Latest news with #Abdel-Ghani
Asharq Al-Awsat
24-03-2025
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Iraq Says Iran Used Forged Iraqi Documents on Oil Tankers, Tehran Denies
Iraq's oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani has said told state television that Iranian oil tankers stopped by US forces in the Gulf were using forged Iraqi documents. US President Donald Trump's administration has restored his earlier "maximum pressure" policy on Iran, reviving a policy that seeks to isolate the country from the global economy and eliminate its oil export revenue in order to slow Tehran's development of a nuclear weapon. "We received some verbal inquiries about oil tankers being detained in the Gulf by US naval forces carrying Iraqi shipping manifests," Abdel-Ghani said on state television late on Sunday, adding there had been no formal written communication. "It turned out that these tankers were Iranian ... and were using forged Iraqi documents. We explained this to the relevant authorities with complete transparency and they also confirmed this." Iran's oil ministry on Monday denied that Tehran had used forged official documents and said allegations that they had done so came from US officials, the ministry's Shana news agency reported. "It's obvious that these allegations by US officials fold into the illegal... pressure on the nation of Iran and have no basis or credibility," Shana said. Iran views neighbor and ally Iraq as vital to keeping its economy afloat while under sanctions. But Baghdad, a partner to both Washington and Tehran, is wary of being caught in the crosshairs of Trump's policy to squeeze Iran, sources have said. Reuters reported in December that a sophisticated fuel oil smuggling network that experts believe generates at least $1 billion a year for Iran and its proxies has flourished in Iraq in the past few years, including by using forged documentation. Abdel-Ghani said state marketer SOMO sold crude exclusively to companies that own refineries and does not supply trading firms. "SOMO operates with full transparency and has committed no wrongdoing in the oil export process," he said.
Asharq Al-Awsat
24-03-2025
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Iranian Oil Tankers Using Forged Iraqi Documents, Iraqi Oil Minister Says
Iraq's oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani has said Iranian oil tankers seized by US forces in the Gulf were using forged Iraqi documents. The administration of US President Donald Trump has restored "maximum pressure" on Iran, reviving a policy that seeks to isolate the country from the global economy and eliminate its oil export revenue in order to slow Tehran's development of a nuclear weapon. Abdel-Ghani was asked if he had received messages from the United States over the possibility that state oil marketer SOMO could be subject to sanctions itself over the violation of Iranian sanctions. "We received some verbal inquiries about oil tankers being detained in the Gulf by US naval forces carrying Iraqi shipping manifests," the oil minister said on state television late on Sunday, adding there had been no formal written communication. "It turned out that these tankers were Iranian ... and were using forged Iraqi documents. We explained this to the relevant authorities with complete transparency and they also confirmed this." The Iranian oil ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters reported in December that a sophisticated fuel oil smuggling network that some experts believe generates at least $1 billion a year for Iran and its proxies has flourished in Iraq in the past few years, including by using forged documentation. SOMO sells crude exclusively to companies that own refineries and does not supply trading firms, Abdel-Ghani said, adding that several traders were behind the scheme. "SOMO operates with full transparency and has committed no wrongdoing in the oil export process," he said.
Boston Globe
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Syria's government signs a breakthrough deal with Kurdish-led authorities in the northeast
The deal to be implemented by the end of the year would bring all border crossings with Iraq and Turkey, airports, and oil fields in the northeast under the central government's control. Advertisement The deal also says all Syrians will be part of the political process, no matter their religion or ethnicity. Syria's new rulers are struggling to exert their authority across the country and reach political settlements with other minority communities, notably the Earlier Monday, Syria's government announced the end of the The Defense Ministry's announcement came after a surprise attack by gunmen from the Alawite community on a police patrol near the port city of Latakia on Thursday spiraled into widespread clashes across Syria's coastal region. The Assad family are Alawites. 'To the remaining remnants of the defeated regime and its fleeing officers, our message is clear and explicit,' said Defense Ministry spokesperson Colonel Hassan Abdel-Ghani. 'If you return, we will also return, and you will find before you men who do not know how to retreat and who will not have mercy on those whose hands are stained with the blood of the innocent.' Advertisement Abdel-Ghani said security forces will continue searching for sleeper cells and remnants of the insurgency of former government loyalists. Though the government's counter-offensive was able to largely contain the insurgency, footage surfaced of what appeared to be retaliatory attacks targeting the broader minority Alawite community, an offshoot of Shia Islam whose adherents live mainly in the western coastal region. Sajid Allah Al-Deek, a security official in the coastal region, told the Associated Press that security forces were deployed in the area from the Latakia governorate to Jableh and that the coastal highway is functioning again after being closed because of the fighting. 'The civilians have begun returning to their homes,' Al-Deek said, adding that authorities have started detaining those blamed for acts of violence. Imad Baytar said his father, who worked for a taxi company, had gone from Jableh to Damascus and on his way back over the weekend, 'he was killed in the checkpoint.' Baytar blamed Assad supporters for the killing. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said 1,130 people were killed in the clashes, including 830 civilians. The AP could not independently verify these numbers. Al-Sharaa said the retaliatory attacks against Alawite civilians and mistreatment of prisoners were isolated incidents and vowed to crack down on the perpetrators as he formed a committee to investigate. Still, the events alarmed Western governments, who have been urged to lift economic sanctions on Syria. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement Sunday urged Syrian authorities to 'hold the perpetrators of these massacres' accountable. Rubio said the United States 'stands with Syria's religious and ethnic minorities, including its Christian, Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities.' Advertisement
Nahar Net
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Nahar Net
Syria announces end to 'military operation' after mass killings
by Naharnet Newsdesk 10 March 2025, 15:12 Syria's interim government on Monday announced the end of a days-long military operation against insurgents loyal to ousted president Bashar Assad and his family in the worst fighting since the end of the 13-year civil war in December. The Defense Ministry's announcement comes after a surprise attack by gunmen from the Alawite community on a police patrol near the port city of Lattakia Thursday spiraled into widespread clashes across Syria's coastal region, during which monitoring groups said hundreds of civilians were killed. Syria's new interim Islamist rulers are struggling to exert their authority across the country and reach political settlements with other minority communities, notably the Kurds of the northeast and the Druze in southern Syria. "To the remaining remnants of the defeated regime and its fleeing officers, our message is clear and explicit," said Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Hassan Abdel-Ghani. "If you return, we will also return, and you will find before you men who do not know how to retreat and who will not have mercy on those whose hands are stained with the blood of the innocent." Abdel-Ghani said that security forces will continue searching for sleeper cells and remnants of the insurgency of former government loyalists. Though the government's counter-offensive was able to largely contain the insurgency, footage surfaced of what appeared to be retaliatory attacks targeting the broader minority Alawite community, an offshoot of Shia Islam whose adherents live mainly in Syria's western coastal region. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said 1,130 people were killed in the clashes, including 830 civilians. The Associated Press could not independently verify these numbers. The interim government is made up of members of Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which led a lightning insurgency in December that overthrew Bashar Assad, ending over half a century of his family's dictatorial rule. The Assad family are Alawites. Interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa said the retaliatory attacks against Alawite civilians and mistreatment of prisoners were isolated incidents, and vowed to crack down on the perpetrators as he formed a committee to investigate the incident. Abdel-Ghani says the security forces will allow the committee "the full opportunity to uncover the circumstances of the events, verify the facts, and rectify wrongdoings." Still, the footage of houses in several neighborhoods set on fire and bloodied bodies laid on the streets alarmed Western governments, who have been urged by Al-Sharaa to lift economic sanctions on Syria. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement issued Sunday urged Syrian authorities to "hold the perpetrators of these massacres" accountable. Rubio said the U.S. "stands with Syria's religious and ethnic minorities, including its Christian, Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities." Thousands of Syrians from the coastal area fled to neighboring Lebanon, mostly through unofficial crossings. The UN refugee agency said in a statement that according to local authorities, 6,078 people have arrived in about a dozen villages in northern Lebanon's Akkar province fleeing the fighting, while arrivals in other parts of the country were still being verified. Lebanon is hosting more than 755,000 registered Syrian refugees, with hundreds of thousands more believed to be unregistered. Since the fall of Assad, the flow had begun to reverse, with the UN reporting that nearly 260,000 Syrian refugees have returned home since November, about half of them coming from Lebanon.
Nahar Net
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Nahar Net
Syria announces end of operation against Assad 'regime remnants'
by Naharnet Newsdesk 10 March 2025, 15:12 Syria's interim government on Monday announced the end of a days-long military operation against insurgents loyal to ousted president Bashar Assad and his family in the worst fighting since the end of the 13-year civil war in December. The Defense Ministry's announcement comes after a surprise attack by gunmen from the Alawite community on a police patrol near the port city of Lattakia Thursday spiraled into widespread clashes across Syria's coastal region, during which monitoring groups said hundreds of civilians were killed. Syria's new interim Islamist rulers are struggling to exert their authority across the country and reach political settlements with other minority communities, notably the Kurds of the northeast and the Druze in southern Syria. "To the remaining remnants of the defeated regime and its fleeing officers, our message is clear and explicit," said Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Hassan Abdel-Ghani. "If you return, we will also return, and you will find before you men who do not know how to retreat and who will not have mercy on those whose hands are stained with the blood of the innocent." Abdel-Ghani said that security forces will continue searching for sleeper cells and remnants of the insurgency of former government loyalists. Though the government's counter-offensive was able to largely contain the insurgency, footage surfaced of what appeared to be retaliatory attacks targeting the broader minority Alawite community, an offshoot of Shia Islam whose adherents live mainly in Syria's western coastal region. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said 1,130 people were killed in the clashes, including 830 civilians. The Associated Press could not independently verify these numbers. The interim government is made up of members of Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which led a lightning insurgency in December that overthrew Bashar Assad, ending over half a century of his family's dictatorial rule. The Assad family are Alawites. Interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa said the retaliatory attacks against Alawite civilians and mistreatment of prisoners were isolated incidents, and vowed to crack down on the perpetrators as he formed a committee to investigate the incident. Abdel-Ghani says the security forces will allow the committee "the full opportunity to uncover the circumstances of the events, verify the facts, and rectify wrongdoings." Still, the footage of houses in several neighborhoods set on fire and bloodied bodies laid on the streets alarmed Western governments, who have been urged by Al-Sharaa to lift economic sanctions on Syria. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement issued Sunday urged Syrian authorities to "hold the perpetrators of these massacres" accountable. Rubio said the U.S. "stands with Syria's religious and ethnic minorities, including its Christian, Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities." Thousands of Syrians from the coastal area fled to neighboring Lebanon, mostly through unofficial crossings. The UN refugee agency said in a statement that according to local authorities, 6,078 people have arrived in about a dozen villages in northern Lebanon's Akkar province fleeing the fighting, while arrivals in other parts of the country were still being verified. Lebanon is hosting more than 755,000 registered Syrian refugees, with hundreds of thousands more believed to be unregistered. Since the fall of Assad, the flow had begun to reverse, with the UN reporting that nearly 260,000 Syrian refugees have returned home since November, about half of them coming from Lebanon.
