Latest news with #Iran-affiliated
Sydney Morning Herald
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Israel increasingly isolated as relentless attacks on Gaza continue
Trump didn't include Israel in negotiations for the release of US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, whom Israel had failed to liberate though he had been held by Hamas in Gaza for more than 580 days; on top of that, for the first time the US dealt with Hamas directly. (A new step, since the US designates the group as a terrorist organisation.) Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held his first press conference in five months to deny any rift with Washington. But he signalled that he was prepared to lift the blockade on the entry of food, fuel and medicine into Gaza, ' to ensure our good friends support us '. Netanyahu also added two new war aims: a long-term Israeli military occupation of the Gaza Strip and the relocation of the population 'in accordance with the Trump plan'. Months ago, Trump proposed the US would move out Gaza's civilians and redevelop the strip into a 'Riviera of the Middle East'. Little has been heard of that since, but it has emboldened extremists on Israel's right, including Netanyahu's ultranationalist finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich whose goal is to return Jewish settlers to Gaza. Smotrich held his own press conference two days before Netanyahu. Explaining his new support for allowing food into Gaza, Smotrich said the quiet part out loud. 'Humanitarian aid is only being allowed in so the world does not stop us and accuse us of war crimes.' He said the food delivered would be the bare minimum. Loading Smotrich said the 'most important thing' was that the food aid would not stop Israel's military operation in Gaza. 'We are conquering, clearing and staying until Hamas is destroyed. We are dismantling Gaza, leaving it in ruins with unprecedented destruction, and the world hasn't stopped us.' Trucks carrying food aid are entering Gaza, though there is confusion about the numbers. It was reported that 93 trucks had entered in one day last week. Israeli sources say the number was 388 for the whole week. But aid agencies say that so far, few more than 100 trucks have reached their destinations, and hundreds more are needed daily. When I was reporting from Jerusalem in 2024, food aid was intermittent, but even when aid trucks were entering Gaza, it was difficult to ensure the food reached Gaza's civilians. There were instances when Hamas, and the Iran-affiliated militant group Islamic Jihad, stole stores of donated food and medicines, and were seen on video doing so. They then reportedly sold what they did not use themselves to the starving population. Israeli officials say Hamas could end the war tomorrow by releasing the hostages and giving up its rule in Gaza. While international pressure is being ramped up on Israel, for the first time, Hamas is experiencing pressure – from the street. For weeks, Gazan civilians have been protesting against the Islamist group. Hamas has responded brutally, including beating, torturing and killing some protest leaders. Still, the demonstrations continue. People who have lost so much now don't want to be controlled by Israel – or Hamas.
The Age
26-05-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Israel increasingly isolated as relentless attacks on Gaza continue
Trump didn't include Israel in negotiations for the release of US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, whom Israel had failed to liberate though he had been held by Hamas in Gaza for more than 580 days; on top of that, for the first time the US dealt with Hamas directly. (A new step, since the US designates the group as a terrorist organisation.) Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held his first press conference in five months to deny any rift with Washington. But he signalled that he was prepared to lift the blockade on the entry of food, fuel and medicine into Gaza, ' to ensure our good friends support us '. Netanyahu also added two new war aims: a long-term Israeli military occupation of the Gaza Strip and the relocation of the population 'in accordance with the Trump plan'. Months ago, Trump proposed the US would move out Gaza's civilians and redevelop the strip into a 'Riviera of the Middle East'. Little has been heard of that since, but it has emboldened extremists on Israel's right, including Netanyahu's ultranationalist finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich whose goal is to return Jewish settlers to Gaza. Smotrich held his own press conference two days before Netanyahu. Explaining his new support for allowing food into Gaza, Smotrich said the quiet part out loud. 'Humanitarian aid is only being allowed in so the world does not stop us and accuse us of war crimes.' He said the food delivered would be the bare minimum. Loading Smotrich said the 'most important thing' was that the food aid would not stop Israel's military operation in Gaza. 'We are conquering, clearing and staying until Hamas is destroyed. We are dismantling Gaza, leaving it in ruins with unprecedented destruction, and the world hasn't stopped us.' Trucks carrying food aid are entering Gaza, though there is confusion about the numbers. It was reported that 93 trucks had entered in one day last week. Israeli sources say the number was 388 for the whole week. But aid agencies say that so far, few more than 100 trucks have reached their destinations, and hundreds more are needed daily. When I was reporting from Jerusalem in 2024, food aid was intermittent, but even when aid trucks were entering Gaza, it was difficult to ensure the food reached Gaza's civilians. There were instances when Hamas, and the Iran-affiliated militant group Islamic Jihad, stole stores of donated food and medicines, and were seen on video doing so. They then reportedly sold what they did not use themselves to the starving population. Israeli officials say Hamas could end the war tomorrow by releasing the hostages and giving up its rule in Gaza. While international pressure is being ramped up on Israel, for the first time, Hamas is experiencing pressure – from the street. For weeks, Gazan civilians have been protesting against the Islamist group. Hamas has responded brutally, including beating, torturing and killing some protest leaders. Still, the demonstrations continue. People who have lost so much now don't want to be controlled by Israel – or Hamas.
Rudaw Net
09-05-2025
- Business
- Rudaw Net
Dana Gas says to begin production at Chamchamal field next year
Also in ECONOMY Iraq tells Turkey it needs more time to restart Kurdish oil exports KRG calls for restart of Kurdish oil exports 'as soon as possible' Oil association urges renewed efforts to resume Kurdish exports KRG transfers control of digital salary payment program to finance ministry A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The UAE-based Dana Gas on Thursday announced that it has begun development activities at the key Chamchamal gas field in Sulaimani province alongside its consortium Pearl Petroleum, and that production is set to commence next year. 'Pearl Petroleum has initiated first phase development activities at Chemchemal, one of Iraq's largest world-class and undeveloped gas fields. A $160 million investment program is now underway to drill three wells and install an extended well test facility,' Dana Gas said in a disclosure on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). The Chamchamal gas field and the nearby Khor Mor field, which Dana Gas also operates, are among Iraq's largest energy fields. According to the disclosure, the Chamchamal field is set to produce 75 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscf/d) by mid-2026. The company also recorded $43 million in profits since the beginning of the year - a 13 percent increase from the same period last year - despite lower oil prices. 'Daily gas production at Khor Mor reached 525 million standard cubic feet, marking a 75% increase since 2017. The field continues to support over 75% of the Kurdistan Region's power generation needs,' Dana Gas said. Last month, Dana Gas announced that a mega expansion project at Khor Mor, labeled KM250, is set to be completed early next year, ahead of schedule. The expansion is set to significantly boost the Kurdistan Region's electricity generation capabilities. 'Once fully operational, KM250 is expected to add 250 MMscf/d of processing capacity, increasing Pearl Petroleum's production by 50%, while significantly boosting Dana Gas's financial performance and cash flow,' it said. Crescent Petroleum and its affiliate, Dana Gas, struck a deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in 2007 to develop the Region's substantial gas resources. They also agreed to establish Kurdistan Gas City, a major new gas-utilization industrial complex to promote private sector investment. The KM250 expansion project is supported by a seven-year, $250 million financing agreement between Dana Gas and the US International Development Finance Cooperation. 'We achieved higher production in the KRI [Kurdistan Region of Iraq] while reducing our operational and finance costs. We also continue to make excellent progress on the KM250 expansion, and we remain on track to achieve first gas by Q1 2026,' said Dana Gas CEO Richard Hall. Located in Sulaimani's Chamchamal district, Khor Mor frequently comes under attack, reportedly by Iran-affiliated Iraqi militias taking advantage of its strategic and economic importance for the Kurdistan Region, leading to major power disruptions across the Region and hindering expansion projects at the site. A drone targeted the field in February but did not cause material damage or casualties. Sulaimani-based Kurdish counterterrorism forces blamed 'militia groups and outlaws' for the attack. In April of last year, a drone strike at the site killed four Yemeni nationals and injured several others who were repairing damage from a previous attack. The strike caused Dana Gas to suspend production temporarily. Dana Gas has also warned that attacks on Khor Mor directly impact the lives of the Kurdistan Region's citizens.
Middle East Eye
11-04-2025
- Business
- Middle East Eye
What to expect at upcoming US-Iran talks in Oman
US President Donald Trump's private appeal to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - while publicly threatening all-out war - may now be paying off. For the first time since a brief attempt in 2021 under former president Joe Biden, the US and Iran will be engaging in supposedly "indirect" talks that could quickly become "direct", depending on whose narrative you accept. Iran's foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, will lead a delegation to meet Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, in Oman. Araghchi's presence is considered very high-level, and therefore, "direct", but the Iranians have refused to use that term. Witkoff may be Trump's go-to for the world's biggest crises (amusingly dubbed the "envoy to everything" in Washington) but he is not a cabinet-level official. Oman is a largely neutral country that practices quiet diplomacy in the Arabian Gulf and has a record of facilitating sensitive talks for western powers. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Iran had previously said it would negotiate nothing while under the "maximum pressure" campaign imposed by the Trump administration. Indeed, the administration is levying new sanctions on Iran-affiliated entities nearly every week, if not more frequently. But Trump said he was hesitant to sign the maximum pressure memo and has very much indicated he wants to cut his own deal, one with his name on it. On the other hand, the Iranians 'have an opportunity to get a mutually beneficial deal', Ryan Costello, policy director for the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), told Middle East Eye. "Iran has, I think, taken pains across the years to signal that they won't be threatened into anything," he added. "But you look at the totality of what happened under [Trump's first term], Iran didn't actually have all that many great cards to play, and the Iranian economy took a lot of damage... So I think Iran probably is looking to preserve as much options as it possibly can." While Trump has repeatedly said his sole requirement is that Iran never obtain a nuclear weapon, his press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Friday that "all options are on the table". " You can agree to President Trump's demand, or there will be all hell to pay," she said. Long-term outcomes The Trump administration has been careful not to publicly take the military option off the table while emphasising that they prefer negotiations. "If the question is whether the US can bomb Iranian nuclear facilities, oh yes, absolutely, they can," Sina Azodi, an expert on Iran's nuclear programme at George Washington University, said on a virtual discussion panel on Friday. "But in the game of chess, the other side always gets a turn too. So Iranians can always rebuild everything that they have. They have the institutional knowledge, they have the industrial capacity to rebuild everything." Iran-US tensions: There's no room for further miscalculations Read More » And that may be why Witkoff has previously spoken more about "verification" measures in terms of Iran's nuclear programme, rather than adopting a maximalist approach, which would drive Tehran away and likely escalate tensions between the two countries. Iran is currently enriching uranium to the 60 percent threshold, just short of weapons grade, including by using advanced centrifuge designs at the deeply-buried Fordow enrichment facility, a NIAC fact sheet showed. The programme is not housed at a single facility but "dispersed across Iran, with the most sensitive operations taking place at deeply buried facilities that are difficult to destroy". With Iran in such a position, it will have a list of demands, the chief of which is access to its restricted assets abroad for its oil exports in recent years. The US can grant it control over its frozen funds. Tehran will also want to conduct trade with western governments, including the US, a major draw for Trump. Any such transactions are currently blocked by US sanctions on its oil and finance sectors. NIAC has pointed out that "no US taxpayer money would be sent to Iran under any conceivable scenario". 'Trillion-dollar opportunity' Three days after Trump made the surprise announcement about the Saturday talks, Iran's foreign minister penned an opinion article for The Washington Post that appealed to the core of foreign policymaking under the Trump administration. "Many in Washington portray Iran as a closed country from an economic point of view. The truth is that we are open to welcoming businesses from around the world," Araghchi wrote. "It is the US administrations and congressional impediments, not Iran, that have kept American enterprises away from the trillion-dollar opportunity that access to our economy represents." "To say that the scope for trade and investment in Iran is unparalleled is an understatement," he added. Araghchi was speaking Trump's language, and the billionaire real-estate mogul made no secret of it in the past. Alongside Netanyahu, Trump announces direct US talks with Iran Read More » Nine years ago, on the campaign trail for his first presidential bid, Trump expressed his ire at the Obama-negotiated 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), for not removing the primary sanctions placed on Iran which would allow it to do business with US companies, and more specifically, purchase US weapons. The JCPOA placed significant restrictions on Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for secondary sanctions relief, which allowed Iran to significantly increase its global oil exports. "Trump was saying this means that European and Russian and Chinese companies will be able to go in and make money in Iran, but American companies will be kept out," Trita Parsi, executive vice president at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said on a virtual panel discussion on Friday. One carve-out in the JCPOA allowed Tehran to cut a deal to purchase 80 US-made Boeing planes. But then-president Barack Obama "did not want to be accused of trying to use [the deal] for economic purposes", Parsi said. "And of course, there was a hard red line from the Iranian conservatives at the time who feared that an American entry into the Iranian market would also entail American influence inside of Iran and that that would eventually erode their own control," he added. Now, with the green light from Khamenei, Iran appears to be open to at least limited investment.
Asharq Al-Awsat
22-03-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Syrian Security Forces Intensify Operations against Remnants of Ousted Regime
Syrian security forces have intensified their operations against remnants of the ousted regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Reports said they arrested Abdul Karim al-Muhaimid, who was responsible for clan attacks in the eastern Deir Ezzor region. They also arrested his son Ahmed and another suspect, Mohsen al-Ali. On Thursday, the forces arrested the head of an Iran-affiliated faction that fought alongside Assad's troops. Moayad Abdul Samad al-Douaihy founded and led a faction known as the Sayyida Zeinab Brigade, affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards. The forces had previously arrested Yasser Matroud, a media official working for the National Defense Militias that is loyal to the regime. All of these arrests were made in Deir Ezzor. In the Damascus countryside, the security forces arrested several remnants of the regime, including Bashar Mahfoud, the official in charge of recruiting members of the 25th Division, led by Suheil al-Hassan and Khaled Othman. The security forces also continued to discover weapons and drugs caches in various regions. Sources close to the general security agency in Damascus told Asharq Al-Awsat that the security challenges are the greatest threat facing the new government. Acts of revenge and violations continue to be reported across the country. They are threatening civil peace because these crimes are being promoted on social media. Moreover, hundreds of members of the former regime are still armed and at large. Furthermore, dozens of drug smugglers remain, as well as several criminals who were released from prisons the night the regime was toppled and its jails were opened to free people who had been disappeared. The criminals and remnants of the regime are sowing chaos after their sources of income came to a stop with the collapse of the regime. Some have started to group up and are carrying out abductions, robberies and promoting drugs. Most dangerous of all is that some of these groups are following a foreign agenda, warned the sources. List of crimes Sources in Deir Ezzor said al-Muhaimid was responsible for stoking clashes between clans and the Syrian Democratic Forces at Iran's behest. Al-Douaihy's Sayyida Zeinab Brigade was disbanded in 2015 on suspicion of corruption. Al-Douaihy converted to Shiism during the war, was affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and suspected to committing several crimes. Mahfoud is accused of war crimes and of forming abduction and robbery gangs after the collapse of the regime. In the Damascus countryside, security forces arrested Mowafaq Hammoud, who is accused of taking a photo as he stands over the corpses of victims of the Assad regime. In Aleppo, security forces arrested a drug smuggler, seizing a cache of some 3 million Captagon pills.
