Iranian Americans, US foreign-policy figures rally in DC in protest against Raisi presidency

Hundreds of Iranian Americans whose relatives were put to death by incoming Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi have rallied in DC to call on the US and its allies to hold him accountable. (Supplied: OIAC)
Short Url
Updated 03 August 2021
Follow

Iranian Americans, US foreign-policy figures rally in DC in protest against Raisi presidency

  • Ebrahim Raisi, who takes office in Tehran on Tuesday, is accused of crimes against humanity for his part in the execution of thousands of political prisoners
  • As far is Tehran is concerned, ‘sanctions relief is the only game in town,’ former diplomat Marc Ginsberg told Arab News

LONDON: Hundreds of Iranian Americans whose relatives were executed more than three decades ago following sham trials involving new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi took part in a rally in Washington on Monday. They were calling on the US and its allies to hold him accountable for his crimes against humanity.

A number of current and former officials involved in US foreign policy spoke during the rally, at which Arab News was present. They expressed their support for the demonstrators, adding their voices to the calls for justice and for the Iranian regime to be held accountable for its actions.

The rally, hosted in the grounds of the Capitol Building by the Organization of Iranian American Communities, took place the day before Raisi was due to be officially inaugurated as the president of Iran.

The participants had a clear message for the Biden administration and the wider international community: Raisi is not a leader but an international war criminal, and should be treated as such.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz told the crowd: “For too long the Iranian people have suffered at the hands of (Supreme Leader) Ali Khamenei and Ebrahim Raisi. Their cries for freedom and justice ring across the world and have the support of freedom-loving Americans.

“We will stand with the families of those massacred, and strenuously encourage the Biden administration to hold Raisi and Khamenei accountable through sanctions and pressing for Raisi’s prosecution for crimes against humanity.”

Many people Arab News talked to during the event said their loved ones were killed in the late 1980s while Raisi, at the time a prosecutor for Tehran, presided over what Amnesty International dubbed “death commissions” — sham trials of political prisoners following the Iran-Iraq war. Thousands were executed for their affiliation with or support for Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), an Iranian revolutionary opposition group that fell out of favor with the regime and was violently crushed. Everyone Arab News spoke to during the rally said they continue to support the MEK.

Eshrat Dehghan said that she lost three of her sons to the death commissions. For these crimes and thousands of others, she said Raisi “should not be allowed into the UN.”

“The Biden administration should support the people of Iran and the MEK in their struggle against the regime,” said Dehghan, who was herself tortured by the regime, as a result of which she has to use a stick to help her walk.

Listed for many years as a terrorist organization, the MEK was removed from the US and European terror lists in 2012. This was a victory for Lincoln Bloomfield, who had served as assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs in the Bush Administration and exhaustively investigated the claims of terrorism leveled against the MEK.

He told Arab News that his investigation found no evidence that the group had targeted the US or its allies with terrorism.

“If there had been any indication of targeting civilians, children or innocent people that would be different — but this is legitimate resistance to tyranny,” he said.

Marc Ginsberg, a former adviser on the Middle East to the White House, and a long-time US diplomat, told Arab News that a lethal drone attack on an Israeli-owned cargo tanker on Saturday was “just one more reason” to hold Raisi and the Iranian regime to account.

“I’m in favor of doing everything possible to undermine this regime and its ability to continue to repress, to instigate violence and incite terrorism in the Middle East,” he said. “Even if (the regime) agrees to roll back their violations of the Iran nuclear agreement, that’s still never going to accomplish the objective of preventing them from developing a nuclear weapon.”

The former ambassador also said that aside from its nuclear activity, Tehran continues to refuse to halt its other destabilizing activities throughout the Middle East, and would use the “lifeline” of sanctions relief to further those activities.

“They will not agree to constraints on their ballistic-missile program and they certainly are not going to give up their support for Hezbollah (in Lebanon), Hamas (in Palestine), the Houthi rebels (in Yemen) or Syria’s Assad regime,” said Ginsberg.

“All they want is sanctions relief. Their question is: how little can we give up in exchange for sanctions relief? For them, sanctions relief is the only game in town.”


Syrian leader heads to France in first European trip

Updated 18 sec ago
Follow

Syrian leader heads to France in first European trip

PARIS: Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa will visit Paris on Wednesday, his first trip to Europe since the overthrow of Bashar Assad in December, as he seeks international support for his efforts to bring greater stability to his war-shattered country.
Sharaa, who will hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, received an exemption from the United Nations to travel to Paris as he remains on a terrorism sanctions list for his previous leadership of Islamist armed group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), a former Al-Qaeda affiliate.
The two leaders will discuss how to ensure Syria’s sovereignty and security, the handling of minorities after recent attacks against Alawites and Druze, counterterrorism efforts against Daesh militants and the coordination of aid and economic support, including an easing of sanctions, French officials said.
The visit marks a diplomatic boost for Sharaa from a Western power at a time when the United States is refusing to recognize any entity as the government of Syria and keeping sanctions in place.
“We are not writing a blank cheque and we will judge (him) on actions,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told TF1 TV channel on Wednesday.
He added that Paris wanted to ensure that Syria focused on fighting impunity to curtail sectarian violence and its full engagement in tackling Daesh militants.
“If Syria were to collapse today it would be like rolling out a red carpet for Islamic State,” Barrot said.
The Franco-Alawite Collective is holding a protest against Sharaa in central Paris on Wednesday afternoon.
The same group filed a legal complaint on April 11 to the Paris prosecutor, seen by Reuters, aimed at Sharaa and some of his ministers for genocide and crimes against humanity over the mass killings in March of Alawaites in the country’s coastal region.

CAUTIOUS RAPPROCHEMENT
France welcomed Assad’s fall and has increasingly fostered ties with Sharaa’s transitional authorities. Macron recently held a trilateral video meeting with Sharaa and Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun as part of efforts to ease tensions on the border.
France last month appointed a charge d’affaires in Damascus with a small team of diplomats as a step toward fully reopening its embassy.
Paris believes it has a card to play in Syria, having cut ties with Assad in 2012 and having refused thereafter to restore ties with his government even after opposition fighters were badly defeated and confined to northern pockets of the country.
It traditionally backed a broadly secular exiled opposition and Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria, where it already has special forces.
Over the past months France played an intermediary role between Sharaa and the Kurds as the United States began reducing its presence and the new Syrian leader looked to bring the area back under centralized control from Damascus.
A French presidency official said Paris had been holding talks with the Americans on how to handle Washington’s withdrawal and how France could play a bigger role.
With the World Bank estimating reconstruction costs in Syria at more than $250 billion, Sharaa is in desperate need of sanctions relief to kickstart an economy battered by 14 years of civil war. During that period the US, the European Union and Britain imposed tough sanctions on the Assad government.
The EU has lifted some sanctions, while some others that target individuals and entities are due to expire on June 1.
Syria hopes the EU will not renew those measures. Their renewal needs consensus among all 27 member states, although the bloc could opt for a limited renewal or delist key institutions such as the Central Bank or other entities that are needed for economic recovery, including energy, infrastructure, finance.

Sisi: Greece, Egypt set to sign deal to boost ties

Updated 10 min 40 sec ago
Follow

Sisi: Greece, Egypt set to sign deal to boost ties

  • The two countries seek to step up political coordination to help safeguard stability in the Eastern Mediterranean
  • The leaders were expected to stress respect for international law amid the Gaza war

ATHENS: Greece and Egypt will sign a “strategic partnership” agreement on Wednesday as the two countries seek to step up political coordination to help safeguard stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said.
“Our relations are traditional and historical. We have the basis to enhance this relationship,” said El-Sisi during a televised meeting with Greek President Constantine Tassoulas in Athens. “We will have today the chance to sign a joint declaration for a strategic partnership.”
El-Sisi is due to meet Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, more than a year after they agreed to set up a cooperation board of senior officials from both countries to improve ties. The two leaders were expected to reaffirm their joint stance over the need to respect international law to promote peace in a turbulent region amid the ongoing war in Gaza, a Greek government official said.
Migration was also expected to top the agenda of bilateral talks as European governments have long been worried about the risk of instability in Egypt, a country of 106 million people where economic adversity has pushed increasing numbers to migrate.
Egypt largely shut off irregular migration from its north coast in 2016, but the Greek islands of Crete and Gavdos have seen a steep rise in migrant arrivals, mostly from Afghanistan and Egypt. The European Union last year announced a 7.4 billion euro ($8.40 billion) funding package and an upgraded relationship with Egypt, in part of a push to stem migrant flows from Egypt to Europe.

Last month, its executive arm included Egypt, where human rights have come under scrutiny, on a list of “safe countries” where failed asylum seekers could be returned.


Houthi spokesperson: US-Houthi ceasefire deal does not include Israel

Updated 07 May 2025
Follow

Houthi spokesperson: US-Houthi ceasefire deal does not include Israel

  • The US and the Houthis agreed a ceasefire, mediators announced
  • The deal would ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea
  • The Houthis said attacks on Israel will continue

DUBAI: A ceasefire deal between Yemen's Houthis and the United States does not include operations against Israel "in any way, shape or form," the group's chief negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters on Wednesday.

Abdulsalam statement came after Israeli military reported on Wednesday that it had intercepted an unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) launched from the east.

The US and the Houthis agreed a ceasefire, mediators announced, saying the deal would ensure "freedom of navigation" in the Red Sea where the Houthis have attacked shipping for months.
The agreement comes after President Donald Trump announced that the US would end attacks against the Houthis after they agreed to stop harassing ships, though he made no direct mention of recent attacks on ally Israel.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi on Tuesday said that "following recent discussions and contacts... with the aim of de-escalation, efforts have resulted in a ceasefire agreement between the two sides".
"Neither side will target the other... ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping" in the Red Sea, he added in a statement.
At the White House, Trump said the Houthis had "capitulated" after a seven-week US bombing campaign that left 300 dead, according to an AFP tally of Huthi figures.
The Houthis' political leader Mahdi al-Mashat did not comment on the accord but promised a "painful" response to deadly Israeli strikes in retaliation for missile fire at Israel's main airport.
Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdelsalam told Al-Masirah television channel that any US action would garner a response. "If the American enemy resumes its attacks, we will resume our strikes," he said.
"The real guarantee for the accord is the dark experience that the United States has had in Yemen," he added.
Mashat said attacks on Israel, the United States' main ally in the region, "will continue" and go "beyond what the Israeli enemy can withstand".
The Houthi have been attacking Israel and merchant shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since late 2023, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.


Aid agencies slam Israeli plans for Gaza aid distribution

Updated 07 May 2025
Follow

Aid agencies slam Israeli plans for Gaza aid distribution

  • The blockade will continue until a large-scale evacuation of the population from northern and central areas to the south
  • The government has said that cutting off aid is the best way to pressure Hamas to release 59 Israeli hostages held in Gaza
  • Berlin feels a special responsibility toward Israel due to Germany’s legacy of the Holocaust and is traditionally cautious in its criticism of the government

JERUSALEM/GENEVA:: Aid agencies have criticized Israeli plans to take over distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza and use private companies to get food to families after two months in which the military has prevented supplies from entering the enclave.
Israel has provided few details about its plans, announced on Monday as part of an expanded operation that it says could include seizing the entire Gaza Strip.
For the moment, the blockade will continue until a large-scale evacuation of the population from northern and central areas to the south, where there will be a specially designated area cleared near the southern city of Rafah, Israeli officials have said.
They said those entering the zone will be vetted by Israeli forces to ensure that supplies do not reach Hamas, with what aid agencies have described as special “hubs” to handle distribution.
Israel has already cleared around a third of the territory to create “security zones” and the aid plan, combined with plans for moving much of the population to the south, has reinforced fears that the overall intention is full occupation.
The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said on Tuesday the plan was “the opposite of what is needed” and other agencies also questioned the plan, which they have only been briefed on verbally, according to two aid officials.
“It is totally wrong that a party to the conflict – in this case Israel — should be in control of lifesaving aid for civilians,” Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council said on the social media platform X.
“This new Israeli aid plan is both totally insufficient to meet the needs in Gaza, and a complete breach of all humanitarian principles,” he said.
COMPLEXITY OF DISTRIBUTION
Aid officials have frequently accused Israel of deliberately disregarding the complexity of aid distribution in an environment such as Gaza, laid waste by 19 months of a war that has destroyed much of its infrastructure and displaced almost all of its 2.3 million population several times.
They say the latest plans appear to echo previous Israeli ones for “humanitarian bubbles” or “civilian islands” that were rejected earlier in the war.
Israel has accused agencies including the United Nations of allowing large quantities of aid to fall into the hands of Hamas, which it accuses of seizing supplies intended for civilians and using them for its own forces.
“If Hamas continues to steal the aid from the people as well as earning money from it, the war will continue forever,” Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a statement.
The government has said that cutting off aid is the best way to pressure Hamas to release 59 Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
However, aid agencies say the plan would mean stripping vital protection from aid deliveries and effectively compel a transfer of civilians from the north to the south, contributing to conditions that could lead to their being forced out of Gaza permanently.
Israeli hard-liners have made no secret of their desire to see the Palestinian population moved out of Gaza, with politicians including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declaring the plan would result in a full occupation of Gaza.
An earlier Israeli plan, known as the General Eiland plan, foresaw severe restrictions on aid to Gaza as a way of choking off supplies to Hamas, and Israeli hard-liners have often harked back to the plan.
With many Palestinians believing that Israel’s ultimate aim is to use aid as leverage to force them to leave and to occupy Gaza, one aid official said, fundamental mistrust of Israel could undermine the system.
“Would you be comfortable with your enemy providing you with aid?” the official asked.

New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed concern about Israel’s plans to take over the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza and said his new foreign minister would travel to Israel at the weekend.
“It must be clear that the Israeli government must fulfil its obligations under international law and that humanitarian aid must be provided in the Gaza Strip,” he told ARD television late on Tuesday.
“We view the developments of the last few days with considerable concern,” he said, adding Israel had the right to defend itself but must live up to its humanitarian obligations.
Berlin feels a special responsibility toward Israel due to Germany’s legacy of the Holocaust and is traditionally cautious in its criticism of the government.
In February, Merz drew criticism from some for saying he had invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and would find a way for him to visit without being arrested under a warrant by the International Criminal Court.
Israel announced its plans on Monday as part of an expanded operation it says could include seizing the entire Gaza Strip. (


Egypt, Qatar mediate for Gaza Strip humanitarian relief

Updated 07 May 2025
Follow

Egypt, Qatar mediate for Gaza Strip humanitarian relief

DUBAI: Egypt and Qatar issued a joint statement on Wednesday affirming their ongoing mediation efforts to address a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
Egypt and Qatar said their efforts are closely coordinated with the United States to reach an agreement that ensures civilian protection and resolves the humanitarian tragedy.