lister reportedly told the prime minister: “I’m on the case. I will investigate.”
The message stemmed from an attempt by a consortium led by the sovereign wealth fund, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, to buy Newcastle from its current owner, Mike Ashley.
A deal was agreed in April last year, which was then scrutinised by the Premier League under its owners’ and directors’ test, because the league had doubts about the independence of the bid team from the Saudi government. In July the consortium, which described itself as an “autonomous and purely commercial investor”, withdrew from the deal, blaming an “unforeseeably prolonged process”.
The Daily Mail, which first reported on the lobbying attempt by Prince Mohammed, said the message to Johnson was sent on 27 June and read: “We expect the English Premier League to reconsider and correct its wrong conclusion.”
Lister told the Mail: “The Saudis were getting upset. We were not lobbying for them to buy it or not to buy it. We wanted [the Premier League] to be straightforward and say ‘yes’ or ‘no’, don’t leave [the Saudis] dangling.”
(* B P)
Revealed: the huge British property empire of Sheikh Mohammed
Holdings of more than 40,000 hectares in London, Scotland and Newmarket make Dubai ruler one of UK’s biggest landowners
The huge property portfolio apparently owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum and his close family ranges from mansions, stables and training gallops across Newmarket, to white stucco houses in some of London’s most exclusive addresses and extensive moorland including the 25,000-hectare Inverinate estate in the Scottish Highlands.
The Guardian has mapped these expansive private holdings linked to Sheikh Mohammed, who is vice-president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, using Land Registry records and company filings.
The exact scale of his British landholding is not known because most of the properties connected to him are owned via offshore companies in the tax havens of Guernsey and Jersey. That raises familiar questions about the secretive nature of large amounts of property ownership in Britain, and whether it is structured in ways to avoid paying UK taxes when the properties are sold.
(A P)
Douglas Ross slammed for ‘two-bit tank rider’ stunt with arms firm linked to Yemen bombings
Scots Tory leader Douglas Ross has been condemned by critics of the arms trade for a “two-bit tank rider” stunt with a French arms firm in Glasgow which deals with Saudi Arabia and Russia.
https://theferret.scot/douglas-ross-condemned-tank-stunt-french-arms-firm/
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
(A P)
Film: GEGEN DEN KRIEG IM JEMEN
DEUTSCHE FRIEDENSAKTIVISTEN ZEIGEN GESICHT GEGEN DEN KRIEG IM JEMEN - 6 JAHRE SIND GENUG! Kundgebung am 27. März 2021 vor der US-Botschaft und Brandenburger Tor Rede von Ingo Karras (FRIKO-COTTBUS)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lr9uRnx1RU
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
Südafrika; Spanien / South Africa; Spain: Siehe / Look at cp1
(A)
UAE sets new ambitious timeline for launch of moon rove
(* B H P)
JEMENS HUMANITÄRE KRISE UND DIE EU
Gerade in Zeiten von COVID-19 ist aber eine starke solidarische Unterstützung durch die internationale Gemeinschaft und insbesondere die Europäische Union erforderlich.
Trotz des dringenden Bedarfs nach humanitärer Unterstützung ist die Staatengemeinschaft diesem Ruf allerdings bis jetzt noch nicht hinreichend nachgekommen.
Seit der Eskalation des Konflikts 2015 stellt 2020 (damit) den Tiefpunkt der internationalen Unterstützung für die Bevölkerung im Jemen dar und ist damit beispielhaft für die sinkende Bereitschaft der Staatengemeinschaft zu finanziellen Hilfen in der Krise.
Im Jahr 2020 war die EU mit ihrer Finanzierung von 5,6 % des UN-Hilfspakets die fünftgrößte Spenderin im Jemen nach den USA, Saudi-Arabien, dem Vereinigten Königreich und Deutschland. Seit Beginn des Konflikts 2015 hat die EU etwa 896 Millionen Euro an Unterstützungsgeldern ausgezahlt, darunter 553 Millionen für humanitäre Hilfen und 318 Millionen in Entwicklungshilfen.
Trotz starker Worte und Bekräftigungen durch die Europäische Union und ihre Mitgliedstaaten fehlt es ihrem Ansatz an ausreichender Koordinierung und Kohärenz. Alleine das geringe Volumen der humanitären Hilfe an Jemen zeigt die geringe Priorität, die Politiker*innen in der EU ihr geben. So hat der Jemen zwischen 2015 und 2018 2.33 Milliarden Euro von den EU-Institutionen und den Mitgliedsstaaten erhalten, während Afghanistan und Marokko im gleichen Zeitraum jeweils mehr als fünf Milliarden Euro von der EU erhielten.
Die Unfähigkeit der EU eine umfassende Strategie zur Stabilisierung und Verbesserung der Situation im Jemen zu implementieren schwächt dabei die eigene Machtprojektion als soft power in der Welt.
Zwar hat die EU schon hohe Summen an Krisenunterstützung und Entwicklungshilfe im Jemen geleistet, doch diese reicht nicht aus, um die finanziellen Engpässe der UN-Hilfsprogramme und die Lage vor Ort hinreichend zu beheben.
Finanzielle Unterstützung wird allerdings nicht ausreichen um dem Jemen wieder auf die Beine zu helfen; es braucht vor allem auch einen landesweiten Waffenstillstand um die Wiederaufnahme von Verhandlungen zur friedlichen Beilegung des Konflikts in einem inklusiven, politischen Abkommen zu ermöglichen. Die EU sollte daher neben der notwendigen Erhöhung der humanitären Hilfe eine kohärente Strategie für eine langfristige Lösung des Konflikts entwickeln.
https://www.treffpunkteuropa.de/jemens-humanitare-krise-und-die-eu?lang=fr
Mein Kommentar: Und kein Wort über die entscheidende Rolle der EU-Staaten als Waffenexporteur und Unterstützer der Saudis.
(* B H P)
YEMEN’S HUMANITARIAN CRISIS AND THE EU
Despite the indisputably desperate need for humanitarian assistance, the international community has not responded accordingly.
Not only is the 2020 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan the worst funded since the conflict escalated in 2015], but it is indicative of an overall drop in funding for the crisis in recent years.
Despite all this, the European Union and its member states have approached the ongoing conflict in Yemen with a lack of coordination and coherence. The volume of aid Yemen has received from the EU is proof of its low priority to EU leaders. Between 2015 and 2018 Yemen has been allocated €2.33 billion in aid from EU institutions and member countries. During these same four years, Afghanistan and Morocco have received more than €5 billion each from the European Union
Overall, the EU provides large sums of both humanitarian and development assistance to Yemen, even though they are not enough to cover the unmet funding requirements of the UN appeals and overcome the current funding crisis. These actions assist millions of Yemenis who face acute food insecurity, and support the treatment of severely malnourished children who are at high risk of dying. However, it needs to be stressed that aid alone cannot put Yemen back on its feet. What is needed above all is a nationwide ceasefire, to allow for the resumption of negotiations towards an inclusive political settlement. The EU should develop a coherent strategy that would contribute to that, in addition to the provision of necessary aid.
https://www.treffpunkteuropa.de/yemen-s-humanitarian-crisis-and-the-eu?lang=fr
My comment: And no word about EU arms sales and the EU covergae for Saudi Arabia.
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
Siehe / Look at cp1
cp13b Mercenaries / Söldner
(A K pH)
COMBAT FOOTAGE: HOUTHIS RAID POSITIONS OF SUDANESE FORCES IN YEMEN’S HAJJAH
https://southfront.org/combat-footage-houthis-raid-positions-of-sudanese-forces-in-yemens-hajjah/
(A K)
Photos: Interesting to note the QLZ-87/Abba ("Sudanese version of the GL) captured from Sudanese mercs at #Haradh #Hajjah along with the associated 35x32mm DFJ87 ammo A whole load of fairly boring other materiel (Chinese/Iranian/Sudanese RPG, RCL, MG, ammo, Mortars etc) too
https://twitter.com/CalibreObscura/status/1383068822492561411
cp13c Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
(B C)
Papierabdrucke von Steininschriften aus dem Jemen
„Abklatsche“ sind Papierabdrucke, die Altertumsforscher von Steininschriften angefertigt haben, weil sie annahmen, dass die Grabmäler und antiken Ruinen, von denen sie die Inschriften abnahmen, zerstört werden könnten.
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
(A T)
Representatives of Indai @ambtstirumurti, & Kenya @AmbMKimani to UN cited "reports" about the presence of alQaida/ISIS in #Marib. Well. Do u both have evidence /confirmed inform about, who and where, or u just echoing Houthi & Iranian propaganda & false reports?
https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1383270433059794948
(A T)
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a chant praising al Shabaab fighters for their determination and strength on April 14. AQAP released a similar chant in September 2020 lauding al Qaeda’s Jama’at Nusrat al Islam wa al Muslimeen.[i]
cp15 Propaganda
(A P)
Arab League calls on Houthis to put Yemen interest above other agendas
The Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Thursday called on the Ansar Allah group, known as the Houthis, to put the interest of the Yemeni people and Yemen above any agendas.
A complete ceasefire represents the first step towards resolving the complex crisis and addressing the difficult humanitarian conditions in Yemen, he said at a meeting with the Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He praised a peace initiative proposed by Saudi Arabia weeks ago
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24510.html
(A P)
Die Abraham-Abkommen: Ein Paradigmenwechsel und die deutsche Reaktion (2/2)
Egal, ob es um das iranische Atomprogramm oder um den palästinensisch-israelischen Konflikt geht: Zu beiden Themen vertritt die deutsche Außenpolitik Positionen, die nicht auf der Höhe der Zeit sind.
Im Atomstreit mit dem iranischen Regime kann die von Außenminister Maas vertretene Linie im besten Fall bloß dazu führen, in irgendeiner Form zu einem Abkommen zurückzukehren, das schon zum Zeitpunkt seines Abschlusses 2015 massive Mängel aufwies und ein untaugliches Mittel bleibt, den Iran davon abzuhalten, die Bombe in seine Hände zu bekommen. Die Chancen, dass mit Maas‘ Politik eine Verbesserung, Ausweitung oder Verlängerung dieses Abkommens erreicht werden kann, sind gleich null, und er unternimmt nicht einmal den Versuch, der aggressiven Hegemonialpolitik des iranischen Regimes etwas entgegenzusetzen oder die Demokratiebewegung im Iran zu unterstützen.
https://www.mena-watch.com/abraham-abkommen-deutsche-reaktion-2/
(A P)
Public rallying behind army indicates that all Yemenis realize Houthi danger, says PM
Yemen’s Prime Minister said the “wide public and tribal rallying behind the army in its mission to end the Iran-backed Houthi coup indicates that all Yemenis realize the danger of the racist Houthi agenda.”
My comment: ??? “All Yemenis”?? Where do the Houthis come from? Jordan? India? Chile? Mars? Or Yemen??
(A P)
Saudi Arabia must ‘confront power with power’ in Yemen, says expert
The international community bears responsibility for prolonging the crisis in Yemen, and Saudi Arabia should not simply wait for the Iran-backed Houthis to cause a disaster, according to a Saudi expert in international relations.
Political analyst Dr. Hamdan Al-Shehri said on Thursday that although a number of proposals had been put forward to put an end to Yemen’s ongoing conflict, there had been a lack of will from the international community to implement those initiatives.
“If the international community was honest, it would have (acted on) UNSC Resolution 2216, demanding the Houthis relinquish the arms they seized from military and security institutions and cease all violence. The international community is delaying taking action against the Houthis for its own interests,” Al-Shehri told Arab News.
“The international community’s regional interests are its top priority, not Yemen or the Yemenis,” he added.
Al-Shehri believes that, in the face of continued silence from the international community, Saudi Arabia should ‘confront power with power’ when dealing with Houthi attacks.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1843646/saudi-arabia
(A P)
This tweet (and the comments under), is a good illustration of the far left's foreign policy views: self-righteous, oblivious to reality, intolerant. Proponents seek instant gratification to feel good about themselves but neither care nor understand what is actually going on (1/)
https://twitter.com/thomasjuneau/status/1381959457127682051
(A P)
When Houthis took Sanaa by force, most westerners celebrated them as ragtag freedom fighters who revolted against government corruption & oppression. They created a false narrative that romanticized with Houthis & helped endorsed their propaganda.
https://twitter.com/Ndawsari/status/1382457805890813960
Let us pretend that Saudi Arabia was not involved in #Yemen. Would you believe that the world (or westerners) will care for Yemenis when they are in a humanitarian crisis caused by conflict purged by the start of the Houthi coup in September 2014? Not really.
These campaigns spun by some activists and caught by western media was never about #Yemen; it was just about Saudi Arabia -- and we know the west was always critical towards Saudi (for right or wrong reasons). Our job as Yemenis, myself included, is not to defend Saudi.
https://twitter.com/ToEducate/status/1382428451672633352
We firmly reject your harmful & false accusations that the Yemeni American activists are "indirectly supporting Houthis". Given that you proudly align with the Saudi-led military campaign that is starving tens of millions in Yemen, your opinion couldn't be less credible.
https://twitter.com/justfp/status/1382460626316967937
(A P)
Biden bows to Khamenei
The Biden administration is appeasing Iran with words and deeds.
It's a serious error of judgment. The Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign against Iran was effective in denying the regime the funds it needs to support its proxies, including Hezbollah in Syria and Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen. Those sanctions have also put Iran's economy on the brink of collapse.
Unfortunately, instead of using this leverage, the Biden administration has squandered it. In February, President Joe Biden removed the Houthis from the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations. The administration cited humanitarian assistance reasons for doing so, but the decision just doesn't add up. The Houthis conduct terrorism in Yemen and attempt to export terrorism with ballistic missile attacks on population centers in Saudi Arabia.
But the nuclear deal issue is the big concern.
If the U.S. returns to the nuclear deal and lifts sanctions on Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei won't exactly be ready to reconsider his other destabilizing activities. On the contrary, he'll have the political rationale and treasury investments to double down on those activities.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/biden-bows-to-khamenei
(A P)
The battle for Marib: A tipping point of the civil war in Yemen?
The West is focusing on the tragic humanitarian costs of the war in Yemen while turning a blind eye to the significant strategic implications of a Houthi/Iranian victory.
The outcome of this war may be fateful to the future of the Middle East. If Iran prevails and the Houthis manage to overrun Yemen, the strategic sea route of the Bab el-Mandeb, which is one of the seven major sea lanes carrying the world’s maritime trade, will be controlled by Iran.
The battle for Marib may have a significant impact on the future of Yemen and the entire Middle East, including the security of Israel. In the meanwhile, the tactics and weapons used in this battle demonstrate the latest Iranian military doctrines and are worthy of close study.
While this battle is not over, one important lesson for Israel already is clear. Iranian doctrine now stresses the use of precision suicide UAVs, side-by-side with ballistic missiles, banking on the difficulty current-generation ground-based air defenses have dealing with low and slow targets.
https://www.jns.org/opinion/the-battle-for-marib-a-tipping-point-of-the-civil-war-in-yemen/
(A P)
Yemen: Iran Demands More
None these strikes have got past Saudi air defenses but the Saudis realized one cruise or ballistic missile warhead hitting any part of an airport or near one would be a major blow to the Saudi reputation for security from airstrikes or Islamic terrorist attacks. This is more important now because in 2019 the Saudis made changes to their visa laws and allowed access to tourist attractions by all foreigners. This program was interrupted by the covid19 crises but that is less of a problem now and more tourists are beginning to arrive. The Saudis assume that this is why Iran has shifted its efforts to Saudi airports. The Iranians realize that many attacks can fail against such high-profiles targets but if one missile gets through, all the failed attacks are worth it. This sort of thing is a standard part of the Iranian playbook, as it the preference for using proxies (mercenaries or foreign clients) rather than make the attacks from Iran or using easily identifiable Iranian personnel.
Meanwhile, Iran provides the Shia rebels with lots of Ababils. These are smuggled disassembled, into Yemen, or anywhere else, the Ababils are then reassembled by locals under the supervision of Iranian technicians. Sometimes minor cosmetic modifications are made so the locals can give their Ababis a new name and claim it as their own. That doesn’t work for long because once UN inspection teams were available to visit the site of an attacks to collect fragments of Ababils, it was not long before some of the components were identified as coming from Iran and the exploded UAV an Iranian design.
https://www.strategypage.com/qnd/yemen/articles/20210412.aspx
(A P)
Biden Faces His First Disasters in Yemen and Afghanistan
Unless it changes tack, the administration is about to make bad situations even worse.
If the Biden administration isn’t careful, it could soon find itself confronting at least two major disasters in the broader Middle East. The first: the permanent entrenchment in Yemen of an Iranian-backed Houthi regime—a version of Hezbollah on the Arabian Peninsula, armed to the teeth with long-range precision weapons capable of targeting U.S. partners and interests across the region from Egypt and Israel to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
U.S. President Joe Biden certainly didn’t create the dire circumstances the United States now faces in both countries. They’ve been in the works for years. But the policies his administration has pursued in its first two and a half months in office have almost certainly made two bad situations even worse. Equally clear is if the scope and consequences of these pending defeats for U.S. policy be fully realized, Biden will inevitably be saddled with the bulk of the blame.
What happened next should not have been a surprise—at least not for anyone who has spent more than five minutes analyzing who was on the other side of the Yemen conflict: a murderous band of radical ideologues in bed with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and determined to conquer most of Yemen in service to their slogan “Death to America. Death to Israel. Curse the Jews. Victory to Islam.”
Should the Houthis succeed, it would effectively be game over for the seven-year effort to block the consolidation of a Hezbollah-like revolutionary regime across northern Yemen, abutting the Red Sea and Saudi border, beholden to Tehran, and—much like their Lebanese counterpart—brandishing a rapidly growing arsenal of weapons capable of raining down destruction on high-value targets in every major U.S. regional ally with potentially catastrophic effects – by John Hannah
https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/04/13/biden-yemen-afghanistan-foreign-policy-disasters/
My comment: Look at the author and you know why he wrote such a propaganda BS: John Hannah is a senior fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America and a former national security advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney.
(A P)
More Saudi coalition „We are benefactors“ propaganda
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2216564
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2216488
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2216243
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2216220
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2216194
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2215855
https://www.mofaic.gov.ae/en/mediahub/news/2021/4/12/12-04-2021-uae-erc
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2215469
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
(* A K pH)
Saudi coalition air raids and shelling day by day
April 12: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1989257384557950/
April 11: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1988697281280627/
April 10: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1988696727947349/
April 9: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1988696184614070/
April 8: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1988695614614127/
April 7: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1988695097947512/
April 6: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1988694484614240/
April 5: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1988693961280959/
April 3. https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1988681461282209/#
April 2: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1988677667949255/
April 1: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1988676761282679/
(A K pH)
More Saudi coalition air raids
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3136820.htm Hodeidah p.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24488.html 3 prov.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3136655.htm Marib p.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3136578.htm Bayda p., Saada p.
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1382066222783721475 Saada city
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
Siehe / Look at cp17a, cp18
Im Jemen herrscht ein militärisches Patt. Eine größere Offensive mit größeren Erfolgen und Geländegewinnen für eine Seite bleiben seit der Offensive der saudischen Koalition gegen Hodeidah im Jahr 2018 aus. Kleinere Offensiven, ständige gegenseitige Angriffe und Gefechte mit Toten auf beiden Seiten und Opfern unter der Zivilbevölkerung gibt es aber ständig. Besonders betroffen sind die Provinzen Hodeidah, Taiz, Al Bayda, Al Dhalea, der Bezirk Nehm in der Provinz Sanaa, die Provinzen Al Jawf, Marib, Hajjah und Saada.
There is a military stalemate in Yemen. A larger offensive with greater successes and territorial gains for one side has been absent since the Saudi coalition's offensive against Hodeidah in 2018. Smaller offensives, constant mutual attacks and skirmishes killing fighters of both sides and causing victims among the civilian population are constant. The provinces of Hodeidah, Taiz, Al Bayda, Al Dhalea, the district of Nehm in the province of Sanaa, the provinces of Al Jawf, Marib, Hajjah and Saada are particularly affected.
(B K pS)
Houthis Behind 37 Cross-Border Attacks Since Saudi Arabia Announced Yemen Peace Plan
(A K pH)
Saudi forces continue hitting civilian targets in northern Yemen
and
(A K pH)
Two children killed and four other civilians wounded in Saudi bombing of Saada
At least two children were killed and four others were injured in an attack by Saudi forces in Saada province, northern Yemen, a security official said on Wednesday .
The official explained that the Saudi-led coalition forces launched bombardments on al-Raqaw area in Monabbih border district, killing two children and wounding two others as well as two women.
(falsely claiming an air raid): https://english.almasirah.net/post/18861/US-Saudi-Warplane-Kills%2C-Injures-6-Citizens-in-Sa-adah
Film: https://twitter.com/mamashami/status/1382455033971802118
(A K pH)
Citizen Killed by Saudi Artillery Shelling in Sa’adah
https://english.almasirah.net/post/18873/Citizen-Killed-by-Saudi-Artillery-Shelling-in-Sa-adah
(A K)
Houthis say they attacked anti-missile structure in Saudi
Yemen's Houthi group used drones and missiles to attack targets in the southern Saudi city of Jazan, it said today, including one belonging to state oil giant Aramco which caused a fire, Reuters reported.
There was no Saudi confirmation of a fire or of a hit on a patriot anti-missile structure which the Houthi military spokesman said was also struck.
and
(A K pH)
Army hits Aramco, sensitive targets in Jizan
The missile force and Air Force drones on Thursday carried out a joint offensive operation in the depths of Saudi Arabia, armed forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Sare'i said.
Sare'i added Aramco and other targets were targeted by 7 Sa'ir and Badr missiles, stressing that the hits stroke their targets accurately.
He said the targeting resulted in major fires at Aramco company.
He stated the Patriot stores and bases were targeted by 4 Sammad-3 drones and Qasef-2k, and the hits were accurate.
Sare'i indicated the targeting came in response to the escalation of aggression and the continuation of the siege on the Yemeni people.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3136700.htm
and
(A K)
Yemen's Houthis say they attacked Aramco, Patriot targets in Jazan
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group used drones and missiles to attack targets in the southern Saudi city of Jazan, it said on Thursday, including one belonging to state oil giant Aramco which caused a fire.
There was no Saudi confirmation of a fire or of a hit on a Patriot anti-missile structure which the Houthi military spokesman said was also struck.
However the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen said some debris from intercepting the four drones and five ballistic missiles fired overnight and in the early morning had landed within the grounds of Jazan University and started a limited fire that was brought under control.
and also https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/15/yemens-houthis-say-attacked-aramco-patriot-targets-in-jazan
https://apnews.com/article/yemen-saudi-arabia-895b00bdd38af091b9c3609a8ff45596
Saudi university catches fire near Yemen border in attack (apnews.com)
Film showing the missile hitting, and fire: https://twitter.com/mamashami/status/1382516112588410884
Film showing fire: https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1382495608649482243 = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC3OXhzALnY
and
(A K pS)
Saudi intercepts Houthi attack on Jazan University, debris leads to fire on campus
Saudi forces intercepted several attacks launched by the Houthis toward civilian targets in the kingdom, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Thursday.
“The Royal Saudi Air Defense has intercepted and destroyed on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning four bomb-laden UAVs and five ballistic missiles launched by the Houthi militia from the Sa’dah governorate [in Yemen] toward Jazan,” said coalition spokesperson Brigadier General Turki Al-Malki.
The Houthi militia “attempted to target a number of civilian objects protected under the international humanitarian law”, including Jazan University, he said.
The interception resulted in scattered debris on the campus, which caused a restricted fire that was contained without any losses to civilian life.
and
(A K pS)
The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition: Royal Saudi Air Defense Intercepts and Destroys (4) Bomb-laden UAVs, (5) Ballistic Missiles Launched by the Terrorist, Iran-Backed Houthi Militia Toward (Jazan) to Target Civilians and Civilian Objects
“The Royal Saudi Air Defense has intercepted and destroyed Wednesday’s evening and this morning (Thursday) (4) bomb-laden UAVs and (5) ballistic missiles launched by the terrorist, Iran-backed Houthi militia from (Sa’dah) governorate toward (Jazan) city.
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2216049
and
(A K pH)
Film: This is how Aramco looks like Jizan in Google Earth
https://twitter.com/Abotaleb_H/status/1382532194313310211
and
(A K P)
Arab Parliament Deplores Continuous Houthi Militias Launching of Ballistic Missiles, UAVs towards Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2216196
(A K)
Saudi shelling kills two Yemeni children at borders
Two children were killed and two others and two women were injured on Wednesday when Saudi forces shelled a bordering area in Yemen, Houthi media reported.
Saudi bombing targeted al-Raqu area in Munabih district in Sa'ada governorate bordering the Kingdom, al-Masyra TV said.
The shelling left two children killed and two others and two women injured, the Houthi-run TV added.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24476.html
cp17a Kriegsereignisse: Schlacht um Marib / Theater of War: Marib battle
Siehe / Look at cp4
(* B K)
UN tief besorgt über Militärangriffe auf Zivilisten im Jemen
Das Flüchtlingshilfswerk UNHCR hat sich tief besorgt über Militärangriffe auf Zivilisten im Bürgerkriegsland Jemen geäußert. In den ersten drei Monaten dieses Jahres hätten sich allein in der Stadt Marib und Umgebung mindestens 70 Angriffe ereignet, bei denen Zivilisten getötet oder verletzt worden seien, erklärte eine UNHCR-Sprecherin am Freitag in Genf. Im März seien 40 Tote und Verletzte unter der Zivilbevölkerung in Marib im Westen des Landes zu beklagen gewesen.
Laut der Sprecherin leiden die Menschen unter Beschuss vom Boden und aus der Luft. Zudem seien zivile Einrichtungen wie Wasserreservoirs angegriffen und Viehbestände getötet worden. Tausende Menschen hätten seit Jahresbeginn die Flucht ergriffen.
(* B K)
UN: 40 civilian casualties in central Yemen in March alone
The ongoing battle between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and government forces in the central province of Marib has caused 40 civilian casualties in March alone, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday.
At least 70 incidents of armed violence including shelling, crossfire, and air strikes have caused injuries and deaths among civilians during the first quarter of 2021, said the UNHCR in a statement. The UNHCR did not provide the breakdown of the killed and wounded but said that the tally was the highest in the oil-rich province since 2018.
https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-yemen-united-nations-1a16a4f25377ba9a8668795dbd97f18d
(* A K)
96 Tote bei Kämpfen im Jemen
Bei den jüngsten Kämpfen in der Region um die Stadt Marib im Jemen sind 96 Soldaten und Aufständische ums Leben gekommen. Wie heute aus Militärkreisen zu erfahren war, verzeichneten die regierungstreuen Truppen in den vergangenen beiden Tagen 36 Tote, auf der Seite der Rebellen habe es 60 Tote gegeben. Marib ist die letzte Hochburg der regierungstreuen Truppen im Norden des Landes. Die Huthi-Rebellen versuchen seit Monaten, diese Bastion einzunehmen.
https://orf.at/stories/3209460/ = https://de.nachrichten.yahoo.com/96-tote-k%C3%A4mpfen-um-marib-105919294.html
(* A K)
Yemen: Houthis continue to advance on Marib, as fighting leaves dozens dead
Thousands of civilians are fleeing Marib as Houthi forces fight government troops for control of the oil-rich area
According to a loyalist military official, the Houthis are "keeping up their slow advance on Marib and now constitute a very real threat on the Kassara and Mashjah fronts, northwest of the city".
Another military source told AFP that "36 loyalists and 60 rebels" were killed in clashes on Wednesday and Thursday, as the Houthis press their offensive to seize the government's last stronghold in the north.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-marib-houthis-offensive-fighting
(* A K)
Heavy fighting near Yemen's Marib leaves 96 dead: loyalists
Heavy fighting near the Yemeni city of Marib has killed 96 combatants over the past two days as Huthi rebels press their offensive on the government's last northern toehold, loyalist commanders said Friday.
"Clashes between the two sides on several fronts in the Marib area on Wednesday and Thursday killed 36 loyalists troops and 60 rebels," one government military source told AFP.
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210416-heavy-fighting-near-yemen-s-marib-leaves-96-dead-loyalists = https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20210416-scores-of-troops-rebels-killed-in-heavy-clashes-near-yemen-city-of-marib = https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-9478539/Heavy-fighting-near-Yemens-Marib-leaves-96-dead-loyalists.html
(A K pH)
[Sanaa gov.] Yemeni forces push on west of Ma’rib
https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/04/15/yemeni-forces-push-on-west-of-marib/
(A K)
Yemeni gov't-Houthi fighting leaves 30 deaths in Marib
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24471.html
(A K)
Government forces repel massive Houthi assault in Marib
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24466.html
cp18 Kampf um Hodeidah / Hodeidah battle
Seit dem Abkommen von Stockholm vom 13. Dezember 2018 gibt es einen Waffenstillstand für Hodeidah. Zwar bleiben größere Offensiven aus, kleinere Gefechte gibt es aber laufend, und beide Seiten werfen sich ständig Verstöße gegen den Waffenstillstand vor.
Since the Stockholm Agreement of December 13, 2018, a ceasefire has been in place for Hodeidah. There are no major offensives, but smaller battles are going on and both sides constantly are accusing each other of violating the ceasefire.
(A K pS)
Four civilians injured in Houthi attacks on Hodeidah
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32739
and
(A K pS)
Film: A citizen was injured by militia bullets in At-Tuhayta
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olAIniomKk0
and
(A K pS)
Film: Two women and a girl were wounded by shrapnel of Houthi militia shells in Hays
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMewxmVfsos
(A K pH)
Aggression wages 4 raids on Hodeida
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3136820.htm
(A K pH)
Daily violations, as reported by the Houthi side
cp19 Sonstiges / Other
(* B H)
Film: Yemen: Culture in times of civil war
https://www.dw.com/en/houthi-government-war-wont-stop-until-saudis-quit-yemen/a-57208060
(A H)
How does Yemen receive the month of Ramadan ... The atmosphere of the month of goodness in Ibb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K90ObZoyl-k
(* B P)
Film: The Geopolitics of Religious Moderation in the Middle East and North Africa
@YasFarouk, @DrStaceyG, @AnnelleSheline, @AnnMWainscott, Dr. Ani Sarkissian & @pmandaville explored the geopolitics of religious moderation in the Middle East & North Africa.
Since 2001, various governments in the Middle East and North Africa have positioned themselves as sources and champions of “moderate Islam.” More recently, in the aftermath of the Arab Uprisings and in the face of the challenge from ISIS, leaders in countries such as Morocco, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia have been associated with a stream of conferences and summits focused on themes such as pluralism, tolerance, and coexistence. How should we understand the nature and significance of this trend? Is it best understood as a means by which regimes can underscore their international security cooperation and counter-terrorism credentials? Does it represent a religious expression of longstanding—and in some cases newer—regional political rivalries? To what extent are we seeing a reconfiguration in the relationship between states, religious institutions, and Islamic scholars? In this sixth conversation in the Religion in Foreign Policy comparative series, a part of the Geopolitics of Religious Soft Power project, a panel of leading scholars and experts whose own work has explored the politics of religious moderation from various perspectives shared their insights on these and other questions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpEsU1bZ5uQ
(A H)
World Press Photo Award: Fischen im Jemen
Der Argentinier Pablo Tosca widmete sich der Hungerkatastrophe im Jemen - und wurde für sein Bild mit dem ersten Preis der Kategorie "Contemporary Singles" bedacht. Im Februar 2020 begleitete er Fatima und eines ihrer neun Kinder beim Fischen.
https://www.sueddeutsche.de/medien/world-press-photo-award-1.5266178
(A H)
Portrait of veiled mother of nine fishing in Yemen wins World Press Photo award
Pablo Tosco’s image from amidst world’s worst humanitarian crisis tops awards, with 45 photographers garlanded from 28 countries
A portrait of Fatima, a Yemeni mother of nine children, fully veiled in a Hijab as she flings a fishing net into the waters below, has earned the Argentinian photojournalist Pablo Tosco first prize in the contemporary issues category of the World Press Photo Awards, which were announced today.
The image was taken on 12 February 2020 aboard Fatima’s tiny boat and amidst the ongoing conflict between Houthi Shia Muslim rebels and a Sunni Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia which Unicef has termed the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
(A)
Film: #Iftar in #Sanaa #Yemen great mosque is done according to #Sunni Muslim timing. #Shia Muslims break fast at a later time after it becomes “Night” so here you go guys.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1383111606373130240
(-)
Brooklyn’s New Yemeni Coffeehouse Elevates Coffee to an Art Form
There is a genuine sense of ceremony when you order a cup at Qahwah House
https://www.insidehook.com/article/new-york/brooklyns-new-yemeni-coffeehouse
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-734-yemen-war-mosaic-734
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-734 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-734:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
Der saudische Luftkrieg im Bild / Saudi aerial war images:
(18 +, Nichts für Sensible!) / (18 +; Graphic!)
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
http://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/
Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:
http://yemendataproject.org/data/
Untersuchung ausgewählter Luftangriffe durch Bellingcat / Bellingcat investigations of selected air raids:
Untersuchungen von Angriffen, hunderte von Filmen / Investigations of attacks, hundreds of films:
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