France says decision on Iran sanctions to depend on release of French detainees
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Al Arabiya
3 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
German court rules Holocaust memorial can bar people wearing keffiyehs
A German court said Wednesday that a Nazi concentration camp memorial has the right to refuse entry to those wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh scarf. The higher administrative court in the eastern state of Thuringia rejected a request from a woman to be allowed entry to the Buchenwald concentration camp memorial while wearing a keffiyeh. According to local media reports, the woman was turned away when she attempted to attend a commemorative event marking the 80th anniversary of the camp's liberation in April while wearing the scarf. She then petitioned the courts to allow her to return to the memorial for another commemorative event this week while wearing a keffiyeh. The court found that the memorial was within its rights to deny her entry, pointing to the woman's declared aim of 'sending a political message against what she saw as the (memorial's) one-sided support for the policies of the Israeli government.' 'It is unquestionable that this would endanger the sense of security of many Jews, especially at this site,' the court said. The court said the woman's right to freedom of expression was outweighed in this case by the memorial's 'interest in upholding the purpose of the institution.' Germany, still trying to atone for the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust, has been one of Israel's staunchest allies. However, in recent months it has sharpened its criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz announcing this month that no more licenses would be granted for arms exports to Israel that could be used in Gaza. The Buchenwald memorial faced criticism last month when an internal document was leaked which described the keffiyeh as 'closely associated with efforts to destroy the state of Israel.' The director of the memorial, Jens-Christian Wagner, said subsequently that the document contained 'mistakes' and would have to be reworked. On the question of the keffiyeh, he told the NDR broadcaster last month that it was not per se 'a forbidden symbol' at the memorial. 'However when it is used together with other symbols... to relativize Nazi crimes, then we would ask people to remove those symbols,' he said. Around 340,000 prisoners, including Jews, Roma, homosexuals and Soviet prisoners of war, passed through Buchenwald and its annex Mittelbau-Dora, both located near the German city of Weimar. Around 56,000 people lost their lives at Buchenwald -- some executed, others starved or worked to death -- and a further 20,000 died in Mittelbau-Dora, where inmates worked on the Nazis' V1 and V2 rockets.
Asharq Al-Awsat
4 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Iran and Belarus Agree to Boost Bilateral Defense Ties
The leaders of Belarus and Iran signed new agreements on Wednesday to boost bilateral ties in key areas including defense, the two governments said. Presidents Alexander Lukashenko and Masoud Pezeshkian signed a package of 13 documents in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. Both governments have been placed under heavy sanctions, limiting potential trading partners. Pezeshkian said Iran would help Belarus to 'neutralize' such measures, citing Tehran's decades of experience circumventing Western economic restrictions. Lukashenko told Pezeshkian that Belarus was 'ready to cooperate with you on all issues — from providing your country with food to military-technical cooperation,' calling the Iranian president a 'friend.' The two parties did not disclose any further details on how the countries intend to cooperate in the defense sector. Other areas covered by the agreement include industry and tourism, as well as joint initiatives in science, technology and education. Access to Belarus' wood processing and chemical industry, as well as potash fertilizers, can all bring potential benefits to Iran. The two presidents also said their countries would start work toward a strategic partnership treaty. Lukashenko, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, allowed Russia to use Belarusian territory as a staging ground for Moscow' full-scale invasion of Ukraine and later allowed the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear missiles. Iran has supplied Russia with drones for use in the war, and Pezeshkian signed a strategic cooperation treaty with Putin in January, although it did not include a mutual defense clause. The Iranian president's visit to Minsk has been postponed several times due to US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. Lukashenko called the strikes on Iran's nuclear infrastructure 'a serious threat to regional and international stability and security.' 'We support Iran's legitimate right to develop peaceful nuclear energy,' Lukashenko said.
Al Arabiya
4 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Iran says Europe has no right to extend deadline for snapback sanctions
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday said European powers had no right to trigger snapback sanctions under a moribund 2015 nuclear deal or extend the October deadline to trigger them. 'When we believe that they do not have the right to implement snapback, it is natural that they do not have the right to extend its deadline either,' Araghchi told state news agency IRNA.
