Clinton warns Iran while on visit to Israel

During her recent visit to Israel, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the US will "use all elements of American power" to prevent Iran developing a nuclear weapon. She noted that so far the proposals made by the Islamic Republic to resolve the situation were "non-starters".

Speaking about a number of issues, Clinton said the US was working hard on a new resolution "with consequences" regarding Syria. She also added that she had discussed Egypt with Israel's leaders and said the nations' peace treaty should be honoured.

Addressing a press conference, following a meeting with Israel's President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Clinton said a diplomatic resolution to Iran's nuclear issue would be preferable.

She explained: “The amount of work [for Egypt's leaders] would be daunting for the most experienced political leaders…Iran's leaders still have the opportunity to make the right decision. The choice is ultimately Iran's." Clinton, however, added: "We will use all elements of American power to prevent Iran developing a nuclear weapon."

The latest talks between Iran and six other world powers ended without a resolution. The so-called "P5+1" group - consisting of the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany - want Tehran to suspend the enrichment of uranium to a level of 20%, close down an underground enrichment facility and export its stockpile of 20% enriched uranium.

Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is designed for peaceful purposes only and insists that the West lifts its sanctions, which restrict the country's economic activity.

Speaking about the situation in Syria, Clinton said the US was working hard on a new UN resolution. She also once again called for Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to go, saying "the regime cannot survive".

Clinton made a trip to Egypt ahead of her visit to Israel. Speaking about the situation between the two countries, she said both regional nations shared a strong interest and commitment to their peace agreement.

Sources: BBC News, Reuters, Bloomberg

For more news and expert analysis about Iran, please see Iran Strategic Focus.

Egypt: US signals rapprochement after NGO standoff

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged other countries to support Egypt by giving it aid. “The international community must provide strong support for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to quickly conclude an economic reform and stabilisation programme with Egypt,” Mrs Clinton told the UN Security Council. “We call on Egypt's friends in the region and around the world to be prepared to use bilateral assistance to reinforce an IMF programme with Egypt.”

This appeal - yet to be translated into action in terms of dollars pledged and given - is the clearest sign yet that for its part the US administration is trying to put behind it the tensions over the Egyptian decision to prosecute NGO workers including 16 Americans. Another sign is the two-day visit to Cairo by the director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt Gen Ronald Burgess.

For her part, the Egyptian at the centre of the row with the US, Planning and International Cooperation Minister Fayza Aboul Naga showed no sign of any thawing of hostility towards Washington. She dismissed US aid to Egypt as a trifling US$250 million which Egypt could get along without. Mrs Aboul Naga has long been an irritant to NGOs in Egypt who accuse her of citing sovereignty in defence of her opposition to any scrutiny by Egyptians or others of the finances of the regime and its beneficiaries.

For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.

© 2012 Menas Associates

Algeria: Hillary Clinton's visit postponed

The visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Algeria later this month has been postponed until early March during her tour of the Maghreb region.

According to Echorouk's Djamel Lalami, she will not play a mediating role between Algeria and Morocco regarding the opening of the currently closed border although it is widely known that there is US pressure on both countries to move towards a normalisation of relations.

According to the same source, it is expected that Clinton will discuss a number of highly topical issues with Algeria, namely:

> the Arab Spring and the wind of change blowing through the region
arms trafficking from Libya
> the Islamists coming to power in some countries of the region
the Western Sahara issue and the Syrian crisis
> Algeria's political reforms and the forthcoming parliamentary election and
> military co-operation and counter-terrorism in the African Sahel.

For more news and expert analysis about Algeria, please see Algeria Focus and Algeria Politics & Security.

© 2012 Menas Associates

US imposes sanctions on an Iranian airline

The US has imposed sanctions on an Iranian airline, which reportedly carried members of an elite force linked to an alleged plot to kill the Saudi envoy to the US. According to the US Treasury, Mahan Air flew members of Iran's Quds Force and Hezbollah across the Middle East.

The sanctions stipulate that the airline's US assets will be frozen and US firms are barred from doing business with it. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the supposed plan was "dangerous escalation" by Iran.

The sanctions were announced a day after the authorities thwarted a conspiracy to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Adel Al-Jubeir, on US soil using explosives.

The US has accused Iran's Quds Force, an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, of being involved in the plan. Iran has counteracted the charges, saying they are part of the US government's plan to besmirch the Islamic Republic.

It is not yet clear why the force would choose Manssor Arbabsiar, a man with a criminal record, as the key agent of its first ever attack inside the US. Nor is it clear why Iran would involve a Mexican drugs cartel to plant the bomb.

Speaking about the issue, White House press secretary Jay Carney said: "It's clear that senior levels of Quds force were engaged in the plotting."

On Tuesday 11th October, the US also imposed sanctions against five people linked to the alleged assassination plot, including two men, Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old naturalised US citizen with dual Iranian and US passports, and Gholam Shakuri, who lives in Iran, charged over the investigation.

Shakuri and three other men are thought to belong to the Quds Force. Arbabsiar, accused of wiring £63,000 to a US bank account to finance the alleged $1.5m conspiracy, was charged in a New York City court on Tuesday.

The US said that the accused approached a US informant posing as a member of a Mexican drug cartel to carry out the assassination. Speaking about it on Wednesday 12th October, Treasury official David Cohen said: "Mahan Air's close co-ordination with the IRGC-QF [Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp-Quds Force] - secretly ferrying operatives, weapons and funds on its flights - reveals yet another facet of the IRGC's extensive infiltration of Iran's commercial sector to facilitate its support for terrorism."

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi was quoted by Iran'sAlalam channel as saying: "America has launched a mischievous scenario. But be certain, they will apologise [to Iran] in the future."

The Gulf Cooperation Council condemned the alleged plot as a "flagrant violation" of international laws.

Sources: AP, BBC News, Reuters

For more news and expert analysis about Iran, please see Iran Strategic Focus.

Libya Contact Group meets in Turkey

The Libya Contact Group is meeting in Turkey today to discuss the situation in Libya. The group of 15 delegates includes, the ministers of foreign affairs of the UK, Italy and France, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, NATO representatives and Arab diplomats.

France's Foreign Minister Alain Juppé has said Paris has had contact with Libyan officials discussing the prospects of a prospects of a political solution based on contacts with Colonel Mu'ammar Qadhafi.

The meeting is expected to revolve around key issues pertaining to the on-going political deadlock in Libya, and the measures necessary to oust Qadhafi. The delegation will also look at a progress report on the Libyan opposition's plans for progress to democracy. Representatives of the Benghazi-based National Transitional Council are expected, but invitations to China and Russia were both declined.

Libya remains divided with the rebels holding eastern parts of the country and pockets in the west, while Qadhafi remains entrenched in the capital Tripoli, despite a NATO bombing campaign of more than 6,000 sorties against regime forces.

Sources: BBC News, Reuters, Bloomberg

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focus and Libya Politics & Security.

Sudan to pull troops out of Abyei

Reports have emerged that Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir and the South's Leader Salva Kiir have agreed to withdraw troops from the oil-rich region of Abyei. Last month, Sudan's army seized the disputed town in what the South called an “act of war,” subsequently killing southern soldiers and civilians.

South Sudan is set to become independent in July, after the majority of South Sudanese people voted in favour of secession in January. The status of Abyei is yet to be resolved after a referendum on its future was shelved.

It is estimated that around 140,000 people have fled Abyei and the neighbouring region of South Kordofan because of the violence.

Neither Al-Bashir nor Kiir have confirmed the deal, but experts say the discussions, which took place in Addis Ababa, are a significant step forward. Before heading for the Ethiopian capital, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged both sides to accept the offer of Ethiopian troops to be deployed to the region, which is set to become a demilitarised zone.

Former South African president Thabo Mbeki and Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi helped mediate the deal.

Abyei was granted a special status under the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the two decade civil war between the North and the South. Terms under the agreement stipulate that both sides have to keep their troops out until a referendum to determine Abyei's future.

Sources: BBC News, Sudan Tribune, Voice of America

For more news and expert analysis about the Sahara region, please see Sahara Focus.

The US rebuffs Qadhafi's letter

Colonel Mu'ammar Qadhafi has sent a letter to US President Barak Obama, imploring the US to cease bombing Libya. Qadhafi reportedly asked Obama to stop the "unjust war against a small people of a developing country."

The Libyan leader said that Libya was severely affected by the NATO air campaign and reiterated that the rebels trying to depose him were members of the Al-Qa'ida. The White House has snubbed the overture, saying Qadhafi will be judged by his actions not his words.

Associated Press, who broke the story, said that Qadhafi addressed Obama as "our son" in the letter and expresses hopes that he will be re-elected.

Speaking about the missive, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: "Mr Qadhafi knows what he must do…There needs to be a cease-fire, his forces need to withdraw from the cities that they have forcibly taken at great violence and human cost...There needs to be a decision made about his departure from power and... his departure from Libya."

Sources: San Francisco Chronicle , Reuters Africa, Voice of America, Aljazeera, AP

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focus and Libya Politics & Security.

Egypt's Interior Minister dissolves State Security Investigation Service

Egypt's Interior Minister Mansour Al-Issawi has dissolved all branches of State Security Investigation Service (SSIS), responsible for years of human rights abuses. The service will be replaced with a new National Security Force. Al-Issawi said the new agency will be responsible for "protecting the domestic front and combating terrorism". The personnel is expected to be selected in due course.

The SSIS, consisted of over 100,000 security officials, and served to keep former president Hosni Mubarak's grip of power over Egypt during his 30 year reign. The agency played a vital role in the violence in the country's uprising, during which at least 365 people died.

Egypt's main opposition group the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), banned under Mubarak, said many of its members suffered at the hands of the SSIS. Earlier this month, anti-government protesters swarmed the agency's headquarters and offices in several cities, including Cairo and Alexandria, and found piles of shredded documents.

The Head of SSIS has been apprehended and is facing investigation for ordering the killing of protesters. Almost 50 other officials have been detained on suspicion of destroying evidence. International human rights groups have documented hundreds of cases of human rights abuse by the SSIS, their torture methods included suspending victims by the wrists and ankles; beatings with metal rods and use of electric shocks.

On Tuesday 15th, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced her support for Egypt's progress toward democracy and promised economic aid. She said, "This moment of history belongs to you. This is your achievement…The US and President [Barack] Obama and I will stand with you as you make this journey."

Sources: BBC News, WSJ, Saudi Gazette, Reuters

For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.

One shot dead by Iranian security forces during protests

On Monday 14th February, thousands of anti-government protestors took to the streets in Tehran, chanting: "Death to dictators". Reports have emerged that one man was killed during the demonstrations when security forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas into the crowds.

Iranian human rights activists confirmed the fatality, and said several more people were injured during the clashes. Days ahead of the rally, two Iranian opposition leaders, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, were put under arrest. Speaking from his home in Tehran, Mousavi said the protests showed that the Green Movement, formed to challenge the disputed 2009 election, has secured a “great victory” and was “alive and well” despite a huge government crackdown.

The authorities refused to issue a permit for the demonstrations, speaking about it Moussavi's aide, Amir Arjomand said: “If the government had issued a permit and guaranteed the safety of the people there would certainly have been millions of people out in Tehran and other cities.”

The unrest is a great embarrassment to the Iranian government, who has shown that it will not hesitate to stifle it with deadly force. Breaking an official silence on the events, the semi-official State news agency Fars quotes government sources as saying that the demonstrations had been conducted by “hypocrites, monarchists, hooligans and seditionists” whose leaders were puppets of Britain and the US.

Speaking about events in Iran, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed support for the thousands of people who took part in the protests. She said they deserved to have "the same rights that they saw being played out in Egypt" and that there “needs to be a commitment to open up the political system in Iran”.

Sources: BBC News, New York Times, AP, Sky News

For more news and expert analysis about Iran, please see Iran Strategic Focus.

Iran hangs two opposition activists

The Iranian authorities have hanged two men convicted of participating in protests against the result of the 2009 presidential poll. Tehran prosecutors have said that Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Hajaghaei had disseminated photographs and video footage of the protests, pertaining to the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on the internet.

The two men were also found guilty of chanting slogans promoting the exiled People's Mujahideen of Iran (PMOI). The leader of the exiled opposition group, Maryam Rajavi, said the executions were inhumane and barbaric.

On August 10th 2010, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Iran to release the two men, despite the PMOI being on Washington's list of foreign terrorist organisations.

"We are also concerned about the fate of Iranians who are in danger of imminent execution for exercising their right to free expression after the June 2009 elections," said Clinton in a statement, naming Kazemi and Hajaghaei.

Of those arrested after the protests most have been rleased, but more than 80 people have been jailed for up to 15 years, and at least four other people convicted of involvement in the demonstrations are reported to be on death row.

Sources: BBC News, AFP, RTT News, EuroNews

For more news and expert analysis about Iran, please see Iran Strategic Focus.

Iran deliberates policies to counter UN sanctions

The head of Iranian Parliament's Economic Committee, Arsalan Fathipour, has said that Iranian parliament has outlined a number of policies aimed at countering the UN sanctions over the country's nuclear programme.

Fathipour said the changes related to a number of areas including trade, transport and foreign exchange, but gave no details of the measures outlined, saying the policies will be conveyed to the speaker of the parliament, Ali Larijani, in due course.

Earlier in June, the UN passed a fourth round of sanctions against Iran restricting the country's financial transactions, and later additional sanctions in July targeting Iran's business trade with international companies.

Talking about the sanctions, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that UN-backed sanctions are “biting” Iran's economy, and added that, “The Iranian regime is quite worried about the impact”.

The Iranian government, however, has adamantly denied the sanctions' effectiveness on the country's economy and has said that they hace not impacted Iran's nuclear program.

Source: Bloomberg

For more news and expert analysis about Iran, please see Iran Strategic Focus.