TEHRAN: Iran announced Thursday the closure of a Tehran-based French research institute in protest against cartoons of the Islamic republic’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei published by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.
“The ministry is ending the activities of the French Institute for Research in Iran as a first step,” the Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement, a day after Tehran had warned Paris of consequences.
Iran has been shaken by over three months of protests triggered by the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, an Iranian Kurd who was arrested for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women.
Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday published the caricatures of Khamenei in support of the protests, in a special edition to mark the anniversary of the deadly 2015 attack on its Paris office which left 12 people dead.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian tweeted in response that “the insulting and indecent act of a French publication in publishing cartoons against the religious and political authority will not go without an effective and decisive response.”
Iran’s foreign ministry also summoned French ambassador Nicolas Roche.
IFRI, affiliated to the French foreign ministry, is a historical and archaeological institute founded in 1983 after the merger of the French Archaeological Delegation in Iran and the French Institute of Iranology in Tehran.
Located in the center of Tehran, it had been closed for many years but was reopened under the 2013-2021 presidency of the moderate president Hassan Rouhani as a sign of warming bilateral relations.
Iran closes French institute to protest Khamenei cartoons
https://arab.news/4pa9q
Iran closes French institute to protest Khamenei cartoons
- Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday published the caricatures of Khamenei in support of the protests
- Iran’s foreign ministry also summoned French ambassador Nicolas Roche
Pakistan calls for comprehensive global effort to counter militancy at UN meeting
- The country says ‘terrorism must be tackled at all stages’ like indoctrination, recruitment and financing
- It stresses the need to counter Islamophobia, saying it contributes to radicalization and international instability
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan called for a comprehensive international approach to combat militancy at a United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) briefing in New York on Wednesday, expressing full support for the agency’s mandate and advocating for sustainable funding through the UN budget.
The UNOCT, established in June 2017, is a specialized UN body tasked with strengthening international cooperation against militancy and assisting member states in implementing counter-terrorism strategies.
Speaking on behalf of Pakistan, Muhammad Jawad Ajmal, a diplomat at the country’s UN mission, underscored Pakistan’s longstanding battle against militant groups, noting that the country has lost over 80,000 lives fighting banned outfits such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Daesh and the Majeed Brigade of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).
“Terrorism must be tackled at all stages: indoctrination, recruitment, financing and cross-border threats,” he said, identifying poverty, injustice, unresolved conflicts, foreign occupation and the denial of self-determination as key drivers of militancy.
Ajmal also stressed the need to counter Islamophobia, xenophobia and extremist ideologies, including far-right nationalist and anti-Muslim movements, which he said contributed to radicalization and global instability.
He urged reforms in the UN’s counterterrorism architecture, calling for a fairer sanctions regime and adequate resources for the Ombudsperson’s Office to ensure just implementation.
He maintained that Pakistan also wanted tighter regulation of emerging technologies, including cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence and online communication tools, to prevent their exploitation by militant outfits for recruitment, financing and disinformation.
Ajmal’s statement came just days after a twin suicide bombing in northwestern Pakistan killed 18 people.
The country has witnessed a surge in militant violence in recent years, which Islamabad attributes to cross-border attacks from Afghanistan, alleging they are “facilitated” by Kabul.
However, Taliban officials in Afghanistan have denied the accusation.
Jordanian border forces clash with smugglers, killing four
- Large quantities of narcotics and weapons were seized and transferred to the relevant authorities, the armed forces said
DUBAI: Jordanian border forces clashed on Thursday with armed smuggling groups attempting to cross the northern border from Syria into Jordan, the Jordan Armed forces said in a statement.
The clashes resulted in the death of four smugglers, while the remaining individuals retreated into Syrian territory.
According to the statement, the smugglers had attempted to exploit poor weather conditions and dense fog to cross the border, but Jordanian forces “applied engagement rules to prevent their infiltration.”
Large quantities of narcotics and weapons were seized and transferred to the relevant authorities, the armed forces said.
The amount of the seized drugs was not disclosed.
In January, Jordan and Syria agreed to form a joint security committee to secure their border, combat arms and drug smuggling and work to prevent the resurgence of Daesh militants.
Western anti-narcotics officials say the addictive, amphetamine-type stimulant known as captagon has for years been mass-produced in Syria and that Jordan is a transit route to the oil-producing Gulf states.
Jordan’s army has conducted several pre-emptive airstrikes in Syria since 2023 that Jordanian officials say targeted militias accused of links to the drug trade, as well as the militias’ facilities.
New Trump travel ban could bar Afghans, Pakistanis soon — sources
- Trump banned travelers from seven Muslim majority nations during his first term, Biden repealed the decision
- The decision can affect tens of thousands of Afghans cleared for resettlement in the United States as refugees
WASHINGTON: A new travel ban by President Donald Trump could bar people from Afghanistan and Pakistan from entering the US as soon as next week based on a government review of countries’ security and vetting risks, three sources familiar with the matter said. The three sources, who requested anonymity, said other countries could also be on the list but did not know which ones.
The move harkens back to the Republican president’s first term ban on travelers from seven majority-Muslim nations, a policy that went through several iterations before it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.
Former President Joe Biden, a Democrat who succeeded Trump, repealed the ban in 2021, calling it “a stain on our national conscience.”
The new ban could affect tens of thousands of Afghans who have been cleared for resettlement in the US as refugees or on Special Immigrant Visas because they are at risk of Taliban retribution for working for the US during a 20-year war in their home country.
Trump issued an executive order on January 20 requiring intensified security vetting of any foreigners seeking admission to the US to detect national security threats.
That order directed several cabinet members to submit by March 12 a list of countries from which travel should be partly or fully suspended because their “vetting and screening information is so deficient.”
Afghanistan will be included in the recommended list of countries for a complete travel ban, said the three sources and one other who also asked not to be identified.
The three sources said Pakistan also would be recommended for inclusion.
The departments of State, Justice and Homeland Security and the Office of the Director for National Intelligence, whose leaders are overseeing the initiative, did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
One source pointed out that Afghans cleared for resettlement in the US as refugees or on the special visas first undergo intense screening that makes them “more highly vetted than any population” in the world.
The State Department office that oversees their resettlement is seeking an exemption for Special Immigrant Visa holders from the travel ban “but it’s not assumed likely to be granted,” the source said.
That office, the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts, has been told to develop a plan by April for its closure, Reuters reported last month.
The Taliban, who seized Kabul as the last US troops pulled out in August 2021 after two decades of war, are confronting an insurgency by Islamic State’s regional branch. Pakistan also is grappling with violent Islamist militants.
Trump’s directive is part of an immigration crackdown that he launched at the start of his second term.
He previewed his plan in an October 2023 speech, pledging to restrict people from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and “anywhere else that threatens our security.”
Shawn VanDiver, the head of #AfghanEvac, a coalition of groups that coordinates evacuation and resettlement of Afghans with the US government, urged those holding valid US visas to travel as soon as possible if they can.
“While no official announcement has been made, multiple sources within the US government suggest a new travel restriction could be implemented within the next week,” he said in a statement.
This “may significantly impact Afghan visa holders who have been awaiting relocation” to the US, he said.
There are some 200,000 Afghans who have been approved for US resettlement or have pending US refugee and Special Immigrant Visa applications. They have been stranded in Afghanistan and nearly 90 other countries — including about 20,000 in Pakistan — since January 20, when Trump ordered a 90-day freeze on refugee admissions and foreign aid that funds their flights.
UN report finds women’s rights weakened in quarter of all countries
- Number of women with social protection benefits increased by a third between 2010 and 2023
- Though two billion women and girls still live in places without such protections
UNITED NATIONS, United States: Women’s rights regressed last year in a quarter of countries around the world, according to a report published by UN Women on Thursday, due to factors ranging from climate change to democratic backsliding.
“The weakening of democratic institutions has gone hand in hand with backlash on gender equality,” the report said, adding that “anti-rights actors are actively undermining long-standing consensus on key women’s rights issues.”
“Almost one-quarter of countries reported that backlash on gender equality is hampering implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action,” the report continued, referring to the document from the 1995 World Conference on Women.
In the 30 years since the conference, the UN said that progress has been mixed.
In parliaments around the world, female representation has more than doubled since 1995, but men still comprise about three-quarters of parliamentarians.
The number of women with social protection benefits increased by a third between 2010 and 2023, though two billion women and girls still live in places without such protections.
Gender employment gaps “have stagnated for decades.” Sixty-three percent of women between the ages of 25 and 54 have paid employment, compared to 92 percent of men in the same demographic.
The report cites the COVID-19 pandemic, global conflicts, climate change and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) as all new potential threats to gender equality.
Data presented by the UN Women report found that conflict-related sexual violence has spiked 50 percent in the past 10 years, with 95 percent of victims being children or young women.
In 2023, 612 million women lived within 50 kilometers of armed conflict, a 54-percent increase since 2010.
And in 12 countries in Europe and Central Asia, at least 53 percent of women have experienced one or more forms of gender-based violence online.
“Globally, violence against women and girls persists at alarming rates. Across their lifetime, around one in three women are subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence by a non-partner,” the report said.
The report sets out a multi-part roadmap to address gender inequality, such as fostering equitable access to new technologies like AI, measures toward climate justice, investments to combat poverty, increasing participation in public affairs and fighting against gendered violence.
Pakistan welcomes Arab League’s approval of Egypt’s Gaza reconstruction plan
- Arab League summit this week backed Egypt’s plan to reconstruct Gaza at estimated cost of $53 billion
- Shehbaz Sharif calls on UN to ensure implementation of two-state solution with independent Palestinian state
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif this week welcomed the Arab League’s approval of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s plan for reconstructing Gaza, urging the United Nations to ensure implementation of its resolutions calling for a two-state solution in the Middle East.
The Arab League held its summit in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss a counterproposal to US President Donald Trump’s plan to expel Gaza’s over 2.3 million residents and redevelop the Palestinian territory into an international beach resort.
Egypt’s plan, proposed by El-Sisi, includes an initial recovery phase aimed at de-mining Gaza and providing temporary housing. It would then be followed by a longer reconstruction phase focused on rebuilding essential infrastructure. The total cost of reconstruction has been estimated at $53 billion.
“I welcome Arab League’s approval of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s plan for Gaza’s reconstruction and the League’s firm rejection of any plan to displace the Palestinians from their homeland,” Sharif wrote on social media platform X on Wednesday.
The Pakistani premier reiterated Pakistan’s call for the UN to ensure implementation of its resolutions affirming the two-state solution in the Middle East with an independent Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al- Sharif as its capital.
Pakistan, which does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, has increasingly called for the Jewish state to be held accountable for crimes against humanity during its 15-month war on Gaza.
The war began after Hamas launched a surprise offensive in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Around 1,200 Israelis were killed in the attack and 251 were taken as hostages. Israel launched a military offensive against Hamas, killing over 48,000 Palestinians before a shaky truce in January halted the fighting.
Fears of the war beginning again were renewed last week after Israel blocked the entry of aid trucks into Gaza on Sunday over a standoff over the truce.
The blockade is likely to add significant pressure on the two million Palestinians who are still suffering from shortages of essential goods following the war.
Israel, while announcing the halt to aid entry, said it would not allow a ceasefire without the release of all remaining hostages. Hamas has denounced Israel’s move as “blackmail” and a “blatant coup against the agreement.”
