Israeli military says it captured ‘terrorist cell operated by Iran' in Syria
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Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
European powers plan fresh nuclear talks with Iran
BERLIN: European powers plan fresh talks with Iran on its nuclear program in the coming days, the first since the US attacked Iranian nuclear facilities a month ago, a German diplomatic source told AFP on Sunday. Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, 'are in contact with Iran to schedule further talks for the coming week,' the source said. The trio had recently warned that international sanctions against Iran could be reactivated if Tehran does not return to the negotiating table. Iran's Tasnim news agency also reported that Tehran had agreed to hold talks with the three European countries, citing an unnamed source. Consultations are ongoing regarding a date and location for the talks, the report said. 'Iran must never be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon,' the German source said. 'That is why Germany, France and the United Kingdom are continuing to work intensively in the E3 format to find a sustainable and verifiable diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear program,' the source added. Israel and Western nations have long accused Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran has consistently denied. On June 13, Israel launched a wave of surprise strikes on its regional nemesis, targeting key military and nuclear facilities. The United States launched its own set of strikes against Iran's nuclear program on June 22, hitting the uranium enrichment facility at Fordo, in Qom province south of Tehran, as well as nuclear sites in Isfahan and Natanz. Iran and the United States had held several rounds of nuclear negotiations through Omani mediators before Israel launched its 12-day war against Iran. However, US President Donald Trump's decision to join Israel in striking Iranian nuclear facilities effectively ended the talks. The E3 countries last met with Iranian representatives in Geneva on June 21 — just one day before the US strikes. Also Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a surprise meeting in the Kremlin with Ali Larijani, top adviser to Iran's supreme leader on nuclear issues. Larijani 'conveyed assessments of the escalating situation in the Middle East and around the Iranian nuclear program,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of the unannounced meeting. Putin had expressed Russia's 'well-known positions on how to stabilize the situation in the region and on the political settlement of the Iranian nuclear program,' he added. Moscow has a cordial relationship with Iran's clerical leadership and provides crucial backing for Tehran but did not swing forcefully behind its partner even after the United States joined Israel's bombing campaign. Iran and world powers struck a deal in 2015 called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which placed significant restrictions on Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. But the hard-won deal began to unravel in 2018, during Trump's first presidency, when the United States walked away from it and reimposed sanctions on Iran. European countries have in recent days threatened to trigger the deal's 'snapback' mechanism, which allows the reimposition of sanctions in the event of non-compliance by Iran. After a call with his European counterparts on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Western allies had 'absolutely no moral (or) legal grounds' for reactivating the snapback sanctions. He elaborated in a post to social media Sunday. 'Through their actions and statements, including providing political and material support to the recent unprovoked and illegal military aggression of the Israeli regime and the US... the E3 have relinquished their role as 'Participants' in the JCPOA,' said Araghchi. That made any attempt to reinstate the terminated UN Security Council resolutions 'null and void,' he added. 'Iran has shown that it is capable of defeating any delusional 'dirty work' but has always been prepared to reciprocate meaningful diplomacy in good faith,' Araghchi wrote. However, the German source said Sunday that 'if no solution is reached over the summer, snapback remains an option for the E3.' Ali Velayati, an adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said last week there would be no new nuclear talks with the United States if they were conditioned on Tehran abandoning its uranium enrichment activities.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Europe's moral authority in tatters after failing to sanction Israel
The EU last week faced a defining test of its commitment to human rights and international law — and it failed. Presented with irrefutable evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza, the bloc's foreign ministers gathered in Brussels to consider 10 possible actions: from suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement to imposing sanctions on Israeli officials and banning trade with illegal settlements. Yet, in the end, they took the politically easy path, securing a handful of humanitarian concessions from Israel in return for shelving all meaningful accountability. Let me be clear: aid access is essential. Gaza's suffering is beyond comprehension. And Palestinians dying from bullets and hunger will no doubt appreciate any relief. But allowing Israel to dictate the terms of food and medical relief — as if these are diplomatic chips and not legal obligations — strips humanitarianism of its moral force. EU officials may consider what they accomplished a 'diplomatic success.' They will state that they used diplomatic leverage to push for aid delivery. But what the EU hails as progress is, in truth, a lowering of the bar so far that the basic survival of a besieged population becomes the summit of European diplomacy. This is not only disappointing. It is dangerous. The EU-Israel Association Agreement explicitly states that respect for human rights is a cornerstone of bilateral relations. Yet, even after clear violations — documented by Amnesty International, the UN and dozens of credible nongovernmental organizations — the EU opted to maintain business as usual. Israel continues to enjoy access to European markets, research programs and diplomatic forums while violating the very principles the agreement is meant to uphold. According to Amnesty International, Israel has killed women and children with no evidence of any military target nearby. Journalists, medical personnel, ambulance drivers and kitchen supply teams have been killed without accountability. Schools, hospitals, bakeries and houses have been shelled. The UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry further concluded that Israel's total blockade on Gaza — cutting off food, water, electricity and fuel — amounts to collective punishment and may constitute a crime against humanity or genocide. Despite this, the EU, which has implemented harsh sanctions against the Russian occupiers of Ukraine, chose not to sanction complicit officials and not to halt trade with illegal settlements. This inaction occurred even after its own diplomats, along with church leaders, saw with their own eyes the destruction caused to Palestinians and churches in the West Bank town of Al-Taybeh. If Europe still believes in its founding principles — human dignity, the rule of law and justice — then it must act like it. Daoud Kuttab In 2024, when independently documented Israeli war crimes were widely reported, the total two-way trade in goods between Israel and EU member states was €42.6 billion ($49.5 billion). The EU accounted for about 32 percent of Israel's total goods trade, contributing roughly 34.2 percent of its imports and 28.8 percent of its exports, making it Tel Aviv's biggest trading partner. Instead of agreeing on any one of the 10 sanctions options, EU officials — who needed a consensus of all 27 member countries — negotiated for food trucks, fuel for hospitals and other humanitarian aid that is already an obligation to be provided by an occupier according to international humanitarian law. This moral abdication is more than a policy failure — it is a betrayal of the EU's legal commitments. Europe's inaction sends a dangerous message: that Israel can commit atrocities with impunity. No political price. No trade penalty. No sanctions. The Geneva Conventions are not suggestions — they are binding obligations. And if countries that tout the rule of law allow them to be violated without consequence, their credibility collapses. Europe's silence does not just embolden Israel, it weakens the global order that holds war criminals accountable. The impact of this decision will not be confined to Gaza. If Israel, a state benefiting from billions in EU trade and cooperation, can bomb hospitals, starve civilians and raze homes with no repercussions, then what incentive remains for any state to respect humanitarian law? Europe's moral authority now lies in tatters. Some of the countries that prevented the EU from doing the right thing included Germany, Hungary, Italy and the Czech Republic. The fear of diplomatic fallout and the need to preserve internal cohesion at all costs outweighed the courage to uphold justice. Still, there is a path forward. If the EU as a whole will not act, its member states must. National governments should suspend arms transfers, ban trade with illegal settlements and sever cooperation with institutions complicit in occupation and apartheid. These are not radical steps, they are legal necessities. The stakes are too high for empty statements. Every day without accountability is a day of impunity, a day when another child dies under rubble, another family starves behind a blockade and another future is extinguished. If Europe still believes in its founding principles — human dignity, the rule of law and justice — then it must act like it. Because history is watching. And so are the people of Gaza.
Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
Recognized, independent Palestinian state could unlock disputed gas wealth, expert says
LONDON: Official recognition of a Palestinian state would end legal ambiguities over the Gaza Marine gas field and secure the Palestinian Authority's right to develop its most valuable natural resource, according to energy expert Michael Barron. Barron, author of 'The Gaza Marine Story,' estimates the field could generate $4 billion in revenue at current prices, with the PA reasonably earning $100 million annually for 15 years, The Guardian reported on Sunday. 'The revenues would not turn the Palestinians into the next Qataris or Singaporeans, but it would be their own revenue and not aid, on which the Palestinian economy remains dependent,' he said. Gas was discovered in 2000 in the Gaza Marine field, a joint venture between BG Gas and the Palestinian Consolidated Contractors Co. Despite initial hopes of ending energy shortages in the Gaza Strip, the project has been repeatedly stalled over ownership disputes, lack of sovereignty, and political instability. 'The Oslo Accords agreed in 1993 clearly give the Palestinian National Authority jurisdiction over territorial waters, the subsoil, power to legislate over oil and gas exploration and to award licenses to do so,' Barron said. 'Control over natural resources was an important element of (the) state-building agenda of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Israeli exploitation of Palestinian resources was and remains a central part of the conflict,' he added. Israel has historically blocked development over concerns that revenue could reach Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. An Israeli court once ruled the waters a 'no-man's water' due to the PA's lack of sovereignty, and Israel has long claimed any license 20 miles off the Gaza coast should be seen as a gift, not a right. Barron said that if Palestine were recognized as a state, particularly by countries where major oil firms are based, it would 'effectively end the legal ambiguity' and allow the PA to develop the field and achieve energy independence from Israel. A separate controversy has emerged over Israeli-issued gas licenses in a disputed area known as Zone G. Lawyers acting for Palestinian human rights groups recently warned Italian energy firm Eni not to proceed with exploration, saying 'Israel cannot have validly awarded you any exploration rights and you cannot validly have acquired any such rights.' Eni has since told Italian campaigners that 'licenses have not yet been issued and no exploratory activities are in progress.' Activist group Global Witness also argues the East Mediterranean Gas pipeline, which passes through waters claimed by Palestine, is unlawful and does not provide any revenue to the PA. The 56-mile pipeline transports gas from Ashkelon in Israel to Arish in Egypt for export. The issue has gained new attention following a UN report by Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese. She warned corporations of their potential legal liability for supporting Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory, citing international court rulings. Her report concluded companies have a 'prima facie responsibility 'to not engage and/or to withdraw totally and unconditionally from any associated dealings with Israel, and to ensure that any engagement with Palestinians enables their self-determination.'' Israel has rejected the report in full. Barron argues that, with Israel now self-sufficient in gas, 'so long as a Palestinian state with unified governance is recognized, Israel will have no motive or legal right to block Palestine exploiting its single greatest natural resource.'
