President Raisi says Iran has ‘no problem’ with IAEA inspections, sees no obstacle to restoring ties with Egypt

President Raisi says Iran has ‘no problem’ with IAEA inspections, sees no obstacle to restoring ties with Egypt
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi departs following a news conference on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly, at UN headquarters in New York City. (File/AFP)
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Updated 21 September 2023
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President Raisi says Iran has ‘no problem’ with IAEA inspections, sees no obstacle to restoring ties with Egypt

President Raisi says Iran has ‘no problem’ with IAEA inspections, sees no obstacle to restoring ties with Egypt
  • UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi earlier accused Iran of closing its nuclear sites to inspectors
  • Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry earlier received his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian

NEW YORK: Iran has no issue with the UN nuclear watchdog’s inspection of its nuclear sites, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Wednesday, days after Tehran barred multiple inspectors assigned to the country.
“We have no problem with the inspections but the problem is with some inspectors ... those inspectors that are trustworthy can continue their work in Iran,” Raisi told a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Iran’s move was a response to a call led by the United States, Britain, France and Germany at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Board of Governors earlier this month for Tehran to cooperate immediately with the agency on issues including explaining uranium traces found at undeclared sites.
“Tehran’s decision was in reaction to some unfair statements by the Western members of the IAEA,” Raisi said.
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi has condemned Iran’s “disproportionate and unprecedented” move.
Tehran’s move, known as “de-designation” of inspectors, is allowed; member states can generally veto inspectors assigned to visit their nuclear facilities under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and each country’s safeguards agreement with the agency governing inspections.

In a separate statement, the Iranian president said the meeting of Iranian and Egyptian foreign ministers in New York could pave the way for a restoration of ties.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran does not see any obstacle in establishing relations with Egypt, and this issue has been announced to the Egyptian side as well,” Raisi told a press conference at the end of his trip to New York for the United Nations leaders meeting, according to the website of the Iranian presidency.
“Today’s meeting of the foreign ministers of the two countries can also be a chapter to start and revive relations between the two countries.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry received his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian at the headquarters of Egypt’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York.
Amirabdollahian said strengthening relations “will serve common interests” while Shoukry underlined the importance of cooperating with all countries in the region in the face of ongoing instability.
“In order to strengthen relations with neighboring, Muslim, and aligned countries, the Islamic Republic of Iran will extend its hand to any country that want to cooperate with us,” Raisi added.
Relations between Egypt and Iran have generally been fraught in recent decades although the two countries have maintained diplomatic contacts.
Some Middle Eastern countries, including Egypt, have taken steps to ease regional tensions in recent months.
Egypt’s Sunni Muslim Arab ally Saudi Arabia and Iran restored diplomatic relations earlier this year while Cairo has mended a rift with Qatar and re-established ties with Turkiye.


Hamas senior official invites Elon Musk to visit Gaza

Hamas senior official invites Elon Musk to visit Gaza
Updated 1 min 47 sec ago
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Hamas senior official invites Elon Musk to visit Gaza

Hamas senior official invites Elon Musk to visit Gaza
BEIRUT: A Hamas senior official invited US billionaire Elon Musk on Tuesday to visit the Palestinian Gaza strip to see the extent of destruction caused by the Israeli bombardment.
“We invite him to visit Gaza to see the extent of the massacres and destruction committed against the people of Gaza, in compliance with the standards of objectivity and credibility,” Hamas’ senior official Osama Hamdan said in a press conference in Beirut.
On Monday, Elon Musk, the social media mogul assailed for his endorsement of an anti-Jewish post, toured the site of the Hamas assault on Israel and declared his commitment to do whatever was necessary to stop the spread of hatred.

Hezbollah politician hopes truce will continue

Hezbollah politician hopes truce will continue
Updated 12 min 18 sec ago
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Hezbollah politician hopes truce will continue

Hezbollah politician hopes truce will continue
  • “God willing, the truce will continue,” senior Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said
  • Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed around 100 people — 80 of them Hezbollah fighters

BEIRUT: A senior Hezbollah politician said on Tuesday he hoped a truce would continue and his Iran-backed group had started paying compensation to people who had suffered losses during weeks of Israeli strikes in south Lebanon.
Following the start of the Hamas-Israel war on Oct. 7, Hezbollah and Israel have engaged in their worst hostilities since 2006, with Hezbollah attacking Israeli positions at the border and Israel launching air and artillery strikes.
But the cross-border violence has ceased since Hamas — a Hezbollah ally — and Israel reached a temporary truce on Friday.
“God willing, the truce will continue,” senior Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said after a meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
The violence at the Israel-Lebanese border has forced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the frontier to flee their homes.
Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed around 100 people — 80 of them Hezbollah fighters. Hostilities spiralled following the Oct. 7 Hamas raid from the Gaza Strip into Israel, setting off a conflict that spread around the region.
Citing a Hezbollah survey of damage done by Israeli attacks in Lebanon, Fadlallah said 37 residential buildings had been totally destroyed and 11 more completely burned. Another 1,500 homes across the south had suffered varying degrees of damage.
Fadlallah said Mikati had agreed the government would pay compensation, including for destroyed cars and olive groves. This would be separate from compensation to be paid by Hezbollah, he added.
“It is true that we, in Hezbollah, began paying compensation ... but this does not mean at all that the government is not concerned, indeed it is concerned, and (Mikati) was very responsive,” Fadlallah said.
Hezbollah said it spent more than $300 million on compensation and reconstruction following the 2006 war, during which Israeli air strikes laid waste to swathes of the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut.


Hostage-prisoner swap brings Israeli practice of detaining Palestinian children out of the shadows

Hostage-prisoner swap brings Israeli practice of detaining Palestinian children out of the shadows
Updated 7 sec ago
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Hostage-prisoner swap brings Israeli practice of detaining Palestinian children out of the shadows

Hostage-prisoner swap brings Israeli practice of detaining Palestinian children out of the shadows

Ongoing hostage-for-prisoners exchange opens the world’s eyes to arrests, interrogations, and even abuse of Palestinian children by Israeli authorities


Turkiye’s growing military exports to Russia prompt US scrutiny, urgent diplomatic visit

Turkiye’s growing military exports to Russia prompt US scrutiny, urgent diplomatic visit
Updated 28 November 2023
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Turkiye’s growing military exports to Russia prompt US scrutiny, urgent diplomatic visit

Turkiye’s growing military exports to Russia prompt US scrutiny, urgent diplomatic visit
  • US Treasury officials have been concerned that Turkiye’s export of products to Russia could serve both commercial and military purposes
  • US has imposed sanctions on Turkish electronics supplier Azint Elektronik over its alleged shipping of high-priority goods, such as electronic integrated circuits, to Russia

ANKARA: Turkiye has found itself under heightened US scrutiny over a rise in the export of potentially sanctions-busting goods to Russia.

US Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson was this week due in Ankara and Istanbul to follow up on American fears that Turkiye could inadvertently be fueling Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine.

Nelson, making his second visit to Turkiye this year, will investigate trade activities that may unintentionally be aiding Russia’s war efforts through third-party exports.

He was expected to hold talks with Turkish officials on preventive measures to curb the flow of dual-use goods that could indirectly benefit Russia’s military pursuits.

In a statement on its website, the US Department of the Treasury said: “In Turkiye, a NATO ally, undersecretary Nelson will also discuss efforts to prevent, disrupt, and investigate trade and financial activity that benefit the Russian effort in its war against Ukraine.”

During the first nine months of this year, Turkiye has seen record exports of 45 goods, valued at 158 million euros ($173 million), to Moscow and five ex-Soviet nations — Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. The figure represents a threefold increase on the same period at the start of the Ukraine conflict.

Among the exported items were microchips classified as “high priority” by Washington.

US officials revealed instances where dual-use parts ostensibly bound for intermediary nations were, in fact, reaching Russia directly. For example, while Kazakhstan reported imports of high-priority goods from Turkiye valued at $6.1 million, Turkish official data revealed exports to Kazakhstan reaching a record $66 million during the same period.

Western assessments have indicated that some high-priority goods from Turkiye have been applied to the production of drones, helicopters, and cruise missiles.

Turkiye has strong trade and diplomatic ties with Moscow, but US Treasury officials have been recently concerned about the country’s export of products to Russia that could serve both commercial and military purposes.

Ankara has not formally joined Western sanctions against Russia for fear of damaging the Turkish economy. However, the US recently imposed sanctions on Turkish electronics supplier, Azint Elektronik, over its alleged shipping of high-priority goods, such as electronic integrated circuits, to Russia.

Rich Outzen, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told Arab News: “Maintaining non-military trade with Russia remains an integral part of Turkish economic diplomacy.”

Five Turkish companies were among firms faced with American sanctions in September for dispatching sensors and measuring tools to Russia, providing repair services to vessels linked to the Russian Defense Ministry, and shipping electronic components of US and European origin to Russian firms.

Outzen noted that private Turkish companies could well fall foul of US sanctions over their exports to Russia while government entities may escape them unless there was clear evidence of a coordinating role.

Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and chairman of the Istanbul-based think tank EDAM, told Arab News: “The visit of Nelson will also be an opportunity for the US to iterate its concerns about the ongoing trade.

“There are a number of product groups that are under the radar of US and EU authorities where Turkiye is expected to do more in terms of curtailing trade with Russia.

“Turkish authorities will indeed take on board these concerns and examine more closely trade with Russia on these products in concern.

“Also, given that ultimately the total affected exports are around $158 million, while some of them are re-exported products, there is little value-added that remains in Turkiye, which is not a reason why Turkish authorities should actually heed the concerns of its partners in the West,” Ulgen said.

Nelson’s visit to Turkiye comes as the country continued its long-standing efforts to procure F-16 fighter jets from the US, or alternatively, source Eurofighters.

“Especially at this moment, when Turkiye tries to normalize its ties, Ankara would not want to be affected by additional sanctions from the West, even though they essentially target companies and individuals that are party to this trade.

“This visit would be an opportunity for both parties to essentially seek a convergence on trade policies with Russia,” Ulgen added.

The trade volume between Turkiye and Russia was this year expected to exceed $65 billion. It surged in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the heightened sanctions regime of the West against Moscow.

Last year, Russia was Turkiye’s main import partner with goods valued at $58.85 billion, a threefold increase on the same period in 2021.


Erdogan tells UN chief Israel must be tried in international courts for Gaza crimes

Erdogan tells UN chief Israel must be tried in international courts for Gaza crimes
Updated 28 November 2023
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Erdogan tells UN chief Israel must be tried in international courts for Gaza crimes

Erdogan tells UN chief Israel must be tried in international courts for Gaza crimes
  • Erdogan and Guterres discussed the “expectations of the international community regarding Israel’s unlawful attacks”
  • “During the call, President Erdogan said Israel continues to shamelessly trample on international law, the laws of war,” the Turkish presidency said

ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday told United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres that Israel must be held accountable in international courts for what he called war crimes it committed in Gaza, the Turkish presidency said.
Israel has mounted an offensive by air and ground against Hamas militants in Gaza in which more than 15,000 people have been killed, according to Gaza health authorities.
The offensive was launched after Hamas went on a rampage in southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking 240 hostage.
In a phone call ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Gaza planned for Wednesday, Erdogan and Guterres discussed the “expectations of the international community regarding Israel’s unlawful attacks,” access of humanitarian aid into the enclave, and efforts for a lasting peace, the Turkish presidency said.
“During the call, President Erdogan said Israel continues to shamelessly trample on international law, the laws of war, and international humanitarian law by looking in the eyes of the international community, and it must be held accountable for the crimes it committed in front of international law,” it said in a statement.
Turkiye’s foreign ministry said Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan would attend the UN Security Council meeting in New York.
In a statement, it added that Fidan would hold also meet his counterparts as part of a so-called contact group of some Muslim countries, formed by the Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) this month to discuss Gaza with Western powers and others.
Turkiye has harshly criticized Israel’s attacks on Gaza and called for an immediate cease-fire to allow for discussions over a two-state solution to the wider Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Erdogan has called the Israeli attacks on Gaza a genocide and accused Israel of being a “teror state.” Israel rejects such charges and say it is acting in self-defense against a foe bent on it destruction.
Turkiye also hosts some members of Hamas, which it does not consider a terrorist group, unlike the United States, European Union, and some Gulf countries. It has accused the West, apart from Spain and Belgium, of complicity due to their support of Israel.